Introducing our family fall photos and photographer Cary Elizabeth

I am so happy to reveal to you today our recent fall family photos. Now this post may be heavy with photos, but I just couldn’t be more proud. Not only are my babies (hubby included) just so precious, but I just love these photos and the setting and photographer behind it all.

Several months ago I was reintroduced to a young woman I had known in my college days named Cary or better known as Cary Elizabeth. I read where she was in need of some practice photographing local people and for non-profit as she had been in need of building her portfolio. I immediately responded, and correspondence began again.

She suggested that we meet for coffee to look over her past work or inspirations and it was here that she introduced me to her new photography website Cary Elizabeth . You should definitely check out her past works and maybe even some more of our family photos there.
Cary did some research before our meeting to figure out what kind of style of photos we liked being photographed in. With our size family of 6, all I could tell her was to wing it and just shoot the camera as staging photos would be difficult with 3 babies, and so she did.

I couldn’t be more proud like I said, of my babies and Cary Elizabeth but also of the setting for these photos. The setting of these photos took place at Roanoke College where my hubby now attends school. The campus is just AMAZINGLY beautiful.

Obviously you can tell we went with a common theme of colors in our pictures. We choose maroon, white and grey colors as these are the colors of the college (and of most of the colleges around here for that matter) but we had a tough time finding anything maroon, especially for the girls and myself as girls just don’t wear maroon. For the boys-easy peasy. I got this Roanoke College Maroon’s shirt at a Goodwill, and the girls clothing items came from our local second hand shop “Once Upon a Child.” The boys outfits came from a mixture of Wal-mart, Goodwill and hand-me-downs.

I want to let you know that if you are in the Roanoke, Virginia area or around here that Cary Elizabeth is offering free photo shoots, my brother-in-law and his family are in on it already. So book a photo shoot with her by e-mailing her at info@caryelizabeth.co or going to her website here. Now on to some cute baby photos.

Loves and Kisses from the Garay family! Happy Fall!

*Have you had a chance to check out and link up to the current live “Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me” link up? If not you can do so in the link below. You can link up any post pertaining to fashion, parenting, DIY, tutorials, recipes, anything.  This link up will go for two weeks this time around instead of weekly. I will feature my favorite 5 when the link up is over. If you already linked up, feel free to link up as many times as you want. Remember to follow the rules in the link up link and grab a button below or link your post back to here. Thanks, and be inspired!

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Linking up with:

Andrea of Friday Favorites at momfessionals.com

Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me link up 10

Today I welcome you to my fourth link up of “Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me” (click on the link to view older featured bloggers). I enjoy reading other blogs and being inspired, but as promised I chose 5 bloggers who linked up to feature this time around (thank you to all 18 that linked up to my third one last Tuesday).
Lately, I have been doing this link up series every Tuesday, but as this coming week and weekend are going to be busy for me I will not be featuring “Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me” link up next Tuesday, but I plan on getting things back in full swing again the following Tuesday. You can link up as many posts as you want until then. I just want you to enjoy your Halloween (if you celebrate it) and its nice to take a break for a bit- but don’t worry I will be visiting your posts and commenting away.
To link up follow the rules below, link up, visit some of the other bloggers linked up and have fun. I can’t wait to see your posts. Here are todays featured bloggers. Enjoy!

Fashion:

Dawn Lucy of @fashionshouldbefun.com linked up a cozy fall look and is not only sporting her adorable new fringe sweater (which I love) but her new reading glasses. I have been dreaming for awhile to own a comfy and cozy sweater like Dawns for awhile now, and she just looks absolutely cute in hers.  To read up more on what she is up to with these glasses  and look check out her post here.

DIY Tutorial/Fashion:

I am glad to have recently met and been in contact with blogger Amanda of @sansscrubs.blogspot.com. She not only reminds me of my childhood friend in personality and looks but she is just a fun loving person with a fun blog. Today I am featuring her DIY tutorial on how to turn a scarf into a vest. I tried this yesterday and just loved how easy peasy it was, and I wore my scarf like that over distressed flared jeans and simple shirt while running errands. I will post her picture and then mine below it showing off the results.
Amanda:

Me:

Thank you Amanda for helping me remix my scarf, I can’t wait to try this with my other scarves soon. You can check out her tutorial post here.

