Feathered Friends - a For the Birds kinda playdate

(I had intended this post to be Wordless, but had to explain what was going on) :)

The kids made cereal necklaces (birdfeeders) for the trees, learned all about birds via binoculars and an informative page on local birds...then we all went down and fed the ducks :)

my Mia covered in peanut butter :)

for some real Wordless shots fly on over to 5 Minutes for Mom

or SevEn cLoWn CirCus for the Not So Wordless

Caution: Wet Paint!

* I just commented on Tracey's blog post, and I really like what I said...so I'm adding it to the front of today's blog...just a few hours after posting :)*

What's been on my mind a lot today is in 10 short weeks, I'll be a mother for the second and last time. It's hitting me hard today what all that means...as a woman, a wife, a mother...a person of this world.
That's not what I blogged about, though :) Just how my first child is so into the 'process' of everything...not the outcome. 'wonder what will happen if I paint my whole hand red...hmmm'

On our first non cold, wet or windy day Mia finally got to paint outside! She knows that if it's outdoor painting, pretty much anything goes...she gets to explore to the fullest and messiest. This day was no exception.

My only problem is that I can't pick my Best Shot! This has seriously been the hardest Monday for me...ever! They are all my 'best's' for one reason or another, but I'm going with the first one...but feel free to pick your own. If you go HERE, you'll see there are more that didn't make the cut, but came in sooo close!

It was a perfect afternoon....Mia got to paint, and I got to capture it all :)

My choice for Best Shot

For more colorful shots, go see Tracey at Mother May I

Let the love shine...

The other morning, we got all crafty with our friends and made heart shaped sun catchers. It is the month of LOVE :) The kids and ADULTS had a blast tearing sheets of tissue to bits. They they sometimes very carefully picked out little pieces of tissue to stick onto the clear contact paper. When the kids were satisfied with their art, the mamas helped close it up and cut into heart shapes...a couple of hole punches and a string of yarn later, they had beautiful sun catchers. There was, of course, some good playtime before and after. Mia and I hadn't really hosted in-home since I got knocked up, so this was refreshing and so much fun to have some friends over.

Happy Belated Balentime's Day

I'm a week late on this post, but here it is :)

Valentine's Day or as Mia calls it...Balentime's Day...was so wonderful. I went to my first prenatal yoga class....it was PHENOMENAL! It was so amazing to be in a room filled with other pregnant women at varying stages of pregnancy. Talk about beauty and connection. LOVE Yoga Yoga's after session tea. Yoga was followed by a 1 1/2 hour massage with the lovely Sara Ballard...ohhhh I soooo needed that! She's beyond intuitive and pretty much perfect....she had Valentine's gifts for her clients...I selected the beautiful daisy pictured below and a yuuuuummmmmyyyyy bar of organic almond and dark chocolate bar...um...HUGE bar!...It was GONE before I got home. Thank you Sara...you make everyone feel so special.

Later, Daryl came home with gifts for his girls. He's a firm believer that Valentine's Day is a time to shower the women in your life with love...and chocolate! Mia was thrilled and was almost vibrating as she tried to get her card out of the envelope...I LOVE that Daryl gets so much pleasure from selecting the always most PERFECT card...he spends a lot of time and thought into what he picks...Mia got a very sparkly Ariel card! Over the moon, that sent her! Then he gave her what she now calls her lovey bear. They were so cute snuggling on the sofa together...Daddy, daughter and lovey bear....Mia LOVED my flowers and even let her lovey bear smell them. Too cute!

The flowers...let me tell you about the flowers! Roses and snapdragons are my fave. My darling husband replaced the snapdragons with my new favorite flower....casablanca lilies!!! For our Lily. It took me a long while to stop crying on that one!

OK! My husband actually surprised be but BIG this year. He knows I LOVE LOVE LOVE Godiva dark chocolate....so, he gave me a big box of them, and under the cherry cordial (the first one I always go to) was a gorgeous bracelet!!!! I was totally speechless! He usually has me 'ok' a jewelry item before purchase, but this one he did all on his own and it's FABULOUS!!!!

From me? Oh, he got just what his sweet heart desired....beer :)

a few days after...those lilies really bloomed!

This man cherishes his girls every day, but on Balentine's Day, he really had fun and from the HUGE smile on his face, totally loved giving those gifts to his girls.

Mailbox FULL of Thank You Notes!!!!

I just checked the mailbox..it was FULL of Thank You notes!....notes that I had written and mailed! How did that happen?!?! ummmm, during a well planned lapse of judgment...I put Mia's return address labels where the recipient's address should have gone! I was methodical...thought I had all my bases covered! The post office actually processed them and mailed them back to me...they're so efficient :) If all would have gone as planned, some awesome peeps would be admiring some pretty sweet thank you notes right about now.

So, for those sweet folks who gave Mia a birthday gift....Mia truly appreciates and loves them all, but her mama may not be up to writing them all up again...hope you understand.

Love,
Tanya

Tribute to Allie

Last night the lovely Simon family suddenly lost a very important member....Allie. She w, as one of the kindest dogs I've ever met. She let Mia practically climb all over, squeeze, and love on her all Mia wanted. Allie took it all like a champ. Allie was the perfect dog...gentle, patient and kind. If it tells you anything, Mia refers to the Simon's home as "Allie's house"...whenever we would visit, all Mia could talk about was Allie, Allie Allie....Mia quite frequently abandoned play with the kids so she could hang with sweet dear Allie. She was such a special dog with a loving soul, and will be dearly missed.

Here are a few of my favorite shots of Mia loving on and being loved by Allie

skillz - baking & emotional

I've been so in awe of Mia lately...well I always am, you know what I mean. Like at the Heart-bakers playdate last Friday, it was way more than 'I want to do it myself'....she DID it all pretty much herself. Measured, poured, mixed, rolled, cut...used the spatula like a pro..in all she needed very little guidance. Who is this three year old who can do so much?

At the dinner table, she reminds Daddy to 'thank mama for dinner'. Is incredibly empathetic. I had a rough day yesterday that resulted in some tears. Mia came up to me, snuggled me asked me if she could help...then later asked if I was feeling better. She knows the difference between a happy or sad cry :)

So, even though, Mia isn't 'in' the shot below, I LOVE that she's wielding that spatula, and it's a reminder to me how much she's evolving into such a great little girl, who does indeed have skillz!

for more love hop over to chookooloonks and The Land of K.A.