Think Fall and 5 Random Things

When I was thinking about what to wear yesterday morning, I thought that this color top screamed Fall to me, even though it's sleeveless (hey I live in California, we really only have 1.5 seasons, really warm days with warm nights and warm days with cool nights).  When I put it on I thought something was missing...guess what it was?

If you guessed my jean jacket, you would be correct! I seriously can't get enough. What did I do before this? I have no idea!

I sort of love that I can bring out my ankle boots again (cause it's only 80° and not 100°)

I'm a little sad that the sun is starting to go down sooner, and gets dark so darn early now! I'm going to have to either get better lighting in my bathroom for pictures, or find somewhere in my house with okay lighting...hmm...where to take pictures. I'm going to be leaving for work (5am) in the dark and getting home when it's mostly dark (5pm), how depressing.

Onto some random things:

 1.

The Pumpkin Patch is coming! I can't believe it's almost October!

Don't let the clouds fool you, it was still 85° out, it passed quickly and soon after was blue sunny skies

 2.

I was cutting my nails, and Baby Fox looked at them and said that I needed some new polish on them (which I do) and screamed I'll pick it out! He runs to my nail polish drawer and picks out the color, and then proceeds to get out the base and top coat and said You need these too, right? Apparently he really pays attention when I paint my nails. He even lined them up, just like this.

 3.

While I was getting my haircut this weekend my hair dresser showed me how to put my wet hair up with a hand towel, it's sturdy, secure and so much better than using your bath towel...I tried to find a video on youtube, but couldn't find one, so if you want a video of how to do it, let me know in the comments below!

Freshly showered and ready for bed

 4.
Conversation I had with Mr. this morning via text:

Set Up: Our nightly routine, I get Baby Fox ready for bed, Mr. gets Mini Fox ready for bed. I feed her in the office and then hand her off to Mr. while I go tuck in Baby Fox. So I have not been in her room since Tuesday. I know it's Thursday and I didn't go in her room once on Wednesday. Strange now that I think of it. Anyway, I go in there this morning to feed Mini Fox before work and I see the bin of too big clothes strewn about the room.

Me: What happened to Mini Fox's room? Clothes EVERYWHERE!!!

Mr.: Doh! We were playing "clothes"

Me: LOL!! 

Mr: Which involves pulling out all of the clothes from the bin. I asked her if she liked her clothes and she laid down on them and gave them a kiss.

She is definitely my child, and can a 1 year old be a clothes hound already? OH boy are we in trouble!

5.

If you didn't read my post from yesterday go do it! Take a picture and spread kindness! Go to www.projectleadkindly.com for more information on how you can help.

Linking up with Because Shanna Said So, Get Your Pretty On, The Pleated Poppy, and Tucker Up

Project Lead Kindly: Spread Kindess Even When....

When I was in college sororities and fraternities just weren't a big thing on campus, the big thing on campus was what service organization were you a part of. There were the all guy, all girl and then the co-ed ones. I was in a co-ed one, and loved every minute of it. We did volunteer work all over the city, helping everyone. One of the services that I did for a couple of years consistently was volunteer at a domestic violence shelter call Good Shepard. I helped watched the children so that their mothers could go to school and earn their GED's/learn a vocational trade, so they could go out and provide for their families or I was an English tutor. I did whatever they wanted. And I loved it, the kids, oh my the kids, they had so much love to give, even after all they had been through. It was amazing how resilient they are, and so ready to give love to anyone who just gives them the slightest smile and a warm hug.

 When Pamela from MacDonalds Playland said she needed help with a special project I jumped at the chance. I love helping people and while I didn't know what I was doing, I knew it had to be something good.  When I finally go the details of what they were doing, I knew I had to get involved. So today I am celebrating the launch of Project Lead Kindly (www.projectleadkindly.com), a nonprofit organization founded by Pamela (from Macdonald’s Playland - www.macdonaldsplayland.com) and her husband. Project Lead Kindly assists mothers and children affected by homelessness and domestic violence by providing charitable service and grants to assist them in getting closer to safer, stable housing as well as educational or professional dreams. They are also on a mission to spread the message that ALL can do good and spread kindness, no matter their circumstances.

Here's a sign I made to help you to know that you can still spread kindness, even when things are hard.

I chose doubtful because sometimes you're doubtful of peoples intentions or motives, but I believe you should give people the benefit of the doubt and spread kindness even when you're feeling doubtful.

How would you fill the the blank?

I am asking my readers help spread the word and to participate by:

1) Creating your own "Spread Kindness, even when...(fill in the blank)" sign and take a photo of it!
2) Sharing your photo THIS WEEK on instagram or facebook. Be sure to tag Project Lead Kindly and/or hashtag it #projectleadkindly so they can share your photo which will inspire others going through difficult challenges!
3) Tag at least 3 friends and ask them to create a "spread kindness, even when..." sign too and ask them to join in and post the photo on their favorite social media.

