Another Pool

While the play center pool was drying out on the deck, I stopped by Target and picked up a new pool. This one is rectangle shape, and can hold much more water. Worrying about its final weight when it's full, we decided we will put it on the driveway instead. We also have a garden hoe right there, and the end of our driveway is unused anyway. I will have to remember to put the foam pads down first this time. Oh yeah, it will be closer to the cars, so we don't have to carry it to the deck, not that it's that much further. Best part, when we drain this baby, most water will follow the slope of the driveway and go to the drain on the street. No more worrying about too much water too close to the foundation. Let's just hope this one will hold the air and water, so we don't have to go through this searching process again.

Bad News About The New Pool

It leaks! Imagine what our faces looked like when we got home yesterday, and saw the big section of the pool totally empty! We were so disappointed! Little caterpillar didn't really care. As long as there is a drop of water, she will have some fun with it. Too bad! I really liked this one. Guess we have to spend a little bit more than just $30 to get some good quality. Now I have to search online really hard, since I already sort of invited our friends over for a pool party this weekend. OK, worst case scenario, they can bring over their personal pool (they bought the same one we had), and we can let the kids swim in their own tiny pool. Totally separated, but still swimming. Hmm, that will be weird.

Big Kid Pool

Last year, little caterpillar had so much fun with this personal baby pool my friend gave me. That might be too small for her now. We need something much bigger, and can provide much more activities to her and her little friends. Yeah, gotta teach them the idea of sharing. We also have to share the water with a certain big 'kid'. Look how tight it was when Stubborn decided to jump in that baby pool last year. So bad I cannot show you their faces, but imagine a tiny baby staring at the relaxed daddy, very unhappily! This picture cracks me up everytime.
So, this past Sunday, when we were shopping at BJs, right after Stubborn vetoed my kiddy pool (those 30" ones) idea, we saw this one. It's 90" by 90", big enough for several kids and adults. At only $30, we had to grab one. I was so eager to set it up, but little caterpillar fell asleep on our way home. That air pump was too loud, just pumping up the two flower thingy already almost woke her up. So, I had to stop and wait, and wait, and wait.
When little caterpillar finally woke up, she was very excited to 'help' mommy set up the pool. Well, before I started the air pump, I had to convince her it's ok, not to be afraid. I cranked up the music (that air pump can only be plugged in the car), and little caterpillar just grabbed two little balls and danced. So cute. Stubborn and I carried it to the deck, started adding water to it. It was almost 6pm, and water from garden hoes was so cold, I had to bring some hot water from the kitchen with a big pot to make it just bearable. Little caterpillar didn't care about the temperature, jumped right in. Looks like we are going to have a great summer here!

Finishing Up Some Projects

Stubborn had enough of my messes everywhere in the basement, demanded me clean up his half. Well, you see, my half is smaller because of the utility stuffs and lots of shelves, and my crafting and sewing tables, and wook bench. Also it's very crowded with some of my future projects. So, when I want to build something, I just take over his side (wide open, with just a sofa, TV and a treadmill). Since I don't have the time to finish projects immediately, they ended up all over his side. Anyway, while I was cleaning up, I realized how rediculous it is to have so many half done projects still hanging around. So, I took some time, and managed to cross two items off my to-do list, and move them out of the basement.

I found this metal art deco vanity bench at local Salvation Army several months ago. I thought I took the before pictures, but cannot find them right now. Yeah, that's how organized I am. Anyway, it was the those shiny brass one, with some rust here and there. The seat cushion might be white originally, but when I saw it, it was really disgusting. So, I took the seat off, spray painted the frame white. I tore off the old fabric, added some padding and stapled it down. But then I couldn't decide which fabric I want to use! So, it just sat there for months collecting dust. Now I am glad I didn't finish it then, I totally don't like that fabric now. I chose a fun piece instead, after all, this one is going in to my little girl's future bathroom. How do you like it now?

