My Summer Reading List

The school year is coming to an end. Only three more weeks until summer vacation and I am more than ready for it to start. I can't wait to lazy mornings drinking coffee with a good book, having nowhere to rush off to and spending lots of time at the beach with the kiddos. Bring it on summer.
During the school year I can hardly find the time to read. My goal this summer is to read more and watch tv less. So I made a summer reading list! Here is what I have so far on my to read list

What else should I add to my list? I'm up for any suggestions!

This is how I Roe!

In addition to expanding our family, teaching VPK and being a mom and milspouse I decided to step out of my comfort zone and become a small business owner. I signed on to be a fashion consultant for LuLaRoe. I've always loved clothes and feel prettiest in a cute maxi skirt or dress. And when I'm not looking to dress up my go to outfit is a pair of yoga pants with a baseball tee. Enter LuLaRoe. I was first introduced to this company when a fellow blogger became a consultant and when a student's mom started selling the clothes as well. I hosted my first party in December and was immediately hooked on their soft leggings and cute Randy tee's. After my party the husband and I started talking about me becoming a consultant as well.

If you know me you know this is something way out of my comfort zone. I'm not a sales person at all. I know nothing about running a business let alone how to start one. But I was intrigued. For one, the clothes are super comfortable. After a long day of teaching the first thing I did when I would get home was to throw on my sweatpants. I bought my first pair of leggings before hosting my pop up party and threw them on the minute I tore open the package. My husband came home later that day and could not stop talking about how cute I looked. Score! Two, I love the idea of a mobile shopping party. One that comes to your house. Now let me tell you, I hate lugging my two kids to the store. Especially when I live in a small town and the nearest target and mall is 40 minutes away. So a portable store that carries the type of clothing I would be buying anyway was a huge plus. And third I have a little girl. My princess loves clothes. Especially skirts or dresses that twirl and pattern leggings. It seemed like this company was made for me.

So here I am, anxiously awaiting to onboard and become a consultant with this amazing company. I pray every day this is the right decision for our family. As nervous as I am, I am also excited. This is a new adventure for me. One that could be an amazing opportunity for me. So wish me luck!!
If you are new to hearing about LuLaRoe here is some info

 And feel free to check out my group page on facebook for some fun giveaway's and info on my upcoming launch party!

Adventure Awaits!

             

                     

 I started blogging back in 2009 as a way to keep a journal of sorts about being a new wife and milspouse. I loved the connections I made through blogging and enjoyed having a "diary" to come to each day to write my daily thoughts and happenings. This blog has seen multiple deployments, two pregnancies, life with one baby, then 2 fifteen months later along with posts about our travels and other fun experiences.

My blogging became sporadic after I had my son. Life with two kids 15 months apart on top of dealing with a deployment was difficult to say the least. I started to feel disconnected to the blogging community that I once felt such a part of. My "life" could not compare to the life of the fellow mom's whose blogs I once hurried to read each morning. I felt frumpy compared to the other mom's who looked so beautifully put together on their blog and instagram pages. I couldn't lose the baby weight as easily as the moms who had babies younger than I did were able to and my outfits were not from Anthropologie or any of the other high end boutiques. My house was not something out of a DIY magazine and I had more Pinterest fails than successes. I also developed a bout of post-partum depression and anxiety which contributed to my feelings of inadequacy.

So I took a bit of a blogging break. I went back to work in the beginning of 2014 teaching VPK and blogging became a thing of the past. I finally grew out of my need to compare myself to other moms and instead adopted the attitude of "To each their own". I grew more confident in my role as a  wife and mother and learned to embrace everything about this season instead of worrying about everything I was doing wrong! My self confidence grew and my anxiety and depression decreased. I felt like my old self again.

Lately I've felt a call back to blogging. I miss documenting everyday life and keeping a record of the fun things we did or the silly things that my kiddos did. And now that we are expecting Baby #3 I decided to get this blog back up and running.

Since I last blogged so many things have changed.
-The hubby is home for the longest span of time in years. We are loving just living life as a "normal" family.
-I love love love teaching. It is so rewarding and the fact that my kids attend the same school that I teach at is awesome. Not to mention my four day weekends are a major plus!
- Instead of having a toddler and baby in the house I have a almost kindergartner and a preschooler.  With two kids close in age I thought I'd never sleep again or get through the terrible 2's. But I made it. Life is never dull but I wouldn't change a single thing about it.
-Last year we decided to try for one more kiddo. And the day after Thanksgiving we found out that God answered our prayers and that another baby would be joining our family in August.
-In February we found out that Baby #3 is a boy!! We can't wait to meet this little guy
-I'm loving being pregnant once again and enjoying every moment of this pregnancy

Stay tuned! I will be getting back into my habit of blogging once again!

