tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-222243328299148052024-03-09T18:46:09.368-08:00Life is BellaWe are the Champions...a mom, a dad, a Bella, a dog and a cat, taking on the world one day at a timeJessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.comBlogger261125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-89838655997688835132012-08-14T18:15:00.001-07:002012-08-14T18:17:41.096-07:00Sesame PlaceWith our upcoming new arrival (a boy due December 23rd!), we wanted to take Bella somewhere special by herself. The idea of Sesame Place came up, and I was thrilled to learn that it was an Anheuser-Busch park. A-B is great in that they give military members free tickets to one of their parks once a year. So, woo-hoo...free tickets! I also had Starwoods points, so we were able to stay at the Sheraton across the street from the park for free as well. My deal-loving self was doing a serious happy dance.<br />
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A few days before we went to Sesame Place, Bella took a nasty fall. She tripped and fell into a fire hydrant, giving herself a lovely black eye. It didn't seem to bother her past the first day, but it made for some lovely pictures, as you'll see.<br />
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On our way to Philadelphia, we finally told Bella that we were going to see Elmo and go to Sesame Street. She then spent the next 24 hours asking me if it was time to meet Elmo yet. The park doesn't open until 10am, so it went on into the next morning, when I had to explain to her that Elmo was still sleeping. Luckily, the Sheraton had a great complimentary breakfast that we were able to take advantage of. Then we hopped on their shuttle to go over to the park so we were able to avoid the major parking fees.<br />
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Thanks to our eager little one, we were among the first in line and found ourselves waiting in front of the closed gate in the special line for military which was right next to the SP roller coaster, Vapor Trail. Bella watched the roller coaster make a round, turned to us and declared, "I don't want to see Elmo, I want to ride the roller coaster!"<br />
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As soon as the park opened, we headed straight to Vapor Trail and we all jumped on. It was a fun, fairly tame for a roller coaster, ride. Bella buried her face in my side the whole time and I was worried that she was going to be crying at the end. She looked up at me, a bit shell shocked. I asked if she was ok and she nodded. I asked if she wanted to ride it again and she grinned and said "YES! I want to ride it AGAIN!" Vinny took her the second time around since it made me a bit dizzy and I wasn't sure how safe it was for my pregnancy.<br />
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While they were riding, I took advantage of the fact that SP considers pregnancy to be a disability, and got my disability wrist band. I ended up not using it very much, but it was nice not to have to traverse the waiting lines when my hip started acting up.<br />
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We headed over to the Elmo's World section of the park. It was drizzling and not looking promising, but we had on swimsuits, and I had gotten waterproof cases for our phones, so we figured we would ride what we could as fast as possible. She rode Blast Off twice, but then she was pretty done with it.<br />
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Then Peek a Bug, Flyin Fish (which Bella loved and rode again later), and Cloud Chaser.<br />
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It was raining a bit harder, so we headed over to the Elmo Rocks show, which was really cute. While we were there the bottom dropped out. We rushed through the rain into one of the restaurants to wait it out. After reading a bunch of blogs and articles about Sesame Place, we had decided to pack snacks instead of buying food in the park, so we sat and ate our snacks. While we were eating the thunder and lightning started and all the rides closed down. We figured we would go the the Elmo's World show and then head out. People were leaving the park in hoards by then.<br />
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The Elmo's World show was really cute and Elmo decided to pick on Vinny a bit, booping his nose a few times, which Bella thought was hilarious. After the show, they opened the door and lo and behold, the sun was out, the rides were all open, and over half the people were gone, so there were no lines! YAY!<br />
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We hit up the water rides next. I tried out the Sky Splash, but the stairs were too much for me, so Vinny rode the other rides with Bella while I watched.<br />
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They hit all the water rides, but spent the most time in the Count's Splash Castle. By that time we were post-usual-nap-time so we got dried off, dressed up, and hit the gift shop. Bella picked out a small Elmo for herself, a matching Grover for 'baby brother,' and we got a Christmas ornament for Bella. (Grover is a new favorite now because of his association with the roller coaster) It was around 2:30 by then, so we headed out by the main gate to get a spot for the parade. We were by the roller coaster again, and Bella wanted to go one last time, so I went with her. There was NO line because everyone was waiting for the parade to start, so we were able to ride in the front car. Here is the crazy picture we got from the ride:<br />
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After we got off it was time for the parade, which was definitely worth the wait.<br />
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Then we hopped on the shuttle back to the hotel. On the way back Bella started having a conversation with my belly.<br />
Bella: What's that baby? What did you say baby Noel? You liked the swings best?<br />
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It totally made the whole trip...<br />
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Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-22269451440450869542012-04-16T14:00:00.000-07:002012-04-16T14:00:57.031-07:00Fire PlanesWe were hanging out when 2 airplanes started landing on the river outside our backyard to scoop up water. They are taking it over across the river to a forest fire. It was pretty cool to watch. I couldn't really video the drop as well, but it was cool to watch with the binoculars. <div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dy5ZeECEwnah0dTvnDdpPta-_rKgB91zo4eFe5PgDQdOtQG3AQvRHo4mahMucoxw7Qb5qJMQZnZlRbj8MdQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><div><br />
</div>Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-89814117252379700052012-04-09T18:13:00.000-07:002012-04-09T18:13:00.931-07:00Oh Say can you SeaI ran across a picture like this in Cracker Barrel this morning and I thought it was so awesome, I decided to recreate it. And share it of course :)<br />
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Hope you like it!Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-30158191893005936302012-03-05T06:28:00.000-08:002012-03-05T06:28:00.239-08:00Overheard: Shut itLast week we were back in my hometown visiting family. We went out to eat one night, and the conversation got a bit loud. Bella looked at my grandmother and said, "Nanny, shut your mouth."<br />
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The table laughed and then went a bit quiet. So I told Bella that maybe we needed to find a nicer way of asking Nanny to speak more quietly. <br />
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Bella contemplated this, then looked at Nanny and said, "Nanny, shut your mouth... please"Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-5158033490309422312012-03-01T07:58:00.002-08:002012-03-03T08:28:35.080-08:00House Tour: Bella's BedroomYou know how I started taking you on a tour of our house a while back? Like...8 months ago? I happened to have my camera handy, so I took the pictures to take you on a tour of our daughter, Bella's, room (to tour our entryway<a href="http://bellachampion.blogspot.com/2011/07/foyer-foya-foi-yay.html"> click here</a>, to tour our master bedroom <a href="http://bellachampion.blogspot.com/2011/07/master-bedroom.html">click here</a>, to tour our guest bedroom <a href="http://bellachampion.blogspot.com/2011/07/guest-bedroom.html">click here</a>, to tour our classroom <a href="http://bellachampion.blogspot.com/2011/07/our-new-classroom-tour.html">click here</a>).<br />
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The entry to Bella's room is a poufy pink flower/wreath made out of coffee filters. (<a href="http://bellachampion.blogspot.com/2012/02/coffee-filter-wreath.html">Here is how I made it</a>)<br />
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These are the 3 stuffed animals that garner the most attention. Baby David (named after Elmo's doll), Giraffe (so creative), and Mila Monkey (we named it when we gave it to her for her christening). I recently saw an absolutely hilarious video about kids naming their toys. If you have a few minutes, it's worth watching<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_X-9BlmGVn4"> here</a>. <br />
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B doing what she does best <br />
