Friday Links and Loves

I have been a horrible blogger these last few weeks.  I have yet to get a grip on this lack-of-schedule during the summer.  Fingers crossed, things will improve next week.  I do have some pretty good posts planned.   But since you can't find good content here lately,  I have compiled the some greatness from around the web. :)

LINKS

Adoption Through Eyes Of Adoptive Dads-- A Q&A of several adoptive dads, hosted by Shannan at FlowerPatch FarmGirl.

Dear Moms, Let's Stop Being Mean to Each Other--Seriously, enough with the judgement.  Let's all work together at this game called life and stop trying to be better than the next mom.

The Sermon on the Mount study that is starting over at She Reads Truth on July 1.  I have followed along with the last two studies (Titus and Ruth) and can't wait to start Sermon on the Mount.  I think I'm going to purchase the study pack this time.  Let me know in the comments if you are doing this study, too.  We'll chat.

LOVES

Carry On Warrior by Glennon Melton--Let me clarify:  I haven't read this book yet.  I HAVE ordered it from Amazon on the recommendation of a friend.  What I already love about this book is the cover.  It is so bright and happy :)

The new Erin Condren life planners-- they have just released the 18-month edition, going from July 2014 until December 2015.  These new editions have removable covers (so you can switch them depending on moods).  How cool is that?

Amazon Prime.  I know what you're thinking--AGAIN?? But seriously, Amazon Prime is awesome.  I ordered Justin's Father's Day present (the Bose mini-speaker) for a few dollars cheaper than at the actual BOSE store, and with free shipping.  Between the free shipping, free books, and Amazon Instant Video, my purchase has been more than worth it.  And now, Amazon has introduced Prime Music.  What more could you ask for?

Friday Links and Loves

Two weeks in to summer, the time that is supposed to be slower so that I can catch up on things, and my house is in the worse shape ever.  With no real bedtime for the girls, I don't have that precious hour after they go to sleep to catch up on everything I usually do--laundry, dishes, blogging.   Next week is our church's VBS, and hopefully after that, things will slow down more.  Until then, just be patient with me :)

PS:  If you were looking for my Project Life post on Tuesday, I have decided to only share those monthly.  The first Tuesday of every month will be my Project Life post.

LINKS

His Plan > My Plan.  This post is by my real-life friend Ashley.  Right now, she is in the midst of the trenches, living daily with her "normal".  Her outlook and faith are an encouragement to everyone.

The Conversation that Could Save Your Teen's Life.  I'm seriously going to start a file with all this information I'll need again in a few years.  This idea of telling my kids HOW to say no is genius.  

A Challenge to Slow Down.  As evidenced by the first paragraph of this post, I want my life to slow down a little.  Wait, make that, A LOT.  Unfortunately, telling yourself to slow down is a lot easier than actually slowing down.

LOVES

I've mentioned recently that my number one goal this summer is get this place I call home re-organized.  I've spent some time this week scouring the internet looking for tools to help this happen. And what follows are a few things I found.

This expandable silverware tray.  I already have one of these that I LOVE but I am needing another one.  

This grocery bag dispenser.  Right now, my grocery bags are all crammed into a torn, falling apart, Target bag.  At least once a week I pick up all the stragglers and stuff them back in.  

This Keurig K-cup drawer.  I actually own this drawer and adore it.  My Keurig sits right on top and the drawer is big enough to hold 2 entire boxes of K-cups, without taking up my precious cabinet space.

Over the Washer storage.  I currently have two bottles of Tide and three bottles of Downy sitting on top of my washing machine.  This takes up  room I could be using for all my clean, folded clothes :)

What are you loving this week?

Friday Links and Loves, 8 ed.

This post happens every Friday.  If you're new here, check out the "Cool Products" tag on the right sidebar to see past posts. 

LINKS:

I Can't Believe I'm Telling You This.  While breastfeeding my girls until they were 2 wasn't for me, I totally agree with sharing things with other moms.  I've said it before and I'll say it again-- this motherhood thing is a team sport.  We need encouragement from other moms-and even if it's not something I, personally, am on board with, who am I to judge what you think is best for your own child?  (FYI:  I did breastfeed K until around 15 months and had to stop when I got pregnant with Libby.  I didn't have a definite plan to stop, so who knows?  Maybe I would have continued until she was 2....)

The Titus study through She Reads Truth.  I missed out on the Nehemiah study through the winter, but I'm all on board with this one.  I didn't order the study guide, but I do plan to order the one before the Ruth study starts.  (PS:  Today is Day 5 of the Titus study, so if you're just starting, you'll need to catch up!)

