balancing act

Balance.  That word is an interesting one.  At times it sounds beautiful and poetic.  Maybe because it sounds like 'ballet' and something that if achieved, is peaceful, soft, and well...

Balanced. 


Balance.  The 'thing' I am searching for, working toward, wishing to find.  That doesn't seem like enough.  To be balanced I have to have 'just enough' of one thing, but not too much and 'just enough' of another thing, but not too little.  Does balance equal mediocre?  I want it ALL.  But that's not balanced. 

I love vivid, bold, and deep colors in my home.  My kitchen is a deep blue, my living room is a deep grass green, and my living room is a pumpkin spice orange.  Not bright, but bold.  Lately I've been seeing a lot of photographs of beautiful rooms with soft, muted tones.  Light gray-blues, creamy tans, buttery yellows.  "Hhmmm," I think.  "Maybe I want THAT."  I want both---in all their glory at the same time.  A balance isn't enough for me. 

The man and I have been thinking about building a new home.  Then, in a moment, we think maybe we want to buy a 100+ year old home and renovate it.  I want both---in all their glory at the same time. 

The good thing about these acts of balance that I can't seem to manage is that if I fail and fall, it's okay.  I'm not high above the ground on a tightrope.  I'll just fall and it will all be okay.

It's the other balancing acts I'm concerned about.  If I lose the balance and fall down on my mommy job, people can get hurt.  My kids can get hurt.  So I suppose I need to keep my balance. 

And just like that, the word 'Balance' is scary, overwhelming, and haunting me.  A word just out of reach that needs super balanced tippy toes to reach.  And a ballet dancer I am not. 

look whoo's two!

This party was a Hoot!  Pun absolutely intended!  I've had this 'thing' for owls lately and knew I must throw an owl party.  Since Lucy isn't old enough (or vocal enough) to let her party preferences known, this was a perfect time. 

It helps that Lucy makes the most adorable 'hooo' sound when she sees an owl.  It was meant to be. 

Whoo's Two?  Lu's Two!  And I can make cute little statements like that.  (Mrs. Suess, I am, I know.)

The invites were a fun one.  I borrowed this idea from Across The Branch.  I loved them so much that I made bigger ones to use as decorations.

I originally made the bunting three years ago for Stella's 1st birthday party.  The pieces with owls originally had stars.  It went perfectly with this party and I'm absolutely patting myself on the back for keeping this around and reusing it!

I hung the lanterns while Lucy was taking her nap.  When she woke up, she was in awe!  I loved seeing her little eyes light up.  I was in the kitchen fixing a few things with my back turned.....I turned around and there was Lulu with a chair pushed up to the table sneaking a cupcake.  It's her party---she'll eat a cupcake if she wants to!

I topped the store-bought cupcakes with printables from Tip Junkie. The little pink and brown owlie makes me smile.

It's hard to believe that my little baby Lulu is two years old.  She has grown so quickly and while I am a little bit sad that she's not a baby anymore, I love the sweet little girl she has become (even the terrible toddler moments she has started) and I look forward to the young lady she will someday be. 

Happy Birthday, our sweet Lucy-Lu!

tangled up in fun

Four years ago, our sweet little Stella Susan was born.  She has grown so fast, so pretty, and so smart.  We had such a fun time celebrating her birthday Tangled style!  (Which is actually very appropriate considering that this little girl also tangles her hair into huge knots with her fingers while she sleeps...  another story...)

Stella loves Tangled and Stella loves Purple, so this party was just calling her name!  I took a few ideas from PagingSupermom, and combined with a few of my own and I declare this Tangled party a success! 

First up, the Invites.  I love making invites.  It's a sickness, really.  I'm quite proud of these babies:

We ended up having to postpone the party by a week since Stella started running a high fever (ON her birthday, no less!) a couple of days before the party.  Finally the party day came and Stella's friends were welcomed by a "WANTED" poster on our front door:

Inside was a sea of purple and gold!  I can't decide if the lanterns or the sunburst bunting is my favorite.




Stella wore her Rapunzel dress and we fashioned her some braided Rapunzel hair, complete with flowers, just like when the little girls in the movie braided Rapunzel's hair.

Oh, my sweet Stella Sue! You are such a great kiddo! I love your smiles and silly grins!

 

I learned several birthday parties ago that Cakes are not my forté, so Thank You to Wal*Mart for a cake that Stella adored!

We started the party by coloring a few Tangled pages.  I love coloring pages at the beginning of parties.  It is something fun to do while all the guests arrive and for late comers, they can just take the pages home to color.  After this, we played an exciting game of "Find Pascal!" I learned something very important: Three and Four year old girls cheat.  They haven't quite grasped the 'no peeking' rule.  Pascal wasn't too hard to find.  Finally, all the girls made a paper lantern.  I sent each guest home with a small glow stick to put inside her lantern at bedtime.   I love the way they turned out:

Stella has the cutest little friends---Thanks for getting Tangled Up in Fun with us, girls!

i quit (sort of)

There are not enough hours in the day for all the things I want to Do and/or Be.  So, I've decided to do/be none of them.  I'm an equal opportunity quitter.  I mean, it's not fair to my scrapbooks if I go finish that quilt I'm working on.  And it's certainly not fair to the book I started to finish decorating my bathroom and not finish the book.  So I quit.  For Today. 

Tomorrow, I'm going to be a seamstress, quilter, scrapbooker, happy homemaker, novelist, writer, photographer, and Great Wife, Mom, and Friend.  Because tomorrow HAS to have more hours than today, right?

pumpkin man

Pumpkins.  They make me happy.  I love a good rich orange pumpkin in Fall. 

Or maybe it's just orange that I love.  Is it because I was raised attending High School sports games where the Orange was so bright it just might have glowed in the dark (Hail Orange and White!)?  Was it actually attending said High School where wearing orange every friday was considered standard and the orange sequins on my show choir costume glittered with every jazz hand move?  Whatever the reason, I love it.  My living room walls look fantastic bathed in Orange-y goodness (not the glow-in-the-dark shade, thank you) and my newly refinished computer cabinet looks very lovely as well. 

So, where was I going with this Ode to Orange?  Pumpkins.  My front porch was adorned with them for fall.  My uncarved pumpkins didn't rot this year and were still in perfect condition when it came time to pull down Fall decor and start with Winter decor.  There was NO WAY I was throwing these beautiful pumpkins away!  As I took the pumpkins to the garage, I realized that they were stair-stepped in size and would be a most perfect snowman.

A bit of white paint, orange felt, buttons, and black sticky velcro circles and we had our pumpkin man.  He's keeping warm in a spare scarf and hat and makes us all smile! 



early resolutions

Oh, blogging world. I've missed you. Really, I have. I'm not just saying that to make me you feel better. Guess what, blogging world? I'm resoluting in 2012 to add blogging back to one of the 'things I do.' (Yes, fully aware that 'resoluting' is not a real word. But, you like it too, don't you?) I'm also resoluting to work on a weakness in 2012. That weakness, friends, is Procrastination. (I know...some of you were on the edge of your seats waiting to see just which weakness I would choose. Yes, there were many to choose from.)

Here I sit fulfilling a New Year's Resolution before the New Year has even arrived. Take THAT, Procrastination!

So there's that: Two of my resolutions for 2012. I'm not sure if I have any more...I'll figure that out some other time.

cautionary tale

Planting a garden with a baby on your lap is a dangerous operation. Just ask Lucy: