Sneak Peak!! New Products!

Introducing...

the long sleeve necktie onesie!

The perfect accessory for fall and winter.

So I know you all are thinking...

That is the cutest thing ever!

Where can I get one?

Well...I just finished spending f.o.r.e.v.e.r. listing them in my Etsy shop when I realized

I have a boutique in a week

and I need everyone of these cuties to sell at the boutique.

So as soon as my boutique is over they are going in the shop for you to grab a hold of.

Until then, I just get to tease you :)

I've also been slaving away over a ton of new headbands.

Yes, you guessed it...they won't go up in the shop until after the boutique too.

(Sorry!)

Anyways, until then here's a sneak peak at some of the goodies.

Enjoy!

Wesley's new favorite toy

Wesley's a total boy.

He loves balls and all things dangerous.

This is a common picture in our house.

Mackenzie with her doll (and tutu on)

and Wesley with a ball in one hand and drink in the other.

But lately Wesley has traded in his balls for a new favorite toy.

Dolls.

The last couple days he and his sister have been fitting over the baby dolls.

Last night he wanted to sleep with one.

And he's so sweet with them.

He cuddles with them and kisses them and burps them

but then the next second he throws them across the room.

He's still definitely a boy

just a boy who likes dolls :)

What I Wore

Where did this past week go?

I can't believe it's already time for another What I Wore Wednesday (WIWW).

And I can't believe I have actually managed to take a picture of myself every day for the past 3 weeks.

Yeah, me :)

Anyways, here goes.

white shirt: Banana Republic

jeans: Nordstroms

shoes: garage sale score a while ago.

I think I paid $1 for them.

Oh how I love a good deal.

sweater: Nordstroms

tank underneath: Target

Skinny jeans: Macy's

boots: Emu's

necklace: Walmart

Look at that baby bump!

I'm 10 weeks (almost 11) and already starting to show.

10 weeks people!

Someone tell me it's normal to show crazy fast with your third.

pretty please.

navy blue long sleeve shirt: Express

brown jacket: Macy's

jeans: Nordstroms

flats: Payless

necklace: Nordstroms

headband: made by me :)

sweater: Express

skinny jeans: Macy's

boots: Emu's

necklace: Nordstroms

shirt: Old Navy (I promise it doesn't look this orange in really life)

jeans: Nordstroms

flats: Payless

A more accurate picture of what I look like throughout the day.

There is pretty much always a kiddo (or 2) attached to my hip.

teal shirt: Nordstroms

white tank under: Nordstroms

jeans: Macy's

flats: Payless

as soon as I was about to leave the house I realized it was still chilly

so I threw the cardigan on top

cardigan: Target

Lioness

The kids' current favorite past time is pretending to be lions.

We crawl around the house roaring at each other pretty much

all.day.long.

It's fun stuff.

Anyways, the other day my little lions were playing when the following conversation went down...

Me (speaking to Mackenzie): "Come here my little lioness. It's time to get dressed."

Mackenzie (whining): "Mooommm, don't call me an "S" lion."

Me (laughing): "No Baby, a LIONESS. That's what girl lions are called."

Mackenzie (laughing hysterically): "Mommy, your silly! Lions don't live in "ness," birds do!"

Love my silly little girl.

Pumpkin Patch 2010

Going to the Pumpkin Patch is one of my favorite things to do in October.

There is a fun little one by our house that we have gone to since Mackenzie was a baby.

It's fun to see how she (and the pumpkin patch) have grown since then.

This year we went with a couple friends and their kiddos which made it extra fun.

pumpkins

our family :)

the kids always love the animals.

I wonder if they would like animals as much as they do now if we get some when we are in New Zealand.

Probably not.

My giant 2 (almost 3) year old.

Seriously people she's over 42 inches and wears size 5 clothes.

Crazy.

My handsome man.

Love that serious little face.

Mackenzie had a blast on all the rides.

It was so fun to watch her having so much fun!

She's getting to be such a big girl.

It's funny how much they grow and change in one year.

Last year she would have freaked out on all the same rides she loved this year.

fun with friends

Our little cuddle monkey.

In this picture Wesley was clinging to Aaron for dear life.

He was scared of the pumpkin man behind him.

I don't blame him.

In this picture he was just cuddling.

I'm sad for the day he grows out of that.

Hopefully it's not for a long time.

What are some things your family likes to do in October?

Thankful Garland

love.love.love. this idea!

Jennifer at Tatertots and Jello made this adorable Thanksgiving garland.

Each leaf represents something your family is thankful for.

What a great way to teach our kids to give God thanks for all the things he has blessed us with!

Now if only I had a cute mantle to put it on :)

Learning

When we become parents we become teachers.

Like it or not our kids look up to us.

They watch us and do as we do.

Lately Mackenzie has been really into learning.

My friend gave me this calendar.

Mackenzie thinks it is the coolest thing ever.

It's the first thing she asks to do every morning.

She calls it her school.

It's pretty cute.

Anyways, her interest in learning has gotten me thinking about my job as her role model.

How many times do I tell my kids to say "please" and "thank you" and then forget to say them myself?

Or even harder...how many times do I tell Mackenzie to ask us for forgiveness when she disobeys us and forget to ask God for forgiveness when I disobey Him?

How many times do I tell Mackenzie to love others like she loves herself or that God wants us to obey all the way, right away and with a happy heart (good attitude) and forget to do it myself?

I feel like I go through this tension a lot.

For example the other day I was late (as usual) to Bible Study.

I threw the still warm pumpkin bread I had baked (for our brunch /that day) and the kids in the car
and turned the key just to find out my car wouldn't start.
I tried it multiple times and nothing.

It wouldn't start at all.
Ugh! I hate when that happens!
Luckily my friend who lives next door also goes to my Bible Study so I was able to hitch a ride with her.

