Wordle

To: Mommy

From: Gabrielle 

Happy Mother's Day

{Please excuse the poor quality scanned image}

I treasure this thoughtful gift from Gabrielle and have it proudly displayed in our kitchen.

It encompasses all the words that quickly come to mind when she thinks of me. 

I adore that she included dogs because our family has a shared love for the 4 legged fuzzy friends :)

What I love most about this simple piece of "art" is that all these words also describe her. She is 

Beautiful, Christian, Clean, Fair, Happy, Loving, Organized, Silly, Sweet & Trustworthy. She is also extremely artistic, creative, compassionate and a loyal friend to a fault. 

You can go here to www.wordle.net to create your own. 

I think they would make an awesome gift for any occasion!

Valentine's

February 

The shortest month of the year

The month my niece celebrated her 21st birthday

also the month we celebrate Valentine's Day

A fellow blogger refers to it as Lover's Holiday which I think is charming 

I can thank all the recent snow days we've had for my creative crafting spark being lit

We dedicated some time the weekend prior to Lover's Holiday creating Valentine's boxes and Valentine's for the bigs classroom parties

We 100% lifted (that's a craft term for any non-crafters that may read this post) the ideas from the www and Pinterest

We used an empty cereal box for the body of Gabrielle's owl then recycled some crepe paper streamers I had sewn for previous party decor to create its feathers, corrugated card stock for the eyes and feet and an over abundance of hot glue to attach everything

What can I say? Girlfriend {Gabi} worked the glue gun like a boss

We confiscated Papa and Mema's oatmeal cylinder for Dawson's shark

We wrapped the cylinder in aluminum foil (I would have loved to use silver wrapping paper but used what we had on hand) and simply cut slits to insert the fins & tail

Travis free handed the body parts and cut them from craft foam

I honestly can't recall where I stumbled upon this free printable Valentine but just did a google search and found it here

I give this quick valentine exchange a big thumbs up for cost, ease and cuteness

Valentine day was spent celebrating with my 3 favorite little peeps

As we were heading out for a full day of activities, we were surprised with a super fun love package from Lynee, Micah and Makayla

She knows the way to our hearts is straight access through our sweet tooth!!

I tweaked our mantel a bit this year by removing the glass hurricane candy holders from the black candle bases and replaced them with tin mailboxes I picked up at Target a few years back

I added the La La Love You print from the girls 2012 birthday decor to a fun magnetic board we received from Aunt Linda

I anchored the left side of the mantel with a feather heart wreath

And everyone's favorite new addition is this adorable red and pink dachshund 

She fits right in with our dachsie lovin' family!

I-Click

It's seems like months have passed since I last visited the blog when in fact it has been several loooong weeks. Rather than one long exhaustive post I will provide a brief update in the form of life captured through the lens of my iPhone.

The entire 3rd grade class at Meadow Lane participated in a wax museum in late January. Each student chose a famous person {past or present} and did extensive research on their lives. They then wrote a narrative which they presented to fellow students, staff and parents at the wax museum. Gabrielle choose Carrie Underwood and thoroughly enjoyed learning the little details of her life as well as dressing the part :)

I'm sporting specs again. I began wearing glasses in the 2nd grade and graduated to contacts in the 7th grade. I despised wearing glasses in my early adult life. Picture Coke bottle lenses - not.even.lying! Fast forward to late 1999 when I met Travis and that sweet man paid $4100 cold hard cash to have LASIK surgery performed on my eyes (before we were engaged or married holla!). My specialist suggested at my recent visit that I wear glasses driving at night and/or reading to improve the clouded vision resulting from my vitreous detachment that I shared about here. What a difference they make! I went cheap and a little on the trendy side in choosing my frames.

This is a glimpse into our playroom on any given day we entertain "extra" kiddos in our home. I would absolutely be a fraud if I didn't say that just looking at this picture gives me the jitters BUT I will gladly take the messes when it means my kiddos are living it up with their friends enjoying free imaginative play. You have to look really close but McKenna and Buggie (Ellaina) are hiding under the table.

For the <3 class="goog-spellcheck-word" of="" span="" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Legos
. Dawson loves Legos. I love that D loves Legos. Truth be told, I love Legosso when Legos began taking over his bedroom and his existing shelf was overflowing with completed and 1/2 completed projects I asked Travis to cut, stain and install a 2nd much larger shelf. I realize this is one tiny corner of it, but it is functioning oh so well! I'm also over the moon happy with how the Lego Manual I created turned out.

This wee one has me at hello (remember Jerry Maguire circa 1996?) each and every morning. What is it with our last babes? I can't/won't/refuse to let her grow up!

Travis saw his surgeon for his 10 week post operative appointment February 19th. His surgeon harassed Travis that he was smuggling a golf ball in there. We laughed, but seriously this picture brings the term cankles to a whole new level!

 I'll wrap up with our little man representin' on our family date night last Friday. #PowerGen!

