Oh my sweet girls--they're just the right mix of silly and sweet (although, truth be told there's a good amount of sass in there too!).

Love them! And I love that they have each other--I hope they realize early on how valuable having a sister is!

What a gorgeous day--it's been an amazing winter--even if a lot of it was amazingly-horrible with sickness! 

The girls are outside now making a "worm habitat" and Amelie is hoping that if she "takes really good care of them" that they will live forever. =)

Funny girls!

 Maeve says, "The sun is so bwight it's hewting my eyes!"

Ezra has been fully the terrible two-boy lately--I hope we can exit this phase soon because he's killing us with the public tantrums. Maeve was such as easy toddler that we're out of practice dealing with them!

Here's evidence of evil-Ezra: 

HA! Love that naughty little guy! It's a good thing he's super handsome! Mr. Wonderful tried to renew our library card today and had to leave before getting any books because the entire time E-boy was screaming at the TOP OF HIS LUNGS. Oh man. We might need the Super Nanny. 

Luckily, he is cute sometimes!

In other news, my husband is working today on a new show--The Wild Things--which will be performed next weekend. I'll be glad when it's over because it's so nice to have him home more!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

What an astoundingly gorgeous day! In the 70s and sunny and during March? Pretty ah-mazing! Mr. Wonderful has a super long field trip today (to Lancaster, for ACSI Competition) so I got to take Amelie to school today! I've only ever done it one other time and it's so hard for me to drop her off! Ezra cried and cried when she went into school--we love having her home with us and miss her during her long school days! They were all cuddled this morning watching a tv show before we left:

We were lucky enough to spend some time with our dear friends and all took long naps to recover from Ezra's 5am wake up call. Stupid daylight savings time! =)

After Amelie was dropped off (Thanks Janet!!!) we spent some time outdoors and the kids are now pj-ed and peaceful. Favorite!

I could really really REALLY get used to days like this!

Oh Weekend! Why must you fly by so quickly!?! 

We've been so spoiled lately and have had my husband home a lot--favorite!!! 

Unfortunately that's all about to end soon and his busy days are coming back around again. I'm so thankful for him and what a hard worker he is! (And that he has many opportunities to work! What a blessing!). 

***

Yesterday I finished a project I've been dreaming up for a while. I have never really been thrilled with the art work we had in the living room--I've tried a lot of things and nothing ever spoke to me (yes, when I decorate I frequently get spoken too by curtains, pillow, fabric--totally normal. Right? =). 

Also, I take hundreds of pictures a month and never really do anything with them except scrapbook them and forget them so--I decided to frame some of my prints! I priced large prints and they were SUPER expensive--like, I could by art from an actual artist expensive. 

Then I noticed that Snapfish (the site I've been using for years to make my albums) makes large posters and when they emailed me a 40% off coupon I couldn't resist! So I picked three of my favorite shots of the kids, converted them to black and white in photo shop and printed them off! When I got my posters I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. At first I thought I might mount them on something to make them look like photo canvases but when I went to Joann's it was going to cost a TON to buy all of the materials. On my way out the door I walked by the frames and noticed they were all on sale for 50% off! No coupon needed!! They had exactly three of the perfect size, perfect color frames for $12! I couldn't believe it! So here's the finished product! 

I LOVE it!

Love my babies!

Anyways, now it's Monday and I am yawny but looking forward to a week of lovely warm weather and lots of walks and trips to the park! =)

Today was a lovely day--it was a bit chilly to enjoy ourselves outdoors so we ran errands as a family. I LOVE days when we are all together and are on our own agenda. So fun! Well, fun aside from the CRAZINESS of the children. They were wild today! HA! We went to Target and Barnes and Noble and they each got to pick out a book--Ezra chose a book about cars, Maeve chose a Barbie sticker book and Amelie chose a chapter book! She is such a wonderful reader--I even have some of my favorite books that I pulled out for her that I used to enjoy! She's been reading my collection of Gail Carson Levine (she wrote Ella Enchanted)The Princess Tales --

I also got a chance to take out my new running sneakers on their maiden voyage. Boy, I may not actually run like the wind but sometimes I feel like it! They felt great and running felt amazing. Love that runners high!

And because I didn't take any pictures today here is a picture I took one year ago today--apparently I was potty training Maeve--I must have blocked this all from my memory!

That's all for now! Just going to watch a movie with my precious husband and eat Cheesecake Factory Burgers. YUM! Goodnight!

