{Little Things to Love}

 I have seen quite a few things to love posts out there in blog land.  Kerri has her Friday Favorites and Nicolle is always recommending great new recipes and favorite finds.  So I thought I would give it a try.

Here are just a few of my little things to love.

Stumbled into this kitchen the other day.  All I can say is WOW...when can I move in?!  I love everything about it from the wallpaper to the curtains to the art.  I also love that it has dark cabinets.  Most of the kitchens I have been loving lately have all been light and bright.  This one gives me hope that a darker kitchen can still be fun, colorful and whimsical.

I'm not really a perfume kind of girl.  I  haven't had a "signature scent"  since before the girls were born. I wore this one years ago and when my on-line order was messed up a few months back, they sent me a small size...for free!  Yeah me!  I am falling in love with the scent all over again.  It is light, fresh and different.  

image from site

Do you remember this wreath?  Just love Kim and her blog don't you?  I have all the goodies I need to make one of my very own.  Maybe a new wreath on my front door is one more little change that will surely bring spring a knockin'.

Soy candles are my all time fav. I splurged last week and bought this one.  It is WONDERFUL.  The scent is described as: "tropical fruits, sugared oranges, lemons, and limes, redolent with lightly exotic mountain greens"...yeah I would say that just about sums it up! It is heavenly and so far after a week it is burning beautifully.  It promises over 80 hours of fragrance. I'll keep you posted.

image from site

   

Dave made this bread on Tuesday.  He made 4 loaves.  We shared two and devoured two in about three days. And speaking of home baked goodness, we are hoping to make these this weekend.
Wanna come over for breakfast?

What have you been loving lately?

Have a happy weekend,

Cindy

{Change}

They say change is good right?  Well, lately I have been walking around our home looking at the same old things in the same old places and wanting to take it all down, and start over.  Ever feel that way? I'm not talking big changes like tearing down walls or even repainting, just freshening things up a bit and maybe updating my style along the way.  

Our little bookcase in the kitchen eat in area was a perfect place to start.   Some of these things have been in practically the same places since we lived in FL...now that is just plain sad!

I wanted to lighten up the bookcase a bit but painting required more effort and patience then I had at the moment, so I decided to take the shelves out and cover the back with wrapping paper instead.  

Easy, inexpensive and done in one day.  My perfect kind of project.

I began filling it with only the things I really loved.  Projects made by the girls.  Inspirational quotes and things we actuallly use every day. It also became a great place to store some of our art supplies that up until now have been locked in a cabinet away from little hands.  But guess what...the big hands didn't reach for them as much either so it was time they found their way back into our everyday.

I also added some books and things on the lower shelves for Aubrey to play with while we are doing homework and working in the kitchen.  She loves this little area.

 Today Aubrey and I headed to Target in search of a few more little changes for the eat in area.  We found these new place mats and I moved my pitcher of wild flowers that used to be on the mantle to the kitchen table.

I don't think our kitchen table can get much "springier"

Just tell that to our weather man who is predicting between 4-7 inches over night.

So there you have it.  Hopefully my first of many little changes around here.

What little changes are you dreaming of?

Have a happy night,

Cindy

{Always Remember}

first haircuts

chubby fingers and chubby toes

where's your nose?

how much we can't take our eyes off Elmo

{Weekend Glimpses}

Hello friends

Happy Monday to ya!

Our weekend was pretty wonderful..how about you?

Riley and Janey had a Girl Scout event on Saturday that took up most of the morning, so we used that time with just Aubrey, to get a jump start on the garage.  Goodness was that place ever nasty...wish I had thought to take some before and after pictures.  Dave worked so hard and kicked it's muddy little behind back into shape and it looks great.  Feels good to pull the car in now...but alas we have a 70% chance of rain/snow today....victory can be so short-lived sometimes huh?

Sunday was pretty lazy but wonderful.

Riley had a bit of a sore throat so we let her sleep in and we skipped church. I did some cleaning upstairs while the girls ran their pretend circus in the basement.  There were jump ropes turned to tight-ropes and clowns riding in Cozy Coupes so it was all good.

