{Five on Friday} A Make Up Must Have + A Trip Disney World

{ONE} A Make Up Must Have

Y'all... You have GOT to try the Make Up Eraser if you haven't. A few months ago I stumbled across a blogger's review of this product and decided to give it a try. The Make Up Eraser is basically a microfiber cloth that only requires water to be added to wipe away all of your makeup, dirt, and grime from a busy day. I was a bit skeptical at first but after reading product reviews on Amazon, Ulta, and Sephora, I decided to give it a go and I'm so glad I did. I wear waterproof makeup on the daily and I don't know what it is about this cloth but a quick rinse under the faucet and a swipe on the face and all of my make up is gone in an instant. It's amazing. For $20 do yourself a favor and go try it out for yourself! You won't regret it!

{TWO} Recent Purchases + Reviews

After having two babies my body is definitely not the same as it used to be which has led me to spend many a morning trying to figure out what in the world I wanted to wear each day. Feeling like I have absolutely no clothes to wear, I decided to treat myself to a few new things over the last few weeks to make me feel prettier and a bit more confident in my outfit choices. Here's a few of the things I've recently added to my somewhat limited wardrobe... all of which came from Jane.com; one of the best online boutiques out there! The mint green dress arrived last week and I was a bit disappointed that the color was more sage green than mint but the soft material and flattering fit made up for the difference. The yellow shirt arrived this week and I tossed it on and wore it to work on Wednesday. The fit was perfect for people of all body types and I got so many compliments on it that I'm fairly certain I'll be purchasing it in other colors; especially since it was less than $15! 

{THREE} Disney, We're Coming for Ya

It's official! We're heading to Disney come November. We'll be going with my sister and her family, Kevin's parents, and my best friend Brittni and we couldn't be more excited. We booked a room at Disney's Pop Century and we have plans to do dinner at Ohana's, Hollywood & Vine, Whispering Canyon, ESPN Grille, T-Rex Cafe, Chef Mickey, & Be Our Guest. If you have other restaurant suggestions, please let me know! And if you have tips for flying and/or doing Disney with babies and toddlers, please share. 

{FOUR} Our Little Mermaid

Harper started swimming lessons a few weeks ago and to say she's been in heaven since would be an understatement. I'm fairly certain if mermaids were a real thing, she'd turn into one. Just look at all of her excitement!

{FIVE} Photos from Our Week

Harper's Camping Party

Yall, this little girl is THREE years old!  Say whaaaat?!
The fact that I am now a parent of a three year old simply blows my mind. It seems like only yesterday we were anxiously awaiting our first born's arrival. I can still remember the sheer joy of hearing her first cry; I remember the weight of her being laid on my chest; and I remember counting those ten precious fingers and toes and admiring her olive skin and head of dark hair. It was all just yesterday wasn't it? Yet I look back over my blog posts over the last few years and I see that that wrinkly little newborn has changed into a little lady all right in front of my eyes. Despite the fact that I miss those days of being able to hold and cuddle her in just one arm, I love the lady she's becoming and I can't wait to see what all God has in store for her life. Without a doubt, he's got big plans for our girl. 
Over Mother's Day weekend, we celebrated Harper's birthday with a camping party. When discussing party options with her, she promptly told me she wanted a tent party. I had no idea what she meant until one afternoon we were watching Paw Patrol, her absolute favorite show, and an episode came up where Ryder and the gang headed out to camp. She excitedly started shouting, "A tent party mommy! A tent party!". So from then on, I started planning out Harper's camping party; despite that she repeatedly referred to it as her tent party. Silly girl.
Here's some pictures of her big day!
The Set Up  In the past we have hosted all of Harper's birthday parties outside on our porch but having since given our porch a major makeover, we decided to keep all of the food and gifts inside this year. I set up drinks and snacks in our dining room and we threw up a mini tent for Harper's gifts to be placed in. 

The Food We opted for snacks this year instead of doing a meal. Mainly for the fact that after the guests left the party, we hosted a cookout with our immediate families. In keeping with the theme, guests got to sip on frosty sodas and ice cold water; make their own trailmix; indulge in some dirt cake; or enjoy the delicious tent cupcakes or campfire cake. 

The Fun My  original intention was to host Harper's party in the evening so we could have a bonfire and make smores but since many of our guests had other obligations in the evening we opted for an afternoon party instead. But that didn't stop me from tossing together a mini roasting station on our back porch using a galvanized bucket, sterno burners, and lava rock. It roasted marshmallows like a charm. In fact, we loved the set up so much, we're still using it on the weekends to make smores with friends (:

While guests roasted marshmallows on the porch, the kiddos took turns playing in the camping tent, on Harper's swing set (a gift from last year's birthday), or her new trampoline. 

Guests ate on cupcakes throughout the party, but we waited towards the end of the party to cut the cake and sing Happy birthday. 

The Gifts Following the cake cutting, Harper dove into her presents... quite literally! 

The Favors Before everyone left, the kids got to grab a camping chair and a favor bag that contained child-size binoculars to take home. 

All in all the party was a blast and at the end of the day, our little girl was happy and blessed!

