Friday Favorites

It is a long story and I'm just not up for sharing everything right now but it has been a h.a.r.d couple of weeks. So, in light of that and with things getting back to normal-ish I wanted to blog some current favorites and acknowledge the blessings we have! 

ONE
I just love that she still cuddles for her naps. She doesn't like cuddling at night but she sleeps best in my arms for naps!

Can I keep her little forever?

TWO

YNAB - also known as You Need A Budget. I have blogged about this in the past, years ago, but they have changed things up and it's now a paid subscription (like $4/month) but with being paid there are a lot of really nice features with it! We are pretty good about budgeting big things and we do a good job on most small things but we've had some unexpected expenses and they will continue for a few months so we are going to have to make sure we are watching where every single dollar goes so we've returned to the YNAB ways. 

THREE

I mentioned in a previous post that I ordered some fun bags from a bulk buy group that I'm a part of on Facebook. They finally came in!

Look how big the utility tote is! I can't wait to use it!
And I'm already loving my new purse. All the praise hands for a purse with zippers. My other purse is going in my box of things to take to the freecycle table at moms Bible Study as soon as we start back for the semester.

This group is kind of my new addiction and I'm already doing some fun Christmas shopping through it! If you want to be added, let me know! It's a secret Facebook group so I have to be friends with you long enough to add you :)

FOUR

This is my newest thrifting find. I have been searching for this for the better part of a year. That's the thing about thrifting, you have to be patient!

It doesn't look like much... but it's the top of a china hutch. My desk is a HUGE old school teacher's desk, complete with a cabinet for a typewriter haha. It was my grandfather's desk at his church.

We are short on storage space in our house so I need to start moving vertical on my desk. I would love to paint both the desk and the shelving but that's low on the priority list and the wood mostly matches. I'll share a picture when I get it all set up - because of our crazy couple of weeks, it's currently sitting in the middle of my kitchen floor.

FIVE

We took the kids bowling during a half price special and they *loved* it! It was a bit stressful for this momma, a couple of balls only made it half way down the lane and came to a complete stop. The kids weren't the most courteous bowlers with taking turns with the people in the lanes around us etc but it was a lot of fun! Next time I'll just think to ask to be put on an end or away from others if possible.

FIVE

I was running into a Tom Thumb grocery store to grab a couple of things. I'm almost never ever in some of these bigger grocery stores that have nice floral areas so maybe I just have been missing out on this... but I love this terrarium! I have recently-ish jumped on the succulent bandwagon after some clients last fall gifted me some in a beautiful handmade planter box.

I've been wanting to plant some more but haven't taken the leap but I think I'm going to try my hand at something like this! I think it will keep little hands out of the plant which was one of the issues we've been having with our existing plants.

SIX

A while ago I talked about how I had always been apprehensive about doing my Bible studies on my phone. There's just something nice about holding and studying my physical Bible. Let's get real though, because of that I wasn't in the word as often as I'd like.

I started off with the She Reads Truth app and still love it but I just recently went ahead and put the YouVersion Bible app on my phone so I can pick exactly what I'm reading instead of following a planned Bible Study like you do with SRT.

I've been camping out in Psalms recently. It has been exactly what I need. There have been days where I promise, each breath comes as I fully rely on God.

SEVEN

My Dad went to Missouri to visit my youngest brother Joshua while he's stationed there for some classes the Marines wanted him to take. He had planned to go a little further north from where Josh is stationed to see the eclipse in totality last week but unfortunately he started having car trouble and wasn't able to go that little bit further. :(  But, while he was there he found beach towels on clearance for $2 each!! He got each girl one of each of these and they are loving them! They are building forts, cuddling up with them like blankets and they've been sleeping with them.



I'm linking up with  Andrea, Erika and Narci for Friday Favorites!

What's Up... Friday Fav's

Hi Friends, Happy Friday!

I have been itching to get back over here and write! My vacation posts are in the drafts folder and I'm working every chance I get to finish them up and post. I don't know how you all do this regularly with kids and jobs, hats off to you momma bloggers! Today my Friday Favorites is my What's Up Wednesday post that didn't make it to be published on Wednesday. #RealLifeYall

1. What We're Eating this Week

My goal with all things food right now is to not heat up the house! Tonight John will grill ribs and corn on the cob. Last night was spaghetti, Wednesday we ate out because I had a meeting that evening and Tuesday we had Baked Potatoes. We have sweet friends that just had their third baby and another fried who just had surgery so we did baked potatoes and fixings for everyone. I've had a busy work week last week and I knew that my cooking could be (and was) interrupted by births so the potatoes ended up being the only thing we actually cooked, the rest was pre-packaged food.

