{today}

 

Today I am: amazed at how quickly the season is changing my little space in the world.

Today I am: glad I started the van before we had to leave for school..it was cold and frosty!

Today I am: thankful for drive thru Starbucks and not having to make my own coffee at home.

Today I am: wearing the same outfit as yesterday, yikes!

Today I am: thankful for good friends and good phone calls.

Today I am: looking forward to baking off some more of the chocolate chip cookie dough in my fridge.

Today I am: wondering if I'm going to get a package in the mail...one I ordered a whole week ago.

Today I am: thankful for truth, honesty, and humility.

Today I am: not looking forward to my Lean Cuisine lunch.

Today I am: wondering why I am having a Lean Cuisine lunch and eating chocolate chip cookies.

Today I am: realizing balance is important in all things.

Today I am: loving, loving the instagram app on my new phone.

Today I am: needing to do mounds of laundry.

Today I am: happy.

{my girl}

 

My girl. 

I counted on my fingers today. She is only four months away from turning five.

How did that happen?

She went back to school today after being out a week with chicken pox.

She only missed two classes though. She only goes twice a week.

All the both of us could probably handle.

She cried a bit today because she has a bad owie on her lip.

Last night (while I was napping) she apparently got her lower lip pinched between the back of our kitchen stool and the chalkboard wall. Greg and I exchanged quite a few smiling looks over her wailing head.

It's not that we didn't feel sorry for her it's just that we were picturing it.

It conjures up memories of Ralphie's friend from that movie The Christmas Story when he gets his tongue stuck to the metal pole. So in addition to her healing dots all over her face she has a bad owie on her lip.

She has also decided she is done with ballet. 

As in the ballet class I just signed her up for last month.

The same ballet class she has missed oh, once because she'd had such a rough day at school that I let her skip for fear we'd have a repeat at ballet. And the same class that she missed once again because she had the chicken pox. And yet again, the same class she attended but refused to participate in because it was watching day. 

Did I mention this class is only once a week?

Oh my. 

We have to pay for the next quarter next week.

It might be a good time to put her ballet slippers on the shelf until she's a little older. 

She loves playing Legos with her brothers. 

She also loves playing dolls with her little brother.

But that usually happens when big brother is at school. 

Her coloring is improving. I noticed this when my oldest went to preschool too.

I think it is all the crafty projects they do at school. 

Practice makes perfect.

She does silly really well too. 

Usually when Daddy is home at night. 

And I swear sometimes she looks just like my mother-in-law. 

She's the only girl and the gooey, sweet filling on our kiddo sandwich. 

 

{Tuesday}

This is Tuesday.

It's a no makeup and lots of coffee kind of day. 

I'm taking pictures of pretty mums and pumpkins because, well, their pretty and my 

kids aren't so much right now.

I'm getting a sneak preview of what my two year old will look like when he is sixteen 

 and it's a little frightening.

His chicken pox have just gotten worse with each day but from what I've read we should be free and clear in about a week and a half. My daughter is about a day behind him in her breakout. I'm so, so thankful that we are doing this all at the same time and not stretching it out to weeks on end.

Yesterday my second grader came home with a medical alert in his backpack from school. It stated that my child may have been exposed to chicken pox last Thursday through a sibling in the four year old class.

Whoops. 

Sorry.

It was a little funny. 

So our day has been full of Berenstein Bears, Olivia and Super Why. We've also read our two new books I bought at the School Book Fair this morning. I'm a sucker for Book Fairs. When my son first started school I loved getting the Scholastic book orders sent home too. Such nostalgia! My son has been awaiting this day with very eager anticipation. They had an entire section of Star Wars and Star Wars Lego books. He could hardly make up his mind. But then he spotted Captain Underpants and lastly his newest Lego obsession: Ninjago. He had some tough choices but so did I...I'm a sucker for books. 

I did buy a new book that I am so excited to read to the kids. It is "From The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" by E.L. Konigsburg. I was a big, big reader as a kid and I loved this book. I have thought of it as an adult and wished I could remember it's name. I was so happy to spot it today at the book fair and recognize as an old favorite! Do any of you remember this book?

I enforced naps on both kids today. You're sick? You take a nap. That's a rule around here. 

And it gives me some nice quiet time.

I've been doing a lot of online shopping lately. But I haven't bought anything. I just put it in my virtual shopping basket and then never check out. That's what I do in real stores too. Oh, I buy things, for sure. But I love to put things in my basket and just shop it around. It gives me time to really decide if I want to pony up the cash, or debit card. It's kind of like chewing that dessert flavored gum. You kind of feel like you're getting dessert but for way less calories!

So one of the things I've been putting in my virtual basket is over at Mrs. Meyers. Have you smelled their seasonal scents? Orange Clove and Iowa Pine....mmmmm. I still have a bottle of their Iowa Pine hand lotion from like two years ago in my van. I just used it the other day on the way to church and my husband said, now that smells like Christmas! I'm a sucker for their scents and their packaging. Who doesn't like a little pretty on the side of their sink? So yeah, I filled my cart pretty full their. It's wishful shopping. 

This was the last project I tried to do that was inspired by Pinterest. 

Remember how I said it didn't turn out stellar so I didn't blog about it?

I was inspired by these altered globes...some had words written on them others had pretty pictures decoupaged onto them. I glued scripture verses onto mine.

I have a pretty big globe collection. 

