So I DO love the rainbow giant beaded bracelets and pasta necklaces that come home school and camps….I DO! But…do I really wear them? Um…no (horrible mom admittance!)
Maya had a friend’s birthday party to got to a bit ago, and I was talking with the mom about what to get her. She really didn’t want more “stuff”, so she said if Maya wanted to make her something, that would be perfect. Instantly I thought of a bracelet. We asked what her favorite colors were. I dug out my boxes of beads from storage (again…totally patting my pack rat self on the back right now!!), and…Maya made her a bracelet. I helped with the clasp, but she did everything herself. She picked what beads she wanted to use and strung them along. Well…I didn’t take pictures of THAT bracelet ha! But then Valentine’s Day rolled around. What to give her teacher? Oh, the box of beads were still sitting out (a week later-whoops!), so…Maya asked her teacher what her favorite color was, and we picked from my stash. Thankfully, her favorite color was green (mine too!), so I had a few to pick from. 🙂
It’s a little hard to see, but these are an iridescent green “pearl” bead. The bag that I had them in said $5.50, and we only used half. So…while it looks like a really nice gift, it didn’t cost much, and it provided a fun activity. Oh, and Maya had total pride in the fact that she made this for her teacher!! And…her friend (that I didn’t take pictures of 🙂 )
Such concentration! I honestly wasn’t sure if it would be too hard for her to do, but she did it!
And obviously, had fun! Which was the total point!! Well…the end product was kind of the point, but her having fun making it was even better. 
So…don’t be afraid to have them make things out of real beads. They aren’t that expensive, and they are totally wearable. And…if you are like me and went through a total beading phase and KEPT all your beads…SCORE!! 😉
On me…
(all pictures taken with a self timer/shutter release and tripod, except ones of Maya :))
It actually stopped raining too, so I paired it with a super comfy cashmere cardigan and got to skip the coat! 
But…I HAD to show the back. LOVE!!! It’s the tease of an open back, but you can still wear a normal bra-yay!!
I wasn’t sure if Maya would even wear this jacket when I scored it thrifting, but she loves it!
Her new thing…. 😉 
I can’t even… 🙂 
On me…
Or, one of the many times someone walks by with their dog, and asks what the heck I’m doing haha. AWKWARD! 
I love this next one. It totally looks beautifully posed. Clearly…it wasn’t 😉 
Of course, she had requested temporary tattoos on her a few days before. I tried wiping them off, but is there anything more authentic on a 4 year old??! 
So her…jumping of anything and everything! 
I seriously love Seattle on days like this… 
Oddly, this next one is one of my favorites…
And that smile-DYING!! 
And then…whatever, I’ll just embrace the water. 
And…I knew this would happen eventually! I’m just glad it didn’t happen in the first 5 minutes, like it usually does ;} 
If you don’t already get it, go get the 
Um….or this 😉
Although…I do love this. Even if she’s rolling in a pile of weeds! We’ll just call them wildflowers 😉 Seriously, I’m pretty sure Seattle is the only beach that has patches of “wildflowers” here and there-love it!
I asked my mom if she wanted to come with us. A lot of times the minute Maya’s feet hit the sand, she’s OFF!! And…into the water. I wanted to try and get a few pictures before all that happened, so I brought my secret weapon-Meme!! She never runs away from Meme 🙂
Maya was totally cracking me up. I finally figured out how to use my remote shutter and have it take consecutive shots on it’s own. I have 10 shots of her showing her snacks to the camera 😉
YES!! I finally can take a bunch of these and not have to keep running back to the camera to push the self timer! It’s almost sad how excited I was when I finally figured it out! 
That little tongue… 
The tongue again 🙂
This is one of the many times I wish I’d actually washed my hair. I love this image, but the frizzy no shower top knot… ;{ Real life though!! 
On me…
And…I happened to actually look at her face. It was covered in crumbs haha. 
Kiss? I guess that’s a “No”? 
Two years ago, we made 
I’m including links below to pretty much the exact same thing I bought for $1 each, but if you don’t have a Dollar Tree near you and want to put something similar together from Amazon…
I shook all the excess of some cards onto others so that the glitter was evenly distributed. 
Funny enough. In the beginning, she was like “NO PICTURES!!” Which is extra funny considering what happens next 🙂
Kind of impressed by the air she caught! 
And the wiggle butt. It follows just about everything now a days…
Whatever makes her happy though, right? 
On me…
BUT…I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Kids rarely want their picture taken, but they always want to play and have fun with you. The trick for me with the tripod, is making her forget about it, or turning it into a game. Both of those scenarios end as a win for both of us!
Ok…AND these jeans are actually from my favorite denim maker 
And then, she was off…. 🙂 
We’ve been so lucky getting blue sky breaks lately!! 
Oh, hi neighbor walking your dog!! Don’t mind me and my tripod… ;}
Oh, and for those of you wondering…braids? On an over 40 year old mother? YES! Didn’t take a shower. Curly hair mess, suddenly tamed. DONE! So, there you go. I think we should all band together and make it the new “top knot” It takes more time, but…kinda makes you look younger, and, I mean…DUH! 🙂
Loooove this next one! Those clouds? HER SMOOCH??!
That little tongue as she throws the rock?? LOVE!!
On me…
Me chasing her down as she ran away laughing… If only I could set the camera up to change the focus point. Although, at this close of range, I’m happy for the fact that it’s unfocused 😉 
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