Balloon Time sent us a tank of helium and some balloons and wanted us to figure out how we could share an extra dose of happy. We identified 4 people we wanted to share these bits of floating happiness with, and then, the two older girls wrote down a sweet message on each of the balloons. There was a bit of yelping here and there because balloons kept popping on us as they were writing on them, and the girls were giggling because I kept getting freaked out. After I think 7 (loud) balloon pops, we finally had 4 balloons with some delightful messages to share with some neighbors.
The girls loved this idea! There were so excited to be able to write on balloons! Seriously, who needs fancy toys when you can give a sharpie and a balloon?! Just make sure to supervise because you don’t want that sharpie to end up on the wall.

True’s message was, “Good morning!” and we gave that balloon along with some baked goodies to the people who serve us weekly at the local aquatic center…Brave’s message was, “It’s springtime!” and that went to one of our neighbors…
Soul chose to share, “Hello sunshine!” to another neighbor friend…
Glow’s balloon said, “Yippee!” and that went to another neighbor friend…
I said, “We have one more balloon for us to keep, so what message do you want to put on it?” And they said, “We’re so excited!!!” so that’s just what True wrote down.

It’s totally cute how they get all about this kind of stuff. My girls light up when it comes to creating presents for each other, for Ben and me, or other people. They are all about making and giving. It makes me so thankful for their very loving hearts.
In the evening, we went to deliver to the balloons and messages (along with a little treat from a local bakery) to our neighbor friends. We brought the first balloon with us to swim class in the morning. Everyone was so excited to know the girls thought of them and loved their fun messages! We don’t know all our neighbors really well, but we’ve been trying to reach out and make an effort. Ben and I are by nature introverted (I’m an extroverted introvert), so it really takes a lot of us to get out of our comfort zone (leave our house), but we’re totally working on it.

Our girls are super shy (it takes about 30 minutes to get them to talk to someone new), but we want them to love serving people (and giving to people), and one of the ways to encourage that is to model that behavior, which is another reason we do our Dinner Club Thursdays. I loved this little #HappinessFloats challenge Balloon Time had for us. It also goes perfectly with yesterday’s Fairy Birds story of giving.

Balloons were a simple gesture and it really doesn’t take much to bring a little sunshine into someone’s day. It could be a simple hand-picked flower (my girls do this all the time!), a little hand written note (I like to sneak it in Ben’s lunch), or even just a hug. Just that wee bit of extra effort really does make a difference!

Happy first day of spring! Maybe there’s a little special surprise you can do for someone today to celebrate it.

We went to the Fairy Birds reading and party on Saturday, and everything was absolutely whimsical! There was so much lovely and it was especially cute to see all the little girls in their wings. I loved the wings, but I couldn’t get my self to buy 4 of them, which would have put us out about a Benajmin, and I figured we could make our own for a much friendlier price for 4 girls. If I had to just buy one, it probably wouldn’t be as intimidating, but when you have 4 girls will want to be fairy birds, DIY was the way to go in our case. We did buy the book though, and the girls have been reading and re-reading it together ever since.

Fairy Bird Wings
for little ones who want to learn about giving and become a fairy birds

Supplies:
6′ white feather boa
10″ floral wire
6 – 8 white chenille stems
Various colored feathers
Wire cutter
Scissors
Glue gun & glue stick
1 yard of 1/4″ elastic
Sewing machine
Coordinating thread

Directions:
1. Tie the ends of the feather boa together.

2. Fold the feather boa in half.

3. With your 10″ wire, wrap it tightly around the center of the boa to gather the center together. Twist together the wire ends to connect.

4. Overlap the ends of two chenille stems, twist together, center it onto the center of the boa, wrap around center a couple times, and proceed to wrap it around the feathers to give it a bit of structure. I repeated this two more times with 2 more pairs of chenille stems to give the wings more structure, so that they wouldn’t just flop down. Fluff the feathers so that it hides the chenille stems.