This second item was not taking up too much space. But it was on my sewing table for a while, and I really want little caterpillar to wear it this season. Nothing wrong with it, just a little bit boring. So, I just grabbed a long piece from a jelly roll I got from a swap, 10 minutes later, it's like this.
Very cute, don't you think? My kind of project, fast and easy. Again, before:And after:

Refashioned T-shirt Dress

Remember this dress I refashioned for my girl in winter? It's finally warm enough for her to wear it, and pose for mommy. Well if you call standing while watching TV 'posing'. It's a perfect fit! Before I have time to make some matching hair bows, these orange elastics will do.
Have a great weekend, everyone! I am so excited for our first daycare BBQ party, cannot wait to meet other kids and their parents, and make some new friends. Just hope the rain won't interrupt our fun. Now what dessert should I bring?

BTW, for those of you who loving sewing and making clothes for your little ones, I just saw this wonderful news on MADE. Dana was nice enough to inform us that Joanns is running a seersucker sale, only $3/yard! Amazing! Oh how I want to ran right over there and grab all colors they have! Then I remembered that I have about 10 years worth of fabric sitting in my basement, including some very cute seersucker fabric (big sis gave me tons of fabric this time while we were visiting my parents). I have to keep my promise to use up those first! But if you love seersucker on kids, you should definitely go! The sale ends tomorrow! Let the summer begin!

Thrifting Finds

Ever since we came back from China, I have been thrifting every Sat morning. I had very good luck finding these shirts, really thought I used all luck for this whole year! But fortunately, I didn't. Look what I found during the past couple of weeks!

I have been looking for these lotus bowls ever since I saw these on flickr. I fell in love at first sight, but never thought I could have the luck to find one. So, when I spotted this familar shape on the bottom shelf at my local Salvation Army, I held my breath. I couldn't believe I found not one, but five, creamy white lotus bowls, in perfect shape! And they were just $.69 each!


I was so excited about the bowls, went directly to the cashier without spending time looking around for other stuffs. Just as I was paying for my perfect bowls, I saw a lonely shoe on counter. It was a toddler girl shoe, looked brand new. Of course I asked for the other one, and no one knew where it was. Then I thought, let me check their shoe shelf, it might be there. Well, it wasn't there! There were lots of kids shoes on that shelf, but they were all very disappointing looking. But as I turned around, I saw something at the corner of my eyes. There they were, three pairs of girl shoes, so beautiful, almost never worn. Quickly, I grabbed them and ran to the cashier again. One pair was even on sale for 1/2 off. So I got all my girl's shoes for next summer for about $8! Just the day before, I saw similar ones sold at Payless for $20! Aren't they just adorable!


A week later, I found this little guy on their bottom shelf. I am not so sure, but I think it's pure silver. It has that tarnished silver shine, very soft, and look closely, there is a strange mark on one of the candleholder. I will have to polish it and then tell you whether that $2 was wasted or not.

Then last weekend, I went to a different Salvation Army on Rt 1. They have a bigger furniture section, and I am still looking for a cute little desk or vanity for little caterpillar. I didn't see anything interested me. Well, there are lots of amazing pieces, but they are too big, we simply don't have any space for them. A nice dresser for the guest room will be great, but I didn't see anything in the right size. Anyway, after walking around the front store a couple of times, I was kind of disappointed, until I spotted these two cups in the corner. I think I have seen this type of cups in stores, but don't remember their price. The guy who was arranging the items told me he just took them out of their box, they are brand new. Well, I have been looking for some tea cups for my girl, future tea parties. So, at $.59 each, they have to go home with me. Aren't they cute? Even the inside is beautiful.This is the mark on the bottom.

How is your thrifting luck lately?

