summer alphabet list

its so close to officially being summer here...the kids are done with school on wednesday...even though they don't go Monday because its memorial day, day and on wednesday they get out at 12:45 and basically the rest of the time they are there they are playing...but i digress... i've seen all the summer bucket list things and that seems like alot of work to me... so as i was working on some client stuff today i thought i wonder if there's like an alphabet summer list? like 26 things that we can do or not do and check or maybe just not check off over the next few weeks while i try to convince the kids to sleep in. so i hopped on pinterest and could not find one...so i made one...and now i will pin it so there is one on pinterest.

if you like it you are welcome to right click and save it and print it and use it too. happy summer may the odds be ever in your favor and your fridge be stocked and full all summer long.

xoxo
lindsay

is your husband perfect?

This life

My life

Real life

It’s short, it goes fast, it can feel like it’s spinning out of control at times. I really do try my best to be as real and authentic (if we want to use a more millennial or trendy word) in all I do and say in life and on social media. 

It has come to my attention though recently after someone asked my sister a funny question about my husband. They didn’t mean it as a funny question...they were being completely serious and it was a legitimately honest question. I say funny because when my sister told me I laughed. 

They asked something along the lines of “if Chris is really as good a dad/husband as he seems on Instagram/Facebook”....now you may wonder why i laughed? I laughed because he’s a human. He is my favorite human, I love him more than any other human. He is the perfect husband for me and the perfect father for my children, but he is not perfect. I am not perfect. We both are super flawed individuals...We both have issues. We both mess up parenting our kids. Sometimes pretty badly. We both lose it with each other...we fight...we make up...we fight again. We suck at communication. We are trying to do better. It’s hard. Marriage is hard. When I say he’s the perfect husband for me it means he teaches me about myself and things that I need to work on and visa versa...he has qualities that I do not possess that help balance me and I him. when I say he’s the perfect father for my kids it means God knew whatever our kids needed to turn into functioning productive adults who know their purpose and will go after God first and foremost Chris would teach them better than any other man so he gave these 6 beautiful babies into our care for a season. I thought I was doing a good job of being real on social media...but this question proves I am not. 

I talked to chris a couple weeks ago and told him what I was thinking of doing, about sharing more on my blog or Facebook/instagram. He asked me why? I said well to be honest...I follow a lot of other moms, wives and families with really pretty feeds. Sometimes I see their husbands post these beautifully written posts about their wives or their gorgeous super clean homes with all the trendy decor and feel like dang my life and my husband kinda blows. 

Then a few moments later I think how messed up is that?! Why would I even for a second think that?! So I told Chris I don’t want any other mom to look at our life and think “gosh, I wish my husband was more like Chris” or “why can’t so and so do what Chris does with his kids”... that’s completely the opposite of everything I want to inspire in my posts! I also told Chris we have three nieces....your three nieces who are all young adults and dating or engaged...they are watching us and they need to know that marriage isn’t all perfect little Instagram posts and selfies on date night. That sometimes ya wanna throat punch the guy you love more than sleep next to him. but that’s ok...Jesus will help you if you let him and practice self control and keep fun a part of your life too. really marriage is hard, you hear it all the time but then you don’t  really see it played out..you just see the date nights. I think it’s important to point out that the person the you love will hurt you eventually...it’s inevitable... not intentionally but we are flawed humans who all bring our own things into relationships. Not just the marriage relationship either but all relationships. That’s why communication is super important listening to understand and not just to solve or respond. The reason it hurts so much when the ones you love hurt you is because you love them. you can only hurt to the depth you love...so if all your relationships are surface then you will keep yourself protected for sure and probably never have to worry about being hurt but that’s no way to live. Never having real connection or vulnerability with anyone which is literally what we are created for. Watch the Brene brown ted talks (two of them and the Netflix special, be warned there is some langue in them). But deeper than her talks...God created us for relationship, close intimate, community, family, connection, belonging. 

I told him that we made it through the really rough years of no sleep with multiple babies, like four under 4 in 5 years and  that it kinda sucked and I don’t remember a whole lot except not showering as much as I would have liked, but we made it through and the kids survived too but that other young parents need to know it’s ok, we’ve been there...you can do it...what you are feeling and going through is so completely normal and if you need to talk we totally get you. I said I want to be an open, safe place for questions, for conversations, for connection. Personally I’m so tired of scrolling through perfection that I’ve found myself just staying off of Facebook and Instagram except to try and post for work but even that I find myself not posting much.

I’ve never made my Instagram a business account either because I know I will not keep it all streamlined and follow the seo/algorithm/pretty feed/perfect posts/ and all the things you are supposed to to as far as posting as certain times of the day etc to get the most exposure.

I’m just not that concerned with it and to be honest I have more important people and things that my time deserve. As I’ve gotten older (35🙈) I’ve notice how much time or lack there of I have...it’s one thing I can’t make more of, I can’t get back and it’s passing by so quickly. So I’m getting very selective about what I am willing to spend this precious thing on. 

So in keeping with this effort to be real I’ve been contemplating sharing some pretty personal things. Not so personal that no one knows but personal that you wouldn’t know unless you have known me since I was 16 and were very close to my family. 

