so i completely forgot about doing this post until i was looking through my archives from last year and found my “top ten of 2009” post.

if time permits, i plan on doing a top ten photos, blog posts, and memories post as well. we’ll see. 😉

so here we go. in no particular order:

1. 

this one barely made it! looks like i made it on january 2 of 2010. and i’m SO glad it counts for 2010 because i love this page. love, love, love. the vibrant colors, that sweet photo of sadie…but mainly the journaling. i believe this journaling with all of my heart and tell myself this daily. 🙂

oh, and it features studio calico home front, which was SC’s very first line. i remember how excited i was to play with these papers!

 

2.

this one makes my heart hurt. i really love the photo. so much it makes me teary. this is one that just came together very easily. that usually happens when i use JBS. the soft colors and the tulle…it’s just very pretty i think.

 

3.

love the photo, believe the sentiment with all of my heart. had fun doing a more “graphic/simple” page. aqua is my favorite card stock color, i think. well, yellow too. this was the year of using JBS butterflies on almost every single page. 😉

 

4.

i always feel sort of indulgent when i do a page about myself. but i truly have a soft spot for this one. i think it’s the color and pattern combo.doilies, florals…lovely.i LOVED the nook and pantry line this year, as well as elizabeth kartchner’s line. and there are those butterflies again! 🙂

 

5.

the SC paper (behind the photos) was my favorite paper they made this year. the memory behind these photos makes me giggle. happy color combination, banner, border punch..adore.

 

6.

this photo makes my heart skip a beat. it’s rare i use an entire package of product on a page, but i just went for it here. i’m very happy with the end result.

 

7.

i love orange and aqua together. i  was also pretty pleased with myself for thinking to cut up a flower into water droplets. i’m not a techniquey scrapper by any means, so i have to pat myself on the back. heee!

 

8.

yes, i know i JUST made and shared this one, but it’s definitely one of my favorites from the year. how the colors work with the photo especially.

 

9.

this proves that all you need to make a page is one sheet of paper. 😉 and butterflies of COURSE. these photos were right when j had come home and the look on sadie’s face is priceless.

 

10.

this one just works. the happy pink background, and the mixture of elements. plus, how can it not be pretty with a subject like that? 🙂

 

there you have it, friends!

have a beautiful day!

xxo

 

 

five weeks? how is it possible that these little ones have been here for five weeks?

i feel like it was five SECONDS ago that i was waiting for them to come!

they are so so cute and funny. it makes me laugh that they always have a startled look on their little faces.

like they are saying “WHAT???” “What are you looking at mama?”

speaking of faces, please look at lucy’s here. HAAAAAAAA!

oh my gosh, i can’t stop laughing at it. bless her heart.

 

miss cate

catie

catie lou who

cate the great (some of the bigs names for her) is growing bigger by the moment. those chicken legs are less scrawny and those cheeks are filling out. the eyebrows are so serious. always.

very grumpy lately. always squawking at me and letting me know she is not happy at me.

i think she’s jealous of her sister’s hair.  teeeheeeeeee.

 

miss lucy

lucy claire

lucy goosy

lucy loo

spits up lots. rocks the faux hawk b/c i swear her hair is greasy about 2.5 seconds after we wash it.

is very serious when she eats. balled fists, intense stare.

can fuss at me but the MOMENT her daddy holds her she quiets. i call him the baby whisperer. he’s also the baby burper. so jealous. 🙂

 

we are doing well. still learning. but doing well. survival mode and all that. as evidenced by the photo below:

one more thing, i finished a layout early this morning that has been coming together in bits and pieces for a week or so.

i am SO proud of myself for using this stamp. i’ve loved it forever and never had the nerve to use it.

 

happy wednesday, friends!

xxo

the chickies christmas presents from my parents- how cute are these??

 

we are just hanging out today…things are going smoother after a bit of a…well, holiday hangover for the girls. they both woke up crying, they were exhausted. now sadie has napped and we are back on the right track!

we had a wonderful christmas!

