Happy 4th Birthday Paisley!

happy birthday to our Paisley girl!!

our lover-of-life girl.

our daring girl.

our tell-it-how-it-is girl.

our deeply-loving girl.

our laugh-out-loud girl.

our feisty girl.

our singer-of-songs-in-the-night girl.

our dress-up-fancy girl.

our keep-up-with-guys girl.

our imaginary-play girl.

our life-wouldn't-be-the-same-without-you girl.

"There is a garden in her eyes, 

where roses and white lilies flow." 

~Thomas Campion~

Paisley-girl 10 months

I see my Paisley-girl all over again in Capri!! 

These pictures are of Paisley when she was exactly Capri's age!

xoxoxoxoxo. 

"Sisters are different flowers from the same garden."

 ~Author Unknown

these are the days

(picture on the dress I found at Costco, it's for Paisley)! 

Hello out there! 

Our life is FULL of LIFE right now!

 I'll get my blogging groove back someday, I think!

Bur for now, here are some of the highlights 

from the last few weeks: 

THRIFTING FINDS

DARLING CAPRI,

10 MONTHS.

SATURDAY MORNING SLOWDOWN, 

Tyler reading a lego magazine and taking as long as he wants to eat his raisin bran!

My kitchen is coming together one piece at a time, I'll show ya'll once it's ALL DONE!  

i looooooove it!! 

sweet man in the garden

Date night seeing Rend Collective!! 

Miss Kae, our friend and babysitter, 

Sunday school teacher and Disney movie provider! 

She loves our girls so good!  

(how stinkin' cute is Capri in this picture? TOTALLY her personality....and Paisley's too)!!  

FAVORITE Country Living cover EVER! 

speaking of thrifty & chic: 

OUR YARD SALE EXTRAVAGANZA WILL BE 

ON FRIDAY MAY 3RD, 1-7 pm

ONE DAY ONLY!! 

we are in full on purge mode 

so come prepared to find some goodies!

 She's starting to get around, backing herself into corners and under the table for now....it's just a matter of time until I can't leave her in one spot! Oh, they just grow up so fast, 

sweetie baby that is almost 1!!  

My inspiration picture for Paisley's 4th birthday party!

"Fancy Tea Party" it will be!  Cannot wait!

As we all know, this stuff is just fluff. 

What really matters are the things happening in our heart and soul

and I hope that as you are enjoying your life, (or just getting by), you are finding greater depths and heights.  Each morning I see the Spring blossoms becoming more full and I want to be just like them.  Grow and Bloom with each passing day, seeing LIFE come from death and beauty surfacing from the inside out.  

Here's to living a well-lived life!

“As long as we live, our self-absorption and our insecurity will walk together, holding hands and swinging them back and forth like two little girls on their way to a pretend playground they can never find. Human nature dictates that most often we will be as insecure as we are self-absorbed. The best possible way to keep from getting sucked into the superficial narcissistic mentality that money, possessions, and sensuality can satisfy and secure us is to deliberately give ourselves to something much greater...[Christ] showed us that giving, rather than getting, is the means to receiving...to find yourself, your true self, you must lose yourself in something larger.” 

~Beth Moore, So Long, Insecurity: You've been a bad friend to us. 

March Madness

our sweet Lukie turned 6!

we made some cupcakes for his kindergarten class. 

the umbrellas were his idea.

"to make us think of summertime!"

(that's my boy)!

Here's his Birthday Morning Greeting. 

We don't have many traditions, (they wear me out)

but this one has held strong and is a special gift for them as individuals.  He got spy gear and some other smaller items. 

The kids are really into being spies. 

Getting ready to CELEBRATE our

strong, independent, sensitive, inquisitive, daring, studious, 

silly, fast, creative, hard-working, spice-loving LUKE!!  

He wanted a "healthy, exercise party!"

  This was one of his pages of writing from school. 

so precious!

The equivalent of our March madness. 

Sunday afternoon gamefest.  

Spring??

 The calender says Springtime 

so I will decorate as such!

 The benefits of being married to a landscaper. 

He brought boxes of pansies home one day after work. 

While cleaning the flowerbeds this past weekend I was having the boys help me dig out the "wild onions", (onions are one of Luke's favorite foods).  I didn't know where he had disappeared to and then I found him inside preparing the onions for dinner!

"Mom, I love the smell of onions!"

Attack of the Leaf Blower!

Jake and I tackled our yard on Saturday. 

We're a good team and finished quickly!

The boys saved up for their first big purchase, (we helped a bit).

They were so proud of what their "dollars" could do. 

This lady can be glad we took all their change to the bank 

and got dollar bills instead!

 Easter dreams. xoxo. 

Easter reality. 

Ye sleeping buds, break
Open your green cerements, and wake
To fragrant blossoming for His sweet sake.  

