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Stephanie Howell

reading, organizing, shopping, momming too close to the sun. Home is wherever the Army sends us.

Monday Layout Share

I finished this layout yesterday. And as I was adding the final touches I realized something.

It took me over a week to complete this layout.

True story. That’s how I roll these days. That’s why I never do any layouts. That’s why I’m weeks behind on Project Life.

Good times. But that’s life.

I was feeling grumpy yesterday and told J that it was because I needed to make something.

So I made the time and finished this page. Yay me!

I’ve had a box of gorgeousness from Gossamer Blue sitting on my desk for quite some time and it’s been killing me not to put it to use.

I made this using the April Main Kit.

It’s chock full of Studio Calico, Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper, and Dear Lizzy.

Oh, I added a few things from my own stash. I’ll list them in the product section.

This picture of Sadie makes me laugh. This is the face she makes when she’s just….over it.

It’s so her. And I am so glad I snapped it.


Supplies: Gossamer Blue April main kit, from stash –>Dear Lizzy lucky charm stickers, Martha Stewart kraft tags, Maggie Holmes pin, various enamel dots by MME, doilies, Heidi Swapp edge distresser(super old and discontinued but i LOVE it)

I hope you have a wonderful Monday. See you all tomorrow with a new spotlight and giveaway!

xo

Day Trip to Maine

One of the items on our Spring Break Bucket list was “Maine”.

We had originally planned to spend the night in Portland and do some exploring. But for budgeting reasons we decided (at the last minute) that a day trip would be smarter.

I spent a week in Kennebunkport when i was a young adult and I’ve thought about it ever since.

That was my first taste of New England and my first bite of a lobster roll.

Kennebunkport has always had a special place in my heart.

When we realized that we could make it there in less than 3 hours, we decided to go for it.

We basically drove all the way to Maine for a lobster roll.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Getting ready for a spur-of-the-moment road trip is not fun in our house.

It isn’t a sparkly, adventurous, bluebirds-from-snow-white type of thing.

But it’s totally worth it.

We hit the road at about 9:30.

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On the way to Maine we drove through Boston. My heart sank and my eyes were teary. I am so angry and so sad about what happened.

So I pray. And try to outshine the dark with my light. It’s all I can do.

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Before we knew it (okay, that’s a lie. the trip was full of “are whe there yets”, whining, potty breaks, and lucy repeatedly making me fetch her stuffed animal) we were there.

It’s just as beautiful as I remember it.

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We had to drive by The Colony. That’s where I stayed last time I visited. SO pretty.

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But we were on a mission. We went to find our lobster roll.

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Mission accomplished! Chowdah and lobster rolls located.

SO GOOD. It is 7:30 in the morning as I write this and my mouth is watering. I’d totally have a lobster roll for breakfast.

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Afterwards it was a quick stop at the windy, cold beach where these three crazies dipped their toes in the water.

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And we had to stop by The Wedding Cake House for BB. It’s her favorite.

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Our last stop was at The Candy Man. You can’t go to Maine and not eat lobster. And you certainly can’t go to Maine without getting saltwater taffy.

And we headed back home.

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On the way back through Boston I snapped this photo of The Greater Boston Food Bank.

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Hope you are having a wonderful week. Today I think we are going to go to the Roger Williams Park Zoo.

Love to you all-

xo

S

wordless(ish?!?) wednesday


taken during dress up/imaginary play. 

please look at them holding hands!

and as my friend mandy said…

“one of these things is not like the other!” HA!

love these girls, love these days.

xo

S

NYC

NYC holds a special place in our hearts. I grew up visiting with my family, and fell in love at a young age.

The city was part of my love story with J. He went to West Point, which is about 45 minutes north of the city.

I’d fly to NYC to meet him all throughout our years of dating.

We have so many good memories there. We’ve taken the bigs once, you can read this post to hear about our amazing adventure.

We decided to take a pit stop in the city on the way to my brother’s DC wedding last weekend.

Good idea and horrible idea. All at the same time.

NYC is just NOT quite as enjoyable with four children. Oh my lord. I pretty much just sweated the entire time.

Twins that can fall onto subway tracks. Four kiddos that touch EVERYTHING. Sadie tries to lick things.

Lucy? Dropped a paci on the subway floor and then grabbed it and put it in her mouth before we could stop her.

Oh dear Lord have mercy.

I think I aged 10 years and had double the gray hairs after the few hours we spent there.

But still…

My heart loves NYC. So much. I loved spending a few hours in town.

But next time? It will be an adults only trip. HA!

Here’s a quick recap of our whirlwind trip.

We packed up and headed out at about 12:30.

