eight years

My sweet boy turned 8 years old yesterday.

To Oliver, on turning eight:

You love love love to read. You never go anywhere without a book, and your backpack is weighed down every morning with books to take to school.

I hope you never lose this love of books and reading. It makes my heart happy.

Legos are still a close second to books. Your happy place is in the floor of your room with a new lego set and instructions spread in front of you. You never have a set for long before ripping it from the box and putting it together, and you love to share with us what you're making.

You are anxious to get home from school everyday so that you can play with your friends who live across the street. We've never had neighbors with kids your age before, so the fact that there are now three living right in front of us is pretty awesome. I love the fact that these new friends have given you a new desire to play and run and explore outside.  You always have so much fun together and it's been a blessing.

You are a wonderful big brother, and you help us tremendously with your little sisters. This does not change the fact, however, that they still drive you insane. That's what 2 and 3 year-olds do. And really, who could blame you.

I wouldn't want folks breaking my legos either.

You excel at school and don't mind doing your homework- especially when it means that you get to play outside as soon as you're finished. You currently have spelling and vocabulary tests every Friday, and we study these words each night of the week and I quiz you Friday mornings on the way to school. You get extremely frustrated when you miss one. Extremely. You don't like to fail, in any capacity. You are your momma's child.

You love hot sauce.

Again, you are your momma's child.

You picked the Angry Birds theme for your party this year and loved every second of helping me plan it. I will never forget the look on your face when you saw the pig lanterns, and the clouds, and the TNT boxes, and your own angry birds artwork on display. You love party prep just as much as I do.

And my son, I love you more than words can say. I am blessed beyond measure to be your mom, and my prayer is that you will continue to grow and do mighty things while keeping Christ first in your life.

2.24.13

2 years of MM

Happy birthday to my sweet, precious, no-longer-a-baby-but-I'll-still-call-her-the-baby Mary Martin.

I love you, baby girl. And since you might wonder when you're 23 what you were doing at age 2, here's a little list. You are currently:

wearing Abby Cadabby dress + pink boots everyday. (see pics 4 & 5)

crazy observant. Nothing, but NOTHING gets by you.

wanting to be a ballerina like your sister. (see pic 8)

still sporting some crazy, light-colored hair.

still the one with the longest lashes. Mommy is totes jeals.

begging to listen to the 'elephant book' on the nook all.the.time.

loving Super Readers.

the loudest of the bunch.

eating princess gummies by the box full.

always the Scarecrow to E's Dorothy.

really into lih-stick. (chapstick)

never, but NEVER more than 3 feet away from your blanket. (see pics 1 & 15)

Flashback Friday- a tribute to hubs

In honor of the hubs birthday, and the fact that he's stepping a little unwillingly through the door marked, "late twenties, enter here", let's take a look back at a few moments from his pre-twenties, shall we?

Ahhh...baby Clay.

A little TOO much of baby Clay, hence the cute lil' sticker.

Sweet little cheeks.

All 4 of them.

A wee bit older now and he's already mastered the Blue Steel while simultaneously digging something from the recesses of his ear.

Just plop a couple of pigtails on '1986 Easter Clay' and call him Mary Martin.

Am I right or am I right?

Oh the socks...

and the precious bow tie...

and the Peter Pan collar...

and the interior of the castle he seems to be standing in...

Why hello pre-pubescent Clay.

Love the knock-off Tevas.

And color-blocked Umbros.

And braces.

And thick, muscular legs.

Yummy.

And since I currently have no other pictures of adolescent Clay, let's skip ahead a few years...

Ah.

Much better.

Dashing, isn't he?

And hubs isn't lookin' too bad either.

Love the coveralls.

Again, yummy.

And because I feel that far too few people on the earth were witness to hubs afro days,

I give you...

Afro Clay.

Is there any wonder why I pounced on that?

I know, right?

Tan and toned, with a head FULL of hair and a fabulous decorator to boot.

I mean, just look at those beautifully styled shelves.

And that necklace.

And the way he holds that hair dryer.

Sheesh, how'd I get so lucky?

Happy birthday week to you, hubs.

And if it makes you feel better,

you don't look a day over 27.

Swear it.

