Five on Friday - Split Personalities

Hallelujah - It's Friday! What a week it has been. I am just not good at living a double life as a stay at home mom and a professional educator, which is what I do from late July to early August, until my kiddos go back to school. I'm trying to put on a brave face and woman up, but it's emotionally hard. I just don't like leaving my babies, but I loooove my job. Anyways, I'm enjoying dipping my toe back into the school life and soaking up every minute I can being at home with the kids. Here's a look at my week:

ONE.



I was talking with a friend about business cards for her business and just sort of put this design together from some inspiration she threw my way. I also did a tip/thank you card for her along the same theme and I'm working on a fun design for a sweet coworker now. I am having so much fun playing around with Photoshop - it's a nice creative outlet. So how can I turn this into a business?

TWO.



I attended a PLC symposium on Monday and Tuesday, so while my babies were in the excellent care of my in-laws (thank you!!), I got to mingle with professionals for the first time in a while. I took the opportunity to wear my gorgeous new LLR Amelia dress and totally forgot my Lipsense! This dress is effortlessly fancy, I'm in love.



One of the breakouts I attended went over the workshop model in math...I am unbelievably excited to collaborate with my math teachers and try this in my classroom! Teacher nerd moment.



Day two, I did remember my Lipsense and LLR outfit number two was a classic and a black(!) Madison, complete with wedges. I do miss dressing up during the summer!

THREE.



Wednesday and back to SAHM role. We took a trip to the choochoo and fun was clearly had by ALL.





I forgot to mention, Zoey's been potty trained for two weeks! It was easy....and we sold her crib earlier this week, so she just really isn't a baby anymore. Gosh that happens fast.


I finally got Luke's six months photo done! It gets later and later each month....



Zoey also made muffins with minimal help from me! She's getting really good in the kitchen.

FOUR.



Totally random, but I went to get my car inspected (nothing like leaving it until the last minute) and it came with a free car wash (in which my car has not been washed since purchasing it 2 years ago). I had forgotten how terrifying these auto car washes can be! However, my car looks amazing.

FIVE.



Comparison is the thief of joy. I have to remind myself of this all the time. Just do you. 

Now I'm off to spend time with my sis-in-law, Kim! Happy Weekend! Linking up!



See y'all next week!

Five on Friday - Happy Independence Weekend!

Happy Friday, everyone! The days are long, but the weeks and months are short. Here we are at Friday again and the very last day of June. How did that happen? I'm looking forward to a fun weekend ahead with friends and family. Let's get to my five.

**I started writing this post at 5 AM this morning and my less than 2 years old laptop malfunctioned. It's sort of running now, but I'm mad at PC. Who loves their mac? Worth the price?**

ONE.


I was shopping on Land's End the other night for a monogrammed beach bag and I found this adorable rash guard. I've been talking about getting a rash guard because I'm so rarely in the water past my shins anymore and I burn SO easily. This fits the bill perfectly. I can't wait for it to come in!

TWO.



I scored Zoey the most adorable pair of LuLaRoe leggings. So excited for her to wear them on our upcoming trip! Now I'm after a Disney Mae dress.



I also scored myself a Minnie top from the Disney LLR collection. I love it with my black Madison. I'm really wishing I taught elementary now so I had more of a reason to wear these adorable prints. My middle schoolers will mostly just roll their eyes at me.

THREE.



I took a picture of this wine because it's local, but as I was scrolling, it reminded of how amazing supper club was last Friday. This has been such an amazing, once a month addition to my life. Good friends, conversation, food, and of course wine. 

FOUR.



I finally ordered the Kwik Stix Solid Tempera Paints from Amazon last week. I cringed every time Zoey told me she wanted to paint and did everything I could to avoid it. Now, I can bust these babies out whenever she asks. They're amazing. Dad obviously loves them too.

FIVE.



Happy Six Months to this sweet boy! His smile and laugh are EVERYTHING. 



Big milestone here, He is sitting unassisted for minutes at a time! He's so close.



Zoey attended a friend's party last Saturday and it was a "princess" party. Probably the cutest thing I've ever seen. She had such a blast with her precious friends and I took so many pictures.





