Archive for 2012

This is our first holiday season in our first home. And we’ve discovered our neighborhood doesn’t mess around when it comes to outdoor decorating. The weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving, die hard decorators were on their roofs hanging lights.

So we hung ours too.

Peer pressure.

We have slowly been buying outdoor Christmas lights at Sam’s Club (of course) so we were ready anyway. Now I just have to do the indoor décor. Doesn’t it feel like the fall stuff is hardly up at all? It’s like we are changing the decorations like crazy for 3 months then – Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, BAM -  then it’s just our usual stuff for the other 9 months.

The holidays are a whirlwind.

Again, my mantra is to be present.

Halloween and Thanksgiving are over and Christmas is in full swing.

Anyway, it basically Christmas tomorrow so I hope you have all those gifts worked out. And if you need a little help… I’m running a giveaway with some of my bloggy friends and it’s pretty rad. In fact, I wish I could win. The kitchen aid mixer would look great on my counter really help me prepare healthy meals for my family. (though I’m not sure how I could decide on a color…bayleaf, pistachio, majestic yellow, aqua sky and green apple… oh my!). And the Keurig premium brewer… yes please!!

There are two winners. One for the mixer and one for the brewer.

Good Luck friends!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Two winners will be chosen by Rafflecopter (powered by Random.org). The first prize winner will have the option of choosing between a KitchenAid Artisan Mixer – winner’s choice of color – (MSRP $429.95) or a Keurig Platinum Single-Cup Brewer (MSRP $179.95). The second prize winner will be awarded the item that was not chosen by the first prize winner. This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with Facebook. You understand that you are providing your information to the owner of this Facebook page and not to Facebook. This promotion is powered by Rafflecopter. Metric Feat LLC (“Rafflecopter”) does not sponsor, administer, or endorse this promotion. Participants must read and agree to Rafflecopter’s Privacy Policy before entering and participating in this promotion. This is a non-sponsored post.

And I’ll leave you with this ecard that cracked me up…

I can’t stand Elf on the Shelf… I know I’m the only one on the planet. Sorry. Don’t hate me for it.

We are having a sale.

Our store is moving over to the new site! (Squeeee!!)

It’s slick.

A Holiday Slick Sale…

Christmas card photos need a Fedorable. Get them here.

Stuff those stocking with a Snowboarder L! Get it here.

Switch it up! Interchangables here.

Happy Shopping Friends!

Sums it up for us…

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! ~ 1 Corinthians 9:15

Recently and somewhat randomly, I have been hanging out with bloggy folks. Since I don’t really feel part of the the blog world, I’m mostly awkward and a total dork in these social situations. It’s pathetic. Anyway, I’ve met the sassy Hollywood Housewife and she did a thing where you record the events in your day in pictures. I joined in! I tried my best, but I have to be honest, the idea of taking pix of every moment kinda stressed me out. I’m always on the move and I don’t really keep my phone or a camera on me during the day. Quite a few times I would have loved to grab a picture but in leaving to get a camera the moment would have been over and me leaving the room could have caused a meltdown. (I’m also linking up to Life Rearranged’s InstaFriday.)

Here’s what I do in a day… try not to fall asleep…

Everyday before 7am I get the oldest three littles settled in front of Sesame Street with bananas. We go through about 2 bunches a week. That’s a hellofalot of bananas.

7:30am: I nurse this lil’ lady. She’s kinda a B until she has her milk. I’m hoping she’ll want to wean soon. (Please tell me I’m not the only one who hates nursing but does it for the ‘greater good’.)

8ish am: Morning playtime. Making paper airplanes and launching them. Paper airplanes are a mommy playtime goldmine. Guaranteed to occupy kiddos for at least an hour.

9am: I start getting the ball rolling for school. I always wear my PJs while driving to school (unless I’m doing errands afterward). I’m super trendy like that. I often walk but today I didn’t.

After drop off I usually do my morning chores, aka unloading the dishwasher and tidying the kitchen.

