Friends Who are Family

Our Saturday was blessed.

We got to spend good time having real conversations about life with our dear friends the Blackburns.

When we were newlyweds living in the same city (a.k.a. Footloose and fancy free) , we used to have slumber parties at each other's houses; we used to do spontaneous double dates; we stayed up all night scraping 7 layers of wallpaper and painting kitchens; we got our dog babies together for play dates; we had marathon life group gatherings.

Later, we celebrated the excitement of simultaneous pregnancy announcements and have watched our kids bond as babies and consider themselves honorary cousins.

Today we celebrated Franklin in the fall.

Our Saturday was blessed.

We got to spend good time having real conversations about life with our dear friends the Blackburns.

When we were newlyweds living in the same city (a.k.a. Footloose and fancy free) , we used to have slumber parties at each other's houses; we used to do spontaneous double dates; we stayed up all night scraping 7 layers of wallpaper and painting kitchens; we got our dog babies together for play dates; we had marathon life group gatherings.

Later, we celebrated the excitement of simultaneous pregnancy announcements and have watched our kids bond as babies and consider themselves honorary cousins.

Today we celebrated Franklin in the fall.

Spontaneous Discovery Mondays

We had nothing on the horizon for today, so when my friend Jen texted and invited us to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro, we jumped at the chance for something fun and different to do! The girls were excited and ready to go--especially on this crisp fall day.

We had been one other time to the Discovery Center, and I was so impressed with all of the interactive learning activities that my girls could be a part of and even comprehend. I had just begun teaching preschool at the time, and I came away with lots of ideas that I was able to implement in our class.

On Monday mornings, there is a special activity for moms and kids. It's kind of a mix between story time at the library and circle time at the beginning of a school day. Today the theme was spiders, so we started the day by reading Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider, 

singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", getting spider rings, and making spider handprint crafts and spider snacks.

Then we went to explore. The kids jumped in a ball pit that represented red blood cells and white blood cells; they were car mechanics; they operated dump trucks and cranes and learned about levels;

they sat in farm trucks and pretended like they were in Disney parades; 

they turned cogs; they sat in fire trucks, 

went down twisty slides, 

and were archaeologists. They learned about water supplies and farmers markets.

 We even played Pocahontas. ;)

Then we went back to Jen's house and enjoyed a fun lunch with fun friends.

Today we're celebrating spontaneity, learning through discovery, and good times with good friends. (These 6 kids have been friends since before they could walk and talk, and their moms are some of my dearest friends too. So, I'm also celebrating mom friends today. They're the best.)

We had nothing on the horizon for today, so when my friend Jen texted and invited us to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro, we jumped at the chance for something fun and different to do! The girls were excited and ready to go--especially on this crisp fall day.

We had been one other time to the Discovery Center, and I was so impressed with all of the interactive learning activities that my girls could be a part of and even comprehend. I had just begun teaching preschool at the time, and I came away with lots of ideas that I was able to implement in our class.

On Monday mornings, there is a special activity for moms and kids. It's kind of a mix between story time at the library and circle time at the beginning of a school day. Today the theme was spiders, so we started the day by reading Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider, 

singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", getting spider rings, and making spider handprint crafts and spider snacks.

Then we went to explore. The kids jumped in a ball pit that represented red blood cells and white blood cells; they were car mechanics; they operated dump trucks and cranes and learned about levels;

they sat in farm trucks and pretended like they were in Disney parades; 

they turned cogs; they sat in fire trucks, 

went down twisty slides, 

and were archaeologists. They learned about water supplies and farmers markets.

 We even played Pocahontas. ;)

Then we went back to Jen's house and enjoyed a fun lunch with fun friends.

Today we're celebrating spontaneity, learning through discovery, and good times with good friends. (These 6 kids have been friends since before they could walk and talk, and their moms are some of my dearest friends too. So, I'm also celebrating mom friends today. They're the best.)

Holidays are more fun with festive shirts

Today, I am celebrating being festive. Since my house is on the market, and I am not bringing out all of my fall decorations, I decided that I'd overcompensate in the fashion department. ;)

I went to Hobby Lobby this week because I saw that all of their Halloween fabrics was on sale and picked up these cute designs.

I had already purchased two long-sleeved black shirts from Dharma Trading Co back when I bought back to school shirts and Stuff for Disney sewing.

I also restocked my sewing closet with Heat and Bond,

And then scoured Pinterest for an appliqué idea.

