Show Us your Favorite Vacation Spots

Today's SUYL is all about favorite vacation spots! It's almost that time of year when most people head out for a week of rest and relaxation or sight seeing! Since people from all over the world read here (crazy) - I'm hoping we get to hear about all kinds of neat places.
To help this along - PLEASE PUT THE DESTINATION NAMES IN YOUR LINK!!!!

We are a beach family. Scott and I both LOVE the beach. Scott is for sure not a city person and I don't like cold weather so our destination of choice is usually always a beach. I'm going to talk about two of our very favorite places. One is Gulf Shores/Orange Beach, AL (Redneck Riveria) and the other is Kauai, Hawaii. We have been to both several times.

We love Gulf Shores/Orange Beach. It's just a small town with beautiful beaches and lots of great seafood restaurants. We usually get a condo and spend the day at the beach and then go out to eat. It's a great place for families. Some of our favorite places to eat include Sea and Suds, Louisiana Lagniappe, The Original Oyster House and Tacky Jack's.  and we use Meyer Realty to book condos. 

Our favorite place on earth is Kauai. We have been twice and hope to go again in the future at some point. Scott always asks me when can we go again and I tell him when he thinks Harper and Hollis can handle a 8 hour plane trip. In other words - not for a LONG time!

We have stayed both times on the north side of the island in Princeville. I've been to Oahu, Maui and Kauai and Kauai is just my favorite. It's more rustic and quiet and small. No real chain restaurants or shopping. The beaches are AMAZING!

There is even a mini grand canyon on Kauai that is so neat! I could go on and on about Kauai and how much I love it. I guess if you are going and have questions - you could always email me!

Some of our favorite places were Tidepools, Beach House, Duke's Canoe Club (you have to get hula pie) and Brick Oven Pizza.

We went to Turks and Caicos in November so I thought I would add that in.  We really liked it.  I would say that we don't love the Caribbean as much as we love Hawaii.  We just love kauai so much that not much ever lives up to it for us.  But it was really pretty.

We did eat at some great restaurants.  Our very favorite was Las Brisas.  It was romantic and the food was amazing and so was the service.  Our next favorite was Coco Bistro.  Somewhere Cafe was right next to our hotel so we ate there basically every day at lunch.  They had REALLY good food.  Wonderful guacamole and kind of a tex mex flair.

Okay - time to share your favorite vacation spots!

A Friend Filled Day

Tomorrow's SUYL topic is "favorite vacation spots" and include not only the spot but favorite places to stay there and restaurants and things to do.  With Spring Break and summer vacation coming up - maybe this will help someone planning a vacation!!!!


Okay.........

I completely see the irony that I wrote a post about how I can't conquer my to do list and now I'm writing a post where I spent the last 24 hours crazy busy just doing fun things.....and you are shaking your head saying "Kelly - this is why you have a problem".   I know.  But I will say that this week I have just put 4 or 5 things a day on my list and I have crossed them all off so far.

Tuesday night we had a diaper shower to celebrate my friend Maegan's 4th baby.  She is such a super mom.  Her husband is on staff at our church and they are two of my favorite people.  It was a fun night and a good chance to visit with all the girls in my Sunday School class.  We laughed a lot!

My friend Sharon lives in Fayetteville and we don't see her often so we went to spend the morning with her yesterday.  We went to several favorite shops we don't normally go to and ate lunch a local favorite - Hammontree's.  We were at Maude's when we took this picture.  They have cute cute clothes but I think I might be over the age limit.  Laurie and I found a floral strapless shorts romper and couldn't quit laughing imagining one of us showing up to something in that.  But it's such a pretty store!

We also hit some flea markets in Prairie Grove.  I just love this all white booth. 

I picked up the girls from school and Hollis' best friend Joseph came over for a play date.  He is SMITTEN with Hollis.  It's so cute.  They had a lot of fun playing and I baked them our favorite chocolate banana muffins for a snack.