Travel:

Shannon, of @onestylishmom.com linked up a post on her travel adventures to Manhattan. Her post actually made me want to travel there and NOW! I have been wanting to go to NY for awhile now, but it just doesn’t seem practical with 4 kids that are young right now. But anyway I digress. Shannon takes you on a tour to her subway adventures, cupcake shops, NY style pizza shops and much more. You can visit her post here to read up on more of her trip with her hubby.

DIY crafts/Home Tour:

If you love DIY crafts or décor and would love to get some daily inspiration then hop on over to Carrie of @curlycraftymom.com as she posts beautiful tutorials and works and the above is just some of her work.  I just love how creative she is throughout her home, and how each year she brings out past DIY décor and festive DIY décor to brighten up the home and share in the holiday festivities.  Instead of telling you what she has done in the above picture you can instead visit her post here to find out. There you are on an assignment. Also this post is photo heavy of not only her crafts but home as well as she celebrates this fall holiday Halloween.

Love Story:

Cynthia of @myrosecoloredshades.com linked up a touching story of how she and her hubby met, this post also reveals Cynthia’s gift to her hubby as they celebrate 13 years of marriage, so hop on over to her post here and wish her and her hubby a Happy Anniversary and see what she is giving to him.

Thank you for coming by today and for linking up, I hope you meet some amazing sweet new bloggers and become inspired yourself. Now please take a look at the rules, link up and check back here on Tuesdays to see who I have featured. Yours could be one of 5. Thanks!

Rules of the link up are as follows:

1). Please link up recent posts and include the link up button or post this URL link back on your blog. The posts can be about fashion, DIY projects, recipes, inspiration, tips, etc. *If you link up other link ups or giveaways please be sure you share this link up on your link up post to share the blog love and I will be sure to link up to yours. Also please follow me in the below social medias and let me know how you are following and I will follow back. Thank you!

2). Please follow your host Rachel of Garay Treasures either by Bloglovin, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter or all.
Comment below and let me know how you are following so I can follow back.

3). Stop by and check out the other bloggers who have linked up and be inspired.

4).Depending on how many link up I will feature 5 bloggers and their posts for my next “Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me” link-up or series.

5). Have fun! Comment below if you have any questions! Thanks for linking up!

*** Somehow if you don’t see the image/button to link up below this message but a box with an X click on that and it will take you to the link up page. Thanks!!****

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First sweatshirt of the season

Ahhh! My first sweatshirt of the fall season, well for years actually, other than wearing my hubbys’ in the past. How cute is this sweatshirt from Oasap.com (exact one here, and on sale for $20.20) as it is not only floral at the top neck and shoulders but also sheer and quite becoming. My only complaint is that when it came in the mail it wasn’t what I thought in the size. Mine is a size large and is a bit snug on me whereas I guess I was counting on it to be looser, but that is what you get when you order online, you never know what might come. I forgot to mention that the sweatshirt also has a zipper in the back, that I wish I had photographed for you, but you can just imagine for now or check the sweatshirt out here on Oasap.coms site.
Let’s talk about the jewelry for a moment as each piece holds a special place in my heart. The first being the charm on this dainty 14k gold chain (not the original chain). This little lady was a gem found in my great grandfathers house when he passed away in the early 90’s as it belonged to my great grandmother whom I never met, my dad and grandmother (their daughter) told me I could keep it. This is all I have of my great grandmother Mabel and I think it is just charming and romantic as it is a white silhouette of a woman set against a amber background.

The faux diamond earrings are a gift from a woman who makes jewelry as a way of providing hope and beauty to women who otherwise might not feel hope in this world. I forget the name of the woman unfortunately, but she is local and I picked these up at our local Blue Ridge Womens Shelter. The earrings came in a bag with a typed note sharing the woman’s testimony of brokenness, and then hope and acceptance through Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Her story brought tears to my eyes and I am SO GLAD that she now makes these as an act of love to give to other girls or women who may need to not only have hope in their current situations, but to know the power, love, healing and acceptance of our Lord.

Finally, these bangle bracelets (seen one on each wrist) are a recent buy from my blogging friend Amber who is the entrepreneur and head of The Sparkle Exchange online jewelry shop. Unfortunately, these are sold out, but you can check out more of her bracelets here. They are all quite affordable and I can’t wait to see which ones I will snag up next as I LOVE mine.
 
