Strolling of the Heifers

The Strolling of the Heifers in Brattleboro, Vermont was everything a small town parade should be. There were a cast of characters, local clubs, homemade floats, marching bands and...cows! Approximately 100 of them. Not to mention donkeys, miniature horses and alpacas. The steady rain didn't put a damper on any ones spirits as the Fairy Cow-Mother and her Dairy Princesses started off the parade with tutus, umbrellas and rain boots. My girls were thrilled by the baby cows, stilt walkers, music and of course the treats being handed out along the parade route. Being Vermont, Dum-Dum lollipops and Tootsie Rolls were being handed out alongside packets of baby carrots and organic fruit snacks.

The parade was followed by a day of music, food and activities.  If the weather had cooperated it would have been the perfect day...maybe next year!

The Strolling of the Heifers was a perfect way to start off my summer fair and festival obsession.  If you live in New England and you have a fair or festival you recommend leave me a comment. We are always up for a road trip!

Fairy Dust

This past weekend, Lu and her cousin spent over an hour creating a fairy garden. Lu has run outside every morning to check if any fairies visited.

Last night, a few fairies must have sprinkled a bit of pixie dust around while they were playing!
Lu was thrilled :)



Summer So Far...

Here is a glimpse of our summer so far...

Instagram Obsession

I am obsessed with my new free iPhone app. It is called Instagram.

You can choose various filters and effects to spruce up your photos.

Selective focus is fun to play with.

This is one of my favorite filters. It turns a photo into instant nostalgia!

Saturation! Love the colors. Perfect for this post pool and popsicle shot.

This filter added drama to a somewhat uniteresting photo of a lit lantern floating up in the sky.

I can't stop playing with this app!

Rainbows, Sunflowers and Strawberries

Watering the sunflowers

Picking our strawberries

Have a Happy 4th of July!

Summer, Summer, Summer!

We kicked off summer with some berry picking!

Haven't been feeling too crafty lately. Hoping for some summer inspiration. 

What kind of projects do you have planned?

Another snow day...

Definitely feels like Groundhog Day!

To Grandma's House We Go...

Here are a few pictures from our last visit to Grammy and Grandpa's (Papa King's parents) house. The girls wore the matching vests that my mom made for them. Soft, furry, and so textural, they absolutely love them. I think they look like little rock stars in them!

My In-laws have the nicest friends. Their good friends, Mr. & Mrs. W. like to drop off doll strollers for the girls to play with during their visits. The girls always look forward to playing with them. This time the strollers weren't empty...

 Inside each stroller was a brand new doll for them to keep! 

Thank you Mr. & Mrs. W!!!! We love our dolls. We feel so fortunate our Grammy & Grandpa have such great friends in their lives.  XOXO Lu & Em

Our Crystal Cave

The snow was piled so high after plowing our driveway - it made the perfect start for our crystal cave.

Papa King & I dug out a cave big enough for two...

Em approves!

Water tinted with pink food coloring squirted on top....

Colored ice cube crystals inside!

A crystal cave fit for 2 princesses :-)

Have a crafty weekend!

The Joy of Taking the Christmas Card Photo

The day of the Christmas card photo shoot...

Not even a bribe of a lollipop was going to wipe that look off her face.

The Newest King...

We just adopted a little tiger kitten. We named him after a fellow bloggers daughter. I know, Sharon...the girls just love your daughter's name! I have to be honest that it was their third choice after Mulan and Sleeping Beauty. I nixed both of those. So...Momo won!

Isn't our little Momo just the sweetest little kitty?

We are all in love!

What is so good about goody bags?

Lu turned 5 on Monday! More on that later...

Back up to Sunday night.

Lu's new school just instituted a no food birthday policy. Instead they suggest your child give out a small token, a pencil or a sticker. Right. Do I really think someone was going to give out a plain old pencil. Not in this day and age of goody bags. Of course, Lu's birthday is the first of the school year and I had no idea what the protocol was and what extent people go to for these things. Yes, these are the things that keep me up at night...I know! So sad.

I racked my brain. That is when I saw a bag of Smencils at Barnes and Noble. Perfect, I though...fun, smelly, recycled and a step up from a regular pencil. I was all set. That is until about 8 o'clock Sunday night when I said to myself, "Self, you can't just give out a pencil. That is lame! It has to be wrapped, or put in a bag or have some sort of identifying label on it. Aargh!" I mean really, I write a craft blog! This is when Papa King judiciously stepped away slowly and left me to my kvetching. 

I didn't have any cute wrapping paper or gift bags on hand and I wasn't about to run to the store. I did have sticker paper on hand. So this is what I came up with. 