{Weekend Recap} Family Outings

Happy Tuesday, ladies! We kept very busy over the weekend which had me dragging yesterday. Hence why the recap is getting posted on Tuesday afternoon. Sorry, a mama just can't do it all!
Friday On Friday after work. Kevin and I headed to a local park with the kids. We have some money invested with Edward Jones and our investors threw together a little cookout for their clients by the lake. It was such a nice gesture for customer appreciation. They had hot dogs with all the fixings, chips, and a handful of desserts that we may or may not have sampled each of. Which meant that when the food was gone, it was time to do a bit of wandering and working off that food. So while I caught up with my parents who were also in attendance, Kevin took Harper down to the lake to do some exploring.

We stuck around for about an hour and then we headed downtown for the Cruise In; a local event that takes place on the second Friday of each spring and summer month. We wandered the streets looking at old cars and catching up with people we ran into. And we may or may not have also grabbed some ice cream from a local sandwich shop before heading home. Whoops.

Saturday  On Saturday morning, Harper had her preschool program. She also had a blastball game but since we value the importance of education over sports, we opted for her to attend her program. & thank goodness that we did because Harper rocked her show. She led her class throughout their whole portion. She said her numbers in English and Spanish; told the commandments; sang her songs; and shared her memory verse. We couldn't have been more proud. 

To celebrate we headed to grab pizza for lunch, as was her request. While there I tried to snap a photo but as you can tell, I have a silly girl on my hands!

Following lunch, we headed to the hospital to visit Kevin's grandpa. We got a call Friday night saying he wasn't doing well but since it was so late, we opted to take the kids by on Saturday instead of dragging them to the hospital late at night. I'm so thankful we did because Papa Jimmy's mind was much sharper Saturday morning and he was able to communicate some with us. We hung around for a little while visiting then we headed to Kevin's parents' house for the remainder of the afternoon.
Around dinner time, Kevin, his brother, and I headed to Greensboro (with the kids in tow!). For Mother's Day Kevin got me an Apple watch and apparently it started a trend. Kevin and his brother both decided they too needed smart watches which led us to Best Buy where we spent two hours letting the two of them decide on what they wanted. 

But at least they left happy (:

We ended our night with dinner at Cracker Barrel and a quick trip to Target where I grabbed up this adorable elephant outfit for our little man. You know, because elephants are my thing!
Sunday Our Sunday was spent as it usually is. Kevin had to work which meant the kids and I attended church with my parents and family. Our new pastor delivered a wonderful sermon and I left feeling refreshed and prepared for a new week. 
Following the service, we headed to my parents' house for our usual Sunday lunch. We hung around for the better part of the afternoon then headed home so the kids could grab naps and I could catch up on the Hallmark movie I had recorded on dvr. Sadly, the movie didn't happen, nor did the naps. But instead we headed next door to the neighbor's so Harper could join in on their daughter's birthday party fun. Which worked out because by the time the evening came, Harper was so worn out that we all got to get in bed before 9! Whoop whoop!

A Scary Story + This Blogs Future

Good morning, ladies! I'm back today with some serious matters of the heart. If you've noticed, I've been gone for quite some time now. When Boston arrived, I decided to take a step back from blogging to adjust to being a mom of two. Trying to juggle life with a newborn and a child that was always used to being the center of attention while the husband was working night shift took quite a bit of balance so if it wasn't important, I let it go. Which means this little blog of mine got put on the back burner. 
After getting settled in as a mama of two, I had all intentions of returning back to blogging. I typed up quite a few posts that are currently sitting in my drafts folder; like the rest of Boston's birth story, his newborn pictures, the kids' new room reveals, etc. I had all intentions of sharing these all with the blogging world until one morning I woke up and read a post from one of my favorite blogging mamas and that's when it all changed. 
You see, this fellow blogger found out someone had been stealing her children's pictures and posting them on other social media accounts claiming they were her own. I wish the story ended there but it doesn't. The story gets sicker and sicker and all I can say is that her story was an instant wake up call to the fact that the world is full of very sick people. Which leaves me in a state of limbo...
I love blogging. I love all of the many people I've met through blogging. I love the opportunity it brings. & I love, love, love having all of the posts to look back on of our little family. But at what cost is this all worth? Is there some sick person out there reading my blog, doing the same thing? 
Over the last several weeks, I've considered ending this little blog of mine. I've contemplated making it private. I've contemplated just sharing random tidbits and leaving out pictures of our family. But then, that's what my blog is all about. It's an open journal for our friends and family to stay in touch. So where does that leave me?
Well, I've thought long and hard about this little space and I've even prayed about it. At this point, I've decided to keep this little blog of mine but there will be some changes. I'll be limiting the pictures I share of our little family. The pictures I do share of the kids will now be watermarked. They will also no longer be able to be copied from my blog. My social media accounts will be marked private so if I don't know you or I can't link you to a blog, I won't be accepting any new followers. Hopefully, these precautions will protect our little family but if in the future I find out they aren't, I'll be closing out this little space but I pray that it never comes to that. 
In the meantime, I'll be working on a post of our weekend (watermarks included!) to share one day this week. While I do that, if you have any tips for keeping your blog a bit more protected, please share!