she

. . . is 6 months old today.

. . . has dark hair like her momma.

. . . loves her "friends" on the swing mobile.

. . . smiles like her sister.

. . . loves bunny and her thumb.

. . . makes 3 seem so us.

 . . . has her daddy's eyebrows.

. . . is a happy girl.

 . . . has our eyes, a cute little swirl of hair on the crown of her head and cute little ears that stick out from her head.

. . . is ridiculously strong.

(sits @ 5 mo, rolls both ways @ 3&4 mo)

. . . loves to laugh.

. . . has rubberbands unlike her siblings.

. . . has her brother wrapped around her finger (along with her daddy and papaw).

. . . loves to blow bubbles.

. . . never stops moving.

thrifty thursday

a few weeks ago, i went to two sales in two completely different areas of town. the first one was near my house and i went with a couple of friends. for me, it wasn't that great, but for them . . .

i managed to find 3 things: an old book of poems for children by aa milne, a turquoise metal sewing accessories tin and a 1950s music magazine. 3 measly things. i spent $4.

as you can see, everyone else scored big pieces. for some reason, that made me want a big piece, too. i know, peer pressure. josh had an early wedding that day and the other sale i was interested in was near my parents' house. we packed up and headed to my parents house for a little switcheroo. i had promised carter she could go with us to the next sale. i may be crazy enough to take two children, but i am lucid enough not to take three! when we picked up my mom, she told me she had already gone to the sale and only picked up a few things, but she heard they would go 25% off after noon. so, we headed over. carter was so well behaved and had so much fun. (apparently estate saling is genetic.) here are our finds:

bless her heart, the sun is right in her face. don't you love her medal that she turned into a sash? the following came to live with us: a doll suitcase, a kitchen timer,  an old maid card game, and a turquoise measuring tape still in the package! all vintage. my total was $8. 

we also rescued some jewelry, a tray, a pen set and the plastic flower earring holder. isn't that earring holder a.dorable?? these things went home with my mom.

when carter found the timer, she said "meme, i could really use this." and use it she has. after i cleaned it up, she and miller have played and played with it.

the measuring tape is now at home in the sewing tin from above and the doll suitcase . . .

 

is now the new home of ruthie's things.

it is in great shape, but it still needed a little love. i cleaned it with soap and water, let it dry, and then put a coat of mod podge on it to help preserve the original paper from the wear and tear that is my children. i also glue some seam binding around the inside lining that was showing a little deterioration after the cleaning. 

isn't it cute? 

there was one more thing at the sale that i considered. it was a great price and would be 25% off, but i walked away. i asked my mom if she thought it was a good deal (yes), i asked josh if he was okay with it (sure) and then i could not stop thinking about it. the next day after church and lunch, spencer and i headed back out to the sale. it was still there and 50% off and mine! 

oh, be still my heart! my dad estimates it is from the 1940s and the condition is almost perfect! i worked on it all last week and, due to the extreme heat here this week, my dad generously offered to paint her in the wee hours of the morning before the sun turns everything to ash. i should have a reveal in the near future!

captain & mrs. fantastic

do you remember my rambling blog post about a sweet bride of josh's who referred to her fiance with a moniker only suited for a super hero?? well, after months of reading her blog, following along with her crafting ideas and discussing details of the photographic documentation of their day, it finally arrived. 

last saturday, i joined my extremely talented husband in documenting this preppy, southern wedding that included such classic details as monograms and silhouettes. it was really cool to see how lauren had tied all her ideas together. if you would like to see for yourself, you can go here. and, the photo booth is here.

and one more thing, as long as i am gratuitously plugging my husband, his website recently received an amazing make over. go check it out!

but be prepared, all of these links contain a.mazing eye candy!

if you want it, you got it

a few weeks ago when i posed the question of what you might want to read more about from my point of view, i think all of you chose what is now being referred to as thrifty thursday. but, before we start with the digging  and decorating, i thought you might want to know a little more of why i enjoy estate saling:

1. i was born into it. my parents both grew up in families that had a few treasured valuables. for example, my brother is now the rightful heir to a secretary that has been in my mother's family for generations. i have a lawyers bookcase that was in the office of a family member who worked for a bank when the great depression occurred. although these possessions are worth little monetary value, i was taught early on that their sentimental value made them far more meaningful.

