G's 13th Birthday Ducks and Daisies -Themed Dinner

G turned 13 last Friday and for our family birthday dinner I went with a sweet duck/goose theme! I took not nearly enough photos because it was also the day of cheer tryouts, Luke was at his district track meet, she invited a friend to join us and I was just more distracted than normal BUT it was SO SO SO SWEET and perfect for our now-teenager ;) 

G has been having a "duck moment" for a while now and when I saw this handmade goose candle holder I knew it was meant to be. I'm SUCH A SAP when it comes to stuff like this and I'm going to hold onto this and *MAYBE* one day she'll have a little girl and will use it on one of her birthday cakes. I KNOW! I KNOW! hahahaha

Prom 2026

 This past Saturday was MCA's Prom and while I was planning on just adding these pics to my Friday Favorites post there were so many cute ones I decided they needed a post of their own ;) 

Mason's King of the Hill Birthday Dinner

Mason turned 15 last Thursday and we celebrated him with a King of the Hill themed birthday dinner ;) He LOVES the show and we have so many family jokes using lines from it so it felt very "him" and very fitting for the occasion ;) 

  

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends! Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

I feel like I'm just going to keep talking about how crazy our weeks are until school is out in May ;) Things have been FULL but so fun!

Last weekend we went and watched some of my kids FAVORITE people in the school musical, Little Mermaid.

Reading Recap

Theo of Golden

Several girls mentioned reading this while we were on our trip in Savannah and I immediately downloaded it and gave it a listen. I was hooked from the very beginning both by Theo and the sweet nature of the writing. I loved how you got to know each of the characters better and better throughout the book and found myself both devastated and hopeful at the end. It was tender and thought-provoking and is one of my top books I've read in a really long time. 

"One spring morning, a stranger named Theo arrives in the small Southern city of Golden. He doesn't explain much about where he came from or why he's there—but when he visits the local coffeehouse, where pencil portraits of the people of Golden hang on the walls, he begins purchasing them, one at a time, and giving each portrait to the person depicted. In exchange, he asks only for the person's story. And so portrait by portrait, person by person, secrets are revealed, regrets are shared, and ordinary lives are profoundly altered.

A story of giving and receiving, of seeing and being seen, Theo of Golden is an unforgettable novel about the power of generosity, the importance of connection, and the quiet miracles that happen when we choose kindness and wonder."

Dr Pepper Cake

I'm going to be honest - it's birthday week, cheer tryout week, track district week AND prepare for golf district meet week at our house along with standardized testing week in middle school and YOUR GIRL IS A BIT FRAZZLED!  I didn't have a chance to write the post I intended to write tonight so instead I'm re-sharing my Dr Pepper cake recipe in honor of me making it tonight for Mason's birthday dinner Wednesday night ;). It's a tried and true FAVE and is so easy but SO DELISH!

House Game: Bottle Flipping Race

 It's no secret that middle schoolers LOVE bottle flipping.... yes.... still.  I decided to capitalize on that and create a quick and easy bottle flipping "race" during our Monday Meeting time last week and it was a hit!

G's 13th Top Golf Party

 Griffin turns thirteen this Friday (HOW?!?!?!) and we celebrated with her friends last week due to crazy Spring schedules (Easter, school events, baseball tournaments, etc) and it was the PERFECT way to celebrate!

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday, friends! Erika and I are so excited that lots of y'all are linking up with us every week.  Make sure that you're grabbing our graphic, linking back to us and sharing your own Friday Favorites post ;)

This was the best kind of week because it didn't really start until Tuesday! We had Monday off of school which was SO NICE and a long weekend and is always a FAVORITE.

G's FAVORITE part of the day off was getting ahead on a bunch of homework and some projects she had.  This view is ALWAYS a favorite of mine!

G's Memory Quilt

A couple of years ago I shared all about our family's memory quilts... one that I've made, t-shirt blankets that I've had made by a mail-in company and then a STUNNING quilt I had made out of my kids Christmas pajamas by a local quilter.  I was SO impressed with her work that a while ago when I was cleaning out some bins and G's closet and I had quite the collection of personalized clothes as well as some special dresses and Matilda Jane pieces I knew exactly who to go to ;)

Luke's 18th Bday Lego Dinner ;)

Back in 2020 we had to cancel all three of our kids birthday parties and I pivoted to themed birthday dinners and THUS an awesome tradition was born. As my kids have aged out of themed birthday parties I've been able to do my "thing" and create these special dinners for them. They get to pick what they want to eat and then I surprise them with the theme and decor. 

Luke was turning 18 and I realized that he has NEVER had a Lego party! GASP! Can you even believe that?!?! CRAZY, right?!?!?!

Easter 2026

 I'm back! We had yesterday off of school and it was SO NICE to just really enjoy Sunday afternoon and evening and I completely forgot to get a post up.  

Saturday morning started off a bit cloudy but it cleared up quickly and was the most GORGEOUS day! We hung out, I did some Easter prep and then later in the afternoon we got showered and changed and ready for church.