pinterest skirt

hi there, thought i'd share a simple project i completed this week. i'm mostly proud of it because i got the inspiration on pinterest and then actually did it. i feel like its important to document these kinds of occurrences to convince myself that pinterest really is helpful and not just a time-wasting dream world! ha.ha.

anywhoo, here's my version of this cute little skirt, made especially for a sweet little friend in Virginia.

 And here was the inspiration. i just loved the letter color combination on a simple brown skirt made from an old knit t-shirt. Here's the link to the original: http://www.simplesimonandco.com/2012/02/all-you-need-is-love-skirt.html

And for a little random...here are the girls fetching mail several days ago. 

madeline's faces and toe positions just make me laugh. sophie would never dream of pointing her little toe like that.

these girls couldn't be more different from each other but they still love each other...which is wonderful.

funny story that describes the girls' personalities in a weird way:
last night madeline wanted to wiggle will's loose tooth so she put her hand up to his face to try to feel it. will pushed her hand away but as he did he said, "ick! your hand smells! it smells like strawberry shortcake or something!" Then sophie wanted her hand smelled, so she stuck her hand in will's face and asked him what it smelled like. reluctantly he smelled and then said, "i don't know, i guess dirt." both girls were quite satisfied with his pronouncements.

we had a happy heart day

Hope very much that you had a lovely day yesterday!

we started out the morning with little gifts and notes in our mailboxes

(just notice this cheeseball expression of will's and compare it to madeline's further down. related, ya think??)

special pocket watercolor set and notebook for our nature walks this spring...

we had a super fun party with a few of Will's "big kid" friends.  as i was thinking about the party, at first i thought that since he is a big 6 year old now and in kindergarten and all that maybe i should ditch the cutesy and go more "cool"... but then i came to my senses and realized that Will LOVES a good party. he's totally into the details and still appreciates "cute" things. in fact he is the one i can almost always count on to compliment me on my "cute" crafty endeavors. bless his heart, he'll make his wife so happy one day. ;)

he loved cutting out paper hearts and taping them all over the house. he thought the heart sandwiches were awesome and he was totally jazzed about donning valentine's day appropriate attire...he only wished he had red pants to match his red shirt. 

so, even though he LOVED having his "big kid" friends here, i am trying to absolutely soak up the fact that he's still just a little boy who loves hugs and kisses, "little talks", and stickers and cute valentine's decorations and stuffed bears that "sing" annoying songs and heart sandwiches and planning parties with his mommy while sitting on her lap. 

ok, now onto the rest....here's my madeline. the little spacey, bunny-loving, adorable princess girl that she is. this is her smile of choice recently. she looks like a complete cheeseball but she's actually for real. she could pose like this all day. in fact, whenever you catch her glance and give her a smile she'll stop what she's doing and give you one of these- head cocked and all. it's really quite endearing. which is good, because she's also an ornery little one who has been banned from ALL scissor use until further notice.

here's my lovely mom who came to the party to act as crowd control...and to make Sophie's day. When she is with Nana she is a happy girl. She's also happy when she's telling other people what to do or being     "big". i made the mistake during the party to mention to one of the moms that i had intended for the "little kids" to sit at the table in the school room and the "big" kids could sit on the floor in the living room. Sophie, who was in the living room, overheard me from across the house and yelled, " I AM BIG! mommy! mommy!! I am BIG!"  thata way to stand up for yourself girlie!  I later overheard her asking Madeline if she needed help putting her pez candy into the dispenser. Madeline of course consented and a few minutes later, while Sophie was taking over the whole job Sophie commented, " i love helping little kids".  and i love this extra special, one-of-a-kind little girl.

And THIS one... goodness, he's giving his mommy a run for her money. We laughed all day at our cranky little valentine as he wore his new shirt from Grandma... written on the front is "What's not to love??"  Seriously. a kicking, whining, candy-stealing, screaming ball of fun....what's NOT to love about that?! ;)

honestly nothing. his little chubby cuteness is irresistible in whatever form it happens to take.

Well, that's all for this year...although i think we'll keep celebrating for the rest of the month...it's just too happy of a holiday to be done with. So, keep that sugar coming!

notes of love for a month (a valentine's activity)

Hi there! well, i'm obviously in one of my periodic "i'm overwhelmed so i neglect the blog phase"  but i wanted to share a simple idea and i mean seriously simple, not like the millions and millions of "simple" ideas on pinterest that make me inspired one minute and completely overwhelmed the next. 

i got this inspiration somewhere..just can't remember from who...anyway, i found these little mailboxes (which the kids LOVE) at target in the $1 section and the idea is to simply leave notes of love and encouragement to your kids in the boxes each day and then to save those notes in a book and add to them each february. isn't that sweet and simple?

And it fits perfectly with Ann's "10 points of joyful parenting" list i've been digesting recently.       Here is #5

"Today, i will pray to speak words that are only STRONG words, words that make these children feel strong. Grace words. Grace is the only non-toxic air. All other words i breathe are death words." - Ann Voskamp

it sadly surprised me how when hAndy and i sat down to write notes the first night i had somewhat of a difficult time coming up with "strong/grace-filled" words for the kids. I could easily think of 10 things that drove me crazy about them. 

i want to speak LIFE and GRACE to them instead. i don't want them to remember me as a growling, nagging, grumpy, impatient mommy. yikes! this is such a good reminder!

 knowing now that i have a note to write in the evening for the next day's "mail" has helped my perspective so much...i am more actively seeking out and focusing on the good and sweet throughout the day.

also, i had planned to put some candy or little presents along with the note each day but then i thought maybe i shouldn't set up an expectation too early so i skipped it the first day to see their reaction to just a little note. They were delighted. it's been 3 days of just notes and they are still excited every morning. i think this is also a good lesson to learn about how important and meaningful these grace words can be. they really don't need any sugar coating. 

now i do still have the candy and a few little trinkets but i think i'll wait to put those in for another week or so...just so they can really soak up the words first.

oh ben! seriously, you are the cutest little person i've ever seen. just had to say that. even though you have been keeping me up throughout the night for last several days....

anyway, i hope you're inspired to try this out in your home. and its not too late! you could even just leave notes the week of valentine's day. we could do it for our husbands too! (are you reading this andrew??) 
Either way, i'm challenging myself to start and continue speaking strong, grace-filled, life-giving words everyday.