October happenings

Another busy week around here!! 

 My mom came into town last Thursday evening! You can see how excited the little girls

were to see her!!

 We went to Cracker Barrel for dinner afterwards. We always love looking around the shop

at all the toys and knick knacks!

 I thought this platypus was just adorable with the sparkly beak and feet. I guess it's

a platypus lol?

The miniature toys were really cute too!

  Alex loved the oversized lollypop!

I thought this rocking swan would be adorable for a baby girl photo shoot! Izzy's 

a little too big for it though haha! 

Friday morning Indie Grace had her last, in home, OT visit with her awesome

therapist, JoAnne. Indie turns three later this week and will be aging out 

of therapy through the state. 

Friday evening my mom, the kids, the puppy and I all walked down to the neighborhood

pond and playground. This was our first time walking around the pond. The kids and

puppy loved it! Since we moved here in the summer it's just now cool enough to get out 

and explore a bit. 

 We love having my mom here but I think the kids may be wearing her out a bit.

Saturday morning my mom, Gabby and I went to Nest Fest and got a signed copy of The Nester's new book, The Cozy Minimalist. Here's Gabby sitting in the tiny trailer that's currently on the cozy home tour. The trailer is adorable! It was raining off and on at Nest Fest but we had fun! We visited all the booths, bought a few things and thought about getting something to eat from the food trucks (everything smelled delicious!) but decided we would rather sit down in a cozy restaurant so we went to Macaroni Grill instead. Macaroni Grill was yummy.. as always.. and perfect for a cold, rainy day.

Sunday morning we were excited to have friends join us for church, then J and I worked in Alex's second grade class for second service. Sunday afternoon we hosted life group at our house. We had a big crowd.. it was noisy but fun!

I think we stayed home all day Monday...

Tuesday morning Indie Grace had her first OT visit with the private therapist. (She had her evaluation with them over the summer so she was a little bit familiar with their office when she went in yesterday.) She had a great visit and will be going back every Tuesday! Tuesday evening Alex had Trail Life and all of us girl's browsed around Target. I bought one tray from the dollar (five dollar) bin. And went around collecting ShopKicks ha! I just started doing ShopKicks again and the kids love helping out and scanning things!!

I had my yearly check up this morning (fun, fun!). The girls have dance this afternoon and then Gabby goes to American Heritage Girls right after dance. The rest of us will probably do a little shopping and browsing around while Gabby is at AHG. The kids like to hang out at Pets Mart and I think I'll go back to Target for a couple things that caught my eye last night.

Tomorrow (Thursday) should be a pretty lazy day until afternoon when Gabby has Girls On The Run and I pick up the neighbor kids and bring them home for a couple hours. Honestly, last time they were here it was QUIETER with 6 kids in the house than it normally is with just my 4. Not sure how that happened but it was nice ha!

Indie Grace turns THREE on Friday! I can't believe it! Time has flown by. It's hard watching my youngest grow out of the baby stage and so bittersweet for me. Three is officially "not a baby" any more. She's super excited to go out to Starbucks with her daddy Friday morning for a little birthday breakfast! We'll have a cake and presents sometime later. With Alex going to school early and J working late it's hard to get the whole family together for birthday celebrations but we'll figure something out. She wants a Minnie Mouse cake and but I haven't been able to find Minnie Mouse cake topper so we settled on these little squishy Minnie keychain faces ha! I guess they'll have to do.

We've been planning to go up to Asheville for the day on Saturday. But it's looking like there might be a chance of rain on Saturday so we may just skip it and stay close to home. Our neighborhood is hosting a kid friendly, haunted Halloween walk around the pond Saturday evening so we may just 

do that instead.

Alex was really excited to be one of the first viewers to email and respond to 

the "Axel & Daddy" YouTube show last week. He'll be getting a piece of real

silver in the mail and gets to a be a special "Secret Agent" for their program. 

Exciting things for an 8 year old boy! :) 

Hope everyone is having a great week! I have another fun review coming up soon and my first giveaway coming up too! :)

You can see my past reviews here, here and here. 

Life Lately & Weightloss Goals

 We're so glad it's finally feeling like fall around here! 

We had a yard sale Saturday. It wasn't great but at least we sold a few things 

and the kids had fun with their lemonade stand!And the weather was absolutely 

perfect so sitting outside was actually enjoyable! 

Sunday I skipped church while J took the kids. Every once in a while I'll skip

church when I just need time at home, alone, to unwind. I don't like to skip 

often but I am SO refreshed whenever they all get back home. I took a long bath,

did my Bible study and just relaxed. 

Sunday afternoon we went to life group for Bible study. 

We meet every week and really enjoy it! 

Monday was a super lazy day! The girls and I had stayed home all day until 

it was time to pick up Alex from school. 