When they left we ran over to Barnes and Nobles because two of my blogger friends were having a book singing! Tsh lives in Oregon and I met her back in September in Austin.  She is on a book tour with her family traveling the country.  In September they are leaving to travel the WORLD for a year.  I read her book "Notes from a Blue Bike: The art of living intentionally in a Chaotic World" when we were on Vacation in November and LOVED it.  It was very interesting to me.  And Holley is one of the girls who started the (in)courage blog.  She lives her and just wrote "You are going to be okay".  Wow - I think a lot of you would LOVE this book.

Then we went straight to church for Awana.  Harper just LOVES cubbies and I love helping.  I can't wait for next year when Hollis can be in it.  We have a lot of fun and the kids learn God's word.

Whew - it was a whirlwind of a day but I wouldn't miss all that fun for anything!

Who wants a $100 gift card to Panera???????

One of my favorite restaurants that I have frequented OFTEN for the last 15 or more years is Panera. It went WAY up a notch for me over the last year or two when ours relocated and added a Drive-Thru!!! Hallelujah!!! 

If there is anything a mother of small children loves - it's a drive-thru! It's nice to have a place I can go with the kids in the car without getting out and have healthy alternatives to fast food. 

And my girls LOVE the Mac and Cheese. I don't blame them.  It's so creamy and not at all like the yellow stuff out of a box.  

So Panera gave me an opportunity to visit and try an old favorite and a new (hopeful) favorite and I jumped on it.  We even got a little crazy and dined in! 

I actually enjoy Panera the most in the mornings because I love their bagels. Asiago Cheese is my very favorite. When I worked, I would often run in and grab one before I headed to the office. Even now I get one when I'm out in the mornings and want a special treat.

But I also love so many other things. I usually always do the "You Pick Two" option because I hate deciding between all the choices - this way I can get a couple of things. I usually get soup because there are so many soups I love. The Bistro French Onion is my favorite.

I nearly always get the Bacon Turkey Bravo which is my very favorite sandwich.

Tonight I tried something new on the menu, the Mediterranean Shrimp Couscous Salad, but there are a lot of new offerings you can also try like the Fuji Apple Chicken Salad, Mac &Cheese, Broccoli Cheddar Soup, and Cinnamon Crunch Bagel.

It was such a delicious dinner. 

All three Stamps girls loved visiting Panera for dinner.  

And it's possible that they had baked goods for 99 cents.

And it's possible that we had to get a few to try after dinner.

And it's possible that we loved it! 

Vote for your favorite menu item at Panerabread.com – My Panera members get a chance to win their favorite free for a year! Share images of your favorites on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using #PaneraFaves for a chance to win a $25 Panera gift card. You can find Panera on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

And we want to give YOU a $100 Panera gift card!!! Leave me a comment and tell me "What is YOUR favorite Panera item?" 

Sweepstakes Rules: 
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

1. Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
2. Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the following unique term in your tweet message: “#SweepstakesEntry”; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
3. Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
4. For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.
The Official Rules are available here.
This sweepstakes runs from 2/26/2014-3/30/2014.
Be sure to visit the Panera Bread brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!

Is your To Do list taking over your life?

I have always been a WEE bit on the Type A side.  I'm a typical first born.  I have always been task oriented and good at multi tasking.

But having two kids and getting older has made me EXTREMELY unorganized.  And tired.

I have To do lists EVERYWHERE.  One sits in my kitchen.  I wake up in the morning and start editing it and changing what I need to do that day.  I sit down on Sundays and map out things I need to do each day for the coming week. There are days I don't get one thing crossed off my list.

I also keep lists in my calendar, in my Bible, in my purse, in my car and on my phone.

Am I the only one?

And yet I still never manage to feel on top of things.

I wake up early worried about everything I need to do each day.  I have so many household things to do and those are ALWAYS there: laundry, cleaning, cooking, dishes, etc.  Then I have church things I'm responsible for.  And blog stuff to do.  And soon there will be school things to keep up with.  I know we are all in the same boat.  Some of you add jobs outside the home or volunteer things or kids activities.  

And I'm wondering if you ever feel like your To Do list is taking over your life? 

Because I do.  

I find myself turning down play dates or lunches with friends because I need to get home and "get some things done".  I find myself staying up WAY too late and losing sleep so I can cross something off my list.  

I find myself telling the girls TOO often "Mommy will play with you in a minute - I need to do "x,y,z" first."