Happy Birthday to Hubs

I'd like to announce to the internets and to the world that my hubs is officially in his late twenties. As in, he's turning 28 today, and let's face it- he's been holding on to those quasi-mid-twenties for too long. But 28? No longer mid, my friends, but most definitely late. I point this out only because it's giving him anguish and also because I kissed my late twenties buh-bye quite a while ago. That's right folks. Just call me Courtney Cox and slap me down in Cougar Town, cause that's where I reside. And now, a tribute to hubs via pictures + words:

Happy Birthday to my hubs-

 who not only cuts O's hair, but also cleans up afterwards-

who constantly provides nutritious snacks for our kiddos-

who always smiles when I take our picture-

who is an incredibly sexy baby daddy-

who's always up for a good costume party, 

who teaches our children to aim for the sky-

who works hard for our family-

who is handy around the house-

who is a most awesome swing pusher-

and who is always willing to create a little fun in an otherwise normal day.

Thank you, hubs. For all of these and more.

We love you lots and lots and lots.

And welcome to your late twenties.

Again.



3 years of E

Happy Birthday to our precious little Dorothy loving,

ballet dancing,

hair tossing,

sister bossing,

scrambled egg eating,

soprano singing,

costume wearing,

Barbie playing,

middle child.

We love you.

Lots.

A hodge-podge, April 2012 edition

First things first...

I am now 32 years young.

If hubs were here, he'd be quick to tell you that for the next 2 months, I'm five years older than he is.

Not four.

Funny hubs.

I spent the majority of Saturday afternoon strolling the aisles of Sam's with my girls- looking at books and movies, printing pictures, and of course sampling free food.

I promise that MM was happier than she looks. She's just upset because she ate her sample of french fries and wanted more. I'm holding a sample of stuffed salmon that was deeee-lish and we'd already consumed some crackers with garlic & herb cream cheese, cookies and cream chex mix, ham, fruit, and pizza.

Thank you Sams, from the bottom of my heart, for the free and well-balanced meal last Saturday. You totally rock.

And since it was my birthday, I treated myself to a couple new books. They weren't free, but Ree's latest cookbook retails for $30 and Sams sells it for $18. The Hunger Games People issue was also 30% off, so again, I say to you,

 Sams-

thank you for the bangin' good deals on these books.

I really appreciate it.

 These also jumped into my cart.

Because they wanted to come home with me and live in my dining room along with the other white ceramic pretties there. These babies were a mere $30 for all 3, and THAT, my friends, you cannot beat with a stick. Do you hear me?

Not even a really big one.

***

I spent several hours of my weekend photographing products that I made for my shop's open house but never got around to listing online. I took photos of 68 products and stayed up til 12:30 am this morning after having only listed 10. Good GRAVY it takes a while, but, if you'd like to see what's new in the shop, click HERE. Mainly pillow covers & a few headbands with lots more to come as soon as I find a few extra hours...

***

In the past 2 weeks, we've sold a bed, night stand, bookcase, and changing table. Needless to say, we're making some ch-ch-ch-changes and I'm hoping to be able to share them soon. Still looking for one elusive piece of furniture to bring it all together...

***

For those of you interested, these are the new Matilda Jane pieces that are available as of yesterday-

For information on how to order, see THIS post, or simply contact me. I'll be glad to help ya.
*There are also 2 new adult pieces that will be available by mid-April but are currently stuck in customs I believe. It's a super cute tank & skirt, just FYI.*

***

I think that's all the news that is the news,

and-

if you follow me on twitter or instagram, thanks for all the congrats,

but,

I'm totally not prego.

It was a Taco Casa baby and it was also April 1st.

I blame hubs and his shenanigans for rubbing off on me.

Happy April 2nd to ya!

seven years old

My sweet boy is 7 today.

can't believe it

Happy birthday to my

Star Wars lovin'

lego building,

teeth loosing,

ice cream eating,

playstation playing,

trampoline jumping,

nerf gun toting,

book reading,

track club running,

transformer playing,

whiz at adding,
always filming,
lego sneaking,

sister loving,

bear hugging,

t-shirt wearing

son.

I love you.

such a sweet big brother

working on his Valentines. He wrote each of his classmates names himself this year.

3 teeth lost in the last 8 weeks

doing ninja kicks off the back of the buggy

 excellent speller

 playing with photo props

 on a field trip to Buffalo Rock
(thanks Kelly)

 legos that were snuck to school in a pocket

 watching Star Wars 3D with his Daddy

 with his buddy Hayden at school

ran 35 miles (so far) this school year & made track club on Wednesday

and filming with his video camera, one of his latest obsessions.

And, because it's his birthday, I thought I'd share one of his latest videos.
It's super short and super silly.
Just the workings of a 7 year-old brain...

p.s. - here's last year's post when he was six

Happy Friday everyone!