Michelle

Eliza Jane’s Princess Party

August 31, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Decorating/Remodeling, Events, Life, Party Ideas Leave a Comment

“A dream is a wish your heart makes…when you’re fast asleep…”

These are the first words of one of my favorite songs from ‘Cinderella’ my favorite princess from my favorite fairy tale, my favorite movie.

When Eliza Jane and I talked earlier this summer about her birthday party, I asked her what kind of party she wanted for her FIFTH birthday.
First of all, can we pause for a moment together and say, ‘how in the WORLD is she FIVE!?’ Remember when she was born and I shared her birth story? Seems like last year… I can hardly believe we’re now using a whole hand to tell her age. It’s so weird.

Okay, back to princesses and dreams and parties.
When we talked about her birthday, I had all sorts of fun ideas – fairies in a garden, a ballet with a small group of friends, all sorts of fun things were stirring in my mind, but when I asked her she had one, very simple response: PRINCESS!

Princess. We did a princess party last year.
I pondered it for about a day; How could we do another princess party this year, that would be different from last year, and certainly a GOOD party because it is her FIFTH.

What if….and my wheels started turning.
What if we created a castle. What if, walking into the living room, it was like walking into a castle.
I threw the idea at Andrew and shared some initial thoughts with him…I think he smiled and tossed his head back with, “This is going to get out of hand real fast, isn’t it?”
“Yes. Yes it is.” I said with a laugh. “She only turns 5 once…and last year her brother threw out the first pitch at a Fireflies baseball game, so…”

I got online and made a reservation for two princesses to join us for her party. This part would remain a complete surprise to her and her friends. I told a couple of moms, and swore them to secrecy. {I may have even threatened death to one…}. I was giddy with my secret…I knew my sweet girl would be over the moon to see two of her favorite princesses show up at HER house.

One night at ballet practice, my sweet friend Dana and I perused Pinterest, looking for ideas to help me figure out how we would bring this vision to life. The dream I had for her castle centered around a chandelier and canopy hanging over a beautifully set table, with golds and pinks and greens. Slowly, but surely I started collecting items that we could use for the party and to be completely honest, the outcome was so much more than I ever dreamed.

A few points I’ll make before you see the pictures: Eliza Jane LOVED her castle. She called me an artist the day I put up the castle…NO ONE has ever called me an artist {for good reason!}. The weekend before the party Reynolds came up with the idea to be a knight, to greet the princesses, so of course I ordered him a knight costume!
The princesses are from Once Upon a Princess and they were simply amazing. Completely in character the whole time, they told stories, sang and danced, and played games with the sweet girls at our party.
To say everything was a dream…it was a beautiful, beautiful dream.

The canopy belongs to our friend Brynn, who let us borrow it for this sweet party.

This tablescape was inspired by one I saw on Pinterest and was able to find all of the paper products from If It’s Paper; the flowers came from Lowe’s Foods and the chairs were rented. The chandelier came from a house we recently renovated!

The castle was created from craft paper purchased from Lowe’s (the hardware store), and I spray painted the bricks. The sconces are made from black construction paper and the fire is tissue paper.
These yellow wingback chairs were my grandparent’s and I had them reupholstered a couple of years ago. The fun hanging elements are from Michael’s (3 different party packs) and are hanging by fishing line, attached to the ceiling with clear push pins (my thumb is so sore!).

A big thank you to my sweet friend Dana, who dripped sweat with me yesterday afternoon trying to hang this canopy. We were absolutely determined to find a way to make it work, and succeeded! You can create amazing things with pushpins and small strips of ribbon!

This sweet little cupcake display was GIVEN to me by the manager at If It’s Paper. I went in one day to buy the envelopes for the birthday invitations and ‘happened’ to tell the lady at the register about our princess party. The manager overheard me and asked if I wanted this display…and she gave it to me stating she had been waiting for someone to come in for princess party ware, that she could give it to. Lucky me.

This small pink cake stand is from Anthropologie a couple of years ago and Publix did our cupcakes this year.

My sweet Reynolds being a complete gentleman. The princesses called him ‘Prince Charming’. His costume was ordered via Amazon.

