bmk

moana

We had a special visitor to the Kitchen today. Moana! The kids had a great time singing along with her and learning a Polynesian dance. It was a great a camp. 
Our neighbor, Karen has become our new party host. 
We are doing our best to have others run parties and not live at out jobs. 
After camp B had more work to get done so I took the girls to see Cars 3. I have a soft spot for that series because it was such a favorite of Gwyneth’s when she was little. 

camps

I had a creative block for camps this summer. I sat for hours just staring at an empty calendar. I love the camps and I love to plan, but I just couldn’t organize my ideas. 
The big picture was just too big. I was overwhelmed with the idea of coming up with great ideas for the entire summer. I was worried about being stale and not trying new things. I was worried about growing with my kids and coming up with ideas that were still fun and challenging. That’s a lot to have rolling around in the ol’ brain while just staring at a blank calendar. 
I finally got over my mental block simply by asking the girls what the heck we should do. The ideas just flowed from them. Emoji camp, Cake Boss, Princesses, Donuts, Hamburgers…Paint. Cook. Paint. Repeat. 
Why didn’t I start with these little ladies in the first place???
We had a busy week of camps with Emoji Madness and Cake Boss. Two of their brain children and absolute favs. 
Loving Annabelle’s Emoji Pizza
And then it was Cake Boss time: 
We added the painting to the camps and everyone seems really excited about it. For Cake Boss we painted cake slice boxes. 
Our niece Reagan joined us for both camps this week and a sleepover. 
Those are some good lookin’ cakes. 

belle princess party

Miss Gwyneth helped me to organize the Belle Camp at Blue Mountain Kitchen. She loves the princesses. She didn’t ask to invite a friend along today; she was very just very happy to help. 
My girl loves princesses.  She loves the movies, the magic, the dresses and all things sparkly and fancy. I love that she still has this innocence. I was wondering if she would outgrow this phase and think maybe she never will. Maybe she is our little princess and will always love the glitter of it all. 
Have I mentioned that she has gone through a major growth spurt also? She’s so flippin’ tall!

national donut day

As I get older I’m losing my sweet tooth. I’m more of a savory girl these days. I have two weaknesses in the sweets department still: donuts and birthday cake. 
We were back at the Kitchen today for a mini-camp honoring National Donut Day. We had the special treat of having my niece, Reagan join us today too! The girls are always very excited to see their cousin. The never want their time together to end and they always beg for more time and sleepovers. 
B helped the girls make donut holes

We took a break from eating donuts to paint donuts. They turned out so great and I even took the opportunity to paint with them. 
Look at all those fabulous donuts!

B made a homemade glaze and chocolate icing for the donuts. My girls were kind enough to share with me and believe me I ate my fair share. They were delicious!

Sweet cousins
Gwyneth even sported some donut earrings!

42nd street

Summer camps are in full swing and we started with a sold out house. We hosted an ice cream social at Blue Mountain Kitchen and partnered up with Color Me Mine. We painted ice cream bowls and then the kids got to take a trip through our ice cream sundae bar. 
We are offering more and more camps combining cooking and painting and the kids are loving it! Shaping up to be a busy summer and we couldn’t be happier about that. 

Our summer walks to 7-11 for slurpees.
Our girls are spoiled rotten. I wanted to get my nails done so the girls tagged along. They were treated to mani/pedis. I’m pretty sure I’m creating little monsters, but I sure do love this time with them. 
We are all super ticklish! Each ones of us laughed harder than the next while getting our toes done. 
These ladies sure do clean up nice. The four of us went to see 42nd Street at the Candlelight Playhouse. I don’t think it was anyone’s favorite, but I absolutely loved it. The girls and I loved all the tap dancing. B probably could have lived without it. It was a lovely night together regardless, but we’re thinking next time we go to a show it will be just the girls and we’ll give B a night off! 

juniors: simple meals

Annabelle’s troop met at Blue Mountain Kitchen to earn their Simple Meals badge. How lucky are we that we know a chef? How lucky that he is kind and generous and willing to donate his time for these girls? I think he’s a pretty guy and dad. 
B taught the girls to make their own salad dressing and chicken tenders. We finished off the meeting making turkey centerpieces with chocolate covered pretzels. The girls all had a wonderful time and they tried everything which we will declare a victory. 

