{get some tissues. I'll wait...}

Yesterday was a busy day. I went into work as usual, but left early so I could take Zack to a doctor's appointment. A little non-routine for us, but God had His hand on this situation and everything turned out to be fine.

After Zack's appointment we chowed on some lunch together. It was a late-afternoon lunch. It was wonderful. It reminded me of the times when we were just dating...

We met in college, our freshman year, and dated through graduation. Then, once Z graduated, we got married. I miss those fun, spontaneous times. So lunch was a special treat :)

For dinner we had leftovers. Not "leftovers," but LEFTOVERS {!!!} Mexican. Delicious. Wine. Some TV. Again, it reminded me of college. Gussy is so in love :)

-interjection-

As I wrote this post {remember I type these the night before}, Zack sent me this email:

Hi Maggie.
I'm in love with you. I'm so happy that you're my wife. Thank you for taking care of me today. :)


He is precious. He is precious because he is tough and he shows me his love all. the. time. Seriously. I'm very blessed. Thank you LORD.


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I've added to my Big Cartel shop. Well, added to the URL. You can now type "www.shopgussy.com" and it will direct you to my new store. Always thinking of you guys...

:)

...And how hard it can be to remember long domain names.

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I'm sooooo close to finishing up my secret surprise. But I can't show it to you early. Hah! Just sit tight :) My reveal date is Friday, February 5. Think you can hold out that long?! I hope so... tee hehe.

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I've been busy brainstorming up some new Gussy products. And no, not new fabric for old project ideas. NEW PROJECT IDEAS with new fabric combination's. Yeow! :)

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I heart our family! Here are some more photos from when were in Michigan for 10 days over Christmas:

Jack Riley -- my youngest nephew

Zack (hubbs), me, and my big brother, Matt

Cousin Alexis and me:

Collin, my oldest nephew.
He is sooo darling and he melts my heart:

GROUP SHOT!
Jack Riley & Collin {brothers} plus meeee:

'Lil Jack Riley. Are you being naughty, Jack? {probably}

Having nephews makes me so ridiculously excited to have children of my own. My nephews are darling, they are amazing, they teach me great lessons, they make me thankful. I love being an aunt. In a few months I'll have been an aunt for 5 years; Collin turns 5 in March. I remember the day he came into this world...

OK. I better stop before I start to puddle with tears.

Wait, one more story.

On our last day in Michigan we were trying to explain to Collin that Zack and I had to get on an airplane and go home.

He looked at me and said, How many more sleeps?

Meaning, How many more sleeps until you have to leave?

Oh. My. Word. Stab my heart and throw it on the floor.

Seriously?

Seriously LORD?

I am trusting you that this is what You have planned...

OK. Now that I am really crying I should get going. Just feeling very blessed to have such loving families, on both sides :)

However, this sad story can be made up for. The other night Collin and I {with the help of my big brother} sent each other picture text messages. We like to have fun.

xo, and have a blessed day.



Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

{our Collin}

it is no small thing when children, who are so fresh from God, love us

-unknown.

{we had a real good time}

Oh my goodness, OH MY GOODNESS!

My sweet nephew, Collin, says that phrase all the time. And I mean all the time.

**************

Last week I spent a handful of days watching and playing with my nephews, Collin {4 years} and Jack {16 months}. I was their full-time go-to gal. It was so fun. And so exhausting. So exhausting that Monday night I went to bed right after I put them to bed.


Did I mention raising kids is exhausting?! But man, we sure did have fun! Not only did I sit Collin in the chair by the window so we could play "senior portraits", but we went to the park, went on a scenic drive, had lunch at McDonald's, only sat in time out once {Collin, not me. Ahem}, played bikes in the driveway, and went on a walk.

Plus another handful of things, but I can't remember. Oh right: laundry, bubble baths, puzzles, making/eating homemade cookies, intense discussions on hiking adventures, and reading books.

Collin and I share the same passion for talking. Here he is, telling another story :)


Anyhoo, it was really, really, really, really, really fun being with the boys. And since they love to chit-chat as much as I do, it was really super fun! Ha ha. Jack doesn't speak English, but he speaks Jack lingo. He understands 85% of everything we say to him. And he babbles like he is speaking English. But he isn't. For sure, he is not.

While I was there, I woke up at 7 a.m. {aka: the scariest time ever}, hopped in the shower, and then went downstairs to tell Collin to stop stomping on the kitchen floor. This happened every. Single. Day.

!!!

{For extra emphasis.}

I would tell him, Brother Jack is still sleeping, and since it's hardly 7:21 a.m. I'd like him to sleep a little bit longer. You'll understand this in twenty years ;)


Isn't he precious?! I love spending time with Collin.

However, most times I {or Zack and I} do more activities with Collin simply because he is older and we have more options. But last week I was able to spend a lot of time with Jack. It was awesome. It made me realize we don't have to take Jack somewhere to make a memory with him. And not that we have to with Collin -- we all just like to go on adventures with him.

So, we sat on the porch swing, chatted about life and it's hardship.

We had a good time.

A real good time.



Some times we even sat on the swing together and held hands.

Ha ha, I tried to hold his hand. Most of the time he let me :)


Other times I watched him play.


This is my all time favorite picture of him. I'm taking this as his, Aunt Maggie, you rock and this is my YOU ROCK signal.

Ha ha, so hilarious!!!



