Daughters & What I Wore Wednesday

I'm linking up with the pleated poppy's What I Wore Wednesday(wiww) again to talk fashion.

The other night, Lucy and I found ourselves home alone.  No brothers. No Tim.  Just us.  I asked her if she wanted to help me pick out a dress to wear to a big fancy party.  It turned into one of the best nights ever.  

Having a daughter is this amazing, wonderful thing that terrifies me.  Lucy is at a magical age, 9, where she is full of so much positive energy.  She's confident.  She's not worried about her legs or her hair or her teeth.  She actually wants braces because they look cool.  Do you remember that feeling? 

She's at the age where I want to bottle up all that confidence and comfort, and save for all those moments when she starts questioning, well, um, everything.  It will start with maybe a comment from a boy she likes or a girl she doesn't.  Someone might say something about her hair or her eyes, or god forbid her gorgeous freckles, and she'll start doubting.  She'll doubt her beauty and then her weight and then she'll start hating parts of herself.  

Just thinking about it makes my stomach hurt and my heart ache.

Anxiety about her future anxiety is what made the other night so very good.  It's what makes all the rare one-on-one moments we have as mother and daughter so very good.

They are opportunities to set an example.  An example of fun, confidence and comfort.  Fun with fashion and self expression.  Confidence in myself and my choices.  Comfort in my own skin.

I almost considered actually wearing this dress (it's vintage, circa 1991) to the fancy charity event.

While we played dress up and took pictures and made faces in the mirror together, we talked.  We talked about what clothes we liked--we are both really into comfortable pants and bright colors.  We talked about how being different is good.  I told her the story of when I was in fifth grade I had a sticker that said "WEIRD" on my desk.  And how when people would say "you're weird" I would point to the sticker and proudly say "thank you."

"Mom, you really are kind of weird," Lucy said after the sticker story.

"And still my reply is thank you," I told her while standing on a yellow chair in my old pink prom dress in a very Betsey Johnson kind of way, minus the cartwheel.

And we laughed and tried on more outfits.  Like the line in the old Madonna song, we were dressing each other up in love.

Later that weekend, we played dress up again.  This time it was at a 5K we ran together (a Girls on the Run event).  We spray painted our hair, put ribbons on our shirts and had fun.

When I was getting ready to run the race I almost made a comment about my big legs, you know "ugh, I hate my huge legs, you'd think running so many miles would make my legs and butt smaller, god I'm embarrassed. "  But then I looked down at my daughter with purple spray paint in her hair and remembered our night of fashion fun.  A flash of what it felt like to be 9 came over me.  All hopeful and curious and unaware of big thighs and mean people and unfair bosses and sleepless nights and boyfriend worries.  And I remembered it's not just the comments about her that will change Lucy, it's the comments I make about my own body. 

"You look so awesome with purple hair," I told her and she smiled from ear to ear. 

In other fashion news, my color obsession has reached new heights...blue and orange and green, whaaa?  Mixing and matching and loving it.

Cardigan: Old Navy circa 2008

Dress: Old Navy $11

Necklace: 31 BITS





























Please leave a comment and let me know how you enourage your daughter and/or have fun with fashion.



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Click here to find out more about Girls on the Run.
Since I started doing the fashion link up with the pleated poppy'swhat i wore wednesdays (wiww). WWIW link up was started by blogger/business woman extraordinaire, Lindsey, as a "fun way for us to encourage each other to simply get dressed each day, and get out of our pj’s or yoga pants."   I've thought more about fashion than, well maybe ever.  And it's been fun (click here to read Color Popping).  It's been therapeutic (click here to read about my Closet Therapy).

 

Love Stories

One of the reasons I write a blog is to tell stories.  Because telling stories is important.  Because we all have stories.  Because I want my kids to know their stories.  Because I want to remember their stories--I want to remember how I felt when the kids were little, I want to remember when Wade couldn't say all his words and he said "backbard" instead of back yard, I want to remember the kitchen dances and even the tween eye rolls.  It's our story.

