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Stephanie Howell

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

the wheels are spinning

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i've been on a creative bender this week. 🙂

wheels spinning, plans being made, ideas forming.

i've decided i want to do a special blog series for the month of february.

a month of "love lists". things i love (interpreted in all different sorts of ways).

february is, after all, my favorite month. and valentine's day is my favorite holiday.

pink,red,sparkle,lace,hearts,doilies,love…what's not to love for a girly girl like me?

so i decided i'll celebrate it in style.

with new posts all month long. projects,giveaways, favorite things, decor, style, journaling ideas,product ideas, you name it.

i asked for ideas about what you guys might like to see on my facebook page and i got some awesome ideas.

do you have anything you'd like to see? anything you don't want to see?

i'd love to hear. i'm SO excited and hope you will be too!

have a beautiful,blessed weekend.

xxo

COMPLETE randomness

first, i have to share these photos i took a few weeks ago.

ain’t nothing better than a thanksgiving dinner served by a man in uniform:

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LOVE these photos, can’t believe i forgot to share them!!

moving on…

we’ve had a tough couple of weeks. today will be our THIRD visit to the pediatrician and/or urgent care…ear infections and pink eye have been running rampant in our house. 🙁

everyone is a bit grumpy and loopy at the same time.

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delirium approaching after 2 days off of school and

no one leaving the house for 3 days:

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but i knew JUST what was needed to cheer everyone up. beauty salon night!! (what else to do in a house full of girls??)

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oh.my. goodness.

i can’t even tell you how hard these girls make me laugh.

and i didn’t think it was possible after them driving me NUTS for 3 days. teehee!

see? told you today was random. i might have cabin fever. just a liiiiitttle bit.

help?

see you tomorrow- i’ve got some christmas decor photos to share!
happy monday from crazytown!

xxo

scrappy sunday 12/11

i challenged some of the members at studio calico to do a layout today and share it.

i'm choosing a couple of players to send goodies to! if you think it sounds fun, come join in!!

here's what i came up with!

journaling reads: pretty sure cinderella wasn't wearing spanx. she didn't have four kids at home either. but i had a fancy dress and my prince charming…fairy tale indeed!

happy sunday.

xoxo

s

Fairytale

 

where do i find the time?

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 confession time. i'm going to share a pet peeve of mine with you. i really, really don't like it when non-crafty people look at me like i've sprouted a second head and say…

"where do you find the time?".

i do not like it. not one little bit. it perturbs me. or as my friend jamie would say, it "makes me stabby". haha! 

and before some of you get stabby with ME, let me clarify. i'm not speaking of the person that genuinely wants to know, the person that is not saying it in a condescending way. i'm talking about the person that says it in a smug way.

this is something i've noticed over the past few years, a comment that keeps popping up here and there.

 

here's my thought process on this.

we ALL have the same hours in the day.


some of us choose to run marathons. some of us watch television. some of us read. some of us volunteer. some of us cultivate a spotless house (not me). some of us are caught up on the laundry.

some of us work outside the home. some of us garden. some of us exercise.

some of us craft.

some of us can do more than one of these things.

 

i LOVE being creative. it makes me me. does that make sense? i'm a happier person with creativity in my life. i grew up around a creative mother. creativity is what i love.

 

don't make me feel like i waste my time,or as if my hours are less valuable than yours. whew…i said it!

 

i always feel as if "where do you find the time?" is a backhanded compliment.

 

as if i must be neglecting my family. or locking the babies in a cage while i make decoupaged toilet paper roll holders.

or like i'm  wasting my time. or as if i have no life.

 

i LOVE making things. i love scrapbooking. i love making my home beautiful. i love throwing parties for my girls (with handmade decorations).

this does not mean i neglect other areas of my life (ummmm, well maybe the laundry needs some help).

this does not mean i put my kids in front of a tv 8 hours a day so that i can scrapbook.

and it doesn't even come CLOSE to meaning that *my* time is any more valuable or any more special than yours. i don't think i'm better than anyone who *doesn't* hand craft birthday decor. it doesn't mean i think i'm better than someone who doesn't enjoy making. i don't even think about it! everyone has their "thing". my thing is making.

 

where do i find the time? i make the time. i try to spend a few minutes a day doing something creative. that might mean that i make a tree topper (glitter and paper plates- we can't ever find one we like to buy!) with my girls. it might mean i hand wrap a gift. it might mean i buy a bouquet and put it in a transferware pitcher. it might mean i make a scrapbook page, or journal,or decorate my mantel.

sometimes i don't have the time. i don't find it. i feel like that recently. and i miss it! i feel less "me". less fulfilled.

yesterday decorating the tree and decorating the mantel fulfilled my need. paper crafting has falling a bit by the wayside but i'm having to fill that hole in other ways right now.

 

i make the time because it is important to me! and my family appreciates it.

i do have a life. and it is enriched by living creatively!

 

it was the same way when i was a prolific exerciser (is that a word???)- i've fallen off the wagon a bit. haha! but people would say the same thing.

 

is it a woman thing? do women have to say this to one another to justify their choices? or make themselves feel better about something that's bothering them?? i don't get it! you don't need to say it to me! you do what you enjoy doing, i do what i enjoy doing.

 

one is NOT better than the other!

wow. i feel much better now that i've shared that with the world.

dare i say that blogging might be just as good as therapy? at the very least it's just as good as punching a punching bag.

hahahah! happy thursday y'all!…spend it doing whatever floats YOUR boat. i promise i won't judge you for it. 🙂 ♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

xxo

s

 

irony

is it ironic that a beginning can also seem like an ending??-1

on saturday afternoon, both of my baby girls took their first steps.

cate first…she let go of my fingers with a grin firmly in place. and she took two wobbly steps before collapsing in my arms with a giggle.

lucy girl was next. she took two lunging steps, interrupting jimmy right as he was saying "who knows when she'll walk with those thunder thi….".

i remember harper's first steps (to jimmy, in her bedroom at 12 months old) and sadie's first steps (to my mother-jimmy was deployed-at 10 months old). i remember them like they were yesterday. but they weren't.

and as the girls walked to me, i tried to hide my teary eyes with loud laughter and whoops of joy. but a tear or two escaped as it hit me-

"these are the last first steps i will witness".

and i think i am okay with that, but it breaks my heart a little bit.

i know there will be so many more firsts. so many more. but for a moment i wanted to treasure THESE first steps. savor them, revel in them, imprint them in my memory.

the day both of my babies walked.my last babies.

now? on to something new. 🙂 BABY CAGES. just kidding. sort of. leashes?

xoxo

s