candice mclean

The Cross | A Poem by Roan McLean

Recently, Roan was asked to write a poem for her literature class. My children attend a private Catholic school. We are so very happy with their education and the ability to prasie God every day. At any rate, I loved her poem, and I wanted to share it here for all to read. Blessings to all! xo

 

The Cross

by Roan McLean

The cross upon my wall

Makes me feel grateful

For my loving family down the hall

And food beyond a plateful

 

The cross around my wrist

Makes me feel blessed

For if Christ did not exist

Sin would never rest

 

The cross inside my church

Makes me feel strong

I need not to search

For here is where I belong

Tea Party | Roan's 14th Birthday Celebration

Roan Elizabeth celebrating her "golden" birthday! Fourteen on April 14, 2013. Happy Birthday my beautiful sweet girl. I love you tons of bunches!!! xoxoxo

 

 

Ham & Swiss pinwheels | Avocado & Cucumber Finger Sandwiches | Pesto with Turkey and Sundried Tomato Finger Sandwiches

Chocolate Layered Birthday Cake!

I purchased tea cups from various thrift stores and gave the tea cups to the girls to take home. Before leaving, they filled their tea cups with candy to take along with their party favor (lip gloss, nail polish & a glittered emory nail file).

 

The Hostesses | Nicole & Carys

 

 

 

 

Roan is wearing a floral dress from Abercrombie & Fitch | Carys is wearing a navy blue dress from Children's Place

 

 

 

 

 

 

Roan is blessed to have many sweet friends in her life. These girls are so adorable. They either attend school together or play soccer together. Thanks girls for making Roan feel special on her special day! xoxo

stars with grace potter | music & inspiration

my daughter roan loves this song. i hear her singing it all the time. it's now like my number one favorite tune. love how my children inspire me.

a quick sneak peek | photography

photography playtime. i love dressing up my girls and taking photos of them. luckily, roan loves it too. she is fascinated with fashion and audrey hepburn. we found roan's little black dress at H&M and the shoes are by Nine West (thrift store find!).

i downloaded another set of jessica drossin's textures. i LOVE her textures. the one above is called sea storm. in PS, i applied "soft light" and then knocked down the transparency a bit. in addition, i erased some of the texture from roan herself. prior to adding the texture i used rad lab actions. the rad lab mixture i used... lights on 53%, super fun happy 90% and maple 100%.

she is growing up incredibly fast | roan

roan recently turned thirteen and i'm confronted with reality... she is growing up incredibly fast. this truth pulls at my heart. my little girl is no longer just my little girl. she has dreams. inspirations. and her own ideas. she is blossoming into a fine young lady. academically she is brilliant. she's an independent thinker. i love this the most though at times i'm finding it challenging. she is artsy and crafty - this makes my heart sing. she is kind. she is thoughtful. she loves God and her faith.

she loves fashion as much as me... no even more than me. lol. she is conscious of prices and being thrifty... something mama has passed down to her. she loves vintage.

she sings beautifully. loves music. we share a playlist and i love that her taste in music is eclectic. 

before heading to her school dance, i captured these photographs. the dress is from urban outfitters (a birthday gift from daddy and mama). the white denim jacket is from old navy (borrowed from her sister tate). shoes are from target. purse is chinese laundry (borrowed from me). horse pendant (purchased from etsy). bracelet and earrings (village house in okinawa, japan).

january 2012 | review

 

a drive through the country. b l u r

driving out to culpepper.

one of our many visits to barnes & noble.

chipotle. one of our favorite places for lunch.

playing guns with connor. a t t a c k

clementines. we ate so many of these in dec and jan.

playing with my f o o d.

oh how i have a love affair with target.

the monster high invasion.

one of our treasured dinner dates. love.

another love affair. this one is with my keurig.

greek restaurant and the kiddos order pizza and cheesebuger. huh?

love argyle tights.

photo a day challenge. saw this on fat mum slim blog and decided to play along.

i began here on jan 13th. in your bag. she has continued this fun project for february. #janphotoaday

sew wild by alisa burke was a gift from oldest daughter roan.

we love her book!!!

spaghetti dinner. love trader joes.

gosh i have a few love affairs going on.

my little brother. love you JJ.

roan and i reading from our kindles. i'm so caught up in young adult fiction. i try to read what she wants to read beforehand. i'm hooked.

old richmond train station. taken from I95. love this building.

beck higgins project life. received. now to begin.

h o o t _ h o o t

another car trip.

papa's house on the landing before the garage. love the texture.

my favorite snack. cucumbers.

wally and miss bailey. both are healthy.

went to see we bought a zoo. OMGosh. i absolutely adored this movie. the entire family was in agreement... best movie!

a saturday must.

more reading. this one is the latest from house of night. NO i do NOT recommend this series for tweens. too much for my 12 year old (sexual content, bad language, consumerism and alcohol). but i totally got suckered into it. and i'm anxious to see how the zoey redbird saga continures or ends.

these eyes melt my heart.

salvage yard in mechanicsville.

tulips. love. them. i used my new macro lens for my iphone. a christmas gift from chip - photojojo.

drive through the country. spotsylvania.

a barn in spotsylvania.

sleet/ice storm. no snow for us though.

chancellorsville battlefield

another january movie. war horse. honestly, this was not my favorite movie. the beginning was slow and drawn out. the atrocities played on the big screen were too vivid for my liking. the story itself is sad but beautiful.

sweet pea rubbing my feet. (heart)

another staple in the mclean household. b l u e b e r r i e s

mr doodles.

french onion soup from panera. (another love affair - panera)

a little mardi gras shopping at world market.

our last dinner in richmond. my ABSOLUTE favorite restaurant. mammazu's.

that nose.

took the girls shopping yesterday. when did they get so grown up?

almost there. two more days. so excited for this next chapter in our life.

 

fashion @ hollywood cemetery | roan

photos taken at hollywood cemetery. more images of the actual cemetery to follow.

thrifty tuesday | fashion

my tween daughter is all about fashion these days. one of her current favorite stoes is dELiA*s. my parents sent her a gift card for christmas and we finally went on a mini shopping spree. she purchased the purple sweater and the cute owl necklace from dELiA*s. both were on sale! and dELiA*s offers a military discount. love it when stores support their troops (& families too). have a great tuesday!

 

my little girls & horses

two of my girls, roan and carys, take riding lessons here on the island at mihara stables located near camp courtney. i asked gina (one of the instructors) if she would help me with a photography session. many thanks to gina. she was so patient on a very early, hot and humid morning.

i'm in love with these images.

 

more to follow.

remember this moment 06.27.11

my girls roan and tate are on the ODST - okinawa dolphin swim team. they participated in their first swim meet for the summer season. this is tate's first experience with the swim team and her first swim meet. both of my girls did well, had fun and i'm so proud of them.

remember this moment. roan helped tate with the checkin process. she guided her through this new adventure and cheered her on when she competed. and tate too cheered on roan. love to see my girls sharing knowledge and encouraging each other.

here are a few photographs to remember this day.