I hope you enjoyed this post, you can view the outfit details below.

God Bless,
Rachel xo

Outfit details: Sweatshirt: Oasap.com (exact here)//Pants: DKNY Jeans (old)//Flats: Michael Michael Kors (old)//Purse: Michael Kors Hamilton Tote (gift)//Earrings: gift (unknown name of creator)//Necklace: gift//Bracelets: sold out but bought at The Sparkle Exchange.

Linking up with:
Whitney with Personal Style Monday.

Creative Mondays

Finding the right shade of lipstick




This past Sunday night I had the privilege to get away from my kids and have a sleep-over with my best friend Kendall of 15 years. She has been going through a tough time in her life lately but is hopeful and relying on God for His strength and comfort and I just felt loved to be away from the kids and just love on my friend for an over-nighter (which is is rare for a mom of 4).  We spent time praying God’s word, laughing, drinking Coca-Cola (a treat for me sometimes as I don’t have soda in the house) and trying on lipstick shades from none other than Avon.

If you have been following me for long you may remember that my best friend is an Avon consultant. A while back I even hosted a review and giveaway with her for an Avon 3 piece charm necklace and earring set (see that post here). Sunday night as I flipped through her catalog I made mention that I didn’t know what shades looked good on me (lipstick wise) and that I was also searching for the right color red for my lips. Right away my friend pulled out her bag of sample lipstick tubes and I pulled out my camera and a pen and paper to document what shades I liked and why.

Before I get started on revealing the photos and lipstick shades I feel I must reveal a beauty tip that may save you cash in the long run and that is on how to exfoliate your lips with products in your pantry. My friend, Kendall told me that all you need is to wet your finger with water and dip it in a teaspoon worth of sugar and rub this all over your lips and it works just as well as lip exfoliating products in the stores. Also before I show the photos I want to apologize ahead of time for the poor quality as it was dark outside and so these were shot in my friends kitchen.  If you see the asterisk (*) next to each caption that means to check out the prices and sales of each shade below.

*Picture 1- no lipstick but lips are exfoliated (with sugar and water tip above) sorry for the unclear picture.

Picture 2- Caring Coral shade- a very casual look that could be worn day or night. I just love the hint of red and orange tones.

*Picture 3 & 4Red Velvet- a great date night shade and personally my favorite shade of red sampled.

*Picture 5- Creamy Melon- a suttle pink shimmery color, with a natural lip color effect.

*Picture 6-Coffee crème- this shade excited me as it is very fall season appropriate and it looked very nice on me. Plus I loved the name of the lipstick shade (coffee crème- hey I love coffee anything).

*Picture 7- Ripe Rose- a very natural and pretty pink color, great for daytime casual or dress up.

*Picture 8- Tea Rose as modeled by myself and my friend. Compare our photos, as the same lipstick pops out beautifully in a reddish/pink tone but looks more lip natural in color on my friend. This lipstick color is great for day and night time wear and is my friends favorite (and a popular color among the women in her family too).

*Picture 9-Sparkling Mauve- as modeled once again by myself and my friend. Once again do you notice the difference in the tones of the same color in each photo, so bazaar, but I love how lovely this shade turned out on us both and it is my friends new favorite.

“Are there any colors that don’t look good on you?!”- from Kendall about lipstick colors on my lips, gotta love her. I mean what are friends for?

Which shade was your favorite? Have you tried Avon lipstick before? any favorites? What is your favorite lipstick color and brand?

*I was not compensated for this review of Avon lipsticks but I was provided with any number and color of sample lipstick tubes to take home. I chose Red Velvet and Coffee Crème. You can purchase coffee crème, creamy melon, red velvet and ripe rose for $8 to $9 and the Ultracolor collection (Caring Coral and Sparkling Mauve) for a sale price of $5.99 and this sale continues for 2 weeks with Kendall as your ordering consultant you can contact her by e-mail at Kendy228g@yahoo(dot)com to place an order or find out what other offers Avon has to offer or current sales or visit her Avon page here. Thanks in advance for considering Kendall and her business with Avon.

* If you would like for me to promote or review your business’ products then click here for my policies, want to guest post on my blog then click here.

