Beautifully Candid: link up

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Favorite Ornaments-Girl Chat Link Up

I can't believe it's been a whole other year of our girl chat link up. I've had such a fun time connecting with all of you and sharing our monthly topics. Unfortunately this will be our last one though. Sometimes life just happens and priorities shift. We hope you've all enjoyed linking up with us, and you never know, maybe we will pick it up again at a later time.

For this month our topic is talking about our favorite ornament or ornaments. I really wish I had my act more together because this is such a great topic. A lot of the ornaments we have mean something special to us and always bring back some fun memories. This year, things have been a little different around for the holidays. In case you missed it, I shared recently that we are moving and have been renovating our new home. With all of that going on, oh, and add in there that I now have a one month old as of today (how did that happen??) life has been crazy over here. Actually, that might be an understatement. Any how, our tree has not gone up yet and our decorations are tightly packed away. Thankfully that will be changing this weekend because no matter what, when my boys wake up on Christmas there will be a tree and some decorations out for them.

With those decorations comes some of my favorite ornaments (just not all pictured here at the moment). Ever since Eric and I got engaged in the Dominican Republic we have been purchasing an ornament from all of our trips. They've become some of our favorites and it's always fun to reminisce about our time away. We hope to one day have a specific travel tree.

Some of my other favorite ornaments have been the ones that the kids have made us with their handprints or a little craft. I also love their baby's first Christmas ornaments. I actually have my ornament from my first Christmas that my mom gave to me.

Since I'm slacking in the ornament picture taking right now, I'm sharing some throwback pictures. It technically is #throwbackthursday, so there we go.

Fall Bucket List-Girl Chat Link Up

It's that time again for our monthly girl chat link up, and this month we're sharing our fall bucket lists. I'm so happy you're joining us, or stopping by, because this always ends up being one of my favorite posts of the month. I love reading what others are sharing and interacting with all of you to find out what you have on your mind.

Fall is one of my all time favorite seasons. It's pretty much neck and neck for me with summer. Even though it hasn't really felt like fall around here just yet, we're hoping the weather will cooperate soon and we'll be able to enjoy it. Unfortunately it seems like most of our days were greeted by gray skies, or rain, so regardless if it's still warm out or not, we haven't been enjoying much outside time.

We are all about diving in head first and enjoying fall activities. If you've been visiting this little space of mine then you know over the years apple picking is one of our favorite traditions and we also love going on family hikes. Do you still add your traditions to your bucket list even if you know you'll be doing them? I guess so, right?

There's actually a bunch we love to do around this time of year so why don't I just list them out below. Let me know what some of your favorites are because I'm always looking for new ideas or things to add to our list.

Go to a fall festival
Go to a Jack o lantern event
Paint/decorate pumpkins
Go on a fall family camping trip
Go on a family hayride
Make caramel apples
Go apple picking
Go on a family hike
Pick a fall related book and have it be the book of the week for the kids
Make homemade bird feeders
Collect leaves and make a fall craft with the kids
Make a thankful pumpkin
Take fall family pictures
Go to a corn maze
Go to an outdoor movie
Have a fall picnic
Eat all the apple cider donuts
Jump in a pile of leaves
Finish a book and enjoy curling up in a blanket
Embrace truly being pregnant in the fall (one of my boys was born in August and the other at the very beginning of October)
Use my crock-pot more often
Try to keep things at a slower pace. Our lives can tend to turn into rush, rush, rush.
Go on a day date
Enjoy a bowl of hot soup
Start Christmas shopping
Try some fall recipes. I might not be a pumpkin spice everything person, but we do love making pumpkin pancakes, making this honey cream cheese dip to go with our apples, and this harvest salad will always be one of my favorites. I'm hoping to tackle a few new ones this season.
Wear all my scarfs, beanies, and wool fedoras
Treat myself to a new pair of boots
Enjoy as much time as we can as a family of four before baby boy gets here

inspiration link up quotes

Favorite Quotes-Girl Chat Link Up

It's that time again for our monthly girl chat link up. This month we're sharing our favorite quotes to live by. I've always enjoyed a good quote and motivational sayings. Sometimes they come at just the right time to give a little pick me up or end up being the perfect caption for an image or social share.

