What's Up Wednesday

1. My Dad RETIRED
It's official - my dad has retired! It was 34 years ago when he graduated from West Virgina University and accepted an engineering position with Conoco. It's amazing to think how this job has shaped not only my dad but the entire family. As he and my mother began their family, he worked 28 and 28 (I can't imagine that with three kids, yikes mom!).  It moved us eleven different times and across four continents. It allowed us to travel to areas we had only read about in our text books. One attribute that I have always admired about my dad is his tremendous work ethic. If my siblings and I have inherited even a little of that we are fortunate.  His job kept him busy and traveling for so many years and I am so excited for him to finally be able to slow down and relax. I know there will be lots of family time, hobbies, leisure and of course golf in his future. Cheers dad!

2. Matilda Jane
I have recently discovered Matilda Jane and I am a little obsessed. I love everything about the line - the colors, patterns, styles...it's all so adorable!
    1. Layers- perfect for Texas. You can wear the knot dresses with or without layering shirts and obviously with or without tights/leggings. And the best part is that basically all the pieces in each collection coordinate with each other. Speaking of....
    2. It's not matchy matchy. This line makes me wish Hayden had a sister - the sibling outfit coordination is ridiculously cute. I am tempted to buy stuff for Lyla and Audrey just so all the girls can coordinate.
    3. Quality. Although this is MY first purchase I was handed down an MJ outfit and it's still in great condition. PLUS everything is so soft and comfy!

Whew - as you can tell I am quite into the whole thing right now. So it's probably no surprise that I am hosting a Holiday Trunk Show. They are releasing their holiday collection on November 2nd so I will have a preview party on Sunday November 1st. I can't wait to see all the adorable new stuff!

And if you have any interest in coming to my trunk show - let me know and I'll send you the invite! They do carry items for ALL ages - baby to adult!

3. One Stop Bow Shop
I love the whole monthly box trend. Like, Stitch Fix, Honest Company,  Fablectics, PopSugar, Citrus Lane to name a few....I love getting mail so it's even more exciting when it's a surprise box of goodies - I may have an addiction.  (Don't worry, I don't currently subscribe to ALL of those...but I have at some point.) When I found out that this adorable little bow shop (One Stop Bow Shop) offers a monthly bow box I had to try it out. I LOVE our first box and the colors work so well with our new MJ outfits!

 

I mean, how cute is this?

4. Birthday Tags
I finally sat down and created some Happy Birthday tags using the silhouette design studio. It was super easy and I love how bright and cheery they are - just like any birthday wish should be! I just printed these out on sticker paper, cut them with my silhouette and they are ready to go....now I just need to finish create some for the boys!

 
5. The Butterfly Guy

It's that time of year again - we are chrysalis parents. Oh yeah - big stuff! The boys love watching this whole process and to be honest...so do we. Here is my post from two years ago and apparently I totally forgot to blog about our experience last year. Sounds about right.
Anyhow, I hope this little guy makes it...the little tag said he was suppose to emerge on the 18th...I'm hoping that was a mistake

Weekend Wrap Up

We kicked off the weekend celebrating one of our friends 3rd birthday at The Lot on Friday afternoon. The weather was perfect and the kids had so much fun running around with all of their friends.

 

Blyth, who is 6 months older than H, loves to 'take care' of her. She always makes sure that Hayden has her milk and paci...and one of her favorite things to do it take Hayden's paci out and then pop it back in - like she found it for her. It's pretty cute...until it falls in the sand.  

Saturday was filled with soccer games and birthday parties.

 

Kevin took the boys to the soccer fields for team pictures and games that both began at noon. Gigi and Papa met them up there and helped with Grayson (since Kevin had to coach Ryan's team.)

Grayson scored TWO goals! I wish I could have seen him - I can only imagine how proud he was! Hopefully he can show me again next weekend!

While the boys were on the soccer field I took Hayden to Kidville for Parker's 1st birthday party. 

 

I had to wake her up from her nap so she was like this for the first 45 minutes. 

 

The bubbles perked her up a little bit but it wasn't until we got in to the gym area when she loosened up a little! And then when it was time to eat she was in full Hayden mood. 

 

She slammed some little sandwiches and fruit and then dug into a cupcake. She was so proud to be sitting at a table and not in a high chair - it was pretty cute. After we ate she tried to get back in the gym but the party was over...so we headed home to pick up the boys and make our way to the Stonewall Elementary Carnival.

 

This was the only pic that I got but they had a blast and didn't want to leave. They loved the fun house and silly string! They played some games and loved running around with their cousins. Can't wait for Ryan to go there next year! 

