Yeah, I know. School’s over, so this school post is so last week. I was going to write my burger recipe for you tonight, but then the Spurs lost (#onemoregame) and I can’t think much. Let alone try to remember a recipe I made over a week ago (it’s so hard when your heart is so attached to a team), so writing about my girls is much easier for me.

School’s done. Yippee! They both had a great year at Enrichment Classes and next school year, they will have all their classes together. They’re definitely both really excited about that. I promised a homeschool post and it’s coming. I just volunteered for more than I should (I need to learn to say no), so once school was done, I’ve just been working on those lingering things.  A proper homeschool post takes time to write because no parent homeschools just for the heck of it! At least I hope not. Our children’s education is important stuff and the reasons why we chose a certain path and what we do to work towards that goal takes more thinking and writing than the average blog post. That post is coming folks, don’t worry. Just cut me a little slack this week please. Thanks!

on true: top and bottom, misha lulu c/o ava mae and ruby lu vintage. shoes, salt-water sandals.  on brave: dress, vintage. shorts, misha lulu. shoes, gap kids. heart clip, ban.do.

Summer’s in full swing here. There’s lots of playing, DVD watching, and oh yeah… did I mention one of my girls has shingles?! Our summer hasn’t been dull at all! While we’re waiting for our Soulie to get better, I’ve been planning little outings with the girls in my head. The beach will be our #1 destination.

These are my must haves for summer: Straw (mixed with leather) bag… check. Hat… check. Sandals… check. Denim shorts… check. Sunglasses…check.

The hat is something I actually got last summer and it will get a lot more use this summer, especially since next week I’m suppose to go through a little surgical procedure to get a cyst removed from my face. There will be stitches and all, so the doctor says I need to keep my face covered and protected for at least a year to minimize scarring. I’m a little nervous!

Oh and I love my Ray-Bans! I got Ben a pair last year and was always trying to steal his, so when Sunglasses Shop asked me if I wanted to try a pair of sunglasses, I said, “Oh yes! Can I try Ray-Ban aviators please?!!” Happily they obliged and their shipping is wonderfully quick! They’re based in the UK, but even if you’re in the US, you’d get it in just a couple days. Plus, they have a really large collection of sunnies that though I wanted aviators it was hard to narrow it down to which one! Ben and I are often twinsies with our sunglasses (proof here) and I kinda think it’s cute when we match in eyewear. My aviators might be my favorite sunglasses and I wear them all the time as evidenced by here and here.

What are your summer must haves? Don’t forget to include sunscreen on that list, but you should be wearing that no matter what the season.

bag, vintage from ms. tips. hat, land’s end. sandals, piperlime. denim shorts, thrifted. sunglasses, sunglasses shop.

A) Sleeveless Chambray Shirt a) Vintage Sunscapes Wrap Skirt 
B) Vintage Layered Cake Top b) Striped High Waist Shorts
C) V Pocket Tee in Stripe  c) Vintage Pleated Cotton Skirt
D) Chambray Pocket Tank d) Bird Printed Shorts

Last date night, Ben and I ended up being twinsies, so for the next date night, I’m going to be doing a little more outfit planning to make sure that doesn’t happen (as funny as it was last time). Plus, I just love any excuse to dress up! The above combos are some outfits that I am dreaming of for some of our summer date nights. We’re aiming to get in at least one each month. I think all these pairs are definitely better together, don’t you?! And seriously, I have a gift card to Madewell, so I’m really thinking of spending it on the sleeveless chambray button down or maybe I’ll get lucky and find a similar one at the thrift store. That style top will definitely pair well with lots of things in my closet!

If you could pick any outfit for your next date night out with your love, what would it be? Are you more of a dress or a separates gal? I used to be a dress gal, but lately, I’ve been loving mixing and matching my separates!

P.S. Try out this little equation out to help keep your summer outfits fresh and clean!

This post is sponsored by P&G. With Tide®, Downy® and Bounce®, you can keep your summer fashions looking new up to 50% longer.* Text CLEAN to TARGET (827438) for mobile coupons.
*vs. leading value detergent alone



Thank you for your continuous support of this space and my sponsors! These opportunities really wouldn’t be possible without you, so thank you!

Soul’s been wearing that dress for two days in a row (this picture was taken on day 2). True’s in love with her whale dress (by misha lulu). Remember, she has a water/ocean/mermaid obsession of late, Brave loves her spider man shoes so much, and Glow’s the only one that really lets me dress her these days. These are my girls.

