GRAFFITI IS THE COOLEST...with these guys!

One day, Nyla and I had nothing to do.  I remembered this cool scene, I told Nyla to grab some accessories.  She grabbed a scarf, sunglasses and spray bottle.  We called her best bud, Walter.  He was game and within minutes...

before you see the pictures, I have to say this artist(s) is awesome! I wish I knew who it was to give them credit.  Thank you "Awesome Artist(s)" for your inspiration which gave us our inspiration and the...

COOLEST PHOTO SHOOT EVER!!

Graffiti Adventure Time with Nyla and Walter

There were so many great pictures, these are only a few of them, I might have to make this post have a part 2, 3 and 4!  Nyla and Walter  had a blast from the get go - just pure fun!

If your looking for something fun and free to do - grab your camera or phone and get busy striking a pose baby!   

The kids thought we should get in on the fun - I'm glad we did!

xxxxoooo Michelle :)

Again super thanks to the artist!! Love and hugs to our super models, Nyla and Walter and thanks to Gina for always being up for my crazy ideas and raising such a great son!

(funny, its rare that I get in the picture since I'm the one who is always taking them; I noticed I'm wearing the same shirt in this post :)  COOL FUN CRAFT 

One Cool Necklace...

Don't you just love this necklace that Nyla made?  I want one...but Bigger :)

Nyla made it with money from her piggy bank.
xxxxoooo Michelle

Blueberry Pickin...

For me, summer just screams blueberry pickin time!  It's our third year now and I'm hooked!  I try to recruit everyone I can, I've learned it is way funner if Nyla has a buddy. I've also learned, I'm crazed and can't stop until I fill up those cans!  There's just something therapeutic about it that I love!  


Nyla's buddy, Walter has gone with us the past two years unfortunately, I lost the pictures :(  The day was perfect, slightly cool and cloudy unlike the years past.


Here's a picture of Nyla from 3 years ago on a crazy hot day, see her pink cheeks.  She was probably thinking, Mommy are we ever gonna get out of here!

If you ever get the chance -  try it. Cause who can resist munching on blueberries as you pick these plump, tart, sweet, jewels!  What a great thing, you leave healthier than when you came! 


Oh and by the way Nyla does not like whole wholewheat pancakes but she likes them with blueberries!!! (Nyla typed this sentence)


Of course we've had blueberry this and blueberry that but I think my favorite is scooping up a handful right out of bowl.


Between the 2 trips I've made this year, we picked 13 pounds.  I think that's enough and  we'll have a little taste of summer well into winter!


Hey, thanks for stopping by!  I hope you have a really fun day! xxxxoooo Michelle

Summer SNOW CONE craft

Snow cones remind me of being a kid! Sloppy, drippy, sticky, too sweet, cold, stain your tongue and teeth yumminess!

So when I saw this cute as a button snow cone craft from the amazing, http://www.creaturecomfortsblog.com I fell in love!

Just follow the simple instructions SNOW CONE FUN and you can be in snow cone heaven year round and you don't even have to stain your teeth! :) 
I thought these were so fun, I had them on my table for awhile as a centerpiece. (I got carried away and painted the whole ball but as the tutorial states - it saves paint if you only paint two thirds.)

I'm in love with the golden sparkle of this snow cone.  Can you imagine eating a real golden jeweled snow cone?  My Styrofoam balls were a different size so I had to do some minor adjustments to her template; other than that this was easy and fun.  I glued my snow cones to a 16x20 canvas and created summertime artwork that lasts all year!  We decided to hang it in Nyla's room.  I don't know why she had her "ice cream" bubbles in her room - but it goes with it right? (I'll have to sneak them out of there before the next  play date :)

Super thanks to EZ at http://www.creaturecomfortsblog.com/  for this fun inspiration and all the Snow Cone makers out there!  I'm off to find you!

Have a fun summer day! xxxxoooo Michelle

Craft Closet Cleanup Lead To...

A new Me! 

One day Nyla was bummed that she didn't have a play date.  I suggested that we trace ourselves onto big paper and take stuff from our craft closet and fill us in.

So we did...I envisioned making mine real cool and artsy, filling mine with chakras (to find out more about chakras click here) and insightful things about me.  Nyla quickly got started on hers giving herself a new eye color since she couldn't find something brown, making cool clothes etc.  Before I could really even get to creating, Nyla asked if she could help with mine.  Well, before I new it she took over and gave me a whole new look.

I guess what I learned afterward was to just go for it, don't think to much and have fun.  I did however give myself a purse and Nyla a microphone since she wants to try out for the reality show, America's Got Talent :)

Nyla had a blast, me too, I love how she gave me feather eyelashes, some "cool" in my heart and skinny spindly legs.  My shirt came from here.

We hung our new looks in Nyla's room.  Recently, we  gave her room a makeover from pink walls to Gypsy Blue but she was missing something- she had a big blank space. Now we're bigger than life and Nyla has her Mommy hanging with her even at nighttime. 