Huge milestone for Zoey too, she slept all night in her big girl bed last night for the first time! She's been fine with her crib for the last 37 months of her life and then yesterday just decided it was time. She's asleep in there again tonight! I need to do some light baby proofing so I'll sleep better though.





Time for me to go to bed so I can wake up in about 6 hours and do it all again! Happy Independence day, everyone! Have a marvelous weekend!

Linking up.



See y'all next week!

Five on Friday - It's been a while!

My triumphant return to blogging sure lasted long, huh? I have just been having WAY too much fun with my kiddo, and while she naps, I've been binge watching so many shows that I fell behind on during the school year. AND knocking so many items off of my to-do list. Best. Summer. Ever.

I've been thinking a lot about my little blog and there is just so much I want to share with you. Some of my most favorite bloggers are those who just talk about life and what they're doing. That's what I want for this blog.

So the easiest way to dive back into blogging? Five on Friday, of course. Let's go!





One. We finally finished Zoey's playset enclosure! We (mostly Chris) built this playset last summer and Zoey enjoyed it during our gloriously mild winter. When the "grass" (read: weeds) started growing again this spring, we bit the bullet, ordered 2 tons of rubber mulch and built (mostly Chris, again) this sweet enclosure. I love how it looks and the extra safety it provides for our fearless climber and her friends. Chris loves not having to mow under it.



Two. We discovered our athletic center's indoor play pool this summer. The outdoor play pools put it to shame, but it's pretty awesome and not highly attended in the AM. Such a great way for Zoey to expend some energy without the sunscreen battle.



Three. I'm still Stitch Fixing! I kept all five from my latest fix - my stylist really knocked it out of the park! I'm obsessed with the shoes. If you haven't tried it yet, give it a shot: {Stitch Fix}.



Four. I made my first burlap wreath last week! It is not my favorite, but the thought was to make it plain so I can change out the decorations with some of these more fleeting holidays. I'm thinking, if I add some color to the bottom right, it will look more complete.









Five. Motherhood has been throwing me way out of my comfort zone this summer. As an introvert, it is very hard to do anything that is unknown; my natural instinct is to stick with what I'm comfortable doing. The demands of an adventurous two year old have thrown me into some big unknowns and I'm so thankful! We've discovered all of the "free" swimming places, just completed our first week of swim lessons, played in a Chick-Fil-A play area (my personal hell), done story time at the Library, and played in the mall play area (my second personal hell). With another month left of summer, we still have so many places to check off our list. What are your recommendations for toddler friendly fun?

Six. Because I can't ignore the hurting in my city or anywhere else today.

My prayer list for the families of those senselessly killed by fearful and hate-filled people grows too long. I know my ongoing struggle is judging others, but maybe if I work harder to love instead of judge, I can be a better example for my daughter. Let's all choose love, our world needs it right now. 

{source}

                    Linking up with a few of my favs - April, Christina & Natasha!

Happy Friday! See you next week!

Nursery Update

After purchasing this incredibly precious and perfect fabric for Zoey's room a few weekends ago...

...I finally got the gumption to make her crib skirt (my very first attempt at one) and curtains!

For the crib skirt, I followed these relatively simple instructions from Oleander and Palm and used an old bed sheet as my base fabric. 

I love how it turned out, however, for those of you with the Sundvik Crib from Ikea there's really no need to go through all this trouble. I could've easily hung a hemmed panel of fabric from the front side of the crib and it would've looked the same! The ends of the crib are solid and the back of the crib is up against the wall so only 1 out of the 4 panels actually shows. Lesson learned for next time! I'm still pleased with how it turned out!

For the curtains, I purchased the gray Vivans from Ikea, 2 panels for $9.99 and hacked them to make these custom curtains to match the crib skirt.

I measured the overall length I wanted the curtains to be and cut off that amount from the Ikea curtains + the length of my butterfly fabric. Then, I hemmed my fabric and sewed it to the curtain. 

Chris suggested we add a little of the extra fabric to the top to tie it all together. I loved the idea. :) To do this, I just ironed a hem on a small piece of fabric and sewed it close to the top of the curtains. 

I'm incredibly happy with how these turned out and they were so easy! Hacking an already made curtain helps a lot.

Zoey's Nursery is definitely coming along nicely! We now get to focus on decor for the walls and all those fun and very necessary baby items (like diapers and wipes!). More Nursery updates to come!