Olive and Jane

My fabulous and lovely friend, Katie Eaker, and her beautiful and talented sister, Amy Rambo have begun a Millinery business.  Because they are awesome.

As you can see, their work is stunning and you must visit their store at www.oliveandjane.com and learn more about their story at their blog http://www.oliveandjane.com/blog/. 

Yes, it's a shameless plug, but even if you don't think of yourself as a 'hat person' you'll be glad you stopped by to bask in the loveliness.

Valentine treats

Thought I'd share what the Barkalow children will be giving their friends this Valentine's day.  You will not be surprised that this is yet another opportunity for silliness.  I should have pictures to share of parties soon, but here are the treats we are preparing (yes Valentine's day is tomorrow and we're just getting things together)

Here is the photo for Andy's Valentine

 We filled some cute little plastic cups with single serving kool-aid packages and finished it off with a straw (complete with a foam mustache) and tied it up with his photo Valentines.  I couldn't help but laugh when I saw that army of goofy mustached Andy faces smiling at me from the table.

Andy's school favors

We did one for church friends this year, too.  (I mean we had the camera out, who could pass up the opportunity to put the baby in a mustache?)  Here's the Valentine...

And here's Zadie demonstrating what all her friends will look like while eating lolly pops with foam mustaches attached to the stick...

I think these turned out especially cute!

And finally, Zadie's for her class party...

It says, "Of all the fish in the sea, I'm glad we're swimming in the same school"

And here they are tied up with little bags of goldfish crackers

Happy Valentine's Day, Y'all!

lamp redo

Well, I've said it before, everything is cuter when it's pink.  So, I've been spray painting once again.  Don't worry, the children are too quick to be in jeopardy.  I'm sorry to report that I did not get a before picture, but it was an ugly old lamp that I had primed years ago and rediscovered recently in the attic.  A little hot pink spray enamel

It didn't have a shade, so I picked up a plain white one from Target for about $10.  Lucky for me, my mom has all the cutest trim and doo-dads.

Hot pink ruffled grosgrain at the bottom.

Green ruffled polka-dot ric-rac at the top (attached with glue).

So easy, and Zadie loves it.  What's your favorite shade of spray paint?

ps- Did I mention it's nearly as big as she is; somehow you loose the scale in this picture.

My Favorite kind of baby

zoo day

The house looks like the crew from Hoarders should be showing up any minute. You know what that means... chore day?  No way... Zoo day!!!  We like to live in denial around here, especially when it's 76 degrees on February 4!

I'd like to offer an explanation for the 'jail brake' look I'm sporting here.  You see we we were in a hurry and... don't the kids look cute?  I had to find them all matching socks even though they never put their laundry away and their socks are always covered in dust bunnies under the couch like little opossums shrinking from the daylight.  Oh yeah, me.  Well, I had on jeans so I thought you wouldn't notice that my socks were kind of miss-matched, but it was hot so I changed... hmmm, and well it's a nursing shirt and.... yeah, perhaps I shall just offer an apology, and.... don't the kids looks cute?
And hey, Andy and Zadie were even getting along :D

Gimme a kiss bubba!

Look, Zadie thinks I'm funny.

Oh, yeah, Grandma and Pops came, too.

 Okay, so here are a bunch more pictures,

Goofy kid

Goofy Pops

Wild things

Requisite shot with the grandparents.  The kids love having their picture taken.  Especially Zadie.

Oh, my sweet Rosie

The Jaguars on the prowl

The Barkalows on the prowl

grrrrrr

Aaaaawk!

 Happy Saturday, y'all!

{p,h,f,r} groundhog day

Isn't it funny how sometimes it takes things going quite wrong to help you find your gratitude?  Not everything has gone wrong this week, of course, but our regular routine has been interrupted by a nasty stomach bug.  This was, obviously, not a fun way to spend the week, but it did help me realize that I am luckier than most.  My problems can be solved by a day or two of rest and a can of Lysol (maybe 2).  I know a lot of wonderful people who are not so fortunate.  So here are some of the highlights of our week so far.

