Spring Cleaning+Flamingos+Toy Story, Oh MY || Guest Blogger Series

I'm excited to introduce to you our guest blogger for March, Kia!  I follow Kia on several different social media platforms & I always enjoy her posts about her life as a mom.  She has such a precious family to share with you!  Take it away, Kia...

Hi guys! 
I'm so excited to be sharing a little bit about my life as a wife, mother (maid, taxi.. you get the idea ;) My life is pretty fast paced. I have sports kids, you guys. Life is always BUSY! 

Well guys, my name is Kia! That's right, like the car. lol I'm 27, married to a welder, we live in Western NC with our 3 kiddos. Lexi will be 8 next month, My oldest son, Riley, is 6 and my youngest son Brantley, will be turning 4 next month!  I'm currently a stay at home mom until my youngest starts kindergarten. I'm clinging onto him for dear life!! 

(how stinkin' cute are they???)

So since it's March, this means time to start Spring Cleaning. The time of the year where I am excited, but dread. I enjoy decluttering and organization. With smaller kids, they tend to accumulate SO. MUCH. STUFF! I started the Kon Mari Method! Which means toss out anything that doesn't "spark joy". 

Next month, we have a busy schedule. 2 birthday parties to plan/have, baseball starting, Spring Break, Easter, you name it! Time to get to work! 

Ideas for their parties... Lexi will be having a cake with these flamingo candles on top. Her theme is a flamingo/luau! Perfect way to start Spring! 

 Brantley is OBSESSED with Toy Story you guys! He is so excited for his "dory-dory pardy" (I'm saying this in his voice as I type this out. So cute!) 

I'll save the rest of my ideas for April in case I'm needed again ;) Haha! thank you guys for listening to me ramble a bit. 

Thank you Cassidy for allowing me to be a guest for you. I enjoyed it. :) 

Some advice I would give to mommas?  Never criticize another mother for the way she parents. Parent the best way you think works and is right for you and your child. Every child is different, they each require their ability to learn different than any other. ❤️ 

How fun is she??  Love that advice, Kia!  God made us each different not only as a person, but as a mama, too!  And then, a flamingo party?  How a d o r a b l e.  We MUST see more pictures after she throws it, right?:)  Also, is it just me or does she need to share an in depth post on spring cleaning?  We just moved + I STILL haven't finished going through our things in the garage.  I'm a throw everything away kind of girl:)  Thank you so much for sharing a little of your life with us this month, Kia!  Some mail goodies will be on their way to you soon...

If you'd like to contribute to Peaches + Pearls as a guest blogger, I would love to hear from you.  I believe we can learn something from each lady that God places in our life & I'm excited to hear from each & every one of you (+ I believe other girls are, too!)  Shoot me an email at cassidypadams@hotmail.com if your interested & we will work together on a post.  

Happy Tuesday, girls!

<<Take me back!>>
February Guest Blogger - Whitney

Valentine Fun || Guest Blogger Series

I am SO excited about having a guest blogger to share with us here at Peaches & Pearls.  This is a hoped for series I shared about a couple of weeks ago & it has been on my heart a long time!  There are so many inspirational mommies out there that may not want to have the "stress" or find the extra time to create a blog, but that have a lot to say & wonderful talents/perspectives to share!  I am determined to have them share here if they so graciously will.  :)  

Our first inspirational mommy (aka guest poster) comes to us from one of my oldest friends (oldest as in longest friendship ;) Whitney.  We met at a campground the summer just before we started Kindergarten in 1993 & once we discovered we were in the same classroom, the rest is history!  From flicking hair bows across the floor during nap time, carpools to tap, jazz, & ballet, to her famous "Christmas Sleepover" up into the high school years, we've been friends ever since!  I just love her & I know you will too.  Take it away, Whit!

Hi everybody! I'm Whitney! 
I'm a stay at home wife to my husband, Donnie, of almost 9 years.  We've been together for almost 14 years total!  I'm a mommy to a full of energy, gets into everything from daylight till dark, 3 year old Zak! And a dog Mom to Addi, our 9 year old weenie dog, 6 year old Jed, a Pomeranian/chihuahua, along with our 1 year wild blue heeler Gabby! 

     My husband is a welder/foreman so we are on the road ALOT! When he started working away from home, we bought a fifth wheel camper & hit the road. Two years later we had zak , so we are enjoying traveling together getting to spend as much time together as possible before Zak starts kindergarten! 

