What I'm Lovin' Wednesday

 

Yes, I know...I know....it is Thursday but I am a busy mommy and wife and not to mention counselor at the end of the year. So I am doing my What I'm Lovin' Wednesday...today!!
First off....
I am loving this Lee Stafford beach spray....it's amazing, y'all!

 

It was only $12 or $13 at Ulta. I was going to get another spray but the sales gal recommended this one and it is much cheaper. Score!! I use wave spray like there is no tomorrow in the summer because it's so quick and easy. It made my hair look soft and smooth and not dry and crunchy but be careful not to put too much because it can make your hair look oily. Here is mine. I was creepily sitting in my car after a counseling meeting...

 

The second thing that I am loving is the Urban Decay Naked 2 eyeshadow. I am a Bare Minerals fan with my super sensitive skin but this is an exception along with my third thing. This was actually a gift from the ladies at work and I am impressed. It has made a difference in the way my eyes look and the highlighting white/gold/bone colors are great for the corners of your eyes and making them pop which I need...haha! 

The third thing I have been using for about 6 months now and it is another Bare Minerals exception. I saw it featured over at the Mix and Match Mama's blog and I thought I should share it, too!  I use it as a blush and bronzer. It is the perfect combo and I love the glow it gives. It isn't priced too bad either!

Laura Gellar Bronze and Brighten

 

I am also loving my bff's new facebook page called HopeFaith Creations She has some super cute stuff on there and I am in love with her gray and lime green wreath. So stinkin' cute and affordable. She also does custom orders.

The next thing is more of a wish list item....I am not sure if I could take the plunge but I am admiring it from afar! Louis Vuitton bag  

It is so classic and simple....sigh...

Unfortunately for me, good ol' Louis doesn't have a clearance section...haha!  

I also want to share the opposite end of buying a Louis Vuitton with a book I am going to order called Calm My Anxious Heart by Linda Dillow. I heard about it from this amazing blog that I read called Graceful Mama and you can read her blog on contentment here. It is about biblically finding contentment and peace and knowing that you are where you are and have what you have all because of God's amazing grace. I think it will be a humbling book for me to read...and convicting.

And I will leave you with what I am really loving lately.....the fact that summer is almost here!!! Here are some pictures of our weekend enjoying this time of year and the fact that Disney is 22 days away and my sister's beach wedding is in 2 weeks!!! Fun! Enjoy and I hope you all have a blessed week!

 

 

 

Something new!

If you know me, you know I love to shop. I will use any excuse to buy something....anything. One of my biggest problems is I like name brand, higher end items but I am on a budget. Joey and I pay cash for everything...no excuses. No loans, no credit cards, nada....except on things like a home and cars (which even Joey says he doesn't want to do). It's not something we have to do but choose to do. It can be stinkin' hard at times but it has given us the best gift. Freedom. We don't really stress and don't feel like our bills consume us. If one of us lost our job, we would be perfectly fine (although Starbucks and shopping trips would be fewer). Dave Ramsey says to live below your means so if something happened, you would be just fine and in an economy that is like a roller coaster it gives us a feeling of comfort. We budget and budget hard to pay off everything we own but we also make room for fun. So I was thinking of a fun way to highlight great purchases at great prices. Joey gave me the idea last year but I was too lazy to look for good deals. Sounds horrible but true. I have been reading a lot of blogs of mommies and wives similar to me and thought it would be fun and makes it more of an adventure. It may not always be high end items but it could be about getting the most bang for my buck. I love trying trends and I would definitely not call my style laid back. I usually only wear t-shirts if I am sleeping and flats make me feel blah. So....that may be tricky finding items for less but it is a challenge that I think will be fun. Now, I can't guarantee that I will be great at it or if I will completely stick with it. But I sure will try. My bff loves finding sales and the times I have shopped with her (which have been a lot) it has been pretty exciting finding deals on cute stuff. So here are some deals I found yesterday:

Nordstrom is having their big sale. I LOVE Nordstrom. Most of my cute necklaces, scarves, and jewelry have come from there. I usually shop their junior's area because they always have trendy pieces at pretty good prices. I found a couple of great deals yesterday....

black fedora

I thought this would be cute with my little pink cover up on the beach this summer.

