breathless...

I am in awe of newborn babies......
the sweet smell of baby powder...
the pursed lips.....
the clenched fists.


my darling neighbors had this sweet baby girl last week...she is a mere 6 days old.
What is it about the birth of a new baby that makes our heart skip a beat?
{deep sigh}
but then i heard her little scream at midnight last night and as much as i love babies....
i was able to close my window and fall back asleep.....
{double sigh}

Baby Devin ....for your information.... has a plum colored room.....with mom & dad totally nixing my idea of naming her Plum....but i'll heal.....only because i get to babysit.

breathless...

sweetness...

have a lovely weekend.

xo

that i know....

I have to admit....i'm not the most creative girl in town.

put me in front of a sewing matching and i look at it like it's going to attack me.

no...i do not know how to sew.

I don't even know how to close a rip in my son's jeans.

my poor husband saves his things that need minor work till my mom comes to town.


put me in front of some glue and paper.....and i make a mess.....

i even glue my fingers together.....

it's quite dreadful actually.
I failed arts and crafts 101.


But.....put me in a shoe dept. ....and i'll find the cutest shoes that go with the cutest clothes.

and that i can do. .....
and the funny thing is....when i show up to dinner with my girlfriends...our style is ever similar.


I can style a picture......that i know.
I can make my home look good.....that i know....

I can take a good picture.....that i know.

I can throw one heck of a good soiree.....that i know.....

I can catch my kids doing something extraordinary....that i know.

I can pick out one heck of a good bottle of wine....that i know.

I can cook a mean pot of mac n cheese....that i know.

I can make someone giggle....that i know.

I can also....get out of my comfort zone....and by myself......

let my humor out....let you in to my life.....

that i know.

I can use the glue gun......that i know.

I can drive by my gym and straight to starbucks....that i know.

I can text while using the elliptical at the gym....that i know.

The search for creativity is an ever evolving event in my life....finding an outlet that works for me.

That i know.

We are all different in our creativity.....what is it that you know about yourself?

...

*yes..i will be at the country living fair....but i won't be selling this year...i will be perusing...

*I also have 9 pounds that i really need to lose....

*I will not be having a baby in 9 months

*I am almost to my 300th post....which is amazing.{i guess i like to write...}

xo

sincerely.......

I found this batch of love letters this last saturday...at the flea market.


uhhhh...nope...they are not French.


not even from England...or Europe for that matter.


they are from good ole Iowa.......i love Iowa....my mom is from there....


I love how they are addressed....


that lucile was a special lady.....


sounds like Homer was quite the man himself.






I sometimes sit back and think of one's names back then......like for instance....Homer.


Funny thing is......Bryan's grandfather was a homer......good thing bryan's mom nixed that idea...


because even in our most personal moments alone.....


i don't want to be screaming out the name ....HOMER too loud.....ya know.


sounds like a home run.......


my kids are still in school...so i can write this you know.


What is with names i ask?


My OB's name with my oldest was named Dr. Hoff.


not a bad name.....but his brother was named....Jack....


I swear it's the truth.


am i losing you? .....sorry...........i was really doing well posting some "inspiring posts" for you....and then somehow i got sidetracked with these love letters.
allright....back to story.....
Lucile and Homer had a few kids......named...
Grace {beautiful}
Franklin
Hubert {no comment}
Harold {still no comment}
Margaret {beautiful}
Durango {i actually think there is a town in colorado named after this one..}


sheeesh.


o.k. girlies.....can you believe i only have 9 more to go!


what????


can you guess ???


9 more to go. ......oh....9 more to go till i reach a huge goal.....what can it be.......





xo


oh....here are the starbucks card winners:

*Martha

*Kacey

*Mandiegirl

*Adrienne {flying bee}

*Julie
*Truly Blessed
{email me and i will get you your cards out...}

family moments....

Let me tell you right now....i am not a fly by the seat of my pants type of girl.


I like routine.


I like organization.


I like a plan.


I actually have my planner sitting right next to me here at my desk.


So when we woke up on Monday morning.....i said aloud......let's go up to Wisconsin....to a lake for


the day.


whaaaaaaaat.


did that just come out of my mouth?


me.....not have it planned and written down.....


so we flew around...gathered swimsuits and packed some lunches....


and headed north....



We spent all day at the lake.......reading books......building sand castles....swimming out to the dock...


{actually...i didn't swim out to the dock.......somethings...i just don't do....}


but the kids and bryan swam out to the dock.....and jumped...and dived.


It was a fabulous end to what most consider the end of summer.


My unplanned....unorganized self.......


my house is still a disaster......the suits are still wet on the floor......but i let myself go for a bit....


and in the car my children thanked us......


thanks mom and dad.....that was a great day.


I even thought on the way home that i indeed need a lake front cottage......nothing big or fancy....just someplace that we can take our kids every summer.....


with friends.......


and maybe a boat.....


now i'm getting carried away.


Have you ever seen the movie "the family stone"? That's what i envision my home being like....lots of noise and fun....and being who we are meant to be.....

except....put that house on a lake....with a boat on the dock out back.

That's not to much to ask for is it?




xo.


{Thank you so much for all the well wishes for my mom...she is finally home from the hospital..and i am going to print out the post with all of your comments and pop it in the mail to her....}

oh...and my pics were taken with my iphone...because someone...i'm not naming any names...left the battery charging in the charger for the camera.

i will follow....

I don't normally post on the weekends. I actually don't really even get on the computer....but i do have an iphone..so it does get checked....but unless it's something important....i put it aside till monday morning.
weekends are family time.
always have been .....

but this weekend was different.....is different.