I also love how you can find a lot of home decor pieces with quotes on them to work into your everyday living area. When we gave our living room a little refresher I based my whole focal wall off of a piece I found that says, it is well with my soul. I still get so many compliments on it when people come over and it's one of the simplest pieces, yet the wording makes a statement. Whatever you like to use quotes for, I think we can all agree there are some great ones out there.

Here's a look at some of my favorites...

via

"Above all else guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" Proverbs 4:23

This scripture has always left an impact with me because when I start to hear things come out of my mouth that aren't as they should be, in know I need to dig deeper into my time with God and let Him do a work in my heart.

via

"People are usually as happy as they make up their minds to be" ~Abraham Lincoln

I love this one because I think especially in the blogger/influencer world people get way too caught up in what others have or what others are doing. Heck, forget blogging or anything else, life in general. I've felt myself holding back on things I want to share because I'm not sure how others will view it. But at the same time, I also don't think people should have to hold back on their happiness in fear of making someone else upset. I think it's about approach and not coming off as bragging or in times when things aren't all butterflies and rainbows making it seem like wanting all the attention to be on you. It's a balancing act. It's about being yourself and connecting with others. I think our minds have a huge impact on our happiness and we all have a choice in how we find it. I let my guard down and shared about being happy in the now and it's still one of my best received posts to date.

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending" ~Maria Robinson

I love this one because it's so true. We can't go back and change the future but we have a chance every morning to create a new ending for today.

via-the bible app

"Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy" ~Hebrews 12:14

I love this one too because I think often it's so quick for people to judge others when it's the exact opposite of what we're supposed to do. This is a great reminder to all of us.

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"Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work" ~C.S. Lewis

This one has always hit home from me. Since becoming a mom it has been a constant balancing act between my time at work, family, even blogging. Some days I just can't do it all and the last thing that should be taking a back burner are my kids. I shared about my moment when momming caught up with me and since then I have tried my best to continue to give myself grace, let the house fall out of order when it needs to, and put down my phone to crawl on the floor and play with my kids. I might have more of a hard time getting up now with my growing belly lol. But I try.

"Beauty begins the moment we decide to be ourselves" ~Coco Chanel

I've always loved this one because it's also so true. It's great to find inspiration from others and become motivated to try new things, but when you stop being yourself, you're only hurting yourself. You will always be the best version of you.

I feel like I could seriously go on and on with this post because there are so many good quotes out there! But, I can't wait to hear some of your favorites and read more.

link up party ideas

We Like To Party

With little nugget's third birthday coming up this weekend, I thought it was the perfect time to finally join the lovely ladies of the Blended Blog for their August party edition. I seriously can't believe how fast time flies and that we are celebrating another birthday. It seems like just yesterday we were having a ball at his two year old beach ball party (pun intended).

Ok, so let's get into answering some questions that I can expand on my excitement for party planning...

1. FAVORITE BIRTHDAY PARTY AS A CHILD?

is it sad that I can't really remember a lot of my birthday parties as a kid? I do remember one, it was a surprise party my parents had for me and I remember feeling really embarrassed when I walked in and knew that I never really wanted a surprise party again. All of our parties where always at home, with homemade cakes, party decor, and I really just remember running around with my friends and having fun. I do remember for my 13th birthday my parents took me and my best friend to medieval times which was really special because we didn't live up that way at the time. After that, I don't think I had a lot of parties as a teen and it was more picking a few friends to go to a water park with us, or the beach, more day trip events then all out parties. Maybe that's why I enjoy experiences more than actual gifts? Who knows. Pinterest worthy parties didn't really exist back then and I still don't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

2. DO YOU LIKE TO ENTERTAIN?

well from the title of this post you can probably tell that I love to entertain. I always joke around that if I could make a living off of throwing parties I would. Ok. maybe more like just coming up with the decorating part of it. I really do enjoy it, and have fun with it. Random fact, all of our birthdays span the months from August-November with each of us having our own month. That will change when baby boy and Eric both share November. I kind of get antsy the rest of the year with no other birthdays to plan. That's why you'll randomly see some pop-up small party that I'll do for the boys throughout the year.