Have you linked up to my “Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me” link up yet? You can do so below and possibly be featured as one of 5 featured bloggers next Tuesday, so grab the button or link back here and link up. Thanks loves.

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Linking up with:
Whitney with Personal Style Monday.

Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me #9

Hello, how was your weekend? Mine was relaxing and filled with the love and time with friends and neighbors. Today I welcome you to my third link up of “Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me” (click on the link to view older featured bloggers) and let me tell you I am having a lot of fun with it. I enjoy reading other blogs and being inspired, but as promised I chose 5 bloggers who linked up to feature this time around (thank you to all 13 that linked up to my second) and you could be one of 4 or 5 featured next Tuesday. First follow the rules below, link up, visit some of the other bloggers linked up and have fun. I can’t wait to see your posts. Here are todays featured bloggers. Enjoy!

Fashion:

I have been a follower and blogging buddy to Katherine @jagstyleblog.com (above) for awhile now.  She is a mom to 3, a little boy (like me)  and twins (boy and girl) a bit younger then my twins (boy and girl) so she and I have some commonalities.  I must say I am so inspired by her posts on work appropriate outfits and wear and I  just loved it when she linked up this outfit. I do believe this is my favorite look on Katherine and different from her usual posts as she is mixing prints and sporting off some denim jeans here, which I love. You can visit her post here.  *By the way Katherine I thought of you when I saw this tee at Old Navy the other day.

Kym @bittyandbunny.blogspot.com linked up a cute fall welcoming apparel outfit that I think she styled well using mixings of denim, a vest, boots and statement necklace, sunnies and even a scarf in some of the photos. I think she inspires me to consider layering in the near future. You can check out her looks and tour through blogland to get to know her better here. She is a sweetheart!!!

Tina of @tickledpinkwoman.blogspot.com linked up an adorable post on how she took a half vacation day off from work to relax by getting a one hour massage and pedicure, while including her cute work outfit and vintage accessories. I love her leopard print and hint of purple tights here, very cute fall look. You can check out her post here, you will love her as she is a sweetheart as well.
Organization/Management:

Keri of @livinginthisseason.com linked up a post on “Managing Laundry” which is something we all need to read right? Everyone has their own methods to managing laundry but I found her tips not only applicable to laundry duty but to other chores as well. I liked her tips on choosing to do laundry daily or weekly and how to get others involved since as a mother I need to consider these options in more areas and chores. You can check out her tips here.
Birthay Celebration/Décor:

Jill of @dousedinpink.blogspot.com shared a link on a 50th Birthday party she planned for her husband and I found it intriguing how much thought and time she and her daughter and others put into it to make her hubby feel loved while keeping the guests entertained. I learned a new game from this post called “Road Rally” which you will have to read about on her post here and check out her other decorations and food servings.

Thank you for coming by today and for linking up, I hope you meet some amazing sweet new bloggers and become inspired yourself. Now please take a look at the rules, link up and check back here on Tuesdays to see who I have featured. Yours could be one of 5. Thanks!

Rules of the link up are as follows:

1). Please link up recent posts and include the link up button or post this URL link back on your blog. The posts can be about fashion, DIY projects, recipes, inspiration, tips, etc. *If you link up other link ups or giveaways please be sure you share this link up on your link up post to share the blog love and I will be sure to link up to yours. Also please follow me in the below social medias and let me know how you are following and I will follow back. Thank you!

2). Please follow your host Rachel of Garay Treasures either by Bloglovin, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter or all.
Comment below and let me know how you are following so I can follow back.

3). Stop by and check out the other bloggers who have linked up and be inspired.

4).Depending on how many link up I will feature 5 bloggers and their posts for my next “Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me” link-up or series.

5). Have fun! Comment below if you have any questions! Thanks for linking up!

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Linking up with:

DIY letter G pumpkin fall decor

I will be the first to admit that I love fall and fall décor over any holiday or season but I have a tough time coming up with the motivation, time and money to come up with fall décor. I am so glad a group of blogging friends came up with a Fall Décor link up (see below to link up) as this was the perfect motivator for me to create a project I have had in mind for a month, and it was free to do, meaning I had all the materials on hand and the pumpkin was given to us from our neighbor who grows them. Today, I will be showing you my DIY letter G (for Garay) on a pumpkin decoration and my thoughts afterwards.

