The little things.

Well needless to say that last week was a little overwhelming. For reasons other than election day, because life moves forward even during the election. While Nevada counted votes so much happens in our everyday life. 

I had a friend loose her mother last week. I had a friend loose her father last week. My kiddo had a birthday last week. I also was worried because I knew a friend of mine was in a very difficult financial situation. While another friend was taking a leap of faith. 

An ebb and flow of joy and grief. Happiness and heartache. We sprinkle a little bit of Covid and this is 2020. Our stress levels rise and fall with every day and every situation. This week my friend that was grieving her mother last week (and I know still continues to) also celebrates life, her fourth grand baby being born over the weekend. My friend that was in a financial bind has found great relief today. 

Y’all it’s okay to be stressed and overwhelmed and it's okay to enjoy the little things too - even if the little things come in this mist of the big heavy stressful things. What do you do to help relive your stressful days? 

This year I’ve read a lot more than I have in recent years. I’ve started to garden too and I read a book about gardening!  I know next to pretty much nothing about gardening but it’s been fun to worry about peppers and tomatoes instead of politics. I love working on DIY projects and of course going for a walk works out all kinds of stress. My most favorite way to distress will always be surrounding myself with my loved ones. Taking time to celebrate my big kid will always make my heart the happiest.

Whatever it is for you I hope you find something to ease your day. 

On the other side.

I’ve thought about coming back to my blog for a long time. Each time I think about how on earth I would start it, what I would say and how do I explain being away for so long.

I’m still not sure what to say or where to start. I do know if I don’t do it one day it just won’t happen, so here I am on the other side of a really long break. One so long I’ll have a lot of catching up to do and for those of you wanting to know all the details, I promise I’ll fill you in at some point.

Today I wanted to share with you my current view.

At this point in time my life looks dramatically different, I’m not only a mother of two anymore, our little family of four grew to family of six! I now have the most beautiful daughter-in-law and handsome grandbaby I could ever ask for. My little bear is becoming a grizzly bear aka a pre-teen (LOL I joke I joke!)  My big kid is a husband and a father (and he is really wonderful at doing both!). We have moved from the home that holds all the most amazing memories into a home we’ve built from scratch.

I know what you are thinking and you’re right, I am way too young to be grandmother. It’s okay by me, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. After being a young mom at the age of 17, I have always been young for a lot of what comes my way. 

Here is a memory from my past (one I wasn’t expecting to share with you today). My son was in elementary about 10 years old and he wanted a sleep over for his birthday. I invited a few boys from his class and planned his little get together, just like any mom would. On the big day as the kids were being dropped off one mom rang our doorbell and when I opened the door she asked to meet my mom. At first I was confused because my mother didn’t live with me, once I realized why she was asking for my mom, I laughed and explained to her that I was Christian’s mom. She then did something I will never forget, she took her son home.

Although I am not sure why this story come to mind today, on my welcome back kinda day. I think it’s because what I’ll be sharing with you isn’t always everyone’s cup of tea. My life hasn’t happened according to someone else’s idea of what order life is supposed to happen.  What I’ll be sharing with you is our way of doing life.  Knowing fully that this life is not my own.  Nor is it according to my plans – at all.  Despite all of that my view is pretty amazing – not perfect but beautiful though it all. Welcome back! 

CARS 3 | Race Lane Passes

Mondays always seem to come at me way too fast! Our weekends are busy, I always find my self wondering how a mom of three or four juggles her weekends! How does she keep her kiddos busy during the weekend and how quickly does her Monday come around **Gasp** Well I'm going to give you something to help plan out your next weekend! This Saturday April 15th from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at Memorial City Mall will be having a very unique CAR show, gearing up for the upcoming release of Disney Pixar's Cars 3: Road to the Races. 

You and your family can come out for free family friendly activities and the opportunity to take a picture with the stars of Cars 3 and get an exclusive sneak peek of the movie. How do you sweeten a free family friendly event? I am giving away a family bundle (5) Race Lane Passes, these passes will allow you and your family quick entry and skipping any existing lines at the event! 

Not only do you get a free event for your kiddos, you get to be Super Mom with Race Lane Passes! How awesome is that? Maybe you even get to wear your kiddos out for a relaxing evening binge watch the Cars Movies leading up to the new CARS : ROAD TO THE RACES!

