double dates, singing in the rain, berry picking parties, and get out the vote!

The date...the date was so blissful and it was compliments of this sweet friend, as a thank you for those three little quilts. After my buff, rugged and gorgeous date had shaved and put on his cologne and after I donned high heels and a dress that I just been waiting for an occasion to wear, not that it would have had to have been an " occasion " per say I could have gone out exactly as I was in capris a tee shirt and flip flops, no one one have known the difference...but I decided that day that sometimes you have to make your own occasions if you want a good reason to wear a pretty dress with heels. So I did. After all that we went to a little Italian restaurant/pie shop nearby where dinner was fabulous and the company, even more so. I mean you can't beat that combination. And you better believe we ordered dessert. We laughed and chatted, hand in hand and remarked how nice and relaxed it felt not to have to be fishing our two year old who gets called Monkey by her father more than she does her given name, out from under the table every few minutes.

Meanwhile at home, with not just one but two literally Great Aunts ( David's Mom's Sisters ) Annabelle was having a ball. When we got home Aunt Lynne told us " boy is she ever a going concern." Which I think meant, she was very good and very busy and kept them quite entertained in true Annabelle-like fashion. Which means lots of facial expressions, excitement, occasional acrobatic feats and an endless list of other funny little antics.

After dinner we decided we'd like to enjoy what you could say is our version of a double date: mostly meaning two dates in one night, so we headed over to Starbucks and parked ourselves for another hour where I got my wish to sit with my knees up in a big overstuffed chair and flirt with my boyfriend. Well we went between flirting to trying to concentrate on the list we were making...plotting out our future, or what David has begun to refer to as our "exit strategy." The exit stragety inclueds the end of his current job, the sale of our current home sweet home and leaving the area we live in...and it involves jumping into much anticipated on my part anyway, yet uncharted waters for us. As he prayed tonight at the table " Lord, please guide us and show us where we need to go and what we should do. And help me to be brave. " It's a big deal this striking out on our own. Especially since we don't know where exactly we are going or whether any of our ideas for owning our own business will make enough money to sustain us. I am beyond excited about the unknowns in our future, but then I am not the one responsible for providing for us either. Seeing it through, David's eyes, I understand the prayer for courage. After all he is giving up his perfectly good job for we aren't even sure what yet. The one thing we are certain of is that we want to be closer to our family. After this coming weekend, it will have been my 10 th trip to ID since Mothers day. And that cannot go on forever.

But then there was the flirting. Lots and lots of flirting. And then we ran into the grocery store for chocolate covered gummy bears, and a couple bouquets of roses which we had decided to "pay" the aunts with. As we walked out of the store we were amazed, finding ourselves under a most amazing sky, of deep cobalt blue. It was dusk and even the clouds looked as if they had been dipped in buckets of indigo blue paint. Neither of us had ever seen anything quite like it. And I rather think it was one of those although far from significant, precious little moments that you just know you won't forget and will always be able to pull up a visual for, in your minds eye. The kind of moment you would have completely missed if you had been rushing out of the grocery store, juggling babies and a shopping cart, rushing home, instead of strolling out starry eyed, on the arm of the one you love.

He had me in stitches all the way home. It was so refreshing to get to be a little bit care free and enjoy the romance that often gets overshadowed by the sweet little interruptions of daily life. And knowing that Annabelle was being read to, and loved on by such dear babysitters was a really good feeling too.. I mean really, how many of you were lucky enough to have two great aunts dote on you and spoil and give you their sole attention for three entire hours at a time, repeatedly?

Truly, as happy as she was to see us, she didn't even miss us one little bit. And I can almost say the same about her.

" Mommy I want to go outside and play with your ******** (insert a word here that I can not for the life of me decipher ) after over a dozen "say it again honey" I asked her if she could show me what she meant. She took my hand and lead me to the coat closet, I opened the door, in she goes to pull out my yellow umbrella. " Mommy want to go out in a muddle puddle and go? (demonstrating) " stomp! stomp! That be fun? "

Well of course I do. I am always looking for a good reason to dress her in her beloved hand-me -down ladybug raincoat and wellies.

In other news, our blackberries are ripe. But there is no way I can possibly get all of them picked before they spoil or fit that many gallons in my teeny tiny freezer...so consider yourself invited to a berry picking party at my house. Any time in the next month, open invitation. Come and get your fingers purple with us!

