Happy 6th Birthday, Sweet Girl

WHOA!!!  How is it possible that you are 6 already?  Or that you are on the verge of losing your 4th tooth?

It seems like just yesterday Momma Evan and I were sitting in the NICU, sobbing joyous tears, as I got to Kangaroo care for you for the first time.

I will never forget Sam scrapbooking the hair they had to shave for your PICC line.

Or seeing the beauty of life after your surgery.

Your first night home from Riley's.

Your belly giggles.

And big blue eyes.

You hated my hair after I was sick.  

You kept asking for a mirror so you could look at your Panda-self, and would laugh and laugh.

I think you were born to be a fish, because you love water.

Remember when you went through that Minnie Mouse stage?!  You wanted to wear this dress every day.

You've always been a Mommy's girl.

And a Kinsey and Ava girl.

5 has been a fun year for you.  It was just the four of us for awhile.

We went to Gattitown to celebrate Kinsey's big 1-0!

Had a lot of fun playdates at the park.

And then you met and fell in love with this guy.

He was wrapped around your finger from the first night.

But how could he not be?

You light up everyone's life.

You graduated preschool, and we moved to Charlotte.

You started a new school that you absolutely love.

As you always say, 'WE got married.'  

Poppy said vows to you three and gave you necklaces to symbolize his commitment to you, just like he did me.  We mixed sand to symbolize that our lives are intertwined in a way that can never be separated.

WE got married!  All of us.

You are so loved.

And your love is so great!

We spent your birthday weekend at the beach with Lele, Grandma Lola, Papaw Jim, Aunt Jeannette, Uncle Leonard, Donna, Chris, Kevin, and Bryce and had the best time.

This morning you opened your eyes, and excitedly said, 'I AM SIX!'

Then you darted into our bedroom to get your morning snuggles with Poppy.

You were singing as you left for school this morning, and were so excited about getting to have lunch with us and take cupcakes for your class.

You truly light up our world!

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY, SWEET GIRL!!!

We Are Going to the Beach

1.  Emerald Isle.  Just as the title of this post says...WE ARE SPENDING THE WEEKEND AT THE BEACH!  I truly have the kindest, most loving in-laws that anyone could ever ask for.  My girls absolutely adore them, and when we asked Bre if she'd like to go to the beach to celebrate her birthday, she said, 'YES!', with more enthusiasm than I think I've ever heard from her.  She's been counting down the days all week.

2.  A Clean House.  I've been speed cleaning between packing suitcases this morning.  There really are few things better than coming home from a relaxing weekend to a clean house.

3.  Celebrating 3 Years Breast Cancer Free.  Monday I celebrated being NED in my breast for 3 years!  That's a HUGE feat because I've never made it that long between a recurrence.

4.  My marriage.  It's truly the biggest blessing in my life.  The laughter and happiness that fills our home on a daily basis is almost too much to put into words.  I've learned that it's not so much the big things, it's all those little things we do day end and day out that set the tone of our marriages.  It's saying 'Please' and 'Thank You' because your spouse deserves the same amount of kindness and respect every day that you would give to a stranger.  It choosing to compliment the things he does so well instead of criticizing his faults.  (I fell in the toilet recently because someone left the seat up, and instead of being annoyed I genuinely laughed about it.  And then I saw the blessing...if that is my biggest annoyance in our marriage, I am so incredibly blessed.)  It's understanding that as a mother and wife, my attitude sets much of the tone of my household.  When love and joy are flowing out of someones words and actions, it is hard not to reciprocate it.  God is working on me in ways I didn't want to open my eyes to or admit that I needed work, but because He is, my marriage is prospering.  

5.  Kindness.  I've struggled tremendously with the thought process of 'My attitude towards people will reflect how they treat me'. I hear you, Lord.  That is NOT how you command that I live, encourage my husband to live, or teach my daughter's to live. I read an article the other day written by a lady after an experience in the Starbuck's drive-thru.  She talked about a lady cussing her out because she thought she was trying to cut her off.  When she got to the intercom, she told the barista that she wanted to pay for the 'rude' lady's order, too.  The moral of her story was that we can't change the way other's behave, but we can choose to shift our focus on how we react.  And we can always choose kindness.

Today I read a quote that said, 'Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don't judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet.  Charity is accepting someone's differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped.  Charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us.  Charity is expecting the best of each other.' - Marvin Ashton

A Recap

It's that time again.  That morning of the week that I sit down with my journal, reflect on our amazingly blessed life, and attempt to figure out my five favorite moments/things.  Sometimes, that's much harder than one might imagine - this week is definitely one of those weeks.

