Friday, April 17, 2015

Insta-Catch Up...The Extended Version

This post is out of order...some pics are from before spring break (which I already blogged)...party foul I know...but these pics still needed to be blogged...so just ignore the whole out of order thing...think of it like a flash back to before spring break...then flash forward to after spring break but before Easter...then flash forward again to after Easter. Then we'll be on track.

Word.

And it's a loooong one. So get a cup of coffee or ice tea or Arbonne fizz stick...whatever your drink is and be prepared for a long read...and a glimpse into this crazy mama's head.

Here we go...

St. Patricks Day happened before Spring Break, and the kiddos wore a little green to school. It was in the middle of all the big Mary Flair renovations/spring break trip speed preparations so it got kinda lost in all the hustle & bustle...

But I never let a holiday go unnoticed.
{insert awesome transition here...whatever that is}
I freakn' love washi tape. (In my head I say it as wasabi tape with a ninja type accent. Try it...it's fun...You'll never say it in your head normal again.)
One day I stuck some washi tape (wasabi tape) on my charger so I could tell it apart from Andy's. Then I Instagramed it & got 68 Likes. What the what?! 68 likes! True story. 68. And it was just some (wasabi tape) on a cord! #trending
In our rush to get Mary Flair ready for the epic trip, I made sure to print some Mary Flair adventure Instagrams. Seriously if you have never printed your Instagrams go do it now. They soooooo stinkin' cute! Little niblet 4x4 gems. I printed mine from Walgreens. Easy peasy lemon squeezey. Walgreens! Just that easy. You can link to your IG right from their website! Pure happiness!
Then I combined two of my loves...(wasabi tape) & those lil 4x4 IG gems and this happened...in Mary Flair! Is there a cuter way to display pics in a vintage camper in a time crunch?! I think not.
That smile and those freckles. My heart. Forever & always.
********************
Flash forward
{Spring Break happened}
Now we are back to after Spring Break...but before Easter...not confusing at all...stay with me people.
This is the Tuesday after Spring Break...when all 3 kids went back to school.
Confessions from the mini van...I was one happy mama. I love them. But could never homeschool. Ever. True story.
A new season means new lotions and soaps and candles up in here.
Good bye Winter Candy Apple...until we meet again next December, hellooooo Beach Coconut yumminess...mmmmmmm...my happy place...sunshiny days with flip flops and no homework...mmmmmmmm...I can make it through April & May. I can make it through April & May. Beach Coconut...mmmmmmmm

Back to school means back to the PTO mom life. Back to putting together the 2nd grade silent auction basket life.

We went with an Outdoors/Colorado theme this year. It's a pretty awesome basket if I do say so myself. Might have to bid on that baby myself.

Although I am a Kansas girl at heart, Colorado is our place. Our home. Where we built a family and a life. It's a pretty awesome place.

That basket is MINE.

MJ released it's third spring line, and I was right there to scope it out. Pretty much can't resist polka dots and ruffles. Ever. The struggle is real.

Spring in Colorado means flip flops and shorts one day and this the next...

It's never safe to put away your snow gear. Ever. Blah.

One stickin' cute tired Girlfriend.

Ab...in full Cinderella regalia...out to see Cinderella with her mama. I loved it! I mean LOVED it! She twirled her way down the halls of the theater. Every mama and daughter should share nights like this. Truly such a magical night. And an awesome message.

Have courage and be kind.

Good life-long advice.

Andy knows this mama so well.

Sunflowers.

My heart as a flower.

Bright, yellow, and always looking to the sun!

********insert Easter happening here*********

Now that you have wipelash, we are back on track...

The Easter Bunny brought me this shirt. Totally fitting for the holiday hangover happening the Monday after Easter....you know the one where your kids are over tired and über cranky and you feel totally jet lagged...the day after any holiday when you are jolted back into the reality of carpool at 8:15AM...yeah it's fabulous.

We just might be thinking about our next BIG Mary Flair adventure already. There will be lots of little MF adventures in between...don't worry.

Something about this little girl working so hard on drawing a map of her bedroom makes me all warm and fuzzy inside. Such concentration and pride in representing her own space just right.

Maybe this strikes me because I remember spending hours as a kid drawing maps of my bedroom over and over again. Kinda silly. But special to me. It's the little things...like drawing lava lamps and piggy banks on maps of our bedrooms...that add up to magically become what make up the essense of our childhood.

I am over the moon about the Aprils Showers photos the kiddos are getting next week! I mean seriously...capturing the whimsy of twirling umbrellas & jumping in puddles! I am all over that. Girlfriend needed some new rain boots for such an occassion! Then I noticed they had a matching mama pair...so this happened! EEEEEEEEEEEEE! Can you hear me squill with joy from your house?!

