Has Anybody Told You?

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

What a wonderful day to celebrate!!

In my opinion, it's really a day to celebrate women as a whole.  I believe that women are born with a beautiful gift: to nurture.

But, hey, what do I know- I've been a mom for whopping 4.5 years.  While sometimes it feels never-ending, really it hasn't been that long and I am definitely no guru on the subject of mothering!  To be honest, most days I'm happy if, by the end of the day, we're all still alive to tell about it.  It's the little things- right?!

I do know that I could not be the woman or mother I am today without the example of so many women in my life.  Not all of them have been mothers, but they have been nurturing and loving of my not-so-cuddly self.  Helping me grow to the less-thorny version I am today.

And for that, I am truly grateful!

So, to women young and old, I salute you!  I thank you for your time and commitment to those people in your life.  For your love and affection.  

A woman is a beautiful thing.  And, sadly, I think that gets lost somewhere in translation.  When do we stop twirling in the mirror loving everything about ourselves?  When does the world tear down our defenses and leave us vulnerable and afraid?

My wish for you on this woman's holiday, is that, for one second, you see yourself through my lens.

I cannot express in words how beautiful you are.

Go ahead, twirl in the mirror.  Yes, you.  Go on, DO IT!

You are beautiful, you are wonderful, you are so special.

Nobody was designed quite like you.  Embrace those beautiful eyes!  Run your fingers through that gorgeous hair!  Pucker those beautiful lips!  Swing those tiny hips!

Today is not a day about flaws and imperfections- today is a day to embrace the beauty you have been given!!  If only for one second, see that beauty in yourself!

So, as I was thinking about the earth-shattering message I would share with you for mother's day, I kept envisioning all of the wonderful women in my life who have touched me.  I started thinking about the characteristics they have that have helped me to grow in my life.  I then found a list of all the important characteristics that a mother posses- and with that list I built this:

Has Anybody Told YOU, You're Beautiful?

Today, I'm telling you.

You might agree if you could see what I see!

Have a wonderful weekend FULL of celebration and happiness!!

All my love to you and yours!!

I leave you with a few pictures from our lovely Mother's Day Little Looky:

xoxo,

LooWho

Burger Wedding

Dum, Dum Da-Dum!

Well, I think you've heard enough of my ramblings lately...

LET'S BRING ON THE PICTURES!!

As I've mentioned lately, I am SO behind on blogging, so I won't waste one more second sharing this BEAUTIFUL country wedding with you!

Meet MR and MRS Burger:

I hope you enjoyed reminiscing through this wedding with me!!  Be sure and leave some love for the lovely bride and groom and their GORGEOUS wedding!!

CHEERS!!

Have a lovely day!!

xoxo,

LooWho

Birthday Bash Break-Down Week 1

Well, hello there... fancy meeting you here FOR THE SECOND DAY IN A ROW!

That's right, I made it back to my computer. 

I'll refrain from fireworks, because I'm sure to most of you, 2 days in a row is nothing to write home about. 

Today, we are going to talk about something really dear to my heart..

BIRTHDAY PARTIES!

That's really the only reason to have children- right?!  Ok, I'm kidding, there's plenty of other perks--- or at least I tell myself that, sometimes over and over and over again.  (Long nights of diaper changing followed by long days of potty training two 2-year-olds stinks... no, literally, the smell is awful)

Let's get back to birthday talk!

My baby boy is turning THREE!!!

Huge milestone, I know.  But, isn't there a saying about making everyday a celebration- bust out the fine china and lingerie and make today great??!  (not that I know what either of those things are at the moment, but you get the idea)

Well, I use that same rationalization with my husband to insist that EVERY birthday is a big deal- and, to me, it is. Perhaps, at times, only to me.  But hey, every party needs a pooper, and, while it may be 3 of my 4 children, it is certainly NOT me! :)

So, let's start down the long and sometimes very winding road that leads to the party train of my brain.

First stop: Birthday Theme.

