New Adventures, New Blog

I started this blog (as most mommy blogs start) as a sort of diary to chronicle Lauren's early years.  It was fun and I'm so grateful for those early blog posts so I can relive those hectic days.  I also wanted to share photos and stories with faraway family and friends.  The past few years the blog posts have been replaced by Facebook and Instagram, which fit nicely into my increasingly busy schedule.  How quickly the years have past. I carried Lauren up to bed tonight and she was all legs and arms. When did my baby become a kid?

I've also felt less inclined to share with the world the minutiae of our lives...with strangers who happened to stop by (I still unbelievably get several hits a day by people clicking through from other blogs that I was featured on a few years ago).  As Lauren grew, I became more protective of her, aware that these moments are private and best kept between us.  I had to be mindful that Lauren is her own person and she has ownership over her memories too.

Today I made this blog private..eventually I may invite close friends and family to view but for now I'll keep it as my diary again.  There's so much happening and time is slipping through my fingers.  I need to write these things down for me.  For Lauren.

When Lauren walked out the door this morning, she was headed for her last day of Kindergarten.  In the same dress she wore as the first day, she skipped to school hand in hand with Peter. Off to see her friends (Ysabel, Iniyah, Aria, Kaylee, Peyton, Cameron..) and spend one last full day of class with her beloved Mrs. Gibson.

She has no idea how important this day is.  That is one of her last days of innocence.  First grade just  doesn't sound as sweet as being a kindergartener.  No more backwards p's and crayons and being ok if a word's not spelled right.  No more skipping to school and being sad that it's the last day of school.


For all the things from kindergarten I will mourn there is so much to look forward to.  We will read and learn and play and make art together.  We will have backyard picnics and swim and harvest strawberries in our garden.  We will bake cakes and learn to bike and shop and travel.  Bring on the summer!  First Grade can wait!

 First day of school on the left.  She's a couple of inches taller and a whole lot smarter.  Her original lunchbox broke.  It was too big anyway.  The most it ever carried was a juice box and a container of goldfish crackers.

Rainbows Rainbows Rainbows

Every few months or so I resolve to blog more. Yeah, I've never been good with resolutions. So here is my first blog post in nearly a year and it better be good because I probably won't have another one for at least 6 months, ha!

Right about the time Lauren turned 3 and a half, she became interested in rainbows..no, wait, OBSESSED is more accurate. Everything was and is still all about rainbows, from underwear to Barbie outfits.

So, SURPRISE! She wanted a rainbow 4th birthday party. I scoured the internet and found tons of ideas and came up with a few of my own as well. I did the best I could on a full-time working mom's schedule. In the end, all that mattered was that my Rainbow Girl was the happiest girl in the world on that day!

We had also just come off a Hawaiian vacation so the party was actually a Hawaiian Rainbow Theme and this was the original invitation idea:

But I ended making each invitation by hand after I was struck by inspiration while doing some scratch off art with Lauren one afternoon:

Lauren actually made the rainbow (using a stencil) and the rest was just my goofy handwriting. It wasn't much more work than writing all that information down on a store-bought invitation and it was nice that each invitation was unique. I bought a couple boxes of the rainbow scratch art kit (with 20 5x7 sheets of the paper and stencils) at Michaels for about 4$ each (yay for those 40% off coupons).

I used the rainbow scratch paper for everything from the invitation to signs to an art activity for the kids.

For an activity we did more of the scratch art and I got these scratch art plastic mugs at Michaels too. The kids also made some rainbow pinwheels from a kit I found at Target.

Hats were leftover from previous birthday parties.  Yes, I am a hoarder.

The kids each made a rainbow scratch art mug.

Rainbow pinwheels.

We set up a photobooth with brightly colored backdrop and fun rainbow props. Some of the other props were from past halloween costumes. I got the idea to use a bedsheet from Ikea for the backdrop here.

Food was a mix of Hawaiian and Philippine cuisine. Hawaiian BBQ chicken, Kalua Pig, Pancit, SPAM musubi, and Lumpia. We had a variety of desserts, these pics are only a small sample of all the food we had.  Yeah, we're all about the food.  I didn't get any pics of the food, but believe me...it was all GOOD!

