Thanksgiving

Well, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving break.  I hope you did too.  School was out all week and it was a welcome break.  I have to admit, I was pretty thrilled not to have to jump up and make lunches and get everyone ready and race out the door by 7 every day.  We were still up early but we got to move a lot slower.  

The kids and I spent the first few days cleaning house and getting things ready.  This was the first year we have had everyone come here for Thanksgiving.  Will Holden is not the best traveler so we invited Scott's parents to come up and spend the holiday with us.  It was a huge relief not to have to pack up three kids and basically everything but the kitchen sink and travel.  

I had planned to cook for us but Scott insisted we just go out to eat instead to make it easy.  I still wanted to cook but my parents who were going to be alone on the holiday said if we would go out to eat, they would come over and join us.  So ultimately, we just had an easy, laid-back Thanksgiving. 

Unfortunately,  the beginning of the week wasn't super pleasant.  Will Holden is getting his front top teeth and I have forgotten how teething is straight from the devil.  He's such a happy boy but he was anything BUT happy for a few days.  And he had a cold on top of that so he was having restless sleep and just miserable.  And I had a cough that I could not get rid of so my parents came over early Wednesday morning and I went to the doctor and then later took Will to the doctor.  It's been so long since I have been to the doctor for myself that they didn't even have my insurance in the system.  I am going to count that as a big blessing! 

The girls had a lot of energy and were so excited about all the grandparents coming so Scott had them out in the back yard running timed laps.  Somehow he talked me and my parents into joining in. ha! 

I made pork carnitas tacos for dinner and we had a big buffet of desserts.

These three turkeys are what I'm MOST thankful for! 

Thursday I made us an early lunch of cheese and broccoli soup and the most amazing cheese and broccoli cornbread.  It was SO good! I tried my hardest to get the girls interested in the Thanksgiving parade but they weren't into it.  Is that a lost art?

 Scott's parents and the kids

My parents and the kids.  At this point, Will Holden had reached a breaking point.  He hasn't gotten the memo yet on how we like to take a lot of pictures around here.  

We went later in the afternoon and ate at Copelands.  It was really good.  We had a very cajun Thanksgiving - fried turkey, gumbo, jambalaya, oyster dressing.  And the best part was no one had to cook and no one had to do dishes! We all enjoyed doing something different for once! 

My parents went home Friday and it was POURING and cold.  I was so disappointed in the weather because I would have liked for us to get out and do some fun things but with a baby who had a cold and just no outdoor activities possible, we were limited.  We got out and ate at a new restaurant in town for lunch and then came home to watch the Razorback game.  I cooked us dinner that night. 

Saturday, Scott and his parents took the girls to the movies and around town to do a few things.  I know they were all glad to get out even if the weather was miserable again.  I stayed home with my blue eyed boy and while he napped I got all my Christmas cards done.  

We spent the evening watching more football since it was Rivalry Saturday. 

 Scott's parents left this morning and my family headed to church in our Christmas clothes! We didn't have church tonight so we have spent the rest of the day at home in our comfy clothes and I have finally started working on putting Christmas up.  I'm hoping to finish tomorrow.  It's so fun because Hollis has apparently forgotten all of our decoration and she keeps walking around going "Wow - this is awesome!"

I thought I had lost our elf.  I lost the one we had the first year.  I'm sure it's still "hidden" really well somewhere in our house but I ended up buying a new one last year.  I was a little nervous that I had hidden it too well again this year but I finally found it.  The girls have been talking non stop about when "Madeline" is coming back.  We decided to wait and let her show up on December 1st.  I'm just glad I don't have to try to buy Elf #3.  

I hope your Thanksgiving ran this same gamut of emotions! I can't believe Christmas season is already here! It always seems like the year just flies by.  

And here we are again. 

Gobble Gobble Gobble

I can't believe it's already Thanksgiving week - can you? We have the whole week off from school and I'm so happy.  Of course, Murphy's law - every single day during the school year I have to drag the girls out of bed but I'm positive every day this week they will be bouncing on my bed before 6.  (Today already started that way!)

