Romans 12:12

Please join me and countless others tomorrow in prayer for one of my good friends, as she has tests run tomorrow. She is one of the sweetest, yet strongest people I know, and I can't wait to see her use God's strength to overcome! 

Here is a verse I came across and I'm meditating on ... for Our God is bigger!

Weekend Recap- get the party started

So... it began! Party season is in full swing, and we started off the weekend with the friends annual Christmas at Summer's house... where you can read about here! 

What I didn't post was this sweet picture of Mary Grace brushing Hylan Marie's hair (after she had given her a bath AND put on her diaper... I'm training her well. #andiwillbenefitinafewyears LOL)

Saturday was spent at Pap Pap's family reunion. We ate a ton, and reminisced with some sweet folks!

Of course, lots of cousin time was had!

(Can you believe this sweet boy will be three tomorrow?!)

That afternoon we had our Christmas parade! It would be my favorite parade we participate in... except one problem... IT'S COLD.

I hate cold.

However, we warmed right up with the calf-raises song... haha

and pretended we were in the Caribbean. ;)

These girls are the greatest!

I even spotted our very own "Voice of Sylacauga"... (My amazing and talented friend, Summer.) :)

And since I was walking with my girls, I'm so glad my good friend, Laura Beth, captured this picture of some of our crew! 

Sunday morning came EARLY. Ryan and the kids soaked up a little Mary Poppins before church. 

Afterwards, I headed to Birmingham with this crew. We stopped at Johnny Rockets for lunch. 

They were totally amazed by the jukeboxes at the tables... I wished they worked!

My mom met us, to take Burke for the night (where he had SO much fun...) for just some PawPaw and Nanna Burke time. I think he misses the only child phase often. lol

Meanwhile... sister and I shopped till we dropped.

LOTS of things were checked off "the list"... thank goodness!

Now... onto some more Christmas parties and sweet times this Christmas season! We have something EVERY. SINGLE. NIGHT... until the 23rd of December! When I realized this this morning... I may have broke out in hives. lol

Let's do this.

Friday Favorites- best friends edition

A late linkup for Friday favorites with Andrea, Narci, and Erica! And I can't help but think of how friendship was the very best FAVORITE of the week.

The latest friends favorite of the night... 

These girls.

It was our annual Christmas Party at the Ernest household (which is always {ALWAYS} stunning).

I am so grateful to have this amazing group of friends in such a close proximity to me. We are all in the crazy mom stage of life and nothing is better than going through it with people who can snap you out of a funk in 1.5 seconds flat. We pray for each other, have playdates with one another, babysit each others kids, share food, laughter, and exercise together... I'm not quite sure I could survive without their friendship. It's hard to believe I've only known them 2 1/2 years... just goes to show you how welcoming they truly are. 

Another FAVORITE was going to McWane with one of those mom friends (of course who is pictured above), and her son Jack. Burke and Jack are two peas in a pod. Their friendship could not be sweeter!

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We spent all day here and saw everything there was to see... even the McWane snake! Eek! Both boys touched it!

One of the favorite exhibits was this massive peg board... it was so soothing to play with! I feel we need one asap. haha

It would even capture facial expressions! (Can you tell sister was not happy we pushed her face into it? lol)

Jack and Burke's most favorite part was the zipline. They rode it a bizillian times. :)

Sister wanted to soooo badly. She is fearless I tell you. 

Last, but not least... doing a productive silhouette project was a favorite! They loved their shirts I made... which made the dumb amount of time I spent on them totally worth it. lol

With every project I am learning a lot! So if I was to recreate this shirt, I don't think it would take me any time at all. Yay for kicking that learning curve to the curb! Granted... I still have A LOT to learn with this new machine... it's just a matter of time. 

Happy Weekend Everyone!

Friday Favorites

Although Friday is coming to an end, I thought I would post my FAVORITES this week!

To kick off my FAVORITES... Honeysuckles.

If there is one thing about my springs and summers as a child that bring back memories, its the smell and taste of honeysuckles. My brother or best friends and I would go behind "the little house" (as we called it... it was/is kind of like a craft space my grandfather built for my grandma) and eat on these forever. 

