Easter frivolity

We had a great day. It was David's first Easter even though he is over a year old.

Last Easter he was still inside.

We had snow which was pretty crazy for me accustomed to Texas Easters.

We visited a new church and I met two moms and their kids.

We drove through our new neighborhood and saw a red fox! We had also seen one the day before while we were driving to a garage sale in another neighborhood. Never before in my life had I seen a red fox in real life before this week and I'd wanted to. God makes so many neat creatures.

My mom made a wonderful Easter lunch for us to enjoy together.

David enjoyed sharing eggs and putting them in his bucket. He also enjoyed eating cheerios out of them.

Hallelujah, Christ is risen!

sharing eggs with Nana

loving these new things to play with

yummy bunny

enjoying his Easter basket filled with a toy bunny from my childhood, a chick in an egg puppet from my classroom and a little duckie stuffed animal I used in my classroom as well and a wind up bunny that was a once upon a time gift from Sweetie that I saved. He also had eggs filled with cheerios and oatmeal squares. The Easter basket was mine growing up and the tiny yellow bucket was 50 cents at Michaels. Hooray for 50% off coupons. :) The carrot that I thought he would have so much fun playing with was unfortunately a bust as it had a hole in it but thankfully it was only a dollar!

I hope you and yours had a wonderful Easter!

Kelly

tulip cradles

"When we reached home we found that Miss Reade had been up to the hill farm on an errand and was just leaving. The Story Girl went for a walk with her and came back with an important expression on her face.

"You look as if you had a story to tell," said Felix.

"One is growing. It isn't a whole story yet," answered the Story Girl mysteriously.

"What is it?" asked Cecily.

"I can't tell you till it's fully grown," said the Story Girl. "But I'll tell you a pretty little story the Awkward Man told us-- told me--tonight. He was walking in his garden as we went by, looking at his tulip beds. His tulips are up ever so much higher than ours, and I asked him how he managed to coax them along so early. And he said HE didn't do it--it was all the work of the pixies who lived in the woods across the brook. There were more pixy babies than usual this spring, and the mothers were in a hurry for the cradles. The tulips are the pixy babies' cradles, it seems. The mother pixies come out of the woods at twilight and rock their tiny little brown babies to sleep in the tulip cups. That is the reason why tulip blooms last so much longer than other blossoms. The pixy babies must have a cradle until they are grown up. They grow very fast, you see, and the Awkward Man says on a spring evening, when the tulips are out, you can hear the sweetest, softest, clearest, fairy music in his garden, and it is the pixy folk singing as they rock the pixy babies to sleep."

from The Golden Road

by Lucy Maud Montgomery

photo by Adrian

first birthday theme and decorations

I got the idea from Meg to be sure that we took a picture *with* the birthday boy. It will be fun to see how we all change throughout the years.

One, Two, Buckle My Shoe

I love that this picture was just captured, not at all staged, and it fits the theme so perfectly. I chose "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe" because David loves to play with (and occasionally eat) shoes!

polka dot balloons from Hobby Lobby

(Super duper thanks to my friend Erin for telling me they had them there when I didn't have time to order them like I'd wanted in the midst of all the moving stuff.)

I love how this little guy has a shoe in his mouth and David loves to play with him.

Sweet big cousin with the balloons

the table where we ate, little tiny keds a hand-me-down from Julie's sweet boy

Julie also helped me pick out a lot of the decorations to put in boxes I would be able to get to as we were packing.

making good use of these blocks

This decoration holds a lot of meaning. The Coke crate has been in our family for years and years. I can remember it being in my dad's office when I was growing up and then on my mom's coffee table with plants in it, etc.

The top pair of shoes (booties) were a gift from my dear college friend Ruth, right after David was born (or right before? those days are fuzzy). They were hand made by a sweet older lady and Ruth knew I would appreciate them and their vintage-y quality. David wore them for his very first Sunday at church on Mother's Day last year.

The second pair of shoes down, the ones with the whales on them were bought by my mom on one of our very first excursions after he was born and we knew we were shopping for a boy. She bought them to match an outfit Jacquie had given him that had a whale on it. Plus I just love whales.

The numbers came from various flea markets. The dark green shoes are his tiny ones that he's worn the most so far. I love those shoes! Jenny gave them to us. Thank you, Jenny for those shoes and for the "1" onesie you handed down for his first birthday party!