Mini Cupcakes, Rainbow Cake, TimTams, Chocolate covered Macadamias, Haupia

Rainbow TimTams (dressed up with a drizzle of melted chocolate and a sprinkle of, well, sprinkles.)

Dressed up Rice Krispy treats

Rainbow Fruit

What rainbow party would be complete without a Rainbow Cake. It turned out great (except that I misplaced the orange and yellow layers....ergh! bugs me every time I see the pic! It was 2 in the morning when I built the cake...that's my story and I'm sticking to it). Lauren noticed..but didn't care. I used this recipe for the frosting, cake was made from white cake mix. It was yummy and the frosting held up well. Some guests commented that the cake tasted like Fruit Loops.

We decorated with rainbow tissue poms and rainbow streamers. Lauren and I made rainbow paper chains over the summer with a kit from Daiso (got the smaller pom kits there too).

 The mantel had pics of Lauren from her previous birthdays

Party favors were surprise balls, which were a great way to use up leftover toys and bits from Easter, birthdays, and valentine's days past (everything from rings, bouncy balls, stickers, to tattoos). The feedback I got about these balls was that they were a beautiful mess when the kids opened them up at home.  They had as much fun with the colorful streamers as they did with the little prizes inside.

Did the birthday girl like her party? Oh, she was over the rainbow with happiness (Oh, snap!).

I made Thank You notes with this photo.  

Hawaii 2009 Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Aloha! We just returned from a fantastic vacation in Maui. Before I post any pics, I promised myself I would put together pics of our last vacation two years ago. Sooo..just a wee bit late!

St Patty's Day!

Lauren brought her teacher a shamrock plant for St. Patrick's Day. I dunno, you think she's excited?




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Bedtime stories

Our night time routine:

Bubble Bath
Brush Teeth
Dress in her Kerjamas (yes, KERjamas)
Comb Hair (thank goodness for de-tangling spray)

Then it's off to bed!

Oh, but wait! There's more.

First I have to read THREE BOOKS ("Cause I'm Three Years Old!" she says). Her current rotation is Blue Puts on a Play, Olivia, and the Great Cake.


After the books, but before the songs I have to tell her a story about "Baby Lauren" or "Princess Lauren" or "Puppy Lauren." It's basically a roundup of her day that always begins "Once upon a time, Baby/Princess/Puppy Lauren woke up in her room/castle/bed" ...and ends with "...then she took a bath, brushed her teeth, read three books, and now it's time to go to sleep...The end."

Then comes the songs. Unlike the books which change rotation every few days, our bedtime songlist is NOT FLEXIBLE. Believe me, I've tried.

First it's "Happy Heart" from the Veggie Tales Madame Blueberry episode.

The next song is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. This is how it goes down every night:

Me: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star....
Lauren, interrupting: Mommy...why does Madame Blueberry buy too much stuff?

Me: Because she thinks buying stuff will make her happy...but that's not true.You don't need to buy stuff to be happy.

Lauren: Yeah. And then her house broke.

That happens word.for.word. Every. Single. Night.

After Twinkle Twinkle Little Star it's Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I sing the Judy Garland version but every now and then (upon request) I'll play the Iz Kamakawiwo'ole version on the Ipad. If the rainbow song hasn't done it's trick I break out my no-fail-lullabye, the one Lauren calls the "Angel song." It's Billy Joel's "Lullabye," a sentimental favorite.

If she's not asleep by the end of that one I'm in trouble.

Good night, Sweet Dreams my baby boo.

Sunday Afternoon Tea Party

What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon...

Than with a hot cuppa tea on a brisk Sunday afternoon

Delicious treats
(they're made of plastic but they taste divine..)

Good friends...
(Stitch is the honorary member of the Roundup Gang)

And this face.

Treasure Hunting and other adventures

Ahh, the life of a preschooler is filled with so much adventure that I can barely find the time to update my Facebook status, much less write a blog post...