5. From the elastic, measure and cut a length that will be comfortable for your child to put on like a backpack. Sew together the ends of the elastic, then fold in half, and sew a small stitch down the center, so that the elastic is now a figure 8. This can also be sewn by hand, but machine is always faster. Feed elastic through one of the wires wrapped in the center. Another option would be to center the figure 8 elastic on the gathered center, and take another chenille stem to wrap around the elastic, joining it together with the wings.

6. Using your glue gun, add the colored feathers to the bottom of the wings. It’s best to attach it to some of the white feathers near the bottom. There you go! You’ve got some pretty, fluffy wings, and your little ones can join the ranks of many fairy birds all over the world. Immediately after the Fairy Birds party, the girls and I stopped by the craft store to pick up some supplies, and making fairy bird wings was our afternoon activity together. Total I spent about $35 (with a coupon) to make 4 fairy bird wings. It doesn’t have the large wing span the “real” fairy bird wings have, but my girls are happy with our homemade ones, and it does have a nice little bounce. If you’re not a DIY-er (and don’t need 4 of them), buy the wings here.

It’s a very sweet story that teaches children about giving. Obviously, we were totally inspired. I highly recommend it, but I must warn you, your little ones will definitely be wanting their own set of wings, so be ready for that too!

outfit details: dress, c/o tutu du monde. glitter headband, mane message.

Sunday afternoon, True came up to me and said, “Oh mommy! I can’t wait until Saint Patrick’s Day tomorrow! I can’t wait for the surprises!” I had totally forgotten and in my head I said, “Oh crap. What am I going to do?!” Then, the rest of the afternoon was a whirlwind and I forgot about it, until it was time to put the girls to bed, and then I started coming up with a plan.

Luckily, I had a helium tank, so I started blowing up tiny balloons and putting them all on a string in rainbow order. I would have done an air pump, but we couldn’t find our hand held one, so it was helium tank it is! I made a quick little note, added that to the beginning of the string at the top of the stairs and the whole string of balloons led to their pot of “gold” at the bottom of the stairs. For the prizes, thankfully I had some little things I had bought from the dollar section at target (was saving it for a rainy day) and each of the girls got one little special treat: Glow got sunglasses, Soul got a My Little Pony coloring book, and True and Brave got those skip-hop-rope-ball things.

I woke up before them, so that I can make one more little string of rainbow ordered balloons. I attached that to their pot, so it would still be floating when they discovered it, and waited for them to wake up. Once they did, they saw the note, and started following the rainbow to their pot of gold. They were all so excited to get their “magical” treats.

The day proceeded like normal, but they all just made sure to wear green, and they made sure I wore green too! We had breakfast together, did school, then lunch, then more school, and then they played and crafted up their own St. Paddy’s Day treats for Ben and me.

Snack time yesterday afternoon was a little bit special too. I took out some ice cream, we just happen to have vanilla and mint chocolate chip on hand (totally perfect for the occasion!), and some rainbow colored sprinkles (the sprinkles and containers are from Layer Cake Shop), and we had ourselves a nice little ice cream celebration. The girls loved it and were totally relishing that they got ice cream as a snack. The rest of the afternoon was a blur of play and crafts, and while we did have some unlucky news regarding Ben’s car yesterday (it bit the dust and now we’re down to one car), our Saint Patrick’s Day was definitely a good day. These girls get so excited about the simplest holidays and it’s fun to feed off their excitement and make those days special for them (even if my ideas did come last minute!).

The girls have been an extra ball of sass and shrieking lately, particularly that baby of ours. I think it’s because they have springtime fever. Ever since that time change, we’ve definitely felt that surge of energy and we are loving having that extra light! The girls are counting down until the official jump into spring, so there will probably some sort of little celebrating here on Thursday. We like to celebrate even the simplest things! And I know, I know, we’re Californians, so it’s pretty much spring (or summer) year round, but it’s still exciting for us nonetheless.

