Trunk or Treat 2014!

Tonight I had two Ariels running around gathering candy at the church parking lot. I don't even know how to explain the unexpected joy it brought me. The girls were so happy and having so much fun and I was like, I get to do this for the next decade or more of my life and I can't even wait! Even with the guilt I'm sure we all feel when stuffing pounds of sugar down our kids throat, it is the best! I can only imagine the years to come and how fun Halloween is going to be. Maybe I'll match them every year. At least until they refuse because they are embarrassed and hate each other or something haha!

 my little cousin halle came along with us. it was so fun to have her!^^^

 cutest little girlfriends^^^

 she found Sebastian! ^^^

cool kids

Every morning we wake up at 6:15 and wave bye bye to daddy off the balcony. We eat breakfast and take baths then we go to the gym. This morning I grabbed my camera and took these of the girls before we loaded in the truck. They are so fun to be around right now. I love our little set up. I know things will change before long. Gretta will go to school, more kids might come and then London will be gone too! So hopefully I'm making the most of my life right now. It's not always easy to love the toddler stage and all that comes with it. But I know that I'll look back someday and miss it.

personality

Gretta right now: She loves to tell stories. She would rather be climbing and jumping than praying or listening to anything I have to say. She makes up songs that are so out of tune and include a total of 5 words sung over and over and over. It's a little much sometimes:/ She loves all kids. She can have a good time with an 8 year old or a 1 year old. She don't judge. Princess dress all day everyday. She only wants to eat meat and candy. She sleeps really great but every morning she comes in our bed and nuzzles in between us for the last hour or so before its time to get up. I really don't mind. She is a sweetheart most the time. A very active and enthusiastic sweetheart. 

London right now: She is very attached to me. She screams like a girly girl. She is the softest thing and squishy-est to hold. She likes to eat cheese crisps and her milk. And chocolate. She likes little projects. For example, if I give her little measuring cups and spoons or any container with small objects she will sit on the floor and fill them up, empty them out and fill them up again. I love when she plays on her own. She pulls babies hair and scratches their faces. I don't know what to do about it. She likes to say "uh oh!" "rawwwrrrr" "getta" and she waves bye bye and hi!

i am not a germ-o-phobe.

Ok i said it. I got it out in the open. I am not afraid of getting dirty. I actually like it when my kids get dirty. I feel a little sense of pride when they smother their clothes in dirt or roll down the muddy slide at the playground. We go hiking a lot, and I always feel like we accomplished something when Gretta comes home covered in dust and with scraped knees.

I am the type of mom who thinks its important to be exposed to some germs in the world in order to learn how to fight them off. I feel lucky that my kids don't get sick the minute they breathe the same air as a sick kid around them. But its because they are strong kids! These little girlys of mine know how to fight off the bad.

This is becoming a really far fetched metaphor but I don't care. I want my parenting approach to echo this attitude I have towards germs. These girls have got to make some mistakes while they are under my care. And this needs to happen so that they will learn the right way to correct their mistakes and get back up again and keep on going. Being an intentional parent, in my opinion, doesn't mean protecting my kids from all the scary, hurtful or dangerous things this world has to offer. It means showing them how to be strong and not let anything keep them from trying their best at life.

I love my girls. Right now, this stage they are at is so incredible. I really love the people they are becoming. I love the moments throughout the day when I look at them and know they are happy. To be truthful, I've never been this exhausted or stressed but those feelings pale in comparison to the pride I have for Gretta Elise and London Keira. I see parts of Spencer in them and I see parts of me in them. And best of all, I see they have their own strong personality, and way of seeing the world. How fun for me to get to observe that and learn from it.

^^^digital scrapbook pages by my mom @shelleysdigitals

our little family

yesterday we had a really fun little birthday party for London. It was in Prescott at my parent's house and we took some shots of us four, thanks to my bro Jordan. This is the best one out of the lot. It is definitely not perfect. You can't even see Gretta's adorable dress. BUT! I love it. A lot. We really need to take pictures of us all together more often. 

