"I'm FIVE" Annika

I can't believe my little girl is five years old. I can't believe she'll be in all-day kindergarten soon. Where has the time gone?

Annika at three days old. Isn't she too cute? I think this is one of my all time favorite photos.My five-year old Annika

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Beach Treasure Boxes

I saw these treasure boxes here this morning and thought they'd be perfect for our outing to the beach this weekend. I know that my girls will LOVE collecting stuff on the beach (Annika loves picking up feathers & shells and Ava goes for rocks).

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Annika's Big Birthday Gift

Here is Annika's BIG gift....

A NEW BED!

Actually, I ordered this bed many moons ago when it was on sale at Pottery Barn Kids (thanks Oma for the gift cards to PBK...without them this wouldn't have been possible!). It's been sitting in our basement in boxes without Annika ever knowing that it was her birthday gift. Clever me!

Now all it needs are some pretty bed curtains (or mistreatments as the Nester would say). Oh...funny thing....I know I measured to make sure the canopy would fit since there's a ceiling fan in her room. Ummm...it does fit but only with a few inches to spare. Yikes!

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birthday Flags

What do you think of this banner? Sorry it's not a great photo (low light).

I made this yesterday using paper from my scrapbooking stash. It was pretty darn easy thanks to my Crop-a-dile (thanks Mama!) and the Cricut machine (thanks Mark!).

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"Mountain Climbing" Ava

Okay, so she's not really climbing mountains...or hills for that matter. Ava has finally mastered the art of getting out of her crib.

We've been wondering when she would learn to do that...and it happened yesterday morning. As I was going upstairs she was coming down the stairs! She didn't want to show me how she got out of the crib in the morning but after naptime she was willing to show me. I did tell her that even though she can climb out that she needs to stay put in her crib until I get her.

Now she doesn't want to stay put in her crib. Oh Joy!

I guess it's high time that we get her a mattress set to sleep on. After all she is 2-1/2 years old!

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Flower Candidates for Toadstool Cake

So.....what do you think of these flowers? Can you guess what that other thing is that is amongst the flowers?

Can you guess what they're made of?

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Feeding the piggies

Piggies?

You might be asking yourself does Astrid have pigs? (NO! and I might add never!)

I'm talking about the tiny hummingbirds that are buzzing all around us! I have several bird feeders that I'm constantly filling with sugar water (4 parts water:1 part sugar). As soon as those little piggies run out of food they do fly-bys- they fly by my windows. Is it just me or are they trying to tell me something?

It's amusing to watch them do battles with each other. They're extremely territorial!

The one extremely annoying thing is that they won't stay in one place long enough for me to get one lousy photo of them. I've even tried standing by a feeder and waiting for a long time for one to come by. Then as soon as I give up and leave they come swooping in! Grrr!

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