cherries, golabki, and turning 5.

yes, i am officially 'in the weeds." overwhelmed, busy....but really, really liking it. i complain sometimes, but i love it and i am learning how to deal with all the new things that come with starting a new business and balancing family life too.


my blog is a little lonely, but i am pretty sure that i will catch up and do a tad better in the coming months...wishful thinking works sometimes too. i'm all about it.


first off, things that i am super excited about:


*autumn wreath, candied apple, macintosh, frosted pumpkin...no these are the not the names of my future children, but rather are the names that i love to see lining the shelves at yankee candle.


it is one of my favorite times of the year. its the time right before school starts, summer ends and fall begins. my favorite because i get to dream about all the fun things we have coming up. not to get to far ahead of myself, but after decorating for fall, comes halloween, then thanksgiving, and then...hello...christmas!!! my favorite holiday ...no secret.


*i have mental lists of things i want to do including but not limited to redecorating my home for the holidays, learn how to make strawberry muffins and serve them to friends with tea...in real tea cups. lovin' this cookie stand from anthropologie...i've got my eye on it. i think it would be the perfect spot to place my strawberry muffins

*go to disney with my...huge GULP...5 year old baby girl.

*this computer

*make a homemade wreath

*learn how to make homemade crust to then fill with my mom's pumpkin pie filling recipe

*clean out the kids playroom so it will be more efficient and creativity free-ing (yup, made that up). i'll definitely post before and after pics

*with the new season, i want to spend time with my special friends, drink coffee, make scones, watch our kids, share ideas, do, create, live, have fun, dream,...yup.i'm a dork. a proud one. i love all the stuff that comes from the upcoming season. i'm ready. bring it.

*the book i just ordered that this sweet friend (my very own kathleen kelly) read to me over the phone yesterday. she told me i'd find it on amazon...i found about 4 other children's books too. she's got me hooked on the old books she talked about on her blog here. some i, too, read as a child and am so happy that i have been reminded how precious these books and the memories associated with them are.

a couple of weeks ago, i visited kells bells when she had a scare with her pregnancy. we had the best time. it was like a four-day long sleepover where we shared coffee in the morning, laughed, cooked, cried, bummed around in our pj's,... we did exactly what we both needed...a lot of nothing but soul searching chats and lotsa episodes of the gillmore girls...i'm so hooked. that show had me at multi-colored knitted scarves and hats at the beginning of the show.

i'm so happy that my friend and her baby girl are safe and sound. i know she is saddies that she can't make the trip to chicago with the rest of her family, but she is rocking out her modified bedrest with various crafts in bed and phone calls of ideas of what we will do when i return home.

being sick and physically exhausted is not easy, especially being so far from family that you can hit up for help. i know everything will be okay and i can't wait until we get to meet the little bundle of love in january!!!! even with the dry heaving down i-75 toward the airport...kelle remained positive and upbeat. heave, "i'm okay!" heave..."this is not so bad." heave, "it's okay. it's okay. i'm used to it." all while driving with a puke bag in her lap and it went on for about...4 minutes. laughing now.

another sweet friend...

a couple of weeks ago, i took some photos of my beautiful sister-friend, jenn. i love her and her family and had so much fun snapping some pics up north near petoskey in michigan. we drove the greeny/four-wheeler into the hills and fields of wildflowers behind their cottage. breathtaking is the only word i can think of...okay, heavenly and perfect work as well.

i took many, but here are a few of my faves starting with all of the little cousins running a race in one of the fields...i wish i could post all of them because they are flippin' funny. can you guess which cousin was upset by the long flowers tickling his or her legs???

and after the ride, i walked outside to find the kids like this. swear, i did not set this up. so precious...

all the kids love and adore big cuz kinsey!!!

thank you, jenn for being game and for being so supportive. love ya.

besides being super busy so far this summer...we have a BIG birthday coming up. i don't want to focus lots on it now because i want to pretend that she is years away from her fifth birthday, but it is on my mind and we are going to make it an extra special birthday. i can not believe that my baby is turning five. it seems so old and weird...and not possible. i find myself hugging her longer, telling her i love her more, reminding her that she'll always be my baby.

i'm reaching, grasping at the days left of her toddlerhood. i miss her little-ness so much that it hurts, so talking about it now will prepare me for the day she officially turns...'little girl.'

jenn and i are taking both girls to disney world this year. we are staying at animal kingdom, having lunch with cinderella, and going diva at bibbidy boppidy boutique. we can't wait and neither can the girls.

we are celebrating turning five. i love watching them grow-up together.

and to make myself feel like i did something...

i did a half of a scrap page:)

okay, i want to post more pics, but my damn paste button not working;0

i will post more when i find a computer guy that works for free and makes house calls:)

until then...

much love.

xoxo