I loved this one:

So, I pulled out my mom's old Singer (since I have yet to learn my new machine) and used a simple zig-zag stitch to make these two shirts for my two little soon-to-be festive girls. 

Think we'll celebrate with a playground party tonight! 

Today, I am celebrating being festive. Since my house is on the market, and I am not bringing out all of my fall decorations, I decided that I'd overcompensate in the fashion department. ;)

I went to Hobby Lobby this week because I saw that all of their Halloween fabrics was on sale and picked up these cute designs.

I had already purchased two long-sleeved black shirts from Dharma Trading Co back when I bought back to school shirts and Stuff for Disney sewing.

I also restocked my sewing closet with Heat and Bond,

And then scoured Pinterest for an appliqué idea.

I loved this one:

So, I pulled out my mom's old Singer (since I have yet to learn my new machine) and used a simple zig-zag stitch to make these two shirts for my two little soon-to-be festive girls. 

Think we'll celebrate with a playground party tonight! 

Celebrating the change in the wind...

Fall has always been refreshment to me. Whether it's the excitement of a new school year with new markers and crayons, notebooks and pens, or the hype for a new football season, or an approaching anniversary that inspires nostalgic reminiscing, or the celebration of a new year of life for both of my daughters, the change that comes with fall breathes new life through me.

Especially when a fall morning begins like this:

and includes this:

(The best pumpkin coffee creamer and pumpkin cream cheese can be yours by venturing out to Aldi.  It is seriously out of this world.)

With our house up for sale, we've been a little paralyzed with how to decorate for fall. We spent so much time decluttering and streamlining our house that we don't want to bring out anything that would junk it up and turn off a potential buyer. This is HARD for me. I love being home during this time of year because my house is filled with festive things that make me happy. I took the girls on a nature walk the other day, and Addison kept marveling at everyone's pumpkins, begging me to put out our fall stuff.  (We appeased them with the pumpkins above and the scarecrows below.) I came home from that walk and cried because I couldn't find my harvest candle because I packed EVERY.single.thing away.  We're slowly bringing out the festiveness, but I'm also trying to celebrate in simple ways--wrapping up in blankets and drinking pumpkin spice coffee. 

 Celebrating fall--it's in the little things. Nature walks, collecting leaves, simmering soups, pumpkins, jackets, togetherness...and sweet moments like this...

Fall has always been refreshment to me. Whether it's the excitement of a new school year with new markers and crayons, notebooks and pens, or the hype for a new football season, or an approaching anniversary that inspires nostalgic reminiscing, or the celebration of a new year of life for both of my daughters, the change that comes with fall breathes new life through me.

Especially when a fall morning begins like this:

and includes this:

(The best pumpkin coffee creamer and pumpkin cream cheese can be yours by venturing out to Aldi.  It is seriously out of this world.)

With our house up for sale, we've been a little paralyzed with how to decorate for fall. We spent so much time decluttering and streamlining our house that we don't want to bring out anything that would junk it up and turn off a potential buyer. This is HARD for me. I love being home during this time of year because my house is filled with festive things that make me happy. I took the girls on a nature walk the other day, and Addison kept marveling at everyone's pumpkins, begging me to put out our fall stuff.  (We appeased them with the pumpkins above and the scarecrows below.) I came home from that walk and cried because I couldn't find my harvest candle because I packed EVERY.single.thing away.  We're slowly bringing out the festiveness, but I'm also trying to celebrate in simple ways--wrapping up in blankets and drinking pumpkin spice coffee. 

 Celebrating fall--it's in the little things. Nature walks, collecting leaves, simmering soups, pumpkins, jackets, togetherness...and sweet moments like this...

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we made our annual trip out to Gentry's Farm for some fall fun. We picked pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, went through a corn maze, rode tire swings, fed animals, went on a hayride and saw 18 baby cows, saw some baby sheep, rode tractors, played house, played on the playground, and more. We packed so much fun into this weekend that I am home this morning with a sick Ansley while Patrick and Addison are at church. We had fun though!

Yesterday we made our annual trip out to Gentry's Farm for some fall fun. We picked pumpkins in the pumpkin patch, went through a corn maze, rode tire swings, fed animals, went on a hayride and saw 18 baby cows, saw some baby sheep, rode tractors, played house, played on the playground, and more. We packed so much fun into this weekend that I am home this morning with a sick Ansley while Patrick and Addison are at church. We had fun though!