Just me My Soldier and our 4 little chicks

BYH-September

it's high time i do one of these. do you remember the "rules"?

1. blog whatever is authentic. whatever is truly on your mind and in your heart.

2. it can be serious, silly, short, long. note:no one said it has to be serious. but it should be authentic.

3. no judging allowed no snarky comments, no making fun, no passive agressive digs.if you are going to read the blogs linked below, don't be mean. nothing here is whining. it's me honestly sharing my feelings. if you feel that it's whining, then you don't have to read. :)

4. if you BYH, link back here. i'll add an inlinkz tool at the end of the post. i always read and comment on every single post.

5. feel free to use the graphic above. just make sure to link back to me.

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okay, here goes nothing. :)

1. i don't like facebook anymore. the petty drama, the angry political b.s. (i can't even believe i'm seeing some of the hatred that's being spewed there), the complaining...i really think i'm over it. i like being able to easily connect with friends that are all over the globe, but i think i'm done posting there for the most part. you really see people's true colors on FB, don't you? i much prefer instagram and twitter anyway. i am just disappointed with some things i've seen on FB.

♥

2.every time we move there are pros and cons. for example, i might have a great church, but not like the girls school. or i might love the city we live in, but dislike the home we are in. here? i love the city, the house, the scenery, the girls schools...but i don't have any friends. and i don't see that changing.

it's hard because i had the most AMAZING group of friends in sav. you know, you've heard me talk about them 93840238 times. i miss kerryellen. i miss all of the ladies that are still in savannah. it is different here because j is a student. no community of wives, no FRG. i feel very isolated.

it's only a year, and j is home every day...so i'm just fine. but man, my heart misses girlfriends.

♥

3.i'm a little nervous about what the future will hold. we are having to make some big decisions right now. i have learned that the future doesn't always go the way you think it will. or the way you want it to. sometimes you have to give up control...and i'm not great at that.

♥

4. i only ran a handful of times in the month of september. that makes me feel simultaneously crappy about myself...and determined to start again. i just feel like there is only time in the day for so many things.

i can't keep our home clean, take care of all four girls, be involved at school, drive the girls around town, work from home, have a healthy marriage, have the kind of relationship i want with God,scrapbook,have a blog, AND exercise. so something's got to give. and i'll tell you, that some of the things in the list above are NOT going. still figuring out how to make it work.

♥

5. we need to find a church here. we had an amazing church home in savannah and i miss it so much. i feel like a part of me is missing...this needs to be a priority.now.

♥

6.i have really perfected the art of saying "no thank you" in the past year. and i feel so much happier because of it. recently i've started saying "yes,please" to things that are really a good fit for me. things i want to do. and it's exciting. no more doing things because i'm supposed to. or because i feel like i have to. or because everyone else thinks they are the "in" things to do. what is this scrapbooking industry, junior high? of course it's not. so silly and i don't want to do that again.

♥

7.i am really happy to be doing project life again. it fulfills me in a way that i didn't know i was needing to be fulfilled. i am still in a conundrum,though. it's so MUCH. two albums a year? where the hell am i going to put all of them? that's too much. still haven't figured that one out either. but it's something i love, so i'm doing it.

♥

8.i need to get better at just letting the girls play and be loud. heck, i need to get better at actually playing with them. 

♥

9.speaking of the girls, man do they FIGHT. from the moment they wake up they fight. i.cannot.take.it. i'm about to lose my everloving mind. i've never seen anything like it. but of course, i don't have sisters. so i have no point of reference. even the babies fight! they pull each other's hair and claw/slap. dear lord have mercy on my soul.

 

okay. there's my random brain/heart dump for the month. i hope y'all will join in. just link through the inlinkz tool below.

love y'all!

xoxo

 

 

 

 

wordless(ish??) wednesday

huh...yeah. i got nothin'.

p.s. i literally start crying every time at this, it makes me laugh so hard.

xoxo

h&s+mme

i'm up on the mme blog today with a new layout. for a supply list and a photo of the amazing emily spahn layout i lifted to make this layout, head on over. :)

h and s have started playing together SO much more, i wanted to make a page about it. this photo is from a birthday party they were at this weekend, they are watching/cheering for some kids that were running in a race.

i have to tell you again (and again,and again,and again) how much i love mme enamel dots and sequins. i am NOT a mist kind of gal. never have been, most likely never will be. i kept trying (because everyone else seems to love mist) but i never enjoyed using it.

that's why enamel dots are the perfect thing for me. they kind of look like splatters. but they aren't messy and it isn't hard to use them. i love sequins for the same reason.

thank you so much for stopping by today. i want to take a second to tell all of you thank you so much for your kind and encouraging comments on my last post. i adore you all. :)

happy monday,y'all!

xoxo

she shines

she got in the car yesterday full of joy and stories.