It was absolutely gorgeous out today! In the 60s! I love open doors and windows and fresh air and sunshine! We had friends over this morning and it was fun to catch up and watch the little boys run around. =) We also got a surprise package today with presents for the kids from their Southern Granny--Thanks Granny!

It's nearly bedtime now and I am ready for some peace so that I can have a conversation with my husband! It seems impossible to do when the kids are running around crazy! =)

I *knew* if I wrote that we'd been healthy for one week someone would get sick! Luckily it was just a 12 hour fever Sunday night-Monday morning for Ezra with no other symptoms. I am sooooo ready for spring!! =)

On Sunday we got to celebrate the littlest cousin's 1st birthday! Happy Birthday Xander! All the cool people are born in March! =)

 What a bunch of cute cousins!

Not much else is new--just thankful Ezra's cold was short lived and that the sun is shining brightly today! I'll leave you with a video of Maeve doing what she does best--weird stuff. This happens far too often at our house--so funny though!

*I'm a broccoli cupcake original composition by Maeve*

My birthday was an emotional day for me--it always kind of it--I can't help but severely miss my parents and brothers (and SIL and nephew!) and being *home*. It's so hard to continue to grow and move on from the people and place that shaped me. And I can't help but think about my far away friends that I love so dearly and wish I could spend time with more often. But then, I think about how THANKFUL I am for my sweet and lovely and wonderful NJ family and my near and dear friends. God has blessed my life to overflowing and I will focus on the positive! =)

I had a great day with my family--enjoying *free* pretzel day at Auntie Ann's, a quick birthday purchase at Old Navy and my free birthday gift from Sephora. After lunch my Mother-In-Law treated me to some new and amazing running sneakers! She took me to this special store that fits your shoe and they watch you run (which I was unprepared for...HA!) and get shoes that work for your gait. Pretty cool! 

And then the grandparents came over in the evening to watch the kiddos so my precious husband and I could go out to eat! What a treat! We were both pretty yawny but it is always wonderful to spend time with my favorite guy even if we're tired! =) What a blessing our parents are to us!!

And finally, to commemorate the must important thing(s) I've had a hand in as a person on this earth--pictures of my darling children! My precious treasures--so thankful that I've been around for 33 years to meet them!

Sweet babies! What a blessing! And, if you look closely in the background you can see my pillow fabric! =) Happy Sunday!

The day started with a lovely, yummy cup of steaming hot coffee....and you know that feeling when you pick up your favorite mug and lift your cup to take your first sip of the day and then....it slips out of your fingers and covers the computer, desk, keyboard, mouse, your entire outfit and splashes on your husband's pants 5 seconds before he was going to walk out the door to work. Ay ca-rumba!! Only me. So I ended up spending the day smelling faintly of coffee and my keyboard keys are sticky. HA. Oh well, it could have been worse! A friend of mine wrote on facebook today that she saw her first tornado spinning from outside her basement window so I will not complain and take the little things for what they are--very. very. little.

In other news, it was haircut day in the Wonderful household!! Ezra was long overdue---his hair just doesn't look that great long--it gets super straight on top and super fluffy on the sides. I couldn't take the flat mushroom look anymore so I buzzed him. My clippers died 2/3 of the way through so hopefully they'll charge up tonight so I can finish it off tomorrow!

He's so handsome with his short hair!!!

Maeve and Daddy got trimmed up too. Amelie gets her turn tomorrow. =)

Maevey started preschool back up this week and it's been a treat to have time to run an errand here and there again. Her school only lasts an hour so it's not long but it's just enough time to run to the grocery store or Jo Ann's. 

Speaking of Joann's--I picked up some perfect fabric for my porch-pillow-makeovers there. I will post pictures when my project is complete--it looks so happy--I love what a difference $10 of fabric makes! I couldn't find a picture of the fabric online...and I'm too lazy to take one but you can imagine that the background is dark blue with red/yellow large floral print and green leaves. Love.

***

I'm so glad the weekend is here--I'm so thankful my family has been healthy for one week--it's a miracle! It's been a long time since we were all healthy at the same time!! My birthday is tomorrow--which isn't very exciting now that birthdays mean getting older, hardly any presents and no excitement. Did I mention the getting older thing? Eh, that number certainly is getting BIG!!!

***

My birthday always makes me homesick and nostalgic for country life and family and home in NY. I miss it so much it hurts. I can't even breathe properly in NJ. I know the Lord has a plan for me here but sometimes I want to run away to the country and hide in the wilderness like I was able to do every day of my younger-years. I love my home and Jersey family so much, but there is just something about the country that speaks to my soul.

