Glimpses...

Every once in a while they are afternoons with the most beautiful glimpses into the life I get to be a part of...

watching the kids play together--seriously, bliss. 

Carter stripped down in the toy room and got right to work...I mean, play. :)

Ya know...my kids are absolutely beautiful to me. Their spirits just radiate a peace and beauty that reminds me of so much that is good in the world. I just look at these pictures and remember how magical this afternoon felt to me. 

And then there's Carter...

Our superhero sweetheart...who cracks me up! :)

I love seeing how their imaginations work...

I found this on Carter's bed. He had laid Winnie the Pooh out and was getting him ready for the day...

...since construction worker Alvin was all ready to go! :)

There are definitely rough days as a parent. I could easily start a running tally of things that make life rough when dealing with raising children. But I have to say, these little glimpses--of goodness, of laughter, of creativity and learning, of heaven--yes, these glimpses seem to be enough to remind me of all the blessings I really do have.

Daddy Daughter Dance

I will start off by saying that this is Brandon writing although I'm sure any regular followers of this blog would realize that soon enough due to the lack of breath-taking pictures, clever writing and thought provoking insights.

I am writing about a special night I had tonight with my sweet, sweet daughter.  We had a daddy daughter dance planned and she is still young enough that she enjoys spending time with me, so we went.  The day started early with decorating and she was such a big help.  It was her idea to tape balloons to the the walls and tables and event though, once the dance started, they didn't stay there for more than a couple of minutes, it was a great tough.  She also had the idea to put some rose petals on the refreshment tables and she was so proud of her contributions and giddy for the rest of the day.  

The afternoon was spent on you-tube watching videos of how to create different hairstyles and she had to watch for about 45 minutes before she found the perfect one.  We then made some rice crispy treats to take and she graciously volunteered to taste them to make sure they were an acceptable offering for the big event.  Then it was a mad scramble to get ready on time.  I know she hasn't started dating yet, but she is already a pro at making the poor guy wait for her.  I thought I was past the stage in my life where I had to stare at the clock uncomfortably while my date seems oblivious to the time, but I'm realizing I will probably never escape that.  I will say, that it was worth the wait.  Jenna looked beautiful.  She was beaming and so excited.  

We went to dinner with some friends and I was so impressed that even though there were others her age, she wanted to sit by and talk with me all through the meal.  She told me about the pictures she had drawn while we waited for our food, the sports events being broadcasted on nearby TVs, and about her life in general 

Then it was off the the dance.  She was a dance machine.  It didn't matter if it was fast, slow, or a break between songs, she was spinning in circles and jumping up and down.  She even developed a blister on her foot from her shoes (which are not podiatrist approved by the way) but she just kicked them off and kept on going.  We tried the swing, slow dancing and even a line dance or two.  I felt so blessed that she stayed around me all night.  She had plenty of friends there, and the trend seemed to be that the daughters would boogie out on the floor while the dads made valiant efforts to hold up the walls and perform quality control on the refreshments ( I also thought I was past the time in my life where the dances would segregated into boys and girls, but I guess things don't really  ever change).  But Jenna would run off with a friend, then come right back to me and pull me out on the dance floor.  

I love all my kids, and i am so blessed to have the chance to share my life with them along with my beautiful wife, and tonight I was especially grateful for my little girl ( who, by the way, is still wrapped around my little finger after 8 years).  AS we danced I wanted to squeeze her tighter and tighter and never let her go.  I hope and pray that she will always know what a special part of our family she is, and that she will continue to make great choices that bring her such happiness.  I think every daddy needs a little girl and I am so grateful for the night I had with mine. 

I love you Jenna

A sneak peak into Jenna's room!

Once again, working without a wide enough lens...so this sneak peak is brought to you by a camera phone and the few snapshots I could take with my lens! :)

Jenna's room is also our "guest" room--for the really infrequent times we actually have people come stay with us. {hint, hint family and friends... :) }

 

I debated what to do with her window for over a year. Nothing felt right. I wanted it to feel airy and light, and girlie! :) And it's a BIG window. So I finally ended up going back to what we had--because I couldn't see putting a bunch of money into something so temporary. So we put back up her old "window valance"...which is really a super cute tablecloth cut in half, and hung over the curtain rod. Nope, not even sewn! But it hangs well like it is, and I can use it for something else when we're done with it here! :) We just bunched them and put cute ribbons. And then I found sheers to hang at the ends, to help keep it light and airy. :)






I love the pretty frilly details of this tablecloth  window valance. :)


And we hung her wall plates she had in her old room--in fact, much of this is same old, same old...but put up in a new way. Until we move next, we just felt it wasn't worth completely re-doing.


