~ June 23rd ~

These pictures were almost all taken with iPhones.
I can't wait to see what our photographers, April and Paul captured.
I'll be filling y'all in on the details soon...eeep!
We are still basking in God's goodness and blessings from this special day.
We were overwhelmed by our family and friends who drove near and far to celebrate with us.
God is good y'all.

This pic was taken by her daddy just minutes before he walked her down the aisle.

Her daddy married them. He had us laughing one minute and crying the next.

So special.

Such sweetness.  They were asking for her autograph.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul;  And all that is within me, bless His holy name!"

Psalm 103:1

Stephanie :)

Thrifty Love Gift Exchange

Do you love thrift shopping as much as I love thrift shopping?

Yep. That's what I thought.

My addiction love for thrift shopping began 21 years ago when Nick was in the Navy and we moved to Virginia Beach, Virginia.  Y'all...there were thrift stores on every corner and an entire military community that was constantly moving and therefore downsizing with each move...it made for a thrifter's  paradise. 

And don't even get me started on garbage days!  Perusing through base housing on garbage day was like hitting the jack pot...there was always someone moving out...cha ching!!...but that's another post for another day...

Today I want to tell you about this..

If you love to thrift shop and you love meeting new friends, 

then hold on to Goodwill buggy (or cart for you Northern girls)...

You will SO want in on this!

These amazing ladies right here let me tag along on this fun adventure...

Here's what you will need to know...

so what is this thrifty love gift exchange?

a fun new way to get to know some fantastic bloggers who share a love for thrifting!

get paired up, hit the thrift shop for that perfect little treasure, and send it to your new bff.

if you are interested in participating (and I know you are), here's what you need to know:

1. send an email to carina at punkpumpkinpeanut {at} gmail {dot} com by july 5

2. include a link to your blog and a mailing address (only to be shared with your match up!)

you'll get your match no later than july 10. 

at that point you can get to know your new blog buddy and set to thrifting!

spending limit is $10, which is like lottery winnings at the right shop.

all packages should be in the mail no later than july 25.

if it turns out you can't participate, please let carina know by july 20 so we can set your match up with another buddy!

get your blog posts ready with a full report of your thrifty love for a huge blog link up on august 6

{exchange open to U.S. residents}

hosted by hannah, danielle, sarah, jami, heather, esther, stephanie and carina!

Eeeep!  Ain't it gonna be fun?!!

A new friend and one more reason to hit the thrift store.

Love it.

Stephanie :)

ps. wedding pics are coming...I  promise!!

But here's a little sneak peak..

Fun City

Have you ever been to Fun City?

I highly recommend it.

Here are a few things we did while visiting...

Took in the sights... so cute I could eat her!

Discovered Lauren was a baby whisper.
She has the touch y'all.

Giggled a lot..

When you visit Fun City... i also highly recommend you pray for a power outage!   We would have missed out on some serious fun if that hadn't happened.

Movies in the middle of the day are fun.

Look at this face....I mean, is that a stud muffin or what?!  He is super fun.

Here are a few more things we did in Fun city.

Met a real live princess and discovered banana phones are all the rage among the royals.

"Ello"

Pulled out the play-doh..

Kicked it old school....

Enjoyed the live entertainment...
Roslayn, "Whatever you do... TRUST GOD!"
Jules, "Aaaaaa-MEN!"
(yay to their vbs teachers!....they "got it")

Even medicine time is awesome while at Fun City...

Kicked it old school some more.

Prayed for no more broke legs...
Cuz everyone knows super high heels are the shoe of choice at Fun City.

And hanging out in Honey's lap is THE place to sit while at Fun City.....According to Julia Rose that is.  lol This is me trying to slip in a little wedding project stuff at the kitchen table.  Jules didn't fall for it.  Oh well.

Riding on Mr. Bill's Ranger is a must!!  Super FUN.

Naps are fun.

4-wheeler riding with Paw Paw several times a day is crazy fun.

Playing outside is fun. 

Picnics with Aunt Lauren are fun.

Sisters are fun.

Saying the blessing is fun.

Pouting when it's time to come in is not fun.

Even not being able to sleep after Nate's 3:30 am wake up call can be fun...when you make a pot of coffee, and get a BUNCH done in the wee hours of the morning while everyone else is sleeping.