I find myself telling Scott "I will spend time with you tomorrow...... I need to do some stuff tonight" probably way too much. 

The "stuff" is there.  It will always be there.  I can't just quit doing laundry.  I could quit some activities or blogging but those are all things I enjoy.  I just need to figure out ways to manage my time better.  

I waste a lot of time. I will be the first to admit it. 

And sometimes I don't regret wasting time.  Sometimes I "waste" an afternoon spending it outside with my girls instead of being inside finishing tasks but I don't regret that.  And sometimes I just want to sit on the couch and watch TV and rest instead of cleaning the bathrooms and there are times I know I just need to do that.  But there are times I just don't use my time wisely. 

How are ways you don't let your To Do list take over your life?

Guest Post on Adoption

There are so many topics I would love to write about here in this little "korner" but they are things I know nothing about.  One of those is adoption.  I have so many friends who have adopted and I know so many of you have or are praying about it. 
I have a friend Becca who is guest posting today for me about Adoption.  I would love for y'all to have an open forum to discuss adoption in the comments. 

Becca writes with her husband Matt at WhitsonLife.com. They write about marriage, parenting, and life through the lens of a married couple, parenting team, and pastor and professional counselor. Their desire is to provide hope and restoration by giving you a glimpse into their lives- the failures, the successes, and the brokenness and beauty of everyday.

Website: http://www.whitsonlife.com

FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Whitson-Life/1379560742283653

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/WhitsonLife   

https://twitter.com/BeccaWhitson       

https://twitter.com/MattCWhitson

Adoption is a topic close to my heart. My husband, Matt, and I adopted our two

youngest children. After having our oldest son, we were not able to have more

biological kids due to a rare medical issue I didn’t even know I had. We adopted our

younger son as an infant and are still waiting to go to court to finalize the adoption

of our daughter, who came home in November at age four. Their stories are here

and here.

In our seven years as part of the adoption community, we’ve noticed some common

misconceptions. I want to help clear some things up for you, especially if you’re

considering adoption for your family.

What Adoption Won’t Do:

Erase the pain of infertility. We tried for longer than I would have liked to have

our son, and I distinctly remember the grief that came every month. I didn’t expect

the same kind of pain with secondary infertility (after all, at least I already had one

baby, right?), but there it was. It turns out that having a child (or more than one)

doesn’t make infertility any easier. Our biological son is now nine, and I still grieve

the loss of the ability to conceive, carry, and deliver another child. Our two adopted

children bring such joy to our lives, but they do not erase the pain of infertility and

cannot be expected to. If you are considering adoption after infertility, please give

yourself time to really experience and grieve your loss before adopting.

Make you a savior. If you are going into adoption with the idea that you’ll ride in

on a white horse to rescue a child who will in turn be appreciative and loving, you’re

setting yourself up for disappointment. No matter the age of the child being adopted,

you are not their rescuer. God is. When you reverse those roles, you will set the

stage for resentment and an unhealthy dynamic. God is the only one who rescues. If

He calls you to adopt, let Him do the rescuing. The best thing you can do is to obey

and thank Him for letting you play a part in that child’s life.

Allow you to parent the same way you parent your biological kids. Adoption

is born out of loss. The birth family and child have all experienced deep loss, and

the adoptive family has often had their own losses as well. Adoptive parenting has

to be different from parenting our biological kids because of the child’s history.

Whether infant or older child adoption, the loss of their birth family plays a role in

their development, attachment, self-concept, and relationships. We can love our

children the same regardless of how they joined our family, but we need to parent

them differently.

Make your marriage better. Whether you’ve endured years of infertility or are

adopting because it’s what God has put on your heart, adoption will not make

your marriage better. It’s easy to think “if only we had a baby, things would be

better.” No more hormones, no more monthly disappointments, no more doctor’s

appointments. Or maybe for you, it seems like your marriage was so much better

when you were both focused on your babies; and now that they’re older, things are

more difficult again. Whatever the case, adoption is difficult and adds stress to a

marriage and family. It doesn’t “fix” anything.

Make your life easier. This one is probably obvious. Adoption, when done with

intentionality, is hard. And that doesn’t end when the baby or child is in your arms.