{Pretty}

I just love birthday parties.  This was such a sweet little party for Zadie's friend Claire.  We were  thankful for being included, especially because Zadie loves to paint and it was a rare opportunity for her to spend some big girl time with me and without her siblings.

Claire and Zadie

Zadie showing off her work to her friend Brody

The finished masterpieces

Andy also got to break out of his routine this week for a field trip to the weather station... Let me tell you, field trips make second graders very {happy}

Andy hates it when I say he's cute.... but isn't he cute?!

 Now, this just made me laugh today.  Some of you may think that having girls means coloring pages and tea parties.  Well here's a shot of my little princess sharpening her 'sword' so that she could kill a dragon.  I'm pretty sure at this age Andy would have made friends with the dragon and invited him for tea.  He had an awesome Curious George tea set.

                {funny}

I have shared photos with you in weeks past of our sweet bunny Nala.  I am so sad to tell you that Nala died recently.  It was a hard lesson, especially for Zadie.  We do have a new bunny that we named 'Go Diego, Go'-  I'll share her picture next week.  For now, here is the beautiful garden stone that Zadie made to mark the place in our garden where we laid Nala to rest.  Poor little bunny.

                 {real}

           


Head over to Like Mother Like Daughter for more {p,h,f,r}ourmothersdaughters.blogspot.com

Weekend travels

One thing about being a pastor's family is that we move.  Lately it seems like constantly.  This can be a blessing for our children.  They get to see new places and meet new friends and learn how to get along with lots of different people.  But it can be difficult, too. So even though it is a challenge, Dave and I try our best to help the kids stay connected with their friends (who are now spread from Seattle to Canada to North Carolina and throughout Alabama and Florida).  Road trip here we come.

This weekend we had the joy of celebrating the wedding of our friend Samantha.  I had the privilege of putting together the flowers and we made a weekend of it.  So... Thursday night we picked up flowers in Montgomery and headed for Florida.   Spent an amazing day in Destin Friday arranging flowers and SWIMMING.  Yep, outside.  Did I get pictures?  Nope.  I was SWIMMING in January OUTSIDE.  It.  Was.  Awesome.

Saturday morning, off to Marianna.  We only lived there for one year, but we made friends who I know we'll keep for the rest of our lives.

Rose and Zaly

Zaly and Rose

The entire time we lived in Marianna, Andy tried to climb this rock thing at our park.  He never let me help him because he was determined to do it himself.  Sweet success.

Andy and Zane

He did let Daddy help him down, though.  Couldn't quite get up the nerve to jump (thank goodness).

Oh, and these two.  Zadie and Jojo.  This is what I missed growing up in a military family.  All our moves, I rarely got a chance to reconnect with my girlfriends.  I hope these two will be calling each other to talk about prom dresses, and wedding dresses, and dresses to bring their babies home from the hospital in (when they're 35 of course).  They are such easy friends.

Andy and Abby

 And these two will have some stories to tell.  Oh, the mischief they used to find.  I can't believe how grown up they have become.  Abby is all tall and ladylike.  They hardly even squabbled this visit.  See, miracles do happen.

Meghan and Rosie

And this sweet lady.  I hope my kids will always have her to look up to.  Can you tell that she's been traveling from Ohio with her four!  Yep 15 hours of togetherness and she still has her smile and a snuggle for my Rosie.

I realize more every day that Dave and I can't raise these kids on our own.  I am so grateful for our families and for the 'family' of friends that we are building.  I hope my kids always have that connection with the people who have loved them from the beginning.

Okay, back to flowers.  Did I get pictures.  Nope.  I really meant to this time, but there was swimming and sunshine and a lovely wedding.  So congratulations Sam and Corey.  Thanks for including us in your day and giving us a great excuse for a road trip.  And thanks for all of you who welcome us back each time we roll through town.