Join us in inspiring someone out there to know they are not alone and still have light within them to do good, no matter what life throws at them. Let's remind people of their light and assist mothers & children in need!
Visit www.projectleadkindly.com to find more ways to lead kindly and to assist mothers & kids affected by homelessness and domestic violence.

I'm tagging my blogger friends Vanessa at X-tremely V, Courtney at Sweet Turtle Soup, and Natalie at Adventures as Mrs. Janney 

I hope even if you don't tag a friend, that you take a picture and spread the word. Even if you're not in the picture, the more tags on FB and IG the better to spread the word!

Thanks Friends!
 

Yet Another Birthday Party....

What a great weekend, okay who are we kidding, any day I'm not working is a great day :) Friday I got home a little early, so while Mini Fox took a late nap, Baby Fox and I went outside to enjoy the nice weather. Finally, that 100° heat was just not working for me.

His idea of being prepared...

We told him that Ampa and Daddy were taking him to a football game, as soon as he woke up from his nap (at 4) he wanted to go. But I held him off until 6, before he wanted to get ready. He packed his back pack...

And then wore it around until it was time to go.

I got to hang out with my mom and this cutie. And just went we got her down and started to watch a chick flick, the boys came home...darn.

She looks like a toddler holding her own cup drinking from a straw...wahh! I can still call her a baby until she can walk...right?

Saturday I met up with some friends for a free train ride.

This guy had his first bite of popcorn, he LOVED it

This was our ride, it was a long wait to get on it, but it was worth it, so much fun for the kids and it gave us something to do Saturday morning.

Mini Fox wasn't allowed on the train because she can't walk...so my friend took Mini Fox and I took her daughter on the train, she wasn't totally happy with that decision.

Cause everyone wears a superhero cape on a train ride right?

Afterwards we went to lunch...gotta love the selfies

yep my friends daughter got an outfit change...

After we got back, the kids went down for a nap and then I headed off to get my hair done...yay! Love that you get juice and a hot towel to relax with before your appointment

This is Sarah...she loves what she does and it shows.

The finished product, there's nothing better than a fresh wash and cut right?

Sunday I woke up early to get some errands done before the kids got up. You know you're up too early when Target isn't even open yet, and you have to wait outside for them to open...picture me, up against the window saying "open, open open" (you know Mervyn's style, remember that commercial? Did I just date myself?)

yay, finally open!

after I got back we had breakfast and got ready for...if you guessed a birthday party, you would be correct! My friend wanted to borrow our cooler...Mr. thought it would be a good idea to tote both kids in it, instead of carrying it.

She loves the swings

What? When did she learn this? I love that Mr.'s hand is in the lower left hand corner...

Love this little two tooth smile (her's not mine)

He's getting so big!

Oops, can't see Mini Fox...

The birthday boy

Then last night we actually got the kids fed and bathed early, so we had about an hour to just relax, play and watch a little TV before bed, it was really refreshing...

How was your weekend?

Linking up with Faith, Sarah and Heather for Mommy Moments

and with Bella & Lisa

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday!!!!! We made it. It's actually my first full 5 day work week in a month, it's been rough. Okay not really, but I sure did like my 3 weeks of 4 day work weeks in a row.

Last couple of Friday's I've taken off from blogging, but I'm back and giving you my Friday Favorites.

1.

I was on this girls blog and she introduced me to Kate Davis, I sort of love her voice and she makes play an upright bass totally cool.

2.

Can I tell you how I excited I am that our shows are coming back?! Less than a week away...I can't hardly wait!

Have you seen Blacklist? If you haven't put it on your list of things to watch right now. It's the BEST show ever! I hope this season is as good as last season! FYI: My cousin produces this show, and he's tight lipped as to what happens, but I know he's been working hard at a good season. Go watch it, support my cousin. Even if he didn't produce it, I would still tell you to go watch it, my cousin being involved is just icing on the cake.

Yep we still watch this. This came out about a month or so after Mr. and I got married, it is the first show we picked up as a married couple...we've stuck with it, even when it got sort of bad, we watched it every.single.week. We still love it.

Love this show, I wonder where they are going to take it this year...can't wait to find out!

 This doesn't even include the shows that I watch without Mr. I won't bore you with those too.

3.

Love that I get random pictures of what Baby Fox does during the day

4.

And of what Mini Fox does while Baby Fox is at school.

Baby Fox got these as a Halloween gift from my aunt, she was so proud of herself for getting these in her mouth.

 5.

I changed shampoos...okay not really, I just added another one to the mix. I usually switch between Pantene and Head and Shoulders, but I just added TRESemme into the mix and I'm loving it. A new hair scent, who doesn't love that? Also, it doesn't come in a shampoo/conditioner 2 in 1, so I have to use the shampoo and then conditioner and I think my hair is thanking me for it.

