Hi Y'all

I just wanted to pop in and say Hi!
 As of this post we now have 36 days left until the wedding!!!!

Are we ready? Uh...no.  Do we have everything made? Uh....heck no.  

Am I starting to get a little nervous? Uh... Y to the E to S!!!!!  Big Time.  

But I do know from past experience it will get done and what doesn't get done was never supposed to be. (one of you that reads this who will actually be here the week of the wedding, please remind me that I said that...OK?!!.   Thanks)

I've been absent on here but very present in all the wonderful stuff that has been going on around here in my daughter's lives.  The biggie lately was  Lauren's graduation!

I'm gonna share about all that in a different post but here is a peek...

So proud of her.

I can't wait to share the rest of her big day of celebration!

I mentioned in my last post that we were taking a girls trip in Lauren's honor ....

Kind of a very mini Senior Trip.

As usual, we had some fun things planned.

The first item of business was that from the moment the car pulled out of the driveway, 

No one could say the word "Wedding" or talk of anything related!

Poor Lauren's major milestone of graduating kind of got lost under the Wedding shadow so we wanted to make sure this trip was all about HER!! Woo hoo.

So I bought a stamp with a graduation cap on it and whenever anyone said the buzz word, they got stamped!  Talk about hard!!

It wasn't long into the journey that Lydia already had acquired two stamps!

Our traditional "Woo Hoo Let's roll and get this party started" pic.

 We also had special hat's for Lauren to wear throughout the weekend.

Here was her first beauty....

(the funny thing is my mom actually loved this for reals when she saw it. lol)

Poor Lauren actually wore this one into Starbucks.  She's such a good sport.

Then we introduced her to Little Miss Lauren.
All you instagram buddies saw all of her adventures from that weekend...
Whenever we traveled by car, she took her rightful position on the dashboard.
You shoulda seen her little head bobbing to the music.

She popped up in some crazy places...

We discovered Little Miss Lauren liked Target as much as the real Lauren.

 On our way to our destination we stopped for pics on the Louisiana boot.
We've been taking pics here since the girls were little.  ~sigh
Oh...and I forgot to mention Nate Dog got to hang out with us on the trip.
One of the perks of being nursed...you go where momma goes.

This was so sad...missed our favorite store by 15 minutes!!!
They were closed on Sunday when we drove back through :(
(If you ever see one of these stores....GO!  Their jewelry prices are phenomenal!)

Super stoked in this pic....about to see the Avengers!!

Let's hear it for the great grandparents and nursing momma of an 8 month old for going to the 11:30 pm show!!!  Woo hoo!  They hung in there all the way to 3am when we got finally got home!
(this was opening night when we saw it and the line went on for mile.. so  a big thanks to guy who gave us his seat on  a bench for Elizabeth to sit with our gigantic baby....chivalry lives on folks!)

 And the movie was amazing by the way.

And after getting in bed around 3:30am we wake up to this delicious breakfast..
My mom is the bomb y'all.  The best!

And here is Lauren's next hat she had to wear. :)

Nate thought her hat was pretty rad.

"NO wedding talk all weekend" update:
Surprisingly, we were all doing good.  I think I scared them to death with what the loser had to do. hehe. Lydia is in the lead, then me and then my mom.  Lauren had no problem with this challenge.

It's trips like these when I could kick myself in the butt for trading in the minivan for a car.
Three grown folks  AND a car seat back there.    Bless them.

We surprised Lauren with lunch at Cheddars.  So yummy.
We gave my momma a refresher course on iPhone 101 over lunch..
She was a happy camper.

The we headed off to the biggie of the weekend.
You see when we go to Shreveport, it's to stay at my moms but this trip we surprised her with a staying in a hotel right on the boardwalk!!  She was totally surprised!

Before we hit the boardwalk we had a few things planned..

Here's her next party hat...

Time for a little pampering and relaxation!  So we slipped our pj's on in the middle of the day and indulged ourselves.  (Well we did.... Lydia worked her booty off )

My momma had her own little party with her new heel scraper thingy that was in her goody bag.
I can't tell you how excited those things make her.  She gets giddy. lol.

