Reminding myself not to forget we all carry great truths with us in our journey of life.

When your toddler is too quiet know this is happening:: she is giving herself blue smurf feet.

You’d think by now we would learn. Never trust the quiet. Never.

Best part when I walked in, saw her sitting on the kitchen floor & went “What did you do?!“Her answer was to drop the marker, put her hands up to her cheeks {think Kevin in Home Alone} and exclaim “Uh oh!! Momma help!”

As if someone else came in, held her down & gave her blue feet. Against her will.

When she was totally caught red handed. No make that blue handed.

I have been playing more with Polyvore. I went on eons ago and signed up. But after a short time on the site I was overwhelmed and stopped. Stopped cold. Still I have decided to try it again. After a couple more attempts I find that I may be getting the hang of it.

We’ll see.

It takes a lot of time to sift through various items and create a look. It may take others less time, but I am painfully slow at decisions that are inconsequential to life such as which sandals to pair with a maxi {that I am not even buying but merely using as inspiration}. Oddly enough though I am an impulsive decision maker on major things {like what house to buy}. I blame the media. Why not? The infamous “they” are blamed for everything else.

Anyway…while playing around I put this outfit together. It keeps with a lot of same bold and bright colors I loved in my everyday outfit I created for Spring. It also brings some of that boho chic vibe that I am in love with right now. I thought it would be a great look for going out for a nice date night, a Spring or Summer wedding or one of the many celebrations that go on this time of year that require comfort and a little more style than jeans or yoga pants {my usual fall-backs}.

After seeing this video I think I would use this hairstyle as inspiration for a soft and relaxed up-do with the above look. My hair is more of a medium length, so I couldn’t create the “exact same” look but really checking out hairstyles, clothes and style in general is all about inspiration. Take what we like and make it our own.

By the way, watch the video and at the end you will have the opportunity to enter to win one of three cash prizes.

Additional FYI, in case you forgot from the previous post, this promotion will have three lucky winners chosen each week! The Grand Prize viewer will win a $250 Visa Gift Card with two other winners receiving a $100 Visa Gift Card. Perfect for getting ready for Spring and before we know it Summer!

For all of the details on the Prizes and Promotions, please click here. And for the Official Rules, visit this page to learn all about the promotion and how you can win up to $250.

Disclaimer: I am participating in an Olay BlogHer TV campaign. I am being compensated for this post. However, all the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Soul & Divinity.

Mr. G is making his First Holy Communion. He is so excited. A little nervous too, given it will be a little different than a “normal” Mass. He gets a little uneasy with change. Now, is is NOT very different, but he will walk in & out with the other first communicants and obviously the reception of the Eucharist is a big difference for him!

He has been asking to receive Jesus (we Catholics believe in the literal presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist) every Sunday for years, this is a beautiful moment and he told me he doesn’t want to mess up. He is so sweet. Truly a sweetheart. So to help him feel more at ease with the minor changes we have practiced with him what to do, how to receive and how to relax.

He will do great.

I am sure the day of he will be able to completely focus on the joy of the gift he is receiving.

Too bad there is no relaxation for us adults today.

We have been trying to organize, clean up and get the house and yard ready for people to come over and enjoy some time together. Unfortunately between my end of semester wrap up and start of the summer semester prep, lots of kid activities, Mike’s busier schedule and terrible weather in April we have been woefully behind our ideal schedule. Oh well.

What can we do now?

For starters I can get back to work.

“Go ask Daddy! Ask him!”

“No, you ask!”

The sounds of whispered excitement of a back forth on who would ask, an apparently, very important question of Daddy was going on between D-man and Mamacita. The continuted negotiation floated into the hallway outside the bathroom door. Mike and I stood there wondering what they needed that caused so much decision making. And usually when you hear whispers of a plan hatching as a parent you begin to wonder what chaos may be waiting to unfold.

But we only needed to wait a minute longer before we knew was all the whispered commotion was about. From the kitchen came running D-man, with his eyes big he looked at Mike’s toolbox which was sitting out from the work he was doing on the bathroom. Turns out his question didn’t cause chaos but a level of sweetness that melted both of our hearts.

He looked around the toolbox and then up at his Daddy, took a big breath, and asked in a very serious manner…

“Daddy, can we use your sonic screwdriver? Please?”

Mike smiled and answered him back:

“Buddy, I don’t have one, it’s Doctor Who on TV who has a sonic screwdriver not Daddy.”

D-man looked confused and said “But Daddy you can do anything. And you can fix anything. If Doctor Who have a sonic screwdriver than you do too!”

It was too sweet. He was so earnest in his belief of a hidden sonic screwdriver & in his belief that Daddy can do anything.

Mike bent down to his level, with a huge smile and explained it doesn’t work that way. But D-man was very, very confused by the whole thing now because in his mind Daddy is bigger than Doctor Who. And if Doctor Who gets to have a sonic screwdriver than it only makes sense Daddy would too.