(pls note that sadie still makes the same distrustful/awkward face sitting on santa’s lap that she made last year. also the same face she made when she met cinderella, mickey, and that cow from chick-fil-a)

santa brought harper something she’s really been wanting and asking for for a long time. she’s been such a good girl this year, i had no doubt he’d bring it:

there was a tiny snafu when santa

um

well how do i say this

cut the brake lines on the bike when he was assembling it. that was not pretty. mrs santa claus had to go hide in her scrap room (yes, don’t you know mrs. c. scraps?) while santa yelled some not so Christmasy spirited words. luckily santa was able to fix/rig it and everyone lived happily ever after. although mrs. claus’ nerves are still frazzled.

 

sadie (picture inserted here for no reason, it has nothing to do with the topic at hand, it just cracks me up)

sadie got something fun from santa too. it’s a bit errrr….smaller? than santa realized? she might only get to use it for a few months, but she LOVES it.

SANTA SHOULD HAVE OPENED THE BOX BEFORE CHRISTMAS EVE. i mean thinking it was size appropriate because “the little girl on the box kind of looked like she was sadie’s age” isn’t the best measure. but santa is a really good husband and daddy and i (i mean mrs. claus) adores him, so she let it go.

ahem.

i cannot tell you how hard i have laughed at her on this thing. she runs into walls, runs over things, and is just out of control in general.

i get a bit scared when i hear the VROOM VROOM VROOOOOOM coming.

these two:

 

 

are very pleased with their gifts. they got binkies, burts bees diaper ointment…and MOMMY! because that’s all they are interested in right now anyway. it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

or the gift that keeps me chained to the armchair and shirtless. but either way, it’s what they wanted.:)

jimmy gave me amazing gifts this year. i told him that it harkens back to the days when we were dating and he REALLY wanted to impress me, so he went all out with gifts.

i think having TWO babies this year got him thinking that he should go all out again.

honestly? i already have everything a girl could want. i do. i always say i don’t “need” anything. because i don’t. but it’s nice to be spoiled every once in a while!

the babies got me ann taylor loft gift cards ( i think the bigs had a talk with them and told them i needed to work on my ‘ashion), sadie got me an amazing photograph of the savannah river and river street.

a diaper bag from j (i LOVE this)

and a JOHN DERIAN tray from paris market from harper. SQUEEEE! you know how i feel about john derian!

i was actually able to surprise j (so so hard to do) with a bluray player. he’s watching it with the girls as we speak.

so there you have it. howell family christmas was merry and bright. and we were TOGETHER. that was the best present of all.

i’m off to write more of these:

thank you cards from tinyprints.com

and enjoy a nice glass of sauvignon blanc.

did you all enjoy your holiday?

love to you all!

xxo

merrrrry christmas eve, everyone!

i hope that wherever you are, you are happy. and healthy. and that you know how much i appreciate and love each and every one of you. even you blurkers (blog lurkers, hee!) who i’ve never officially “met”.

i thought today i’d share a bideo (as sadie says) of miss s herself reading “good night moon”.

you can see first hand what i was talking about when i told you she has crazy hair. also, witness the shirt with spilled shirley temple on it. and try to ignore harper’s burp. she is usually much more ladylike. teeehee!

i’ll be back in a while with a giveaway.

until then, have a merry merry christmas.

and tell me this while you are at it.WHY is it that i have been hit not one but TWO TIMES with shopping carts this season? WHYYYY? once at target the other day, and once last night at walmart.

btw, walmart two days before christmas at 9 pm? big mistake. huge.

the chick that rammed into me with her cart b/c she was texting? just icing on the cake. and oh did i ever shoot her the stink eye. not ok. GET OFF OF YOUR STINKIN’ STINKIN PHONE!

see you soon, xoxoxo

 

first of all i want to tell you all thank you so much for your sweet words on yesterday’s post. you made this frazzled, tired mama (with spit up on her shoulder) feel beautiful. and i needed that. so thank you!

