t-ball

I can't believe that my little girl is old enough to play t-ball this year! She is on an all-girls team, and so far everyone is having a blast.....Sienna LOVES playing, her Daddy is really enjoying coaching, and Grant and I are having fun cheering from the sidelines.

We had our first game this Saturday, and despite only having 2 practices, the girls did a fabulous job!!

Her very first at-bat

Daddy and Daughter waiting on third base

Running Home!!

Sienna's biggest fan!!

rodeo day

Last Friday, Sienna had Rodeo Day at school, and it was a huge success with the little ones!! Sienna woke up Friday morning, climbed into bed with me and said, "Mama, I am soooo excited about school today!!"

They made trail mix, played rodeo games, made stick horses, sang cowboy songs, did a little "line dancin" and had a picnic outside......what more could a little girl ask for?

Barrel Racing

Sienna was so excited to wear her cousin's boots

Sweet Cousins

Calf Ropin'

She took her cowgirl duties quite seriously

Her favorite game? Sunflower-seed-spittin-contest

gettin' my craft on

For some odd reason, I decided to buy a bunch of burlap at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago. I made Sienna a cute little hair clippy that night, but it has sat, untouched in my craft room ever since. That is until I saw the cutest Spring burlap wreath tutorial over at Tatertots & Jello. I got out all of my supplies yesterday afternoon, and made this simple, fun wreath out of burlap and left-over fabric scraps. Such an easy little project and it made me feel oh so crafty :)

I decided to hang it on our pantry door in the kitchen

a girl can dream

Today, I am taking a little time to dream........

dreaming of owning a little weekend get-away

The Inspired Room

of sitting on porches, reading great books and sipping lemonade

of this gorgeous space (note the bench with inscribed wedding date)

and this amazingly beautiful bedroom

of all things girly and ruffly

of having a little space of my own to write, dream, create

of this simple, clean bathroom

Pottery Barn

of aqua Mason jars brimming with Spring flowers

It feels good to dream. What are you dreaming of today?

*all images (unless otherwise noted) are from Country Living

looking back/looking forward

looking back:

* Sienna and I spent all day together Saturday: donuts for breakfast, 2 birthday parties and a mommy-daughter lunch date

* after a quick trip to the pediatrician's office this past week, Grant was given a breathing machine and we spent 3 days giving him breathing treatments every 4-6 hours (still not sure if it was asthma or allergy related??)

* this Spring Break was all about "Hannah Montana The Movie"

* woke up Sunday morning to a Spring snowfall that blanketed the entire neighborhood

* spent time with the neighbors making Rice Krispy Treat Eggs complete with white chocolate, milk chocolate and lots of sprinkles

* got caught up on our Project Life album and almost finished my very first embroidery sampler (which I am turning into a pillow for Sienna's room)

* finished reading "Lift" by Kelly Corrigan (if you are a mama, go buy this TODAY!!)

* made 2 trips to our new Half Priced Books and made almost $70 selling back old books and magazines

looking forward:

* ready to dive into "Raising Happiness" by Christine Carter

* already mapping out our Fall schedules

* excited about Sienna's first t-ball game

* nervous about her first dentist appointment

* needing to take both kids for a long-overdue haircut

* recently stumbled upon this blog and now I MUST learn to quilt!!

* on the lookout for Easter basket goodies

* finally getting rid of the high chair and replacing it with a brand new booster seat (our "baby" is growing up so fast!!)

st. patty's day recap

The weather was absolutely gorgeous yesterday (although I hear we are expecting another FREEZE this weekend!!!). So we decided to take advantage of those Spring-like temperatures, and have a little St. Patty's Day picnic to celebrate.

I raided the pantry looking for green snacks, but all I could come up with was green mini marshmallows and green Apple Jacks :) So along with our green milk, we had goldfish crackers, black olives, fruit snacks, string cheese and pretzels......ahhhh nutrition!!

Our impromptu picnic

He LOVED the green milk!!

