I seem to have to constantly remind myself that my youngest, Jo, is not exactly a baby anymore. Sure, she's MY baby but she really is no longer a baby. I guess that's really a thing with youngest children. Because there's nobody after them they get to keep the "status" and the special treatment that goes with it. Well, Jo turned two exactly a month ago. And I really feel like that was so fast. Yes, I'm definitely ecstatic and thankful that Kayo and I are going this long without getting pregnant again, but at the same time, I'm wondering, where did all that time go? Then I look at Jo, watch Read More
DIY Christmas Village Advent Calendar
The season of advent begins in two weeks! I started working on our advent calendar early this year and I would like to share what I made. My inspiration for our calendar this time is to make a little Christmas village mobile using some cardboard and a piece of dried tree branch, very similar to the window charm I made with my kids some months ago (Read Window Charm DIY post here). Again, I wanted to use and recycle items I have lying around the house for this project so I really didn't have to spend anything extra to make it. Here are the materials I used: Cardboard, dried tree branch Read More
The Girls’ All White Gallery Wall
You have probably noticed it by now, but I really enjoy my daughters' room. I like being in there with them and I like fixing it up for them (okay, maybe I do it for myself too). It's probably the effect of seeing too many cute little girls' rooms on Pinterest. But aside from decorating it with their own artwork and craft projects, I also like to make art myself to put in their room. So recently, I put together a small wall gallery of illustrations, paintings and photographs for their room. I really like the idea of an all white gallery and thought it would be perfect for the girls Read More
DIY Toy: Window Charms
Butterfly, Butterfly by Peter Horacek is one of Summer and Emma's favorite books. It's a book about color, insects and nature with a surprise pop-up in the end. No wonder they love it so much! So when I was coming up with ideas for their next craft project, I thought this vibrant book would be a great inspiration. We made a mobile filled with many different ornaments to hang by their bedroom window, so I decided to call it window charms. Materials needed are the following: dried branch, poster paint, cardboard, beads, yarn, assorted ribbon and string, scissors, single hole Read More
DIY 3D Cardboard Letter
Summer and Emma gave their Papa a 3D cardboard letter K for his birthday (K for Kayo!). We worked on it the week before and it was made from scratch. You can actually buy them in gift shops and craft stores pretty easily, specially online, but I decided it would be a great idea to make our own. It's inexpensive, more personal and, as I discovered, quite easy! It's also a fun activity to do with the kids.There are three phases to make your cardboard letter: First is making the actual cardboard letter, second is covering it with paper mache and third is painting and decorating it, which is the Read More
The Girls Room
I only got a room of my own when I was eleven. We lived in a tiny two bedroom house and only when both my brothers got married and moved out did I get to take over their room. I remember being so thrilled, having dreamt about it since I was maybe seven. I excitedly worked on the place to make it look and feel like my very own. Now that I have my own two little girls, I'm also quite thrilled for them to have their own room and also to have it early on. Well of course they're sharing it and perhaps will do for the rest of their childhood and adolescence, but it's great that they'll have their Read More
Enjoying Being Home
So after crashing at my in laws for almost two weeks while our new cabinets were being painted and installed, we have finally moved in for good at our new condominium unit. I am very happy to say that we love it here, the girls included. They thoroughly enjoy having their own room, a space to run around just outside our doorstep and other children who live in the building to play with. We're so excited to have finally moved, we decided to stay in for Valentines day and celebrate simply. As usual, Summer and I did a little arts and crafts during the day and I made them Read More
Summer’s Safari Party
"Wayon, zeebor, jaff, ippo…(Lion, zebra, giraffe, hippo…)" That's Summer naming her favorite animals. She's been really into animals and so when it was time for me and Kayo to plan her second birthday party, it was easy to come up with a theme we knew she'd love. Our little "Summer's Safari" party was last Sunday, August the 25th, at my parents-in-law's warm and lovely home. Thankfully, despite a little rain, it turned out well and most of the people we invited made it safe and dry. Summer seemed to have enjoyed a lot herself and I was very pleased with the outcome. The truth is that I had Read More