Hello Spring!

Hello lovelies! I picked up the sweetest little flower grow kit at Target over the weekend for just $3 and we celebrated our first long-awaited day of spring by planting this little garden. Scarlet was completely enamored by the whole thing and did about 99% of this DIY herself. It was honestly the perfect little activity for an almost 4 year old and completely adorable to watch. Now fingers crossed they actually grow and fill up the egg carton! The instructions suggest that you pull off a little individual egg section and replant them into tiny containers after they've filled up this carton. Cute right? 

Making Jello Sundaes With the Kids

Hello lovelies! 

My little E brought a cook book home from school on Wednesday and he was really, really excited about it. He immediately turned to a recipe that I was very grateful for in the end, as it required no skill on my part and very little time (virtual high five!). We planned to make our desserts on Saturday afternoon, "After mama goes to her flower workshop, okay?" and every day leading up to "Jello Sundae" day we talked about it. They were wildly excited! 

So for any other moms out there who love baking as little as I do, this one's for you. Easiest smiles you'll ever be responsible for and no disinterest half way through. Whenever I bake cakes with the kids I have only Scarlet's attention, so it was fun to have the boys playing with her. And full disclosure, I took the easy route and cheated on this recipe, buying pre-made jello squares in all the rainbow colors. I know, I know ... but all the colors ... and so much quicker! ;) 

#mompoints 👊

Mama and Mini Style {dreams}

Hello friends! Happy 2016!

It's a beautiful new year with endless possibility and I'm so looking forward to all the experiences it will bring. That being said, we have no fancy plans to travel or celebrate as of yet, but I have big, BIG dreams. Just the thought of all that we'll accomplish this year, living life passionately with loads of heart and soul put into each moment. There's just much to look forward to and anticipate, whether extraordinary or completely normal, it's going to be good. 

BIG dreams. 

I've so many enormous dreams right now and have spent much time thinking about them as this new year has turned its leaf. I'm dreaming of travel (but always), of dance recitals, birthday parties, whimsical photo shoots, beautiful clothes, open windows, losing myself in a book, lazy summer days.  Those are my constant dreams, my normal lost-in-thought bubbles. But bigger than that, those experiences I've come to love year in and year out, I'm now dreaming of the future. It's those years to come, perhaps near or perhaps faaaar off still, those things I want to accomplish and the possibilities of where I might want to be when I reach .... 40!! (insert crazy face emoji here as this is now just a couple of measly years away). Yikes! 

But seriously, I think about what I want my life to look like when I'm out of my 30's. It'll be an entirely new phase of life for me as I'm now done with adding to my family, pregnancies, nursing, sleepless nights, tantrums at Target, teaching 2 year olds how to share. It's as glorious as it is sad. The next decade will be about raising these children and guiding them into becoming strong, wise, compassionate (the list goes on and on) young adults. Crucial and awesome years. It's going to be amazing. 

But beside all of that, I have my BIG dreams. Dreams of owning a mama and mini boutique, a desire I've had since I was a preteen (named my first shop before I ever considered baby names ;). I don't know where that falls in with the rest of my life as I currently own a dance studio and it is a job that I adore and is incredibly fulfilling ... but still, a boutique pulls at my heart strings and has for forever. We'll see where that takes me. Perhaps no where, perhaps it will move into a different direction. 

I dream of my "forever" home, the one that I've been decorating in my head for about 10 years now. Hah! And one we save and plan for in our future one day (fingers crossed!). I dream of Europe, of walking those many, many breath taking streets and experiencing those cultures and histories. I want to see these places first hand, though for now I am satisfied by experiencing them through the wonderful worlds I've found on Instagram. What a joy to see the stunning photos that people take across the world and share with us homebodies, as we sit coffee in hand, staring at the snow covered streets in Green Bay, Wisconsin wondering if we're up for a freezing cold drive to pick up more toilet paper. 

