Girls and Pearls, February Edition: the one where almost no pictures were taken

February was exhausting, and we almost forgot about Girls and Pearls, no lie!

The last day in February, we ran out to get coffee and to drop some dinner off with Gabe. And Ella said, "Mom! We forgot to wear our pearls this month!" So out they came.

I meant to take pictures of us and Gabe, I swear I did. And then Ella and I got caught up in conversation and hot chocolate, and Gabe and I got caught up in conversation. So, yeah. Fail. Or not....but I'll definitely take more pictures this month!

Girls and Pearls, January Edition

Honestly, this month has been so crazy that I'm surprised we managed to squeeze in a hot chocolate date. But, we did.

At the last possible minute.

We just grabbed some hot chocolate and I had a salad, which was my first complete meal of the day. (I told you, it's been busy)

A few days ago, I saw the cutest dragonfly infinity scarf on sale at Rose's. I bought two today, one for me and one for Ella.

We're pretty cute, I think :)
Yes, we're both wearing pearls. She's wearing a pearly headband and I'm wearing pearl earrings.

We some hot chocolate and talked about life today. It's not often that we don't have something to do, or someplace to go. Sometimes, the simple stuff is just the best :) Happy meals, fries, and time together :)

Ella loves our matching scarves. She says it's a way for us to honor her big sis :)

Ringing in the New Year, Girls and Pearls Style!

We literally waited until the LAST day of December to have our Girls and Pearls day. We stayed up and ushered in the New Year. We made fun festive crowns, had devotions and watched movies. (No pictures were taken of the  movie-watching seeing as we were too busy actually watching movies)

Happy New Year, ya'll!

Girls and Pearls: The Super Quick November Edition Where We Weren't Alone

Gosh, that's a long title. But it explains things sooo well.
With the whole insanity of our move, I wasn't sure what we would do for this month's edition of Girls and Pearls.
We had the opportunity to attend a Christmas Concert last night with our Pastor and his wife, so we got all gussied up for that :)

Girls and Pearls, October 2014 Edition

Ella has been asking "When are we going to do Girls and Pearls, Mom? When?" And since it is INDIAN SUMMER (in all caps, that's how excited I am about it) today was totally an awesome day for it.

Even Gabe, who normally stays behind the camera, posed for pictures today :)

We got ice cream, and hit the park.

It's awesome how our conversation can range from "Mom, I hope my friend gets saved. I'm going to talk to her about Jesus" to "How do you think they got that chocolate all perfect inside the drumstick cone?"

Motherhood is so very, very humbling and amazing.

Girls and Pearls: September 2014 Edition.

This was a little bit different, because Ella wanted a pajama party type thing. Who wears pearls with their pajamas? We do.

We went outside and played with sparklers and then came inside and had hot chocolate. Nothing fancy but hey, it was great fun :)

Fridays with Ella (and also Girls and Pearls, August edition): Traditions are Important

Hi.

Today, I'm writing about traditions and covering for my Mom. She's not feeling well.

A lot of families have traditions, or special things that they do together. Some people have Christmas traditions, or Thanksgiving traditions (we have one: we have soup every Thanksgiving because my Mom used to be too afraid of cooking a turkey)

But, some families have other traditions. When my Mom was little, my Pop-Pop (her Dad) would have a big housecleaning party every Saturday and then he would take the whole family to the park.

When we lived in Illinois and my Mom worked at the newspaper, she would take me to the craft store every Friday and give me 5 dollars to buy whatever I wanted. We'd go to the grocery store, too, and eat at Mr. Submarine. I don't remember much of it because I was so little, but I remember buying glow sticks and making ghost noises on our way home.

For now, we live in the country and there aren't any craft stores close by to where we could go out there all the time. Mom came up with a new tradition in May: Girls and Pearls.

