if we build it the rain will come

I am all about grand ideas when our lives are already 50 shades of chaos. Obviously, it makes perfect sense that this would be the year I decide that Brooke needs an outdoor playhouse for her birthday. In my defense, I was shopping around for one that would only require some assembly since Luke has been working like it's going out of style. It's not by the way. 

I was super surprised when he announced {via text} that he could build one WAY better than any of the options I had presented. I wasn't about to argue because that was my thought all along. I had no idea where he was planning on getting a few extra hours in the day to accomplish this, but hey, daylight savings was around the corner so that would help. I mean, it's not like parents of young children sleep right? With the new plan in place, I started collecting all kinds of inspiration. And Luke started giving me the "reign it in" look. Basically, we will not be going with any kind of dutch door; however, the window boxes are a possibility. It's the little victories. Choose your battles, people. Start with the ones you know you won't win because then you'll win the battles that really counted anyway. 

See how cute some window boxes can be?

Since this will be a place for Austin to play as well, I don't want to make it too girly which is why I love the colors of this house.

Please note that this playhouse is located inside the kids' playroom. Because their parents are cooler than us. 

Everything was falling into place including the fact that the kids would be gone for part of their Spring Break which would allow Luke to get started on the construction. 

And then it started to rain. 

And just when the meteorologists told us it would quit...it rained a lot more. 

So obviously we should have been making plans to build an ark. 

Oh, and did I mention that Luke is about to be out of town for TEN days?! He is and he will be getting back the day BEFORE Brooke's actual birthday. Now you know why I have been in a state of panic for the last couple of days. Want to know something I don't do well? Use power tools that can cut a board in half. Cooking knives are where I draw the line because I enjoy using all 10 of my fingers. 

Luckily, today brought cloudy skies but no rain! Hallelujah. Let the building commence. 

We plan on putting a little garden behind her house that will hopefully live longer than a couple of weeks. Say a prayer because this girl comes from a family of people who like to kill plants. 

The older I get the more appreciation I have for my parents and the sacrifices they made to make sure we felt special. This is certainly not an ideal time for Luke to be taking on extra projects, but our little princess only turns 4 once. I'm so thankful for a husband and grandparents that are willing to make some of her dreams come true. 

this lady turns 91 today and i'm honored to call her my granny

Today is my Granny's 91st birthday. I love the above picture of her. She is truly beautiful inside and out. Words could not possibly express how much she means to me, but you know I love words so I'll do my best. 

As far back as I can remember, my Granny has been an integral part of our lives. She loves the color pink and dancing to Frank Sinatra. She thinks Michael Buble is sexy {I feel weird when anyone over the age of 50 uses that word} and sometimes yells "whiskey!" to make us smile while we're taking pictures. Speaking of picture taking, it is nearly impossible to capture one of her with her eyes open, which is why I love this picture so much. 

Well, her eyes are mostly open, but her smile is really my favorite thing about this moment frozen in time. I love so many things about my Granny like the way she closes her eyes when she takes a sip of her tea or the fact that she hollers "woo hoo!" as she walks into the room. Of course, we always stop what we're doing to hug her neck and tell her how nice she looks. And she always looks nice, because if there's one thing my Granny has an appreciation for, it's beautiful things. When it comes to keeping those beautiful things in top condition, she's the best there is. I have yet to see a speck of dust in her home, and she wrote the book on organization. Basically, she's the Queen of Clean and I aspire to run my home the way she has for so many years. Notice I said "aspire" because it's a work in progress. More work than progress. Because trying to clean your house with kids around is like trying to nail jello to a tree. 

I will never forget the time she came over to help me unpack when we moved to San Antonio. Every surface was covered with some kind of knick-knack to the point that it looked like the moving truck had vomited our stuff right out the back and into our new house. And don't even get me started on the other boxes still sitting unpacked in our hallways. They were having babies overnight. I promise. She walked right in and set her purse down ready to get to work. She never even knew that as I walked around the corner to get some cleaning supplies I heard her say, 

"Well, bless her heart! This place is a mess!" 

Bless her for thinking she was stating that fact when I was out of earshot. These days she lives by the idea that honesty is the best policy. I think when you get older you just don't care that your filter is broken. And why should you? You've put in more time on this earth than most of your family so it's best not to leave certain things unspoken. 

She's the mom of three boys, a Granny to six grandchildren, a Great-Granny to five great-grandchildren, and the matriarch of the Bauerlein family. 

Here's the thing about trying to get a group picture when little people are involved...set your expectations low. And when you think they're low enough, go lower. Please note that neither of my children are smiling. As for the other short people, well, they look about as impressed with this adventure as the rest of the world was with Kanye's Grammy outburst. Real life. Happening 24/7.

She's faced plenty of hardships over the decades of her life. Her first husband, who we called Paw Paw, fought in WWII while she worked and waited for him to come back home. He wrote her some of the sweetest notes, but keep in mind, there wasn't FaceTime. Or email. Or Skype. Many years later, she sent her oldest son to Vietnam. My Paw Paw was attacked one night by someone who stabbed him. God protected him during that incident, but he was unable to fight an infection years later as a result of the measures taken to save his life. Within a week, she was saying goodbye to her best friend and the love of her life. I have such respect for the strength she has modeled for all of us through the good times and bad!

More than anything, I want her to know how thankful I am for loving us so well over the years. She has spent countless weeks helping to take care of us when we were babies or my parents went out of town. She came to San Antonio when I had my tonsils out and kept my room dusted. Obviously, my mom had never loved her more. We spent a week with her every summer and thanksgivings around her table. She cooked Chicken and Dumplings, her specialty, more times than I can count. We've laughed at the things she says and the stories she can tell. 

Her memory has begun to fade, and we know that God will call her home long before any of us is ready. When that day comes, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that her legacy will be remembered and passed down through the generations of our family. She has lived out 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 and I can't think of a better person to celebrate this close to Valentines Day. 

Happy Birthday, Granny! 

I wish I could be there to sing Happy Birthday and tell you in person how thankful I am that God chose you to be my Granny. You hold a special place in my heart that no one else will ever fill. I love you!!