On Big Kid Adoption.  Ya'll.  These big kids have my heart.  Every single time I hear someone mention adoption, they are looking for babies.  Possibly toddlers, but most definitely not "big kids."  And that is definitely OK.  And trust me, I understand all the concerns.  Justin and I have had these conversations ourselves.  But guess what!! Those big kids need love too.  They need the support from a family, too.  Big kid adoption is certainly not for everyone.  But thank goodness there are families, like this one, who are willing to love these big kids.

How I Don't Do It All. I shared this link on Facebook, but didn't include in in last week's L&L post.  It's so easy to look at other moms and compare ourselves.  But the truth is, NONE of us have it all together.

LOVES:

These Sanuk Yoga sandals.  Cute and SO comfy!

This BOSE Mini Speaker.  Let me clarify--Justin is loving this.  I'm thinking it's the perfect Father's Day gift.

Grace For the Good Girl:  Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life.  I've shared Emily's posts before in my links section, but I've not listed her book in my loves.  This book stepped on my toes in so many ways.  In the first chapter, Emily explains that by being a good girl, she struggled with understanding God's grace.  She still felt like she had to PROVE her worth.  Guys, I could have written this book.  If you haven't read it, you must.

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Friday Links and Loves, 7th ed.

Links

The Problem with Not Having Any Losers <--Can I get an AMEN to this post?

How to Help A New Mom over at Neon Fresh.  This post caught my eye because I have several friends expecting in the near future, and helpful tips are always welcome.

When It Feels Like Everyone is Bigger, Better, Smarter.  Because this life we live is the greatest comparison trap ever.

On Parenting Teens.  Because I will be there before I know it, and from what I've seen, I'll need all the help I can get.  All you who are in the midst of teen-parenting, takes notes.  I'll need to see those in about 8 years.

The American Blogger.  I may be somewhat addicted to passionate about blogging, so this post was extremely interesting to me.

On the Good Parts of Being Christian.  This post is all about getting out there--doing something doesn't have to be a big, chilvarous act.  It can simply be baking a cake, sending a thoughtful text message, or lending a listening ear.  And the best part of this post?  It turned me on to this song by Matthew West:

Loves

This dome tent for the beach.  Kristi and Luke brought one down to the beach and it was awesome, even for my big kids!

I would so love one of these carts to haul all our beach stuff down.  I saw people using these on our trip and I was very jealous--they are so handy!

Minty nail polish colors, like Sally Hansen's Jade Jump and Essie's Turquoise and Caicos.

This Banana Boat Sort Cool Zone Spray sunscreen.  (The Amazon price is cheaper than my local Target.....even better if you have Prime free shipping!)

Friday Links and Loves, 6th ed.

LINKS

Grown-Ups Shouldn't Finish Books They're Not Enjoying, by ModernMrsDarcy.  I recently read Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller and she made an interesting point about teaching kids it's OK to abandon a book they aren't enjoying.  It never occurred to me that some readers might not know that this was acceptable.  I started asking classes as they came in if it was OK to stop reading a book they didn't like and every single kid yelled a confident NO.  To which I yelled back, YES!  If you aren't enjoying a book, reading isn't going to be fun for you.  My rule of thumb is 3 chapters.  If you aren't enjoying it 3 chapters in, for all that is holy, STOP READING :)

This post and this post, both about the same surprise trip.  Katie planned a surprise day trip for Ali, complete with air travel and everything.  Love it.  If you want to plan a surprise trip for me, please know that I am all for that type of thing.

Beauty In What Remains.  I despise clutter.  Like, really despise.  I throw things away constantly.  Jean (my assistant at the library) tells everyone that she doesn't like to sit still for too long because she's afraid I'll throw her away.  This is probably why I enjoy moving--you get to clean everything out and start fresh.  I SO identified with this post.

This home office.  I'm wanting to create a home office for myself and this post was terrific inspiration.

Motherhood isn't a Competition, It's A Calling.  Lisa-Jo really hit the nail on the head with this one.  She is somehow always able to reach into my undeserving, unfit, never-good-enough mothering heart and make it all seem ok.  Because, moms, we ARE all in this together.  Motherhood is a team sport, ya'll.

LOVES

With summer coming, I have organizing on the brain.  I have a whole post about my summer to-do list, but that's for later.  With that being said, it's not surprising that several of my 'loves' this week are organizational items.  

Like these bamboo baskets.  You know, for my new office space.

This storage bench, for my new garage mudroom area.  The one that I don't have yet, but will be starting soon.

Friday Links and Loves, 4th ed.

FYI: I'm trying hard to find a graphic I love for these posts--these just aren't it.  If you have a suggestion, hit me up :)

Links

Goodreads.  Look me up and be my friend.

This post from the history books of Neon Fresh about Abigail Adams, sort of.  Roo did this whole "Ballers of History" thing a while back, and the one on old Abby is pretty legit.

This.  Because it is just so real.  And so me. (And I'm hoping so you, too.)

