Hey, y'all! 

Summer is almost here!!! I love love love Summertime! Which is a little funny because my kids aren't in school yet and life is really no different in the summer, other than swimming! But, I guess the kid inside me still gets excited that Summer is about to be here! :) 

I've been looking for ideas and fun things to do with the kids this Summer so we don't waste it! 

Here is a roundup of fun ideas that I have found:

Summer Grab and Go Bags from Freetime Frolics. Great idea so that when you get a phone call from a friend who is headed out to the lake, pool, park, etc. you can just grab your bag and go! 

Check out my Pinterest Board called Kids Stuff for more ideas! I love to Pin all of the awesome things I find for us to do!

What fun ideas have y'all found or thought up?? Let me know in the comments below! 

No Greater Love by Levi Benkert.

Y'all this book was amazing! I would so encourage you to read it! I finished it in two days, so it's not long! But it is life-changing. 

A couple of months ago, we actually were able to meet the man who wrote it. Some friends in our missional community had a neighbor who knows him, and they asked him to come visit with us while he was in Austin.

This is their story of selling everything and moving to Africa to help save children who would otherwise be killed by their own families. Heartbreaking stories of these children and their tribes. :(

Sounds amazing and selfless, right? It totally is, but it's also funny because he actually admits that he initially did it because he was running away from his life here (without even realizing it at first). He had been working on developing real estate in California and had just invested a lot of money right before the recession hit. When it did, all of the properties were worth far less than what they were in for and it just couldn't be fixed. Life was stressful and frustrating and he just couldn't see a way out. This ended up being it. What is funny to me is that no matter what our motivations might be, God will still use them. While his initial motivation to go (even when he didn't realize it!) was selfish, God still used it to make a difference and to change his heart and his entire life! And, to change the lives of all of those children in Africa! And, to make a difference there for generations to come. 

This book is encouraging, heartbreaking, awesome, and painful all at the same time.   

Since I was a little girl, I have always had a heart for hurting kids. So, this book touched me to the core! 
Now, my question is, What do I do about it???! I'm still figuring that one out. :) 

The ministry they created is called Bring Love In, and I think it is the most practical (and awesome!) way to put into action James 1:27. 

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." 

Here's a video about it... 

Hope y'all check them out! :) Have a great Friday!!

Maybe sometimes I just get uber-sentimental, but this is another one of those projects that I saw on Pinterest and immediately fell in love with! What a difference a day makes! So so true. :)

These little signs are literally all over Pinterest probably because it is such an easy project!, and I Iove them all! Especially this one from Emmaline Bride.

Here's my version: Note: I changed all of our birthdays because I just wasn't comfortable sending the real thing out into cyberspace. :)

Want to make your own?? You can download the Pages or Word docs below and change it to fit your family!

What easy little projects have you made recently? Send me a link in the comments below! I'd love to see 'em! 

I feel like curtains are one of the easiest ways to define a room. They can be bold or airy or whatever you want them to be! They can also be very expensive, along with the curtain rods to hang them on! 

When we first moved in to our little house, I made some cute little curtains and hung them up on the cheap rods you can get at Walmart for less than $10... but after 3 years, they were completely bowed in the middle and sagging. They just looked terrible, and did nothing to help our living room. :( 

So, for the past 4 months, our windows have been empty. (In my crazy cleaning spree before lil'est man arrived, I just couldn't handle the saggy curtain rods any longer, so I took them down and figured I would get back around to them when I had a chance...) I have two big windows and one small window, and in order to buy nice curtain rods for all of these windows, it easily would have cost over $60 (on sale!!!) and I was not willing to pay that! 

Then, I came across this awesome tutorial from House of Hepworths and knew it was exactly what I needed! DIY curtain rods made from electrical conduit that cost sooo much less than store-bought ones... and you can make them exactly what you want! Score! ;)

Here's my version and how we did it:

Start with electrical conduit. You can find this on the electrical aisle at either Lowe's or Home Depot. We bought two 3/4"x10' in order to make all 3 curtain rods. (two 68" rods and one 36" rod) Lowe's had the better price at $3.12 each! 

