Just me My Soldier and our 4 little chicks

Hope you had a Happy Happy Halloween!!!

we certainly did!

sure...we started off with a few bumps.

a nap that was too long...messy hair and a case of the grumps:

 

oh the difficulties of being three. woe is me:

 

but soon things turned around.

it's hard to be a grump when daddy makes burgers and good friends come over to play.

everyone was happy in no time at all!

and off they went.

 

 

hope you had a fantastic weekend, my friends.

the packers come monday and the movers come tuesday...so i'll be incommunicado for a while.

love to you all! xoxo

Marketplace

It's time to go check out the November Kit at Studio Calico...Marketplace!

This one is truly delicious.

Doilies? Check.                                                                                                                                          Houndstooth? Check                    

Paper with Vintage Plates? Check

Stitch Rubons? Check.                                                                                                                          

Let's just say we are a match made in heaven. I purchased the Bazaar and Flea Market addons and love them both equally.

Thought I'd share what I did. Then it's off to talk to the roofers, the plumbers, off to get medical records and take the pictures off the wall.

20 months

 

I loved these photos of Sadie from our trip to NY. They were perfect to use for her monthly page. I mean look at her...happy go lucky in one photo, throwing a fit in the next. Very Sadie.

Lots of layering and piecing here.I loved using the tiny pinked edge of the Sassafras number paper and stitching over the seam.

Daily Prayer

 

this is the prayer i say every day (sometimes lots of times a day).

love the soft feelings these blossoms added. I took them apart, crumpled them, smoothed them out, and put them back together (layering different colors). The stems of the flowers are cut from the BasicGrey "doilie" die cut paper.

The doily rubons were heavenly. I used every single last one of them. I used them to make a soft border on the left side of this page.

The butterflies ar punched with a Martha Stewart punch. I used them to embellish the flowers and also to dot the "i" in daily.

Love the ethereal feeling this page has.

Lead the Way

This one chokes me up. One of those pages that makes my heart hurt. When I saw this simple photo of J leading the girls through the forest at West Point, it evoked so many more complex emotions.

This page is fairly simple. Lots of rubons, and i layered October Afternoon journaling stickers over the center of the doilies. They fit perfectly.

The Woodgrain paper was perfect for this photo. And there are those stitches again. ;)

Precocious

 

Look at my sweet girl.
I've heard several people say the large patterns on the BasicGrey paper are not their favorite, but I disagree. Don't be scared to use them. I used one for the background here (and also on the daily prayer layout above).

These doilies are DIVINE. I love the color combo of melon and green/mint green.

These are the same blossoms I used on Daily Prayer, but I took them apart, folded them into fans, and secured them with the gorgeous Making Memories vintage findings buttons.

The stems are those Hambly rubons I love so much,

Vintage twine and more butterflies (shocking i  know) were just what the page needed.

On the title, I painted the thickers with my White Sharpie poster paint pen. I blobbed the paint on and rubbed it in with my finger. Made the color a bit softer.

wp/nyc

 

Yes! Another two-pager. I'm pretty sure this is now a monthly occurance!!!

I wanted to scrap my iphone photos from our trip and this seemed the perfect way.

click on the photo to see it larger. love the sweet sassafras word/alpha chipboard.

i ran out of basicgrey orange stickers by this point, so i used negatives again.

the circles are punched from the promo card for sc's new paper line, home front.

sidenote: am i obsessed with the fiskars apron lace punch or  what? it's a sickness.

Happy Wednesday, sweet friends.

xoxo

gotta case of the mondays

 

 

 

 

winners!!!!

magnetic board-

6

Dana said...

Oooh, I would love to win anything out of your giveaway closet! Thanks for the giveaways, Stephanie!

bracelet-

99

Pam said...

How fun! I'd love to win anything! Thanks for the opportunity! Happy Packing and best of luck with the move!

Box One-

419

mollee said...

Love your blog!!! And this giveaway is amazing!!! Good luck Stephanie!

Box Two-

138

jill s said...

i hope all the packing + moving goes smoothly!!

toss my name in the hat. :)

xx
jill

Thanks for playing, everyone!

If you are a winner, send me your info at

Stephaniehowell8(at)gmail(dot)com.

back tomorrow!

hope you had a beautiful weekend. xo

October Sponsor Giveaway!! CLOSED!!!!

Happy Friday, girls!

It's about time for a giveaway, don't you think?
How about FOUR giveaways???

Luckily, I have two fabulous sponsors this month who are generously sharing some of their goodies with you.

First up is Paper Miniskirt.

by the way...is that not the cutest shop name ever? i love it.