I made these pillows for her a while back--and love how the ruffled one turned out! Jenna is very much a feminine, girlie girl, and I love all the ruffles and such. :)


We did pick up a new lamp and an adorable bird for her nightstand. I'm still toying with the idea of painting this little guy, but for now he just sits and thinks thoughts of spring! :)


The headboard was FREE, and after a lot of scrubbing and sanding and painting, looks pretty darn good! :)



It's a work in progress...but we're getting there! :)

A sneak peak into Carter's bedroom

Several people on Facebook have asked when on earth I am going to post pictures of all the changes we've been making--and the truth is I AM DYING TO, but can't because I don't have a wide enough lens to do so. So...until that comes, I can only post little sneak peaks because my 50mm lens is all I've got right now...but am excited to do so!

What does a sheet, 2 dish towels, and some scrap fabric have in common? They were all used to make Carter's curtains! :) I was SO excited to use up some of my stash--I looked for curtains I would want to use for a long time, but nothing clicked. I really wanted to bring in the green, since there is so much other red and blue in the room, but everything was either SUPER expensive or not what I wanted. So in going through my stash I found a blue flat sheet I bought at a thrift store 2-3 years ago. And when I came across the red and green dish towels on clearance after Christmas, I snatched them up! They are SO cute!

The only thing I bought was some white ribbon--and some no sew glue (to be used for other projects too).
And then I went to work!
The beauty of using a flat sheet is that it already has the curtain rod slot in the pretty folded part that indicates it's the top. Just cut off the ends and VOILA, put your curtain rod through. So that was definitely in our favor...and the reason I chose to use the big flat sheet I have had sitting around for way too long.


Trying to show a few of his other train things...it's coming together!




Cell phone pic--the only way I could get more of the room in the pic! :)

I picked up this adorable bedding from Craigslist. It was gently used and is SO cute...the pictures really don't do it justice.





And there are little trains quilted all through it.




(an up close of my dish towel purchase--)





And my other towel...


Trying to pull together some other decorations still--but so far, loving the colors and feel of his room. It has been SO much fun to work on projects again--I was in a long time rut and didn't do much of anything in that department. But I love it--I thrive off getting those creative juices flowing--and it's good to have that little part of me back.

Thoughts on V-day

Brandon and I sat together last night and looked through pictures and blog posts of the last several years. I was reminded how so many things--so many memories, good and bad...but I loved it.

We marveled at how Carter looks so similar to Spencer, as a toddler--in many pictures we both just laughed and exclaimed, "What is Carter doing in that picture!?" We giggled at Kaden's cute little face with his extreme expressions, and were reminded of Jenna's long, beautiful hair--and what a funny character she was! It was just inspiring, to reflect back on the wonderful life we have made and lived...

I've tended to take the stand that we don't do much for Valentine's Day--no big gifts or big date nights out. And Brandon knows I completely stress out if he spent lots of money on flowers on Valentine's Day. But as we looked back on the past several years of celebrating the day of love, it made me realize how important it is to me. Not in the sense of getting or giving big things, but as a day to celebrate the love we share as a family and for others. We have had some WONDERFUL celebrations--fondue dinners with the kids, homemade heart ravioli one year, the special dance Brandon put on with tributes from each of the kids, the poems and pictures, the single rose for our Jenna girl, and the little gifts for our sweet boys. I love it. I love stepping out of the ordinary and celebrating each other.

And while I hope we show that love all year long, it's really fun to make this a family tradition. It's fun to step it up and show those we love just how much we love them. And it was so exciting all day to see and hear of people doing wonderful things for others. Yes, we hope we can do that all year round and not just one day of the year. But to see it in action--well--I just think Valentine's day is pretty darn special! :)

Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve was pretty uneventful. I had to work early the next morning (we rang in the new year at a morning meeting at Weight Watchers!) So upon arriving home, I found the kids all out in the backyard drizzle...with their umbrellas. It was the sweetest sight! ;)

 

Carter wasn't so sure about the whole umbrella thing, but got into it rather quickly...

(I ADORE Kaden's beautiful eyes! Seriously they are so big, and deep and say so much!)

Spencer was very excited to finally have his own umbrella too-- ;)

And I know we're a little heavy on the Carter pics, but let's face it--he doesn't get in many pics that the other kids do. :) I always feel badly that people think he is a scowler with a bad attitude, because he is SO much fun to be around {most of the time}. So I had to show he really DOES have a fun personality. :) (somewhere under that furrowed brow he shows everyone all the time!)

Carter loved to just hold his umbrella upside down. He never really got the true function--but did get that it would catch water and he could pour it out. lol

Love watching my little rain adventurers. :)