then & now

my mother is amazing for many reasons.

reason five-kazzillion:
she made/sewed, adorable costumes for me & my siblings.

.....and lets me use them for my kids 25-ish years later.

trick{or}treat!

i hope everyone has a safe, happy halloween!

we celebrated last night & it was so much fun to be
with the adams fam & trick or treat a little.

so much fun-i forgot to take pictures.
[*this one is compliments of my brother's iphone.]

here are some highlights of the evening:

*sonic 50 cent corn dogs
*hitting up my alma mater trunk-or-treat & seeing old friends & their babies
*bryan's awesome, authentic mustache & remembering this
*livy not recognizing granny in her {cutest} where's waldo costume [my mom is adorable, ps.]
*strolling around a familiar/fun neighborhood in cool weather watching a "nice witch", a dragon & snow white excitedly run up to each door & yell "TRICKORTREAT!"
*being proud of my first born for being "so brave" at the scary houses/costumes [definite difference from last year]
*visiting prince eric & ariel's house {awesome costumes!}
*in-n-out with coree while the husbands watched the offspring
*olivia & bella being perfect little angels in their strollers the whole entire night
*putting the kids down & watching a scary show with myron & eating the *good* candy out of chloe's pink pumpkin

my favorite hymn right now

{improve the shining moments}

improve the shining moments;
don’t let them pass you by.
work while the sun is radiant;
work, for the night draws nigh.
we cannot bid the sunbeams
to lengthen out their stay,
nor can we ask the shadow
to ever stay away.

time flies on wings of lightning;
we cannot call it back.
it comes, then passes forward
along its onward track.
and if we are not mindful,
the chance will fade away,
for life is quick in passing.
’tis as a single day.

as wintertime doth follow
the pleasant summer days,
so may our joys all vanish
and pass far from our gaze.
then should we not endeavor
each day some point to gain,
that we may here be useful
and ev’ry wrong disdain?

improve each shining moment.
in this you are secure,
for promptness bringeth safety
and blessings rich and pure.
let prudence guide your actions;
be honest in your heart;
and god will love and bless you
and help to you impart.

playing dress up

our girlies have had lots of chances to dress up this year!

first @ cousin nevaeh's super-cute 1st birthday party!
today chloe's little preschool class had a celebration...[adorable]
tonight was our ward halloween carnival. {totally amazing/fun}
and saturday, it's tradition: 50 cent corn dogs @ sonic & then a trick-or-treating we go!

chloe was a "nice witch" & livy-a leopard.
{you might recognize olivia's costume if you knew me in 1986-ish.}



it's official: i've succumbed to the peer pressure.
i think i kind of love halloween.
it's been SO much fun this season.

at the end of the day

i have 8 loads of folded laundry in my living room.
i am simply exhausted from a long, weird day.
i can now {sort of} laugh at the fact that i ran out of gas in the middle of my street this afternoon.

i am taking the good.
and throwing out the bad.
learning from the unpleasant.
celebrating the happy.

ready to live up the next 24 hours.
who's with me?

where does the time go?

this week i've been in the {fun!} process of packing up
my girls' summer tanks & shorts
& getting out the boxed-up leggings & sweaters & jeans & hoodies.

i put this chloe-hand-me-down dress/leggings set on olivia the other day
& it made me so happy.

because, the last time i remember someone wearing that outfit, was this day:

aka: livy's legit birth day.

*tear.

song bird

today was a treat.

chloe & her little church friends participated in fairfield ward's annual primary program.

she practiced her memorized speaking part {over & over} in preparation for the big day.
{she sang her little heart out}.
we are so proud of her.

i took her picture to remember the occasion & as i was snapping away in granny's front yard,
she sang her favorite primary song on the {tippy} top of her little lungs.

"i belong to the church of jesus christ of latter day saints.
i know who i am,
i know god's plan,
i'll follow him in faith.

i believe in the savior jesus christ,
i'll honor his name.

i'll do what is right.
i'll honor his light.
his truth i will proclaim."



needless to say,
i cried a few happy tears today.

i'm so thankful for this girl & her special spirit.
and, for my knowledge of the savior & the sweet simplicity of his gospel.

home life

today was random.
i forgot about preschool. {who does that?}

and i'm pretty sure we were all in pajamas until 2. {okay, that's normal for us.}
it was happy, giddy, smiley, silly moods all around!



the girls mopped the kitchen & danced to jack johnson.
we had the windows, blinds, and doors open all day long.
we made toy story macaroni for lunch.



chloe enjoyed a picnic over a couple pink panther episodes.
livy pretended to take a nap. [faker!]
mr. miyagi sat on the couch for an hour & watched [gold medal gardening] plant our winter grass.



home is my best place to be.
i'm so happy here.

feeling festive

last week chloe suggested we throw a halloween party.
i randomly said yes.



she helped me dig in our craft supplies for
scraps of ribbon & paper to make some simple invites
for her closest pals & little church friends.



we baked a million pumpkin-shaped sugar cookies to decorate.



