We Have It All

I have had this picture as my phone lock screen for months....and the poignancy of it strikes me so often.

Sometimes amidst the hurry and scurry to do it all, make it all, buy it all, and have it all...it hits me that I already do!  I've almost blogged about this vast subject different times, but for one reason or another, the words never made it onto my screen. They did make it onto my lovely LED light box which is a super favorite birthday gift from my friend Moni! #nailedit

https://www.target.com/p/diy-light-box-led-room-essentials-153/-/A-52007695

Last night was one of those times that stopped me in my turbulent tracks. Danl decided to cut some of our grass before it needed to be baled for hay, and of course Danielle was more than happy to help! I was inside bustling about trying to take advantage of the opportunity to straighten things up a bit without a little Taby underfoot. I purposefully strode out to deposit a bag of trash in the dumpster when I noticed Danl waving at me to watch Danielle. He was letting her push the handles of the lawnmower, and she was beyond ecstatic to be in control; shrieking with happiness and grinning as wide as a one year old can can grin as they zigzagged crazily across the lawn! As I stood waving and gazing at them, witnessing the magic of their daddy/daughter mowing session, I consciously thought, "My heart could not be more full. Life does not get better than moments like this. Thank you, God." 

And I realized anew that truly, even though my "to-do" list would vehemently deny it, I had it all. 

All the things I was gonna get done lost their importance, and I climbed onto the gooseneck and just sat and breathed and watched them mow as the sunlight faded and the stars came out. And these lyrics that I've always loved played over and over in my mind...

Life Is Beautiful

by the Afters

Through the window

I see you waiting
You are smiling
Cause I'm coming
Your eyes are a story
An ocean of memories
Pictures of faces and places
And all of the things
That make us feel like we have it all

All of the times
That make us realize
We have it all

Life is beautiful

Living and dying
Laughing or crying
If we have the whole world or have nothing
I know there are long nights
But we'll make it
With every sunrise comes a new light
And all of the things
That make us feel like we have it all

All of the times
That make us realize
We have it all

Life is beautiful

A father's love
A wedding dance
New Year's dreams
A toast with friends
A soldier coming home from war
The faith, the hope of so much more
A brand new life
A mother's prayer
Shooting stars
Ocean air
A lover's kiss
And hard goodbyes
Fireworks
Christmas lights

These are things that make us feel alive
These are the times that make us realize
Life is beautiful

This week holds it all too...

Yesterday morning a wedding; a dream came true for Curtis & Janelle! I was privileged to have taught them both (#feelingold!) and could not be happier for their happiness! 

Yesterday evening a passing; my Great Uncle Ward laid his armor down in his courageous battle against cancer. His life was the enthusiastic embodiment of the words vim and vigor! I will miss him so much. Visiting Oakwood won't be the same without his contagious zeal and positive attitude.

And so life goes on, and the magic fades away...but then is suddenly there again, startling us to take notice of the normal, because it is so precious and we don't deserve it. It is a gift.

 I love that my little cinema box is currently reminding me of this 

every time I glance up and read these words:

WE HAVE

IT ALL

💜

Shots & Shopping

Today Taby and I loaded up quite late and headed to Pensacola for my (gasp! second to last dose, I believe!?) shots and a dose of much-needed retail therapy. Except I'm not sure that shopping with a one year old is truly therapy! With Danielle, it vacillates between being the sweetest, funnest thing ever and living in one of those dreams you are happy to wake up from! Lately, she loves hearing her voice so "echo-y" in the stores and sort of shrieks out bursts of noise! It baffles me how to cure this without appearing to abuse her.... (please give me ideas!) Sometimes I squinch her fat cheeks together and shush at her, or flick her mouth, or whisper at her to use her store voice. Mostly though, I stuff her little pie hole with Cherrios or raisins. That works the best! I have the tjxrewards credit card from T.J.Maxx and it gives the loveliest rewards! Armed with $30 reward certificates, I planned to purchase a gorgeous and well-fitting swimsuit! For some reason, I just don't buy swimwear. And that is not a good thing. After hunting through aisles of unorganized suits packed too tightly for proper observation, I plucked approximately 6 of them for the fitting room finale. Alas, either I am a far cry from model proportions (check) or a disaster of a perfectionist, (another check) so none met my criteria for THEE suit of the year. But I had fun selecting some gift items and a couple summery tank tops for Danielle. Next stop was Wendy's for our usual "4 for $4" meal deal. It's perfect for us! I eat the double stack burger, she eats the chicken nuggets, and we share the fries, Diet Coke, and Jr. Frosty that we get complimentary with every purchase due to the 2017 Frosty key-chain I bought because it was so cute! Not only is this tag super cute, it also helps support foster care adoption!