she talked and talked. about art,about reading,about a song she is singing in her classroom. she talked about snack,lunch,what she was wearing, what her friends were wearing,she talked about math.

i said what about recess harper? who did you play with?

and there was silence from the back seat. so i asked again. i noticed she was looking out the window.

i gently asked her one last time. she looked at me and said

promise me you won't feel sad for me mama?

i gulped. and promised.

she said i didn't play with anyone. i played alone. i've been playing alone since yesterday. (they have 2 recess times a day by the way)

so i asked her why. and she told me.

the girls had been chasing the boys, calling them ugly names,and throwing wood chips at them. she said she knew it was wrong and it made her tummy feel yucky to think about acting like that, so she played alone.

all alone harper? were you the only one?

yes mommy. the only one. but i don't mind. i didn't want to be part of that so i used my imagination by myself.

 

apparently the class (except h) got in trouble when they came back in and the teacher talked to them about treating each other in an unkind way.

but my girl? well she had the guts to stand up and say no...and to not do something that everyone else was doing.

you know what? i wasn't ever brave enough to do that. i usually went along with everyone else (and felt HORRIBLE and guilty while i was doing it).

she's becoming the girl i pray she will be. and it gives me so much joy and so much pride to see her stand tall and hold her ground. i know there will be harder times, i know that she will give in sometimes. but this was big for her. she just wants to be loved and takes it personally if she's not (kind of like someone else i know..ahem.).

i bought her a tiny rhinestone star necklace. this weekend i want to take her to our special spot at dunkin donuts:

and i am going to give her the necklace and tell her again how proud i am of her. and that every time she feels scared or alone or worried, she can put her hand to her throat and feel the tiny star. and it will be a reminder that she shines.that she is precious and that she is worth far more than rubies. and wood chips. :)

happy friday, y'all. i hope your weekend is beautiful and blessed!

xoxo

 

wordless (ish??) wednesday

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the last two quotes especially are on my mind this week as we begin to make decisons about where we will go next. blessed to have another adventure ahead of us.

happy wednesday-

xoxo

i've created a monster.

last night, harper decided that we needed to get ready for picture day.

she had me show her the pose that i selected on her order form.

she then got out every piece of clothing she owned and tried on different outfits, doing the pose she'd be doing for photos. THE POSE. WITH EVERY SINGLE OUTFIT, PEOPLE.

and she rejected one outfit

after another

and another

and another.

i'm dead serious. the reasons were varied. everything from "awkward" to "the pattern is too small" to "not fashion enough". there was also something about "not 'propriate". WTH?

sadie was laying on her bed moaning and mumbling. the only word i could actually decipher was "widicuwous".

then this morning she woke up early so i could curl her hair. and of course, every.single.curl. was accompanied by screeching.

i'm talking alley-cat screeching. which is pleasant. there were tears. harper tears and mama tears.

and we were 5 minutes late for school. but when all was said and done, look at my beautiful girl.

yes. her fashion staples are present. pearls and skinny jeans. and flats, of course. when i put this outfit on her she posed, had me snap a picture...and then jumped up and down yelling THIS IS IT!!!

she might be a little bit over the top, but i must admit the girl has 'ashion skills. and i love it. even though wedding dress shopping should be...interesting?

happy tuesday,sweet friends.

xoxo

misc. monday

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yeah...so it's that time of year. where i feel like i'm on a treadmill but i can't ever quite run fast enough.that's how fall is every year. getting used to a new school schedule always makes me extra scatterbrained.

but add  new town,new house,new everything into the mix...and wow. extra scatter. :)j has been out of town and it's funny...i'm used to him being gone days,weeks,months,YEARS at a time. literally.

we are really missing him. turns out we kind of like having him around every day. who knew?? ;)but it's all good. life is good. and happy. i am really happy right now. for the first time in years i am not stressed.

even more importantly, i'm not worried. and i haven't been able to say that for a long,long,long time. i actually don't remember the last time i could say that.

are any of you in the connecticut area? it looks like i'll probably be attending CKU stamford (as a TA to a dear friend-i'll tell you more if it works out)and i would love to meet any of you who might be there!

i'll also definitely be attending cha in anaheim this january and working at the MME booth.i have to tell you i'm so excited to do a little bit of travel this year. this job has been such a blessing for me.

it has fulfilled me so much. not only creatively, but intellectually. it's refreshing to use my brain for something other than my children.

does that make sense?

um, could this post be more random? yes. yes it could.

here are some pictures from this weekend:

we had pizza/movie night and beauty shop morning:

lots of outside play time:

fall/halloween decorating:

pumpkin browsing:

dress up. please do NOT even ask what they are wearing. they are crazy.

they just kept bringing me stuff and i put it on.

jimmy saw this on instagram and asked if they were wrestling outfits b/c lucy looked like she was about to body slam cate. HA!:

and minestrone making. by the way, this was DELICIOUS.

sidenote: i added some sausage.

did anyone even read this post? this is the kind of post that i'd probably just skim for photos if i was reading it. it's weird and random. haha! happy monday,loves!

stuck on you winners!

