{instagram friday}

Happy Friday friends!

I feel like I'm trying to play catch up from such a busy week last week. I didn't get a chance to do this last Friday but I'm back at it today. :)

Linking up my Instagram photos from the past week with  Life Rearranged...

1. Our own mini Olympics
2. My reward after a long work weekend
3. Taking advantage of the massage chair during a break at work
4. My favorite new skirt
5. Beautiful view on a break at work
6. Melvin's favorite spot

1. Insta-Sale on my new chevron necklaces {You can still order one! Leave a comment below!}
2. I hit 1,000 followers on Pinterest!
3. Good clean fun
4. Beautiful sky
5. Our house in the trees
6. Silly faces

1. My preschoolers
2. In love with this arrow pillow from the new collection at Target
3. Playing around with self portraits
4. Our little smartypants
5. Cheeks full of milk
6. BIG shopping trip

We have a new washer and dryer being delivered on Tuesday {!!!!} so my plans for the weekend include cleaning out our laundry room and hopefully painting the walls. We'll see how ambitious I end up being. ;)

What are your weekend plans?

{back to school BOGO with Famous Footwear}

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Famous Footwear for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I'm having a hard time believing that I'm now a part of the "back to school" crowd, but the boys had their first day of preschool today, so there is no denying it! And of course with back to school, comes back to school shopping! Both of the boys needed new shoes this year, and if yours do too I have a great deal to share with you!

Famous Footwear is offering 15% off (20% off if the customer is a Rewards member or signs up to become a Rewards member) + BOGO (Buy One, Get One Half Off) on their shoes!



As a two child family, I know this sale and coupon can really come in handy. I would pick up these cute Converse for the boys...

And throw in a pair of fun flats for me ;)

So do you want to save big on back to school shoes?
You can get the coupon here:

BOGO + 15% off Famous Footwear Coupon

Make sure you redeem it by August 18th!
Also, if you become a member of their Rewards program, you can save even more!
• Earn 1 point for every $1 you spend in-store or online
• Accumulate points to earn certificates up to $100 a year
• Discount offer just for signing up
• Other special inside discounts and perks

Don't have a Famous Footwear near you? Or your local store doesn't have the pair you want? They will get it for you through home delivery or on www.famous.com. Customers can also order shoes online at www.famous.com and have them shipped to their favorite store for pick-up at no charge.
So what are you waiting for? Get to shoe shopping! :)

{raising people}

In a conversation recently with my Mom, I told her that when I got pregnant, all I thought about was having a "baby", but not really about the fact that those babies turn into people. I know that may sound silly, but taking care of a baby and these four-year-olds that we now have is such a different challenge.

They are people now.

With opinions.

With different tastes in food.

With favorite outfits.

And now we can add school to their identity...

Yesterday was their first day of school. And I'm happy to report that we all survived, and the only tears that were shed were mine {without the boys seeing of course}.

I have to admit that I'm struggling a bit with the fact that they aren't "all mine" anymore. That someone else is teaching them and shaping them. I love the school we chose and the teachers are wonderful, but it is still hard to let go. And I know that this is just a warm-up for kindergarten. I'm very thankful for God providing this stepping stone for all of us to adjust to a new phase of life as parents, and for them as individuals.

And I'm also amazed at how, in just four years, you can adjust so fully to parenthood that the thought of your child not needing you just about takes your breath away. If I've learned anything since becoming a parent, it is the fact that every day brings a new adjustment. A new way to grow and be a better version of yourself. I'm leaning on the supportive words of fellow parents and also the strength I feel from God to get me through this phase, which is putting a lot of strain on my sensitive heart.

But enough of that deep stuff ;)...here are a few more photos from their first day...

1. Dan walking Landon into the building {we actually got married in the same building and walked down that same sidewalk as the new Mr. and Mrs. Ford...talk about memories!}
2. Had to have some fun with my DIY chalkboard
3. Benny and his super dinosaur backpack
4. The boys are sharing a cubby...so cute. :)

And just for a taste of things to come with our Benny...here is the shirt he picked out to wear...

He is most definitely going to be the class clown. :)

And to help make their nap time a little easier to adjust to, I had my friend Kelly from CraftTherapea make them their own pillowcases...

I absolutely love them and the boys do too. I highly recommend Kelly if you are looking for something personalized!

I'm just so happy that the first day is over and hopefully it will get easier as time goes by. Or you all can at least lie to me and tell me it will. :) Have you been through this phase already? Have any words of wisdom for me?

Linking up with...

{birthday giveaway winner!}

Thanks so much to everyone that entered my big birthday giveaway!

Did you win? Scroll down to see...

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Congratulations Nadine!

I'll be contacting you about claiming your lovely prizes!

