Friday, February 28, 2014

Friendly Friday

A Friday spent with friends, is a Friday well spent... No one can deny that friendships aren't good for the soul... but so is fresh air.... put them together, and you have a GREAT way to ring in the weekend.











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Monday, February 24, 2014

A Weekend Spent Outside

Most of the weekend was spent out in the yard... it was totally our kind of weekend. We had some tough moments (trying to till our side yard for planting wildflowers was NO easy task)... but, we pretty much have the yard and garden ready for this upcoming season. The garden beds were cleaned out, seeds and cold weather crops are ready to be planted (after our last frost this week), and my hubby created a wonderful drip irrigation system all by himself. I'm SO proud of him... he read up on it, watched videos, gathered supplies.. and conquered. He amazes me. Thanks to him, we'll have a better water flow throughout our beds this year, and will be able to regulate how much each bed receives... different plants, need different amounts. Should make for a better harvest this year.

We recently picked up the book, "The Backyard Homestead", per a friend's recommendation... and we HIGHLY recommend it to anyone just getting started. The books is FILLED with amazing hints/ideas and is extremely motivating. We'll see how it goes... but I'm hopeful that we'll be eating lots of yummies from our garden in the near future.










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Friday, February 21, 2014

What I Grow Best

There's nothing better than planning out your summertime garden...














This year we'll be growing some of our favorites from last year (tomatoes were a HUGE hit), taking note of the fails and NOT growing those (squashes... darn squash bugs), experimenting with a few new plants (cantaloupe is on that list), and creating a HUGE wildflower "meadow" in our side yard/water drainage ditch area.




























And apparently, since I'm SO great at growing babies... we'll throw one of those in the mix...














We're expecting another little baby Davis on or near August 25... and we couldn't be more excited... nervous... and completely out of our mind (if you did the math, it'd put this little baby and Marley 13 months apart!)
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Monday, February 17, 2014

Dear Marley Wren { 7 months }

Dear Marley,

Oh sweet girl... 7 months have come and gone... we can hardly believe it.




















You have grown so much, and have become so animated this last month... you amaze us. You have SO many different expressions. An expression for what peas tastes like, compared to pears (you love pears, not so interested in peas, even though you'll eat them), an expression for when we let you know that it's "night night" time, an expression for when you pooped yourself... an expression when your sister comes in the room when you first wake up from your naps (you LOVE waking up to her face), or when she plays "peek-a-boo" with you... an expression for when Daddy comes home from work, or when the wind hits your face on our stroller walks... all these expressions... they completely melt.our.hearts.















You've grown quite acquainted with the camera and know exactly where to look... it's priceless. You were meant to be your Mama's little girl. You actually turn your head whenever you hear the snap or when anyone holds up their phone, you look over... you just know what's coming.














You started wearing cloth diapers this month... and so far you've done alright in them, and Mommy has been able to keep up with the laundry. You have the cutest little "bulky buns" known to man... although I think you went up an entire pant size just because of that. We could keep you naked all day, just because they look THAT cute on you.














Marley Wren, you are such a happy baby... seriously. There's not one serious bone inside your body... all you do is smile... and giggle... constantly (unless it's time to sleep or eat or get your diaper changed).
This part of your personality gets us super pumped for your future, and who you will become.

We love you more and more each month... week... day,

Daddy, Mommy,  and Charlotte
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Sunday, February 16, 2014

School Sessions: Chapter 4

We're going strong with schooling... even on holidays... and while others are "snowed in"... we're schooling. I think this girl deserves a week off... and I'd probably give her some time off... but she just wants to learn. I love that she's become so passionate about learning. We're nearly through with our Phonics/Reading workbooks for Kindergarten, so in 2 weeks, we'll be doing more writing, reading (BOB books and other beginners) and review throughout the next few months. She's a bright kid... I just wish the LOVE for reading was there... maybe it'll come in the next few months before we start 1st grade... maybe it'll never come. I pray that it does. In the meantime, the girl is on fire with Math. This week Charlotte was introduced to measuring by inches, and telling time with minutes. Did far better than I thought possible.















The one thing I adore about her schoolwork right now... are her lolipop "i's" ... they're so darn cute.














During her breaks, she likes to entertain Marley... which has been fabulous for me. I've been able to get some housework done, or sit and put my feet up for a second while they play with each other. There's NOTHING that I LOVE more than hearing them laugh with one another.















The past week's highlights:

-  More lightbulb moments with addition equations. She doesn't always rely on the number line... but when she does, she uses it perfectly.

-  She's learned a few more consonant blend (Sn, St) words.

-  She understood the concept of long a and silent i sound.

- Was introduced to using quotation marks and handled it pretty well...

- She loved getting everything ready this week to celebrate Valentine's Day. Enjoyed the pipe cleaner crafts, the painting and construction, and of course... drawing hearts all over her journal page.

- Doubled up on school work one day, so she could have a free day when Daddy took the day off from work to take her on a "date"... oh boy did she LOVE all the attention he gave her.


This past week's lows:

-  Not as much PE time because the temps were still pretty rotten... thankfully it warmed up towards the end.

-  Still not loving reading...
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Friday, February 14, 2014

Loves Day

We've been preparing for Loves Day (aka Valentine's Day) for about a week now... we've been crafting, and painting, and shopping... as soon as the sun came up at 7 am this morning, Charlotte was in our room, ready to celebrate. I think this holiday speaks her love language: chocolate and love gifts... yup, that's Charlotte... no wonder she was awake before Marley. We've had such a sweet day, and I can only imagine it getting sweeter as the years go by.













Out take... the reason why Marley was cracking up SO much over Charlotte... because Charlotte was allowing her to pull her glasses off her face.... oh these two... they melt me.

Marley's adorable leggings were a Loves Day gift from Daddy... while he took Charlotte out on a Daddy Daughter Date, he picked these sweet little leggings up at a local boutique... they're from a company called "Love Well"... and a portion of their proceeds go to the work of Second Mile Water

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Friday, February 07, 2014

Sleep Little One... Sleep

Marley is hit or miss when it comes to sleep... and I'm starting to think that maybe it's just how babies roll. For a little over a week, she was taking regular naps, and sleeping through the night with minimal whimpers... and then BAM she decided she didn't like her crib again. This girl is just tormenting me... when I think I have her figured out, she goes and switches things up on me... and I'm ready for some normalcy/routine around here. I feel like I'm in such a rut when she doesn't get her sleep... sometimes it feels worse than when she was a newborn. I'm hoping this is just a growth spurt or teething (no teeth have shown up yet and she's a crazy drooling mess)... but for now, when her naps are longer than 30 minutes each, or she sleeps in her crib later than 2 am... I'm going to take those moments as victories... and savor the quiet. After all, Charlotte sleeps all night long... so she'll get there, right?


















Hoping to reveal her nursery to y'all sometime next week. I don't think I ever shared... and it's about time!
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