Feeding Time...

This afternoon The Barefoot Princess fed The Barefoot Baby her lunch. We had A LOT of laughs! They both thought it was hysterical and once we started giggling we could not stop. BP acutally did a fine job feeding her little sister. I realized that BP is capable of so much and is totally my little helper. Clean-up took a little longer, but it was worth it!

Strawberry Picking

Yesterday morning we went strawberry picking with our friends Allison and Grace. It was a beautiful day, not too hot and not too cold, as we crawled through the berry patch searching for ripe strawberries. There were so many to choose from. While BB napped in her stroller, we picked two baskets of strawberries. BP and Grace picked a bunch and then had more fun transferring them from basket to basket. We left with $7 worth of strawberries... I was surprised how much $7 bought at the farm... alot more than in the grocery store! I froze them last night to use in our smoothies this winter. Thanks to Allsion for coming up with this idea. This is definitely something I want to do every June from now on.

Red, White, and Blue Strawberries

Red, white, and blue chocolate covered strawberries are easy to make and so festive. I have made them for the 4th of July a couple times and they are always a big hit. Who doesn't love a choclate covered strawberry? So if you need a dish to take to a picnic this year I highly reccomend these.

All you have to do is melt the white choclate chips in a double boiler. If you do not have a double boiler just put them in a glass bowl over a pot of water and melt them that way.

Then dip the washed strawberries in the choclate and sprinkle with blue sprinkles. I prefer the blue crystal sprinkles because they look so pretty, but you could use any sprinkles.

Enjoy!

So Lovely...

A sweet pea flower from our garden. Every time I see them I think of my little sweet pea, The Barefoot Princess.

Plight of the Bees...

We are doing our part to support our local honeybees. My husband won this garden bee skep on Ebay for me. When it came in the mail I was so excited to open it and add it to our garden. It was the perfect finishing touch!
Bee skeps encourage bees to make a home and then to visit the flowers and veggies nearby to pollinate them. Many plants, such as apples, blueberries, broccoli, carrots, and onions require pollination to grow and produce. For the last couple of years honeybess have been mysteriously abandoning their hives and disappearing, never to return. This puzzles and worries scientists and farmers, who fear their disappearing act may be the result of pesticide use, a dwindling food supply, or a virus that is attacking the bees' immune systems. Whatever the case, honeybees are important to our food supply and flowers and since honeybess do not sting they are very welcome in our garden! Oh and BP loves honey on her cheeiros... just another reason to welcome the bees!

Genuine Kids

Shopping at Target is oh so fun, especially since I found Genuine Kids by Osh Kosh. I love this brand because of the coordinating patterns and cute girly styles. Oh, and because it washes well. I can buy the shirts for BP and the matching dresses with bloomers for BB. Of course, I love the really great prices too! I have not found this brand anywhere else. Even the Osh Kosh outlet does not sell it. Above are some pieces that I bought the last time we were at Target. I just cannot resist the floral, the seersucker, and great summer colors.

Happy Birthday Uncle T

Happy Birthday to Uncle T!!! The Barefoot Princess and The Barefoot Baby miss you and cannot wait to see you very soon. So do we! Have fun tonight and be careful.

A Train Ride...

Sometimes the best days are those that are spontaneous and completely unplanned. A perfect example... we had such a great day when we stumbled upon a train ride in a neighboring county. Daddy whipped our car into the parking lot just as the train was about to depart. We hopped on and enjoyed an hour long ride through the most beautiful green countryside with breathtaking river views. There was a closed car and an open air car and we spent time on each, but when BP found the window in the open air car and made a couple friends, that is where we stayed. Alex and Felix sat beside BP and the threesome enjoyed the ride and talked amongst themselves. They read a Thomas book while chugging down the tracks and then Alex tickled BP's toes because he like her toenail polish. She keeps talking about him touching her toes. It was a fun and relaxing day... Thanks to Daddy for finding this adventure.

Potty Roadblock

The Barefoot Princess in picture #1, showing her beastly mood all morning because she has to go #2 and is afraid for some reason. We need help and advice on going #2 on the potty desperately!!! You would not believe the whining, crying, and drama all morning... until she finally just goes in her pants and then is so upset because she had an accident. Picture #2 was taken ten minutes later after all had been cleaned up... I found BP coaching Kirsten through #2 on the potty. I had to laugh because we had such a rough morning.
I have to look this up in my toddler books and on-line, but any help would be appreciated. She has mastered #1 on the potty, but this is a whole different challenge.