More pictures of the party to come. Thank you to my mom for helping me with food and decorations. She really is amazing. 

little german girl

spencer was buzzing his head yesterday evening when all of the sudden gretta runs into our bathroom yelling "i cut my hair too!" Oh my. yes, she did. she chopped about 6 big chunks of hair off of her head. and was proud of it!

so today i took her to the salon. and i absolutely love it! she is such a little sass. 

a little german gretta. not really but i wish.

when i told my mom last night what she did she said, "little girls do not get scissors".

oops, i guess you're right mom.

the ocean

while on our california trip, we went to the oceanside pier to walk around and kill some time. it was spencer's only day there and he had to get a little bit of ocean breeze in his system before he drove us right back to the desert. to be honest, i'm not so sure about busy piers like this. it was super fun to look down right into the water and show the girls the surfers. gretta really wanted to see a shark! but at the same time, spencer and i both agreed that those places are too busy for us and it makes it hard to enjoy the ocean when there are so many people... (i.e. shady characters, scary guys and freaks) all around.

but still, who can really dispute the beauty of that water? i love the color so much i want an entire room painted to match! also, can we talk about how brave surfers are? i can't deal with a whole ocean floating beneath me AT ALL.

 ^^^gretta likes to hitch her arm up when i take her picture now? maybe she knows something we don't about looking cute for the camera? haha

^^^one legged seagull and my dramatic 3 year old

monday fun-day

mondays over here are fun! spencer has them off so we get to do all the things we like the most with daddy. today we had smoothies for breakfast and went hiking in the hot hot heat already. us girls are giving dad a REAL day off now. we are heading to the az science museum with friends and then to prescott (yet again) for cousin julien's first birthday party! yay for mondays!

'Round Here

DIY Marbling Tutorial (Fabric and Paper)

A few months back my girl Lindsey asked me to be a guest blogger on her site. After thinking about a few different projects I wanted to show, I chose the Marbling method. Projects like these are TOTALLY my thing. I realized that the fact that the more imperfect the marbling got, the more I liked the end result and that is why this project is for me... the non-perfectionist!

Since that post I have been marbling like CRAZY! I have some fun announcements and other things I get to show you in a week or so and it has been killing me to keep it all a secret! For now, here is my first tutorial for marbling that was posted over at Lindsey's blog. Try it! You'll like it! :)

Marbling! There are a few ingredients you will need to order online at dharmatrading.com but once you have them it is a simple and fun method! Here’s how to do it…

Preparing the “size”The first thing you need to do is to make the size onto which you are going to float the paints.

Methocel (order from dharmatrading.com): can be made 30 min before use
Use 4 tblsp of Methocel and 1 tblsp of ammonia per gallon of warm water
Stir until the Methocel is dissolved and appears clear, let sit for 30 min for bubbles to rise.Reusing the size
The “size” can be used over and over again. It can be kept for 3 to 4 days at room temperature before it begins to mold and must be discarded. 

Preparing the Fabric or Paper:
Pre-wash the fabric and dry. 

Dissolve 3 TBS of Alum (order online also) per quart of hot tap water. Cool to room temperature. Soak the fabric into the alum solution or if necessary, such as for paper, brush it on very thoroughly. Lay it out flat to air dry, stretched if possible to  avoid wrinkles. The fabric must be treated and must be dry before it is marbled. 

Caution – Ironing the fabric to remove wrinkles once the fabric has been treated is not recommended, as alum plus heat can weaken the fabric too. Small wrinkles will not effect the print.

 Now for the Paint!

Squeeze paints into cups and add a drop of Dispersant (order online). Slowly add water until it is the consistency of whole milk. 

Using a straw, add drops of paint to the size. It should float and then spread out. Keep adding colors and make designs with your straw! Have fun!!! 

 Lay the fabric or paper on top of the paint and tap out any air bubbles. Lift it off the size and rinse with water then hang or lay flat to dry. 

I feel like I've learned a ton more about the process since this tutorial and so sometime next week I will do another post about the things I've been up to lately! So check back soon!