wordless wednesday

just around the block

i saw these handmade blocks on etsy at lily & lou, and thought they were just adorable.

i am not in the market for baby blocks (how those days are so long gone) but you can't resist the beautiful fabrics, colors, and patterns on them. so sweet.

love how they look vintage.

it's my party.. part 1

we started celebrating sweet cheek's 5th birthday with a build-a-bear friend party last weekend. she had so much fun with all 8 of her friends. after the bear making (though she really made a rabbit which she named poppy- cute, right), we headed to the mall food court for some cupcakes and a carousel ride. she really had such a great time.

here she is in her birthday outfit before we headed to the party. sweet cheek's talented grandma made it for her. i found it on etsy but shhhh, don't tell. i had my mom make it instead! she is that good.
sweet cheek's headband is from target. her tutu is crew cuts.



the kids doing a big stretch before the bear making begins
sweet cheeks and her cousin waiting for their animals to be stuffed
what a beautiful, happy face. i think she smiled the entire day!
all the kids and their new "friends"
cupcake time in the food court. they were delicious!
and don't ask me why, but sweet cheeks wanted to rake once we got home. i must admit, she is pretty good at it!
we ended up giving her a kid sized broom, mop, and rake for her birthday. it felt so wrong yet so right.

more pictures to come from her actual birthday.
seriously, 5 already! i am still adjusting to the sound of that.

not so wordless wednesday

happy birthday to the sweetest, most amazing little girl i know. a little girl who changed my and the husband's life forever, for the better, 5 years ago today.

sweet cheeks, you are an absolute joy. i love you so much and thank god every day that i am able to be your mom. thank you for being you.


birthday pics will come tomorrow. until then, enjoy a few pictures of sweet cheeks birthday past.

2nd b-day



3rd b-day

4th b-day

"God gave you style and gave you grace, and put a smile upon your face"

we're grayish

i am loving the colors gray and light blue lately for both me and sweet cheeks.

gap kids had several cute things in those colors. gap womens- not so much. too bad. i am in the mood for some spring gray. it just seems so clean and light, doesn't it.

here are a few of my favs from the kids line-

wordless wednesday

from memory to reading

i would say for the past 9 months or so sweet cheeks has identified herself as a reader. she couldn't really read, but she was great at telling the stories from both memorization and picture.

i am so happy to say that sweet cheeks is now a real reader!

she is doing great at reading her bob books. these tiny books for new readers are amazing.



my eyes seriously watered up the other day when she was reading to me. i can't help that. i am her mom after all. i was never so mushy before sweet cheeks. it was the sweetest thing ever hearing her sound out words. i love that these books are building her in self confidence with reading. she is proud of herself and she should be.

another thing she is doing lately is word searches. she is quite good at them considering she doesn't know half of the words, but finds them based off of the letters alone. she is very patient with it. the only thing that was hard for her at first was the sharing of letters in more than one word. she didn't want her circles to overlap. i think she has let that one go though.




i love watching her learn and grow every day!

i can't believe she is almost 5. where did my baby go?

"i am not your rolling wheels...

i am the highway."
thank you audioslave.

sweet cheeks and i are rollin' in new wheels. and i must say, i love it.
i'd even go so far as to call it awesome.

when we started looking at new cars, i actually test drove a few minivans. i never really wanted to be a mother of 1 driving a minivan but quite honestly, i love the space. so for comfort and the ability to let my sister and her family ride with us, i was willing to be that mom. it just didn't feel right though. i drove the most popular vans out there and they just weren't for me. (so happy about that now)

so we went with the volvo xc90 in green. it isn't brand new but it is still new to me. i'll take it!

love love love it.

my two favorite things about the car are:

1. the extra two seats in the back that allow us to have 7 people- perfect for my little family of 3 and my sister's family of 4!

see the extra seats behind sweet cheeks smiling face...

(*note-she was getting out of the car here, that is the only reason she wasn't in the booster seat next to her)

2. the stereo actually tells me the song and artist playing. thank you technology! though i was using shazam on my phone before that, this works much better while driving!

see... i was jamming to snow patrol's "just say yes."



it's the simple pleasures in life.

wordless wednesday

i'm a little bit country, he's a little bit redneck

the husband races motorcycles. he has done this since the day i met him. of course it isn't my favorite thing about him (probably my least favorite thing if i am being honest) simply because it scares me. it's dangerous. it's fast. more than once has he broken a bone. several bones. but the one thing that i don't like about him is also one thing i admire about him. he loves it. he is passionate about it. he has a hobby and he is so good at it. this is why i would never want him to quit. i can't ask him to not do something that i know he loves and enjoys so, so much. it reminds me that i need a hobby!

the day we found out sweet cheeks was going to be a girl was one of the best days of my life. i did have that quick moment when i felt sad that the husband wouldn't have a mini him to share his love of motorcycles with.

i shouldn't have ever let that thought cross my mind. the husband has a daughter that he can share his love of motorcycles with.

last saturday we had a family outing to supercross. it was so much fun. sweet cheeks was so enthralled with it, so much more than i had expected. turns out that the husband and sweet cheeks have several things in common, and having fun watching dirt bikes jump is one of them.

sweet cheeks and her daddy when they walked in to supercross
lots of dirt
so happy together
it was adorable... sweet cheeks wore her motorcycle gloves to the event
me and sweet cheeks sporting our matching ear plugs and plaid shirts
nothing says supercross like some old fashioned fun dip
smiling before we left

it turned out to be such a fun day. i know you will see pictures in the future of sweet cheeks on her dirt bike. oh yes, she has one. she and the husband will be riding together before long.

a weekender

here is a little outfit i put together for sweet cheeks from 77 kids-


wirly tiered sundress- $29.50
(i actually think it looks like a crewcuts dress)


studded gladiators- $34.50


peace out scarf- $9.95

oh i am so ready for spring!

wordless wednesday