Sitting Like a Lady

The Barefoot Baby often sits like this and I think it is such a cute BB characteristic. Something I definitely want to remember!

Super Baby!

Here is The Barefoot Baby hanging in the garden while The Barefoot Princess and I water and weed. She does this new thing where she props herself up on her hands and knees and then lets go... and looks like Superman flying through the air!

Love You Daddy...

Your Two Princess'

XOXOXOXOXOXO

Open House at BP's School

Ready or not... here IT comes... IT is pre-school for The Barefoot Princess. I don't think we will ever be ready, but she is excited and on Saturday we all attended her school's annual open house for new students and current students. Within five minutes of being there, BP took a header off the swings on the playground and blood pured out of her mouth. Thank heavens there was no major damage, just a little cut in her lip where her teeth hit. Needless to say, they will definitely remember her in September.
We were able to meet BP's teacher, who was a former student at the school. Then we took a hike and stopped at each of the six learning stations the classes had set up along the trail. We grabbed some ice cold water and chocolate chip cookies and played on the other playground until it was time to go. Oh, I almost forgot, BP and her Daddy checked out the school's garden and of course the chickens!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my husband, the most selfless (if that is a word) person I have ever known. He loves, cherishes, and adores his girls. BP and BB appreciate all you do for them...from cuddles and kisses to doctor's appointments and suprise visits at the gym. They know that you will always be there for them in every way everyday. XOXO

Garden Update

With the extremely hot weather we had last week and lots of water... our garden grew like crazy. So did the weeds so we have been watering and weeding everyday. Here are some pictures from this afternoon. I cannot wait until the teepee is completely covered. I think BP will have so much fun hiding in their and having a place of her own in the garden.

The Fruits of Our Labor

We have some strawberries that are almost ready to be picked. The Barefoot Princess just made the connection today between the produce in the grocery store and what we are trying to grow in our garden. It happened when she saw these strawberries. She said, "Just like we buy in Hannaford, mommy?" "For our smoothies." So simple, but so cute!

BB's New Cow Seat

Here is The Barefoot Baby in her new Britax Marathon with "cowmooflage" cover. She loves being a big girl in her new seat, can you tell? The Barefoot Princess kept telling us that BB should have a cow seat too. Luckily they still make this particular seat and cover so BB and BP can match. I like looking back at the matching seats in my car... it makes me smile! I agree with BP matching seats are nice! BB only made it seven months in her infant carrrier. She reached the 22 lb weight limit and we were both getting some serious back problems from carrying her in the seat so it was definitley time!

Happy Belated Birthday Nana!!!

Blogging has been very scarce for me since the weather has been so nice. So I apologize for the little vacation I have been on and I will try to post more this week. Last week was Nana's Birthday so...

Happy Birthday to BP and BB's Nana!

The picture above is of a castle in Kilkenny, Ireland and Nana's big birthday surprise was a trip to Ireland. She and Pop-Pop will travel in November and I am sure they cannot wait!

Pizza Party

The other night we had a pizza party at our house with our friends Tom and Jenny, BP's buddy Gavin, and of course we cannot forget little baby Nola, who is just six months younger than BB. BP has always been very fond of Gavin or "Gavy" as she calls him. Today she actually called him her "other prince." Watch out Daddy! Gavin brought his Jeep over to ride and BP was so excited beacause it has two seats and seatbelts. I got one shot of the two of them in the Jeep, but that thing is fast, so it was kind of hard to get a good picture. Gavin was nice enough to let BP drive and she loved it!!! Gavin had more fun watering our flowers. Thanks Gavin! When it got too dark to play outside we headed in for dessert... cookies and delicious pie, which I just finished a slice of. Thanks Tom and Jenny for bringing the pie and coming over.

Trying to Stay Cool...

Family Resemblance???

I think The Barefoot Baby looks a lot like her twin cousins who are just 6 months older than her. Can you see the resemblance too? The twins live in Colorado so we don't get to see them as much as we would like. They are coming home in late July and we cannot wait. Oh, and Happy Belated First Birthday Girls!