Paper Miniskirt is giving away this brown fringed daisy memo board to one reader:

 

Next up is Star Hitched Wagon. If you love beautiful, handmade jewelry...this shop is right up your alley!

Star Hitched Wagon is giving away the Caliope Bracelet, which was featured in the June 2009 issue of Bead Trends Magazine. You will also receive a copy of the magazine.

 

And last but not least...

as many of you know, I'm moving to GA at the beginning of Nov.

Yesterday I started packing my scrap room into ziplocs (SO SAD).

the point is...I've got LOTS in my giveway closet. lots and lots.

Two readers will win a flat rate box stuffed with goodies. Internationals may enter, but I'm sorry...I will need you to help with the shipping cost if you win.

 

 

If you would like to win any of the above, leave a comment by Sunday evening and I'll draw a winner then.

Good luck and happy weekend!!

xoxo

s

i offer this story as proof. (version 2)

***sorry, this posted as i was writing it. way before it was ready. whoops!! it's finished now, teehee. dang you, typepad!!***

proof that i can act like an utter and complete spaz and he will still love me.

i mean, there are plenty of stories i could tell...

the time my foot got caught in the stroller at Disney and i flailed about like an elongated woman, flapping my limbs..

the time i got a little into a story i was telling and my long arms smacked a waitresses tray (holding honestly somewhere around 20 drinks) and they all fell to the ground and broke...

i could go on and on and on.

but this one sticks out in my brain.

 

the first time i told him i loved him.

we hadn't been dating very long. 3 months or so. but i knew. i really did.

being away from him broke my heart.

i remember the very first time he called me after the weekend we met.

i put down the phone and SCREAMED and did a happy dance. i hardly  played it cool. never. not with him.

so i knew i loved him. and i kind of wanted to tell him. but i decided not to b/c i didn't want to scare him off.

when he came to visit for my birthday, i was more smitten than ever. he treated me like a princess, but also told me "no" when the occasion called for it. (sidenote: i vividly remember the first time he told me 'no'. july 2000. he wouldn't let me stop at a JCrew outlet on the way to Waco from Dallas. i wish i could say i didn't pout, but that would be a lie. someone needed to knock me down a peg or two. ;).

he was an honorable, good guy. and the most handsome boy i'd ever met.

but i was NOT telling him i loved him first.

i mean, i'd already kissed him first....i was NOT telling him i loved him first.

and i certainly was not going to tell him i loved him as he came out of the restroom,

as he was still buttoning up his pants.

________________________________________________

oh yes my friends. i did.

you might imagine that blurting out "I LOVE YOU" as someone is coming out of the restroom might be awkward. especially after only 3 months of dating.

and you may imagine that when he said "uhhhhh i love you too????"
(THAT'S RIGHT THOSE ARE QUESTION MARKS)

it made the whole situation even more awkward.

and you'd  be right.

but then as i was sitting in the living room utterly mortified, DYING of embarrassment ...he got down on his knees in front of me and told me all the reasons he was falling in love with me too.

and when my best friend lindley burst in the front door screaming
OH.MY.GOSH.IS.HE.PROPOSING.TO YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU???

it was okay. because he loved me. and we were going to have a long, beautiful life

full of me embarrasing myself HORRIBLY while he looked on and rolled his eyes. the eyes would be full of love, and that's all that mattered.

and i love him more today, and i didn't think that was possible.
(especially since he tells me no quite regularly.)

Right Now

Right Now

she:

 

1. is into saying "dear" and "honey" for some reason. she also likes to say "yes, my friend". so so weird, and also hilarious.

2. is OBSESSED with princesses and mermaids. she has one princess dress that is now hidden b/c every single time she puts it on she turns into a raging fit-throwing you-know-what. so the dress is now hidden and we talk about how true princesses are beautiful on the inside, too. or as jimmy puts it "ifbeingaprincessmeansyouaregoingtoactlikeaspoiledlittlegirl,then YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE A PRINCESSSSS!!!" haaaaaaaa.

3. is LOVING preschool. loving it. her preschool's spaghetti dinner fundraiser/open house was last week and the preschool students sang for everyone. she was in the front row. she took a step out in front of everyone and sang every.single.word louder than everyone and did every.single.motion bigger than everyone. she's a  mess.

4. loves books and being read to. right now our favorite author is Mo Willems.  books for kids with wit for adults? gotta love it.