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A Bella's eye view from bed of her new butterfly mobile (I'll share that project soon)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6vnPjUUZ8_7sOZTy2efwUpRrrPRSkScTU0NEL3khyq0GIM4OB_0jy1qmZABVRGi1VGNsPZ2Rbgl7Ypj1aeqkyMWbhVNsjR1TTyYuBrwFEdPq2fpUAKEwGaNYWIeu8L7MJxHH5FGblg/s1600/IMG_3281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy6vnPjUUZ8_7sOZTy2efwUpRrrPRSkScTU0NEL3khyq0GIM4OB_0jy1qmZABVRGi1VGNsPZ2Rbgl7Ypj1aeqkyMWbhVNsjR1TTyYuBrwFEdPq2fpUAKEwGaNYWIeu8L7MJxHH5FGblg/s400/IMG_3281.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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Little baby feet. This is the original stamping of her feet when she was just a few hours old.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRERiKtA73Acot0HMCkzql3qLba2DlxpVv3WWhxuFJzIQDMbv4ZnFGXJ3oHlfBYPvNF_wyNCGUko4jpfiWtoK-yltkpIGGE9VU20bgU_ccOggKTrGlEuY5JwFmfgCxM42Q1dedINv4-g/s1600/IMG_3260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRERiKtA73Acot0HMCkzql3qLba2DlxpVv3WWhxuFJzIQDMbv4ZnFGXJ3oHlfBYPvNF_wyNCGUko4jpfiWtoK-yltkpIGGE9VU20bgU_ccOggKTrGlEuY5JwFmfgCxM42Q1dedINv4-g/s400/IMG_3260.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMBTGjRI1G_Vd35d8E8nIXpJrr9Xtd5rcTgZCsLMMrvZDAmR7-xdLN3JotnUXTBoOuca_YUhVO42ruTxD-ijf66T4VZidAYnPrFV1Lt6v-IGXdKCTgtUXFtPPyujxIxljv89rLg7mlw/s1600/IMG_3258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7t3ba9MdirZOfff4AwQxtBiL9C4viONEPA0Oz9eNPfJDBx8ulekIuD1wEtdCxtmlvrsV5A4w3hSExZQLQqPEKWnzk9M8SlT_KlVj_MjO7N9reDJpaaF8jv7LNZLeXjqNmTCucWkP1Dw/s1600/IMG_3261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7t3ba9MdirZOfff4AwQxtBiL9C4viONEPA0Oz9eNPfJDBx8ulekIuD1wEtdCxtmlvrsV5A4w3hSExZQLQqPEKWnzk9M8SlT_KlVj_MjO7N9reDJpaaF8jv7LNZLeXjqNmTCucWkP1Dw/s400/IMG_3261.JPG" width="400" /></a></div> A Pottery Barn lamp that we snagged on clearance.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv81zoNmPtWc_9ruC1dZoC5vOA5VtCtBV09xDVsSrS3AwLnVHHeuRZpNRRhe3VElOUSQsihmWGD9gD0W3bJMGsQXq_3O9VT5VwhRWJrLJfzc9DhFG0cZX4NWvo6e5gyggojxGE7J4cfw/s1600/IMG_3270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv81zoNmPtWc_9ruC1dZoC5vOA5VtCtBV09xDVsSrS3AwLnVHHeuRZpNRRhe3VElOUSQsihmWGD9gD0W3bJMGsQXq_3O9VT5VwhRWJrLJfzc9DhFG0cZX4NWvo6e5gyggojxGE7J4cfw/s400/IMG_3270.JPG" width="266" /></a></div>A recap of her first year, always fun to remind myself of how fast the time goes by. I didn't think I would love this as much as I do.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnRDlN1D7KWH79uNA72g8TstP5tdG2ETdQDNmn1A5k5gpAqCEdOA4gJf9iW56wamDaRt4JtQMy3GVqHKNLY7kaxDYZRcl71FHhVwAWTnESdOINnUWyQfZ3Gf9rtEfgYQRG_qSaDDuPg/s1600/IMG_3271.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBnRDlN1D7KWH79uNA72g8TstP5tdG2ETdQDNmn1A5k5gpAqCEdOA4gJf9iW56wamDaRt4JtQMy3GVqHKNLY7kaxDYZRcl71FHhVwAWTnESdOINnUWyQfZ3Gf9rtEfgYQRG_qSaDDuPg/s400/IMG_3271.JPG" width="266" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We hung the mirror that used to live above our fireplace over her dresser to give it a more grown up look. It reflects the paper butterflies over her bed and part of her new mobile. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHOdVGrqLxvbKWxBLFn4tszKBPVKSWwZfvYIhhmAYVuBCWaiE1nbp1LcYAc_Ijc1D79xYu-cBOTiD0NC5niwSRc_BzXc2NJaEKTrcxl0awYk2I3EMlhlrOVbQ91f_XAYoBNp8ih6xahQ/s1600/IMG_3279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHOdVGrqLxvbKWxBLFn4tszKBPVKSWwZfvYIhhmAYVuBCWaiE1nbp1LcYAc_Ijc1D79xYu-cBOTiD0NC5niwSRc_BzXc2NJaEKTrcxl0awYk2I3EMlhlrOVbQ91f_XAYoBNp8ih6xahQ/s400/IMG_3279.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A Bella's eye view from bed. That door is the door to her bathroom. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtleJg2VqzFFooJGzwjXksVb7pY7gXcK0bNpc0hJc9Agbw1Lm-WcRx5gqzG4-XEvadipPaS9KjmXv8aMnBPI0M5szVJ0BDOgX2PAdgTk09gmEF_-PnXKIV6HyHtho8g2TymKMao9Mc_Q/s1600/IMG_3280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtleJg2VqzFFooJGzwjXksVb7pY7gXcK0bNpc0hJc9Agbw1Lm-WcRx5gqzG4-XEvadipPaS9KjmXv8aMnBPI0M5szVJ0BDOgX2PAdgTk09gmEF_-PnXKIV6HyHtho8g2TymKMao9Mc_Q/s400/IMG_3280.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Now you can see the sink area of her bathroom. The bathroom is sort of a jack and jill style. It has the toilet and shower in the center room with pocket doors on either side leading to a sink area on each side.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvCwn5LjAMKfgng6SKdQXh2K3XPYBHBhPCRxNUYurUKa2oUoP684Ljw5OBUCB4uRdt32jczVniKAwjf_8MUviQunHbB3Dw83WsI0sPdMkYMTNhcmhPiANhL2e_CQs6cvhBCLrbl4KJA/s1600/IMG_3291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMvCwn5LjAMKfgng6SKdQXh2K3XPYBHBhPCRxNUYurUKa2oUoP684Ljw5OBUCB4uRdt32jczVniKAwjf_8MUviQunHbB3Dw83WsI0sPdMkYMTNhcmhPiANhL2e_CQs6cvhBCLrbl4KJA/s400/IMG_3291.JPG" width="266" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here is the bath area. If you walk through it leads to the classroom. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_ne1fikTXto-4GC291-JyzTg9kxLttfUMznS3HSaDSvh4U-6XExYPJCaRLfIFSAIeNW0mkNHKIOqW9IYxdDCtBp8Eb2N4ptn3VF5-k2nyShCIPWLqrU52_0jn5O5npBgQc0c1o6aLQ/s1600/IMG_3294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO_ne1fikTXto-4GC291-JyzTg9kxLttfUMznS3HSaDSvh4U-6XExYPJCaRLfIFSAIeNW0mkNHKIOqW9IYxdDCtBp8Eb2N4ptn3VF5-k2nyShCIPWLqrU52_0jn5O5npBgQc0c1o6aLQ/s400/IMG_3294.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
The reading/play side of the room:<br />
Can you find the silliest toy of all?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMBTGjRI1G_Vd35d8E8nIXpJrr9Xtd5rcTgZCsLMMrvZDAmR7-xdLN3JotnUXTBoOuca_YUhVO42ruTxD-ijf66T4VZidAYnPrFV1Lt6v-IGXdKCTgtUXFtPPyujxIxljv89rLg7mlw/s1600/IMG_3258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQMBTGjRI1G_Vd35d8E8nIXpJrr9Xtd5rcTgZCsLMMrvZDAmR7-xdLN3JotnUXTBoOuca_YUhVO42ruTxD-ijf66T4VZidAYnPrFV1Lt6v-IGXdKCTgtUXFtPPyujxIxljv89rLg7mlw/s400/IMG_3258.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
The hot wheels wall track was an addition after this past Christmas and it's one of the only real 'toys' in her room. We usually play in the basement and reserve the bedroom for sleep or reading, but this is a fun distraction for her while I'm doing chores upstairs.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSQcaLuKtZXTmLiHhTikOnNZbBgHsmbQ1yJABk5pqGZuPBfSJsQjpVZByIT7cdKe21nj7_pb3OKkE2y2UEr0YQDC7dJlAKyNAiDFSRDHqM13GnW2ZCmcSNogbGvsmz62oyDtzcSJ24dg/s1600/IMG_3274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSQcaLuKtZXTmLiHhTikOnNZbBgHsmbQ1yJABk5pqGZuPBfSJsQjpVZByIT7cdKe21nj7_pb3OKkE2y2UEr0YQDC7dJlAKyNAiDFSRDHqM13GnW2ZCmcSNogbGvsmz62oyDtzcSJ24dg/s400/IMG_3274.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Our reading area by the window, with front facing bookshelves. The post where I made the larger stand up bookshelf<a href="http://bellachampion.blogspot.com/2011/10/front-facing-bookcase.html"> is here </a>if you're curious. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLUw7aGw_gxKmb5AvyXo63KRHskGNNZFErWXXw6RE5CrHD5xoYfMZ38W3xVnPgDhwTVt0qgyar0uF-BK3orerH12kdoP6n-9b6opOpSJziQ03D5MVsGRw1582r4IVYlVu7j3cTrlVLg/s1600/IMG_3285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmLUw7aGw_gxKmb5AvyXo63KRHskGNNZFErWXXw6RE5CrHD5xoYfMZ38W3xVnPgDhwTVt0qgyar0uF-BK3orerH12kdoP6n-9b6opOpSJziQ03D5MVsGRw1582r4IVYlVu7j3cTrlVLg/s400/IMG_3285.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The hanging bookshelf (I talked more about that <a href="http://bellachampion.blogspot.com/2011/10/front-facing-bookshelf.html">here in another post</a>. You can see we've rearranged a bit since then too)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGO5M9maBNh-UYfPuSVOFgWlOFn3NMWzI4RiymiSXXKU8sY0iOKzgL0d8zu3BCGQqdRRtid1cz7juiyOXuqq5B9HRUUkfoyvDUOiVebTlDwXZbP3EGWdXDIxMM8TwvKYO43uwGTIKRw/s1600/IMG_3284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGO5M9maBNh-UYfPuSVOFgWlOFn3NMWzI4RiymiSXXKU8sY0iOKzgL0d8zu3BCGQqdRRtid1cz7juiyOXuqq5B9HRUUkfoyvDUOiVebTlDwXZbP3EGWdXDIxMM8TwvKYO43uwGTIKRw/s400/IMG_3284.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some of our favorite books from the reading area:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><u>My Name is not Isabella</u> by Jennifer Fosberry, all about teaching little girls to be empowered and dream big. And of course, the main character has the perfect name :)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDsDKSDKQ6UTFRvmV1fY3zkAowwoSD-ItwxiFGrnI5VA3PTwK6mFlQDofTUoBzFMgqFvBWkvaLRSf2FEpKp0hk_UgeOpaEkeuoXAGdenFxBl_RwHwhdYVN4ZENh4wV36GmBUfh1KgkOg/s1600/IMG_3283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDsDKSDKQ6UTFRvmV1fY3zkAowwoSD-ItwxiFGrnI5VA3PTwK6mFlQDofTUoBzFMgqFvBWkvaLRSf2FEpKp0hk_UgeOpaEkeuoXAGdenFxBl_RwHwhdYVN4ZENh4wV36GmBUfh1KgkOg/s320/IMG_3283.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2snL3UY4nx3Vn9gjMF5ZmhnVb_5G9cV-TuhMMDW3MyGveUDpNamT6gPpETiskxm1_YWaQS6MUtVXWI89k4dxTIUjJFuWzNIk_ex1Sw_pqBsViGGl4GVAe20VHDTK23OAxHv-zr-7ykw/s1600/IMG_3286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><u> Jacques and de Beanstalk</u> and the <u>Three Little Cajun Pigs</u> by Mike Artell and Jim Harris, some autographed favorites from New Orleans<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTeh15mnS8idEL9H_qTBBdse65U7w2bNBNYriK6PjocVmQUAV4F0mLwDf4fm9Q-dFBrzrgEiF9xUOfVj_oWtbFVabaNrV_kdHsApNSwN5uyFa06UIy7RhF5n_iN5xyeGyF2wxdenIGmg/s1600/IMG_3287.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTeh15mnS8idEL9H_qTBBdse65U7w2bNBNYriK6PjocVmQUAV4F0mLwDf4fm9Q-dFBrzrgEiF9xUOfVj_oWtbFVabaNrV_kdHsApNSwN5uyFa06UIy7RhF5n_iN5xyeGyF2wxdenIGmg/s400/IMG_3287.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
Classic Fairy Tales by Scott Gustavson; the illustrations in this book are phenomenal. I can't even explain it. We're actually putting together a puzzle now from the Jack and the Beanstalk illustration in this book. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuBiFpgCeTPd-2kYUdYgFp9nZnOOOhCJ-TMzPdaMZOBdk77tLTNEl2Xd2NbCM78ymHLhq70YFJEN5ADQ4CDQNFaMjMMRGesLT32ZW5ZKil1Z8LVbakN79_I8HXxFP1tjdJukohu58OjA/s1600/IMG_3288.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuBiFpgCeTPd-2kYUdYgFp9nZnOOOhCJ-TMzPdaMZOBdk77tLTNEl2Xd2NbCM78ymHLhq70YFJEN5ADQ4CDQNFaMjMMRGesLT32ZW5ZKil1Z8LVbakN79_I8HXxFP1tjdJukohu58OjA/s400/IMG_3288.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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</a></div> So, there it is, Bella's bedroom. Stay tuned, I may even finish the house tour this year!<br />