That’s only the beginning. Adoption is heart-wrenching and overwhelming at

times. I’ve sat with our six-year-old son while he wept over not knowing his birth

family and not being able to fully understand why he was placed for adoption. Our

daughter has wounds only God can heal. She has emotional triggers that we may

never know the root of. And we grieve too because we didn’t see her first steps or

hear her first words. We didn’t get to rock her to sleep or soothe her when she cried.

Whatever the circumstances, adoption is hard for everyone involved.

But what adoption does is more powerful than anything it doesn’t do.

Adoption has brought our family together in a way only God could orchestrate.

His hand has been evident in every step. He literally provided a father for our two

fatherless children, and is the Heavenly Father for us all. We will forever be grateful

for the gift of all three of our children and on our knees with humility that we have

the honor of parenting them.

Adoption has given us a glimpse into God’s grace like nothing else could. 

The grace I show my children when they act out is only a tiny shadow of the Grace I’ve received

(and continue to need daily). The financial and emotional cost of adopting our

children is nothing compared to the cost of my own adoption by God. In order for

me to become His daughter, God sacrificed His only Son.

Adoption has revealed God’s love for us like we hadn’t seen before. When we look at

our adopted children with the same love we have for the one who shares our genes,

we grasp a little bit more the love God has for us. When He looks at me, He doesn’t

see second-best. He sees His daughter.

Adoption is hard. But it’s worth it.

Son of God - Win a pair of tickets to see the movie!

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!!!

Mark Burnett - the creator of Survivor, The Voice, The Apprentice, and Shark Tank and his wife Roma Downey created the Bible Series for TV last year.

And now they have created a movie about the life of Jesus.

It comes out THIS Friday and it's going to be AMAZING!!!

I am so glad that Roma and Mark have used their talents and platform to share Jesus with the world this way.

Just watch this preview.




Compassion International is partnering with Roma and Mark on this movie.   They are working together to share Jesus and to help children in poverty.

And I have an amazing offer!!

I am going to give FOUR lucky winners a pair of FREE tickets to see the movie!

If you would like to win - just leave me a comment and tell me why you would like to see this movie or why you would like to give it to someone to see it.

This could be a great opportunity to invite a friend to see a movie that might change their lives!

Show us Your life - Infertility

Ip I've shared a few times that we struggled for a few years to have Harper. It was a roller coaster of emotions, fertility drugs, tests, shots and procedures.  Every month of finding out we weren't pregnant again felt like a loss I had to mourn over and over. It was a very difficult time for me.

We tried for three years to have a baby before Harper came.  We had unexplained infertility. I had a miscarriage early in our trying. I took meds, did shots, did IUI's and were told IVF was our only option with only a 50% chance of us having a baby that way and then we got pregnant with Harper on our own after we quit trying and took a break! Infertility is very painful and like mourning a loss every month. 

A few things helped me when we were going through the storm of infertility - constant prayer, reading God's word (there are SO many stories about women suffering with infertility in the Bible - I think that is SO special because it's as if God included those just to encourage you while you wait), talking to friends and most of all - finding people who were there or had been there who understood.

My heart goes out to any couple who are struggling to have a child.  It can feel isolating as well as painful.  I know it helps to find others who are in the same shoes.

Today - if you are struggling with infertility and can post about that - I'd love for you to and hopefully some of you can connect.  If you are dealing with secondary infertility - please put that in your description when you link up.  Or if it's something more specific you would like to address - a certain condition or issue - please list that also.  That way maybe others who are on the same road can find you and be encouraged or at least not feel alone.

Praying for all of you.  I know it is so hard. I hope today makes you feel less alone.

If you want to share your infertility journey that ended happily - please share that to encourage also! 

I also have a huge favor from a dear friend (you can trust this ok!) 

Are you or someone you know currently struggling with infertility? I would be honored to hear your story about your journey. My name is Savannah Conner and I am currently a Ph.D. student at Regent University who is completing a dissertation on infertility and womanhood. I am looking for women who are ages 25-35 who would be willing to participate in Skype interviews and allow me to hear about your journey of infertility. If you are willing and interested to learn more about the study please email me savahil@mail.regent.edu.

Speaking of..........

