our camellia hunt

Sunday afternoon we went hunting for Camellias. I had horrendous allergies attacking me, but still we forged on and went to a nursery. When there’s a will, there’s a way. I went out to look for some on Saturday, but didn’t find what I was looking for and we hit the jackpot on Sunday and ended up buying not only 1, but 2 large Camellias. There were so large (15 gallon containers) in fact, that we had to literally stuff them in our car. I think the gentleman who stuffed them in thought we were crazy and scurried from our car as quick as possible because he didn’t want to be responsible if any mishap should happen to our car or our plants.

We had a blanket that draped between Glow and the plants that prevented her from pulling and chomping on the plants, and thankfully, she fell asleep on the car ride home. The plants were probably mostly up in Soul’s grill, and as we were driving she said, in her cute little Soulie voice, “Mommy, Papi, I can’t see Glowy!” Ben and I just started laughing because besides not being able to see Glow, the plants were literally pretty much covering her from seeing anything. I think this moment will be one of those that the girls will make fun of us for one day. We have a Toyota Highlander, so while it fits our family of 6, it is a tight squeeze, and then we made it even tighter with our large plants!

And don’t you just love how True, Brave, and Soul dress themselves?! Now, I personally wouldn’t have worn leopard pants with that dress, but when Soul put them on, I wasn’t going to contest it. I’m learning everyday, albeit a little slowly, to just go with the flow and relax. And yes, that’s Brave rockin’ that 80′s ponytail. Don’t really know where she learned that from, but that’s her new thing. Speaking of new thing, Lisa Leonard sent me this pretty necklace. I’m so jazzed that she now offers beautiful gold and brass jewelry along with her pretty silver pieces.

It was such a gorgeous day to be out looking for flowers and then spend the rest of the day gardening, even if my allergies were raging. I’ve been reading up on plant care for my Camellias (we use this book as a guide), but if any of you have any experience with those gorgeous flowers, please do share! I want to make sure these thrive so they can be enjoyed for many years to come.

on me: top, thrifted. trousers, vintage from viral threads. necklace, c/o lisa leonard. shoes, anthropologie. aviators, c/o sunglasses shop. on all the girls: mostly misha lulu mixed in with vintage, with little bit of american apparel and soulie’s moccs c/o freshlypicked.

my girls at the market

We’re slowly finding our regular routine again. It’s been totally out of whack for some time now, but the rhythm of our home is coming back to us. We started it back up with our farmers market trip. We go, load up on fruits and veggies, pick up some fresh pita and hummus, then head home to eat it all up for lunch! Well, not all the fruits as those are supposed to last us a week, but the girls eat so much than we run out so quickly. People used to ask us, “Is it expensive to have 4 kids?” We didn’t feel it a few years ago, but now that they all eat so much despite how tiny they are, the answer is, “YES!”

Soulie is our little eating monster. She’s seems to always have food on her mind. That girl can have a full breakfast and then by 10 o’clock she’s already asking for lunch. She will come up to me and say, “My hungry.” When she talks about her feelings it always starts with my… my tired, my hungry, my sad, and naturally we hear, “My toy!” often. At least she has correct usage with that one. Oh Soulie! That girl is such a riot!

Our market bag was sent over from Tukula. It’s this one. We love it because it holds so much and the pattern is beautiful! I have this one too and it’s so great for throwing all the junk I carry around for 4 kids when we’re out and about. These days it is just so much easier for me to use a cross body bag to keep my hands free for the little ones.

the oh, hello friend party

The Oh, Hello Friend opening was pretty grand on Friday night. My best friend and I had dinner beforehand and then headed on over. The place was already pretty hopping and we felt so proud at Danni and Nick’s accomplishment. This has been a dream of hers forever and I’m so happy she finally made it come true. There were so many goodies everywhere and I love all the displays Danni had. It was good to see some friends I haven’t seen awhile, meet some new ones, all the while listening to Me & Mr. Cassidy singing live, oh and I can’t forget about the yummy cupcakes.

