4th Of July

The Fourth Of July was good.
Really busy, but good.
Friends, fireworks, twinkly lights, fireworks, yummy food.... A perfect Summer day, if you ask me.

One of the highlights of the day was having Becky from Farmgirl Paints + her girls over for dessert and lemonade.
I met Becky for the first time(in real life) last Summer and along the way we have discovered so many little life-connections that I think
we were really just meant to be friends. More on that later though.
Oh-- and none of them seemed to mind that I accidentally added double the sugar to my fruit pizza I served them.... Yikes.

{Becky's girls}

The kids in the country, waiting for the fireworks to start from on top of the Jeep. 

There were hundreds of lightning bugs out and the weather was perfect.

It was a good day, but we are looking forward to a quiet, not busy rest of the weekend... 

Oh, how I do love long holiday weekends.  Happy Friday, hope everyone has a GREAT weekend!

Linking up here for some InstaFriday fun...

Friday Favorites /// Rainbows + Unicorns Edition

Hey there.
Good morning and Happy Friday!!!
I am greeting today with lots of exclamation points... because that's how I am feeling right now....
it is Friday... and a 4-day holiday weekend.
We are in our pajamas, drinking coffee + orange juice, eating blueberry muffins and there are Legos
and Calico Critters everywhere.
We have nowhere to be today and the whole weekend ahead of us.
And the sun is shining... you might wanna go ahead and cue the unicorns and rainbows....NOW.

My girl lost Tooth #3 , commonly known as toothy #3 around here, at school this week. 

She loved that she lost it at school and that her teacher got to see it. 

She loves her teacher so much that I sometimes (kinda jokingly and kinda not) tease her that 

she likes her teacher the best. 

I am so thankful for the two fantastic teachers my kids have this year.

There was a second letter to the Tooth Fairy asking her to write back please... 

I almost forgot but then remembered around midnight when I woke up from

 falling asleep on the couch.

Whew.

>A few other highlights from this week ::

Eric surprised me by making me an appt. to get my hair done this week and a scalp/head

massage that was sent straight from heaven.

I hate getting my hair cut, like really hate it(weird, I know) but this was perfect.

My husband is super thoughtful.

> My girl raised $50.06 all on her own by selling handmade Valentine's for 25 cents each.

I think she was pretty proud of herself  when we went to the animal shelter to donate

 it there last weekend.

 Things like this male me think that maybe I am not completely screwing my kids up...

like not completely maybe?

>You might have already seen this if you follow me on Instagram... 

 My friends and I got tickets to see Pearl Jam at Wrigley Field in July.

I am beyond excited and we are already counting down the days!

It's good to have something planned to look forward to.

> My boy was interviewed at school this week by the local newspaper and was on the news
because his class wrote letters to soldiers before Christmas and his soldier wrote back,
sent pictures and sent him some Korean money.

.........

There's a little bit of my week via Instagram...
I'm linking up with Jeanett at Life Rearranged,  here.
I am headed out of town tomorrow to celebrate one of my oldest
BFF's big 40th Birthday.
A night away with 4 of my best girlfriends... I think we are all beyond excited and
are all looking so forward to a night away from our regular lives + responsibilities.

                      Source: Uploaded by user via Amy on Pinterest

Hope you all have a  FANTASTIC  weekend!

Insta-Friday

Happy Friday!
Is it just me or do the weeks fly by?
Do you think it only happens when your kids get to be school-age though?
I do, I KNOW the days were not flying by when they were younger and I was home with them all day long.
No way.
Anyway-- the current state of my house is...Messy...and I should be up cleaning and making  beds but alas,
I am researching places to go on a vacation I will most likely never actually go on.
Kinda depressing.
Oh well.

{ Linking up with Jeannett for a little look at our week, through the iphone lens.... }

> Winter walks with the kids this week to get some FRESH AIR + save our sanity

> Helping out at school -- Feels like I have been there a lot this week. Like... a lot

> Wacky Tacky Day at school today. Charlotte loved herself, especially the glitter on her face

> A favorite new print from a friend. LOVE.

> After school snack for the kids

> Hula hoop! Open Gym last night at school
My view; walking
Hangin' up hearts
Toast
This adorable boy-- greasy face and all from such bad dry Winter skin!