Can you believe CARS first movie came out when my kiddo was 10 years old? He will be 21 this year!! Cars 2 came around when Little Bear was only 2 years old! She is now 7yrs old! WOW the amazing thing is that both will be ready to experience CARS 3: Road to the Races in a heart beat!! Don't forget to enter below for your chances to win your Race Day Passes!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Back to School | Seeing Things Clearly

Most parents around this time of year are running around getting everything ready for the next school year. You are probably stocking up on supplies, buying new school clothes, and maybe getting doctors appointments out of the way.

This year little bear is going to 1^st grade! How did that happen? Just the other day she was tiny and fast asleep on my chest, I could hear her little breath and feel her warmth… and this really did happen the other day ha! She is still a tiny human to me and even more precious she is a little girl. She is full of sassiness and life, Hailey is known for being a little fearless and in the same breath she is a worrier and an over thinker. At this young age she can dance around the house and not care who’s watching but then worry about what her friends at school are going to say about one little thing or another.

We are like this as grown-ups too don’t you think? Dance around the house with a broom and then fret about what to wear to an event and what others might say about you. Even the most confident worries some times. Thankfully our kids have us to back them up and help them out, so don’t forget about all the little tiny worries your kid might have as they take on this big scary new school year.

Towards the end of the school year Hailey started telling me about her trouble seeing in class, I knew then that she was going to need glasses – mind you my husband and I wear glasses and we have worn glasses since we were young kids. I was not totally surprised. Since little bear worried about what kids might say if she showed up to school with glasses from one day to the next and as a mom I also worried she’ll loose them or take them off because she is not used to them. I decided to wait and get her glasses when school was out.

So over the summer we went to the optometrist and she picked out her new glasses! After she tried on each and every pair of course! Just a few weeks in and little bear is super great with her glasses she wears them all the time. We chose to get her transition lenses to wear out and about to protect her eyes from the sun and a pair for indoors with a blue lenses to protect her eyes when she is one her tablet or watching TV. She has been super responsible wearing them and she even will switch them out when she plays on her tablet.

I think it’s important to build up her self-esteem and make her feel comfortable about the changes in her life. Although she worried about her first day at church and what her classmates would say she still rolled with it as she got ready for church and made sure her outfit matched her glasses :)  

She walked out of her room the other day hands on her hips and simply stated “I don’t care what anyone says about my glasses, I can see everything now!” I know I am a little bias but to me she is the cutest tiny human wearing glasses that I have ever seen! 

This Weekend Snapshots 8 | Kids + Summer

Cockrell Butterfly Center @ HMNS

Summer is in full swing now, I have Fridays off for the summer, the pools are open and the heat is on! This weekend I was able to have my niece and nephew stay a couple of nights to celebrate my niece’s birthday – she turned 7 (OMG) on Friday!! I still remember the night she was born, I was miles away on my Honey Moon in Hawaii, and in the middle of the night I woke up something in my heart told me it was time. I checked my phone, no calls and no messages but I was still pretty certain that I would not be there for her birth. By morning my brother called me to let me know she was born and healthy (as was momma) and my heart was full – little bear was only six months away herself and her niece was officially waiting for her cousin to be born.

These girls love each other deeply, they squeal and giggle in the anticipation of the other. This weekend was no different, Hailey was going crazy “making plans” for everything they had to do this weekend. Friday I took the girls shopping (my nephew in tow even though he is getting way too cool these days) and then we went swimming! Oh how we love the water, these kids could live at the pool if we let them and I have to say I don’t mind it much myself. Armed with snacks, drinks and major amounts of sunscreen we chilled at the pool for hours. By the time we made it home pizza and movies finished off the night until they all passed out (it’s a beautiful thing, being exhausted after going to the pool!).

Saturday went by pretty quick getting ready and then heading to Houston Museum of Natural Science for the Birthday Party – did you know you can have birthday parties at the Museum? It was actually very cool the kids made slime and visited the Butterfly center before heading back to the party room for some grub and ice-cream cake! Oh Yeah!

A pretty good deal for a kid’s birthday party if you ask me! Normally if you have a 2 hour time slot for a party, that’s it! After your two hours you are done, and head on home but this way everyone also had admission to the general exhibit, so they could stay and explore afterwards.

