Sidewalk Stories

Sometimes the simplest things make the best memories. 

Sidewalk chalk & a little imagination turned an empty driveway into a playground. My five-year-old niece gets bored easily, but I managed to capture her attention with our colorful simple artwork as we enjoyed what may be one of the last warm weekends this year.

A house is just a house unless you know it's story...

"Our House" 

(told by Hailey & embellished a little by me)

This is our home. I am the mom and Nicholas is the dad. Hailey is the big sister & Oliver is our baby. Kelli (Hailey's year-old sister) is the bigger baby and grandpa is big brother. Grammie is our housekeeper. Our home has pink roof shingles because the girls got to choose and we love pink. Big brother (grandpa) lives in the attic bedroom. He sneaks out sometimes, which explains the really tall pink ladder. Oliver lives in the room with the crooked orange window and the flower box. The room with the french doors has a balcony (you might not have noticed). This is the mom & dad's room. Hailey and Kelli live downstairs. We have a tree with a tire swing that is also pink, and an enormous flower growing in our yard (that we drew first before we decided to draw a house). And we are one big happy chalk house family :)

This is how we spent our Saturday afternoon:

In the sunshine enjoying each other's company. 

And Oliver joined us outside for a bit, too.

Grammie-Day

Last year on Nicholas's mother's birthday, we surprised her with the exciting news that we were expecting a little one. One year later, Oliver celebrated with his Grammie on her birthday.

We shared dinner, conversation & laughter, a game of marbles, and yummy cake.

Happy Birthday Grammie-MOM-Diana Sellai :)

& in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. 

-Abraham Lincoln

another chapter..

When I was 4 years old, my family moved to the Central San Joaquin Valley from Gilroy, California. 

It was a big move. We had no family or friends here. 

But we began attending a little church shortly after our move and Toya & I immediately became friends with a crazy little girl named Larissa. She was fun and silly and she loved to play dress up just like my sisters & me. 

We quickly became best friends.

Our moms homeschooled us together, Larissa's mom taught us to sew, we had thousands of play dates, swim parties, even a super secret club. shhhhh :)

We experienced life together. 

Over the past 20 years, we've changed and grown and developed different interests, but we've managed to stay good friends.

& today, I will watch my dear friend marry her soulmate. 

Congratulations, Larissa.

May your life with Brandon be filled with joy, laughter & bliss...

and may the next years of our friendship be even better than the first 20. 

~Bethany

life

one. two. three. four. five.

*

five photos.

five fingers brush his face as he sleeps.

five little toes on each foot.

5

Oliver is five months old now.

this month has been full of energy, baby babble & giggles..

lots of Oliver learning how to roll around and grab his toes.

each day he grows a little more.

each day he grasps something new.

little things that may seem simple, 

but i see him changing, growing, learning

& it is a beautiful thing...

watching Oliver's life.

Gone Country

Oh my goodness, I can't believe the Keith Urban concert is tonight!

My husband gave me tickets as a gift for our first wedding anniversary on March 27. So I've been waiting a while for this. I expect nothing less than amazing from my all time favorite singer. Now if I could only find something to wear...

~Bethany

Words.

I read chapter 40 of the book of Isaiah today.

I read it out loud as I was rocking Oliver to sleep for a nap.

The final verse of this chapter is very familiar to me, and probably familiar to most. It is a beautiful reminder of the source of strength, often quoted when someone needs to hear words of encouragement:

but they who wait for the L o r d shall renew their strength; 

they shall mount up with wings like eagles; 

they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31 ESV

I often forget about the rest of the chapter, though. Reading it today was like reading it for the first time. It was new and it seemed to be written specifically for me, for this day.

And I was reminded that God's word is alive and it will speak to anyone who is willing to listen.

Verse 8 says, "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."

He will tend his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms; 

he will carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead those that are with young.

Isaiah 40:11 ESV

~Bethany

Fall Wardrobe Preview: The Fringe

My sister, Vanessa, recently brought fringe shirts to my attention. I instantly loved them and even created my own version out of one of Nick's old faded tee shirts. 

Vanessa never actually got around to buying or making a fringe shirt so I decided to create one for her. However, she is a tiny person and I worried that a fringe tee would look very bag-like on her small frame. Instead of a shirt, I decided to create a fringed vest for her. 

I cropped a black Mossimo tank top, cut fringe around the bottom, and attached some sky blue beads to a few random fringe pieces to give it a little dimension. The result was stylishly amazing and perfect for fall. To illustrate my vision for the vest, I assembled an outfit that encompasses my vision for fall fashion. Nick was nice enough to take a break from the Oklahoma/Florida State football game and snap a few pictures of me playing dress up. 

Gap shirt, 7 for all Mankind Skinny bootcut jeans, Re-purposed fringed vest, Cathy
Jean boots, Rose Gold Michael Kors watch, Piero Guidi cross body purse


This fringed awesomeness will soon be making its way across the country to Vanessa via the United States Postal Service. For everyone else, use this as inspiration to re-purpose your own fringed clothing and then email photos of your creations to me at mrsb.sellai@gmail.com. 


I am excited to see all of your amazing ideas!

This image is the essence of my fall style.


Stay crafty my friends...


~Bethany