Photo Dump

It's time for a photo dump of recent pics

It is love or hate around this house with these 3. They go from each other's best friend and playmate to being unkind to one another in the snap of a finger. Another snap of the finger and they are back in the friend zone. I missed this opportunity to video their deep belly laughs while piggy piling on one another Christmas afternoon.

Photo taken 12/25/2013

McKenna crawled onto the counter in hot pursuit of finding Makayla's pacifier stash. She (McKenna) gave hers up on August 23rd and this is the 1st time she snuck one into her mouth only to immediately be reprimanded. She quickly removed it with a look of shame on her sweet face. This is her cowering in hopes of not being seen. Stinker!

Photo taken 12/31/2013

This one can almost always be found during quiet time with her new Kindle in hand.

Photo taken 01/03/2014

This fiercely independent one was given NO choice but to say good bye to diapers in early January. All it took was me saying no more to diapers and placing them out of reach. Day 1 I gave her the incentive to earn 1 sticker with each potty made in the toilet and after earning 5 stickers she could have a bowl of ice cream. A little bribery proved for success! It has been 19 days since we began potty training and I am ELATED to share she is doing #1 and #2 in the potty and is accident free 98% of the time. Can I get a woot woot!

Potty training initiated and photos taken on 01/03/2014

Gabrielle received this American Girl self guided sew and stuff owl craft kit from Papa and Mema for her birthday. We took a good chunk of our Saturday afternoon and sewed the larger of the 2 owls. This one is for Gabrielle, the smaller owl will be for her dolls.

Crafternoon completed 01/04/2014

Gabrielle wasn't feeling her best and curled up on the couch to rest. It was a matter of moments before McKenna was right next to her. This picture pulls at this momma's heartstrings big.time! It represents what I had hoped and prayed for when we found out we were expecting McKenna Jane ... sisters loving one another, lifting one another up and unabashed laughter. My heart explodes at the sight of them together at times!
Photo taken 01/05/2014

If this photo could tell you it's story. Oh my! I try very hard to make one on one time in the afternoon with my little dude. Last week I was sitting down with him in the kitchen enjoying "us" time.  Some time had passed and the eery silence surrounding us grabbed my attention. That generally means one thing - Little Miss Mischief. I walked upstairs to find MJ in our master bedroom standing in the middle of a haze of white powder. A large section of carpet was matted and the furniture covered in a think film of white. That turkey got a hold of a large size bottle of baby powder and decided to powder her bottom only to empty it's entire contents! I grabbed the Dyson and began vacuuming holding my breath in hopes I wasn't causing any damage to the motor or components. After the powder clean up, the Dyson got a deep cleaning and is working good as new, PTL!

Apple Butter Makin' Days

Several weeks ago (3 to be exact) the kids had Friday off of school so Travis took a personal day and we made a mini vacation of sorts out of our three day weekend. We traveled South to GG's house in Springfield. Thursday morning we drove to Mt. Vernon, Mo to experience Apple Butter Makin' Days.

What is Apple Butter Makin' Days about? 

Well ...

If you mustache {must ask - ha!} - hat purchased from the sweetest couple who made beautiful monogrammed pillow cases, hats, et al. 

It is one of Missouri's most popular festivals filled with cooking apple butter on the courtyard lawn 

Don't mind the complete stranger who swooped up Little Miss as if she was his own grandchild, talking to her and explaining the whole apple butter making process.

Rows and rows of craft and trade booths with amazing artistry, textile goods, home decor and SO much more. I'm still kicking myself for not purchasing a fun, original Halloween painted plank and an amazing coffee sack cross body purse. The above "craft" is one we all got a chuckle from. 

Face painting done affordably!

 Live entertainment AND the fOOd!!

We gorged on foot long hot dogs, pizza, corn on the cob, lemonade and of course funnel cake!

What is a festival or fair without funnel cake?
And more so, what is Apple Butter Makin' Days without leaving with a jar of fresh, sweet made Apple Butter? Yummmm!!

Aunt Shari bought the girls these cute halos made from pipe cleaners, tinsel & ribbon. Ms. G looks pretty stinkin' cute wearing it if I do say so myself. 

Stay tuned for day 2 of our fun :)

Our Girls Combined Birthday Celebration

In true form I am a bit late in getting this post up. We had a small combined birthday celebration for the girls birthday's this year. We invited four families whose kiddos happen to be our girl's top picks :)

Gabrielle choose fruit cookie "pizza" in place of cake or cupcakes. We used my mom's tried and true sugar cookie recipe and a super easy,  super light yummy frosting recipe I found online here with kiwi, raspberry and blackberry for toppings. We also served mini ham and turkey sandwiches, Strawberry Hill Povitica Company Apple Cinnamon bread and raspberry lemonade.

