It's A Small World, VALENTINE.

I'm excited to report I found new guinea pigs to be my models!! My girlfriend Laura volunteered her two adorable {and super photogenic} babes to help my cause. Paige's SIXTH birthday just past and with her "It's A Small World" birthday party coming up, we decided to play up the theme just a little. 

Now, Paige has a ham of a little brother. And he couldn't not join in {heart-breaker warning}.

And a few of them being silly and sweet together.

TWO Cool For School Party

T's birthday party was over the weekend. I had no idea until Sunday morning that it was also the kick-off of football season. Duh! But everyone came and loved on our little butterball...with the game playing in the background. ;)

I went with a "school" theme for the party--even though he's a loooong way off from crackin' open the books. But with the new vintage desk and giant school map in their room as inspiration, I just went with it: paper airplanes, lined paper, a globe, number two pencils, books, and apples.

I kept things real simple by just serving a handful of snacks and just focusing on dessert. W is master dessert maker so he made the cupcakes and frosted them, per usual. He made a slightly larger cupcake for T.

For a guest book, I made cut-out apples for everyone to sign.

And put his baby book out viewing.

Opening presents was by far the best entertainment. T would get so hooked on one gift that he would completely ignore my suggestions to keep going. And E was having the time of his life watching all the new gifts T was getting. I'm pretty sure he must have figured out that he would be playing with them too eventually. But I was grateful for his awesome attitude either way. 

And I'm so happy to report that he kept that birthday crown on the entire party. He sure knows how to make this Mama happy. ;)

He may have needed a little help with blowing out the candle but certainly not the eating part.

Happy second birthday, Butterball! You are totally TWO cool.

Pre-K // Homeschool Style

We "started" preK this week. I use that term loosely only because we've only done a little of our reading program. PreK is really nice like that. So is homeschooling. 

We'll be working our way through this curriculum. And we're in our second day of "rowing" the book The Story About Ping. Very similar to unit studies. I made a make-shift homeschool corner...because there really isn't a corner left in our small space. There's a world map that we got in a random mailer, the ping duck to place in China {where the story takes place}, and a few 'artifacts' that I scrounged up. Hoping my planning will get better in time?! ;) And our dining area chalkboard will work perfectly for scripture memorization and reading highlights. 

So far, E has worked on numbers, the letter D, and sewing and tracing for fine motor skills--in addition to reading our book. We're going on our first "field trip" this afternoon to...to observe and feed the ducks with friends who are also sticking to our program/schedule.

He's randomly picked up on recognizing numbers 1-5 and 8 {which may have something to do with helping me press numbers around town.} Glad to know I wouldn't have to formally cover those.

Normally, the stories are covered in a week, but we're starting out with two. Next week, we'll be covering science {buoyancy, animal kingdom} and social studies {China geography and culture} and hopefully art.

This will certainly be a marathon journey and lots of "figuring out as we go", but I'm so excited to be able to do with my kids!

Holiday Boutique // I'm A Seller!

I've been working on some wood + paper goods to sell locally!! The first boutique is in October, so if you're local, please stop by!!! 

Juju is 6th months!

Our Little Charmer is TWO!!

Happy Birthday, sweet sweet boy!!

SO excited to celebrate YOU today!