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</a></div>Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-86470744955555948002012-02-29T05:42:00.001-08:002012-02-29T05:42:00.102-08:00Coffee Filter WreathI've seen lots of coffee filter wreaths. After making one with my grandmother with good results, I decided to make another for Bella's room.<br />
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This was such an inexpensive and easy project. There is no need to buy a wreath form. Just grab a box or piece of cardboard and cut out a donut in whatever size you like.<br />
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Then you simply crumple some coffee filters and glue them down to the cardboard. The tighter you glue them, the more full your wreath will look. You can dip the filters in colored water for all-over color. I just wanted a hint of color, so I used some spray ink with a pink shimmer for mine. It gives it a shimmery dusty rose look in person. My cardboard circle was so small in the center that my wreath ended up looking like a big carnation, which was ok with me!<br />
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Have you ever used coffee filters to make an art project?Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-67009954104424949262012-02-28T06:03:00.003-08:002012-02-28T06:03:00.210-08:00Ribbon Pinboard with Book Page RosesI recently finished my ribbon pinboard surrounded by paper roses made out of book pages.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLiub0qGyrYucqr27WMM-2MCK7go7VGTnwrteFqol1kW8zCW0A9WPXlfkgKsaXNbfs-RVJ_064bXqi1Bb10-8x3Wk7epfvXR1Iep0L0PXL1xUZ7ymy8RzvZ-zPv4M8Gw26reZao4cdZQ/s1600/IMG_3248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLiub0qGyrYucqr27WMM-2MCK7go7VGTnwrteFqol1kW8zCW0A9WPXlfkgKsaXNbfs-RVJ_064bXqi1Bb10-8x3Wk7epfvXR1Iep0L0PXL1xUZ7ymy8RzvZ-zPv4M8Gw26reZao4cdZQ/s400/IMG_3248.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>This was probably one of the most time-intensive craft projects I've ever done. I'm so glad it is finally finished.<br />
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It all started with a pin on pinterest.com, as so many of my projects do. This was the culprit that started the ball rolling:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutGTxeChyphenhyphenCYc8cZeZGFMW3BoHEBCVenkWMrfqNAeeK6YhFZConhYODPwnE5GWI41Wa_EckUGD0P8zl3S8TAMcaerQmorrnlcCj98C9lsyNbDNdTgwxyr7Pld4AsnkFeYTcwn6NkgvkA/s1600/bookpage+wreath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutGTxeChyphenhyphenCYc8cZeZGFMW3BoHEBCVenkWMrfqNAeeK6YhFZConhYODPwnE5GWI41Wa_EckUGD0P8zl3S8TAMcaerQmorrnlcCj98C9lsyNbDNdTgwxyr7Pld4AsnkFeYTcwn6NkgvkA/s400/bookpage+wreath.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>(<a href="http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2010/11/diy-faux-curled-rosewood-wreath-made.html">Click here</a> to check out her project website) I loved the idea of the book page roses, but the last thing I needed was another wreath. So I decided that the best place for book page roses was the office. And the most useful wall art in an office, is a corkboard or pinboard.<br />
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I started with a plain 18 x 22 corkboard with a black border that I got from Target. Like this one:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5At1ScVxnWGxgC4DjuQzd2L-1rshRao9V-MNF0OWyvN2FcY1pfz_NeqdbAB9yqxthyphenhyphenSsj6ZxXCKIYCYjfStFVV2GNyULv8ySPs_g9H0obIMm5_x8nciMu3N0cGEpqcZDTF128RmC0ww/s1600/corkboard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5At1ScVxnWGxgC4DjuQzd2L-1rshRao9V-MNF0OWyvN2FcY1pfz_NeqdbAB9yqxthyphenhyphenSsj6ZxXCKIYCYjfStFVV2GNyULv8ySPs_g9H0obIMm5_x8nciMu3N0cGEpqcZDTF128RmC0ww/s400/corkboard.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>The brown framed version is on sale for $5 right now...can't beat that. I wanted to jazz up the inside so it wasn't just a plain corkboard though.<br />
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I've never made a pinboard before. And I'll admit, I didn't even bother reading any how-to's before I did mine. I started with a yard of ivory cotton fabric from the local fabric store.<br />
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I wanted to make it more personal, so I got some iron-on transfers and picked out some quotes. I chose quotes from kids books, adult books, and famous figures. The iron-on part was more difficult than I imagined. I printed the quotes the first time and forgot that it had to be flipped to the mirror image. I fixed that and accidentally ironed on the wrong side. oops. (Which reminds me that I still need to clean that iron) Once I finally got things moving, it went well though. I got the quotes all ironed on. Then I decided I needed to press the fabric a bit to get out final wrinkles. Bad idea... I knew from my earlier 'iron on the wrong side' mistake not to put the iron directly on the decal, so I put a towel between the iron and the fabric. Only to have the towel fibers get stuck to the fabric. UGH. I decided to just make it work for the whole project. It ages it a bit, but I still like it. I won't be working with iron on decals for a while, that's for sure.<br />
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I measured out some thin batting to cover the cork area of the board. I doubled mine up to make it thicker. Then I folded the fabric with my quotes over the edges of the batting. I had some black grosgrain ribbon that I cut and positioned a crosshatch, with the ends folded around the edges and glued in place. Then I used a hot glue gun to adhere the whole fabric/batting/ribbon pad to the corkboard.<br />
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I used some decorative upholstery tacks to pin down the ribbon anywhere the ribbons crossed. It was pure luck that the tacks pressed into the corkboard well, without going all the way through.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXER0MxyLbX9uSJwHHCdUGuJh1lc7LHbWcNKjK1moLHcvDnLDxVgs3gc4FeAl4uYIptKC20kw1EbUSlslj_M35RPC5hNaoTRQcpy1vBnKa2PVQaOJT8EI26zB_OY21tUeG3zphgXoGcQ/s1600/IMG_3251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXER0MxyLbX9uSJwHHCdUGuJh1lc7LHbWcNKjK1moLHcvDnLDxVgs3gc4FeAl4uYIptKC20kw1EbUSlslj_M35RPC5hNaoTRQcpy1vBnKa2PVQaOJT8EI26zB_OY21tUeG3zphgXoGcQ/s400/IMG_3251.JPG" width="400" /></a></div> I had miscounted how many I needed though. I needed 4 more for the corners. The fabric store I went to didn't have the same upholstery tacks, but since it was just the 4 corners, I grabbed some fancier ones and used those.<br />
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With all that done, the only thing left was the book page roses that started the whole project. Easy, right? Wrong. Holy guacamole those things take so long to make!<br />
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So, the original wreath project has instructions and pictures of the process, (<a href="http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2010/11/diy-faux-curled-rosewood-wreath-made.html">click here</a> for that), but the gist of it (with my tweaks) is:<br />
1. Get an old book (I chose a dictionary so I didn't feel awful for destroying a literary work)<br />
2. Tear out 3 pages all stacked together<br />
3. Draw a spiral on the page and use the lines to cut it out, you'll be left with a single circle from the middle...hang onto it<br />
4. Start at the outside of the spiral and roll up the paper<br />
5. Glue from time to time with white glue so your rose doesn't fall apart on you and to lock the last part of the rose in place<br />
6. Turn the rose over and coat the bottom in white glue. Cover with that scrap circle from the spiral to keep everything in place.<br />
7. Bend the edges to make it look ruffled.<br />
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The spiral is the key to what your rose looks like. I found that I liked to draw my spirals so that they were pretty evenly spaced lines (about a half an inch apart) except for in the center, where I made it bigger. So I started in the center with a circle, and spiraled outward with at least one go around at about 3/4 inch and then shrunk down so my lines were about 1/2 an inch apart for the rest of the spiral. This gave the inside of my rose a nice level look with the wider areas finishing out the outer petals. That lets you bend over the outer petals for a more realistic look.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegREr_TFBGjh7h3Ofw8nYHzbxsNmnY3PjFpdX-uawiUGhOOGUmSjGZ4febFnvgAd7c55mhMAY-sEpVgPC1TW_-BsfiRpJXuXvn6lWFLsq3fJtZzisidJstT8H8MnzQ0NqVS_W7Nj3Yg/s1600/IMG_3250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiegREr_TFBGjh7h3Ofw8nYHzbxsNmnY3PjFpdX-uawiUGhOOGUmSjGZ4febFnvgAd7c55mhMAY-sEpVgPC1TW_-BsfiRpJXuXvn6lWFLsq3fJtZzisidJstT8H8MnzQ0NqVS_W7Nj3Yg/s400/IMG_3250.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>I did this while watching TV, but it took me 20-30 minutes per rose. This project used 67 roses, so well over 30 hours of just rose-making. These roses were like cat-crack. Pippen LOVED them. I had to lock them away to keep them safe from the crazy cat.<br />
