Words to Live By

 

This has been one of my favorite quotes since high school. So much truth in 18 short sentences. When I reread it for the first time in over a year last night, it spoke to me in a different way than ever before. That's one of the things I love about inspirational quotes & scripture; you can read words and passages 100 different times and find new meaning every time.

Mother Teresa was an angel on Earth. Bless her loving, compassionate soul. We can only hope there are still a few Mother Teresa's among us.

Do you have a favorite quote? Would love to read it!

 

Easy Summer Wreath

 It's been a week since Easter and I just noticed this morning that we still had our Easter egg wreath hanging on the front door. A quick trip to Michael's and $15 worth of supplies later, a summer "wreath" was born. Can you tell we're ready for lemonade stands, swim suits, & barbecues? 'Cause we are!

 

Simple. Easy. Sweet. Just the way I like a good craft.

 

As I said before, the supplies cost us $15 because we already had several things needed on hand. I thought it would be a little cheaper, actually, but the silk flowers weren't on sale like I thought. If you find some on sale or have a coupon, you could make this for even less! It also only took me about 10 minutes to make.

 

You'll need:
-large hanging chalkboard (this one was $5 at Michael's)
-lace or wide ribbon
-silk flowers (8-12 individual flowers)
-hot glue gun/glue
-scissors
-chalk
-tin shears

Start by measuring out your lace or ribbon to be a little longer than the already attached twine. Glue the lace/ribbon on both sides of the twine. Make sure it's nice and secure. This step isn't necessary, but it makes the sign a little prettier :).

Using the tin shears, cut each stem about halfway. Leave enough to lay flat on the back of the sign while gluing, about 3 inches from the flower.

Glue the flowers, one at a time, to the back of the sign using a good amount of hot glue. You'll need to bend the floral stems into a 90 degree angle before gluing so they lay flat on the back of the sign and still face forward on the front. Continuing doing this around the sign until all the major "gaps" are filled and to your own liking. I ended up using 9 flowers.

Write a summery message & ta da! You're all done! A fun, fresh way to greet all who enter.
I can't look at ours without singing "Night Moves". Which doesn't upset me at all.

 We're certainly not rushing spring because the past few weeks have been absolutely beautiful in Houston. I just looked so forward to summer every year as a child that I can't seem to shake that laid-back, vacation, late-night-s'mores anticipation. I'm also looking so forward to taking our little Bear to splash in the neighborhood pool!

Are you looking forward to summer, too? 2014 is flying by!
Hope you're having a great weekend!

Easter Recap

 

 

Hi, friends! I hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Please prepare yourself for a very long-winded post. We spent time with tons of family, friends, and Bear was a huge fan of hunting eggs (aka eating chocolate). All in all a successful Easter!

 

road-trip to West Texas in matchy matchy shirts from Maisonwares on Etsy

Saturday was spent with the Fullwoods. Bear has lots of cousins on that side and they had so much fun playing and hunting eggs! Bear also fell and got a big boo-boo on his forehead, but still managed to have a good time.

 

This picture cracks me up. Sucker all down the shirt, dirt all over the face, ant bites on the arms, knot on the forehead...and still going strong. Ahhh, little boys.

 

Saturday night all the Fullwood siblings went to The Lumberyard to see Stoney LaRue. He was awesome!

 

Easter Sunday

 

Our sweet Mamaw had surgery so Bear went to visit.

Bear and his cousin, Braylie

 

Nana and Papaw Joe

And a few more random shots from the trip for your viewing pleasure :).

First golf cart ride! (he loved it)

 

My parents are just a little bit crazy about Bear. Enough so that they're building him his own "theme park" in their backyard. :)

We're back home and enjoying some major R&R. On this weekend's agenda? Rest. Sleep. Eat. Rest.

Is it Friday yet?

 

Birthday Gift Guide for the Husband

I really wanted to title this post "Birthday Gift Guide for the Picky Husband" but decided that sounded a little harsh. Zach is very picky, but hey...that should make me feel good that he chose me. Right? Just gonna keep telling myself that. :)

 

 

Thankfully my sweet, picky husband doesn't read our blog so it's safe to share all my gift ideas for his birthday in a few weeks! For as long as I can remember, I've struggled with gift buying for the men in my life. I never, ever know what to get my brothers. My Dad gets a book every Christmas and birthday. And Zach usually says "Oh. Cool." when he opens his gifts from me. I'm making it my goal for 2014 (and every year after!) to up my game in the men-gifting department.

What I have picked up on after all these years is that guys like to feel special. Just like us ladies! The more personalized a gift is, the better. Which really puts a damper on my Target-the-night-before-someone's-birthday runs.

I've compiled a list that I hope you'll find useful the next time you need to buy for a special guy.

 

 

 

First up, the card.

When I discovered treat. greeting cards, my life was changed forever. I will never buy a lame grocery store card ever again. Why would I when I can create something personalized, one-of-a-kind, and truly special in a matter of minutes? And amazingly, I paid less for Zach's card than I have for most store-bought ones. Treat. gives the option of simply printing from your home computer, but I chose just to have Zach's card shipped. Three days later, it was in my mailbox.

 

The quality of the card can really only be explained when you hold it in your own hands. Unlike a normal flimsy card, this one will not be ripped up by chubby Bear paws. :)

 Now for the gifts.

When I saw this hammer on Etsy, I knew Zach had to have it. He's such a handy man and this will certainly come in handy around the house. They even have father & son personalized hammers for when Bear gets a little bigger. Be still my boy-bonding loving heart.

 

 Zach is obsessed with building things. He was a lego fanatic when he was young, so I know he'll love this premium kit from littleBits. It's a collection of 14 color-coded Bits modules that snap together with magnets to make over 600,000 possible circuit combinations. Sounds like fun, right?

 

We're obsessed with the song Happy by Pharrell Williams. Yes, it's overplayed on the radio, but that doesn't stop it from being the ultimate feel good song. I'm so excited to add the vinyl to our record collection! When Zach gets home from work everyday, the first thing he does is turn on the record player and dance with Bear. It's such a sweet moment. This is also a great party tune for when we have guests over. This is seeming a bit like a gift for myself, too... ;)

 

 I've never been great at picking out men's watches, but this one is perfect. Made from all natural black wood, it's "manly man" enough while still being fashion forward.

 

 And because Momma told me the way to a man's heart is always through his stomach...
Zach's favorite candy. This will likely be his favorite gift (mine too).

 

Bear's card will be handmade (scribbles on construction paper) and we'll wrap everything in plain brown paper so he can "decorate" the gifts, too. He's big into stickers these days, which makes for lots of Goof Off for this Momma. :)

 

 

We're so excited for Easter weekend and all the family festivities! Hope yours is a special one!

 



Easter Fun

We are having the best time celebrating Easter this week; Bear is at such a fun age! He doesn't fully understand everything but is still very interested in it all. At our playgroup egg hunt this morning, he picked up tons of eggs but had to open each one and survey the contents before dropping it in his bucket. Of course a few leaves and sticks made it in the basket, too. :)

 

 

 

We're (we being me) all about the matchy matchy these days.

Yesterday afternoon was full of festive snacks and egg-shaped sidewalk chalk. Houston has had perfect weather the last few days and we've been soaking it up.

Peep Pops were Bear's favorite!

 

We're really excited to be heading back to see family in a few days! Safe travels for all of you who will be on the road/in the air this weekend!