If you follow me on Instagram, you have heard me talk about Zoe's freckles more than once. See I don't have cute freckles. I have a husband with cute freckles and a best friend with cute freckles, but I just have random freckles/beauty marks/moles. I've always wanted freckles sprinkled ever so perfectly just on the bridge of my nose. Thankfully, because of her father and his cute freckles, Zoe has inherited the perfect amount.

We were able to snap some pictures of Zoe in the bluebonnets in between rain showers last weekend. They are intermittently spread out all over the sides of the roads and really inconvenient picture taking areas. Thankfully, we found a small field tucked behind the golf course with a nice sized patch of them.

Lately, I've been almost nostalgic about Texas. We have been here almost 2 years and I'm growing to love it. This spring has been full of amazing thunderstorms, beautiful scenery and warm, breezy nights. It will get hot soon, at which time I will remain sequestered in my air conditioned home, or parked at the pool...but for now I'm loving it here.



XOXO,

I am extremely proud of the buttons. I have tried multiple times to make button holes on my machine and it never quite works out, but I managed to finally conquer that skill with this dress.

One of my favorite things about smart phones, is being able to snap decent pictures at any moment. But it does leave me with a lot of photos that don't necessary mark an event or mean something significant. This page is a collection of those every day moments.

I recently just got a bunch of phone pictures printed through Shutterfly. They have tons of monthly promotions on 4x6 photos, and I just get my 4x4 photos printed on 4x6 and trim them when they get here.


Most of the products I used are from Bloom, Maggie Holmes' new line with Crate Paper. This line is full of petite flowers, gingham and beautiful spring colors. Just perfect for pictures of little girls.

She has perfected her mermaid dive, complete with "tail" flick. She loves how her long hair swirls around in the water. She will lay on her back and slowly swish her hair from side to side. She reminds me so much of myself as a child. I still remember pretending I was a mermaid in the pool and perfecting my mermaid dive.

Like mother, like daughter.

I loved that mermaid so much, it was the first thing I pulled out to use on the page. I fussy cut around her shape and used it to wrap around the photo. I used some enamel dots to act as bubbles, which were cut off the paper. The rest of the page came together quickly as I layered some different size cuts of papers. I added a few stickers and finished it off with some journaling.

Journaling reads,
In other news:

My last page about Zoe was featured this week on Paper Issues. You can see that page here. You can use the code LISA20 for a 20% discount in the Paper Issues Store, which just got a bunch of new stuff in!

Have a great weekend!

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

The journaling reads,

"1. She is always happy. Every day of Zoe's life is, "the best day ever!" she is so excited about life in general. The name Zoe means "life" so that is not surprising.

2. She loves learning. any zoo or museum is a dream land for Zoe. A library is a sanctuary. Factoids and diagrams are her love language.

3.She had the best manners. We get compliments constantly about how polite she is. She always remembers to say please and thank you.

4. She adores animals. She asks to pet every dog we see walking. Sometimes she wants to go to her friend's houses just to play with their pets.

5. She is part fish or mermaid, whichever term you prefer. She would live in the water if it was an option. We are going to start her on swim team in the fall.

6. She loves comic books. Ryan has a collections of old comic books and she started reading them. Now, they go to the comic book store together and pick out new ones to read.

7. She loves math. This I'm sure is a result of watching her daddy in school, doing so much math. But she actually enjoys math problems and work out equations with her dad."

Lists are always a great way to use up extra number stickers and to document a lot of facts without having a picture for each one.

All the supplies I used came from American Crafts Dear Lizzy Fine & Dandy collection. I got all my supplies from Cassie at Paper Issues. She almost always has coupon codes available (check their social media pages and blog) and her shipping is lightening fast!

I'm playing along with the Paper Issues linky party this week, you can find that post here.

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

Texas has been so gloomy lately. (and this is coming from someone who loves cloudy weather)
Thankfully, I was able to find some cheap flights to Utah for Zoe and I for spring break!

I got some kind of stomach bug the day before our trip and let's just say it was a miracle I made it on the plane! Zoe hadn't been on an airplane in years, so for her, it felt like her first time flying. She was giddy with excitement. It was so fun to watch her squeal and squirm while we were waiting to take off.

Noah, Ethan, Zoe

Zoe, Preston, Noah, Ethan - Circa 2006

We got to spend lots of time with my sister and my darling niece, Lily. Zoe just eats up spending time with her - although she likes to tell her what to do most of the time. We took the girls to an indoor pool. I took Zoe down the two story slide - let me tell you, that was one intense slide. It was pitch black inside and really fast. It took me several minutes after one ride to catch my breath. 

Just as we got this one out, the other front tooth started to wiggle.

::Heaven help me::

I've been have so much fun digging through my stash lately. I keep finding all sorts of fun pieces that I want to use.

Zoe has actually taken an interest in scrapbooking, which is why I've really started to use my stash. She asks for supplies to use and I have to sort through the boxes of stuff I have, deciding what I am willing to share and what I'm keeping for myself.

Do you share your supplies? Or do you keep a tight guard on your boxes?

XOXO,
Holly & Co.

When we moved to Texas, we had to get a new bed for Zoe. We contemplated whether to purchase her a twin or queen size bed. Ultimately, we decided to give her our old queen mattress and purchase a new memory foam mattress for ourselves. (It was a good choice for both parties)

She adores the giant bed, and we have a nice big bed for visitors to stay in. However, we don't have extra queen size bedding. Rather than purchase new bedding, I decided to make some for her with this gorgeous fabric I've been holding onto for quite some time.

Her quilt is in the works right now. I'll share more on that when it's completed. While I was waiting on some extra fabric to arrive, I had enough scraps to start making some pillows.

Fabric: Briar Rose by Heather Ross for Windham Fabrics - it is out of print, but you can find various prints available on etsy, ebay & Fort Worth Fabric Studio

These pillows are a staple on her bed right now. They currently hold these adorable abridged and illustrated classics from the Target $1 spot.

The pattern for these pillows is available in this book. I've had it for almost two years now. I love it, but I've never made anything from it - until now!

On a side note - If you are new to sewing or are looking for easy to follow patterns, Allison Harris from Cluck, Cluck, Sew, is by far my favorite. Her designs are beautiful and clean, and her patterns are so user friendly!

 After we had decided to accept the job in For Worth, I immediately started looking up things to do in the area. Legoland Discovery Center was on almost every list. While Zoe isn't Lego crazy, it is one toy she has continued to play with throughout the years. We knew she would enjoy it.