Just a reminder that tomorrow's SUYL is on infertility.  If you are struggling with it now or have in the past and want to encourage with your story - I hope you will write a post and join in! 

This has been a crazy week here.  I feel like I'm kind of chasing my own tail and running in a hamster wheel but it's been good! 

Tuesday night I spoke at a mom's event at a local church.  It was a fun event.  If you are local - this is something at Cross Church in Rogers that is usually a lunch event and has free childcare so if you work or stay at home it's less than an hour and a great way to meet other moms.  It's called Mom App.  Next month is about organization so I'm going and sitting on the front row.  (Register online)

They asked me to speak on "Blogging your life and faith".  I really tried to share more about how we all have a calling and we are all to share our faith - no matter how God wants to do that.  It may be through a blog or it may be through you job or sharing your faith with your children (which we all do).  

I had several of my good friends come to support me.  And there were several more there that night that I knew so it was fun to see familiar faces and to meet new ones! 

These are two of my dear friends and mentors.  They have really taken me under their wing this year and encouraged me and discipled me.  I am so thankful for them.  Susan just called me that morning and said "I'm going with you - do you want me to pick you up?"  I hope I'm the same to someone some day. 

Yesterday I went to speak to a group of  Speech students at the U of A.  It was so fun to be in a college classroom.  I loved just watching all the cute college girls.  I wanted to say "Oh enjoy being young and free and cellulite free and smooth skinned".   I talked to them about being the parent of a hearing impaired child and what speech therapy has meant for us.  They all seemed to enjoy hearing that the career they are pursuing really makes a huge difference.  

And in between all of this we have had preschool and AWANA and meetings and just every day life. Tomorrow night we have a women's event at church and then I am going to have to spend Saturday getting my house caught back up.  It's been very neglected this week.  

I pretty much feel like Hollis looks. 

But I'm thankful for everything God puts in my life.  

A little music

I'm speaking at an event tonight and I'm also speaking to a group at the U of A tomorrow so every moment that my children are asleep - I have been trying to prepare.  Which means not much else is getting done this week.

And I have major blogger block.


I could just leave this space closed for a few days.

Or I could let you ask me a few questions.

But THAT SCARES ME.   (Last time I did that I swore I would never do it again).  (I'm a open book but my goodness).


So I'm just going to post some worship music.  I can never get enough of praising God!

Weekend

The girls had the best valentines this year.  I had planned on getting them a balloon (because they ask for one all the time and I always say no) and donuts (because hello valentine donuts).  

But their day was even better because their grandparents stopped in to visit on their way home from Dallas and brought Valentine treats and they got a big package from their other grandparents.  And their daddy went and bought them little gifts too.  Add in their class treats and they were loving this holiday! 

 I got a special Valentines lunch date with my Valentine.  That was perfect! 

 The girls and I made cards and chocolate covered strawberries to surprise Daddy with.  

 And I made us a great dinner - steaks, mushrooms, parmesan potatoes and asparagus.  It was so good.  And Scott and I were so tickled because we were eating with the girls Valentines night and they were both yelling at one point and Dawson was under the table begging for steak and I was just like "Man our life is romantic".  But we wouldn't have it any other way.

I got asked on IG about how I cooked the steak and potatoes.......so here it is.

We were out of propane so I cooked the steaks inside - which honestly I prefer.  I seasoned them with Lawrey's season salt and put a pan on the stove and melted a little butter and got it super hot and seared the steaks on each side for about 5 minutes each.  Then I cooked in the oven at around 450 for 30 min and then at the very end broiled them.  They were delicious.

I use small red or yellow potatoes and put olive oil, garlic salt and grated parmesan cheese and coat them and then bake at 450 for an hour.  They are SOOO good! 

Saturday, Laurie and I went to visit our friend Jenn who just had surgery in the hospital.  Then I came home and worked at the compassion Experience for a few hours. Compassion has a mobile thing that goes on two semi trucks that they take to cities and you can tour 3 different stories of compassion children and see an exact replica of where they grew up and and the Compassion project they were in.  You listen to the story on an iPod.  It's an amazing experience.  Laurie and family came through while I worked.

We had Compassion Sunday today and it was so good!