{Birthday Giveaway!}

Oh Happy Day! Today is my birthday!

{34th to be exact...I'm not ashamed :)}

And if you've been following along with me on Instagram or Facebook, you know that I have a super fun giveaway for you today!

I've been working on a new jewelry line for my Etsy shop, and I wanted to give one of my readers the chance to own one of my pieces before they are available for purchase. And a few of my good friends are offering great items from their shops as well!

So let's get to the good stuff!

One winner will receive all of the following...

Your choice of a white, turquoise or coral beaded single chevron necklace from my new jewelry collection! I'm SO excited about these, and even more excited to give one of you the very first one!

Your choice of any item from Sarah at The Bird's Papaya. I have the above necklace in cream and I wear it all the time.

These adorable anchor and bow earrings from Erin at Femme Petal...so cute!

And a digital photo download of your choice from my friend Kelly at Craft Therapea. I have one of her prints in our bathroom and it is beautiful...you won't be disappointed!

There are lots of ways to earn entries!

{Use the Rafflecopter below to enter...it might take a few moments to load}

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks for helping me celebrate my birthday friends!

{ready for....preschool?!}

Holy cow you all. 

I can't even believe that I'm typing the words preschool.

Weren't the boys just learning how to walk, and eat on their own, and drink out of a big boy cup?

Seriously.

But its true...and Friday made it VERY real because we took them for a tour of their preschool.

I was SUPER nervous about it but the minute we walked in the door and I smelled that school smell...you know the one. The smell of glue sticks, construction paper, well-loved books and tempura paint all mixed together?

Ahhhh. :)

This is their classroom...how cute are their little cubbies?!

The assistant teacher that met us and showed us around made me feel very at ease right away. The boys played outside with the other children for a bit, and then came in to look around the classroom. She let them play with some scissors and construction paper and they LOVED that. 

They also loved playing with all of the toys...

They had so much fun that they didn't want to leave...especially Landon. Made my heart very, very happy and relieved so much of my anxiety. :)

And of course afterward the only thing that made sense was to head to McDonald's for Happy Meals...

Goodness I could kiss that boy's sweet face ALL day. :)

But the day of firsts wasn't over yet! We went to Target that evening, and they both picked out their very first backpack...

Dinosaurs for Mr. Benny and Batman for Mr. Landon... {sorry for all of these crappy cell phone pics}

They also each got their own shiny new pair of scissors. And then this happened all over the living room floor...

But they were having fun with it...couldn't be mad about that. :)

I guess there is no denying it...my babies are growing up!

{instagram friday}

Happy Friday friends!

Today I'm a bit nervous...in a little over an hour we're taking the boys to visit their preschool.

PRESCHOOL.

Hold me.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for them because they will make new friends and learn all sorts of new things, and it will be good for their Dad too, since he will get some "me" time a couple days a week.

But still. On August 14th there will definitely be some tears shed when we drop them off. And hopefully they will just be mine. :)

How has your week been? Mine has just flown by and gotten better as it has gone along, which is always nice. I totally missed out on Insta-Friday last week but I'm back at it again today. Here are some of my favorite Instagram photos from the past week...

{You can follow me here} 

tennis lesson in Gigi's yard...the boy can hit!

early birthday present! I'm in love :)

free peaches at work

drowning in toys....send help!

why yes...I did eat the whole thing!

BIG birthday giveaway coming up on Monday!!

both boys ate their broccoli last night...HUGE victory! :)

feline supervision

testing out my new jewelry...having so much fun making these!

flashback Friday...my brand new boys

Did you like the sneak peek at my BIG birthday giveaway?! That's right...make sure you come back on Monday to enter to win lots of fun goodies!!

Linking up with Jeannette over at Life Rearranged...

{#photoaday July recap}

Whew! I made it through another month of #photoaday on Instagram!

It was touch and go for a few days but I caught up and managed to finish. I say that with a bit of sarcasm because it really isn't that important in the grand scheme of life, but I sure have fun with it! 

Here is the July list...

  

 

And here are all of my photos...you can click on any of the collages to enlarge them...

{notice I have two 25's...I did that last month too! Doh!}

Do you Instagram? Want to join in on the August list? Here it is...

It is only day 2, so you can totally play catch up! Here is my Day 1 photo just for fun...

I've had some friends ask me what apps I use for the effects and fonts, so here you go:

1. Phonto - add text to photos
2. Picsart - add fun effects like the bokeh in my photo above
3. Photo Grid - make easy collages with your photos...allows you to pick from lots of different arrangements, as well as rotate and zoom in and out on your photos.

So that's that! Hope you join in the fun for August! And you can follow me on Instagram here!
 
Linking up with Kimberly from A Night Owl Blog for the #photoaday monthly re-cap party!