!!!yarn bombing!!!

You MUST head over to Fancilicious Fairylands and read about this amazing project

going on in Paris!!  It is the coolest thing I have seen in a long time!

Yarn bombing is my kind of graffiti!!!

hope you like Lady Gaga!!!

Goose and friend had so much fun tonight!

They danced like there was no tomorrow!

Goose really needed to have some fun.  They remind me of when I was a kid

and we used to dance and sing to The Go Gos.

Such sweet memories.  And now I am watching Goose make her own memories with her friends!

Love it!

playing and reading

Goose and a friend love to play with their toy animals.

They made this adorable home for all of them.

There is a dining room with cozy fur seats.

The lady bugs like to hang out here.

This is downstairs.

It is has a very modern decor!

This is the bathroom with a lovely shell tub.

Who wouldn' want to enjoy a bubble bath here?

And no home is complete without a kitchen!

I love the fact that Goose still loves to play in her imaginary world with some of her friends!

May this world of hers never disappear!

We have been reading a lot these days.

Binky is really loving the Diary of A Wimpy Kid series.

He finishes each book in a couple of days.

He spent most of Monday reading the fourth book.

I love seeing him so into reading.

Last night he finished this book.

Now he wants to read every night before going to bed!

I read this book to the kids last week during breakfast.  They loved it!

The story is very sweet and so are the illustrations.

 And who wouldn't love a story with names like Quenelope, Quilliam, Quilice and Quint?!

Goose is reading The Last Dragon Chronicles and The Little House on the Prairie series.

It's funny, normally Goose is the voracious reader and Binky is uninterested.

But now Binky can't stop reading and Goose has other things on her mind.

I am reading this book by one of my favorite authors, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni.

It is the story of a group of strangers stuck in a basement after a major earthquake.

And to calm the group, one woman suggests each person tell one amazing story from their life.

If you do not know this author, I highly recommend you look her up!

She is a master storyteller! 

What is your family reading?

painting with Pepper Paints

I was over at Pepper Paints and found this super fun painting project for the kids.

It is so easy and really, really cool!

You must stop by her amazing blog and check it out!

You will be so inspired by all the fun stuff they do and create!

I started with what I had at home.

A mini-canvas for the base so the paint wouldn't go through and some blocks I had to

barter for from Binky.  I glued my blocks to the canvas.

And then it was time to pour on the paint!

Acrylic paint from the craft store worked really well.

Simply pour each color over the top of the sculpture.

 

Continue adding color until you are satisfied with your creation.

This takes quite a bit of paint but is so worth it!

Isn't it so cool the way the colors move around each other?

I think next time I will add more steps for the paint to drip over.

Goose made both of these.

I really can't wait to do this project again with more

steps in the sculpture and maybe pastel colors.

Like I said before, check out Pepper Paints for some really inspiring art projects!

I know I am always inspired when I visit!

h e a l i n g

It has been a long week here by the bay!

Goose had her appendix removed at our local Children's Hospital Monday night.

We got home yesterday morning.

I slept with her last night because she was so uncomfortable.

I don't think she quite realizes how long her recovery will be. And how little she should be doing.

Pretty much laying in bed is about it right now.

And no physical activity, like martial arts, for 3 weeks!

Laparoscopic surgery is amazing!

They went in through her belly button and one other tiny incision at her bikini line with a camera and it

was over in less than an hour.  So she won't have that tell-tale scar on her right side of an appendectomy from many years ago. 

So for now, we rest, sleep and h e a l.

Homemade Milk Chocolate

Goose attended a homeschool class about chocolate last week.

She came home eager to make some at home!

We started with these organic cacao nibs.

Have you ever tasted raw cacao?

It does NOT taste good!

First we roasted them in the oven at 250 degrees for 18 minutes.

They were already starting to smell really good!

After letting them cool, we placed them in a food processor.

You have to grind them for maybe 10 minutes until they start to liquefy.

This is called chocolate liquor.

Next comes the sugar. 

And you need a LOT of sugar!

We just kept adding it until we were satisfied with the sweetness.

Then you add vanilla extract.  We added about 1 tablespoon.

Continue grinding.

Now comes the milk.

We used 2% because that's what we had on hand.

I am sure whole milk would be the way to go if you have it.

Again, continue adding the milk until the chocolate is to your liking.

And now you have homemade milk chocolate!

Binky and friend thought it was too bitter and needed more sugar.

But Goose and I liked it.

I was surprised at how much sugar you really need to make it edible!

I can't wait to play with the recipe and add different flavors like orange or lavender.

Who knew it was so easy to make homemade milk chocolate!

Happy Birthday Miles and Mother's Day

Happy Birthday Miles!

Miles, aka Binky, turned 9 years old yesterday.

We celebrated at Grandma's house.

We celebrated lots of birthdays and Mother's Day with good food, cake and ice cream.

I get teary-eyed when I think about what a special person he is and how blessed

I am to be his mother!

I started my day with a lovely breakfast in bed!

I had poached egg with tomatoes on focaccia bread, canadian bacon, a beautiful little chocolate cake and my favorite, a lemon bar.  No, I wasn't able to eat it all.

I saved the lemon bar for this morning and shared the cake with Daddy and Goose.

I received 3 mugs decorated by Daddy, Goose and Binky.

I love them!  The mugs and my family!!

It was a day filled with celebration.

And I enjoyed every minute of it!

Today is filled with cleaning house, lots of laundry and hopefully a walk in there some where.

Back to the daily chores for me!