Glasses

I have always secretly wished I had to wear glasses.
I know I'm fortunate to have killer eye site (in high school it was 20/15…but I'm sure three pregnancies have altered that a bit), but I have always loved those cute girls who got to wear their cute little eyeglasses. James has to wear glasses too, in fact he's due for a new pair.

So it was perfect timing that  GlassesUSA.com  contacted me to do post for them I thought, "Maybe this is a sign that I need to get my man some glasses!"
They offerer a ton of different designers and have great price points. They have 110% lowest price guarantee and a 100% satisfaction guarantee too…and I always love that!

And while perusing their site shopping for James I got to play with this really fun tool from their…



On their website they have a virtual mirror, and it couldn't be easier to use!

You just choose your gender, upload your photo, and voila….you can try on countless online glasses to your heart's content!

I had a bit of fun with this….

The best part is……

If you decided to order glasses online they are offering all of my readers 15% OFF plus FREE SHIPPING on orders over $50.
Use the code FS14 at checkout.
You can also take 10% off of any prescription glasses using the code Blog10.
Check it out people! You won't regret it.

So what do you think? Do I need to get myself a pair for fashions sake?

*This has been a paid sponsor post from http://www.glassesusa.com*

Popcorn

Ella is nutty sassy lately.

A total Daddy's girl, which I think is adorable.
But I want to cuddle with my baby. I want to hold her, snuggle her, and smooch her.

When I get moments like this (even if I had to bribe her for it) I love it.

I think she might love popcorn as much as I do. And if you know me, you know I LOVE popcorn.

Thanks James, for grabbing snapping this pic to remind me to embrace the camera.

WIW Lace and Skinnies

I swore I wouldn't do it.

Promised I would never even try them on.

But I couldn't resist…

I bought my first pair of real skinny jeans.

Lace Top: Ebay $10

Skinny Jeans: Walmart $10 

Necklace: Lauren Conrad (a gift from a great friend)

Heels: Gift from My mom

And then I bought another one.

Verdict…

I love them.

{both of these pics are atrocious…don't be too creeped out by me}

I love that I can wear them with boots (and not have a boot "muffin top), or heels, or flats.

I purchased this lace top on Ebay and was so mad when I opened the package and found that it was this blue. I swore I ordered the black one. But alas….I love it too.

Next time I'll have to show you my teal pants (it's getting a little crazy…I agree).


Did you try something new this week?
I'd love to see it!!!

PS

How cute is my daughter? 18 months old and still no hair.

Although  being the obsessive person I am I did manage to get all four strands of it in a pony tail. I love having a girl!

I am

I started consistently blogging just over a year ago and I have generally loved it {I have tried to avoid the feeling of this blog being a "chore"}.

I am not good at recording my memories. I don't scrapbook. I don't even print out most my of my photos.
So there they were….all those memories….just sitting on my hard drive.
I knew I needed to be better about capturing those moments and narrating them in a way I could one day relate them to my children.
I never expected to have a following of fellow bloggers!
I love the connections I've made from blogging, and I love sharing with others in their joys an challenges.

With that said I'd like to share with you what makes me….me.

The daughter of two God fearing parents.

The wife to a man of God.

The mother to three rascals beautiful children {5, 3, & 1}.

In love with Jesus {but not nearly enough for what he deserves}.

I am outgoing.

A stay at home mommy with a side gig.

I am not good at cleaning out my car {it's quite cluttered}.

I am a popcorn addict.

A huge advocate for a healthy marriage, but I know it takes a lot of work.

I am creative, but working on balancing my time better.

A lover of food {I haven't met a vegetable I didn't like}.

Emotional.

I love to laugh {loudly}.

I am not a hugger.

Tying to become a better mom.

I am honest {and blunt}.

I have a heart for the needy.

I am loyal.

Forgetful.

Awful at answering my phone and I never check my voicemail.

But most of all I am a child of God. I do my best {which is never enough} to serve him and teach my children how to love him too.

You can read more about me here.

And more about what I believe here.

Thanks for stopping by!

...stay a while….

Disney: Part 1

I feel like I can't fit all our trip to Disney World into one post, so I'm splitting it up!

The first day was spent at Cocoa Beach.

The second was spent at Magic Kingdom in the morning and Hollywood Studies for dinner.
I promise I won't post 5 more days of photos. That's a bit excessive.

Look at our rig. Having the standing glider was the best $10 we ever spent!

 Let the Memories Begin!

They were SO excited to get on Peter Pan (which we ended up riding at least 12 times during the trip).

We ran into our friends from home. It was so fun to see them!

Ella was so sick the first day. She was crabby and wouldn't even let me hold her. Only Daddy.
Looking cute anyway...

 Aladdin Ride with our Princess.

 
We had dinner at the most fun places. Our first night we ate at Prime Time Diner.
The picture below is a table near us.
It was so fun!

And then we crashed.

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Happy Black Friday!

I wanted to promote my shop and offer you all Free Shipping today!

Use the code NoShip01 at checkout.

Happy Shopping!

Find this gorgeous ring here. 

Find my newest addition here.

Find this custom necklace here.

