Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Father Daughter Dance 2016

This little girl loves her daddy something fierce. So getting to spend an evening together just the two of them is a magical, enchanting evening. She loves fancy events, getting dressed up, getting a corsage, going to dinner...absolutely everything about the night. And this year the Father Daughter Dance was a Paris theme...could it get any more Abby than that?!

She is also a creature of habit like her mama. Just like last year she requested a hair style like Belle. Which is hard to do with her fine, thin hair...but it turned out simply beautiful.

It's a tradition that Andy gift her with something special to wear the night of the dance. This year he gave her these gorgeous pink hair combs.

We painted her nails a soft pink and added a glitter top coat. She wanted the ribbons from her gift tied onto her wrist. And she wore a fancy dress gifted by a neighbor! Definitely a sentimental gal through and through.
And just like last year, she requested to go to dinner at Noodles for Mac 'n cheese and fancy soda (vanilla root beer).

Such a special night.

Saturday, April 16, 2016

Mostly Sewing & Gardening

The Easter Bunny brought the kids crystal growing kits. What the hell was the Easter Bunny thinking?! They obsessed over them till we finally did them just so they would stop asking to do them. And these crazies dealing with chemicals was super fun & totally stress free let me tell you. Ha.

The Easter Bunny needs to stick to candy.

After following Honey B Macarons on IG for months, I was finally able to make time to visit her boutique! Such a treat! The orange dreamsicle was my fave, and I've been daydreaming about them every since! The owner is such a sweet, humble lady. The kind of person I want to be so very successful with her dreams.

The last issue of Southern Living was made just for me. From strawberries to chickens to back yard fire pits, it had my heart with every page.

I got a sudden impulse to sew the other night & sewed for 2 days till it was out of my system. I started with wanting to make Ab a simple knot top for her lemonade stand adventures this summer...

But she wanted a dress instead. Can you imagine that dress with her yellow polka dot rain boots?! Be still my yellow, lemon, polka dot, rain boots loving heart!

Then I decided Ab needed a baseball shirt for our summer baseball adventures (Andy & kids watching games...me eating concession stand food) & that I could just whip an Ellie top up by looking at one of her MJ tops. Right. I made it pretty far, but I couldn't figure out how they got the elastic sandwiched in the back with the seams all nice & perfect & encased inside the bodice...so I bought a pattern off etsy at 11pm just to read how the heck they did the back. I could never write patterns...my mind doesn't reverse steps the right way. After reading the pattern, I can honestly say I never would have figured that out just by looking at a shirt. What the what.

It was a learning process. I wish I didn't lose so much of the gingham waist band when sewing the bodice to bottom part, but now I know to make it taller next time. Meh.

Naturally the gingham tie in the back is my favorite part. But I love how it turned out...so classic all-American.

I planted over 350 seeds in pods to go in our garden plot in the community garden! Soooooo excited for our gardening adventures this summer! Can't wait to meet my fellow gardeners next week!

I looked out the window one day just in time to see Brody pee into the back of that Tonka truck right there. Awesome. There are so many things you just don't realize you need to explicitly say to your children. Because what person in their right mind would think to do the things they think to do?!

I was tagged in a post on IG about this book & decided to read it. It was okay. Not life changing. But it does make me think I could write a book. In between PTO, AHG, DI, tutoring, working part time from home, laundry, yelling at my kids not to pee into toys in the back yard I could totally write a book. So many things stirring in my heart.

I planted these seeds on a Sunday, & they sprouted by Tuesday! 2 days. That is so mind blowing to me. That such little, tiny things can transform and burst into life in such a short time when nurtured & given the right conditions. And then grow into something that sustains our life. I should live on a farm for reals. I would thrive at farm living.

These are some seeds Ab planted for her God Is Love book after reading about how God loves us so much he created the world and everything we need to survive in it...like plants. There were evenings when we were pushing to finish that book before her deadline & it felt like just one.more.thing, but I'm so glad we made it a priority amidst the nightly chaos. Because now she has it on her bedside table & looks back to think about the discussions we had from it. And it really sinks in to form part of who she is becoming. So although we hustled to do the readings that day & dumped those seeds in that pot & threw it up in the kitchen window & I felt too tired to even do that...it mattered that we did it.

This boy digging in the dirt every day. Always up for the next outdoor adventure. He told us at the dinner table the other day that he wished he lived in the woods...so he could pee outside. He would have gotten along well with his Uncle James. Both fearless, wild spirits at heart yet sensitive souls. Pee outside. Seriously.

The other night the perfect spring thunderstorm was brewing. Cool air was blowing through the open windows. & it just felt good. To feel the wind. To smell the air before it rains. To snuggle up on the couch under a quilt, in a cozy sweater, with hot tea and pinning beautiful things like wild flowers.

These guys are growing so fast! It's fascinating. Brody asks everyday if they made food he can eat yet. Patience child. Patience.

AJ makes a cup of coffee for his mama every morning & helps make lunches & snacks. Teamwork gets us through the mornings. He says, "Another morning down...only # more mornings to go till summer." This boy totally gets it.

Another spring blizzard. So.ready.for.summer.