Giveaway #3 - A Christmas to Remember

We are now ready for Giveaway #3 for the Christmas to Remember. This giveaway is for the little ones in your life - three pairs of children's fleeced lined leggings.  The giveaway is provided by Amy at 2 Cute Couture.

Amy at 2 Cute Couture does a great job with children's and tween clothing and accessories.  My girls are constantly getting stuff from her shop and they look adorable in it.  She is on facebook as well as First Monday Trade Days in Canton, TX.

Enter below for your chance to win and don't forget to check back tomorrow for Giveaway #4.

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Giveaway #2 - A Christmas to Remember

We are now ready for Giveaway #2 for the Christmas to Remember.  This giveaway is awesome - A $50 gift card to Erin Condren, which is enough to get one of her very popular life planners.  The giveaway is provided by Jen at Whimsy at Heart.

Jen's blog at whimsyatheart.com is a fantastic read and aims to help you get organized as well as provide you with answers to questions on options  with products, health, cooking, fashion, parenting and design.  In fact, she did a complete review on the Erin Condren life planner here:  http://whimsyatheart.com/erin-condren-life-planner-review/ which was very informative.

Enter below for your chance to win and don't forget to check back tomorrow for Giveaway #3.


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A Christmas to Remember - Giveaway #1

Announcing our Christmas to Remember Giveaway.  We are teaming up with a couple of other business owners and bloggers to give away something everyday.  We are excited to partner with:

Erika at A Little Bit of Everything

Jen at Whimsy at Heart

Kandi at the Prissy Parlor

Amy at 2 Cute Couture

The first giveaway will be a set of four Bella Ryann bracelets.  The bracelets have a unique cork screw design which allows for the perfect fit – just stretch it over your hand and it will slide back into place around your wrist.  Each bracelet is adorned with a charm that will represent your unique style and individuality. Wear one, or stack them as high as you’d like.  The winner will get to select any four of the bracelets, either gold or silver or mixed and any charm including initials.

Enter the giveaway below.  And if you share the facebook giveaway announcement with your friends, you will get an extra five entries.



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It's that time....Or you might be a little late

I don't know about you...but family pics are important to me. My husband and kids, not so much. The older they get the more they understand this is not a joke and momma gonna snap if they don't cooperate.

I'm not big into matchy match. I am into colors, I am still into denim with some variations, and I am into patterns. So if you are someone that is stuck still wearing black and white or denim...I urge you to step out of the box! It will either be your favorite Christmas pic of the year or your kids will think you have lost your mind. I am going to show you some of my favorite family pics, some inspirations for your focus outfit, and a MAJOR do not!

 

Love how she did some neutrals with the blues and then added a POP of turq...she matched her daughters dress to her cute necklace.

 Here's some denim and some red. She made her daughters dress the highlight and then the red became her pop for everyone.
 

Who doesn't LOvE this pic! The leopard (which is the new neutral) and then just for fun she added her cute mustard shoes. Oh, and that mustard color is precious.
 

I am risky...all this color makes my heart SING. She tied all the colors in with at least two of them having the same color. Who does not love a little girl in those ruffle tights. Again mustard.
 

 

And some neutral. But we have brown boots, we have black boots, we have gingham (which is that precious dad with all those girls:)), we have fur and denim. How stinking cute and there house entrance matches.

 

 

This is a great FALL assemble. It's matchy but has so many colors.

 

 

Green is s fun color too!!

 

 

This is very neutral...but there is a POP of mint and peach. So cute!

 

 

and if you can't break the cycle with grey, black, and white just make sure that you have A lot of different patterns.

 

There is SUCH a thing as too much denim...do not be a victim.
 

Rules of Family Pictures per ME:

1) Have a few family members have some colors that match

2) Break free of the ordinary, at least once year

3) There is such a thing as too much of a good thing

4) If you go neutral pick at least one color that at least two of you have on...whether it's a necklace, scarf, or shoe.

Can't wait to get your cards...it is the most wonderful time of the year!!!
 

Fall...Tis the Season!

I love all things fall...the smells, the pumpkins, the colors, and the family time. I also LOVE decorating for fall. Here is some of the touches to my house. Every year Rusty and I have a "Harvest Party" every year it gets BIGGer and BIgger. This year was really fun. I love parties and love to host parties. This party  is a good excuse to get some organizing done before Brassy Blueberries season kicks off.

 I bought cheap ($1 books) and cut them after I tore the spines out of them and then put a stick in the middle...It made a cute pumpkin book. I put some cute ribbon around the top.FYI I think it works better if you chose a book with a small spine.

 The beloved stump. Some of my girlfriends will get the beloved part. We all bought them and like to show off/compete with who has the coolest stump per the season. My kids love that the rats have necklaces.

 My favorite pumpkin

 The chalkboard in my entry way. It is a piece of plywood with chalk paint. I usually keep bible verses that coordinate with the season but this one was cute. In the spider web is 6 spiders which is our family and the one with the string attached is sweet Shepherd in China...He's coming home hopefully soon.

 Parties aren't complete with a bunch of 7 year olds and a flag football game. Those are made of painted PVC pipe.