These girls of mine are also already laying claim on the various articles of clothing I own and keep asking me to save it for them when they get older. Soul’s tries to lay claim to all my jewelry and they often discuss who will get which shoe. I think these pair of clogs go to Soul. I’m hoping they all end up the same shoe size because that will save us lots of money during the teenage years, but I’m also sure that will cause lots of fights. I’m thinking the fighting between these girls won’t actually end until they all have families of their own. Right now the fighting revolves around the sharing of toys, then it will be the sharing of clothes, and then the sharing of a vehicle, and hopefully when they’re grown, they’ll just love sharing recipes, marriage and parenting tips together (basically, just sharing life!) and it will no longer involve fighting. They will eventually learn to share. That’s the goal folks, that’s where we’re headed. At least, that’s what I’m praying.

Sometimes, baby fever hits and I give Ben a look and say, “Don’t you wonder what a boy would look like?” And then he reminds me how chaotic our life currently is, how much work it is to make sure they all have our attention, and how much it cost to actually raise children (kids are expensive!), and then I’m like, “Oh yeah. We’re good. We’re totally good.”

on me: shirt, vintage from cut + paste. shorts, thrifted. shoes, t-bar clogs c/o lotta from stockholm. on true: dress, misha lulu. shoes, salt-waters. on brave: dress, misha lulu. shoes, gap kids. on soul: dress, thrifted. shoes, gifted from my friend joanna. on glow: dress, misha lulu. shoes, salt-waters.

I requested pumpkin pancakes for breakfast with cinnamon whipped cream, and Ben and the girls delivered exactly that. It was so good! I love pumpkin pancakes! They are my favorite kind. The girls all came in singing the Happy Mother’s Day song (sung to the tune of Happy Birthday) and came bearing gifts along with my breakfast. The gifts were 3 homemade cards and one package, which contained a hat (which was already mine), a spool of thread, two markers, and nail polish. All of them were my things that somehow magically disappeared a couple days before Sunday, only to reappear again in my present Sunday morning. Nevertheless, I was so excited to open up my present from True and made a big ooh and ahh about wanting all those things! I remember doing the same things with gifts for my parents and siblings when I was younger. I would totally wrap up things that were already theirs and gift it back to them. True must have gotten that from me.

If you’re looking at the pictures of me in the morning and thinking I totally got camera ready, yes, I did. Not for the camera though, but because Sunday mornings are tight with having to get dressed (and the four girls ready) to get out of the house and get to church on time, that I had already gotten up and started getting ready for church while I was waiting for my breakfast in bed. When they were ready, I hopped back in bed. After I ate, all I had to do was change out of my pajamas and we pretty much took off for church soon after that.

The rest of the day was perfectly simple and low key. We gathered with church family, then we met my family for lunch at our favorite Chinese restaurant, where we pretty much stuffed our bellies. We made it home around 5, served the girls dinner, then had them in bed by 7 for their quiet (reading) time, and then Ben and I were relaxing in our room with sushi, frozen yogurt, and a movie by 8. I told Ben not to plan anything and I didn’t want anything. We’ve been working on house projects, so spending our money towards things for the house was a good enough present for me. I was just so happy to have a simple, stress-free day with my sweet family, so this Mama’s Day was exactly what this mama needed. As crazy as I get sometimes, I’m so thankful that these girls are mine and that I get to love, teach, and grow with them, even if there are a lot of bumps (sometimes it feels like major turbulence) on the road while doing so.

p.s. this was my favorite picture of the day. #stilllovethempolaroids

on me: top, modcloth (last year). shorts and belt, thrifted. shoes, madewell. on true: dress, c/o homespun vintage (brave wore the same one last week). on brave: dress, vintage. on soul: top, misha lulu. dress, c/o homespun vintage. on glow: dress, vintage. all their sandals are salt-water sandals.

These two are twins, born a year apart. True was only 6 months when I found out I was pregnant with Brave. It wasn’t planned and I was quite in shock. When we found out, I cried! In fact, I cried for a whole week! Here I was this new mom who was just getting used to having 1 baby and then here I was about to have another. I had no clue how I was going to handle TWO babies!!! It was an insane time for us. As crazy as it was for it to happen that way, I’m so glad it did. These two are built-in best friends.

They had Twin Day at school and they were so excited about it. I kind of was too. I have fond memories of planning with friends at school about what we were going to wear for Twin Day. It usually involved a white t-shirt and similar overalls (and the same bubble necklace). That’s a close as we got because we didn’t really have the same things. True and Brave have a lot of the same things (or Soul has them), so the ability to get everything exactly the same was easy peasy. Brave just happened to wear Soul’s dress and shirt and they had different colored sandals, but by golly, they were twins indeed.

If you want built-in best friends, I highly recommend having your kids a year apart! I will warn you though, get ready for a lot of happy  (and scary) craziness… and if you decide to add 2 more after that who are also close in age, well, let’s just say my life is never boring!

on true and brave: dress and shirt, misha lulu. leggings, gifted from grandmama. shoes, salt-water sandals.