Sister Love

I said something to my mom in conversation the other day, and describing someone else, I said, "she has three daughters." 

Um I have three daughters, too! What planet have I been on? Maybe it's the boy/girl spacing. I think of my family dynamic as: 2 girls, 2 boys, and a baby. 

My own sisters are 9 and 11 years older than me.  We are close now, but weren't very close during their young adult years/my self absorbed teen years. I know that my place in my sibling lineup has helped me grow up not being an ageist. I hope my 10 year span of children will be blessed with the same gift. 

I love that I still find them like this. Hold on to the doll phase for 2 more years, girls. Your baby sister wants to play, too! 

My bookends. 11 years ago, it was me holding baby Reese like this. 11 years from now, it could be Reese holding her baby. Mind blown? Yes. 

Showing off new haircuts 

Sunday afternoon reading

Quincy learns how to change her first diaper. Sloane was not a very appreciative guinea pig ;). Quincy did a nice job. Just a few years of practice and she'll be a stellar babysitter!

My little mamas have really developed their roles as sister-mamas in our home. They often need reminders to not be too bossy, but I know it's only because they care so much for their younger siblings. What a lucky mother I am. 

Dear sisters of mine, 

Let's get together. Soon. 

You come too, Mom. We'll need you to drive the getaway car. 

Besties

The girls just showed me a dance they made up. It was cute. When they finished, I told them how lucky they are to have each other and always have a best friend to play with.  They asked about my sisters and I told them that I was born a lot later than my sissies so even though we are good friends and love each other a lot, I don't have many memories of playing together with them when I was little, because when I was little, they weren't very little anymore.

Reese said, "That's sad. I would be lonely without Quincy."

Quincy said, "Well good thing you got married so you have a husband to play with!"

Three Days a Week

They hit the soccer fields.

Go get 'em girls!

Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

First of all, a BIG thank you to my sister for hosting a super fun "favorite color swap!" I've had a lot of fun getting to know Mimi. Be sure to check out her blog, she is a riot! My package should be arriving at her place tomorrow. I hope she enjoys her box of Red, Green, and Purple!
And..... Check out the loot she sent me! It made me so happy to open a box FULL of orange!

My swap partner, Mimi, and I think alike because our notes to each other are very similar.

1) Obviously, my favorite thing in the box, because it is almost time to decorate for Halloween. I probably should have spaced everything out better so it would be easier to see what the items are. It's a sign (that she made...big brownie points and a gold star there, I heart homemade gifts.) from a wood shingle with a skull and raven silhouette on it. It says, "Keep Calm and Scary On". So freaking awesome. It's going in my entryway. Possibly year round...

2) a tiny orange notebook

3) an orange pumpkin shaped cookie cutter....I will be baking very soon.

4) Reese's peanut butter cups (don't ask how many are left, I opened the package ONE hour ago and...it's sort of embarassing)

5) Candy Corn!!! It is officially Fall.

6) what the what? Caramel candy corn----where have these been all my life?

7) this is my other fave. Orange oven mit and potholder. I am in a permanant state of shortage when it comes to oven mitts because aaron likes to wear them when he adds logs to the fire. YES. We DO own fireplace gloves. But why not destroy a nice, colorful oven mitt instead? I cannot count on one hand the number of times Aaron has dashed out to the front yard with a flaming mitt on his hand to shove into the snow. These cute orange mitts are my only pair that aren't scortched and they are off limits.

8) A beautiful soft orange scarf. I totally love this and I actually can't believe that I don't already own one. I can't believe Mimi took the time to make it for me! I LOVE it! Thank you, Mimi!

9) a scented candle! It has a citrus ginger scent and it is really really refreshing. Wishing I'd had this around a few months ago when I was nauseous every day. It will definitely be a favorite in the future if I get prego again.

10) yum, the other scented candle just makes me hungry. It is "cinnamon roll" scented. To me, it smells like homemade caramel. It's already burning in my kitchen. That way, at least people THINK I'm baking...

