Insta-Friday.

Tomorrow is October?

Seriously?

I can't handle it.

At all.

So I will cling to the last few moments of September as I say adios summer.  Hola fall.

{As seen through my iPhone and the Instagram app.}

1.   The Back Porch Quilters sent me a text of Shane's quilt.  I did a little dance. Then began stalking my mailman until he brought it home to me.  2.  Giant cardboard letter from Joann's mod podged randomly with scraps from said quilt for... 3.  This beautiful day with Drew.  4.  The final flames of my last summer candle.  Bring on Creamy Pumpkin, Leaves, and Pumpkin Caramel Latte.

 1.  Our dear friends ding dong donut-ed us.  Pretty much the coolest Saturday morning suprise ever.  Dare you to hook someone up tomorrow.  They will be stoked.  I promise.  2. Could my little soccer players be any more neon?  3.  The gigantic Star Wars Blu-ray set finally arrived.  A certain boy has never been happier.  That certain boy does not fit in a carseat.  4.  My darling Aqua Apron Sisters had a beautiful brunch to celebrate Shane.  I love them so much.  Even more than I love puffs.

1.  Our friends are hosting a craft fair to help raise funds for their adoption.   I will have a little booth filled with signs and fun goodies.  If you are local and would like details, or are interested in selling alongside me, let me know.  It will be super fun.  2.  I love you Yogurtland and My Melody.  3.  I love you coral shoes from Ross.  4.  I love you flea market shopping.  I love you new Instagram update.

I love you summer and I don't want to let you go.

But maybe I will drown my summer-is-over-sorrow with some pumpkin bread, candy corn pumpkins, and a candle...

Link up your little moments with Life Rearranged.

Be free.

There is a whole lot of potty training going on in this joint.
Sigh... It is not my favorite.  At all.  I can hardly complain, considering that my mom did the majority of the hard work when the girls stayed with my parents this weekend.
But still I do not like it.  A lot a lot a lot.
I am paying her successes in candy corn.  It was candy corn pumpkins, but I was so stressed out with the whole deal that I ended up eating them.

But I want to leave you with a little tip that I wished that I knew two kids ago.
Buy more underpairs (what my kids call underwear, and I can't bear to correct them) than you could possibly imagine needing.
Because you do not get paid enough to wash accidents of the number two variety.
Not enough at all.
The trash can is your friend, my friends.
I am a advocate of frugality, hand-me-downs, and I am a fan of the earth.
But sometimes you just need to break your own rules.
Because seriously, you don't get paid enough.

Milk, cookies, and a baby brother.

On Drew's first day back from maternity leave, she was sweet enough to meet us in a field for a little session with the girls and Shane.

All of my favorite things in one place...

Sunshine, a tent, handmade dresses, daisies, a quilt, and cookies.  

Not to mention my super cute kids.

The girls mauled him, as usual.

Drew was able to coax some happy smiles from Mr. Serious.

Cookies were devoured.

Milk miraculously wasn't spilled.

But I totally cried happy tears when I saw how Drew captured the love and bond between our four gifts.

Thank you Drew for continually capturing the beauty of the moments that go by much too fast.
You are our fave!

See more happy pictures here.
Seriously.  Go.  It is so worth it.
While you are there tell Drew that she's rad.  Because she totally is.

Candy necklaces for bribing purposes.
Dresses from Blue Corduroy.
Tent tutorial from Cakies.
Tie tutorial from Crap I've Made.
Best photographer in the world, DrewB.

Facing fears at Blog Sugar.

I didn't know what to expect at Blog Sugar.

I honestly tried not to think about, because the more I thought about it, the more I would have to think about the whole speaking thing.

Deep breath.

But it was a beautiful, inspiring, part of a full, beautiful inspiring weekend.

My house was filled with some of my favorite friends, doing my favorite thing, sitting around my kitchen table, talking, eating, laughing, crying from laughing, crying from crying.  So, so, so, so good.

They get my crazy.  

They encouraged me.

They loved on my baby boy.

They saved me from a panic attack when the thought of the evening became just too much.

