Just me My Soldier and our 4 little chicks

34-->35

In the year I was 34, I...started to run, started working a part time job, moved to Rhode Island, quit all my design teams, saw Baltimore for the first time, made a new group of friends and several best friends, threw a last minute party with a good friend, said goodbye to my best friend and then welcomed him home from Afghanistan, became a mother of four WALKING children, got together with a group of friends and rode a huge bicycle with a bar down the middle, met my favorite author, participated in my first charity race, saw Roman Holiday on the big screen, took all four children to the beach by myself, saw a beautiful and young friend say goodbye to her beautiful and young husband, realized who I was and was not creatively, celebrated 9 years of marriage, saw my very first Savannah St. Patrick's Day parade, got the shortest haircut I've ever had, dyed my hair red, dyed it back to brunette, visited Charleston for the first time, started Project Life, quit Project Life, visited St. Augustine, visited Hilton Head, visited Jacksonville, visited Sea World and Orlando, planned and threw a rainbow themed party for Sadie, perfected the art of saying no thank you, had my feelings hurt by someone and realized the power of words, said goodybe to the best group of friends i've ever had, really fell in love with Savannah, planned and threw my very first cookie exchange, watched a Baylor Bear win the Heisman, attended the Ranger Ball with Jimmy, spent my first 2 nights away from my children, sent my first child off to kindergarten, watched my babies turn one, my eldest turn six, and my second born turn four,got better at getting in the photos and not just taking them, saw a Savannah Philharmonic Sept. 11 concert, saw a coin in an x-ray of Sadie's stomach,started taking care of myself agin.

 

In the year I am 35,I will...run a 5k, teach myself to sew (yes,this was on last year's list),attend CHA, teach a scrapbooking class at a LSS, visit NYC at least 5 times, celebrate my 10 year anniversary, try a yoga class, finally teach that BPC scrapbooking class, eat more lobster, visit Boston, visit Maine, visit Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket, continue feeling creatively free and only say yes to things that are authentic and that are me, exercise regularly with my family, go to a concert, have online friends come to visit, NOT SEND MY HUSBAND TO AFGHANISTAN AT ALL, learn too cook some new meals, have lots of date nights, make time for one-on-one time with the girls, put myself out there and not be scared to ask for my heart's desires, visit the MME headquarters in Utah, do CrossFit with J, take lots of classes at the YMCA, meet Leigh and Kelly in person for the first time, potty train two babies, embrace imperfection, read more, have a big family Thanksgiving, have FUN!

 

I am blessed to be given another year. I am grateful for the gift of each day. Bring it on, 35!

xoxo

uncanny.

one and a half vs. four.

good golly, i love this girl.

there's just something about sadie.

xoxo

wordless (ish?) wednesday

quite possibly the first two photos ever taken of h where she is not smiling.

what can i say? life's hard when you are six.

and by hard i mean magical.clearly.

xoxo

determined.

note: jimmy's comment on this photo in my instagram feed..."how long did it take you to line all of those rocks up?"HA!

We have been saying for a while that this is the year. The year to exercise as a family.

The year to cook more, eat healthy whole foods and be conscientious about what we are putting into our mouths.

Don't worry. This isn't going to turn into a running blog. Or a diet blog.

But this is a part of my life,y'all. And I'm really serious about it.

I want to set a good example for my girls. Teach them to take care of themselves and to love themselves. To respect themselves.

Your body is a temple.

So, I've been trying harder. Trying to cook more. Avoid those drive throughs. I have been running a bit. Getting outside more. We take walks/bike rides as a family. This morning I ran with Jimmy. I am thinking about what I put in my mouth.

Because you see...I have no excuse. If I am unhappy with the way I look it is in my power to change it.And it's in my power to show the girls how to live a healthy life.

I'm not staring at numbers on the scale every morning,because I refuse to get obsessed. It's a slippery slope. I'm not going down that road. The number game.

I am just concentrating on living in a healthy way. Not hard when you are married to the paragon of good health and good shape. Maybe intimidating...but it definitely encourages me. :)

No magic pills, no trend diets. Just the good life.

One foot in front of the other, slowly but surely. My goal in the end is to do a Color Run. Oh, and to be able to touch my toes when I stretch. Not even joking. :)

Happy Tuesday,y'all.

 

Exploring RI- Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge

We decided to drive around and explore a little this weekend.Because honestly...why unpack when you can play?

We stumbled upon the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge and promptly fell in love.

Next time we will wear proper footwear and I will have my DSLR. :)

We wandered along the path down to the ocean.

Exploring all the way. The babies fell on their faces in the dirt several times (and found it HIGHLY hilarious). Lucy may or may not have eaten a few handfulls. YUM?!?!?!?

Please note their tummies in the photo above. Hahahah!

We had to pause several times along the way to explore and also to hug it out.

Did I mention I love Rhode Island? And that I can't believe we are lucky enough to live here?And that I want to live here forever and ever and ever? ARE YOU LISTENING ARMY????

And then we headed back home. I can't wait to go with just J. It's a great place to run and also a great place to take a bottle of wine and have a picnic. And make out. I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?

In other news...this girl learned to ride her bike this weekend. Yes, she's four...and yes she cannot STAND that Harper could ride a 2 wheeler and she couldn't.

