The Great Outdoors

This weekend was my husband's birthday! We celebrated by taking a last-minute camping trip on Sunday night through Monday evening. His company gave all their employees their birthdays off, so since his was over the weekend, he got Monday as his day off. We packed the car, stopped to buy hot dogs and bug repellant, then drove to Fayetteville, WV for our adventure! It was so refreshing to be totally unplugged, to spend a day and a half with no people around, no street lights, no traffic.
Norah absolutely loved it! Between riding in the backpack carrier and playing in the dirt, she was worn out and dirty but thrilled to experience something new :)

Definitely made some special memories together this weekend!

Wedding Day

Fireworks! On July 28th?

We had a big surprise tonight-- it made us jump off the couch-- fireworks at the Capitol, literally our backyard. 

We climbed out on the roof (thankfully N stayed sound asleep-- I have no idea how she slept through that) and enjoyed our own private fireworks show <3 

Romantic :]

Random Acts of Kindness Birthday!

Today for my birthday, I chose to take a few hours to serve others, to celebrate my life by giving and serving others instead of myself. It was fun and encouraging, and I almost came to tears a couple times!
Here's how my day went....

1. I mailed some postcards of encouragement to a few elderly ladies in our church.

2. I wrote a thank-you card to our mailman and put a coupon inside to Chilis for free queso-and-chips.

 3. I cleaned N's room and bagged up clothes, toys, books, and blankets she doesn't need anymore.

4. I went to the Dollar Store and bought 4 coloring books and boxes of crayons for the children's area at Ear Nose & Throat Surgeons at St. Frances (as a little girl, I spent hours here due to chronic ear infections and tubes in my ears). The receptionist kept thanking me and sounded so happy and surprised :)

5. While at the Dollar Store, I was asked if I wanted to donate $1 of school supplies to those in need. I always say no to these "Would you like to donate $1 to ____" [I know, I'm awful] so I said yes today :) 

6. I gathered up shoes I haven't worn in ages to donate to Union Mission. 

7. I went to Women's & Children's (where we have been going for years since this is where my former and now N's current pediatrician is located) and gave the parking lot attendant $2 to pay for the next car that needed it. The older gentleman working looked at me, confused, until I explained that I just wanted to do something nice, that I wasn't coming to park. He was shocked and kept saying thank you :) Made me feel happy! Now I want to go back and do something nice for HIM. It was so hot out and he had to be at least 60 years old. I think next time N and I go by there, I'll give him a cold bottle of water or gatorade...

8. I baked cookies yesterday, and surprised my dad with a plate of them at his office for him and his coworkers to share! Everyone loved seeing pretty little N, especially Grandpa =D

9. I delivered a plate of the cookies (Mickey Mouse shaped) to our favorite librarians at the Library Commission inside the WV Culture Center. They were so excited!

10. While there, I filled my parking meter up with coins before leaving.

11. I left notes of encouragement on neighbor's cars and cars in the hospital parking lot at St. Frances.

12. I planned on surprising my mom and grandma with mocha frappes but it was so hot out, I knew they would melt before I could get to their house. So I promised them that next week we'll go out and get some ice cream or mocha frappes together :)

At the end of the day, my husband and I went to Chili's for dinner and then with my birthday money from my grandma, I bought myself a new belt at a cute boutique in the mall, Francesca's! 

It was a very special birthday, I loved it all

Shaving Cream Painting day

This afternoon, I mixed up a fun activity for my girlie-- Shaving Cream Bath Paints! I found the idea on none other than Pinterest. Shaving cream mixed with a little food coloring.

Super easy

Super cheap

Super confined play ;)

It rinsed off easily and was a nice change of pace from her normal playtime.

N's 1st Birthday Party... a Garden Party for a Little Lady

Our little girl turned ONE last week! She is such a blessing to us, we love her and are privileged to be her parents. Since she is too little to be "into" something (Sesame Street, Disney Princesses, etc) we planned a vintage, feminine "Garden Party"!
Here are a few pictures from the day....

Old blue Ball jars and peonies 

Photos from her first year pinned to lace

Paper straws from Etsy made our Cokes and lemonade extra sweet :)

See the cake truffles on the left? Found them on Pinterest!

Birthday Girl!

Kisses from Mawmaw

Yummy Cherry-Vanilla Cake with homemade buttercream

Fluted ice cream cups

N's little friend E :)

Books

You can't get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.C. S. Lewis
 
I love reading to my little N, even though she's too young to understand most of what we read, I want her to learn to enjoy sitting quietly with a book and getting away from the electronics surrounding us more and more. We go the the library at least once a week, if not more. I love being within walking distance of two great libraries! Her current favorite book is "Heads" by Matthew Van Fleet. She looooves it. And I love reading to her. I am looking forward to the day when we can sit for longer amounts of time to read together :)