(p.s. empire waisted dresses do wonders for baby tummies. 😉

kraft doilies- maya road

alphabet- american crafts

butterflies- jenni bowlin

pen- american crafts precision pen

journaling: it’s funny to me how often people say this. OH! it’s more girls! and then they look at me expectantly as though they expect me to  crumble and say i know. isn’t it HORRIBLE? ha! i always grin and say oh yes! isn’t it WONDERFUL? four healthy little girls, all entrusted to us. it’s a beautiful thing!

 

today i wanted to talk about something i hear often.

“where do you find the time?”

sometimes it’s said (or typed) honestly. sometimes with snark. sometimes i feel as if there are judgemental undertones, but it’s hard to tell.

as if some of the people are saying oh, you must be neglecting your children, or ignoring your husband if you can find the time to scrapbook or decorate for Christmas, or put on a pretty dress, or go to Target, or blog, or…i could go on and on.

this is not a defense of this blog. it’s not! i haven’t been getting rude emails or anything of the sort (although this post may spark some :), it’s just something that’s been on my heart, and something i want to talk about.

sometimes i want to say back
“oh yes, i just lock sadie and harper in a cage so i can scrapbook. i also like to let the babies cry for extended periods of time”. HA! that’s a joke, by the way. clearly.

the truth is? i don’t do it all.

yesterday i took 15 minutes to do the page you see above. this page had been conceptualized and planned in my mind during middle of the night nursing sessions (i have LOTS of time to plan and make mental lists during nursing sessions!!). when i sat down to scrap, the babies were napping, as was sadie.

harper was having her quiet time (that she has every day when the other three nap. i think it’s important that she has some solitary imaginary play/reading time to decompress). i chose to take a few minutes to put a page together. you know what? the sink was FULL of dirty dishes. this is something i talked about the other day.  there was also a load of laundry sitting in the dryer that needed to be folded, but i didn’t do it at that moment.

my point is…i don’t do it all. no one does it all. if they say they do? i’m sorry but that’s a joke.

no woman, no mommy, can have perfect hair, makeup and clothing every day. do amazing crafts and lessons with their children every day, make a homeade dinner, have a spotless house, perfect wardrobe, picturesque life. it ain’t possible sister.

right now, more days than not…we are in our pajamas all day.

it’s all about balance. a few things that help? i have a husband that is an incredible support system. he helps clean, take care of the babies, he gives me a moment to breathe when he gets home. he knows i need to hear that i am doing a good job and that he’s proud of me. and he gives me that.

another small thing? everything has a place in our home. everything can be put away easily. i expect the girls to clean up after themselves. and they do. being little is about making a mess, having fun. but i expect them to help me clean up the messes. 🙂

i don’t find the time. i make the time. it’s important to me to take a few moments each week to be creative. a few minutes each morning to blog. i know this won’t last forever. soon, not everyone will nap at the same time. jimmy won’t be home (like he is today!!!) to help me. i’ll likely feel overwhelmed and frustrated. but now? i make the time.

you make time for the things you love.

for being creative. it helps that i am fast. and a bit OCD organized in my scrap room.

for loving on your baby girls (even if they are still in their pajamas when their daddy comes home…they won’t remember that. i truly believe that. they will remember the things we did. not if my house was spotless or if their dinner was made from scratch).

for making my house a home. decorating it with love.

i think people get that. but for some reason women sometimes aren’t supportive of other women. which is RIDICULOUS. being a mommy is hard. staying at home is hard. working is hard. why can’t we just give each other love and support? acknowledge that what works for us might not work for another, but that we are all doing our best and trying our absolute hardest.

just because i find time to do the things i love does not mean i’m neglecting my family.i  may be neglecting the dishes, but ain’t no shame in that game.

i do not have it all together. let me repeat that again. as i type, i’m in my robe with a messy ponytail, no makeup, and slippers on. i’m pretty sure there’s spit up somewhere on me, as i can smell it. awesome.

the girls just came in… here’s proof. NO, hair has not been brushed today. YAY!

but i’m happy.

i make the time to be.

happy christmas eve eve!!

xoxoxo