Find this hand stamped runners necklace here.

Find my most popular necklace here. 

Thanks for looking!

Wisdom & Legacy

If God came to you and told you he would give you anything you wanted, what would you ask of him?

1 Kings tells us that King David and Bathsheba's son was Solomon. With some minor meddling, upon King David's death Solomon became King.
God came to King Solomon in a dream and told Solomon He would give him anything.
King Solomon replied,
"So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" (1 Kings 3:9)

Wow!

I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't ask God for a discerning heart or wisdom.
I think I would ask God for something like:

~ Heath for my kids
~ Protection for those I love
~ Financial security
~ Children who want to serve Him
~ The chance to see this world he created
~ To eat anything I want and not gain weight

Ok…the last one is a bit silly….but seriously….how nice would that be?

Solomon asks for wisdom. Doesn't that just blow you away?
He was already equipped with more wisdom that I have. He had the good sense to ask God for a discerning heart.

Along the way he made some mistakes with the ladies.
I'm pretty sure 700 wives and 300 concubines is a little over the top; right?

But He was wise. He made the wise decision to offer to cut a baby in half in order to prove who the rightful mother was.

But ultimately, Solomon had been disobedient to God with his choices in women and God punished him. God did this through hurting Solomon's legacy.

This really struck me. The mistakes that Solomon made affected his children.

What mistakes about me will affect my children?

{How cute are these faces}

I am so grateful that my parents loved Jesus and fought back against any generational struggles that held our family back in the past.
Because of their faithfulness to God and because of their desire to have their kids lives be full; I don't have the same struggles as my grandparents and great grandparents.

I know that I have things in my life that can hold me back from completely serving him.
As one of my best friends said, "I'm battling it out with my flesh". She meant that this life is a constant battle between what our flesh wants and what our Spirit needs.
But I have been feeling God pull on my life to serve him more fully.

I want my children to have a fuller, closer relationship with Jesus. I know that they will have a desire to follow him if I have that desire too. Our children watch us. I can remember watching my Dad read his Bible in the mornings, and to this day I can call him with a Biblical question and he'll usually have an answer for me. Watching my parents love Jesus made me want to love him too.

I want my kids to catch me reading my Bible, or singing a praise song, or treating somebody the way Jesus would have.
I want my kids to notice that I have a Christ centered marriage. That their parents put Jesus in the center of their lives, and that makes them happier. I want them to see how we love each other, and they can have a fulfilling marriage too with a spouse who loves and serves the Lord.

That is the legacy I want to leave them with.

A legacy that is focused around loving Jesus, and showing other people the love of Jesus.

The BEST French Onion Soup {{EVER}}

My mom has always made the best french onion soup.

I have always struggled to created the perfect bowl. Mine had always seemed to be "light", watered down, lacking rich flavor.

So I went back to my roots…Mom's way.

I just made this for dinner last night, and my tongue was dancing with joy (and then again for lunch today).

So here it is.

Rich French Onion Soup 

1lb sweet onions, thinly sliced (it's important to use good onions)
4 TBS butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/4 cup dry Sherry
3 cups beef broth (the higher the quality the better)
3 cups chicken broth (" ")
6 slices toasted French Bread
6 TBS shredded parmesan cheese
8 oz Swiss Cheese (this may vary depending on your tastebuds)

In a large sauce pan melt butter over medium heat and add onions. Sauté over medium-low heat until onions are clear. Do not brown the onions. Take your time with this, it's good to let those onions "sweat" to bring out the flavor.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. I use about 1/4 tsp pepper and 1/4 salt.

Add the broths and sherry and allow to simmer for 2 hours.
*note* You don't have to let it simmer for this long, but the longer it simmers the better the flavors meld together. You could let it simmer for as little as 20 minutes.

Spoon the soup into 6 oven safe bowls and top with the toasted bread. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and top with the swiss cheese.
*note* I love using Swiss with this but many others may enjoy a more mild Provelone or Gruyere.

Bake at 425 degrees until cheese is bubbly and browning on top.

Try to be patient and not scorch your tongue.

You will love this soup. I promise!

Cocoa Beach

This has been the busiest week of my life! But worth every second!

We started off our magical vacation by taking the kids to the beach for the first time.

Cocoa Beach in Florida.

James' dad did an amazing job organizing the entire trip and we were delighted to find this was the view from our hotel room.

Josiah was so excited!

I made the regretful decision to run at the waves with the boys as soon as we got onto the beach. They both ran away in terror.

But they eventually warmed up to the idea of the waves and became completely soaked from head to toe in the salty ocean water.
Nutty boys!

We arrived just in time for the sunset!

The next morning we awoke to this view from our hotel balcony.

While the boys were crazy about the beach (I'm pretty sure they could have spent forever there), Ella did not love it so much.

We even tried to brave the chilly water with the boys. 

My future surfers.

No trip to Cocoa Beach is complete without a trip to Ron Jon Surf Shop.

I can't even tell you how much I love my family.

I love their silly spirits and love for each other.

I am so blessed to have my babies.

I'll be posting many more pics from our DisneyWorld vacation later!