The Bean Bag

Seriously. She's just too cute. The other day I went in to put clothes away in Kaylee's closet and this is what I found. After I put the clothes away, left to get the camera, and came back and took her picture, I actually went up close to her to make sure she was breathing because she hadn't moved a muscle the whole time I was in there. It reminded me of going in to check on a newborn. You know they're fine, but they're so still and sweet, you just have to check. Funny how dogs do become a sort of child to us, isn't it?

Ya' like that psychedelic beanbag? Kaylee begged for a beanbag chair for about a year and for her birthday last year I told everyone she wanted one. Nana Sue asked if I wanted the old beanbag that they've had forever. I have lots of memories of that thing. So she brought it up (Thanks, Sue!) and it had only been here for a few days when Libby claimed it as her own. She sleeps in there in Kaylee's room on that beanbag every night. And after all that begging, Kaylee hardly ever touches that thing. Figures. Although, I wonder if it has anything to do with the dog hair all over it?

What the...?

Sorry, I just couldn't resist that title. Have you ever seen the alltel commercial where they go to the wizard's house during dinner? Sean loves that one! The guy with the 'phro says, "What the?" That cracks Sean up and now he says it all the time. So it seemed to fit.

Sean wears ear plugs at night and this is what Piersen decided to do with them. I swear if this kid went to school, he'd be the class clown in no time at all. He can't get through dinner without acting up and trying to get a laugh out of us. He loves the attention!

Five Years

This photo was taken about five minutes after Sean proposed. I was so happy I thought I would burst. Today we are celebrating five years together. I guess you could say our courtship was a whirlwind of sorts. We went on our first date on May 14, 2003. He asked me to marry him on June 30th, and we were married on August 23rd. A little over three months wouldn't be long enough for most people, but we just knew. The first time we talked about marriage was on our first date!

I clearly remember the first time we mentioned love. We had been seeing each other a little over a week, and we were snuggling on the bed. He put his hand on my face and said "I love you" very softly. I just looked at him for a few seconds, and then he asked, "What do you think about that?" And I replied, "I don't know how, but I love you too." I still remeber our words exactly. It seemed incredible, even to me, that I could be in love with him so quickly, but I knew, without a doubt, that I was.

And that's how it has always been for me. Without a doubt. I answered yes without a doubt. I said I do without a doubt. I go to bed every night and wake up every morning without a doubt. I know that God made Sean just for me. And I am grateful every day. I love Sean more than I could ever express in words to him. But I think he knows. Because I think he loves me just as much. It feels so good to be loved so completely. I am truly blessed.

The past five years have been filled with such joy and love. I can't wait to find what the next fifty or so have in store for us. Happy Anniversary, Sweetie. Love, Babycakes.

Mistreatments

Do you know the Nester? If not, you are missing out on one of the funnest places in Blogland. (Yes, I know funnest is not a word. What are you an English teacher?) Anyway, her mistreatments are to die for. To. Die. For. So, even though I kinda know how to sew, I finally jumped on the mistreating bandwagon and made some of my own. This is my favorite: my new bedskirt. I use the term bedskirt quite loosely here. After we stole Kaylee's bed for our own and put it up on these riser things that Mary gave us, the bedskirt was way too short, and way too plain. Enter $1/yard fabric that I found at Wal-Mart. Three (or four, I can't remember) yards ripped down the middle makes quite an economical bedskirt, dontcha think? I just gathered and safety-pinned the ripped edge all the way around.

I just safety-pinned it right to the existing white bedskirt that was already on it. You know I'm too lazy to yank that thing out from under the matress, right? I absolutely love the way it turned out. It added a liitle oomph.


Next up is the living room window. Once again, I used $1/yard fabric from Wal-mart. I know, right? You can't see well in the pics, but it's the cutest little miniature brown-on-brown houndstooth. I just folded, folded and clipped.....completely a la Nester. It turned out so cute. I also mistreated the bookcases in front of the window, I used upholstery tacks and just tacked some leftover brown fabric fom the back door right to the top edge of the cases. It hides all of our school books and doo-dads and looks like a pretty little table in front of the window where I can put cutesy stuff.

Last, but not least, the back door. Same as the front for the curtains. This time with dark brown fabric. Uh-huh. One dollar a yard. I love me some Wal-Mart. The faux shade is leftover houndstooth from the front window. I folded about an inch under at the top and tacked it right to the wall. Than I hot-glued on some fringe and Voila! Instant prettiness on both ends of the great room for the grand total of about $20. (Please ignore the blue near the ceiling, I haven't quite finished painting.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my little Nesteresque post. I am so grateful to her for all the inspiration. I wish I had some better pictures, but getting shots of windows during the day is not easy. And I was out of town all weekend, so I'm scurrying to get this included in her mistreatment party. Hope everyone has a blessed day!

Life in the Dirt Hole

Today, Sean is outside pressure-washing the house. And Piersen.........well, Piersen is outside smearing dirt on the freshly washed house. We have this nice little, let's call it a sinkhole, out in the backyard next to the house. We call it Libby's dirt hole. Because, although Libby is supposed to be an inside dog, she like to spend the entire day outside during the winter and part of the day in summer. And it's freakin' hot here. So she dug herself a nice, cool, little spot right up next to the foundation. Ain't that lovely? So when it rains it becomes a big mud puddle. And what could be more delightful to a little boy than a big inviting mud puddle? Not much, I'll tell ya.

Kaylee

Clearly, my baby is not a baby anymore. She is a beautiful girl who is growing up right before my very eyes. Every time I blink, she gets older, and even more beautiful.

Pancake Eatin'

We like pancakes. Well, duh!.......I guess everyone likes pancakes, don't they? But makin' pancakes on Sunday mornin' before church is just so darn fun. Don't you love our cute Vera Bradley aprons? Thanks, Robin and Lisa! And the gingerbread man apron Piersen is wearing was a Christmas gift from Old Navy a couple of years ago. Thanks, Nana! The kids love to help me and I love when they do. (HA! Did you believe that? I wish I loved when they help me...in reality it stresses the crap out of me when they are in my kitchen. But since I would like them to actually know how to cook when they get older, and, ofcourse, since they adore helping, I am trying really hard to learn how to love when they help me.) Anyhoo, as I was saying, I just love baking with my kiddos. And then we get to eat yummy pancakes. The best out there if you ask me. Here is a link. Go make them. They are the best pancakes in the whole wide world.

What really gives me a kick is how we all eat them differently. Allow me to illustrate.

Sean eats them with maple syrup now. (I find this amusing because I am the one who insisted we had to switch real life maple syrup beacause it was better, but I don't actually care for it. I would rather eat the thick, imitation kind. Weird, I know.) He spreads on butter, pours on syrup, and cuts them with his fork as he goes.

Mitzi spreads on butter and cuts them into uniform bites. Then she pours on the fake syrup, but only in small sections, because she hates for them to get soggy. Like I said, she's weird.

Piersen spreads on butter, cuts them himself with a fork and dips into the little puddle of syrup that he pours on his plate. (He doesn't care which kind.)

Kaylee never eats more than one pancake. And she doesn't use butter or syrup. That's because she is a princess, and her pancake is the only one with chocolate chips in it.

I love to see all of our differences intermingled with all of our similarities.