1. Time Spent with E and my new breast cancer tervis.  This isn't from this week (last week's scheduled FFF didn't post for some reason, so it's forwarding to this week because it's one of my favorite things from the past month.  A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend a long weekend in Indy with E.  For those of you that know us and our friendship, you know how happy that made me.  For those of you who don't really know, I'll say this, there is no one aside from my husband who knows me as well as E does.  She's an extension of me...a piece of my heart walking around 600+ miles away.  I love her like my sister (and I realized a few weeks ago that Bre actually thinks she IS my sister), and I'd die for her like I would my girls.  She is an integral part of my family.

Sometimes our visits are few and far between, so I knew I had to jump on the chance to spend the weekend with her before I left Indiana.

There was A LOT of laughter, a sense of peace, a new breast cancer tervis that E had bought me post wedding and never mailed - that's just us!, cake batter puppy chow, an insane amount of chapstick purchased, margaritas, a late night run to Panera - which ended up being closed so we settled for Chick-fil-A, a horribly disgusting Chai from Panera the next day that made E's mom and I want to hurl, furniture shopping in which the salesman thought we were a couple, lots of girl talk, some miscellaneous tears, and one of the hardest good-bye's I have ever had to say.

So, here I sit, in my pink flannel PJ's, drinking Chai Tea out of my tervis, and wishing E were here.

2.  Starting the week off right.  One of the biggest discussions Bill and I have had was finding a church we all love.  This past Sunday we attended a church that one of our neighbors attends, and even though it was an 'out-of-their-norm' kind of service due the holiday, I instantly felt at-home there.  When Bill asked later that evening if I wanted to go there again next Sunday, I immediately said, 'Yes.'  It really reminds me so much of our home church in Jasper.

3.  'It's the Little Things'.  Everyone that knows me, knows I journal quite often, and I love making lists.  Of everything.  And color coding. And one of my absolute favorite things is Sharpie pens.  Yesterday, during my Target shopping trip I stumbled across a different brand of marker pens, Staedtler, so I decided to give them a try.  I threw them in the cart and didn't give them a second thought until I sat down to write yesterday.  That's when I discoved that the lid doubles as an easel. 

Last night, I was proudly showing off my find to Bill.  As he was looking unethusiastically non-impressed, I said frankly, 'It's the little things!' 

His response, 'Um, clearly.'

So clearly he wasn't as impressed with them as I was, but the girls sure were. :)

4.  Spirit Days.  The girls are in their second week of school here in Charlotte and they are absolutely loving it. Today is hat day, and they've been anxiously awaiting it all week. Especially Ava and Bre. Ava was so excited to get a chance to show off her big, floppy hat Nana gave her, and Bre was so excited that she laid her outfit/hat out as soon as she got home from school yesterday.

5.   My marriage.   As I mentioned earlier, I love journaling. It's therapeutic for me. I will add Scripture, quotes, lists, etc that touch me. A few days ago I read a list titled '10 Habits of a Healthy Marriage' by Lisa Jacobson. It was such a great list that I had to write it down...and share it with all of you.

If there's anything I've learned recently, it's that I want to be and God is calling me to be the best help-meet I can be to my husband.

Lucky for me, I've got a pretty awesome one.

Bill, you are my husband, my best friend, my lover, and the home to my heart. You are one of my greatest blessings from God. Your love is a gift that I get to open every single day. If anyone were to ask me what I want to be when I grow up, I can say with 100% certainty that I want to be the one holding your hand. I love you!

I Get It

Last night I posted this photo on Instagram and Facebook...

After they finished playing Play-Doh, and as I was finishing cleaning up supper dishes (Bill lovingly made us supper last night), Bre said, "Papa, dance with Mommy like at a wedding."

I turn on Pandora, and 'Marry Me' by Train was on.

Mid-way through the song she decided Bill needed to dance with her, so off they went -  twirling, spinning, and 'dipping' around the kitchen and living room.

My caption included, "Moments like this remind me how far our lives have come, for the better, this past year. #BestPapaAndHusbandAnyoneCouldEverAskFor".

The above statement is so simple, but filled with so much truth.

One of my really good friends posted the following message to my wall after seeing my posting:

I love how much what you have is like what we have. It makes me feel a sense of reality and community. For a long time I had a lot of people almost making me ashamed of our happiness....but seeing someone else who so openly rejoices in the blessings GOD has bestowed....Well, you and me are friends in a way so few are. I can't wait to keep reading the rest of your story and I love that I know for a fact you are reading mine!