My dear friend Dawna is a semi-finalist in a recipe contest over at Saucy Eats that I really want her to win. Not only that but she is amazing and just plain old deserves to win. Just this once, there is no hesitation in deciding who to vote for. So if you get a chance could you pop in there and give her your vote. Also you can read the super darling post she wrote up about her Top Secret Recipe here. And please if you think about it, she could really use your prayers today.

{ my favorite quote, currently }

" Charm is a glow within a woman that cast a most becoming light on others. "

- J.M. Brown

I am sharing it because it seems so beautifully fitting for you dear ladies.

1. on my way to work, 2. Swing, 3. dudes, I got a bike, 4. I will dance with Cinderella, 5. happy (smudgy) bokeh wednesday!, 6. Sweethearts, 7. fun, 8. The Answer Is Hidden In The Wind., 9. * * *, 10. The End of Summer, 11. LoVe, 12. view, 13. Me and my sister wearing dresses and aprons that she designed and made. These aprons are from vintage tablecloths. Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

So jazzed...

Whooo Hooo! I have a *H*O*T* date tonight.

And oh but he's dreamy.

a day in the life of...

two year old Annabelle Lucy

a.m

7ish- She rolls over smack into me, that wakes me up and then strange as it sounds she often senses when I am awake if she is already stirring and usually wakes up herself ...she sits up with a start " Mommy my waked up! " She snuggles into me and promptly falls back to sleep.

8ish - She requests " that stuff with warm milk and rasies. " That stuff of course meaning oatmeal.

9ish - She takes red and black crayon to the walls and draws great big circles all over the wall, while I am washing my hair in the sink. I hear a scratching sound on the wall. Uh-Oh. The crayon box says, "washes off walls with warm water." That is a lie. But a Google search suggested toothpaste. In case you are wondering, it seems to do the trick.

10ish -Annabelle takes a "buggle" bath to get the "buggle" gum off her back. Deb told me I'd be sorry I let her have gum so soon. Boy was she right. But after months of begging I just caved in and let her have it. It looks like I may live to regret that.

11ish - Clean as a whistle she decides it's time for dress up. We try on a Cinderella dress and end up with a kimono. See pictures below.

{ pretending to nap }

p.m.

12ish - We read books. She plays with play dough. Then eats her macaroni and cheese lunch.

1ish - She takes one of her famous sleepless naps, complete with quietly climbing out the crib, climbing up her changing table and getting into her closet.

2ish - Nap over. She quietly watches her new favorite movie from the library...

3ish - More dress up. She asks to where her jingle bell dress and sandal shoes from Auntie Roo's wedding. Why not get some good use out of them. So she runs around in that dress, spills chocolate milk on it and rolls down the hill in it.

4ish - Daddy comes home...this is cause for much excitement...she runs out the door and into his open arms. Here she is trying on his hard hat. You got to love the clothing combo, almost everyday she comes up with something new and exotic.

5ish - This is a first. She tells me " Mommy I want to help you make dinner." Against my better judgement, I let her. After all it was such a sweet request. 30 minutes later I have to have David come get her and take her outside as both of us as well as the entire kitchen is covered in flour. Despite the mess, the calazones were yummy.

6ish - We sit down for dinner. She eats all of her broccoli and none of her calazone. We think that is awfully strange.

7ish - She joins us for a trip to the Library in her blue jammies with the whales on them. We come home with a stack of books.

8ish - She sits in Daddy's lap as he reads her the new library books. Then they sing songs. We tuck her in for the night. She cries and sings and asks to go potty on the toilet. After that she says she needs to eat some food. We remember that she only had brocoli for dinner. She eats a piece of buttered bread. I rock her again and she falls asleep in my arms in less than a minute.

9ish- The End. Of today, that is.

