{Giggle Girl}

Tanabata Festival

Tanabata (七夕, meaning "Evening of the seventh") is a Japanese star festival, originating from the Chinese Qixi Festival. It celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi (represented by the stars Vega and Altair respectively). According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are allowed to meet only once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. The date of Tanabata varies by region of the country, but the first festivities begin on July 7 of the Gregorian calendar. The celebration is held at various days between July and August.
In present-day Japan, people generally celebrate this day by writing wishes, sometimes in the form of poetry, on tanzaku (短冊, tanzaku^?), small pieces of paper, and hanging them on bamboo, sometimes with other decorations. cf (Wish Tree) The bamboo and decorations are often set afloat on a river or burned after the festival, around midnight or on the next day. This resembles the custom of floating paper ships and candles on rivers during Obon. Many areas in Japan have their own Tanabata customs, which are mostly related to local Obon traditions. There is also a traditional Tanabata song:

Sasa no ha sara-sara
Nokiba ni yureru
Ohoshi-sama kira-kira
Kingin sunago
Goshiki no tanzaku
watashi ga kaita
Ohoshi-sama kirakira
sora kara miteiru

Translation:

The bamboo leaves rustle,
shaking away in the eaves.
The stars twinkle
on the gold and silver grains of sand.
The five-colour paper strips
I have already written.
The stars twinkle,
they watch us from heaven

.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Aslinn {3 Months}

As you saw in my previous post Noah just turned 3 years old and now Aslinn is 3 months old. Where on earth does the time go!? My precious little girl still enjoys having her picture taken so I am going to strike while the iron is hot! In a few months she will be sick of it and I will again have to resort to bribery lol.

Noah {3 Years}

Any photographer will tell you that photographing their kids is the HARDEST thing on the planet. My own little 3 year old stinker never wants to have anything to do with me and my camera :-( For his 3 year old shoot I used nothing but bribery to get what I wanted lol. It didn't go exactly as planned but I was pleased with the few good shots that I captured. My sweet boy is getting so big I feel like I just brought him home from the hospital yesterday. Time just zooms by.

Lady of the Cloth

When I found out that I was pregnant late last summer I had already made the decision to use cloth diapers. I had used disposable diapers on Noah because I was very uniformed. I thought that cloth diapers would be messy and a hassle and that I would have to get them clean by a company. But boy was I wrong! Cloth diapers have come a long way in the last ten years and they are not at all what they used to be. I remember when my youngest siblings were in diapers that it was the prefolded cotton diapers, diaper pins and plastic pants. I recall my mom rinsing them in the toilet bleck! New high tech fabrics and new choices in materials are making the switch to cloth diapers much easier. Waterproof and breathable shells and super absorbent inserts that are soft against your babies skin. And no more diaper pins you can either choose snaps or velcro closures. I big draw with cloth diapers- they are cute! You can find them in every shade of the rainbow, I even found pink leopard print and cow print the other day online!
So why am I using cloth diapers?
Well first of all they are MUCH better for the environment. Nearly 80% of diapering in the United States is disposable. That is almost 18 BILLION dirty diapers sitting in our landfills every year...in the US ALONE. They are the third largest single product in the waste stream behind newspapers and beverage containers.
Second they are much healthier for your baby. There is serious concern over the chemicals use to make disposable diapers. Dioxin, which in various forms has been shown to cause cancer, birth defects, liver damage, skin diseases, and genetic damage, is a by-product of the paper-bleaching process used in manufacturing disposable diapers. Trace quantities may even exist in the diapers themselves! Cloth diapers, on the other hand, are free of the many chemicals contained in disposable diapers. The inserts in the diapers I use are either cotton, hemp or fleece.
And 3rd is the COST. Cloth diapers are MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper than disposable. Most parents go through 6-8 THOUSAND diapers per child. That can cost you upwards to $6000 to diaper ONE CHILD from birth to 3 years. You can purchase enough cloth diapers to diaper your child from birth to 3 years for as little as $60!! Consider, too, that those cloth diapers may last for one or more successive children and your savings doubles and even triples.
Cloth diapers are every bit as convenient as disposable diapers. The options available today prove that cloth diapering doesn't have to be inconvenient. Cloth diapers nowadays are fitted with elastic in the legs and back area and have easy hook and loop closures or snaps. Many different fabric choices and absorbency levels allow parents to choose the best diapering system for the individual needs of their child. It just can't get any easier. There is no time like the present to make a firm commitment to your child, to your pocket book, and to your planet. Start using cloth diapers today!

Information provided by The Diaper Jungle

This is the way I brush my teeth

Noah got a new "ewetrwic" toothbrush when were back in the states. It is the first time he has had one like this and he was pretty excited. He has kind of been a stinker lately when it comes to brushing his teeth. He whines when I put toothpaste on and the best way to get the job done is just to sit on him lol. Anything for pearly white teeth!

Rainbow Bright

Aslinn was wearing the cutest little outfit today so I had to snap a few shots of course!

Pretty Little Things

Today I photographed a few homemade headbands & hair clips made by my friend Courtney. She is about to start up her own Etsy shop selling photography props. If you have never been to Etsy you better get your booty over there now! I could honestly spend hours and hours searching through their handmade crafts. Basically its a giant online craft fair! LOVE! :-)