While I had Collin sitting in the chair in the living room {for senior portraits, remember?!}, I put Jack in the toy shopping cart. I'm pretty fun. I wish I was small enough to fit in it. Oh wait, I probably could fit in a normal shopping cart. Whoa.

Anyways, Jack is in the shopping cart. I can only assume Collin sat in his chair all big-eyed and watched the following unfold...

I LOVE MY NEPHEWS!!!

In conclusion {what is this, a term paper?!}, I decided to make a little list of the top 100 things I said daily, while visiting.

Just kidding, how does top 5 sound? I'm a little young to be counting triple digits.

• Hands off the wall! {This phrase was repeated every other minute, especially when we're having a "learning moment" aka: Big Brother is about to be in time out {so listen up, ya hear?!}

• Please don't touch the door/door knob
  

• Nuh-uh is not a word. Please say "no" instead
  

• No standing on the couch

• Please don't throw your food
  

Ahh, that was fun skipping down memory lane.

Back to all things sweet and chirpy.


Guess I wasn't done typing.


Collin sure has learned to say the cutest things. Whenever he wants to do something special, like play a game or watch TV/a movie, he says, Umm, Aunt Maggie? I'm going to ask something nicely. OK. Can I... I mean, may I please watch _____?

It's almost like he's telling me, Umm, Aunt Maggie, I'm going to ask nicely once, OK?...

Ohh, great. My nephew has more sass than I do...

{my red stamp & Barbie stickers}

My two nephews play with a lot of the same toys that my brother, Matt, and I used to play with when we were kids. I have known this fun fact for about three years now, ever since Collin was about 18-months-old. Now that Jack is nearing 18-months, some of the toys that are geared for his age-group are out for play. Again ;)

My parents have brought out the Duplos, the vintage 1980's Fisher Price play house, some of our favorite children's books. {So you don't die of curiosity, my favorite book is Goodnight Moon.}

Slowly, I have noticed the marks of ownership on our childhood toys. Some books have my brothers name written in them; some have just mine. Some have his name scratched out and my name written over top in a much larger, bolder print.

Surely this isn't the doings of younger sister Maggie.

Surely.

However, as I engaged in some pretty serious play-time at my parents these last few days I noticed there is one book in particular I went a little overboard on. It looks like this:


Not only did I write my brother's name after my name, but I also included our cousin Taylor's name. Apparently there was some sort of club/group thing.

Please tell me you saw the MAGGIE stamp. It's red.

Do you see it?

What I want to know is what my parents were thinking, leaving me alone with a pen and a red stamp?! Hey Mom, bet you didn't know I used that stamp on things other than note paper?

{Then again, you probably did know...}

It's always been the joke that not only was I born talking, but I came with my first purse. Kind of funny, right? ;)

My parents were probably enjoying their eight minutes of silence as I scribbled my name all over the book, and every other family member present at the time of the book signing.

Then, later on, I noticed something else. Another toy marked by Maggie.

The 1980's Fisher Price play house that my 16-month-old nephew absolutely adores has been covered in Barbie stickers. Have a look for yourself:



You may have a hard time distinguishing what Barbie is wearing, but rest assure every sticker shows her as Workout Barbie, circa 1990, when crimped hair and Spandex ruled the world. Thank goodness that stuff didn't make it into our home. Well, at least the crimped part...

My, oh my. I wonder what other toys I refurbished...

{GUSSY'S BIRTHDAY}

In celebration of my 24th birthday, Zack took me on a row boat ride around the lake at my parent's cottage. It was lovely. All I had to do was relax and talk to him :) My two favorite things!






Here are some pictures from my birthday last year. As you can see I'm making the row boat ride an annual event, LOL. Zack, hope that is OK! :) Seeing my hair reddish/brown makes me want that color back. Hmmm... let's see how long I can resist the urge.



Collin and Jack, my two nephews, made me my birthday card. Collin painted it with watercolors. The necklace is made from foam shapes: circles, squares, hearts and stars. I LOVE IT!!! I wore it for the rest of the day. I'm very proud of Collin for keeping my present a secret the entire weekend.




Collin does this super cute expression where he raises his eyebrows when he talks. It is hilarious. His blue eyes get even larger as he tells a story with them raised. Collin's imagination is growing rapidly... I'm so proud of him and I love to listen to his stories.


My mom and dad gave me this plaque: Let the princess in you rule. It's now hanging in our office at home. I look at it daily and smile :)



Some other gifts I received from my parents: a big purple tub for my Etsy products, some Burt's Bees products, tank tops from Old Navy, a candle {love candles!!!}, flip flops from Old Navy, a Regina Spektor CD {such good music!}.


Over the weekend, Jack practiced his climbing skills. He is getting good and placing one foot on a step and then placing the other foot on a different step. Some times he'd forget what to do when he got to the top of the slide so he'd try and go back down. Silly Jack Riley.



Collin and Uncle Pony are best buds. They both love Spider Man and usually spend most of their time talking about the super hero.


My mom and I played Othello while at the cottage. Collin is "helping" us both win. Notice we are both wearing purple shirts? We do that often. On accident. Because we are Gussy's :) We are connected :)


This picture is a major achievement: Last summer, Collin wouldn't get near the water. He absolutely despised it and cried when we'd get his feet wet. This year, however, we found him wandering out all by himself. He's 4-years-old this year, you know :) He's a big boy. Right after Zack took this picture Collin squired my mom with the water gun while she was talking to the neighbor lady. It was funny. But only for a few seconds :)


Fifteen-month-old Jack Riley is also a water boy this year: