Thank Goodness It's instaFriday

hey y'all, happy friday!

last weekend we did a little overnight camping trip with our friends.
it was seriously so. fun. 

i think we all needed to just get out and get away so it was really therapeutic.
i absolutely love camping and i look forward to doing more and more of it as our kids get older.

ha!
they're so manly.
AJ is not going to be thrilled with me for posting this but i don't care.
it's my blog and i can do what i want. :)
plus this pretty much sums up their friendship. . . they are hilarious together.

we made it easy and had hot dogs, chips and s'mores for dinner.
they even got cans of sprite so that was pretty exciting.

ruby did so great for her first camping trip in a tent.
we set up her pack n' play right in the tent and used a sound machine app on aj's phone.
it worked great!
also, i love her in a hoodie and fleecy jammies. adorable.

mr. zach taught the kids how to build their own fire.
they were in heaven.

ummm.....that looks safe, no?
possibly why the park ranger came and made us pour a bucket on it.
:)

camping in the fall is fun.
a little cool in the mornings, but perfect once the sun comes out.
love hanging out with the woods and dirt and sticks to entertain the kids.

i think we made a bunch of great memories in that less than 24 hour trip.
so fun.
can't wait to do it again.

that night {after a whole day of lazing around with some camp laundry thrown in there} AJ and i had a date night.
it had been too long since we'd had a date so we were both really pumped.
we did one of our favorite free activities....

go to barnes and noble and get stacks of magazines to look through while quietly drinking coffee.
the only bummer was that it was cut short because ruby was not sleeping and crying for mama and daddy.
we had to come home early but it all worked out because we got home, put her to bed & had a date night cuddled up on the couch watching parenthood. :)
still fun . . . although i do want to finish those magazines . . .

sunday morning run.
i'm working to be ready for a 5K in a few weeks.
it's really, really hard to find time to run.
this sky was a gift from the Creator of the universe to me that morning.
i often need to be reminded that He is close.

this is my every morning routine.
cozy in my bed quiet time with the Lord.
coffee is mandatory.
i am not telling you this with any sort of pride . . . at all.
my husband is amazing and disciplined and gets up every morning and makes me coffee.
i have struggled for years to be consistent in everyday time with the Lord.
this past year, with AJ's help, this has been my morning routine. 
i need it and i am so thankful for it.

this little girl has been a snotty-runny-nosed-not-feeling-good mess this week.

but she sure is cute!

and she does this 712 times a day.

naughty, naughty.

she kicks the baby gate until it leans over and then she climbs over it. 

oh mercy.

the littles and i ran into payless this week.
saw picked out these gems for me.
he reeeeally wanted me to get them.
snazzy.

this boy taught himself to play harmonica.
and it sounds really good.
he amazes me a lot.

my sawyer who has taken 3-4 hour naps every day for the last two years has cold-turkey quit the nap.
break my heart.
i'm in mourning.
seriously, this is messing up my whole afternoons.
yes, i'm being dramatic but it is no bueno in the afternoons right now.
i will be happy with a one hour rest time even if he doesn't sleep.
even that is not happening right now.
more like i'm sitting outside his door while he comes out over and over and i put him back over and over.
super fun.
after struggling with him all afternoon yesterday he passes out in the car 5 minutes down the road to pick up the big boys.
great. a power nap. perfect.
this too shall pass. this too shall pass......  ;)


what about y'all?
what have you been up to this week?

link up your phone pics with me here:



p.s. i'm itsgoodtobequeen on instagram if you want to follow me!
let me know your username and i'll follow you back!  :)


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our front room

welp.
 it's taken a year and a half but i finally got our front room functioning well for our family.
i have had the hardest time figuring out how to make this room function the best for us.

some of the challenges with this room have been:
*it's one of the first rooms you see when you walk in our house.
*it's long and skinny
*it has no overhead lights
*it has 3 door ways, two of which don't have doors.

mostly the front room has been our play room.
if you're curious, here's a couple of posts about it. here and here.

it has been just fine as a play room and really convenient, honestly.
however, it's just a really large space to be used solely as a play room.
we've felt like we were wasting {much needed} space but had trouble figuring out how to make it work.
finally, this summer i decided to break the rules and make the room function for us.
we thought through all of the options and realized that the best use of the space would be a multifunctional room . . . a play room, my office, a homeschool space, & a guest room.
with a budget of . . . zero.
:)

i got the ball rolling one afternoon this summer while we were all lazing around in the pool.
i was living on the edge and looking through craig's list, on my phone, in the pool.
yes, i am a crazy woman.
i randomly saw a queen sized mattress, box springs, & rails for fifty bucks.
i had just sold something else on craig's list so the money was burning a hole in my pocket.
on a whim i said we'd buy it and they were at our doorstep a few hours later.