This post titled Can A Christian Drink Alcohol.  I'm not sure exactly how I feel about this post, but it sure sparked some controversy on my Facebook timeline.  If you have an opinion, share it with me in the comments.

I try to always see the glass as half full, instead of half empty, but sometimes I need a little help with that.  This post on How To Be An Optimist, by Ann Voskamp, is a keeper.

Loves

My girls LOVE the blog, and as soon as they saw a few Friday Links and Loves posts, they wanted in on the action.  I let them each choose one favorite product from the week.

Libby loves Essence XXXL Shine Lipgloss in Just Georgeous. (Of course.)

Kyndall loves I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916.  (This is one of my favorite books too.  Even if you are an adult, it's an interesting read. )

And now, my loves for the week:

My Roomba.  I CANNOT BELIEVE I WAITED THIS LONG TO SHARE THIS!  With three girls and one massive mutt in the house, my Roomba is a MUST.  It is automatically set to run every morning at 6am, so by the time I'm up and about, my floors are clean.  Stop right now and purchase one.  Then eat Ramon Noodles for a week if you have too, because IT IS WORTH IT.

These patio chairs. {I bought the Target version, in turquoise, but apparently they aren't available online.  The link is for Amazon, but they are the same price!} I finally decided and purchased four of them.  Next on my list is the Rattan Cool Bar from last week.

These pirate ship and medieval castle cardboard creations are the BOMB! (<--Sorry about that.  Totally showing my age here.) I first heard about these from Roo at NeonFresh, and so I had to do my own Amazon search.  This is amazing.  For only $30ish dollars, your kids can have a huge cardboard playlet that they can COLOR THEMSELVES.

Now you're turn--what are you loving this week?

Friday Links and Loves, 3rd Ed.

LINKS

National Scrapbooking Day is tomorrow, May 3.  {In a perfect world, I will catch up on all my PL layouts for this year and have them ready for the printer.}  The idea is to create as many layouts as you can on Saturday and post them to social media with the hashtag #NSD10k.  The goal is to 10,000 layouts shared.

11 Things You Can DO to Actively Encourage Another Mother Today.  And while most of these points are pretty obvious (Don't we all, always, help another mother with the door when her hands are full?) this post has my heart.  I'm all about lifting other women up, mothers or not.  Because this game of life, it's a team sport, ya'll.

One Side of A Heart--On Adoption.  Because I have a heart for adoption.  And because there are no 'adoptive parents', we are all just parents, doing the best we can.

Heart Songs <--This is part of a journaling mini-course from Simple Scrapper.  I love this lesson the most because it's these moments, these emotions, that I often struggle to get out and written.

And for a great laugh, watch this video.  The girls and I have been using "Licken, honey, licken" in conversations for WEEKS!

LOVES

These long and lean tanks from Target.  It's a shame how many of these are hanging in my closet!

The Fault in Our Stars.  Still the absolute best book I've read in a long while.  I'm very anxious about the movie though... I just don't know that they can do the book justice.

These yellow chevron outdoor pillows.

We've been working on our backyard/ patio area the past few days, getting ready for some major summer entertaining.  While shopping for new patio furniture, I keep coming back to this Rattan Cool Bar.  A table that doubles as a cooler, AND it's super cute?  I'm totally in!

I'm seriously obsessed with canvas art right now.  I'm loving the above She Knew canvas above.  Dee creates beautiful "faith-inspired" art and I'm coveting several of her pieces right now.

Another canvas on my "To-Buy" list (Yes, I have a to-buy list--I'm quite the list maker nerd!) is this one from Erin Condren.  Her inspirational quote canvases are gorgeous.


Now tell me--what are you LOVING this week?

Friday Links and Loves, 2nd Ed.

I'm starting a new trend, ya'll.  Let's see if I can stick with it, for once :)  Each Friday I'll do a Links and Loves post, where I share everything I'm loving right now, whether it be a post I've read or a product I'm digging.  One day, I might even come up with a cute 'linky' image and everything.  You can see Links and Loves, 1st edition here.

LINKS

100 Ways You Know You're A Mom by Lisa-Jo Baker.

This post by Emily P. Freeman.  I've read her book Grace for the Good Girl and it's utterly inspiring.

What Scares Me More Than Being Inadequate by Kristin.  A story about saying "yes".

When Ordinary is its own Kind Of Brave by Lisa Jo Baker.  Honestly, I could link all of her posts.  Every.Single.One of them.

Throwback Thursday Stories, courtesy of the Mom Creative.  I cannot tell you how much my scrapbooking heart loves this.  Pulling out an old photo and telling its story?  That's my passion, ya'll.

If You Wouldn't Say It About A Boob Job.  Hilarious video about having adoption conversations. You know, if you wouldn't say it about a boob job, don't say it to adoptive parents.