Then I have some playtime with the littles so I can ignore them later without feeling guilty. Today was all about my future groupie…

11ish am: I wash 2 lbs of strawberries and put on a long movie for the 3 littlest littles. We go through 2lbs of strawberries a day. That’s a hellofalot of strawberries.

That whole ignoring thing mentioned above is necessary for me to be able to run on the treadmill. But I don’t actually get to ignore my kiddos. Although I put on a long show and make sure they have plenty of snacks, I’m inevitably interrupted at least a dozen times – someone hit someone, someone has a stinky diaper, someone needs to be wiped, something spilled… Usually they end up in the garage, talking with me while I run. They especially like to make fun of me huffing and puffing or imitate my running in place. It’s humbling to say the least. Today my water bottle was knocked over by a little person and spilled all over the conveyer belt and I almost killed myself tripping over the empty bottle.

True story.

Are you jealous of my life yet?

After I’m showered, I clean more. It’s shocking how much I clean because my house is always pretty messy. I dusted. love this year’s minimalist mantel.

1pm: Pick up from school and parent/teacher conference. Eeeek. Eli is loved by his teacher and I love that. She sees his sweet gentle spirit and that makes my heart smile.

2:15pm: Drs Appointment for Cy’s strange non healing boo boo. Which I was completely sure was some sort of tumor inside his head that was so large it was popping out. I’m not joking. I was convinced. Anyway, it turns out it is a scab that he just keeps scraping off and it’s not healing because it’s a bit infected. Oral medicine, topical medicine and pancakes at Jack in the Box. (Note for my mom: It looks better already!) I may still  be a little convinced it’s some sort of strange thing.

Being a mom brings out all those over the top cray cray paranoid thoughts. (Tell me I’m not the only one!?!?)

4pm: I decided to paint the top of our wooden side table orange. It looks horrible. You know when you are doing a project and even while you are working on it, you know it’s going to turn out like crap. Yep. That’s this table. I have no idea what to with it now. Eli was not impressed that I used his school work to tape off the bottom of the table. But we are super green like that.

4:30pm: I was invited to OC Metro’s Hot 25 party. Which called for the super hot right now duck face. Which is the polar opposite of hot.

And then I had to decide what to wear. This totally sucks, because nothing fits. I am getting smaller but my closet is all over the place.

6pm ish: The event was neat! Delicious food (at the Island Hotel in Newport Beach) and I absolutely loved to hear about each of the honorees. I know Orange County has an interesting reputation in this great country of ours, but I truly love it here. From farmers to inventors to bloggers, you should check out the Hot List. (Proud to support the lovely Kristen Howerton as one of the honorees aka mom of some of our lovely Eli’s Lids models!)

9pm: My day came to a close with some snuggling on the couch with my sweetie. We watched a podcast about how to BBQ and the Soup.

So there’s my dayz in a nutshell. A little me time, a little work and a lot of family. And I’m just about to start it all again.

Have a great week friends!

I’m in a mood. A bit melancholy, a bit unmotivated and in need of a change. Under it all is the desire for a clean slate. A Fresh start. I’m looking forward to making the final separation between personal blog and business blog (I sure do love you guys!). I want to get rid of all my clothes and start from scratch. Redefine my style and only own clothes that fit. I want the rooms in my home to be organized and void of useless clutter. But still homey. I would LOVE to chuck all my kiddos’ toys and just save the few most played with items. Which is a total sham, because Christmas is almost here and our children will be spoiled with countless more gifts. This bothers me as well. We have too much.

I want to simplify.

There is a book out right now called 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. The book reviews are off the charts, and maybe one day I’ll read it’s pages. I can guess the conclusion. The author’s family dramatically simplified, had a rough time, but it was a mostly good wake up call, and they are changed. I think we already know we don’t need everything we have. And things we think we need, we would be fine without.

As I enter this season of excess. My focus is to be present, to simplify and to give.

What’s yours?