The brown tennis shoes kind of have a funny story. Right before we went to New Mexico and Missouri at Christmas/New Year's I decided that it was not fair to try to stuff David's little feet into those green shoes and that he needed a bigger pair to keep his feet warm in those cold places. I found that pair for seven bucks at Burlington Coat Factory Baby Depot in the pre-Christmas shopping madness. I checked out and was walking back out of the store and saw a girl coming in with a sweatshirt from my alma mater. I tried to talk to her and she just brushed me off saying it was a friend's shirt and in the moment I left the bag with the paid for shoes in it in the cart!

When I realized what must have happened later I called the store and they said no one had turned any in. Finally I found out many hours later that they did have them and I could come pick them up but that meant a trip back to the MALL at Christmas and I was not super looking forward to it. Oh well. I got them and now there they are.

The spool of green thread was one of my keepsakes from my Poppy's garage.

The little "D" vintage linen was a find on one of my mom's and my many shopping trips in McKinney, TX way before David was even born.

And the last pair of shoes was a gift from our friend Debi. She brought them back from London! Thank you, Debi! I love them and am so excited for David to be able to wear them one day when his feet get bigger!

The verse is one I chose for David's baby dedication at church and the card is from my dear friend Marcella. It just went so well with the theme. It talks about baby feet pitter pattering.

My sister-in-law made the great cloth napkins for my mom and they went great with the party decor. I bought the board book One, Two Buckle My Shoe and I love it! It's really cute. I got the idea from Erin to use that book as a guest book for the party so all of the guests signed it. That will be really special to have.

more balloons that my sweet sister-in-law went and had filled up for me before party time

a pair of my dad's shoes decorating the present table

David certainly has big shoes to fill, those of his Daddy, grandpas, great-grandpas and uncles.

another one, two and a sweet present sent with us when we moved from a special little friend

More of the party to come! Kelly

birthday party sneak peak

I love this picture of the birthday boy with his Aunt Mandy watching the "one" sparkler on his cake.

His fever broke Monday night and we had a great day celebrating yesterday! Hooray!

Kelly

a little pick me up

Sometimes when things are a bit off kilter it's worth a splurge at the store.

I first had this minty water at Asia Mint in Dallas.

It was *quite* a splurge at $2.95 so finding this for a dollar at King Soopers here in Colorado Springs seemed to me a steal.

(why do they put an "s' on the end of King Soopers? What does that name mean anyway? It's basically the same as Kroger. Do you shop at a Kroger/King Sooper brand store? I haven't ever shopped at one primarily before but that seems to be the most plentiful store here. It took me an age to find the lunch meat the other day because it was actually on an aisle in a refrigerated case rather than on a back/side wall like I was expecting. Anyway, any special products you love to get here or sales to know about?)

One final note on mint water. When I was in Italy after college we were guests in someone's home and she kindly served us mint water. It was very cold water with a thick minty syrup stirred into it. It looked like mouthwash with it's vivid green color but tasted ever so much better. Very refreshing indeed! I liked it so much that I found and bought a bottle of that mint syrup and carted it all the way home from Europe in my luggage. Do you remember that Marcella?

Hope you have a happy little pick me up today.

Kelly

birthday boy

Unfortunately our sweet birthday boy has been running a fever since the weekend and not at all feeling like himself so we postponed the birthday party and have had a pretty "normal" day but thankfully he's too young to know that he felt bad on his birthday and we can celebrate when he's feeling well. We did get this shot of him with a party hat on this weekend that he discovered as it was waiting for "party time". I love that it is on backwards. Something about that is just super endearing to me. Thank you to all of you who have sent him birthday wishes today! It has been really special and meant a lot.

Kelly

one year ago today

getting ready for a party

someone's birthday's coming up and we're getting ready for a little party

Kelly

ten on ten - April 2011 - first from Colorado

important to me stuff

"housewarming" daisies from my mama

(You can see the $10 changing table we scored at a garage sale to use while we're here in the background. When we're done we can sell it on craigslist!)

getting ready for church

the view as we drove out of the neighborhood

{photo by Adrian}

clouds

{photo by Adrian}

view of a potential house through the car window

getting organized

celebrating my nephew's first birthday with a woodland themed party

leaf shaped melon that my sister-in-law cut out

more snacks

This sweet boy *enjoyed* his cake!