 I just can't resist a cute turkey outfit.  My girls had the cutest turkey dress that they wore for four years straight.  I got this little Turkey jon jon for Will Holden thinking it might be too big but he's grown so much I had to stuff him in it this week and I'm just hoping he can cram in it again on Thursday.  I know I'm biased - but isn't he adorable?

 Hollis had a Thanksgiving program at school on Wednesday.  I love these special days! I'm going to miss our preschool days so much but thankfully I have a good four more years! 

 Her native American name was Smiling Butterfly.  Which fits her perfect.  And I laughed when I looked back and Harper had the same name! They are two happy girls! 

 Thursday night I went to see Selah and Point of Grace in concert with a few of my best friends.  They are two of my long time favorite Christian groups.  I actually went to OBU right after POG graduated.  And we worked together at a church camp the summer before my freshman year when they were still known as "Say So".  They are so sweet and I got to go back and visit them after the concert.  I know Todd through Angie his wife so it was fun to see him too.  If you have the chance to see them in concert - you need to jump on it! 

Laurie and I have been trying to have lunch with our friend Jennifer forever and we finally got to on Friday.  A new restaurant opened recently in Fayetteville - Tacos 4 Life.  There is one in Conway also.  For every meal sold, they donate a meal to the hungry.  It is owned by two OBU grads that are friends with Jennifer.  It was SOOOO good.  Laurie and I left a little obsessed.  I've heard a rumor they might open one in Bentonville so now my fingers are crossed! 

Saturday it turned BITTER cold here.  Thankfully we had a day completely free of plans and we all stayed home in our pajamas.  It was glorious! Scott went to the Razorback game with a friend.  They got to eat at the Broyles Center and go on the field.  I would be SOOO jealous but it was so cold - I was very happy to watch the game in my pjs in our warm house and eat my taco soup. 

Plus the end of the game.  (insert sad face)

My sweet girl Hollis sat on my lap and watched a good part of the game with me.  She kept waiting to see Daddy on TV.  I think she thought he might be playing. ha! 

The sweetest group of girls from Memphis came to the ball game this weekend and stayed in my town.  They had messaged me and said they were going to visit my church and wanted to meet me.  I was so honored.  Unfortunately, Will Holden was sick Saturday night and had fever so I couldn't take him to church and Scott had deacon duties and had to be there so since we live super close to the church, I just drove up to the parking lot with kids in their pjs and met the girls in the parking lot.  I hated for them to visit my church and miss getting to meet them.  If you know any single guys in the Memphis area or Jonesboro area - you need to let me know! These four girls would be a great match!!!!! I'm taking applications!!!!!

I feel like the biggest loser because every single person on my IG feed has Christmas up but I just haven't been in the Christmas spirit yet and plus everyone is coming here for Thanksgiving so I don't want to put it up yet.  I still have pumpkins and partially alive mums out.  Next Sunday I will be working like crazy to catch up!!!

And I saw this and it pretty much sums up my life.  Do any of you feel like Hamsters on a wheel? I feel like I'm constantly cleaning or doing laundry and I just can never catch up.  Or I finally get things semi clean and by 3:30 - it's all a mess again.  

I'm just thankful it's Thanksgiving break! Mess or no mess! 

Round Here

Well, Scott is on his way home this morning from several days of hunting.  And we are SO glad! He had a great time away and we have been super busy while he has been gone! 

Our women's ministry had a Mugs and Muffins event on Saturday morning.  My friend Melinda was our speaker.  Laurie's husband kept all the girls but it was pushing it to have him keep Will Holden so I took him with me.  

We left straight from there to a birthday party at a trampoline place.  It's fairly new but we hadn't been there yet.  It opened when I was super pregnant and I just didn't have the energy to take the girls.  They loved it though so we will have to go again! 

The children's choir sang in church on Sunday morning.  Harper was so excited! It's so sweet to hear the kids singing about Jesus.  (Harper has some big scratch on her nose.  I have no idea what happened but my guess is that occasionally she likes to sleep in big gaudy rings and she probably scratched herself.  She got in the car from school yesterday and said "I had the worst day of my entire life.  Everyone kept asking me what happened to my nose".  ha! ha! DRAMA!)

Ugh - she looks so grown up!