we are typically sloooow movers on house stuff so this was really quick for us.
especially since i had decided that afternoon to have the room function as partly a guest room.
we lead a crazay life.

i think we had our first house guests less than a week later.
it seems like we've had a steady stream of guests since then.
clearly, we needed a guest space.
we weren't sure how it would work out, what with there being two door ways without doors and all . . . but it seems to be working out just fine.
and our guests have the added bonus of 7 am wake up calls by three very chipper boys.

honestly, we are loving this space.
we spend so much time in it now.
it is cozy and comfortable.
and we use it constantly.

some disclaimers:

*since our budget was zero, it's mostly a hodgemapodge of stuff i could find around the house
*there are no overhead lights but lots of really big windows so lighting for photos was really really difficult {and i'm no photographer but i'm guessing you don't read my blog for the photos}
*we are renting so we aren't changing any structural things on the house....working with what we've got. :)
* i know this room is not going to win any design awards, but i wanted to show you how you can make a room work for you with a little thought & creativity, even with a zero dollar budget.

okay pretend you're walking in the front door and you turn to the left . . . this is our front room . . .

we have a little table that is perfect for sawyer to do activities while we homeschool.
also a couch for coziness and reading books.

on the left we have shelves for toys that i dismantled from our old entertainment center.
next to that is my desk.

i lovelovelove having my own desk space down here in the middle of all the action.
i can blog, check emails, grade papers, etc., all while the four kids are milling around me.
this little space of mine does a lot for my spirits on homeschool days.

i just love having my own little space with my things, my pens {that they are not allowed to use} and my coffee. :)

moving to the right we have the guest bed.
we put down a couple of mattress pads and topped it with a vintage blanket, quilt, and and fun pillows.
i made the two mustard yellow pillows last week and my friend, stacy, gave me the fun ruffly pillow for my birthday. :)

since there are so many big windows {which we adore} in this space, we got room darkening curtains so that guests could have a little more privacy.
okay so that was over a zero dollar budget but that was a non-negotiable. ;)
and they were really inexpensive from the walmarts.

this little end table {given to use by friends who were moving} is a nice place for guests to set down their keys & phone and whatever . . . which makes me realize i should put a little dish on that table. 

on the other side of the room we have our homeschool area {which we use three days a week} and the boys' keyboard.
in a perfect world, there would be a beautiful, vintage piano right there, but the keyboard works for now . . . someday . . .  :)

this room is so functional for us.
just yesterday fin and i laid on the bed and read his assigned Bible reading while avery was at the desk working on something else.

this room definitely looks a little crazy with all it's functions . . . but we really love this space now so that's all that matters.

i'm so glad that i got out of my own head and just made this room work for us.  . . whether it's what you're supposed to do with this front room or not.  :)



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instafriday

it's starting to feel like fall around here....and i'm actually pretty happy about it.

you know i've let go of summer when i bust out the fall candle.

it's so hard for me to say goodbye to summer but this cooler weather has been niiiiice. 

we've had the windows open all week and i big puffy heart love that.

a candle feels so cozy and actually makes me happy about fall.

this one is from the walmarts and smells really good.

it's callled "warm rustic woods." yummy.

last weekend we had good friends come to visit.

they have three boys so our boys have a ball together.

we were supposed to go camping but it rained the entire weekend so we just did lots of hanging out.

if you can't go camping . . . you go to cabela's.

the next best thing, really.

plus you get to see a bunch of dead animals. 

perfect.

boys are awesome.

okay so i am in love with ruby in a poofy skirt.

i love the way her booty and legs look in them.

i can't get enough.

moving on . . . .

i love having my desk downstairs in the front room.

it's so much more convenient than when we had it in our bedroom {why??}

i love my cozy little space to work while the boys do home school and the littles play around me. 

more fall coziness.

prepare yourself to see many photos of my hot drinks over the next few months.

cool weather = hot drinks all the day long. 

{also loving my new leopard flats from target. i think they scream fall plus they read as a neutral so you can wear them with just about anything}

fun, quick dessert for a mom's meeting at school.

cream cheese mixed with powdered sugar, topped with melted caramels & crushed heath bar.

see, pinterest is good for something. ;) ha ha ha.

oh look another hot drink picture!

i'm on a roll.

i had to make a second pot that day. 

i think i need to make a second pot today too. 

sometimes it's just necessary....for my sanity....and my attitude. :)

yesterday was a fun, sewing afternoon.

i love that. 

creating is good for my soul.

i wish i could do it everyday. 

i made 5 pillows for the front room. 

i'm just about to show you that room. 

hopefully i can take some pics this weekend. 

i like to make the backs of pillows white to save the "good" fabric. 

the fabric is from hobby lobby.

except the top pillow.

i made that one from a vintage apron that i bought for 75 cents at a thrift store in kansas {they have the best thrifting}.

also crafting is made extra fun by watching old episodes of friday night lights on netflix.  :)

okay peeps that's it for today.

have a lovely weekend!!

join me in linking up your instapics here....

