race car hoodie gift

one of our favorite little buddies turned 3 this week and we had the privilege of going to his adorable race car themed party- complete with sugar cookie race cars and tracks and absolutely fabulous chocolate cake.

 for his gift i embellished this little cotton hoodie from target. really easy, not super fancy but still fun.
just felt and buttons. oh, and handy andy would be bummed if i didn't acknowledge that it was his idea to make the track continue through both pockets. {you're so crafty handy andy}

put in some hot wheel cars and we were good to go. ;)

speaking of embellishing hoodies, i just saw these adorable ones sold on etsy. her shop is super cute.
happy monday everyone!

a mud party...

 the thought came to me spontaneously as i was writing out our summer list this year. i wasn't really sure how, when or where we would do this, or if i reeeeally wanted the mess, but it just felt like the right thing to do so i wrote it up there anyway. :)

and then one afternoon it just happened. out came the hose and puddles formed, sticks started mixing the gooey goodness, toes got splashed and i realized that today was the day! off came shirts and madeline's fancy dress and in they went.

squishing fingers and toes in the fabulous mud...

smiling and splashing...

building canals, dams, bridges and pools...

 throwing out inhibitions...

and looking more and more like amazonian natives...

 then ben woke up from his nap!

oh joy! oh bliss! he could hardly contain himself! his little baby dreams were coming true!

it was a great, great day! we recommend everyone having a mud party of their own...in fact there's talk over here about a birthday mud party for a certain soon-to-be 7 year old. so, so fun.

happily ever after shower

my sister in law and i hosted a bridal shower for my other sister in law, bethany. we all had a great time!

 her wedding shoe- isn't it just like Cinderella?! and lucky for her, she has a teeny little foot to match. :)

my wonderful mother in law and 2 sweet sisters in law (the lovely bride-to-be is in the coral dress).

isn't she cute?! we couldn't be more happy for her!

the big move

sister and i have been dreading this move for months. yet mixed with that dread is confidence that God's best is working itself out...whether the hows and whys are obvious or not. 

i'm grateful for the rare and unlikely blessing of living around the corner from each other for these past 3 years. when we were little we would daydream about living next door to each other (and marrying brothers!).... now, i just have to get used to the rather heartbreaking reality that she's not there anymore.

 

i think it would be an easier adjustment if she had even lived across town...but as it is, we pass by her old house every evening during our walk and i have to remind the kids to not run through "Aunt Deedee's old bushes", not pick "her old lavender", not climb "her old tree"... its sad.  

i have to remember things too: i can't run over to her house to ask her opinion on a new shirt or to borrow chocolate chips and a couple eggs, or a dress for the shower this weekend, or a few of her blue mason jars and white cake plate for a party next month.

or when andrew is flying, i have to remember that she's won't be able to slip away after her kids are in bed to have a little chat, or help me move furniture or craft while we talk out the highs and lows of life.  and when the mornings are endlessly long, we can't walk around the corner and let the kids run around together while we give each other pep talks.

instead we have to be brave and thankful for the time we had to live life so close to each other....and for all the fabulous technology that help make living far away a bit more manageable. 

tonight during a thunderstorm, sophie exclaimed, "i hope our cousins are ok!" and a short time later will commented, "we need to make sure at the end of every letter we write to our cousins that we always say, 'we miss you a lot'."

i love this song we sang at our church a couple of weeks ago. i know its kinda dramatic to apply it to my little situation especially when true and horrible suffering is going on in so many people's lives, but if i didn't believe that jesus cares about the "little" things,  life would feel bleak and sad indeed. so, i thank Him that he does care, and that He is working out a beautiful plan in all things.

p.s. these pics with the letters on them were part of a little ABC book i put together as a going away gift for our sweet cousins. thank you picmonkey for being in business and making editing so easy :)