When I was 16 I was diagnosed with epilepsy...getting to that diagnosis itself was a challenge as the first dr. told my parents I was probably doing drugs 🙄which I was not. Finally we did get the diagnosis and a medication (that was not great, had some icky side effects like weight gain) but it worked. Fast forward a few years...when I got pregnant I stopped taking the medication bc it could harm Isaac. Then of course breastfeeding so still no medication and surprisingly I didn’t have any seizures while pregnant or nursing thankfully. So since I spent about 10 years of my life being pregnant/breastfeeding I stayed off the meds with little to no issues...thank God. 

Fast forward again a few years to being done with all the having babies and nursing part of my life. Everything seemed fine and I didn’t have insurance so life went on. Seizures seemed to happen when I would be exhausted/stressed ...so typically after my busy season. I would work like crazy October-December and kinda crash in January. Not sleep well/stress and from all of that seizures would happen. Then once I caught up on sleep they would go away. But the last three years I was much more intentional about my schedule and not overworking and only booking a certain amount of sessions during busy season etc. yet they were worse and this past year it was ridiculous and uncontrollable no matter what. If I saw you from like November through April I had not slept like at all. I was barely there. Running on mom has to get things done momentum and Jesus. It was worse than even I let on but moms don’t have time to be sick so onward I went. I scared my family, my kids, my sister, my parents. I fell multiple times...I bruise really easy...I had some crazy ones, you wouldn’t believe. I fractured my wrist. I banged my head pretty good once and broke a solid wood cupboard door in the process, I fell in the shower, doing laundry, burned my hand making dinner. Anyways, I know I should have gone to the drs sooner...but I thought they would stop like they had before. But I could not catch up on sleep...I don’t even want to tell you what my nights were like. I also did not want to go back on meds especially if they were going to make me gain weight like they had 20 years ago...as a person who is already overweight that’s the last thing I needed. Plus with out having insurance I know how much seeing a specialist can be. plus medication and the last time I saw a neurologist they wanted to do a three day study on my brain and I did not want to do that...but I was desperate to get some sleep and relief from all of the issues I was dealing with so I google searched the neurologist that finally helped me when I was 16 and found him. I sent a pretty desperate email and surprisingly he emailed me back within the hour. Then I had an appointment set up with him for his next available time which was about a month ago now. I went to my appointment, we went over my history, he prescribed me a new medication and said he would see me in 6 months. Just like that...such a simple fix. Why did I wait? 🤦🏼‍♀️🙄the medicine is working, I’m finally getting some sleep...I’m so thankful to the drs and for new medications that have come a long way in 20 years...there are some side effects that are definitely sucky but the benefits outweigh them for sure. 

I’m just saying in 35 years I’ve been through some things. A lots of things. Some not even my family know about...some you all know about like almost losing Chris 6 years ago and Lucy being diagnosed this past December with type 1 diabetes. Others like lost friendships, Ethan being diagnosed with ocd and somewhere on the spectrum but super high functioning, you don’t because I don’t share everything on social media and I don’t talk about it to anyone except my sister and parents. Mostly it’s just easier that way, but it’s also a bit lonelier to be honest. 

70 year memory table runner

long time no post, but if you follow me you are used to that!
i'm not going to apologize either...you know where to find me for more regular life updates...facebook, instagram blah, blah, blah.

anyways, my mother in law turned 70 on may 3rd and my sister in law and myself (being the only two girls around) wanted to do something to celebrate her in a big way...my sister in law loves surprising her and wanted to do a surprise party. we started planning this event in january as we all have very busy schedules and trying to coordinate everyone is like NASA level coordinating. lol.

i told her i would handle the decor part if she wanted to do the food and as we got closer to the date and the plans were coming together, i had an idea to do a long table covered in kraft paper with a photo table runner.
i fibbed and told my mom in law that one of the kids had a school project about family generations and i needed to go through all of her picture albums/boxes.

here is a sorta kinda tutorial on the photo table runner...which did turn out really cool and was the centerpiece of the party...

you need:
pictures
iphone/ipad
muslin fabric
hot glue gun
a movie

step 1.
decide how long and wide you need your runner to be.
gather pictures...DO NOT use the original pictures...i went through 1,000's of pictures, it took me a week. 70 years of pictures and my father in law was a very avid document-er of life! what i did was take pictures of the pictures with my iphone, or my ipad (because my iphone ran out of storage). because the quality of iphone cameras now they are good enough to print 4x6's with no issues.

step2.
i wanted my runner to have a very uniform look, so i turned every photo black and white on my phone which you can easily do with the edit options that come on your phone already or with an app. i also had to crop some the images on my phone.

step 3.
upload all of the images to only site that has the options for white borders, square prints and 4x6's and best quality/price for printing persnickety prints like i said i wanted my images to look very uniform so i wanted them to have the white border on them and persnickety does that at no extra charge plus they have square prints and the more pictures you order the more money you save. seeing as i was ordering almost 400 prints that made a big difference.