Materials needed:

Pumpkin

Newspaper or paper

Pencil (for outlining the letter)

Paint (I used black acrylic gloss paint as I had it on hand from previous DIY projects)

Paintbrush

Stencil (even though I just sort of free handed it using this pin as a helpful tool)

Like I mentioned above I used this pin as a guide to create my G and I just free handed my outline of a G with a pencil.

Then I started painting in the G.

The result:

This project took less than 10 minutes and was super easy. I cannot wait to get some mums plants surrounding this bad boy. In the future I might paint a pumpkin white or gather whiter pumpkins and paint a G or monogrammed G and surround the pumpkin with littler pumpkins. I could also use a bigger pumpkin as this one was a pie pumpkin.

Thanks for reading. If you have any fall décor be sure to link up below.

Rachel xo

Here is one of the links to link up to.

Like what you have read? You can follow me through these social medias:

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Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me link up #8

Hello and welcome to my second link up of “Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me” (click on the link to view older featured bloggers) and let me tell you I am having a lot of fun with it. I enjoy reading other blogs and being inspired, but as promised I chose 5 bloggers who linked up to feature this time around (thank you to all 23 that linked up to my first) and you could be one of 4 or 5 featured next time, just follow the rules below, link up, visit some of the other bloggers linked up and have fun. I can’t wait to see your posts. Here are todays featured bloggers. Enjoy!

Fashion:

One of the sweetest bloggers I have gotten to know is Cynthia of myrosecoloredshades.com and so when she linked up one of my favorite fall looks I knew I needed to feature her. Cynthia is a mom and believer and follower of Christ and she posts about her children and love of fashion. I admire how she choose items from of old in her wardrobe for this shoot and mixed it with newer and trendier items to create a beautiful sky colored palette. I also admire Cynthia’s photography each time she posts and just loved the shots captured in this particular outfit inspired post. You can check out her original post here to read more.

Jennie of apocketfulofpolkadots.com showcased a cute polka dotted dress that I just adored.  I not only love polka dots but I loved how she styled her dress while also keeping up with her love and blog site name pocketfulofpolkadots. Jennie is a mommy of 4 boys (one just got married recently) and a Pomeranian doggy. She also likes not only polka dots but adding hints of colors to her otherwise love of black. You can view her original post here.

Many of you may not know this, but I do have a darker, more gothic side to me. As much as I love cute things like children, and animals and books I also adore movies by Tim Burton and books with alittle more creep to them and imagination like books by Ronald Dahl. So when Melissa G of missyg.com posted a picture of her and her new skull studded purse I was like “yes please!” not only is the purse cute, but it adds an edgy motorcycle babe vibe to an otherwise chic girl about town in shorts and flip flops look. I am also enjoying the look of Melissas kimino and I can’t wait to view how she will style it in this fall weather. Melissa is a wife and momma to a sweet little 2 year old boy and she likes to blog about fashion, beauty and personal style.  You can view the original post here.

Recipes:

Britt of thefiskfiles.com posted a delicious and EASY recipe that I couldn’t wait to try and did. Pecan Pie muffins. Yes, and they were pretty good when I made some (I don’t have any photos of my muffins made, sorry). My hubby liked them and eventually my 2 year old son enjoyed them, but it took a few bites for him to feel that he liked them, but check out Britts’ post here to see some more yummy goodness, get the recipe and try it for yourself. Britt is a God-fearing believer, mommy to four children (three boys and a daughter) and works along side her husband on a cattle ranch. She likes to blog just about anything.

Inspiration/Faith:

I was so encouraged to read this post by Sarah of abidingingraceblog.com, “I am not enough..” which reminded me that I am not enough with Jesus. We are made to believe by the world (or satan) that we are either not good enough, or that we are prideful and ARE good enough, when in reality we are only enough with Christ in our lives. Sarah reminds women that we don’t have to strive to be the perfect mom, employee, DIYer or what the world considers to be good enough. You can check out her original post here.  Thanks Sarah for the encouragement! Sarah is a mommy to three children and in the process of adopting a little girl from China (and since I have 10 siblings adopted from Asia, Sarah’s process of adoption rings true to my experiences, and I can’t wait to see her beautiful new daughter on her page soon).