I also bought a bracket set and end caps from Home Depot. (You can get really creative with your finials! Think Hobby Lobby knobs! There are so many cute options that you can use here... I just wanted ours to be very simple. But, I think this is the coolest part about this project because you can literally make them be whatever you want! I thought about using the tiny garden picks at Target with owls on them... just an idea! ;) But, Hobby Lobby has tooons of beautiful and colorful knobs!) 

Also, grab some spray paint if you don't already have some on hand! And, get to work! :) 

First, we measured how long we wanted our rods to be, and cut them! I am still slightly afraid of power tools, so Chris cut them for me with a grinder! :)

Then, I spray painted them.

This Rust-oleum paint was awesome, and it dried pretty quickly! (Which I love because I am super impatient when it comes to projects like this! ;)) Also, I really liked the "hammered" look...

After they were dry, we shoved some corks in the end so that we would have something to screw our "finials" into! Then, we spray-painted the ends. (We actually screwed the end-caps in first, but you could see the cork a little so we painted them to cover it up!)

When that was dry, we screwed in our end caps (finials!) and voila! We are done! (Depending on the size of your finials and your curtains, you may need to put your curtains on before you screw in the last finial!)


What do y'all think?? I think they look just as great as store-bought ones, if not better!

I just love having curtains in our living room again!!! I feel like they make the whole room feel lighter! :) 

What creative window solutions have y'all come up with?? 

If you make some curtain rods of your own, please put your link in the comments! I would LOVE to see them!!!

I had an awesome day today!!! Wanna know why?!

Colton (the 2-year old) decided to potty train himself today!!! :) Y'all, I'm thrilled!

Potty training is the single-most frustrating part of parenthood that I have experienced thus far...

With our first, I tried to start potty-training around the time he turned 2 and it was just awful. We went out and bought big-boy undies, we tried sticker charts and rewards, we would get super excited every time he went potty in the toilet, we tried everything and none of it worked. :( We had accidents all. the. time. (And dealing with pooped-in underwear and shorts is so not cool... A thousand times worse than diapers.)

I finally gave up, and just gave it some time. Every few months we would try again, to no avail. Finally, around 3 years old, he seemed more interested and decided that he wanted to start using the potty. (Hooray!!!) By the time he was 3 1/2, we weren't having any more accidents! (Until baby came along a few months ago, but I think we are finally getting back to normal again!)

At this point, I just realized that potty training is something that a child has to just want to do. It's like the saying, "You can't help people who won't help themselves." Well, you can't potty train a child that just doesn't want to be potty-trained! You don't know when they need to go, and even if you set a timer and take them every 30 minutes (which I tried...) they will inevitably poop their pants at the 15-minute mark. :/ 

So, you just have to be patient... Keep calm and clean up the poop for the bajillionth time. ;) And know that, more than likely, they aren't still going to be pooping their pants by the time they go to kindergarten. 

This time around, I wasn't even planning to start potty-training until at least 2 1/2 but figured it would be 3 or older until we really hit that mark again. I have been preparing myself for diapers for a long time coming, and have been trying to mentally prepare for the extreme frustration that comes with potty training. 

So, this morning was a complete surprise!!! He told me he had to go, I put him on the toilet and he did it! Y'all, I flipped out! I danced and went crazy and told him how awesome he was! :) (He loved that!) And, he did it like 3 more times today! (We did have one accident, but hey, I'll take it for day 1 of potty training. Especially when he initiated himself!)


So, yep, today was a BIG WIN for this Mama and I just had to share! ;)


What big wins have you experienced lately?! 

A while back, (about the same time I made my Fridge Magnet Photo Frames) I was looking for ways to spruce up our kitchen and make it a room that I actually wanted to be in. I just didn't feel like doing anything in the kitchen, especially cooking. So, I thought if I surrounded myself with fun artwork then maybe it would help. 

And so, my "Let's Eat" sign was born. ;)

I drew out the silverware with a pencil on a canvas (that I got on sale at the craft store...), painted it, and Modge-Podged the letters on! (My awesome neighbor had just gotten a Cricut and was having fun with it, so she made the letters for me! If you don't have a Cricut or something similar, you could always stencil on the letters.)

Obviously, it has its own little imperfections, but I love it that way! ;) 

And, it has done the trick. I'm still no Paula Deen, but I do like being in our tiny kitchen just a tad more! :)

What fun ways have you used to spruce up a room or the chores that you don't particularly love to do??