5. is getting excited to move to georgia. she says it's going to be a big "BENTURE" and she hopes that she will have lots of new friends there. i have no doubt that she will.

she:

 

1. is getting really frustrated with the fact that she's not talking as much as she wishes she could. lots of sadie words, which kind of all sound the same...but she's trying. harper just won't let her get a word in edgewise.  so she's starting the back-arching crying kicking fits. awesome. i know she's just frustrated, so we are working lots on "using our words". AND NO HARPER, THAT DOES NOT MEAN YOU!!!!

2. has a shoe fetish. wears my shoes all day long. leopard flats? check. black high heels? check (while vacuuming, no less). she's truly obsessed with SHAS!!!

3. is still getting into everything. this morning? an ink pad. yesterday? i found an apple in the bathtub. as harper says...what in the WORD????

4. is TALL. really tall. 97th percentile tall. that's my girl!!

5. has this beautiful, shaggy, thick hair. it looks like it's been cut into a style, but it hasn't. it's the funniest hair ever. especially when she wakes up and it's verrrry fluffy.

he:

 

1. won't ever let me take a serious picture, hence this awesome pose.

2. is getting excited to work with the Rangers again.

3. has been such an amazing help with the girls while i've been sick (yes, still sick. it's got to be some kind of a joke how long i've been sick, and with how many different things). he's really the best daddy in the world, and i never ever get tired of watching him with them. they ADORE him.

4. has been watching GLEE with me every week and laughing at it in all the spots i do. and that makes me love him even more.

5. is sick with a cold..thanks to me. i'm sorry, j. :)

i:

 

1. am nervous about moving. excited, but nervous. it's hard making new friends. and i want to make friends and stay for a while. and i want the girls to love it there and have lots of friends and a good school...just lots to think about.

2. am trying to start exercising and eating right again. fell off the wagon right before Disney, but i ran 2 miles w/ j the day before yesterday, and i'm trying to be thoughtful about what i eat. why does it have to be so HARD? heeee!!!

3. just finished the condition by Jennifer Haigh. Not my usual read, kind of depressing at times, but a really interesting look at family dynamics.

4. am listening to regina spektor lots right now. i love "samson" especially

5. just finished my second november SC layout.

 

life is good. love to you all. hope this post didn't bore you too much!!!

xoxo

a sneaky peek and some west point shenanigans

Hey girlies! Happy Happy Thursday!

First thing today, I wanted to share a sneak from the Studio Calico November kit, Marketplace.

It's a lovely kit, truly. I can't wait to have more time to play with it. I've only done one layout and I'm hoping to do many more. But we found out our move date is Nov. 2 and I'm starting to get a teeeensy bit stressed.

Anyway, here it is:

I purchased the Flea Market and Bazaar add-ons. Based on the names alone, it should not be shocking. ;)

 

I'm in that place right know where I need to CALM DOWN and get ahold of myself.

Know what I mean? I'm making to-do-lists that are spin offs of my to-do-lists. It's ridiculous.

I need to just breathe. This is my sixth move in as many years. I think I've got the hang of it by now!

We sent our orders to Fort Benning, so I'm hoping we will soon get word on which house we will be getting.

I am hoping for these things: spanish tile, hardwood floors, 4 bedrooms. Based on our eligibility, I think we will get at least 2 of those things. We shall see.

Okay, enough of that.

I wanted to share some photos from West Point.

Jimmy was a cadet there once upon a time, and we've been dying to go back for years now. Our best friends, the Bilottas, got a teaching job there recently, and that was just the push we needed.

We have missed them so much since they left. I've written about Sarah here before. She's a dear friend. A friend of my heart, know what I mean?

We were so sad to have to leave our friends (yet again). It's part and parcel of the military life, but it breaks my heart each and every time.

We had a wonderful wonderful time. And I want to go back every single year.

We love you  Nick, Sarah, Cole, Soph, and Max!

have a beautiful, blessed day sweet friends.

xoxo

h and s and sophie were so cute in their little army cheerleading outfits:

 

 

 

walking to the football game:

 

beautiful scenery outside of the stadium:

 

 

 

 

visiting trophy point the day we left:

 

 

 

This one CRACKS me up. Like I have tears in my eyes from laughing so hard right now. I LOVE EMBARASSING HIM. It's kind of one of my missions in life. ;)

 

 

wednesday mish mash of randomness

1. First I want to introduce my first sponsor, Paper Miniskirt.

 

I'm Kristi Pamperin and I started Paper Miniskirt in 2008.  I specialize in a variety of handmade home decor photo holders and memo boards - chic ways to display your treasured photographs.  I have a store on Etsy, and also travel to art and craft shows around Minnesota and the midwest.

