Barefoot Horseback Riding and Swimming in Your Underwear

Today we got a taste of summer. And it tasted like pasta salad, bar-b-que, and garden hose water.

Maverick had a soccer game earlier today and then we got to join some good friends for their sweet baby girl's first birthday.

The grandparents brought over a couple of horses and...wait for it...a ridiculously cute baby goat named Skippy.

Justin took the opportunity to kick off his flip flops and ride both the boys around on one of the horses. I have to say, there's something about a man on horseback, even if he is barefoot and wearing aviators.

We ate a lot of good food and stripped the kiddos down to swim in the baby pool.

How cute are they?

And we blew some really big bubbles.

It was a good day.

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17 Year Old Me

Guess who's going to get on a schedule, maybe? This girl. I'm going to try to post three times a week. I'll have Pin-tastic Tuesday (omg, so cheesy) where I'll post a project, recipe, or just something that inspires me or makes me laugh that I found on Pinterest. I think that will keep me from mindlessly pinning things and never making an attempt to do them. On Thursdays, I'll do an original project or a feature or a guest post. I'll make something...or whatever. And on Saturday you guys will be privy to my thoughts. Expect rants and soapboxes and maybe somethings spiritual. So, yeah....

Anyway, I jump on my computer this morning real quick, pull up my Blogger Dashboard and see a post entitled 16 Year Old Me by Desiree of 36th Avenue. I click and read and immediately start thinking of all the things that I would tell my self at age 17. I thought (sometimes still think) that 17 was the Best. Age. Ever. I used to say that it's old enough for some responsibilities but too young to held accountable if you screw those responsibilities up. 

So what would I tell my nine-years-in-past self?

Dear 17 Year Old Me,

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT get your navel pierced. Because three years from now you stomach will not be flat, or pretty, or tan but it will have a 7 lb. baby in it. Your bellybutton will go from cute to "Ewww!"

Go ahead and think about marrying that boy. He's stubborn and sometimes selfish but he'll never leave your side. He might think about it. But he won't.

Enjoy filling your car up for $11. You'll never see that again.

Please try to remember that you have more than "pretty" going for you. That won't help you anyway a few years from now. And don't let anyone tell you that your dream of being a mother is stupid and that you need to go to college to be anything. Being a mama is the best thing you'll ever do.

Your mom is not dumb. Your future mother-in-law isn't either. Both of those women will be invaluable to you when you haven't slept in 22 hours and you are sitting in the floor crying with a toddler in your lap. Please always appreciate them.

Right now, you wear miniskirts and always have makeup on with your beautiful long hair fixed. At 25, you'll find yourself without a lick of make-up, hair in a perpetual ponytail, and you just wiped baby snot on your pj pants that you are still wearing at noon.

You dream of one day having little girls. Sorry. But I swear your heart will never be the same after having a little man steal it.

Oh, how I wish I could prepare you for the life you now lead. I wish I could tell you how often your children would bring you to your knees, pleading for help from God. Or how often you would pack up your life and go, not really knowing what would be waiting for you. At 17, you are fearless. At 20, you will be more scared than you have ever been and probably ever will be again. And at 25, well....

Dear sweet, naive 17 year old me,

Stop asking your best friend to go to the bathroom with you. Nine years from now, all you'll want is to be able to pee alone.

Source: naughtybettyinc.com via Aunna on Pinterest

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Instagram Love

I have an iPhone which I use primarily to Facebook and use Instagram. And text. But mostly Instagram. If you don't know what Instragram is you must live under a rock.

So, I have all these awesome photos trapped on my phone that are square dimensions, which means getting them printed off at Walgreens or Shutterfly just doesn't work. But then I found PostalPix and the heavens opened and angels started rejoicing.

PostalPix (beeteedubs, not getting paid for this review. I just like the app.) is an app that lets you order your Instagram photos through the mail in sizes ranging from 4x4 to 8x8. So exciting! The prices are higher than regular 4x6 prints and you have to pay for shipping, but other than that I can't complain. It cost $5.12 to get 16 4x4 prints shipped to my door in about 5 days. And the app is extremely easy to use.

So, I have my prints, right? Now what?

I like these shaped frames. I don't have a saw. But I do have an Xacto blade.

So here's what I did and you can do it too!