~Margaret French Patton~

Blooming

Hello!!

The blossoms of Springtime are beginning to grow and

our days have been filled with all sorts of busy.

My children are 1/2 dinosaur and eat.like.crazy.

I know they are growing because I'm cutting their fingernails 

every week as opposed to the usual once a month.  Sorry, it's

not like you came here to read about my children's fingernails.

It's the little things in life that grab my attention.

As it should be.

Jake and I took a little 24 hour reprieve into the city. 

It was delicious. 

We ate and slept and read, worked out,

watched a movie, and Jake drove around town at 10pm 

to find tiramisu because he's awesome like that!

We watched the city from up above.

Neighborlies launched a few weeks ago. 

It's been really special being apart of such a beautiful venture. 

Each week a new issue comes out, Saturday mornings to be exact.

I can't wait for those cozy mornings where I can take some time to sit and read.  Truly, it is a one stop shop.  A little table talk, some favorite things, some humor and some soul searching....

all over a cup of coffee.  

We had fun putting the launch party together. 

You can see some of the pictures over at the site. 

I've been playing Uno.

alot.

hooded bandit is really getting good at it. 

Tyler is getting tall.

I don't know how I feel about it. 

He's so sweet! 

Capri is loved from sun up to sun down!

9 months already!

still so laid back and jolly.

our gem.

Lukie turns 6 next week.

I can't wait to celebrate him.

He acts like it's not a big deal, 

but he can't stop smiling when we talk about it.

I just finished an 8 week intense training program

called "The biggest Loser" and it was rough, but the results were worth the work!  Every Monday and Wednesday from 8-9pm we met at EmPower Training Systems and busted our butt, literally!  Thankfully some friends joined in and we all met together which helped immensely because goodness knows I wouldn't have gotten off that couch unless someone was waiting on me!! 

WAY TO GO GUYS!  Now that we're done I've started running, (easier to do when you're 15 lbs lighter)!  I forgot how wonderful it feels to run.  It's not easy to fit into the day and sometimes it doesn't happen, but I really want to continue this healthy lifestyle because I'm a better person all around when I get out and push myself.

With all my free time, (haha) I'm tagging all our out-grown clothing in anticipation for the upcoming sale next week!  This is my first year and it's messing with my "free spirit" a bit, all these rules and regulations in getting my clothes ready to sell....I am hoping it is rewarded with good payment! 

Until next time, 

rest well and be well. 

"Hold your horses Paisley".

"I don't have any horses Daddy."

~age 3~

bits of home

Our sweetie girls are becoming friends. 

They really adore each other and we are so thankful for that. 

I wasn't sure how the adjustment would go for Paisley, but so far, so good.  She loves to "Mother" her and I'm happy to have a helping hand!  She will crawl into her crib and play with her and sing to her and "read" her books.  Capri feels comfortable with Paisley. 

The safety of sisterhood. 

I moved them into the same room last week.

Paisley thought she was pretty cool being "a charge" (in charge) of Capri!  Not quite the case, but she likes to feel like the top dog now instead of the other way around, (she was starting to act out while sharing a room with the boys...I think it was her way of trying to get their attention).  She would sing loudly at night and keep them awake, she would get out of bed and just go bop them on the head, she was coloring on the walls in her room, etc.  We've not had any issues since moving her and Capri together!  We don't know what we're doing half the time as parents, but sometimes we take good guesses! 

 I had fun rearranging! 

I've also been having fun working on the new project that's going to launch later this month, a new online magazine called "Neighborlies".  It is not my brain child in any way, rather my friend Jeane's idea, however I feel honored to be along for the ride!  

Lovie Capri is growing every day and I'm not sure what to do about it. We LOVE watching her personality come to life, she's sitting up now and babbling and doing pat-a-cake and has 1 lone bottom tooth that she constantly feels by sticking out her tongue like a little lizard. oh, it melt's me.  And she's growing up and I love my babies and I think this might be our last one and I just can't handle it!  Here she is all fat and happy lounging on our bed. 

Hung that banner I told you about in the last post. 

It's sweet. 

My girl, she loves to be together. xoxo. 

My friend Terri, (also one of the contributors on Neighborlies) mentioned this while talking with a group of young Mommy's, I thought it might lift your spirit today if you're feeling weary....and if you're NOT!  :)

"As one who is slowly being pushed behind, trust me....the days of in-tenseness will pass.  You will miss that moment that it changes from being so hard- to being in the past...and that is Grace.  If we saw our life in a series of starts and finishes we probably would never start in the first place. Just as quickly as they tumbled and jumbled into your life, they will leave you speechlessly behind.  Breath deeply in today....this very moment.  Even in the chaos....because chaos thins out and it is quiet again.  There is good in both--but we always wish away the one that's in front of us, hoping for the other!