A woman I deeply admire has an amazing set of systems and collections. Among them she has collected enough dishes to feed an army in style. When asked about her approach to collecting so many and keeping a cohesive look she said that when she was in high school her mother told her to pick a color for her dishes,
any color,
and simply stick with it.
Her color is blue. And she has stacks and stacks of beautiful mismatched dishes in all shades of blue.
Inspired I came home, took stock of what I loved and decided to pick a color:
Green.
So hopefully someday someone will admire my collection and ask the same question. It is all about steering our passions into productivity isn't it? Do you have a color for your dishes? Happy Saturday!
Food and Toddlers seem to be a revolving issue for many people, enough so that most parenting books address it and mothers lament it at playgroups. We have been encountering this in our home lately as it is an easy area for a jealous toddler to assert themselves. In a moment of desperation Abbey sat thinking through everything she had read or heard and remembered a book she came across almost a year ago.
Having already purchased and loved Annabel Karmel's Baby Purees Book
, this one had been on our "want" list. Lo' and behold a sweet friend gifted it to us shortly after the arrival of Baby D. She had no idea we had our eye on this title, which made the gift even more special. We have just cracked its pages and love what we have read so far. Our favorite little idea that we just had to share with you is the notion, ever popular but forgotten, of sandwiches cut into clever shapes. We pulled out our Christmas cookie cutters and set to making lunch a more festive affair. Our discovery? Baby Love is as much a visual eater as his mom. It has been amazing to see the change in his eating habits since using these: To make his plate look like this:
While it does take a few more minutes up front, the time it saves on the back end and the peace it brings to meal time more than makes up for the little extra effort.
It is Thursday and we are incredibly grateful for the meals we have received since being new parents the second time around. One of the things that made the process so wonderful is a website that our church uses for their meal ministry called
It is brilliant and wonderful in so many ways we can't recommend it enough! If you are going to coordinate meals for someone, we highly recommend using this website. It is easy for both those bringing the meal and the family being blessed to use. We loved that there was a section for food allergies or preferences and a space for everyone's phone number in case they got lost or needed to coordinate a drop off. It links with everyone's email, so if you wanted to switch a day with someone else you can contact them easily without needing to contact the new mommy. It truly made the whole process feel like magic. We could easily see any switches to know what day to expect a meal and poof it happened! We could go on and on about it, but you should pop over and see for yourself.
We have gotten so many wonderful ideas from the wonderful meals we have received and hope to share some of them with you in the coming weeks. It has been such an incredible blessing to have had so many wonderful meals and we are incredibly grateful. Thank you to everyone who took the time to care for us in this way!
Play along with us! Every Thursday we will post something we are thankful for, and I would love it if you did so as well on your blogs.The Button is on the right hand side of the page, just click, copy and paste. Oh! And let people know where you found it! It is medicine for the soul to give thanks and when done regularly contentment comes into reach. And it can be anything, silly, personal, or blog related. Just take a moment to give thanks!
The rhymes were fun,
But when it was done,
Our brain it was empty,
No more rhymes aplenty.
A few of our favorites here we will share,
Although none of them are very rare!
Our dear friend Katie is a leap year baby and as such it is always tricky deciding when to celebrate her. We made wonderful plans for this year but at the last minute, 48 hours before, the weather changed everything! The icy conditions and tempestuous nature of the storm made us nervous to drive to our retreat for the weekend. So at the last minute we pulled it together and adapted, adapted, adapted! I must say that in the end the result was fabulous and we were able to show our sweet friend just how much she means to us!
The theme was beach retreat. I designed the invitations and created all of the rhymes that followed on her clues. I punched holes at the top and threaded Ace Jute Twine 147
through the two holes, tying tightly and then glued a shell at the bottom of the clues.
<Please don't use without permission!>
We arrived with a breakfast tray of her favorite things and another clue.
"While the snow may have changed our plans,
And we are sad to not be able to run to the sands..."
She had a massage by an incredible masseuse and was picked up by one of our friends while two of us waited for a table at a wonderful local restaurant that is always PACKED for brunch!
"We hope the massage soothed your soul,
And your appetite is the size of a troll....."
 |
Bringing a little of the beach to the restaurant.
The place mat was the same paper design I made for the invitations, edged with creative scissors. |
 |
Impromptu cone made from the same paper.
The flowers were wrapped with paper towels that had been wet and wrapped in plastic. |
 |
| Above: The Birthday Girl and Shannon, some of the delicious Brunch items, Caitlin and I. |
"After a day of fun and surprises,
That fortunately never required disguises,
We desire to help you primp for what lies ahead
For at 6 O’clock he will arrive it is said
No more can we say about what’s in store,
For to secrecy we have been swore (n),
And rhyme we can’t anymore.<wink>"
To end the evening she was picked up by her boyfriend and we made our adieus.
Happy Happy Birthday Sweet Katie, You Are Dearly Loved!