Sunday was pretty much normal, I was exhausted! LOL I normally have only one little bear with me and one giant one out on his own, being momma of more wore me out! Thankfully it was a rainy Sunday which totally allowed for us to chill and watch movies. I did manage to pry myself off the couch to finish up the details on another wood working project (on the blog Thursday!).

Don't forget to check what the other ladies at 3TwentySix and The Reinvention of Jessica are doing this summer! What are your go to summer activities? I see a lot of Fridays at the pool in our future :) 

Shopping Shenanigans!!

Little Bear making a Splash! 

Niece and Nephew having a blast! 

Lazy River Time

Birthday Girl's Underwater Shot!

LOL My Underwater Shot didn't come out as well!! 

Over looking the Rose Garden

Slime Time!

7 year old cuteness 

Wood Burning and Finishing touches! 

Bloom where you are planted

A few months back Pastor Tim preached to us about praying BIG AUDACIOUS PRAYERS, since then when faced with decisions or a chance to do something or go somewhere – we take a deep breath and we remind each other – BIG AUDACIOUS PRAYERS. Over the past few months we have been faced with some decision making, some dreaming and some big ideas to bring change into the lives of our little family, in the midst of this before the outcome was revealed or before things have had a chance to be finalized I was reminded of something else – I was in my backyard, my little piece of heaven on earth and I was reminded to BLOOM. I was reminded to bloom right here, right now, to bloom right where I was planted in this very moment at this very time.

This has been a continuous way of life for my husband and I, over the past few years, when faced with an opportunity for a promotion. During the turmoil of who and when, we had to pause and be reminded to bloom right where we were planted. In other words to be grateful for our blessings – I remember talking to my husband and saying “you do your (current) job fully and honorably, don’t worry about anything else”. In my own job I’ve wondered sometimes “why”, why here and why now, over and over again I’ve realized I am where I need to be in this moment and time.

In all of our plans and dreams recently I’ve lost track again of where I am currently planted – or have I? Thankfully, I haven’t, my mind wonders and runs wild sometimes but my heart is right here. I was working in my little piece of heaven on earth the other night, checking on my plants, watering the yard, treating for bugs and cleaning up. I got carried away and before I knew what time it was, my husband was taking little bear a bath and I was outside in the silence of the evening, the sun just finished setting and I turned on the lights to our patio I sat there and just listened. Where are we going, when are we going, how are we going… to take the next step. Pray big audacious prayers, but take care of what’s around you right now, right here – take care of the blessings daily don’t take them for granted. How can you ask for more, dream for more when you are not being a good steward of what’s laid out before you now.

Not only should I bloom in the right here and now, but live life in full bloom. Make the most of where you are take care of it as if were the bigger and the better because truly it is bigger and better than where I’ve been before. 

My current chalk art for my home, as a reminder to live life in full bloom.

A special thanks to Angie Makes for beautiful watercolor flowers! 

Magnolia Market

The Silos

For the past few weeks I’ve planned on taking a small road trip to Waco, TX! Why? I’ll tell you why  -> Fixer Upper -> The Gaines Family  -> Magnolia Market ->  The Silos -> enough said! If you haven’t followed along with the show on HGTV then you’ve missed out, the couple is in season 3 of their show Fixer Upper and they have captured the heart of many (no really like thousands).

If you’re from around here some of the magic might be because they are so close you can practically touch them! For some it’s the goofy husband Chip, the wonderful ability Joanna has to stage and decorate a house, how family and faith focused they are or the combination of all of it together transforming old forgotten houses into amazing modern fresh homes.

Anyway I am a fan, I love it all. I am a geek and my husband encourages it so all is good. We made the drive to Waco to see what all the hype is about and trust me there is a lot of hype, you can tell by the traffic leading you to The Silos.  We got there around 12:30 and followed the crowd, we stood in line and anxiously waited for the chance to go into Magnolia Market! By the time we zigged and zagged our way closer to the entrance we realized maybe there was another way to go about doing this… by the time it was all said and done we had a much clearer idea about what we will do the next time we come visit.

So here is a list of tips and tricks that I picked up on.

Long line!! 