1.105 Courtney Gregory said...Those are so cool! Would be great for my daughter!

 

2. 127 marianne b said...These are darling!

 

3. 166 jung a said...cool! need those for my 2 girls!!

 

4. 86 Janna said...I would love these:-) Not to reduce fighting between my own daughters but to label their stuff to cut down on the fighting with their cousins that live down the driveway and are near the same age. They end up with a lot of the same shoes etc. Would be awesome! And yes thank you to stuck on you also!!

 

5. Note: The random integer generator chose 58 twice for some reason. So I am replacing this 58 with the number 57. 57 Chelsea said...These are sooo adorable!

 

6. 12 Briana said...These are so adorable and could definitely help Logan and Quinn figure out which articles of clothing (or shoes!) are theirs and Miss Olive would just love anything with her name on it.

 

7. 37 Rosie M said...Super cool! These look awesome! Would love a gift certificate and chance to test them out. My son is 18 months so I'll be needing these soon! Checking out all the links now!

 

8. 5 Kristyn G said...fabulous giveaway! Thanks for the chance to win!

 

9. 58 Pidgen said...What a fun giveaway! And I do remember you talking about this company -- so it's great to see that you still appreciate their products! :)

 

10. 234 Jen Davis said...Very cool giveaway indeed! I'm a mother and a Montessori preschool teacher and would LOVE it if all the families that have their children attend labeled their kiddos items! :) Would make for such a smoother day. Thanks for the opportunity!

 

YAY! Way to go everyone! What a fun contest. Thanks again to Stuck On You!

If you are a winner, please email me at harpersmama8(at)gmail(dot)com.

See you tomorrow!

scrappy saturday- s.c.h.

I've been collecting sequins for months. Every time I go to Walmart or Michael's I grab a new bag.

And this beautiful dish sits on my craft desk:

It's no surprise that I use sequins on every single project I make lately. I just like the tiny bit of shine and glamour they add. :)

Here's my layout for Scrappy Sunday this week. I used the He Said She Said kit from Cocoa Daisy along with LOTS of bits and pieces from my stash.

You saw these photos a couple of days ago...and as soon as I saw them I just knew I had to scrap them. Her face is so sweet in these. And Sadie doesn't talk alot. Well, not as much as her big sister does. I love that I caught her mid-monologue. :)

I like that this page is blues and greens. A different color scheme for me. I use aqua/teal/turquoise a LOT on my pages, but this combination is a bit less girly. And I like that.

Isn't the stamp so pretty? It's a Stampendous stamp from Michael's. I embossed the feather on the tag using Aqua ZING.

I added lots of layers of patterned paper,tags, border stickers, tissue paper,stickers, and doilies.

And I'm a big fan of the BasicGrey Clippings garland. So pretty.I "girlied" it up a little by adding some teal sequins.

InLinkz.com

Yeah. I had fun making this. And that's the best feeling in the world! Thanks so much for stopping by today!

xoxo

through the (actual) lens

i love taking photos with my iPhone because i can snap photos without having a bulky DSLR in my face.

an iPhone is much lighter than a canon.

but this week i had my DSLR out on the kitchen counter. i had to take a few photos for a magazine assignment, and i just never put the camera away.

i am SO glad that i didn't put that sucker up. because i ended up grabbing it all week at random moments and i got some great photos.

i don't use my big camera often at all, so i noticed that i could really sneak some shots before the babies knew what i was doing. when they see my iPhone they say "cheeeeee". haha!

here are the moments i caught.

 

sweet baby feet and silly babies rolling on mama and daddy's bed.

lucy on the left and cate on the right. their hair is WILD these days.

also, you'll notice that i'm slightly obsessed with picking up $8 play dresses at old navy.

this mama of four girls canNOT have enough affordable play clothes.

 

silly big girls before school. i was daring them to not laugh at me.

the babies put on harper's headbands and were VERY pleased with themselves.


lucy "drooly mcdroolerson" howell

each day when sadie comes home from pre-k, we put the babies down for nap and then spend some special time together.

she pulls her stool up to the kitchen counter and does some kind of art activity while she tells me about her day. LOVE her face in these photos.

cate "reading" a book. 

she's concentrating so hard with that little tongue out.

those curls are delicious.

then lucy wandered up and cate realized her alone time was over.

but she was fine with it because she loves "sheshe"- that's how she says lucy.

their faces in these pictures make my heart hurt. i mean...have you ever seen anything cuter? EVER?

you can even see those sweet pudgy/dimpled elbows.

yeah...i think i'll leave that camera out on the counter. because these make me happier than i can put into words.

happy friday,precious friends.