Since I started this blog, I've had the privilege to help tell other people's stories.  This past weekend, I was part of an event full of amazing people.

It was a night full of love stories.

This event was for an organization called Charlotte's Wings.  The story behind this organization is a story of loss, a story of grief, a story of friendship,and hope and compassion and love.  My friend Jo, lost her daughter to a rare genetic disease.  Her friends rallied around and supported Jo and her family.  In the midst of their grief, Jo and her husband donated books to an area hospital in honor of Charlotte.  Inspired by their generosity and compassion for other families in hospitals or hospice that needed comfort and distraction, those friends rallied again, and together they all started a nonprofit--Charlotte's Wings.  Today, they have donated over 20,000 books to Michigan hospitals and hospices.

For the past six years, my husband and I have gotten dressed up and gone to the benefit. (Click here to read about last year's Charlotte's Wings benefit.)  It's for friends, it's to help, it's at a fancy hotel, it's all good.

Part of the story of the night was in deed the fact that it was a date night for us.  Tim and I were posting Instagrams of ourselves all dressed up and I was ordering pre-event cocktails in the hotel bar.  We were laughing and enjoying being grown-ups.  

"I got a room for you," he said and I nearly spit out my drink.  

"What are you talking about?," I asked.

"You need time to yourself," he said as he took my hand in his.  "You always say how nice it would be to get away, so do it.  I'll go home when the dancing starts and take care of the kids, you stay, dance and then get a good night's sleep."

Silence.....and then....

"Um, no way, I can't, but, what about? how? isn't it too much? it feels wrong. are you sure? oh, wait. can I?  oh man, I'm ordering another drink," I said all at once feeling so loved and in love.

We walked hand in hand to the ballroom to our table.  I was full of giddy excitement about drinking and dancing with my buddy Steph, and then sleeping in a king size bed alone.  He was full of giddy excitement that he got out of being bored while I danced for three hours straight.  It was working out so well for both of us.

Part of the story of the night was about a video.  A video I made to help tell the story of the impact of Charlotte's Wings. 

A couple months ago, I visited a children's hospital and met the sick kids and the parents who were using the books Charlotte's Wings donated.  I heard stories of their heart-aching, unwavering, superpower love and unimaginable strength.  The video was a love letter to my inspiring friends at Charlotte's Wings and to those parents that I met at the hospital.

I was nervous.  I wanted people to get it...feel it...

As the video started, Tim once again reached over and grabbed my hand.  He knew the weight of responsibility I felt to tell this love story the right way.  "People will feel it honey," he whispered.  "They'll get it," he added and squeezed my hand tightly.  

Charlottes Wings 2013 from Jumping With My Fingers Crossed on Vimeo.

I held my breath while over 600 people in the room watched.  

Some people cried. Some people hopefully spent more at the silent auction.  Some people got it, I hope.

Because we all have a story.  We all have a love story to tell.  The love story of a husband's thoughtful surprise.  The love story of old pals dancing away their worries in a hotel ballroom.  The love story of friends supporting each other, lifting each other out of sorrow and grief.  The love story of strangers donating money to a charity.  The love story of parents reading books to their sick children in the hospital.  

It's holding hands tightly, it's smiling through the tears, it's finding the joy and the beauty.  It's appreciating the good in our lives and the incredibly tough times we get through, it's about the stories we will remember.

To find out more about Charlotte's Wings, click here.

Imagination, What I Know For Sure & #iPPP

JT got a fishing pole for his birthday.  All the kids were happy and excited about this.  

Yes, that's a flower pin in Wade's hair.
Lucy was playing hair salon before the fishing game.

So they did what kids do.  They went in the back yard to fish.  No, we do not have a pond or any type of "fishing hole" behind our house.  They didn't care.  They flipped over the sand table to use as their boat and went on a deep sea fishing expedition.

