i have a giveaway closet with TONS of stuff shoved in it. when i do giveaways i tend to just put handfuls from the closet in the flat rate box. i don’t really look at what is going in.

due to this, i’ve lost some important things that i think got put in the closet during spring cleaning. mainly a pair of vintage dangle earrings, a vintage charm bracelet, and some vintage alphabet cards. if you got either of these things in a box, PLEASE contact me. my email link is in the left column of this blog, under my photo. thank you so much!!!

moving on. i did a simple layout of the girls and i wanted to share. nothing special, but i did stamp!! i know. big changes going on around here. i did a studio calico layout yesterday with spray ink, and the other day i did a layout using masking tape and stamps. i’ve been having fun playing!

 

the girls have been having fun playing too. hot days make for general grumpiness and whininess, so we’ve been getting creative.

Witness the CAVE OF DARKNESS!!! harper had to wear 

her daddy’s head lamp

to ward off the monsters. 

and by monsters, i mean mommy. who, for some reason,

was the “tiger” in this scenario.

 

 

okey dokey artichokeys, that’s it for now. here’s that layout i promised you.

it’s simple but elegant. that’s one of my favorite types of layouts to do.

i love to focus on the photo and add sweet elegant touches here and there.

happy wednesday!!

 

it’s so crazy how the last year is almost a distant memory…how quickly things change!

 

um, how excited was miss h to take off that last ring??

probably b/c daddy does things like this with her:

i mean, really…how am i supposed to compete with that?? HAAA!

daddy is fun. big time. it’s so great having him home. 

i still think i don’t believe it!

Lots of you have asked our plans. If he is home “for good”.

Well, unfortunately, unless you get out of the Army,

 there is no “being home for good”. 

We are together until the end of September  

when he will go to a 3 week school at Benning. 

Then we all move to GA in November. 

So we are relishing these months we have. In the army, that’s kind of an eternity!!

Hope you all have a beautiful weekend. xo

when you just can’t seem to get the words to come out right?

it’s a way to document what is in your heart.

a way to keep those feelings fresh forever.

have a beautiful day. xo

about the ceremony…it was crazy, amazing, a blur, and a dream come true all at the same time. the chickies had mother’s day out the day of the ceremony and neither took a nap.

we headed out in the late afternoon to make the hour drive to ft. hood. i knew he wasn’t getting in until around midnight so we got a hotel room. the girls and i (and my sweet friend kristen) swam, went to a playground, ate supper, watched a movie…and still no sleep for the girls.

so to say they were keyed up by 1 a.m. would be an understatement. absolutely delirious. 

there were TONS of reporters there. they were interested in the ceremony b/c it was most of j’s company coming home that night. they’ve been followed pretty closely the past year and the media wanted to document them coming home.

so that’s how i ended up on the local news here a few times. boy am i glad i got my hair done that day! i mean seriously, those cameras are like TWO INCHES from your face. talk about awkward.

one of the news stations here actually captured the moment when harper ran to jimmy. he kneels down to hug her, and then there i am, kneeling with him and holding the baby. they filmed us kissing and hugging…and i cry every time i watch it. what a treasure for our family.

i was also filmed and interviewed several times for NBC. but we haven’t seen anything on the nightly news or today show. we suspect it kind of got eclipsed by the michael jackson stuff. to be honest, i’m so glad they haven’t shown it. i’m so spazzy and uncomfortable on film. really. i would have hidden my eyes the entire time i watched it. haaa!

so anyway, that’s it. it’s been wonderful ever since. but still VERY surreal. it feels as if we are on vacation together. i’m wondering when it will sink in.

we stayed in the hotel room the night he got back. it was SO late and i didn’t feel safe making the long drive home. 

here’s what i woke up to:

his sleep patterns were (and still are) kind of off. and that is how i found him reading a book at the table in the hotel at the crack of dawn on friday morning.

it felt like a dream. 

some iphone shots from that first day together:

 

 

 

the girls wake up screaming DADDY!!!! every single day. they just can’t believe he’s there.

 

he heads back to work tomorrow morning for half days. we had to have a conversation w/ harper and explain to her that “most daddies” go to work during the day and come back for supper. she was terrified that he was leaving on a “hairpwane” again. 

 

so we are here. happy, happy, happy. learning to live together, and loving it.

 

i am hoping to get some crafty time in tomorrow while he is at work. i’m missing it. is that odd? probably not. i love this hobby!

 

hope you are all having a beautiful monday. xoxo

but what an amazing experience it was. 

while he sleeps (traveling for a week wears you out- and he stayed up all night last night!!) i thought i’d share a few photos.

there is so much i want to say.

so much.

but i can’t find the words right now.

i’ll be back when i can form a clear thought, tell you what is in my heart.

but for now this is all i can say.

thank you God.

and thank all of you for supporting my family on this journey.

since last night, there has been a prayer on repeat in my head. and it goes something like this.

thank you so much for bringing my family back together. thank you, Lord, for that.

there were days i thought that tonight might never happen. thank you thank you thank you.

and my heart was aching for the families of the 8 boys that didn’t walk into that gym.

so much love and sadness all at the same time.

i’ll be back later, just wanted to pop in. i’m way too wound up to sleep, even though J and the 2 chickies are both napping.

love to you all.

s