Let Them Be Little...

...cause they're only that way for a while.

Best Friends: Natalie and her cousin, Madison

Nicolas

Our cousin, Emmy Grace

Two Peas In A Pod: Emmy and Noah

He's a bit of a screamer...lol

They have SO much fun together.

Nic gave our time at the park, two thumbs up

My boys

And thank you for a house full of people I love.  Amen.  

~ Terri Guillemets

Potty Talk

Yay! Mr. Noah used the potty today...TWICE! 

We're so proud...

Off to the park to celebrate with our awesome Aunt Julie and cousins, Madison and Emily! :)

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My sister called earlier and asked, "Are we still on for tonight?"

Music to my extremely bored ears.

As it turns out, I had completely forgotten that my sister, mom and I are supposed to have girl's night out tonight. In honor of my mom's birthday.

I quickly hung up the phone and dialed my hubby to make sure that he is going to be home to watch the kiddos (Does anyone else get slightly annoyed that the husband can go out babysitter FREE no questions asked but the wife...nope, we've gotta call everyone we know and BEG). Turns out that yes, he will be home but not til 7. So...I dialed up my dad to come to my rescue.

Have a mentioned that I.Love.My.Dad. ???

Dad...yeah, shirt off his back? Check. One of the very best men I know. 

So tonight, I will be spending a fabulous evening with my girls...Mom and Juls.

Dinner and a movie...what? WHAT?

Y to the ayyyyyyyy!!!

Time to go get prettied up.

XOXO

Girl Time

Sorry that I've been a little MIA this week.

I've been spending the week with my sister and our kiddos.


With our husbands out of town, we decided to play a little catch up in each other's lives.


Oh how I'm loving our post-kiddo-bedtime girl time.

:)

Line Therapy

I love it because it was made by these hands...hands of a father who loves his daughter.

I love it because it resembles a cross...which reminds me of another Father who loves His daughter...



I love it because it's going to save us a ton of money on our electric bill...

I love it because it reminds me of simpler days...sunshine and warm breezes...

I love it because of this sweet little girl that gets to hang out with me as I'm hanging the laundry...isn't she cute? ;)

I love it because when I hang my laundry, I feel peaceful in a world where peaceful moments are few and far between.

I call it line therapy.

Just me and my laundry...my line and pins...and posts that hold it all together reminding me of a Saviors love.

(At the cross...at the cross...where I first hung the line. Bad joke, I know...but doesn't stop me from singing it every.single.time.)

I finally have my clothesline...

Let the therapy commence.

XO

Wish You Were Here

Today is Day 5 here in sunny Arizona and I'm not in any hurry to go home. ;)

I've been spending quality time with my wonderful family...

...eating amazing food...(hello Ahi Tuna from Joe's Farm Grille)

...and enjoying the beautiful AZ sites...

My mantra this week has been, "I only have one life...LIVE".

It's been awesome living it in AZ. Though I am missing my kiddos, I gotta say...I am praying that Sunday is still a long way off!

Hope that you guys are having a great week!
We're off to go bowling... :)

XO

It's a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight

Ya know what I especially love about kids? They couldn't give a rat's patooty as to what they look like...they're just out for a good time.

Guess who had the princess bubbles? Eh hem...yup.

Bored with bubbles now on to boots...

Haha - don't you just love it?!

Honestly, it does give me slight heart palpitations...I do prefer my kids to be well-clothed (they stripped down so they could be sprayed with the hose).

We're going back to simpler ways and I am TRYING to be at peace with moments like this...enjoy them for what they are...kids being kids!

I believe in this moment, they were saying, "Howdy Partner's!" (or Parders as Noah puts it)

Howdy indeed. And oh so precious.

I'm holding these pictures for ransom come teen years. ;)

XO

Day Trip!

Okay...for some reason, I am having serious brain blockage on how to begin this post. Maybe I am worn out from my little jaunt today, I don't know. It was definitely tiring but so much fun!

Okay.

Lemme start by telling you that I've been inspired by my spring decorating post and have been itching to go SHOPPING! If you are saying to yourself, "What else is new?", shut up. :)

I spoke with my sister, Julie, last week and we decided to do a little day trip this week and head up to Lancaster County. Specifically The Flower & Craft Warehouse in Blue Ball, PA. Well, we started there and proceeded to visit a couple of other fun shopping spots. We also stopped for lunch and then ended up in St. Peter's Village to see the site's and take some pictures. We fancy ourselves photographers. ;)

Stop #1 The Flower and Craft Warehouse (Visit the link if you're interested!)