Of course this is the night my printer runs out of cyan ink. So my colorful flags were now black and white. They still came out cute. I cut them out into long strips and wrapped the sticker around the top of the pencil tube to create a little flag. The kids were smiling and waving them and shouting bye to Lu when I picked her up. Worth the effort? Yes. Definitely, yes! My hubby said to me afterwards, "You know, you are a great mom. I don't think I tell you that enough." Sigh!!! After 7 years he still melts my heart :-)

So here is the best part. Lu decided, after her day of stardom at school, that she had changed her mind and wanted to have a birthday party. Yes, you read right. Hmmm...so the Smencils were just the Quickfire Challenge and now I am up for the Elimination Challenge (Top Chef reference.)

Luckily, Miss Em and I had discovered the local Audubon Society the previous week. I signed the girls up for a 4 week workshop on Native American Customs and Crafts. Guess what? They do birthday parties there! AND yes, they have an opening! AND the kicker, they are super affordable!

Lu wanted to buy princess invites. I reminded her she was inviting the entire class and not everyone, mainly the boys, love princesses. So Lu suggested she make an invitation with a princess and a pirate on it. She is a chip off the old crafty block! It just warms the heart. I am completely biased, but is this not the cutest invitation you have ever seen? What is it about your own child's artwork that just turns you to mush?

So, you realize, this brings us back to goody bags. Haha! 

Don't worry. This time I am not sweating it.

Have fun crafting with your kids! Mama King

Back to School Photo Name Tags "Frugal Family Fun" Style

Check out these cute signs we made for the girls school cubbies. 

Bonus! You get to see Papa King. A rare sighting indeed :-) 

Both girls have designated cubbies at their new preschool. The school recommended posting a family photo to help kids transition to school. I immediately thought of Valerie's Back to School Photo Name Labels over at Frugal Family Fun Blog. Definitely check out her version here!

We add our own twist by including each member of the family. If your child's name is longer and you run out of family try using the family pet or a favorite stuffed animal.

Cut out the letters for the girls names. Lucky for us their names are only 4 letters each.

Decorate the letters. I gave the girls paper scraps, ribbon, stickers, markers and glitter glue. Let dry.

Next find some bright backdrops and grab your camera. We used pillow cases. 

The fast way: 

I printed the pictures out at the drugstore and then placed them onto a sheet of contact paper to laminate them. I had to make the signs vertical to accommodate the vertical nature of their cubbies.

The slow way: 

I then uploaded the pictures to Illustrator (my design tool of choice) and placed them onto one page. I scaled them down so they would fit onto a 5x7 photo (see below - I fit 3 names onto one 5x7.) I saved the file. Uploaded it to Shutterfly and ordered several to send to the grandparents. I may even turn them into a fun bookmark.

Have fun crafting with your kids! Mama King

Preschool Graduation

A joyful day!

Sunday Snapshot

First fair of the season! A Renaissance Faire to boot! What a gorgeous day to be outside. Hope you enjoyed your day!

Thank You!

Thank you for all your well wishes!  

We are staying on the East Coast and moving closer to family but have yet to choose a town. 

More updates to come...

Here is a shot of Em that I thought was too cute not to share!

Hope you are enjoying your day!

Easter Photos

Had to share a couple Easter photos!

I think I had the two happiest bunnies on the block!

You Got To Keep Them Separated!

New floors going in. Had to clear our main living level. Trying to keep the girls occupied with all their toys packed up. Built them a fort. Lasted about two minutes before I heard, "MOOOOMMMMM!" Followed by, "Waaaaahhhhhhh!" 

Enter fort number two. Some days it isn't worth my sanity to get them to work it out.

Everybody happy?

Too bad Emme can't read.

Now maybe I can empty out that closet. Not likely, but I'll try.

The Battle Over the Hanbok or Sharing Our Korean Culture

I had a great time talking about Korea and the New Year to the kids in Lu's Preschool Class, last week. I brought a Hanbok and a boys Jeogori (jacket) for the kids to try on. I read to the class,  New Clothes for New Year's Day by Hyun-joo Bae and  The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi. I also taught the kids how to say hello and friend in Korean.

Last year Lu wore her Hanbok to school and was very proud of "looking different." This year she did not want to wear her Hanbok. I respected her wishes, only after trying to talk her into it unsuccessfully. I did recognized her desire to blend in having been there myself. I just wasn't expecting it to come so quickly.

I brought the Hanbok with me to the talk. When I pulled it out of the bag, all the kids oohed and ahhed over it. I asked who wanted to try it on. By the time every hand shot up Lu had officially changed her mind. 

It is ironic that it took the classes unanimous acceptance for Lu to be free to be different.

She left school feeling very proud of her Korean roots. 

Somehow, I felt that I had accomplished much more than I intended.