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Happy Friday, y'all! (It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friiiday! Does that song still go through anyone else's mind every Friday morning?!)

So, a couple of weeks ago I came across this awesome DIY Growth chart idea on Pinterest from Plan It DIY and immediately fell in love!

Isn't that just adorable?! 

I have always loved seeing the "growth charts" in the doorjamb at older people's houses with all of the markings from their kids through the years. And, of course, I wanted to keep track of my own babies, but since we rent I just never have (since it would just get painted over one day, anyway :/). Until now, that is! 

When I saw this picture, I instantly knew I just had to make one! It is so cute, and I love that we can just take it down and bring it with us when we (eventually) move.

Well, last week I came across a bunch of free, old doors in our neighborhood! (Score!!!) And knew exactly what I would do with one of them! (Y'all can be expecting quite a few door projects because I have a ton of them and as you can see in this post, there are just so many cool things that can be done!)


Anyway, here is our growth chart!

Isn't it so cute?! 

I simply painted it black, used a tape measure to note all of the inch marks, painted them and the numbers with stencils, added a doorknob, and voila I was done! (Still need to add a protective coat and hang it up! ;)) So cute, right? And the boys are really excited to see how tall they are! ;)

Do y'all have a growth chart? How do you keep track of your growing kids?

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Much of my day is spent thinking... As I flit through our house, folding laundry and doing dishes and picking up toys for the umpteenth time I spend a lot of time just dreaming up dreams, or making lists, or thinking of fun things to do with our kiddos ... Just thinking. Today, I have been thinking about our kids... a lot! As I wrote about earlier in this post, I have learned a lot from our kids. 

Each one is SO different. And, I think they've been put in our life because they are exactly what we needed in order to become the people that God meant for Chris and I to become. 

At the moment, I'm super thankful for Elijah, our new lil man. (Of course, I'm thankful for all of our lil men. But in him, I can truly see how God answered my prayers explicitly!) 

When I found out I was pregnant with Elijah I. Was. Terrified. Seriously, y'all. If you have been here a while, you know that Colton (the middle lil man!) is our high-strung baby. I love him with all of my heart, but he has been a tough cookie! I think a lot of those difficult lessons I've learned from my kids have been learned because of him! :) I'm thankful for that (most of the time...) but when we found out we were going to have another baby, I just couldn't see how life was going to work. I spent a lot of time during my pregnancy just frustrated and worried. So worried. 

I prayed and prayed and prayed for nine straight months that God would give us an easy-going, relaxed baby. And, the whole time was terrified that he wouldn't. I was so scared of having another year of a screaming baby who needed ALL of my attention, and then having a toddler who was still very needy. I was scared of the dynamic that would create between my kids. I was scared that our house would be a wreck, and my marriage would struggle, and that I would just be in constant chaos for another year or two or three of my life. And, I was scared that I would go insane. (Seriously, I didn't realize until I was through it, but I had some serious post-partum depression with both of our older kids! It wasn't like I was going crazy or anything, but I just felt sad for 9 or 10 months. And, then suddenly I felt normal again! It was weird...) 

So, while I have seen God work in my life in so many ways, I was really terrified that he just wouldn't come through in this. 

So, today, I'm just taking a moment to praise God that he always gives us exactly what we need. While that isn't always exactly what we ask for, this time it is exactly what I asked for. And, I'm so so so thankful. 

As we speak, Elijah is napping in his bed. He is super laid back. He sleeps through the night. And, when he is tired, I can just lay him in his bed, and he will lay there and go to sleep. (The exact opposite of our first two kids!!! Bedtime and nap-time have been a constant struggle in this house for the past 4 years!!! And still are with them... ;)) He will let any one hold him... He is just happy to be held! He will lay down and just smile and coo. And, he's been a little miracle worker for Colton!!!! 

Colton looooves being a big brother! He uses "his baby" to deflect attention from himself at the grocery store. (He hates it when strangers try to talk to him!) He is sweet and gentle and wants to share things. By no means is he all of a sudden a perfect child. But, he has grown up a lot since "our baby" has been in the picture. And I'm so thankful. 