3. WHAT KIND OF PARTIES ARE YOUR FAVORITE?

really any excuse for a party is a good one. I love a good themed party or one that has a general focus. Whether it be a color palette, food theme, etc. Maybe that also stems from my sorority college days when pretty much every mixer had a theme. Thankfully there are ways to archive those photos now on facebook, so let's focus on some of my kids cute parties. Some of my favorites that we've done for the boys have been A's camping themed first birthday, his paw patrol pumpkin themed fourth birthday, little nugget's gender reveal, his nautical first birthday party, his baby dedication, and his beach ball themed second birthday. As you can see, I like to think I've gotten better with parties over time and the picture taking skills have improved, somewhat. I also have goals of throwing fun backyard brunch parties with friends and a New Years Eve Gatsby style party, once we get settled into that dream home.

4. BIG OR SMALL PARTIES?

the older I get the more I love smaller intimate parties. There's something about being able to actually talk to your guests and socialize with them instead of feeling like you couldn't even get to everyone. Then, at the same time, it's also nice to have everyone in the same space, so a larger party has its advantages too.

5. FAVORITE THING TO DO AT PARITIES?

hmm, that would be eating :) I always come with my eyes bigger than my stomach but give me a few good appetizer options and I am one happy girl. And of course talking and visiting with others. Oh wait, there's also taking pictures...

6. PARTY FOOD FAVORITES:

I love finger foods and things that are easy to eat. At parties, most people want to be able to sit around and talk. I love something that isn't going to be hanging out of my mouth or dripping down my clothes to ruin that party outfit.

7. FAVORITE FLAVOR OF BIRTHDAY CAKE?

I don't need anything too fancy, give me a slice of good old vanilla with chocolate icing or red velvet with cream cheese frosting, and I am just in heaven.

8. BALLOONS? YES OR NO?

it depends on the party. I feel like every party I decide to have balloons at it ends up being a windy day and they become more annoying than anything. I do like the mylar balloons now that come with the little stick for you to blow up and don't need helium. I can get down with them.

9. BEST PARTY SONG:

ohhh this is a good one. hmm, this could go so many ways. I always get excited when a classic comes on like Bon Jovi or Journey, but then I also get excited when Bill Biv DeVoe-That Girl Is Poison, any Taylor Swift Song, Party Rock, or Trey Songs-Say Ah comes on. I'm just all over the place. As long as it's a good song it doesn't really matter to me.

10. DO YOU LIKE TO DANCE? YES OR NO?

Ha! Yes, I do. We won't really talk about my high school or college days because looking back it was probably embarrassing. Let's just say me and the perculator used to get down and thank God instagram and facebook videos weren't around yet ;)

I'd love to hear more about your party style and what some of your favorites are?

link up recipes

Favorite Summer Recipes-Girl Chat Link Up

If you've been visiting this little space of mine for awhile now then you know I tend to be a seasonal eater. Certain things just taste better to me at certain times during the year. Like hot chocolate, or a bowl soup, it would be a rare occasion to catch me sipping on some in the middle of August.

The summer is some of my favorite times for food (fall being a close second). I love grilled food, eating outside, enjoying a sweet treat, all the fresh fruit and veggies—I could do without all the flies and bugs though, but what can you do.

This month for our girl chat link up we're sharing some of our favorite recipes. I dug deep into my archives here because food posts just haven't been a thing for me in several years. I love taking pictures of food, but preparing and telling a house full of boys they need wait to try something, just isn't happening. I also rounded up some of my favorite Pinterest finds that have been my go-to for making in the summer.

I'm not sure I know anyone who doesn't like tacos. Enjoying some fish tacos in the summer is one of my favorites. We also love making a homemade mango salsa to top it off and oh boy, now I want a taco.

Speaking of salsa, we also like to make this refreshing strawberry salsa. We enjoy this with regular tortilla chips, but I would imagine you could also top it on some of your favorites.