My sweet friend whipped up this printable for me at my request. I <3 as="" atop="" decor.="" is="" it="" mantel="" now="" of="" our="" p="" part="" sitting="" valentine="">

My SIL loaned us her Pottery Barn drink dispenser which I would gladly steal from her if allowed.

The tiered plate stand is one of my favorite garage sale finds of all time and has been used plenty by both myself and Kiersten.

The party napkins and window poms were a Target clearance purchase last year that I tucked away.

That hot mess of a pile on the counter are the take home gifts.

I failed to get a picture of the girls crafting, but Gabrielle choose something similar to the picture below as the craft/take home gift for her friends {Bryten, Adyson & Tatum}. 

We purchased silver trays at the Dollar Tree and taped off the edges with painters tape and then gave them a coat of Krylon's chalkboard paint. Gabi picked out some cute chipboard and cardstock embellishments & grosgrain ribbon to create the hanger at JoAnn's. They turned out pretty darn cute!

McKenna's girlfriends {Hartley & Logann} received a little plastic storage caddy with a coloring book and either crayons or markers and her boyfriend {Micah} and the big boys {Dawson and Evan} got to make a Build and Grow woodworking kit (check them out at Lowes - they are fun and affordable!) while the girls crafted. 

To conclude I'm sharing a picture of each of the girls with one of their favorite gifts. 

McKenna received the ThinkFun Roll & Play game (which is a must own in my books). We promptly purchased it online after her receiving it and gave it as a gift to one our favorite 1 year old. You can find it at Toys R Us, Learning Tree and Amazon.

Gabrielle received a beautiful keepsake necklace from Premier Designs with a personal note from Papa and Mema telling her to always remember Christ's love for her. 

We were so glad Papa, Mema, Uncle Brett and Aunt Linda could join us and we are especially happy that Daddy was able to finagle his schedule in order to be off work that morning. 

A Cold Crafternoon

After a blistering cold morning of playing in the snow I planned a few quick, simple crafts with the kids while McKenna napped.

We started by printing this cute reindeer template my friend posted on her blog onto card stock, then added modge podge with a fine tip paintbrush before adding a generous amount of gold or bronze glitter. 

Please let me know if you'd like the template as I'm happy to share it with you or send you to the original link.

The kids then glued red and white pom poms onto card stock candy cane forms. We also added fun washi tape stripes onto more candy canes, punched a hole, added ribbon and had a couple fun new kid friendly, mom approved tree ornaments. We ended our crafternoon by making coffee filter snowflakes. All super cheap and fool proof crafts that kept the kids busy for a couple of hours.

I found it cute that both kids gravitated away from the table momentarily only to return with her respective holiday hats on.

Photo Dump

Recent happenings captured via my IPhone

Our little man enjoying some sunshine on the swing set

We had the privilege of watching Benjamin {Morris} while his Daddy interviewed for a urology position here in the KC area. He was offered the job and will be moving back here from Philadelphia next year! That means more visits from Matt, Mo & baby bundle and G'ma Barb & G'pa Terry! Can you sense our excitement?!

Daddy being his silly self modeling a "Buddhalicious" tee shirt while he and Mommy were on a date night. We love frequenting Good Will, thrift shops & antique stores on occasion. This particular night was fruitful for us. Daddy found a vintage golf print, some Callaway golf shorts and I found some Anthro capris, Ann Taylor capris & Janie and Jack denim overalls for MJ as well as a few other randoms.

This is baby girls new trick. When she is thirsty she proceeds to do everything in her power to open the frig door including climbing the frig :) And on a side note - girlfriend is strong!

Gabrielle finished out her summer school session with a program put on by her Broadway Lights class. The performance was of "Lights! Camera! Action!: A Musical Review Featuring Songs from the Movies of Today!" Her 1st grade teacher, Mr. Herrig, joined us for the performance. Gabi beamed when she saw him!

Summer has been hot! Brutally hot so I've been trying to scheme up a few simple "craft" projects to keep the kids entertained. This day it was homemade playdoh. It turned out great and kept the kids busy for a good bit of time. It stores in the refrigerator so it will be interesting to see how long it stays good for.

This picture shows baby girls love of several things: 1st off looking adorable; being where her Daddy is at (the garage in this instance); and her obsession with shoes. She is rockin' my New Balance tennis shoes my mom scored for me.

This is what I am reading right now. It's not Charles Martin, but it's good stuff.

Lynee treated me to my first EVER pedicure for my birthday this past week. I went wanting a red polish and ended up going with a cobalt blue. It's different, but fun. And no I didn't get an instatan (I wish), it's the change in lighting.

And lastly this little beauty is now officially 7 1/2. It doesn't seem possible to me, but alas it is so. Aunt Linda and Paigie bought her this fun skirt and adorable cardigan for back to school. She wasted no time before modeling it for us.

I'm so thankful for the accessibility of my phone camera as it makes capturing the everyday moments so convenient and I have been thee worst about getting out my Canon.