Jumping into what the girls are wearing now, can I say how much I wish Glow’s romper came in my size (maybe I should sew myself one). I would totally wear that and her cute little silver sandals! I actually have a similar pair and I got her those so we can match. In the past, I’ve never been into being too matchy matchy with my girls, but lately, I’ve been into it (see proof here). I’ve also noticed True sort of studies what I wear and tries to recreate it. She even does that little bit of front tuck sometimes. Brave tells me her style is girly, but sporty, and she’s always wearing some sort of red and blue combo (or at least she tries to) because of Spider-Man. Thus, she was happy to pick out this Spider-Man shirt from Old Navy and pair it with a blue striped skirt. Actually, both True and Brave’s shirts here both came from the boy section of Old Navy! Soul’s latest thing is wearing things that are short. If I hand her a dress to put on, she’ll say, “Is it short?” Oye! She likes things really short, but thankfully, she likes to wear shorts or leggings under her really short skirts and dresses. Oh these girls! It’s fun seeing their personalities in how they dress themselves.

on me: dress, handmade (by me, see here and here). shoes, anthropologie (a couple years ago). necklace, lisa leonard. on true: camo shirt and chambray skirt, c/o old navy. shoes, vintage. on brave: spider-man shirt, striped skirt, and polka-dot sneakers, all c/o old navy. on soul: chambray dress and gold sandals, c/o old navy. sweater, panache box. on glow: chambray romper and silver sandals, c/o old navy.

*This post was sponsored by Old Navy. I sincerely thank you for your continuous support of this space and my sponsors. I’m truly so grateful! xoxo

Spicy Seafood & Udon Stir Fry. Yummy! I made a batch with soba noodles too because Ben prefers the buckwheat, and while I do like buckwheat, I like the udon better with this. A noodle stir-fry is a good way to throw in lots of vegetables into a meal.

Roasted Cauliflower Steaks With Lemon Relish. This. Is. So. Good!!! Make it. I made two batches, one doubling up the red pepper and one without it (for the kids). Also, I only put 1 tablespoon of oil in the relish, not the 2 the recipe calls for, and it was fine with less oil. We didn’t even use a Meyer lemon, but a couple regular grocery store ones, and our first lemon from our lemon tree. Thus, I think using any lemon would suffice. Really though, make this, it’s super delicious!

Week of 3/17 – 3/21
Monday: Crunchy Turkey Burgers
Tuesday: Sweet Sticky Baked Chicken (or maybe Korean Fried Chicken)
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Black Bean and Quinoa Bowl
Friday: Sushi/pizza night

I’ve mentioned this already, but I really enjoy cooking. I’m no pro at all, but I’ve learned so much since I started meal planning. This is after 66 (not consecutive) weeks of planning our dinners and trying out new recipes.  I definitely do miss Ben’s cooking though, he is such a natural! I also love I can go to our backyard and grab some herbs for our meal. It makes cooking feel extra fancy!

Ever since my friend Jane came over last Friday with a rose bun from 85 degrees (a local Chinese bakery), I’ve been on a big bread kick, particularly bread from our local Asian bakeries. There may or may not have been two bakery visits this past week…

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

Love this cloud rug for a kid room.

I love air plants and these air plant holders are so cute and an easy DIY.

Baked onion rings?! Yes, please!

I want the gorgeous fabric on this dress. Anyone know where to find it? I’d love to sew something with it.

Glow is really such a little hoarder. Her bed has at least 8 stuffed animals that she must have with her every night, plus a couple books thrown in for good measure. And when she isn’t in her bed, she carries a bag full of stuff (like yesterday’s gif). It will be interesting how her hoarding tendencies play out later.

Thankful for the sweet comments and email you guys continue to leave regarding last Friday’s post. It really is very much appreciated!

Thankful for a husband who brings me a small cup of ice cream almost every night.

I’m thankful for to-do lists and every time I can cross things off. It helps me stay on task and get things done. Keeping a planner, really helps me stay organized. True’s asking for her own “planner” for her birthday.

What simple things are you thankful for this week?