While considering things to do for B-Town's ever-important third birthday, a lot of ideas crossed my mind.  He loves everything.  Among those: Cinderinda (cinderella), purple, cars (as in the movie), dinosaurs, tigers, and all sorts of random things.  Don't judge, the term for this child is "well-rounded."

For about 2.5 seconds, I actually considered throwing a small affair, "all about B-town."  Intimate, no decorations and filled with his favorite things.

I'm sure that's a great idea.  For another mom.

After my party-planning self nearly croaked, I pulled myself back together.  I'm sure there's some sort of Party Over Kill disorder, of which, I am sure I am guilty.  Guilty as charged.  POK is real, and I am dealing with it the only way I know how: throwing extravagant parties for my too young and unappreciative children.

Derailed again, let's get back on track: Theme

What would an "eclectic," fun-loving boy at 3 love for his birthday?  

A circus.

Well, let's be honest, who wouldn't want that?!!  (I drag my kids to the circus each year, in part, because I love the circus)

All-out circus carnival.  Done and done.

Next stop on the coo coo train?  Location.

Well, conveniently, my dad lives on a ranch.  There is a beautiful circular yard in front of his house- circus tents are circular.  Perfect!  I'm envisioning booths of all sorts lining the outside of the circle, with a grand circus entrance between the trees.  Oh, and did I mention they also have a bounce house and a horse- essential elements for circus acts!

Now, onto colors.  When I think Circus/carnival, I think old fashioned.  I think mustard and ketchup- hot dogs and train cars.  I think reds and yellows, bright blues and bright lights.

Here we go- we're getting somewhere.

Now, to really get your creative juices going- now that I have a theme and a general idea of what I want the party to look like... OFF TO NEVERLAND... or pinterest!  Stealing great ideas from far too talented women takes your party from zero-hero in a snap!  Why reinvent the wheel when people are cruising at 80mph??!

Here are some things I've pinned... If you've visited my pinterest board (when will spell check acknowledge that's a word!!?)  you will see that every birthday party I do has a pin board!  Another good tip to party-planning: stay organized!  I have a pin-board and a notebook for each party where I keep all of my ideas!  There's nothing worse than coming up with that MOST amazing idea and then letting your mush of a mom-brain gobble it up into the depths.

Check out these stellar moms:

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Ok, you get the idea- bright vibrant and filled with fun!!

Another tip- I also like to keep the birthday boy close-by while pinning.  It keeps my pinterest exploring to a minimum AND he is able to chime in about what he likes.  The hot dogs and clown noses were on point in B-town's opinion!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed the ride thus far.  We've established our theme, narrowed down our colors and found TONS of inspiration.

Time for dreams of elephants and tight rope walkers- not together, that would be weird and dangerous.  

Keep your eyes peeled and your mind open- this is going to be the best party yet!  (or at least we'll pretend it is, for our peace of mind)

Do you have any birthdays coming up??  Have you done the circus theme?

I'd love to hear your input and ideas- even if it's just "you're crazy!"

(I get that a lot!)

Don't worry, while some people stress and mess themselves over party-planning, I live for it!  As soon as I'm done with one party I'm planning the next, because the best tip for a successful party is: PLAN AHEAD- it will save your heart, head, and wallet!

I hope you've enjoyed your trip through the circus today!  If you're loving it and want to see it to the end, or you just really love me, be sure and leave a comment, or, better yet, follow my blog!  And tune in next week for the second installment of the BIRTHDAY BASH BREAK DOWN!

For now, keep those creative juices flowing and have a lovely day!

xoxo,

LooWho

Just Tinkering Around

HELLOOOOOOOO, Blogland!!

It's me, way over here....

Ok, so you know that moment in your life when everything is coming together: the dishes are done, the clutter is managed, and you actually have time to blog???

Ya, me neither!

BUT, about a month ago, I was feeling like I was actually GETTING to that place.  I emphasize getting because I'm not sure it is even possible for me to attain at this stage in my life- although I find myself trying so hard to at times.

I'm doomed.  Doomed to never-ending laundry, aged and old blog posts at my home page, and dishes that don't do themselves.  Well, maybe doomed is the wrong word, but that's what I'm sticking with at this moment of "will-my-house-ever-be-clean-for-longer-than-a-minute!"

