S Club Mama

After 7 years of marriage, I still don't know everything about Big A. Amazing, isn't it, how much we can know about someone but still they have so much to tell us. I thought I would gain some help with getting to know him more with " 101 Conversation Starters for Couples " by Gary Chapman and Ramon Presson. It's really been helpful to ask these questions to learn more about Big A. Some of the questions that we've discussed so far are: image via Amazon What are two things that happened today and how did you feel about them? He started off the day with no new emails and felt good about that; then work really picked up around 4:00 and a few people needed a few things at the same time so he was downhearted about that. If you could hire Martha Stewart for a day, what would you have her do? Buy our groceries with her money. What nonbiblical historical event would you like to have witnessed? No answer because I asked a really deep question too late at nigh...

With all of this excitement (?) over Miley Cyrus at the VMAs, I think it's very appropriate to be posting this review over "Grace Unplugged" by Melody Carlson and "Own It" by Michael & Hayley DiMarco. "Grace Unplugged" is about Grace Trey, daughter of Johnny Trey - a one-hit-wonder from the past whose life is changed drastically by the Lord Jesus Christ and turns his music career into a life of a worship pastor. His daughter is in their church's worship band under the direction of her dad, but wants so very badly to be in the spotlight. When her dad's old manager wants to resurrect her dad's hit (with her dad as singer, which he turns down), Grace takes the plunge to make herself a name in lights using his hit. Running away from home, traveling down the path of musicians to play at bars to "pay her dues," Gracie Trey (her stage name) dives deeper down into the road we too often see in young starlets. When a new frien...

Modesty seems to be making a comeback...at least in some circles. I'm thankful for this but until designers realize that's what we women want, it will continue to be difficult to find modest attire. I specifically have a hard time finding modest shorts and modest tops. Well, halftee.com helps me with one of those areas!  Before I was pregnant with Moose, I had this little half tank top with lace that I constantly wore under everything. My pregnancy left it stretched out and I have been resigned to wear camisoles under shirts to help out my modesty. However, that gets hot sometimes! So I was pleased to find Halftees .  They are basically a crop top that ends just below your chest. They don't roll up. They come up to a modest place on your body to help cover up the girls. :)  I hadn't worn this top at all this summer because it'd be so hot to wear something underneath it. Yay for Halftee giving me my shirt back!! I decided a navy one would benefit me be...

As we enter the 2nd full week of school, I thought I'd share our first day of school pictures! Moose is pretty consistent in becoming a race car racer. Squirt kept saying he wanted to grow up to be a man (good goal! We need some good ones!), but I thought he needed a job goal, too. And he wants to take bad guys to jail, so policeman. They were excited for the first day of school, but definitely sad to not be home. Good and bad. We again prayed about homeschooling but felt God wanted our boys to be in school so we could share in the lives of so many that work with them.

Nebraska has a forest - who knew?  OK I knew but only because I went to 4-H camp and an overnight field trip there when I was younger. Halsey is a pretty cool place so we took a day to take the boys up there with my parents. Going up the Lookout Tower wasn't as stressful and scary as I remember (thankfully!). Happy 7 year anniversary, sweetheart! 7 years, 2 kids, 1 blessed life. Squirt loved the tower!! Locust/Cicadas shells (Big A said they aren't really locusts because locusts are really a large grasshopper). Whatever.  Moose still liked hiking but not as much as he did last year - it was cooler then. :) 30 minute hike and no pain in my foot - woohoo! Squirt wanted to go up the tower again.  Cheese, Moose! Cheese, Grandpa! Moose's photography skills! Great angle on his brother! Squirt found an awesome climbing tree. So in his element. Moose ...

I came across the Petite Lemon site awhile ago and just fell in love with their personalized growth charts , big brother t-shirts , prints, posters, and stationery.  image via Petite Lemon They have allowed me to review this adorable alphabet poster print (a $25 value). It is printed on great quality paper and came in the cutest packaging (don't you love the yellow bow?). So pretty much you add a nice frame and you have decor for your toy room, baby room, bathroom, where ever! image via Petite Lemon I love all the little animals on there. The J for jelly fish, Q for quail, B for bee - they even made the Yak cute! I do love that they put a narwhal on there, too. My dad was on the USS Narwhal submarine so that little animal shares in my family history. image via Petite Lemon The best thing about this print? You can win one right here ! Here's the deal: More about the posters you could win: fits in an 8x10" frame exclusively designed and packa...

Big A and our friend Nick took their big boys camping before school started. This is the second year they've done this and I believe this one was a success, too. So thankful to have great friends nearby! While we spent the majority of our vacation with my parents, we took a night to visit some friends from college. It was fun to get all the kids together - getting a picture of them together was something else. :) It was really a joy to see their families growing! We also hit up a local splash pad. The boys absolutely LOVED this!!! They still ask to go back. I'll have to share our Halsey pictures again soon. Did you do anything fun this summer??

I was scouring Etsy, just looking for cute things when I came across this sweet little thing: image from the Etsy shop If you're not as nerdy as I am, this is Elvish written around the baby teether , like the ring from Lord of the Rings. So cool. Look at this craftsmanship! Shop owner, Kristin, agreed to let me review a teething ring, but I don't think my friends are quite as nerdy as I am. So I chose this one to review: image from Etsy shop Of course, the baby I was ordering it for didn't have a name yet (wasn't born yet), so there was a conundrum. Then it hit me, his older brother is just at the teething age (they aren't quite Irish twins, but not yet two years apart)! So I put their last name on this airplane one so it could be passed from brother to brother.  When the boys are done using it as a teether, their mom can tie a string on it and wa-la! They have a new ornament for Christmas! I just love the craftsmanship it takes to make...

Up until early last week, I would have said I was ready for the boys to go back to school. They'd been fighting, being disobedient more than normal, just small things that made me want to pull my hair out. And then we went on vacation, got away from the same four (wonderful) walls we'd been staring at all summer. Now we're back home and I'm not ready to send them back. I'm not ready to be a drill sergeant in the mornings: get dressed, brush your teeth, eat (faster!), shoes on, go go go go go! I'm not ready to be completely alone (no marathon training plan to keep me company) 3 hours of the day (although that's not completely true once story time starts up in September). I'm not ready for the "can we watch {insert kid show}?" to be immediately asked at the end of each day. I'm not ready for early bedtimes. I'm just not ready... ...and yet, there's not much I can do about it. They're enrolled in school already. I could home sc...