Nothing in particular.

We had a nice weekend together. The kind where we just stay at home with nothing in particular on the schedule. Aren't those just the best?

Earlier this week I went to a children's consignment sale in Savannah. I was pumped because I was just certain it would be busting at the seams with smocking and all the darling southern style children's clothing that I just love. Well, it ended up being a lot smaller than I expected. But, I did pick up this sweet, violet bishop for Scarlett. Here she is after church this morning....

This girl is a story teller... She was telling her Daddy a big one right here. 

This might sound really creepy, but I love to watch Scarlett eat. I think it is so sweet to see her eat something she loves... something healthy that is. So really, these pics are just for me to look back and love... she really enjoyed her Sunday lunch with consisted of white cheddar mac and cheese, roasted chicken and apple slices. 

On Saturday Scarlett and I fired up the oven. We set out to make my BFF Beth's famous Zucchini bread. It is da' bomb! I bought 4 zucchinis at the Commissary this week... Why?... I do not really know. Well, they seemed like a very "fallish" veggie to me. I am grappling for any feeling of fall because it still feels like the middle of summer here with the temperature in the high 80's. Anyhow, we quadrupled  the recipe and took 2 loaves to our neighbors... then we ate one, we are still working on one and froze another. Mitch said we looked like we needed an industrial kitchen with the operation we had going on. He was probably right. 

I just love being in the kitchen with Scarlett....

Mommy's little helper! 

She loved the end product too which makes our efforts even more worth it. 

I will have to ask Beth if her recipe is "shareable." It is SO good I think it needs a patent :)

Happy Saturday...

Happy Saturday from our little monkey! She is wild today because we stayed out too late last night at some new friends' house. It was worth it though! 

If you are wondering... SJ's darling dress was made by my multi-talented friend, Beth and her mama. Their company, Mar-L's Tams and Togs, even has an etsy shop now! Everything they make is TOTALLY ADORABLE!! Everything. (including their baby model. Ha!) Check out Mar-L's shop HERE.

Hope your Saturday is a great one! 

the time of our lives.

It's over! 

Aunt RyRy is married!

Dede is now Uncle Dede!

The week before the wedding was, in all honesty, utterly quite stressful. 

Scarlett was a total trooper!! 

The wedding was nothing short of FaBuLoUs!!!! 

And, we had the time of our lives...as displayed here...(!!!) 

 Mitch said he totally did not mean to make it look like he was shooting me in the mouth in the last frame.... Oops. 

My husband is a maniac and I love it!

We are back in SC as of very late last night. I do not miss anything about that almost 12 hour car ride.

Back to life as we now know it :)

Shhh.

Scarlett took Aunt RyRy's bridal shoes out for a test run... 

Only 2 Days!!! I think... I hardly know what day it is. I am functioning on way too little sleep. Anyway, we are so close! 

wedding week.

Eek! It is actually the week of Ryan's wedding. I can hardly believe how quickly this came upon us. 

We arrived safely in Kentucky (boy, it was a trek) where Scarlett and I are busy helping out with all the "week of" details. 

We may or may not have watched a lot of movies on our 11 hour car ride.... hence little SJ's red eyes. 

(Just disregard the paci, okay... please don't judge me!) 

Cracker Barrel does it again! It was a life saver on the big moving trip down to SC so we stopped there again. It is better, in my eyes, than a playplace at a fastfood restaurant. Toys, candy, and a great sale section... and surely it is cleaner than a playplace. 

Our little sleeping beauty, cozy in the backseat. 

The first thing I noticed when we arrived home in KY is the perfectly crisp breeze. Ah... fall. My favorite and something we are not experiencing in our new southern home. I just love to be able to feel the change of the seasons. My mom was burning this delicious candle when we arrived and I have tried to find it at T.J. Maxx (where she purchased hers) without any success. It is very yummy. 

And here she is... the BRIDE! Scarlett loves her Aunt RyRy, even though she may appear a little dazed here. Ha! Apparently she, like all of us, has a lot on her mind lately :) 

Please join me in praying for fabulous weather this weekend. It's an outdoor wedding so we are counting on no storm clouds! 

Backfire.

Around 0930 at our house yesterday morning, a little mishap took place. 

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The scene of the crime. 

The verdict: Bitty needed her toe tails painted. 

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And here is the culprit. Riding off on her getaway horse.  

Yikes. 

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Mommy's bag of nail polish has now been secured. 

(The really funny thing about this is... Bitty's toenails are painted perfectly. Scarlett must have a really steady little hand because she actually did an excellent job. Ha!)

bippity boppity boo.

I am thinking ahead a little about what Miss Scarlett will don this year for harvest celebrations. I am particularly excited because there are lots of kids in our neighborhood so I think it will make dressing up extra fun. 

A little walk down memory lane... I will try not to tear up. 

Halloween 2010 -- Our little owlet (hand made by Scarlett's Nonni - my mama)

Halloween 2011 -- Raggedy Ann. (it was the same costume I wore when I was her age! very sentimental) 

I remember she had 1 hershey bar, one! And she was a little wired for about an hour while we pulled her around in her wagon :)

Mitch asked Scarlett what she would like to dress up as this year and she said without any hesitation, "Cinderella." So, I am actually going to try to fly solo this year and make her costume all by myself. Eek. Here are just some ideas and patterns I have seen...