In keeping with the fruit talk, we also love some grilled peaches. I'm excited that peach season is coming up for us in August and we plan on going picking this year. This recipe includes a scoop of ice cream which also makes these a delicious after dinner treat.

pic via

Our neighbor has some great basil growing and just brought us over a fresh bag of it. I have some fresh mozzarella in the fridge and a tomato getting ripe on my counter. I love tomato, mozzarella and basil but I also love it with some grilled zucchini.

pic via

I also love sipping on some sangria in the summer but this summer it's obviously all mocktails for me. This light and refreshing peach rosè sangria is a favorite and will probably be extended to enjoying some over the holidays when I can cheers again.

pic via

I feel like my list could have kept going on with so many summer staples. Burgers are a big one for us over the summer too, but it's hard to narrow down just one. Lately I've been making my own patties with either ground turkey or ground chicken. A summer pasta salad is also a good one for us. But now it's your turn to share your favorite summer recipes. I can't wait to see what you enjoy!

hair products link up

My Favorite Hair Products

It's sad to admit but my hair is an area I definitely don't give enough attention to. I enjoy doing my hair, and attempting (attempting being the keyword there) new hair styles, but you see, there's this one little issue—time. It's not always on my side. Especially in the mornings when I'm getting ready for work.

At this point I wash my hair 2-3 times a week, and on those mornings when I do, I leave myself enough time to blow it out. If I'm attempting any type of styling that will involve curling or any other added effort, it's usually done on the weekends.

I do have a few key items and products that have been my go-to that help tame my luscious locks. At last that's how my hair is now. After I had my second son it was falling out like crazy and really lost its luster. I'm scared to see what happens this time around, but I'm hoping for the best.

Let's take a look at some of my most used and favorite hair care products.

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1. WOW SPEED DRY SPRAY:

Aside from using my typical shampoo and conditioner, which I switch it up from time to time so that was too hard for me to label a favorite, I do like to use this speed dry spray which does cut down on my drying time. I have a lot of hair, and pretty thick hair, so it can take me around 15 minutes or so to blow dry. This definitely helps with that and I also feel like it leaves a little extra shine to my hair.

2. HOT TOOLS CURLING IRON:

I have several different Hot Tools products and different size barrels that I use. When I have shorter hair I usually stick to my 1 inch wand and then if I let my hair grow out I will reach for me 1 1/2 inch wand. It also depends on the look I'm going for and how tight or loose I want my curls.

3. DRY SHAMPOO:

If you're a blogger or a frequent reader in the blogger world, then hearing about Batiste dry shampoo is no surprise. I think it's one of those products that was affordable, got a lot of hype, and we all went for it and were pleasantly surprised. I still need to try the one for dark hair, but I think I've gotten a better handle on using the original and really working it into my hair before just brushing it through. Also shaking your bottle before spraying it always seems to help me a bit. I usually let my hair go on the second day of not being washed (I think it actually looks the best then) but by the third day, I am dry shampoo all the way.

4. DERMORGANIC LEAVE-IN ARGAN OIL:

Particularly in the winter my hair tends to get really dry. My ends are always the first to show it and even in the spring coming out of the winter it's still trying to find its way. I've gotten into the habit of using Argan Oil in my hair throughout the year to help offset the damage in the winter and keep it more consistent. I love the shine this gives me and you can use it on either wet hair or I will run a small amount over my dry hair to also help combat frizz in the summer. A little bit of this also goes a long way. It's one of those products that I mainly replace yearly.

5. ROUND BRISTLE BRUSH WITH CERAMIC BARREL:

I've been using a round brush for my hair for as long as I can remember. I've had the same one for years and have a hard time parting with it. Eric's glued the handle for me three times because it's definitely seen its day, but it gets the job done and I'm so comfortable using it. I found one very similiar to mine because there are certain things I love about mine. For starters, the bristles, they work through my hair the best and I can't do brushes that have those round little balls on the end of them (they always tangle my hair). I also love a barrel that's ceramic and heats up when I blow my hair out so that I can also style it at the same time and not have to go over it with extra heat from a straightener.

6. CURLING IRON/STRAIGHTENER TRAVEL BAG:

While this might not necessarily be considered a hair product, a travel bag like this has been a staple for me. It's perfect for of course traveling, but even for just throwing it in an overnight bag when visiting and staying with family or friends. I usually keep some of my tools in there and then pull them out as I need them.