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But after LOTS of rose making, they were finally all done. I used a hot glue gun to glue the final roses in place and had my final product! Whew! What do you think?<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2xG06b6GPHmghj0SolN6pOsGZOSbMLc2I8SHnnkhgV-cqx_etwG_0XrnAOZ8Wc12U5Niu9PLp95NTUdTLS6zguvjbPb4x5kmgkdWh9E6dTzrJ4aExzO-JOQ0U9qXPXXJvr8Y75yb4A/s1600/IMG_3249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU2xG06b6GPHmghj0SolN6pOsGZOSbMLc2I8SHnnkhgV-cqx_etwG_0XrnAOZ8Wc12U5Niu9PLp95NTUdTLS6zguvjbPb4x5kmgkdWh9E6dTzrJ4aExzO-JOQ0U9qXPXXJvr8Y75yb4A/s400/IMG_3249.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-38238019704354973662012-02-27T11:03:00.000-08:002012-02-27T11:03:54.884-08:00Mommy's Beloved - Closet OrganizationOur classroom has been more than a little under-utilized in the past few months. (<a href="http://bellachampion.blogspot.com/2011/07/our-new-classroom-tour.html">Click here</a> to see more of our classroom) I finally decided that it was a lack of organization that was keeping me from being the best homeschool teacher ever. OK, so maybe that's wishful thinking, but more organization certainly can't hurt! So we got 2 drawer systems from Home depot. They are pre-fab cabinets, intended for things like a laundry room, but they fit better than the closet organization systems, so we went this way instead. Also, since we are renting, this has the advantage of being stand-alone. So we can always take it with us if we move. And at $89 each, they were cost effective too.<br />
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I also needed some slotted organization for things like paper. After some searching, I found the Recollections set at Michael's. And I love this set. It was simple to put together, connects to other pieces easily, was a decent price (around $30 each) and looks great. We got two sets and they are put side by side on top of the drawers. For a real craft area, I would have loved to have done it all in Recollections since it divides areas into smaller sections, but the drawers we started with are also useful for a future closet (for a future baby) so it was a good fit for us.<br />
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Anyway, here is the final product:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNtbSokDE5oWK5Qv8duUooXxxJiaGwVe6ABz7_5aKLBV4WP0Y6ZoZ2rHqD4vJw1916Y3ujgsJnfeufXOodnvEpw67ebZPSCsfCOIjZPVoQzVZA5EaM_9v7eTiJIR3W7ybmyQFExtRZHw/s1600/IMG_3246.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNtbSokDE5oWK5Qv8duUooXxxJiaGwVe6ABz7_5aKLBV4WP0Y6ZoZ2rHqD4vJw1916Y3ujgsJnfeufXOodnvEpw67ebZPSCsfCOIjZPVoQzVZA5EaM_9v7eTiJIR3W7ybmyQFExtRZHw/s400/IMG_3246.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
I couldn't bear to take a before shot. Imagine all the contents of the drawers and sections piled on the floor and you have a good idea of the before. This is 1000 times better, trust me! :)<br />
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OK, back to being the best homeschool teacher ever...Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-73151715218711616012012-01-26T19:56:00.000-08:002012-01-26T19:56:49.214-08:00Up side down sideThe bad news: Bella's ipad went missing somewhere between the car sitting in the garage and the house and is nowhere to be found.<br />
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The good news: I found a coloring book, a crayon, a hairband, 3 cat toys, a plate, a set of acrylic bugs, a scorpion (in acrylic) keychain, and Bella's ipod touch that went missing a little over a year ago in Rhode Island.Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-91564884556141907782012-01-18T06:13:00.000-08:002012-01-18T06:13:01.338-08:00Overheard: The Gift of CloudsThis Christmas revealed a very magical gift indeed. Twice, Bella received jewelry from friends and family in a lovely box like this:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://auntiestreasures.com/images/Cotton-Filled-2-1-2-by-1-3-4-by-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://auntiestreasures.com/images/Cotton-Filled-2-1-2-by-1-3-4-by-1.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>Bella immediately threw the jewelry to the side, pulled out the cotton rectangle and exclaimed, "They got me a CLOUD!" Best Christmas gift ever.Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-68581396135162941092012-01-17T05:47:00.000-08:002012-01-17T05:47:00.508-08:00Christmas 2011As I've mentioned previously, I had somewhat urgent surgery 3 days before Christmas. Turns out my gallbladder was full of rocks and pretty unhappy. We decided sooner was better than later since we had family in town for Christmas to help around the house and with Bella. Surgery went great, they went in laproscopically and there have been no complications (woohoo!). It did mean that I was a bit hopped up on painkillers Christmas morning though, so excuse the dark footage. The video is a little over a minute.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyKy5Yc9t-BU_V7zJ9lLhUBvH9sfWQb31OeLW4DWbYki5cIdSfMN_4gCnU7SHIDzbd49MaXHXuVvWPTwfQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
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In my haze I sort of forgot to pick the camera back up after I put it down, but the day itself was wonderful and I have lots of great photos in my personal memories.<br />
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The massive bookshelf dollhouse (aka doghouse according to Bella) was handmade (by Santa of course) thanks to some wonderful assistance from the Camp Lejeune woodshop. The plans are from Ana White (<a href="http://ana-white.com/2009/12/plan-dollhouse-bookcase-knock-off-of.html">here</a>) with just a few tweaks like the molding around the windows and doors having some shape instead of being square, the fronts being rounded off and the roof having some fancy edges. Both Santa and <strike>his</strike> her helper elf were really proud of the final project, though it definitely was a lot more difficult that the plans made it out to be. The furniture and people are the very simple unpainted versions from Plan Toys. Each room came separately so it fits her <strike>doghouse</strike> dollhouse great. And once she is out of 'playing with dolls' phase, it will work well for books too. We always love multi-function!<br />
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It has settled in our new playroom and gets lots of laughs and bursts of creativity.Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-77358221473717899192012-01-16T05:40:00.000-08:002012-01-16T05:40:00.408-08:00Sad Reindeer, Happy ReindeerOne of the things in Bella's stocking was a light up reindeer nose. So without further ado, sad reindeer, happy reindeer:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqxOTHWQJoT7dhXphIMIcPb59ee0NLMQ5X5jahPSdc2m2AARYTibm9azOtr4c2n19-rEOtlAqKX_ysro4F6z7XbIrHpRal05PUiVuOgxmKOzaGWtjCyMfM5p_TCY9lBaeVjWx60ySD4g/s1600/IMG_1386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqxOTHWQJoT7dhXphIMIcPb59ee0NLMQ5X5jahPSdc2m2AARYTibm9azOtr4c2n19-rEOtlAqKX_ysro4F6z7XbIrHpRal05PUiVuOgxmKOzaGWtjCyMfM5p_TCY9lBaeVjWx60ySD4g/s320/IMG_1386.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
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And no, she wasn't really sad, just flexing her dramatic muscles.Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-39794225319950882892012-01-15T17:31:00.000-08:002012-01-15T17:31:44.868-08:00DollhouseI wanted to share a post solely about the bookshelf dollhouse that Santa had the elves *cough cough* build for Bella this Christmas. I'll be showing some pictures of Christmas morning soon, but here is some info from the elves.<br />
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The plans used came from Ana White at <a href="http://ana-white.com/2009/12/plan-dollhouse-bookcase-knock-off-of.html">this link</a>. You can tell that they haven't put a back on ours just yet. They were planning on doing the back in white bead board. They didn't get around to it, partially because of time constraints and partially because they wanted to see if she would play with it in a 2-sided setup. It can always be added later, so no biggie either way.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQb9HrQRazkdk5dWONkD5cQcuKzF55nsh5mFM0tvwtQ7MFlzOjt52Qe8OzljvP3HA9mAzyKiyE-FgjCRvCvTnlzX6AXj2CrrGgGOIYdKmGWAzv7TdlMAKdZiQuSvXSVlB2gmpv4VupeA/s1600/IMG_3210.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQb9HrQRazkdk5dWONkD5cQcuKzF55nsh5mFM0tvwtQ7MFlzOjt52Qe8OzljvP3HA9mAzyKiyE-FgjCRvCvTnlzX6AXj2CrrGgGOIYdKmGWAzv7TdlMAKdZiQuSvXSVlB2gmpv4VupeA/s400/IMG_3210.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZHhugl5-Ountg-7zMWSiHSMOqXC04SWOjcGfN9nzNvfwTQd2LNnHIXy-0JsCAcwi3_DLMYMHX5_pf7GSzTTPKyDbli5Cn4ZGq6y_sewJK2BGgtulumVjuYDx7xt9xAK_6A0TCdTmWg/s1600/IMG_3221.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguZHhugl5-Ountg-7zMWSiHSMOqXC04SWOjcGfN9nzNvfwTQd2LNnHIXy-0JsCAcwi3_DLMYMHX5_pf7GSzTTPKyDbli5Cn4ZGq6y_sewJK2BGgtulumVjuYDx7xt9xAK_6A0TCdTmWg/s400/IMG_3221.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgawx2AgldCmu9U3UaBA1jMLfhnDpPFVoyPhN7EHwWSMqMHkQdx8oquj3oWK6pE__Sod7BUF9CALxC3TzEhfOagPZYh7HE_aiPuaGBmS-Tp_6nzbCFq1mBOkoqrxzS4lK1a2-8eVo5Iw/s1600/IMG_3222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgawx2AgldCmu9U3UaBA1jMLfhnDpPFVoyPhN7EHwWSMqMHkQdx8oquj3oWK6pE__Sod7BUF9CALxC3TzEhfOagPZYh7HE_aiPuaGBmS-Tp_6nzbCFq1mBOkoqrxzS4lK1a2-8eVo5Iw/s400/IMG_3222.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
They liked the flexibility of these plans since it can be played with like a dollhouse, or later serve as a bookshelf. The elves found the project more difficult than the Ana White site let on, but that's most likely because they were working in a woodshop where you can't just buy 12 inch wide boards like the plans call for. The elves had to actually rip down and join together multiple boards to make the width correct. Good thing for Bella that she had 2 very dedicated elves.<br />
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They also made a few detail adjustments. They rounded off the fronts of all of the shelves, dividers and sides. They used a fancier routed edge around the windows and doors. And the boards for the roof line got routed to look like they were trimmed.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNCzE1qgiZ4Rk_1WDfTeZSBwYBx83cfuyNlfSndelEPsqcNcsMEneytfhppKqNu7icdTSJ5o2k7zSSwD1yxSvZ_yELqugCYd85pqE_mOPmTycZnx7MkdeVI7BHnRIZ-T3mspbxlIZJNA/s1600/IMG_3208.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNCzE1qgiZ4Rk_1WDfTeZSBwYBx83cfuyNlfSndelEPsqcNcsMEneytfhppKqNu7icdTSJ5o2k7zSSwD1yxSvZ_yELqugCYd85pqE_mOPmTycZnx7MkdeVI7BHnRIZ-T3mspbxlIZJNA/s400/IMG_3208.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
