Cutest Cousins Conference

He may be a man of few words...

But he is a man of a million faces.

Little ol' Evan stole my heart on his last visit.

He is happy, energetic, and just a real ham.

 And his precious big brother, Connor, is sweet, very smart, and well on his way to becoming

A superhero!

Ready to fly through the air or

conquer a wild beast.

As always, we had a blast with our cousins!

And this guy just worked hard at melting my heart...with each adorable smile.

House Divided by Three

Around our house, we take Gameday seriously.

Depending on the season (I'm talking football or basketball not Fall or Spring),

we are decked out in red for Alabama or blue for Kentucky.

I have been buying cute and stylish shirts, skirts, and dresses in red and blue for years now.

The girls have cheerleading outfits for both teams

 and have been know to wear both in one day on a few Saturdays.

Never did I dream that we'd be adding a new color to our Gameday rainbow.

Go UC Tornados!

Love that small town school spirit!

Flowers and Frogs

Whatif

What if...

by Shel Silverstein

Last night, while I lay thinking here,

some Whatifs crawled inside my ear

and pranced and partied all night long

and sang their same old Whatif song:

Whatif I'm dumb in school?

Whatif they've closed the swimming pool?

Whatif I get beat up?

Whatif there's poison in my cup?

Whatif I start to cry?

Whatif I get sick and die?

Whatif I flunk that test?

Whatif green hair grows on my chest?

Whatif nobody likes me?

Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?

Whatif I don't grow tall?

Whatif my head starts getting smaller?

Whatif the fish won't bite?

Whatif the wind tears up my kite?

Whatif they start a war?

Whatif my parents get divorced?

Whatif the bus is late?

Whatif my teeth don't grow in straight?

Whatif I tear my pants?

Whatif I never learn to dance?

Everything seems well, and then

the nighttime Whatifs strike again!

What if?!

As the girls get older, I find this question filling my brain more often.

Some parents seems to ask this more when their children are babies...

Whatif they don't wake up?  Whatif they choke on that grape?  Whatif they fall down?

Those just didn't pop into my head as much.

But now...

Whatif someone is mean to her at school?  Whatif she doesn't believe in herself?

Whatif she isn't happy?  Whatif?

Luckily, they are fleeting, momentary questions that are followed by a peace.

A peace that our God is good and knows the answers to all these questions before I ask them.

And no matter the answer to each one, God will be there to walk with her through each one.

So I have a peace for my questions.

  I just hope and pray I will be able to pass along that peace

when the girls start asking me their Whatif's.

Fairweather

One day we are hanging on to every last bit of Summer...

and the next day, we are anxiously sliding into Fall.

I really love Fall and can't wait for it to be here. 

 But these days, I'm not wishing away one minute.

Not one adorable minute.

Members of the Tea Party

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~C.S. Lewis

Or a sock monkey ginormous enough...

Or a table wet enough...

Or a smile fake enough....

to suit me.

Roy G. Biv

 I saw this awesome craft and knew I had to try it.

Wasn't sure how to do it or if it would work.

It did.

We made rainbows.  So bright and so beautiful.

The very next night I had the honor of hearing Maya Angelou speak and she used rainbows as her theme.



 Quoting scripture from Genesis, she shared that rainbows are a sign of hope.

 And then explained that each of us has the opportunity to be a rainbow

to anyone and everyone around us.

We are all rainbows.

I thought of these rainbows that we had made just the day before.

 Each so obviously different.

 Both so obviously beautiful in their own way.

 Just like us.

 We can all be rainbows of hope to those around us.

You never know whose day you might change, whose life you might touch today.

Just by being colorful, wonderful you.

You & Me

During the day, I usually have music on in the house - praise and worship, oldies, country, folk, Beiber.

No, not Beiber.  Well, only on Fridays...when Ellenie requests it.

But I am always looking for "good" children's music. 

Children's music that I actually enjoy kind-of-music.

Put it on in the background while we craft kind-of-music.

Music that we can sing alot with, not scream along with kind-of-music.

We have loved Elizabeth Mitchell for years now and I was pleased to find something similar in Frances England a while back.  They both have some great original songs and some great re-makes of some classics.

There is one song that just says it all about the way I'm feeling right now.

Listen to it here.

(it's the last song on the Family Tree cd)

You and Me

by Frances England

 You and me, happy as can be

Flying through the park on our bikes

On a Sunday afternoon

You and me, rolling on the floor

Practicing your somersaults, cartwheels,

Your donkey kicks and more… 

How did you grow so big overnight

How did you get so smart and bright

Yesterday you were asleep in my arms

  Today you’re growing off the charts

 I’m so proud of you.

You and me, drawing pictures wild and free

While the paint goes flying,
Your big smile brightens up the room
 

You and me, reading books in bed

Your head on my shoulder,

Your eyes on the pages ahead

How did you grow so big overnight

How did you get so smart and bright

Yesterday you were asleep in my arms
Today you’re growing off the charts

 

I’m so proud of you.

Owl bet it was a great party!

Months ago, I saw the cutest idea for a little girls birthday party and immediately thought of Lillianna.

As her birthday got closer, we knew an outdoor party would be HOT

 so we decided on a Night Owl Pajama Party!

It was so much fun to plan this party!

Because owls are so popular, there were tons of clever ideas online and several owl products that popped up before our eyes....like this one that greeted guests on our front porch!

Food was easy with pizza, fruit, owl cupcakes, pretzel sticks (to make their nests).

The decor was super fun.

  I loved making some stuff that the girls have loved playing with since.

  Also, a friend loaned us his fabulous owl collection which added a perfect touch around every corner.

Loved making all the felt owl decorations...I used a pattern I found to make big stuffed ones, flat ones to hang, and as the pattern for the girls to paint on canvas.  I also made a few mini ones, decided to fill with corn (we were out of beans) and knew we could have a precious bean bag toss.

  One cardboard box later, we had a great game for the girls to play while we made dinner plates.

As a present from us, Lillianna got an owl nightgown (and a mini matching one too!)

 that I had made from here to wear to the party.

Hooooo-ray!

The party is about to start!

After a reading of Little Hoot, we were ready to paint our own little hoots...

All the girls had so much fun and did such a good job! (No spills!  No stains!)

I always love a good masterpiece keepsake!

Then, after eating it was time for a story...

you know, the one about the full moon and the baby owls that need to be adopted?

Me neither but I made it up on the spot (forgot that detail) and they loved it!

Each little girl received a baby owl wrapped in it's own rainbow baby blanket (see them in the crib), an adoption card, and care instructions.
 They were mesmerized!

All the Mamas and baby owls hooting hello to you!

Started to make my own adoption cards, but once I saw these, I knew I could save A LOT of time.

Plus, the poems were so precious and made each owl so special!

Next up, the pinata!  We went to a local party store for balloons and came out with this cute guy.

Filled with some candy, gum, and some home made owl stickers...it was a hit!

After this, they had just enough time to snuggle in their jammies

 with their baby owls and watch Bubble Guppies.  Then, it was time to go home to slumber.

I have to say, the party was a real HOOT!

They were all so sweet and had so much fun.  

And a slumber party with cousins was the cherry on top to a perfect time.