They each took turns reeling in their catch of the day. They cheered for each other. They held onto each other when their boat hit rough, bumpy waves. 

THIS is what I love about not being over scheduled--they have more time to play, time to imagine.  THIS is what I'm looking forward to when school gets out in a couple weeks. THIS is what I love about summer. THIS is why I love my kids.  THIS is what I know for sure (this week).

Here's what else I know (this 

week):

• The new app called A Beautiful Mess is pretty sweet.  Fun and super easy to use.  It only took minutes to create this:

It's a fun app to keep your kids busy too.  Lucy made this one with our puppy Cosi.

• Blogs and vlogs, Facebook, Instagram can get a bad rap.  Yes there are negatives, but there's also this amazing world of support, information and inspiration.  My friend Greta, who is co-host of this #iPPP link up, is one of those inspiring people.  She shared her moving story of loss and motherhood on her blog, and at a Listen To Your Mother show, recently.  Click   HERE to read her story.  

• Everyone needs friends that make them laugh.  Laugh hard  with their heads thrown back.

My pal Steph never fails to make me laugh.
And yes, we are wearing the same dress (in a different color), oh I'll write more about that in another post.

• Wade is pretty funny.  He is very into singing right now.  Last week he walked around singing "Juicebox Hewooooo" (you know the Foreigner song Jukebox Hero).  Love it!

• Speaking of singing, I recently impressed, I mean embarrassed, my kids singing White Snake in the minivan with the windows down.  Check out this week's vlog where I tell how it all went down.

• Yeah, and more about singing...this is what I want my family road trip in the minivan to look like this summer.  You've probably seen Nicki Bluhm and the Gamblers Van sessions before, but here's one of my favorites.  

However, not sure if my kids will agree.  I told them all I wanted for Mother's Day was for us to do a kitchen flash mob and they rolled their eyes and said no.  In which I replied, "that's why I had so many kids, so I could have my own personal flash mob!" They knew I was kidding, I think.

What do you know for sure (this week)? C'mon, we're friends, share what you know. Are you excited about summer?  What big plans (or no plans) do you have? Leave a comment here or on the Facebook page.

  Come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

I'm linking up today with my good buddy Greta from  Gfunkified.com and Sarah at SundaySpill.com for the #iPPP link up.  They host a link up where they encourage people to share "your funny, your yummy, your heartfelt, your favorite photos of the week" from our phones.  Check them out.

Oh yeah, and come follow me on Twitter @AngelaYBlood and subscribe to my MomPulse YouTube channel here.

JT

Sometimes I look in the rear view mirror and I can't believe what I see.  No more babies. It goes so fast.

Seven years ago, on Mother's Day, I had a baby.  A sweet baby boy.  We named him JT.  People thought it was weird that we called a baby by his initials, but we loved it.  We actually loved two names, the initial one and the name Everett.  For the first year of JT's life, we thought maybe we made a mistake and every now and then we called him Everett to see how it sounded.  But now I know.  I know JT is perfect for our boy wonder--simple, easy to say, tough, sweet, friendly, someone who could be a poet or a professional athlete.

JT may be one of a few kids with initials for a name, but it fits.  He's the kind of a kid that's one of a few for a lot of things.

He's one of the few kids I know that had an amazing curly, white afro as a toddler.  Not a look that would work for everyone, but it fit.

He's one of the few kids I know that can charm anyone.  I'm not exaggerating.  People love him and that makes me love people.

He's one of the few kids I know that could use chop sticks like a pro on his first try. After his Grandpa came back from China and gave him chopsticks, JT was hooked and wanted to use them for every meal.

He's one of the few kids that is pretty small, but plays with the big boys and isn't phased one bit.  

This is one of my most favorite pictures ever. 

JT is full of joy and happiness.  He dances or skips instead of walks.  

He makes people laugh.  He is a sweet combination of lovable mischief, a silly sense of humor and a kind heart .  

He's both little brother looking up and big brother looking after. 