I recieved a call from my dad on friday saying he was taking my mother to the hospital......

my mom had been sick for over a week ......in fact we all thought she had the flu......

but in the last few days...she could hardly move.....and on Friday when my dad said

she was not coherent and not able to form a complete sentence...he took her to the hospital.

my mom is my best friend.....we are so eerily similar....

we have the same voice....so when she is at my home...people get us confused on the phone.

my mom is my best friend and i don't know what i would do with out her.

she was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia...but at a stage where different parts of her body were starting to shut down because she thought she had the flu and was in bed at home.

She is going to be fine.

She is sick...but going to be fine.

I sit here writing......knowing of good friends that are not close with their mothers.....and maybe my situation is different.....because my mom is my best friend.

It wasn't till after high school that we even forged a relationship that was beautiful.

I was a different person in high school.

I know we all were.....but my situation was different. I almost didn't graduate.....and my parents made a decision to send me to live with my aunt and uncle.

{that is a whole different post....}

Anyways......my mom is my best friend and she is sick but going to be o.k.

I've had friends that have lost their mothers.......and friends that don't even really know their mothers......so i consider myself lucky......i have a beautiful relationship.

when i left Colorado.....over 2 years ago........i had a little going away party at my house...just the girls....about 20 of them......friends and neighbors.....and my mom.

well.....there was a book that was passed around called "oh...the places you'll go.." by Dr. Suess.

....Polaroid pictures were taken of the evening with me and the girls....with each of the girls writing a bit ...and on the page was a picture of myself and my mom.....and she wrote....

'where you go...i will follow'.

becuase that is my mom......














xo

dearest friday....

I have a small warning for you.



what you are about to view....are not pretty pictures........at least the first few are not.



I dare you to enter......... something happens in this room on a weekly basis. no lie.



i finally opened the closet and low and behold......everything that i had ever imagined not possible...was possible.



Every time i sent lola up to clean her room...i used to applaud her for being like her mother....so organized and thoughtful when it came to her room.



NOT SO.



Everything you see on the floor was stuffed in her closet.



I found things i thought were lost and gone forever....



all hiding in this closet.....




oh.....let me tell you.....Fin had a ball in there....why is it that little boys love this sort of stuff? I swear he ate



a half eaten candy bar from 2 years ago.



I also swear that if he gets an upset stomach tonight....that he will NOT be staying home tomorrow.



because it's his last full day of all day school and i have plans....



big plans....



it's his last day of daycare before he starts pre-k.



why is pre-k only 2.5 hours?



now i'm re-thinking taking him out of daycare to save a few bucks....



so...he better not vomit tonight.





This is what i spent the day doing on Thursday.......cleaning a room that should be done by it's own occupant.



I also found out that lola is a hoarder. {why does it sound like the word 'order'...because it's the furthest thing from that}



she hoards.



now...me...myself.....i collect.........



lola hoards.



i ended up with a few large bags that are headed to goodwill and a large bag that is just headed to the garbage.



enter clean closet....







her room was such that you couldn't even see her new duvet cover......

sweet posie love.

This duvet cover is not from Anthro.....nope.....

it's from Homegoods of all places.

and it was NOT expensive.

under $60.

I'm all over the board today.....

have you seen this ladder in the new Country Living mag {sept issue}???

What a wonderfully fabulous idea......

...and here is my version.......it's a good thing it's not bigger...because then i would feel the need to fill it full.

What do you have lined up for the three day weekend girls? I'm heading to the flea market again on Saturday with a friend.....then a party with some neighbors in the eve...and hopefully....just hopefully....the weather is warm enough that we can enjoy the last weekend that our pool is open.

oh....don't forget to comment for a starbucks gift card here.....

and my dear friend is having an uber cool giveaway here....[make sure you tell her lola b's sent ya..}

xo

I love plum.....

I spent the entire day combing the city for a pair of plum knee high riding boots.


I'm not asking for much......i mean.....how hard is it for the big stores to stock some really cool boots? Oh...they all have them in black and brown.....some that zip.....some that pull on......but it seems like they could do a little better if you ask me. I did find this dress above.....of course it's at Anthro.....and when i walked in and tried it on.......it fit just perfect....like it was made for me.


I told the sales lady.......remember me??? I'm the one that Anthro named their skinny jean after....remember??


she didn't remember me.


no biggie though.....because i was going to ask for a discount on the dress....i figured....that's the least they could do for me......give me a teeeeeeny...tiiinnnnnnny...discount for using my name and all......


but no......


she wouldn't budge.


She asked me if she should call "headquarters"......just to "double check"....my story..........and i just said never mind....


seriously......


they should be sending me truckloads of free stuff for using my name.......


but that's just me....rambling on.....

let me ask you....have you ever shopped H&M?? I do. Let me ask you something else.....have you ever bought kids clothes there?

I did.

I think it's time for another fall photo shoot with my kids.....don't ya think?

{it's in your best interest not to say no....}

and it won't be in front of a barn this year....nope it won't......

i have found another spot.......

but you will have to wait and see....




Anyways.....even though we are having crazy weather......i'm so excited for my pumpkin latte.....

i had to grab one this morning on my shopping expedition...even though i came home with just some clothes for the kids.....

and the best pear and blue cheese salad from Nordstroms .....

i need to live off of salads for awhile.....seems like i've fallen off the bandwagon....

my husband told me that my gym called and they are wondering where i am.

WHAT!

what kind of gym calls and asks that?

aaaghh.




so today is your lucky day......because i did not find my I LOVE PLUM boots that i so totally need at the moment......

i went and bought some extra Starbucks gift cards so a few of you could try a latte yourself....
no...not all of you....even though i wish i could give you all one.....
but i'll pick a handful of you.

xo