Oh hey, Monday- it's you again

Happy Monday, all! I hope you all had a great weekend! It was another great weekend of fun at our house. We started it off with our weekly Friday pizza and movie night. The girls love to make their own personal size pizzas and of course, we have to finish it off with popcorn while we watch a movie in the basement.

Little pizza maker

On Saturday, we helped celebrate Nolan's 5th birthday party and after we got over our fear of putting on bright orange socks, we jumped and jumped and jumped. Sophia was pretty quiet with all the kids but she had fun and once we got home, she couldn't put down the cool Batman favors she got from the party. It was a refreshing break from all things princess and pink. Thanks Nolan and Ashley, we had so much fun! We spent a quiet evening in and finished off the night with a trip to Snookie's.

Jumping in puddles

I can't believe this girl is going to be 5 soon!

"Mom, these socks are ugly and weird." Only Sophia would worry about socks when there are wall to wall trampolines.

On Sunday, Will decided to take Sophia to the movie, Cinderella and so Saidey and I headed to the mall and shopped a little. Saidey and I had a little date at Panera before heading home for a nap. It was so nice to just spend the afternoon with Saidey as we don't get the chance to do so very often. The rest of the afternoon was spent finishing up a project I was working on and getting outside to enjoy the sunny weather.

Date at the movie theater!

My shopping and lunch date!

Chalkboard paint layer

First paint layer

Ta-da! The finished product.

Of course, Pinterest was the inspiration for this project. It was surprisingly easy and I didn't mess it up too bad. I say that because it seems as though my paint skills need slight improvement. If you look close enough you can see some spots where I didn't even it out. But hey, that just adds character, right?! Click here for the pin that I followed for directions.  As you can see, the only step I did not do was sandpaper the front. Frankly, I was scared I would mess that part up so I decided to leave it and I still think it looks ok. Overall, I am happy with how they turned out. Thank you to Pinterest once again for helping me attempt to be semi crafty!

Hope everyone has a great week! If you are liking what I have to say, please don't hesitate to like, share and follow my blog!

Thanks again to all those that do take the time to read and give me comments and feedback- I really appreciate it!

Thankful

As human beings we are wired to connect and build relationships with others. The sense of belonging and making connections with others is the foundation of everything we do. Since I have started blogging more frequently, I have discovered some amazing bloggers and one of them, over at Big Mama Blog, recently released a book, "Nobody's Cuter Than You" about how our friendships impact our lives.  It made me not only reflect on how my own friendships and how several women have shaped my world but it made me realize how important it is to hold onto those people that you just click with. The people that you are completely yourself around and they have seen you at not only your best, but your worst. You know, the kind of people that upon meeting you think, "She's my people!"And like marriage, friendships need to be cared for, to put effort into, to make sure they don't wither away or drift apart.

Love this! From Nobody's Cuter Than You by Melanie Shankle

It also made me realize how lucky I am that I have a small handful of these people that I can call "my people." There have been several times when I have sulked because I felt like all my friends have moved away and I've lost touch with some of them. Of course, when we do see one other, we always start off right where we left off. But it also made me think about how I can do better. How I can pick up the phone more often and just check in with those friends. Or simply message them, saying hi and thanking them for being there. And even though now most of my days are spent in mommy mode- let's face it, I still need my friends!

I've been attending a training at work and one of the activities we did was choose someone we wanted to say a few kind words to. How many of us love it when we get a handwritten note, either to thank us for something or just to know we are being thought of? I know I love receiving those random notes or messages. It gave me an idea about how I can relate this to my friendships. Thank those that I know if I called them right this minute, they would be here. To those who I haven't thanked or let you know- you are important to me and I love you and what you have brought to my life.

And another great quote from Nobody's Cuter Than You by Melanie Shankle

So, I encourage you to think about who you haven't thanked or let them know how important they have been in your life and DO IT! OK, go NOW!!

On another note- this weekend was uneventful and relaxing. We had family pictures on Saturday morning and thankfully, the rain stayed away and the sun even started peeking out towards the end. We spent the rest of the weekend running errands and snuggling on the couch watching movies.

What a good little mommy :)

Love our bows from Lincoln and Lexi!

Ready for the rain!

Sunday craft day!

Happy Monday y'all! And don't forget- let those amazing women you love, KNOW IT! Oh- and check out the book, "Nobody's Cuter Than You" It's a great read!!