D-man walked to the kitchen table where his big sister waited for the news. We listened as he told her what had happened. Mamacita shared his confusion,she couldn’t believe it either. And we heard her say to him “That doesn’t make any sense! Not at all, because if anyone should have a sonic screwdriver it’s OUR Daddy. He can do anything!”

And BOOM! The sweetness multiplied.

Regardless of what voodoo that Punxsutawney Phil has tried to pull spring is technically here and I hold out hope that soon it will feel like spring outside. As a result I am going to act like it is warm and sunny out my door by checking out cute spring looks that I can rock. I am choosing to ignore the cold, rain and possible snow we may also see later this week by staying excited to add in some bright pops of color and accessories this year.

Yes, I am choosing optimism in spite of my natural melancholic nature that wants to cry defeat and that spring WILL NEVER COME. Nope. Not going to do it. Not giving in!

Nope, instead I am focusing on in love a romantic chic bohemian vibe right now. I am reclaiming color and big, bold accessories for myself. And holding on to the belief that sooner or later, damn it, spring has to arrive. It has to! Until then I am finding inspiration via making my own fashion board of Spring Fun! {see it has an exclamation that means it has to be fun} and pretending it’s going to be warm enough to wear sandals soon.

And as another result of my “think spring and be inspired” motto I fell in love this hairstyle tutorial as my spring hair inspiration. I think it is a perfect look to connect with the romantic boho chic vibe I am feeling this spring. For me, with my medium length hair, I can create the same “feel” with a headband in place of the braids or just let the soft waves speak for themselves.

Watch the video and at the end you will have the opportunity to enter to win one of three cash prizes.

And FYI this promotion will run for the next four weeks & each week three lucky winners will be chosen! The Grand Prize viewer will win a $250 Visa Gift Card with two other winners receiving a $100 Visa Gift Card. Perfect for getting ready for Spring!

For all of the details on the Prizes and Promotions, please click here. And for the Official Rules, visit this page to learn all about the promotion and how you can win up to $250.

Disclaimer: I am participating in an Olay BlogHer TV campaign. I am being compensated for this post. However, all the thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

I went to come down from upstairs this morning, lured out of bed by the smell of fresh coffee, and on my way down to get my cup of Joe I slipped. It isn’t the first time I have lost my footing on the stairs but the last time it happened I was 9 months pregnant and had an inner ear infection. Today I am neither pregnant nor have an ear infection to blame. Nope, instead as I went to make it down the last few steps I lost my footing and slipped.

Turns out I am just clumsy.

Very,

Very,

Clumsy.

And now I am also very, very sore. Because in the process of the fall I managed to dislocate my pinky toe. I can now attest that this little piggy did cry “Wee, Wee, Wee!!” all the way home & also “Owie, Owie, Owie!!” all the way down the stairs.

Update:: It turns out I didn’t just break my pinky toe but also the toe next to it. Owie doesn’t begin to cover it. Can’t wait to attempt to walk around campus like this. Good times. Good times.

John 15:12–17

12 This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.
13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.
15 I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.
16 It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
17 This I command you: love one another.

For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion have Mercy on us and on the whole world.

Jennifer Zuener Integrated Cross Necklace

I really love the look of these cross necklaces. Have you seen them lately? They seem to be popping everywhere.

Lucinda’s Sideways Cross Necklace

I like how they sit on the body. I  like that I could wear this look without it drawing excessive attention to my chest. I like that it appears to look good being worn at a longer or shorter length. It just sits nicely.

Jennifer Zeuner Diamond Cross Necklace

They have a very simplistic, feminine and classic look to them even though they are a “modern” take on how one may wear a cross.

Dogeared Gold Whisper Cross Necklace

I may have to order one.

Checking out Esty I found a whole host of Esty artists selling these necklaces too.

I can’t help but wonder if anyone else is digging the look of the sideways cross as much as I am?

No matter what your career, degree or expertise was in prior to becoming a mother I have found from my own experience that you will end up being more involved in the world of poop than one could ever possibly imagine. It isn’t simply a reality that you will be up to your elbows in it. No, it is so much more than that.

You will become the COO of poo, gain your doctorate in all things related to when, how and what makes bowels move and you will be more knowledgeable in your kid’s bowel movements in a way you never were about your own. Expertise that you would never use with fellow colleagues at the office becomes indispensable on the home front. You will discuss them as a couple over dinner, via text messages and even before you drift off to sleep. It all becomes a part of your life in a whole knew way.

It is a truth of parenthood that cannot and will not be denied.

No matter how many times a parent {yep Dads you get sucked into the wild & wacky world of poo as well!} swears he or she will NEVER discuss poo it is a simple truth that sooner or later the poo hits the fan and it WILL get discussed. At length.

Hopefully though it is only a figurative hitting of the fan. Because if it is literal, well, then you have other problems. No seriously, that ain’t right.