11) and to add to my autumn decor, a wood pumpkin that says, Blessings on it. Time to get the rest of my decorations out, I think!


I am so glad I participated in this swap! It was really fun to shop for Mimi, and we've exchanged a few emails and she makes me laugh a lot. She's a good friend of my sister's and I can totally see why. Thanks, Mimi! You are great! I love my box of orange!









To go to my sister (the lovely swap hostess)'s blog and see what other people got in their favorite color packages all over the country, click here. She'll have a linky party set up there. What a great way to start off the week!

Swappy

My sister has a blog. Do you read it? You should! She is cute and fun and she gives away like a fazillion things every single week! I love her Happy List posts the most because they are such a nice contrast to all of the whining and complaining on the internet (um...scroll down on my blog to see what I'm talking about. guilty as charged.).

Another thing she is great at is hosting good mail swaps! Who doesn't love to get a package in the mail? Presents? Sign me up!
This particular swap is a favorite color swap....meaning I get to shop around and fill a package of cute stuff in my partner's favorite color, and she will do the same for me.

A box full of spicy orange fun for me!

I'm so excited about this (can you tell?). It's been a few years since I've done one of HolleeAnn's swaps, but last time, I made a new friend. Lately, I've trying to reach out of my comfort zone a little to really get to know other people. I am aware that I am much better at talking than listening, so I'm hoping this swap will be a lil' step toward changing that. I can't wait to see who my partner will be this time and put together a fab package for her!

Thanks, HolleeAnn, for hosting!

Be Grateful for Sisters

wow.

That was kind of like a timeline of all the bad haircuts I've had.

I am thankful for my sisters. There is no relationship out there that could replace the bond I have with them.

You might think that I would feel like third wheel, since they are so close in age, and I came along 9 years later, but it isn't that way at all.

I am so grateful that I have sisters.

I love these girls so much.

They make me laugh.

I miss them.

Flat Reese, the adventure begins...

Reese made a Flat Reese (based on the book Flat Stanley) at school, and sent her off to travel around the country for a few weeks. My sister, HolleeAnn was the first to receive her in the mail.

Can I just say that HolleeAnn goes above and beyond the call of Auntie? She made a BOOK about Flat Reese's Adventure in California, before sending her off to the next destination.

It is beyond awesome. Reese went crazy when I read it to her.

And lucky you, HolleeAnn blogged about it so we can share her adventures with you!

One morning Reese W. woke up to the sounds of her sister Quincy screaming. A bulletin board had fallen on Reese during the night and now she was FLAT!

Before Quincy could get her mom’s attention Reese’s brother Corbin came by with his sticky syrup covered breakfast fingers and grabbed Flat Reese and ran. Corbin was new to running so he slipped and fell and Flat Reese went floating across the room like a kite and landed in a pile of mail to be sent.

Flat Reese tried to get up but the syrup from Corbin’s fingers made her stick to an envelope addressed to her Auntie’s house in California. Daddy grabbed the mail on his way out the door for work and put it in the mailbox.

The mail man picked up the mail and soon Flat Reese found herself in a huge pile of mail, thousands and thousands of letters surrounded her. She was shuffled from one pile of mail to another and soon found herself in California at her Auntie’s house.

Flat Reese’s Auntie was VERY surprised to see her and listened as Flat Reese explained what had happened to her. So far it had been quite an adventure, her journey to California.

Flat Reese explained that it had been so fun that she wanted to visit a few more states before going back to Arkansas. Auntie thought this was a grand idea. So she called Reese’s mommy right away and together they planned out all of the states, family and friends that Flat Reese could visit before being mailed home.

While Auntie was on the phone Flat Reese went to play with Auntie’s puppy, Coco.

They were playing when Coco heard some music and asked Flat Reese if she wanted to dance. Flat Reese loves to dance too so they got busy shaking their booties and had a fantastic dance party. They danced and danced until they wore themselves out. Coco needed a nap.

