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it was a super low key event. 2 balloons,
2 cupcakes from fresh market,
2 high chairs
2 one year olds
2 TOTALLY different personalities.
cate= mild,suspicious and kind of disinterested
lucy= thrilled. lucy went to town.
they are so funny. so different...and i LOVE that.
pretty sure that cate thinks lucy is nuts. :)
and i'm so glad i took a video...lucy's little excited noises are hilarious. :)
happy wednesday, y'all! xxo
c+l cupcake wars from stephanie howell on Vimeo.
today i have a fun giveaway to share...and a fun new independently owned (by one of my fabulous blog readers and a fellow army wife!!) shop to show you...
domesticated lady is owned by mel wilson.
Mel Wilson is a mom to two super great kiddos, a proud Army wife, and a 'retired for now' teacher. She loves to create, especially with the said kiddos. She enjoys baking (but not cooking), avoiding the laundry, and ice cold Dr Pepper :) Someday she'll live on a ranch in Texas, but for now she writes about her crafty triumphs (and epic failures) on her blog, domesticatedlady.com
here's what mel has to share today:
I'm so excited to share today! I feel like it's my turn to get up in front of the class for show-and-tell! A little nervous, but mostly excited.
I'm just a regular mom...I'm busy, tired, underpaid, and truly blessed all at the same time.
I try my best to keep up with everything and have a little time for myself, too. And this is what I've found is my 'thing'...creating printables that are everyday useful, fun, and not just for birthdays.
I even try to sneak a few educational printables in there, too.
Most of the printables in the store were created because I needed a little gift to give. I have a soft spot for teachers, so a lot of things I create are for little teacher gifts.
You just open and print. I also include an instruction sheet with each project complete with color photos. For those of you with some photo-editing experience, I also have a few fun holiday card templates. With a printer, some cardstock, and a piece of ribbon, I'll help you create a gift you'll love to give!
Oh, and I also have a soft spot for cheap, so I have lots of free printables on my blog, too
here's what mel is giving away today!
I'd love to share a $25 gift credit to the store for two of your readers. Giveaway is open to everyone with an email address :) No physical product will be sent, the winners will receive their choice of $25 worth of digital files to print.
so there you have it! if you are interested in winning a 25 dollar gift certificate to domesticated lady, leave a comment here and i'll draw a winner next monday.
and as always, please visit and support!
happy tuesday and good luck!!
xxo
the december studio calico kit is here!
here's my shopping list:
and my projects:
c&l
brooklyn flea only
this is my version of the chevron trend that's all the rage right now. i just layered papers (and the bottom layer is an exclusive tissue "scraps from the main kit) and angled them one on top of the other.
s3
the amy tangerine tags in salvaged are heavenly. this add-on was HANDS DOWN my favorite. i need a zillion sheets of this patterned paper. sigh.
big sis
salvaged (alphas), printer's drawer
OBSESSED with my new mini envelope template!
note: i misted the "happiness" wooden banner with mister huey's in cameo to make it a bit darker.
happy shopping!
xxo
s
a year ago i gave birth to two baby girls. one was 6 lbs. 4 oz. and we named her Lucy Claire. one was 4 lbs 12 oz. and we named her Catherine Bennett.
i was scared. i didn't know how i was going to handle two babies.
i didn't know how i was going to handle four children under five.
one year ago they wheeled me into the operating room and i didn't know what to expect. i certainly didn't expect to deliver two babies in three pushes! i certainly didn't expect to not even know i was in labor (the babies were so big, i ALWAYS felt like i was having contractions!!). i certainly didn't expect to have no pain or recovery after the delivery. i think God knew i'd need my strength,ha!
a year ago jimmy and i had a quiet thanksgiving in a hospital room as we looked at our two daughters...marveled over them...and talked in hushed tones about the future.
everything about them, EVERYTHING...has been unexpected. from the moment they told us they saw two heartbeats...everything has been a surprise.an adventure.
they have turned our worlds upside down.
they have taught us all more than we ever could have known.
and i NEVER could have anticipated how FUN this would be. watching them together is a blessing. it is so interesting, and wild, and exhausting, and funny, and scary, and did i mention exhausting?
i became a better mother this year. i became more patient, more loving, more able to just soak it all in.
they are my "gentle reminders" from God. my nudges.my reminders that i am not in charge. i am not the one that knows what is in store.
they are proof that WE CAN. every time we think we CAN'T handle something as a family, we do. they are proof that we are stronger, better than we think.
