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Stephanie Howell

reading, organizing, shopping, momming too close to the sun. Home is wherever the Army sends us.

the norm.

this is pretty much an everyday event around here. or something similar to this.

first-please note the line of random items. sadie made this line and it stretched around the entire house. oh yes it did.

lucy: oh look! a magnifying glass! surely my sister won’t notice if i take just one toy out of this line!

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sadie: yes, i did notice.and i’ll take that back,thank you very much.

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lucy: WHAT? did you see that? ohhhh the humanity. look at my little hands. they are so empty now.

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my heeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaart is broken. BROKEN. sob.

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sidenote: is it just me, or does lucy totally look like she sports a baby toupee? she’s a baby bieber.

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sadie:sheeesh. okay. okay. have it back. you’re breaking *my* heart. i’m sorry lucy!
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lucy: ummmm…did that really just happen? and the waterworks are OFF.

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heck yes. i’ve got this all figured out. the crocodile tears are KEY!

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and thus concludes a normal,everyday moment in the howell household. of course the person crying is interchangeable.

but the scenario is basically the same.

happy monday!

xxo

s

 

scrappy sunday 3/4

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i'm working on project life today. are you? if so, head over to my facebook page!

i'm having a little "share a photo of your PL in progress" contest. i'll pick a name to win a set of marcy penner's printable PL cards. 🙂

have a creative day!

xoxo

 

can you tell by these sweet faces

that we are feeling better today?

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a little weak…but much much better.

it was a swift and merciless bug. started wednesday night in cate and ended yesterday with me. UGH. but we survived. 🙂

today we are hoping to visit bonaventure cemetery and wormsloe plantation. i hope that all of you out there are safe…there has been some terrifying weather out there. 🙁

have a safe and beautiful weekend-

s

she did it.

the other day i was playing with the babies. the bigs were outside with j.

harper came running in SCREAMING “MOMMMYYYYYY! COME SEEEE! YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT!!!!”.

and when i came outside i didn’t believe it. she finally learned how to ride her bike without training wheels.

i thought this day might never every come. she is very cautious and unwilling to try new things.

very scared to fall. jimmy isn’t here often and it’s a bit hard for me to take all four on bike rides. HA!

but she did it!!

with lots of encouragement from her daddy:

 

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a few wobbles:

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and lots of smiles:

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and i stood there with teary eyes snapping photos.

not only because she finally hit this milestone…

but because j was here for it.

it might sound silly, but he is not here for most firsts. so to see him accomplish this with harper. gosh, i have tears in my eyes just typing this.

 

and speaking of bikes and tears in my eyes for other reasons…i took my first spin class last night. i can barely walk or SIT today, but i loved it. i kept up and i am really proud of myself. i have a feeling this is really going to change my body and maybe my life.

so here’s to new beginnings and accomplishments. 🙂
happy thursday sweet friends.

xoxo

s

*love*ly things- on being okay with it.

LovelythingsI had SUCH a great time with this blog series this month.I might just have to do it every year.

Thanks to all of you for reading every day and thanks for all of the encouraging and lovely comments. 🙂

I wanted to close out this series with a new layout. I’m still committed to my 2012 scrap resolution…having fun. I am making things that are authentically me. Not worrying about whether I am doing the latest trends or keeping up with what is “in”.

Right now there is a very specific trend in scrapbooking. I LOVE looking at these pages…ink blots,beautiful layers,controlled mess. sewing,ink,etc,die cut machines…lots of really cool stuff.

 

Unfortunately…I couldn’t pull off that look if I tried.And I HAVE tried. I would love to have the naturally cool style of Marcy Penner or Jen Johner. I’ve admired it for years.haha!

 

But you know what? I’m okay with that. Today’s *love*ly thing?

Being okay with NOT being on trend. 🙂 If you look back at my pages over the years, they kind of all look the same.

I do girly. Florals,mismatched colors and patterns,doilies,butterflies,lace,ribbons. Always have,probably always will!

Now and then I’ll get emails that all of my pages are the same. Or that my pages are messy (I don’t really get this one as much),or that I am boring b/c I don’t do many techniques.

And I am okay with that.

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I am not the worlds most complicated scrapbooker. I am not the world’s most inspirational scrapooker-technique wise.

But I put my heart on every page. And i LOVE this hobby.

And I am more than okay with that.

In the past there have been times I’ve tried to fit in. See the tiny photo debacle of 2009 or the misting disaster of 2011. I don’t have fun when I do that. Those pages don’t feel authentic to me. If I’m not doing what comes naturally to me,then I don’t enjoy the process.

I finally discovered that I have to take trends and adapt them to make them be more me. Washi tape for example. Using it in traditional ways doesn’t work for me. But cutting it to look like ribbon edges? That worked. Misting. I can NOT for the life of me pull of that cool “casually misted”look. But using a doily as a template? That worked for me.

So here’s to a lovely,lovely thing.Being okay with being vanilla.Being okay with doing what makes me happy.

Being okay with my pages looking like “me”. And frankly? I am okay with them all looking similar. Because in the end? I will be the one looking at them. 🙂

And hopefully someone will appreciate and want them somewhere down the line. That’s the good thing about having four girls. Hopefully ONE of them will want the albums. HAHAH!

 

Happy Wednesday my sweet friends. I hope you spend today doing what makes you happiest.xoxo

 

Thoseeyes

cardstock-core’dinations;patterned paper-studio calico (new take note collection);washi-freckled fawn;ribbon,jewels,butterflies,doily,stickers-studio calico happy little moments kit;cardstock doily,flowers-crate paper;tag-martha stewart;butterfly-studio calico daydream believer kit

photo by carrie crowder