Flat Reese was hot from all that dancing so she decided to go for a swim in Auntie’s swimming pool. So refreshing and so much FUN!

Flat Reese swam and splashed and had a great time in the swimming pool floating around on a Disney Princess swim ring. It was a perfectly perfect swim on a beautiful sunny afternoon.

All that swimming made Flat Reese VERY hungry. Auntie had the perfect idea, “Let’s dry off Flat Reese, I have a surprise for you.” “YAY, I love surprises” said Flat Reese as she dried off.

Auntie took Flat Reese inside and they went to the playroom where Auntie had a Tea Party set up for the two of them. Flat Reese clapped and exclaimed, “YAY! I love tea parties, thank you Auntie!”

Flat Reese and Auntie enjoyed fruit juice, finger sandwiches, carrot sticks and then they ate cupcakes for dessert. “Yum” said Flat Reese. “Yes, yum!” said Auntie. Everything was delicious.

Suddenly Flat Reese got very sleepy. She had traveled so far, all the way from Arkansas to California. She had enjoyed a dance party, a swim in Auntie’s pool and a delicious tea party.

Before she knew it, it was time for bed. So Flat Reese took a nice warm bubble bath and got ready for bed.

It had been a wonderful day and Flat Reese knew that tomorrow she would go to the Fruit Barn’s Pumpkin Patch and then drive over the hill to Hollister to see her cousins, Aunts, Uncles and her Grandparents. She knew she would need a good night’s sleep for such a busy day, so she snuggled up to Auntie and Coco for a bedtime story in the PINK room.

They read Goodnight Princess Pruney Toes. Flat Reese loved the story and by the time they came to the last page she was nice and relaxed and ready for sleep.

So Flat Reese said her bedtime prayers and thanked Heavenly Father for her safe travel and wonderful day. Auntie gave her a kiss and said, “Goodnight Flat Reese, I love you. Get good sleep and I will see you in the morning.” Flat Reese replied, “Thank you Auntie, I love you too” and she fell fast asleep.

The next morning Flat Reese was up with the sun and very excited to begin her adventure filled day.

Her cousin Jordan had invited her BFF to join Flat Reese, Uncle Paul and Auntie for breakfast at The Garden Café before going to the pumpkin patch. So everyone jumped in the car and away they went. Breakfast was delicious!

After having spent the morning with 2 teenagers Flat Reese was feeling rather grown up. So she tried on her cousin Jordan's groovy sunglasses and sent a few text messages from Uncle Paul's cell phone.


After a very yummy breakfast they jumped back in the car and drove to the Fruit Barn. There was an awesome hay maze, spooky surprises and pony rides.

Flat Reese even had an interesting conversation with one of Santa’s elves.

She was so surprised to see an elf at a pumpkin patch so she asked him, “Why are you here Elf? Shouldn’t you be at the North Pole helping Santa get ready for Christmas?” The Elf laughed and said, “I am helping Santa. I am here at the pumpkin patch watching to see who is being naughty and who is being nice so I can report back to Santa.”

Flat Reese thought that was very interesting but before she could say so the Elf asked, “Have you been naughty or nice Flat Reese?” Flat Reese didn’t even have to think about it before she answered, “Nice, I have been very nice!!” She had been nice and a very gracious guest. The Elf let her know he would be sure to let Santa know and went back to watching the other children.

Soon they were back on the road to head over the hill to Hollister to meet up with the rest of her cousins to Trunk or Treat at the church.

Flat Reese was so excited to see everyone and there were lots of hugs as all of the cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents greeted her. The cousins gathered for a quick picture in their costumes then quickly took off for a little Trunk or Treating and play some carnival games. Flat Reese also helped Grandma Lynn pass out candy for a little while. There was even a PRINCESS that wanted her picture with Flat Reese.

Jordan and Emma were dressed as hippies, Garrett was Indiana Jones, Parker was the Riddler, Zack was in camouflage, Ty was a clown, Brock was Luke Skywalker and Steven was a dragon. Their costumes were great, and Flat Reese was very impressed.