Riley wrote this Weekend List during free time on Friday...

that girl has ambition don't ya think?!?:)

My favorite part of Sunday had to be the pizza dinner.  

I've already told you Dave can rock the pizza world and I know I need to do a pizza post soon.  We cranked this night up a bit with classic rock playing on Pandora and dancing in the kitchen.  Something about Bob Seger, CCR and Otis Redding... they just say pizza night to me. {Dad...you would have loved it...}

{this was so cute, she saw me taking all these pictures of the girls dancing and kept sayin "mama, mama" and stompin' around ...like "look at me, look at me!!"}

Then to top the night off...Janey lost her tooth!

We have this small rather creepy collection of teeth in our kitchen cabinet.  She has three waiting in a bag to give to the tooth fairy...I guess she's waiting for just the right time...or she's saving for something big and this is like a forced savings account or something.

So what did you do this weekend?

Have a Happy Day,

Cindy

{Right Now...}

Aubrey is feeling so much better and I am grateful for that.  Every time my babies don't feel themselves, I can't help but think of all those parents whose dear ones are really sick.  My heart breaks for them.  I feel so blessed it was nothing more then a  little cold and cough. 

This little book is waiting for me at the library.  

I can't wait to get started.

It is 61 outside! We all feel gloriously inspired to get outside and play.  

The girls have been out in the backyard till dark every night this week.  I am dreaming a bit of cleaning out a muddy winter garage this weekend....maybe?

I am having a bit of a love hate relationship with my camera.  I think I know just enough to realize that I should be doing soooo much more then I am...does that make sense?  I know I have to be patient and keep on keepin' on...but it's easier said then done. 

Hope your {Right Now} is wonderful too.

Have a happy day,

Cindy

{Love Day Recap}

Valentines Day is a big deal in our home.  Honestly I think the excitement level is pretty close to Christmas around here.  Is it a girl thing?  Is it the cards, the chocolate, all the extra free love floating around?  Not quite sure, but I'll take it.

The day started with a surprise breakfast. The girls woke up early all on their own and made us waffles, fruit and juice.  They were so excited and proud.

This year we gave the girls {Love Coupons}.  I printed them on cute little hearts and hung them around the fireplace.  We included things like "Good for one ice-cream cone....Good for one lunch at school...." they loved these and were already planning when to use them.  Then we sent them on their annual scavenger hunt.

Do your kids love scavenger hunts?  We do them a lot and they seriously can't get enough.  We made the clues pretty tough this year and we made them each their own hunt so there would be no hurt feelings and racing about.  That kind of thing can steal the love quick don't ya think?

stationery...a new shirt and sweater...and a box of chocolates from Daddy....

I think one of our loveliest gifts this year was our weather.

We went from -9 to about 35 in just a few days.

See how excited they looked all ready for school with their valentines and their 

light-weight winter coats!!!

Aubrey had been feeling rather yucky the whole weekend, so she was still sleeping here...she got her Valentines love a bit later.

that little sweetie loves books

After school we decorated cupcakes to share with friends and had a lovely dinner...

homemade heart shaped ravioli of course

what do you think of that picture of us?

I guess that's what you get when your sugared up girls are behind the camera!!:)

They all looked that way....  

all 25+ of them....

Finally we just said forget it...time for bed.

Hope your Love day was filled with smiles and laughter.

Have a happy day,

Cindy

{Love Day}

{Valentines Day Memories}

I love how Sloan takes us all on a trip down memory lane with her time lapse Tuesdays.
Here is a small trip down our own little Valentines Day Memory Lane.

We had a big computer crash awhile back, so I only have two years available right here at my fingertips. 

The rest are in photo albums....in the closet...in the basement...

~2009~

~that sticky note says 20 weeks~

~2010~

~love notes on the fireplace and a scavenger hunt~

~the love loot~

~sister love~

Thanks for the great idea Sloan.

It's so much fun to see how everyone's family has grown....I might just need to borrow it again!

