Sum It Up Sunday and a Blog Makeover

With Lauren and I getting into blogging more now, I don't want to take away from the initial reason I started blogging and that is to document my family's happenings. One, to keep our family all over the world in the loop and two, because I get it all turned into a book!!! Here is the one I had printed in January and I love, love, love it!!! I use The Cutest Blog on the Block which you can find HERE!

 So, as usual, I have so much stinkin' stuff to blog about! Summer break officially started last week in our house and we have been trying to fit in the things we want to do and need to do!!

We had Liv and Vann (my niece and nephew) spend the night which was sooo fun!

The first morning the kids jumped in bed and pretended to sleep but it was pretty cute! We had play dates swimming and kicked off our summer reading club and made a visit to see a puppet show at the local library with friends!

We made a little visit out to Grapevine for some shopping and to hang out at Lego Land. Joey wanted to make a stop at Guitar Center on the way back and that may have been the kids' favorite part of the day!

I had a 3 day conference to go to in Dallas but enjoyed hanging out with my sweet co-workers and learning more about the AVID program. I now how have soooo many ideas for this upcoming year!!

Joey and I got to go on an anniversary/date night and it was much appreciated (shout out to Nana). We had dinner, went to Starbucks (where we used to hang out when we first met) and then a cool music shop in Forney where musicians hang out and play. The Forney Arts Council (which I am excited to be helping out with soon) had brought in Dan Navarro and he even stopped by after his show. Joey even got to play with him which was a cool experience.

Joey on guitar and may I say that our town has the coolest mayor ever? That is him singing.

Joey getting to play with Dan Navarro.

We enjoyed some random fun during the week!

I worked on Ella's party. Thankfully, my BFF is SUPER crafty and made the E and a banner.

Need 31? This is me at the pool but I would not be organized without my 31. I am a 31 Consultant if you ever need anything.

Out to dinner with this handsome guy

I love pretty stationary. These cards and pens were on major sale at Vera Bradley. Wrote some notes to some sweet people.

Frozen hairstyles and manicures with Liv

Ella and her pet goat, "Scout" this morning before church

Getting corn ready to grill at Mimi and Pawpaw's

The kids made their summer to do list

Then Ella's birthday came around and I think this is the most anticipated birthday for her ever. This age is so fun! We had a swimming party in our neighborhood's clubhouse area.

The night before her party...manicure and curlers in hair...anyone remember these pink curlers...haha!

This was at 5:15 a.m. on her actual birthday.

After the party, we headed to run a booth for our church at our community's July 4th Celebration.

Nana and the kids

Amanda and the kids

I was creepily taking pictures of my crush....

So that was our busy past week. I am excited for lazy days of hanging by the pool, crafting it up, and reading books and cuddling. I feel like mid to end of July is when it gets calm for me and then I go back to work the beginning of August!

I still have some house projects to do like making window seat cushions for the sitting area, kids' rooms, and our room and figuring out what to do with the wall above the stairs.

So BARE

??????

Don't forget to check out the blog tomorrow and Lauren's!! We will be announcing the winner from our Instagram challenge for the Lia Sophia necklace. Thanks to everyone who participated. We had sooo much fun seeing your pictures!!!


And if any of you know of a good candle that lasts a long time and smells good, please let me know. I am on the hunt for candles!! Comment below, comment on fb, or email me!!! I really need suggestions!

Trendy Thursday: Shopping for Sales!!

Okay, y'all. Today we had a little family visit to Grapevine. Our kids love Grapevine. We usually go stay at the Gaylord, Great Wolf, or just have a day trip. They always leave happy and we are never bored. Today, we took them to Legoland and ate lunch and went shopping. It was all kinds of fun but maybe it is just my exhaustion talking...but I am so done shopping. I am tired of it. I need a break. Well, I do have to stop at Groovy's tomorrow....

I didn't plan on really getting anything since we went shopping last week at Northpark and my hubby is the master budgeter/saver. Well, oh.my.word. They had such cute stuff on sale. I didn't keep up with how much I spent....I just picked out what I liked and paid. We just got home and Joey was entering everything into his Excel sheet and I only spent around $100. That is like a good pair of shoes or a nice pair of jeans but wait til you see how much I got. My BFF Amanda is the queen of shopping sales. She gets amazing stuff at a great price. I wasn't necessarily checking out clearance but the things I was drawn to were all on sale....that's a first. I am sure she will be proud.

So this post is dedicated to showing you how far you can stretch a dollar....well about $100. Let me, first, say that these pics aren't that great but these things are so cute on. I am in my pj's and am way too lazy to take pics in all of this...lol! They look very blah but they are very fitted and cute!

Got this Under Armour hat at the Under Armour store for $8. Great for no makeup days at the park with the kids.

This is SO cute on. What looks like the waist line actually hits at mid/upper thigh. So cute and it was only $7.97 at Old Navy. Originally $29.94

So classic and very cute and fitted at the top and kind of flares at towards the hip area. The top is cut neat and makes it look much more stylish on! $9.97 at Old Navy. This was originally $30 something.