What is a Paper Miniskirt?  It began with my love for scrapbooking.    I wanted to somehow capture my enormous love of scrapbooking in a simple name.   In its basic form, scrapbooking is one thing: paper. And to describe my scrapbooking style, its simplicity, its quaint, chic, sassiness, I enlisted the analogy of the fashionable and always in style miniskirt.  And so began, Paper Miniskirt.  

My photo boards are solid sheet metal, come in a variety of sizes, and can be custom made to a size as large as you wish.   I add sassy little beaded fringies to the majority of my frames.  All styles can be made with or without the fringed bottom. If you see a hanging frame that you love, but would prefer it to sit on a mantel or an easel,  I simply eliminate the fringe.    I also make the magnets to match, using scrapbooking items, rocks, beads and anything that coordinates with the fabric.    

I am in the process of adding more frames daily, just in time for the holidays.  Photo holders make great gifts for someone's kitchen, bedroom, office, or in a nursing home.  Magnets are strong enough to hold two photos at a time, yet easy enough to change your photos often.  

If you have a particular fabric that you would like made into a photo board, let me know.  I love custom orders!

I am in the process of adding more frames daily, just in time for the holidays.  Photo holders make great gifts for someone's kitchen, bedroom, office, or in a nursing home.  Magnets are strong enough to hold two photos at a time, yet easy enough to change your photos often.  

If you have a particular fabric that you would like made into a photo board, let me know.  I love custom orders!

Welcome Kristi!! Check back later this week for a fun giveaway from Paper Miniskirt.

2. I wanted to share a link to to the documentary that aired this past Sunday.  It's an hour long look at the year that Jimmy and his amazingly brave men faced in the Korengal.

Wait for the ad to play, then click on "tip of the spear" to see all of the chapters.

TIP OF THE SPEAR DOCUMENTARY

3. Lots of you have asked about our trip. We went to NY to see our friends, and favorite people in the world, the Bilottas. They live at West Point, and we decided to go up for the weekend and see a football game.

We decided early on to fly in Thursday and spend the day in NYC. Some of the Tip of the Spear producers at NBC heard we were headed that way and asked if we could come up to the studios and visit. So we did. And it was ridiculously surreal and fabulous. I never would have dreamed that everyone there would be so nice.

And real, and down to earth...it was amazing.

Brian Williams sat right down like we were old friends and started chatting with me about the girls and about how his two kiddos are in college. Lester Holt told me all about how he's a military brat...they were just so NICE.

I'll share a few photos of our time there and then next post I'll share the West Point part of our trip. 

Two quick stories before the photos.

1. There was a huge Elmo outside of Brian Williams' office. That is ALL the girls cared about. Well, that and the big bag of Tootsie Roll pops that ML (one of the producers) had for the girls.

Our joke is that the only thing they will remember about the trip will be Elmo and "pop pops". HEE!!!

2. When the girls were getting down from the Nightly News set, Sadie fell and SMASHED her face on the floor. We headed up to the First Aid office and when we got out of the elevator and started walking DREW BARRYMORE was standing in the hallway with some of the SNL cast. She was standing next to Fred Armisen and they were filming a skit for saturday night live the next night.

a. she is TINY

b. i almost peed in my pants.

c. harper stopped, stared at her and said HI I WOVE YOUR OUTFIT!!! she was wearing a weird clown suit kind of thing. 

drew said hi and thank you.

i just stared with my mouth wide open and said something like "hummanuhummanuhummanuh".

then it hit me. harper thought they knew HER and were staring at HER. you see when she was on the nightly news set, they were actually running tape and supposedly people all around NBC stopped to watch her. a few people stopped her in the elevator. and of course she LOVED it.

heeeeeeeeeeee!

now on to the photos.

happy hump day, my sweet friends. xo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

back to the real world

in a BIG way.

we got back from a trip to NYC and West Point last night...

highlights: meeting and talking with brian williams, lester holt, and all of the truly kind people at NBC.

ETA: the elmo story is hilarious and i'll share it later. let's just say that harper and sadie will NOT remember meeting all these amazing people b/c all they cared about was brian's elmo doll. heeeeeeeeee!

harper sitting in brian's chair on the nightly news set.

spending time with our very best friends the Bilottas

a west point win against vanderbilt

the cheerleaders taking harper and her best friend, sophie, down on the field.

but then...

i was sick the entire flight home and thought that maybe it was something i'd eaten.

no such luck. j and h are now both really sick and sadie is almost there, i can tell. yeeeehaw.

wanted to share some photos but the computer is not reading my camera when it is plugged in.

i'll have to go buy a card reader tomorrow (once i'm out of the pjs and off of the crackers and sprite).

but for now i have some iphoto pics to share.

talk to you all soon.

xo