2. i was a tag along. probably since i had enough attitude to roll my eyes and express my sassy opinion, my parents have collected and sold antiques or vintage items. on family trips, i would get drug through every antique store/junk place/roadside flea market along our route. what at first was a break from the long car ride, eventually became something of interest. it only took a few years and hundreds of stores before i started to help them in their search. and around the time i became an adult, i started to find things i liked for myself.

3. these things have a story to tell. i am a sucker for a story. i love to read (mostly blogs at this time due to the time restraints of my 14 children-you can always check a few blogs while you feed the baby, right?). like the lawyers bookcase, it belonged to the man at the bank, remember? the story goes that instead of taking the money and securing a better situation for his family during the uneasy times, he divvied it out to his customers as it was their money they had trusted to the bank. (isn't that right, mom?) but it doesn't matter if i know the actual story or not. i once purchased several antique greeting cards all signed by jim, judy or jim & judy. as i sat making my selections, it was easy to find the time line in jim & judy's life. and, it was also easy to imagine jim's adjustment at when he became a big brother or judy carefully tearing open her birthday gift after reading the card from aunt eunice. (because in the 1950s they actually read the card first, right?) 

4. because someone should care. i have been to more sales that included family pictures, baby homecoming outfits, love letters, family bibles, wedding dresses, and more. each time, i am somewhat saddened that no one cared to treasure these things. these same things that their mother or sister or grandmother found joy in. these same things that flooded back memories of baby's first steps or sweet days of courting are just shoved in a box with junk. it breaks my heart and i know it would break the heart of the person who treasured it. so, if i find joy in someone else's greeting card or sewing box or baby toy, i feel as if i am carrying on their memory and i hope it would make them happy to know that it is appreciated even if not by their own family.

so, what it comes down to is this: i like certain old stuff, i like the thrill of looking for things i like or might like or someone else might like, i usually like the price, i like the idea of repurposing or upcycling, and i like that things have a story. if you like any of these things too, then you might like thrifty thursday. if not, i'm sorry, but you probably won't want to read on thursday;)

because

because it is never about you . . .
because it is always for your family . . .
or your friends . . .
or your brides (and grooms) . . .
because they love you . . .
because you make them laugh . . . and smile . . . and squeal . . .
because you deserve to have that captured. we love you! happy father's day!

he said

when i was looking through pictures on the computer recently, i found a few things i never posted. i will be posting them randomly. this picture was taken one morning before preschool. i usually open the door to the car and let the kids crawl in and buckle their straps while i load the car. on this particular morning, as i headed out the door for the last time, i found miller sitting at the bottom of the steps. 

me: why are you not in your seat?

miller: i'm frustrating.

me: (thinking why yes you are?) you mean frustrated.

miller: yeah.

me: why?

miller: because i can't open the door.

he meant the door on his side. i usually just open the one on spencer's side. now i open both.

feathered friends or foes?

almost two weeks ago, we woke up on friday morning and immediately knew that the day contained all the elements for a perfect zoo day. so, we called the grandparents and met up for a beautiful, cool day at the zoo in june. (these have since been replaced with hot, sweltering never leave air conditioning days in june. thanks, mother nature.) i packed the camera because i knew the kids would get to do something i would never, EVER take them to do:

this is the summer exhibit for 2009. birds and bees. when we told them about it, carter immediately asked, "why would i want to stand in there with bees?" good question, kid. mommy wonders the same thing about birds. 
this is quite possibly my biggest nightmare: a confined space full of people and birds. birds. did you hear me say BIRDS? yuck!
this is as close to this exhibit as i will get. yes, even for my kids. because when those birds aren't being coerced onto a stick, they all get together and fly in swarming circles! oh.my.gosh. i think my heart is palpitating just writing this. 
oh, i am better. cute baby pictures make me better. after all the bird hullabaloo, we made our way to sno cones and diaper changes.
and took another self portrait in the sling.
tagging along with the grandparents means you get sno cones, penny souvenirs and a ride on the pretty carousel because we know they are all made of money.
and, they will push your exhausted children to the car when all they are doing is whining and complaining. the children that is, not the grandparents. 
thanks, meme & papaw! we had a so much fun and great naps, too!