Her.........not so much

Grant is in that stage of wanting to be just like his big sister, so when she is being totally silly and does something like this:

He immediately does this:

These are my favorite kind of days!!

unwrapping joy

I think sometimes, in the quest to "better ourselves," we forget to take the time to just have fun, to delight in the things that truly bring us joy! I know for me, it is easy to fall into the trap of wanting to always do better: be a better mother, be a better wife, cook more, exercise more, be a better friend, read to my kids more, be a better blogger, be a better photographer, read my Bible more, have people over more, eat healthier (you get the idea).....frankly, it can become a little exhausting!

Don't get me wrong, I am all for self-improvement. I think it is vitally important to continue learning, to reach for new goals, to strive to be the best we can be. But I also think it is equally important to take a break from that pursuit every now and then to just ENJOY life as it is...right this minute!!

Today, I am choosing to focus on the things that actually bring me joy....not the things I wish brought me joy, or the things I believe are supposed to bring me joy, but those things that never fail to bring a smile to my face, those activities that I look forward to......the little happiness boosters that just make life a little more FUN!!

* reading a great book ("A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" is my current favorite)

* cotton candy

* baking cookies or cupcakes with my children

* watching the Bachelor with my husband (is it sad that this one always makes the list?)

* watching my kiddos play outside

* giving beautifully wrapped gifts

* Starbucks

* embroidery.........so fun, so relaxing, so satisfying

* taking pictures

* scrapbooking........I have been doing a lot less of this lately, but I still love it

* blogging.....I know it is hard for some people to understand, but it really brings me joy

* magazines

* making headbands for my daughter

* making my son laugh out loud

* shopping at Anthropologie

* picking up a big stack of photos from Costco

* singing out loud in the car

* turning up the radio and dancing around the house with my kiddos

* getting a package on my doorstep from the UPS man

* ordering something from etsy.com

* candy

Seuss-celebration

Sienna's class has been celebrating Dr. Seuss for the past 2 weeks. They have been reading all the classics (and a few new favorites), practicing rhyming words, playing rhyming games and even watching a few Seuss cartoons. It all culminated this week in a fun Seuss-celebration!!

The name tags on the tables

Green Eggs and Ham

The cutest little Cat in the Hat

I think she spies a visitor :)

The special guest

This was such a fun celebration, and I am so glad that I got to hang out with Sienna's class and see the smiles on all of their faces :)

project life update

I have spent the last few afternoons updating my Project Life album, and I have really been enjoying this process. Last year, I tackled Project 365 and took at least one picture (almost) every single day. It was a rewarding experience that I am glad I decided to do, but this year, I decided to take a more laid back approach.

Instead of taking a photo a day, I am simply going about our normal routine and snapping pictures when I feel the urge (which still turns out to be A LOT of photos!!). Then I simply pop the photos into the page protectors, jot down a little journaling, put in some bits of life (grocery lists, receipts, school work, etc..) and call it a day.

For some weeks, I will use one layout for the entire week. For others (like Grant's birthday), I will fill the entire layout with photos from one single day. There is no set pattern....I am just going with the flow and filling the album with the photos, memories and "stuff" that I think will tell the most complete story of our year. I have really enjoyed popping in some 8 1/2 X 11 page protectors for some of Sienna's school work or pages I have printed out from the internet (I printed out a Dallas Morning News article about our recent record snowfall), and I plan on adding in some printed out blog posts and other interesting bits of life I come across along the way.

I am still keeping up with a few other albums for our family: Birthday Albums for each child, School of Life album for Sienna (includes important school papers, artwork, school photos, etc..), December Daily and Christmas card layouts....but for now, I have found this to be the easiest, most enjoyable way to keep up with the stories I want to tell.

Here are some photos of what I have done so far....enjoy!!

Project Life Album

Grant's Birthday Spread

Sample of Sienna's school work

p.s. You can see more Project Life projects over at Project Life Tuesday