Flat Reese spent a little time with her cousin Steven, who is also in Kindergarten this year. Steven had made the rounds quickly and came back to settle in and eat some of his candy. He was very good about sharing with Flat Reese, but he sure did eat a lot.

It wasn't long before Steven was feeling the affects of all that SUGAR. "Silly Steven", Flat Reese said as she giggled and helped him pick up all of those empty candy wrappers.

It was such a fun night, but it wasn’t over yet. They were headed to USA Sports, the gym that Flat Reese’s Uncle Mark and Aunt Melinda own. Her cousin Taylor is a very talented gymnast and placed FIRST all around at a Gymnastic meet that afternoon.

When they arrived at the gym it was closed but Grandpa Hal and Aunt Amy work there so they had a key to get in and let Flat Reese rock climb, tumble and walk across the balance beam.

It was so much fun that Flat Reese giggled and smiled as she said, “This has been the best day ever! Thank you everyone.” Flat Reese is a very polite little girl. It is important to say thank you and let people know you appreciate the nice things they do for you and Flat Reese knew this.

After the fun time at the gym everyone met up at one of Flat Reese’s mommy’s favorite places to eat in Hollister, The Running Rooster. Her mommy especially loves their chocolate chip cookies. Flat Reese enjoyed a yummy hamburger and french fries for dinner and after eating she went and played at the toy train table they have there for kids to enjoy. Before they left Flat Reese made sure to pose with the cookies and brownies knowing it would make her mommy smile.

Flat Reese really enjoyed getting to play with her cousins, spend time with her Aunts and Uncles and her Grandma Lynn and Grandpa Hal.

After giving everyone hugs goodbye and thanking them for such a fun visit Flat Reese, Uncle Paul, Auntie, Jordan and Emma all jumped back in the car for the long drive home.

Flat Reese had so much fun and such a busy day that she fell asleep in the car and Uncle Paul had to carry her in and tuck her into bed where she slept and slept and slept. She had very happy dreams about her wonderful visit in California.

The next morning Flat Reese woke feeling very rested. She had a delicious oatmeal breakfast and Auntie told her she would be traveling to Alabama that afternoon. “I don’t think I have ever been to Alabama, I am very excited.” Flat Reese exclaimed. Auntie said, “I have never been to Alabama, I can’t wait to hear all about your visit there. I am sure it will be fun!”

Auntie and Flat Reese hugged and said their goodbyes, “I love you Auntie, thank you for the fun visit. I can’t wait to tell my family, my teacher Mrs. Rogers and my classmates all about my California adventure.” said Flat Reese.

Auntie said, “You are so welcome Flat Reese. Remember who you are and that I love you. Have a fantastic trip to Alabama. Just remember to be the wonderful, polite, little girl that you are and I am sure you will have fun.”

Flat Reese climbed into her envelope and Auntie dropped her off at the post office sending her to Alabama.

To Be Continued…

I know, right?! Auntie of the Year.

Thank you 100x, Sis.

When Sisters Get Together

Good times will be had.
PS- my sister is hosting a giveaway for family portraits (no, real portraits, not this kind!) to people living in the Bay Area. Hope over to her blog and check it out.

Awesome II

REAAAAAALLLLY cute picture of my kid, blogged over here.

{Nine}

"...Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken..."

-William Shakespeare

I disagree.
True love does alter.
It bends.
It stretches.
It sacrifices.
It strengthens.
It swells.
It grows.

Which is the why and the how it can "look on tempests and never be shaken". For 9 years my love has altered. It is the alteration that makes it true love. Real love must be willing to bend, divide, give.

I am so glad time is not my enemy, and that I will be with this guy forever and ever and ever.


And now, a little flashback from the archives of our wedding pics.
Enjoy!











Happy Anniversary, sweet, wonderful Aaron.
I love you very, very much.