That evening we had a few friends over for a low-key night of outdoor playing and pizza.

 

And since Caleb's mom was at Taylor Swift we got this little dude to ourselves! He's an angel!

 

The kids played so well together and I don't think there was any fighting or even crying! wow! Of course Hayden loved following them around - she thinks she is so BIG!

 

After church we headed over to the garden for the 100th year celebration. There was music, games,  food trucks and bounce houses - what more could anyone want!

And later we headed over to Gigi and Papa's house for dinner. Ryan and Grayson love playing with their cousins and were thrilled to play 'school' with Lyla and Audrey.  The kids put on a 'show' after dinner and I have it on video but haven't uploaded it yet. Great weekend!

What's Up Wednesday

1. I finally posted about our awesome annual summer trip to Montana. You can find it here and here
2. Ryan's Estimation Jar

This week Ryan was in charge of the estimation jar for his class. Last week one of the kids filled the jar with wooden blocks and Ryan's estimation won! So this week we filled it...with some spooky skulls! He was so proud to bring it in on Monday.

3. Guest Room decor
Once again I was tapping along on Instagram and I found this beautiful house in Austin. As I was checking out all the amazing decor I fell in love with its guest room. Isn't this adorable?

 

Since Kevin and I met in Austin I originally thought of doing the same 'theme' but then I changed it to Dallas, you know, since we live here. Here are some pics of some of the Dallas-y decor that I found:

 

 

My mom is going to make this dish towel into a throw pillow for the bed. 

 

And I was dying to get my hands on a rustic "Dallas" lighted marquee sign but I randomly came across this Texas one while I was in Katy and bought it instead. 

 

Once again the room is still in the works - but it is oh so close!

 4. Outdoor Halloween decorations
This year Ryan and Grayson were begging me to put the Halloween decorations up. They kept asking me when we could do it...and last Friday was the day. They were so excited when I told them on the way to school that we would decorate that afternoon - they told everyone they ran into. And after we decorated, they asked all of our neighbors where their decorations were. They are serious about their Halloween decor. 

5. Halloween outfits for H.
 I love shopping for Hayden anytime of the year but I do get especially excited to dress her up on holiday themed outfits! Apparently cats are a big thing for little girls and Halloween. While I'm not a huge fan of cats any other time of the year, they are pretty darn cute for Halloween.

  

How adorable are those little cat shoes?!? 

 

 I found this adorable romper costume on my Insta feed - ah Instagram shopping is another weakness of mine. It's so addicting...and easy! It's from Belle Threads and I can't wait for it to arrive! They have so many other cute and unique (not that a cat is unique) rompers!

 I also saw these adorable "Cutest Pumpkin in the Patch" raglans by Sprinkle of Sparkle and wanted to order one, but I waited too long. I was thinking of trying to make one but I can't find orange heat transfer paper for the pumpkin...maybe next year!

 

I am still planning to make her a Hocus Pocus t-shirt but my issue has been finding plain t's. Oye. Sounds simple but I have checked Target, Carters and Old Navy and found nothing. I would also love to see more Halloween bloomers. It's too hot for leggings and I just have one pair of black rufflebutts...which we wear almost every day.

Pumpkin Village

On Friday Hayden and I took a quick trip up to the pumpkin village at the arboretum while the boys were at school.  She loved walking around and checking out all the pumpkins but wasn't a huge fan of getting her picture taken. I couldn't get her to look at me!

 

We were in and out in about 45 minutes - since our friends didn't end up making it we didn't hang around for long. It was hot...and she was in tights. I can only assume she wasn't thrilled about that...but she sure was cute!

Anyhow, when we woke up this morning we made an impromptu decision to take all of the kiddos to the pumpkin village. When we got to the arboretum the first two parking lots were already full, so we weren't so sure about our idea...

We stuck to the plan and eventually made it...

 

The boys sat down in the pumpkins and Hayden was so excited to crawl in there with them. She was ALL smiles. 

 

Now if I could only say the same for the boys. They were in good moods but getting a smile from them all is quite challenging. 

 

Or really just getting them ALL to look at the camera would be nice. 

 

At least Hayden was loving it!

 

This little ham kept requesting pictures...

 

finally smiling for the camera

 

Ryan kept coming up to me with different pumpkins and asking me to take his picture. 

 

Then his smiles got a little weird. 

So we stopped.

 

And one more time with all three. Of course Grayson isn't participating...

 

 

Texas

 

That's a big ol' squash. Strong boy!

 

The kids had fun and after the village we headed over to grab some German food at one of the little cafes.  It was a perfect little Sunday morning...if only it could have been 20 degrees cooler....