My Summer Reading List

It has been awhile since I have blogged. Between work, my two kids and trying to train for a half marathon things have been pretty busy around here. However I am now officially on summer vacation and that means endless days spent at the pool watching the kiddo's splash around while I enjoy a good book or two!

 

So here is my official Summer of 2015 reading list.

 

1. All the Single Ladies by Dorothea Benton Frank. I read my first Dorothea Frank book last summer and loved it. Looking forward to her latest release

 

2. The Summer's End by Mary Alice Monroe. This is the final book in the Summer Girl's trilogy and I loved the first two. A book about sister's, a summer spent at the beach and a side story line about dolphins. I'm in!

 

3. The Santangelos by Jackie Collins. Nothing says beach read more than a Jackie Collins novel

 

4. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan. I've heard good things about this book and the sequel was released this past week

 

5. American Wife by Taya Kyle.

 

6. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

 

7. Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid.  I read After I do by this author last year and loved it so much. Def in my list of top ten books. Can't wait to read her latest

 

8. The Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll

 

9. Enchanted August by Brenda Bowen

 

10. The Rocks by Peter Nichols

 

11. Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

 

12. The Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry

 

13. Summer Secrets by Jane Green

 

14. Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner

 

15. Beach Town by Mary Kay Andrews

 

16. Anchored by Kayla Aimee. I love books written by bloggers. Especially memoirs about pregnancy and motherhood. Can't wait to read this one!

 

17. The Good, The Bad and the Grace of God by Jep and Jessica Robertson. I love anything written by the family members of the Duck Dynasty clan

 

18. Picnic in Provence by Elizabeth Bard. This books is along the lines of Bringing up Bebe and French Kids eat everything. Both of which I really enjoyed.

 

19.Yell Less, Love More. I def need this book. I feel like my days are spent referring and breaking up fights between my kids or begging them to listen to me. As you can figure out by this book choice I may sometimes have a problem yelling at my children rather than pausing and speaking calmly to them. Hopefully this book will be helpful

 

And there is my list. Any other books I should add?

 



Disney Bound

We leave for Disney in four days!!!  Words cannot describe how excited I am to take the kids. I may have even packed yesterday

We are staying right outside Downtown disney and although we got a four day park hopper will probably only do magic kingdom and Hollywood studios. I hear you can spend days at each of those parks. 

I'm so excited to spend some quality family time at the most magical place on earth!

Weekend recap

And It has been forever since I last posted. I'm trying to make a habit to blog more frequently and figured I'd start with my weekend recap

Friday's I'm off so I use the day to clean, catch up on laundry and relax with the kids. This Friday I even squeezed my first run in two months in. It was amazing

Saturday the kids and I slept in and they spent the day playing with play dough and kinetic sand. Love things that will keep them occupied for hours. Saturday night I dropped the kids off at church for Parents night out. Since my husband is gone I went out with some friends. Shopping and dinner without kids was the perfect way to spend the night

And this view never gets old 

Sunday we for up and went to church. Then came home and I went for a run with the kids. Well they rode their scooters while I ran. So much easier than pushing a double stroller

And in keeping with my New Years Tradition I curled up with a good book. 

Loving this read so far

And I finally went and saw This movie

I made it through without crying! I thought it was very well done. Bradley cooper was amazing. 

I've read some reports where people think that the wife came across as negative but I disagree. When your spouse is always gone, in a war zone no less it's only normal that you wish things were different. 

All in all its a movie everyone must see

For all your Christmas Card needs-Use Minted!

It's that time of year again! The holiday music has started playing, the Christmas decorations are up at every store you go and  the Christmas movie marathon has begun on the hallmark channel. Toy catalog's have been mailed out and prepping for Christmas have officially begun. One of my favorite things to do in preparation for Christmas is to schedule a family picture session so we can have some new family photo's to put on our yearly Christmas card. Since we live so far away from our families I feel like Christmas cards are a way to connect with those we don't see on a daily basis. It's more than just a Christmas card. It's a way of keeping in touch with our family and friends and connecting with them. I love receiving cards from other's and I display them all around the house as part of our Christmas décor. I always keep a copy of our Christmas card as well and display our collection of cards from years passed. What a fun way to look back on family memories!