7. BASIC RUBBER BANDS:

This is kind of funny to admit, but if you've been following my blog for a while now then you might remember a few years ago Eric grew his hair out and had a little man bun thing going on. You know, when that whole craze was really big. But who can blame the guy, we all jump on these crazy blogging trends from time to time, so why not try out a man bun. Anyway, one day I realized I was missing my hair ties and saw that he was using them. They were not the right size for him, so the nice supportive wife that I am went out to the store and picked up these basic elastic bands for him which worked out so much better. Well, jokes on me because I ended up loving them, especially for doing braids or half-up hair styles that other bands just looked to big for or didn't give it the same feel.

8. CONAIR STRAIGHTENER AND CURLING IRON:

So I've had this straightener for years that also has a built-in curling iron to it. It's my quick go-to if I need to touch up some stubborn pieces or if I get my hair cut with some angles and want to style the front a bit. It will curl my whole head and give it a great look, so I guess I technically have three different curling irons that I could work with. Of course I don't nearly use all of them as much as I could. I've really tried to minimize the use of heat on my hair. I have naturally wavy hair so in the summer I can also let it air dry and put a little hair spray in it and wear it a bit more wild. Either way, this is the straightener I use and it gets the job done.

Now it's your turn to join in on the fun and share your favorite hair products...

link up

A Day In The Life-Girl Chat Link Up

I always enjoy reading these posts and seeing how everyone's days go, but I've never done one myself. I had a lot of fun with this but it isn't the easiest thing to remember to document everything. At least for me it wasn't. For the sake of convenience, I took pictures with my phone and tried to keep it simple.

I documented our Tuesday 5/15 which would have been a typical day for us, and it did start out that way, but ended very different. Such is life and you deal with things as they come...

5:03am: way too early for my liking I heard the birds chirping outside of my window and had a hard time falling back to sleep.

6:24am: little nugget comes into our room which is rare for him because he usually calls for us to come get him out of bed. He needed to go to the bathroom so we helped him out. We also noticed he must have been bit by a mosquito in his sleep, right smack dab in the middle of his forehead. At that point Eric woke up and got in the shower and I gladly stayed in bed.

6:55am: my alarm goes off and I hit snooze.

7:05am: I get up, look at my phone, check my email real quick, read my verse of the day and drag myself out of bed. Little nugget is upset about what I picked out for him to wear. He wants to wear the same outfit he had on yesterday but he has watermelon all over the front of it, so we compromise and let him pick something out. A dinosaur shirt and sweats were his outfit of choice.

7:08am: A wakes up because he hears little nugget yelling and comes in with the sweetest smile and to give me a hug.

7:10am: I turn my pandora on to the elevation worship station and have it playing while I get in the shower. I try to start my day with some worship music and spending time in prayer. I hear ruckus going on in my room so I decide to skip washing my hair. Even if I wanted to, I was running behind because I usually wake up earlier when I wash my hair. Looks like it's a dry shampoo kind of day.

7:25am: I head to my closet to get ready. I have my clothes picked out from the night before and do my makeup in there.

7:30am: Eric takes the boys downstairs for breakfast. They have their staples they like, cereal, pancakes, or waffles. A goes for his usual of waffles with peanut butter (he does not like syrup) and little nugget throws everyone off with a tantrum of not wanting any of that and decides he wants a bowl of soup instead. Soup?! I mean, he wasn't asking for cookies or chocolates, so we pick and choose our battles. Thankfully we had some chicken noodle soup so that's what he got. I really think that dang mosquito bite really threw him off.

7:55am: I'm done getting dressed and putting my make up on so I head down stairs. Eric already has the boys backpacks and lunch bags set, hair done, and shoes on (he is seriously father of the year). I grab my breakfast to bring to work and head outside.

8:03am: I am trying to round the boys up to get in the car as they are running around the backyard with a bug net trying to catch a fly. We finally get the boys in the car but realize the dog is still outside so I run back to let him in the house.

8:08am: we are on the road and in route to drop them off at day care.

8:22am: we pull into the parking lot, I unload them, grab the backpacks, nap mat (we forgot that on Monday) and get them situated in their class rooms.