It's currently painted in bright white for the trim and interior. The roof and bottom face boards are painted in Olympic's Stormy Weather (D16-3). The sides are painted in Olympic's Pins and Needles (D51-3).<br />
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There are 6 rooms in total. All of the furnishing and characters are from Plan Toys. Each room is sold separately. All of the characters came together as a family.<br />
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So let's meet our family:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOy-QD4fUT1qBPU8WcYIJhzSO2YFay6TVttMB7RthA4oyVbP8TL2-v6K1rTN2FoxC9KD6EKp29HbCuGH5nRMuWLA2DT3nQG2-vutTlc0zDsdl0hBNgugK1e28kJtMebx1tHh7IRXS6w/s1600/IMG_3204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkOy-QD4fUT1qBPU8WcYIJhzSO2YFay6TVttMB7RthA4oyVbP8TL2-v6K1rTN2FoxC9KD6EKp29HbCuGH5nRMuWLA2DT3nQG2-vutTlc0zDsdl0hBNgugK1e28kJtMebx1tHh7IRXS6w/s400/IMG_3204.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Yep, that's Mommy, face down in bed. Don't judge me.<br />
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Here's Bella, hanging out in the kids' room, her usual smiley self.<br />
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This is baby brother. He doesn't exist in real life, yet. Only time will tell.<br />
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</div>This is the pet set. They were sold separately from the family. Our real cat really likes the food bowls so one is always missing. It also came with a dog house, a cat, a bunny, and a cow. Ok, so it's supposed to be a dog. But really, with those markings?<br />
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Technically this little cat doesn't belong at all, he's from a My Little Ponies set, but he looks so cute on the couch that we left him.<br />
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So there is the dollhouse. Or, as Bella puts it, 'the doghouse.'<br />
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This is why it made for the best Christmas yet:<br />
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I'd love to hear what you think of it!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-71518312529679757722012-01-13T06:39:00.000-08:002012-01-13T06:39:00.945-08:00Yearly OrnamentsWhen I was growing up, each year I got to pick out a new ornament for the tree. When I got married, my mother gave us my ornaments during our first Christmas together.<br />
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Vinny and I have continued the tradition, both for ourselves and for Bella. We choose an ornament each year that signifies something we did during that year. When we had Bella, we started getting 2 related things, one for her and one for us. I write the year on each one in silver sharpie. I decided when we started, that I wanted our ornaments to have a cohesive feel, so our ornaments are all handblown glass. I'm hoping to continue this way for Bella, but we'll see. This year, to commemorate our first year full time in the Navy, we got a life preserver/anchor ornament and Bella got a teddy bear with a stars and stripes hat. <br />
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Because all of the ornaments on our tree are glass, the ornaments from my childhood (my favorite ones at least) are displayed separately. I enjoy getting them out each year and walking down memory lane. The light hit the 1989 disco ball this year and made them really shine:<br />
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Cause nothing says Christmas like a disco ball/smoke detector ornament! <br />
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</div>The circles next to the tree were going to be a person but she got frustrated when it didn't look right and gave up. Maybe next time...Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-57704688148190851642012-01-11T06:24:00.000-08:002012-01-11T06:24:00.115-08:00Breakfast with SantaIn addition to the Santa photo shoot, the Emerald Isle park and recreation department also organized a breakfast with Santa. The ideas were wonderful even though it fell apart a bit for reasons out of their control.<br />
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Everyone was given a number (based on the order in which you registered) and that was the order that you went to see Santa in. They used the scoreboard in the gym to light up the number. Bella refused to sit on Santa's lap again. (who was different from the photo shoot Santa) And each child got a small toy from a bin once they were done.<br />
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While kids waited they had breakfast (of course), a snowflake cutting station, a coloring station, and a Bingo station. The Bingo was fun because the numbers on the cards were all 1-9 and they used M&Ms for markers. Then each child had to fill the card before they got bingo. Since everyone had the same numbers, just in various places, every child won every game. The prize: they got to eat their markers! They had also planned to have a magic show but the magician had car trouble. (I feel like there is a joke there, but I'm too tired to find it)<br />
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We had a good time especially because Bella's buddy, Blake, and his sister were there with us. We kept trying to get a cute picture of the 2 of them, but it's hard to make two little bodies stand still long enough!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsfYZ4RgAIw8osPqkeJlWSTMPXt4BPOkt6XIQTTNI5C3u2xaoLhJ0dyJh1q5Sj4M4GKDL7N8XvQT9nWUqtqaSsRXMlKMvNojhf_-Hb7k2Tx4zNm5qsWO15XkyUlrBX5T1sVzu6hRetg/s1600/IMG_1325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsfYZ4RgAIw8osPqkeJlWSTMPXt4BPOkt6XIQTTNI5C3u2xaoLhJ0dyJh1q5Sj4M4GKDL7N8XvQT9nWUqtqaSsRXMlKMvNojhf_-Hb7k2Tx4zNm5qsWO15XkyUlrBX5T1sVzu6hRetg/s400/IMG_1325.JPG" width="298" /></a></div>Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-5316630375039506432012-01-10T06:15:00.000-08:002012-01-10T06:15:01.881-08:00Handprint Reindeer and Fingerprint Christmas Tree, Finished with Snowman PaintWhew, long title there! This was one of our holiday crafts that I thought I would share:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0xzcSVN-G0fOoTsOIXUdZr7nUcpYYqCqXn9Bq4UxZfFeeAt6vqEWWqHYvNETRm9Y6VoC9IaogMjqMblNhPR_z1xzmqSwSnUT5pPFozxs-FjOyw6YLB3nKM-_vLFNkC9ygStKttx0zA/s1600/IMG_1306.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0xzcSVN-G0fOoTsOIXUdZr7nUcpYYqCqXn9Bq4UxZfFeeAt6vqEWWqHYvNETRm9Y6VoC9IaogMjqMblNhPR_z1xzmqSwSnUT5pPFozxs-FjOyw6YLB3nKM-_vLFNkC9ygStKttx0zA/s400/IMG_1306.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>We used tiny bells from Michaels for the collar and I went around the bottom of them with silver glitter glue. The Christmas tree is made up of both my and Bella's fingerprints. It's got some green glitter garland and a bit of snowman paint on the branches. The star sparkles with some gold glitter. <br />
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The snowman paint was really fun. It's 1 part shaving cream to 1 part white glue. I added a dash of white paint because I thought it might need it but I don't think it was necessary. I also put blue glitter in mine. It gave it some dimension, but it didn't sparkle, so perhaps not the best addition. It dried in about a day and half and has a bit of a spongy texture to it. I ended up going back over it once it was dry and put a touch of clear glitter in the recesses. That touch is one of my favorite things about the finished product.<br />
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I glued a ribbon on the back to hang it with, but ultimately decided to sit it up on a stand this year. White walls + white canvas = weird. I think if I had it to do again I would paint the canvas light blue before we started.Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-35198700191012821512012-01-09T06:43:00.000-08:002012-01-09T17:27:23.708-08:00Adventures of Elf the elf: Part 2Wow, Christmas season really sped past this year. Or, I guess I should say last year since it's already 2012. That's what happens when you have urgent and unexpected surgery 3 days before Christmas. I'll fill you in on that soon. I wanted to make sure that I finished up telling you about Elf's adventures. <br />
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Day 15: Bella opened her first gift from us, a hot wheels wall racetrack. After playing with it for a while, she went to bed, but Elf wanted to go for a ride too!<br />
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Day 16: Elf had some fun playing with the light bright. (it's a younger kid version, but I can't remember it's real name so it's always just been 'the light bright thingie')<br />
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Day 19: Elf turned our remaining milk Christmas green and seemed a bit too pleased with himself.<br />
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Day 20: One of our gifts from my family was a Neato automatic vacuum (that I totally LOVE). Elf thought he was quite the cowboy so he apparently took it for a spin.<br />