{ the week in pictures }

Highlights of the week included: * Tuesday afternoon at the lake, Annabelle gets to play in the sand with Jesse and Mari and try out her new froggy float *twins staying three whole days and nights* Deb and I escaping for a outing, we shopped, went to Starbucks, bought stuff, marveled at how amazing David was to take on all three of the kids single handedly, had so much fun and didn't get home until after 11* picnic, and swim in the lake with the playground afterwards* the three of us adults then sat around the table by candle light, ate Klondike bars and talked the night away* packed and received box full of goodies from this dear friend * left for Boise* spent the night at David's cousins/best man/buddy's house and stayed up late telling stories* spent the morning chatting with his beautiful wife Carrie and catching up on our lives* drove the rest of the way to ID* attended friends wedding and reception* stayed up late playing Monopoly* Breakfast with Mike and Melody, compliments of Mike* Spending the morning together, the time went all to fast* long hot 9 hour drive home, one place we stopped we noticed that the temp was 110 degrees in the shade, thank you Lord for A.C.* so happy to be home, after unpacking and putting little girl to bed, we sat out on the back porch watching a lightning storm and eating corn on the cob* this morning so far we have done the dishes, cleaned house, played dress up, talked on the phone, sent emails read books and now she is down for her nap and I have some time on my hands...hmm...now if only I could decide on which project to concentrate on* so tell me, what are you up to this week?

{ my happy pot of zinnias on the back porch }

{ introducing Annabelle to play dough }

{ I traded a banner for this new vintage clutch from this lovely Etsian,
I love it so much and it matches my big purse perfectly }

{ talking on the phone to Auntie Roo }

{ Mari playing house }

{ Jesse washing dishes }

{ the girls in their matching stripes }

{ attack of the kisses }

{ cousins }

{ three twins }

{ this dear friend likes to play Auntie to Annabelle as she has no nieces of her own and sent us the sweetest package, complete with homemade cinnamon rolls and all sorts of things to spoil Annabelle, including the darling clip in her hair and the coloring book she is looking at, wasn't that kind of her? }

- Part two: Friends Wedding, Boise ID -

{ bride and groom, both David and I were
childhood friends with the beautiful bride and her family }

{ the bride was radiant}

{ the pretty lady in this picture is Melody, we were next door neighbors and very best friend growing up we spent the weekend with her precious little family }

{ And this is Noah, Melody's most precious and adorable baby boy. He is nine weeks old and couldn't be one ounce sweeter...we just fell in love with him, especially Annabelle }

{ Annabelle snitched one of the discarded flower wreaths from one of the little flowery girls and claimed it as her own...she looked like a fair princess with it on }

{ dancing with Uncle Marky }

{ Anna and I }

{ self portrait }

{ wildflowers we stopped to pick on our way home }

{ The art of Surprise }

I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder..." wake up, sweets" he whispered.
The room was the pitch dark. My head felt fuzzy and I wondered if I had dreamed the alarm clock had just gone off. And wait. It feels like the middle of the night. He handed me a warm jacket. " Here put this on and come with me, " he said softly. I followed him sleepy and puzzled as he lead me out, his arms heaped with blankets and pillows, through the dining room towards the back door. I made a quick glance at the clock as we ducked out the door...it blinked back at me 2:10 am? My foggy brain could not fathom what might happen next.Earlier in the day, with a twinkle in his eye as he announced to me. " I've got a surprise for you. " Of course my curiosity immediately peaked..." is that so? well, when do I get it? can I have it now?" The answer was no, not now, later. Surprises make me want to stand on my head. The minute I become aware that a surprise exists I cannot stop wondering...and I always try and guess. And then I usually start begging for hints and being obnoxious in general, hoping to pry some sort of clue out of him.
When bed time rolls around, he reminds me of my surprise, just to taunt me. I am so curious I have a hard time falling asleep and he refuses to give me any hints. Finally, after much nagging, he assures me that I cannot have the surprise until after I have gone to sleep. This tiny bit of information only makes me wonder all the more at what the surprise might be.
Holding my hand tightly in his own, I follow him through the back yard up to the middle of the big grassy flat part of our acre long lawn, where he lays down the blankets and pillows and instructs me to get cozy. The grass is wet with dew and there is a bit of a nip to the night breeze so I jump under the blanket and snuggle into his side. Then we are nose to nose. Suddenly I feel a rush of excitement and wide awake. " Is this my surprise?" I gasp. " Look up." He answers. We both face the diamond studded blackness of the night sky. " This is your surprise. We going to watch an actual, real, live meteor shower. " For the next half hour we scanned the sky for falling stars. And we saw 6. Three of which were great big, beautiful ones that took their pretty time in falling. I was awestruck. Not only by the fact that the dark night had enveloped us and it felt like at any minute parts of the sky my fall down in a shower of beauty and light around our heads but I was in awe of the incredible thoughtfulness behind the plotting of this surprise. Talk about romantic. I kept thinking to myself, this is really happening. It's not an excerpt from a Nicolas Sparks novel. It's for real. He's for real. I felt giddy and girlish. " This is probably going to go down in history on my list of most favorite surprises ever," I say. Our heads are together and I can tell he's smiling. I think to myself, part of what contributes to making this such an amazing moment is knowing how much he normally hates having having his sleep interrupted. He hates it almost more than anything else in the world. And yet he set his alarm for 2 am, to be able to share this exact moment together. We've been married for 5 years. We are so secure in each others love. He doesn't have to but he still wants and chooses to pursue me. And I promise I could not feel more cherished, treasured, or adored than I do by this man. This simple act spoke volumes to me. It inspires me to want to grow in my ability to love others more creatively. It was the kind of surprise you would never in a million years guess. One more way to say " I love you. Even at 2 am. Especially at 2 am. And I'll gladly gave up sleep to spend this moment in time, making a memory with you. "
And when I am a little old lady I'll think back on this night under the stars and remember how much this man loved me, and not because I necessarily deserve this kind of love either, because truthfully I don't, it's more like he loves me this much, because he just plain can't seem to help it.
Whoever said a fancy dinner, and a box with something shiny in it or a dozen roses, chocolate truffles and a Hallmark card, ( although I am those things never hurt ) defines romance anyway?
And I know exactly what you are thinking, I am so blessed. And to that I say, " you're not kidding! "
And then I hope your very next thought is. Me too Lord. Oh, me too.

