Fun{ky} Filled Fridays

So this week, I have a combo of fun{ky} finds and just fun{ky} things I like or have or something like that.  You'll get the point in a minute.

Most of us have become crazy obsessed with IG.  And of course the creative side of me loves that the premise is all pictures...the photographer side of me loves that I can "edit" with filters.  But, I've outgrown those filters.

I love PicTapGo for the filters, and I've used it for awhile.  I love Typic Pro, but again it wasn't enough.

I.need.more.

I was on the hunt.  I've tried 20+ photo apps and haven't really been wowed...till this week.

You know all the IG pics with the cute words, arrows and borders?

 

Yep I found it...

A Beautiful Mess

And while you're at it, go check out Elsie+Emma, the 2 lovely ladies who created it.  You will be inspired by them.

And I knew that I had seen pics with different snazzy sayings and doodles and such.

So I searched until I found it.

Rhonna Designs

So much fun!  This one has tons of options and goodies to add to your pics.

My fun{ky} stuff that weren't really finds...

My hair.  Vain sounding right?  Not really.

I've been growing out my hair and I've been dying to finally get back to the point of my messy buns.  I'm finally there.  My hair is long enough!

Yep, I like messy hair.  Sorry.

My last thing for today, I promise.  I've been working on some new stuff for my Etsy Shop, Carolina Sunshine Designs, and I'm loving this so much that I may just make one for me to keep.

Of course I love the fun colors and patterns, but I love the vintage & retro feel that this clipboard has!  I just want to walk around with it.

What fun{ky} things have you found this week?  Happy Hunting!

 

To My Caroline

On our way to church this morning, as we were talking, it took my breath away to listen to you.

Sometimes I feel like we forget how little you really are.  You've always been brilliant, spoken in a way that makes you years older than you really are.  And I think we forget.  You truly understand the things we say.  You comprehend so much more than people expect.

Being an only child you've been treated a little more grown-up than most of your friends, and that's okay.  But, I wonder.  Did we take away a little innocence because we spoke to you like an adult? 

Listening to you tell me about not getting to see a friend made me sad.  Things are different when you're at your father's house.  And it made me sad to hear you were sad that you didn't get to play.  It made me sad to hear you tell me that ugly things were said. 

I tried to explain it the best I could.  I hope I handled it better than what was said in front of you.

I hope that I made it easy for you to understand that it's not okay to talk to you about those things.  We've talked before about how your Tabby and I really try not to say hurtful things about your father and his wife in front of you.  And that's hard.  Sometimes when talking to you it's hard not to let the anger get the best of us and say ugly things.  But we try.

I struggle everyday sweet girl.  I pray that I handle parenthood with a 2nd set of parents in a way that's not harmful or negative.

I know how much you'd love for us to all be together and have family times together.  I wish we could give that to you.  At one point we could.  And it makes me sad that things have changed and you are affected. 

I want you to know that I thought my choices would be good for you.  I didn't want to take you away from your father.  I hoped giving you extra days with him would be what you wanted.

And after today, I don't think it is.  I'm heartbroken because of the way you feel.  I never want my little girl to have so much resentment.  And I cry trying to figure out the best way to handle it all.

I want happiness for you.  And at the heart of it, you are happy.  But it's the back and forth that takes its toll.  How do I help you with that?

I wish I had all the answers.  I wish this co-parenting thing was easier.

I hope that you always feel that you can talk to me about how you feel.

I want to make this easier on you.  I want this to be a good thing for you.

I don't want you to feel like you have to protect mine or your father's feelings because your feeling's are the most important.

Our job is to make sure you feel loved every second of every day.  Not to feel torn.  Not to feel like you are a burden.

Not to feel like your in the way.

Because none of those things are true.

I love you every second of every day.  I'm blessed beyond measure that God chose me to be your momma.

I love our days.  I love your belly laugh.  I love your chubby little toes.

And I love that I'm your momma and your my little girl.  That I get to love on you and show you all the good in the world.  That I get to watch you grow in so many ways.

And I don't ever want you to forget that.

I love you more.  More than all the stars in the sky.  More than anything.

I love you.

Fun{ky} Filled Friday

Happy Friday my friends!

I was perusing good ol' Pinterest earlier this week when I stumbled on my dream wall.

 Source

Hello glorious wall.  I love you.

I immediately took a screen shot and sent it to my hubs.  Have I ever mentioned how much I love this man?

He totally gets me.  He knew exactly what I was wanting without me having to say it.  Love.him.to.pieces

I also stumbled across this little gem on FB {sorry, it was shared so much I couldn't get a good source}.

I think this is just such a good thought.  Keep moving forward.  I'd love to have things be easy peasy like when I was 20, but ugh, I don't want to go back to being 20.