We had way too much fun that night. It was especially relaxing to actually get dressed and get out of the house, which I hadn’t really done for two weeks up until that point (the grocery store doesn’t count). I actually came home around 11pm and seriously, I was so tired. This mama ain’t used to being out so late! If you’re local (or visiting), be sure to stop by downtown Fullerton to see her shop. I bet you’ll probably be leave with a bag full of goodies.

cruisin’ in a minivan

“This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Chrysler. All opinions are 100% mine.”

The “Test of Ownership” for the Town & Country was pretty cool. While we don’t have it anymore, it was a pleasant experience the few weeks we were allowed to borrow it. I loved the extra space we had, though I still feel a van is just a bit too monstrous for me. I totally loved having Sirius XM Satellite Radio and that was really hard to let go of. Another feature I liked was the little triangle that would light up when someone was in your blind spot; it would then kindly beep-beep if you flipped on your indicator lights and there was someone in your blind spot. Of course, you wouldn’t rely on that solely, but I thought it was a nice safety feature. The girls also loved all the buttons they could press to make the doors close, and they especially loved the little sun shades that pulled up for their windows.

I remember the day my parents brought home their brand new minivan when I was about 10 years old. I was so excited and I vividly recall claiming the middle, left seat as my spot. And oh I raised a stink when my brother tried to take it from time to time. Well, I think I just raised a stink when it came anything to do with my brother because we fought incessantly growing up. Their van did not have any of the bells and whistles this van does, but we made lots of memories in that van and that’s how my mom toted us 4 kids around. Oh and my mom even sat on a pillow because vans are kinda big and my mom is really little. But in a modern van like this, built with the ability to adjust your seat height and angle, no pillows required!

Though we had the Town & Country for just a few weeks, I am sure the big girls will think of that time with fondness. They obviously won’t have as many memories as I did in the minivan I grew up riding (but they will have plenty in our current car), but they truly enjoyed and looked forward to riding in the van… I’m sure they’ll have some fun things to talk about when they grow up. One day they’ll probably ask, “Mom, why did we get to borrow a van for a couple weeks and where did it go?” And I’ll reply, “Well, a long time ago, there was thing called blogging…”

We’re back to normal in our car again. I love our car and I don’t feel the need to trade it out just yet, but it really was a nice little car vacation. We got to enjoy extra space in a super clean and modern car for a bit. I was talking to my friend Frances about minivans versus SUVs. She has a midsize SUV like us (and they’re soon to be a family of 6), but she was telling me she’s ready to trade out for the minivan, as she puts it, “The trunk space is sexy.” I’m not quite ready to make the jump, but I will admit, compared to my car that trunk (and other internal) space is pretty doggone sexy.

Thanks Chrysler for letting us borrow your car! The girls truly had a ton of fun in the borrowed car, so I made a quick little video for them to remember their car vacation.

sunday morning swinging

Our church gatherings are held at a local recreation center and there wasn’t a teacher for them during our morning Sunday seminar class, so I spent the time outside with them swinging (well, I mostly held Glow). I love the swings. I love going as high as possible until I start to freak myself out and think that the swings are going to start wrapping around the top pole. That’s really what goes through my head as I get higher. Just yesterday, I discovered Soul really loves the swing and she’ll say, “Mommy, higher!” We put Glow on, but she wasn’g having any of it. It’s not her thing as of now, though I’m sure it will be.

This long weekend was grand and I got lots of things done with Ben home. We still haven’t decorated for Christmas, but that will come soon. Maybe today. I’ve got a few ideas of some things to make, but we really go pretty simple with decorating. I can’t believe Thanksgiving came and went and now we have Christmas to look forward to. I love this time of year so much!

Finally, the winner of the $100 gift certificate giveaway is Jody! I can’t wait to hear what shop she picks out for her gift certificate. Thank you again so much everyone. You all are such a wonderful bunch of thankful people (I seriously read each and every comment) and I’m thankful for you.

It’s Monday again and our week long vacation is over (it was so nice!), so it’s back to homeschooling today. Also, don’t forget to enter in this Misha Lulu Giveaway! Happy Monday everyone!!!