i’m in a bit of a slump. i’ll admit it. 🙂
stuck when it comes to what to blog about. it’s hard for me to blog when i am feeling “blah”.

we are doing just fine over here. staying busy,getting creative with ways to fill the summer days now that school is out, but i’ve got blogger’s block i think. no new content is coming to mind!

i realized i never shared lots of photos from our asheville trip and i thought that was the perfect solution.

we LOVED touring the biltmore estate. it was a lot of walking for the girls, but they loved it.

all i could think of was “can you imagine CLEANING THIS?”. ha!

anyway, it was drop dead gorgeous. and we visited during the flower festival, everything was in full bloom and amazingly beautiful.

here’s some favorite photos+stories from our trip.

thank GOODNESS we borrowed these backpacks from friends before we left. they were complete lifesavers. not to mention they gave me a major work out. HA! the babies loved them and had no problems napping in them. i told j i wanted him to carry ME around in one of them. hehehehe!

 

first we had a little family picnic on the lawn. i took the opportunity to use the gorgeous grass as a backdrop for some impromptu photos.

j kept saying “the GRASS is even rich!!!!” bwaahahahaha

 

i think KP would be proud of this picture. harper is a mini ‘ashionista KP anyway.

 

next were the gardens.i just couldn’t get over how stunning they were.

apparently, neither could sadie.

she was so overcome with God’s beauty, that she made this face:

hmm.thanks,sadie bug!

 

 

 

FLOWERS IN VINTAGE SUITCASES? SERIOUSLY? SWOON.

heaven.

 

then we toured the house (no photos allowed, BOO!)

and then we visited the winery. by we, i mean me. i had a blissful 20 minutes alone in the gift shop while J circled in the minivan with the girls. what a man. 🙂

that’s it for today…i’ll see you tomorrow with an awesome giveaway.

happy monday!

xxo

 

 

layout size- 8 1/2x 11

photo taken using instagram app on my iphone

cardstock- bazzill

patterned paper- crate paper

labels- elle’s studio

ribbon- my mind’s eye

flower brad- girls paperie

alphabets- american crafts thickers

arrow- cosmo cricket

doilies- martha stewart

punch- ek success

it sure was good for the soul to scrap just for the heck of it today. no due dates, the choice to use and put together whatever products i want…it feels nice.

and it helps with the blahs.

so there you have it. 🙂

happy wednesday.

xxo

 

**elise joy giveaway still open below!**

 

i’ll be honest here.

i lose my patience with my girls. sometimes i am sarcastic, or short,or downright impatient and mean.

sometimes?

i lose it and raise my voice.

i am not the sort of mother who will tell  you i have never yelled at my children.

i wish i hadn’t.

i wish i was the woman with a soft, firm, gentle yet loving voice at all times.

but i’m not.

i could lie here and make it sound like i’m that mom. but i won’t. i’m not.

and i’m okay with that.

years of teaching combined with some experience w/ this mommy thing have taught me it’s all about the tone. not the volume.

but sometimes i still lose it.

like the time (i’ve told this one before) when sweet harper was talking and talking and talking and talking in the car. and i was TIRED. and had a headache. and the babies were screaming. and she was talking and talking and talking. and she asked me a question and i said “WHAT?” and then a little pause…and her voice said “nothing“.

or the time when j had been gone for almost a year, harper got into some markers. and sadie ripped something up. and the toilet overflowed. and the washing machine overflowed. and the roof was leaking.

and i stood in place, shook my fists in the air like an angry old man, and SCREAMED.

screamed “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHH

HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” like a devil-posessed banshee.

and it really? honestly? felt good.

but then i pulled myself together and looked at my girls faces and they were wide-eyed and silent.

and man i felt bad.

there’s a lesson here, though.

being a parent doesn’t mean you are always perfect. in fact, i believe putting on that facade can be damaging to your children. i don’t want to show my girls that they always have to be perfect.

put together.  perfect makeup. with a spotless house and gourmet meals on the table every night.

heck.no.

but what i do want to teach them is that we are all human. fallible. except for our father in heaven, NO ONE is perfect.

i do want to teach them the words

“i’m sorry”.

when i am snarky or unkind, when i raise my voice or lose my patience…i stop.

i get down on their level, look in their eyes and say “i’m sorry. mommy is frustrated and i shouldn’t have spoken to you like that. i wasn’t kind.”

and every single time they hug me and say it’s okay. that they mess up too.

they end up comforting ME, believe it or not.

i do not want my girls to grow up into women that never say they are sorry. the sort of women that have an excuse, explanation, or flat out denial for every occasion.

i know women like that. and it’s not a good virtue. it’s not attractive. it’s just not.

everyone needs to know how to simply say “i am sorry”.

sidenote: there’s also apologizing TOO much, for everything, when you don’t need to. but that’s a whole other can of worms. 🙂

i full well know that i will yell again. again, i will immediately regret it and feel horrid.

but i will never be too proud to look in those little eyes and say “i am so sorry”.

because even when i’m a jerk…that’s a teachable moment.

here’s to praying today is a kind day. a gentle-spirited day.

as opposed to  the “i want to scream as loud as i can into a pillow and then drink a bottle of wine” type of day like yesterday was.

and here’s hoping the same for you. 🙂

xoxo

s

poor h had a tummy bug this weekend. 🙁
she missed her pk graduation and everything, bless her sweet heart.

she was quarantined up in my room watching movies for several days and while we missed her, i sure did have some wonderful “feshal time” (as she calls it) with sadie.

yesterday she told me to go get my camera so i could quote “take her picksha”.

what did she have in mind? a princess photo shoot? an ‘ashion photo shoot?

at the VERY least a sweet and demure smile?

oh sister,please. this is sadie we are talking about. and by now, we should all know the type of photo shoot she would have in mind.

the word mischevious comes to mind.

click to see them in all their…um…glory?

 

oh.my.

there are no words.

actually, who are we fooling? i ALWAYS have words. so my first 4 words are these.

what

in

the

JOSE?

i love her. love love love her.

i mean, only sadie….only.sadie.

i also love how platinum streaks in her bangs are randomly longer than the rest. sister needs a trim.

i love that she has always made faces.

anyone remember these?

hahahahahhahahah! oh sadie.

i actually did a layout yesterday for the june studio calico kit about sadie and her sadieisms:

she said something really funny on easter that i totally forgot to share here.

we’d been talking about the real meaning of Easter. and,understandably, the idea of someone rising from the dead is a little bit scary to wee ones.

before church we saw a big bug on the porch and i stomped it to smithereens (to prevent harper’s SCREECHING that she does any time she sees ANY bug).

sadie wouldn’t stop worrying about it.

i finally said…sadie he’s DEAD! don’t worry!

and she said “ummmmm MAMA? what if he WISES???? (rises)”

and j and i laughed for about an hour straight.

did i mention i think this kid is the bee’s knees?

 

happy monday!

super awesome giveway coming tomorrow!

xoxo

s

today’s scrap share is another layout i did for sassafras.

all supplies by sassafras

+handwritten and basic elements SLICE design cards.

hope you have a beautiful sunday!

xxo

s