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Day 21: Elf wasn't as good with the lasso as he thought and got himself in a bit of a bind.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0JmjyKjx_gTVXmnvxWpvAWZiZwb2YRWGMXtz_Qt3eHtRs_1Oxrc6KQWnCuKJ-E4aX1aCD1Vd6khzfVn9xeXTSJLvVSd5cIU_mnumY2sK3opJ0kHuK5Weu5d_iahUAbLGDPNidHKHGbg/s1600/IMG_1364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0JmjyKjx_gTVXmnvxWpvAWZiZwb2YRWGMXtz_Qt3eHtRs_1Oxrc6KQWnCuKJ-E4aX1aCD1Vd6khzfVn9xeXTSJLvVSd5cIU_mnumY2sK3opJ0kHuK5Weu5d_iahUAbLGDPNidHKHGbg/s400/IMG_1364.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Day 22: Elf talked to Santa and found out how many goodies Bella was going to get for her stocking so he measured her stocking to make sure it would hold it all. He got a little stuck.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTI1-HQiDAHtuIee8LdND0DEdjq6nfonbnYsiz3NveEJLNqIiVRHd6hkPYuAxSUNvbYShPgZdVx0LCd4JiMEg_z3ERCmGTC72yCPbQc2MCy6ggXlwGrRcQp0LFH3oCYHUUlTmhnAPAw/s1600/IMG_1365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguTI1-HQiDAHtuIee8LdND0DEdjq6nfonbnYsiz3NveEJLNqIiVRHd6hkPYuAxSUNvbYShPgZdVx0LCd4JiMEg_z3ERCmGTC72yCPbQc2MCy6ggXlwGrRcQp0LFH3oCYHUUlTmhnAPAw/s400/IMG_1365.JPG" width="298" /></a></div>side note: the pink socks belong to Vinny's mom. She was visiting for Christmas so these became her makeshift stocking.<br />
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Day 23: Elf attempted to go sledding in my shoe<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEC53GGF4QffB_xGqw9jd-PValfTngKf2GQbbDHK0bFMwh4BTRxBxhMV6sj5GtkJAbMIAJBQMlCFlt_BTkhIh1A8dCoKDGDXaV3kIuga7-reumf5JVTFbQaEs_W3NZeRiFsF71G1XUtw/s1600/IMG_1370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEC53GGF4QffB_xGqw9jd-PValfTngKf2GQbbDHK0bFMwh4BTRxBxhMV6sj5GtkJAbMIAJBQMlCFlt_BTkhIh1A8dCoKDGDXaV3kIuga7-reumf5JVTFbQaEs_W3NZeRiFsF71G1XUtw/s400/IMG_1370.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Day 24: After the failed sledding attempt, Elf slid down the bannister.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEippwqX6jgcfUN-6gSlGsINIV4sM9J0GdEP61VP7wtUgvWDv_DBsJd8bovT-mWrnvPNiRz-Fz5LBEQ0Y75duYKmwr9-bFJ4kjZ-n1tyij3xm48FbZWfloMWnYdyUzd_Zbqt_j-tGqlsbQ/s1600/IMG_1371.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEippwqX6jgcfUN-6gSlGsINIV4sM9J0GdEP61VP7wtUgvWDv_DBsJd8bovT-mWrnvPNiRz-Fz5LBEQ0Y75duYKmwr9-bFJ4kjZ-n1tyij3xm48FbZWfloMWnYdyUzd_Zbqt_j-tGqlsbQ/s400/IMG_1371.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Christmas day, Elf was gone, back to the North Pole. He left Bella a note on her chalkboard saying 'see you next year' and 'Merry Christmas.' I can't wait to see him next year. <br />
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A note for others expecting elf antics at their house: our elf made use of pipe cleaners several times since his arms weren't always long enough or strong enough to stay in place overnight. Might want to have some on hand before your elf arrives next year!Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-4232691644372610862011-12-14T07:54:00.000-08:002011-12-14T07:54:00.410-08:00Santa photo shootI talked about this a few days ago, but I wanted to give a little rundown of how the Santa photo shoot went. The event was organized by Emerald Isle parks and recreation. They had you make an appointment, which was wonderful. No feeling pressured if your child needed some time to warm up to Santa and no standing around waiting for a long line.<br />
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The photographs were done by a professional photographer, Jeff Pennell (<a href="http://www.jeffpennell.com/">here is his site</a>) instead of a mall photographer. And Santa was awesome. Seriously, I cannot say enough nice things about this guy. (Santa's website is <a href="http://www.cliffkringle.com/">here</a>) He was very authentic.<br />
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So when we got there, you couldn't see the photography area. And when it was our turn, we walked around and there was no Santa. Confused? I was too. One of the staff brought me in on the gag though. They set her up in the center of the scene and then told her to watch the far door because Santa would be coming through there.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIO_c1jempr9vhP2xn9mh0cDtWBMVqNxAldxzGPGomJ82zS6ijhdeDul-STf2NxGa1_XE1yBZltBAkuadKd3YW7ZlMd27MtY1wf4Fdzbd3VL7NyNCzJ-qf6vGUs6mmq3YGhrs4-8GKQ/s1600/champion-005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUIO_c1jempr9vhP2xn9mh0cDtWBMVqNxAldxzGPGomJ82zS6ijhdeDul-STf2NxGa1_XE1yBZltBAkuadKd3YW7ZlMd27MtY1wf4Fdzbd3VL7NyNCzJ-qf6vGUs6mmq3YGhrs4-8GKQ/s400/champion-005.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Of course, Santa wasn't coming through that door, he was in the beach shack behind her:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXKXMeYjhPdRg0Q4LhGvkpU3__NtlgkBxUcSCLvCBwUz7k9D7nIKUc6ds7G-3SDm9PjZQV5rtjntlEyoZT3fGKBwGMzxzp6vhGu30MMrp4vpUfSX9PIU1PxapokevFW_7vGz2uOrBPg/s1600/champion-010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQXKXMeYjhPdRg0Q4LhGvkpU3__NtlgkBxUcSCLvCBwUz7k9D7nIKUc6ds7G-3SDm9PjZQV5rtjntlEyoZT3fGKBwGMzxzp6vhGu30MMrp4vpUfSX9PIU1PxapokevFW_7vGz2uOrBPg/s400/champion-010.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After a few minutes of shots like these and Bella being TOTALLY clueless that he was behind her, we finally told her to turn around.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzPId12yVHoyKo9DLcfUTWW1Qr0jPbY8d6lHbnsIqV_aW7qc11CLH2H3tV2tFkobIFMsn_nA0SVo6tkGqG1LGgSCXZQa4LMr_MKdRoVufwVn2JrjEdKVO9wAH2un27GjpI62JnwU13YA/s1600/champion-015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzPId12yVHoyKo9DLcfUTWW1Qr0jPbY8d6lHbnsIqV_aW7qc11CLH2H3tV2tFkobIFMsn_nA0SVo6tkGqG1LGgSCXZQa4LMr_MKdRoVufwVn2JrjEdKVO9wAH2un27GjpI62JnwU13YA/s400/champion-015.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">She looks him up and down and says, "Where are your reindeer?" So...so...funny. I think Santa told her they were outside so they wouldn't be scared. I don't really remember because I was laughing so hard. He sat down next to her and they started to chat about what she wanted for Christmas.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgllFltl-3osguDzZRGW1YJ55KjgZNwrUpzMefATkBOo2waautYd6xqddDQ2YvZwCr0JaitGlxE62ejPVWfN93CwfoMM2zW1QvIMIdBwZ__yIr9YSy8STFOirPJQyjyzb20W8xnp9EQ/s1600/champion-021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNgllFltl-3osguDzZRGW1YJ55KjgZNwrUpzMefATkBOo2waautYd6xqddDQ2YvZwCr0JaitGlxE62ejPVWfN93CwfoMM2zW1QvIMIdBwZ__yIr9YSy8STFOirPJQyjyzb20W8xnp9EQ/s400/champion-021.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Luckily my hypnosis was working and she asked for a dollhouse as planned. (It may have sounded more like 'doghouse' but I trust that Santa will get it right anyway) She refused to sit on his lap, which is probably ok since asking a kid to be comfortable sitting on a stranger's lap probably isn't the best lesson anyway.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAydgDa4WQ-GwzyWEAG2bjPaBzG-unlIdztVUdji3rE2Kq4w0zibVJ1wXPOmj26JuxpCJTkSLPKZj_JzuMOqGTJu2hZjybMTiExW61ALjkv8JTpotSLk-AdMl5rMo6ftNWOYiY4LbYw/s1600/champion-040.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlAydgDa4WQ-GwzyWEAG2bjPaBzG-unlIdztVUdji3rE2Kq4w0zibVJ1wXPOmj26JuxpCJTkSLPKZj_JzuMOqGTJu2hZjybMTiExW61ALjkv8JTpotSLk-AdMl5rMo6ftNWOYiY4LbYw/s400/champion-040.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This photo cracks me up. I don't even know what she was telling him. Probably something about his reindeer, who knows. But this is so totally her. In charge, even with Santa.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And these are the others that so completely capture her:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRRbdDxjw7FIsUr3d3dyzbkGBlQ7eQG9Xbhhwu6Dd5icn8BQdNabD-iDCJ0gIdcv1SLYEjQlgr_hKnyy0RcJtOsxYkkAQ6a9KwKqEDvOIy6Fv7lJpSpkyy0IKKQziqsxGV6hnoRc_cw/s1600/champion-052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRRbdDxjw7FIsUr3d3dyzbkGBlQ7eQG9Xbhhwu6Dd5icn8BQdNabD-iDCJ0gIdcv1SLYEjQlgr_hKnyy0RcJtOsxYkkAQ6a9KwKqEDvOIy6Fv7lJpSpkyy0IKKQziqsxGV6hnoRc_cw/s400/champion-052.jpg" width="400" /></a></div> Such a little sweetheart.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMivxPslNt0y-T_5AdVNAJcgpi_MzzEyqZUOSwYn_ETR7JBgQBMAI_4Ow3yvT7kAuuZRS2Hk2ZeO6drPYHKKoeHHnWmAp4YJzCfWS8zhr1dKrJ9Iez7z3O_N65ci3fwB5FNRmMPFS8A/s1600/champion-054.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFMivxPslNt0y-T_5AdVNAJcgpi_MzzEyqZUOSwYn_ETR7JBgQBMAI_4Ow3yvT7kAuuZRS2Hk2ZeO6drPYHKKoeHHnWmAp4YJzCfWS8zhr1dKrJ9Iez7z3O_N65ci3fwB5FNRmMPFS8A/s400/champion-054.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And of course, the photo that was nationwide. (<a href="http://bellachampion.blogspot.com/2011/12/superstar-bella.html">Here is the post about that</a> if you missed it) Basically, our photographer and the Associated Press photographer got the same final shot. We even remembered last minute to ask Santa to send Bella an elf. And I will share his adventures of course. It was a really great event and a wonderful start to our holidays! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div>Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-76965083175770310552011-12-13T04:58:00.000-08:002011-12-13T04:58:00.109-08:00Oh Christmas treeJust wanted to share some photos of our Christmas tree and our girl who is so excited about Christmas this year. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXs-RJ2xNot369QGfbUeA6mTLsi9sBjijOhTk9W0CEAzUE_hLyrm-9w3MCQPSA0TZLilITpA5ukupt_YfCpVpTRBaiI4ILuIcQDncODKNF04S-DwObLHiNaSMovKeZ30wlqhNduexx5Q/s1600/IMG_3189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXs-RJ2xNot369QGfbUeA6mTLsi9sBjijOhTk9W0CEAzUE_hLyrm-9w3MCQPSA0TZLilITpA5ukupt_YfCpVpTRBaiI4ILuIcQDncODKNF04S-DwObLHiNaSMovKeZ30wlqhNduexx5Q/s640/IMG_3189.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZkCsTgCmolNaCWZ2ml8xPbFccGWw8RJUSGFJTHxXuRSmZrDGPytpZOucM-TsllHaECJqIaw8X_OkbhoaovMhIF2ckwQFj1D6DAAF_G5ldK3v3tBhAq392hz2_khnDOVVzN4qaB14RA/s1600/IMG_3193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmZkCsTgCmolNaCWZ2ml8xPbFccGWw8RJUSGFJTHxXuRSmZrDGPytpZOucM-TsllHaECJqIaw8X_OkbhoaovMhIF2ckwQFj1D6DAAF_G5ldK3v3tBhAq392hz2_khnDOVVzN4qaB14RA/s640/IMG_3193.JPG" width="426" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I got the instructions for camera settings for the photo above from pinterest (this<a href="http://unskinnyboppy.blogspot.com/search/label/Happy%20Holidays?updated-max=2010-12-30T23%3A29%3A00-06%3A00&max-results=20"> link</a>). But it's manual mode with my f1.8 lens, ISO6400, shutter speed 1/30, set on a tripod. I love the result. These haven't been retouched at all either. What do you think? </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_-UEdXiXsi8tg0PwbOYyq79NoFCNr38i3W3SvevpF5zmDD-NCxhXvdyLhkoae1yjewpL0kg6PZwTdxudVUU_n2F2LCO21ljAnn-7SscSRSuqqIfvWd7LwJqreHCx9tPCqV1kcWOY23g/s1600/IMG_3177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_-UEdXiXsi8tg0PwbOYyq79NoFCNr38i3W3SvevpF5zmDD-NCxhXvdyLhkoae1yjewpL0kg6PZwTdxudVUU_n2F2LCO21ljAnn-7SscSRSuqqIfvWd7LwJqreHCx9tPCqV1kcWOY23g/s400/IMG_3177.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-71014726463862737002011-12-12T07:10:00.000-08:002011-12-12T07:10:00.705-08:00The Adventures of Elf the elf, Part 1I'm so glad we got on the 'Elf on the shelf' bandwagon before Bella was too old. We got a great deal on it during a super sale too: only $15 when it normally retails for $30-$40. We took Bella to see Santa on November 30th, so it was perfect timing and I had her ask Santa to send her an elf.<br />