Of course I've jumped ahead, let's go back to ALMOST THERE.  Here I was, a semi-clean house and blogging regularly..  Ahh, how those moments should last longer.  In retrospect, I should have known something was coming.  

Life is not about having lemonade- it's about making it!

So, here in my la-la land where things were working out real swell (yes, I dream of living in the 50's), I even went so far as to plan the PERFECT last day of spring break extravaganza!

Lunch, hike to the beach, drive-in movies... you get the idea.  Fun in the beautiful Cali sun.

Well, we made it to lunch, even made it to the hike.

Then, BAM!

A little smack in the face with life's little wooden spoon.  Time to STIR things up!

Let's catch everyone up to speed before I go on.

1. Jeff and I have always wanted to adopt... always as in somewhere in the distant future after we have exhausted my uterus.  (TMI?  sorry)

2.  Last year, much to the dismay of my I-need-to-plan-my-whole-life-now personality, we feel we are supposed to start our adoption journey.  Oh, but not by adopting- oh, mr spoon is never that easy.  We feel overwhelmingly that we are supposed to get licensed for foster-adopt. Wait, what?!  I know, me, too.

3.  We follow said life plan and began trying for baby number 3, which leads us to a miscarriage and many months of nothing.... if you feel totally out of the loop, or just want to read about something sad, go here.

4.  Soon after that ordeal, we got our foster-adopt license in the mail.  Umm, yay??  

5.  Here we are, on our hike, living the California dream!  Or so we thought.  Half way down the hike- and by hike, I mean me shoving along a jogging stroller filled with 2 toddlers and pulling my 4 year old son on his bike terrified of falling.  I was determined to make it the 2 miles to the beach and bask in the sun before trudging back the 2 miles- oh, and by myself.  NBD- well, those super-fun dreams never came to be.  For, as we hit the half-way mark I got a very interesting call.  

El Jeffe was on the phone.  This is all I got from our conversation:

*2 girls

*get home now!!

So, over night, my little family of 4 became a family of 6.  I'd like to say it's been all sunshine and rainbows.  But, it's hard.  We're making lemonade with rocks somedays.  But, I love it!  I don't think I realized how empty our house was until I filled it!

So, sadly, I have no amazing thing that I've been working on to show you today- just my life.  And, that's a pretty big project at the moment!

All I know is, sometimes you're handed lemons, and sometimes you're not- but in the end, as long as you just keep stirring, you'll find you've been making the most wonderful lemonade the whole time.

What have you been up to in my absence?  Any outstanding tinkering going on out there??  

Any thoughts on my current status of insanity??  I call it YikesTikes- 4 kids under 5!

Be sure to tune in tomorrow for the first installment of a bday how-to!  I'm taking you step-by-step as I plan my son's 3rd birthday party!  Count down the next 8 weeks as I show you my entire thought process, my diy's and my trial and errors! 

Have a beautiful day, loves!!

xoxo,

LooWho

FIRST comes love...

Wowzers!  I can't believe FRIDAY is actually here!!

YAY!

And, it's the last day of spring break for my kiddos!  

What are you up to this lovely Friday??

We're celebrating and packing our day full of fun things: beach, hike, and drive-in to name a few!

But first, some PHOTO FRIDAY!

I mentioned yesterday that I would be posting a wedding today... I lied.

I just realized I never posted the engagement session for this lovely couple... and, as the saying goes: "first comes love"

Without further ado, here is the lovely Sarah and Nick:

So, what do you think?  Aren't they gorgeous?!  (the people, not the picture.. ok, the pictures, too!)  It was such a treat to be apart of their special day!  Which, by the way, will be up on Monday, so don't miss it!

As for now, enjoy the last drops of spring break!! 

What did you do this spring break?  (besides read my blog, of course!)

Where would you shoot your ideal engagement session?  

Thanks for taking a little LOOK at my page!!  Leave some love, if you feel so inclined!

xoxo,

LooWho