“If you keep on believing
The dream that you wish will come true”

We also had a small dress up area complete with several princess dresses, necklaces, bracelets, rings, wands, princess shoes and makeup! You can imagine the fun these girls had. We had several wardrobe changes, trading shoes and jewelry. It was such a joy watching these girls have so much fun today.
I’m so thankful for the friends who were able to come and celebrate with us – it was a day I won’t forget for a very long time.

Until next time sweet friends…

First Day of School…

August 21, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Life Leave a Comment

Like many friends, today was our first day back to school…and I have mixed emotions, that obviously, I’m going to share with you.

First let me start by saying that over the last few years, I’m not sure I ever imagined that I would be able to spend an entire summer with my kids. A week of family vacation, sure. Maybe even a day here or there, but the ENTIRE summer…it was incredible.
Sure there were days when we lost our patience, and got a little snippy with each other, and there may have been a day or two that I wished summer away, and the school year to begin, but all in all it was a wonderful summer with my kiddos. I got to really experience them, Reynolds especially, in a new way with all the time we were able to spend together.

So with today being the first day of school… Eliza Jane started KINDERGARTEN. I can’t even believe it. How can it even be?! And Reynolds has moved up to 1st grade. Emory is still at preschool/daycare {for which I am extremely thankful}.

Last year with Reynolds I think I was a little more emotional, as he is my first baby. And the thoughts of leaving him somewhere completely foreign to me, with strange people was almost overwhelming. This year, however, Eliza Jane has the same teacher Reynolds had last year – Ms. Moskowitz – and we LOVE her. She is the most precious of all teachers {no offense to any of my teacher-friends out there}. She already adores Eliza Jane and calls her ‘Lady Bug’. And yes, I’m pretending that this is a pet name solely dedicated to my Eliza Jane and no one else, ever before, or ever again. Give me my moment.

But then we also know all these other teachers and staff members. And the kids…and some more parents; I’m much more at ease this time around. Yes, I suppress the thoughts of ‘what if’ and trust that the good Lord has them in the palm of His hand.

So today we dropped off the two at ‘big’ school…walked home with Emory, who asked over and over again why he couldn’t stay. And then he went to his school, and we settled in to yet, another new normal.

The house was quiet.
No one was complaining, whining, arguing or otherwise making some annoying sound to grate on my every last nerve…
No one was laughing, playing sweetly with toys or asking for help coloring a picture, or wanting to help make a cake or cookies…
No one asked for a pickle at lunch time, or where we were going to eat supper tonight. Or what day it was to figure out what evening activities awaited.
No one made a mess in my den, for the 10th time today. Or threw all the pillows on the floor to make a fort, or a tent, or some other contraption that would make me twitch…
No one had five wardrobe changes by the time the afternoon rolled around…no clothes were thrown all about.
No rooms were left in complete shambles to drive me insane throughout the day as I walked by…
No one asked me five thousand times if we were going to the pool, or when we were going to the pool…

Yes, school is back in session. And Yeah…summer was really that good. I will miss our summer, but I’m also ready to get back to work!

As you think about your own kids, or somebody else’s kids going back to school today or this week, please pray for them. And pray for all these wonderful teachers who love on, steer and teach the kids all about our world and of course academics…but there’s so much more that they do. And they need our prayers. For safety, for success, for grace, for kindness, for love…

“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

Happy first day of school to my friends, their kids and teachers. May this be the most fun school year yet.

Until next time…

On Mondays: I Do the Laundry & I Water the Plants

July 22, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Gardening, Life 4 Comments

Some days I feel like I have absolutely no idea of what I’m doing or what I’m supposed to be doing. Do you ever feel like that?
When I left my full-time-working-outside-the-home job in December, all form of daily structure went with it.
Structure that I crave. And truth be told…NEED. I’m like a fish flailing about on a dry dock without structure.

After many months of trying to figure out my “new normal”, I now know two things: on Mondays I do the laundry and I water the plants. Seriously, only two things have actually fallen into place so far. Some days I feel like that’s so ridiculous…like I should have so much more figured out by now – 7 months into this ‘newness’. But so many other days, I have to fly by the seat of my pants because #homerenovations + #summertime + #kids. And being a structure-loving sort of gal, too much structure makes me completely unable to adjust to changes, and be happy about them {let’s just be REAL, sometimes curve balls thrown at me make me a grumpy momma}.

