I know that our evenings sitting on the porch will soon draw to and end.

We have already enjoyed our final afternoons spent at the pool.

No more dipping painted toes in the pool

while enjoying a great book.

But most off all, I am going to miss this little face being home with me all day every day as we start into the new journey of preschool. I am so excited for him  to experience all the things to come and make some new friends but at the same time, I wish I could live here in these moments forever with my little ones.

The past four and half years have passed so quickly and I try to remind myself constantly to live in the moment as far as my babies are concerned. I know that once we start onto this path in a couple more weeks, before I know it, 14 years will have passed and my “baby” will be leaving home.

Just today I read a quote from Billy Graham about loving your kids and letting them go:

“A child needs both to be hugged and unhugged. The hug lets her know she is valuable. The unhug lets her know that she is viable. If you’re always shoving your child away, they will cling to you for love. If you’re always holding them closer, they will cling to you for fear.”

It can be so hard to loosen our hold on our little ones and let them take those first teetering steps into the life God has planned for them. But  I trust the Lord who entrusted him to us and pray that my sweet boy will cling to the one who made him as we begin to gradually “unhug” him growing from a sweet little boy to a man of great honor.

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So here is my lamp before:

And after:

I am really happy with the way that it turned out and it fits with the dining room perfectly (it’s new home is on the buffet server). I used Rust-oleums American Accent spray paint in Heritage White to paint the lamp and then used my sisters tutorial on how to hot glue fabric onto your lamp shade. The price breakdown was:

Lamp w/ shade: $8.00 from Goodwill

Spray Paint : $4.99 (@ Hobby Lobby so you could wait until they have a 40% off coupon for it but I’m not that patient)

Fabric: $6.99 (I sprung on the 54 in decorator fabric since the pattern was exactly what I was looking for and bough half a yard which left me with a little extra.)

Beaded Tassel: $1.49 from Hobby Lobby

TOTAL: $21.47 which I thought was pretty darn good considering a lamp that big at a retail store would go for anywhere from $30-$60.

We also happened to have an adapter that you screw into the bulb socket that allows you to turn the light off and on by touching anywhere on the lamp base and also has 4 different lighting levels. We already had that here but you can purchase them at a home improvement store for $2.99.

And, for your viewing pleasure, a couple pictures of my other little sassy giving her Barney a bath She plays very realistically since this would be her lathering up the washcloth with a imaginary bar of soap.

Wash those stinky piggies!

All done!

I’m thinking Barney is going to need a bigger towel than that to dry off…..

Sorry this was kind of a fluff post. I had two little people that really took it out of me today.

Happy weekend!

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It is always so great when my sister and I get to spend time together. The trips are starting to become farther and fewer between with having kids and raising prices on plane tickets so when we do get together, it is a jam packed couple of days. We  got to visit with family and some sweet friends, went and did some shopping, enjoyed late nights watching chick flicks and of course, lots of eating at our favorite places hehehe. It’s what we do and enjoy best

She wanted Aunt Lindsay to do everything with and for her (forget Mom!) and I think it’s fair to say that Aunt Lindsay enjoyed every bit of it. Caroline’s favorite part was having pretty lip gloss put onto her lips and shimmery (neutral) eyeshadow She would stand and watch Linds put on her makeup and say “I want some too!”. Oh goodness!

Caroline was also quite taken with her newest cousin. She loved getting to hold him, cover him with blankies, give him his binky and of course,

lots and lots of kisses

It’s so funny to think about how much my relationship with my sister has changed over the years. Especially the last four since I first became a mom and Lindsay became a proud aunt to Joel. My mom always used to tell us in the middle of our cat fights that someday we would be best friends (I don’t know how many times we heard that statement) and we would both roll our eyes and declare “No we won’t!” We got to laughing so hard one night while she was here talking about our fights over everything and anything since we shared a room from the time we were 2 & 4 until we were 17 & 19. I am so glad that my mom was right and that she got to see it for herself. I remember hearing her say once a couple of years ago how much it blessed her to see us grow into friends and she loved the way that we love each others kids like our own. I am so thankful for the blessing of my sister and the time that we get to spend together.

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1. Gorgeous Day!