They prayed for me.

Because of that I was able to stand up with a shaky smile in front of these women.

These women who want to use their blogs, their words, their passions, their gifts, for something bigger than themselves.
I pray that God's love shined through me in spite of me.
That they were able to find some sort of encouragement, some sort of challenge, through my words.
That their blogs are about so much more than they know.  That the ripples of what they share will extend so much further than they could ever dream of.
That they each have a very powerful voice.  Whether they have 10 followers or 10,000, what they write matters.

Each and every one of them were worth facing my fears for.
So worth it.

I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Over the next week or so I want to share what was on my heart that night.  What I learned.  What I wished I said.

Until then, visit the many beautiful recap posts on the Blog Sugar site.

Love, love, love.

Sweet Mique from Thirty Handmade Days and Jess from Allora Handmade came together to help their dear friend Sharlie who is awaiting a heart and double lung transplant.

Together they opened up a shop full of printables, tutorials, and ad space, with all of the proceeds going to Sharlie's medical fund.

I created this set of three love printables, because from everything that I have heard about Sharlie, she embodies so much beauty and grace and love.

Click on the button below to be led to the shop.  Be inspired.  Try a new project.  Host your ad.  Print something pretty for your house.  Help to be a part of Sharlie's story.

Want to know of more ways to pour love on Sharlie?

Click here to find out how your hands can help.

There was a girl...

So...
There was this girl.  A girl who had a blog.  A girl who liked a lot of things.  Who liked to write.
Who one day was asked to speak at a conference.
But you see, this girl although she liked to write, she did not like to speak.
But for a moment she forgot and said yes.

Her topic is about using your blog for good, which is the reason why this girl said yes.
Her passion about the subject was greater than her fear of speaking.

Now this girl is working on her speech and is 50% at peace/ 50% totally freaking out.

What does using your blog for good mean to you?
What type of things would you like to hear from this girl?
What advice would you give her?

If by chance you will be attending Blog Sugar this weekend, say hi to this girl.  She would love to see your friendly, smiling face.
(She may or may not be trembling in the corner at the thought of the whole speaking thing...  Pull her out of the corner if you see her there.)

Insta-Friday. Bass Lake Edition. Take two.

Jason, the littles and I ventured back to Bass Lake, our happy place for a little vacay.

The trip was up in the air this year because of that whole having a baby thing, but said baby is super chill and we trusted he would be a grand traveling companion.  We were right.  Phew.  Because six hours in a car with an angry baby is brutal.  I'm talking to you newborn Halley and newborn Lucy.  

 I am so glad that the iPhone weather app is ALWAYS wrong.  Because when you are going on a Saturday - Wednesday trip and your phone says thunderstorms on those exact days it gets a little dicey.
There were some storms and gloom, but cool storms.  Super quick dramatic ones, that were just long enough to entertain/ scare the sand off of the kids as they swam storms.  Not the ruin your whole vacay type of storms.

Shane and I just chilled on the beach while the girls collected fools gold, swam and built sand castles.  It's a rough life we lead.

A day trip was in order to Yosemite.  We visited the ever so charming Wawona hotel and I imagined what it would be like to live in an old house with a porch.  Sigh, California with your stucco tract houses, my porch dreams will most likely never come to fruition.

We celebrated our thirteenth anniversary with a swim at sunset.  I look at my sweet family and realize that we had no idea what life would hold as we stood at the altar saying our vows, but what a lovely life has been lived in the past thirteen years.  Thirteen.  Just like that.  Crazy.
On the way home I crazily thought that I would be able to run in to the Fresno Target and grab myself one of the ever so popular Missoni blankets.  Being away from the madness and in the forest left me totally clueless of what an impossiblity that would be.  I ended up with a bag of candy corn pumpkins as a consolation prize.  (One of the few things I like about fall...)
We have a portable dvd player that only comes out for trips to Bass Lake.  It's pretty old school, but the girls love their one movie that they get to watch each way.  As they watched, Jason and I shared an iPod.  Can you say dorky?  Or LA traffic survival?

