. 273/365 .

today i am so very thankful for friends.  i have struggled a little with this miscarriage, but mostly because i haven't taken any time off.  i haven't stopped.  i've kept going.  and some special friends came to see me today, which allowed me time to sit and just chat with them.  i'm so very thankful that they took time out of their busy day to come hug my neck.  it was way more than i needed.

one surprised me with a coke icee and chocolate.  which was absolutely amazing.  another friend brought me these flowers ...

i am so very blessed with such sweet friends.

. 272/365 .

mykah has now discovered, but not yet mastered, the art of climbing trees.  it's all fine and dandy until she can't figure out how to get down, which happens 9 out of 10 times she climbs.

. 271/365 .

now, i'm no longhorn fan.  at all.  but i saw this spot in the clouds the other day and couldn't help but take a picture of it. 

. 270/365 .

typically my children look like orphans.  sad.  but true.  they do not like getting their hair fixed and i suck at fixing it, so i usually allow them to look like orphans.  we stay home, so why not.  it's a battle i'm usually not willing to fight.  until now.  i'm a little over my orphan children.  i want them to look like they have a mommy and a home.  and they have both.  so why not make them look like it.  today i saw this hair style online and thought i'd try it.  i'm thinking, no matter how hard i try, my parts will never be straight.  but it's cute.  and they look like little girls. 

. 269/365 .

obviously we had fun with sidewalk chalk today.  my girls decided that the bigger rocks needed a makeover.  i was hoping for rain that evening to wash it all off, but i kinda like the splash of color.

. 268/365 .

couldn't leave out the neighborhood cat.  "part-time" is what we call him.  or her.  we're still not sure.  and i don't care to check.  i just liked this picture.

. 267/365 .

izzy got all pretty to go out of town.  i'm pretty sure she liked her pony tail.

. 266/365 .

these flowers that popped up today were sweet reminders that God is in control.

. 265/365 .

yep.  it's true.  we found out yesterday, after i was feeling a little weird, that i was indeed pregnant.  we were in shock.  seriously, but so excited.  the timing with everything was a little off, sparing all the details, and after 2 visits and blood tests at my doctor, we found out that i had a miscarriage.  we know that God has plans for our family and we are looking forward.  there has been tears.  lots and lots of tears.  but even more prayers and thanking God for the 2 healthy children He has already blessed us with.

. karsyn .

this picture very much sums up my girl.  she's 4 years old.  4 1/2 if you ask her.  but she very much acts like a teenager in every way possible.  she's as sweet as can be, but can turn on you in an instant.
here are 10 things about her this month ...

1.  she has learned to write her name the correct way.  Karsyn.  she usually writes it in all capital letters and we've learned our lowercase letters now and she's doing it without a hitch.  perfectly.

2.  she is my girly girl.  she likes sparkles and frill.  and everything pink.

3.  she is a wonderful helper during the day. 

4.  she knows more about my computer than i do almost.  seriously.  it amazes me how much she knows about technology already.

5.  she stopped taking naps for a while.  mainly b/c i didn't want to fight her to lay down, but we are back taking naps now.  she still fights, but it's so worth it in the evening hours. 

6.  she loves to write, color, draw, and anything involving those things.  she'd sit and color all day long.  and must write her name on everything she can find.

7.  she started going to children's choir at church this month.  she LOVES it.  i knew she would.  i can't wait for their first performance.

8.  she very much has a teenager attitude, which i already mentioned, but it's so prominent right now that i had to add it again.  i'm already praying for our teenage years.

9.  she is very much in love with Jesus, which makes my heart happy.  we talk about Jesus all day long.  pray all day.  sing songs about Jesus.  read books about Jesus.  all day.  all the time.  she asks questions about Jesus a lot too.  i'm so very thankful that she knows who Jesus is and she loves Him.

10. she climbs trees.  in skirts.  and no shoes.  as much of a prissy little things she is, she still has some roughness to her.  she climbs the trees in our front yard every single day.  never gets tired of it.  we're still working on how to get down from the trees, but she gets up there pretty high.

my sweet karsyn,  you are so beautiful and you continue to amaze me each and every day.  your blue eyes still shine and your smile shines brighter.  i'm so thankful to have you and that you still call me mommy.

xoxo mama!

. writing practice .

i do preschool stuff at home with karsyn now and the main thing we're working on this week is how to write her name correctly.  she's always just used all capital letters, so we're working on lower case letters too.  she writes a few of her letters backwards as well, so we're doing a mix of it all.

she loves to draw and write, so she's in heaven doing activities like this.  it took us about an hour to finally get the hang of the correct way to write her name.  she caught on quickly after that and was writing her name all over everything.

of course, sweet baby had to get in on the fun too.  she draws a lot, but we haven't really worked on writing her name.  so we've been doing that now, along with some of the other kids that i have during the day.  teaching a kid to write is hard work!!

especially when that kid is left handed.  i never said i knew what i was doing.  today we just did a little introduction to writing her name.  i wrote it out solid, then dotted.  she ended up just scribbling all over the place.

the plan is to do it every single day.  i have writing paper, so we'll be getting after it.  i have four 2 year olds to teach!  what a challenge it is, but i think it'll be fun.  i love seeing children learn!

. 264/365 .

. 263/365 .

"look, mama.  i have junk in my trunk!"

she seriously said that and i about spit out my drink.