When choosing the theme for her party, I knew hands down that it was going to be Barney. Caroline LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Barney! I had predetermined that I wanted to go with the color scheme of lime and lavender with small touches of Barney and not go obnoxiously overboard. Good thing I had decided not to go all out, because it was next to impossible to find anything that had Barney on it and anyone who carried it locally. They had some stuff online but it was ugly and expensive. I found one party shop that carried one choice of a Barney balloon. Instead of cake, I wanted to make cupcakes and create little picks to put in them with some Barney stickers on a couple. I searched high and low for Barney stickers that could not be found. On a total fluke, my sister called me one morning two weeks before the party and said that she had found Barney stickers at her dollar store in Florida. (Thanks for saving the day Aunt Lindsay!) So here is what came of it all:

I made my cupcake picks with simple scrapbook paper in my colors from Hobby Lobby that my Aunt Lynne cut out into circles and 2′s with her cricut (I now want one of those things!) Jay created the ones that say Happy 2nd Birthday on the computer and I simply cut them out and mounted them on some of my extra circles. (Note: I used rubber cement to glue the circles and such together since the excess easily wipes off once its dried.) After I completed all of my circles, I hot glued them to sucker sticks that I bought from Hobby Lobby in the candy and cake supply aisle and finished them off with a little touch of ribbon tied around the stick.

P.S. These Oreo cupcakes that my Aunt Andrea made were TO DIE for and if you ask nicely, I might just share the recipe with you

Sometimes I can tend to get a bit carried away and I will not lie when I tell you that I started planning Caroline’s party off of what she was going to wear.

I made her this little no-sew tutu a couple of months ago to go with the lavender and lime theme. Since she is getting to the age that she loves to dress up and play pretend, I figured it will get a lot of use down the road. Best part, it only cost me $6.00 in material costs and took me less than 2 hours start to finish. I also made her a monogramed “2″ shirt. (Instructions Here)

One of Caroline’s gifts was her very first Cabbage Patch doll, Ardith MaryJo. What a name! I told Jay that it will be such a hoot to hear her try and get that mouthful out. “This is my baby Awdif Ma-we Jo”

AMJ is Caroline’s new constant companion wherever we go. I am absolutely loving every minute of this age and the beginning of the fun girlie things. I loved playing with babies and Caroline seems to as well. She is already displaying such nurturing and mother like tendencies in the way she plays and interacts. I can’t wait until she is old enough to start taking interest in my American Girl dolls and I’m already planning a trip to Chicago out in my head to take her to the store. (I know my husband is just dying right now while he reads this.)

Joel quickly dubbed Jessie as his own. (I think maybe his Yia Yia secretly bought it with him in mind )

Caroline watching all of us sing to her.

She enjoyed getting to blow out her candles (since she normally gets hollard at for blowing out mommy’s decorative ones), licked the frosting off the top of her cupcake and called it a success.

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1. Happy 2nd Birthday
2. Sassy

You have been such a blessing to our lives Caroline and we are so thankful for your life!

Thank you Lord for entrusting Jay and I with the great blessing of being Caroline’s mommy and daddy. I pray that we would always raise her in a way that brings honor and glory only to you.

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1. Happy Mothers Day
2. Happy Thanksgiving! (A Bit Belated)
3. Barney Birthday Bash

It was such a gorgeous day outside so we decided to go exploring with the kids. We took them to our favorite park that is not  far from our house. It’s right by the river and has some beautiful trails. This is what came of our big expedition.

Silly Mommy! Trying to get a laugh out of the kids.

Found some nice big leaves to trace later so we can remember our day of exploring.

And of course, every explorer needs their own walking stick. Even the littlest of explorers.

So which way should we go?

Thatta’ way!

She wanted to collect a little bit of everything to put in her pockets and take home.

We found a little fuzzy friend along the way.

How big is the tree, Sissy? SO BIG!

Poor little legs can only walk so far before they need a rest.

And, we’re rested and ready to go!

Living in the midwest, there is nothing I love more than a beautiful, crisp fall morning. Admiring God’s creation first hand was just what my spirit needed today.

And what else could possibly be a better end to our adventure than a picnic.

But don’t forget to pray and thank God first!

Thank you Lord for this beautiful day, for my beautiful family and for these precious moments we are blessed to spend together.

What a perfect day to celebrate life.

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