Example: Tonight, we played hide and seek, hunted for treasure (in the dark scary forest of my craft room), made brownie covered Oreos, had a singing and dancing contest, ate some chicken and corn while watching parts of the Indianapolis/New York Jets football game...all within 3 hours. I'm tired just typing it out.

It used to be I'd put Lauren to bed and then have plenty of time afterwards to go online for some social networking, blogging, and shopping. These days I either fall asleep right alongside her or have just enough energy to drag myself back to my own bed, exhausted and fulfilled..resting up for tomorrow's new adventures.

Funny Girl

Yesterday, Lauren was walking around with this big ol' hole in her pants and her white underwear showing through..right there on her backside, down the middle of her butt. When Uncle Chris asked her over the phone how she split her pants she replied:

I UTOT!!!

(translated: I FARTED!)

Only 3 years old and already a comedian!

Halloween 2010

Lauren's choice for costume this year was LADYBUG (second choice: Grasshopper. Thank goodness she didn't push for that one!)

.
The Trick or Treat Crew and our little ladybug

My friends and their kids came over and the moms went off with the kids while the dads stayed home to distribute candy and watch the World Series (Yay, Giants!). It was hard for me to leave the game but we got updates as we went along and asked for the score every now and then. It seemed everyone had the game on TV.

Trick or Treat!

By the end of the night, Lauren's basket of candy was so heavy it was dragging on the ground. We took her stash and let her have a couple of pieces that night and one piece a day for the week after Halloween. Once the lollipops ran out she wasn't interested. Planning to make christmas candy leis with all that leftover candy.

I made yummy Giants cookies and spooky ghosts.

It's Pumpkin Time Again!

Lauren's class had their first field trip today to a pumpkin patch. We arrived at 9 am and I foolishly thought that there would be light traffic at the farm since it was a weekday. I don't know what I was thinking. I think EVERY single preschool, kindergarten, and elementary class in Placer County had a field trip to that same farm that day. It was pretty hectic and busy but enjoyable nonetheless.

We enjoyed the hayride to the field where we got to roam around and pick the perfect pumpkin. Lauren picked a two tone (i.e. unripe) little pumpkin and was so excited that it was both green AND orange. There was also a petting zoo, a train ride and this patch of HUGE pumpkins for display only.

One of the best parts of the field trip? The freshly baked apple spice muffins, apple cake, and apple turnovers

Cuzzy

We're back home from So-Cal..dead tired but so happy. While we were down there we attended a Mexi-Cambodian wedding in Pasadena and got to spend a few special days with our cousins. Best of all, Lauren got to hang out with her cousin, B-Nut.

B-Nut is a bit older than Lauren and this is the first time that they actually got to PLAY together. We spent a few days at his super-cool new house and they became fast friends. They bonded over the iPad, colored, painted Halloween ceramics, went to a park, played hide and seek, got on each other's nerves, chased the cat, read bedtime stories, and we practically had to separate the two at bedtime. The fist thing out of Lauren's mouth in the mornings was "Where's Kuya B-Nut?"

I wish they lived closer to us, and can't wait to see them again. We're already planning our next trip down there.

An apple a day...

Lauren and Daddy share a freshly picked apple in out backyard




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Poop Art

No wonder she was sooo quiet in there. I should be mad that i
have to wash crayon off the wall but the expression on her face was so naughty-- it was cute!



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Tiny Tots Ballet

Lauren started "Magical Ballet" class today. It's a 6 week class for 3-5 year olds offered by the city parks and recreation. Is there anything cuter than a little girl in a tutu? Try 12 little girls in tutus all in one room. Argh, the cuteness was almost unbearable.

As she did in last years ballet class, Lauren spent a lot of time running off on her own and staring at herself in the mirror. This time, mommies were not allowed on the dance floor and could only watch from the other side of the glass doors.

Too. Much. Cute!!!

Afterwards, we headed out to my brother's place where Lauren showed her Uncle Kintin the fancy new moves she learned in class.

And...bow.

We got to feed some goats too.

They liked asparagus, broccoli, and ivy. And they smelled like cheese. Goat cheese, that is.

Oh, and birthday cake. Yum.

Happy Birthday Uncle Deeby!!