GO Green

I am really not the "Green" type of person. I recycle because we have a recycle pick up in our community. I hope it does good and does not end up in the land fill like the rumors have once stated. I have the cloth grocery bags thanks to my mom, but you have to remember to use them for it to actually count right? I recycle paper at work, because it is confidential information and I have to. So that is the extent of my greenliness. Yes convenience, very sad I know. So this year we decided to celebrated Earth day (early), the first official time for our family. Actually doing and being aware of Earth day and participating was fun. We taught the kids about plants and insects and how they help the Earth. I also made the kids a "recycled" shirt, and a Earth Day themed dessert. Our First Garden

We planted some vegetables that I hope Bradley will learn to like. Olivia already loves all vegetables and salad.

The "Recycled" Shirts

I used Olivia's St. Patrick's Day shirt (there is a shamrock in between the word GO) and one of Bradley's shirts to create these new shirts. It was a fun craft project, the kids couldn't really help though because it involved bleach. I got the idea for my "recycled" shirt from http://secretsofasupermommy.blogspot.com/

Dirt Cups

Of course we had to end the day with a yummy treat. And that implies worms? Bradley wanted to eat a million of them, no surprise. The surprise was, Olivia didn't want any. She loves to dig up worms she just didn't want to eat any, even the gummy kind.

Home Made Bridal Shower Gifts

Ivy and I decided to get crafty and make home decorations for my sister Toni's bridal shower gift. We copied all the ideas from one place or another, so really none of it is original, but we are really proud of how they turned out.

This glass block idea I got from my sister-in-law Kim. She actually has a form of the spring one below. This one is a night light of sorts, Bross will be my sister's new last name, when she is married.

Ivy's friend made her a set of these LOVE blocks, so we decided that it was an easy and cute decoration. We made FALL and SNOW the same way. Ivy and I essentially borrowed the idea of the sayings across the boards from Ivy's friend and the Quilted Bear.

Think Spring (one for Toni, and one for a prize)

I think the BOO is my favorite one.

We had a lot of fun making these, Ivy and I got in a lot of sisterly bonding and made a wonderful present for our little sister, that we hope she will enjoy with her new hubby for many years to come.

Thanks to everyone that we borrowed the ideas from.

Easter, where is Spring?

I love Easter. I love Spring time, unfortunately Spring didn't show up in time for Easter, old man Winter decided to stick around much too long. So no Easter Egg hunt in the flowers, no spring pictures.

Still there was dying of the Easter Eggs...

The Easter baskets...

A make shift Easter picture in (if I may say so) adorable Easter outfits.

Family gathering...

And of course all the monkeying around you could take!

A wonderful day with wonderful family traditions. There is no doubting that. But Easter, where is Spring?

We are all sick of the snow!

Project Feed Butterflies

Today The Home Depot was offering a free building projects for children, a Butterfly feeder. They gave us all the supplies and tools to put it together. Bradley and Olivia even got an official Home Depot apron.

Richard helped Olivia hammer and stay on course.

Bradley knew what to do and got right to work. He took his work very seriously.

When they were done a took their projects to the Project Manager (a Home Depot Employee) to be inspected and checked off. Both Bradley and Olivia passed with flying colors. They were each awarded a certificate and given a project pin that they can collect each time they do a project. Next they headed home to put the finishing touches on their butterfly feeder.

They each painted and decorated their feeders. Each of their feeders reflect their favorite colors of the moment. Right now Olivia's favorite color is blue and Bradley likes all the colors (except pink).

Now we just have to wait for the weather to warm up and the butterflies to set flight, before we hang our feeders up in our garden.

Little Fishes

Bradley start swim classes in February. He loved to learn all the techniques and have freedom in the water. Olivia sat patiently (like any other 4 year old) on the sidelines watching. After Bradley finished his lesson and was ready to move on to his second, we decided to let Olivia join in the fun.

They both are little fishes and love the water. Bradley can swim pretty good and float on his back. Olivia can go under water without holding her nose and float on her back. The second round of classes are over and another round will start soon. Bradley is going to have to sit out this time (he will actually be playing baseball instead). But this will give Olivia time to catch up.