miss harper went to pre-k. and she loved it!

i got her up bright and early this morning and made her a special breakfast (with sprinkles!!!).

we got her all dolled up in her new dress, keds, and lacy socks.

 

painstakingly braided her hair and added bows to each braid.

of course, this was all at her own request…she was VERY sad that she couldn’t wear her pearl necklace and did not understand why school didn’t allow ‘cessories.

i gave her her brand new backpack and she had to put it on immediately.

we talked about how much fun she was going to have, how big she was getting, and i taught her one of my favorite things that i’ve learned at church lately:

courage isn’t the absence of fear, it’s doing something in spite of that fear.

i read her the kissing hand, kissed her palm and told her my kiss would be there all day, if she got scared or worried.

of course, sadie wanted to get in on the act.

and she gave me yet ANOTHER of her prize winning facial expressions.

HAHAHAHAHHAHA! she is such a character.

 

they apparently had some secrets to tell each other???

i think harper was telling sadie not to dare to have to much fun without her when she was gone.
 

 

then we were off!

 

we dropped sadie off at hourly care, i wanted this to be a special thing that harper and i did together.

when we got there, we were early so harper moved up to the front seat so we could talk some more.

she started to get a little bit unsure, a bit nervous. she talked about “maaaayyybe just coming home with you mama???”.

 

 

i said “no way sister!!! you are going to have so so so much fun. and make new friends, and have adventures, and you will love your teacher!!! and besides….

remember the kissing hand???”.

she did.

 

and just like that, she was over it. not worried one bit. ready to GO!

she left me in the dust.
 

and i thought of all the times i will have to let her go.

i’ll watch her drive off in a car for the first time

i’ll watch her go on her first date

off to college

down the aisle.

she’ll make decisions that i don’t agree with. do things that scare me. we won’t always get along perfectly. i will embarrass her. we will frustrate each other.

we will have our ups and downs.

but i will always, always be as proud of her as i was today. she is my heart.

who knew pre-k could teach a mommy so much?

xoxo

s

a lift of the fabulous amytangerine for a challenge at studio calico.

patterned paper- crate paper (pink floral), basicgrey (brown die cut), my mind’s eye (teal polka dot)

pearl flowers, butterfly- jenni bowlin

jeweled floral center (on butterfly)- prima

“this is my favorite”- dear lizzy/american crafts

twine- studio calico

stitch rubons- hambly

envelope- maya road

journaling card- collage press

punches- martha stewart doily border punch, stampin’ up! scallop border

pen- american crafts precision pen (.01 tip)

happy wednesday!

xxo

 

as we approach the end of august, i’ve got reunions on my mind. i find myself daydreaming constantly about being together again as a family.

i bet that you have probably seen one of the you tube videos circulating. you know the ones…the soldier reunions. they are the best. i ugly cry every.single.time.

the one i watched most recently made me dig up my copy of this video and watch again:

daddy surprise from stephanie howell on Vimeo.

there is nothing in the world like reuniting with someone you love. especially someone who has been somewhere dangerous and really far away for a long period of time.

i just can’t explain it. i live for those moments. the in between, the horrible parts? well those reunions make it all worthwhile.

you know when you were sixteen? and you had a massive crush on that cute boy at school??? and every time you saw him or he talked to you, your pulse sped up?

butterflies in your tummy, talking a million miles a minute, in heaven..

that’s what it’s like.

first kiss good. heart drop to your toes good.

we’ve been having reunions ever since there was an “us”.

j went to west point (in NY) and i went to baylor (in TX). for over ten years now, we’ve been having tearful goodbyes and hellos.

West Point…and oh, i thought these were the WORST goodbyes. I remember dropping J off at the Dallas airport and crying so hard I couldn’t see straight. I simply couldn’t imagine anything harder than that. Oh, young love. HEEE! There were much harder goodbyes just down the road.

Ranger School

Afghanistan

Iraq, Iraq again

Afghanistan again

Afghanistan again

our most recent goodbye.

Big goodbyes and reunions. Little ones sprinkled in between. Training, Traveling, R&R etc.

And I can just imagine it now.