This afternoon I took the girls through the Compassion experience.  It was SUCH a great opportunity to open up discussion about poverty and how so many children around the world don't have food to eat or clothes or toys.  It made a big impact on Harper.  She kept saying "this is just horrible".  We talked a lot about it tonight and how we can help.  She wanted us to pray before bed for our Compassion children and for all the kids who have little.  It was also a great way to talk to her about being thankful for what we have.

I can't express enough that if you have children - Compassion is a great way to help another child out of poverty while getting your family involved and teaching them that "it's not all about us".

If you are in my area - the experience is at First Baptist Bentonville tomorrow from 11-7.  Go check it out before they leave town.  You will be so glad you did!

Got a Valentine? How about GIVE a Valentine!

Scroll down below to find a SUYL with a zillion amazing SOUP recipes!!!

But I have something else exciting to post for Valentines! 

So this is my friend Lisa-Jo who I adore.  Lisa is a writer and a blogger and she also works for Dayspring and (in)courage.  She is from South Africa.

And she has dreamed up something big for this Valentines.  


She writes about motherhood a lot.  And so do I.  And most of you either write it or live it.  Because no matter where we live, mothers are all (basically) the same.  We love our children.  We do laundry. We cook.  We clean.   But some do it with WAY more resources than others.

What if 1 blog community could build 1 South African community a safe place for sustainable food, child care, economic empowerment, job skills trainings, a gathering place for church, classrooms for HIV/Aids education, and a playground for their kids?

What if love was more than a date on the calendar this year? 

What if we fell in love with the world next door?

The goal is to raise $150,000 to fund the entire project between Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day – because love is more than a date on the calendar, and it never leaves anyone out. And Mother's Day is a 365 days a year adventure, always worth celebrating.
Phase 1: Community Vegetable Garden 
  
Phase 2: Community Kitchen and Welcome Center 

Phase 3: Community Outreach Hall

Phase 4: 12 Classrooms

Phase 5: Playground

Because there’s a whole community of women who are raising more kids than just their own and still have all the same hopes, dreams and fears that we do.

And there’s a whole community of kids who would tell you that there is nothing ordinary about being a mom. Especially when you don’t have one.

So go HERE and read more about how we can help mothers and orphans who probably aren't getting donuts and balloons for Valentines.  I'm thankful we are and I'm thankful we can turn around and help others! 

It's a SOUP-ER day!!!!!

Show Us Your Life (SUYL) is back in full swing!!!

And today is all about SOUPS!!!!

Next week we will talk infertility so if you are struggling with or HAVE suffered through infertility - be ready to post and share!


I love soup.  Especially in the winter. We have had so much snow this year that I have been craving soups.  But I usually make basically the same soup recipe every time.  So I need new ideas.  I can't wait to bookmark this post and try out all your soups!

My favorite soup to make is Taco Soup.  It's sooooo easy and it's one thing my girls will eat!

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 14.5 oz can whole kernel corn
2 16 oz cans of ranch style beans (I only used one can because I'm not a bean lover & it was fine)
* Maybe not everywhere but I know here - you find cans at the grocery store of ranch style beans. If you don't have those - substitute pinto or black or whatever you like. 
4 cans of diced tomatos (maybe substitute 1 can rotel if you like spicy) (I got the garlic/onion kind and I think it gave it great flavor)
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 pkg Ranch dip mix

Brown and drain meat. Saute onions for a few minutes.  Combine all ingredients in a large pot.  Add chili powder, salt and pepper to taste. Simmer 1-2 hours. I topped it with shredded cheese and sour cream (and fritos and avacado)!

Valentines

Tomorrow we start back on SUYL.  Tomorrow we are starting off with SOUPS!!! Since almost all of us have been snowed in at some point this winter - we need more soup recipes!!! So bring your best to the table!!! 

Harper had her Valentines party yesterday and Hollis has hers tomorrow.  They are so excited about Valentines!  I have never loved the holiday much but I have to admit - it's fun with kids!

I've seen this idea a million times so I finally had to do it.  And it was so easy.  I just edited their picture in picmonkey.com and then had Walmart print them.

Harper came home with lots of cute Valentines.  She loved just the simple store bought ones the most.  Which I admit - I love those too.  But her teacher made this - isn't it adorable? So fun!