Rules of the link up are as follows:

1). Please link up recent posts and include the link up button or post this URL link back on your blog. The posts can be about fashion, DIY projects, recipes, inspiration, tips, etc.

2). Please follow your host Rachel of Garay Treasures either by Bloglovin, Instagram, Facebook or Twitter or all.

3). Stop by and check out the other bloggers who have linked up and be inspired.

4).Depending on how many link up I will feature 2 or more bloggers and their posts for my next “Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me” link-up or series.

5). Have fun! Comment below if you have any questions! Thanks for linking up!

 

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Baby purple & pink/ Online shop love




Hello everyone! I hope your weekend went well. Ours was busy, first of all I attended my former high schools homecoming parade with my kids and siblings on Friday and the best parts as always was the candy and team spirit of all that come to it or are in it. Saturday I spent the day with my best friends in Radford celebrating my dear friend Katie and her baby boy Isaac soon to be born. Her shower was cute, and I just relished in her joy of welcoming new life soon, we then hung out afterwards for some much needed girl time. Where would I be without God given friends?! I am blessed!

I will share more about my friends and any outfit posts from the weekend in the near future, but let me talk about this outfit and link up party/blogger features for tomorrow.

Let’s talk about these lovely bangles! The gold pink set was a recent purchase of mine from my blogging friend Amber and her online jewelry shop called The Sparkle Exchange, these come in pink and purple and are only $5.99, and these came to me within 2 days later I believe. Not only are they adorable but affordable as well. (“I am a poet and just don’t know it”-as my hubby likes to say). The site includes all kinds of trendy and affordable jewelry pieces, and if you follow her blog here you will see her modeling most of her jewelry if you want to get a feel for it. Amber wanted me to let you know too that you can get 10% off your first purchase with the code FIRSTSPARKLE’ but that this discount ends at the end of this month so I encourage you to check her shop out here.

The purple set of bangles comes from my blogging friend Whitney from her online shop as well called Nics Picks. Whitney’s site is filled with vintage pieces, from jewelry, shoes and clothing. Whitney is passionate about styling others and is such a down to earth yet inspiring and motivational person. She is offering free shipping until the end of November-you cant beat that! Please visit her site and see what you might find here. You can visit her blog here.

This amazingly lovely leopard print scarf is one of two that I ordered offline with a giftcard from a shop called My Sisters Closet Boutique. This cute shop has EVERYTHING! shoes, boot cuffs, scarves, dresses, cardigans, shirts, jewelry, you name it. I believe it took me months to really figure out what I wanted because even though they have a Curvy section (I have curves, yep) I didn’t see anything that really would fit me or I was scared to order something hoping it would fit and it not. So I just went with scarves. I still have under $5 on my gift credit so we will see what I order next time.

Also tomorrow is my second link up to “Bloggers Who Have Inspired Me” link up. I will feature 5 bloggers from my first link up party. I had 23 link up, so thank you! Thank you! So grab the button below and link up, you may be one of 4 or 5 bloggers featured next time.

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Linking up today with:
Whitney with Personal Style Monday.

A for effort




It feels sooooo good to be able to post an outfit post again. I am sorry I haven’t been showing off a bit 😉 No really though life has just been busy, the babies have been sick, I guest co-hosted an Intentional Parenting link up with host Keri (read my posts here, here and here on how I was parenting intentionally) and participated in a ABC Scripture cards giveaway along with that (winner is Britt F.CONGRATULATIONS!)

The hubby and I had a date day on Saturday this past weekend eating locally and thrift shopping (Goodwill and Plato’s Closet, but we scored our actual buys at Plato’s Closet). I bought my leopard print flats there (Plato’s Closet) about a month ago and then scored the grey sweater tunic you see over the striped shirt on the clearance rack for $5 and even better- it is a Michael Michael Kors! YES NO FREAKIN WAY! If you have followed me for awhile you know MK is my favorite brand/designer. But I happened to pick this lovely tunic for how cute it was and didn’t know it was a MK till I tried it on and fell in love. The weather was just chilly enough to wear the sweater on top of my already worn grey and white striped shirt. Everything else I wore just brought it all together, and do you notice my mix of prints (striped, crazy scarf designs and leopard?) I just loved it.