That sweet, excruciating anticipation. Waiting, and waiting some more…Feeling sick to your stomach and thinking you just can’t stand it for one more second.

 

 

and then finally seeing his face for the first time. drinking it in. thinking you just might be that crazy woman. the one who runs right into the middle of the ceremony and hugs him. because you just can’t wait.

 

But waiting. and then holding him and just burying my face in his neck. Smelling his smell. Which after a deployment is totally that army/infantrymen smell.

Combat boots, dusty desert smell…with minty fresh toothpaste b/c he always brushes his teeth just before he lands.

Oh, it’s beautiful.

Just clinging to him, and feeling his heart beat against mine. Holding on to him as tight as I can.

Watching him hold his children again. And seeing that smile he has…the one that looks like it will split his face clear in half.

Seeing the looks on my girls faces. The love and disbelief written all over them. The high-pitched, little girl voices saying “DADDYYYYY!!!!”.

And the funny part? Already thinking of the next time you have to say goodbye. That’s the heart of a military wife.

That’s what’s on my mind right now.

Waiting for my next “moment”. I can see it, taste it. Clear as day.

And I’m ready. So ready.

xoxo

s

i wanted to take a moment this morning to share my latest JBS layout.

everything here is JBS, some new (like the papers are all from the play date collection), some newish (butterflies,yellow chalkboard stickers), and some older (letter stickers, label sticker,pearl flowers, die  cuts).

look for this layout soon on the jbs inspiration blog, along with some of my thoughts about military layouts. 🙂

i was DYING to scrap these photos. ever since i took them, i’ve been giggling thinking about them.

i know the title work is a little all over the place and may not appeal to all of you “straight scrappers” (you know, no tilted photos, etc)…but i thought the arched title worked well b/c clearly i did NOT want to cover up those shoes!!

journaling reads:

we had an opportunity to spend the day doing some of the things that daddy does at work one thing we did was the obstacle course. i am pretty sure that you were the first person to go through the course wearing silver sequined flats. i could not stop giggling!

well, that’s it! hope you have a beautiful thursday. miss harper is off to her very first day of full day pre-k tomorrow. EEEK!!!
xoxo

s

yet another random post for you today! yes TWO.

i thought of saving this for tomorrow, but not sure i will have time, so i just thought i’d put it up today. 🙂

what can i say, the preggers brain makes me all over the place!

first, i wanted to share a video of the girls singing the “daddy deployment song”. many of you have asked about it, and have wanted to share it with your kiddos. the girls are kind of spazzy (hmmm wonder where they got THAT???) so if you can’t understand, here are the words.

(to the tune of Jesus loves me)

daddy loves me this i know

i know because he told me so

he doesn’t like being so far away

but he thinks about me every day

yes daddy loves me, yes daddy loves me, yes daddy loves me

no matter where he goes.

and oh- by the way, can you tell that i let the girls select their own nightgowns when we go shopping? HEE!

 

daddy loves me (the daddy deployment song) from stephanie howell on Vimeo.

I also wanted to share another layout. i know…CRAZY!
this happened to me during my last pregancy too…no desire to create at ALL until five months or so and then BOOM!!!

 

i did this for kelly purkey’s sketch book class at studio calico (sketch #2)…i’m having so much fun playing along!

supplies:

patterned paper: GCD Studios (pink), BasicGrey (green), My Mind’s Eye (yellow around bottom photo), Narratives (scalloped)

ribbon: craft supply

scalloped journaling cards: JBS

letter stickers: american crafts

Like I said earlier, tomorrow is the big day! Harper got to talk to her Daddy today…he was trying to tell her to listen to her teacher, be kind…be the wonderful big girl that she is. But he said that she kept talking over him and saying “I GOT A NEW DRESS AND NEW SHOES AND I’M GOING TO WEAR TWO BRAIDS IN MY HAIR!!!”. heee! bless her sweet little heart.

I won’t lie, I’m going to be a bit teary tomorrow. She will be going to full day Pre-K. And i will MISS her. But I know this. She will shine, she will love it. She will bloom. And Sadie will get more Mommy time. And I think that will be really good for everyone.

Happy Thursday, everyone!

xxo

s