First here is the lay of the land, Magnolia Market at The Silos, consist of the market (of course), a huge artificial lawn for you to lay out and relax on. They have it stocked with footballs, Frisbees, hula-hoops, dodgeballs and even two sets of bean bag toss games for you to enjoy. The lawn sits across and is framed by The Silos, I am not sure what the long term plan is for The Silos hopefully something just as beautiful as everything else they have restored.  For now there is a stage being built in front of The Silos where the couple plans to have live music and entertainment for their visitors. Around the perimeter there are food trucks for you find something to snack on and about a dozen or so farm style tables for you to be able to sit down and enjoy your meal. Joanna loves to garden on her farm, here at The Silos she has a colorful garden of raised beds for you to stroll through, there will be a Garden Store opening soon. Last, but not least, soon to be opened will be a bakery at The Silos too! Needless to say you can easily make a whole day of visiting :)

The store gets crowded making it very tight to be able to move around. So get there early!! No, not really you can get there at noon and still have a very nice visit despite the long line.

Tip 1. Parking! Watch for signs, some parking is NOT for The Silos! We found it easiest to go behind The Silos where there is plenty of parking designed for The Silos. 

Tip 2. You don’t have to go into Magnolia Market right away, you can bypass the line for the Market and go to the lawn, food trucks and garden.  Wait for the line to die down and then make your way to the store.

Beautiful Garden 

Lots to Explore

Tip 3. Magnolia Market isn’t a place where you will find things you can’t find anywhere else.

People seemed surprised by this one so let me explain. The store is gorgeous, here you will find items handpicked by Joanna that fit her style (with lots more to come). She has some local vendors with their unique handcrafted items for sale and displayed but you will not find the unique treasures you see Joanna hunting for when she goes to the flea market. You will find those items, at the flea market (sorry!)

Tip 4. The second half of the store or the back of the store isn’t quite as tight and has that magical word everyone likes to hear… sales items.

Tip 5. Take the family, Hailey, Jose and I had a blast playing on the lawn. Hailey loved the toys and she tired herself out playing ball with us. She learned to throw a Frisbee and she showed off her hoopla-hooping skills.

                      

Tip 6. Waco, TX is getting what seems to be a face-lift and downtown is coming back to life. If you can stay the weekend I am sure you will find plenty to do there. Lots of local shopping and flea markets. Google what’s going on during the weekend you are planning on visiting, I am sure you will find plenty to do.

Garden Store Coming Soon

Lots of things in the works for The Gaines family and The Silos.

·        The MagnoliaStory – book to be released October 2016

·        Joanna’s very own line of Paint Colors – Spring 2016

·        Joanna’s very own rugs and pillows – Summer 2016

·        Magnolia Home – furniture line Spring/Summer 2016

·        Magnolia Flour – Bakery May 2016

·        Entertainment Stage @ The Silos - Spring 2016

·        Fixer Upper Season 4

Can you say WOW? Lots coming from this family, I could write a whole other post about how I feel when it comes to their success and their future. The one thing I’ll leave you with for now is this video and remember it’s not your timing its God’s timing. 

Weekend Snapshots 3 | Turning 37

Another great Weekend Snapshot! Ah! You would think that being 37 years old would keep a woman from being such a brat for her birthday, right? Wrong. I am the biggest brat when I comes to my birthday, and I am not really sure why that is! Yes I can give you the – duh! Because it’s me and I am amazing response but really I am just like you and yes I do think we are amazing.

When my husband and I started dating he told me he had never really celebrated his birthday in a big way, ahem. If you know us personally you may already be smiling a little. My husband’s birthday is a big deal around our house, as is my sons and my daughters. On birthdays we go big. Not to be dramatic but we just do, we always have, even as a single mom I would make sure Chris knew his birthday was a big deal. For his 19^th birthday when I was sure he would do his own thing, with his own friends, Chris was like, “So what are WE doing for my birthday?” That’s my boy!

Here are a few things we did for my birthday and I might have a few things up my sleeve that I’ll have to fill you in later with.

First of all we went on day trip to Waco, TX because --> Fixer Upper --> The Gaines Family -->The Silos--> Magnolia Market --> enough said.

I will post more and some tips about our trip this week. Chip and Joanna have lots happening over in Waco and they are not finished yet!