These aren’t my plants. In fact, this isn’t even my photo…I borrowed it from Anthropologie :)
You can get these beautiful little basket planters here.

On the other hand, not enough structure means I wander about, jumping from one thing to the next, never really accomplishing anything.
You know that feeling of starting something, but then getting half-way or almost done and then something else takes your attention, and then that thing you started and almost finished…just waits? That’s how my laundry used to be. I would start a few loads, get them going…do a little folding and then they’d never get put away or that last load would just sit in the dryer and we all know how that ends up. They were never fully dried or that load was all the shorts and cute tops and dresses for the kids and now they’re all wrinkled…Which means you now have to get out the iron {or just let your kids run around in wrinkled clothes…, seriously no judgement here ‘cuz #beentheredonethat}. Bless it all. So on Mondays, ALL the laundry gets done. The sheets, the towels, the cute dresses and shorts, all of it.
They get washed and dried, folded AND put away and I feel like a boss-babe when it all gets done. Five loads today alone. That’s the average each week…sometimes a load or two more depending on how many wardrobe changes Reynolds went thru the previous week {what is that about, anyway?!}. Also, if we’ve been at the pool or lake and towels/swimsuits need to be refreshed. But on average I’m around 5 each Monday. Sometimes I start a load Sunday night so that I’m half a load in once Monday morning rolls around. But usually by 3pm I’ve got it all completed and I can enjoy the afternoon with Eliza Jane and her gymnastics and then whatever else comes my way.

And then I water the plants. I have a lot of indoor plants because they make me happy. My mom had a green thumb as did her daddy. My mom had some of the most beautiful African Violets you’d ever seen. She was a master at keeping them not just alive but also happy. My dad also has a green thumb as did his parents, with their ‘garden’ at the back of their property and my Nama’s beautifully manicured lawn… So with the green thumb running rampant in my family, I feel as though I need lots of plants. And because it’s so hot outside, one doesn’t have time or energy to be sweating all day long, so I need indoor plants.

Just so y’all know, unlike my mom, I don’t ‘do’ African Violets. They’re too temperamental for me {I’m temperamental enough for myself, I don’t need a plant to test me}, instead I have Spider Plants that a sweet man at church gave my kids a couple of years ago and they’re so pretty – we have one in each of their rooms as well as one that sits on my dining room table. I also have a Fiddle Fig because they were all the rage when I was pregnant with Eliza Jane…and now that plant is a happy, window-loving tree that sits in our living room! I also have a gorgeous Peace Lily that was sent to my family when my mom passed away almost three years ago. It sat in my office until I came home and now it has a sweet little spot on the opposite end of the couch from the Fiddle Fig. A quick note about Peace Lilies is that they like water more than once a week – their weeping leaves will show you :) I also have an Asparagus Fern because I had a co-worker once that had a Rabbit Foot Fern that was so cute and unique and when trying to remember what she had, I purchased the wrong thing! I have a few other plants but the last I’ll share with you is my Thanksgiving Cactus. Given to me many years ago from my mom, it was my first indoor plant – and it started as a cutting from one she had. Mine has grown large enough now, that it’s been split into two different plants – one sits in our guest bedroom, and the other in our living room on top of the buffet I inherited from my grandparents.

It may not sound like much to you {or maybe it does?}, just doing laundry and watering some silly plants. But when I was working outside the home, it took everything I had to get the laundry done each week and not feel like I was completely failing my family. Or that I was using every bit of our weekend family time to do the laundry. And my poor plants were barely making it.
To see my plants thriving, and the lack of clothes piled up on the chest at the end of our bed is proof to me that things are good. That the structure is as it should be, and I feel accomplished…at least at the end of each Monday…the rest of the week could be debated. ;)

So this Monday as I finish up my laundry, because I had a few curve balls thrown at me today…I’ll leave you with a quick thought from my Birthday Card book: ‘You’ve done much. But there’s still much more to do.’
Psalm 71:9 says Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

Until next time friends…

Tonight.