We came home to real life, school, soccer and lots and lots of makeup homework.  But our five days at the lake mean so much to us as a family.  I dream of living there all the time, but for now we hold on to the memories made and the time invested when we are all there together.

Link up your simple and sweet memories at Life Rearranged.

Happy Sunday.

A perplexing conundrum

I tried to avoid it.
I knew I would get addicted.
I knew that my minutes are sparse and precious.

So I held off.
I stood firm.
I resisted many an attempt to get me to try it.

But then Drew invited me.
She convinced me.
I accepted.

I fell in crazyaddictedcan'tbelievehowmuchitcompletesme love.

Oh Pinterest.
I love/hate you.

I love how pretty you are.

How many ideas you give me.

How you organize my unorganized mind.

(Totally found this font and learned how to make this printable

on Pinterest.  So I suppose I did do a bit of doing. Word.)

But I find that when I could actually be making/ cooking/ baking/ creating all that you show me, I instead sit and find more things to make/ cook/ bake/ create.  A few minutes with you and all is right with the world.  Except I have nothing tangible to show for it.

Hmmmmm....

Chatting with no blog Alicia, she told me about a group of girls she knew who had a Pinterest Party.

They each brought supplies for everyone to make a project they had pinned, and while they worked ate yummy food that they had too found on Pinterest.

I think I needs me a Pinterest Party.

Or an intervention.

What are your favorite pins lately?
How can you pin less and do more?

Off to comb through my boards to find what would be at the top of my list....

I want to follow you...  So I can pin more things to do/ not do.
Leave your Pinterest link in el comments por favor.

Mascara alert.

When Beth (my brilliant music guru) sent me this video, she failed to warn me not to watch it if I was wearing mascara.

Because I was.  Until I watched it.  Then my cheeks were wearing it.

So good.  So sad.  So true.

Happy Sunday.

Insta-Friday

Hello Friday.  It is so nice to see you again.

How was your week?

Ours was big and little all at once.

Soccer season is in full swing.
Practices at two different parks.  Games at two different fields.
How, wise sports parents do you do it?  Because it all seems a bit daunting.  Any wisdom you could throw my way would be much appreciated.

The girls wonder all summer what their team colors will be.
Neon green and fluorescent yellow weren't exactly on their top ten list of choices, but you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.
Unless of course you are the sucker who volunteers to make the bows for all the girls on both teams, and your eyes start bleeding from all of the neon hot mess that is covering your cutting board.
My shopping cart at Joann's looked CRAZYTOWN!!!!
But they will be cute.  Perhaps even attract a few million bees...

1.  Jason is reading through the Chronicles of Narnia to the girls each night.  It's the best.  The time he spends with them, their little imaginations growing and stretching, magic.
2.  Narnia played into our own little lazy Sunday.  It only would have been more perfect with some Mr. Pibb and Red Vines.  Crazy delicious.
3.  The project I started and abandoned a few weeks ago is finished.  The Pottery Barn letters require a degree in quantum physics to hang up properly.  In my old house they sat upon a shelf.  Sadly the shelf was destroyed in the move.  I had to come up with something that I could glue them to, since I a sadly lacking the whole pesky degree. I like.  A lot a lot a lot.
4. 5. & 6. I also like my dear friend Cholula, sour cream, my beloved kitchenaid, and sweet friends who bring treats.  Thanks Maureen.  They were ridiculously good.
7.  Pandora gets me.  It knows just what I need to hear, just when I need to hear it.
8.  Fun (not fun) fact.  Don't sew over fabric paint.  Unless you like broken flying needles.  Shane is conveniently hiding the area that the sewing machine ate.
9.  I'm thinking of re-opening the shop.  Maybe.  On a limited basis.  Or not.  Or yes.  Hmmmm....

That's it for this fine first week of September.  Family, soccer, school, food, powertools, C.S.  Lewis, music and sewing.  That is what my favorite days are made of.

Link up your favorite simple days with Life Rearranged.

What will the school year bring?

Back to School Eve started and ended in the pool.
Isn't that how summer should be?
Especially when it is melting outside.