The things people come up with simply amaze me sometimes.  Like this little gem.

Source

Yep, that's right. A cake slicer thingy for round cakes.  Although this is a pretty nifty item, it makes me laugh. 

If you've read my blog for long, then you know I have a love for old things.  Vintage, antique, whatever...old.  I love the history behind old things, the story.  Where has it been?  Who used it?  We have a house full of stuff that has history.  And we are always adding.  This is totally happening sometime in the future.

 Source

Get out there and find some Fun{ky} Finds and let me know what you found!  Have a great weekend friends!

Finding Your Place

I think as bloggers we try to find a voice for ourselves.  Sometimes that's not an easy thing.

I think we want unity.  To find a place where we can relate.

Somewhere we can talk and meet like minded people.  Bounce thoughts off of others.

Share ideas. Share victories. Share struggles.



A place that's real.  A place where we can own our faults.

Like laundry that's overflowing.  Crumbs on the floor.

An unmade bed.

A peek into someone's life, where we can relate.


I know I started this blog to remember.  To record tiny moments, a glimpse into our lives.

What I didn't expect to find was exactly what I found.


Community.  Friendship. 

Places where I felt a sense of belonging.  Where I could be confident in who I am.

As a mother.  As a wife.  As a friend.

And know that I'm not alone in this journey God has given me.

I hope that I can give that back.  I hope what I share touches someone.  And that they know they're welcome here anytime.

I hope that I can find the words to explain our days.  To explain what I'm thinking in a thoughtful way. 

To share ideas.

To share my faults.

To share my heart.

On the Go

It's been a few weeks, I know.  But, I had very good reason to be absent.  My girl came home and we hit the road!  I was ready.  Ready to have her home. Ready to leave all the nonsense behind.  I needed family time.  I needed a break.

We loaded up the vintage camper and headed to the coast.  It was a much needed getaway.  Something we look forward to every year.

There's something so special about hearing Caroline talk about the coast.  "are we gonna go to the Crazy Cajun?", "we have to go to the Islander so I can see what new stuff they have.", "we're taking the ferry, right?" and on and on it goes. 

We took the ferry, went to the Islander, and went to watch the fireworks.  All traditions we look forward to.  And I know that before long, my sweet 10 year old will totally think we're not cool and complain about beach camping, so I'm soaking it all up while I can.  Maybe she'll surprise me and always think we're cool...or not.

This year was so different from years past.  We normally just have the 3 of us and the hubby's parents, maybe a stray friend or 2.  But this year...we had 18 {6 families} and 4 dogs.  It was a great trip and we loved having family and friends with us. 

It was also a trip with a few new things.  You always know that camping can have it's hazards, and the beach has it's own hazards.  We've never had a problem.  There's always the loud rowdy crew that drinks too much and shoots fireworks, the crazy teens driving big jacked up trucks down the beach, and we've even had a crazy beach bum one year.  This year....well, it was a hodge podge of crazy.

The first morning there, my mother in law had an accident with her RV's canopy, which resulted in a trip to the ER and a lost finger nail.  On the third morning, a friends Yeti Cooler was stolen {probably in the night} and Caroline tumbled into the fire pit from the night before, which still had a few coals...I think she found each and every one of them.  Poor girl.  She was terrified, I was terrified.  Thank God it wasn't bad.  I quickly reacted and got cool cloths on the burns and calmed her down.  It looked bad for the first few hours and I was getting ready to make a decision about heading to the ER, and then she was fine.  I had my entire medical baggie thing with me, but the one thing that I left at home, the Silvadene.  Lesson learned.  Even though we thought we had the whole fire out, there were still some coals, we made dang sure the next night the fire was out and the coals.

Then the last night...filled with all kinds of crazy.  The generator ran out of gas in the wee morning hours.  Then some rowdy {probably trashed} campers next to us shot fireworks into our camp, showering our campers with a million tiny sparks.  Then it stormed, hey at least it cooled off all the little sparks. 

But it was still an amazing time.  Everyone had a blast and we're already planning for next year.

Before I hear what a horrible mom I am for not taking her to a doctor, I've had 2nd and 3rd degree burns before, I kinda knew the ropes and what to do.  I knew hers were mostly 1st and a few spots that would be classified as 2nd degree {the same as a sunburn with little blisters} and I knew that I had treated them accordingly.  God was taking care of her and even sent us a little help.  We went into town the next morning and were both floored when we ran into the nurse from our pediatricians office!  We told her what happened and how I treated it, she took a look and said just what I knew.  She was fine, it would heal nicely and I had done everything just right.  No need to take her in, just use the handy Silvadene when we got home.  ***But please know that if this had been another injury that I didn't know what to do, or if mommy instinct had me worrying, I would have done everything possible to get her medical attention.***