Little Momma and Nate Dog had their own kind of party.  Pretty awesome.

After all that,  it was time to step outside the front door of our accommodations and start shopping on the Boardwalk. In Lauren's word's..."Gosh, I feel so wealthy".
It was fun to pretend for a day this is how we normally roll.

 Nate Dog chillin in his ride.

 Then we settled in for the night with a little pool time..

some sister hot tubbin

  And some MAJOR indulgence from Copelands Cheesecake Bistro.

We were like vultures y'all. lol

Then it was time for Maw Maw Loni's Prince Charming to come pick her up.
(she didn't get to spend the night... I know. Boo.)
So we had to count up the stamps to see who the loser was.


And the prize goes to.......

Lydia! 

I don't know if I was just tired or in a merciful mood cuz I deviated from the original plan....she was supposed to put her bridal veil on and skip through the lobby singing "I'm going to the chapel and I'm gonna get married" but instead, I let her just walk her maw maw down through the lobby in pj's with the veil on. She still got a lot of looks.  :) hee hee.

We said our goodbyes to Loni...

Packed up the next day and headed home.
They all slept while I drove. Dislike.  I couldn't crank up my jams cuz Nate Dog was snoozing.

But hitting Starback's happy hour was the perfect ending to a perfect trip.

I think the graduate loved it.
Fun times:)

Hope y'all have a happy weekend.
Mine won't be quite as eventful as this one was.
Except for the fact that Blakey-Poo' s baseball team is playing for the State Championship tomorrow!!
He's a humble guy and would never say this...but he's kinda a big deal on the team.
He pitched a no-hitter a couple of weeks ago and then pitched one where they only got off 1 hit.
 Hoping for a BIG win tomorrow!!

Stephanie :)

#aprilphotoaday...kinda sorta

Well folks, I did 9 out of 30 days this month.

Good thing I'm not OCD or this would be driving me crazy. lol

Here's what I got:

Day one:  Your reflection

Day two:  color

Day three: mail

Day four: someone who makes you happy (my church family)

Day five: tiny (my elf salt and pepper shakers)

then skip to

Day sixteen: flower (obvious in full swing wedding mode, hence the skipping of days 6-15)

Day seventeen: something I don't like  (cracked windshields and driving in the rain. boo)

Day eighteen: hair (loving my Bits of Splendor sparrow bobby pin...wear it all the time)

Day nineteen: orange

Maybe I'll do better in May.  Hmmm...we'll see.

I turn a year older this Month so it's a favorite month for me. And I've got a project that I've been working on a little every day since my last birthday.  Can't wait to share it!!  Squeal!!

I'm about to pack the car for a road trip with my girls in honor of our lovely graduate....

Miss Lauren Alexis Holden

Lauren's picture is pretty much how we all feel about the trip!

We be excited!!  

Can't wait to fill y'all in on all the fun stuff we have up our sleeve :)

Follow me on instagram to watch it all unfold (honeyholden)

....the Holden girls are instagramming fools.

Hope y'all have a great weekend too!

I still gotta go pack my clothes. The need for a bathing suit might be required at some point this weekend and that scares the life out of me!  I'm not ready to be seen in a bathing suit. I  told my friend, Denise, this morning that even though I have retired my Wonder Woman "hat"....I sho wish I could fit in her costume!!  

Stephanie :)

Coming to Grips

I've come to grips with two things this week.

1. I need reading glasses.

So not thrilled about this.  Not so much cuz it means I'm getting older but because my eyesight already stinks. Serious nearsightedness.  I can't see a thing without my contacts or glasses.  I mean, I can't even tell if Nick's eyes are open or shut when we are lying next to each other in the bed.  Without my contacts, my world is a big blur.  So...I really, really, really wasn't ready to enter into the world of having to keep up with reading glasses too. Boo.  But the fact that  every time someone hands me something to read, I have to hold it back in order for it to focus has propelled me to take the plunge.

I WILL be on the hunt for some super cute ones though...
Like these funky ones...



Or maybe some with major bling...

Probably need some in every color to match with my outfits....


Although, these were hands down the cutest reading glasses I discovered...