 

I love oversized sunglasses, they are simple, classic, and chic! But I am not a girl that spends much on sunglasses. I go through about 8-10 pairs a year. I either lose them or one of the kiddos gets a hold of them. Nordstrom is my go to place. I usually buy a couple pairs at a time because they don't always carry them in the fall or winter. At $12 each, this is a Nordstrom steal! I bought the above pair in brown. Oversized Sunglasses

And I found this pretty, lacy tank that will look great with a cute skirt or capris this summer.

 

I got this in a mint green and it looks much better in person because you can see the detail. The best part, I got it for 16.98 as part of their big sale going on this weekend. Here is the link but it is sold out online but you can find it in stores if they're not all gone! http://shop.nordstrom.com/s/soprano-lace-trim-peplum-tank-juniors/3445896?origin=category-personalizedsort&contextualcategoryid=0&fashionColor=&resultback=6709&cm_sp=personalizedsort-_-browseresults-_-1_17_B

Basically, I walked out with three items all for under $80. That is a pretty good deal!! I got some things at some other stores but I wanted to highlight the great deals at Nordstrom. A lot of people think they have high priced items but they also have great deals and they are usually good quality. They're jewelry selection is amazing, too! So hopefully you will find some good deals and this weekend would be a great time to go!

 Now on to the kiddos.....Last weekend I found some amazing deals at Old Navy! I never shopped  there much before until I had kids and I don't know what I would do without it. I won't highlight everything I got but just some of the things I loved that were so cheap!!

I got this cute straw hat for Ella for the beach. I payed 12.94 but it is now on sale!http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=44500&vid=1&pid=518397002

 

I thought it was so cute! She didn't want anything baby-ish.

I also got Grayson some shoes that I saw highlighted over at Mix and Match Mama's blog. She posted the Gap version but I was at Old Navy and bought theirs. These are amazing and I tried to find them in every.stinkin'.color. but they only had his size in gray. But now I can order online!!! For only 12.94, you CAN buy them in every color!

http://oldnavy.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=38171&vid=1&pid=522298022

 

I am actually off to shop now but I am so excited to be on the lookout for good deals and to share any bargains with other fellow mommies and budget friendly fashionistas! 

Those Summer....Nights!

Well it's not officially summer and I don't usually stay up past 8:30 so this post won't be about Grease or summer nights but that title just sounded catchy and like it would get your attention. Did it work? As Joey would say, I'm a little rat. It is usually true...hehe!

If you read my blog, this will be the ordinary, "We're so busy and I love every moment!" post full of pictures! Haha! This sounds crazy but I blog more for myself. I blog so that I have another place that I record what is going on and pictures so if anything ever happened, this would still be here. I love pictures and it's so neat to have something to remember events in your life, the small moments, and the special people. When I saw the report of the tornado in Oklahoma I just broke down and cried my heart out. Not only did my heart ache for those who lost loved ones and all of their belongings but I thought about the fact of losing someone you love and not having pictures of them or videos to hear their voice. So that is my thinking with blogging. I have this here if anything ever happened to the pictures in our home.

So much has happened since my last post! Mother's day came and went and it was wonderful. It was a blessing to spend time with our awesome families and my our moms (my mom: Mimi and Joey's mom: Nana). I enjoyed homemade gifts and sweet hugs all day!

Muffins with Mom at the kids' school

Bless his sweet little heart, he thinks I weigh 40 pounds.

The kids have had fun just being kids. The weather has rocked and hasn't been too hot, so it's been pretty nice to just hang outside.We had Liv over and they kicked it old school by playing Hungry, Hungry Hippos. And....Disney is 29 days away. I am not sure who is more excited...me or the kids? Joey maybe not so much, especially when we paid the last bit of it! Haha! But Mickey did send the kids autograph books which they absolutely loved! I am about to make a paper chain to count down the days!!

Such a boy!

Hungry, hungry hippo madness

The kids surprise from Mickey....autograph books!

Joey's surprise from Mickey....a bill. Haha!

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending a function for the PCCI organization which is a Filpino philanthropy group. My mom is actually running to be Mrs. Philippines by doing charity work and raising money to help others and provide scholarships for young Asian Americans. We had a blast at the event.

The next day it was sweet Liv's 6th birthday! How the heck did that happen? I just love that girl so stinkin' much!

