Ella was VERY excited when I explained that we would be making Valentine's surprises for her friends at school. Even though she had no idea what that meant, once she knew paint and candy were involved, she was all in! Since I was scheduled to be out of town for work this week {it turns out I'm in town after all}, we started working on them several weeks ago. She has been very upset everyday that she's been to school since then because I wouldn't let her take them. All it took was 10 plastic cups, pink basket grass, cellophane bags, pink tulle, Reese's hearts and Hershey's kisses. Then we cut cardstock into 2 inch by 3 inch pieces and sponge painted red hearts onto them. I went back and wrote "Be mine" and "love, ella" and we tied them to the tops of our cups. How sweet. ...
Silent Sunday is back!
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Tablescapes
Saturday night was our annual banquet to honor the widows and widowers in our church family. The deacon families host the party - the wives cook dinner and decorate the tables and the men serve the tables and take care of clean up duty. We always have entertainment and a speaker and enjoy a wonderful evening together. Since there were more than 10 tables, I won't share all of the decorations, but here are a few of my favorites. Oh, and a gratuitous shot of me and sweet daddy. It isn't everyday we get dressed up without Beemer and Ella in tow! ...
Progress
Although I haven't been paying enough to the "important" resolutions I made this year, I'm certainly cutting through the frivolous ones. I'm working out on the elliptical like a fiend and I FINALLY got a great haircut that I love. Although these pictures don't do it justice, it is beautiful and for the first time in a long time I felt like going out in public after having a haircut. I am notorious for having a hairdresser who doesn't know how to style the hair after cutting it. I'm usually happy with the haircut... after I go home and fix it myself. Today I would have gone to dinner with a movie star. In case you live close to me and want a good recommendation, I went to Ciao Bella in Chelsea and Kalena cut my hair. I was so impressed that I've already made my next appointment. I'm also ...
I’m so excited
I'm so excited and I just can't hide it. I'm about to be grown-up and I think I like it, I like it! Except that mommy totally doesn't like it. I love the potty training part and the conversations, but I wasn't prepared for how fast time would travel once I had a child to enjoy. I just want to slow every day down, every minute, and relish every little word and deed. Tonight as I was putting away laundry, she saw a pack of big girl panties in her drawer {they are NOT princess adorned, thank you very much} and she begged to wear them. I explained that she couldn't have even one accident, but she insisted. We agreed that if she had an accident we would throw the panties away, put on a diaper and sit in time out. Needless to say, there were no accidents, lots of silly dancing and one ...
Under my umbrella
Ella, ella, ella. I know, dumb right? Except that Josh sings it to her and it is precious and then she actually asked for her umbrella which made it even cuter! How adorable are they? And how excited that we're all together. ...
Zing Zang Zoom
As if the fancy breakfast wasn't enough, we enjoyed an evening at the circus for Josh's birthday. And not just any circus, The Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, the Greatest Show on Earth. And not only did we go to this fabulous circus, thanks to Nana & Cookie we were on the front row! We went early this year to check out the pre-show and had lots of fun. We didn't realize we should get there super early, so we had to wait in line and didn't have the best vantage point for the pre-show, but it was lots of fun. We saw a magic show up close, we saw clowns and men on stilts and even got up close and personal with a baby elephant, Asia. Our seats were fabulous and we could see so great! Some of the acts were even right in front of us. You'll be able to see from the photos ...
A Fancy Birthday Breakfast
Ella & I decided to cook SD breakfast in bed for his birthday and wanted to make it "fancy." So, we donned the spirit of Fancy Nancy herself and got all dolled up. We served sausage balls, sweet tea {he doesn't drink coffee or juice} and presents, of course. Dear Sweet Daddy, Happy 3-0! We love you VERY much and are so glad that you are home {for good} to celebrate with us. You are positively the best daddy and husband we could ask for and we thank God for you every day. You'll be pleased to know you even made the "thankful" list one night this week. We plan on taking good care of you today and making your big day as wonderful as we can. We love you because you: take us to church, provide for us, cut the grass and do dirty chores, cook really good fried chicken, pray for ...