Joyfully Weary

These outfits are from the past two weeks.  I honestly haven't gotten dressed much over the holidays - lots of leggings, baggy sweaters, & pajamas - it been wonderful!  earrings: target, scarf: florence, sweater: gap, jeans: anthropologie, shoes: dsw This dress is from eShakti . I've admired their pieces for awhile so I was was pretty pumped when asked to pick out a dress from their online boutique. It took me a bit to make my decision - they have tons of fun designs - but in the end I just couldn't pass up these embroidered bicycles. One thing that makes eShakti clothes extra special is that they offer easy customization (neckline, hem, & arms), so you are guaranteed to get the fit and style you are looking for.  With this dress I chose to change up the sleeves and shorten the hem to knee length. The dress lives up to all my expectations; it fits well and is very comfortable to wear.  sweater: gymboree (boys), dress: c/o eshakti , tights: ta...

Friday we had our little family Christmas. The festivities actually started the night before: we drove around and looked at Christmas lights , watched The Nutcracker, and then put the kiddos to bed in the playroom. After Jeremy and I finished prepping, we spent the night camped out under the tree - guarding the presents from potential, over-excited early risers. Surprisingly, they all slept in until almost eight o'clock, giving Jeremy and I the gift of a slow quiet morning. Once awake, they dug through their stockings then celebrated Jesus birthday with a special breakfast. It was already feeling like the perfect Christmas morning when just as we started to open gifts we noticed the beautiful big snowflakes outside our window. After the gifts were opened we spent the rest of the day bumming around in our pajamas (well most of us - Little Lady is still going through a naked phase) enjoying our new treasures. It was an amazing day! I'm so thankful for these three little munchkin...

For us Christmas is a week long affair. Jeremy and I come from large families and getting everyone together is important to both sides. As result, we've gotten into the habit of celebrating three times: once in Iowa with my family, once just us at home, and once with Jeremy's family. Our first celebration this year was with my family in Iowa.  It was a great a visit. We stayed with my sister Sarah and her family. Ten years ago Sarah was headed down a pretty rough road so now it's extra sweet to spend time with her and her beautiful family. My heart bursts with happiness and pride when I see the lovely life she's created for herself and how dedicated and selfless she is as a mom. It's a funny feeling when you start to "look up" to your younger sister. I would have liked to have taken more pictures but here are few moments we did capture on film. while we there my littlest sister, angel, got baptized! little lady adores her oldest cousin, aubry,...

I've had a couple readers asks me to do a post on Little Lady's bedroom. I put it off because it's not quite finished; I'd had hoped to add a rug and spruce up a few things. But we are getting the boys bunk beds for Christmas so in just a few short days she'll be inheriting one of their toddler beds and her room will change a little bit. Even though I've never considered her room "finished" I love it. When we got pregnant with Little Lady we didn't have extra money in our budget for decorating a nursery but I really wanted a pretty space for my little girl. God provided in some amazing ways. Including paint and everything we've spent around $170 on her room and a large portion of that was an unexpected baby gift from a relative. Our big splurge was fabric; I fell in love with Timeless Treasures' Perch collection . With it my mother-in-law (aka Maca) created crib sheets, a dust ruffle, curtains, pillows, and stuffed birds. My sewing...

It's been awhile since I've done a post on our homeschool trays. Truthfully, this is the first time in awhile I've put together new ones; Big Buddies math and reading curriculums have been consuming a large portion of mine (and his) time/energy. The younger kids, however, enjoy doing tray work so I frequently pull out old activities and I just couldn't resist the urge to add to last year's Christmas "syllabus" .   card making with stamps and glitter glue pens skills practiced: creativity, fine motor, writing, expressing thought christmas tree addition and subtraction (#'s 3-10) skills practiced: addition and subtraction, sorting *this is a game we made to reinforce what big buddy has been learning in his math curriculum. you can print the cards off here .  spooning different size jingle bells  skills practiced: fine motor, sizes, sorting lining pinecones up by size skills practiced: seriation/ordering, comparing classifyi...

SUNDAY shirt: gap, skirt + belt+ shoes: thrift, necklace: gift, earrings: target I included the picture in the bottom right because it made me laugh. It was a chilly morning and when it's cold I get back into the warmth of our house as quickly as possible.  MONDAY sweater: ?/old, jeans: gap, boots: target THURSDAY sweater: anthropologie, skirt: borrowed (anthropologie), socks: target, shoes: thrift   Below is one of husband's looks this week. Mixed prints and layers - the man can dress!  It may be a little shallow but if I'm honest one of the first things that attracted me to Jeremy was his sense of style. I love that he likes to have fun with his clothes.  My kids are pretty snazzy dressers too, you can check out some of their outfits here.   Want more? Check out these link parties to see lots of other ladies having fun with their clothes: Watch What I'm Wearing , Sunday Style ,   Monday Mingle , and What I Wo...

Here's another look at what my kiddos have been wearing lately. You can check out the first post in this series here . This shirt is a hand-me-down from her daddy; we love that his mom saved a few of his clothes. And yes, that is a tattoo on her arm - it's spiderman, she has brothers :) little lady  shirt & shoes: hand-me-down, tights: thrift, skirt: target/clearance This cardigan in still a bit big for Little Lady but she loves it. So much so that she frequently insists on  wearing JUST it and a fancy pair shoes around the house.  little lady  cardigan: hand-me-down, dress & tights: thrift, hair clip: charming charlie shoes: gift See that dimple? It melts my heart every time! big buddy   shirt: hand-me-down, pants: gap/clearance, shoes: gift More self-spiked hair and he's got a little food (looks to be chocolate) under his lip - this boy is always sneaking something. But what am I going to do with looks like this? mi...