And so, I guess that for whatever reason, the fact that we've entered a new year and that we all tend to push the refresh button or the simple fact that I'm getting ooooold, I'm dreaming of the future. It's a good place to be cause I have to be honest, I've felt so much fear creeping into my life lately and I'm not normally a worrier. And I'm tired of it. I don't have time or space in my life for fear and I'm taking intentional steps to let go of those worthless thoughts. Instead I am looking forward to what is to come, all the joy that my family will bring me and all the laughs/conversations/hugs that we'll share. It's a much better place to be, I think. 

So with that being said (whew! what an earful!), here's a look at miss S and I in our fancier fineries. Clothes have always been so much more to me than just clothes. I know it's strange but it's just a fact. Every piece of clothing I have has a memory attached to it and every big moment in my life had an outfit I'll not forgot. It's my everyday happy. And I get to share the happy here. :)

{dress - Besselli, scarf - Gap, booties - Sam Edelman from Zappos}

The Summer Life

Hello friends! 

This has been such a busy week for me but I'm finally grabbing a moment to catch up here again. Yay! It shouldn't have been so busy cause the boys were all at a fine arts camp during the mornings, but we managed to fill it up with all sorts of to-do's. The little miss is fast asleep and the boys all preoccupied, so now I'm here catching up with blogland. 

I've been writing a lot lately, in fact, just not here. There was one article for YOU Magazine's Beauty issue which comes out next month and is much more personal than what I've contributed in the past, which is exciting and nerve-wrecking. And the other piece is a work in progress but one I hope to submit to another magazine, one that prints bi-annually and has a nation wide distribution. My creative collabs and I are also working on an awesome photo shoot for submission and we're really going all out for this, so we're pretty excited. Will share some peeks at what goes down with that. But think lanterns, a gold mask and a white dress. Really ethereal and elegant. This has to be one of my favorite past times, dreaming and creating unreal photo shoots like this. The more fantasy, the better. 

We also had some South African friends in town that we spent lots of time with (missing you girls so much and all those hectic laughs) and I met a blog reader/fellow South African (completely unrelated to the first 2) who recently moved in town (hi Lee-Anne!) which has been really fun. So lots of relaxing hang outs lately which is the loveliest thing to do and take advantage of during these gorgeous summer months. In winter we hibernate, so I feel like I see no one but my family for months on end. We just love Green Bay summers!

So for now, I have a little picture update highlighting my favorite moments from the past 2 weeks. Hope to snap a few pictures worthy of another fashion post soon, with a hot and stylish weekend ahead. ;) But I've been doing most of my photo taking on my phone, so here you have it!

 An evening spent at Bay Beach, the best time to go. We all went down this slide side by side, all 6 of us. Elliot on his dad's lap and Scarlet on mine. S and I got stuck on top of that last hump and had to push our way over. It was a blast … the whole evening. (Speaking of getting stuck on slides, you may enjoy a video of my friend and I doing a giant water slide together - one that didn't go quite as expected. I'll post it at the end :)

While the boys ride their dirt bikes, Scarlet hangs out of the sunroof like a party girl.

We took the kids to a nearby park (Voyager for local friends) to do some fishing with the Wild Life Sanctuary. Was a big hit with the kids though I embarrassed myself horribly every time one of them came anywhere near me with their wormy hooks. Ran screaming.

This was a Wednesday evening family night at our church - Celebration Church - and it was so cool. (See, video below for more.)

 

Evening swims.

An ice cream date to Zesty's and a giant banana split plus a tummy ache to show for it. 

New greens added to the fireplace collection. This one is such a charmer. Thank you Costco!

A new dress from @ockidscloset. My first thought was star costume for Halloween! But I'm in love with this little dress so it won't be a one hit wonder. 

I took this girl out for coffee and a mag read and she fell asleep and stayed this way for most of our time there. It was adorable.

And lastly, this incredible location was the venue for a wedding that we attended. So beautiful!

Here's the video friends. Enjoy you weekend!