Anyways, when the car didn't start Mackenzie and I prayed that God would fix our car but nothing happened.
Obviously God didn't want my car to be fixed right then and there.
That would be way too easy and of course I would have learned nothing about faith and waiting on the Lord.
So after Bible Study I was talking to my leader and telling her about the car troubles
(I forgot to mention my husbands car stopped working last weekend as he was driving up the mountain to a men's retreat. It needs a new transmission).
I asked to her to pray that my car would just work without needing to be fixed at all.
And no joke later that day I went out to try my car again
and it worked.
And it's been working ever since.
Praise God!

So yesterday Mackenzie and I were driving in the car when we had this conversation.
Mackenzie: Mommy remember yesterday (anything in the past is usually referred to as yesterday) our car was not working and we had to go to church with Emmy and Mrs. Cyndi.
Me: Yeah I remember. But do you remember what God did? He fixed our car! We prayed that He would fix our car and He answered our prayer!
Mackenzie: But Mommy (laughing) God didn't have a hammer!
Me (laughing): No he didn't. God didn't even need a hammer. Do you remember what God made (Mackenzie is learning about creation at church).
Mackenzie: Yes. He made the trees, and the flowers and Wesley and animals.
Me: You are right. He made everything in the whole wide world. If he can make trees and flowers and Wesley do you think he can fix our car?
Mackenzie: Yeah fixing our car is easy.
Me: Your right. God is so big and powerful. He can fix anything he wants....and I went on and on to remind Mackenzie about how good and big and loving our God is. I'm pretty sure I lost her after "God can fix anything" but oh well.

As I was thinking about that conversation with Mackenzie I was reminded about how often I doubt or at least don't live like God is really big and powerful and loving. Why when we are financially stretched do I stress out instead of put my full trust in God who loves me and has promised to take care of me? He is the creator of the universe. Providing the money to pay off medical bills (or whatever it is) is so easy for him. Yet sometimes he chooses not to. And that's ok too. Because he always has our best interest in mind. Even when he allows us to go through tough times it's always for his ultimate glory and our greater good. Like with my car. He could have fixed it right away. But then Mackenzie and I wouldn't have learned such a powerful lesson in faith. Anyways, just thoughts on my mind I thought I'd share with all of you.

Do you guys go through the same thing?

Do you ever feel like your teaching yourself (or at least reminding yourself things we already know but may not do) as you teach your kids?

Please say I'm not the only one :)

What I Wore

Fall is finally here!

At least it feels like it.

It's been cold and rainy almost every day this week.

Today there was even thunder and lightening.

Kind of fun and exciting for us So Cal's who are used to sunshine!

v neck shirt: Target

jeans: Express

flip flops: Rainbows

green short sleeve sweater: Forever 21

brown jacket: Macy's

I love this jacket!

It looks like a pea coat but it's made out of sweatshirt material.

So super comfy!

jeans: Nordstroms

sandals: Target

cardigan: Express

felt brooch: made by me

jeans: Nordstroms

tweed shoes: Garage Sale :)

This felt flower brooch was super easy to make. You can check out the tutorial here if you interested :)

P.S. It's a no sew project.

shirt dress: Macy's

leggings: H and M

Emu boots (like Uggs): stolen...I mean permanently lent to me by my mom after I fell in love with them and didn't want to give them back. I love that we have the same show size.

black sweater: Express

skinny jeans: Levi's from Macy's

flats: Payless

necklace: Nordstroms

(I should have taken a close up of the necklace because it's kind of hard to see in the pic. Oh well...next time)

shirt: Nordstroms

skinny jeans: Macy's

boots: Emu

oatmeal sweater: Banana Republic

pea coat: Macy's

jeans: Nordstroms

flats: Payless

That's all folks!

{Big Kid} Hooded Bath Towels

My kids love hooded towels.

However, my kids are giants.

They pretty much outgrew the hooded baby towels before they could walk.

Fortunately, Lindsay at The Cottage Home came up with an adorable solution

to the one size too small hooded baby towels.

I can't tell you how much I love this idea!

It may or may not have something to do with my slight obsession with ric rac.

Either way, they are genius.

Definitely something I need to add to my Christmas sewing list.

Check out the tutorial here :)

Disorganization

I'm not supermom.

Not even close.

One example of that is my lack of cleanliness.

I'm sure supermom's house is always clean.

Mine not so much.

Naturally I am

messy. disorganized. carefree.

I could walk over the same mess for a week before I notice it

or care to do anything about it.

To be honest cleaning is just not on my radar.

I don't notice dust until it's an inch thick.

I never think to scrub my bathtub or clean the inside of my sink.

There is no such thing as a cleaning schedule in my life.

It's more of a clean up before we have people over kind of schedule.

Luckily we have people over a couple times a week otherwise I'm scared to think what my house would look like.

And my sewing/craft room is a constant disaster.

It never stays tidy very long.

You can usually spot 3 or 4 half finished projects on it at a time.

Confession:

Most of the time I don't even bother cleaning that room when people come over.

I just close the door.

Horrible!

And not just my house suffers from my lack of organization.

This is a snapshot of my computer desktop.

Filled with pictures I used on my blog, ideas I don't want to forget, recipes and other goodies.

And my inbox suffers the same fate.

There are 293 emails in my inbox either waiting to be respond to, deleted or moved to a permanent folder.

And my husband.

Total opposite.

He's a neat freak.

He loves things to be in their place.

Can't stand a messy desktop or full inbox.

Organizes all of his books, CD's, and DVD's in alphabetical order.

You didn't know people like that existed did you?

Before I met Aaron I didn't.

It's funny how opposites attract huh?

Sometimes our differences create tension

but most of the time we fill in each others gaps.

Which type are you?

Organized and neat or the other?