All'asta!

I am really excited to share with you about All’asta. All’asta is Itallian for auction.

All’asta is a new fun way to have a home party but with a twist! All’asta is a party that is part silent auction and part catalog.

How it works is you invite some friends/family/church ladies/ work ladies/ etc. over for some fun! They each will bring 1 to 3 items that they no longer have a use for. It could be a gift that just wasn’t right, a blouse that no longer fits, jewelry that no longer gets worn, purses, bags, home decor, books, home made items, anything that still has a purpose but just isn’t being used. They will get a 50% commission on the items they bring. Guests at the party will bid silently, on paper, on the items brought. Once bidding is complete your guests will have a decision to make they can either take the money (yes cash money!) earned on their “old” stuff OR they can use what they earned to purchase some new items from the All’asta catalog.

Sounds fun right!?

 But the best part is for the hostess! For inviting her friends over she gets to put as many items in the silent auction as she wants! Much more fun than a yard sale! She also has the opportunity to earn free product and ½ price items out of the catalog. As well as a hostess special! Lots of goodies for my hostess’!

All’asta is all about re purposing. Many of the items in the catalog have been brought back to life and turned into something new and useful!

 I also wanted to say that this is way out of my comfort zone to do something like this. I have been thinking of joining All’asta for a while now and finally took the plunge. I am glad I did because I learned that I am the ONLY consultant in Arkansas at the moment. That is very exciting to me.

I hope you will consider having your own All’asta party. I am offering an incentive to my first 5 hostess that book parties! I will provide all the food and drink for your guests. All you have to do is gather up some ladies over for a few hours of fun! (Also I wanted to add please don’t let not wanting to do it at your house be a deciding factor in having a party, if you are interested I will find you someplace to have your party!)

Another way to get the hostess rewards would be to have a catalog or Facebook party! The only thing is you wouldn’t have the auction part of it.

I will be having a ‘kick off’ party at my house on January 26th at 3:00 and you are all invited to come and see what this is all about, I would love love love to show you!

Last but not least I want to offer something to my very first customers, any order placed before the end of the month I will pay shipping. So all you pay is the price of the item and tax :)

I would love to send anyone who wants one a catalog to look at and if you have any questions at all please call or text me 479-597-0831 I would love to hear from you!

If you made it through all that you most definitely deserve a cookie ;)

New Year and a Resolution!

We had a really good Christmas (need to get post up soon!) and a pretty good New Years.

Brent has been working some crazy hours so it's been a little tough without time off to just relax.

Luke and I drove to Conway to stay with him for New Years, that was really fun. We ate at Table Mesa and it was amazing! Best mexican food I've ever had!

I still can't believe it's a new year and I'm still having a hard time remembering to write 2014 on things.

I am very very excited about the coming the year, obviously. Baby Lane will make his appearance in a few short months, we have so much to get ready for him but in the same breath I feel more than ready for him. I feel like I have been waiting on him a long time :)

This year also holds a lot of change. Change scares me more than anything else in the world. I am not good with change, hence only having 3 jobs and living in 4 homes my entire life. I am a girl of habit.

But this year will bring some very big changes to my family and to me as a person. Good ones, don't get me wrong. Ones I have longed for and prayed for but change none the less.

So my word for 2014 is inevitably CHANGE. I will have to get used to a new life. One with two boys. One with twice the love yet twice the responsibilities. I am excited yet scared too.

In thinking of my life last year and the coming year I have made my new years resolution to be more present in my home. As embarrassing as it is to say social media sometimes takes over my days. Yes my days. I find myself on in all.the.time. There has been more than once that Brent and I will be watching a movie or t.v. show and I will be on FB and he gets upset because my phone light is making it distracting for him. 

I have wrote about this before but still struggle to find a good balance.

I know it's because I am a social person that I have this problem, I love chatting with ladies about things on Facebook I love looking at pictures of cute kids on Instagram I love sharing my own life with others. But most days I have been so distracted with FB and Instagram I am ignoring the people I love the most. The ones in my home who are right there needing and wanting my attention, and who deserve it more than anyone.

So my 'plan' (I use that term loosely because it will have to evolve over the coming months do to some changes *see above ha!) is to stay off social media in the evenings. During the day (at work) I can get on as much as my heart desires but once I am in my car leaving for the day, it's done. I will allow myself to answer texts and phones calls in the evenings but just not get on FB and such. Once I am at work the next morning I will be back on :) I am still unsure of my weekend 'plan' but I feel like weekdays are a good place to start.

