Arianna is talking more in sentences:

The other day I showed her the blog and when she saw the picture of the squirrel eating the apple, she said: " The squirrel is eating the apple"! I said yes he is. "He is eating apples because they are mmmmmm (good)!"

"New Clothes"

We had seen a new store of gentle used children 's clothes near our house called Once upon a child and we decided to check it out mostly because the thrift store does not seem to have 3Ts, we are in a budget and Arianna needed some clothes (mostly pants). Arianna had a lot of fun! They had toys as well, but they were not as cheap as the thrift store, but in the other hand the toys are in better condition and complete sets, otherwise they will tell you. No broken pieces, no chipped stuff. Not bad, but we have enough toys for now. I am looking for a kitchen though. She loved his cousin's kitchen last time we went to visit. As for the clothes, you would not even know they were used. I bought two things that still had the tags. Prices were 2.50- 5.00 average. They had dresses or design clothes (GAP, Phat, etc) that are a bit more expensive. We would go again, and hopefully next time the crazy lady that was following Mike will not be there!



This was one of the projects from the 52 projects per year. But I wanted to add some more pictures. She really liked it. Maybe one day we will get an easel, a big one! And we may try feet painting just like someone left in my comments!


Mike was looking for a way to arrange all of Arianna's toys and we bought some baskets. They look so pretty :)

52 projects in one year.

My friend Jane at www.paintedhouse52.blogspot.com has a wonderful idea of doing 52 projects in one year and everyone will share what they did on Sundays. It started two weeks ago, but I did not see it until a few days. So for the second week I did 2 things

1. Finger painting with my daughter. The first one is hers and the second is mine. I don't ever remember doing finger painting when I was little. I remember crayons, pencils, markers, watercolor, but not finger painting. She loved it. She said " I loved to draw!"


2. I tried a new recipe: Chocolate Chips cookies using the space that Mike made for me. The recipe is from Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies! :) (It says it yields 60 cookies, I got 50)

Level: Easy

• Prep: 15 min
• Cooking: 9 min
• Cooling time: 15 min cooling
• Yields: 60

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
• 1 cup chopped nuts

conversion calculator

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

What is Arianna doing lately?

For one, she loves to have her picture taken. She says cheese most of the time. But, in these pictures I got her quite face. Love her eyes :) She looks like a little girl now. She is growing so fast.
In the next pictures are a few things that Ari is very interested in right now and most of them were found in our recent trip to the thrift store:

1. I bought this at a thrift store. Make your own little jewelry box. She is going to paint it with me. She loves to draw and paint. She has the crayolas, washables markers, but she wants to do the finger painting. So, we will do this together. I'll post a pic when it is done. (I paid 1/2 of the price in the cover)

2. Another find at a thrift store. She loves to switch the faces of the bear and outfits. She has learned many emotions thanks to this one.


3. This car is really cool. It is like Legos. You have to put it together so she loves that.


4. New books. 20 books for 1 dollar! Yes, she still loves to be read and now she reads to you too!

5. We found a kitty that looks like Periwinkle. We think it was a knockout from the Blue's Clues series. She loves it.

6. Another find. A wooden train. Nice colors and shapes. She plays with it often.


7. A new interest. Puzzles. We bought this and other puzzles a few months ago, but it is now that she likes to do them. Sometimes she calls them stickers. This one is the picture with the different fish is her favorite so far.


8. Dancing and instruments. She was dancing here with Papa. I did not think fast the other day when she was using the racket as a guitar or my knitting needles as drumsticks or my pots as drums. I 'll try next time. She also likes to sing.


Sunday's newspaper. There were 2 comic strips that made me think how quickly they grow!

WPP #5

The first picture is not my WPP, but Mike's. He took this picture during the week and I liked the motion of the Cardinal. I think is a wonderful picture.

This one is mine. We have about 4 squirrels that are in our yard quite often (if not always). We have more than that, but they come and go. We had some leftover apples and I figure they may liked them. After a few minutes, they spotted the apples, came from their house (the tree is next to our fence), and started eating some of it... then they took off with the entire apple, but I forgot to snatch a picture of that. It is amazing what they can carry!

In the summer, I have a hate-love relationship when they keep trying to eat my tomatoes and flowers, but I always try to plant extra for them and try to buy food they like so they leave my tomatoes alone (for the most part). After seeing a Chicken Hawk almost getting one, I was so scared for the little one. I know is the circle of life and such... so I figure I can re-plant. No biggie. I may still complaint a bit if they take a super nice flower :( but I love the little critters. Plus, I remember how my grandma used to feed them peanuts. She loved animals. I wish she could see my garden. She would have liked it. I try to imagine what she would have done: plant? pick flowers? veggies? birdwatching? squirrel feeding? Now, I just need to do that so she can watch us wherever she is. :)

Help is in its way...

Yesterday I came home and we do a normal routine of either cooking or playing with Arianna. Then, eventually I will go to the bathroom and get stuck in there reading all the tons of magazines that we have. Arianna knocked in the door and said "are you finished mama?" I said I am trying. She said "don't worry, mama. We'll help you."

It was very nice to hear her said that ;) especially after a long day at work.