Valentines Three Ways

For her friends in ballet class, which meets on Valentine's Day this year:

I used Stampin' Up! Melon Mambo, Whisper White, and Regal Rose cardstock and Flirtatious Designer Series Paper, clear envelopes, an oval scallop punch, a small oval punch, along with the Perfect Words Stamp set. Pink gingham ribbon from Michael's.

 For her ballet teachers:

I used Stampin' Up! Melon Mambo, Whisper White, and Regal Rose cardstock and Flirtatious Designer Series Paper, a scallop punch, a decorative label punch, and the fancy favors Big Shot Die, along with the Four Frames and Perfect Words Stamp sets. Pink gingham ribbon from Michael's.

For her friends at co-op:



I found some frosted vellum at Joann's Fabric, cut out hearts by hand, sewed around the edge, leaving a 2 inch gap, let Kate fill the pouch with sweethearts, and finished the seam. I used an ultra-fine Sharpie to write "cut here" along one side, and then used a heart punch to make a sweet tag for the other corner, affixed with a Stampin' Dimensionals.

Which do you like best?

From the Gratitude Journal Last Fall

Let's play catch up with my list, then I'll start my 2012 list.

559. the cooler fall-is-coming weather
560. my Pumpkin Spice latte
561. a 4-kid pile up hug
562. being able to help a friend by making dinner for their family
563. and taking her kids to the park
564. being able to homeschool
565. for different cultures around the world.
566. for the Lake District in England,
567. for the mountains in Switzerland,
568. for the green hills in Ireland,
569. and the tulip fields in the Netherlands
570. for his job
571. Can I say my kids again? I'm just overwhelmed with love for them!!
572. for my husband's faithfulness to his family
573. for his frequent, "Hello, Beautiful."
574. for leftover wedding flowers given to me by neighbor Glen,
575. and leftover cupcakes given by neighbor Carli
576. for uncontrollable laughter in public with best friends (Sarah and Devin at Churchill's)
577. for that feeling you get when you meet someone new and instantly have a connection
578. for God's patience with me
579. for all these special moments with my children lately. Ben may be working every day and late into the night, but it has given me time to just be with them.
580. for Rosh Hashana, thrown together and enjoyed. The apples dipped in honey reminding us that life with God is sweet.
581. for long talks on the phone with Grandmas...my kids are blessed.
582. for a gala at the museum Ben built, and the smiles of his coworkers about a job well done, walking the halls arm in arm, glowing.
583. Ben's pride in hard work's fruit.
584. For fancy shoes, clutch, bracelet and earrings
585. Gold nail polish- a manicure!
586. for a low-key Christmas, no stress, gifts all around, and World Vision catalogs.

Kate is Three

Kate wanted a butterfly-themed birthday party this year! I must admit, I was very excited she asked for this. My creative wheels started turning immediately. I found these amazing butterfly cupcakes on Pinterest... it's just Candy Melts and white sprinkles, but they have such a "Wow" factor. My mom and I had so much fun making them!

  

 

 The Monarch was our favorite! Isn't it beautiful?

I borrowed a Stampin' Up! butterfly punch and went crazy punching out little pink and purple creatures for decorations. Here are the straws and the goodbye candy wands.
















We had butterfly vinyl clings (Target) welcoming the guests into the house.

So here she is, the birthday girl:

I know it is cliche to say, but I really can't believe that she's not a baby anymore.

Motherhood is just a series of goodbyes. Goodbye to her at birth, goodbye to her at one, two...

But I suppose it is a series of hellos, too. Hello to new words, skills, or traits will she pick up this year. Hello to new hugs, longer legs, sweeter conversations. It is so heartwrenching, expanding and contracting like this! Hello and Goodbye, Miss Kate! All I know for sure is that you are so special and

I love you as much as this heart of mine can.