***

Anyway, enough rambling for one night. Happy Friday--hope you get to spend the weekend with people you love! It's pretty much the best gift ever!

So Much So Little So Long

It has been a long time since I blogged-I think my longest ever break from blogging!-boy this winter has really socked it to us with the never-ending-rounds-of-sickness. When we're sick I get overwhelmed and shut down and get quiet and hibernate. So that's what I've been doing. =)

A little update on what's gone down:

I helped out at Amelie's Valentine's Day party! They are the sweetest, best-behaved and most lovely little 1st graders ever! 

The next day Amelie came down with the SUPER TERRIBLE STOMACH BUG that's been going around and spent the next 4 days recovering. =( Boo.

My Parents came down President's Day weekend! My Mom played with the kiddos a lot and my Dad spent hours and hours and hours and hours installing a new front door for an early birthday present for me! Yay! Thanks so much Dad!!! It was a true labor of love!

The day after they left Maeve and I came down with THE stomach bug. It was terrible. My husband stayed home one morning to help me and then I was on my own with the kids. It wasn't pretty. =( 

By Thursday we were doing much better though so Friday we went to my husband's Disney Show! I forgot my camera's memory card! GAH!! But it was so cute--Maeve was Sleeping Beauty and Ezra was thrilled to be a dragon. =)

There were snacks and games and prizes and lots of little friends. The kids had fun! Everything my husband does is pretty fabulous!

Then the weekend was here and my husband came down with THE stomach bug. =( Stupid stomach bug. Amelie slept over at the Grandparents and I did my best to entertain the littles. I also finished a few painting projects--One win: the porch, a trash-picked rocking chair and the front door--so pretty with fresh paint--can't wait to finish putting the finishing touches on my new sitting area--will post pictures when complete! One fail: bathroom cabinet--I thought gray would make it look prettier like furniture-y but instead I HATE IT and will be repainting it white.

And then there was yesterday, my husband was recovered and back to work and it was GORGEOUS out so Maeve and Ezra took a nice long walk, went to the library, played outside with bubbles and had a really lovely day. 

And then I went to bed at 8:30 because I was exhausted. =)

The. End.

Hopefully I'll be a better blogger--and HOPEFULLY we can stay healthy for five minutes!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pintrest Day!

The other day I decided to make a bunch of the crafts/food that I've pinned in Pintrest!

 It was a lot of fun--and nothing was a bust so that was good! =)

I started out making paper leaves since I have OODLES of scrapbook paper that I don't ever use. I started out with a 6 inch rectangle (folded in half to a square). Then I cut a curve from one corner to the next, flipped the paper and did the same again and produced two leaf shapes. I had some random craft wire in my craft room so I cut a 6inch length, place the wire down the middle of the back of one of the leaves and hot glued it down and then the other leaf side on top. After my leaf was glued I twisted the wire onto some branches from my backyard and Voila! A pretty paper leaf bouquet for the empty space on the top of my closet.

Since I was making paper leaves--I decided to do a project based on this one (click here). I love the flower design and the colors--a happy new picture for my kitchen!

And with my scrapbook paper I also fashioned an owl for Ezra's room--I saw this idea somewhere (can't remember where) and it's been floating in my brain to replicate.

Another favorite? The yummy chocolate chip cookies I made based on this recipe!

And this 5 minute artisan bread turned out phenomenal!

I have a few more recipes I'd like to try--I'll give ya a report after I do! =)

My husband's last performance (playing for an opera company in Philadelphia) was yesterday and I couldn't be happier! It will be awesome to have him home for AN ENTIRE WEEKEND. Woot. Also it's a 4 day weekend so it's pretty much full of the awesome!

Yesterday, when he was out, I declared it Pintrest Day! and made a few of the projects/recipes I've recently pinned. I'm happy to report that there was success on all fronts and I'll share my projects soon! Amelie even got in on the action and worked with me!=) Love having that girl home!

I snapped a few Valentine-y pictures of the kiddos this morning before church too:

Some thoughts:

1. It's hard to take pictures of Amelie without glare on her glasses. There must be tricks to solve this problem!

2. Maeve was frozen so her face looks crazy =) Mean Mommy makes them take pictures on the porch for good light but it was colder than I anticipated and we froze in the 2 minutes we were out there!

3. It's impossible to get Ezra's picture unless he has a mouth full of food. Which he does. In this picture. =)

Happy Sunday!!

