Happy School Year!



We had some friends over today for a little Back to School Party. Originally, I was just wanting to have a little play date, but then I realized that this will be the last lunch play date we'll be able to have for a while with the school schedule. My 4-year-old thinks it's a party every time people come over, so we decided to put together "Back to School" goody bags for all the kids.

 

 I didn't decide until yesterday that we would make goody bags, so it was pretty last minute. I found some super cute back to school printables HERE. The best part is, they were free! I waited to print them off until after I had already been to the store, and wouldn't you know, my printer ran out of red ink. Luckily, I had a red sharpie so I just colored in the apples. I think it looked OK.



 

I already had a bunch of crazy straws that I bought, no joke, like 2 years ago as a birthday party favor, but I ended up not using them. I'm glad to finally get them off my hands. I got the ribbon, bags, and everything else to fill them at Walmart. Each bag had a note pad, crayons, scissors, a glue stick, crazy straw, crackers, and fruit snacks. They ended up costing less than $2 for each one.



I hope everyone has a happy school year!

5 Minutes

So I'm just going to be honest here...there are some days, when I know I'm not going to leave the house, that I just wear a t-shirt, gym shorts, flip-flops, and no make-up. I don't see the point in getting all ready when I'm just going to be cleaning or working on projects around my house. I mean, no one is going to see me except for my family and perhaps a neighbor. I thought today was going to be one of those days, but then I ended up needing to run a few quick errands. I was tempted to just leave the house as I was (Yikes!), but I decided to take 5 minutes to slap on a little make-up (powder fountain, bronzer, blush, mascara, and lip gloss) and put on some real clothes. I already had my outfit ironed and ready to go because I wore it a few nights ago for literally like two hours, and I had planned on recycling it. I had let my hair air dry after my shower, so it was a lost cause. It was definitely a ponytail kind of day. Even though I did not have on my full make-up and hair fixed, I'm glad I at least took the five minutes so I wouldn't have been embarrassed if I had run into someone I know. With preschool and all the other activities we are about to start, this look will probably be making frequent come-backs.

I never thought I would post a picture of myself without my normal makeup on the internet on purpose (haha). Here's another one taken by my 4-year-old. Someone else wanted in on the fun too ;)

Shirt: Forever 21 (Goodwill) $2.99

Skirt: Banana Republic (Goodwill) $3.99

Shoes: Old Navy (old) $14

Earrings: Target $3.98

Bracelet: Target $5.35

Nicole Lee Bag: Target $22

Total: $52.31

 

 

On the plus side...this is the first time I carried my new purse that I got with my birthday money. The original price was around $70 (I can't remember exactly), but it was on clearance and then had an extra 10% off, so it only ended up being around $22. I had never heard of Nicole Lee before, but hopefully it will hold up OK. I think I'm pretty rough on purses.

Self-Confidence?

Today at church, our pastor spoke about something that I think is very important. It has been on my heart for a while. I used to compare myself to others a lot. I would think, "If only I was as good at (fill in the black) as so and so," or "If only I looked like so and so." It was not until after my second child was born (you know, when your stomach looks like a deflated balloon and you feel so blah) that God helped me to see that He made me the way I am for a purpose, and he made "so and so" for a purpose. My purpose is not going to be the same as anyone else. We are here to serve God and do His work. Whether I am tall or short, a professional ballerina or I have two left feet, or my skin is black, white, blue, green, or purple, I am perfectly made to fulfill my purpose.
 We should not be concerned with our self-confidence or self-esteem. Our confidence should be in God, not in ourselves.  If we have "low self-esteem" it is because we are lacking faith in God. Wishing that something about ourselves was different is questioning God, and God does not make mistakes. We need to be content and not want what someone else has (Remember the 10 Commandments, "Thou shalt not covet.") Instead of complaining about what we don't have and making excuses, we need to take responsibility and make the most out of what God has given us. We need to try our very best at whatever we are a part of and be thankful for the way God made us.
Our society is very focused on looking a certain way, having certain things, and being good at certain things. I think if more people put their focus on God, instead of themselves, and took responsibility for things they can change, then we wouldn't have many of the issues we have today.
I could go on and on, but I am trying to sum up my thoughts. I hope I'm not too scatter-brained to get my point across. I am by no means perfect in this area; I definitely need to be reminded I am here to please God, not other people, and he made me special the way that I am. This is something I feel strongly about and something I hope to instill in my children. (If you have young kids, I recommend the Veggie Tales movie "Princess and the Pop Star". It's geared more towards little girls, but the message is beneficial for boys too.)

Speaking of my children... I am teaching my four-year-old how to take pictures with my camera (even though photography is not one of my talents, haha). He took my outfit picture today.

Skirt: Target $11.32

Belt: Anderson Creek Thrift Store $1

Shirt: Old Navy $5 (old)

Shoes: Plato's Closet $6

Straw Clutch: Old Navy (super old) $5

Earrings: Old Navy $1.31

Bracelet: Target $5.35

Total: $34.98

 



 

The reason I do outfit posts is because I feel like God has given me a gift of being able to put together nice outfits for not much money. I would actually prefer to not be in the picture, but it's hard to show outfits without a person to wear them (I pretty much only have one pose. Modeling is not one of my talents, haha). I just try to make the most out of what God has given me.

 I hope you all know how special and wonderful you are and I hope you are thankful for the many blessings and talents God has given you.

 

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well." Psalm 139:13-14

Jewelry Stock-up

Last week, I went to Old Navy to return something and I got distracted. The clearance jewelry section was calling my name! Does that every happen to you? It's hard for me to resist a clearance sign. Anyway, they had a pretty good selection and it was all marked down to $1.99. I thought it was a perfect time to stock up on fun jewelry. Sometimes, I have a hard time remembering what I need and what I already have unless I am trying to match up with a certain outfit, but for this price, I just wanted to get some fun items.

Here is my stash:

My son picked these out for me. He has such good taste!

 

When I got to the checkout, I discovered that they were also buy 2 get 1 free. So each thing ended up only being $1.31. If I had realized ahead of time that they were on sale even more I probably would have gotten more. I got 6 pieces of jewelry for $7.86.