And this week, our baby boy graduated pre-k. I never thought this was a big deal until I had a kiddo of my own.....what a special day! My heart just melts. It was bad weather and my parents couldn't make it out but we had the lovable Young Grandma (that's what the kids decided to call her) and sweet Nana. We enjoyed dinner and ice cream and Grayson felt so accomplished!!

she was so proud of big brother

And today we found out great news....Grayson will be in dual language next year! I am beyond thrilled. I am a past dual language teacher and I truly believe in the program and I think he will enjoy it! I especially am passionate about Grayson learning Spanish because where I work, it's sooo frustrating for me because I don't know Spanish. I have to ask for translation to speak to parents, help with making calls, and even answering the phone!! Some people say others need to learn English but Spanish is a language that is so vital, especially in the area we live in. I am even going to learn some Espanol this summer by taking a class. I know this...Hola, me nombre es Senora Acker. Yo soy consejera.....Boo ya! Haha! Here is a picture of Joey and Grayson with his letter (they were playing dress up)...silly boys!

I hope y'all have a blessed week. I want to leave you with this because this really touched my heart today in regards to different aspects of my life. Have a blessed weekend and a safe Memorial day weekend.

Can We Have a Puppy????

Sorry, folks! Don't get too excited...we don't have a puppy! I had to start off with that because as a parent it is so extremely hard to say no to your cute kiddos when they simultaneously ask for a puppy...haha! A friend from church had a puppy and the kids were playing with it and were in love. I must admit, the dog was pretty stinkin' cute.

 But with Grayson's asthma, it is not recommended to have an animal. I think with our busy schedules and my slight OCD, it wouldn't work but just looking at that cute lil' face ALMOST makes me want one.

I can't believe summer is almost here! Only 43 days until Disneyworld and it feels like FOREVER!! Joey is hesitant about bringing a 2 year old and a 5 year old but to me it is the perfect age. We don't have high expectations....we just hope to relax and let the kids experience a once in a lifetime trip (or in the case of Joey's family a once every three years trip). They love Disney and since I went with Joey the first time, I can see why!!!

We have been busy every weekend. Last weekend we celebrated Vann's 5th birthday! I can't believe he is 5 already. Grayson, Liv, and Vann are all 5 at the same time...that is until sweet Liv turns 6 next week! I found this silly picture of all 4 of them at my parent's house a couple fo weekends ago. They had just finished eaten ice cream and wanted me to take silly pictures of them. Melts.my.heart.

I had Career day at my school this past Friday and it was a blast. My bff, cousin, and Joey's sweet grandma all came out to speak and they were awesome. It was neat to have family visit at work and be a part of such a special day!! Thanks, y'all! I even got to meet Chip Waggoner from Channel 4 news.

I also won Counselor of the Year for my Division which was super cool since this is only my first year. We have about 40 schools in our division so that was pretty humbling. Our school won the Character award, too, which my Character council is too excited about. It was an honor but I know I still have tons to work on and way more to learn.

And did y'all know it is Happy Hour at Starbucks...I know that's so random. But from 3-5 p.m. you can get half off frapps and, boy, have we been enjoying it!!

We had a fun weekend with Shelby over but hit a little snag when Grayson was sick Friday with strep. Strep sure didn't keep that sweet boy down.

She thought she was pretty cool since she went to school without brother.

And to top our weekend off, we made a happy, little, budget-friendly trip to good ol' dollar tree. We tried not to get to crazy and only spent $4...haha. Hey, but Grayson got ninja gear and ella got extensions....haha. It was some pretty good times.

Sometimes it's little moments like that are just so fun and memorable. I try to go out of my way to try to make every thing special or extravagant but it's nice to focus on the little things. That's what I plan on trying to do as a mom. I want to always take the time for the small things that to my kids may seem so big one day.

God has truly blessed us and I know that at any moment, any day that could be taken away. I am so thankful for how he has opened my heart and eyes even more lately. I owe everything to Him and his amazing grace. I have been listening to this song every morning on the way to work and it is my new fav. Follow this link to listen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5CWGi82N7k

I hope you all have a blessed week and don't forget to remind the teachers in your life how much you appreciate them and how they are SO AMAZING!! I am blessed to be in education and have a hubby, mother in law, and sis in law...who all happen to be wonderful!!!

Have a good week, y'all!!