*Both* of my children took naps today.

It was all kinds of amazing.

We had a very quiet day here--we made pink cupcakes because a very cute blond girl asked to and went to story time at the library in spite of said blond girls misgivings:

Me: "Wanna check out story time at the library? I think it would be fun!"

Maeve (with tears in her eyes): "No Mama! That sounds scary!"

Me: "What?! Books aren't scary! And neither are libraries or stories!"

Maeve (deep sigh): "I guess we could try it out--but if it's scary I want to go home."

Seriously?! Ha! She actually loved it though and let me know as soon as we got there that it wasn't scary at all and we should do it more often. Kids are weird. They also got to do a cute Valentine craft and we saw some friends there!

I spent nap time drowning in Pins (via Pintrest) and watching tv clips on youtube instead of cleaning, cooking or doing laundry.  Oh well. No one's perfect. =) Luckily now that my husband is home again at night I have the luxury of being lazy during nap time and I can play catch up when he's home. WIN!

Happy Wednesday!

Whattalongweek(ortwo)

So happy it's Friday and 

Tomorrow 

IS

THE last long day

(for now).

Woot.

'Cause it's been lonely on the edges of the day

and

long in between.

But happy too.

Also, grumpy.

I'm thankful though, for the precious ones and their 

endless infectious

glee.

Maeve and I started lessons on the letter B today-and she really surprised me about how much she already knew! We worked on number order 1-20, no problem, alphabet upper case/lower case identification, no problem, letter tracing, no problem, sounding out words, no problem and coloring, HUGE problem. Maeve is the worst color-er ever. Ha. 

I feel like she could have some small motor-issues that hopefully we can work through in the time she has before kindergarten. She is a VERY willing and excited student and it was a ton of fun to work with her. 

A few pictures of our morning--

letter tracing

Maeve's favorite activity--number clothespin matching

Ezra is a bit letter obsessed and worked on his favorite puzzle.

Cheese! =) Love it--even though it's blurry! =)

We are working on this cute B is for Ballerina pack. 

After a few hours of work she didn't want to stop! Luckily we were invited to spend time with our friends and that distracted her from wanting more projects. 

It was an absolutely gorgeous day and after school we walked to the park and played for a bit. 
This is the best January ever!!!
Not much else is new-just looking forward to next week and much more time with my husband!! =)

It always seems a whirlwind when my husband is away working a lot and I am home with my precious ones. They are always good and a lot of fun but it wears. me. out. to be the one that is *on* all day. They really do keep me laughing though--so thankful for my children!

Anyways--a few tidbits from today--

*I read this article and it was the singly most convicting, discouraging, encouraging thing I've ever read. Oh, and for an example of column A, I just need to look in the mirror, To a T. I'm such a works-based-perfectionist it makes me sick. I need to make more room for grace and MUCH less room for pride in my heart. 

* I've decided to structure our days a little more...again...I decide this frequently and fall off the wagon. Let's see if it sticks this time--Maeve and I are going to work though this easy-peasey-fun curriculum . I think Ezra will enjoy many of these activities too--it will be fun and different. Maybe I'll take pictures. =)

* Downton Abbey last night?! Can't even talk about it. The show is beautiful--if you aren't watching you should--so much emotion--so little said--seriously---LOVE. Watch it here. 

*My husband has just gotten home and helped me tuck the wee ones in bed so I'm going to hop off. Phew, just a few more days of madness till he's back home again at night!!!

We are still chugging along here--more long nights with no Daddy--luckily the kiddos have been precious. =)

I spent the afternoon catching up on my Beth Moore Study (the last week of When Godly People Do Ungodly Things). The reading this week is geared towards people who have made mistakes/fallen into sinful patterns and encourages us to embrace the freedom of forgiveness.

My favorite portion today, 

"A guilty conscience that precedes sincere repentance is the conviction of the Holy Spirit. A guilty conscience following sincere repentance is condemnation and that is not coming from God."

It's so easy to fall back into bad patterns of behavior because we (I) feel defeated. But in forgiveness we have victory because HIS forgiveness is Complete. We can't earn our way into God's good graces--His grace is enough. 

More than enough.

John 8:36

"If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed."

It was a timely message for me today--so thankful for the Word. 

*****

In other news, it's still unseasonably warm here and I was able to enjoy a run today (YAY!) and we had some outdoor playtime as well. Ezra was a little sad and quiet (he misses Daddy =( ) but we still had fun.

Some pictures of my favorites: