Happy Easter!

 

Wishing you a blessed Easter Sunday! 
I have been recovering from shoulder surgery so am really behind in sharing posts in this space! I will be sharing all sorts of posts/stories in the coming days! xo

Thirty-Six Aprons

My Aunt Gail emailed this morning to let me know that a box was on its way. Thinking we had a few days we were super surprised when a large, heavy box arrived this afternoon. As I was chatting on the phone with my mom at the time of its arrival, and the girls had just headed out to play, we waited for a bit before opening it. 

We couldn't even begin to guess what was inside (it was HEAVY remember) but we all figured it was most likely doll related! Never in a million years would we have guessed that it was, in fact, thirty-six aprons! 

 January 

My apron matches the girls' aprons exactly. 

 February

 March

 April

This was, as you can imagine, an instant fave!

May

June

 July

 August 

I should have had Dave come in to take one of the three of us, as my apron is the same fabrics but the watermelons are the background with the flamingo fabric accenting it. So sweet! 

 September. 

Again, I should have had Dave come in to take a picture. Mine is very similar to theirs, though instead of a ruffle at the bottom it has the sweet fabric and ribbon on the top. I absolutely adore this apron! The fabric and the ribbon are very much us! 

 October

This one has me as a black cat. I'll be sure we get a picture of the three of us together wearing them next month. With dinner needing to be made before dance I decided to skip having a picture taken of the three of us and move on to the final few aprons in the box! 

 November

 December

These aprons make me think of my Grandma Ruth (my Aunt Gail's mom). I have no doubt she would have loved them all but most especially the Christmas ones. 

Birthday apron

Isn't the ladybug fabric darling?! 

Grace has said that she would wear that ladybug fabric as a skirt ("it's so cute with it's bow!")

Thank you Aunt Gail for the incredible surprise of these gorgeous aprons! They will absolutely be worn and cherished for years and years to come! xo 

For Years To Come

My dad made each of the girls this beautiful recipe box/recipe card holders this past Christmas. They have been working on cooking and baking and putting recipes they've mastered into their boxes ever since. Emma got hers out the other night to make overnight oats and it was then that I realized that I had not yet shared about these beautiful boxes. I just love how much they love them and I think it will be so neat for them to look back and see their handwriting from when they were younger (and what it changes into throughout the years)!My guess is that their children and grandchildren will get a kick out of seeing the recipes these boxes contain too! xo

One Final Birthday Gift

  One final gift for her birthday. 

This sweet deer doll was hand made in Australia and given to her by her Grandma Joan and Grandpa Ron today when they came to visit. 

 She is the perfect compliment to the sweet fairy doll that we gave her for her birthday, and the perfect choice for our deer/woodland creature loving girl! 

Thank you, Grandma Joan and Grandpa Ron, for this beautiful doll! There is no doubt in my mind that she will be treasured for years to come! And many, many thanks to everyone who made her twelfth birthday so very special! xo 

From Her Grandparents

 Yesterday Dave's parents came up to celebrate Emma's birthday. They brought her the dress she's wearing in these pictures, and had just told her that her actual gift would be arriving (most likely) the next day. No sooner did they finish with this statement than UPS pulled up in front of our house with two packages. One containing a shower curtain that I ordered on Monday and the other containing Emma's birthday gift (a much wished for item). 

 It's very fitting that this little hen arrived on Emma's birthday! 

Her name is Snowdrop and she joins La Pintade, Speckle and Noelle and completes our family of Guinea Hens! Ever since the little green hen showed up Emma has been wishing for a hen to arrive to represent her. Snowdrop is the perfect addition to the family and looks absolutely lovely on the china cabinet. 

 Later that day, another package arrived, but this time in the mail (it was a very good mail day for Miss Emma). I had saved the card that arrived the day before to give to her when this package arrived. Again, perfect timing that the final piece arrived on her birthday! It's like my mom planned it that way! 

 Tanglewood Hollow seriously uses the prettiest washi tape on their envelopes! 

 "What could it be?!"

"A magazine?! For me?! This is the best birthday ever, Mama!" 

 Simply gorgeous. And so her! 

 "Can I take these to Nature School next time and show Miss Heather?!" 

The magazine and the track cards (which were an unexpected and lovely surprise from Allyson at Tanglewood Hollow) capped off an absolutely perfect day for our sweet girl. As we drove to dinner that night I realized that she had a very nature themed birthday and that all her gifts were even handmade!

In the spring, when the weather is good, just like Grace did when she turned ten, Emma will get to choose a rose bush to add to the rose garden. A lovely tradition that we couldn't pass up on for our winter baby!

Thank you, Grandma Joan, Grandpa Ron, Gramma Terri and Grandpa Gene for such lovely gifts  for Emma. Each and every item was truly perfect and helped to make this day even more special than it already was! xo