8:35am: I arrive at work, turn on my computer, check my emails, check my faxes, resume inboxes, and see what crazy awaits for the day. So you understand what I do on a daily basis, I'm a corporate HR Manager for a company in the retail and fashion industry. It's hard to explain if someone isn't familiar with the industry, but we run and operate a leased department inside of major department stores across the US and Canada.

8:52am: I grab that breakfast I threw in my purse.

9:28am: I'm called into a 9:30am meeting that I didn't know about, but it's all good.

10:30am: I'm back at my desk. I sneak in a few minutes to try and get some blog reading in and comment on my favorites. That's short lived when my phone rings and it's an issue with an employee who is behaving badly. Sometimes I really feel like half of my job is babysitting.

11:30am: I hop onto bloglovin and try to catch up with as many blogger friends as I can in between taking phone calls and printing things out. I have another situation I have to deal with so work flow it is.

1:24pm: I leave for lunch. I usually take a later lunch so this is nothing new. I am lucky enough to live relatively close to my job so I head home on my lunch break to try and conquer the world. I get home and let Coaty out, start dinner for tonight, make myself a salad and sit outside since it's so nice out. I have a sponsored instagram post that needs to go live so I get that taken care of. It just earned the boys some extra money going into their college funds, so priorities.

2:38pm: I get back into work and find three missed calls and two voice messages. For the remained of the afternoon I have a few people come in and out of my office. I have to draft a disciplinary action for someone not following directives. I get an employee situated with FMLA paperwork since they will be going out on a leave of absence, and other random daily tasks.

4:33pm: a crazy storm rolls in and it looks so bad outside. The wind is blowing like crazy and there is thunder and lighting. The power goes out twice but comes on right after. Of course it happen right in the middle of sending out an email.

5:08pm: I head out of the office a little earlier than I normally would. The rain is crazy and there are trees down, things blown into the road, and that sky is angry. It's dropped over 20 degrees from lunch time and you would have never known it was the same day.

5:14pm: I get to the kids school and find that they are all in one classroom because the power was going in and out in parts of the building.

5:46pm: it takes me a lot longer to get home than normal because some roads only having one lane open. We pass a huge tree down up the street from us and I know this can't be anything good. We run into the house and my feeling was right, no power.

6:00pm: luckily I made dinner during my lunch break so we quickly open the fridge and take everything out and use a lighter to heat the burners on our stove. We have our taco night and eat by candlelight.

6:30pm: the boys play games by candlelight, we build blocks with them, and make the best of it. We have portable chargers so Eric and I could still use our phones and have mobile hot spots. We called my brother in Chicago to talk to him for a little while and the boys were running around the house with him on speaker phone.

8:08pm: we take the boys upstairs to get ready for bed, brush their teeth, and get them tucked in. We put flashlights in their rooms as nightlights but little nugget is really unsettled and scared of the big booms.

9:15pm: we've already gone into little nuggets room twice now and he asks to come sleep in our bed. We bring him in and within five minutes he falls asleep curled up next to me. I let him lay there for a little while and both Eric and I stare at him as he makes the cutest faces and moves his arms in his sleep. We carry him back into his bed until he makes his way back in our room somewhere around 4:00am.

The rest of the night I spent browsing the internet and talking with Eric. This isn't so typical because after the boys go to bed we're usually packing lunches for the next day, doing dishes, laundry, starting the dishwasher, and then finally sitting down to watch some tv together.

11:00pm we head to bed and make it an earlier night.

We wake up the next morning and still have no power. I don't want to complain because I know it could be a lot worse, but it is so crazy how dependent we become on something so simple as electricity.

Now it's your turn to join in on the fun and share more about your day.

Easter Basket link up

Kids Easter Basket Ideas-Girl Chat Link Up

This post contains affiliate links in which I get commission for purchases or clicks made through links in this post. Thank you for your continued support.

It's hard to believe we're talking about Easter again. It feels like just a few months ago I was sharing the boys Easter baskets and planning out an egg hunt for our backyard.

It looks like this year will be a bit tricky because we are still covered in snow over here and I'm not sure how much it will actually warm up. I know we'll make it all work, but I do miss Easter being later on in the month.