step 4.
get muslin fabric the length and width you need for your runner. our long table was 30 inches wide by 18 feet long so i made my runner fabric 12 inches wide by about 25ish feet because i wanted to touch the floor on either side of the table hanging over. plug your hot glue gun in, put a movie on. i sat on the floor with a piece of wood (its supposed to be a shelf i think, i used it as a popcorn bar top at a party i threw) under the fabric. and just start laying the pictures down and put a small amount of hot glue on the back of each image and adhere it to the fabric. then repeat like 388 times, lol.

really its not very hard, i watched walk the line and by the time the movie was over i was finished. i let the images hang off the edge so you don't see the fabric at all...the pictures overlapped each other...i mixed the square prints with the 4x6's and i didn't go in chronological order. as i would finish a section i would gently roll it up in front of me... a big roll not a tight roll. that is how i transported it to the party location as well...and not a single picture was damaged or bent. then after the party they actually just peeled off the fabric because i didn't use a ton of hot glue so now they are in an album.

the other thing that would be a cool added touch but we ran out of time, i was going to use a white oil pen to write on the kraft paper table cover some of the dates of the images, or quick description of certain images and maybe some doodles

 

my mother in law was surprised and cried and that's always my goal (...to make people cry i mean that in the best way, lol) so i did my job and accomplished my goal.

fiesta! sweet 16!

my first baby tuned 16 this past november, we had a fiesta to celebrate!
if you follow me on any platform you know i love creating and parties...all of  the diy and party info at the bottom! now go make your own fiesta!!!

the fringe backdrop idea i found on pinterest here...

fringe backdrop

i actually did it just a little differently i used wal mart 99 cent plastic party tablecloths to make mine

the cans of crayons i picked up canned mexican food at the grocery store i think they were salsas and olives...opened them, emptied them, washed them and filled them with crayons

the looooong table covered in newsprint

the mexican banners hanging from amazon and the 100 feet of stringed light

florals are just mixed bouquets from publix, in summer cups from michaels and the faux cactus/succulents are also from michaels (got them 80% off after summer)

the cake is homemade with just one frosting tip and lots of frosting! a tiny terra cotta pot from wal mart and candle from michaels 

xoxo, lindsay 

the greatest birthday part two...

on to the party...

i made the invites in photoshop with digital scrapbooking kits by maggie holmes

 

so all the props and set up are pretty easy diy projects...

the ticket booth was a last minute addition. my grandparents got our kids a trampoline and the box was pretty much asking to be something fun because it was so big and the littlest kids fit in it! i spray painted it white and then painted the pink stripes on. add a couple pieces of poster board and cut out a window and you're done. 

the tent is a regular pop up tent (like for the beach) and i draped the striped fabric from ikea over it and pinned it in place and done. to be fair though this was like 36 feet of fabric, it was left over from my sisters isle runner at her wedding 4 years ago.

spray painted ladders already done and in my house, all the rings are hula hoops. luckily it was the beginning of summer and the dollar tree had a bunch of hula hoops in a variety of sizes. you guessed it, i spray painted them...pretty much everything in my like gets a coat of spray paint, lol.

our favorite ring master, daddy.

for the photo booth area i had the trunk (its a dorm room one from like wal mart), chair, marquee arrow and fabric. 

i added the balloon garland (balloons from wal mart and amazon), lantern (michaels), big metal letters and the w is actually an m but i got them 70% off and they were out of w's (michaels)

and the big dumb bell i made...a dowel rod from hobby lobby and two giant styrafoam balls from miachels...not spray paint though! acrylic paint!!!

the fire hoops were one of my favorite...my sister found two HUGE hula oops at wal mart and they were metallic...so i spot spray painted them yellow and orange and then cut tiny strips of tulle in the same colors...my 4 girls tied the strips onto the hoops.

animal crackers..duh...and fruit because my girls love it and marshmallow bar bells (big marshmallows on striped paper straws from amazon, cut in half) tickets also from amazon

home made buttercream frosting

because we needed a lion and our friends have a sweet pup!

balance beam...two concrete blocks from lowes, painted with acrylic paint. and i don't remember exactly what size wood i got, i think 1x4, 6feet also from lowes. i was going to paint it but then i thought if someone was barefoot they may get splinter so i used some leftover fabric and staple gun to cover it.

for the ring i was trying to figure out how to make a giant ring with out spending a fortune...it ended being the cheapest thing i did. dollar tree pool noodles and a roll of duct tape. 

5 pink pool noodles taped end to end. done.

the ringmaster stand, a galvanized bucket from lowes, painted.

since it was a double birthday party i needed two cakes..the tent one i got the idea from a vintage party planning book, just changed it up to be more my style and match the party better. the trapeze cake was inspired by a cake lady on instagram... @cake_happens_ she made a beautiful cake with a zendaya sugar girl on it...i'm not that talented in the cake arena so i tried to figure out how i could re-create something similar but me. pictures and xacto knife for the win. i set up my girl with her costume on and a hoop and shot her from above, then printed 5x7's and cut her out and put her on her own tightrope on the cake.

in the end it was a fun birthday and the girls didn't mind sharing a party too much, yay!

some pictures from our shoot for the cake...