excited about st. paddy’s day

I didn’t have any particular plans to celebrate this day, but True went to do an errand with Ben to a party store and she overheard the sales clerk telling Ben that tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day and then her celebrating imagination ran wild! She came home jubilantly telling me that tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day and how excited she was to celebrate it because she exclaimed, in these exact words, “I’m going to be rich!”

Oh my. She had these grand ideas that there was going to be some sort of pot of some sort of gold for her somewhere. Before bed, she even made sure to pick out her green outfit for church and encouraged her sisters to do the same. Well, this mama got in a little panic mode because I wasn’t going to do anything, but thankfully I remembered some pinterest ideas floating around that were easy and quick and that’s what I did. While they were sleeping, I taped up a little sign across their door, so they wouldn’t leave their room and wait for us. Then with an index card, I wrote a little note for each of them to follow the rainbow. The note was attached to a yarn leading them all the way to find their little bag of gold. The bag of gold was more like a couple quarters, dimes, and pennies, but I think it did the job. They were mighty giddy to have their bag of gold!

They even picked out a green dress for me to wear, but it didn’t quite fit, so green pants were the next best thing. I reminded Ben to make sure he put something green on too and we all had ourselves a green day. Ben and I are discovering that True loves holidays. Any kind of holiday! She just has a thing for celebrating and the fact that her birthday is next month is getting her celebrating spirit even more ready. Had we known that the kids were going to be this excited about St. Paddy’s Day, we would have planned a special meal with some green cabbage and potatoes. I guess next year this mama better be ready to give her kids a St. Paddy’s Day feast!

Do you do anything to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

on me: shirt, everlane. denim shirt, madewell. pants, urban outfitters. necklace, oh, hello friend. shoes, anthropologie. on the girls: soulie’s dress is misha lulu, the rest of the dresses are vintage, and target leggings for all. moccasins on soul and glow, c/o freshly picked.

march 1st

We had a little celebration to welcome March. I made this cake again because it’s so good. I used fat free milk instead of whole (and a quarter cup less sugar) and it wasn’t as moist, but still good enough to eat. Obviously, if Soul was licking the plate clean, it definitely was still good. If that girl loves what’s on her plate, she will almost always lick her plate until it is completely gone.

Chocolate cake was a good way to ring in the new month! Actually, we also had a special family milestone to celebrate that day (no, I am not pregnant), so it was another good reason for indulging. The celebrate banner topper is from Lisa Leonard and the perfect little topper for our March 1st celebration.

Now, I have to admit that it’s dangerous to have that cake here because I keep going to the fridge to sneak a bite. I have a hard time resisting dessert sometimes. The girls loved their little surprise snack on Friday afternoon, and even Glow got her first slice of cake and she’s definitely a fan! This is definitely my go-to chocolate cake recipe. What’s yours?

our love day

A wee bit late in sharing, but things have been kind of crazy over here lately hence the light posting this week. I’m hoping our lives are back to normal next week, so depending if I get to it tomorrow, I may just bid happy weekend today.

This was our happy Love Day last week. I woke up to a homemade card from Ben and some flowers. Then, Ben gave all of his little girls flowers too. His mom is here, and because he’s such a sweet fella, he showered her with love too. We had little gift bags for the girls filled with simple things and they got showered with more gifts from both grandparents (my parents stopped by). You can imagine the day was filled with lots of sugary low nutrition things, but that’s okay in moderation.

It’s cute because the girls made presents for each other or wrapped their toys and used it as a gift. It totally is always hilarious when they do that. True had a present for Soulie, which was a pony doll that was Soulie’s, and then when Soulie opened it she was all giddy, excited, and jumping up and down. I don’t think if Ben wrapped up a pair of shoes I already have that I would be that excited to receive it again, but maybe that just shows my lack of thankfulness and creative spirit. Kids get excited about the littlest things and I need to relearn that myself.

Other than that, our day was pretty low key and simple. Ben and I did manage to put in a late Valentine date on Saturday evening and it was nice. Getting out was a breath of fresh air and a stress reliever. I can’t believe we’re nearing the end of February and I don’t think I have ever been so excited for the end of a month than this month. Our household has been out of sorts this month (for a few months really) and I’m hoping once March comes we can get back to our old normal. Whatever that was.

Oh and I still owe Ben a Valentine’s. We agreed to just make each other homemade cards this year, but let’s just say I’m a little behind. Total fail on my part, but I think I shower him with enough kisses everyday that he knows how much I love him. If I don’t come back tomorrow, happy weekend friends! Grandmama has been here for a week and a half and we will be so sad to see her leave on Saturday. What are your plans this weekend?

a swan lake party in babiekins magazine

This was totally last summer, but it just came out in the newest issue of Babiekins. It was such a sweet little party to plan for our Bravey. She’s the one that can always be found dancing, so this party was especially designed with all the things she loves in mind. The best part of it all was that the parents came back to pick up their kids (it was a drop and go kind of party)  and they were treated to their very own special performance of Swan Lake. Check out the entire article here.

Thank you to Kimberly Genevieve and her skills in beautifully capturing our Bravey’s 5th brithday! Check out her talent here and here!

i adore him

When we went to San Francisco for my birthday, Meg Tsang got in touch with us to shoot some family portraits. Only we didn’t come with the kids, so we turned it into a “love shoot” instead. I was so excited to get some nice pictures of Ben and me together. Meg did my friend Ica’s engagement shoot, so I already knew what she would come up with would be good. For sure.

Now, despite having a blog and sometimes doing outfit posts of sorts, I am so not natural in front of the camera. I feel awkward trying to pose and all I can really do is smile, so that’s what I do, but I think Ben’s always just a natural. Meg was so great because she had these little tips and tricks to get us to interact and made it not so awkward to be in front of the camera. I appreciated those little tricks because I totally need direction in front of the camera. We had such a great time with Meg and she got all these wonderful shots (and more, but I didn’t want to overload you) in just one hour! And how gorgeous is that location that Meg picked out?! It felt so otherworldly!

I am so in love with all her pictures. I think she totally captured how I look at Ben. I always look at Ben with so much googly eyes because he really makes me googly eyed in a very good way. Just looking at these pictures makes my heart all a flutter on how thankful I am that God placed Ben and me together. Ben is truly such a sweetheart and so selfless. He dedicates so much of himself to me and his little girls and I think everything he does is so darn sexy. He’s not perfect (though pretty close!), but I see how God is shaping and growing him to become an even more godly man and leader for our family. We’re both learning everyday what it means to include God in our marriage and I’m so thankful to be one flesh with this man.

Before I make all of you gag because I really can go on and on about Ben forever, I’ll stop now. All this to say, I love Ben a whole heck of a lot!

Thank you Meg for these beautiful captures! Meg is based out of San Francisco, but she does travel (and travels often), so if you’re in need of a photographer, check her out!

meg tsang’s site…
meg tsang’s blog…

Happy Love Day to my Benny (and my girls) and to all of you friends! Don’t forget to gush and pour the love on all those special in your life!!!