rain, rain and more rain

So far, I think we've had only 2 or 3 sunshine-y days this January! So.much.rain!!!

We leave some of our Christmas stuff until 3 Kings Day or until Lance can't stand it being out any longer - ha! Apparently the UPS man accidentally knocked my chalkboard too far out. Grace said, "Oh mama, don't look!" She knew how hard I had worked on this sign!! It was my first time to try some chalk art. I just looked at Pinterest for inspiration and gave it a go. So fun! Can't wait to give my chalkboard a valentine message.

And speaking of...pink + red...Yes, please! Can't wait!

The Target dollar spot just got cuter!! I wanted some chair backers for the littles to leave little love notes all month long but didn't want to pay $56 at PBK, so when I spotted these for $1/each, I may or may not have done a little happy dance right in the middle of tarje'!!

Add a monogram and some cute ribbon and voila! Love how they turned out!!
{sorry for the flashy pic - like I said RAIN!}

And because it's been raining and raining and raining...and we've been cooped up inside for far too long...

A VIP invitation to the Pink Frosting Spa & Bakery?? Why, yes please! What more could a girl want??!

catching up

I had dinner with my mom two days ago and she said "you haven't posted anything on the blog in a loooong time" and maybe that was just the push I needed to get back to this little space. 

We've been busy doing what families with littles do best...living and shuffling activities and pouring love into those little blessings every chance we get...and yes, crashing every night. It's exhausting y'all but so, so, so, SO worth it!

So here's our last month in random pictures... I can't get enough of these scents. I'm obsessed in the best possible way.

But I haven't hogged them all {the thought did cross my mind}!!! We've been sprinkling a little bit of cheer here and there and everywhere. Starting with our teachers, who we love more than words can say.

Gallery wall in progress! I still need to get a couple of frames for those prints and add one of our family beach pics to the white frame, but it's coming along!

This sweet girl was soooo excited for her debut as Director of the Readers' Theatre that she insisted on wearing something "fancy" that day...she looks so pretty...and so GROWN UP. *tear*

A special after school treat becase a little someone was on PURPLE!!! Purple is super outstanding, exemplary behavior! First thing he said was "that was kind of awkward." hahahaha Followed by "at first I thought it was a mistake but nope, it was me! Mama, did you know that purple is sooooo much harder to get than green???" For this bursting-with-energy little fella this is a BIG accomplishment! We're so proud of you, Hudson! Knew you could do it!!

And that same week he became a member of the .Red Plate Club. for knowing all of the kindergarten sight words. Way to go, Hudson!!

This sweet little pumpkin was so excited to get cast as a Snowflake in The Nutcracker!! Yay, Grace!!! Between the Nutcracker and Grinched rehearsals, regular ballet/tap/jazz and tumbling classes, art lessons, and Hudson's soccer, I feel like a taxi most days!! We couldn't do it without our tribe, that's for sure. Thank you Mimi & Noonie for helping us so much!!

Art Saturdays are EAAAARRRRLY but just seeing how happy she is makes it all worthwhile. Plus I love spending the extra time just the two of us. I love going on "dates" one-on-one with the littles. There's something to be said about having undivided attention.

Her most recent masterpiece... 
{that ice cream looks so good right about now!! I'm in the middle of a 14 day sugar detox - send prayers!}

While she was at her art lesson, I had a quiet {that never happens!} breakfast by myself at Cracker Barrel near where she takes lessons. 1. It was soooo good! 2. It doesn't take very much to bless someone. I love the message my sweet waitress L left on the back of the receipt. It was pouring down raining that morning and yet L had the brightest smile on her face. She sure made me smile and I hope she had a great day too.

Later that day we snuggled up on the couch and I introduced Grace to Annie for the first time!!!! One of my faves and she LOVED it!!! Tomorrow...tomorrow...

Hudson had his very own cheering squad at his most recent game! Mimi + Pop and Aunt Marilyn were coming to watch him but his other two games got rained out - boo! 
{he didn't complain about how LOUD we were - ha! {see here} if you need to know more about that!!}

We had a crazy hail storm one morning on the way to school and I was trapped in the Starbucks drive-thru. Couldn't go anywhere!! It was SO LOUD and all I kept thinking was "my poor car!!" but I did manage to take this one picture which turned out pretty cool - I guess because of how dark it was outside and how close the phone was to the car window. Every one of those balls was hail. CRaZy!!

In the middle of our crazy September-October, I had a chance to meet John Walsh {America's Most Wanted} while raising some serious $$$ for abused children - winning!  He was inspirational - a true hero to missing + exploited children and crime victims everywhere.

I love happy mail and this most recent package did not disappoint...thank you Angel & Amy for sharing your creativity!!  Check out their cute halloween buntings in their re-opened etsy shop!!

This year I've been wanting to spread cheer when least expected.  Enter happy mail.  Everyone loves to get something other than bills, right??  Hopefully it brought an unexpected smile to their day.  That's what it's all about.

Boots! Matching mama + me boots. Doesn't get much better than that! We wore them for some fun Christmas pictures...yep, in October!

Noonie was the emcee for a local multicultural event and we rushed there from art lessons to see her - we missed a lot of the program, but at least we caught the very end and were able to see the exhibits. I love for the littles to learn about other cultures.

Every so often, I catch them doing something nice like this and it makes me think that maybe, just maybe, some of the important things we try so hard to teach them are actually sinking in, because in the day-to-day of raising littles it is so easy to get discouraged!!

So that's a wrap-up on our recent weeks. I love that it's finally starting to feel a little like Fall in the South...

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Spread a little love everywhere you go...you never know when someone might need it the most.

soaking up the last little bit of summer

With school back in session, orders have started going out again...

But we are still holding on to nights like this...

All while enjoying the rhythms back-to-school brings...

Like sneaking in lunch with the littles here and there...

Packing lunches and healthy after-school snacks {the easy part} and *trying* to work my way back to weekly meal planning/prep {Oh, the challenge this is for me!}

Getting back in the routine is not always easy, but we try and celebrate every little step forward...

And some mornings we are extra smiley because we earned enough rewards tickets to "take off our shoes in class" and that is super fun when you are in the second grade! {I love, love the list of rewards her teacher gave them on their first day!!}

And to finish our Summer with a bang, while Daddy was here...

We squeezed in a little American Girl...Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...Legoland fun of our own.

Now we are ready for F A L L!