A few weeks ago I scheduled our family photo session and as I started planning our  session I also started trying to decide where to get my Christmas cards from this year. Then an email from Minted popped into my news feed and it was fate. A few friends had used Minted last year for their Christmas Cards and Birthday invitations and I was impressed by the quality. They have a great line of Holiday Photo Cards that can be totally customized by you. You can choose whether you want your card to have one photo on it or multiple. You can also choose the shape of the card, the quality or design of paper, the colors, etc. It's awesome. And you can choose a variety of cards, customize them and then receive a proof of your card before you officially order it. That option is perfect for indecisive people like me.

Here are some of my favorite designs I found while browsing the Minted site

This card design totally makes me want to plan Baby number 3 for a December arrival. This card would make the perfect Christmas card/baby announcement. Too cute

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As you can see  I customized this card with pictures of my kiddo's. The caption on this card totally fits my kids!


 

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I also love that there is a variety of options of Christian Christmas cards as well. Santa Claus,  reindeer and funny Christmas movies are a great addition to the season but we don't want to forget the real meaning of the season. This one I customized as well. Love it

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I love this card in lieu of a Christmas letter. What a great way to share and commemorate memories


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I could keep sharing all of my favorite's but I will let you go to the website and see all the cute options for yourself

On top of having cards to choose from they have party décor, personalized stationary, gifts  and planners to choose from! And don't forget their coupon codes. They had a holiday sale on cards going on that I noticed while browsing the site. Now I'm counting down the days until I get our pictures taken so I can order my Christmas cards from minted. At least I have a few weeks to narrow down my selection. This will prove to be difficult
 

Fall fun

October just flew by. I can't believe it's already the 2nd of November and that we are less than 8 weeks away from Christmas!

Fall is my favorite time of year. The change of weather, all the fun activities and of course the holidays, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas

This October the kids and I had no shortage of activities to keep us occupied. We went to numerous pumpkin patches, trunk or treating, Boo at the zoo, and celebrated Ethan's 2nd bday. Whew I'm tired from typing all of that! 

I thought I'd share a few pictures with you all to document all the fun we've had this past month 

I loved creating memories with my kiddos and carrying on traditions that have been started since they were babies. Every year my heart gets more and more full

Although I'm not going to lie, I'm looking forward to a little break from all the fun fall  festivities. Today was the first day in forever we had nothing planned. So we spent the day in our christmas pajamas watching the Christmas movie marathon on the hallmark channel and josh relaxing together. I have no intention on taking down any of our fall/Halloween decor till thanksgiving where we will then just swap out one set of decorations for Christmas decorations. 

I am also enjoying finally having cool weather here in Florida and am envisioning nights spent curled up in bed with a good book. I finally jumped on the bandwagon and started Gone Girl. I've heard mixed reviews and was hesitant to start it due to disliking the author's other books. But I'm giving it a chance. Any other books I should add to my to read list?

I guess that wraps this post up. For those of you still reading, thanks for still being here after a long blogging break!

Here Kitty

Growing up my family were strictly dog people. Despite going through a phase where I wanted a black cat named Salem due to my loving the show Sabrina the Teenage witch I was cured of that desire when my friends fat cat bite me during a sleepover in high school. I swear that cat was evil. 

So when the hubby and I got married we quickly got a dog to add to the mix with a mutual agreement that we would never be cat people. Flash forward 6 years and 2 kids later and things changed

A few weeks ago a friends cat had kittens. She invited the kids and I over to see them and seeing how much Gianna loved them she asked if we wanted one. She also then may have mentioned that if she couldn't find home for them they'd have to go to the shelter. Immediately I said yes. You can ask my husband, he has to keep me away from pet stores or parks during animal adoption day. I would take them all home with me

I asked the hubby who at first was reluctant but seeing a pic of the kids with the kittens he changed his mind. And when she asked if we wanted two we quickly agreed

So Friday we became cat owners to two little sisters. One a cute gray tabby and the other a black tabby. Luna and Salem!