Why is there such a social stigma on celebrating happiness?  On honoring your spouse through public praise? Or taking a moment each day to state the blessings in your life that you are thankful for?  Or for men: Oh, you admitted on social media that you love your family, so you must have lost your man card.

I have friends who take part in the social media mime of writing out what they are thankful for the entire month of November, and then I have other friends who complain about reading and then subsequently state that they are thankful that the month is over so that they don't have to read 'thankful' posts anymore.

I find that ironic.

Today I read the following blog post about honoring your spouse.

For years I chronicled the few and far between 'good days' in an attempt to hide the not-so-good.  I was also one of those people who didn't understand the depth of why those few people I knew that have a life filled with exuberant love and joy chose to share it so much.  

I didn't understand it because I wasn't experiencing it in my life.

I often thought:

Why would you post you love your spouse on Facebook when they are sitting in the same room as you?  

I was critical and judgmental of them.  Often wondering if they were hiding something.  I was, so they had to be also.

Except they weren't.  They were just really that happy and in love with their lives.

I get it now.

E's mom, D, and I had one of the best conversations, last year, about love, marriage, and commitment that I've ever had.  

Within the first few months of dating Bill, I finally understood what D's heart and words had said to me.  And I will forever be grateful for that conversation.

I get it now.

I get it because I am so lucky to be living it.

I understand the desire to honor your spouse in words, actions, prayer, and love.

And just as importantly, I also understand what a blessing it is to have a spouse that gives honor.

Those kind of blessings....they deserve recognition.

In any form in which you choose.

Over the past year I've come to understand that life is far too short to not live in and celebrate happiness.

Our Office Renovation

A couple weeks ago we decided to tackle our 'catch all' room aka the office.  While Bill was at work I decided to re-arrange and de-clutter to get the process started.  The desks started out against the wall to the left and the wall that Bill's degree was hanging on.  

 

Initially I had wanted to put them back to back, but both of them weren't flush on the backside so it was impossible to line them up straight.

So, I text Bill and asked him if he'd be opposed to disposing of one of them.

He had a better idea.

He decided to break one down and use the scrap wood to build the end table/dog crate that we had planned to build for Gray-cee and Va.  

 

Just organizing this room made it look and feel so much less chaotic.

 

We had a few discussions about color, and Bill initially wanted to go with a dark gray, but I found this color  (Behr Cardamon Spice) in the 'oops' paint section, and it ended up being a similar - but few shades darker - color to one of the colors in the formal dining, so we decided to go with it.

 

 

 

This table came from the living room... in the space we put the new end table, so we had to find a new home for it.  When Bill suggested the office I may or may not have put up some resistance, but once we put it in there and figured out the furniture layout, I'm glad he suggested it.

I refinished it using Behr Cloud Burst and Rustoleum Cocoa Glaze.

 

We decided to paint the bookshelf and desk white.

Behr Gypsum is what we used on both of pieces of furniture, the wainscoting, and all the trim.

 

We wanted a few color 'pops' since we painted the walls such a neutral color, so we decided to paint the file cabinet I use for my crafting supplies a wine color.  

This was after the first coat and it still looked really pink.

 

If you follow us on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram you know that we let Bre help with as much as she could on this renovation, and she absolutely loved every minute of it.

 

A few weeks ago our aunt sent me a link to a website that she thought I'd like, and let me tell you, there are so many re-purposing projects that I've added to my list after looking through the site.

These no-sew, drop cloth curtains were one of them.

 

After I cut the drop cloth in half, I used fusible bonding web to make my hems.

Then I taped off the bottom and used brown acrylic paint to make stripes.

 

  

Super easy.

And the whole process took less than 2 hrs. 

I also used another drop cloth to wrap the back of the bookshelf to give it texture.

 

After letting the wood acclimate for a few days, it was time to seal the edges of the wainscoting.

 

Once the wainscoting and chair rail were up, the craft projects started.

 

I used scrap paper and an old window to make a wedding photo collage.

 

Photo collage walls are no joke, people.

Lots of measuring and marking, especially when your frames have multiple hooks.

 

This is a horrible quality picture, but I love this wall.

It includes a 'Count Your Blessings' plaque, one of Bre's baby pictures, a picture of the girls playing in the ocean, our big group family picture from the wedding, a 'P' for Price (not Purdue. lol), a Family plaque, a picture of Bill, Grandma Leola, and I, a picture of Bill and I,  a picture of our sand 'unity' candle holder, and the family tree painting my Mother-in-Law painted for our reception.

 

Bill added molding to the doorway, we added a few pieces of decor/plants, and hung the curtains to finish off our remodel.

 

We could not be more happy with how our office turned out.