Living, Loving, Learning

Lucy had a great day yesterday!  I brought fruit and cupcakes into her classroom in the morning and they all sang her Happy Birthday and enjoyed their snack.  Then we went straight to her favorite restaurant to meet up with 3 of her good friends for a birthday lunch....cheese dip and chips, her pick (no big surprise there!)  Then we all headed over to the library for story hour, to meet up with more friends and of course, they sang her Happy Birthday too.  When Papa got home he had a dozen roses for his baby girl (such a sweet tradition) and she absolutely LOVED them.  After her birthday dinner (carbonera...I am so SICK of this meal but the kids love it, so what is a Mama to do?) and cake and ice cream she opened her presents.  She loved it all but I think her Kimochi Cat was the favorite!  (Thanks, Lexi and Jessica for the Cat and extra emotions!)  Her grandparents sent her money to be put toward a trip to the TN aquarium in Chatanoo...

My baby girl turns 4 today.  Amazing.  This has been an incredible year for her.  We have seen such momentous shifts in her personality, courage and ability to connect.  She started pre-school this year, and we all remember I did it kicking and screaming but it has turned out to be the BEST decision we could have made.  She has become so much more confident and happy.  She has a lot of friends and has begun connecting with people on her own.  She has surprised us with her athleticism which is showing up more and more as she gets comfortable in her own skin.  She has a brilliant mind which her teachers are always commenting on.  She has tons of creative talent that I can't wait to see blossom over the years.  I am so lucky, so blessed,  so privileged to parent her.    Birthday Interview   Age? 4 Grade? Pre-school Your teachers this year? Ms. Amy, Ms. Cissy, Ms. Lisa and Ms. Karen, Speec...

I made myself a little clutch last week and I absolutely adore it.  I used this tutorial as a guide.  I have never put in a zipper before and now can't even figure out why not.  That was one of the easiest parts of the construction process.  I picked fabrics that were neutral, but of course, now I want one in every color of the rainbow! It has an awesome little divider in it that keeps my cell phone from rubbing up against my keys and lip gloss.  AND 2 little pockets for my plastic.  (Not quite sure what to do with cash, but since I usually don't have any on me it hasn't been an issue!)    I found the hardest part of construction was getting the gathered front straight.  Here is my first attempt, you can see how it shrunk and the fusible webbing is larger.  I solved this by cutting the front gathered fabric 1/2" bigger to start and then trimmed it after fusing it.  That worked out perfect.   ...

Boxes never get old. And why am running around town buying birthday presents?

We took the kids to a tiny craft fair near our house on Saturday. They had an area set up by a retired elementary art teacher for kids to do projects. They were so excited to make a bug jar. The insects in our backyard better watch out cause these kids have plans!

Lucy loves to "read" our Dr. Seuss collection to herself. I am stoked to have a second child that also loves books!!! Like mother, like child I guess.

The teachers at Lucy's school asked me to come up with a craft project for their once a year Family Fun Night (originally supposed to be father's night even though many children in the class don't have active fathers AND there is no mother's night.... But don't get me started on that soapbox!!). After some Internet scouring I found a bunch of adorable handprint projects. These are the examples I made for the school and I loved them so much I framed them. The ones side by side are Bruce's and the kids' individually. Of course the other is all of ours. I am so glad I took the time to make these!