Looking back at my previous posts (here, here, and here) and sharing the boys baskets, I've noticed a pattern. I think I've unintentionally started some basket traditions aside from our regular Easter traditions as a family. It looks like what I put in them has been consistent year after year with a few changes here and there as they get older.

Being the brave soul that I am, I ventured to HomeGoods over the weekend with the boys while Eric was working on a paper for his Masters class. I have to say, they were very well behaved and we walked out doing a happy dance because no one broke anything. My favorite part of the trip was when they spotted the dog aisle and asked if they could get a few things for Coaty and make him a basket. How could I say no to that? The answer is, you don't. Our dog will also be getting a basket this year with some new toys and treats and the boys have already put it together and stashed it away in a special hiding place.

Most of the items for their baskets I picked up from Target's dollar spot, I mean, can anyone walk past that section and not think about picking something up? I'd like to know who you are and if you're some magical creature with the strongest will power, ever. I also picked up a few things for them during Old Navy's sale because we typically start to get things ready for our family trip. You guys, I am so excited to announce soon where we will be traveling this year. It's not where we originally intended but I am over the moon and ready to leave like now. Anyway, that's another post so stayed tuned.

Here's a look at what's in their baskets...

Sunglasses

New Swimsuits

Short Sleeve Tees

Bug Catcher

Rubber Finger Shooters

Foam Rockets

Flip Flops

Fedora Hats

Dot-to-Dot Activity Books Color Me Canvas Bags

Sidewalk Chalk

Band Aids

Fruit Snacks

Lunch Box Snacks

link up

How We Stay Organized-Girl Chat Link Up

This post contains affiliate links

This was a post I was putting off getting together for awhile because I don't really consider myself a very organized person. Ok, maybe I should give myself a bit more credit here. I like to have things organized and a place for everything to go, but with half of our things still in storage since we moved to our "temporary" location (ha, going on a year and half now) I've had a hard time getting things in order.

I've mentioned before about my lack of closet space, or more accurately, no closet space—that is aside from our bedroom closets. I'm sure half of the things we have we don't need, but nonetheless, they are there, and hats, and coats, and gloves still need a place to go.

I mentioned a few weeks ago about wanting to get a shelf that would help with coats and some storage. I ended up finding a 40% off coupon code for Hobby Lobby and pulled the trigger on it. I'm really glad I did because now it's out of stock (similar one here and here). This has helped us to stay organized with our winter accessories and extra space for the boys coats and jackets.

We also needed some storage to stay organized in our master bathroom because, you guessed it, we do not have a closet in there. This shelf has worked out really nice with the extra baskets and freed up some space to put some toiletry things in there. I also have some open shelving in our bathroom that I have several baskets (similar here and here) that hold majority of my facial products and hair products.

Using storage baskets (similar here and here) in the boys playroom has really helped to keep some sort of order in there. I would love to say that we have each of these bins organized by the type of toys, but let's be realistic here, I'm just happy when their toys are actually put back in them. We also have a storage basket in each of their rooms with some of their stuffie friends and more toys.

I came across this organizer in a clearance section in Marshalls and haven't been able to find anything like it since. I am so happy I got this because it is perfect to hold their craft things and easy to put away and bring out when needed. More times than not we have it out though because my boys are always looking to glue or tape something together. Does anyone else's kids always want to do a project?

I like to think that when it comes to managing my personal life and our family calendar that I have all of that under control. I have been loving my new planner (similar here and here) that I write down random blog post ideas, campaign deadlines, and whatever else needs to go in there. I also utilize my phone a lot for reminders and the calendar on there. Sometimes I need to have bells and whistles going off to remember it all. When it comes to staying organized with important documents and things like that, we do have a file cabinet at home that we utilize. I also carry around my flash drives for blogging resources and to organize my pictures on there. I create separate folders for events or dates and organize my pictures accordingly. If that's one thing I'm good at, it's trying to stay on top of my pictures because usually that's the most time consuming thing for me. What can I say, I might be a little camera happy.

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"Above all else guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it" Proverbs 4:23

"People are usually as happy as they make up their minds to be" ~Abraham Lincoln

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending" ~Maria Robinson

"Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy" ~Hebrews 12:14

"Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work" ~C.S. Lewis

"Beauty begins the moment we decide to be ourselves" ~Coco Chanel