1 & 2. It was a rainy one today, so we made pancakes. Love those tiny tiptoes.
3. Cuddling is the best.
4. My go-to kale salad in process.
5. The playroom got a facelift. {here's a peek inside before I moved everything around}
6. Took a long walk and splashed in puddles.
xoxo.
Lately I've been thinking about what I do and why I do it, and just keeping check on what my motivations and goals are. Yesterday, I "took the day off," and refused to check my technologies whatsoever. I went to church. I took a nap. I enjoyed slower living and perhaps a dose of perspective as well. I spent a good bit being grouchy about the lack of chocolate chip cookies in my life, but otherwise it was a lovely day.
Sometimes life feels like a race against the clock to get things done. Children happy- emails answered- home cleaned- kids taken to lessons- food purchased, meals created, meals cleaned--
It's easy to get off track and get the stay-at-home-mom lifestyle a bit backward. The kids will create and I walk behind them with my broom... figuratively or literally.
It's a funny thing: I tend to get the most accomplished when I'm not doing life in a hurried way. Perhaps it means taking 30 minutes to fold laundry, but little hands are with me, matching socks and folding and refolding together. Perhaps it means everyone "doing work" together at the table: brows furrowed with concentration over their color crayons and workbooks, as I sit beside them, answering emails and paying bills. "Working" together. Perhaps it means starting dinner an hour early and allowing helpers to mix ingredients together themselves.
It's a better way to live. It's more conducive to striking conversations with my girl Sophie about favorites, about what she thinks of different food {her list of favorite foods is hilarious! broccoli, lollipops, cake, brussel sprouts, and ice cream!}, about where she likes to go the most, about what books she enjoys... It's also more conducive to learning about Maggie's interests {she wants to see every.single.thing I'm preparing in the kitchen, and she can spend 30 minutes coloring!}. These are things I don't learn when I'm trailing behind "just trying to keep up."
Cheers to today! I'm raising my {third} mug of coffee to slower living, and to a Monday enjoyed to the fullest!
xoxo,
Kate
Image Via Love and Lemons
YUM. Seriously. I'm going to try this burger.
Big deal or little problem? Great thoughts on the subject here.
Cutest silly face stamps. Endless fun.
Color theory for little ones! So simple but educational value & pretty paintings come with the deal.
Love this "beauty uniform."
I made this kale salad, without the currants/raisins, without measuring anything {as usual!}, and it was DELICIOUS. I have more kale in the house and I'm definitely making it again this weekend. {honestly, I loaded it with the "dressing" to make sure it wasn't too kale-y/bitter and let it sit for about 15 minutes before eating it, and I think that's the trick}
And that's that! Links for your weekend! Hope it's a great one!
xoxo,
Kate
Photo Credit: Pictilio for StyleSmaller
Similar Skirt | Similar Jacket | Scarf | Butterfly Clip
Rain boots on sunny days are a thing around here. Why waste the cuteness on a drought year? Who knows when the next rainy day will come. We love 'em with skirts, pants, dots, stripes, butterflies... etc etc.
The rain boots are nice and all, but they're from last year and not available anymore. I can, however, shamelessly plug that butterfly clip in Sophie's hair, directly from my new shop! I'm having so much fun with the new shop and trying the new products and such... thank you all so much for your love and support with my new venture.
xoxo,
Kate
All photos by Pictilio for StyleSmaller.
Friends. I've flipped the switch and sent this little shop LIVE. You can officially SHOP STYLE SMALLER. There are pages for accessories, home, and toys. Access the shop any day using the tab directly above!
I'm so excited... I'm dreaming everything just works perfectly, and hoping you all just love these pieces as much as I do! I'm just learning the ropes around here, so I'm starting simple and shipping domestically only, but I'd love to expand to international shipping eventually.
Please take a look at everything!! Take your sweet time perusing. The nice part about online shops for me is that I can chill on the couch with a cup of coffee during "naptime lockdown" and shop directly. Maybe you feel the same?
I also think it's important to let you know that I plan to continue blogging about our day-to-day, our city, and any other subject that comes to mind. The shop is an add-on, as opposed to any sort of blogging replacement. I don't know what I would do without my therapeutic sessions of typing my every thought and photographing my mini style inspirations. ;)
So much love for all of you who come and read, follow and support me.
Cheers to this beautiful Wednesday!
xoxo,
Kate
Sometimes I'm so thankful I could cry. Confession: I actually did cry from thankfulness this weekend...
On Saturday, we found out that Sophie got into our first choice of schools for kindergarten. Maybe you live in a city or town where that isn't a novelty, but for us-- it's been that nagging underlying x-factor since I found out I was pregnant back in 2008. School was the one thing that could pull us to suburbs if it didn't pan out properly.
This weekend, it panned out properly. I ripped that envelope with so much anticipation, and Brian and I tried to prepare ourselves for it to show us a school across the city. It didn't. It showed us our FIRST CHOICE.
Tears and prayers of thankfulness.
Last year at this time, it seemed so many friends of ours were in limbo- and for that matter- so were we. There were requests for prayer and plenty of tears of sadness for health issues, job issues, relational issues... it was raining hard last year on a lot of us, figuratively and literally.
This weekend the blessings were overwhelming. Dear friends celebrated their love in a gorgeous wedding set in the Santa Cruz mountains, surrounded by incredible redwoods and loved ones. Other beloved friends met their little boy for the first time ever, after years of anticipation and planning. Another starts his new job today after years of training, and even now- as I think of these things- I'm overwhelmed with a grateful heart.
Things are not going to always be blissful. This life does not hand us cupcakes on fancy platters with silver spoons every day, no matter who we are...
The moments that it does... when prayers are answered with our hearts' desires, when God creates JOY from ashes, when hurdles are overcome... these are the times to pause, to be still, and to be thankful.
{Maybe even to the point of tears}.
