an afternoon in the Son

Jetting back in time today to share a few pics that I never posted. This was a solid hour of free Fall family fun. Say that five times fast. A little magic was created with a leaf blower and the perfect amount of sunlight.

I can't help but think of the lyrics to Nichole Nordeman's Every Season as I look at these...

***

And even when the trees have just surrendered

to the harvest time,

forfeiting their leaves in late September,

and sending us inside,

still I notice You when change begins,

and I am braced for colder winds.

I will offer thanks for what has been,

and what's to come-

You are Autumn.

Love that song.

Love those words.

Love seeing God's handiwork in all of creation.

Love playtime.

And jumping.

And piling. 

And throwing.

Also love it when my kids do things like this so that I'm a part of it all.

Thank you God for afternoons in the Son.

p.s.- here's a video I found on youtube that beautifully illustrates what this song is all about- 

seeing God's hand in every season of life.

If you've never heard these words before, give it a listen.

Concerts, recitals, and Mom's Day (oh my)

Happy Monday Friends! I hope you had an amazing weekend! Ours was incredibly full and included my first ever 'sit in the audience and watch your child perform on stage while your heart is so full of thankfulness and pride that it almost bursts and you cry'.

Twice.

The first happened on Friday night when the 1st graders who made chorus for the 2012-2013 school year had their first concert. Since our school doesn't have a theatre, they perform on the stage of the high school that they will eventually attend (assuming they continue in the same school zone) which just so happens to be the high school I attended. As most of you know, I went to high school for one reason and one reason only: to be in musicals. Yes, I had other subjects to contend with, but musical theatre has pretty much always been my passion and so, the majority of my time at school was spent right there. On that stage. I added 8 shows to my resume and even directed the Fall and Spring musicals my senior year. I must give a huge shout-out to Mrs. Bonds, our Musical Theatre and choir director, for the countless hours she poured into all of our shows + concerts and who just so happens to be retiring this year. You will be missed!

My sweet boy sang and danced his heart out, and at the end of the concert, once the house lights were up, he spotted me in the audience and beamed. And waved. And I loved it.

I took some video of their last number which was really a 'have-fun-and-dance' kind of finale. This cracks me up because my son, the child of a music teacher, needs a little help in the rhythm department Godblesshim.

**and if any of you tech savvy friends can tell me how to get the google ads OFF of my videos, I'd be forever grateful. I've just spent 20 minutes on it with no luck and I'd really rather not have Bud Light ads on the screen thankyouverymuch**

 

Bright and early Saturday morning, we were in full-on ballet recital mode. E sat in my lap and was a complete pro while I curled her hair and applied her makeup. That's still a bit crazy for me to admit..."Yes, I put makeup on my two year-old. On purpose." Anyway, once she was gussied up, I loaded her in the car and we headed for downtown. To the big theatre. Without the tickets. Thank goodness the hubs was still home with the babe and was able to grab them. Also, thank goodness my seester's beau was able to stop and grab a bouquet of roses for our tiny ballerina since I didn't want to stop and do that while she was WITH me. Moral of this story so far? Hire live-in help.

Moving on.

Our little ballerina was perfection on that stage. She followed each of her instructor's movements with a look of determination that was priceless. Not gonna lie- I cried. So did hubs. Itty-bitty ballerinas are precious anyway, but when one of them is YOURS?

Fuhgetaboutit.

And the stage she was dancing on?

Well it's only the stage where I began performing in musicals at age 7 and would continue to do so for the next 19 years until, at age 26, I directed my first musical there.

And the hubs? Well, he knew how much this theatre means to me and he totally proposed on the marquee.

So yeah, kind of a big deal.

Since picture-taking and video-ing aren't allowed at the actual performance, here are a few shots + video from her rehearsals last week.

Prepare for cuteness.

 Note to self: work with E on staying open to the audience, and never EVER forget to tuck laces into the shoes again. She had a bit of a Tonya Harding moment due to that untied lace in the pic above- thank goodness it was during a rehearsal...

