A Lovely Day.

Some days are rough.

Some days I seriously wonder why I've chosen to stay home.

Some days I'm tired of the arguing, the laundry, the mess.

Some days I feel like ripping my hair out.

Then I have a day like today.

A good, fairly easy, calm day.

Where the arguments are few, the laundry is tolerable and the mess doesn't bother me.

 A day where we can do whatever we want, enjoying the time we get to spend with one another.

Days like today I don't want to forget.

I want to keep them at the forefront of my mind at all times.

Because in the end they make all the rough ones not so bad after all.

I'm linking up here for the last "life made lovely monday".

Rainboots and Jammies.

It rained for a few hours on Saturday morning.

After the clouds cleared a little bit and before the boys got dressed for the day, I sent them outside to splash around.

As much as I am not a fan of the rain I have to admit, sometimes it is a nice change for the boys.

A Lovely Monday at the Beach.

Today we headed on down to the beach to enjoy the wonderful weather we've been having here.

Near 80's in January? Crazy!

We played on the jungle gym, swung on the swings, ran on the sand, explored under the pier and ate lunch at one of our favorite spots.

If only every Monday could be this fun and easy.

Sitting in the Grass.

I can't believe a whole week has gone by and I have not blogged even once.
Our days are already filling up quickly with holiday activities and it's only December 4th.
That's just crazy!
I'm sure over the next few weeks I will be spending less time on the computer and more time with friends and family, which is a good thing, I'm not complaining.

Today though, we had no plans.
Brett went to watch football with some friends so the boys and I just hung around the house.
I've been terrible about taking pictures of them lately so I grabbed my camera and we headed into the backyard.
I'm so thankful we live in a part of the country that is warm enough to be outside most of the time.
I think I would go crazy with these two in the house all day.

It seems like the leaves are falling from our trees much later this year, probably due to the warmer weather we have had. The boys spent quite a bit of time investigating the leaves, well Ethan more than Jacob. Jacob just had fun throwing them around.

I enjoyed sitting in the grass, soaking up the sun, wearing my Uggs.

I love them.
I started wearing them in the 8th grade and they are still my favorite thing to wear when it starts to get chilly.

The boys eventually started digging as it seems they always do.
I mean, what fun is it being outside if you aren't covered in dirt by lunch time?

Sometimes I forget to stop, sit in the grass and just relax, especially during the holiday season.

I'm glad I took the time today to just sit and play with the boys.

I know they need it just as much as I do too.

Getting Crafty {Advent Calendar}.

We haven't had an advent calendar in our house, ever.

I know, horrible mother.

Truth is I didn't want the extra candy around and Ethan was still too small to really "get it".

This year is a different story.

He's starting to "get it" so we needed an advent calendar.

I was browsing all the fabulous ones on Pinterest but most required sewing (I do not) and many seemed really time consuming (I have very little).

So I made a really simple easy one.

 All I did was cut strips of paper, fold them in half and hot glue the sides to make a pocket.

Then I cut out squares of green and red paper, stamped them with the numbers and hot glued them on.

 I then filled each with Christmas M&M's (a favorite in our house), hung some ribbon and used mini clothespins to hang them.

 I couldn't fit all of them on one strand but I like having two.

Best part, I only had to buy the ribbon and candy.

Everything else I already had.

I'm very happy with the end result and I know Ethan will be so excited to start counting down the days.

I know I am.

A Lovely New Design.

I am so happy and excited to show all of you my new blog design!

Have you checked it out?

I've had several different layouts and designs over the last year or so but this is by far my favorite.

Everything else was ok but when I saw this I knew I had to have it.

Recently, Heather at Life Made Lovely opened up a design shop which includes premade blog designs.

When I clicked on over to her shop, I saw this design and loved it.

I am oh so happy and comfortable with my new little Internet space.

So with the new design there are also a couple of changes I thought you should know about.

I have a button! I feel fancy.

It's right over there on the right. Go grab it!

I've added an about me page. This was no easy task. For whatever reason I couldn't get the page to show. Thankfully Katy, who set up my design, figured out the problem and now it works. Woot!

You can now find me on pinterest and facebook. 

The links are also on the right.

You need to check out Life Made Lovely Designs. Seriously.

There is so much loveliness to choose from.

Oh, the holiday cards! How will I ever choose?

Lovely Succulents.

Before I show you the my lovely freshly planted pots I have to get something off my chest.

I hate the word succulents.

It makes me cringe to say it, it makes me cringe to even write it.

I can't tell you why, but I just do.

Some words are just like that for me.

Am I the only one? Please tell me I'm not alone.

Now that we got that out of the way, let me show you what I've got on my front porch.

For about 2 years I have had these pots right next to my front door.

I love them.

Some of you might even have them since they were at Ikea, which means they were a steal.

I've had the toughest time keeping anything alive in them.

I tried picking out plants and flowers on my own, they died.

I tried asking the plant and flower experts, they died.

I am usually pretty good at keeping things alive so this has been frustrating for me. 

Plus, I was not happy with the waste of money. It gets expensive after a while. 

I finally decided to go for succulents.

I know I'm a little late to jump on the succulent bandwagon, but to be honest, I was kind of over seeing them everywhere.

But I figured this was my last shot to keep something alive.

So I took the boys with me to Home Depot (we have a gift card, yay!) and I let Ethan do most of the choosing.

I didn't realize there were so many different succulents out there in so many different shades of green.

Beautiful!

While the boys were napping I headed outside and planted away. 

I really enjoyed getting creative with the sizes, colors and variations.

I am really happy with how turned out and they make me smile when I walk through the front door.

The succulents have won me over.

Now if I could just come up with a better name?

InstaFriday on a Lovely Monday.

I meant to post my cell phone photos on Friday, but I didn't.

Then I was going to on Saturday and then on Sunday, but I didn't.

So I am today.

An evening bike ride.

 We're getting ready for halloween.

 My little dare devil.

 Me and the boys.

 While it was raining last week Ethan built this tower. Then knocked it down 2 minutes later.

Boys are funny that way.

If a girl would have built this she probably would have pretended it was a castle where her princess barbie lives and she would have played with it for hours.

Not boys.

One of my all time favorite books in a very pretty cover, which I resisted purchasing.

I actually walked out of Barnes and Noble with out making a purchase at all. 

That never happens.

  Jacob is loving the big pumpkin.

 This is just the sweetest.

 We locked ourselves out of the house while taking a walk. 

Thank goodness for small boys and dog doors.

Have a wonderful week. 

I'm linking up here...

and here...