> Drawing by Charlotte. I love this so much, the spelling is perfect!!
ME :: Just because my hair and make-up was done(which never happens), headed out to
dinner and drinks with my BFFs.

There's just a little bit of our week...
Now I am headed back to school for the 2nd Grade Spelling Bee then we are off for
a 3-day weekend. Yayyyyyy!
Hope you all have a good day and a great weekend!!

>>>>>>>>

* ps- I am lucky13amy on Instagram, follow along here .

Friday Insta-Love

A few snapshots of the last week; iphone-style, baby....

> Cookies + cream milkshakes made with my new blender.  Thanks, Santa!
> Lights at Night :: Out late trying to finish my Christmas shopping one night last week
> New dining room centerpiece; ready for a fresh start!
> Starting my list for 2013
> From Santa-- that would be Mr. Hooty
> Latte in my new mug

> Me + Eric :: Christmas day

> A week's worth of laundry... Oh, how I detest you! 

    > new Calico critters from grandma + grandpa. I might LOVE them as much as she does.

    > Why did Santa bring only one skateboard? The fighting over it is driving me crAzY. already.
 
   > Hotdog the Elf and one of his overnight antics
   > Watching Elf + eating pizza for Family Movie Night

   > All dolled up and ready for a night out!
   > Cousins on Christmas

Happy Friday y'all.... Hope you have a GREAT weekend!

Friday Insta-Love

Hi there.
It's Friday!
I'm always happy for the weekend although the weeks have seemed to be going so fast since school
started.
Has it felt like that for you, too, or is it just me?
Hooray for weekends anyway though and cooler temps and no plans! No plans, I love the sound of that.

A little insta-love from the past week...

leaves are starting to turn * office door * sky * morning walk
modeling necklaces for the shop * walking to school * girl's night out * cool spider web
coffee in the back yard * office cleaning! * yellow * front porch getting all "falled up"
sunset * shop stuff * driving * hobby lobby dress up


>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

It has been an absolutely beautiful Fall week, like it was exactly what I would have asked for.
Windows open, perfect sleeping weather, sunshine and cooler temps.
All of it makes me ready for the pumpkin patch or maybe even the apple orchard first.

And because I haven't shared any of our pictures from our little trip to Indiana last weekend, here
are some of my favorite insta-shots...
The kids ready to go and excited because they got out of school for a half day.

the waterfall * our cabin * the waterfall again * so many trees *

evening hay ride through the park * flowers from my girl * cousins! * first trip 

We had so much fun in Indiana and I have a whole bunch more pictures to share next week.
What have you got going on this weekend?
Anything fun?

Hope you have a great weekend.

Instagram Friday = Instant Love

Hey there.
Wow, I must say, I am really happy Friday is here.
I have been feeling a little stir-crazy this week...kinda like how I feel when I am cooped up in the house during the Winter... but it is July...and it is so.freaking.hot.
Like 105* hot, with a heat index of 115* ...what? Really?
Ugh... really.
But, at the same time, I feel like I have accomplished pretty much nothing all week, even though we have been home a whole lot, which is really just kinda dumb.
Just one of those weeks I guess.

Everything outside is wilting and dying, even though we are watering 1-2 times a day.

The rose bush I got for Mother's Day finally bloomed though- and aren't they pretty?

I think they are called Peace roses.

I love the yellow with a tinge of pink.

We have spent lots of time inside this week--along with lots of swimming because that is just about

the only thing we (I) can stand to do out there.

I miss the kids just playing out in the back yard for half the day but hopefully this 

ultra-hot spell will be over soon.

I took the kids to see Brave yesterday. Have you seen it? We all liked it a lot.

It was pretty empty at the theater because I think everyone else had been to the cheap summer 

kid's movie that morning.

Does your local theater do summer kid's movies?

If you are not sure you should definitely check into it, ours are only $2 for

admission/drink/popcorn. 

Same price for kids and adults. Can't beat that!

/////////////////////////////////////

Fourth of July fun.

We had cousins over and cooked out.

Ice cream, sprinkler, fireworks, sparklers... what more could a kid want?

Lots of board games, a little baking, lots of sweating and ummmm...way too much fighting if you

wanna know the truth. This heat/lock-down is starting to take a toll on all of us.

What do you have going on this weekend?

Hope you all have a great Friday.