Okay...enough of that.

I told you I've come to grips with two things this week...

1. I need reading glasses

2. I'm not Wonder Woman

I have come to realize that I am on the fast track to Crazyville if I don't slow down and jump off the train. I am in a crazy, wonderful, bittersweet season right now and up to my eyeballs in wedding projects x's1000 and graduation party plans, senior table displays, custom orders in my Etsy shop and shipments to be mailed out. As much as I thrive on the excitement and love planning festivities and thoroughly enjoy creating pretty things, I've noticed lately I'm losing the joy in it all.... and I'm a little , no... a lot  stressed out and it's my family who is paying the price.  Not good.  Something's gotta give.

I've already experienced planning a wedding with our oldest daughter, the joy of her wedding day and the bittersweetness of her leaving the nest and then eventually her moving several hours away.  So I totally understand how precious this time and season is with our middle daughter...that life as we know it with her here in our home is seriously coming to an end.

And I know how exciting and monumental this season is for our youngest daughter as she is about to reach her first major milestone in her life as she graduates from high school and moves on to the next phase of her life.  I want her to feel and experience every bit of excitement that her two sisters did...even though it's all wedding mode around here.


And my shop is busting at the seams with orders and I have so many ideas that I want to implement and create.  The Lord has used this shop in a way that is beyond what I could have ever imagined. He has used it to be a vessel to provide for all the extra expenses during this wedding/graduation season.  And the people I've met and the stories they have shared about their lives, their ministries and the reasons they chose the hymn necklace they did or why it's their favorite....well that is like the cherry on top.  It has enriched me beyond what  I deserve.

So how do I do it ALL?

I can't.

I was given great advice early in our ministry...I was told to ask myself when I was faced with another thing or opportunity to add to my plate...

is there anyone else in the world that can do this job other than me?

• Is there anyone else who can be Nick's wife?  No...I'm the one the Lord chose for that honor.
• Is there anyone else who can be Lydia and Lauren's mom and help prepare them for the new seasons they are about to enter?   No.  That is my job.. what I was created to do as I was blessed to carry  them in my womb and raise them for a season. 
• Is there anyone else who can make necklaces with hymn lyrics on them and cute headbands?  Ummmm..Yes. As a matter of fact  just search Etsy and I'm sure you will find something similar.

So there ya have it... as much as I'm loving The Honey Pot Shop and creating things that have blessed me in so many ways, I need to "close up shop" temporarily.....at least until after the wedding.

Because...
I don't want to miss one single thing of the next 6 weeks.
I don't want lose the joy of the incredible season we are in.
I don't want to be stressed out trying to keep up with it all.
I don't want my girls to think back to this season and the main memory they have is me going crazy, eating  Flaming Hot Cheetos by the bagfuls  to handle the stress.

And....
I do want to savor every second of this special time.
I do want both my daughters to look back and remember all the giggles, all the silliness and all the love.
I do want to soak up these last few weeks with Lydia in our home.
I do want to celebrate every thing about Lauren that she has achieved....without distractions.
I do want my girls to look back and think their mom handled this very hectic time in our family with strength and dignity and grace.

So if there was anything you were eyeballing in my shop run over and get it cuz come this weekend it will be on vacation mode and you will have to wait til the end of June to get it!! (I will tell you that when I reopen after the wedding I'm gonna have some amazing new goodies that I've been dying to show y'all!!  Can't wait!)

Oh.. and the morning that my husband and I discussed this decision and he encouraged me to close up shop and not to worry about the extra money it is providing... I checked the mailbox and this was in it. There was no note from the sweetheart who sent it but I have a pretty good idea who I think is responsible!  This message couldn't have come at a more perfect time.

So thankful for His grace. Oh my goodness am I thankful.

This baby is getting matted and framed asap to hang in my living room for me to see 

every. single. day.

Well, let me go...
I have several hundred invitations to assemble, address and stamp  :)

Stephanie :)

ps. Lydia informed me that I am still Wonder Woman....I'm just an old Wonder Woman. Ha.

I'll take that :)

(oh, and all the pics except for the last two are from the lovely Pintrest)