So Loved

An amazing Mom-owned company Wild Olive Tees is running a contest right now to win one of their new So Loved tees.  I have wanted any one of their tees for myself and my daughters since I first read about them from The Pioneer Woman.  These new shirts are super cute, and are in honor of a beautiful little orphan girl from China.  You can link to the contest by their blog button on my sidebar.

Part of the contest is coming up with a spontaneous act of kindness -- so I am truly thinking on this one!  I feel like God was already pulling on my heart about something, but I am still waiting to see what that something might be.  Right now I am thinking about donating a portrait session to a family who is adopting a baby... but that doesn't seem right somehow.  I think it's supposed to be something bigger - but what?  I am praying and waiting for an answer.

How to be positive

Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day:

The house may be a mess, but the kids are happy and having fun.

We may only have hot water, but at least we don't need to use the water heater = low gas bill.


The dog peed on the floor again, but it was tile and not carpet!


My daughter hit the baby in the face with a ball, but the baby didn't even cry.


I forgot to get eggs and milk while at the store, but we still have plenty of chocolate.


We don't know what our family's future holds, but we know God loves us with an everlasting love, and He is in control of the situation.


There is a kink in my neck that hurts no matter where I turn, but I'm so blessed it will be a temporary discomfort.


The baby is teething and grumpy, but her smile lights up a room.


Above mentioned baby also refuses to drink her milk and cries a lot lately, but I can eat dairy products again.


Above mentioned dairy products taste funny to me after a year, think of all the calories I'll be saving!


Here's hoping you all find joy in today, and have a wonderful weekend!

Soda

I love soda.  I don't drink it often... but I have it as an occasional treat.  It is sweet and bubbly and fun.  It reminds me of high school.  I often let my girls order it when we eat out.  I know it is bad for your health overall, and loads of sugar and calories.  But, I still tolerated it once in a while, accepting it as part of life.

Not anymore.  Not mine, and not my children's.  Not after seeing this:

Source: None via Britt on Pinterest

And hopefully this will get you to think about it too.

Not because I want to give you a hard time.  Not because I want you to feel guilty.  Because I love you.

The same reason I tell you about plastic.  And soy.  And Jesus!  Love.

Thanks for reading this today.  I will get off my soapbox now.

Love,

The First Birthday

Jaleyn turned one!  Ten days ago.  Ahem...

I didn't realize that moving her party to dinnertime would not only allow me the whole day to prepare low-stress, but also eliminate the possibility of decent pictures due to low lighting.  I just didn't even think about it.  Lesson learned. 

But it was a great party, and we had many good friends and family here to celebrate her with us!  

Love you, sweet girl!  Happy one year!!!

T on T

1.  Another day or two and I can have CHEESE!  I am beyond excited.

2.  Lauren has been picking out her own outfits this summer.  Yes, I am that mom who sets out my kids' clothes for them in the morning.  She's been doing a great (read: anal) job of matching things, and yesterday picked this out.  I didn't even know the skirt fit her yet!

She is so grown up.  I can hardly believe it.

3.  My business has a new look!  I love it.  You might want to subscribe over there.  I am planning a new weekly project and a couple of contests!

4.  Now I need a new facebook biz page.  Ugh.  It never ends.  This is why there are PR people and graphic designers!!!

5.  I had forgotten how long it takes to house-train a puppy!  Of course I'd never done it with three small children in the house either.  It's a really good thing he's cute!

6.  Jaelyn's birthday pics will be up tomorrow, but I just had to do a Ten on Tuesday post today.

7.  I have no idea what I am making for dinner.  This happens all the time!  I try to make meal plans but just never get around to it.  Kind of like blogging...

8.  It's my Mom's birthday tomorrow!  Happy Birthday, Mom!!!  We love you!

9.  Jaelyn is cutting molars.  Like, all of them.  She is fevered, sleepy, crabby, and weepy.  It's a good thing I did these shots yesterday instead of today!

I still am amazed my friend Jaclyn made that outfit, and in one day, no less!  

10.  It has been a hard day here.  With Jaelyn teething (and so fevered she actually fell asleep on my chest!), Lauren slamming her cheek into the tile floor and replicating this (seriously, pictures coming later), mommy being, um - hormonal, and Paige merely being trapped at home all day (that girl gets some serious cabin fever like her mama)... we are all in a bad state.  I am trying to stay positive, it is my new mantra.  But, right now I am POSITIVE that we are having a rough day. 

And that, my friends is my Tuesday.  Hope yours is going well!

Ten On Tuesday

1.  Male puppies are weird.  I haven't had one in a long time -- and he makes me laugh!  And shake my head...

2.  The girls asked me this morning when we were getting our next pet.  I laughed.  A lot.

3.  I went shopping with my friend Jaclyn this morning.  Even though we spent most of the time wrangling the kids, hanging out with that girl is good for my soul.  Love her!