This is blurry but is the perfect little black dress. It is very fit and flare and is a nice material. This could be dressed up or down. Old Navy $9.97, originally $40 something.

GAP 3/4 sleeve fitted cardigans. They had so many bright fun colors but I have those and just needed the basics. Originally $48 each, got them for $9.99 each

I love Francesca's! If you haven't been, go!! You can find them HERE! I have actually been getting things from there much more often. It is very boutique-ish. I LOVED this and it was only $16!!! Looks so pretty on!

Francesca's: gray tights ($1.99), a fun cute belt that can go with any of the dresses ($9.99), and earrings ($8)

Francesca's navy sheer jacket...my fav item. This was originally $50 and I got it for $14.98. This is perfect for maxi's, over a tank with white jeans, or over a strapless dress to make it work or church appropriate

My fav part is the detailing on the back and sleeves

I got these simple pieces because they are so versatile. I can dress them up or down, carry them through different seasons by adding tights, boots, a jacket, wedges, pop of color....and they were super cheap!

I also wanted simple things so that I just need to add a fun necklace or bracelet to jazz it up...yes I just said jazz it up...haha!

So, there you have it... 6 pieces of clothing and some accessories thrown in for around $100 that you can pretty much wear all year round!!! 

Don't forget to check out Lauren's blog HERE!! Her post soooo makes me want to get my nails redone. I had gel nails done 4 weeks ago (pitiful I know) and they are half grown out. Super embarrassing....so if you have seen me covering my fingers lately, that's why!! She did a great post about some cute nail ideas for the summer AND I am so proud of her and you will see why!!!

Don't forget tomorrow is the last day of our Instagram challenge. We will announce a winner of the Lia Sophia necklace Monday!!!

The best anniversary gift

Four years ago, Joey and I received the BEST anniversary gift. Ella Grace was born on June 24, 2010 at 8:03 a.m. weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs. 5 oz. To say we were surprised was an understatement. Grayson was a big baby at 9lbs 2 oz. I remember him coming out looking like he was 2 months old but when Ella came out it was such a surprise that I almost fainted...for real. She looked like she was big enough to crawl around...okay now I am just exaggerating. She was a huge baby, take a look.

This was the next day after I had her. Look how cute Grayson is.

When I found out I was pregnant with Ella, before I knew what she was going to be, I was totally okay with either gender. I loved being a boy mom and I am super girly so having a girl would be fun, too. I remember having stomach pains and my sister Megan went with me to the hospital and they did a sonogram to check on me (I was 16 or 17 weeks). I was too shy to ask them to see if they could tell what it was so my sister asked and they said they were pretty sure it was a girl. I was so excited and knew this would start a very special bond with my soon to be little girl.

Ella is so much rolled into one. She is shy, sweet, sassy, spunky, intelligent, scares me, a helper, a fighter, and everything else in between. She knows what she wants and has her mind set on just that (she gets it from Mommy). She has given us a run for our money but is growing to be a sweet girl with wonderful manners. She loves ponies, dresses, bows, and manicures. She adores her brother and I could not have prayed for a better sibling duo. They fight like crazy but are always so worried about each other. She loves hugs and being silly. She is our special girl and I look forward to all the memories we will make. I pray that she has a heart for God and will treat others with compassion. We love her so much! Happy Birthday, Ella!

Now to the other big celebration. Joey and I celebrated 8 years of marriage on Tuesday. I can't believe it has been 8 years. I feel like it was just yesterday we were starting our life and now we are in our 2nd home, have 2 kids, and have experienced so much! Words can't express how much he means to me. I could go on and on about how amazing he is but I will keep it simple. He puts God first and his family second. He always puts my needs before his and truly treasures me. He is always a gentleman and his mom and dad could not have raised a better man. We have learned so much about marriage in just 8 years. We have learned that if God is not first and both of your priorities it will be very difficult. We realized that we have bad days and are grouchy...and that's okay and normal. We found that no matter how wonderful things are or perfect things seem, marriage will always be work. But that is the beauty of marriage, there are always things we both can do better and ways we can work harder to make us stronger.

So...happy anniversary to the guy who fit my "perfect boyfriend" checklist I made when I was 16. To the guy whose dimples, guitar playin', and love for God stole my heart. I love you!

Neiman Marcus Bars Recipe

I am linking up with Momfessionals for her Recipe Club. This is a classic recipe that I made for a party at work last year when I was at the elementary school. They loved it and it is so easy. I love it, too, because I like simple flavors...I like chocolate, but am not a huge fan of it...I know....it's hard to believe.

Ingredeints:

1 box cake mix (white or yellow-no pudding)
3 eggs
1 stick of butter, melted
1 (8 oz.) package of cream cheese
1 stick of butter
2 eggs
1 box powdered sugar
1 cup of chopped pecans (optional)

Grease 9x13 inch pan. Pour cake mix into pan and top with sliced butter. Mix powdered sugar, eggs, and cream cheese and pour over cake and butter. Sprinkle the pecans on the top.

Bake at 350 for 30 to 40 minutes.


I got this recipe from a book that was given to me but I have seen so many variations of it and hope to try a different one next time even though this one is pretty good!