And, I don't feel sad. I have made goals and am getting things done. I feel excited about life with my awesome husband and our lil men. Sometimes I do have the "baby blues," but overall I am happy and excited about life. Which is awesome! :)

I just wanted to share that and try to encourage y'all today. God will always give you exactly what you need. Sometimes, that means that life is just going to be tough for a while. But sometimes, it means that He makes life a little easier on you. Either way, I'm counting my blessings today because I'm super thankful for all my babies. And I'm super thankful that God answered my prayers. 

What are you thankful for today??

Parenthood changes everything in life! So much of the time we spend thinking about what we want to teach our kids: who we want them to be and what we want them to do. (And these are good things! I truly believe it is wise to seek counsel, heed advice, and think about the future when it comes to our kids!!!) But today, I just want to think about all of the things that my kids have taught me. I always tell them that they are my special gift from God, and I think a big part of that gift comes in the form of life lessons! :) God has used my children to change who I am, and to help me embody more of the fruits of the spirit. And today, I am thankful for these lessons that my kids have taught me (...and still are teaching me! ;))  


Note: You have heard all of these things before! But, in my life, I just keep discovering over and over that they are true! :) 

1. Be Patient. (It takes 20 minutes to get in/out of the car. But, hey, it will eventually happen! It always takes 20 minutes to get in/out of the car so there is no point in getting frustrated about it every time.)

2. Don't be selfish. (Like I have talked about before, the best things in life aren't free. They cost something, but are always worth it!)

3. Life is messy, and that's okay! (No matter where/how the mess comes, it will come. Learn to enjoy or at least live with... the mess and enjoy your life instead of getting worked up about little things!)


4. Life is short! (Y'all, in the 4 years and 2 months since I officially became a Mama, life just keeps moving exponentially faster! With each kid, it just goes faster and faster. It won't be long till I'm a grandma, and then a great-grandma, and then I'll go live with Jesus! :) So, as each day goes by, I really try to constantly remember that life is short so make the most out of it! Have dreams, and go after them! Laugh! Dance! All of the super cheesy sayings about enjoying life to the fullest... live by 'em because they are true!)


5. Life isn't fair. (Much of the time, things aren't going to go how you planned them. I know I keep saying this, but go with it! Life is so much more fun if you just take it in stride, and choose to have fun no matter what comes!)


6. Take a nap! (Y'all, when my kids are spinning out of control, my first response is usually, "Yep, you need a nap (or a rest 
time... sometimes, they won't actually fall asleep but they just need time to sit down, rest, and chill out!)" So, it should be the same for myself! When I feel like spinning out of control, I just stop what I am doing and chill out for a little while. (With 3 littles at home, I rarely get to actually take a nap. But, I do make the time to just stop everything and rest for a bit.)

Having kids is awesome! ;)

What life lessons have learned from your kids?

Yesterday, we scored some awesome stuff for some really great deals, and I just had to share my new finds! :) 

Y'all, that bike trailer is originally at least $100!!!! (Some from this brand are over $200... I'm not sure what the exact model of it is, and haven't really spent much time looking...) I've been looking for a trailer for a while because every time Chris goes to ride his bike, the kids get so upset! They want to go too! And this was a super awesome score!!!

The biggest tip I can give you on scoring awesome deals? Know what you want and be patient! 

Don't just buy things because they are cheap! I only buy things when: I love it, I will use it, and the price is great! Also, I usually look around for something for a while before I will actually spend money on it. (Victory is so much sweeter when you have been searching for something for a while, the perfect one comes along, AND you get a deal on it!)

So... 

Make a list of the things that you want (...in your head or actually written down!) and keep your eyes open! Like I said, I have been looking for a bike trailer for a while. So, when we were at Goodwill yesterday looking for things to repurpose, one of the employees walked by to put this out and I snatched that baby up! 

We just need to order an $8 part from Amazon to hook it on Chris's bike, and bam $13 for an over-$100 trailer! The kids are going to have so much fun with their Daddy!

Also, we went by Target last night to just browse a little (and look for that part...) and I found a cute new shower curtain, matching towel, toothbrush holder, and soap dispenser all for $14! Again, something I've been keeping an eye out for just waiting to find the perfect deal! ;)

So, be patient! It will pay off! ;)

What awesome deals have y'all recently scored?