Also I will stop biting my fingernails! This has been my resolution for about 10 years and I am still working on it! ha!

So do you have any resolutions? What does the year have in store for you?

Thursday Tidbits!

• We are 6 days away from Christmas!!! Ahhh freak out a little! ha! I am for the most part ready, but I  cannot believe its here and this year is gone! I just now got my Christmas cards addressed and sent out this morning so they may be more like New Years cards for some. haha!
• Lucas got a haircut Tuesday and of course it looks kinda funny. I don't what it is but he cannot get a good haircut to save his life. We have tried everywhere and it just isn't working. Maybe I am to picky about his hair or maybe since his hair isn't cut in the 'average' boy cut it throws them off, either way I am about to take matters into my own hands, literally. haha!
• Lane is moving, moving, moving! I LOVE being able to feel him. He moves the most when I drink sweet tea! I knew he couldn't escape that, he comes from a sweet tea lovin family :)
• I had a doctors appointment this morning to check up on him and he sounded great! I also got my next ultrasound scheduled for next month! Can't wait to see him again! 
• It's supposed to rain all weekend long. And it's not even going to be a cold rain, just yucky ol rain. I prefer snow this close to Christmas. 
• Yesterday Luke and I went to Chuck e Cheese to escape the daddy's not home blues. We nearly had the place to ourselves and had a lot of fun! I just love this age!
• Brent surprised us and came home last night! We are glad he is home!!
• The other night I looked over at Lucas and he was doing this! I laughed and snapped a picture and sent it to Brent! haha!  

•   We've had a lot of Christmas parties this week! Tuesday I had mine at work and tomorrow Lucas has his at school! They are doing a 'Polar Express' themed party, wearing jammies and drinking cocoa and for lunch they are making pizza AND Santa will be there, he is very excited about that :)
• I can't think of much else right now. I am going to spend the weekend inside cleaning house and getting everything ready for next week!!

Photos Galore!

Lots and Lots of pictures of everyday things that have been going on!

Two weeks ago we got snowed in! I have never been 'snowed in' so I was very excited! We lost power for about a day, less than 24 hours so we had to 'rough it' for a little bit and it was kinda fun.

Lucas and Brent spent some time building a gingerbread house.

We went out exploring for a little bit, well until Lucas' hands froze and he wanted to come back in.

We lost a majority of our big tree in the back yard. I am hoping it doesn't die but we aren't sure. It's the only big tree we have so it will be sad if it doesn't make it.

 Things got a little crazy as the weekend went on! ha! But it was fun to be forced to stay home and be together, that really doesn't happen enough if you ask me. Brent made sure we had back up power for when the electric went out and he did so good to make sure we stayed warm, happy, and fed. I seriously cannot brag on him enough for this. I know not everyone has a husband who knows what to do in situations like this and I love him even more for it!

Last week Lucas had his Christmas program at school! They did so good and looked so cute! I still have to laugh that Luke is the only boy in his class but it doesn't seem to bother him a bit, I am almost sure he hasn't even noticed :)

 Lane and I are growing right along! These were all taken last week so I'm sure I am even bigger now! ha! I looked earlier this week and I am less than 3 weeks away from the 3rd trimester! I about fell out of my chair when I saw that on paper.

I got a cute cute Stitch Fix top last week I absolutely adore it but only got to wear it once until after Lane comes.

Another fun shirt I got last week. My monogram sweat shirt! Love it! I told Brent it will be my weekend uniform until after delivery, I wasn't kidding.  

 Saturday we had a birthday party at Chucky Cheese! It was really fun and I noticed they had a new mouse. I really don't care for the Chucky costume but I think this new version is even worse than the old! Brent disagrees.We are a house divided on important issues. ha! But Lucas loved him so that's all that really matters I guess.

 We bought Lane's dresser last week too! It is just perfect for his nursery that I am envisioning! I can't believe everything is coming together so well, I didn't even have a plan until the day we found out he was a he then it just all came to me. I can't wait until after the holidays to really start painting and putting things up.

His carseat came in too! Lucas was very excited and wanted to see it in action :)

We finally got to see Frozen on Sunday. I was slightly disappointed (gasp!) but I had NO idea it was a princess movie, clearly I should do a little research, but Lucas loved it, go figure! ha!

Lucas' class has a book exchange on Friday. I found this at walmart and thought it was just perfect!

 Love love love my house this time of year. I think my house was built for Christmas time. It's just so cozy and I love my Christmas tree. I kinda wish it was acceptable to leave it up year round. 

