Happy Halloween from the cast of Frozen:
Elsa…
Anna (and Olaf)…
And Sven…
Hope your day was full of treats!
Halloween 2015
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Category Archives: Alethea Margaret
Fall Family Fun
It’s fall y’all! My favorite time of the year, and not just because I have an autumn birthday, but also because the weather is glorious, crisp, and refreshing. And even more importantly, there are so many fun things to do together as a family. Last weekend we spent a morning exploring a fall farm festival, like we do every year.
There were pumpkins (which Lydia used as a fairy princess throne)…
And there were animals (Caleb tried to hug the donkey through the bars, but had to settle for petting him on the nose, since Caleb was far more enthusiastic about the donkey than the donkey was about Caleb)…
And there was corn (this is Alethea’s interpretation of what a “Corn Fairy” might look like, I think she got it spot on)…
And more corn (which Caleb preferred to play with while standing outside of the box, since he had a hard time walking through it)…
And even more corn (because I can’t resist a fun photo op)…
HURRAY FOR FALL!
Playing Favorites
My three favorite summer photos of my three absolute favorite kids…
I sure do love them, ice cream mustaches, blackberry juice stains, dirty knees, and all!
What We Did This Summer: June
Our summer is absolutely flying by. We have been super busy. Too busy to write as much as I’d like to, but I thought I should at least share our month-by-month highlights. I give you… June.
We worked on the deck….
And Alethea graduated from kindergarten…
We celebrated her graduation with a trip to Como Town for rides and cotton candy…
And we worked on the deck…
Caleb turned one and we celebrated with a baseball party…
And in what might turn out to be the highlight of the entire summer, the girls and Caleb sat on the grass behind second base and ate cake with their bare hands to conclude his smash cake photoshoot…
And we worked on the deck…
We played in/on/near the water every single day it didn’t rain…
And made several trips to the library and various playgrounds…
We enjoyed hanging out (and being goofy) with our neighbors…
And we did some more work on the deck…
We met this guy at the nature center…
Caleb thought it would be a good idea to pet him…
The girls thought it was a better idea to stay a long way behind him…
After working on the deck some more, we planted a fairy garden…
And the girls looked to see if they could find any trace of tiny magical visitors…
Alethea took her very first ballet class…
And she loved every minute of it…
All that along with a couple parties, trips to the beach, hanging out with friends, and lots more working on the deck made for a busy, but good month. And spoiler alert for the “What We Did This Summer: July” post, the deck still isn’t done and we’re not exactly sure when it will be. It’s ended up being a beast of a project, but we keep telling ourselves, “It will be so nice when it’s done.”
Here’s hoping this finds you all sitting back, sipping lemonade, and enjoying the sun!
Happy Birthday, Alethea!
Gotta hold on easy as I let you go
Gonna tell you how much I love you, though you think you already know
I remember I thought you looked like an angel wrapped in pink so soft and warm
You’ve had me wrapped around your finger since the day you were born
You’re beautiful baby from the outside in
Chase your dreams but always know the road that’ll lead you home again
Go on, take on this whole world
But to me you know you’ll always be, my little girl
Happy 6th Birthday, sweet Alethea Margaret!
You are our precious little girl and we know you’re going to do great big things!
Hugs and Kisses,
Mommy & Daddy
Happy Easter!
From our home to yours… we hope you had a very blessed day!
You Might be a Minnesotan if…
…while planning your spring decor, your four-year-old suggests, “Let’s put some snow in jars with some eggs and it will be just like an Easter egg hunt!”
Because we’ve been there:
And, oh yeah, we’ve done that:
It’s beginning to look a lot like… Easter???
Spreadin’ the Love
Today was the first day of spring. Oh, I know it’s not official, and we may (probably do) have snow coming our way yet, but it was over 50 degrees here today and I wore flip-flops, so I’m calling it close enough. That’s why I’m putting up Easter decorations tomorrow. The weather is glorious, and I’m tired of looking at my Valentine’s decor, so why not, I ask you, why not?
But before I do, here’s this year’s February memory table, featuring photos of the girls from Valentine’s Days of years past, along with an arrow-pierced heart carved by my great grandfather, and some white tulips…
For the mantel, I did a quick and easy craft project that I whipped up after a trip to Michael’s. I was so inspired by their spring line, I had a hard time choosing just one project to make. And no, they didn’t pay me to say that. But seriously, four vintage-looking metal letters, a pre-made riveted burlap canvas, five minutes and a bit of super glue was all it took to make this little baby…
Which was inspired, of course, by the Robert Indiana “Love” statue in Philadelphia, ever of significance in our home because we were standing next to it when Peter proposed to me. (And it’s where we took Alethea on her first ever airplane trip in October of 2009.)
I used this free printable as a guide for my chalkboard art. Then I added my five-minute canvas to the mantel with an assortment of other items I already had on hand and after a few shifts, tucks and tiny tweaks, I settled on this arrangement…
My best Valentine’s mantel ever! (Okay, so it’s only my second year doing one, but who’s counting? Not me!)
And now that you’re feeling all lovey-dovey inside, let’s move on to Easter, shall we? Hurray for SPRING!!!!
Happy Valentine’s Day!
I’m not terribly good about blogging on a schedule, you all know this by now, but one holiday that I’ve managed to mark for several years in a row now is Valentine’s Day. In fact, I’ve posted something on V-Day four of the five years my blog has been in existence, which is probably better than I’ve done on any other holiday.
So to keep my hot streak going, happy hearts day from three little valentines…
Rest assured, no babies were harmed in the making of this valentine… 
XOXOXO,
Alethea, Lydia & Caleb
PS. You can check out Valentine’s Day posts from previous years here: 2010, 2012, 2013 & 2014
Glimpses of the Future
Today I did a little Valentine’s Day photo shoot with the kids. Alethea was a bit reluctant at first, even when I promised a treat afterwards. “I’ll smile, but it won’t be fun,” she told me. So to sweeten the deal I suggested she put on her favorite pink fancy Sunday dress. “And besides, I need photos for your photobooks,” I added.
Well, those were the magic words. She ran to put on her dress, quickly returned to “set” and promptly proceeded to tell me exactly what images she needed for her next book. “Take one of me smiling,” she directed. And then, after getting carefully into position, “Now, take a picture of my hands holding this heart.”
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Nothing makes me more excited than diving headlong into a new project, and everyone is always telling me how much Alethea takes after me. Still, you know I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thrilled to constantly be reminded that she has such a strong creative bent.
She is my beautiful, thoughtful, passionate, creative girl, and I absolutely cannot wait to how she uses her gifts and what God has planned for her life.