25 Questions* as answered by Ella (7 years old) 1. What is your favorite color? blue 2. What is your favorite toy? doll 3. What is your favorite television show? Shake It Up! 4. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? bacon biscuit 5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Jack's cheeseburger with bacon & fries 6. What is your favorite fruit? watermelon 7. What is your favorite snack? bananas 8. What is your favorite cereal? Honey Nut Cheerios 9. What is your favorite drink? sweet tea 10. What is your favorite outfit? running shorts and a t-shirt 11. What is your favorite game to play? Candy Crush 12. What is your favorite animal? zebra 13. What is your favorite song? Our Song by Taylor Swift 14. What is your favorite book? Magic Ponies chapter book from ...
5 on Friday | Week 36
I've been reading -- and enjoying -- everyone else's 5 on Friday posts, so I figured it was high-time I joined in the fun. Why not, right? 1. Mumford & Sons. Need I say more? I had kind of gotten out of the concert circuit a bit, you know since I was a grown-up, responsible parent and all. Of course, I've seen my boyfriend (a.k.a. John Mayer) any time he's in the tri-state area, but that doesn't really count. I'm required to see him. It's a thing. Anyhoo, Josh is not a concert goer, but he is a HUGE Mumford fan. We bought tickets way back in the spring for the New Orleans show and were super, duper sad when it got rescheduled for September. Fast forward three months and they decided to come to our sleepy little town, so we sold the NOLA tickets and partied a little closer to home. The ...
a Birthday for Bells
My Bells. Ella Bella. Ellsy. Bellsy. Ellie. Ellie Belly. Ella answers to them all. Seven years ago today, at this moment, I was laying in a hospital room about to get an epidural. I had been there for almost 24 hours and I was OVER labor. We checked in at 4 o'clock on Sunday afternoon and were scheduled for an induction the following morning. I wasn't thrilled about being induced on the fifth anniversary of a national tragedy, but I was already five days overdue and couldn't wait one more minute to see her face. We were restless in the hospital that night, not knowing how the day would play out or how our lives were about to change forever. The on-call doctor convinced me she would be born before morning, so I panicked and my parents and sister came to see us late that evening. I remember ...
Giving Her Birthday Away
32 photographs. That's how many images it takes to tell the story of Bells' birthday. Of the 60 images my sister took, there were thirty-two that I couldn't NOT share. I know. I know I say this same thing every year and I'll probably say it at every birthday party, every year until my sweet girls grow up and move out. And after that, I'll probably say it about my grandbabies' birthdays. But this year, it might actually be true. This was the best birthday ever. I know I talked a little about it when I shared weekend links last week, but Ella came up with the idea of a "charity birthday" all on her own. It was back in the spring, long before we'd even talked about what to do for her party this year. I picked her up from Gran's house like any other Tuesday afternoon and she had a sparkle in ...
Dailies / Week 35
233/365: Kamin sent me these pictures of Sophie and Hudson. Don't they favor quite a bit? I also made some yummy zucchini chips in the oven and they were a huge hit. Well, I was the only one home to enjoy them, but I am definitely a fan! 234/365: Have I mentioned, Killer (our OUTSIDE cat) thinks she lives inside. Taz likes to bring her in for an hour or so every afternoon to play and I almost always find her in the dollhouse. 235/365: I got this very sweet text message from the hubs on Wednesday. He was working in Iowa and he thinks he's so funny. 236/365: His flight got in in the middle of the day, so he picked me up at work and we went to Rogue Tavern for lunch downtown. I had a chicken quesadilla (heavenly) and he had a brisket sandwich and sweet potato fries. 237/365: It's time ...
Dailies / Week 34
226/365: Monday was the first day of first grade! How is my baby so big? She wanted sponge rollers and colored, skinny jeans and a new backpack with zebra print detail for the first day. Imagine that. I'm so thankful for sweet teacher friends because I got this pick of Ella and her best boy, Connor, on the first grade hall later that day! Man I'm gonna have some great pictures for their wedding slideshow one day! 227/365: Ummm, this album finally came out and I am one happy girlfriend. I mean girl. I also packed watermelon and my favorite pasta salad for lunch that day. Yummy. 228/365: Oh, Wednesday was super eventful. I had been nursing a pulled shoulder muscle for three days and finally couldn't take it any more. I ran to the doctor first thing and slept off the muscle relaxer ...
Dailies / Week 33
219/365: Lots of working out! 220/365: I was super happy to discover I could stream Mayer's entire album from iTunes a whole week early. I was jamming out at my desk all day long. 221/365: The highway I drive to work is a disaster right now. It is under major construction and makes the commute miserable. Of course, rain just makes it worse. At least I had my morning Shakeology and a pretty cute cup! 222/365: The window washers were out in full force this morning. I'm on the seventh floor and it always surprised me when they drop into view. I'm always wondering if they can see me working (or taking pictures of them, in this case!). Later that day, Ella & I went to school to meet her first grade teacher and check out her new room! 223/365: On Friday, the girls got to stay home ...
Dailies / Week 32
212/365: After a long weekend at the beach, I was happy to get our sweet brother-cousin back in my hands. How do babies grow so much in three days?! 213/365: I bought a super cute red dress at the Banana Republic Outlet store for $20. It is seriously one of my favorite articles things to wear. I paired it with these fun tribal print shoes for work on Tuesday. They are also a recent acquisition. It's pretty fabulous to have an aunt who wears the same size as you, has excellent taste in shoes and managed to have a sack to give away every other month. 214/365: Bells could finally swap her earrings, so we celebrated with some cute, tiny butterfly studs. Can you believe these were mine in high school? I had quite the thing for winged creatures. 215/365: On Thursday, the odometer in the ...