Joyfully Weary

In a previous post I wrote about how I find baking to be therapeutic, I also just think it's fun, especially when I'm baking with Josiah.  A couple weeks ago I had my first taste of Jello cake and so smitten I asked for the recipe.  When I discovered it was just cake mix, holes, jello, and cool whip I knew it would be the perfect thing to make with my little chef. Here's a photo diary of the experience It's important to "read" the instructions first, Josiah's interpretation of them had me cracking up Josiah's favorite part about helping Mommy bake We used orange jello because that's Josiah's favorite color Forced smile "I don't want my picture taken with it, I want to EAT it." We just kinda winged but if you prefer directions I found some online here . If you have children this is a great recipe to try with them, it's simple (box mixes & cool whip), fun (they get to poke holes) and pre...

I've mentioned before that I greatly enjoy fashion and stalking daily outfit blogs. But with three small kids, a husband, and an old house, I don't have the time or energy to do my own daily posts - I do weekly summaries on Saturdays instead.  This has been a nice compromise for me and my family. However when I saw that Elaine's  fashion-rule-to-break this week was mixing patterns, specifically stripes and florals, I decided to bend my own rule a little bit so I could participate.  Stripes and flowers have become one of my favorite combinations.  I first saw the mix on my uber fashionable friend/sister-in-law Heather and loved it, but wasn't sure I could pull it off. Once I worked up the nerve to try, I haven't stopped.  I actually think I'm probably a little obsessed - I wear this combination almost weekly.  This is one of my favorites: Earrings: Target, Shirt: Target, Belt: From Anthropologie Dress,   Skirt: Anthropologie, Shoes: Flo...

I had a crisis this week. Well maybe not a "crisis" but it was uncomfortable. I fell asleep with my contacts in Monday night and my eyes were not happy!  I woke up in the middle of the night to find them burning and bloodshot. I was sure that I had given myself another corneal abrasion (my eyes seem to be the 1st part of me to protest aging) and that I'd have to pay for my laziness by wearing my glasses the next two weeks.  My glasses are old, 5 years old, and have been mistaken for a toy several times...lets just say they aren't in the best shape.  Thankfully by Wednesday morning my eyes were back to normal and I could wear contacts comfortably. The experience left me dreaming about new glasses though, thinking either these or these .  Anyways, on to what I wore SUNDAY Earrings: Borrowed, Dress: Boutique in Spain, Bracelet: Target, Shoes: Thrifted MONDAY Earrings: Target, Shirt: Old Navy, Bracelets: ?,  Pants: Boutique in Germany (10 years ago!), ...

James from Bluebird Vintage  is starting a new Friday ritual called Bits + Pieces, it looked fun, so I thought I'd play too.  Here's some photo highlights from our week Josiah telling me about his dinosaur book   Music man Kayleia's figured out how to get to her toys Hunting for red tomatoes  Micah wearing his helmet at the dinner table Kayleia making music Josiah on his new balance bike Skateboarder Sibling scrub time It's been a fun week: Kayleia started crawling, Josiah mastered his balance bike, & Micah fell in love with a helmet.

Baking has become a sort of therapy for me. We started our sessions almost five years ago, I had just accepted the director position at a nonprofit child care center and I was in way over my head. All the children that attended the center came from low-income homes and several came from highly dysfunctional homes. Their needs where great and being non-profit our resources where limited. Many nights I went home feeling defeated. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed my job and I believe we made a difference, but it's a job where you don't see an immediate result...you really can only hope.  So I'd come home and bake. I'd make a huge mess measuring and stirring, then while my home filled with enticing smells I'd clean it all up and be left with something warm and sweet.  Compared to my job, the hour or two that baking takes gave immediate gratification and somehow it gave me the energy to keep hoping.  I'm mostly a stay-at-home mom now (I sub from time to time) but...

On Saturday we hosted a Dino Dig to celebrate the boys' birthdays. I had planned for it to be an outdoor party. Upon arrival each child was going to receive a bucket with a shovel and a brush. We had buried dinosaur fossils in the sand for them to excavate. We also had planned a dinosaur egg hunt & made footprint stencils for them to color with chalk. The days leading up to the party were spent making decorations and that morning we rushed to set everything up. Dinosaur foot prints leading the way to the party Clothes line turned dino banner and lunch area About fifteen minutes before the party was scheduled to start we realized it was definitely going rain so we rushed to move everything inside or to the front porch.  Then just as guests began to arrive it started to rain  STORM. Dino footprints washing away Jeremy and his dad ready to escort guests inside I was extremely thankful that we had decided to move everything before the party...

We had a birthday party for the boys today, so I'm a little later than I hoped in posting this...I needed a nap after all the partying.  I should probably be cleaning my house which was neglected in favor of said nap but let's be honest, this is more fun.   SUNDAY Earrings: Target, Scarf: Thrifted, Shirt: Banana Repubic, Belt: ?, Shorts: Gap, Shoes: Thrifted TUESDAY Earrings: ?, Necklace: F21, Shirt: JCPenny, Belt: From H&M Dress, Skirt: Banana Republic, Shoes: Target WEDNESDAY Earrings: Borrowed, Shirt: Victoria Secret, Skirt: Anthropologie, Shoes: Aldo THURSDAY Earrings: Target, Shirt: Target, Belt: From Anthropologie Dress,  Skirt: Anthropologie, Shoes: Florentine SATURDAY    Earrings: Borrowed, Shirt: JCPenny, Bracelet: Target, Shorts: Thrifted, Shoes: Florentine,   World's Most Adorable Baller: One of a Kind My favorite outfit of the week was definitely Sunday's, I know it's not for everyone but I love, ...