I do use that heat protector, and love that too. It smells so good.

And that's it for today, what are your favorite things this week? Hope you have a good weekend. Guess what we have this weekend? Yep you guessed it...another kid birthday party! At least it's not going to be as hot...87° is SOO much better than the 100° weather we were getting this past week...cooler temps, we're ready for you!



Linking up with: Erika, Andrea, and Narci for Friday Favorites and September Farm and The Farmer's Wife for Oh Hey, Friday!

Lesson 10: Why We didn't Live Together Before Marriage - Part 2

If you haven't read part 1, click here.

Here are some more of my thoughts on Why We Didn't Live Together Before Marriage - Part 2.

When you are living together for awhile, people start to ask, so when you getting married? I feel that some people may just do it because it's the next logical step, but if they were not living together maybe they wouldn't feel that it was necessary. I really believe that you need to take away all other factors, and really listen to your heart, deep down you know what you need to do, but it isn't always the easy choice.

Not living together gives you something to look forward to after the wedding. It's going to be new and exciting starting your life together, figuring out where everything goes what are the quarks you didn't know about before. You want to make this work, you compromise, you know it's for the long haul. You don't just appease the other person because you've just moved in and you're still in your dating honeymoon phase.  You're married now, I just feel mentally you are thinking a little differently then if you're just dating and moving in together. Also, it's just not another day, when you get back from your honeymoon everything all new and different. 

I know for Mr. and me, our relationship was definitely not out of convenience, we were living in different cities and took about 45 minutes to get to each other.  It made us really just appreciate that we were finally married, living together and could see each other everyday. It was like we were having a slumber party, staying up late talking every night. Heck even 10 years later we still stay up late talking every night.

I say, keep something special for when you get married, like living together. You're becoming one, not only in spirit, but also physically. You're moving into one household, giving your relationship the next level of learning about each other and becoming closer. Just remember this lesson, wake up and chose to love your partner each and everyday, even if some days are harder than others.

Any topics you want me to write about for this series? Let me know in the comments!

Mom Mode - Have you Experienced It?

The color is so off on these pictures, but last night when I was editing, I couldn't figure it out and Mr. wanted to watch The Hobbit, so it is what it is. Hopefully you can look past the awful color and see the cute outfit :)

When trying to find an outfit for our family photoshoot (Yep already planning our outfits. I want to do pictures on the beach this year and I know that summer clothes are quickly leaving stores, so I needed to get on it), I ordered a bunch of dresses from Nordstrom and prayed that one of them worked. Well I did find THE dress, but I ordered this one on a whim, I've been wanting a lace dress, and I thought, why not. I found that the white in this wasn't going to match the white in Baby Fox's outfit I had already picked out, but decided I liked it so much I was going to keep it. When Mini Fox's party came alone, I thought it was a bit fancy, so I un-fancied it by pairing it with some casual sandals and only a bracelet. I thought any necklace  I paired it with was going to be too much. Why not add some red lips to go with the ladybug theme.

So this pictures brings me to my next subject, Mom Mode.

That smallish bruise on my calf...have NO idea where that came from...I'm clumsy, did I ever tell you that?

Believe it or not, this bruise is 2 weeks old!

I was taking a shower and was putting lotion on my legs (this is when I find most of my bruises) and saw this huge contusion of a thing. It was the type of bruise that has a hard lump in it, ya know the kind? And I thought, where the HELL did I get this?! You would think I would remember getting something so big and it hurt, boy did it hurt! I tried running down the hallway, and boy did it hurt, I was worried I wasn't going to be able to participate in my 5K.

I thought long and hard about where I could have possibly gotten it. From what I can guess, I got it during Baby Fox's scooter accident? I remember trying to hold Baby Fox, push Mini Fox in the stroller and I had put the scooter on top of the stroller, trying to manage it all, and I remember the scooter falling off the stroller. I do not remember it hitting me in the leg, but it must have. I think I vaguely remember it grazing my leg? Nothing hard enough to create this monstrous contusion!

Enter Mom Mode, you know the mode when all reason goes out the window and your only concern is your kid(s). You'll do anything and everything to keep them safe. I was so concerned about Baby Fox and trying to figure out if we needed to go the ER and calm him down, that I didn't even realize I had been hurt in the process. Good to know that if my kid is hurt that I can get hurt and not know it, the adrenaline pumping through helped I'm sure. That my first instinct is for the well being of my children and to make sure they are safe first and foremost.

When/have you experience Mom Mode?

Linking up with Because Shanna Said So, Get Your Pretty On, The Pleated Poppy, and Tucker Up

and Faith, Sarah and Heather for Mommy Moments

The World Through Baby Fox's Lens - Selfies

Haven't done one of these in a while, so here we go:

He's learning the art of taking a selfie already he just needs longer arms I think.