Wednesday, October 26, 2011

PAR-TAY!!

hidey ho neighbors!!

 t.willie turned 4 earlier this month. we had to postpone his party to this past saturday. he was very certain from the first mention of his birthday that he wanted a road construction theme. he is ALL boy, so trucks and all things with wheels are everything to him!

kaye and i created an invitation design using one we found on the internet. it features a blonde boy in a hard hat.


kaye gave an invite to every kid in t's headstart class and several friends were also invited. kaye, bilbo and i put a lot of time and effort into making it a great day for t.willie. we put up construction caution tape everywhere and made "road work" signs for along the driveway.



since the party was being held in the back yard, luckily, it turned out to be a gorgeous day. we hung a sign on the fence to show guests where to enter.

bilbo brought home several construction cones to rope off buster's large doggie area. it worked great but buster would rather have joined the party!

we set up a table and backdrop that turned out really well. utilizing shepherd hooks to hang the backdrop was a stroke of genius (MY genius)!!

 please make special note of the banner i made from paint chips!



we used white tape to make the tablecloth look like a road. 
 
every kid got a hard hat with their name on it.
the party treats.
my favorite feature was the dump truck cake with crushed oreo "dirt"!
i can't take credit for it, though, saw it online...!
here is t.w. when everyone was singing "happy birthday". he's so cute! i just love that boy!

although only one kid from school came, we had 9 kids attending. there was a lot of fun going on. the back yard was a flurry of activity:









must.eat.cupcakes!




 it was a wonderful, funfilled day. t.w had a great time and is looking forward to next year's party already!!

grateful that :
1. the weather was perfect
2. children actually came!
3. t.willie was happy




Wednesday, August 31, 2011

this is why i plant fennel

hello again! i am finally back here in blogland after a long summer off. i hope you missed me!

i just wanted to tell ya about my very small herb garden, it did not do well this summer, as we have been in a drought. dry dry dry-that's been our summer. oh, and hot hot HOT!! the gardens and lawns have surely suffered. however, my fennel did survive, and earlier, served the red wasp population in our yard.


click on images to enlarge
but now, the black swallowtails have taken over! i just love those green and black caterpillars! they are very cool, not to mention that they turn into beautiful butterflies! this is mainly the reason i planted bronze fennel. it is a beautiful plant but i like that it feeds these pretty creatures!

yes, and the wasps are sharing! i hate those creatures! they are aggressive and nasty. they seem to have taken over our yard. just the latest scourge of the hellhole!

but we also get these guys: orbweaver spiders. these are good guys, they eat insects. i like that! and they are also pretty and spin the most awesome webs! this one has attached his web to my cherry tomato plant. i hate to bother him when i harvest the tomatoes. but he just moves up the web away from me, and it's cool. we respect each other. just as mother nature intended...but, although i do respect the red wasps, it's for an entirely different reason!

grateful today:
1. for all that i have, and also for what i don't have
2. for interesting creatures in my life- both human and non-human
3. for the approaching fall season...LOVE it!


Saturday, June 25, 2011

so lovin' this!!!

this is t.willie's new favorite music video...hope you like it too!
(hint: click on the icon to the right of the youtube icon to view in full screen )

Monday, May 30, 2011

happy MAY-MORIAL day!!

highlights of the month of may in pictures-

t.willie in the back yard

t.w's croc stuck fast in the mud from SO.MUCH.RAIN!

first sprinkler fun of the season
still more rain...

chocolate cupcakes

some unexpected cold weather
and t.w. gets a hold of my camera..."say cheese gammie"

a goofy boy
the sign at t.willie's preschool (church) ha!
elle baking for a bake sale
me baking for the wedding (see last post)
mom's pond
t.w's last day of preschool
and the "forget-me-not" pot we made for his teacher
gettin silly on the porch

this cat loves this boy (and vice versa)

fresh blueberry rum lemonade :)
learning new tricks
hanging in the "hangnick"

helping pop mow...sorta
first time in the pool this season
the end

grateful for a great month.