June 24, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom 1 Comment

A few years ago, we went thru a period with Reynolds, that was especially trying. The Lord has gifted him with a very strong-willed spirit, and while I know childhood years can be extremely trying {hello, current situation}, I also know that with guidance, proper discipline and love, he will grow into a respected and beloved leader. That’s my prayer, at least.

I remind myself of those things on a night like tonight where things just kind of went sideways with him. I can’t even remember what happened, but his punishment was that he was going to miss out on reading a fun book, that Eliza Jane had picked out; Story time was moving to her room, and he was being sent to bed.

Things can escalate rather quickly with Reynolds, when he gets mad/upset and tonight was no different. Shouts of “you’re the worst parents I’ve EVER had!” came bellowing from his bedroom and I think I mumbled under my breath {or maybe even out loud}, “RIGHT. ‘Cuz we’re the ONLY parents you’ve ever had.”…..
I’m really good at come-backs.

Then he invited himself into Eliza Jane’s room, where, trying to be kind, I told him he could listen from the corner and promptly showed him his spot. Unhappy with my designated seat for him, we had another showing of the red-face so he was escorted back to his bedroom where again, he yelled about how I was the WORST. And even that he hated me, and he knew I didn’t love him.

Calmly, I asked him if he wanted to pray, or recall any of the truths he’s learned at any of the camps he’s attended the last couple of weeks via church. He promptly put his hands over his ears and shouted that no, he didn’t want to pray and NO, he wasn’t trying to remember ANYTHING.

I told him he would go without TV for the rest of the week since he was being so unkind and disrespectful by both word and action, at which point he shouted louder and cried harder.

Remembering back to my own childhood, I can’t recall a time that either I, or my brother ever screamed such hurtful words at either of our parents. After it was all said and done, and he was left in his room angry and hurt, I went and sat on my bed…sad and hurt.

What have I not done well. Or right, even. What can be done better.

He started down the hall towards me with a scour on his face, and was met by Andrew, who told him he wasn’t allowed to get near “my wife” with that look on his face. He tried again, and I guess at that point I reached for my Bible, knowing it was my only source of anything, and he said to Andrew something like, “I’m not going in there since she has her Bible.”

I started reading Psalm 32. It was just the one I turned my Bible open to…not by happenstance I’m sure.

A moment later, Reynolds appeared, with his own Bible in hand.

He said he was sorry. He asked for a flashlight…so that he could read his Bible in his room, in his bed. Andrew found him one and once given the flashlight, he asked, “but what should I read?”

“The Psalms are a good place to start…” I told him that if he opened his Bible in the middle, he would almost certainly hit a Psalm…and then to pick one and read it.

He crawled up in the bed with me, and asked if I would read one to him.

We read the 23rd Psalm…and talked about how God is our Shepherd. He cares for us. He loves us when we are unlovely or when we go down the wrong path.

He hugged me for a 3rd time, and I asked him, in his embrace, “Do you really know that I love you?”

“Yes m’am.”

Moments later he walked downstairs and apologized to Andrew. He even acknowledged his punishment of no TV for the rest of the week. And then he went to his room, with flashlight and Bible in hand.

I wonder in the really hard and super crappy moments if I’m failing miserably at being a parent.
But then Jesus. He shows me in little things, that turn out to be very big and beautiful things, that He’s got me. He’s got my parenting, He’s got my baby…right where He wants us to be.

A Mother’s Day Memory

May 9, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Events, Life 4 Comments

When I was a little girl, I can’t remember how old I was, but I know I was young…for Mother’s Day my mom and I both got corsages. I don’t know who bought them, my mom or my dad, but I can visualize the two corsages in the refrigerator the Saturday night before Mother’s Day.

I can also remember the conversation I had with my mom one year about these corsages, because the corsages were different colors. Mine was always red or pink and hers was a white orchid.
She told me that a lady who wore a white corsage showed that her mother was no longer living. A lady with a pink or red corsage, her mother was still alive.

For whatever reason, last year, I remembered these corsages and I told Andrew about them and made a request that this year Eliza Jane and I would start wearing corsages on Mother’s Day. Mine would be white, in memory of my beloved mother, and hers would be pink or red.

