Parrish and I packed it up yesterday after going to my friend Rorie's Matilda Jane clothing show (more on that later) and headed to Huntsville to answer an SOS call from my friend Mary who needed help selecting finishes for her new home renovation. Although the majority of the trip was filled with paint, hardware, flooring and fixture selection we did manage to hit an antique store across the street from Lowe's where I found these beauties...
Yes, I am still shopping for the house I don't live in yet, but I can't seem to help myself. It's a nice mental break to decorate our new house in my head, so I go with it. Anyway, the piece is actually an old arts & crafts style fender (I think they used these to store coal by the fireplace). I plan to use the storage bins for more modern day storage of toys and as extra seating but I'm thinking their placement will be the same on either side of the fireplace (although removing the cross bar and grouping them together at the end of a bed or under a writing desk would be cool, too). I have been looking and drooling over several storage ottomans over the last few months bc I planned to do two near the fireplace. Most of the ones I was in love with were none too cheap and not nearly as original as these so I was glad to find both a price break and something unique to fit the bill. I think they're at once glamorous and functional.
Couldn't resist including a picture of our sweet design assistants Parrish and Crews. Mary had the ingenious idea of packing them goodie bags from the Target dollar aisle to keep them busy while we shopped and as evidenced by the dirty knees and coloring books on the hardware aisle, it worked like a charm. They were such good little helpers and were especially excited about the green "teenage mutant ninja turtles" hats as they had just been watching that movie in the car. I'd say they're the cutest ninja turtles around!
Now onto the Matilda Jane show. This could not go without mention bc I am IN LOVE with these clothes. Does this dress not remind you of the days of big hair and short mini skirts only with a mod, refined look?
This picture doesn't even do this easy dress justice-the details and seaming are so flattering and it's light weight and easy to throw on alone or over leggings/skinny jeans.
I can hardly resist anything in the color combo of orange/turq/brown so this wrap cardigan was a must. It looks so cute with these ruffle leggings...
And that Annalise top-I don't think it even needs comments. Just plain fabulous. Of course, I debated about whether to go to this show because their little girl clothing was one of my favorites for Olivia. I basically made a bee line for the adult clothes and then hid myself in Rorie's bedroom to try on while simultaneously trying to avoid looking at all of the cute things I would have been buying for Olivia and battling the urge to pretend she's still here and picking out some clothes for her anyhow. It's amazing how many times a day I want to do this-it's like my mind is telling me that if I bought her something in complete denial of reality maybe I could go home and she'd still be there.
Did anyone else play with these cardboard bricks as a kid? When Parrish was at Glorio's Aunt Susan dug these out of storage and he played with them for hours. I found a set at Homewood Toy & Hobby and bought them and we have played with them every day since. We've built a zoo for his stuffed animals, sky scrapers, a pet palace for red ryder, and a bunker to shoot bad guys from. The possibilities are really endless-today Parrish built a picnic bench and table for me to serve his lunch. Toys like these are my favorite because I get to see his little imagination at work.
That same little imagination works very hard to try to understand how his Sissy got to heaven. A few nights ago he was asking lots and lots of questions about why Olivia and Henry (the cat) had to pass away and asking quesstions we didn't know the answers to ourselves. It was like all of a sudden he just started remembering all sorts of horrible things about that day-the ambulance, being left at our friend's house as we took her to the hospital, why we couldn't take him with us and why he didn't get to say goodbye to Olivia or how she physically got to heaven from the hospital. With tears streaming down our faces we tried our best to explain the inexplicable to a 4-year-old who shouldn't have to be thinking about these things at such a young age. I feel so unsure about how to explain these things to him in a basic but not scary way and I've decided it's impossible. During our 2 hour talk that night he asked why God hasn't given us another baby yet and if he could do chores every day to be awarded with one. I tried to explain that it's not our actions that "win" us things with God-that we just have to pray and trust Him with these decisions. So right then and there he prayed, "Dear God, please send us two babies." I felt like my heart was in my throat. It was at once horrible and sweet...much like our lives these days. The beauty of the Lord is so real and near but amidst such sadness, it's hard to even understand ourselves, much less put it into words a 4-year-old can understand. I tell you this to ask you to please pray for his heart and ours as we do our best to parent him through all of this. We need the Lord to fill our mouths with His wisdom and not our own understanding.