they are beautiful. they are wild. they are EVERYWHERE and into EVERYTHING. they have taught me that my love can MULTIPLY. my love has not been divided. i now love four little girls with more love than i knew i had.
they are our saving graces.
happy birthday, cate.
happy birthday, lucy.
thank you for lighting our lives and filling our hearts.
xoxo,mama
want to win a spot? leave a comment and i'll draw a winner friday night.
to read more about the workshop, go here.
happy wednesday!
xxo
i don't even know where our christmas decorations are, they aren't remotely close to coming out of the attic and being put up.
my stockings aren't hung by the chimney with care...there are still pumpkins on my mantel.
i have NO plans for our thanksgiving meal. more than likely we will end up buying something pre-made from fresh market.
i have dreams of bucking tradition and eating out. :)
the babies turn one on thursday, i don't have their cakes yet or know where i am getting them.
i just got their birthday presents yesterday.
i'm not doing a december daily, i never have.
i don't have christmas dresses for the girls nor do i have any idea when or if i'll be getting them.
i haven't bought any christmas gifts.
we don't have a photo of all six of us (except for one in the hospital a year ago) so i'm not sure if i'll be doing christmas cards.
i haven't played any christmas music yet (i don't even know that i love christmas music all that much).
i have the ranger ball coming up on dec. 3. i don't have a dress yet, don't have a hair appointment or nail appointment. i don't know when to look for a dress with four kids under five with me all the time.
and here's the big confession? i'm feeling a tiny bit inferior this year.
but that tiny part of me is overshadowed by the part of me that's okay with it. i'm proud we are making it in the day to day.
my girls are happy and healthy, we are all together, we have a roof over our heads and food in our bellies. SO much more than SO many people.
i HAVE a family, I don't need a photo to show me that. christmas is in your heart, not in the stuff. the babies will be okay and won't even know what their cakes look like. i HAVE healthy baby girls that are turning ONE. what a gift! the girls can wear their dresses from last year. jimmy is home again this year, safe with us again for one more year.
it's so easy to get caught up in the have-nots isn't it? the things we don't have or haven't done. when in reality, none of it matters.
perspective is something i'm constantly trying to give myself.
i think today we need to find an angel tree. or give a kiva loan. i need to concentrate less on me and more on others.
the rest? is just the fun stuff. it's not the meat and bones of what life is all about.
the rest will just come together.
isn't it silly what i tend to get caught up in? after looking at this list all typed up...all i could think is WHO CARES?
happy tis the season, y'all!
s
**first, i want to take a second to say THANK YOU to all of you that tried to help me figure out my technological issues :). i guess it was just a glitch...i was just worried that i had done something to erase your feeds to my blog b/c i'd been playing around in reader. thank you!!**
so this weekend we packed up the car and headed to st. augustine, FL for a strong bonds marriage and family retreat.
collages made using iphone and diptic
i am so grateful that the army is still investing the money (b/c i know it's very tight for them these days) to send ranger families to retreats where they can spend quality family time, one on one marriage time, and learn how to work on and improve their marriages.
no mater how fireproof you think your marriage is, no matter how much you think you know...this quality time and this instruction is INVALUABLE. and sitting in that huge room with that many amazing couples and talking about how to survive deployment...well it brought tears to my eyes. i am so grateful to be amongst the people we are amongst here. so humbled.
i feel like we came home exhilarated and eager to communicate better, encourage better, love better. and that is a priceless gift. so thank you uncle sam.
on this same note...i have a new friend named beth kingston.she stumbled on my blog and emailed me b/c it turns out we have a LOT in common. not only is she very involved in the crafty world (she works for xyron) but she is also married to a ranger. we have been the same places several times and have JUST missed each other :). we are hoping to be the same place when we move this summer, which would be fabulous b/c i just know i adore her. to make a long story even longer...she wrote a blog post that i identify with more than any blog post i've ever read. PLEASE take the time to read it. whether you are a military spouse or want to know how it feels...go read it.
have a beautiful monday.
xxo
s
Quick question today...do you subscribe to my blog using google reader?? It looks like my readers all suddenly disappeared and I have no idea how it happened. I'm thinking maybe it has something to do with my .com vs my typepad??
Any way, I wanted to ask y'all if any of you are reading this through Reader. Or if maybe you USED to read through reader but then your feed disappeared?
HELP!! :) any advice/ideas would be greatly appreciated.
xoxo
s