At Dr. Cleveland's, Danielle eyed the nurses in their sterile scrubs very warily as they jabbed ME instead of HER with their fierce needles! While waiting the mandatory 30 minutes, we sat in the back of the Yukon with the half-glass up (this looked odd to the passersby I am certain, but at least I didn't have to worry about Danielle annoying the other clients inside or have to chase her all over outside!) and enjoyed the sunshine and finished our Wendy's while FaceTiming with Nana and Aunt Alisha. We are all so antsy for little Isla Francine to be born!! Come ON, already! Can't wait to meet my sweet lil niece! Then we be-bopped over to Marshall's to do the whole bathing suit thing all over, but only bombed out again. But I scored a modest black and white striped knit dress for $24.99 that I am super thrilled about! And some flip-flops and a Father's Day present. And a too-tired toddler!!! Waaah... cancelled meeting Katie for a cone at Marble Slab, and went straight to Walmart to pickup our groceries. Once on the road, Danielle zonked out almost immediately. Poor thing. And although I have proclaimed this oft' afore, I ADORE Walmart Pickup!!! I could "Keep Calm & Shop On" while my baby "Kept Calm & Slept On!" Per Daniel's suggestion (love him!) I stopped at Tom Thumb in Molino and got a ready-to-eat rack of ribs, and sides of greens, mac 'n cheese, and apple/peach cobbler for supper! One and Done! Not sure if that slogan applies well to this supper subject matter...but I'm a mom and "One and Done" comes to mind, thanks to our favorite Huggie's wipes! When one starts writing about baby wipes, they should cease writing; therefore this post is Done and Done! 

Over and out. 

typing myself to sleep

I want to write but...

Sleep is sweeter than honey!

Wishing dreams could type...

#latenighthaiku

Five Friday Faves

1. PIZZA HUT

Seriously, our little family's favorite food! I ordered it on my app, while walking at the park in Atmore. They have the $7.99 carryout 2 topping deal again! I veered from our usual of cheese with extra cheese and added ham and pineapple and a garlic butter crust flavor! Ignoring the little pieces I had cut for her, Danielle grabbed a slice when I wasn't looking and "ate" it like a big girl tonight for the first time! Mostly she gnawed off the cheese and made a big mess, but she was so pleased with herself.  Daniel, on the other hand, wasn't so pleased with my order this go around..."What's this grass they have scattered on our pizza?!" "Ummm..Gulp. It's uh...I thought garlic butter crust flavor would be awesome! Sorrrrrry! They sorta got carried away when liberally applying it! Won't happen again!" He was a good sport though, and ate it!  

Mostly though, my favorite thing about this meal is the ABSENCE OF DISHES! And that my sweet hubby tells me often to just pick up a pizza so I can have a break from cooking and cleaning up! #lovehim

2. NANA

She gave me the best gift today! An uninterrupted hour to work on taxes! Danielle, the Duchess of Grump, had really been exercising her royal right to whine pitifully if I wasn't near enough or holding her ever since she starting running fever yesterday, so it was a blissful break even though compiling tax data is not high on my list of favorite things. Thanks again, Nana!!! 

(She didn't run fever today, but still acted like she didn't feel well..erupting molars??! I don't know..)

3. FRESH CUT FLOWERS

I dumped a seed packet of tiny white flowers in my porch pots last fall and they never bloomed until this spring! They are kind of unsightly in the pots, but make a lovely whimsical bouquet when picked! Today I added 3 red roses from our knockout bush, and this combination has just "sparked joy" every time my gaze lands on it!

4. NEW HAIR BRUSH

I love my new mint green and pale pink brush from TjMaxx!

I'm a "finisher" by nature and boy howdy, I "finished" my old brush!