Come play with us...

{ swap }

Definition: trade something: to trade or exchange

something for something else.

Fairlight and I are hosting another swap over at Domestic Bliss. I can't really take any credit for it though, since it wasn't my original idea, nor did I write up the lovely post explaining how exactly it all works, nor did I take this pretty little picture, nor did I make the lovely button you'll find to the write linking you to that aforementioned post. Somewhere down the line in all of this, I do hope to be of some help to my beloved creative genius of a friend and I am so excited to be a part of this little swap as. It will be like Christmas not only to send out our goodies but also receive not just one but three separate packages...and I can hardly wait to get my hands on the three notebooks I ordered last night, I have ideas galore of how I want to dress them up. Go find out more about here, it and sign up today...I mean who wouldn't just at the chance feel like a giddy schoolgirl again? Below is a sneek preview...

{ Embellish }

A little paperie swap of school-girl goodies
Take a moleskine notebook,embellish it for your three partners,add a few favorite school supplies,and send those pretty little packages on their way.

Read the rest of the post in detail, here.

I can't resist...

I have to post this bunch of pictures of Annabelle Lucy playing with her Daddy-dear in the back yard tonight...after David being gone a couple nights this week and missing him so much it was beyond good to have him come home to us tonight. And such a happy occasion as this called for the making of a triple coconut cream pie. Super yummy.

They twirled, held hands, I'm-gonna-get-you'd each other, they goofed off, tickled, snuggled, hugged and kissed, giggled and teased, piggy back-ed , wrestled, twirled some more and made up for lost time in general. And I sat there marveling at the two of them, having one of those overwhelming moments of realizing just how very good I have it, and reassuring myself, that they are for real. They should be too good to be true but they aren't.

Lord thank you, my cup is overflowing.

{ The Week In Pictures }

{ reading in the car }

{ bros. and co. }

{ Sleepy Sunday afternoon nap }

{ Granniebelle's opening her birthday book }

{ David wearing a basket on his head }

{ Annabelle and Audrey playing in real life together ( love the purse over Audrey's shoulder ) and we just loved watching our girls play together...they made an adorable twosome, and at one point during the afternoon Annabelle while they were jumping on the bed Annabelle burst out randomly with a..." I like that nice girl! " }

{ the highlight of the week, getting to meet this dear friend in real life...we hit it off in person just like we had in blogland and I let me tell you Andi Mae is %100 darling with her tiny frame, bright blue eyes and sweet, sweet personality...the afternoon flew by and before we new it we were hugging good bye and talking about next time... }

{ Sunday afternoon hike to explore these natural water slides we have been hearing about and we had so much f-u-n! Unbelievable as it sounds, Annabelle ran practically the entire way up and back a good, two miles }

{ wild columbine }

Not pictured is the wonderful time we had with David's Mom and little sister Greta who spent Saturday night with us. We played bad mitten and watched looney tunes and had a grand time, being in each others company...we only wish it could have been for longer.

We are having a swell Summer. Really truly.