One of the oldest and most well known restaurants in our town burnt down a while ago.  They have finally rebuilt and are re-opening soon and I was invited to go to a sneak preview dinner Monday night.  Since our husbands were all out of town, a few of us girls went together.  We hired a couple of girls to babysit all of our kids together (bless them)! We had so much fun.  The food was so good and the company was better.  If you are in NWA - you need to visit Fred's Hickory Inn again soon! 

Yesterday morning I had Bible Study and then a birthday lunch for my friend Aimee.  It was a MONSOON outside and a day I would have loved to have just stayed home but I got the kids out and got drenched getting everywhere but it was so worth it.  

November is such a busy month but one that is full of food and friends and thankfulness! 

Choosing a Christmas Card and Win $100 credit to Minted.com

So..........you may remember my recent post where I blogged about Stitch Fix and how I used them to help put together an outfit for family pictures.

 I went went with this cute fall-ish dress they sent me and then picked out my family's outfits to coordinate! 

So we took family pictures and then I ordered my Christmas Cards through Minted.com.  I'm trying to be on the ball this year and get them done early!

If you have read my blog for very long - you may have heard me say that Christmas cards are my very favorite part of Christmas.  Well besides the fact that we are celebrating Jesus.  But it's not the presents or decorations that I love the most - it's the CARDS!!! I LOVE getting home every day and checking the mail and seeing pictures of all my friends and family! And I have a special Christmas tree that I use to display all the cards and it's my favorite decoration I have!

So I tried out several designs for our card.  I REALLY REALLY love the foil designs.

"Joy" is clearly the theme to our year! 

And right now - Foil cards are 20% off!!! :-) 

I put some of my favorite pictures from the year of our kids for the back of the card! I love that you can feature one or many pictures! 

Minted has so many cute styles and options.  

LOVE the colorful ones too!!!! 

AND three of you can win $100 credit on minted.com by entering HERE! 

Just take THIS LINK and you will have the chance to win!!!!

Good luck designing your own cards! Send me one! :-) 

Sponsored by Stitch Fix and Minted - Affiliate links used.

Just some random stuff........

This post has no point - just a bunch of random stuff I thought I would share. 

Tuesday night I went to a fundraiser dinner for the CALL.  The CALL is a Christian organization in Arkansas who supports foster families through local churches.  I have several friends who have been foster parents and the CALL has helped them so much.  They help to get the paperwork done quickly and connect you with other families and they help provide things like clothes and diapers quickly when they take in kids.  My friend Jessica in the picture with me has fostered several kids.  We heard from a local pastor/business man who grew up in foster care.  His story was just so unbelievable and yet the reality for so many kids all over our country.  It was amazing to see how he broke the cycle and found God and changed the course of his life.  I was so inspired by him and so broken of the thousands of kids who don't have loving parents they are safe with.  Our governor also spoke and he expressed his support for what the Call is doing. If you are looking for something to support - the CALL is doing amazing work. 

I love to get to have lunch with Harper at school from time to time.  I surprised her yesterday and showed up.  She was so excited.  She wanted me to stay all day! I'm soaking up all the days she is happy to have me at school and not embarrassed by me. ha! Will Holden loved looking at all the kids.  

 If you are looking for a cute outfit for any upcoming holiday parties - my cousin has a cute boutique you should check out! I love all the clothes she has!

I Do Declare Boutique

Are you watching the Voice??? It's maybe one of my favorite shows! I love the interaction with the judges and they make me laugh so hard and they are so encouraging to the contestants and the talent is always so great! Barrett Baber just made it to the Top 12 and I'm so excited! He went to OBU and now lives in NWA and is just so talented!!! If you are watching - you need to vote for him!!!

And finally - it's that time of year where we are looking for calendars and planners and gifts for Christmas! Another OBU friend has the CUTEST CUTEST shop! She has BEAUTIFUL scripture calendars that are just works of art! And she also has art work for framing and my favorite things are her new hoop art! She has all kinds of designs and little mini hoops for ornaments! CLEARLY the deer is my favorite and I am going to get it for Will Holden's room!!!! You need to visit it - I bet you would find the perfect thing you have been looking for!

Fresh Entity

Just Do It

If you are on social media at all - then you are probably bombarded with a lot of "talk".

CONSTANT TALKING.

And Ranting.