Have some fun, clear some clutter, don't work on being perfect just you...but in a new way! :) xxxxoooo Michelle

Hey, I really appreciate you stopping by, my blog door is always open! :)

I'm having fun here, come join me!

SUMMERTIME PRETTY...

xxxoooo Michelle

NOT SO CONVENTIONAL REASONS WHY I LOVE THE HELP...

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett

If you haven't read it, I don't want to spoil it for you but I just have to say why I love it in a non-book review sort of way.  (in no specific order)

It's Kathryn Stockett's first novel, which gives me incredible inspiration, hope and drives me to keep plugging along at my books.

This was the first time Nyla and I laid in bed reading together - our own books, (Nyla is now reading chapter books whew hew!).  We're laying there, I'm reading The Help and she is reading, The Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney for hours until we fell asleep.  It became a nightly thing while Andy was away fishing and for this, I will always remember these books and this special moment.

I found out to remove a broken light bulb from a socket use a potato.  I can't wait to try this!  Our house in Costa Rica has had so many broken light bulbs stuck in the sockets, if this works it will really make our day! 

My exclusion is tangible...I have never felt the feeling that Skeeter felt; luckily I've always had friends that accepted and embraced my opinions and differences.  So I feel lucky.  Does that mean I need to stretch more in my views, I don't know; I'm for love not hate.  I'm glad I wasn't around during that time in history.  I would like to think I would be like Skeeter.

Even though November 8th is the tragic day of Treelore's death, out of all the days of the year Ms. Stockett picked that one, anytime I hear that date I think of the glorious day my beautiful daughter was born.

My circumstances are different from Aibileen's but I know the dread of the date and the loss she and others in the story felt.  

Grits!  I love grits, so I tried this cute little recipe that Aibileen sweetly prepared for Mae Mobley's birthday.  Instead of strawberries, I used blueberries.  (Andy liked it, Nyla not so much, me...I love grits :)

I celebrate the New Year's Day tradition of eating black eye peas for good luck.  So, Skeeter and I not only have the love of writing in common but a tradition as well.

Minny, I'm just so thankful for her, she's tough, blunt and got your back.

For more information about The Help visit http://kathrynstockett.com/.

There are so many more reasons to read, The Help; this is just a few of mine.  What are yours?  Sending you hugs and love! 
xxxxxoooo Michelle

Glitchville lead me to back in the day...

Hey Everyone, I've been having some major glitches going on in my world...my cell phone has been working glitchey for about a month, our dishwasher was broken, our home phone and Internet have been out for 5 days.

So without all these "time savers" I found out that they were really time zappers for me.  

At first I was upset, thinking I gotta get everything fixed right now but I realized I can't be mad for 5 days waiting on the repair guys.  

Yes, I could have gone somewhere to get Internet service, I didn't really need my home phone so much, my cell phone worked enough until it finally sizzled in my hand (that was crazy!) I did manage to figure out how to publish this thank you note from my phone before the sizzle blackout - some might say the final straw but for me it wasn't.

Because...

I saw this station wagon driving down the road, boy it brought back memories; we had one similar when I was growing up.  I was immediately brought back to when my Mom would pack up the station wagon and take my brother and I across country.  We would bounce back and forth between seats, one of us laying down inching our toes into each others imaginary boundary line; in fact... we would lay all over the place in that cruiser, flopped over the front seat, feet dangling and chatting with Mom.  When it was night, Mom had all the blankets and pillows piled in the back for us to sleep.

I remember one time as we were driving down the highway, it was 4th of July, my brother and I were propped up against the back window staring out searching for the occasional burst of a firework, blurring my eyes to make the headlights go blendy.  Mom would always say they looked like a string of pearls.

That was excitement, in my little eyes, staying up well into the darkness of night, after awhile I would rub my tired eyes, fall asleep and wake up still in the back of the cruiser but the sun rising and in a new place.

As I turned off of Memory Lane and back into Glitchville - still no computer, waiting for a new cell phone replacement, my home phone doesn't work, dishes piled up because I don't want to empty the dishwasher, oh yeah, my dishwasher doesn't work, can't blog, can't look up anything unless I go somewhere and you know what...I didn't really care, there was a calmness in my house and in me, we actually did so much more together.  

Now everything is slowly getting back to "normal" and I'm in Presentville. I love all the amazing things technology provides but I also love the beauty and freedom that not having it brings me, my mind is clear, I've embraced my family and friends without interruption.  

I guess sometimes getting the cord cut is a good thing.  For me, I just have to be reminded to take a vacation to Presentville every now and again. How about You where are you traveling to today? 

Sending you love and hugs wherever you are...xxxxoooo Michelle

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

We are Independent and loving it! Thank you all who keep us that way! xxxxoooo Michelle

This picture of Nyla was taken at the Please Touch Museum  Philadelphia, PA USA.