unexpected snow day & bonus "love day"

Normally I would just now be getting out of school.

And at this stage of my pregnancy, I'm pretty much pooped at the end of every day.

Everyone says go home and rest and put your feet up which is a nice thought but at the same time there are so many things I *want* to be doing at home, getting ready for baby, keeping the house under control, decorating for Valentines, etc.

Twelve and a half inches of snow fell steadily through a twenty-four hour period onto the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex yesterday.

It is BEAUTIFUL!

Yesterday I had to go to work but today Adrian and I both got a snow day!

What a HUGE blessing this has been!

Sleeping in, getting rest to get over my case of the sniffles, cleaning up a bit, etc. snug as birds in their own little nest.

Enjoying the beauty outside our windows.

It is not only a wonderful snow day but feels like a bonus love day!

Right after college graduation, I went on a campaign to Italy with a group of about twelve other students, a wonderful professor and his family.

One of the students in our group had had a professor the semester before who had deemed every Friday "love day".

Our campaign group adopted that as well and every Friday of the trip became a day to do something nice for each other or something special as a group like going to a special breakfast place for Italian cappuccinos and espressos.

Since today is Friday and is also the kick-off day to Valentine's weekend, it definitely seems like an extra "love day" today.

For you local readers, did you get a day off today or yesterday because of the snow?

Do you have power? We are so thankful to have power when we've heard that there are those who don't.

If you're having an unexpected snow day (no matter what part of the country you're in, as I know many places have snow - so much for global warming!) and a bonus "love day" what are you doing with it?

The snow is melting quite steadily as I hear "drip, drip, drip" everytime I open the door.

It's not even below freezing so tonight we're going out for crepes!

happy love day!

stay warm and dry!

kelly

p.s. photos of snow and hot chocolate by my husband, all other photos by me

buffala mozzarella

Mostly, I am really, really enjoying pregnancy and I feel so blessed that I have felt so good.

I will say though that I will be quite happy to dig into some fresh buffala mozzarella, feta cheese and Chick-fil-a sweet tea again!

What kinds of foods did you miss during pregnancy?

Kelly

organization makes me happy

my sweet friend emily gave me this vintage wooden silverware holder for my last birthday

I have used it in a few places since then but this one is my favorite so far.

It is on the top shelf of our pantry organizing our beverage options.

Things in neat tidy rows and compartments make me happy.

What makes you happy?

Kelly

happy Friday

things to be thankful for and some photos thrown in for fun

had my glucose test yesterday. yea for that being over!

(It really wasn't bad actually.)

soup & dessert potluck at school today

heart day is almost here and the weekend starts in just a few hours

I have wonderful friends, a great family and the best husband.

(OLD photo of my OLD tv and our family before Adrian, Caleb and these two precious babies on the way!)

Happy Friday to you all and I hope you find things to be thankful for today even if your weather is yucky and bleak. I'd love to hear what you're thankful for today if you'd like to leave a comment.

Kelly

table

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows." Psalm 23:5

happy February!

In my opinion, hearts are a wonderful thing to decorate with.

The red and white polka dot rectangles holding the hearts are gift card tins from Michael's.

The hearts are just cut out of different papers.

Red enamelware has been collected from various antique shops and flea markets.

The old camera probably came from Canton when we were collecting them to decorate my brother and sister-in-law's rehearsal dinner with.

The red pyrex dish with a heart chipped out of the corner was a gift from my mom.

The bottle is from a frappucino. It is filled with black and white buttons bought here.

The wire bicycle came from Junk-a-doodle.

There you have it.

Happy heart month!

If you're decorating with hearts this month, I'd love to see your decor as well. Leave me a comment and/or a link.

Thanks.

Kelly

envisioning the nursery

When I started envisioning the nursery I had lots of thoughts swirling around in my mind. A little before Thanksgiving, I think, I settled on what I thought would be the color scheme but waited to see if it "stuck". It has and last night I created this inspiration board to have a visual for some of what is in my mind.

I want to use a lot of white to create a calming, peaceful, fresh, pure environment

but I also don't want it to look sterile or "untouchable".

I want to use just the briefest accents of bright colors to warm it up and make it happy and whimsical. I'm thinking apple green

sunshine yellow, orange, turquoise, a little bit of red and if it's a girl, a little hot pink and light pink.

Just right for a springtime arrival I think.

I'd love to know which picture is your favorite.

from top left:

orange striped crib sheet: giggle.com

sunshine yellow chest (I would love something like this for a changing table): Life Worth the Living

calm, happy, pretty nursery with a lovely yellow swivel rocker & the same white IKEA shelves I have (mine are 5x5): Me and Wee

orange pinwheel bedding by rosemary hallgarten for nurseryworks

globes (!) on top of a white armoire: Rachel Denbow via Ohdeedoh

happy citrusy tree!: via eating stars on flickr

happy, calm child's bedroom with lots of white, a red chair and a blue bench: Tracy Nors via Ohdeedoh

cool, old, wooden hangar holding print: Hijirik Studio on Etsy

white ruffle pillow: missmosh on Etsy

apple green cribs with white bedding: Little Apple Design via Project Nursery

pretty flowers in a sunny room: dollylovespink on flickr

again, lots of white but with some bright color accents: sierramills on flickr

white crib bedding with red embroidered elephants: haggyflickr on flickr

Kelly

baby's first shower!

Last Monday the baby and I had our first shower!

It was so much fun because

a) it was a surprise

b) it was a joint shower with a wonderful mama-to-be friend!

Last Monday we had an inservice day in our school district. All of the music teachers met together for a workshop all day. This is a really great group of people (who I didn't ask permission from to post their pictures on my blog, hence photos of only me but they were all there, trust me).

We were going along learning to play new songs and getting teaching technique help when they announced that we were going to take a break for a little shower.

We had it right there in the school cafeteria and they (two women teachers and three men) had a tablecloth, punch in a punch bowl, cake, nuts, pretzels, fun baby napkins and plates and presents. It was so special!

They each brought books for us. It was so much fun to get some board books for our sweet little one, including some of my favorites, anything Sandra Boynton writes!

One of the teachers even put music note ribbon around the books. :)

The start of Little One's board book library!

Do you have a favorite board book? What is it?

Kelly

Psalm 96

Psalm 96

Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns."
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;
they will sing before the LORD, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his truth.

photo taken by Adrian of the hillside near his old house

tomatoes

do you have trouble remembering if tomatoes is spelled with an "e" or not?

i do.

what are you doing on this fine saturday?

kelly

winter kitchen

happy friday everyone

thanks for all your great comments this week!

kelly

working on the nursery

Now that the furniture is rearranged I am finding I have more motivation and vision for working on the nursery. There are still MILES to go but it's good to get started . . .

the parents

Jeremy, Mandy, Adrian and Kelly

Best parenting advice anyone?

Kelly

photos taken by my dad :)

sisters

Have I mentioned . . .

that I have a super fun sister-in-law who is also pregnant and we are DUE ON THE SAME DAY?????

When we made the surprise announcement that we were pregnant, my sweet and wonderful sister-in-law and brother who already knew that they were expecting #2 kept quiet until about a week later so we could enjoy our moment with the spotlight on us. Isn't that incredibly generous and wonderful? That is just how they are.

They called and told us about a week later and it has been so much fun to be experiencing the same things at the same time!

Baby bellies in the cold!

photos taken by Adrian