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dear pinterest, i love you but . . .

so i have a love hate relationship with pinterest.

is anybody with me?

on one hand there are so many great ideas and beautiful photos. . .

on the other hand, i think if i read anymore pins that say, "brilliant!""why didn't i think of that?!" or "genius!!" i might run away and join the circus.

also, every recipe seems to be described as the world's best ever in the history of the universe.
which we all know is not true.

and i'm sorry but i don't want to see another hair braid tutorial.
am i a jerk?

i guess i'm in a sassy mood today.

that is all.
you may go on with your day now.

;)






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compassion

i am honored to be a compassion blogger and i am so happy to be participating in blog month for compassion.

i have known about compassion for years and always knew that when the time came for us to sponsor a child, we would do it through compassion.
i have no idea what we were waiting for.

last spring while at a beth moore conference, i finally signed up to sponsor a child.
there was a compassion table with rows and rows of pictures of sweet children who were waiting for sponsors.  
there were so many lovely faces, i asked Jesus to lead me to our child.
when i saw nora, i knew she was our girl.

aj's grandma was named lenora and i have always loved that name.
i felt drawn to nora but i also knew that God would bless our efforts, no matter who we chose.

i called aj from the conference and he was excited to start sponsoring as well.
we had wanted to do this for a long time and just hadn't done it.
we also realized that if we waited until it was "in our budget," we would never do it.
we know that God wants us to be obedient whether it appears to work out or not.
God can take care of the details. :)
we just needed to say yes.
it's so worth it to cut back in other areas in order to change this sweet little girl's life.

not only is this important for nora, but it's important for us.
it's important for our family to focus on someone else.
our kids can write letters to her and pray for her and have a small, tangible grasp of what life is like for a little girl on the other side of the world.

i am so so glad we finally started sponsoring and i look forward to watching little nora's life unfold.
i am praying i get to go visit her someday.
what an amazing gift that would be.

i would so encourage you to consider sponsoring a child through compassion.
even if it doesn't feel like it's in the budget, i bet there are some places you could cut back to make it work.
ask God to help you to make those tough choices in order to do something of eternal value for a sweet child.

would you all take some time to go to the sponsorship page and pray over the children?
pray for their protection.
pray that they would know Jesus.
pray that they would get sponsored.

this would be really great activity to do with your children and also a time to teach them about children around the world.

compassion's goal this month is to get 3,108 children sponsored by september 30, so this is a great time to start.
if you blog, you can become a compassion blogger and help children become sponsored that way.
won't you join me?




there is a ton information on the compassion website if you want to learn more about their holistic ministry to children.
it really is a great organization.

what about y'all?
have you been dragging your feet like we did for so long? {consider yourself nudged ;)}
are you currently sponsoring?
i would love to hear about your experience in the comments.


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instafriday

most of my insta pics from this week are from last weekend. 

we headed out of town with some our besties and spent the weekend laughing and talking and playing. 

we were able to borrow a 15 passenger van from some other friends which made the trip extra fun. 

so fun to all ride together. 

we've got 8 kids between us so it's always a party. :)

we've been living life with zach & erin for almost a decade.
we have such a blast together and our kids play so well together.
so thankful for these precious friends.
they are God's gift to us for sure.

okay i'm off to enjoy this rainy day with my kiddos and hopefully get some house cleaning done!
happy friday y'all!




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one year photo shoot

you know how sometimes you can plan the perfect photo shoot in your head and then on the day of photos your child scrapes up his nose or gets pink eye or cuts her hair or is finally cutting her first ever tooth and is in no mood?

yeah well, it happens to the best of us.
and of course, on the day of ruby's one year pictures she was in a cranky-pants-tired-fussy-don't-mess-with-me kind of mood.

yet, somehow, from a miracle from heaven, our sweet friend, Ali, was able to get some sweet gems out of ruby's cranky pants self.
and honestly, i wouldn't want to paint a perfect picture anyway.
i like real.

so here's real.

and real is beautiful, isn't it?

so thankful for these moments captured.

on the way out the door, i grabbed a flower from a vase on the table.

what a pretty distraction.

her eyes are piercing.
i am honestly amazed at how beautiful she is.
i know i'm her mama....but she is stunning.
i can't get enough of her.

so thankful that Ali was able to quickly capture these sweet moments while i was busy sweating and singing songs and clapping my hands to try to coax some smiles out of our girl.

behind every cute photo is one lunatic mom making weird faces . . . right?  :)


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