I am not a morning person. Ideally I wake up on my own. Slowly. Ever so slowly...easing into getting mentally ready to conquer my day. Mornings like this one below are simply perfect...

Soooo...I'm turning 35 this year. 35! Say what?! When did that happen?! This one is getting me...not that 35 is old. There is a whole other dynamic to turning 35 for me...a big one, but that's a whole another blog post. We'll get there one day.

Anyway. 35. This mama needed to start a skin care routine STAT. Like probably already should have as a teenager. Meh.

So when a friend I love and admire had me over for an Arbonne launch party, I was like heck yeah! Sign me up for the whole entire anti-aging product line! Oh man. Good thing Andy loves me something fierce.

Mamas gotta remember to take care of ourselves too. Just saying.

My side table. I love it. I love full. I love stacks of journals and books and photos everywhere. If I cleared it off, it would feel empty and sad. I am not a contemporary, clean lines kind of girl. I'm a my cup runeth over, country rustic, always full kind of girl. This space makes me happy.

Ugh. Water. I am not a big fan. But I am making a valiant effort. Especially after I broke up with Dr. Pepper on Tuesday after my dentist appointment. Bad news bears. $1,220 worth of bad news bears. Seriously no wonder I have a phobia of going to the dentist. Who likes to hemorage money for someone to drill their teeth. Ugh.

Late night sewing is therapeutic though. Ruffles make me happy. That chai in the background makes me want to brush my teeth now. Just a little wounded. But I'll bounce back.

Finished camera strap covers with double ruffles are pretty awesome.

Wearing my new yellow rain boots in a mid-April spring blizzard make getting out in the snow bearable, almost fun even. Especially if I'm going to fabric stores!

Zippers and buttons and new fabric makes me down right giddy!

This adorable custom order for a Dave Ramsey envelope wallet almost makes me want to check out his whole cash budget thing. Almost.

Fabric is my kryptonite.

I'm not gonna lie. I spent my profit before the camera strap cover and wallet were even made.

I mean Abby needs a fun, summery top out of those lemons! And pink unicorns. Oh those unicorns were destined to come home with me. And I'm pretty sure they made those yellow flower buttons with me in mind. And the patterns...they were on sale 5 for $5!

Maybe I should give that cash budget thing a second thought...

We had a 90 minute delay today. On Assessment Day. Which is already a pain. A cozy sweater and monster play date with kids playing in the snow in between assessment time slots while mamas talked all day was just what this mama needed.

Whew. I think we are all caught up now. It's been real.

Peace out.

 

Easter 2015

The traditional neighborhood Easter egg hunt finally happened after rescheduling around forecasts of snow....

Oh Colorado.

We dyed eggs...

My jams matched my Easter dress!

Would I have it any other way?!

These kiddos were as cute as ever as we rushed off to mass.

Oh I just love them up!

Matching mama/daughter dresses were inevitable.
I mean seriously, we all knew it was only a matter of time.
I was kinda nervous being so matchy matchy at first...
But pretty much LOVED it in the end...

And took a lot of matching dress selfies...

After mass we hunted Easter eggs in the back yard...

And checked out Easter baskets...

After brunch and a nap, we headed over to nana and papa's.

Love this Easter photo...

Love it even more as a maple wood print!!!

Holla.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Spring Break 2015: Moab and The Grand Canyon

It was epic.
1958 vintage camper restoration crammed into two weeks prior.
6 adults
8 kids
1,680 miles
2 National Parks
Countless memories
Mary Flair the Jellybean before pics:
MF the J during and after her restoration:
So smitten with how she turned out.
It started out as just an idea and turned into 3 neighboring families road tripping across multiple states for an epic spring break trip.
The Great Neighbor Escape.
Such an epic trip needed shirts.
Here we are leaving the hood.
Here was our road formation.
We mixed up kids in cars which cut down on siblings fights and was totally awesome!
Moab was our first destination. It was beautiful.
Such a fun group of people. All neighborhood originals that have known each other since before kids...
And now our kids are camping together....
Drinks were had!
And walking tacos. And s'mores.
The ATV rides were crazy fun.


Then we loaded up and headed to the Grand Canyon and set up camp...
The Grand Canyon was absolutely breathtaking. You can't even fathom its grandaur until you see it in real life. I'll blog some pics from the big camera later.
I took like 5,000 Grand Canyon selfies.
We hiked about a mile into the canyon. Which was terrifying with 8 children.
The kids completed all the requirements to earn badges and be sworn in as Junior Rangers. Totally fun!
Our drinks of choice. Yup. That's a Dr. Pepper.
We made it to the 4 corners. And all I could think about the whole time was when Skyler from Breaking Bad drove to the 4 corners.
Apparently Brody didn't want to see the 4 corners...
Mahaha.
It was a super awesome, crazy fun week!