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Stephanie Howell

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

a series of photos.

keep the captions on yesterday’s photo coming. y’all they are making me laugh SO hard. a few of them had the tears streaming.

i’ll share a winner tomorrow (along with the in a creative bubble winners) but today i thought i’d share the entire series of massage photos.

i have to tell you that if these don’t make you laugh (or at least bring a smile to your face)…i don’t know that we can be friends.

just kidding.

sort of. but seriously, i think these are so dang hilarious, i can hardly stand it.

the babies were sitting at the counter “talking” to me and jimmy came up behind them and rubbed their shoulders. i just happened to have my DSLR out and snapped some photos.

SO glad i did. oh.my.gosh. their faces? ahahahhaa!

first up is cate:

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and then lucy:

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hahahahahha. okay. that is all. hopefully that brought a smile to your lips today.

oh, one more thing. if anyone is still reading, i have a fun hint. not only have i decided to do a december daily for the first time ever this year…i’ve had a really fun opportunity to contribute to a class.  i’m really, really excited as this is our first year to truly be together and start traditions.

xoxo

 

Exploring RI- Ocean Drive

i want to share my favorite part of newport with you…ocean drive/10 mile drive.

the homes are amazing and the view is jaw dropping. what’s not to love?

this was our second time to visit. the first time was pretty cool, there were some massive storm clouds rolling in. check out h’s face and those muddy legs. bahahaha!

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this time it was overcast again but we still really wanted to visit.

check out the shacks we saw on the way to the beach. okay, but seriously…the amount of money in newport is mind blowing.

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note to self…invest in windbreakers STAT. holy windy.

a half family portrait. 🙂

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lucy is on the left and cate is on the right. i love the tiny piggies. 🙂

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the babies look angry and harper looks scared?!?!?

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j took cate out to see the water. do you see all of those sailboats on the horizon? so beautiful.

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the big girls brought ziplocs so they could explore and collect treasures. they found lots of shells and seaweed and snails.

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the babies LOVED being there. they were so interested in everything. so curious.

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the look on cate’s face (to the right) makes me laugh so hard. can you tell how excited they were?

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we picked up rocks and watched the crabs scurry into the water. the girls were fascinated. i was a little bit creeped out. i don’t like things that scurry. shudder.

when i was bending over looking at one, jimmy goosed me and i swear to all that is holy that i have NEVER screamed that loud. i almost peed my pants. it goes without saying that he thought this was highly entertaining.

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and as we were leaving, we saw this. seriously? i don’t even know what to say.

all i could think of was gob bluth going to the banana stand. please tell me that someone gets this reference?!?!?

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we also went apple picking! i’ll share pictures soon.

happy monday y’all!

xoxo

 

BYH-September


it’s high time i do one of these. do you remember the “rules”?

1. blog whatever is authentic. whatever is truly on your mind and in your heart.

2. it can be serious, silly, short, long. note:no one said it has to be serious. but it should be authentic.

3. no judging allowed no snarky comments, no making fun, no passive agressive
digs.if you are going to read the blogs linked below, don’t be
mean. nothing here is whining. it’s me honestly sharing my feelings. if you feel that it’s whining, then you don’t have to read. 🙂

4. if you BYH, link back here. i’ll add an inlinkz tool at the end of the post. i always read and comment on every single post.

5. feel free to use the graphic above. just make sure to link back to me.

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okay, here goes nothing. 🙂

1. i don’t like facebook anymore. the petty drama, the angry political b.s. (i can’t even believe i’m seeing some of the hatred that’s being spewed there), the complaining…i really think i’m over it. i like being able to easily connect with friends that are all over the globe, but i think i’m done posting there for the most part. you really see people’s true colors on FB, don’t you? i much prefer instagram and twitter anyway. i am just disappointed with some things i’ve seen on FB.

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2.every time we move there are pros and cons. for example, i might have a great church, but not like the girls school. or i might love the city we live in, but dislike the home we are in. here? i love the city, the house, the scenery, the girls schools…but i don’t have any friends. and i don’t see that changing.

it’s hard because i had the most AMAZING group of friends in sav. you know, you’ve heard me talk about them 93840238 times. i miss kerryellen. i miss all of the ladies that are still in savannah. it is different here because j is a student. no community of wives, no FRG. i feel very isolated.

it’s only a year, and j is home every day…so i’m just fine. but man, my heart misses girlfriends.

♥

3.i’m a little nervous about what the future will hold. we are having to make some big decisions right now. i have learned that the future doesn’t always go the way you think it will. or the way you want it to. sometimes you have to give up control…and i’m not great at that.

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4. i only ran a handful of times in the month of september. that makes me feel simultaneously crappy about myself…and determined to start again. i just feel like there is only time in the day for so many things.

i can’t keep our home clean, take care of all four girls, be involved at school, drive the girls around town, work from home, have a healthy marriage, have the kind of relationship i want with God,scrapbook,have a blog, AND exercise. so something’s got to give. and i’ll tell you, that some of the things in the list above are NOT going. still figuring out how to make it work.

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5. we need to find a church here. we had an amazing church home in savannah and i miss it so much. i feel like a part of me is missing…this needs to be a priority.now.

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6.i have really perfected the art of saying “no thank you” in the past year. and i feel so much happier because of it. recently i’ve started saying “yes,please” to things that are really a good fit for me. things i want to do. and it’s exciting. no more doing things because i’m supposed to. or because i feel like i have to. or because everyone else thinks they are the “in” things to do. what is this scrapbooking industry, junior high? of course it’s not. so silly and i don’t want to do that again.

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7.i am really happy to be doing project life again. it fulfills me in a way that i didn’t know i was needing to be fulfilled. i am still in a conundrum,though. it’s so MUCH. two albums a year? where the hell am i going to put all of them? that’s too much. still haven’t figured that one out either. but it’s something i love, so i’m doing it.

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8.i need to get better at just letting the girls play and be loud. heck, i need to get better at actually playing with them. 

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9.speaking of the girls, man do they FIGHT. from the moment they wake up they fight. i.cannot.take.it. i’m about to lose my everloving mind. i’ve never seen anything like it. but of course, i don’t have sisters. so i have no point of reference. even the babies fight! they pull each other’s hair and claw/slap. dear lord have mercy on my soul.

 

okay. there’s my random brain/heart dump for the month. i hope y’all will join in. just link through the inlinkz tool below.

love y’all!

xoxo

 

 

 

 

 

wordless(ish??) wednesday


huh…yeah. i got nothin’.

p.s. i literally start crying every time at this, it makes me laugh so hard.

xoxo

 

h&s+mme

i’m up on the mme blog today with a new layout. for a supply list and a photo of the amazing emily spahn layout i lifted to make this layout, head on over. 🙂

h and s have started playing together SO much more, i wanted to make a page about it. this photo is from a birthday party they were at this weekend, they are watching/cheering for some kids that were running in a race.

i have to tell you again (and again,and again,and again) how much i love mme enamel dots and sequins. i am NOT a mist kind of gal. never have been, most likely never will be. i kept trying (because everyone else seems to love mist) but i never enjoyed using it.

that’s why enamel dots are the perfect thing for me. they kind of look like splatters. but they aren’t messy and it isn’t hard to use them. i love sequins for the same reason.

thank you so much for stopping by today. i want to take a second to tell all of you thank you so much for your kind and encouraging comments on my last post. i adore you all. 🙂

happy monday,y’all!

xoxo

Stephsignature