Life Lately

Today I thought I'd give you a peek into life lately here at home via pictures I've shared on Instagram!

Hannah and I have been twinning on the reg. It's totally accidental, but I'll seriously look down and notice that we match.

Kimono Love

I got this kimono and really like it! The quality is great and the medium fits well, I probably could have done a small in it though too. I definitely am not dressing up a lot these days, however, I got the chance to wear this because it decided to rain on Grant's birthday, so we had to move his party from the splash park to our house.

It was actually a super stressful morning of trying to get the house ready, get a few games planned, and take care of the kids as well. Brian took care of errands, but I thought there was no way we would be ready. Turns out kids are pretty easy to please and they basically ran around and had dart gun wars after we played a couple of games and ate pizza. I will say, we will not be having another party at our house in the future, if at all possible!

3 Easy Ways to Give Back in Your Local Community

Thank you Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company for sponsoring this post. Band Together with Jewelers Mutual and help them donate $2 million to support three worthy causes - health, home, and hunger.

Giving back to your community and being grateful for what we've been given are so important! Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company couldn't agree with this statement more. Right now they are running their Band Together campaign and planning to donate a total of $2 million dollars to support health, home, and hunger needs through their corporate giving campaign.  St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Habitat for Humanity, and Feeding America or Food Banks of Canada will all be benefiting because of Jewelers Mutual!

You get a say in how the money is shared with each nonprofit too! Between now and July 31st you can vote in the Band Together campaign. The nonprofit with the most votes gets $1 million, second place gets $700,000 and third place gets $300,000. 

Voting also gets you entered to win weekly prizes from STACKED New York. One winner will be chosen weekly to win three stacking bands ($450 value), and you can increase your chances of winning by voting for your favorite nonprofit organization daily.

There are a lot of ways to give back in your community. It not only makes you feel good, getting your family involved helps to create a culture of being grateful and paying in forward too. Today I thought I'd share some tips with you for how to easily make an impact in your community!

The Girl You Left Behind: Book Review

I mentioned a while back that a Little Free Library was put up in my neighborhood and it is the best! I've gotten a few books from it and I love the whole "take one, leave one" idea, so there is always new books to choose from. Last year I read "Me Before You" by JoJo Moyes, and even though a lot of the book made me mad, I really liked her writing style, so I thought I'd give The Girl You Left Behind a try. It did not disappoint!

It starts during World War I while Germany is occupying France. Sophie runs a hotel where the German soldiers are taking their meals while her husband, who is an artist by trade, is off fighting. Inside the hotel is a painting of Sophie which captivates the German soldier in charge. An obsession is born which leads Sophie to making a difficult discussion.

Nearly one hundred years later the painting of Sophie, now called "The Girl You Left Behind" hangs in the home of Liv a young women who became a widow too soon. The painting was a wedding gift from her husband and means more to her than anything in the world. In a crazy twist of fate, Liv suddenly finds herself close to losing the painting and the memories it holds, when the question of how she acquired the painting comes up. Was it stolen from Sophie nearly 100 years ago by the German soldier and does it really belong back with Sophie's husband's family?

The uniqueness of this story kept me reading and Moyers did an excellent job of shifting back and forth through time between the characters. If you're looking for a new book to read, this is a good one, it will keep you guessing up to the very last page!

Turning to Things Instead of Jesus

If I've learned anything from being a mom, it's that your kids do a very good job of calling it like it is. Just recently I was driving through Scooters, a local coffee chain, to get an iced coffee. Grant asked from the back seat, "Mom, why do you allllwwwwaaayysss stop to get coffee?" My reply, "Because you two wear me out. Mommy is tired." 

Honest, yes....but here lay the problem. Lately I have found myself trying to get rid of stress with things, such as coffee or shopping. I may only get coffee a couple times a week, but it's expensive and not healthy. As for shopping, Jane.com can cause me to pull the trigger on something I don't need in a weak moment of stress.

Hannah is just now finally sleeping through the night, hallelujah! Prior to this I could not bear to pull myself out of bed early to do my devotions or do them during the once brief hour I have to myself while Hannah takes a nap and I send Grant to his room, so time with God was really hit or miss. No wonder I've been tired, I haven't been refueling with Jesus, I've been trying to refuel with the wrong things! Duh. 

Now that I'm not nearly as tired, the time for excuses has come and gone, I'm getting back on track with my daily time with God. I have a devotional ready, and although I know it might not go perfectly all the time, I know I'm a better mom and wife when I'm in the word daily. It's in those moments of stress I need to stop and pray, instead of reaching for something that will simply pacify for a short period of time. I owe it to myself and my family!

This romper had been on my wish list for awhile, I was just waiting for it to go on sale, so when it did for 50% off, I scooped it up! I love it with this mint cardigan, but I've also worn it with my other colors of the Caryn cardigan from J.Crew Factory too.

Sigh....

I know I've been talking A LOT of mom life lately, but I feel like I'm deep in the trenches. I feel like our house constantly looks like a tornado, I have a mounting list of things to do, both kids want me constantly, and the only hour or so I get to myself is when Hannah takes her afternoon nap and I send Grant to his room.  Usually I'm too tired to do anything more than watch an episode of Hart of Dixie and maybe take a thirty minute snooze. If feel like the afternoon is a mad rush to clean up the house and get dinner ready before Brian get's home. I don't care what anyone says, staying at home is harder than working outside the home. At the end of each day I am exhausted. 

Brian has been having to work a number of nights, so he's home for about an hour, then back at it. In fact when I tried to type up this post, I did it last week while Grant interrupted me to ask about a million questions about the Batman movie he wanted to watch, the dog was all up in business, and I thought Hannah was asleep until she started wailing. It's in those moments I feel like being a mom is such a thankless job and oh my gosh, can I just have a moment for me! 

Then, once Hannah was asleep Grant told me, probably for the hundredth time that day, that he loves me, got me a glass of water without me asking, and said "today was a great day." That is what I need to hold onto. In our lives we go through seasons. Sometimes the season is a time in which it is NOT about us, and for me it this is one of those seasons. One day the kids will be grown and not need me like they do now and I know I'll wish for days like this once again. 

I just recently got this tassel top from SheIn. It's fun and the quality is good but it is way too big as far as mediums go, and I definitely should have sized down. It doesn't look terribly huge in these pictures, but trust me, I could pretty much fit another person inside of it with me. I washed it and was hoping it would shirk a bit, but it didn't. I was curious how the tassel would wash, and they washed up just fine when I hung it To dry.  I think I'll try to wear it with a cardigan to help minimize the bulk.

6 Years and 6 Months

 On Saturday Grant turned 6, which is so hard to believe! Hannah also just turning 6 months old, so the kids are almost exactly 5 1/2 years apart. They love each other so much and I hope it continues for years to come. I think the age gap might be in their favor as they will each be in different stages. As it is now, Grant is an excellent big brother and Hannah thinks he hung the moon!

In years past I was good about having professional pictures taken, but honestly, I have a hard time thinking ahead these days. We went to the park and I took my nice camera and we snapped some pictures before we played. I could have had Grant wear his church clothes, but this is Grant-athletic gear all the time!