Wordless Wednesday - Mother's Day and Birthday Edition

Telling time on his new analog watch

Birthday boy

Memo's birthday

Best Mom in the WORLD!!!
Mom, Beth (preg with Elyza), Me

Whats in your purse?

I started reading The Small Things Blog a while back. To be honest, I found her on Pinterest. She has become very popular on there for her many hair tutorials. She is a professional hair stylist so her demos and pictures have been pinned a billion times. I love the feel and vibe of her blog so I check it daily often.

This week she is having a series of guest posts on "What's in your purse". I actually love this idea. A lot, to be honest. It's amazing what our purses, inside and out, say about us. Carrying a purse is one of the many reasons it's great to be a woman. It's not only a great accessory but it's awesomely functional when you pick the right one.

My favorite bag is the Coach Hobo I got for my 30th birthday. I had always wanted a REALLY nice bag and mentioned to my family that a combined effort for a Coach bag would be perfect and they did a fabulous job! I have even named her - Coco. She rides in the front passenger seat and NEVER touches the floor. Needless to say, I value this purse like a family member. Since then, I have acquired a few more Coach bags that I love and keep them in rotation as to not wear them completely out.

A few months ago, I ran into a friend that had a great large tote and asked her where she got it. She gave me this great website and I quickly fell in love. There are TONS of bags with great prices and quality. I was wanting a nice bright, colorful tote and was happy when I spotted a large turquoise bag. With a promotional code in hand, I bought it and was pleasantly surprised when it came a few days later and the quality was more than I had expected. I've carried this purse for 2 months straight and it goes with everything. It is roomy enough for all my necessities including my Nook as well as some things for the boy. So to tie this all back in to The Small Things Blog, I am going to share the craziness of my purse and tag a few friends so we can get a peak into their lives.

1. Bag of lipsticks, mirror, nail file and clippers, mascara
2. Wallet from Target
3. Sally Hansen Quick Dry and Essie Geranium Polish
4. Hayden's wallet
5. Check book
6. Random Easter egg
7. Chop sticks from Kroger. Not sure why I grab them when I use real ones at home
8. Clinique lip gloss and Liplicious lip gloss in lemonade (super tasty)
9. Earrings I wore yesterday and an extra iPhone cable
10. All of Hayden's gum - that kid LOVES gum
11. My Nook
12. Anthro and Target gift cards
13. Keys


To keep up the fun, I'm tagging some friends asking them to share and tag others! Jessica, Beth, Shelby,

Wordless Wednesday - Random Edition

HUGE metal donkey at Mel Tillis' old home in Ashland City

Sweet sweet little E

Working on a kata

How is this child almost 7?!?!

Source

Source

Wordless Wednesday - Momma's Broken Watch Edition

Parties and Pinterest

I'm in birthday party planning mode! Parties for little boys are a different kind of special. You get to use your creative brain to think outside the box especially when it's the 7th birthday and you've done the normal "kid" birthday themes. I've consulted Pinterest with little results. Maybe I'm not using the correct terms for searching, who knows. Any who, this year's party theme came to me while sitting on the deck watching Hayden and Codey (neighbor) playing in the backyard. Ding! Ding! Ding! I'm a little embarrassed it took me this long to realize that I just need to base the party around what he likes to do the most - Nerf guns, chasing, shooting, pretending to be in combat!

With this in mind, I went back to Pinterest to get some ideas for the execution of said party. While there, I came across some super cute things for the party and some super cute "just because" things. I'm holding out on sharing those things until his birthday so instead, I'm going to share some things that make me happy.

Since his birthday is on Mother's Day this year, this might be a fun surprise.

Obstacle course

Japanese Washi Tape

Cupcake Liners

Drake - The Motto

Something I'm trying to be better at doing.

Essie Geranium - THE perfect red nail polish for spring/summer. I can't stop looking at my nails :)

What fun or ridiculous things make you happy?

Wordless Wednesday

From my rose bush

Self captioned

New Nerf gun

Clarksville Greenway

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday, Easter Version

Normally this would be  a "wordless" Wednesday post, I feel a little "wordy" today :)

This is sweet little lew lew with her bunny ears her momma bought her. I even love the tongue sticking out for effects.

 

On Saturday, we went to the church Easter Egg Hunt and was pleasantly surprised that it was sort of like a carnival with many activities for the kids and the egg hunt at the end. Before the egg hunt, the Youth Minister did a sweet little reminder of the reason for the season. It was super sweet to see all of the little kids answer his questions about Jesus. 

 

Bounce houses

Egg sling shot

Egg hunt

Sweet cousins after the egg hunt

Hayden and I in our Easter duds

In my effort to find a photo of  a "younger" self for Instagram, I came across this gem. This has to be Easter circa 1990 or close to. I absolutely LOVED this dress (I'm on the left and Beth is on the right). Mom made it for me for Easter. What I love so much is that this style has come back in. Surprised? Not really.

What does your past and present Easter fashion look like?

Wordless Wednesday

Spring has sprung!

I think the Spring and Fall are my favorite seasons - not too hot, not too cold. With the Spring comes new vibrant colors in which I'm easily embracing. Turquoise, hot pink, mustard, coral - I want them all! Keeping this in mind, I'm ready for new front door decor. This is what mine looks like now:

My February Instagram photo

It was something simple and pretty (and on clearance at Target) between Christmas decorations and Spring but now it's completely B-O-R-I-N-G!!! I have some ideas floating around in my head but decided to do what every other female in the world would do - consult Pinterest! Holy smokes Batman, there are TONS of ideas out there. 