I love me some social media but some times I just get tired of the noise.  I have three kids who are constantly screaming or fighting or talking to me.  I rarely get any quiet moments.  The last thing I need to do is listen to adults doing the same thing amongst themselves.

I think you know what I mean.

#redcup  (ahem)

I'm all for us as Christians having white space or being still and listening to God or making time to just be home and quiet.  But I think what God called us to was action.  Not voicing our opinions.  Not saying no to make "me time".  Not fighting with people that don't and won't believe the way we do.

No matter how much we argue, we aren't winning them to Christ this way.

"Therefore GO and make disciples"..... Matthew 28:19
"By their FRUITS you will know them"....... Matthew 7:20
"Love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you"........ Matthew 5:44
"Take up your cross and follow me"...Matthew 16:24


The Bible tells us that we can't work our way into heaven (thank goodness) but once we ARE Christians - we can't just sit around waiting for Heaven.

We are here to know Him and to make Him known. 

If you read Proverbs 31 about the portrait of a Godly woman, she wasn't calling up her friends and talking about what everyone was doing wrong. She wasn't publicly calling out companies (and why do we expect the lost to act like they aren't lost????).  She wasn't being hateful to people with righteous indignation.

She was acting out her faith.

She got up in the dark and made food for her family.
She bought fields and planted vineyards
She was sewing
She was giving to the poor and needy
She made clothes for her family and to sell for profit
She watched over her household and did not "eat the bread of idleness"
She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction.

When we are busy acting out faith, we don't have a lot of time to be worried what others are doing.  When we are giving to the poor and helping the needy, we aren't so busy worrying about what we don't have.
When we are serving and loving on others, we aren't looking at their faults and shortcomings.
When we are reading God's word daily and spending time meditating on His goodness, we desperately want others to KNOW HIM.

When we focus on the main thing we are here for - to prepare for Eternity - the mess of this world matter a lot less than the people around us and their souls.

Yes we should stand up and speak up for the truth.  But I think that means sharing the Gospel more than it means anything else.  I don't care if anyone I meet in life knows where I stand on every political issue.  I want them to know where my faith was and how much I want them to know Jesus.

No one needs to know my opinion on every controversial topic.  You need to know that I only want you to know that the God who created the earth loves you with an unconditional, unbridled, unbelievable love and He wants you!!!

How about with the time we have left in 2015, we give more. We serve more. We do more for the kingdom.

I think God's got the rest.

Fall Favorites

Friday my parents came over to do some stuff in our town and they came back when the girls were out of school.  I had already planned to take the girls to a big Toy Fair in town after school and I was SO thankful they came with me because it was CRAZY!

Because I live in the home of Walmart - we get a lot of cool stuff in our town.  We have a thing called "First Friday" every month on our town square.  It involves a lot of food trucks and booths and music.  In November, all the toy vendors in town bring the new toys and set up tents.  Thankfully we have Disney and Nickelodeon and Mattel and everyone else and they all do little give aways and bring characters like Peppa Pig and Hello Kitty and Minions and Paw Patrol for the kids to meet.  It's SO fun but I think every kid in the tri state area and their parents were there.  It was a madhouse. But my girls had the best time!

Saturday morning we were all up and ready by about 6:45 so we decided to go a park and take some family pictures.  I ran by a baby shower quickly and then we met up for lunch on our square.  It was just a really nice relaxed day.  

 Fall is just my favorite.

That afternoon we watched the Hogs play Ole Miss.  We assumed we would get beat because our season has not been the best.  But you just never know.  It ended up being probably my favorite game ever. It was so close the entire game and then we tied it at the end with an incredible play and then won in overtime. 

So of course we had to break out victory outfits for Sunday.  Will is busting out of his outfit but he is just in the middle of a huge growth spurt.  He's out growing clothes faster than I can keep up! 

But look at the cute smile! 

Dressing for Holiday pictures with Stitch Fix (and Win $50 Credit!!!)

It's that time of year again.

Time to get that family picture made to fill the frames in your house and to appear on your annual Christmas Card! Am I right? My social media is filled with my friends planning out their outfits for family pictures.  