And for the most part they are super easy. They play, sleep and require hardly any litter box training

I'm still eating used to the meowing and claws. My puppies were always wet little things and having never had a car before I can't tell when there playing or irritated!but they love the kids. Ethan walks around hugging them yelling Mine Kittie and gianna holds them like a baby while walking around saying Shh, Shh, Shh.  It's seriously the cutest thing ever

I guess now we are both dog and cat people 

What I'm Loving!

It has been awhile since I blogged! I will come back soon and fill you all in on what we've been up to but until then I thought I'd share with you all the things I have been loving lately

1. The fact that today is the first day of October. Time to finally bust out my Halloween decorations. Who am I kidding. I've had them out for a few weeks now. I love Halloween.

This weekend will be full of Fall related festivities. Hayrides, pumpkin patches, Halloween pajamas, spooky movies and apple cider. Bring it on Fall!

2. These cookies. I bought them for the first time today after having a few had to hide them away. Eater be warned! You will consume the whole pack shortly after opening. Nom Nom

3. This Book

When I first read the synopsis I was immediately disinterested. (A nurse from the 1940's while on vacation with her husband falls back in time to the 1700's and falls in love with another man.)

So not my type of book. I am not a huge fan of fluffy romance novels but after hearing rave reviews about it I bought it on my nook. And I can't put it down! It's that good.

 

4. Cooler weather!

It's finally cooling down here in Fl. Well if you consider 80 degrees cool. But at least it's a break from the stifling 90's

 

5. My Sam's Club Membership

With the hubby home now our grocery bill has increased a ton. My husband is a garbage pit. He consumes and consumes and consumes(without gaining weight of course) and Ethan takes after him. Half our grocery budget alone goes toward snack foods, whether it be fruit, veggies, crackers, popcorn, etc. So I decided we were going to get a Sam's club membership. And I'm so glad we did. We've saved so much money in the month we've had it its' not even funny. Plus I'm not going to the grocery store as much any more to get last minute odds and ends which is a major perk. Yay Sam's

 

6. Teaching

I am loving teaching. The kids in my class are so funny and sweet. And I couldn't ask for a better place to work. I am so glad I made the decision to go back to work this year. And although I miss my kids they are loving being in school and I think are enjoying the break away from me

What We've Been Up To

Tomorrow I head back to work. It's been a little more than 3 years since I've worked and I'm nervous sad and excited all at the same time. Excited to do something I love, earn a little extra money for the family and for the mini-mommy break. Nervous that I won't do a good job and sad that I won't be a full time SAHM anymore. I have loved every second of these last 3 years and while I know that  taking this job is the best thing for our entire family, I also hate the thought of having to push my babies out of the nest a little. The above saying is so true. Can't they stay little forever.

Gianna started dance at her new dance studio last weekend. We loved her last studio but didn't love the drive so we made a switch. This teacher I was told takes dance very seriously and is very disciplined. Just what Gianna needs. So we signed her up and in addition to ballet she gets to start tap. She loves walking around the house in her tap shoes and enjoyed her first class.

Aren't they so cute standing in line waiting to go in?

Since I will be a first time teacher in exactly one day I've been searching and reading every teacher blog, instagram account, book and article on pinterest  that I can find. And of course as any teacher can tell you  spending all my time and money on Teacher's pay Teacher's. My nights are now spent printing, laminating, cutting and gluing to make signs, decorations or center activities for my classroom. And don't get me started on book order's. I cannot wait to get my first book order in  for my classroom!!

I've also been party planning. I can't believe that my little guy turns 2 in a few months.

 Every party we throw for the kids we realize that we want the next one to be even simpler and smaller than the last. Don't get me wrong, we love throwing parties for our kids but we'd rather spend the money doing fun activities with them than throwing it all away on food and extravagant decorations that are mostly for the adults to enjoy while the kids are this age. But today I finally decided what I wanted to do. A circus theme. I stayed away from it because my good friend threw her son a circus themed party last year and I didn't want to copy. But I came across this super cute party from one of my favorite bloggers and decided that I could keep it simple enough for my liking.

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How cute is that? I plan on making everything myself down to the cake and cupcakes. I figure we can get a piñata, play some corn hole and just let the kids run around and have fun. Easy Peasy!


And finally I've been trying to soak in as much relaxation time as I can. Currently I am hooked on Liane Moriarty's new book Big Little Lies. I love it.

And that's about it. I'll try to get back into a regular blogging routine soon