Last night the girls and I were at church for AWANA and Scott called me.  I was like "um, I'm kind of busy herding children" and he was at Walmart and wanted to buy the girls a Valentine gift.  (which you just have to know him - I thought that was the sweetest thing.  I always buy all gifts so I was proud of him.) But I got tickled because he said "What princess dresses do they have? Or how about a My Little Pony. I know they have Rainbow dash - how about Fluttershy?"  I couldn't quit smiling because Scott is such a guy's guy.  He loves football and hunting.  I'm sure he never dreamed one day he would know all the princess and my little pony names.   My girls have him wrapped around their little fingers.

We don't really do gifts for each other.  We did when we dated but pretty much stopped after we got married.  We would rather just go on a trip or get something later when we need it.  Gifts aren't a huge deal for us.  We don't even do Christmas or birthday gifts.  Gifts just aren't our love language.  I told Scott the best Valentine gift to me would be if he kept the girls on Saturday so I could do a few things.  That's romance to me.  Romance is him unloading the dishwasher.  Better than two dozen roses!

I found Harper in our bed reading this last night.  She skipped right past the little readers and went straight on to Beth Moore.  She knows what is worth reading! 

Happy Valentines to all of you.  Whether you have a Valentine or not - you are loved by the DESIGNER OF LOVE!!

But God shows and clearly proves His love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Growing and Grace

We are having a big week around here.  I registered Hollis for preschool and I registered Harper for Kindergarten!  I just can't believe my baby is going to school.  She can't WAIT!

We had a meeting yesterday with the person who is over students with hearing loss and an audiologist and discussed FM systems briefly.  We plan to try and get Harper one.  I think it will only help her.  She has done so well in preschool and has learned SO much.  {an FM system includes her teaching wearing a small microphone and some kind of small receiver that will be put on Harper's hearing aids so that she will be able to hear her teacher better above any background noise that her hearing aids pick up.  From what I understand. }

We are also looking into adding some additional therapy with a therapist that works for Children's hospital and mainly with hearing loss patients.  Children with hearing loss are often delayed in reading because they need visual cues.  I'm hoping with some extra help, Harper will be right in line with her classmates.

When I registered her, it asked if your child had a disability.  I really struggled with how to answer that.  Clearly she does.  And I'm not in denial.  I'm not ashamed or sad about it.  I just didn't want to label her starting out.  We believe she is just like any other child and want her to believe that.  But we also want to take every chance for help that can be provided to give her opportunities to excel.

She is so bright and funny.  She is going to love school and they will love her.  I just know it!

Today we had Bible Study, a women's council meeting and then an afternoon at therapy so I treated the girls to Crumpet Tea room for lunch.  It's my favorite and I haven't been in forever.  Doesn't Harper look thrilled?  She was having a tough day.  Nothing was going right from the minute she got up.  I lost my patience quickly this morning and then I started realizing that as females - we all have rough days, don't we?  I need to give her a little grace.  She is usually always such a happy little girl.  I had to let a grumpy, awful day go and realize I whine and cry a lot too sometimes.  I'm thankful for a God who gives me grace.  The least I can do is try to love my children like He loves me! {At least Hollis was having a great day!}


PS Be ready with your soup recipes - our first SUYL of 2014 will be SOUP recipes - an ode to all the cold weather this year!!! I can't wait. 

My own personal stylist

So I have been hearing about this for probably a year or more and I just never jumped on board.  When I went to Austin back in September with a group- they even gave us a great deal if we wanted to try it out.

And I just kept thinking, "I like to pick out my own clothes".

I like clothes. I know my body shape.  I know how to hide the fact that I'm 40, have 2 kids and like to eat Mexican food.  ha!

But for my birthday, my brother and SIL gave me a gift card to Stitch Fix.  So I decided I would check it out.  Why not?  And I just got my first box this weekend and I thought it would be fun to blog about.

I'm sure most of you know about this or have tried it out.  But for maybe the 10% of you who haven't....... Stitch Fix is like having your own personal stylist and never having to leave your house.