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She was so excited the next morning to find the book and then see the elf on the mantle waiting for her.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjCY5Z1OlGcAPl_ZQOHI3qjPGSWNHHSp3mrNmdsjJliyjmhN1uJQ7ElLSVBcci0x6AWAh6dzr6xJOFji5gLthUaOJ7PIocoO2ER30_FaxK8gybxgMi5QmCVkkvSJYBJhKqaXqMBoftQ/s1600/IMG_1289.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwjCY5Z1OlGcAPl_ZQOHI3qjPGSWNHHSp3mrNmdsjJliyjmhN1uJQ7ElLSVBcci0x6AWAh6dzr6xJOFji5gLthUaOJ7PIocoO2ER30_FaxK8gybxgMi5QmCVkkvSJYBJhKqaXqMBoftQ/s400/IMG_1289.JPG" width="298" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I asked her what his name was going to be and she said, very certainly, 'Elf.' I tried a few times to get her to pick a different name, but she definitely thinks he is Elf and that's all there is to it. We read the book and made sure she knew that the only real rule was that she couldn't touch him or he would lose his magic.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Day 2: After having a bare tree in the living room for 8 days, Elf decided to start decorating the tree.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8txwzTkBttmpz4yJNFc0_0p2nBDvkgw028-Z_KjaJE78jRCTs9nDQUtQjXIWSo-Qs2yytSHhZxuUVVKMy6Pmq4piE9IhbwFBxrdBoZGgZMZRp1in21tzgNU6Y5aRKjYAU45SQCda0w/s1600/IMG_1294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk8txwzTkBttmpz4yJNFc0_0p2nBDvkgw028-Z_KjaJE78jRCTs9nDQUtQjXIWSo-Qs2yytSHhZxuUVVKMy6Pmq4piE9IhbwFBxrdBoZGgZMZRp1in21tzgNU6Y5aRKjYAU45SQCda0w/s400/IMG_1294.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><br />
Day 3: Goofball Elf takes a whirl on the fan.<br />
Day 4: Elf flips <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0n1kwSVjANI1BAsR-RM_85y6MiWL2fualEQTOMoiOuwTiD1nwof2-ftH1Qccyj1k5MDhvcrz0ifEm_t2WhVS-sGSlKHZHiKaaPVGM2LYYs9A_hGz7GVQSm5GJaO6MXi4OMAc15UGkA/s1600/IMG_1299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw0n1kwSVjANI1BAsR-RM_85y6MiWL2fualEQTOMoiOuwTiD1nwof2-ftH1Qccyj1k5MDhvcrz0ifEm_t2WhVS-sGSlKHZHiKaaPVGM2LYYs9A_hGz7GVQSm5GJaO6MXi4OMAc15UGkA/s400/IMG_1299.JPG" width="298" /></a></div>Day 5: Elf decided to take a chance and come down to Bella's level. She had been very good, so he brought her a little gift (a little owl she had been pining over that I said she couldn't have, but then snuck into the cart). We had been wrapping the night before, so he got into our supplies.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyQDEI2eBWg5XY6NOaWDremrWytB4P17hnkgGfV4g5XSvQl_hxawhBO5FBB_Cbc6O_O2-V38z1O9lfl47Fq71GeFfhjteKqc8EIa2EzNqTzMWm_mtgwMWxU0hQt9KgaOF7EFKffh6Yw/s1600/IMG_1300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyQDEI2eBWg5XY6NOaWDremrWytB4P17hnkgGfV4g5XSvQl_hxawhBO5FBB_Cbc6O_O2-V38z1O9lfl47Fq71GeFfhjteKqc8EIa2EzNqTzMWm_mtgwMWxU0hQt9KgaOF7EFKffh6Yw/s400/IMG_1300.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><br />
Bella pointed at him and told Vinny, "Don't touch him Daddy!" Then she grabbed him and went running around the house. So much for that. So he disappeared for a day to regain his magic.<br />
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Day 6: Elf MIA to regain magic <br />
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Day 7: Elf reappears, bathing in a bowl full of marshmallows. Bella runs off with him again.<br />
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Day 8: Elf MIA to regain magic <br />
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Day 9: After a long evening of making cookies, I left the flour out. Elf decided to make a flour angel.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDT5P6irGcO6xCiZpNdw1ajAU_-LnKYZ3K7EqJSpJKjtZ-_Zia2yIyqPR6F8HYJX8ojILgQdFkJy-WlgvLUz7gEfiJQEaimX_PTdhEhHTmRi9l7eFqmJQYrWjlwBzkhnstAIsLtOyjg/s1600/IMG_0379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpDT5P6irGcO6xCiZpNdw1ajAU_-LnKYZ3K7EqJSpJKjtZ-_Zia2yIyqPR6F8HYJX8ojILgQdFkJy-WlgvLUz7gEfiJQEaimX_PTdhEhHTmRi9l7eFqmJQYrWjlwBzkhnstAIsLtOyjg/s400/IMG_0379.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><br />
Day 10: The flour angel stunt was messier than anticipated. Elf needed a shower:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoJB97Vd8GHYJDtFpiWitCSRqj6YxSL4tYOkqYvmvV6D7pgqGBNcoBN97tcxlaNE60N7CI0VduhZ6wddOLJ9dUm7YYtlwIalbaSdlxU0l3Nlxxjt55x04LNMqD3slSD8-4DkPMn7u0Q/s1600/IMG_1310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHoJB97Vd8GHYJDtFpiWitCSRqj6YxSL4tYOkqYvmvV6D7pgqGBNcoBN97tcxlaNE60N7CI0VduhZ6wddOLJ9dUm7YYtlwIalbaSdlxU0l3Nlxxjt55x04LNMqD3slSD8-4DkPMn7u0Q/s400/IMG_1310.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><br />
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Day 11: Elf takes a little fishing trip<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1IhoKNOkRiVEgTMpFmSmevTvGK7bYYQc9VmKRzMEwarPN3cDTNIkzReDICqact6TXKopAxJYrSNRvo5oMq0lrnBPrr2fR3meUGQ5V6W4sD1hRA_UK25_L8SaurhEuA3nVM8YU6tTKQQ/s1600/IMG_1331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1IhoKNOkRiVEgTMpFmSmevTvGK7bYYQc9VmKRzMEwarPN3cDTNIkzReDICqact6TXKopAxJYrSNRvo5oMq0lrnBPrr2fR3meUGQ5V6W4sD1hRA_UK25_L8SaurhEuA3nVM8YU6tTKQQ/s400/IMG_1331.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Bella finally seems to understand the words 'do not touch.' Whew! I'll give a rundown of other Elf activities soon!Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-80426434362791201322011-12-09T16:55:00.000-08:002011-12-09T16:55:46.064-08:00Superstar BellaBella recently had a little photo shoot with Santa in Emerald Isle. The experience was amazing. We had an appointment, so no waiting in line with 50 other kids and being pushed out of the way after they take 2 shots. There was a professional photographer (nuff said). Proceeds are going to benefit a local food bank and the humane society. The Santa was awesome, as Santa should always be. And now our little girl is all over the internet.That's right...and not just on our blog.<br />
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I'll share some of the Santa photos in another post, but there was one shot that was pretty awesome:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.toledoblade.com/image/2011/12/06/800x_b1_cCM_z/Children-asking-Santa-for-less-for-themselves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://www.toledoblade.com/image/2011/12/06/800x_b1_cCM_z/Children-asking-Santa-for-less-for-themselves.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
It just so happened that the Associated Press had a photographer there who took this photo. It ran with an article about how the recession is affecting Christmas all over the country. It's been pretty amazing to see over 16 pages of google hits for her name. This photo does say it all though. It captures her so well. Her loving little soul and gentle heart. I'll just be over here, being a proud mama...Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-36108639046856934972011-11-22T07:51:00.000-08:002011-11-22T07:51:49.780-08:00Crayon art<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I finally got sucked into pinterest a few weeks back (you can <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/">check it out here</a>). Basically, it is a digital bulletin board. You can 'pin' things that you find online and sort them so that they are organized. Then you follow others who have similar tastes and it becomes a big swap meet of cool ideas. I'm (of course) addicted and I've been trying all kinds of new projects. This was the first one and I'm very excited and proud of it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">OK, spoiler alert, here is the finished product:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cUy0mp1pA39TDuFVQhoCFlTBWzGNe3oC-BiMOCM4vv6Q26VuYa1W5IoToFXD3hwD_ArOcXaOKoWqVI_gBu1HTcFchPj8EJf2QeSfTfcN_-oxhDWPc94WaIdbS2DM2rD61bcfIjYuZw/s1600/IMG_1149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6cUy0mp1pA39TDuFVQhoCFlTBWzGNe3oC-BiMOCM4vv6Q26VuYa1W5IoToFXD3hwD_ArOcXaOKoWqVI_gBu1HTcFchPj8EJf2QeSfTfcN_-oxhDWPc94WaIdbS2DM2rD61bcfIjYuZw/s400/IMG_1149.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This was my inspiration on pinterest (the <a href="http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/diy/back-to-school-diy-melted-crayons-on-canvas-154672">website is here</a>):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYzocMDw_zCWGSGJHdFNVvOzO__qxTL7th9RvDxc2zbnaTBmEVNlc7aFiYvNXbvkwG1kk5lxekonNuf-SW7lWK6fpKHX6P3h8XfRkHxxVQ4EbeU7VjA557xvLzCmcO_3eE_QvmhqPUA/s400/8.26.11-melted-crayon-3.jpg" width="400" /></div><br />
I have been taking a painting class and had recently gone through the painful process of making my own elaborate color wheel. Sort of like this one:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.creative-baby-nursery-rooms.com/image-files/detailed-color-wheel.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="http://www.creative-baby-nursery-rooms.com/image-files/detailed-color-wheel.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br />