He's both "hey, let me play, I want to play" and "stop following me, I want to do my own thing."  He's both rule breaker and rule follower.  

JT is a fighter who has fought some tough battles already.  Learning to find the words and then say them clearly took years of therapy.  

And every now and then he says "no one knows what I'm saying sometimes."  He looks sad for a minute, then he smiles and says "but that's okay, you guys know what I'm saying."  And then he runs off to play baseball with his brothers or make believe with his sister.  

He is one of the few kids that feels pretty yucky sometimes because of Celiac disease.  

Since he was diagnosed several years ago, I have only seen him get upset a handful of times because he was left out of snack after the game or cake at the friend's birthday party.  Even then, it was just for a minute, then he smiles and moves on.

JT is our wonder boy full of light, laughter, killer dance moves and mad baseball love. 

Maybe he'd be all that with the name Everett, but I don't think so.  JT fits--he's simple, tough, sweet, friendly, someone who could be a poet or a professional athlete, or anything he wants to be.  And whatever it is, you know he'll be smiling and dancing.

Happy birthday to our boy wonder, JT.

But seriously, how did the last seven years go by so fast?  It seems like just yesterday Lucy was "decorating" baby JT's head with ink.

I made this video for JT's birthday last year and it's still pretty sweet.

Embarrasing My Kids With White Snake (& Linking Up With Mama Kat)

I'm linking up with Mama Kat's Vlogging Prompts again this week. One of the prompts was to talk about a song that is meaningful.  I could talk for hours about the songs that are meaningful to me...I mean from the soundtrack of the original FAME movie and everything Irene Cara sang in the 80s to Janet Jackson to New Edition to Dolly Parton I could talk forever about it.  

Seriously.  I mean I used to sing into the mirror to my mom's old Beach Boy records, the live ones with the cheering crowds.   Those are just the songs that were meaningful when I was growing up.

What about how Alanis Morissette and Sarah McLachlan were the background music to my senior year in college?  I mean COME ON!

This is such a fun topic.  But don't worry, the vlog isn't an hour long.  It's a couple minutes about how me knowing every lyric to a White Snake song didn't impress my young kids.

Here's how it went down:

(If you are an email subscriber, click here http://youtu.be/cfgvF-_yzQE to see the video.)

Leave a comment, are you embarrassing your kids with hair bands from the 80s?  What is an important song for you?

Please subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven't already.

Head on over to see some of the other vlogs and the amazing Mama Kat.

Serving Up Smiles & A Pinterest Poser Challenge

Last week I threw a little party.  Throwing parties intimidates me.  I feel like everything should be perfect.  But I am here to tell you, that is soooo not true.  You don't have to have matching wine glasses or an organized home to have a party.

As a hostess with the mostess, I took a page out of my limited waitressing experience.  A million years ago, I worked the night shift at a restaurant chain in Pennsylvania called Eat'n Park.  The restaurant is a place you eat breakfast all day.  It's a place where senior citizens go for coffee during the day and drunk college kids go for coffee in the middle of the night.  The restaurant is also known for their smiley face cookies--every customer gets one.  

I found this funny quote on Pinterest from a HILARIOUS tumblr page called: Waitressprobs.  You must click here to go laugh, especially if you were ever once a waitress or ever eaten in a restaurant.

I was probably one of the worst waitresses of all time.  It didn't really matter in the middle of the night because most of the customers were too drunk (or too creepy) to get mad when I got their order wrong.  And I always remembered their coffee and their cookies, so all was usually forgiven.  The occasional  day shift I worked was different though.  They cared about their orders, a lot.  And I got their orders wrong, a lot.  But I always remembered their smiley face cookies and I smiled.  Almost every customer appreciated my smile or my sense of humor.  Usually people thanked me for being nice even if I made mistakes with their orders. They simply appreciated that I was sincerely nice and friendly. And I got pretty good tips.