 I showed this to Burke last year, but he didn't really get it... but now, every time he sees them he begs to "eat honey."

Next up... another favorite would be the fact that we now can eat popsicles on the porch, with little clothes on because of the wonderfully warm weather. haha (kids of course. :)

She watched Burke for the longest and tried to do just what he did. 

Finally, it melted enough where she didn't have to work to eat it as much.... she dug it.

This was also a FAVORITE moment last weekend... lake time with family and cousins we haven't seen in way too long. :)

This girls FAVORITE things are her "doll dolls".

 She doesn't just want one or two... no... she wants all that she can possibly hold. And if she sees another, and it can't possibly fit in her arms, then she will make you hold it.

Happy girl now that everyone is riding with her.

(Side note... this is not her carseat, we were running a friend dinner and had little Jack with us! She loved that she got to sit in big brothers car seat, but didn't quite fill it out just yet. 

This week has been my FAVORITE because we have been outside more than ever... and loving it.

Bubbles are her favorite.

Twirling/hitting Burke with a baton is also her FAVORITE.

In an effort to apologize... hehe.

That was not his favorite.

Last Tuesday everyone came out to support Burke at his t-ball game.

And this happened...

Really??? How cute is this?! 

Burke at bat... not his best, but who cares! lol

He's four!

I got a kick out of Hylan Marie :)

Burke and one of his FAVORITE buddies, Jack, played against one another that night. It was complete with them recognizing one another while on the field, Burke and Jack giving each other a fist bump at second base, and then this after the game.

I see this in a future senior slideshow. #adorable

And to change subjects entirely....

look at what is on SugarBeanScout's Etsy page. Eeeek!

Crochet trimmed detail is my FAVORITE!

My friend and neighbor, Joy, does this by hand! Y'all it's even more precious in person, and PERFECT for those times when she needs an undershirt for those cute MJ knot tops!

Order here or get in touch with me in the comments section! It comes with a bow from SugarBeanScout!

Speaking of bows....

LOTS have been made recently, and these all coordinate with the newest Matilda Jane collection!

They are my FAVORITE colors... especially that turquoise! All these were made for an upcoming trunk show at my house... tomorrow! Eeek! It's my first time being a Jane, and I'm so excited to have the collection in my living room for everyone to try on and play dress up in! Not to mention these bows, plus much more, will be available to try out and place an order. Even the onesie above will be available to take a closer look at! It's going to be a fun party with good snacks and even better company ... and adorable clothes, of course!

Show closes on Sunday, so if you see something you like let me know and I'll tell you how to order!

And last, but not least, this morning was a FAVORITE.

I somehow woke up refreshed at 4:45am, had the house to myself for about an hour and a half (yes, Ryan has eaten breakfast and is headed out the door by 5... #hardworkinghusband) and everyone else slept in. This rarely happens and when it does.... 

I drink hot tea, blog, bible study, do dishes, prep meals, laundry...

and literally... got to smell the roses. 

I'm SO excited. Look at all those blooms! Two opened up by this evening and are now sitting in a vase on my kitchen window. I think I will totally get into gardening when the time comes!

We then took our time getting to school because... #ipaytobelate, #itstheend, #noonecares and sister and I ran errands, cleaned house, and a billion other things before picking Burke up at 12. Time management at it's finest. Boom!

And I can't leave off a really important FAVORITE this week!

Friendly neighbors! And we have a lot of awesome ones! 

I mean,  bible study with the best girl group you can ask for on Tuesday, the BEST pound cake I've EVER eaten (hence no picture) was given to me Wednesday, rides with friends in tow to visit the newest addition to our friend/baby group, and then others come to the rescue when you are in dire need of a pedicure before an exciting vacation! (more on that soon!)

Except, when I went to jump in the shower tonight, I saw my paint was gone on three of my toes! :/ I just got it done yesterday evening! Not even 24 hours ago. boo! I'm thinking I may need to swing by for a touch up.

That's all I have time for tonight! Thank you God for a wonderful week FULL of Your goodness.

Happy Friday! Linking up with Andrea, Erica, and Narci.

Have a GREAT weekend!