. an organized closet .

our house was built in 1955 and apparently they didn't believe in storage back then.  really, i have no clue, but this house has zero storage.  but thanks to a 3rd bathroom that had no purpose, no plugs, and no ventilation, we emptied it, added shelves, and called it a closet.  so other than our bedroom closets, which are big enough for our clothes, we have no other storage available.  this closet has to house everything!  and the before picture is U-GLY (and sideways b/c i can't get it to turn).  just trust me, it wasn't pretty!

as when i organize any space, i completely emptied it.  i wish this time that i had the extra time to take all the shelves down and paint the wall a fun color, but it wasn't possible right now.  i did clean everything though.  wiped down the shelves, mopped the floor, scrubbed the baseboards.  then, i took a day off b/c i was tired from cleaning!  and, as when i organize any space, another room has to get crazy for one to get clean.  there was stuff all over my kitchen and dining room.  i had to keep it all out of reach of little fingers! 

once the organizing began, it went pretty quick.  i used tubs i already had first, then had to buy some more.  i love using the $1.00 shoe tubs from wal-mart.  then, i purchased a few of a bigger size.  everything else was what i had on hand.  i have lots of small stuff, craft things, crayons, etc.  i also had to use this to organize our office supplies and files, as well as utility things, such as cords, batteries, and light bulbs. 

here are the after pictures ...

lots and lots of tubs and labels.  that's what i like.

i made all the labels in publisher, printed them, laminated them, and used double sided tape to attach them to the tubs.  i debated on color coding each shelf, but didn't feel like it.

everything now has it's place.  i now can find what i need.  and my husband now knows where to put things as well.  it was always a guessing game and his guess was different than mine, which lead to many days of searching for things we needed.  it was a nightmare!!

i'm not too fond of the pink tubs.  they are ones i had some of the girls toys in that i relocated, but they were ones i already had on hand, which meant less money i had to spend, so i made them work.

these long tubs are for the girls things.  papers.  artwork.  baby dedication things.  memories.  i keep everything in these tubs.  karsyn's is about to overflow though and i'm not sure what i'll do after that.  for now, they work perfect for me.

and, one of my favorite things in here ... my own tool box.  i was constantly going back and forth to the shed to find a tool i needed, then stomping back to the shed for another tool i forgot to grab.  this solved everything!  it has anything i might need to hang a picture or any other household projects i may attempt to do myself.

i also have to use this closet to store decorations that i'm not currently using.  i have separate tubs in the attic for seasonal decorations, but this is just simple household things.  i switch things out often, so they needed to be at hand.

we have a rolling cart in here for paper.  printer paper.  drawing paper.  and construction paper.  and our file cabinet for files and envelopes.  everything is neatly labeled.  my heart (and brain) are smiling!! 

hopefully this gets you motivated to organize something!

. this time last year .

warning: picture overload.

oh how i wish i could bottle up every most days with my girls.  i was looking through pictures from this time last year and couldn't stop smiling.  i love finding pictures of my girls smiling, laughing, playing.  you see, although i take pictures of them all the time, they hate when i get the camera out, so the days of them being contained where i am guaranteed a great picture are few and far between. 

they have grown so much, but their smiles and their giggles are still the same.

oh how that makes my heart smile.

my goodness how big sweet baby has grown in one year.  she doesn't look much like a baby anymore today, although she still is my sweet baby.  she still has those chubby cheeks and thighs.

when i see pictures of them smiling and laughing, i feel like i've been a successful mother.  yes, there's so much more to parenting, but my children are happy.  and healthy.  and i thank God for that every single day.

and those shoes.  both of my girls wore those white sandals every spring and summer until they were 2.  then, to me, they just look ridiculous.  but they are a baby trademark in our family.  lots of park trips, walks, and play time in those white sandals. 

and karsyn with her leggings was a staple around here last year.  they allowed us to stretch out summer dresses to fall.  she'd wear leggings with anything and everything.

pure joy.

and perfect memories.

their hair has grown a lot too.  maybe it's all the times we've watched the movie, tangled?  could be.  'cause we've watched it.  alot.  i do believe at this time last year, sweet baby still let me fix her hair too.  now, not so much.

there are definitely more pictures of sweet baby here.  and the only reason for that is that she was still easier to contain.  she wasn't yet 2 and hadn't mastered the art of escaping the camera like her sister had.

look at that cheeky smile.  that smile .. it's still here.  and i love it.

that smile that makes the eyes squint.  she gets that from her mae mae.

both of my girls would swing every day, weather permitting.  because this year, we have swung every day.  there's been no rain, so we've been able to.  and we do.  every day.

we talked about sweet baby's sandals.  let's talk about karsyn's shoes.  there are none!  i can't keep shoes on this girl for nothin'.  she gets that from me.

i love that it was almost october in these pictures.  you'd think it was june.  still in shorts.

i love the laughs when they throw their heads back.  nothing better.

and the piggie tails were so cute. 

and i still can't get their parts straight!  sweet baby's hair has definitely gotten longer and curlier than last year.  but how adorable are those piggies?!?

oh how i love this girl.

and this one.  she has really grown in one year.  one year always seems so long, but right now it seems like such a short time ago. 

that smile is contagious.  especially when she's in trouble and she bats those baby blues and grins.  she's always had that going for her.

so, in one year.  we've come so far.  they've grown so much.  and i think i love them more now than ever before, if that's possible.  i absolutely love being their mommy.  every day is a new adventure.  i cannot wait to see where we are at this time next year, but i sure could bottle up these days and hold onto them forever.

. 262/365 .

she HAD to show me that she could go "up and down" (aka upside down).

this girl is a HOOT!

. 261/365 .

safety first, izzy.  she's ready to go!