Morgan’s face is hilarious, but you have to give her credit for trying. 

paint day with gwyneth

We are trying to figure out this double-business-owning-life. We’re not perfect and we have certainly had our setbacks. We have moments of near-tears and frustration and “what the…?”.  Beyond all that, it has been better than I could have ever anticipated. We are learning new things. We are working together as a family. We are dividing and conquering. We’re doing the best we can. We’re working hard and appreciation our opportunities and each other. 
Both businesses were hopping today, so Annabelle went to the Kitchen with B and Gwyneth joined me at Color Me Mine. It’s not sad to go to work with us. We work at pretty cool places. 
Instead of painting another monkey, penguin, or dolphin I told Gwyneth to pick out something big. Something that she could work on for a few weeks or even better a few months. She picked out this gigantic ice cream cone and got right to work. 
I adore this girl and her positive attitude and her fabulous smile. I was able to get so much done today and got to look over and see that sweet little face all day. I tell ya, this new gig ain’t bad at all. 
Our neighbor joined Gwyneth for some painting time. 
We grabbed a quick lunch and then met Annabelle and B at the Kitchen to help with a birthday party that evening. 
And then we went home and the girls got comfy together for the rest of the night. They were happy to be together and snuggling and watching a movie on Annabelle’s iPad. Our days are no longer conventional, but it’s working for us and we are just glad to have each other. 

first week of school

We survived the first week of school. 
Dance hasn’t started back yet, but the girls were right back in the pool. They stay after school for additional swimming one night a week and this week they were the only ones in the pool. I know that will change – a handful of their friends have already signed up which they are so very excited about, but how lucky to have a big ol’ pool all to themselves today.

This is absolutely not allowed during regular swim sessions, but the teacher let them mess around since it was just the two of them.

The girls both got right back in their groove of homework and reading every night. This was my favorite project from Gwyneth:

Yep, she had to write what her favorite food is and she chose Spaghetti O’s. The girl who orders her NY strip medium rare and her lobster by the pound, chose Spaghetti O’s.

Saturday we went to visit Reagan at the hospital (more about our visit here) and then hosted a kids night out at the Kitchen that evening. The kids enjoyed pizza and we made lots of Minion treats.

We ended the weekend at the pool with their friends from Girl Scouts. Annabelle’s troop had a pretty good turn out, but it was just Gwyneth and her friend Riley. I couldn’t even snap a picture of them because they were too busy going down the slides. 

star wars and game night

We hosted a Star Wars party at the Kitchen today. Our girls haven’t seen the new movie yet (Gwyneth may never see it! She doesn’t like the old Star Wars movies and B and I are not on the Star Wars bandwagon either). Anyway, there’s definitely a demand for the theme so we put together a little camp at the kitchen. The kids had fun and we made some creative snacks. 
The girls each had a friend over for a sleepover tonight. Annabelle’s friend, Morgan and Gwyneth’s friend, Jenna joined us for dinner and a night of games. The big girls went off and hid in Annabelle’s room for most of the night and the littles played dress up in the basement. When they each have a friend over my nights are very quiet!

painting and cupcake wars: gwyneth style

The girls are hooked on painting and crafts and have spent a lot of their summer time working on art projects. They attended a class at Whimsy this morning painting jellyfish. They love the freedom and the creativity and spending a few dollars on soda and snacks. 
Gwyneth invited friends to the kitchen for a cupcake wars party. It was a full house and there were lots and lots of cupcakes. It was so great to see old friends, new friends, girl scout friends.