Sun, Family, Texas Glitter Tee's, and Fab Lashes!

Sunshine and Family would best describe the past few weeks since I last posted!!!
May in Texas has been amazing and unusually mild. There have been many days outside and I am just SO ready for summer.

Kids at Dallas Museum of Art...just may be one of my fav pictures

The reason I know I am ready for summer is when I get home I want to do fun stuff. Usually, I would just come home and do our usual routine but I have wanted to PLAY! Last week, we were bored and they wanted to do a scavenger hunt. So....we did one with a treat at the end. They were so cute carrying their little sacks around and talking to each other!!

Today we decided to bake some homemade cookies and Grayson wanted to decorate his lunch sack for his field trip tomorrow! Other days it has been more baking and playing in the playroom!!

Mother's Day was wonderful and for me it is amazing to celebrate my Mom. I now understand why she was tired growing up and am so much more thankful for her now. She is one sassy, strong lady and I see more of my Mom in me now!!!

It's also a great day to reflect on how blessed I am to have such a sweet mother in law!!! I could not have asked for a better one!

Of course, I am thankful for these two who made me a Mommy! : )

I enjoyed Muffins with Mom at Ella's school and some sweet treats from Joey and the kids!

My sweet boy knows me too well. I am even holding a Starbucks bag he said!!

In May, we also celebrated a lot of birthdays!!! Vann, Olivia, and Joey's dad (Papa)!!! Safe to say, the kids have got the "Happy Birthday" song down!

Grayson had Open House, his first performance, and his first Field Day!! I was heart broken that I couldn't go to his performance because our school had an awards ceremony that I had to be at. I had some great stand-ins. My mom was sad to miss it, too, but is in Sydney. Needless to say, having Daddy at your school sure is a plus!!!

The rest of the past few weeks, we have just enjoyed random outings and good ol' times.

me and my gorgeous sister out at my parents'

enjoying Mimi and Pawpaw's new sing

2nd Saturdays in Downtown Forney...absolutely amazing and yes that is Joey jamming out with the Mayor..haha!

She got her self dressed and just like a mini-me!! Denim jacket and a dress!!

Her mean face but it's still so cute!

Remembering a lovely lady, Mrs. Nelson, at the Library dedication at Nana's school.

Ya' know how Popeye needs spinach? Yeah...this is my spinach...

The new counselor. Her first change....donuts everyday for everyone!!

Before I go, I love sharing cool new stuff and sweet shops with each blog post.
The first is Lone Star Ginger Boutique! Oh.my.word! I love her stuff. You can find her HERE!
She made Ella a custom necklace for her 4 year birthday pics and it was even packaged all cute!!!

And I just ordered Ella a cute tank with a glitter Texas on it and matching necklace. C'mon y'all....glitter AND Texas...can't get better than that?

I am also loving this amazing mascara. A sweet reader over at my counseling blog The Stylish School Counselor (HERE) sent me the 3D Fiber Lash Mascara by Younique. It is absolutely amazing. I had heard about it but I wasn't sure if I would like it. Luckily, she sent me one to try out and review and I am officially in love. If you know me, I am always looking for good eye makeup to emphasize my smaller, almond shaped eyes. This makes a huge difference and one of my students asked if I was wearing fake lashes. Hey I try to look stylish...but ain't nobody got time for that...haha!

I don't know......#middleschoolduckface/puzzledface....lol

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I am not sure why I look much more tan in one pic than the other but it made my lashes drastically fuller and longer. The one on the left is plain ol' mascara (and I have a crazy eye) and the one on the right is the fiber lashes. I have super fine, short lashes so your may look totally more amazing. For my short lashes.....this is big!

I am never going back...it is so worth it!!! I think that with makeup the eyes makes the biggest difference!!

If you would like to purchase it, contact Jennifer Simard at 978-479-9494 or at

• https://www.facebook.com/Younique4lashenvy
• www.4lashenvy.com

Well, that's all folks! Hopefully you'll be wearing a Texas glitter tee with some fab lashes in no time!!! : ) I am getting ready for Grayson's Kinder field trip tomorrow so I will see you soon! Have a great week!

House Tour!

We have been in our house for 2 months now. We still have some things to do here and there. I have had a lot of messages about doing a post on a house tour...so here it is!

When we moved, we loved our house...it was bittersweet. We loved the size, layout, and the flow of it. It was our first home...we moved there after our wedding and brought our babies home to that house. We decided to move because we wanted to upgrade and have granite, tile (we didn't even have tile), and crown molding. We put our house up for sale and then it sold fast. We had purchased a lot..well two...in Grayhawk but we weren't in love with the choices in our price range to build and we wanted a SMALLER lot. What? You probably think we are crazy people since everyone else wants to go bigger but we are low maintenance, busy people.

