The Bigger Picture

So, it's Saturday evening.  

I'm folding laundry trying to pack all that we will need for the week, in the hall, beside the boys bedroom (while they play-with the door cracked...*rookie mistake).  

Cam runs out & says, "Hey mom!  We threw all of my clothes in the floor!"  

I walked in & to my horror - 
clothes, underwear, pj's, socks, even their bedding...that started folded and organized in drawers...e v e r y w h e r e.

There I was folding laundry, while they were unfolding it & destroying everything in sight.

Not to mention, I spent 2.5 days asking Cam to clean his toys in the living room.

Not even for free, either.  I told him I would give him allowance.

😑

Such an opportunity to teach: Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you.

Newsflash:  I don't like to clean 24 hours a day, homeboy. 
*I swear that's all I do

👉you can't clean for 5 minutes...

I promise I'm going somewhere with this.

It's Sunday morning.  
After a headache that put us to bed early the night before, & packing our entire house up (practically) for a trip to NC for work-I back down the driveway with the trunk window accidentally open & run over my laptop, therapy box, & all of my books.
I SWEAR I try to take care of my things.  But I fail miserably.
Typing this blog post like...

Monday.
Some things I will just not share with you b/c I don't want to get too personal & public with my life (say the girl who blogs about her life-I know).  
But I will just tell you...trust me when I say-it was a bad day.

The boys have been another level to top it all off.
Conley hits, pinches, & bites me + throws a FIT every time I save him from his dangerous decisions & quests (aka everything he does while his eyes are open).  I know what you're thinking-discipline that kid.  
Y'all, if you can find a method to help this child...be my guest.

Meanwhile, Cam is my sweet pea, but he has really been testing the waters lately.  You know, see how far he can push me til I break.
For example, he will never stay with me when we are out in public & always wants to push Conley in the stroller (my best tactic for controlling Scouty's behavior in public-I am shocked to find that he likes it most of the time) at 90 mph swerving at every "pedestrian" in sight.

Short Story:
We made a quick trip to a little store to search for a book for my summer camp.  Cam, of course, had to stroll Conley, & after threatening his life several times for running away from me with Conley & the stroller...he eventually strolls Conley out of the store WITH a book that hasn't been paid for.  When I go put the book back (* a step away mind you) he runs out the door without me, Conley in tow.
Is it socially acceptable for me to pull a Conley tude at them?
😫

I know this is just a funk.
I know that in a couple of days (maybe sooner i hope!) we will get back to our routine & the guys will give mama a break, but it's been real lately you guys.  Trying to remain positive & maintain the love for life that I so badly want to have has been put to the test.  

When I start feeling sorry for myself, I think of a girl I was told about that just lost her daughter that is Conley's age for no known reason, and what she must be feeling right now.  Or the girl that just lost her father unexpectedly. I think of the girl that may be hearing "you have cancer" or the family expecting a baby hearing "We can't hear a heartbeat anymore."
My "bad days" are put in perspective & mean nothing anymore.

Our life down here isn't or will never be perfect.
I don't know why we ever find ourselves thinking that it should be, do you?
We are promised troubles and storms (and none of these stories I have mentioned can be considered any of those!).

Cam has been obsessed with the movie "Soul Surfer" lately. (#sharksarelife HA) The movie vividly retells the story of pro surfer  Bethany Hamilton, getting her arm bitten off by a shark. Then, she not only gets back in the water (I'm over here like- I have never been touched by a shark, but barely will stick my toe in the ocean!), but learns to surf professionally again, despite her fears & limitations.  The devil gives it to her, but she refuses to settle until she understands God's purpose for her life.  She really struggles with why her arm had to be taken from her.  Can you i m a g i n e?  One of the big points in the movie is that, though sometimes it's hard to understand things close up, when we step away, we can see the bigger picture...
i.e. 👉 just take a look at this butterfly picture

If we just look at the magnified portions, we don't understand what the bigger picture is.  
Even in our bad days (or weeks), in our bigger storms and trials we inevitably will be faced with, God has a bigger, more beautiful picture that makes sense.  We just have to know and trust that He's got this,y'all.  He is in control❤️
I think God made Cam obsessed with this movie for a reason:)

"But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high."
Psalms 3:3

Friday Five || The Great Purge

The Mr's long vacation was unexpectedly cut short (we found out the day before...)

= a down in the dumpster kind of day & a half.  

After dropping him off at the airport yesterday morning, I decided it would be best just to keep myself busy.  What better way to do so than continuing the great summer home purge.  I have mentioned how I've started working toward a capsule wardrobe & I felt as if this was the perfect time to finish cleaning everything out & going to the consignment shop.  

I began organizing my Pinterest boards to coordinate with the pieces in my closet that I own (or may need to be on the look out for) to make the outfits I pin.  I'm only going to buy pieces with the money I earn by selling (HA.  Harder than it seems...my neighbor friend & I are both doing this + have both had the same poor luck at selling our "out" pieces). 

Regardless of that struggle, I feel like I am decluttering + getting a better feel for my style, now that I've cleaned some pieces I never seemed to wear out of the way.  
I'm excited to see the end product:)

Up next...the Mrs closet😱

Yes, I'm going to organize a capsule wardrobe for him, too😉  
He has more clothes than I do!

What have you guys been up to this week?