it's contagious 06.05

Carry laughter with you wherever you go.  ~Hugh Sidey

are you experienced?

the first week we were off from school was a little weird. first, that monday was memorial day and josh was home. then, the temperatures were in the seventies and low eighties. and, finally it was the weekend of the italian festival.

we decided to hit the zoo on that thursday because the weather was so nice and the kids wanted to see more animals. carter spotted this gi-normous flower and decided it should be hers. i am pretty sure that is illegal. or at least frowned upon. 
what do you do when your daughter hijacks a very large and beautiful flower from a plant at a public park? take pictures.
since the shaved ice station wasn't open at members night, we had to get our summer treat even though it was 69 degrees while we were at the zoo. carter complained she was cold after finishing her cherry sno cone. miller, on the other hand . . .
proclaimed he wanted to look like cookie (as in monster).
nice start, buddy.
the next morning, we were meeting friends at our house to walk to the italian festival. it has become an annual tradition. since moving to our house, we have experienced the italian fest whether we actually entered the gates or not. see, we live just a few blocks from the park where the festival is held. therefore, our street looks a little like this for three days & nights each may.
while they do their best to keep our neighborhood clean and the traffic issues to a minimum, there is still some chaos. i think most of it comes from the bitter, elderly home owners that typically reside in our area. they like to block off the front of their home with lawn chairs tied together with jump ropes and twine, or write notes on their cars that state "i live here" and, my favorite, sell drinks and popcorn in their front yard for festival goers to enjoy during their long walk to the park.
here we are entering the park-aren't they too cute!
we then must visit all the random booths and use our cute little faces to steal swings on the tire horse or collect bubble gum from the neighborhood association lady.
then, we hit the face paint booth where we pay tickets for my children to have their faces painted using stencils. yes, i said stencils. carter chose a tulip for her hand. miller wanted a car and the girl showed him a stencil of 1970s and 80s cars. who doesn't want a four door sedan on the side of their face?

how about a baseball? mommy asked. uhhhh . . . she said.
well, at least it didn't last long. i can't say the same thing for his search for the perfect prize.
meanwhile, the girls put on a show with the batons they won playing plinko. in an attempt to use the rest of our tickets, we headed for the sno cones!
miller confidently claimed again that he wanted to look like cookie. he's definitely off to a good start.
carter helps avery with her sno cone after spilling her own and finds it is much easier with a straw. now, don't you know this container was not created by a mom. every single time we buy one, at least part of our top heavy sno cone ends up on the ground. hell-o, why would you do this to me??
oh, seriously. guess where miller's ended up? yeah. his skin was blue. getting closer and closer to looking like cookie. we decided since miller was wearing more of his sno cone than he had eaten, we should head back to the house. somehow we ended up still having tickets left over from the day. when i told josh, he decided to take them back the next day and visit some friends' booths. so, he headed out with carter and miller just in time for naps.
this is miller after arriving at the festival.
carter's favorite thing to do right now-fill in application forms. here she is applying for the neighborhood home owner's association. when she finished, they took daddy to play plinko.


carter tried to help miller pick the perfect prize again. we ended up with tons of candy, 2 batons, an animal mask, squirt guns, and more. then, before heading home, miller tried one more time to look like cookie . . .
that's right, sno cones!
how come she looks like this after a sno cone and he looks like this . . .

really, buddy? what happened to your spoon?
i seriously think miller could stain his clothes if he was only drinking water. oh, well, i guess that is part of being a boy!

**oh, yeah, all the photos from day 1 of the italian fest i hijacked from jennifer's facebook page. my camera battery was dead. thanks, jen, for capturing miller's plight to be a hot blue monster.