Scenes from November

We had looked forward to the party on November 19th for a while. It was at Norwood Stables, and there would be horse rides and a petting zoo. Also, I had received some super cool horse-riding boots for Kate and knew just what she would wear to the stables. I couldn't wait to see Kate's face when she saw a real horse for the first time! This is what I got:After a while (like 30 minutes), Kate warmed up to the goats. They were more her size, and it helped that we could enter the paddock and sit on benches to get acquainted with them. When I gave Kate a brush, there was no turning back. She had found her joy. Funny thing: One of the goats hopped up on the bench with me and was so sweet, just sniffing and nuzzling my ear... Then, OUCH! That goat took the earring right out of my ear and spit it out on my lap! What the heck? Well, in an efffort not to scare Kate I just nonchalantly put the earring back in my ear and went on petting that goat and talking to Kate. It wasn't until later when I was telling someone what happened that I first wondered, "Maybe I shouldn't have put the goat-saliva covered jewelry back in so fast? Do goats carry diseases?" I had a good laugh about that one. I'm pretty sure that petting zoo goats are up on all their shots. So far, no weird symptoms. Okay, on to Thanksgiving! My mom and I went shopping NOT for Kate, and ended up pretty much just buying her clothes. We found this amazing purple number at my favorite store, Crazy 8. The hat is from babyGap.

We had a fried turkey for the first time this year, provided by Ben's dad: 

 

 And of course we had a rosemary-olive oil roasted turkey made by me.

Which do you prefer? Roasted or fried? I really liked them both.

Well, now I'd like to leave you with one final disconcerting image:

Quick Montessori Activity

Here's a fun hand-eye coordination game for toddlers that I learned from the blog Chasing Cheerios. At two and a half, Kate is really too old for this; it would be better with one and a half to two year olds. Just clean out a honey bear, give the child some Q-tips, and let them practice slipping them into it. Kate really enjoyed this activity at first, but she could do it easily so it didn't hold her attention for long. She soon went to calling the bear a "bottle" for her baby! If you have a one year old at home, give this a try!

Counting

556. Painting piggies purple

557. best friend brothers in matching pjs

558. planning surprise birthday parties for best friends- Happy birthday, Sarah!

So Much Grace

I have been keeping a gratitude journal on my table for a few months now, scratching down a few things here and there, so not all of my 1000 things have been posted to this blog yet. I'm going to write them here now, pieces of my story since February.

#507-555 of the 1000 gifts list:




her wispy bangs


her button nose

her profile

counting little piggies

his spontaneous pre-dawn proclamation of love for me-"You're everything that's right about my life."

feeling healthy after a hard week

"One Thousand Gifts" by Anne Voskamp

Mother Theresa quotes

sliding toes into bedsheets

supermarket sushi

writer's group on Wednesday

Jacob's "Don't leave, don't leave" at bedtime

next door Yo-Ann

brothers wanting their turn to watch Kate at Monkey Joe's

finding a huge section of Dora books at Barnes and Noble with Kate

Kent Moore always willing to take the boys to play

read aloud book about the first Ferris wheel

our character studies and Bible memorization

Psalm 23- He is my Shepherd!

hot water for a nightly bath-what a luxury!

my washer and dryer

making pretty Valentines for friends

an available sitter on Valentine's Day

laughter at OddLot, improv group

music that the kids and I danced to and made us happy house cleaners! Joy!

a walk hand-in-hand with Kate on a beautiful spring day to the health food store

neighbors walking up to say "hi"

a freshly-painted white porch rail

friends to grieve with

that Vivan is in heaven with Jesus

that even when things don't seem to make sense, Peace is a Person and we can know Him

victory over death in Jesus

a ride to Jacksonville with Carla for Vivan's funeral

a friend's "I forgive you," easily spoken

another friend coming over just because she heard I was having a bad day...Sarah's a true friend

quiet time at home group

books that make us have to put them down and go explore nature right now! (Miracles on Maple Hill)

a nature walk with four healthy children- too much grace!

discovering tiny, tiny frogs in the pond- hundreds of them everywhere!

small group prayers for soon-to-deploy soldier- such courage!

Kate's "Read it again, Mommy!"

Ben hugs at lunchtime- a welcome interruption

to find Noah reading- reading!- a chapter book just because he wanted to

family laughter during game night- Apples to Apples

all of my boys obedient, truly. I can trust them.



Baker growing up and becoming such a mature, responsible, helpful, respectful, trustworthy, fun young man

forgiveness from children to parents who sometimes get overwhelmed

hardworking husband

Oh! My end-of-the-schoolyear flowers! Surprised by gratitude!