 Saturday night we had my work Christmas party it was fun to get dressed up and go eat a yummy dinner. I really really wanted one good picture of Brent and I before we left. I thought Lucas would be a great candidate for the job. ha! He did pretty good but next time I should just set up the tripod. Poor thing.

 But we got some other cute ones :)

That's all the pictures I have!

I LOVE this time of year but this year is just wearing me out!

On my heart....

Life has been so busy this season. I don't love it or dislike it I am just glad to be in it.

I don't even necessarily mean busy like go,go,go just busy thinking and reflecting, living and being thankful for this amazing time.

I don't even know where to begin with everything that has been going on lately. We've been snowed in (without power), Lucas had his Christmas concert, we have all been feeling baby Lane kicking, we have been buying baby stuff to get ready, I have been Christmas shopping like crazy, we've had birthday parties, Christmas parties, movie watching, and lots of things I am forgetting I am sure! I have pictures of it all but I wanted to write about something different today. 

Often things will remind me of how I felt this time last year. I was not so jolly and ready to take on the world. I tried to be happy for Luke's sake. I tried to keep up with the motions for the holiday season when all I really wanted to do was lock myself in my room and sleep the month of December away. I won't forget that feeling. I don't take this time in my life for granted. I am loving being pregnant. I love the aches and pains and the being able to complain about getting fatter, I love having to buy new clothes and I love that I may not be able to get in and out of my new Challenger in a few weeks.

I love to think about what my babies have taught me. Lucas being my first has taught me what it is to be a mom. He has brought more joy into my world than I ever could conceive. I was grateful to have him first he kept me going, he kept me smiling when nothing else could.

And Lane who I haven't even met yet has taught me all about hope. He has already shown me life can and will go on. I already have such a strong bond to him and I can't wait to see him, hold him, and love him to pieces. I will be a different mom to him as a newborn than I was with Lucas. I will cherish the tiny little things and I now know to not let the small stuff get to me, a crying baby does not mean the end of the world.

And then there are my sweet angel babies who I will never meet this side of heaven. Who I will never know if they were boys or girls, who I feel like I let down. I did not do my part. I am worried that knowing what I know now will forever haunt me. They have taught me more about God and Jesus than anyone on this earth. They made me need Him. They made me cry to Him and pray to Him.

Whenever I go to the doctor and I am being seen by someone other than my regular doctor they will ask me what number pregnancy this is. I say four and my heart skips a beat every.time. I don't get sad anymore hearing that question, I am always glad to acknowledge them. They changed my life and for them I am forever grateful.

I know I say the same things a lot about all of this but I don't know how else to get it out. I want to tell the world about my losses and how faithful God is but I don't know how so this is where I will start.  

So under all the fun nursery decor, bump pictures, excited texts and blog posts, and funny pregnancy conundrums this is always there and I am so SO grateful to be on this journey :)

  

Thursday Tidbits! {lots a pictures}

• We are in full blown Christmas time at my house! We had good Thanksgiving and I have a ton of pictures of the last few weeks to share :)
• Having the fire place going is one of my favorite things! All the boys wanted to get their picture taken sitting by the fire, I have no idea why but I'll take it!

• Chippy came back to see us this week! He even brought Lucas some very special jammies!

• We celebrated Brent's 34th birthday this weekend! His birthday was Friday!  

• We got the house and yard ready for Christmas! Lucas picked out this little guy to bring home!

Love seeing Lane's little half stocking up there :)

He will have a real one next year of course!

 This little white tree is one from my grandma's house. She gave it to me this year and I am so happy she did. I just love it and it hold a lot of memories for me :)

• We had two Thanksgiving dinners, for lunch we went to my sister in law's and then for dinner we hosted for my side. I love love love to host holidays so I had fun!

• Putting together a little Santa playmobile set before dinner.

•  My little turkey (or shall I say ham!) on Thanksgiving day!

• The week of Thanksgiving I was off work so we spent the days playing with friends and doing lots of fun stuff! We went to the mall, to McDonalds, to see a movie,and lots of time spent playing games and play doh at home too!

•  AND a few weekends ago we finally (after a year) grouted the backsplash in the kitchen!! Now I can officially say my kitchen is DONE!! I love it so much and I am so proud of all the work Brent did!

• We had Luke's parent teacher conference a few weeks ago and he is doing so good in his class! They are learning word families right now and after the first of the year they will start with READING!! I am so excited for him and could not be more proud :)

• Wheew that was a big in! Hopefully I won't let some many weeks go before my next post! ha!