Sunny weather and Farmers’ Markets go together!

Checking out the delicious strawberries. (Miranda in Playful Ponies and Paulo in A Dog's Life from le•top's 2009 Fall/Winter collection)

Farmers’ markets may be year-round, but it’s best to go when the sun is shining. Everything just looks fresher, greener and sweeter, and everyone is shopping away happily with their reusable bags in hand. I love to support my local farmers and buy their organically-grown produce every weekend, but trekking out there in the rain or cold just isn’t my cup of tea – especially with a little guy who has to be pushed around in his stroller. However, last Saturday when we woke up and saw the sun beaming down and temperatures in the low 70s, we decided it was time to visit the farmers’ market.

It’s been so long since we’ve been to a farmers’ market that Miranda forgot what it was. “Do they have rides? Do they have shopping carts? Why are we walking?” But as soon as we got out of the car and followed the crowd, Miranda remembered. “This is where we can try strawberries for FREE! And we can buy kettle corn! And where’s the clown that makes balloon animals?”

Oh, yes! The fun of going to farmers’ markets. Not only do we see fresh fruits, vegetables, cheeses, olive oils, pastas, etc., smell popcorn popping or meat grilling, hear live music, but we also get to spend quality family time. Yay for spring!

Read Full Post »

Curious Little Bother

Miranda is wearing "Cute As A Button," and Paulo is wearing "Walking With Dinosaurs." (Both from the le•top 2009 Fall/Winter Collection.)

I mean, brother. 🙂

While our 5-year old was busy playing with a borrowed Nintendo DS, we couldn’t help but notice that her little brother was curiously watching her hold this intriguing contraption. He hasn’t seen anything like it before so he observed intently as Big Sister played happily. Soon enough, he snatched the game right out of her hand… THREE TIMES!

You’d think she would get annoyed or cry about it. Instead, she laughed because it was funny to see the determination in his face AND to discover how quickly he managed to take the toy away from her so he could have a better look. (She IS also a very patient big sister.)

Read Full Post »

Ice Skating: Fun times or Forget it!

Paulo (wearing A Dog's Life polar fleece from le•top's 2009 Fall/Winter Collection) isn't a fan of ice skating.

Ice skaters make it look so easy! Watching them glide across the ice makes me want to try the sport and dream of dancing and swaying gracefully on the ice, looking like a beautiful ballerina. STOP! One can dream, right? Well, I’m not too bad. Wobbly, yes. But I can skate a lap or two.

Miranda wants to glide as well. This is her 2nd time on the ice. The first time was when she was 3-years old. We went to Lake Tahoe and gave it a go. It was such a horrible experience for her. She slipped and fell so many times and vowed never to ice skate again! Well, that was then. This time was more pleasurable. She took a stack of buckets, held on, then push… push… PUSHED herself across the ice. Of course, she slipped and fell more than once, but she picked herself back up and tried again—until she made one lap around. Success!

Now she wants to skate again tomorrow. We can’t. You have ballet. Then we can skate the day after that! No, you have swim class. How about the next day? (I’ve run out of excuses.) We’ll see.

Miranda is wearing a Pink Leopard Faux Fur jacket from the 2008 Winter Collection.

Read Full Post »

Look Who’s Getting into Trouble?

le•top baby: Toy Pony overalls from 2009 Fall/Winter Collection

Barely six months and my little guy has already started to crawl. Now he’s getting into everything! I cannot leave him for one second because if I do, I will find him playing with something other than his toys. His current favorites are: shoes, newspapers and electrical cords. Ugh! I miss the days when I can lay him on his blanket and know he’s not going to roll over anywhere.

Read Full Post »

First Day of Kindergarten

Miranda Wearing Cute as a Button Rib Knit Shirt and Baby Wale Corduroy Skort Set

The long-awaited day has arrived. My daughter has been so excited! Alas, it is here…The First Day of Kindergarten.

The night before, we carefully selected what her first-day-of-school outfit will be. She wanted to wear a dress (to give her teacher a good first impression) but I wanted her to wear shorts or pants because sitting on the carpet will be more comfortable. So, we decided on le•top’s 2009 Fall collection Cute As A Button ensemble. The skirt has built-in shorts!!! (My favorite part—why didn’t they have those when I was growing up?) And it went so well with her new Back-to-School ‘do!

For the past month, I have been mentally preparing myself NOT to cry when I drop her off at school. All I could think of was that my baby is growing up, and from now on until she graduates from high school, she will be in school everyday, five days a week, with only a few weeks during the year when she can enjoy childhood. But on the flip side, I realized that I would now have mornings to devote to my 5-month old son who needs my attention now more than ever.

Today, as we drove to school, there was no time to cry. We were running late, the parking lot was full, cars were parked all along the neighboring streets, and the classroom was filled with paparazzi parents snapping cameras and videotaping this monumental day. It was hard to just get my daughter INSIDE her classroom, let alone me and my stroller. After 10 minutes of listening to the teacher take roll and the students reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, the teacher instructed the students: “Please look for your parent and wave goodbye so they can leave and we can start class.” Miranda found me, waved goodbye with a big smile, then sat down for Circle Time.

I exited the classroom then walked back to the car. A single tear rolled down my cheek. All I could think of was that my little girl is a BIG girl now.

Read Full Post »