After church on Sunday, my husband and I said we would not do anything time consuming because we spent the whole day out and about the day before. We still had laundry to do and the “getting ready for the work week” stuff we scramble around doing last minute. So nothing crazy just grab a bite to eat and head back home.

A trip to Galveston and a visit to the Pleasure Pier, some yummy grub and tons of rides later we went back home. HA! C’est la vie! I wouldn’t change it for anything in the world :)

37 and loving life! What can I say? I am blessed beyond measure! I can’t wait to see what this year has in store for me! 

Link in with the other ladies joining in the Weekend Snapshot fun! 3twentysix - Onixj - IndependantMami and The Reinvention of Jessica!! 

The Silos

Long line @ Magnolia Market

Group Selfie! 

Perfect day and hanging out on the lawn!

Bubba Gumps, Galveston, TX 

Little bear and Momma Bear ready to ride! 

Sun shine and sea breeze! 

New Heights! Little bear is finally tall enough to ride the rides and she made me get on this ride with her!! I was scared... Hailey stated she was born to ride this ride. Oh boy! I hope she does not hit another growth spurt soon, I don't think I'm ready for it!! 

Weekend Snapshots| Weekend of Love

Busy weekend much? Yup this one was another crazy weekend and I was fighting a cold the whole weekend that is still trying to get me down. I almost didn’t recap this weekend because I feel like poop but I have tons of pretty pictures so I’ll share! I'm linking up with 3twentysix with Weekend Snapshots the perfect way to recap all the weekend fun!! 

Friday Night: We played it low key and grilled some shrimp and potatoes and sipped some vino while we chilled in our own backyard. No fuss no muss just us :)

Saturday: We took the bear to Froberg's Farm in Alvin, TX to pick strawberries!! This is something we do every year and it was time to get picking. I think the warm winter made for a not so great strawberry picking season but the girls had a great time and we still filled a whole bucket.

In the evening we went on a double date with my bestie Clari and her hubby and we had a great time. I didn’t take pictures of our dinner so you’ll have to take my word on it. We decided to live on the edge and we all ordered the “Chef’s Tasting Menu" at the Rainbow Lodge here we were at the mercy of the chef and had a six course meal with a little bit of everything on the menu from swordfish to venison (YUM). It was an experience and it was delish! For some after dinner fun we headed to Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar as always it was a good time :)

Sunday: The crud started to really hit me :( we made it to church and had a nice breakfast with our family but I just wanted to crawl into bed and not move fortunately with the bear things don’t always go as planned. We made chocolate covered strawberries and homemade bubbles that the bear could catch and bounce! Thank you Pinterest! (again)

We wore cute matching shirts "All you need is Love" 

So not the cute picture I was hopping for :( I just felt so blah I just wanted to cuddle on the couch with my bug. 

I figure strawberries are full of vitamin C - so it's okay!  

Monday: Presidents' day aka a day of no school for the little one. We tried to go to work but after only two hours we were done. We came home and took it easy, we worked on some crafts and I made some soup. I don’t know about you but soup makes me feel better. 

Creamy Wild Rice and Chicken Soup - Warm and Yummy

Free Printable | Valentine's Love Bug

Is love in the air at your home? With Valentine’s Day right around the corner we should all be googly eyes and loveable kisses :) Unless you have kids, right? That Valentine’s Day Party for school is about to go down!! LOL

At my house it’s about the same, I just have one little one and she just makes everyday life interesting. To find her Valentine’s Day card/craft I headed over to Pinterest (as always) to find the one. I came across this cute LoveBug Valentine from Shanty2Chic and I was pretty much sold. If you know my little one she loves bugs. She is the fastest at catching lizards in our back yard not to mention the fact that she made me read her a book on Spiders that made me gag. So “Love Bug” was a go – until I made that mad dash to Hobby Lobby to grab paper and little baggies for the worms. The bags I grabbed were a bit too small for the labels :( 

My wheels started turning and I came up with my own little design, the bear loved them!

Click here to download

I am kind of excited to share my first Free Printable with you!! If you love it just as much as we did it would be super awesome sauce if you pinned it ;)

I also finished up my entry way Valentine’s Chalk art! I think it turned out pretty cool :)

It’s my birthday month along with a bunch of my beautiful friends so adding “and a little bit of Cake” was quite fitting for us!