{muutama idis}

fun drawing idea for kids. trace their hand and make it into an octopus. could have made ours a bit nicer but oh well. i don't like crayons. i prefer markers or coloring pencils. crayon crumbs are icky. :)

i made a family home evening temple game. the idea is from the august 2009 friend magazine (lds kids' magazine).
non lds families could make whatever other theme they want. it could be about house rules or a season of the year. or whatever. the idea is to count the number of the words and that's how many paces you move towards the goal. you could just write numbers on the game pieces too. if you have older kids, they can easily draw their own game. decorate the game board and everything. if the kids feel really ambitious, they could even make a poster size game.
i used some of our playdough thingys as game pieces in this picture. i thought it would be fun if everyone made their own game piece out of playdough. that's what we'll do this coming monday.
i used my 1" circle punch to do all the circles. laminated everything. you don't have laminate if you use thick cardboard. depends how long you want it to last. :)
happy friday everyone!
mulla itsellani on karseetakin karseampi olo tanaan. on kuin olisi vatsassa solmu. pinna kireella. taidan olla paljon stressaantuneempi kuin luulinkaan. huh.
lapsenvahti kun sienna menee nukkumaan ja sitten leffaan. eikohan se tasta taas...

{iloa ja surua}

via www.plastolux.com
citadel floating apartment complex by koen olthuis
love, love, love this one: solar forest by neville mars to charge electric vehicles. i so could live in a world like this!
i feel like writing in finnish once again. would anyone miss the english version? let me know. i'm trying to figure out this language thing once again. my on-going dilemma. it just seems that most of my readers are finnish. i'll continue to share other stuff than my life in english. finds, crafts ideas and so forth. would this work for everyone?
it's hard to know why people visit my blog as i don't get that many comments. when comments dwindle i start thinking it's time to quit the blog all together. if it wasn't for the feedjit that shows people do visit here, i probably would have quit long time ago. an on/off blog crisis. :) anyways, let me know.
tanaan on ollut kiva paiva. yllattavaa silla elama on ollut vahan surullista viime aikoina. tiistai-iltana kaytiin nukuttamassa meidan ihanaakin ihana kissa spice. voi etta oli vaikeaa erota spicesta! on ollut niin ihana perheenjasen. mutta spice on ollut jo pari kuukautta tosi sairas. laihtui ihan kamalasti. laakkeet eivat tepsineet. oli aika. mutta oli tosi surullista sanoa hyvastit. jonain paivana on sitten ihana nahda spice taas ja sitten ei tarvitsekaan erota enaa ollenkaan.
sienna kyselee silloin talloin etta milloin spice tulee takaisin. ei oikeen ymmarra viela asiaa. onneksi siennan suru naytti olevan lyhytaikaista ja on taas ihan ok.
itkin hurjasti tiistai iltana kun sienna oli mennyt nukkumaan.
kova ikava yllattaa edelleen usein (voiko sydameen siis ihan todellakin sattua?) mutta elama jatkuu. helpommaksi sen tekee tama meidan pikkutytto joka pitaa kiireisena ja jonka takiakaan ei saa vaan surra ja itkea.
tanaan kavin verikokeessa. sen jalkeen mentiin whyte avenuen kirjakauppaan. on se niin kiva alue. yliopiston lahella ja paljon nuoria opiskelijoita asuu siella. kivoja pikku putiikkeja. jotenkin kiva energia kun sinne aina menee. kirjakaupasta loysin kasvomaalaus kirjan seka siennalle kiva paasiaisaiheinen askartelukirja (voi niita idiksia kylla muulloinkin toteuttaa). sienna leikki thomas junilla seka pehmoleluilla. mina haaveilin etta mulla olisi loputon budjetti kirjoihin. miten voikin rakastaa kirjoja niin paljon!
seuraavaksi kavaistiin viereisessa taidevalineliikkeessa josta loytyi ihon maalaukseen tarkoitettuja varikynia. siennalle loytyi kiva kidevesivari setti. tuolla se tytto nyt maalailee. opetin miten roiskutella taplia.
kotiin tullessa tehtiin nami smoothie ja ihanasti virvoittikin +30C helteessa taas.
iloa ja surua, vieri vierekkain. sellaista tama elama on.

