cousin amelia came for tea and crown making

It was such a special treat to have Amelia for tea today, Josie just adores her older cousin and has been talking about it for weeks. We ate yummy coffee cake, sipped on coffee and cider and made a huge beautiful mess all around. It was a gift and blessing to our hearts and I loved spending some time sharing with my SIL Rachel too while the kids played. Family is rich and full around these parts and we just adore making memories together!

Tomorrow I will share a simple little tutorial on how to make your own princess (and prince) crowns too!

Zebs first time on the swings

And then my heart exploded...I wish you could have heard the squeals of glee. That first frame it just gets me every time he threw his head back just like that and let the exhilarating joy in, oh how I love him!

5/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

a butterfly morning

It's humbling being their Mama and having quiet mornings to create sweet little crafts out of basically nothing. It has been a hard winter for my heart in so many ways but I see such brightness and light when I allow myself to enter into their world and engage their imaginations for a few hours. I see life and joy and beauty in a whole new way.

I suddenly have the biggest urge to decorate my entire space with preschool crafts. It won't be long and they will be gone from under my wing but I soaked them in today and that feels so good.

rainy day sunshine aka my niece elliot ann

You come over here in rainbow leggings on a dreary rainy day and you're bound to make the world so much brighter. Such a cutie pie miss elle, we love you!

4/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2013."

a tea party for Josie and Gigi

Each of these sweeties are number three in a family of four kids. They both have baby brothers and they were due on the same day! It was such a treat this afternoon to have a little tea party while their older siblings were off adventuring with Gigi's mommy. After lunching for about an hour, a couple of books and coloring butterflies they headed up to Josie's room to play quietly with the door shut. Girls can be so different than boys sometimes, it was a rare and wonderful girly afternoon for us. Hoping to make these little tea parties more of a regular thing around here Josie just loved having her very own friend over all by her big girl self!

PS. I couldn't help but be reminded of a post I wrote almost five years ago to the day (HERE) about their oldest siblings Simon and Sylvia - they were both under two at the time and Levi was just three months old...I can NOT believe how fast and how much our families have grown!