I've told y'all many times how much I like Stitch Fix.  With three kids, it's not easy for me to get out and shop and I get stuck in a rut of choosing the same style over and over.  I may even be guilty of getting things in 3 colors if I like them because it's easier than finding a different style.  So for a stylist to look over my sizes and wishes and send me a box of things to choose from that I might not pick myself, it's like a dream come true! 

And it can be the answer to your wardrobe issues for anything from an upcoming family get together and office parties to family pictures! 

The key is to let the stylist know when you make your profile (or update your profile) that you have pictures coming up or that you have a vacation coming up that you need a special outfit for.  You could probably give them a color wheel to pull from if you wanted to and see what they come up with.

In my last box, I had requested some cute fall clothes.  I got the wine colored dress above and I loved it.  It's short sleeve so I could wear it in the spring/summer or I can add a cardigan or a lace jacket like I did and it would be great for fall pictures. 

Apparently this is the color of the season because they also sent me this lace dress.  I liked it on it's own but I wore it to a casual outside dinner so I added a jean jacket.  

With these options in mind - I went in search of ideas for how the family could match me! :-) 

Will Holden has that jean romper already from Gap so I thought it would be fun to go with a wine and denim theme.  Harper had the butterfly dress from Zara on the bottom.  It has several shades of blue and maroon on it and was a great tie in.  And then I thought Hollis could use something like a denim dress with maybe a fur vest or that maroon dress on top is from Zara.  And Scott could always wear a denim shirt.  

I got this dress from Stitch Fix this summer and I LOVE it.  If we were doing spring pictures, I would wear it.  I just thought I would show another example of things I love that Stitch Fix has sent me.  They also always seem to send me pants that fit well.  That's an area I struggle with.  I know you think I never wear jeans but I do occasionally and it's always jeans that I got through Stitch Fix because they miraculously always fit.  (Unlike the 57 pairs I always seem to try on in stores).  

So I have a fun thing for you today!!

If you haven't tried Stitch Fix yet and you would like to  - especially if you are looking for something great to wear for holiday pictures or parties - I'm giving away TWO $50 gift cards to two of you who sign up!  Just sign up on the raffle copter! 

And then come back in two weeks because I'm going to be giving away THREE $100 gift cards to Minted.com who you can do your Christmas cards through once you get your pictures made!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway



Post sponsored by Stitch Fix and Minted.com. Affiliate Links Used.

Halloween Weekend

It's been an eventful weekend! 

The Pioneer Woman's new cookbook came out last week and she did a book signing at a local Walmart on Friday.  My friend Marci (who is practically a Pioneer woman herself) LOVES her so I thought it would be fun to go together to get our books signed!!!!

Oh you know - just me and my BFF Ree laughing! 

Will Holden was not amused.  But look how cute he is in his "ranch" overalls!

We have always done family themes with the girls and they honestly think it's so fun.  I would be happy for them to pick their own costumes but they love doing something together.  A movie they love is "Wizard of Oz" so I knew that would be a perfect fit for this year.  I had originally planned for Scott and I to be scarecrow and tin man but I was just so tired this year that I kept it to just the kids.  

I mean - how cute?

Harper had a school costume carnival Friday night and there was also a men's event at church so I took the kids myself.  There was 1000 people packed into a cafeteria and it was at least 1000 degrees in there and SO loud.  Let's just say we didn't last long. 

This was my favorite picture of the weekend - right before we went trick or treating.  

People ask me how I manage to get three kids looking and  smiling.  Let's just say it involves a lot of jumping around and singing.  Will Holden will smile for me every time I sing "Who let the dogs out?"  

For the last five or six years we always go to Laurie and Steve's house and eat pizza and trick or treat their neighborhood.  Their neighborhood gets real into it so it's a lot of fun.  It's like my girls' Super Bowl - they have SO much fun.  

I made us a dirt cake with worms.  It seemed like the perfect dessert. 

Our friend Caroline joined the girls.  We had the best time and now I have to hide the candy from us all.  

Today is our 12th anniversary.  

We have lived a lot of life between these two pictures.  Thankful for him.

We celebrated by having a normal Sunday at church.  We went out to eat with Laurie and Steve and all the girls.  Which seems fair since we all went out to eat on their anniversary night.  Hopefully we will get a night out alone soon! :-) 

and now it's November.