...and came up with some simple games to play.

we had a lot of fun/ tender-mom&daughter-time planning it together.

i gave chloe $20 to spend at the dollar store [on supplies] for the event.
{oh, i've never seen her so excited!}





they all consumed way too much sugar & their moms might hate me for it.

BUT,
you're only a kid once, right?




cutest group of 4-year-olds ever.

such a fun memory.

awesome/not awesome

not awesome:
1. having a migraine
2. having a migraine that causes severe nausea & light-sensitivity
3. having to wake up despite said migraine because you have a responsibility of keeping 2 small humans alive

awesome:
1. walking outside to perfection-weather/nirvana that makes you a. wish you owned a hammock, & b. hear bono singing "it's a beautiful day" in your head while driving your daughter to preschool



2. receiving a box of 4T {cute!} hand-me-down fall clothes in the mail. [thanks heidi!]



3. getting over your hatred for halloween & being in fun craft-mode & party-mood for all of october



per usual: awesome wins.

operation: fill the green barrel

this morning seemed like a perfect day to commence
yard work after ignoring it all summer.

still a little toasty out, but bearable.

i pretended i knew how to trim bushes. {i don't.}

i weeded a lot. [and there's still more.]

i sweateth like a man. {it was awesome.}

i quite enjoy digging in the dirt.

and it's a good thing, 'cause i have a lot more i want to do.

1/2 way

there are three stages to most tasks i accomplish.

1. think/dream/plan it for approximately six months.
2. finally start the project.
3. take six months to finish.

*projects take about a year.
so does returning the netflix to the post office.
{but that's a whole 'nother post.}

i've had these old glass-less frames collecting dust in my garage...
so this weekend, on an angie-whim, i decided to spray them up.

i was originally gonna go with a bright color scheme,
but in the end: my pottery-barn-minded, simplistic-self
went with trusty black {glossy finish}.

i'm mostly pleased with the arrangement,
but i'm having a hard time choosing what to put in them.

*it'll probably take me six months to decide.

in the meantime, i'll go ahead & start 20 more projects.

{and the cycle will forever continue...}

give me a D

i've had this monogram for years.
6? 7? i dunno-a long time.

anywho,
today i dressed her up with some vintage buttons
from my grandma dent's amazing collection she gifted me.

my house is starting to look like a rainbow everywhere you turn.
and that is the goal.
i love color.

improvising

we {had} plans to walk to the park this morning,
but liv is feverish with a fang [left canine-ish tooth] on the way.

so, while sweet, miserable liv took a much-needed morning snooze,
chloe & i hunted the craft nook {in the laundry room} for a project.

he turned out pretty cute considering our limited resources.
*she named him sammy the spider dunn.



and then....
we may have or may have not wrapped chlo'
{and several of her stuffed animals}
in white streamers *thus resembling mummies*
& played musical chairs to a choice thriller/monster-mash medley.



serious good times.
maybe i do like halloween after all?

a yearly tradition

light in the summer.
dark in the fall.

i {love} to switch it up.
i think i feel more angie-ish as a brunette though.

props goes to my patient & fun hairdresser / sister-in-law.
she's always up for my crazy changes.

be still my beating heart

i'm in a great mood this morning.
rocking some adele on pandora over laundry.
feeding the kids fresh fruit and toast for breakfast.
smiling & loving life.
texting bffs.
dressing my offspring in matching dresses & hugging & kissing them.
hair appointment @ 2! yay!
projects in the works.
feeling inspired-like anything is doable.
LOVE days like this.

ya know, life's not perfect...
but there are tiny perfect moments that make me realize...
i have no business feeling sorry for myself.

blessings are everywhere.

special pjs

when you were little
did you ever wear your daddy's
oversized t-shirts to bed?

i did.

and so does chloe.

{makes me smile.}