Here's a bit of her dance.

Again, cuteness abounds.

One of my favorite pics from the day is the one below of her in front of the marquee. Love her expression, and the fact that she was holding out her dress, and I loved the 'Bama' in the background...

and I also loved it when little seester climbed up there and held her dress out.

Ahhhh, memories.

Which brings us to yesterday.

I had a lovely Mother's Day, eating lunch with my mum & grandmother after church, and then enjoying an afternoon with my kiddos. I was determined to get a picture with them, but since I forgot to ask anyone before leaving their house, I settled for the next best thing:

an iphone pic in the bathroom mirror.

The three most undeserved gifts I've ever received.

Yes, there are crazy days, but for the most part, I find myself saying,

"Really God? You're trusting me with these 3 precious littles?"

wowza.

My cup runneth over.

Like, over my hand and down my arm and all over the floor...

THAT'S how much my cup runneth over.

I pray that all of you had a full and enjoyable weekend as well, and may your cups also runneth over, and all on the floor, and all over the place.

Pioneer Woman comes to AL and a funny video

Yup.

She'll be comin' round the moutain when she comes.

The Queen of blogdom herself, Ree Drummond, aka The Pioneer Woman, will be in the fair city of Birmingham tonight to sign her new cookbook. The very same cookbook that I happened to have purchased for myself on Saturday.

Yup.

That Ree Drummond.

A huge thanks to my friend, Cyndi, for telling me about the book signin' in the first place and for offering me a ride! We're gonna hop over to the ham a few hours early and hope the line to meet her isn't like Wal-mart on Black Friday. Will any of you locals be there? Are any of you as worried as I am about being a blubbering idiot in front of the Pioneer Woman. Do any of you love her movie trivia games as much as I do? Or her salsa? Or, good heavens,

 her iced coffee?

Sheesh she's fab.

Here's hoping we actually get to meet her and get our books signed instead of being disappointed because 2,345,623 people showed up. I'll be posting updates on twitter for any inquiring minds...

And since I'm now sounding a bit like a 'crazed' fan instead of just a 'fan', I'll stop and change directions entirely.

Tonight, after a lovely birthday dinner with my family at the tree table of Iguana Grill, a moth flew in the door with us upon our return home.

This is what followed:

p.s.sorry for the snorting...

Happy Wednesday Friends!

Happy Prez Day and a song from Eliza

Happy President's Day from the Mathews!

We're having a super-lazy morning here and I wanted to share a quick video of what's been happening. As in, 20 minutes ago. Love that I can upload to youtube straight from my phone.

I call this, my little soprano who composes as she goes. Besides the long, sustained notes, I caught the words 'mommy' a couple times, and 'kisses'. I promise this song is NOT about me. I don't think...

I'll be back tomorrow to talk clothes and share some pics of what I've been working on in the shop. Until then, I'm gonna try to see how long I can stay in my pj's today, because, ya know...........I've gotta have goals.

Happy Monday!

Is it March yet?

can

not

wait

I finished the third book (Mockingjay) today, which means I read all 3 in a span of 3 and half days.
Yes, they're that good.
Can't believe I thought it was a diet book.

I keep watching the trailer to see how the actors compare to what I envisioned the characters to look like as I read. Katniss and Gale are a perfect fit. Even Effie I like. Not sure about Peeta yet...

Are any of you looking forward to the movie as much as I am?

A few updates

Attention:

The following is a random series of photos/captions with quick updates on what's been a' happenin'. I'm insanely sleep-deprived, but wanted to post a few pics (especially of the kitchen) with even fewer words.

a quick video before leaving for school yesterday:

Oliver's classroom-

O with his teacher, Mrs. Williams

We have sheetrock.

I love it like I love Cyprus Inn's bread pudding,

which is a heckuva lot.

Eliza loves chapstick as much as I love sheetrock and bread pudding.

Supper with the hubs fam tonight.

Longhorn.

Yum.

