daddy's shirt

bennett wore his first button-up shirt the other day. he told us it was his "daddy shirt." must say he is looking more and more like his handsome dad every day.  little cutie!

off and sewing

off and running with the sewing machine! kicked off the weekend with a visit to franklin mills.  a factory for ideas, inspiration and beautiful things.  i love this place!

thought i'd start with a brother & sister rag doll for bennett and ella. came out pretty cute if i do say so! even better is seeing my little ones snuggle their new lovies.  ella says this is the most special doll ever and that she is going to take it with her everywhere.  how's that for incentive to try out another project soon!

a big thanks to my in-house repair man and machine specialist hubby.  and of course my little seamstress helper, ella!  looking forward to more projects soon!

dusting off the old sewing machine

i'm looking forward to my weekend project.  dusting of the old sewing machine! literally dusting off.  literally old.  as you'll see below this little guy hasn't come out of its box since about 1988 (when i was 8). you might not believe it - but i was quite the quilter back in the day.  won my fair share of blue ribbons at the good ol' hardwick fair and 4-h competitions.  impressed?!  my mom was... she'd hang my creations all around the house.  even if the patterns and seams never matched up. i even remember going to a quilters guild...when i was 8!

hoping it's sort of like riding a bike.  and thankful that i still have the instruction manual.  fingers crossed i can get it to work! not sure what my first project will be - think i'll start small.  wish me luck!

couple pics of some treasures i found in the box.

ella loves these erin stickers.  i remember having these all over my stuff back in the day (very territorial i guess)

 apparently i had some mean cross-stitch skills as well

silly rabbit

thankful tuesday, 2/22

"to see deeply, to thank deeply, to feel joy deeply...eucharisteo" (ann voskamp's one thousand gifts)

• organized chaos
• promotion, raise and a bonus at work
• bennett asking for a monkey bar (granola bar)
• first lady bug of the season
• providence children's museum with the paynes
• diner burgers
• wes & ella's puppet show
• seeing differently...and the hard work that it can sometimes be
• that we have to sing happy birthday to bennett every time we have pancakes with bacon (we served this on his b-day 2 months ago...)
• long hug from a friend i haven't seen in a few years
• pedicure
• being an aunt
• cousin sleepover
• news of a friend's new baby boy
• bowling shoes (should be grossed out, but not)
• hearing your kids speak your lessons to other children... the ones you've prayed and tried so hard to instill (praise god they do hear us)
• a meal that takes all day to cook and then not wanting it...and enjoying it so very much the next day

mama, is it summer yet?

ever since our recent summer day at home - i get this question all the time..."mama, is it summer yet?"  not yet little one, not yet.  for this reason had to share this book.  it is just so sweet... we love it!

strawberry sparkles

we had lots of leftover strawberries...and we know how long those last!  so we made strawberry sparkles.  gotta say they are not as sparkly as i had pictured.  but kids loved the decorating and the tasting.

recipe:

softened cream cheese

mix with 2-3 tsps of confectionary sugar and a little bit of cream

dip half the strawberry

sprinkle with colored sugar

fluff

when i ask "who wants a peanut butter & fluff for lunch?"....this is what i hear.  two little ones running to the drawer to get a spoon.  and this is what i see next....

does this happen at your house too?

cousin sleepover

are you having a good weekend?  we are!  we have had so much fun with members of our extended family.  hopefully you saw the cute pics from our outing to the providence children's museum with the payne family...love those guys!  and yesterday after a quick visit to see judy & charlie (grandma and pa pa) our nephews, austin & logan, came for a sleepover. 

before getting to the pics - just a few thoughts and loves to share about family.  i married into a big family - and i love it! i could attempt to describe the lot of them - and i tried to think of a clever way to do so, but no go (i'm too tired from all the playing)...another day. in a nutshell, our kids are blessed with wonderful grandparents, aunts, uncles and a big crew of cousins to grow-up with.  i love that i'm a daughter-in-law and a sister-in-law.  i love that i am an aunt. i love to see wes as uncle wes - and how the kids adore him. they are all so special - we love them - we are so grateful!

now some of the pics...

visit to grandma & pa pa's

 

bowling (1st time for ella & bennett)

fondue

 

movie & popcorn (wouldn't be a sleepover without it!)

 and a beautiful cousin mural

 

 

austin & ella's drawing of our visit

p.s. and if you are wondering....yes, ella is wearing the same shirt 2 days in a row.  she loves her new sweet & sour lemon t-shirt!

a morning at the museum

met up with justin, maggie and calvin for an outing to the providence children's museum.  a great morning (even bumped into the budka and mcfadden families too)!

forgot you volunteered to bring dessert?

did you forget you volunteered to make a dessert for a whole crew of kids and adults?  and you took a nap with your kids when you were suppose to be baking homemade chocolate chip cookies?  and that the gathering is in just a couple hours?  and you would feel like a chump showing up with packages of store bought cookies...since all of the other ladies are excellent bakers?  yup...that happened to me today!

a big thanks to my friend laura for this life saver of a delicious treat.

recipe:
put a rolo on top of a pretzel.
melt them in the oven for 3-5 mins
take them out and smush an m&m on top

voila!  these little salty sweet treats are a delight.  i hope our friends like them as much as i do.

bag of ...

i love kid projects - i truly do.  like most parents, our walls, fridge, doors and more are covered with kiddo creations.  we are also regular patrons of the good ol' post office to send off many of these treasures to grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc.  and yes, we toss... alot! i feel like we've got a good system.   then we get a day like this...

not the standard 2-3 creations.  nope - a giant shopping bag of them.  all from one day.   impressive, i guess.   dear family - make room, we've got more coming your way!

thankful tuesday, 2/15

how deep the father's love for us. how vast beyond all measure...

• dinner with my brother & leigh in nyc
• missing them
• melting snow, puddle splashing, mud
• bennett moves to the duckies class - no more church nursery
• fondue with friends
• fondue with family
• all the sweetness of the valentine's season
• my friend rachel's weekly devotional - a gift each week
• the way wes loses it with laughter when watching the discovery channel (this happens often)
• trains in time out
• our new fish friends
• gracious hosts and a delightful dinner
• ms. joanne
• summer day at home - no winter allowed
• how much is that doggie in the window by iza trapani
• car seat cat naps
• news of a friend's new baby
• this picture of ella as "mommy"

longing for summer

yesterday was a glorious 55 degrees.  we had melting, puddle splashing and mud!  sigh...it was wonderful.  and sadly today it is freezing, windy, bitter - yet beautifully sunny. so...the kids and i are having a "summer" day - no winter allowed! 

we made kites and flew (or kicked) them around the house.

we painted summer scenes (isn't ella's kite painting impressive)!

we looked at pictures from last summer at the beach (sigh...)

we are only reading books about spring and summer (how silly to skip any winter pages in these favorites)

we blew bubbles

we had a picnic in the living room. and now we are resting snuggled in blankets with hot chocolate. pretending is over...summer is far away...so we'll enjoy winter while it lasts!