I vote for a holiday week following the days after the fourth...

kind of like when you need a vacation from your vacation.

one. cold brew coffee
Y'all, this Starbucks cold brew is my new favorite for these hot summer mornings.
  It tastes JUST like the kind they serve (I guess its supposed to...ha!)  
But really, most of the time, even if you buy a store brand, there is something missing that keep you going for the authentic.  Nope, not here!  
And THEN you have a whole 6 servings of yummy iced coffee waiting in the fridge for ya, mamas!☕️

two.  ice cream truck shenanigans
We seen ice cream trucks last summer occasionally as they would swing by the playground.  
Cam even had a dream about it the year after it happened...so it was impressionable.
But when I heard a sweet little tune playing the other day...
I thought-is it time to go to heaven?  Is this the rapture??  LOL.
  I searched the house trying to find the toy that was making that noise.  
Finally, I knew it had to be coming from outside & we ran to the window to spot the cute little ice cream truck making it's way through the neighborhood!  
Cam was bummed we didn't catch on in time...but TODAY was our lucky day.
We caught him with perfect timing after pulling in the driveway after grocery shopping!

three.  the boy's sign + kelly (or hulk) green bedside table are here!
Still have headboards to go & this room will be complete!
Cam has been sleeping in HIS ROOM (sure, I may have to snuggle with him for hours & run to jump in the bed when I hear MOMMY on the monitor) but hey!  That's progress, you guys!
And Con...well, he stays partial nights if I get him to sleep in there.  
He always winds up back in the homeland by midnight😛

four.  life right now
This is how I roll.  With elmo in my purse👍
I look down & it's things like this that impress upon me just 
how sweet this time in my life is.

OH
And I had my annual checkup at the OBGYN.  I oddly love going back (isn't that strange).  It brings back such sweet times in my life + everybody's always asking when we're gonna have another..."  Ha!

(This was the first time I've been a n y w h e r e by myself in months.  I didn't know how to act...)

five.  a good discount
We've had 
W E L C O M E    S P R I N G
on our porch for long enough!  
My Mr. & I ran into this in the clearance aisle on our date night this past week and
...cha-ching;)  
Love finding the Target clearance hiding spots!

It is with much bittersweetness I say, that this week was one of my last true weeks of "summer."  Our three week summer camp begins Monday.  I was even bombarded with back to school displays on every corner when we went to the ATM at target and made a loop.  And I ironically just so happened to run into "You've Got Mail" on the tv guide (my ultimate back to school movie) this evening.  Consider it tivo'd for an early bedtime in the near future to get myself back into "school mode."

Happy Happy Friday!

Fourth of July Happenings

It was nap time.  
*A cuss word in the Adams abode.
The Mr was pacing as though his patience was wearing thin, telling the boys it was time to lay down & rest for a while.
So naturally, this prompted an argument between daddy & Cam.  
Sometimes, I think they act more like brothers than father or son.  🙈 
As usual, Cam's frustration got the most of him which resulted in tears pooling up in each eye.  He tunneled his way under the covers until Cade exited the room.  
When all was clear, he slung his cover to the side, looked at me, & said through his clenched teeth:

"One day, he's going to get a SPANKING for being mean to his children!"

Then he vindictively & violently slunk his way down below the bedding.
That is until he heard me giggling...
Way to go mom.  
He proudly resurfaced & seen he had a stage (just like his daddy tends to do) & bust out in laughter himself.
Naptime was over.

---

Much like that, the first of July has been full of sweet snapshots capturing the ages that our boys are right now (I know what your thinking...that story was sweet???).  
The days are long but the years short as the old saying goes.  
I think of those words often.  
There are lots of screaming fits, sticky messes, & poop catastrophes.  To balance it all out, we get lots of kisses, cuddles, & i love you's (Conley's even saying it now! 😍) each & every day that make anything the day could throw at us worth it all.  

I think the hardest thing about holidays when you have babies, is knowing these special times we always find ourselves looking forward to celebrating each year, result in our babies sneakily morphing into different creatures.  Y'all, do they not double is size??  
Vocabulary & smarty pants-ness?🙈

You find yourself with a new kind of life, each holiday, as they grow & grow.
  Though we (some of us) might find ourselves missing those tiny newborns, we immerse ourselves in the excitement of seeing the new things they are able to do while finding new & exciting ways to enjoy those sweet times together.  
Each year is so different with every age.
That's also half the fun...right?  

T H E  F O U R T H  
2 0 1 7
This year, Cam was afraid to swim in the water.  Whether thats because he & his daddy watched The Shallows 78,343 times last week, or the fact that he is just going through a scaredy cat phase...last year he was a fearless three year old jumping in, even if the water was 23 degrees.  

Conley had a love hate relationship with fireworks.  The first big boom was a first class ticket to the top of my head.  He gradually slumped down & stared in amazement.  I did get a grin out of him toward the end.  But the grand finale of simultaneous booms wasn't a fav.  

My favorite part of this whole holiday week was that Conley began saying love you.  The day before Cade's flight he gave each of us a kiss & said, "Love you dada, Love you mama, Love you bubba."  And he meant it.  With all his little heart❤️
No better way then to end our 5th fourth as parents watching our little family grow. 
Wow.  Did I just say fifth?

Oh, & they both rarely seen the back of their eyelids this week...
#whatsnew #ididforgetmyoils

F O U R T H •  P H O T O • D U M P 
house decorations & all...I'm a terrible blogger🙋

I know this is a "bathroom selfie," but I was just trying to get a good picture of the socks daddy put him in & then... this happened.  I. love. it.  

It's never a good time until somebody ends up naked.👆
XO