4.  TOO much to do to be ready for Jaelyn's first birthday party still.  And, a lot of it is going to be very last minute.  I keep repeating this mantra in my head, "If you wait 'til the last minute, it only takes a minute" to try and keep from stressing out.

5.  It's not really working.

6.  My friend Kristin is in Colorado for the summer.  Love this picture.  I want to live right there!

7.  Fun new shopping site MYHABIT - the name is apropos.

8.  Does anyone else go home after shopping and immediately put on any wearable item they purchased?  Yeah, me neither.

9.  My house feels dirty -- and I want to sanitize.  Anyone have an all-around steam cleaner I can borrow?

10.  It feels so hot and sticky to me today.  I miss the beach already!!!

More

OK - so I wasn't able to blog over the weekend... but no one reads this stuff on the weekends anyway.  Believe me - I am friends with my sitemeter, and no one is here Friday night through Monday morning.  You guys must have a life or something.  =)  That's why I typically don't blog on the weekends either, I am enjoying our family time!

This weekend was a little crazy.  We finally sold the girls' old beds - which means the bunkbeds are here to stay, yikes!  Our car broke down in the CostCo parking lot, and I wandered the store while Justin tried desperately to get help to figure out how to get it running again.  I was in CostCo for three hours with three kids -- during naptime.  Ugh.  But, Justin was working on a car in 108 degrees... so I'll call it even.  ;)  Our wonderful friends Phil and Annie came to the rescue, and in a hour from their arrival - not only was I home with all the kids asleep, but the car was running again.  They are awesome for giving up their Sunday afternoon for us, and I am so grateful!

Oh yeah, and on Saturday we got this:

I proclaimed myself as crazy on twitter, and my friend Colleen readily agreed.  ;)  We still had Remy at the time, but we were just head over heels for this little guy!  We are calling him Trigger.  Funny, I actually really like it now that we've been calling him that for over a day... and Lauren loves it.  Paige argues that it is not his name yet.  And most the time you can hear crickets chirping when we tell someone his name.  But that's okay, I am sure some parents experience that with their kids names, too!

Did you notice the word "had" up there?  Remy got a new home today.  She went to live with a retired couple that just loves her.  She will be spoiled.  And she will not have to hide from kids all day.  It was hard to say goodbye to her, but I know in my heart it is the best for her nervous personality.

OK - more pictures from San Diego!  We went to the Birch Aquarium while we were there, and it was just beautiful!

Those are seahorses!  So cool!

This was my best aquarium shot:

Creepy little buggers.

Love this:

And this:

Look at the size of this fish!

There was a "Nemo" tank which was supposed to resemble the reef Marlin and Nemo lived in.

The girls thought that was awesome.  Anyone surprised? 

And then the tide-pools!

Wonderful, as always!  The kids couldn't get enough.

Ok, that one's not alive.  But pretty good resemblance to a living one, I thought!

And some angel offered to take a family picture!

Yay!  

Hope your Monday is going well!

Oceanside

Before leaving for home from San Diego last weekend, we dove up to Oceanside early Monday morning to take some beach portraits of my SIL's family.  While we waited for them to come down to the water, I took some pictures of my own girls.

This trip was little J's first real beach experience, and I have to say the girl is in heaven!  

Something tells me that one will be on our wall soon.

Love those learning-to-walk steps on the sand!

When J is excited, she says "Ohhh!"  And here it is:

I love that!  I also love how clearly you can see me in her eyes!

Watching her sisters:

Man, my girls know how to get dirty!

My Paige.

Not a fan of the side-lighting, but I am a big fan of that smile!

I'm pretty sure Lauren's happy-place is the beach.  I can relate!

That is another favorite.  I just wish I had been a little closer and down on the ground!

And here's our beach baby just before the massive meltdown began.

She had been eating sand.  Lots of it.

Too days in a row of blogging!  Let's see if I can keep it up over the weekend!

Long time no see

Well, I didn't really intend to take a month off from blogging. It just sort of happened that way. And it was nice, actually.  But, in many ways I have missed it - and intend to make a full-fledged comeback.  ;)  

Some pictures from June:

Their precious blankets and bedtime stuffed animals were getting washed.  You would have thought I cut Paige's left arm off.  

She was watching her sisters play outside.  I love this shot.

We went to Payson for Father's Day:

And Lauren finally got the caterpillars she mailed away for.  It was pretty neat to watch them grow, build cocoons, emerge, and flit around a bit.

But it was kind of sad that they didn't have enough room to fly in this pen, and didn't last very long.  But the girls enjoyed the experience none the less! 

Nothing much new is going on here.  I am working on some big changes to my business.  We are trying to find a new home for Remy (so if you know a retiree who'd like a non-shedding dog, let me know!).  I need to start planning Jaelyn's first birthday party since it is in nine days!  We just got back from a long weekend in San Diego.  I will have many pictures from that trip tomorrow!

Hope you all had a wonderful month of June!  

Until tomorrow...