it rained on our parade plans july 4, but we still celebrated our freedom with a picnic at meme's, the girls' own personal parade around meme's neighborhood, plenty of red white & blue treats, a cozy movie marathon & fireworks in jammies with our bffs!

i am realllly soaking up my last summer with a baby in bubble outfits! 

loving on my lu :)

always drawing & writing-

words by lucille, pictures by eloise :)

& recital pictures are in! like mother, like daughters :)

xoxo, 

-ivy

GG

today, we're celebrating the life of jon's sweet [& sassy!], "tell it like it is" grandmother. 

she was born into nazi germany, never knowing who her father was. she met jon's grandfather, who was stationed near her home, as a teenager. they married & moved to america, her hardly knowing any english. she spent her days in front of tv soap operas, teaching herself the language, and she named her first child [jon's mother], jacqueline, as to her, jacqueline kennedy was the ultiment embodiment of the hope of america. it's fitting she passed on july 4. 

she had so much pride for her children, grandchildren & great-grandchildren. 

she's who gave our girls their thick, curly heads of hair. for eloise's mermaid birthday party in may, she sent me a text asking if i wanted her to dress up as a mermaid for a meet & greet :)

i am forever grateful to this brave teenage girl, willing to uproot her life & move halfway across the world from germany to hutchinson, kansas, for a chance at the american dream. 

fly high, gg!

so last week i blogged about simplifying :) i'm the queen of jinxing myself-

lucy came down with a horrible bug on wednesday & spent 4 whole days immobilized on the couch. it's the longest string of days she's ever been sick & it's safe to say, it's the worst she's ever felt. it's honestly a small miracle that none of the rest of us caught it! we made some schedule adjustments, including canceling our fourth of july backyard barbecue we had planned to host yesterday, but while she slept her days away & i did about 50 extra loads of sick laundry, i was forced to slow down & stay put. silver lining ;)

jon & i have had a pretty fast-paced life the majority of our marriage- we've always been planning the next move or baby and for the first time, we have no major changes on the horizon. it's a totally bizarre feeling to me, and i've found that i'm pouring myself into little house projects here & there. i've done a little painting with the help of meme, shopping, redecorating, and it's been so fun! it feels so good to be getting back to myself as my girls get a bit bigger. 3 daughters has proven to be the golden number for us :)

we were able to fit in some fun at the beginning of the week. annual blueberry patch visit with meme, then home to bake muffins-

the big girls had their first swim lessons of the season- they both LOVE the water!

found peeking out from underneath the microwave as i reheated my morning coffee- lucy & her love of writing, drawing & "the sisters" as she's deemed them :)

a sleepy eloise mermaid while her sister lay in misery nearby-

porch days-

eloise got a whole day of meme all to herself- completely in her element here :)

& for the road, i'm currently adding to betsy's vintage storybook wall. when i was pregnant with her, we framed & hung the 1950's book cover B is for Betsy paper dolls, and i've been dying to add to it. eloise wilkin is my all-time favorite children's book illustrator [little golden books are in fact golden!], and these drawings bring such warm memories from my childhood. 

pretty things around the house-

happy happy 4th! we're excited for our town's parade, fireworks, sparklers & festive treats! grateful everyday to be an american!

xoxo, 

-ivy

we had a super full week & by the end of it, if i'm honest, i seriously felt like i might be dying. it is no joke loading three small children in & out of carseats multiple times per day, and when the temperature is over 100 degrees, the difficulty is magnified. 

life right now is crazy busy & there are days my heart feels like it's 1000lbs of anxiety. beatrice has entered the land of toddler tantrums- she is still sweet as pie, and along with that, she is opinionated and a busy busy busy little girl. when combined with 2 big sisters, the end of each day leaves me energy-depleted, and often plain overwhelmed. 

when i take a step back though, i realize that despite our current challenges, life is still easier than last summer when i was nursing a baby poolside while watching a 2 & 3 year old in the water [& praying noone would drown]! it gets better & more manageable with each month.  and life is good! everyone is healthy and thriving, and there is nothing else in this whole wide world that i would rather be doing at age 30 than staying home and raising my young daughters. i am so grateful lucy just misses the kindergarten cut-off, and that we get one more year with her at home the majority of each day. these girls & their daddy bring me so much joy and so much pride! and the bond our girls have with one another is something i've never seen before. embracing the crazy is my life's current motto :)

jon surprised me with front row tickets to see easton corbin last night and it was seriously the most fun i have EVER had at a concert! we love all of his songs, and the venue was smaller, so the setting was just awesome. such a fun summer night! it got me extra excited for our little nashville anniversary trip we have coming up next month!

& sunday funday at the zoo :)

here's to a week of simplifying & enjoying it all!

xoxo,

-ivy