Garden Updates

I am so lucky! I didn't even lift a finger this year to get all these gorgeous flowers! Hooray for perennial garden! Perfect garden for lazy gardeners!
And my potted plants are doing pretty good too! Before I had little caterpillar, I gave away half of my plants, only kept my orchids and jasmines, and some air filtering plants. I don't have time to take care them as before, but they are still rewarding me with some amazing flowers. This pink jasmine was a gift from AK a couple years back. This one is the first flower of this season, and the color is more intense and flower is bigger! Looks like there are more buds coming, going to be quite a show!
And this baby (Encyclia radiata) just 'enjoying' my ignorance. It blooms every year, and 3 or 4 spikes at a time! The sweet scent is so strong, I normally cannot have it inside.

Happy Father's Day!

How was your Father's Day? We had a fun and relaxing weekend! We almost went to the Bruins parade in Boston. Stubborn is a big sports fan, loves almost all Boston teams. Even though he hasn't follow Bruins for too long, he really wanted to go, and share this experience with his little girl. But I was not too enthusiastic about the idea bring my baby to such a huge crowd! Lucky we didn't go, there were more than 1 million fans there by the time we planned to leave home. And later we heard the commuter rail train didn't even stop at most of the train station, because the trains were all packed after the first couple of stops! The ones got on the 9:30Am train finally got to Boston around 2Pm! Missed it all! We were so lucky that little caterpillar decided to sleep in. Stubborn got to watched the entire parade on TV, much better than standing outside the Garden, behind hundreds of people, and only can see about 5 minutes of the parade! He had a great time, while little caterpillar and I had a nice long brunch. Afterward, we went to an old friend's new house for a informal gathering. So great to go to a party with some store-bought dessert, I didn't need to work hard at all! We had a wonderful time there! Kids always love other people's toys! That's so true! Little caterpillar got to play with four bigger kids (5 to 7 years old), and was fascinated by the big kid's toys!
See, feeding their baby doll was more fun than feeding her own at home! Of course, she got to dig in their toy closet, while the bigger kids played some non-toddler-friendly game. She looked like she was on a treasure island!
Yeah, even other kid's dirty shoes were more attractive! She is really into shoes and accessories lately, has been wearing my shoes and carrying my bags a lot.
See, even other people's staircase was more fun! Too much fun, she forgot about safety. Lucky me and the other moms were chatting right there, when she decided to bend down and roll in the middle of the stairs! We were fast enough to catch her, my friend grabbed her arm, while I supported her head. Even though she was not hurt, she got really scared! Screamed and cried for 5 minutes! Then she went right back to the stairs! Lesson learned?! Crazy girl!
Once the whole front of that gorgeous dress was wet (she is probably teething again), my friend found a new dress that was too small for their daughter. It fits little caterpillar perfectly! Thanks, Fang! Don't they look like sisters? So cute!
We then spent about an hour at a nearby elementary school playground. So many new stuffs, little caterpillar tried really hard to play them all. Look how silly she was! Even though there was no baby swing, we still gave it a try. After several minutes swing on mommy's lap, she decided to swing like a big girl! My friend helped me hold on to her while I took this picture! I probably pushed her for good half an hour, while holding tightly on her arm! She had so much fun, that she got really mad at me when I took her down. She totally skipped her nap, so as soon as we put her in the car, she just felt right to sleep.

What happened on actual Father's Day, after her long beauty sleep? More fun! She got to play with her water toys on the deck. Why was she wearing raincoat and rainboots on such a sunny day? Well, it was sunny and warm, but not hot enough to wear swimming suit. She kept pouring water on herself, so I had to do something. Once she figured out she could not open that new deck gate any more (I simply put a plastic ring thingy through the hole), she really enjoyed her homemade water table (a plastic box on a patio chair, filled with water toys). She even had a drink of that dirty water! Hmmm, yum!
We also went for a bike ride in the afternoon. Little caterpillar was too little last year, she was actually afraid of that little chair. But this time, she had a great time, even buckled up herself. She really liked poking mommy on the back while kicking mommy's legs. We spent an hour at a playground we passed by, so she got to play with some big kids equipment again, and followed a 5-yr-old boy around like a little tail. The boy had to play everything the "safe" way, so she won't try some dangerous moves. They were so cute together.

So, how was your father's day? Hope you all had fun. We sure did!