Supplies:

PostalPix prints
foamboard (found mine at Wal-Mart in about 4 or 5 different colors)
Xacto blade
black acrylic paint
foam brushes
Mod Podge

Draw the shape you want on some paper or posterboard or whatever you have on hand. I just freehanded it.

Trace shape on foam board and cut out with Xacto blade. This part was a little b$@%#. There's got to be a better way. If anyone figures it out, please let me know. :)

Paint the edges of foam board. I wasn't super careful.

Arrange the prints to your liking.

Mod Podge away!

I'm going to use Command strips to hang my collage.

Very easy, pretty, and just a little bit hipster thanks to the coolness of Instagram.

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar Party

Hudson's first birthday party was last week. Where has the time gone??? I chose the theme The Very Hungry Caterpillar because A. Eric Carle is awesome. and B. Hudson eats all the time like the caterpillar. And he's fat.

Have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest? I don't know how I managed to plan parties in the past without it!  Most of everything I did was found on Pinterest.

Here's his cute little banner. Couple of dollar store posterboard pieces and construction paper and about 10 minutes. Easy peasy.

Here's the super cute cake which I pinned here.

The Wilton food coloring spray was a life-saver. According to my mom anyway. I didn't make the cake, she did.

I found the printables here. And since fruit is very cheap at Aldi, this was very inexpensive to pull off.

The party favors were fun to make. The pin called for googly eyes. I couldn't get mine to stick.

Maverick did 90% of the work for these. He was so proud to be able to help with his brother's party!

And here's the birthday boy!!

Me and the Birthday Boy

"OMG! Fire!"

So, that was Hudson's very Pinterest-inspired party!

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Look In the Mirror and Love It

Source: tumblr.com via Aunna on Pinterest

You've seen the pins. I'm guilty of this myself. Every one of your mommy friends has a board filled with little gems like "Lose Your Mommy Gut" and "30 Minutes to Fabulous Abs" paired with all manner of pictures of women whose uteruses have never had a human being growing in them. Those "Thinspiration" photos are a load of bullcrap.

Well, I'm tired of it. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for being healthy for our kids. I try to eat right and exercise a few times a week because I know it's good for me and I want to be able to haul around Chubs and keep up with the ever-increasing speed of my oldest. I'm at a very good weight right now, but I'm still struggling with hypertension so I have to keep up all the healthiness.

Here's the thing, though. Pins like I mentioned, magazine articles, other women at the gym, and even stinkin' commercials can really get us down on ourselves. We see these Photoshopped-within-an-inch-of-their-lives models and wonder why we can't look like that. And then we get upset. And then we comfort eat, or yell at our kids, or sulk, or refuse to have sex with the lights on.

But there are things we don't even realize.

#1: Those models know exactly how to stand and at what angle. Pictures of them are never released without having every blemish and bulge removed. Most of them don't have kids, but instead have personal trainers and private chefs. Granted, there are the small percentage of freaks of nature like Heidi Klum and Miranda Kerr who get even more beautiful after having children, but whatya gonna do?

#2: You made a human! That's awesome! And if you nursed, that's awesome too! Your body is amazing. It knew exactly what that baby needed and provided for him/her without you even telling it anything. The stretch marks and not-so-perky boobs is your body's way of saying "Hey! Look what I can do!"

#3: When you're down on yourself and having a pity party, that's what's ugly. Not your muffin top. Not those red streaks criss-crossing your tummy. It's your attitude. I've met plenty of skinny girls who are so ugly inside. You are beautiful if your heart is beautiful.

So, can we all just stop? Can we take a long hard look at ourselves (naked in a full-length mirror) and really begin to love our bodies? This is a daily struggle for me. Every time I shower I stand in the mirror and suck in my gut or imagine not having stretch marks or think "Why are my boobs smaller than before I had kids?" But then I see my c-section scar and remember those two gorgeous kids in the next room. Or I look at my muscles on my arms and think how awesome it is that I can carry two bags, a toddler, and a couple of grocery sacks and not break a sweat.

So, here's my challenge, ladies. Look in the mirror and love it. Even if it's just one part. If you have nice collarbones, where an off the shoulder top. If you have a great booty, put on some tight jeans. And rock them.

Our bodies do amazing things for us. Let's show them a little gratitude and ourselves a little grace.

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Sweet Owl Handprint Art

I'm not an artist by any stretch of the word. You should see my creations in Draw Something. It's pathetic. I just don't really have an eye for balance or composition or anything, really.