I went by Lowe’s foods the other day, because they still have a person that actually works in the flower area of the store, and asked about the corsages. The lady knew exactly what I was talking about and said that she had placed an order for ‘mothers’ orchids’. She asked me what colors I would need, either white or pink and I requested one of each. She took my name and number and said that she would call me when they came in, this Thursday.

Today I got a phone call from this sweet lady and the kids and I went to pick up our corsages this afternoon.

Aren’t they beautiful! {I left them in their packages so not to bruise their petals}

If you didn’t know about this old tradition, it is a sweet one. And perhaps you could adopt it into your own sweet family.

If you have the honor of being able to spend Mother’s day with your mom, I pray that it is a sweet day for you both. If, like me, your mother is no longer living, I pray for peace in your heart and joyful memories to flood your heart and bring a smile to your beautiful face.

Until next time dear friends…Happy Mother’s Day

You, Me, Three Kids, a Puppy and…an RV?

April 23, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Travel 1 Comment

Oh my. Y’all must think we are crazy. Its Andrew, not me. Any crazy fun idea usually comes from him. {insert laughing/crying face emoji}

Just a week before Reynolds’ Spring Break, Andrew says to me at 8:30pm…something like this:
“So I was thinking about this Spring Break thing, and what if we did a road trip? Like, packed up the car, and drove to Asheville, Nashville and Memphis, then came home….”
I think I looked up from folding clothes with a thought like, ‘don’t crush his idea, Michelle…go with it and see what happens.’ So I said something like, “OH! Okay, that sounds FUN {extra emphasis on FUN}! Uh…so like, go see the Biltmore and…?” to which he filled in a few things, of how we could see some friends and just explore – a lot of blanks for someone like me who likes to PLAN things out {I’m so type A, this was a very difficult conversation}.
“YEAH” he said. “You know, just go…explore, find new things…”
“I think that’s great! Um…what do we do with Bleu, because he’s not had all of his shots so I don’t think we can board him…”
“Oh, he’ll go with us…” Andrew said with a sparkle in his blue eyes.
{He is NUTS. I thought.}
“ALL OF US and the dog in a car for…er, how long? Memphis to Columbia is a LONNNNNNNNNNNNG stretch of driving.” {don’t crush his dream MICHELLE. DON’T.CRUSH.HIS.DREAM, I thought}
He replied, “Well..” and turns his head with an almost crazed look of excitement….”My original idea was for us to rent an RV.”

I think I laughed. Out-loud laughed.
I KNOW I envisioned us careening down the mountain in said RV.
I tried REALLY hard not to crush this wild dream of his, but my mouth moved faster than my brain could tell it to stop.
“Uh, Babe.” {also, shaking my head in the “no” fashion my kids do so well}, “So, you want to rent an RV, with all of us, plus the dog, and go on a road trip? We don’t know anything about driving an RV. What do we do with the dog while we’re at, say, the Biltmore, or just exploring?”
Easy for him to say: “He’ll go with us the places he can go, and other times, he’ll just be in the RV.”
“What about air conditioning when we aren’t in it?”
“Oh, there’s a generator.”
“I don’t know anything about generators. What if it doesn’t work and we come back to a dead dog? I can’t handle that.”
“Why does the dog have to die?”
“What about car seats, or do the kids just roam around the RV” – mom nightmare. Remember, we just careened down the mountain…my kids are flying through the air in my mind. NOT.GOOD.
“I’m sure they have some seat belts.”
SOME?! OMG. I can’t even with this laissez faire mess.

After some time of talking about this, and me losing my marbles inside my head, while trying to sound somewhat excited about this amazing idea my husband had just presented to me… He started looking online for our options.
Outdoorsy.com was the website we used to find our rental…
A 32 foot beauty that slept 10 people. TEN people, people. There are 5 of us.
When asked why we got one so big, he laughingly replied, it was the same price whatever size we got!
As the 2nd driver to this ship, it was huge. I’ve never wanted a Suburban or Yukon XL because they are enormous…and only 19 ft. Add 13 more feet and this is what you get.