Basically, we dress up fancy and go somewhere to eat and maybe shop. It's not so much about where we go, or what we do. It's about spending time together. We've been to McDonald's, a Chinese restaurant, and we've even had a picnic in our living room.

Today, we went shopping for more pearls and went to the Mason Jar, one of our favorite places in town. We heard it's closing this fall, and wanted to go before it did.

We don't do much. We just hang out, and talk. Today, Mom told me about all the times she and my Aunt Gosia would sneak out of the house to go get donuts from a place in Chicago. We laughed a lot and just spent time together. What about you? What are your traditions?

 

 

What Ella wore:

Dress: gift, no tag inside (don't know what brand)

necklace and peacock clip: Family Dollar

Shoes: her trusty Sketchers

Girls and Pearls: July 2014 Edition

Today was our July Girls and Pearls day. We chose to have a picnic in our living room. The weather has left a lot to be desired the past few days, and our allergies are awful anyway.

Excuse the paleness and awfulness. I'm recovering from a bout of anemia. (first time in 8 years, ugh)

She looks beautiful though, if slightly bemused

check out the back of her hair, how pretty is that :)

I love this kid! ya'll have no idea!

Ella and her owl (Orlando)...how do you like our awesome picnic blanket?

It's a pizza picnic!

Afterwards? dessert and our favorite movie!

Girls and Pearls, June 2014 Edition

Today, Ella and I celebrated the 2nd Girls and Pearls. We went to Spruce Pine, North Carolina and explored, walked around, shopped, and ate good food. All in our fancy pearl best.

 

I love this tradition! I hope we can keep it up when I'm old(er) and gray(er)!!!!

General Life update and Someting New.

I know it's a cop-out to post "we've been busy", but yes, we've been busy.

Our school year ended this Thursday, so we've had lots to do with wrapping up final studies and such. Of course, this does not mean that our school year is really over, as Ella tends to learn year-round.

My Dad is not gaining weight as much as doctors would like him to, (don't worry, the cancer is not back), and it's all due to the medications that he is on (which are beneficial) as well as his mounting anxiety (if you had been through what he has been through this past year, trust me, you'd be anxious too).

My oldest sister and I are in agreement that Dad should be on a mild antidepressant to take the edge off his anxiety. My brother says antidepressants are of the devil and that they don't work. Never mind the fact that my Mother has been on them for about ten years. Sigh. Please pray with me that Dad will make the right decision.

This morning, my beloved Sunday School teacher stepped down due to her husband's declining health. While I saw this coming, I am still pretty crushed. She has been a huge influence, a shoulder to cry on, and most importantly, a friend. She has been the picture of grace under any circumstance, and I am truly blessed to be counted as her friend.

I was blessed to receive a package of Mother's Day cards for the project this year, and I am trying to come up with something to do for October 15th, as it is the only day we have that is truly about remembering our babies. I have been stressed to the gills, and I am trying not to let the devil have a foothold in my life.

ALL that aside...

I have received so much love and support from fellow angel moms about this project. It humbles and amazes me.

I am currently on Day 28 of this 30 Day challenge. I've almost made it! My husband says I look incredible, and truthfully, I feel incredible. The leg lifts make me feel like my ab muscles are going to snap like a rubberband, but I'm totally not going to stop working out after this. I think I am going to do a running challenge after this, and then my friend Brittney and I are starting something called Mean Abs June...which I'm a little afraid of, but BRING IT ON!

Lastly, Ella and I are starting a new monthly tradition. Something called "Girls and Pearls". Today was the first. Basically, we get all fancied up in pearls and such and go out for a meal or a girls' day out. It doesn't have to always be on a Sunday, but I felt like it had to happen today after Mrs. B left.

Ella in her pearls :)

Forgive my splotchy face. I've been crying all morning.

and one of us together.

Today, Ella wanted to go to McDonald's, so there we went. Maybe next time we can do something more fancy/befitting of the "girls and pearls" name :) Or maybe not. That's part of the fun of motherhood!