Also, I made this lasagna this weekend and it was SO GOOD. I could have eaten the entire dish myself. I'm not even kidding.

I love you Rhode Island. I'm so grateful for a new adventure, a new gift, and time together as a family.

And this house. I love this house. So glad we found it and get to "borrow it" for a year.

Happy Monday, everyone! I hope you have a productive and beautiful day.

xoxo

scrappy sunday- throwback.

i thought i'd go through my two peas in a bucket gallery this morning. i just felt like looking at some of my older pages.

it's funny...my gallery there is 34 pages long and has 600 layouts in it. holy smokes! it's pretty much a virtual scrapbook of the last 5 years. and that is pretty amazing.

i wanted to share some of my favorite layouts from the first year i was sharing my pages online.

 

man...look at that FACE!! i loved,loved,loved hambly overlays back then and used them on almost everything. also...those block heidi swapp letters. sigh. loved those things!

brown was a little more prevalent in my scrapbooks back then. i  noticed my scrapping got brighter as the years went by.

this was the first page i ever had published (in scrapbook trends magazine). this one has a very special place in my heart. it's when i first realized that blue was my go-to-color for cardstock. you'll notice that every page i did back then had some trim on it somewhere. love that.

please look at the BABIES in these photos! remember that basic grey line? urban something...urban couture maybe? i was obsessed with those papers!

i loved mixing and matching colors and patterns from the very beginning. but i had to share this one b/c please note how much harper looks like lucy! miss h had these amazing 'month by month' pages the entire first 2 years of her life. the others...um not so much.hahaha! #secondthirdandfourthchildproblems

it's funny. i remember the first few pages i ever made (those are in harper's baby book an were never really photographed or shared) were 12x12 and then i kind of did 8 1/2 by 11 exclusively for a long time.

i also favored the patterned paper as a background thing way more than i do now.

but this page? still makes me laugh out loud. her face...ahahahhahahahhaha!

last one i want to share...i remember i did this page for a DT call. scrapologie. it was this amazing kit club and i wanted to be on the team SO badly. i didn't make it...but one of the requirements to try out was to explain your style.

i made a layout to explain my style...and i wanted it to be like a look book or an inspiration board.

to this day this is one of the coolest things i've done and years later i still LOVE it and agree with everything here. my style then was pretty much my style now, and i find that comforting. :)

hope you've enjoyed my random blast from the past. hahaha!

go back and look at your older layouts today, i can guarantee it will make your heart happy. :)

see you tomorrow!

xoxo

welcome home.

patterned papers- october afternoon birch hollow,october afternoon paper straws;chipboard accents,border stickers,flower sticker,chipboard 'welcome' sticker-crate paper;die cut journaling card,enamel dots-my mind's eye;doily-michael's dollar spot;butterfly sticker,'this is happiness' sticker-october afternoon;sequins-walmart;geotag stamp-kelly purkey;letter stickers-american crafts

Today I crammed myself in a tiny spot at that desk you saw in the photo yesterday. Don't even ask how. And yes, something may have fallen on my head. Should have worn this helmet:

I'll have to remember that next time.Scrapbooking while wearing a helmet. Hmm. I might be on to something.

Anyway, I carved some creative time out. Literally :). And now I feel better.

Off to unearth my camera charger. And a pair of shoes other than my flip flops. And maybe I'll try to organize the playroom. On second thought, that terrifies me. Just pretend I never said that, and I'll keep the playroom door closed. Problem solved.

xoxo

Wordless Wednesday

ayiyi. if you never hear from me again...you know why. :)

Baby Time-Weekend Photos.

Note:Make sure to check the crop winners I posted this morning, y'all!

This weekend,as I mentioned,it was just me and the babies.It was seriously weird. And quiet. But really fun. We blew LOTS of bubbles. And danced,and snuggled,and sang The Itsy Bitsy Spider 23428340283 times. And blew more bubbles.

I don't think they knew what to do with themselves. I'm not sure if they wondered where the big girls were, or if they just LOVED having me all to themselves!

I decided it was time to get out my "real camera" and document how cute they are right now. Their facial expressions slay me.I mean really...the eyebrows. The mouths...I die.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the weekend. Lucy is in the left in all of the table shots,and Cate is on the right.

In the outside shots,Lucy is in the yellow and Cate is in the pink.

 

Love to you all!

xoxo

Crop Winners

First and foremost...let me say PLEASE do not get discouraged! If I could send prizes to every single one of you, I would in a heart beat. I loved doing this and plan on doing it again soon.

Today I am going to finish commenting on each project. I had time to look at them all (but not comment) this morning...and if you didn't get a chance, please go take a look. They are lovely.

I only got one thing done...the tag challenge from Facebook. But I love it and I'm so glad I got to make something, no matter how tiny and quick it was. I've been dying to try these MME stamps since i got them. A little Aqua Zing embossing powder really made that sweet stamp pop. :)

So here are the winners!

Doily Challenge-Sarah Swann

Bow Challenge-Jamie Long

Stamp on a Tag Challenge-Abbeyviolet

Random Winners

 

Heather T:

Kirtley:

Emily Spahn:

Jennifer:

If you won, please email me your address at harpersmama8(at)gmail(dot)com.

Y'all are amazing. Thanks so much for joining in. What do you think? Is this something I should do again?

Happy Tuesday!

xoxo