The Little Daddies.

Well, here they are.....

You're thinking, "Amy, I don't see anyone...."
And really, you don't, but Piper does.
Those are the Little Daddies who live in the stool by her bed.
There are 3-5 of them, and every once in awhile, they come out and put on their pajamas.
They left the house the other day for the first time- needless to say, I was surprised.
Piper & the Little Daddies.
But it doesn't end there- there is also Potty (which is her favorite imaginary friend). Potty holds her hand across the street, is Piper's regular excuse for why she has to get out of bed at night- "Potty has to go potty" (while holding a clutched fist b/c Potty is in her hand) and is Piper's swimming companion at camp- imagine Piper holding onto a noddle and holding Potty above the water.

However, we also have Ninny, Ginny (pronounced with the g sound in "gear"), and the Rangle Tangles. It is a constant party at our house and we are honored when Piper invites us into this world of her's.

Who knew?

So....I volunteered to help with flowers/ decorating for my sister's wedding not really knowing what I was doing (sorry Danielle) or what it would look like. But it was so fun and gorgeous (thanks to my aesthetic genius of my mother-in-law, Martha Jo). And through all of this, I realized something great about my sweet husband- he really believes in me and thinks I'm way better than I am. Seriously.




But we all need that- someone to push us outside of our comfort zones and push us towards excellence. In reality, I think he's pushing me to be more like Jesus- not because I think Jesus was into floral arrangements, but b/c God is proud of His work. He's proud of His Creation and He even calls us His masterpiece/ workmanship.

So I'm glad I have people around me who want to call out/ pull out greatness from deep within me. Thanks to my husband for taking these great pictures and telling me to be proud of me. Am I such a cheeseball?

A Princess Corner.

It happened in the blink of an eye.
She was playing with trains and racecars and construction equipment.
Before we knew it, IT happened.
She put on a princess dress, saw Cinderella (thanks, dad) and was on her way to fairyland.....

It is a really fun thing to watch her get caught up in the imagination and romance of fairytales and palaces and princes and unicorns. As I type this, Piper just brought ALL of her dress up clothes and dumped them at my feet. She LOVES it.

I think it echoes a longing o f all of our hearts to get caught up in a love story- a bigger story. A story that is adventurous and gentle. A story of pursuit and rescue. The bigger story of all of our lives. And it's so innocent and pure.

To organize all of our gear, I was inspired by my friend, Joy Thigpen. She is an amazing designer, photographer and creative engineer. Check out THIS BLOG about her and her website- www.joythigpen.com to be inspired yourself.

I can't paint like she can but I can drill holes into walls. So here's what we did to create Piper's Princess Corner.

Lily likes it, too.

Fun in Fall.

Something about the Fall- especially October- means family to me.
Or maybe it's the fact that we were out of town most of September and I'm craving family time.
So we have been going crazy doing family things.

The fair really kicked off this season of family for us. Here are some photos of that. Lily was there but wasn't old enough for all of the rides, but she loved the animals. I can hardly believe she is 9 months old already and that she is ONLY 9 months!

Then, we went apple picking! It is always a highlight of our Fall here in Black Mtn. We went with our friends, Sarah and Ryon, who we love deeply and laugh a lot with. Piper is such a cool little girl now and has a great zest for life so every event with her is so fun. We made applesauce when we got home and an apple pie is on the menu for tonight- man, the house smells good right now! More fun in fall to come soon. What has gotten into me.......