Our very own ice skating princess....

Kalli took ice skating this winter instead of winter indoor soccer to try something new. She loved it, and she did a great job staying on her little feet! I told her I would not take her home until she landed a triple Lutz...  she thought I was insane. I got out my BIG lens (70 - 210) which I had not done since I went digital. It worked SO WELL at the rink, and I am stunned at myself for not getting it out sooner. I loved it and the pictures were great. Here are just a few of the tons I took that day:

 

And never one to miss out on a photo opportunity....  Kaya wanted me to take some of her: 

  

And I caught her cheering on her sister giving her the THUMBS UP while yelling "Go sissy. Go faster. You can do it sissy!!" I love that Kaya has spent her lifetime on the sidelines with Busia. Never complaining, just cheering on her big sister. 

  

On the way out of skating, we ran into Kalli's boyfriend since she was 2 years old (they met and fell in love at daycare when they were both 2). They are both so much taller now...  and they are even shy around each other now. It was cute and sort of sad that they both grew up so much. 

  

And, here is the downfall to having a zoom lens on the camera. Kaya desperately wanted to take a picture of me....  and I moved as far back as I could, and this is all she got: 

  

Hope you all have a great weekend. 

A couple more birthday party shots

Here is a good one of Mindy getting kissed by her kids...

 

Dad and Matt

 

The four of us....  this photo reminds us all of the four of us at the SuperBowl a couple of years ago (what a happy memory that is, even though the bears got killed and it poured rain)

  

 Here is a cute one of papa and Kaya with the cake that I missed posting the other day

And here are a few of the kids and Auntie Mindy at the mall. She always spoils my kids at the mall. Merry-go-round rides and ice cream. The things we love but cannot afford. It was an all around great day full of happy memories. 

We Love Busia

How cute is this little old lady anyway??  We are lucky and blessed every day that she is here with us. She is going to give up her apartment and move in with us in May. I feel honored that my children will get to be surrounded by her love each day.

Photos make a wonderful gift...

My sister brought her kids into town on Saturday early so we could sneak to the mall and get the first photo ever taken professionally with all four of Dad's grandchildren. I was so excited. I had a FREE 8 x 10 coupon so that was my contribution to the gift, and Mindy bought the amazing frame. It came out incredible. I cannot wait to see it up at his house. He used to be surrounded by photos of the grandkids when he lived with Mom in their house. Now, there are no photos of the kids in the new place. I felt happy that he would soon get to see their smiling, happy faces every day in his home.

While we were waiting for the people at Picture People to wait on us, the kids played with their props and I took a few photos.... 

Kaya is soooooooooo excited to turn four - she was THRILLED when she found the number four props! I cannot believe my baby is turning four in 15 days. How fast did that time go??

Rainbow Cakes Rock

We had a party at my house on Saturday to celebrate my dad turning 60. He was out of the country on his real 60th, but all the kids wanted to celebrate with him. It was a fun, relaxing day.

Check out the cake he made with all four of his grandkids....

Here is the link Shannon sent me to the recipe for this fantastic rainbow creation. And, we used SPRITE ZERO to make it and fat free cool whip for the frosting, so it was not even ALL THAT bad for us to eat.

I thought it totally looked like he was hosting a cooking show in his little Yellow Fence  Scrapbooking Apron in this photo

 

And I just loved this shot of the five of my little bakers

  

It was a fun day. Even my brother Matt and Rahul made it in for the celebration. 

  

More photos from it later...  just wanted you to see that rainbow cake.  

I love these trees....

A couple of people have asked me to post some samples of the different Wrought Iron Trees I have made in one place...  Here are my favorites with some text as to what they were for...

This is one I did for a few people to give a grandparent for Christmas. I did them in whatever color the customer asked for it to be - or I just sold them as they were out of my both at events - this one came with clear templates so it was easy to line up and cut the photos into circles OR rectangles.

This one was for an amazing friend of our family. It made me so proud to bring this to them as a hostess gift/holiday present. I had lots of photos of them, so I was able to compelte the tree for them photos and all.

This is a simple shot of one I did as a booth sample without any photos on it at all, and it sold right away. Wish I had a better photo.

And this one is ours. The one I have on our Piano. The intention was to change it for every holiday and let the girls redecorate it, but I love this gratitude tree SO MUCH I have not had the heart to take it apart yet. Looking at this everyday makes my heart feel happy.  This item seems to make people stop and look at my booth at fairs and shows. I love this tree.

So, let me know if you want a plain tree ($35 plus shipping) or if you want me to decorate one for you (Prices vary - but I sold the Grandparent ones for $50 for the holidays). I can come up with just about anything you need in the colors that work for you.  Templates are always included so it is super easy to cut your own photos to the perfect size.

I love this wrought iron tree. Once I get caught up with teaching and planning (yeah, like that is ever going to happen) I will try to create some TREE KITS for holidays and just offer those.

If you have picked up a tree from me (Tammy, are you reading this??) and decorated it, please email me a photo or a link to where I might see it as people are asking me for more ideas, and I have not done that many different ones. THANKS!

Pinwheels and Party Invitations

I am so surprised I never post anymore. It makes me kind of sad...  but I guess teaching and planning and life are overtaking the hours in the day. I am happy this year, and I have a balance right now. I wish my office and home were cleaner but I have been working out, eating better, trying to get some rest, and trying to stay planned for school and life stuff.....

Speaking of planning....  I did invtations to Kaya's upcoming little birthday party today. I am SO HAPPY to have that set up and off my list of things to figure out. I also ordered the Rainbow Aprons (we are having a rainbow cookie/cupcake party) and the favor boxes (for them to take home their cupcakes and cookies they decorate). Figured out the plan for the frosting, and Neil is on top of gathering music for the party.  So it is looking good. Now, if only I had not run out of postage stamps... 

I also made Pinwheels last night for dinner. It is an OLD receipe that we LOVED when my Mom made them for us when we were little. They took her a while to make, and she did not make them often. Matt thinks it has been about 20 years since we had them....  but, I have wanted to try to figure it out, and I did. They were fanstic. I made a mistake of putting in the ground turkey when it was still hot (which created a bit of a mess) but I know now to let it cool next time...  and they still turned out great. I ran some over to Busia to share the memory with her. It just felt nice to figure out something for our family that got lost with my Mom.  The girls wanted in on the PHOTO action when I got out the camera to show my siblings that I DID IT!

Hope anyone reading this has had a super year so far! Happy Valentine's Month!

KLSB