This is How I Feel posts by Roo at Neon Fresh.  This girl is hilarious and her TIHIF posts are full of GIFS that she has captioned herself.  Caution:  This link is Volume 51, meaning you could get lost in hours of hilarity.  #RollOnTheFloorLaughing

LOVES

I caved and bought the purse I was seriously crushing on last week, and I'm so glad that I did.  It's just big enough to hold that gorgeous Erin Condren planner (By the way, EC is unveiling the new 2015 planner designs in just a few weeks!) without being TOO big and bulky.  The yellow color makes me happy, but it also comes in black or bright orange.  Now for a new wallet.....

This refrigerator pitcher set.  I don't know about ya'll, but the shelf space in my fridge is always overflowing.  We are drinkers at my house.  Between the gallons of milk, pitchers of tea, and jugs of juices, I could really make use of that extra space in our fridge door.  And to top it all off, these pitchers are just so pretty.

The Naked 3 palette.  I received it as a Christmas gift, and struggled using it at first.  Now that I've had it, and played with it, for a few months, I'm loving it :)

(photo from OGX website)

OGX hair products.  Specifically this shampoo and this conditioner, and this hair oil.  I have bad hair. I mean, REALLY bad hair.  I've tried vitamins, treatments, coconut oil.... you name it.  I've been using OGX products for several weeks and it is the first time in a long time I am seeing improvement.  OGX products are organic, which means they don't have all those bad chemicals, like sulfates.

Donut Shop coffee.  I normally purchase these from Target, but recently I've been ordering from Amazon with my free shipping.  I think I save a total of 25 cents by doing this, but hey, every penny counts, right?  And if decaf is your thing, the Donut Shop decaf blend is really good, too.

Your turn! What are you loving right now?

The Post I SHOULD Be Paid to Write (with a little TMI)

You know how you love sharing with your girlfriends the things that work for you?  Like new makeup, or awesome products, or how you get your kid to stop picking their nose behave in public? I have a few things I have bragged about to my girlfriends lately, so I thought I would share them with you.  Warning:  one (or two) of these posts are fairly personal, so if you are offended by too much information, stop reading this post and watch this video.

Still with me?  Let's go:

Mederma.  Seriously ya'll, I have this nasty, humongous, 6-inch long scar on my stomach.  It shows when I wear a swimsuit and makes me self-conscious.  Enter Mederma.  I WISH I had taken before and after photos, because it is nothing short of a miracle.  All I can say is, if you have any sort of scars that you wish were gone, try it.  You'll be amazed.

Kenra and Joico shampoos and conditioners.  I rotate Joico Body Luxe and Kenra Color Maintenance, but I feel like I could vouch for any style you think would work best for your hair type.  The best part?  Ulta runs these on sale every so often and you can purchase the big bottles (I think they are liters) for $15 each.

No, I'm not reppin' underarms here.  This is all about laser hair removal.  I cannot say enough about this.  It is awesome.  I can only speak for myself here, because apparently, the laser therapy affects different skin types differently, but I am in love.  Typically, you go for treatments four or five times, once every 6 weeks.  After that, you may or may not have to go for a yearly 'maintenance' treatment.  I can say that after my first treatment, I didn't have to shave for an entire 2 1/2 weeks.  And to me, that is almost worth the money in itself.  And it IS pretty expensive, but permanent hair removal?  I mean, come on!

And that's it.  What awesome products have you run across lately?

A few cool photos......

How awesome are these photos?  Would you like to know what they were taken with?  AN IPHONE.... yep, you heard me right.  An iphone.  Taken underwater.

With this case:

A LifeProof case.  They run about $80 and are made for underwater (and everything else for that matter!).  This will most definitely be the next case I purchase for my phone!!

Just for Fun

Today was spent swimming, eating, and visiting with some of our dearest friends. It was wonderful. Kyndall did get stung on the finger by a wasp.  War was declared.  Mommies with flyswatters and two types of buspray vs. all wasps in the pool area.  We left the little wasp bodies where they fell.  We wanted to send a message.

Me? I got attacked with water guns a few times...

The girls?  They had a blast!  Swimming with their best friends for most of the day and then catching lightening bugs at night.

I'm thinking that last photo will be a great one for the wedding video one day. 

There were some dance moves thrown in for good measure.

I'm pretty sure she's droppin' it like it's hot in this photo.... I mean, seriously.

(I think he was shaking it a little too hard--that's why his photo is blurry.)

And on a random note, have you ever used any of the ELF products.  Target sells them.  They have awesome mascara's, makeup brushes, and the like for very cheap.  The other day, I ran across this lip color and I have to say, it's awesome.  And it was $3.  That's right folks, $3.  I'm in love.  With a lipstick.