So I've been working on a gallery wall above my couch for a few days. I tried out a few different arrangements and finally enlisted the help of some of my Facebook friends for advice. After rearranging the pictures yet again I realized I had room for one more 8x10 photo. 

Ok, let's rewind to my MOPS meeting earlier this week. A friend of mine demo'd some kid's hand print art. So I decided that's kinda what I wanted to do to fill the open spot on my gallery wall. 

(I just realized how long my intros to my crafts are. Sorry.)

Here's what I came up with! "Hoo" doesn't love a cute little owl? 

Very easy, under an hour project as long as your kids are cooperative.

Quick tute:

Tea stain some cardstock cut to whatever size you need. Just wet a tea bag and rub it all over the paper then let it dry. Or blow dry it if you're impatient.

Paint your kiddo's hand with acrylic paints. 

Print the hand. (It helps to repeat "Don't move, don't move, don't move!" very loudly.)

Paint in your details.

Frame and hang.

Oh, and don't forget to date the back! 

I was seriously so proud of myself that my branch and leaves actually looked like what they were supposed to be. And my owls weren't cross-eyed or anything!

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At least it's not chicken pox....

I had big plans for this past week. Hudson's first birthday, Easter egg hunt, and Easter Sunday service.

Yeah....none of that happened.

Monday Hudson was pretty fussy. Just generally unhappy, which is very unlike him. He ran a mild fever for a bit, so I just chalked it up to teething and sent up a prayer that he wasn't getting sick. See, we had a photo shoot the next day with a very talented photographer.

Anyway, we had a bit of a restless night, but managed to make it through the photo shoot. About halfway through, Hudson started burning up and I noticed a few red spots popping up on his hands and face. I whispered to Justin (so the photographer couldn't hear) "I think he has chicken pox."

The spots were actually healing at this point

After the photo shoot I got into to see the PA at our pediatrician's office. She looked him over, swabbed his throat, drew some blood and confirmed an ear infection and chicken pox. She sent us home after a shot of antibiotic and just told me to keep him hydrated.

Oatmeal Bath

Next morning, Hudson was still fussy and had spots covering his hands and mouth and in the creases of his elbows and knees. This didn't look like chicken pox considering he had zero bumps on his torso or scalp. Quick facebook check revealed that hand, foot, and mouth disease was going around the church nursery.

So, we have our culprit. And I wouldn't wish that on anybody. Chubs didn't eat for four day because of the blisters in his mouth, which was the worst part. I mean besides him looking like a leper.

I canceled Hudson's birthday party, he didn't get to go to his first Easter egg hunt and only Maverick and I got to attend church.

Oh well. I'm thankful that older kids generaly don't get HFMD, so Maverick was spared. And I'm thankful that it was a relatively short and mild illness. We rescheduled the party and although a few less people will be there it will be just as special.

So, that's how my week went. Hope yours was better!

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BookSneeze Review- Called to Controversy: The Unlikely Story of Moishe Rosen and the Founding of Jews for Jesus by Ruth Rosen

Imagine living in a home where Christmas is not celebrated. Where the Bible contains only the the first half. Where there is no Messiah. Imagine that if you believed in Jesus, then you would be considered a traitor to your family and your culture.

Moishe Rosen lived in that home. 

Told by his daughter, Called to Controversy is the story of a man who grew up in a Jewish household. He celebrated the festivals, went to the synagogue, and did all the "right" Jewish things. But he never saw God as more that some Being, if He even existed at all. Then Jesus happened to him,

Through prayer and good neighbors, Moishe's wife Ceil, and later he, both became believers in Jesus. Soon after, God called Moishe to preach His Word. 

Called to Controversy chronicles Moishe's journey through seminary, his many moves across country, his various positions with missions and his burning passion to see Jews come to Jesus. That passion eventually led to a huge international mission that has shown the way to the true Messiah for countless Jewish people.

Ruth delves deep into the man that founded Jews for Jesus. Her perspective offers a refreshing look at a man who was a wonderful leader with passion and a sense of humor, but who was not perfect. She balances stories of Moishe's temper and need for control with his compassion and willingness to teach anyone who would listen.

This book is as encouraging as it is informative. I think it's a great book for those who love biographies, particularly those of missionaries. 

Moishe once mused, as he passed a street preacher, that he wished he believed in something strongly enough to stand on the corner and shout it. Whether he meant that as a prayer or not, God heard it.

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