I'll just cut to the chase and show you what I got...I've got the brain block and all. By the way, I tried to keep the inspiration pieces from Pottery Barn close in mind...always a good idea for someone like me who is very much an impulse buyer. (I had to put back several items that I picked up on a whim - it helps to shop with my super practical sister ;))

Birdcage (nest was separate and the picture is shown below)

Box of eggs to use in my homemade nests

I am going to make my nests using this

And what's the point of having a nest without a bird?

For the love of all things hydrangea...

As you can see, I scored some pretty cute items that fit within the realm of the look I am going for.

So, that was stop #1.

Stop #2 was a little less productive. Carson's in the Cornfields (Visit the link if you're interested!)

Here, I only picked up these 3 cute little eggs.

Stop #3. The Blue Snickel. They do not have a website, sorry!

This store is very VERY primitive and therefore, not my style at all. I think it's cute though. :) The only thing I got here was some potpourri.


I love stores with cute little handmade shopping bags. I don't like the winter theme since I am currently anti-winter but nevertheless:

Adore.

As I said before, we went to lunch and then ended up in St. Peter's Village for a little sightseeing. It's so pretty there...despite the snow and ice...and bare branches...






I especially loved this message...as if we couldn't tell already by the beauty and sweetness of a day well spent and God's amazing creation...

:)

So, that was our wonderful day spent shopping in breathtakingly gorgeous Lancaster County. If you've never been there...GO. I suggest a day trip sometime in your near future. You may get caught in "traffic" behind a horse and buggy but it'll be worth it. I derive simple pleasure from the little things when I am there. Things like numerous pairs of black pants hanging on a single clothesline. If my computer wasn't being so annoyingly slow, I'd share more. I'd love to post some scenic pics of the countryside. It's precious.

If you have any questions about the decor items or shop info, let me know in the comments below. I'd be happy to answer them! I planned on being more detailed with this post but it's already taken me a couple of hours since the computer has been taking forever to upload anything. Sorry to those who were expecting more!

I'll leave you with this...Mommy and daughter princess mani's!


What a perfect way to end a perfect day.

XO,
J

A place to hang our stockings...

Almost 3 years ago when we were
chomping at the bit to
contemplating buying our house, the one thing that I had really wanted but the house did not offer was a fireplace. It did not deter us from putting in our offer but it was something that I was kinda sad about in the back of my mind. For me, a fireplace really makes a home. Ironically, we had one when we owned our home in North Carolina but had to use it only a few times due to the very mild weather. Life is funny but I digress. My mother-in-law, bless her heart, loves me very much and she also shares my love of fireplaces so she decided to buy my family one as an early Christmas present. :) The one that she bought is electric but the flame does look real-ish and the heat it puts off is definitely going to decrease our oil bill this year (a feature my husband, the bill payer, is particularly fond of).

I will post pictures at some point of our actual fireplace as it sits in our living room but for now...

Isn't it purty? I love it! It has cozied our living room right up and makes TV watching, reading a good book, playing games and entertaining so much more pleasurable. This is not to say that it is in any way superior to an actual roaring wood burning fireplace, however, until we can install one of those, this is working out for us quite nicely...plus, there is no mess to clean up and no firewood to collect. Just a push of a button and...ahhhhhhh...

Oooooh...and the BEST part is...I have someplace to hang our Christmas stockings this year!

Thank you, Mom and Pop Fanucci! We love you and we love our new fireplace! You have warmed our hearts in more ways than one! :)

Happy Holidays,
Jennifer

Kid Sister...Wherever I Go, You're Gonna Go...Kid Sister and Me...

Have I ever told you that I am so thankful for my sister, Julie?


She is my very favorite person in the world to hang out with...

Today, we packed a picnic lunch, put the kiddos in the car and tried out a new playground I found...

*the little girl front left is a straggler - she was cutie little Breanne - a super friendly little peanut that our kids enjoyed playing with today*









I'm KING OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




It was hard to get a good shot of Nicolas because he was constantly on the move...

I don't know if you can tell from these pictures but these kids got FILTHY today. I guess the playground must have been especially dirt laden because I haven't seen the kiddos this dirty in a LONG LONG time. Kinda gross.

Didn't stop us from wiping them up a little and heading on to Rita's Water Ice for a sweet treat though! Sure, we sauntered up to the window looking like homeless people but hey...a little dirt never hurt anyone, right?! Fun is fun and sometimes...the dirtier the better...

No one I'd rather tote around dirty kids with than you, Juls! Love ya girl!

XOXO,
Jennifer