{distraction is the name of the game}

moroccan style party by amy atlas.

i needed some distraction today so i was browsing the web. once again admired amy atlas' work. she has the most fun job ever. love the parties she creates. she must have clients who have a limitless budget for their parties.

www.amyatlas.blogspot.com

www.tomkatstudio.etsy.com
some people have too much time in their hands. :)

this would actually be a fun activity with kids.
www.funkylunch.com

{tah mita}

omakuva kuulemma. ihana.

miten tassa nain on kaynyt? minusta on tullut hiljainen nossottaja. eli...

kesalla joka tiistaiaamuna meidan seurakunnan naiset lapsineen tapaavat eraalla leikkarilla. lapset leikkivat, aidit jutskailevat. mentiin taas siennan kanssa tanaan pitkasta aikaa. sienna leikki iloisesti parin kaverin kanssa. etsivat kivia kokoelmaansa. ystavyysleikit kavi hyvin luontevasti ja iloisesti.

sitten mina. siella vaan istuin ja en ottanut osaa jutskailuun. istuin vaan ja kuuntelin. muiden juttu lensi niin nopeaan tahtiin ettei huvittanut kai sitten siihen valiin sanoa mitaan.

ihmettelin vaan siina etta missa vaiheessa minusta on niin hiljainen tullut.

olen huomannut etta olen parempi kun juttelen jonkun kanssa kaksistaan. porukassa usein hiljaa kuuntelen vaan. hoh.

jotenkin ottaa oma itseni paahan. mukavampihan se olisi rupatella, eiko. onkohan tama pysyvaa vai jotain ohimenevaa?

barbeilla sentaan osaan viela leikkia vuosikymmenien jalkeen. :)

{good reminder}

Yesterday evening electricity went out for awhile in our area. A good reminder to make sure you are prepared for anything that might happen. We always have lots of candles but I realized we could use couple of more flashlights. We had two handy but it would be nice to have at least one in each room. Flashlights are safer than candles when you have pets or children.

It was kind of fun walking around with a flashlight. :) It always feels so good when the electricity comes back though. When we lived in Fort Chipewyan (a small Indian village way up north), the electricity went out for hours and hours and it was totally pitch black. It started to do mind tricks on you after a while. We sure take things for granted.
Gotta get back to finishing our 72 hour emergency kit. There's still things I need to add to it.

I have mentioned it before but I'll say it again. If there's some kind of natural disaster or emergency, sometimes it takes up to 3 days for aid to start coming in. Even the government nowadays recommends that everyone should have a 72 hour emergency kit. Anything you might need for three days packed in large containers or backpacks.

Huge fires blazing in Los Angeles again. Huge forest fires over here in Canada, in British Columbia. Never know what nature cooks up for us even when living in a relatively safe area. Be prepared!

I need to remember to take some macro pictures too. A must every time we have flowers. :)

The sun was actually bright orange. It was gorgeous. We've had +30C weather for awhile now. I'm looking forward to fall and some cooler weather. I wasn't made for heat. :)

{our butterfly princess turns 4}

we celebrated sienna's fourth birthday yesterday.

this year's theme was butterflies.

invitations were made with my much-used CK creative lettering program.

i printed some butterfly clipart (found via google image search) on cardstock and voila - decorations. cheap yet oh so cute.

the giftbags had butterfly/flower pencils and erasers and foam shapes.
all from michael's.

this year's cake decoration. i found a picture of a butterfly princess outfit online, switched sienna's head on, glued it all on scrapbook paper and laminated it. added some bling.

more yellow balloons were in the playroom too for the kids to play with.

this is how we got the idea for the theme. sienna's been excited about butterfly drawings and crafts lately.

we held two birthday parties. first one was for little girls, for sienna and her friends. we borrowed a kids' size table and chairs from the church. when the girls showed up, they first made butterfly crafts. colored these pictures and decorated them with foam/shiny shapes and stickers. everyone got a butterfly wand too that they decorated.

next we ate cake.

then we had hidden chocolate bars downstairs in the play room. made sure each girl found some.

the girls then played with balloons and jumped on the trampoline.
the girls also danced to music with their wands.

opened gifts (almost forgot about that, to be honest).

and that's about it.

then came family and friends a bit later and we had another party. more goodies, cake and presents.

sienna's favorite gifts were her new barbies.

daddy curled her hair as usual.

sienna got to do this twice. :)

fun day.

is it just me or did she start behaving like she's one year older just like on cue?

oh how fast they grow. gotta enjoy every day, every minute.

{voi etta}

awww! gotta share this embroidered love note i found at the beautiful mess blog. elsie's blog is always so fun. even though her style is often so different from mine, i find her blog and her life so inspiring. the link to her blog is in my website list.

mulla on tanaan mieli maassa. spice naytti paranevan laakkeiden avulla jo vahan. ei oksentanut pitkaan aikaan. olin jo vahan toiveikas etta ehka se tasta. mutta sydamessa ollut painava olo silti. sellaista ennalta aavistusta. eilen ja tanaan sitten taas oksentelua. spice on niin alyn laiha ja heikon oloinen. luulen etta sitten onkin kyse syovasta ja ei ne laakkeet auttaneet. ensi viikolla elainlaakarille sitten taas. yritan totutella ajatukseen etta pitaa sanoa hyvastit spicelle. on se ollut niin ihana kissa. mun big boy. Y