We loaded up the puppy, picked up Alex and went to the dog park and 

play ground to meet friends after school.

My friend took this pic of Indie. She's getting so big.. look at those long legs!
Almost too big for the baby swing. I can't believe she'll be 3 next week!  

 My friend also took this pic of her little boy pushing Sol on the swing. So cute ha! 

Tuesday afternoon we stopped by the library after school. They were having a touch and feel

Halloween contest in the kids area. My kids had fun with that! (Some of those things felt so 

gross... like the tomatoes they called "hearts". Ew!) My kids didn't guess many of them

correctly but each got to pick 2 pieces of candy and bring home a book to keep! 

 Tuesday evening the girls and I walked around Target while Alex was at 

Trail Life down the road. I forgot my wallet which was probably a good thing ha! 

This morning Mar was sitting on the floor doing school work and Indie joined her. :)

Indie loves to do her "homework" too.. aka scribbling on paper. 

Today was supposed to be pretty busy with co-op and dance but we

ended up skipping both and had another lazy day at home. 

Indie was fighting a fever yesterday so we skipped co-op this morning. 

She seems fine now but felt feverish yesterday afternoon and 

during the night last night. I'm starting to panic a bit, again, 

every time she feels feverish since her febrile seizures have caught 

us off guard in the past. It doesn't help that she seems to catch everything

 much quicker, and worse, than her siblings do. Thankfully she seems 

fine now but I'm going to put all the kids, 

on a good multi-vitamin and elderberry.

We skipped dance today because Mar went to a new homeschool

 friend's house this afternoon instead.  I know they had a great time playing 

with American Girl dolls and painting! 

I've heard others worry about "socialization" of homeschoolers but
I have to say Mar's social life is busier than ever since starting

homeschool! She's actually a little overbooked on activities this fall.. 

 Alex and Indie helped clean out the van this afternoon. It was WAY overdue for a 

good cleaning and we wanted it nice and clean for my mom who's coming in to

town tomorrow evening. 

 Indie was so excited to help clean the van for her grandma! :) 

Sol just LOVES this Ninja Turtle some neighbor's have up in their yard.

She wanted her picture with it on our walk this afternoon. Yep, lazy days means she's wearing

yesterday's clothes again today ha! And I love that she wears rainboots rain or shine! 

I have MOPS tomorrow morning and then my mom is coming in tomorrow 

evening and staying for 2 weeks!! We're all looking forward to seeing her again!

Indie has her last OT appointment with her current therapist, 
here at home, Friday morning. 

She ages out next week when she turns 3 and we have her scheduled to start with a 

private therapist next week. We're going to miss her sweet therapist but know private

therapy in an outside environment will be really beneficial too. 

My mom, Mar and I are headed to Nest Fest on Saturday ! I started reading The Nester several years ago when I lived in Texas but somehow missed that she lives in North Carolina! I didn't realize she lives less than an hour away until we moved out here last year. We even have several mutual friends and acquaintances. Small world! Looks like some fun vendors will be at Nest Fest along with food trucks and a few bands! I know it will be a fun girls days out! I think a few friends from church

are planning to be there as well. I'm hoping it doesn't rain but I'm sure we'll have fun regardless! 

On another subject: The girls and I had fun trying on sunglasses at Target last night! 

They wanted me to take a few pictures. I love hanging out with my girls and love making 

memories but have to say I'm not at all happy with the way I'm looking, or feeling, lately. 

Too many sweet, sugary coffee drinks = heaviest I've ever been when not pregnant. 

I know it's time to make some changes! 

I tried 3 sample packs of Revital U coffee a few weeks ago and LOVED the energy it 

gave me and how it curbed my appetite.  I wasn't even craving my usual two to 

three DAILY iced, sugary sweet coffee drinks at all and had great energy all day!

I just got my first month's supply of Revital U in the mail today and can't wait to get started! 

I know of several people who've lost 20+ pounds on this! I'm not selling this stuff.. just 

really loved the samples I tried and can't wait to use it every day!

I also plan to start eating better (cutting down on sugar and carbs!) 

and I already know that a daily work-out and drinking lemon water both 

work great for my metabolism! My goal is to be down 25 lbs by Christmas!! 

I'll actually be happy if I lose even 10-15 but need to aim high! I do know just 

losing inches makes a huge difference too! We'll see how it goes.

This is way outside my comfort zone but I want to blog about my 

progress on a weekly basis to hold myself accountable!

Hope everyone is having a great week! Let me know if you've tried Revital U 

and how you like it! 

Princess Awesome

We're so excited to review these amazing items from Princess Awesome! 

Princess Awesome clothing and prints are unique in that they appeal to the tomboy
and the girly girl. I immediately thought of Sol, 4, when I found out about
Princess Awesome! Sol is our little tomboy but also has a girly girl side. 