Baking potatoes in bulk in my grandmothers Westing House Oven is my favorite way to do them!

2. What I'm reminiscing about

Vacation! I am longing for a place where summer isn't so hot it can melt crayons, or burn little baby feet on side walks or make me want to leave my home state!

3. What I'm loving

I can't believe I don't have a picture of it, I swear every time I get one I think I need to take a picture of this for a "favorite" post! #badblogger Peace Tea. It's hot (notice a theme? Come on Fall!) and one of my favorite things to grab to cool off is Peace Tea!

(affiliate link) 

My favorite flavor is Caddy Shack which is tea and lemonade, I also really like the Georgia Peach flavor. John's favorite is Razzleberry (which I think is pretty yummy too!). I haven't tried the sweet lemon or sno-berry but I'll report back when I do!  

4. What we've been up to

Last weekend we celebrated Ada turning two!
(post in draft folder as well)

This week I've been spending my spare time around the house cleaning and purging everything in an attempt to make room for the new toys she got for her birthday.There really weren't that many, because we specifically asked the grandparents to just buy fall clothes, but not many toys in a tiny house is still too many toys! The back of my van has two big boxes of clothes donations to take to my favorite charity on my next trip to Denton and another couple of boxes that I'll take to the freecycle table when my Moms Bible Study starts back up.

5. What I'm dreading

A friend posted on facebook that there are forecasts showing that fall will be unseasonably warm. I almost cried. I *need* fall weather!

6. What I'm working on

Cleaning the house, next week I'll be preparing a semester of homeschool lessons. I'm also about to go on call for the rest of the year until just before Christmas, so doing all I can to get us back into good routines and habits. Next weekend my brothers and John are going to tackle the beginning of the biggest plumbing project we've had in this dumb little house. I need the work done, but this could also fill the dreading category because construction isn't fun.

7. What I'm excited about
 We are getting a new driveway! We have some chores to complete before the gravel can be delivered so it isn't coming until next week, but I'm so excited! We have needed more gravel for a looong time but it's expensive and just not a priority for us. We actually saved more for our vacation that what we actually needed and we decided this is where we'll spend the "extra".



We literally got the cheapest material we could find that would do the job, it's recycled asphalt so it'll be black stones. I've actually heard great things about this material, most people don't like it because it's not pretty - I don't care, I just don't want to deal with mud anymore!

8. What I'm watching/reading

I haven't read anything for leisure since we got back from vacation. John and I just finished the new Netflix Original Series - Friends from College and really enjoyed it. We also finished the current season of The Ranch (Netflix again) and are working our way through the previous season of Game of Thrones. Just a disclaimer on all of these, none of them are family friendly! Friends from College has adult content (but is hilarious!), the Ranch is mostly a language issue and lots of alcohol usage. Game of Thrones, well that might be graphic along the lines of The Walking Dead...

9. What I'm listening to

The I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N station from Pandora. We put this on our amazon echo dot and the girls love it! I listen to other Christian stations on Pandora but this one is particularly great for the kids, lots of the old school Christian Camp songs etc.

I am also loving my podcasts! I just finished season one of Serial and really enjoyed it. I had listened to S-Town first and I don't think this is as beautiful as that story but it's still good! I'm in Season 2 of Serial and I know it's gotten very mixed reviews but I'm trying to leave the politics out of it and just listen for what it is, a story. By the way, any time I'm listening to podcasts, I am listening with headphones, not out loud where the kids can hear.

10. What I'm wearing

As little as possible haha Mostly shorts and t-shirts on repeat. Occasionally throw in a pair of scrubs and that's my life lately!

11. What I'm doing this weekend

We are going to ride the train to the Fort Worth zoo! My girls love riding trains and that's something they occasionally go do with my in-laws. I usually can't go along because I'm always on call and Fort Worth is just too far from the Birth Center. Fortunately I was able to get a couple of ladies to cover enough of my shift on Saturday and I'm still in range for my doula clients so I get to go!

