bows & shows

We're back from a much needed beach vacation! I finally got my husband back after two weeks of working around the clock. It was great to spend time out there and we love and thank the Stewarts for lending us their house at EI. More pics of that trip later...for now here are some pictures of loozieloo bows! The website www.loozieloo.com is up and should be finished soon! Take a sneak peek!

loozieloo

loozieloo sale on Saturday!

Everyone is welcome to stop by!
corner of Davis Dr. and McCrimmons Pkwy.
8-12

"So what did you do this weekend?"

"Oh, my husband and I moved three couches a total of 18 times..."

Yep, it's true. I don't even have the energy to explain...but I'm very thankful the Lord provided a GREAT weekend nonetheless! :)

The Big 2!

Happy Birthday to a sweet 2 year old we love!!!

Love,

Aunt "La-Li" and Uncle Caleb

SHMILY

Caleb and I discovered this story, SHMILY, and vowed to make it a part of our daily lives. Its become so precious to me and I wanted to share the story behind it. It reminds me in so many ways that we aren't guaranteed any of our days and that we should love one another in the time that we do have. I want to look back on our marriage in the years to come and see that it has not only grown in time, but that it has grown better over time. I hope this story means as much to you as it has to us.

My Grandfather and Grandmother were married for over half a century, and played their own special game from the time they had met each other. The goal of their game was to write the word "shmily"
in a surprise place for the other to find. They took turns leaving "shmily" around the house, and as soon as one of them discovered it, it was their turn to hide it once more.

They dragged "shmily" with their fingers through the sugar and flour containers to await whoever was preparing the next meal. They smeared it in the dew on the windows overlooking the patio where they always had warm, homemade pudding with blue food coloring.

"Shmily" was written in the steam left on the mirror after a hot shower, where it would reappear bath after bath. At one point, my Grandmother even unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper to leave
"shmily" on the very last sheet.

There was no end to the places "shmily" would pop up. Little notes with "shmily" scribbled hurriedly
were found on dashboards and car seats, or taped to steering wheels. The notes were stuffed inside shoes and left under pillows.

"Shmily" was written in the dust upon the mantel
and traced in the ashes of the fireplace. This mysterious word was as much a part of their
house as the furniture.

It took me a long time before I was able to fully appreciate my grandparents' game. Skepticism had kept some of them from believing in true love-one that is pure and enduring. However, I never doubted my grandparents' relationship. They had love down pat. It was more than their flirtatious
little games; it was a way of life. Their relationship was based on a devotion and passionate affection
which not everyone is lucky to experience.

Grandma and Grandpa held hands every chance they could. They stole kisses as they bumped
into each other in their tiny kitchen. They finished each other's sentences and shared the daily crossword puzzle and word jumble.

My Grandmother whispered to one of her friends about how cute my Grandfather was, how handsome and old he had grown to be. She claimed that she really knew "how to pick 'em."
Before every meal they bowed their heads and gave thanks, marveling at their blessings:
a wonderful family, good fortune, and each other.

But there was a dark cloud in the couples' life: my Grandmother had breast cancer. The disease had first appeared ten years earlier. As always,
my Grandfather was with her every step of the way.
He comforted her in their yellow room, painted that way so that she could always be surrounded by sunshine, even when she was too sick to go outside.

Now the cancer was again attacking her body. With the help of a cane and my Grandfather's steady hand, they went to church every morning. But my Grandmother grew steadily weaker until, finally,
she could not leave the house anymore. For a while, my Grandfather would go to church alone, praying to God to watch over my Grandmother.

Then one day, what everyone dreaded finally happened. My Grandmother was gone.

"Shmily." It was scrawled in yellow on the pink ribbons of my Grandmother's funeral bouquet. As the crowd thinned and the last mourners turned to leave, my aunts, uncles, cousins and other family members came forward and gathered around Grandma one last time.

My Grandfather stepped up to my Grandmother's casket and, taking a shaky breath, he began to sing to her.

Through his tears and grief, the song came, a deep and throaty lullaby.

Shaking with my own sorrow, I will never forget that moment. I knew that, although I couldn't begin to fathom the depth of their love, I had been priveleged to witness its unmatched beauty.

S-h-m-i-l-y:
See How Much I Love You.

Shmily - By: Laura Jeanne Allen the granddaughter of Alice and Anthony McAndrews of Rochester, NY

MARTHA

That's right we're on a first name basis. :) Sticking with my belief that everyone has a little "martha" in them I thought I would pass this along! Sign up for the online week by week Summer Workshop with Martha here. She'll be doing workshops May 19-July 4.

So pathetic...

I just realized it is almost a MONTH since my last post!! I promise to update soon...I do. Really. :)

Rent-A-Kid(s)

Haven't you all heard about Rent-A-Kid???

Lou Ellen and I signed up.

This weekend we welcomed two new visitors to Hotel Wright. We took the Hubbard kids this weekend and gave their parents a break. K and T wore us out!! 

Friday we played the Wii and Guitar Hero and played with all their Webkinz (38 of them to be exact). Saturday morning Lou Ellen took them to their ice skating lessons while I had a work meeting. Saturday afternoon we went to the Marbles Kids Museum in downtown Raleigh. As you can see, me and T built this. While all of the other kids were building little dinky houses, we built a 7-foot tower that completely dominated with a secret door. I think I had more fun than everyone else.

We thought we had seen it all until we went to Blockbuster and saw this in the checkout line. 

Here's how it played out: 

K: OOh look at these! I want these!

L: K, are you sure you really want Grillz??

K: YES!!! 

L: Caleb it's your decision....

Sunday we went to church and the park before we completed our Rent-A-Kid(s) weekend contract. I have never been so tired in my whole life but we had a great time. 

To sum up the weekend in a phrase: 

K: "I'm moving in with you guys!"

Homemade Office

On April fool's day, I arrived at the office early and decided to build an office for my coworker, Sam. He only has a desk, so I gave him some walls, a mailbox, a tree and a welcome mat.

5 new things in my kitchen!

Welcome to my kitchen counter... :) A salad spinner inherited from Mom! I hope it will entice me to eat more yummy salads.

A birthday present from our registry. It's one of those things that I know I will need eventually but had put off purchasing one. So of course I was thrilled when I opened the package! Mmmm...can't wait to make a chocolate cake in this.

Salad servers from my brother and his family as part of a bday gift. Can't wait to use these with the salad spinner! They also have neat little hooks on the back to hang on the side of the salad bowl. So cute!Ok, this is a purchase I have had my eye on for months and Caleb got it for me last week! He finally broke down and decided that even though it was way too "froo froo" for him that if I was happy it didn't matter. (Either that or he was tired of hearing me talk about it!!) We keep our milk in it and don't you think it would make you happy every time you open the fridge??! It makes me happy. :)
Ok, if you're still with me...the only thing to notice in this pic is the chopstick rest above. Everything else we got a while back from Crate & Barrel. We are HUGE sushi blues fans I could have sushi for every day of the week and not get tired of it. Seriously. But the rests are from C & B as well and make a lovely addition to our sushi sets.

So that's all from here!! Nothing else too exciting around here.