     I love to bake and do crafts (whether they are Pinterest fails or not lol)! Anyway enough about me, that is why Cassidy asked me to be a guest on her blog! Because me and my sidekick Zak are always baking and crafting! Cassidy and myself go way back! We met while we were both camping with our families before we ever started kindergarten! What a throwback, y'all! If I was home I would dig up old pics of us 😀  (told y'all;)!)

    So with Valentine's Day coming up I already had some things in mind I wanted to do! First, Zak loves to paint, so we did some hand/feet painting that we do for every holiday! He's really big for his age so I don't no how much longer we will be able to fit his feet on a canvas lol! 


We made a love bug out his feet and he finger painted in Valentine's colors the word love! 

   Next we made a robot wreath (from Pinterest of course) which my hubs doubted it would turn out the way it did, but it turned out good and we are happy with it! We spray painted a slinky red because it's not easy finding a colored slinky! Then we made the robots face and the hearts and hot glued everything on the wreath. All the items were found at Walmart and was very easy to make! 

   Then we attempted to make a heart tree that looked so easy on Pinterest but it ended up looking nothing the pic but Zak had fun glueing all the hearts on the construction paper. 

To finish off our Valentine's Day festivities we made heart shaped pizza for lunch and decorated Valentine's Day cupcakes! 

   Thanks Cass, for inviting me to be a guest and Happy Valentine's Day, y'all!!! 

    Some Mom advice I have would be:

 "Make memories while they are small because they grow up so fast! Limit time on the phones and get in the floor and play with your kids!!!"

Isn't she awesome, girls??

Whitney, thank you so much for taking the time to share your beautiful family (isn't she gorgeous & Zak a cutie??) along with fun things to do with our babies for Valentines Day!  

I spy a bit of snail mail coming your way in appreciation;)

If you, or someone you know, would like to contribute as a guest blogger, please don't hesitate to contact me at cassidypadams@hotmail.com!  Even if you don't know of the exact topic you would like to post about, I can help!  Sometimes you need someone else to help pinpoint those strengths & things your best at.  We can brainstorm together:)  I am in need of someone for the month of March!  Think St. Patricks Day, Spring, Easter type things!  

Happy Mommin' ;)

SaveSave

I Want YOU! || A Mom Community

Alright, girls.

This has been on my heart since late in 2016 & I'm finally ready to share it with you.

Peaches & Pearls started out as a place to document my own memories, thoughts, & journey through life.  It really was just a personal little journal type of place, yet it has somehow refreshingly turned into a kind of small community of friends that have a common purpose.   A common love.  A common lifestyle.

What exactly do I mean?  I have had several girls contact me about something they read here or something they seen that they could relate to.  Whether it was a "oh, I'm glad I'm not alone!" kinda response or maybe a laugh out of something they totally get- we connected!  

If y'all are in, I'd like to do 2017 a little different around here.  I no longer want to bore you with JUST my life.  If other people are truly reading, I want us to connect even more.  On a whole other level.  One person is limited to the amount of beneficial things they can share.  

While I never want Peaches & Pearls to lose it's small blog feel or forget the reason I began blogging in the first place, I want to learn & share more with other girls going through the same season of life.

So here it is.

Say you're great a cooking up a mean supper, love to coupon, craft, or putting together comfy budget friendly outfits for moms.  Or maybe tried a new item on the market that you'd like to share it with other people that could really benefit from it.  Maybe your a teacher & you found something kids LOVE to do in your classroom while secretly learning the entire time they participate.  Or you spend your days as a nurse & have some tips for helping us keep our babies healthy through the sicky time of year...please contact me!  God may even have laid a thought on your mind & you feel like you need to share it!  If you read Peaches & Pearls, you know the type of things I blog about here.  I'd love to have guest posts & learn from you as well as hear about your own sweet families in the process:)

Girls, let me just tell you.

I get so much more out of reading something about a "real" person rather than keeping up with the Hollywood gossip.  I think that's the beauty of blogs.  I love to read about real people, just like myself!  It's so refreshing & encouraging to be able to feel like you have a community of people you don't see everyday that just "get" what you are going through!

So what are your thoughts?  Do you have a knack & some stories you'd like to share with us?  I'm excited to hear from you & get this started!
  
Contact info here.  Once we decide on a topic, I'll send you a format & a little questionnaire to include about your family to share with us!

P.S. And if you don't volunteer I may just hunt you down & ask;)