This yellow speaks to me and speaks LOUDLY! Something about the yellow and white against the red door makes me smile! Definitely would make for nice curb appeal.

http://www.sasinteriors.net/2011/04/whimsical-spring-wreath/

 http://www.etsy.com/listing/76363655/luscious-lemon-yellow-berry-wreath?ref=sr_gallery_4&sref=&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_query=summer+wreaths&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_ship_to=US&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_page=2&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_facet=handmade

I love the look of the burlap although I'm not a fan of how it sheds. The pops of color really draw your eye in and I love the yellow ribbon it's hung from. The burlap would provide for many seasons with only having to change out the embellishments appropriately. Very cost efficient!

http://allinadayblog.com/2012/03/burlap-spring-wreath.html

When I came across this one, I was mesmerized by the gorgeous color and the chevron ribbon. I thought it would look awesome against the red door also. Make sure you click the link to the site to see how she made this. You'll never believe how easy, although time consuming, it was to make but she does a great job showing you in the step by step process. 

 http://fitcraftystylishandhappy.blogspot.com/2012/03/my-wreath-for-easter-and-spring.html

All of these have made me super excited to make a new wreath this weekend. I feel very inspired by all of these so you never know what I'll actually come up with. I hope you are able be inspired by this gorgeous weather and create something that makes you happy!

The making of a karate kid!

For many months, my mom suggested we enroll Hayden in karate for the many benefits including self control and self discipline. As many of you with boys know, they have an abundance of energy that needs to be let out as well as taught how to control and karate was the answer.

In December 2010, he started at Baize Martial Arts in the 4 & 5 year old class. He fit in very well and is such a quick learner. This is his first gi and obi. Isn't he the cutest!!!

 

In February 2011, he tested for his first stripe towards his yellow belt and passed with flying colors!

 

April 2011 tested for his 2nd yellow stripe (the blue strips on this belt are for good grades) and also moved into the Children's Beginner class:

 

 June 2011 tested for 3rd yellow stripe (the blue strips on this belt are for good grades):

August 2011 tested and received his yellow belt. He officially became a member of the black belt club and got his new black gi. August also brought him a broken arm (story for another day) so he was out of karate for 5 weeks.

 

October 2011 he tested and received his 1st blue stripe (pic is MIA) and December he received his 2nd blue stripe (white stripes are for good grades):

 

January 2012 tested and received his 3rd blue stripe (pic is MIA) and in February he received his blue belt (red stripe is for good grades). He also moved into the Children's Intermediate class. This class starts at blue belts and many of the kids are bigger and older. He seems to do better in these instances, almost like it forces him to participate better. When he gets bored, it's time to move classes.

It has been amazing to watch him progress. He counts in Japanese to 10 and knows a good amount of the Japanese words for different kicks, punches and combinations. Hayden has even broken their test board a few times and thrown a "ninja" star. He is such a smart child and has thrived well in these classes (my mom was right, of course). I love looking back at these photos to see how much he has grown and matured from the first class where standing still for 30 seconds was serious stuff, to where he is now and has to stand still for 90 seconds. You wouldn't think standing still was very hard but for a little boy with a lot of energy, it's serious business!

Let's try this again

I've gone back and forth for the past year on whether to revive the blog or just let it be. I am a lover of blogs and read them daily. I mostly enjoy reading about other moms that make it work and share all the mis-haps in between. I also enjoy crafting blogs. Saying that, I'm attempting to blend them both into my own. I feel like I've neglected this blog since facebook is such an easy way to share ideas, thoughts and photos with family and friends.

In an effort to bring you up to speed, I'm going to do so in photos so I'm apologizing in advance for the massive amount of pictures. Hold on and I promise it will get better. :)

December 2010 - Started Karate




April 2011 - Went to the Chattanooga Aquarium with Toot Toot (and not yet born baby E), Noona and Poppa



May 2011 - Went to the Nashville Sounds game for Connor's birthday

Celebrated mine and Hayden's birthdays

June 2011 - My niece, Elyza, was born (isn't she beautiful?!?!)
 

August 2011 - Hayden's first broken arm. Fell off the monkey bars and broke the radius and the ulna. Not a night I'm excited to relive. Although you can't tell by looking at the picture with his cast. By this time, it had been a few days and he was pain free. Praise Jesus!!

October 2011 - Beth and Michael had their annual Fall Festival/Beth's birthday bash. We made a photo back drop this year and it was a huge hit! I set my camera on the tri-pod and snapped pics as people walked by. They are hilarious! The first one here is of me, Beth, mom, dad and my grandmother. The second picture is of Beth's mother-in-law and her boys. We kidd that Nick looked like Yosimite Sam. :)

December 2011 - Christmas Day. All Hayden talked about was this Air Swimmer Shark so you know Santa had to bring it. He had so much fun making it "swim" in the air. Needless to say, it now sits in the bottom of his closet. Fun for the day I guess.

January 2012 - Hayden shot his first deer (doe). We were so proud of him and he was definitely proud of himself!

February 2012 - As part of Hayden's Christmas, we went to the Monster Jam in Nashville. He had an awesome time! As soon as we walked in, he spotted this hat with a bag of cotton candy. Score!!!

March 2012 - Dr. Seuss week. For story book day, he wanted to be Captain America

Starting in February, I've been participating in "photo a day" challenges. Yesterday's photo challenge was "funny". I decided to dig out the mustaches that Hayden got for Christmas. We had a blast playing with the different shapes and colors. I think he looks like a mini-Poppa. Too fun!

I'm sure I've missed a lot but most of my readers (all 2 of you) are my friend on facebook so you're probably up to date a bit more. I'm excited to add a few new things to the blog and hopefully can expand to new readers. Thanks for sticking around (if you're still there) and "Welcome" to any new readers. Happy reading!