Who?!

Today was one of those days.

I turned on the TV while I made Isabella and myself some dinner...she got quiet, too quiet. So I peeked around the corner and saw this...

Now, what has her so enamored? I busted out laughing when I saw what it was...

Why, the good Doctor, of course! I had turned on a little Dr. Who to enjoy while I ate my dinner...I never dreamed Isabella would take to it so much. She and I sat for over an hour watching it together. It makes me so happy to have her enjoy a little various and sundry geekery with me :)

Stuff and nonsense.

The sewing project I completes about...oh, ten minutes ago. I made one for Isabella and one for my niece, Sophia. I am officially addicted to applique. It rocks my world.

The things that perpetuate my nightstand. I would like to point out that the planner is NOT because I fancy myself so popular and important...but because my daughter is busier than I am and I suffer from occasional bouts of mommy-brain moments where I forget stuff. Chocolate (one is opened and half eaten, yep.) The two books I have neglected because I became so enthralled with reading The Help, and a framed picture of me and the love of my life at a baseball game.

Sidenote: This framed picture was gifted to me by the man himself...I went on a trip with my family, and when I returned I was greeted with a bag brimming with good chocolate and this framed picture. All together now ''awwwwwww"

He does stuff like that for Isabella too. He likes to ''spoil his girls''

He doesn't have any brothers...sorry.

My favorite magazine to flip through.

My four all-time favorite things I found for $1

1. Red polka-dot Nine West clutch. Inside is a chain you can use if you're not in the clutchin' mood. I swoon.

2. Vintage silver spoons I found at an antique shop in the Ozarks. I'm putting them in a shadow box, which will one day hang in my kitchen.

3. Laser buttons. I love these! They have 30's looking faces on them. I will use them to spruce up a cardigan for Isabella this fall.

4. Vintage hankies. I go ape-bananas over vintage hankies. I have about a dozen of them and dream of sewing one of those vintage hankerchief banners.

Things I keep in my purse or on my person:

1. Envirosax reusable shopping bags. They are awesome. Get some. These particular bags are adorable, they are in pastel colors and have recipes and cleaning tips on them along with cute pictures. The website has SO MANY styles to choose from. I want more. I'm greedy, albeit conscious of the environment.

2. GermX wipes. I had an entire bag-full given to me by my dearest friend and college mate after I embarrassed her by wiping down our desks every morning. I will say, neither she nor I ever got the flue that year.

They live in my purse and always will. And all God's people said Amen.

3. A pocket dictionary. What? I have a thing about dictionaries. There's nothing more humiliating than the mispelling or the mispronouncing...or *visible shudder* the misuse of a word. I have a dictionary app. on my phone too...but what if the battery died?!

A few things I obsess over. Burts Bees tinted lip balm, adds a touch of color and keeps my lips super soft. Persian Rose perfume, I have only been able to find it at Earthfare, but I adore the scent, it is lovely and light and smells just like a rose. I'm almost out which makes me sad. Lastly, grey nail polish. I love this grey nail polish. It is sleek and shiny and makes me feel hip. It actually lasts a few days before chipping and it's a neutral so it goes with everything...double score!

My two favorite articles of jewelry. My feather earrings and the pendent necklace which is actually my mom's...I have adopted it and am hoping she won't notice until the papers are signed and things are official.

What I am sewing for myself right now. I'm a sucker for vintage style clothing patterns. I'm currently making the black one on the left out of turquiose linen.

Make it so.

I think a lot in the summer.

Summer evenings in the south are among the most cherished times of my life. It's such a nostalgic time for me. Not only does it hold dear memories of becoming a mother for the first time, but the combined ingredients of the balmy air, the fireflies, the cicadas singing their everlasting anthem and the occasional smell of the garden drifting up to greet me on the porch swing...all of this, it breeds thoughts in my soul. Not the fleeting kind, but the kind that creep into your head and nest there, the kind that trigger personal reflection and encourage growth, the shaping kind.

I am content.

This has been the forefront of my thoughts.

Con*tent; (ken-tent) adj. Satisfied. Easy in mind.

I feel like it's pretty incredible that I am able to say this. I have things in my life that infuriate me, things that I wish I could sweep under the rug, things that just aren't fair. But that is just what they are...things.

We spend our lives living inside our own minds, but yet most of the time we don't know ourselves at all. I find that gradual process of acqainting oneself with one's psyche very fascinating. I like to imagine this as a life-long process, one that grows and ages much like the human body. It has taken me years of clumsy learning, but I think I have finally figured out one small facet, and that is how to set apart the ugly in my life so as to not have it bleed into my joys.

And I have so many joys.

I know that I am hopelessly flawed and always will be because I am human, I recognize in myself the weaknesses that I hate so much and I know that there are seventy-times-seven more of those for me to learn in my future. But without weakness there wouldn't be strength, and flaws and features go hand-in-hand. So I choose to focus on the latter of the two, because the others just make me feel frowny.