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We pulled into Manhattan around 4:00 or so and the light was just beautiful. And traffic was super light. Perfect.

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We checked into our hotel. We stayed in the Doubletree Financial District.

Our room had an incredible view of the new World Trade Center.

It literally took my breath away, made my heart pound, and brought tears to my eyes.

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We hopped on the subway and met Dan and Colton for dinner in TriBeCa. Leigh was sick and I was so sad not to get to see her, but I did get to love on Colton.

Who is, quite possibly, the cutest little boy I’ve ever seen. I thought Jimmy might steal him.

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The Howell girls were also quite enamored with him. Or, as Dan says, Colton “speed dated” the Howell girls.

HAHA!

Lucy was the winner, I think. They kind of loved each other.

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I had to take this shot of Dan, Jimmy, and the kids.

From West Point cadets to awesome dads. Kind of cool, no?

And I’ve always thought that these two resembled each other. Totally could be brothers. They are both so handsome!

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We hopped back on the subway and headed back to the hotel.

This picture cracks me up so much. Do H and S not totally look like disinterested NYC natives? perfect.

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The girls couldn’t stop looking out the window and saying how much they loved the city.

It made my heart happy b/c they are the product of two parents who feel the same.

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The next morning we walked around a bit…the girls wanted a good view of the statue of liberty so we walked through Battery Park.

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And then it was back to the hotel to load up the car.

I snapped this photo of the girls in the hotel window.They were waiting for their daddy to pull up with the car.

LOVE.

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So there you have it. Our NYC experience with six.

It may have not involved high heels, fancy food, and chic cocktails. But I’ve had plenty of NYC experiences involving those things.

This time it was more about surviving. Teehee.

Happy weekend, y’all!

xo

busy.


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This is the time in my life when I am ridiculously busy.

Everyone I know is ridiculously busy. It’s the season of carpool lines, sports, ballet, gymnastics. It’s the season of “blink and you’ll miss it”.

There are grocery trips, loading the girls in and out of the car 293480238 times a day. There’s the neverending picking up and putting away.

The cleaning itself is a constant battle I can NEVER win. I feel like I run the dishwasher 91382048 times a day.

To do lists, notes from school, coupon cutting, budgeting, forgetting to budget, stressing, more laundry, kissing scrapes and wiping away tears.

Breaking up fights, making up beds, picking up barbies.

Sometimes I feel like Jimmy and I are ships passing in the night. A bump here, a nudge there.

A silent grin or grimace over the heads of the girls…a telepathic conversation might be the best we get until they are all in bed.

Falling into bed at the end of the night because we are just.so.tired. Waking up with little bodies climbing all over us, just as tired as we were the night before.

And guess what?

This does not make us special.

EVERYONE IS BUSY.

It doesn’t mean you are better or more important than someone else because you are busy.

Here’s when I think busy becomes a problem.

When it becomes a badge of honor. When it makes you treat others in an unkind way.

When you use it as an excuse to not make eye contact and not interact.

When you use it to make yourself sound important.

EVERYONE IS BUSY.

It is a gift. It means you’ve been given LIFE.A full-to-the-brim life. A life that doesn’t stop.

A few years ago we had a neighbor. I really liked her. She was loud, outgoing, and funny.

I soon realized that every single time I saw her she’d tell me how busy she was.

Once at the grocery store as I opened my mouth to talk to her? She RAN by me with her cart yelling “sorry! I’m SO BUSY!”.

Every time I saw her on her street, she’d bustle by…the words “I’m so busy!” wafting on the breeze.

And you know what? It made  me feel unimportant.And it was rude.

I stopped trying to talk to her.

Another friend I knew a few years ago constantly backed out of every plan we had.

She’d call the day of or text…saying she was just too busy to make it.

Over and over.

It made me feel insignificant.

I stopped asking her.

People glorify busy.

They use it as an excuse to cut you off in traffic. In line.

To talk on their cell phone all the way through checkout…with no eye contact, no thank you.

You see…they’re busy.

“Busy” can be a power trip in a funny way. As if the busier you are, the better mom you are? As if telling people constantly how busy you are makes you sound super important?

Listen here. We are all busy.

But life is too beautiful to be spent running by,yelling you are busy, making someone feel insignificant.

Life is busy.

And beautiful. And sometimes you have to MAKE yourself sit down (right in the mess of it) and enjoy it, instead of picking it up.

It is always worth it to stop and have a conversation with someone. It is always worth it to look at your children when they are talking to you. And to respond.

It is always worth it to get off the phone and say thank you.

Your busy-ness? Does not make you better or different. It gives us something in common. It makes you like every other woman, man, parent, adult out there.

It’s not an excuse or a badge or a medal.

It’s life.

S