We talked about what the year would bring.
Who they were excited to see again.
What they were looking forward to most.
We prayed for their teachers and their friends.
We ate macaroni and cheese.

 Lucy is crazy excited about COMPUTERS!!!!

Halley can't wait for SCIENCE!!!!  (My future nerd training is working.  Hooray!)

Loving, love, love, the crazy missing tooth smile.  I hope that the big teeth take their sweet time, because this is just too, too good.

 Shane even joined the festivities.

An after dinner swim was in order to combat the heat, but they were quickly lured out with the promise of cheesecake.
Dreamy, creamy, ridiculous cheesecake.  Makes you wish you didn't eat a bite of dinner so you could have more room for cheesecake, cheesecake.  Go to the store now and get the ingredients to make your own cheesecake, cheesecake.  Seriously, go.  Right now.

Every minute of the night was great.  Just being together, doing something extra, letting them plan, it got them ready and excited for what the year has in store.  I am just as excited as they are.  Pretty excited about the leftover cheesecake too, not going to lie...

Back to school eve.

Tomorrow begins another school year.
Tonight we celebrate.

It is a beautiful tradition inspired by Bringing up Burns and something that the girls have been anxiously awaiting.  They got to pick the menu and the night's activities.
On the docket:
Swimming
Mac & Cheese (from a box please, not your fancy kind, Mom.)
Cheesecake (not from the store, your fancy kind please, Mom.)
No-heat curls to look "super pretty" for the first day.
Watching Rio with kettlecorn.

Goodbye summer.
Hello Kindergarten and Second Grade.

Insta-Friday.

Do you ever think that it's the wrong day?
Because I could have bet money that today was Thursday.
I guess my mind isn't ready for summer to end.
I am both craving and dreading the routine that school brings.
I can't wait for school to start and I wish it was still June.
Issues.
What's new?
Here is a peek into our week:

1.  After breakfast I tried the No Heat Curls on Halley.
2.  After nap they were a smashing pretty success.  Way easier than foam rollers.  Way healthier than a curling iron.  Super cute all Jazzercise style while they are setting.  Thinking this is our new go-to style.
3.  After living her for nearly two years (what in the world?  Two years?  Crazy.) I am finally ready to work on the daunting picture wall that currently only exists in my mind.  A trip to Ikea was involved.  A few more trips are on the horizon.  I will conquer it.  How could I not when it will be filled with images shot by the lovely Drew B?
4.  I have decided that printer ink is made from unicorn tears.  What else would justify the cost?  I hate buying it.  That and pull-ups.  I'd be fine if those things were permanently off of the Costco list.
5.  Deep breath.  Grace for the Good Girl is undoing me.  It is so rich.  So challenging.  So what I need.  I like it when a book can mess me up in the best possible way.
6.  Washi tape.  Rolls of happy, happy, possibilities.

 1.  This has been the summer of growth and bravery for the big girls.  In June they wouldn't even get their feet wet.  Now they are charging waves.  It makes my heart swell to see them grow in confidence.  Next year we surf.
2.  After a long day at the beach, and naps at home, we ventured back.  It's the last week of summer, how could we not?
3.  Shane was unimpressed by the glorious sunset,
4.  But two little Jawas thought that God's glory is pretty grand.
5.  I sent Shane's quilt off to Back Porch Quilters.  I can't wait for it to come back and am hoping that it shows up in time for his two month pictures.  But more than anything I can't wait to wash and dry it.  The crinkles!!!  The wondrous crinkles!!!  My favorite part of quilting.
6.  My sweet biggest girl has had two loose front teeth all summer.  ALL SUMMER.  Then poof.  Both of them fell out in one day.  Again, the jerk time is messing with me.  Where is my little baby?  Who is this kid with NO FRONT TEETH?  I can't take it!

Next week I will have a kindergartner and a second grader.  Summer will be over.  Soccer practice and games will be filling our days.  I will cry.  But it will be good.  Good and difficult all at once.

Link up your simple cell phone cammy moments at Life Rearranged.