Halloween Costume Shoot!

I would like a pat on the back.

First off for learning my lesson after two years of waiting too late to buy the boys Halloween costumes and having to settle and FINALLY buying the costumes well in advance.

And also for allowing the boys to pick out their own costumes instead of choosing for them to make sure that they went together n a themed fashion. EVEN IF Brady and Mason ended up wanting to be the same thing which made my themed costume loving self proud...

AND for getting my butt into gear and finishing their costume shoot before we even hit the first day of October.

Now.... Pat please.

Mason and Brady settled on police men this year, which quickly threw me into a tailspin of insisting that Ethan be a robber/bad guy/jail bird/anything that would fit with police men.

Jail bird it was.

Is my child going to have a complex? Are we setting him up for a life of crime? Last year we dressed him up like a little devil and this year he is a convict.... 

I digress. They went together. The theme is precious. The pictures.... Well the pictures turned out PRICELESS.

Best Halloween photos ever? I think so. Biased or not!

Also, please know that while you are scrolling through these photos soaking up the awesomeness that is my children completely getting into character for these.... Know that I am singing the Cops themesong. It is NOT complete without it, so I suggest you do the same. Continue.

Ok. Probably THE best kids Halloween costume photo EVER taken ion the history of Halloween costume photos.... No this was not planned. No we didn't shoot for this. This is the rage that ensues when you try to get Ethan to hold his brothers' hands.... It ended up being a pretty realistic shot though!

Happy October everyone! Who's ready for Halloween!

Friday Shenanigans

HAPPY SATURDAY! 

A Quick Hello!

Blog? What's that!

Lately I have been all over the place. Ordering things, organizing things, trying not to pull my hair out...

I am in the process of opening an online boutique which also offers in home parties. Trunk Shows if you will...

Hence the name...

The Trunk Show

I should be launching the Facebook page here in the next few days, followed by the website. And boy has this been a lot more stressful than I anticipated!

Other than that! I have been mommying it up! As always!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Spring so far!

I know that we are!

Little Things

I love those weekends where there is no intended path, but instead an aimless journey. Weekends where you have nothing to do, but a million things to experience. Things that you spend all week passing by and not really paying close attention to. 

Like dirty faces.

Dirty faces that let you know that goodies were enjoyed. 

And pajamas. Tiny, monster truck covered pajamas. Pajamas that fit onto a tiny body that just recently learned how to walk and uses that skill as a way to keep up with his big brothers. 

And the face in charge of guarding a noggin full of wheels turning. 

And then there are the tangible treasures. Treasures of the thrifty variety. The ones who catch you completely off guard and leave you with a sense of completion. Like you have found a missing puzzle piece.

Like a floral print, stuffed pig.

Could my life go on without this adorable little fellow? Probably. Would I want it to? Definitely not. He is now rescued from his doom at the thrift store and safely perched on my in progress spring mantle atop the precious ceramic cake plate I found at Target last week. 

(We couldn't leave him behind.... Get it! Sometimes you need a little corny in your life. You're welcome.) 

And then there is his friend..... The bunny. I managed to dig him out of a box behind another box underneath a table full of picture frames. With Easter being only a mere month or so away, he had to be rescued as well. 

Some loose stitches and a dirty tail only makes him that much cuter. Character is key, friends. We call this character. 

And then! OOOOHHHH AND THEN! 

The most perfect old suitcase. I spotted it a few weeks ago and regrettably left him behind. When we returned yesterday I had my fingers crossed that he would still be there and sure enough! He was! 

Old Pan Am tag and all. LOVE!

AND! 

An absolutely perfect white ceramic pie dish. Considering the fact that I have had my sights set on one of these for months, finding it was a moment to say the least. She will see her fair share of parties. 

The thrift store offered up more treasures also. Two metal pie tins which will soon be transformed into cake plates, a wooden wall sconce that will be painted and given new life, a wooden and wire condiment bowl holder which will also see it's fair share of parties, and my moms loot (which included about three of four things).

Everything together cost us $6. SIX DOLLARS! Suitcase and all! SIX DOLLARS! 

The love that I have for this store..... It runs deep. 

Now hopefully the weather will cooperate this week and I can finally get to redoing the furniture finds from last week! 

I hope everyone is having a fantastic weekend! 

Tiny People Expedition, Citronelle, AL.

Our little expeditions are blossoming.

There's something about picking a random place or direction and just going that just makes you feel..... Free.

The boys are growing at warp speed. It seems like everyday there is something new. Something learned. Something exciting. Sometimes I sit back and think to myself, "I have three kids!" Like some type of revelation that JUST hit me. Not only do I have three kids, but I am the mother to a 6 year old. SIX! Where did that come from?!

I became a mother six years ago.

These little trips we take.... They aren't extravagant. They aren't filled with twisty, brightly colored, metal play structures. They aren't adorned with elaborate toys. They are us. They are us surrounded by new experiences, sunshine, and fresh air.

They are a chance to be together with the freedom to be ourselves.

Our lives are structured 99% of the time. Be here at this time, have this person there at that time. It gets monotonous. It gets monotonous quickly. Especially since my husband is gone to work the majority of the week. The week wears me down quickly nowadays. Chalk it up to the littlest monster who doesn't sleep all that well or the fact that once everything is finally done in the evenings I often collapse for a minute of sleep before the alarm clock is screaming for me to start the day.

Between school and work, baths and dinner... It often seems that there is no time before the beds are calling my little monsters (which, usually sounds an awfully lot like a sleepy tantrum).

These adventures give me some of that precious time back. They give me time with them. Time to watch them growing and changing, which seems to be happening faster and faster. These adventures give me time to hear the crazy jokes and the completely random outbursts. They give me time to hear the non-age appropriate banter. Sometimes their witty comebacks catch me off guard. I often wonder how old their souls are, because 6 and 2 and a half... they are not.

They're getting so big.



Sometimes it seems difficult to squeeze these adventures in.

Then I start thinking about how quickly they have gotten to where they are and how quickly they will decide that adventures with mom aren't as fun as video games with their friends. Or, lord help me, dates with their girlfriends.

For now, I will make time. We will drive aimlessly snacking on junk food from a gas station, and dance on a stage in the middle of a bunch of pine trees, and watch fish swimming below a rickety pier, and laugh at jokes that make absolutely no sense.

Because soon they won't be little boys.