Now for the reason of my post title if you have or haven’t been wondering. A for effort….well my hubby hurt his elbow pretty bad the night before (Friday) and so he had been in pain and on pain meds for most of Friday night and Saturday so before he took these photos he accidently hit that same elbow on the van doorway as he was getting out of the van at our house, as he was cringing and sounding out in pain he took the camera and shot what he could of me in these poses knowing that I had asked him all day to outfit shoot me and it was getting dark outside. So in his pain he was a sweetheart and showed me that he loved me, by getting these shots. YEP an A for effort baby!

Also these Kendra Scott earrings you see on me have another story on their own. I actually lost one of them this past week and called the optometrists office a few times, searched in an out of my van and in my yard and finally prayed about it and felt I needed to go back to the doctors office and search and lo and behold it was in the grass near the parking lot-God is good and A for effort on my part (and God’s of course).

How have you been? What things have you or should you receive an A on effort for?

Outfit details: Striped shirt: Merona (gift)//Tunic Sweater: Michael Michael Kors ($5 Platos Closet)//Scarf:gift//Pants:DKNY Jeans (old)//Flats:Plato’s Closet//Purse: Merona (old from Target)//Earrings:Kendra Scott (gift)

Linking up with:

Whitney with Personal Style Monday.

Discipline (Intentional Parenting Link Up and Giveaway)




As a parent of four kids there is no shorter way of saying it’s rough. There are days I just want to pull my hair out, I have cried, yelled, gotten frustrated and even just needed a few minutes away from it all (with hubby there of course to help watch the kids, or during nap/bedtime). I thought I would share with you in my last Intentional Parenting post how my hubby and I have disciplined, because as parents you have to be consistent and intentional with it for it to be effective and for their safety.

I am one of those parents that allows my 4 kids to play in the front yard (un-fenced) but with my supervision and presence outside as well. Lately I noticed my 3 little ones going towards the neighbors yards or near the street so I have designated the front step as a “time away” place for them to sit when they have crossed over to a neighbors yard (with my warning of course)- Elizabeth and Xander understand for the most part that this is where they need to go and sit for a few seconds, but Max still needs my help getting there and sometimes I have to hold him. I explain to them (especially the twins why they were sitting and why they are not to go into other yards or street) Xander knows better and tries to gather the twins when they start heading for the road or neighbors yard.

(Elizabeth sitting on the front step)

When Xander hits or pushes or kicks the other children (especially Max) we brake both involved up, hold the one hurting and say “hitting hurts, (insert name) is crying that hurt him or her. Be gentle, give hugs instead, etc” and we normally prompt Xander and Nevaeh to say “sorry” but sometimes prompting isn’t needed and they will do so on their own. Sometimes Xander will give a hug after his apology:

When toys are involved and there is fighting going on then I will normally say to my younger ones “(insert name) will have the grocery cart until they get to the other side of the room, then it is your turn.” this works for Xander as he likes to know when his expected turn is. Elizabeth kind of goes with the flow, and Max has a little to no difficultly with turn taking but may have a meltdown.  With Nevaeh I normally have to set a timer on the stove or cell phone with her allotted time with the item before handing it over.

If there is constant misuse of the toy then I warn of taking it away and putting it on the fridge or in the basement and will follow through if the kids can’t abide by my warning.

I could go on and on with discipline, but there must also be in place rewards and praise. For my kids that might mean a random dessert one day for being good after dinner, complimentary cookies or balloons at the grocery store, but normally they receive marbles in their marble jar (read orginial post explaining this method here).

 How do you discipline and praise your children? Or what do you remember being disciplined of most as a child?

Tomorrow is the last day to enter the ABC Scripture cards giveaway and to add your own Intentional Parenting or just parenting link to the Intentional Parenting link up below.
Courtney from This Lil Light O’Mine has so graciously offered a set of ABC Scripture Cards to one of my wonderful readers. I am so excited for one of you to win these! Winner will be announced Thursday, October 9th. Make sure and enter the giveaway below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now it is your turn, please link up any ideas you have for being intentional with your kids. This is a place for us to encourage each other and I am excited to see what you all have to share! If you would like to be a guest host for this monthly link party, please email me at kerisnyder(at)gmail(dot)com.

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Now it is your turn to link up!!