And as I type this, the hubs is busy priming + painting those beautifully sheetrocked walls in the kitchen. The cabinets are sleeping soundly in their boxes in the man cave (they made it here yesterday) and will be installed on Monday. We can see the light....

I'll be back soon, hopefully after some much needed rest.

Starting back to work this week is kickin' my tail.

Sure nuff.

Don't ya wanna buy our stuff?

Top o' the mornin' to ya!

We've been listening to the Mary Poppins soundtrack lately so Bert is on the brain...

I have lots of news to share, starting with the fact that we are having a

YARD SALE

this Friday and Saturday.

I actually started preparing for it about 2 1/2 YEARS ago when we moved into this house.

yep, you read that right.

I'm a bit of a procrastinator,
but,
 my friends, when I have to pack up the entire contents of my kitchen because we're completely tearing it apart, and I SEE and PUT MY HANDS on items that haven't seen the light of day since I unpacked them 2 1/2 years ago,

well my friends,

THAT,

I say THAT is a sure sign that it's time to rid ourselves of these said items.

I give you exhibit A:

A quesadilla maker that we've used once since we've been married

It really is lovely, what with all its sombreros and whatnots, but it's time we parted ways.

Perhaps some of you fancy a quesadilla now and then?

I donated quite a bit of O's old clothes but still have tons, I say TONS of 18 month-4T little boy clothing. I KNOW someone out there can use these.

I'm accepting the fact that I'm a mom of 3 and will NEVER have the pre-baby body I once had. Also accepting the fact that I need to let go of the egads of clothes I've been holding on to in the hopes that I'd magically wake up one day and be uber-skinny again. This is a Laundry top, size M.

Want it?

This is a super cute dress that I never wore-

tag still attached.

Size S

Limited dress, Size 6

Anne Klein top, size 4

Limited top, size M

There are gobs more, so I'll try to list a few more pieces each day.

Most are size 4, 6, or small.

Please come and get them so I'm not constantly reminded that they don't fit.

Also- tons of scrapbook supplies for all you crafters. This Creative Memories folder is FULL of stickers...

Since I've simplified how I scrapbook I no longer have a need for LOTS of the supplies that I have. There will literally be a table with nothing but scrapbook products on it.

Movies.

You know you need some.

That's Leo on that box.

Take him home.

More scrapbooks.

Tons and tons.

More pics to come,

AND,

 if you're local and would like in on some of our yard sale goodness, e-mail me at Funnygirl33180(at)aol(dot)com for directions. I'd love to see you, and really- what's better than a good yard sale on a Friday/Saturday morning?

Hmmm?

Hmmm?

***

As for what the other members of my family did whilst I was cleaning out-

MM occupied herself with some Little People for a good 30 minutes. And see the blanket she's playing on? It's the comforter from yesterday's post! Love stretchin' that dollah.

***

Ever give your kids a camera to play with? O could amuse himself for hours  with my camera. It's so fun to see what he deems picture-worthy too-

like this:

and this:

and this:

and I even let him shoot some video-

there's a gem at the end of this post.

Stay tuned.

O and E had some fun making remixes on the hubs iphone.

Anyone else enjoying the remix of the eHarmony cat lady video as much as I am?

Anyone?

***

Last night was Monday, which of course means

Design Star time on HGTV.

I've been watching each week at my friend Jamie's house, and when I came home last night, I found THIS in my kitchen:

The fact that the hubs is cutting O's hair is not, by any means, odd. We've always given O haircuts. What bothers me is how short the hubs likes to cut it. Oliver, of course, thinks it's cool to have hair like Daddy but I'm his momma and I love his curls.

Can't help it.

Ah well....

it'll grow.

Hubs also gave his friend a cut.

A friend who hasn't had short hair for quite some time.

Hope he isn't having second thoughts today...

***

And now,

 for your viewing pleasure, I give you Oliver's directorial debut.

I call this,

"The 6 year old narrates his way around the playroom"

Enjoy.