Hmmmm...coincidence?

I'm wondering. Jo is almost 2 1/2. She's been extremely observant since the moment we met. A few days ago, while sitting on my lap at the computer, Jo saw this magazine lying on the desk:

Jo started patting the magazine and saying, "Josie? Josie?" I said, "No honey, that's not Josie." She said, "Oh." Then started patting the magazine again saying, "My eyes? My eyes?" My only response was, "Ummmm."

Now, the little girl on the magazine is from Guatemala not China, but she does have similar eyes to Jo's. But does Jo REALLY know that? Is she already aware that we look a little different?

As a child I could literally forget what I looked like if I didn't look in the mirror for a while. I didn't have a concept of how I looked to the world, just how I looked AT the world.

I'm really curious if Jo is already so self aware. What do you think?

Who is THAT?

Phoebe's school pictures arrived today. It made me sit down. I AM a bit biased, but she takes my breath away.

How 'bout That?

Jo's favorite phrase lately. It seemed an appropriate title for her school picture. She's so big!

Feeling Hopeful

I've kept my politics off of this blog.

I am just awestruck and feeling so hopeful for our country.

Praying for our country and our new President-elect.

Wow! A Whole Month?

Yes. Apparently it's been a month since I last posted. Sorry about that.

How about this:





Does that make it all better?

Phoebe decided she wanted to be a "Princess Devil" for Halloween this year. Conveniently, Phoebe was an angel at age 2, so we re-used that costume for Jo. Aren't they a pair?

Do I Hear Three?

There are so many brave souls with more than two kids, I just had to make this. (AND I've already had 2 orders for them). I also bought smaller letters so that more than one name will fit on a disc.

I have more things on order. The possibilities are becoming endless.

Here's my store.

What does Homeschool Look Like?

Well, it is still early in the day, but here's a glimpse into homeschool.


Task 1: Keep Josie occupied however you can. Today....markers!


Phoebe's just happy to be here.


Oh, and have you noticed her loose tooth?


Jo still occupied? Yep.


Still? Um... yeah. Glad those markers are washable.

Start Your Christmas Shopping Now!

My latest creation that I'm really proud of. You can see more about it here.

I took better pictures and finally listed it on my site.

Shameless Self-Promotion

Or...look at what I made!

OK. This isn't the best picture, but it's been raining for a couple of days. I'll take better pics when the sun comes back out.

When I have better pictures, this will be the next item I add to my etsy store...custom hand stamped sterling pendants.

Hee Hee. I'm a tad excited.

Jo's First Day

Josie officially started at the Montessori school at our church today. It went great! At her age, she'll only be going 1/2 days on Wednesday and Friday. This week they are splitting the class in 1/2 each day and only going 1/2 the time. So, she was there for 1.5 hours today. I had a whole hour to kill.

Happily, she was very happy to go and didn't care that I left her there. That was awesome. At the beginning of the summer, I'm afraid it would have been a different story.


Here she is at home, ready to go. (Please ignore the black eye. That's a whole other story.)


I've taken this kind of picture of Phoebe each year and wondered how I was going to do it without A there to walk with J this year. That was not a problem.

OK. She did actually turn the wrong way, but she didn't get far.


Once she walked in the door, she knew exactly where she was going.

A quick kiss to mom, and she was off to find a work and sit at the table.

She's making friends already.


I'm so glad she was comfortable in her classroom. She really seemed to have fun while she was there. She's going to be just fine.

The First Day of School

Monday was Phoebe's first day of school. She was just a bit excited.

New rolling backpack. Excellent invention.

Phoebe had a hard time sleeping Sunday night. She could not wait to get to school. I thought she'd be exhausted by the time she got home, but I forgot she's 7 and not 38. I was exhausted. Someone had to be.

My second grader with her shoes that glow in the dark. A little bit anyway.

Phoebe with her new teacher. I am not ashamed to say... I love this woman. The parents had an in class orientation last Wednesday, and she has so much excitement (but not in a "Hooray for Everything!" kind of way) that she spread the excitement to all the parents. Well, me at least. I left looking forward to all of the things that Phoebe (and I for that matter) will learn this year.

Yesterday was our first homeschool day. It went pretty well. I've already realized it's going to be different from last year, mostly for the better. I don't think I'm going to stick to Phoebe like glue as much as last year. That ought to make things a little less stressful. Cross your fingers.

New Jewelry!

Go check out my latest entry on my jewelry blog. I'm so excited!

Josie is 2 ! ! !

