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Stephanie Howell

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

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.

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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

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she shines

she got in the car yesterday full of joy and stories.

she talked and talked. about art,about reading,about a song she is singing in her classroom. she talked about snack,lunch,what she was wearing, what her friends were wearing,she talked about math.

i said what about recess harper? who did you play with?

and there was silence from the back seat. so i asked again. i noticed she was looking out the window.

i gently asked her one last time. she looked at me and said

promise me you won’t feel sad for me mama?

i gulped. and promised.

she said i didn’t play with anyone. i played alone. i’ve been playing alone since yesterday. (they have 2 recess times a day by the way)

so i asked her why. and she told me.

the girls had been chasing the boys, calling them ugly names,and throwing wood chips at them. she said she knew it was wrong and it made her tummy feel yucky to think about acting like that, so she played alone.

all alone harper? were you the only one?

yes mommy. the only one. but i don’t mind. i didn’t want to be part of that so i used my imagination by myself.

apparently the class (except h) got in trouble when they came back in and the teacher talked to them about treating each other in an unkind way.

but my girl? well she had the guts to stand up and say no…and to not do something that everyone else was doing.

you know what? i wasn’t ever brave enough to do that. i usually went along with everyone else (and felt HORRIBLE and guilty while i was doing it).

she’s becoming the girl i pray she will be. and it gives me so much joy and so much pride to see her stand tall and hold her ground. i know there will be harder times, i know that she will give in sometimes. but this was big for her. she just wants to be loved and takes it personally if she’s not (kind of like someone else i know..ahem.).

i bought her a tiny rhinestone star necklace. this weekend i want to take her to our special spot at dunkin donuts:


and i am going to give her the necklace and tell her again how proud i am of her. and that every time she feels scared or alone or worried, she can put her hand to her throat and feel the tiny star. and it will be a reminder that she shines.that she is precious and that she is worth far more than rubies. and wood chips. 🙂

happy friday, y’all. i hope your weekend is beautiful and blessed!

xoxo