Freshly Minted: Barnyard Crew Invitations

I'm really, really excited to share these invitations with you. A couple of months ago, minted hosted a children's birthday party challenge, and I designed my entries specifically with baby girl's upcoming birthday in mind. She'll be one next week, y'all. Be still my heart.

But I digress. Since we're living on the farm with Dennis' parents right now, a farm-themed party seemed wholly appropriate for Kendall's first birthday celebration.

Enter my Barnyard Crew invitations, available exclusively at minted, shown here in the Barnyard Red colorway. I literally squealed from the cuteness when I received them last week. I paired them with aqua envelopes, then finished them off with cheery yellow address labels and red gingham washi tape.

Aren't they the sweetest thing ever? It was so much fun to order my own design from minted and ship them off to our family and friends. The big day is just over a week away, and now that everyone has had time to receive their invites in the mail, I just couldn't wait any longer to share them with you.

One last little close-up of the animals that I created. I think the spotted cow is my favorite. Or maybe it's the chick. I can't decide. So stinkin' cute.

Perfect for any tot's farm party, boys and girls alike. Get your Barnyard Crew invites at minted and use the code SHOPZU2BCU to get 10 percent off your entire order.

Don't say I never gave you anything ;)

Until next time, grace and peace.

The Simple Things: How a Water Trough Saved the Day

First of all, I wanted to thank all of you who expressed kindness and concern for Micah the other day. I promise, she's not upset all the time, but when she does miss her friends, she's very, very sad. Understandably so, I'd say. Anyway, I thought I'd lighten things up a bit and show you our version of a baby pool.

Who needs a brightly colored molded plastic baby pool when you've got an extra water trough laying around? Don't worry, we cleaned it first. Or, at least, Dennis told me he cleaned it.

Seriously, we have no idea what happened to our baby pool. We're thinking that it may have blown away during a storm last year. Or maybe Dennis hauled it off because it was cracked. I don't know, but it's gone, and when the weather started heating up, we didn't have a pool for the girls to use. I was a little leery when Dennis first suggested the trough, but, obviously, the girls don't mind.

Fun times are being had at the Jones household this summer. We don't do this every day, but we do it a couple of times a week.

It's the simple things, ya know?

Until next time, grace and peace.

My Heart Is Broken a Little Bit, Mommy

Chloe, Myli Cate, and Micah the day before we moved

It took Micah some time to realize that we weren't just visiting Gran and Pop. That this is permanent. That we left our old house behind, and we're never ever moving back into it.

But when she finally understood what moving is all about, she got very, very sad.

She talks about her old friends all the time. How she misses playing with them and seeing them. Then she hangs her head and says, "I'll never see them again."

The other day, on the way into town, we were talking about how she would be starting preschool at a brand new school in just a couple of months. That's when her little face crumpled and she said, "My heart is broken a little bit, Mommy. I want to go back to our old house."

And that broke my heart a little bit.

I'm so sad for her. One of the things that tears me up the most about this move is that she won't get to grow up with Myli Cate and Chloe. Myli Cate and Chloe will be lifelong friends. They'll go to school together and play in the park together and go to prom together, and Micah won't be a part of it. My heart aches for the loss of that life.

I hope that the three of them will be lifelong friends - that they will keep in touch and that we'll plan girl trips together and make an effort to maintain their friendship, but I know that they won't be nearly as close as they could have been if we had stayed.

And that's tough.

We went back to visit a couple of weeks ago, and Micah was on cloud nine. We stayed at Myli Cate's house, and the girls played nonstop from the moment we arrived until the moment we left. As I was watching them play one afternoon, it suddenly dawned on me that my sweet little girl hadn't played with a friend since we moved.

That made me want to cry.

One of the hardest things about parenting is finding the right words to say when your little one is hurting. I can't fix this one with a kiss and a princess BandAid. God will have to stitch up that little broken heart, and I know He will, but it will take time.

While the tears welled up in the backseat, I said the only thing I could think of at the moment.

"It's OK to be sad, sweetie, but we can't stay sad forever. So take a few minutes to miss your friends, then let's sing a silly song to cheer up."

And so, we did.

Until next time, grace and peace.