 My painted plywood we decorate outdoors with. Look how pretty the trees look in the back ground.

 Blankets for the back porch. I guarantee that every time I plan the Harvest Party it will be the coldest night of the year.

 Football games on the porch for the men.

 The crock pot table. It helps when you live next door to the greatest party planner ever!!

I could write an HGTV show...

There is never a dull moment when you are with me (or my kids), and definitely when you are with me in Canton, Texas setting up for First Monday Trade Days (my mom and I own a booth there called Brassy Blueberries - women's clothing and accessories). You will experience all aspects of my "Hot mess self":)

Mom and I were so excited about setting up for Canton this month, so we headed out on our Adventure ready to organize, clean and set up for a great fall Canton . About midnight we started to head to the lake house after a full day of setting up. But first I needed to park the trailer.

I should really practice taking the trailer off the truck when it is not pitch black and do it more than a couple times a year. This particular night I could not get the trailer to unhook, so I grabbed a brick to hit the hitch to see if I could loosen it up. I was worried about my rings, so I took my wedding rings and Aggie ring off and put them on the bumper.

About 1:00am we started the trek home. We got down hwy 19, got on Interstate 20, and exited hwy 17 toward Grand Saline. My mom started taking about jewelry and I immediately felt shock, horror,and sadness. I hopped out of the truck trying to explain to my mom what I had forgotten to get off the bumper! To my happy surprise, my wedding rings were sitting on the back bumper...how does that happen after driving for several miles?? God must have known that Rusty and I could not handle one more big expense, we have been bleeding money between our oven, the rock that i hit that ripped the running board off the Yukon, new tires, or especially the adoption.

The rings that were left on the bumper

By now I don't know whether to be happy about all the rings I have or cry for a minute about the Aggie ring I didn't have. My mom said she would follow me along hwy 19 in the truck so I could use the light. Since it was about two in the morning there was no one but us on the road. I walked from the Arbors to the McDonalds with my mom following me. As I walked near McDonalds, I see a police cruiser and they quickly whip around and start questioning my mom and I trying to determine if we were in a domestic dispute. I explain the story.

Desperate times call for desperate measures right? He kinda flirts a little with me, I figured two things, 1) Rusty will be upset about me losing an expensive ring and can look past flirting and 2) The cop does not need to know that I am over 30 and have a million kids. So I flirt just enough for him to offer me ride in the cop car so that I can use his high beam spotlight. So as we drove 5mph down Interstate 20, I shined the spotlight in all kinds of places and saw a million shiny things along the highway. The cop kept saying, "When that ring hit the road it bounced and bounced and then more than likely a truck shot it into the woods." I threw in the towel and we headed home about 2:30. am.

I did call Rusty at 2 in the am to give him the news because I didn't want to worry about him being frustrated with me... i called 4 times and he didn't answer. About 2:45 am I got a phone call from a 903 area code number and when I answered, my phone died. Seriously I CANNOT make this stuff up! We turned around and headed back to Canton. I called the Canton police and they told me to meet the cops at McDonalds. When I got there, the cops were so excited to hand me my Aggie ring...no dents and in perfect shape. They had found it in the middle of Interstate 20.

All our friends in Canton have been rubbing my head with all my luck. Mom and I have had more fun experiences in our Canton adventures...Life would be boring...without Canton and without me. Andrew Shull, State Farm Agent, we really need to talk about insuring my kids ASAP!

For the Love of Being Organized...

There is not much more I love to do than organize! It is great stress relief and makes my heart so happy once it's done.  With four kids, our morning routine before school would be extremely difficult and there is no way that we would be on time anywhere if we weren't prepared.  

 I have learned that if I sacrifice just an hour extra on Sundays, it makes our week so much smoother. I (or Rusty) spend that hour making 13 sandwiches that we bag and then freeze. I make PB&J and meat and cheese sandwiches with mustard/mayo, place them in Ziploc bags and then FREEZE them for the WHOLE week...It is definitely more cost effective over the Smuckers sandwiches and I already have all the stuff out, so why not be time effective too! My kids have never made one comment about them tasting any different. My kids love them so much that they never ever eat at the school cafeteria. 

This is the assembly line...Paxton is the only one that is picky so on his meat sandwiches I put a P on the Ziploc in the freezer so I know which ones are his.

Then for the fruit - I pre-bag grapes with oranges and put them in a container in my fridge. My kids also eat apples (which I don't cut up), pre-cut cucumbers, and pre-bagged pickles. 

This is in my fridge...I wanted my kids to know these were not part of a regular snack, they are only for lunches.

Then I pre-bag chips (I do a variety) and cookies (variety here too) and keep them in bins in my pantry.

These are also off-limits snack buckets (only for lunches) that sit in the pantry. They are low enough that the kids can help:)

So everyday when the kids get home, they put there lunch boxes on the counter and while they do their reading, I grab all the things they need and re-fill the lunch box for the next day. So quick and so easy!

 Who doesn't love a random pic of a baby who has been organizing her moms purse and found the lipstick!

What are some of your time saving ideas for the school routine?