 It was purchased from Fred's in Atmore years ago, and had seen it's very last day! Now it resides in Danielle's bathroom basket and she plays and chews on it while I get dressed. So really, I guess it isn't quite "finished" yet!  

5. SAYING NO

I'm still learning how to do this, albeit painfully. I was telling Daniel this week that "I'm not ever saying yes to doing ________ again!" And he replied that it had taken me 18 years to finally reach this conclusion...sigh. Slowly but surely, I'll be lesser of a "yesser!"

Our little princess is ONE!

It is so hard to believe that only one short year ago, 

our little Danielle Nicole was a fresh newborn baby who purred and hiccuped so sweetly!

Now she is an adorable but fiercely independent little toddler teenager who wears size 5 shoes and almost runs everywhere! 

She is the light of our lives, and I could type pages of her antics and of how much we love her! 

But I won't...at least not tonight, or rather this morning.

Happy Birthday to our baby girl!

(BTW, I did also just finish the final edits on the 10 page document titled 

"The Birth Story of Danielle Nicole" 

Message me if you would like to read it! It's detailed, but not too graphic!)

a bowl full of donuts

Now THIS is cereal done right, y'all!!! 

When I saw this box at Piggly this afternoon, my donut-loving soul just melted. $4.99 or not, I have no resist in me when it comes to donuts AND sprinkles! 

And I thought surely Danielle will love them too! First chance I had, I poured a bowl of milk and dumped in the adorable mini donuts! 

WOW- that perfectly fake cake flavor blended so well with whole milk and they didn't even sog up too fast! 

(Sog is the main reason I refrain from cereal. Shudder.)

 I enjoyed several fistfuls dry too. This may just be a new pantry staple. 

Good ole impulse buying! 

Maybe Walmart Pickup isn't the answer to all of life's problems...

*This is not a sponsored post even though I wish like crazy that it was! 

All is Well

You know how sometimes you have that feeling that all's right with the world and there really is a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? That's how I felt today! I didn't expect to; it was just was of those rare days that actually gets better and better instead of worse for once! And nothing huge or glamorous happened. Just sweet daily life! Daniel ended up taking the day off instead of working like he had planned. He suggested waffles for breakfast, which carb-loving me jumped right on! I threw chopped pecans in mine. Sublime! Then we all pittered around the house, just relishing togetherness. I hadn't properly "sorted" (as the Brits would say) my kitchen all week, so I washed up non-dishwasherable dishes for a good while. Danielle took an amazing 2.5 hour nap! After our lunch of Kraft shell macaroni and cheese and leftover brown sugar spiral sliced ham with horseradish, we cleaned up out in the yard and Daniel cranked up the lawnmower for the first time this year! Danielle was delighted to help mow the dog pen. At one point, she really pushed on the right lever and they leaped out of a straight stripe! Then she and I chillaxed on the front porch watching Daddy mow; she in her Little Tikes swing and I perching on the Pelican cooler I had just cleaned up from last week's oysters. We ate Mayfield Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream and soaked up the sun. The weather just kept getting better all day too. I had been pining for fresh pine straw in all the beds, so once Daniel was finished with the yard, he and Danielle drove the white truck back around behind the house and I raked up a large haystack of the free much-needed mulch. I distributed it around the front porch while Taby stomped happily after her daddy pruning trees. She LOVES being outside. And as I watched her toddling around, I couldn't help thinking, "Is this really my beautiful life? It's just too perfect...I'm beyond blessed." (disclaimer - I have MANY moments when life seems quite real and I have no problem believing that it IS my life lol.) Anyway, snap back to reality. Our yard, beds, and porch now look loved and cared for at last. They really look good if I may say so myself! Especially the porch with its new pale blue $5 metal table from Family Dollar! Danielle had wilted after her afternoon of adventures, so I put her down for a late nap. Then I sat on our front porch like a true Southerner and watched the sun go down as I ate a Cutie, drank water, and read in Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin. Love that book. Levon Kimmons had come over, so Danl was out shooting the breeze with him. Supper was Zatarain's Cilantro Lime Rice, Walmart shrimp grilled on skewers, cheese green beans, and Reese Pieces store-bought cookie dough cookies barely baked, then frozen. Outlandishly delicious! And now day is done, gone the sun. All is well. Amen.