I chose the Super Secret Hidden Ninja Twirly Play Dress for her in 5T. Look 

at the print closely and you'll find little hidden ninjas scattered among the flowers 

on her dress. Sol loves the Ninja Turtles and Ninjago so the the Hidden Ninja print

was the obvious choice for her and she really loves it as much as I thought she would!

Indie helped me chose the "Fleur-De-Lift-Off" Rockets Twirly Play Dress" in 4T for her.

I love the colors on this one and know she loves pink too! 

 These twirly dresses really are perfect for twirling! 

The girls loved twirling around in the them!

I know the little girls will be wearing their dresses a lot as the weather gets cooler! 

They had so much fun posing in these and keep asking to wear them again even

though it still feels like summer around here ha! Once the cooler weather sets
in I know they'll be wearing their Princess Awesome dresses often! I love that
they can be dressed up for church but they're perfect for school or every day wear
as well. 

 Mar chose the "SOAR" Pink Airplane Tee Shirt by Free To Be Kids in size 10-12
and the "AirHeart" Airplane Leggings With Pockets in size 10. 

Mar had a great experience flying for the first time earlier this year and 

immediately decided on the airplane print! Mar says the t-shirt and leggings 

are both really comfy! She really loves the deep pockets in the leggings! 

This outfit is perfect for going out or staying home! She says she's going to

wear it on her next plane trip! 

Indie has been making goofy faces when I ask her to smile but I thought

these two pics were pretty cute! :) 

All three girls in their Princess Awesome attire! 

The clothes are true to size. Mar is 9.5 and the size 10 is a perfect fit for her! Her t-shirt
is 100% cotton while the leggings are 92% cotton and 8% spandex.

Sol is 4.5 and on the smaller side but I went ahead and ordered 5T for her so
she'll have a little room to grow. Indie is almost 3 but she's on the bigger side so I ordered
4T for her. The 4T gives her a little room to grow too. Both dresses are 100% cotton.

We're really happy with the products and would definitely recommend them!!

Thank you so much Princess Awesome for letting us review your products!

Use code sunshiney2018 for a 15% discount on air and space collection through Friday! 

*Products were sent to me for review. All opinions are my own and not swayed by outside sources.*

Weekend Fun!

I'm linking up to Hello Monday and Mommy Monday Blog Hop today! 

I would love for you to follow my blog (link in sidebar). Comment here, 

let me know you're a new follower and I will follow back! 

We had a great last weekend of the summer! Lots of shopping and swimming! 

Friday afternoon I got a few more samples in the mail! A pure sugar scrub mask and a pure clay mask from L'Oreal. And a Garnier coconut hair mask from PinchMe. I love freebies and can't wait to try these!

Friday evening the kids and I went up to the neighborhood icecream social at our community pool!

 Mar put earphones on Indie for the first time Friday night. Indie did great with them and had fun
watching Cat In The Hat before bed. She looks way too grown up here!

Mar and I had a girls day out on Saturday. Our first stop was Ikea! She hasn't been to Ikea since she was a baby so this was all new to her! She loved looking at all the little model rooms and all the fun décor! 

I ended up only getting a small plant, a pot and a candle but I loved this light. I think it would be really cute and fun in our school room!

I love these dining chairs too! 

 We had lunch in the café at Ikea. It was surprisingly good! I had a salad and Mar had chicken strips. 

 We went to few stores after Ikea. I loved this huge mug at Charming Charlie's...

 And this water bottle :)

 I got a couple pair of earrings and these fun gold rings at Charming Charlie's. {I think a certain 2 year old took off with my earrings. I couldn't find them this morning.}

We found a lot of fun clearance items at Marshall's. I love the blue water bottle I bought for $6! We got a huge watermelon pool float for $6 and several toys for like $0.30-$.50! 

 I painted the girls toenails bright pink to match mine. It's fun to match!

The kids had so much fun on the watermelon float yesterday evening!! 

We stopped by the new playground on the way home from the pool! 

I realized late Friday night that I messed up big time and it's way too late to register Alex for baseball! He loved playing this spring and has been looking forward to playing again this fall all summer. I feel terrible. After several phone calls and emails he is on the waiting list for the league he played for last spring. I'm praying he gets in! I had to tell him what was going on yesterday and he actually took the news better than I expected. I've been looking for other things he could do this fall and discovered a local Trail Life group.. similar to Boy Scouts but Christian based. He's really excited to join! And he plans to get back to baseball in the spring if he doesn't get in at some point this season. 

Today is the first day of school! Second grade for Alex at public (this is the first year he has gone to school alone... kind of bittersweet) and first day of fourth for Mar.. and our first day homeschooling! So far, so good!