Have a happy day and a love filled weekend!

Cindy

{Happy}

right here 

right now 

these things are making me

 happy

snuggle time on the sofa with one of my babies

finding that one patch of morning sunlight on the ground

and dancing

pretty important when it is -9 out

watching future mommies love

cereal for lunch...still in your jammies....

...with a furry friend.

What's making you happy today?

Cindy

{Monday}

Happy Monday friends
Hope your weekend was a good one.

We did a little bit of this and a little bit of that
organizing
cleaning
dancing and
playing games.
We are currently in love with this game.
So so fun.
We got this one awhile back and are anxious to try it out tonight.
We hear it's a good one.

Didn't pick up my camera very much this weekend.
I can usually tell the kind of weekend I had by how many pictures I took.
I think I spent too much time stressing over the little things and not enough time loving the little things.

Stressing over...
Girls Scout cookies (I'm the cookie mom)
classroom parties and
homemade Valentines.

I swore last year that we were going to try our hand at making our own.
But I think we have waited just a bit too long to get started.
What do you think?
Have you finished yours yet?
I really love these.
And so do the girls.
Of course ours wouldn't be nearly as fancy.
Have you seen any your heart goes pitter-pat for out there in blog land....or anywhere else for that matter?

I am so behind on my joy of love class.
How can that be....it is only February 7th??

A few days ago we were supposed to be document those we love Then and Now.
I loved Kim's so I dug out a picture of my own burley surfer dude.

{I think Aubrey drew on his nose, that is not a surfing scar}

Gotta love that lightning bolt necklace.
This picture actually stares back at me everyday while I sit at my computer.
I didn't even know him then, but he looks much too cool for me!

This is one of my favorites from now

He lost the lightning bolt

but he's got all our hearts instead.

Have a Happy Day,

Cindy

{Snowed In}

Well, our iced in day turned into a snowed in day
and we all couldn't be happier.
Another day to play, paint and practice our dancing.

I must admit, these two days with all my babies at home has been really lovely.
Very little grumpies and nothing a few books and a little Sesame Street couldn't patch right up.

One thing I have been missing is the silence.
When it is just Aubrey and I at home,
I have that hour and a half (most days) to just sit...sigh...breathe...and enjoy the silence.
I guess I have plenty of silent moments ahead of me
So for now, I'll embrace the noise.

Yesterday we threw winter out the window and made Nicolle's yummy lemon cookies.
They tasted just like summer and were the perfect distraction during a day long blizzard.

This morning we made our version of Leslie's Valentine Advent.
It was quick, easy and we already had everything we needed right here at home
I love those kind of crafts, and with all that blowing snow outside, it was a good thing.

What do you think?
I think they are just perfect.
Daddy is going to have some catching up to do when he gets home.
I think they would look so beautiful on a pretty little cake stand.
Target anyone......

I signed up for this little free on-line photography class, The Joy of Love.
Very first time I have ever done something like this, and so far (only day 2) it has been fun.
The assignment I missed on day one was to capture those you love and  what they do....

I know "playing" was a kind of literal interpretation of "what they do" but I still think a moment was captured.
I love the expression on Riley's face.
And the ones of Riley and Aubrey...be still my heart...
I was playing around with the settings on my camera and trying not to shoot in manual so the color looks a little off...but the moment was still there right?:)

Today we were supposed to capture how they look
I love a good just-got-out-of-bed-sleepy-eyed-bed-head look don't you?

{my favorite...Babi and her thumb...so, so Janey}

We were supposed to pay attention to having the lighting source behind us and try and capture the catch light in their eyes...do you see it??:)  I do too....I'm so excited!
Here are a few more of Riley and Janey sharing in that sisterly love.
Giggles and squeals were all real.

{I told Riley she was good at this and she said, Yeah, I can hold this smile for hours!}

{the lighting seems a bit different on Janey, she is kind of squinty}

Go ahead and check out this class and play along with the rest of us.

I think you'll like it.

Enjoy the day,

Cindy