Favorites

We made the day a day of just favorites, for our favoritest little birthday girl.

Strawberries, syrup and homemade waffles,

followed by a morning of baking with her momma,

interrupted by a few happy birthday song calls.

Jonah and the Whale is her favorite all-time story (“Don’t bite me!” She always squeals when we get to that page in her Storybook Bible) so we made sure to sneak in her new Veggie Tales movie,

And then an outing just the four of us, a first for all of us, actually.

And little El built her own little bear,

a new car-companion favorite, picked out her stuffing, pink romper

and bows,

a little overwhelmed by it all, actually.

Followed by a totally unhealthy favorite meal of burgers and fries.

But worth it.

Finished by a momma's favorite, a mini-photo sesh in way too much wind,

Oh sweet thing, you're growing so very fast.

Each day that goes by, you change, you blossom, you bloom, you shine.

I don't want to keep you small, your dreams must be so very big,

And our world, our life, needs you for all you were meant for.

You were meant for big things, good things, great things.

My little girl, you have such joy.

Just be you, little girl, always.

You're beautiful.

So then our favorite day was completed by our fav birthday cake, candles,

and our favorite birthday girl was happy.

Side notes:

For your own celebrations and decor, check out a fav friend's new business, The Lovely Apple. They're running a giveaway right now!

And in case you're in need of more fav websites to check out, "like" my photography page here and blog here.

Three

The joy you are.

The quiet you are.

The spunk you are.

The dreamer you are.

The cautious you are.

The wild you are.

You are three, my little light.

Happy birthday, sweet girl.

Angels

We unburied the nativity set the other night.

Dusted off the angels and sang the manger song.

I tried to show Ellie how Joseph and Mary walked to the stable.

She said, no, the Wisemen and Jesus wanted to go to the park.

And, embracing what nearly every other student in my classroom seems look forward to the most during this season, we paid some big bucks to start another little Christmas tradition.

We named him Stuart. It was going to be Howard, but Ellie couldn't pronounce that one.

And, it was a good night to introduce him to our family.

Ellie took a big old spill (like bloody nose, frozen peas and call to the doctor kind of spill...)outside and wouldn't calm down except for little Stuart. She tucked him in gently under the covers, sniffing through her swollen nose the whole time.

See, actually, in all seriousness, I've debated silly things like Stuart because I really want my children to understand the miracle more than the magic of December. I remember when I was a child, my parents finally sitting us down to explain that Santa is no more than a tradition and a celebration of giving. We all humbly accepted this realization and calmly headed to bed that late night when our somber attitudes were interrupted by a knock at our front door. We all hurried to the door to see, in head to toe red, bells and fur, a genuine white-bearded, jolly belly-ied Santa man complete with a huge sack of personalized gifts for us. Unbeknownst to my parents, a friend of the family was making rounds to all the children making Santa just a little more real to them. So, their Santa discussion took a few more years to truly get the point across to us.

But, truly, I want my little ones to know and to believe that the silent night we sing of brought us the triumph, the joy that we can now live in.... But, my husband convinced me that having a little pesky elf hiding each morning is not going to scar my little ones forever. So I believed him.

And, to prove his point, my momma heart was most blessed our Ellieboo thanked God for angels as a part of her prayer last night.

Pride

It's undeniable.

Get five or six seconds past my patient "No...try again" and you'll hear the pride justadrippin' from my voice.

She's alearnin'.

And I've got just a little pride.

This is how I learned to read, so this is what I'm trying now...

I'll keep you posted on how it goes...

And curious about my chili recipe?

Here it is for the slow cooker or stovetop...

Enjoy!

Weekend

Mmm. It was one of those sticky summer weekends. One that kept the little ones in the air conditioning for most of the days. One that left me in awe of the special of being a little family together. One that left revealed a new swag in the big sister. She asked me the other day while "reading" (flipping the pages singing, 'God...Jesus....God...") through her Bible, "Mommy, where God?". Now, of course she meant to ask where are the stories about God so that she can point at a picture and shriek, "There God!", but, I took this as philosophically as possible and told her, "Ellie, God's in your heart." Then, trying to reinforce this, I asked her, "Ellie, where's God?" "Upstairs." Hmm. We'll keep working on that.

Yes, this weekend also included a monster trip to the grocery store.

Alone, with no babies or husband. It was glorious. Took my sweet time examine labels and prices and walking slowly in my own little world of peace and quiet. It's the little things...

..And the yummy things..

Like this chicken taco recipe. Delish. So not diet friendly. So worth it. Pair it with this salsa recipe (I make up a big old batch and keep it in the fridge for regular snacking purposes.) and you got a weekend meal to remember!

Poolside

To get to this point yesterday was a process.

My dear eldest has been and is proving always to be a little more on the reserved side of life.

And that's okay.

We dressed her the part.

We equipped her.

We tested the waters.

We enlisted some help.

Finally, success.

So on to the big pool.

More reassuring.

Lots of distracting.

But time with daddy proves to be the most convincing.

So what will this guy be like?

Only time will tell...

But we've got a good guess it's gonna be how it's already been.

A good time.

Don't forget...drawing for this giveaway happens Sunday.

Quirks

As anyone and everyone knows, it's our utter quirkiness that makes us beautiful.

It's quirky that I make lists for even the most free of days.

It's a quirk as clear as day that I lay them around the house and often duplicate my list just to have the satisfaction of carefully outlining a box next to this desperately important item and then carefully scratching the down and up of a check mark.

It's quirky that I set a timer for myself when no one is home and challenge myself to see how fast I can get household tasks done.

Something taught by my ever efficient mother. Hey, it works!

It's really quirky, okay, maybe weird, that these things bring satisfaction like none other.

And I've started seeing sweet little quirks in my oldest sweet one.

Like when she stops at the grocery store to carefully straighten the cans on a shelf, aligning them one-by-one to its neighbor.

Or the not as beautiful frustration when we haven't clicked her Leggo into the place on the tower that she knows it belongs.

Or the silence she falls into when patterning the alphabet magnets into a military line on the floor in the kitchen.

Or the other day, after I had spent the day cleaning and straightening the house for my hubby's return home from a week long business trip, when she found it utterly necessary to empty her bookshelf of all books and stack them in a laundry basket in the hall. I, busy with her baby brother, didn't notice until it was too late. I, shaking my head in partial dismay but realizing the humor in it, sighed and laughed to myself. One more thing for the to-do list. She, already busy with the next task across the room, froze and looked up at me. Padding her barefeet over to me, she gently laid her palm against my cheek, stared into my eyes and said, "Mommy, ok?" She thought I was crying. Smiling, I said, "Yes, sweetie, I'm okay." Without a word, she left the room. A minute later she was back, two baby wipes in hand from her room, grasping them in her intense little fist, she reached up and just as gently as before, wiped one of my eyes and then the other. Precious little one.

It makes me so excited for her little brother. For as short a time as he has been in our lives, he has brought so much joy. Such a sense of completion. What a privilege it has been to have him.

Such a privilege to discover and love the quirks in another being.

"You formed my innermost being, you knitted me together in my mother's womb"

Psalm 139:13

And for a way to showcase your quirky beauty, check out this giveaway!

Big

Two things are big today.

1. This girl's big dance moves...



Yes, they are inherited. From me.
And yes, I'm totally dancing behind the camera while snapping these shots.
To the tune of a little Bieber boy.
And yes, that is her brother's Bumbo seat. Placed on a chair so she can reign proudly like the princess she is.



2. This big love...





I can't wait to tear up over these pictures someday. Because I do already.