So with those on my mind, I decided to do a crayon color wheel. In chatting with my art teacher, she mentioned that big globs of melted crayon might come off the canvas, so I knew I wanted my melted crayon to be thin to prevent that.<br />
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Step 1: buy a canvas<br />
Step 2: draw a circle on the canvas so you have an even guide of where to glue the crayons<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkweOWHpFt7BeniJjlh5r-_HGyTYJ_PpGLdegmD2Anp_tvXTVEFQ7S1moc8c1Xvkpi5w5AReDkBPSU0dJn7C24f0S1zr2auXZnF_kNwOeFOy1w9knAqiCeITdVhMgW6-lqosrJZQQrPA/s1600/IMG_1139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkweOWHpFt7BeniJjlh5r-_HGyTYJ_PpGLdegmD2Anp_tvXTVEFQ7S1moc8c1Xvkpi5w5AReDkBPSU0dJn7C24f0S1zr2auXZnF_kNwOeFOy1w9knAqiCeITdVhMgW6-lqosrJZQQrPA/s320/IMG_1139.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>I know, helpful right? I already did a sort of trial setup with my crayons so I knew about how big it needed to be based on how many crayons I <strike>wanted </strike>had on hand. You'll see that I marked the circle with some guidelines to help keep it even. Those guidelines included 3 spots (at clock positions 12, 4, and 8) for my primary colors to anchor the circle.<br />
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Here is that circle a little further out so you can see what my dimensions looked like:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhw-fEIwMT5FLdI6AUPG8HFtpJExsovUtJqnaUWEGiId7AYKZMMNgDSwzQB4108Vhu4JkfoTe-EpEQsBHehYXh__DXTJzBzDbMi5ulN-RORRMKfzdKN1FAZXc0Gr3HLzDsWmT4PcyQA/s1600/IMG_1140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUhw-fEIwMT5FLdI6AUPG8HFtpJExsovUtJqnaUWEGiId7AYKZMMNgDSwzQB4108Vhu4JkfoTe-EpEQsBHehYXh__DXTJzBzDbMi5ulN-RORRMKfzdKN1FAZXc0Gr3HLzDsWmT4PcyQA/s400/IMG_1140.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Step 3: Lay out your crayons so you have them in the right positions and ready to go<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2z_qm_u6N93oKwkg_AUxgg9uOC5RyfmaygRN0kjVrsvtQoqfdYdOkbKrW_8oJVnzBGPkHpvTc8aiB3xQtNArHv7jQYLqfIwwRt-1MvL2zLtsWErD-KuPUOmeb5O7N6pbzXXJvNyPuuQ/s1600/IMG_1142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2z_qm_u6N93oKwkg_AUxgg9uOC5RyfmaygRN0kjVrsvtQoqfdYdOkbKrW_8oJVnzBGPkHpvTc8aiB3xQtNArHv7jQYLqfIwwRt-1MvL2zLtsWErD-KuPUOmeb5O7N6pbzXXJvNyPuuQ/s400/IMG_1142.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
For me, I decided to go with 3 of each primary and secondary color and 2 of each in between color (2 in between tones between each primary-secondary space. (translation, Primary: red, blue, yellow; Secondary: purple, green, orange; In betweens, blue-blue-green, blue-green-green, green-green-yellow, green-yellow-yellow, yellow-yellow-orange, yellow-orange-orange, orange-orange-red, orange-red-red, red-red-purple, red-purple-purple, purple-purple-blue, purple-blue-blue) Obviously, the crayon colors are not as conveniently named as purple-purple-blue, etc. You sort of have to play it by sight.<br />
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Step 4: get your glue gun ready (I put a piece of glass under the tip to catch any glue drips so I didn't mess up the floor. I prefer glass to paper because it's less likely to stick to the glue glue when you pick it up.) <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyn7KbcNjq7VAW5G1_PQBpj_FYH6oUTBTBi7OtUu4gSvba2Tb_tfG6vHYuYEIrwOaZe3Olj6iQiP6PWyhNjdfU4qiWWbtKlu0pvUdrQ0IvVQSSvCfpmwJK53RVE81jQw11dGCWsagUA/s1600/IMG_1143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyn7KbcNjq7VAW5G1_PQBpj_FYH6oUTBTBi7OtUu4gSvba2Tb_tfG6vHYuYEIrwOaZe3Olj6iQiP6PWyhNjdfU4qiWWbtKlu0pvUdrQ0IvVQSSvCfpmwJK53RVE81jQw11dGCWsagUA/s320/IMG_1143.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Step 4: Glue your center primary color crayons (this is why I had 3 of each of them) down on the marks you made to anchor the circle.<br />
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Step 5: Don't be an idiot like me and start with purple before realizing that purple is NOT a primary color. Guess I got overexcited. On the plus side, it gave me a chance to see what happened when you screw up and have to pull one off. The good news: they're decently easy to pull off and the old glue gets hidden, so not the end of the world.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ID8h9qTu0uJai2-auJj6dnSUSJPJ2JWZWdOq0sG3OBzTQ4D8CHsWA-nxhl5Q4wF951tWlKaIQ-FRleBqQu7is4YvPXsokpTVFE5J0jWQgsXdeMDinPWWwXfLDjLxkCoMNRYq4ljF9Q/s1600/IMG_1144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ID8h9qTu0uJai2-auJj6dnSUSJPJ2JWZWdOq0sG3OBzTQ4D8CHsWA-nxhl5Q4wF951tWlKaIQ-FRleBqQu7is4YvPXsokpTVFE5J0jWQgsXdeMDinPWWwXfLDjLxkCoMNRYq4ljF9Q/s400/IMG_1144.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyn7KbcNjq7VAW5G1_PQBpj_FYH6oUTBTBi7OtUu4gSvba2Tb_tfG6vHYuYEIrwOaZe3Olj6iQiP6PWyhNjdfU4qiWWbtKlu0pvUdrQ0IvVQSSvCfpmwJK53RVE81jQw11dGCWsagUA/s1600/IMG_1143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Step 6: Try that whole 'glue down the primary colors center crayon' thing again. Then glue down the secondary colors in between (clock positions 2, 6, and 10) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sorry the photo is a bit blurry, but you get the picture I think:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKb1BlB1J9UKVW5syZxDkpo8t9SdxpCorwQIrIN1w14V-_ZknnKiymAwoTzS2hPw4d1gKSOOqIzy0XwOBrU4J6rlrB8VG6gSQPNRQCSOrS4oDtEALdOZvooNzyQkcmFHZ4S9vD-pwm4Q/s1600/IMG_1145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKb1BlB1J9UKVW5syZxDkpo8t9SdxpCorwQIrIN1w14V-_ZknnKiymAwoTzS2hPw4d1gKSOOqIzy0XwOBrU4J6rlrB8VG6gSQPNRQCSOrS4oDtEALdOZvooNzyQkcmFHZ4S9vD-pwm4Q/s400/IMG_1145.JPG" width="400" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Step 7: Repeat for the remainder of the crayons </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnI44mHzlop3niYiwgfcjf50eIRBaS-Xo03BH8lA7JhlVxdELDPAd3L1Mdblx8cjHQB7T5kx9ZEXE0hyphenhyphenVF-R7jcy8zfSGCaiBo-QuyTEbtpvP7sgppp3zdiBJ_SnDN2PgXO55WOoKuZA/s1600/IMG_1146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnI44mHzlop3niYiwgfcjf50eIRBaS-Xo03BH8lA7JhlVxdELDPAd3L1Mdblx8cjHQB7T5kx9ZEXE0hyphenhyphenVF-R7jcy8zfSGCaiBo-QuyTEbtpvP7sgppp3zdiBJ_SnDN2PgXO55WOoKuZA/s400/IMG_1146.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyn7KbcNjq7VAW5G1_PQBpj_FYH6oUTBTBi7OtUu4gSvba2Tb_tfG6vHYuYEIrwOaZe3Olj6iQiP6PWyhNjdfU4qiWWbtKlu0pvUdrQ0IvVQSSvCfpmwJK53RVE81jQw11dGCWsagUA/s1600/IMG_1143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Now time for the fun part!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Step 7: take your creation to an area that you can get splattered. This could be inside with drop cloths, or outside, whatever works. It was a nice day out, so we went to the yard.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnI44mHzlop3niYiwgfcjf50eIRBaS-Xo03BH8lA7JhlVxdELDPAd3L1Mdblx8cjHQB7T5kx9ZEXE0hyphenhyphenVF-R7jcy8zfSGCaiBo-QuyTEbtpvP7sgppp3zdiBJ_SnDN2PgXO55WOoKuZA/s1600/IMG_1146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a></div> Step 8: get your hair dryer plugged in on its warm/hot setting and turn it on. Let it heat up a bit before aiming it at the crayons. That way your first crayons get the same heat burst as the rest.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here's where your artistic side will take over. How you move that dryer affects what the wax splatter looks like. I moved my wrist side to side fairly rapidly, which is how I also dry my hair. Turns out, it made an awesome sunburst sort of spray. I just kept rotating the canvas as I felt like each color was done (to keep the flow going the same direction all the way around). I even let Bella take a turn at it, which was sort of the whole point initially. But we were outside, and there were butterflies. So she went chasing butterflies and I did my dryer thing. All done, I had a nice light coat of wax. No globs, and I love it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Originally I had thought about painting a word in the center of the circle, but after I saw it I decided against it because it's so great by itself. I'm still considering making a frame out of rulers for the edge, but I like it a lot by itself. What do you think?</div><br />
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</div>Looking forward to sharing more pinterest projects soon!Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-63235127969797403212011-11-10T18:59:00.000-08:002011-11-10T18:59:56.914-08:00LOL: Pi(e)Just had to put this where I wouldn't forget it:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEKOYyzOBZzoV2GhgK2aAtExvnnTjeAdOdHA67_O30WjoSMhWvZddntBcdl8YBLzeOJetYmk_V0NxKb_2eDijFxWfswHLoZbORPLc14aIXYEjlB6Q7DlIdsxKlxP9T1tqYKhEI3_pGQ/s1600/pie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEKOYyzOBZzoV2GhgK2aAtExvnnTjeAdOdHA67_O30WjoSMhWvZddntBcdl8YBLzeOJetYmk_V0NxKb_2eDijFxWfswHLoZbORPLc14aIXYEjlB6Q7DlIdsxKlxP9T1tqYKhEI3_pGQ/s400/pie.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22224332829914805.post-70221152092067393152011-11-04T06:31:00.000-07:002011-11-04T06:31:00.125-07:00Pippen vs. DoraPippen is such a little clown. He spazzes out, makes his tail fluff out to racoon size and tears around the house pouncing on anything that moves. Absolutely cracks me up! Bella was playing dolls downstairs and Pippen decided enough was enough for Dora the Explorer.<br />
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Dora never stood a chance. And yes, I know in the video I hand Dora to him, but it was after he initiated the attack and I was laughing so hard I had to go grab the phone to video him before he grew bored. Crazy munchkin cat.Jessi/Bella's Mommyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03615678790397683052noreply@blogger.com1