12. What I'm looking forward to next month

Oh I sure hope that next month brings cooler weather, but August in Texas - I'm not holding my breath! We will start officially homeschooling Cora for Preschool in the middle of next month! I've been working on preparing things and that's part of the motivation in cleaning house right now, trying to get everything organized and ready. I'm excited about the new beginning and returning to more of a schedule. I'm also hoping that I'll be able to reduce my work load at the birth center to spend more consistent time at home with the girls, it's such a hard balance.

13. What else is new

Just before Fathers Day (just a couple of days before we left on vacation!) I went to a playdate where we did Fathers Day crafts and let the kids play in the sprinklers. One of the other moms had this amazing bag. It was like Thirty-One (which we all remember when I sold 31, love it but it just isn't in my budget anymore) but bigger than any bags they have and so cute! I asked about it and they told me about a local co-op buy group and that afternoon my sweet friend Christy got me added to the group. Y'all, I love it! #takeallmymoney 

I have ordered my own of the big, glorious bags and I ordered a new purse (because the purse I'm carrying doesn't zip, not sure why this mom thought that was a good idea...) It's going to take a bit to get to me, but when it does I'll share pictures (I'm not sure that I'm allowed to share pictures from the group of the samples). This week I'm ordering boutique outfits for the girls for fall and a matching skirt for me and halloween buckets for both girls! If you're local to DFW, let me know if you're interested in joining the group!

Bonus Question: Favorite Thing About Summer
I love that summer mostly, has a slower pace of life. I love fall and spring but they always seem to be so so busy. I also love all the water fun! Granted, we mostly play in the water as often as possible to avoid melting in this ridiculous heat, but it's still one of my favorite things.

I take the kids to the splash pad about once a week, we usually just do the little one in our hometown but we have some big fun ones not far off that I just need to plan ahead a little bit and manage to do. We usually manage to actually swim once a week with friends and various play dates. The girls don't do enough actual swimming for me to fork over the money to pay a membership at a pool yet but I still love our pool days! 

 

Friday Favorites

Today I'm linking up with Andrea, Erika and Narci for Friday Favorites.

One

My youngest brother is coming home! He left Japan early this week and is actually already state-side visiting his girl friend! These two years with him living in Japan has been hard on all of us. I am beyond excited that he'll be living in the contental US! We'll get to see him late next week and I already have lots of fun things planned for while he's home!

Two

Listening to the Happy Hour while cleaning after a birth

Have you heard of the Happy Hour Podcast by Jamie Ivey? It's what I'm listening to right now, and I just can't get enough! I was never a podcast listener before, but my friend Lauren introduced me to the Happy Hour and it's been love since first listen. It's literally like sitting down to chat with a good friend over coffee, you know, if your good friends were people like Beth Moore or Shay Shull (one of my favorite episodes!).  I'd love to be on her show one day, but pretty sure no one wants to hear me ramble ;) This is the perfect podcast for moms who are home with their kids! I just put it on our Apple TV and listen while I wrangle kids and referee fights. 

Do you have a favorite podcast? I feel like there have to be other great ones out there that I just don't know about yet!

Three

Sixlets, you know the candy... I've recently become obsessed and that's obviously not a good thing. We bought some a couple of months ago when we shopped at our new Winco for the first time (I'm also loving Winco!) just to buy something in "bulk" from the bins. It was fun to scoop them out and have a treat for the girls! Then we started potty training Cora in earnest, which is still not going great, but sixlets became our go-to potty training treat for both her and me (because heaven knows I need chocolate to survive teaching this child not to pee her pants... or the rug at my friend Angela's house!)

Four

Leisurely reading... I have just made the effort to carve out time for me and right now that looks like reading! At a good friends insistence I read Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover. I really liked it! I read the whole thing in one day, I just couldn't put it down! (It's definetly rated R, just be aware) I haven't picked up another book because work has needed my attention but I did just pre-order Stand by Jennifer Rebecca (who is my cousin, by the way!!) and am looking forward to reading that on the 10th! (you can see her cover release here!)

Five

Fall scented candles! I got a new wax warmer stand on the freecycle table at my Moms Bible Study and I'm loving the timer feature, I'm unfortunately really bad about forgetting lit candles in the house so I stick to warmers most of the time. It hasn't really felt like fall around here (not a favorite thing for the record) and I'm not decorating the house for fall this year so my candles are the only fall indulgence I have right now. 

What are your favorites this week?