You go online and fill out a survey - like what you mostly wear (business clothes, casual clothes, formal {if you are the Queen of England}{just kidding}.) and you pick out your style and share your sizes. Then they send you a box of 5 items.  They also send you a handy card that gives you ideas on how to wear these items.

So I thought I would try on the clothes they sent.  I have to admit - I was VERY surprised that everything they sent fit and I actually liked.  Most of it were things I would have never picked out in a store but I really liked them all.  I made Scott take pictures of me.  If you want to try and imagine the lack of enthusiasm he had for this and multiply that by 10,000 - you might be close to how stupid he thought this was. ha!

I didn't style any of these outfits - just put them on.  I REALLY liked this dress.  I would probably put a big necklace or belt with it.  This is the one thing I ended up keeping and I actually wore a scarf with it and wore it Saturday.  (See yesterday's post).   

This was a 3 piece outfit : shirt, skirt and sweater.  I liked it but I don't know if I would actually wear this very often.  But you COULD mix and match the pieces.  

This was a cute sleeveless dress.  You could wear it in the summer with sandals.  They showed it with a jean jacket and I didn't have one so I put on a jean shirt.  You could pair a sweater with it.  

So what you do is keep what you want (after you go on-line and check out) and the send back what you don't want.  They provide a big envelope to ship back and you don't have to pay any postage - it's already addressed for you also.  It couldn't have been easier.   You can have it come monthly or cancel anytime.  It's $20 a month but that goes as credit towards what you want to buy.

You can select the price points you want.  You can pick "the cheaper the better" - not sure what the prices will be.  I selected the next option this time and everything was under $60.  But I would love for it to be closer to the $20-$30 range. 

I think this is a fun idea if you don't have time to shop and want to maybe stretch yourself to get things you wouldn't normally buy.   I'm glad my SIL Carrie talked me into trying Stitch Fix ! 

Have you tried it? Did you like it?

Sing Loud, Sing Strong

Friday afternoon, I met some of my friends to take our kids to see "Frozen Sing Along".  Which is basically the movie but they put the words on the screen and you are encouraged to sing along.  My girls can't read yet but they already know all the words to every song thanks to the soundtrack and want to listen to it 24/7 so I knew they would love this! 

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It was a lot of fun because it was mostly just us in the theatre (there are about 4 kids missing from this picture) and so we sang and could spread out our kids and didn't worry about annoying anyone.

Saturday we were ready for an outing so we went to Lowe's and then for an early lunch at Chuy's.  (Take note I'm wearing a scarf.  I branched out.  I also felt weird.)  It was so good.  We came home for naps and rest time on a cold, cold day after that.

Saturday night our church had a Night of Worship for our youth girls.  They had a dinner and a worship service and then they got to watch a movie.  During the movie - my friend Tracy put on a coffee bar.  She teamed up with a local coffee shop and was able to make frozen coffee drinks plus hot chocolate and coffee.  

I helped with this and it was SO much fun.  Although I would make a TERRIBLE barrista.  Also - it's so funny to me how coffee is such a thing with teenagers.  I don't remember any of my friends in high school OR college really ever drinking coffee.  But Starbucks and Coffee Shops weren't really a thing until I was in my 20's.  

It was fun for me to be with youth for a little bit because I spend most of my days in preschool land.  I helped with 3 yr old Sunday School this morning and this afternoon will help with preschool choir.  I love it.  I also love to look at the moms of teenagers and realize they were in my shoes just a few years ago and one day - we will have teenagers running off to girls nights at church.  It's so crazy to imagine but I know it's coming.  

I was looking for a neat Nativity this year that my girls would love but I never really found one. My friend Megan is selling several really neat sets and you can get 10% off through 5 p.m. TODAY (Sunday).   They won't ship until Summer but you will have it ready to go for next year and can be a heirloom for your family!  Check them out here:

www.heartandhomecollection.com

I also spent every moment I could this weekend watching the If Gathering on live stream. I was lucky to have been to a leadership retreat for this back in September and got to know most of the women who spoke or sang and I wanted so badly to have gone this weekend but I try not to be gone too much and I have several other things going on later so I was so thankful to watch online.  You can still watch the sessions here - they were amazing! (Until Midnight Monday).

http://new.livestream.com/ifgathering/ifgathering