I am revelling in this summer.

The summer I became just a little more shaped. The summer I realized that I actually like who I am. The summer I realized with a blunt force just exactly what it is I want in life. The summer I learned how to prioritize the ones who matter most. The summer I found a love that leaves me in awe and makes me feel as big as the whole wide world.

The summer I discovered content.

Happy Father's Day!

Lemme tell you a little bit about my dad.

First of all, I blame him for why I am so picky about my fellers. He set the standard for how I expect to be treated. My entire life I have watched him wake up every morning and go to work to provide for his family, all the while expressing undying love and faithful devotion to my mom. So the bar is pretty high for the dude in my life.

Plus he has always brought all of his girls Godiva chocolates on special occasions.

Truth is, I have a spectacular set of parents. I could write pages about both of them, but this year in particular I'm noticing how each one is spectacular to me in their own way.

This year has been pretty tough on Isabella. She was confused and pretty mad at me. She took the divorce in stride, but I saw her mourn the loss of her normalcy, and the questions and intuitive comments have been more than a little off-putting. I worried a lot about her having that stable day-to-day father figure that is so important in a little girl's life.

I shouldn't have worried though, because my dad immediately stepped up to the plate and has been there every day. Offering all those important little things a girl needs from her dad. Morning cartoons, snuggles, sneaking her off to buy bags full of candy, playing outside, important life lessons...

He also grills the perfect steak.

This is what I wake up to most Saturday mornings.

Through all of the upheaval and tumultuous instability of the past year, he has been steady as an oak for us. Offering advice, words of wisdom, love and support. Taking care of us, providing for us, and encouraging me to keep my head up and plow through school.

In short, being the perfect example of a true southern gentleman.

An ode to Nutella

Sweet Nutella, there aren't enough words to say,
How you complete me in so many ways.

Even though you kind of resemble baby doodie,
You're off the hook, 'cause you sooth me when I'm PMS'ing and moody.

I often like you best piled on my strawberries,
If they offered a Nutella spa treatment, I'd have nary a hairy.

Sometimes I struggle getting my toddler to eat,
But spread on bread, you turn this struggle into a feat.

Oh, the places your sweet bounty can be spread...
I'd best stop thinking such foodie thoughts in my head.

More often than not I eat you straight out of the can,
Sometimes I think you're better than a man.

You're only rival indeed may be bacon,
Put the two of you together, and sweet foodie love we be makin'

I eat you on a spoon, on toast, on my waffles,
You give me a chocolate mustache 'til I look like John Stossel.

I would continue spouting my love and adoration,
But all of these foodie thoughts is causing hungry agitation.

So alas, I leave to procure a sweet snack,
But fret not my Nutella, for I will be back.

Homesteadin'

After spending eleven days with her dad, Isabella was very eager to get home to her crops. This farmstead comes to a screeching halt without her diligent overseeing. One of her favorite evening past times is assisting Lovie and Granddaddy in the gardens. At precisely this time last year, we excitedly collected caterpillars and put them in jars to document their phenomenal metamorphosis. No one was more excited than I, when we woke up one morning and watched them unfold their wet little velvet wings. It amazes me every single time.

This year we're leaving them in their natural habitat, but Isabella was quick to point out each specimen :)

She made my soul grin real big when she came out of her room sporting her ''work boots'' She clunked downstairs as fast as she could, snatched a popsicle (girls got her priorities, after all) and went outside to supervise the watering. She struck a few poses for me.

She's a ham.

I heard tell it's a hereditary trait, but I'm not a ham at all. Only on days that end in 'Y'

Melons! I biologically researched the soil, constructed the trellis, and planted the melons myself.

Really, I did.

Okay, fine. Sike.

But I did sit on the porch and offer moral support while my mom cursed her way through the building of the trellis skeleton. That's got to count for something. And I did read an article in the bathroom about the chemistry of soil.

On second thought, maybe you didn't want to know that.

Help me! I'm an over-sharer.

Happy Birthday sweet gal 'O mine.

This is Isabella last year on her third birthday. Notice the chubby toddler cheeks?

Boom.

This was taken Monday evening on her fourth birthday. I wept a little when I compared the two photos...how is that she can look so much more grown up in just one short year?!

Currently she is very much into the movie Cars, anything crafty, twinkle-toes shoes, going to the movies, working in the garden, hosting Olivia tea parties, playing her drum set and reading. She writes her name, reads small words, counts everything and enjoys sitting and studying her books.

She is so much fun right now. She has developed her own personality and is as quick as a whip. She is extremely independent (can't imagine where she got that from) I love this kid, girl after my own heart. She is my child through and through, from the tips of that red-head personality to the bottom of that stubborn spirit.

Sometimes I'll be watching that gangly body just pummeling through the yard...then she falls, nothing but a tangle of bony arms and legs, I'll hold my breath waiting for the tears, but nope! She jumps right up and keeps on pummeling, grinning and yelling ''I'm okay!'' That is my girl.