When we met with our realtor we also said we wanted a house like our old one...I know we are just not normal people, here! We wanted one set up similar but we could maybe go for one that had a game room upstairs. Between deciding on a house, we looked at two story houses, smaller houses, and huge houses until we walked in a house we fell in love with. Why? Because it was a lot like our old house. (PS If you need a realtor, Kimberley Love is heaven sent)!


So, here is a tour of our NEW house that is similar to our OLD house. Disclaimer: We have only lived here for 2 months so we still have some work.....

Come on in!

The door Joey picked out!

Love this art niche or as I call it...the plant holder thing

sitting/piano area

Ella throwing a fit at the bottom of the stairs...keeping it real

Gameroom/full bath/storage closet for toys

still not sure what to do up here

playroom bathroom

Ella still throwing a fit at the bottom of the stairs AND the light bulb Joey isn't excited to change

Ella's room

Ella's pony tea party and fake bird in a cage..hehe

kids bathroom

Grayson's room

representin'

he really likes Lego people

living room

area to work on???

Ella in a happier mood now and the kitchen/dining

office

part of our bedroom

the closet that we had turned into a little storage are

For the most part, that's it! Our sweet little house that does feel like home. Like I said, we have things to do to make it ours and we look forward to it!!!

Teacher Appreciation Week!

I love my job! Everyday I enjoy waking up and going to work! But I won't lie...I miss the days of being a teacher. I was a Kindergarten teacher and a first grade teacher. My husband is a teacher. My mother in law is a teacher. My sister in law is a teacher. My uncle and aunt (in-laws) are both teachers. My grandma was a teacher in Manila. I come from a family of educators. I think teaching is one of the most amazing yet stressful jobs ever!!

You get to form relationships and teach these wonderful kiddos while being responsible for them and protecting them. You feel like they are your babies at school! I even feel like that with my 8th graders. If you are the right kind of teacher...you love those students and will do anything to keep them safe and point them towards success.

Every year when it comes the time to celebrate and appreciate teachers....I know there is not enough I can do. They are everyday heroes that sometimes have to take on the role of nurse, motivator, parent, advocate, care taker, and so much more. How do you show appreciation for that??? This year is no different. All I can say is...tell a teacher how much you appreciate all of their hard work, long hours, sweat, tears, and love into what they do.

And when all else fails...turn to Pinterest...haha! Unfortunately, I didn't have time for that. Who does?

This year, I was short on time and on a budget. I wanted to find fabulous things for Grayson and Ella's teachers so I did what anyone would do and headed to Groovy's. If you haven't been to Groovy's then...BLESS.YOUR.HEART! You are missing out, friend. I swear I feel like they are family!

Here is a link to their store because you can now shop online!! Click here for pure joy!!
And while I am advertising...let me just share with you another shop that has super, CUTE, affordable jewelry and accessories!! It is called Simply Kate and you can find it here! Here is a glimpse of some of their stuff!!

$8.00 and adorable!!!

Now back to Teacher Appreciation Week!!!

These are not in any order and I sure hope none of the kids' teachers are reading this! : (
Here is my hot mess of a work area. And by the way, you may be admiring those pens. I think every gal that follows the Momfessionals blog now has those and they are the best.pens.ever. You can find them here!

The first thing I got were these autoglam car fresheners. One of the days at Ella's school was candles and since I thought they may be getting 22 candles, this might be something different. They are by Tyler Candle Co.

Next up....cute bracelets from Groovy's. We thought we would add a little bling... plus Grayson really wanted to get his teachers jewelry!

Then good ol' candy...can't wrong and it's easy!

Then I started trying to find cute stuff that was a good price and from here...I had to get creative (aka cheesy)...haha! This may even be humorous. I am a nerd so if you know me you are probably already laughing at all of this.

Get it "Vera" (vera Bradley) and very??? Yeah, I know I stretched that one a little too far. Hah!

Decorative frames for their desks

I know it's cheesy but it is such a cute, little, monogrammed mirror.

Cross earrings from Groovy's

Last I love this brand... Natural Life. They have such cute, unique, hippie-chic types of gifts. One of the days at Ella's school was flowers so I really stretched this one. I mean, hey...the key chain has a flower ON it!

So hopefully this blog post did one of the following:

1. Helped you with ideas.
2. Helped you learn about some cool, new shops.
3. Or...gave you a good laugh at how cheesy I can be and how I try TOO hard to make something work!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week and I hope you let the teachers in your life know how absolutely fabulous they are!!!