Jo's birthday was Saturday. We had a few friends and family over to help us celebrate.

Jo started the day as she usually does...she must put on her shoes immediately after getting out of bed.


Here she is at the beginning of the party - in heaven - with babies and pretties in her hair.

One of her favorite gifts was this stroller. She loves pushing around her new baby from her awesome God-mother.

Last year, the bakery gave us a free "smash cake" because it was her first birthday. She didn't get into it a whole lot last year, as she was barely eating solid food. (For a flash back to last year's party, go here.) I decided she needed another shot at a smash cake this year.

Of course, diving into the smash cake required moving outside and stripping her down to her diaper. (Oh, and I got a haircut.)

This year she didn't go nuts over the cake, but she did love the icing.

She was happy to share bites with the older kids gathered around her. (I love her belly in this shot.)


Here's the cake that the rest of us ate inside with our clothes on.

Another of Jo's favorite gifts was jewelry. I am astonished daily at just how girly she is. Yesterday, I went in to get her up from her nap and I was actually wearing earrings. I was talking to her and she was just staring at my ears and reaching for my earrings saying "Eh! Eh!" which is Josie speak for "ear". I told her she couldn't grab Mommy's earring, but we could go find hers. Instant vigorous head nodding and a new word ("Eh-een") followed, as well as this little fashion show.


We're in so much trouble.

Phoebe Goes to Camp

Yes it's true. I can't believe it myself. Phoebe is now old enough to go to camp. Our diocese has a camp that goes from Wednesday to Saturday for kids who just finished 1st grade through those who just finished 3rd. Phoebe, of course, was all over it.


Here she is Wednesday morning, just waiting for the time to leave. She's so serene sitting atop her open trunk.


Here she is at camp. The first thing they were going to do after getting everything in the cabin was going to the lake to take a swim test.


Fast forward to Saturday, here's P carrying her sleeping bag, among other things, wearing the shorts she wore there on Wednesday. I thought it was kind of funny - she may have been the only girl there with a sleeping bag instead of having her bed made with sheets. My friend said, "That's just inexperienced parents packing sheets."


We stopped for lunch pretty soon after we left camp. With full bellies and a 1 1/2 hour drive ahead of them, my girls did the only sensible thing.

Holiday Fun

Sunday, July 6, our church had a "stay-cation". Since it was so close to July 4th, a lot of people were feeling patriotic and showing their colors.

There was a bounce house and snow cones for the kids. Here's P enjoying the latter having just gotten out of the former.


J had fun in the bounce house too. And, well, running around on the grass.

She got a little sweaty and red, too.


And, because I love Ms B, one of a few British ladies in our church, I had to show her my love and support. (hope she doesn't mind her face on my blog)

Life's a Beach

In mid-June we trekked to Dauphin Island, AL with 2 other families to spend a week at the beach. We had a lot of fun and the beach was gorgeous.

This picture was taken when we first arrived. After unpacking the van, we walked with the kids down to the beach just to put our toes in the water. Not to actually play in the waves or in the sand. Since we left at 1am on a Saturday, Jo was dressed in her PJs for the whole trip. We didn't change her before we went to the water. Jo likes to be in water of any kind, so she was just fine. Ask her to play in the sand and it's a whole different story.

Here's P soaked from "putting her toes in the water".


Here's J with our fabulous babysitter K. Fantastic idea taking K with us. J, as well as the rest of the kids, loves her.


Sweet baby.


OK. I know what this looks like. Especially with that look on J's face. But honestly, she was trying to help Iz up off the floor. It's kinda hard, though, because Iz weighs the same as J despite being a year younger.


Here's a close up of the gorgeous Miss Iz.



Here's Iz's big sister E. She and Jo are a couple of weeks apart in age AND she is our beautiful God-daughter. I don't know what it is, but I love this picture of her. She and Jo together make quite a pair. Jo will never have E's curls, and E will never have hair as straight as Jo's.



This was a bit of a disturbing view at first. See that little triangle sticking up out of the water?


There are 2 dorsal fins in this picture, but they're a little further out and a little harder to see. After staring for quite sometime at this group of up to 7 or 8 fins, we finally saw blow holes. Aaah. Suddenly it's really cool that there are dolphins so close to the shore.


Superstar.



Dad taking Jo out to play in the waves. She loved it and actually fell asleep one day on her dad's shoulder out in the waves.



Phoebe loved the waves and the sand and anything at all to do with the beach. We all had a great time.

And I realize there are no pictures of the photographer at the beach. If you're desperate for one, you can see one here.