These girls are crazy and funny. They get the crazy from me and the funny from Ben. The end of the school year is coming and I can see how True is becoming a second grader and Brave a first. Despite the grade difference, they do the exact same curriculum at home with slight changes to accommodate each of their skill level. It’s mostly in reading level where they differ, but Brave is really excelling in her her writing and reading these days, so it’s just a matter of time when they’ll both be at the same place.

When I picked them up from enrichment classes this week, their theatre teacher told me that both of them went up to the front to say their poems. I was so proud. Both girls, especially True, are so shy, so this was a big deal. I’m hoping they grow out of this shyness. Actually, all my girls are pretty bashful, so I think that’s what keeps them sort of behaved in public. The bad thing about it though, is that when meeting people it can come across rude. It takes them about 30 minutes to finally warm up to someone, so they’re pretty boring for the first 30 minutes of any play date.

on true: shirts, misha lulu. pants, gifted from grandmama. shoes, thrifted. on brave: shirt, misha lulu. skirt, misha lulu. shoes, gap kids.

p.s. the new misha lulu spring/summer line is adorable (check some of it out here and here)! don’t you just love brave’s a-line skirt (pictured above)?!

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.

When the girls have to get dressed in the morning (most days are spent in pajamas), if we’re going somewhere, True’s usually the fastest in deciding what to wear and it typically includes layering. Brave takes forever to figure out her clothes and when she finally does have something on, it usually isn’t seasonally appropriate and I tell her to find something else (wearing shorts in the rain or a coat in the heat just wouldn’t work). Then she gets all frustrated again and ends up crying because she can’t find anything. Is this telling me something about those teenage years? And then we have Soulie, who you all know likes to wear her baby sister’s clothes and tuck in her dresses. It will be interesting how these fashion preferences and choices play out later.

on true: shirt, misha lulu. skirt, aa. leggings, misha lulu. shoes, toms. on brave: dress, c/o winter water factory (worn here by true). leggings, misha lulu. shoes, gap kids.

Glow is totally part of the crew. She is definitely still our baby, but she’s playing (and even sometimes fighting) with the big girls too. She’ll see something she wants and will try to get it, usually from Soul, and she always wants to be part of the action now. She still doesn’t talk, but she does a whole lot of baby babbling. We all love her to pieces!

Looking at these pictures, I still can’t believe I have four girls and Ben has five of us to deal with. Poor guy! That time of the month when these girls are older is going to be pretty crazy in our house. I will be the first to say that when that time of the month comes for me, that whole Pissed-off Mood Swing (PMS) comes in full force. Now times that by 4 more! Oye!

We’re slowly working our way out of the baby phase. The girls are getting older and making certain things easier and harder at the same time. Glow is getting so big that I find myself asking Ben if he’s sure we’re done and in my moment of amnesia, I say I want another. Then I remember how full our hands really are and then I’m like, yeah… we’re good. I’m thankful for how helpful True and Brave are and we have to be intentional in teaching Soul to be just as responsible. I think because she is in the transitional toddler to little girl stage and has two big sisters that will do things for her that I forget to teach her responsibility too. One thing she is pretty much in charge of is getting herself dressed and it’s pretty much the same thing everytime. If you look back at most pictures of her in recent months, it will be that Mexican embroidered dress (or her other one in red) tucked into her leggings.

It’s been pretty warm lately, in the high 80’s, and I can totally feel spring creeping up on us. As much as I love winter, I’m pretty excited to have longer days. Are you?

on me: sweater, thrifted. shirt, thrifted. jeans, forever 21. necklace, homako. boots, emerson fry. on true: dress, c/o winter water factory. leggings, gap. boots, gymboree. bag, diy here. on brave: dress, misha lulu. sweater, vintage. leggings, misha lulu. shoes, gap. on soul: dress, vintage. leggings, misha lulu. shoes, c/o freshly picked. on glow: dress, c/o winter water factory. shoes, old ones since true was a baby.

Ankle boots and chunky scarves are my winter must haves. For sure. Yes, I love the cold and am a native Southern Californian and so I’m kind of wimpy when it comes to the cold, but I love it all nonetheless. Oh! And sweats. Those are getting me through the winter too. Ben got me some for Christmas (because that’s all I asked for) and then I ordered these (in grey and stripe). It was my first time ever ordering from stylemint, but I figured the purchase was justifiable because my old sweats that I have had for about 10 years started getting holes where there shouldn’t be any holes, so yeah… I figured it’s time to make another investment. I’ve been wearing my sweats with denim tops and cozy cardigans, so while still in sweats, I don’t feel like I’m back in college in sweat pants and a sweatshirt. Though, those days do happen too.

My go-to boots are also these clog boots from Lotta from Stockholm. I seriously wear them everywhere, all the time, and my BFF was laughing at me because I even threw them on with my sweats when we went out for dinner. There just so comfy that they are the best thing to throw on when I’m headed out the door. Actually, an epiphany came to me a month or so ago and my favorite types of shoes are ankle boots! Not only can they be worn in the winter, but also in the summer and spring with shorts and dresses. If you looked at my shoe collection, I’ve amassed quite the collection of ankle boots. Therefore, not only do they get me through the winter, they get me through year round too!

Then you have my chunky cowl scarves. I wear them in the house and out of the house. I just love the feeling of my neck warm and toasty. I wish I had time to crochet myself more, but maybe in the summer I can get a head start for next winter. Knowing me (and my household), that really won’t happen though. I really love this one, so it will be on my to-do list next winter.

What are some things that have been totally helping you get through the winter? Or maybe the summer for some of you Southern Hemisphere folk?

It’s been awhile since I’ve done a school style post for the girls, so here’s their latest getup. They dress themselves and pretty much wear the same things all the time, but slightly change up the layering here and there, but whatever. They’re clothed and it works. Actually, it sounds a bit like how I get dressed, wearing the same thing all the time but changing it up a bit. Though, my same thing usually consists of sweats and a sweater. I would say my daughters dress up way more than me!

I love their smiles and I can’t believe how much older they are starting to look these days. How is this possible?! Didn’t I just give birth to them?! My oh my!

on true: dress, vintage. poncho, little bean shop. pants, misha lulu. socks, target. shoes, salt-waters. beret, anthropologie (gifted a long time ago). on brave: sweater, vintage. pants, misha lulu. shoes, toms. actually, this was the same day they wore these outfits.