I never improved as a waitress, but the lessons of sincerity, being nice and smiling stuck.  Those lessons have helped me over the years.  And they helped me again with my party insecurity.  

When my guests arrived I greeted them with my best Eat'n Park smile.  I offered alcohol instead of cookies and fun was had by all.  No one cared about the imperfections.  It might help that I have some pretty rad friends.  Friends that don't blink when I say "Oh, don't open any cabinets because everything I crammed in there five minutes before you walked in will fall on your head." 

The imperfect waitress lessons of yesteryear also helped with my Pinterest Poser Challenge*** projects this week.  I had fun prepping for my party and didn't care if they weren't mindblowing or perfect.  I went a little nuts and it looked a little bit like Pinterest threw up in my house for the party, but I loved it.

 **In an attempt at not being a Pinterest Poser,* every week I  detail a new Pinterest challenge whether it be a new recipe or a craft.   

*My definition of a Pinterest Poser is someone who is all pins and no substance.

Cinco de Mayo Paper Flowers

This project was for one of my party's themes (there were multiple--cinco de mayo, mother's day and more) a little post Cinco de Mayo fun.  I saw this on Pinterest a few weeks ago and fell in love.  

It was simple and cheap.  All you need are multi-colored sheets of tissue paper, a stapler and some time.

• Stack approximately eight sheets of tissue paper and folded them like a fan.

• Staple a few times in the middle and then unfold each sheet of tissue paper.  

• Then tape them up somewhere. I duct taped them to the archway that separates my dining and living rooms.  I couldn't put the flowers all the way down to the floor because of my new puppy who apparently loves to eat tissue paper.

It was definitely a fun and festive decoration for my party.

I love it so much that Lucy and I have decided to keep it up all summer.  

Painted Mason Jar Vases

Another cheap, easy but quite lovely project.  

I bought a box of glass jars at Target for $8.  I found paint in my craft cabinet and used my kids' paint brushes.  The paint was Patio Paint that I bought at Michael's for the kids to paint rocks (a favorite summer past time around here).

• While watching TV, I painted a couple coats of paint on each jar.

• After the paint dried, I took a nail file and randomly distressed the paint.

• Threw some Lilacs in and BOOM, you've got a great centerpiece for a summer table or a garden party.

This was the set up on my porch for my party with the jars. Another theme was wine.  The gift tags were cut 10 minutes before the party and due to a lack of a hole puncher I jabbed a pencil threw each tag to make way for the ribbon.  I'm no Martha Stewart, but they didn't turn out so bad.

This was such a cute project, I made some as a gift for the mothers in my Sunday School class at church the next weekend for Mother's Day.

I also served up an old favorite at the party, the Seven Layer Dip in Individual Cups.  A fan favorite for sure.  Click here to read about how to make these.

There it is, my mismatched dishes, party themes and Pinterest projects all served up with a smile.    Hopefully you feel inspired to paint, craft or host a party.  Whatever you do, I encourage you to sincerely have fun with it.

Have you made something from Pinterest lately?  Had any great successes?  Do tell.

Please share whatever you're working on in the comments here or over on Facebook.  Come on over and follow my Pinterest boards.

Here are some of the projects I've already attempted, the good and the bad:

Earth Day Cupcakes- Click here

Nail Art-click here

Homemade Photo Booth Fun- click here

Fake Bangs- click here

DIY Subway Art- click here

Furniture Painting and Bench/Chest Makeover- click here

Thanksgiving-y Project/Gratitude/Holiday Countdown- click here
The Smoothie-click here

The Free Printable Turned Artwork in a Boring Hallway- click here

The chalk board-click here
Seven Layer Dip in Individual Cups (my favorite so far!)-click here
The pumpkin address-click here
The Kitchen Dancing Sign--click here

Come play with me on Instagram @jumpingwithmyfingerscrossed.

Oh yeah, and come follow me on Twitter @AngelaYBlood and subscribe to my MomPulse YouTube channel here.