This little pic is from Etsy. Darling. 

How cute is this mini Cinderella. Simplicity pattern 2563. 

I have to do some figuring and then find a fabric store in a nearby city because there is not one in our little town! 

toe tails.

This is one for the books. I painted Miss Scarlett's toenails for the first time and she is wild about having pink toes. We painted them a couple days ago and as soon as the first coat was on she looked at them and exclaimed, "Mommy! You paint my toe tails!!" Since then there has been lots of talk about toe tails. She and I have the same color on our toes and she runs up to me all the time and puts her toes on mine and says, "Mommy, you match." 

I am just really loving this stage right now. She is so fun. 

On Tuesday afternoon of this week while Scarlett was taking her nap, sickness hit me like a ton of bricks. My throat has been the sorest I can ever remember. So, I had my first experience at the Naval Hospital to go see my doctor. It went well, I got an antibiotic and already feel so much better. I am so proud of Scarlett because she went with me to my appointment (that's the way things are when you are hundreds of miles from family!) and she was an angel. She just ate a little snack and played with her toys. At one point I did look over and she was trying to clean the floor with some baby wipes... I guess I shouldn't have told her the floor at the hospital was dirty.

SJ has become quite the little showman. She wants to dance all the time and is almost always singing a little tune. This picture cracks me up because it's like she's saying, "What?... There is a ketchup stain on my shirt?"

Here she is doing two of her favorite things 1) wearing mommy's heels and 2) dancing to her own little melody. 

She is often wearing my shoes. It's is crazy how much children mimic what they see! She loves to get her baby in the cart, push her around like she is shopping and bag up her toys in "poopoo bags" as she calls them. We use grocery bags to pick up anything Callie leaves in the yard or on walks, so that's where the name poopoo bag came from :) 

 And this little dress she is wearing cracks me up. She wants to wear it ALL the time. She calls is her "Cinderella dress." It's something my mom and I picked up at a consignment sale. It was a dance recital dress, from what I can tell. It's her favorite. And I have even let her go in public in it... never say never, girls! 

Sweet girl....

Just busy playing....

my sissy is going to the chapel... and she's gonna get MARRIED!

I mentioned yesterday that my sister is getting married in, well today the count is 16 days. Weeee!! I realized that I have not posted much about her whirlwind romance and upcoming wedding... A certain little girl and a recent big move got in the way. Anyhow, let me just say that my silence on here about my precious sister is NO representation of how I feel about this upcoming event in the life of our family. I have prayed and prayed for this day to come. For those of you who know my sister, you know  what a precious person she is. You will never meet anyone sweeter. She's a saint. She is truly my best friend AND sister. Before all of the festivities for her big day begin, I just want all of that to go down in the books. You never know what other emotions could come out the week before the wedding... ha! Just kidding, Sissy :) 

While Mitch was away at training this summer and before we moved down to SC, I had the honor of throwing a bridal shower for Ryan, the bride-to-be. Here are some of the moments I captured...

Okay, how adorable is this little doll baby? This is not Scarlett, this is a precious little cutie named June. June's mama Aimee and June are both in the wedding. (Hi Bojee, if you are reading!!!) June wanted to help Ryan open some of her presents... so sweet. 

Okay, let me just say that my sweet sister has NEVER lacked as far as facial expressions. My Dad will laugh and recall the many times Ryan used her non-verbals in public from the time she was a toddler to her teens to express how she felt about a situation :) You can imagine. He used to pull us both aside and say, "girls, your non-verbals are killing me!" Ha! We laugh about it now, but you know some things never change. 

Seated next to Ryan is another one of her beautiful bridesmaids, Crista ;)

This is the apron and cute pot my mom got her... ha! 

Look-e-there! Someone made her entrance.... Miss Scarlett woke up from her nap about half way through the party. One of my favorite ladies of all time, my high-school BFF's mama, Mrs. Hamilton,  helped me so much while I was playing hostess. Thanks Mrs. H!! 

Ryan and Derek got so many wonderful things to make their house a home. 

OKAY... This picture right here seriously might go down as one of my MOST FAVORITES of ALL TIME! I love the ladies in this picture SO much... 

(left to right: Scarlett, me, My Mom, Ryan-the bride, my cousin Elizabeth, my Aunt Barbie, and my cousin Lyndsey. I LOVE YOU EACH SO MUCH! 

Aunt Barbie is my mom's only sibling and both she and my mom have 2 girls of their own. So, we have a special bond :) 

Here is Ryan with her new, sweet Mother-in-Law, Denise, and our Mama... 

And here is the darling couple with their VERY adoring niece. 

(Derek had been golfing that day, so he was looking sporty, ha!)

Dede and RyRy, Scarlett LOVES you!!! 

Derek and Ryan you are so loved by all of us and we cannot wait to celebrate with you two very, very soon...