she sings. she smiles.

I love her and her silly self.

5 no more

6 years old...it's hard to believe and hard to swallow...sigh...  Last year he put in a request for a cake with a blue eyed dinosaur with big teeth.  This year he asked for a cake with a football helmet.  Well actually, if I'm being honest, he asked for a cake with a tiger on it.  But, the store was all out of black decorative icing so I asked him what his second choice would be.  He took off running to his room yelling, "I know!!" and came back carrying his Seahawks helmet.  Awesome.

I know, I really need to invest in some new cake pans.

Since it's his birthday, and since the dad isn't home, Jonah is having a slumber party in my bed.

Happy Birthday, Jonah!

I like you a whole bunch.

she's got a tender heart

On Tuesday I had put a note in Stella's lunch without her knowing.  It went a little something like this...

Hi Stella!

I hope you're having a great day!

I love you sooooooooooo (I put lots of o's because I knew she'd like that) much!

*insert big heart here*

Mom

When she hopped into the car after school the first thing she said was...

Stella:  "mom, I loooooooved the note!  Thank you so much!"

me: (big smile) "Oh good, I'm glad you got it."

Stella: (getting a little teary eyed) "I bumped my head SUPER hard on the monkey bars at recess.  It hurt sooooo bad.  I was really wishing that I just had the note you wrote me in my hand so I could look at it."

me:(getting teary eyed) "sorry, bub."

Stella: "My teacher finished reading Marley and Me."  (looks at me with tears in her eyes) "It was soooooo sad.  Me and Chiara were totally crying and mom, I almost got the loud cry.  It was awful." (looks over at me, crying and laughing a little)

me: (laughing and officially teary eyed)  "Oh, Stella I love you."

I am so thankful for this girl and her tender little heart.

xo

pretty, oh so pretty

I looooove my pretty things.  Love them.  I can't even believe that I won.  What a treat.  Thank you, Krysta for having such a fantastic giveaway.  I will treasure these beauties always.

xo

ps. the paperclip is holding the paint swatch of what I used in my bathroom (and soon to be bedroom).  I'm waiting for THIS, in ivory, to come before I show photos.  I'll keep you posted.

big news

I just said YES to photographing my first wedding.  I think I might be sick.  Sick in the head that is.  The wedding is in May.  That gives me 3 good months to study up, and you better believe I'll be studying up.  I'm dedicating this spring/summer to the *summer of weddings* because I might possibly have 3 more weddings to do after my first one.  I know.  I KNOW!!!  Encouraging words please.  I already know I'm crazy...

in other big news...

I received a package on Friday.  I could smell it before I even opened it.  It smelled goooood.  It was the giveaway prize I won from Krysta Manthe!!!  I can't wait to show you what I got.  It's all soooo pretty!

Annnnd since it's hard for me to do a post without a picture, and because I miss them, I thought I'd share this photo of me and my friends from Lake Chelan 2010.

Happy Sunday

xo

today

She calls them *fire chips*

annnnnd she ate the whole bag.

 Ava picked fire chips from the hardware store and I picked paint.  The goal is to get the project done before the husband gets home.   I got money on him not even noticing the change.  Here goes nothing.

a little looksie into our Christmas break

I didn't take a ton of photos over the break.  I took a little *break from the camera and just enjoyed my children, family, cleaning up just a little bit of throw up thanks to Jonah and Ava, sleeping in until 8:30am, reading the first 3 Harry Potter books, playing Super Mario Bros with my boy, and I might have even enjoyed a little food here and there...maybe just a little...OK a lot and now I'm looking to do a little Lean in 13, if you know what I'm saying.  It was a good break, minus the sickness.

So anyway, in other news our tree is still up and I probably should take it down.  We bought a new mattress and it will be arriving in a mere 11 days.  It's going to be like a whole new world for me during my slumbering hours.  I cannot wait.  Annnnnddd... it's 10:30pm right now and I still hear a little 3 year old girl singing "jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg..." from her bed.   It's been her favorite carol over the break.  When Stella was 3 she was singing Hawk the Hawold (hark the harold) but no, not Ava, she likes the fun rendition of Jingle Bells.  Lucky us.  

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas season with your friends and family remembering our dear Savior's birth.

xo