We get to do this birthday thing next week!

For more ten on ten, visit Rebekah's blog.

Kelly

checking in . . .

photo from our old apartment during the moving chaos

Hello everyone! As of today my computer is once more set up and in working order. It's amazing how that makes one feel connected.

We have made it to Colorado Springs. All three of us. David and I flew out with my mom last Wednesday and Adrian and my dad drove out on Wednesday/Thursday. Thanks to some great family help we got the 26 ft. truck unloaded yesterday and we, along with our stuff are in my parents' basement and garage for the time being until we can close on a house.

We have been house hunting and have seen about 15 houses so far. Not sure we've found "the one" but we'll see. I'd love to hear some of your anecdotes about house hunting.

Here's the thing I've been thinking about moving. I think it's sort of like having a baby. You forget how absolutely exhausting it is during the process and how intensely unsettling it is to have your comfort zone and familiar schedule completely thrown off.

I have to admit to some melancholy and "what in the world have we done?" feelings but there are definitely good things too.

Basically our last several days have consisted of:

unpacking toothbrushes and other immediate necessities, borrowing boots to wear to church from my mom because when I looked at the weather this morning it said "feels like 25 degrees", going to Pikes Perk coffee with Adrian with grandparents to baby-sit, trying to figure out how to eat allergy friendly meals at different restaurants than we had in Texas like Noodles & Co. and Famous Dave's, visiting my parents' church, looking at houses, looking at houses, looking at houses, helping David get adjusted, dinners with family, playing with nephews, unloading the truck, talking, praying, some crying, e-mailing with friends on my iphone, visiting a fun kitchen store downtown and a fun foodie restaurant on our first day with my sister-in-law and two nephews, teaching David about stairs, drinking lots and lots of water to ward off altitude sickness, unpacking a box you think has chapstick in it, slathering on lots of lotion, good naps and nighttime sleeping from the little man, some good sleeping for us, some laying awake thinking . . .

As soon as I, or more accurately my sweet husband, can get my eye-fi set up or when I find a camera cable I can begin blogging photos from here. I have wished I had taken more photos while house hunting as some things probably would make good blog fodder.

I would love to hear from you and any good moving stories/encouragement you may have.

Kelly

reminder

don't forget, tomorrow is ten on ten if you'd like to participate

Kelly

j is for jelly beans

It's jelly bean season . . .

photo from my baby shower

check out this easy, inexpensive gift that Sandy made using jelly beans

packing

He is a very good packer.

I was soo glad I was able to get the camera on quick enough to capture this!

coming up with treasure

We're hanging in over here. To be honest I'm tired. It will be good to be done with this moving stuff.

Kelly

If you'd like to see little man's eleven month post you can go here.

Kelly

one thing at a time

“Do not yield to the temptation of looking at everything at once, as if everything would happen at once, and all the events of the day be crowded into an hour. Do not thus forecast, but take each thing as it comes to you, and look upon it as the present expression of the will of God concerning you; then regard the next in the same way, and thus receive your day piece by piece from Him who will remember always when He gives you work to do, that you need strength to do it.” ~Priscilla Maurice

The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. ~Psalm 28:7

on the move

Our little guy is certainly on the move more than ever. He has learned to get up on his tip toes which I love.

We are "on the move" too. Monday Adrian was offered and accepted a new job

in Colorado Springs!

We will get to move to be close to family and we are so excited about many aspects of this move but very sad to be leaving our friends and church here.

We are in a whirlwind of getting ready to go as we leave on April 6th. Crazy times!

I would love it if you would say a prayer for us in our transition.

Thank you.

Kelly

vitamin c

While in Houston last week, my sweet Sweetie, squeezed fresh orange juice for me.

This is such a special treat and a tradition carried over from when my Poppy used to squeeze orange juice for me when I would go over to their house before school every morning in junior high and Sweetie and I would play skipbo and then they would take me to school.

Kelly

frizzante

non-dairy is not so bad

a pineapple mint frizzante from Paciugo's

Kelly

One week ago . . .

my cousin was getting married here.

Isn't it beautiful?!

Once I have permission from the bride and groom I will share more photos.

Kelly

makes me happy

from my love . . .