fingers crossed...

we had a snow day yesterday and we were pretty happy about it... i was relieved that maizie wasn't missing more work than she already has due to her ankle... and marina is always more than thrilled when there's a snow day because she loves to relax at home...

 

as i tucked marina in last night, she said "fingers crossed" for no school tomorrow... when i went back up to check on her this is what i saw...

i love that girl... so full of hope!

 

 when i woke up this morning at 6:00 we were sitting at a 2 hour delay... marina tip toed into our room and asked right before 8:00 if school was closed? i told her there was a delay and she said... "well, my fingers crossed at least got that... better than nothing"... soon after, an email notification came across my phone saying that we were closed... cue happiness!

 

this is the scene outside... it's pretty but i'm glad to not have to venture out in it...

today will be for relaxing, movie watching, and sewing... sounds perfect to me!

 

wherever you are, i hope that you're enjoying your friday, too!

 

xo

angie

surgery...

ugh!
 

on january 2nd, maizie went ice skating at the ice zone with a group of friends... at around 8:30 i received a phone call saying that she had fallen and hurt her ankle...

 

such a sinking feeling... we ended up in the emergency room of the children's hospital that night... she was x-ray'd, told she had a sprain, was splinted and sent home on crutches... we were told to follow up with her family doctor...

 

i followed up with him on monday, the 5th, and was told to get in touch with an orthopedic doctor... she had an appointment with him on tuesday, the 6th... a ct scan was ordered and we found out that she had a tillaux fracture... it required surgery...

 

double ugh!

we found ourselves back in the er that evening... this time we went downtown to the er where john works... it was nice to see him in his element and maizie was treated so nicely by the staff there...

 her surgery was yesterday morning... a screw was inserted into the fractured part of her growth plate...
she had an amazing surgeon with a great bedside manner who helped ease her mind and ours... she was a real trooper about the whole thing...

it all went well... i was so thankful for that because there's nothing worse than seeing your child hurting...
 

she now has crutches and this snazzy orange cast ready for signing... we have a follow-up in 4 weeks...

marina was happy to see maizie and was the first to sign...

she stayed at my parents house while we were at the hospital... while she was there she made maizie the cutest bouquet of flowers and surprised her with them...

i'm so thankful that they have each other...

we really appreciated all of the prayers and well wishes that came through from so many of you... they really meant a lot to us!

xo
angie



garland... a handful of hearts

with the ending of each season, my mind begins to spin with ideas for new garlands... i knew for valentines day, hearts would be the most expected...

 but i knew that i didn't want to use felt like i did with the trees... the pumpkins had such cute detailing with their stems and green, twirly vines... the posies have unique button centers...

 

i wanted to create something that had some dimension... years ago, i made a series of valentine's day t-shirts for one of maizie's sweet, pre-school teachers... each shirt featured a bunchy, ruffly heart in different pinks and reds... i had forgotten about them, until my mom mentioned that maybe that design would make a cute heart garland...

 

i gave it a try and love how they're turning out...

i've started a production line...

so many fun patterns and designs...

i found a few more fabrics to incorporate during my late night trip to the fabric store on monday evening...

these will be keeping me busy over the next few weeks... for that i am thankful...

 

how do you decorate for valentine's day?

 

xo

angie

 



back in the studio...



as christmas break was winding down, i started pulling out my fabrics again... i was missing the brighter colors of spring...

i've been working on several pocketful of posie garlands...

they're still my favorite of all... maybe it's because they were the first ones that i made... or maybe because of all of the fun fabrics that i get to mix together for them...

going through all of my buttons and finding the perfect center for each flower makes me happy...

i'm off to finish up 3 of these before moving onto the handful of heart garlands that i showed on instagram for valentine's day... i'll share those with you tomorrow...

 

what do you have planned for today?

 

xo

angie

 

milo

if you follow me on instagram, you'll know that we added a new addition to the reese house about 4 weeks ago... his name is milo... and we love him so!

our girls have been wanting a kitten... they've been asking for years...  i'd been stalling for the sake of our 14 year old cat, maddie...

 

on black friday, john and i were out and about doing some shopping and i happened to check facebook from my phone... our friend amy, who helps run close to home animal rescue, posted this pic to their facebook page...

this little guy was looking for his forever home!

 

i couldn't get over the sweetness in his little face... showed john in the parking lot of barnes and noble... he told me to send amy a message to see if he was still available... i did... he still was... and the rest was history...

 

we surprised the girls... they had no idea and were so, so happy! 

milo has made himself at home from day one...

 

snuggling...

bonding with maddie... haha!

climbing...

 

{it was a year without ornaments}

 

he runs around like a nut, climbs pant legs like a boss, taunts his big sister like a pro, but we couldn't imagine our life without him... 

xo
angie 



keeping track of the joy...

a few weeks back, i was reading ashley's blog under the sycamore... she's one of my favorites... she posted a diy that i loved... {best of my days 2015}

 

most times i will see a cute idea and it will go by the wayside... i either get too busy to complete it or i forget about it all together... this one was something that i wanted to put together for myself... so i would be able to keep track of the little moments of joy in each day...

 

this is how i put mine together...

 don't ya just love a fresh start? a small space to record something special from that particular day... i think i need a new fine tip sharpie in my life to get it started!

i also put one together for my mom because i think she'll like keeping track, too...

do you have a special way to record your memories for the new year?

 

xo

angie



one little word... 2015

 happy new year!

 

last night was simple... just the four of us at home... some pizza... some trouble and catch phrase... and watching the ball drop at midnight...

 

i always find new years eve a little bittersweet... a lot of the recaps shown in the media are sad... people who've passed, tragedies that have taken place... then there are the happy images... moments that restore your faith that there is good in the world... people helping others... medical miracles... either way, i always shed a tear or two in the midst of it all...

 

i'm getting to my one little word for this year... and i'm taking the long way to get you there... ha! {you can check out 2013 and 2014 here and here}

 

 let me just say... i'm not so sure that these last couple of days/weeks have been my best... i have been feeling the pressure of the holidays {which i swore wouldn't get to me this year}... i've been frazzled by messes that won't clean themselves up... i've noticed way too much time spent on phones and ipods and i've not done a thing about it {even when i know i should be limiting it more...} organization and time management are at nil... i've picked on more snacky foods than i care to mention and am in dire need of a re-focus on that... these are just some of the things swirling through my mind and even though i know there are far worse things than those mentioned above, i've been snippy... after the snippy-ness... i feel bad for raising my voice or not handling matters in a more grown up way... grumping around like a 2 year old that hasn't gotten her way isn't an attractive quality... this i know!

because even in my grumpiest state, i'm still so thankful to be alive and sharing in this journey with those around me {but acting grouchy doesn't show that to those i care about and i want them to feel it}... 

 

this year my one little word is joy... the emotion of great pleasure or happiness caused by something exceptionally good... i'll even take it down a notch... pleasure and happiness in the day to day is what i'm striving for... the little moments {and the bigger ones}... those around me deserve a more joyful me...

i'm not saying that i'll never have a bad day... i need to be realistic with myself about that... but to handle things in a more joy-filled way is my aim...

 this card arrived in our mailbox this year... as soon as i opened it i said "oooh pretty!!!"

 

when i opened it up and read this message from a dear friend, it made me smile...

i'm thinking this was a sign!

 

so here's to more joy

in 2015... let's make it a good one, friends!

 

xo

angie