Here she is parked in the front yard…I’m sure our neighbors loved it.

We ended up changing our destination plans {remember the careening down the mountain?}, and drove to Florida, where Andrew’s brother and sister-in-law currently live. {They are military and will be moving this summer to RI.} Hoping to stay at the campground near his airforce base, but unable to make a reservation – first come first served – we had to park in brother’s driveway :)
Haha. While maybe not totally ideal…I didn’t have to shower in the RV, or bathe my kids – which was another very valid concern I had, given there was no tub and the shower was the size of a cabinet. We did ride comfortably, and the kids could go potty whenever they wanted {bonus of all bonuses}.
We packed it full of food so there were plenty of snacks, we had lunch foods and junk foods. The kids watched movies, colored and played with toys. Bleu was amazing and slept the entire time in a borrowed crate, save the stops we made to get out and stretch all the legs.

I may not be rushing to book our next RV adventure, because the ‘dumping’ part was very much less than ideal, but we had a wonderful trip. We made sweet memories. We saw the beach and our family. And we didn’t go crazy in the process.
Here are a few pics we managed to take along the way…

I’m not sure if this was me whistling or freaking out…

Color pencils and PJ Masks for the early morning win!

Reynolds had a spring break reading challenge – here he is reading a book to a stuffed animal :)

The night before we came back home, we all piled in the back bed to watch ‘The Swan Princess’

I hope you had a great spring break, if that was on your calendar this year! If not…it’s time to plan your next trip – will you go RV’ing? :)
Until next time…

Welcome Home, Bleu

March 21, 2019 by Michelle Filed Under: Being a Mom, Bleu, Life Leave a Comment

Friends, Bleu has officially joined our rambunctious family!

Tuesday Andrew and I made the two-ish hour drive to Pickens, SC to pick up our sweet boy. He was asleep with a brother and sister when we arrived…and though it somewhat tugged at my heart to remove him from his family, I am so excited for him to join ours!

The drive home was very uneventful, with a little whimpering and a lot of snuggles, we made it home in no time.

I took Bleu to each of the kids’ schools to pick them up, and videoed their reactions. First up was Reynolds. I saw one of the after care teachers as I walked up to the school with Bleu and with a smile on her face, she told me how excited Reynolds was and that he had told her “If you see a lady walking up with a puppy, that’s my new dog.” So cute. And yes, I’m okay being replaced by a puppy for a little bit.
I let her know that I wanted to video his reaction to seeing Bleu, so upon opening the door to the school, she called him to get his bag and come to the door. Big smile on his face, both he and his school mates were thrilled to see Bleu. They were all hands on Bleu!

Next up was Eliza Jane and her reaction was by far the best, with jumping up and down from a good 25 yards away! She and all her friends were wide-eyed and giggling over our new puppy. And I am convinced that she thinks he is her new baby.

Between both Eliza Jane and Emory, they just want to hold Bleu.

The last reaction was Emory’s. His sweet little class was outside playing when we found him. He saw Bleu and all he would say was, “Lemme hold da puppy”, with arms open wide. At the school, I put Bleu down on the ground and he immediately started chasing our three kiddos around. Emory fell down and Bleu promptly hopped on him. Laughing hysterically, I think they were all so very excited about this sweet little guy that has come to be a part of our family.

{I don’t have a photo yet of Emory and Bleu…they’re both a little wiggly…}

Isn’t he the cutest little guy? He’s so stinking sweet. Except for the middle of the night when everyone wants to sleep. ha! Currently Andrew and I are in the ‘newborn’ phase, and while last night was MUCH better than our first night with him {there wasn’t much sleep at all}, we are still very tired. Yes, we have begun training him with both his crate and the laundry room area, which will both be ‘his’ places of respite..but as you know that takes some time. In the interim, we’ll be getting lots of puppy snuggles…let me know if you need some too! He’s definitely up for visitors!

Meanwhile, yesterday was the first day of Spring, and though it was a little chilly here in SC, it was a beautiful day! Today promises a little more sunshine and warmer temps so I hope you’re able to get outside wherever you may be.

As I leave you today, remember that THIS is a wonderful day. Psalm 118:24
Until next time…

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