Like a lot of you, I love how they look, I think the colors are so pretty.

But I have thought on occasion, I have all these globes and obviously they represent the world.

Do I love the world? 

In all honesty I love a lot about the world. 

There is also an awful lot I hate about the world.

The Bible says we are not supposed to love the world. 

So I found an old Bible, my Student NIV in dusty pink. 

It was sitting in a box in my basement and I made myself feel good about cutting it up because at least I'd be seeing scripture from it everyday. 

I thought it would remind me of how God wants me to see the world..

These are a few of the verses on my globe.

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is -his good, pleasing and perfect will."

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus or Lord."

And I love that some of these verses were already highlighted in my old Bible. Marked in bright pink or neon yellow. They spoke to me then and are still verses I love.

So our day has been quiet. It's been nice. 

Pretty soon my seven year old will be home from cross country practice and things will change. 

He'll be all amped up about his day and want to do something, anything but what I would suggest. 

Do you know what I mean? 

So the crazy hours begin, the hours before dinner, before Daddy gets home. 

This is our Tuesday. And I'm thankful for it.

{The Post in which I make you hate parenthesis}

{My little nephew nose to nose with a big and beautiful walrus}

So how is that for a confusing title?
{And a confusing photo}

So much for my plan to make something from Pinterest every Monday!

Last week I planned to do ten on ten but my photos were so uninspired I couldn't bring myself to publish them. The Monday before that I did do a project but that was so uninspired I couldn't publish it either!

So here is another Monday and although I had hoped to get my crafty pants on today...

here is what I did instead:

*Woke up to my second child broken out in chicken pox

{And yes, that does mean that another child already has them}

{And to totally over parenthesize....we are cool with the pox. We didn't vaccinate our two youngest yet because we sort of wanted this to happen. If it hadn't happened before school we would have had them get the immunization.}

*Started a throw together crock pot chili for my out of town brother-in-law that won't be out of town tonight but in my living room watching football and eating chili.
{Which by the way, I found out about this morning.}
{And by, by the way, I'm totally cool with.}

*Went to a lawyer's office to do some estate planning...morbid but peace inducing.
{And seven years in the making}

*Ate the best Reuben ever {seriously, it was voted the best Reuben ever in our little town} at the loveliest little French restaurant downtown.

*Now I'm home, not being crafty but doing this post because I really like to procrastinate and need to be cleaning my living room which in just a few short hours the a fore mentioned bro-in-law will be relaxing in.

{And for those of you that worry about these kinds of things...my poxy children did not go to the lawyer's pretty office with us nor did they accompany us to the lovely French restaurant. They went to an already exposed {many, many times over exposed} friend's house.}

So that has been my day and you can see why I do not have a pretty Pinterest post to publish.
Maybe next week...as for you my friends, I hope you are having a beautiful and creative day!

{Woodland Baby Shower}

 

Last week a group of friends threw a little Woodland baby shower for a good friend expecting her third boy.

We banded together and made a woodland inspired baby quilt per the Momma's request.

 

Thanks to the magic of Pinterest, we pulled a favorite quote from a beloved children's book and stitched it on the backside. This was my favorite part of the quilt.

My friend Becca predicted that she was going to open it and love it but that when she turned it over and saw the quote she was going to cry.

 

Proof is in the picture friends...although she didn't predict that the rest of us would cry too!

 

My friend Becca is a genius when it comes to decorating cookies.

Last Valentine's day she sweetly invited all the little kids to her house to decorate sugar cookies.

The cookies were to die for but then she whips out this fancy tool and starts making flowers on the cookies. Our mouths all fall open at this point in awe and she quietly informs us that she went to culinary school and specialized in desserts. Okay, just a big awesome secret she was keeping! So she is our resident amazing cookie maker for all future parties.

 

This was a fun and simple party to decorate for...woodland theme, October, pumpkins, mums? 

Check.

Check. Check. 

Check.

Easy peasy.

We had honey crisp apples with caramel dip, brie and crackers, chocolate covered pomegranates, a sweet dark bread with honey apple butter, a lovely autumnal salad, apple cider and coffee. 

This was the shower that almost wasn't though. A half an hour before the festivities were scheduled to start while I was still hurriedly cleaning my bathroom, the guest of honor called to say she may be headed to the hospital! She did end up coming to drop her boys off and got to visit and eat for awhile. Unfortunately, they sent her home later that night. Not ready yet!

Baby Owen was finally born four days later and is the most perfect little boy you'll ever see!

Congratulations Amy...I'm going to be holding him an awful lot!

{All of these lovely photos are courtesy of my friend Chelle}

Boy is it easy to blog when all the photos are gorgeous and already edited!

By the way, it is her birthday today!

Head on over to The Value of Cheerfulness and enter her many lovely giveaways!

I blogged about it here!

{Sweet lady}

 

See these beautiful ladies? Well, they are dear friends. But the one on the right is having a big birthday tomorrow! She is turning THIRTY friends and she is having one big and lovely giveaway on her blog!

So go on over and visit my dear friend Chelle at her blog The Value of Cheerfulness. 

For one, you could score some amazing little gifts.

For two, you will certainly be blessed by her photos, writing and all around inspirational and genuine way she writes about her life on her blog. 

So what are you waiting for?

Well, besides tomorrow.

Head on over and wish her a Happy 30th and enter her lovely giveaway!