Getting my hair did is fun...was a little nervous though cuz "my girl" whose been doing my hair for like 6 years just had a baby and I had to find someone else one week before the wedding.  FUN!

It turned out great..(whew) and she even styled it straight which is something I NEVER do.

My momma saw the pic on ig titled "My new do"....so she asks me, "You're not doing it like that for the wedding, huh?"   No mom. I'm not. .....gotta love her.   I AM gonna get that  bumper sticker one day.  Loni...keeping it real since 43.   Yep.  Fun City.

Had a little photo shoot with Nate Dog.  I have portraits of all three of my girls in a washtub when they were this age.  And then I got the grand-girls portraits made at this age.  So it was Nate's turn.  Only this time, I took them myself.  This was the only time I pulled out my super fancy new Nikon D90 all week.... and even still,  this pic here was taken with the my iPhone of the pic through the camera's viewfinder!...

Paw Paw's lap is fun.

"Hold me Honey" was hands down the most heard words of the entire week.  I loved it.
 Super Fun City.

Here we are wrapping up our Fun City trip "Grandkids edition".

Very appropriate it ended with Jules in my lap. lol.

Her sister and brother were conked out sleeping while we waited for their mom and dad to meet us.

My little monkey got her some Honey time in all the way to the very end.

Fun City!

Stephanie :)

This and That and Moving Day

**I sat down to write this on Monday while grand babies were napping.  Then they woke up.  SO I was gonna finish it that night.  Then the electricity went out.  Didn't even try yesterday cuz I was operating on a few hours sleep.  I'm still wearing the same pajamas from Monday night and today is Wednesday...... You mommas of pre-schoolers and babies ROCK!!... especially my daughter!  SHe is a ROCK STAR!  She's blessed with three sweeties ages 3, 2 and 9months old.  

Wow. Fun stuff but I am pooped I tell you!

**********************************************

The wedding is 12 10 days away and honestly and unbelievably, 

 I am chilled out and enjoying the ride.

It's God's grace I tell you.

Here are a few of the fun things we've been up to..

We had some one on one with Lydia that made the middle child in her smile!

We shopped, we laughed, we went to a movie and then had a little  pig out fest.

I celebrated God's grace in our family once again as my momma had her 41st  "New-Birthday".

I sent her a text with the little jingle that a sweet friend just shared with me on mine...

Happy Birthday to you,

One birth will not do.

Born again in Christ Jesus,

Happy Birthday to you.

This is the text she sent back to me.

God is so good.

I don't take for granted what a gift He has given to me in my mom.

Then me and Lydia had a bridal photo shoot...

I wish I could show you some of that but that is top secret!

Even her daddy hasn't seen her dress.

But OH MY GOODNESS....

She looked beautiful!!
It got me so pumped up for this wedding!  

Was totally wiped out after that...(you photographers ROCK too!!) and I think I got the best night's sleep ever! I so did not want to get up and then it hit me........

I get to see the grand kids today!   

Woo Hoo!  That changed things. Perspective is a powerful motivator.

I was like a kid on Christmas morning....rip roaring ready to go!

Hence the smile.

And then just a few minutes after the above pic was taken, We discovered that our little Ace Man had passed away sometime during the early morning. He was our little 6 lb black toy poodle. 

We had him for 12 years and he was such a part of our family.

This pic was taken before he had turned gray.

We are missing him.
(all I could think was, "Embrace Stephanie...Embrace")

This event kind of shook things up
a bit but there was no time to stop and think about it at the time.
So we hopped in the car with JuJu..(you can read bout her here)

and we headed to Alabama.

Cuz it was Moving Day!  :)

Here's a touch of our weekend.

In a few words:

Cleaning, Packing, chick-fil-e, Ipads, Cleaning, Packing, Chick-fil-e, Ipads, Cleaning, packing...

When the house is packed and all the toys and tv are loaded....the iPad is ah-maz-ing!!

Like angels singing hallelujah amazing!   #lifesaver

And check out those dirty feet.  :)

Poor Paw Paw ended up on two leaky air mattresses that slid and bucked him all night long.

He never complains.  Even when he had to sleep with hot pink sheets that were dirty cuz his grand daughter had peed on them earlier....But we couldn't wash them cuz the  washer/dryer was packed up. (Surprise Hon!...in case you weren't aware of that.  But for the record, I slept with them the night before) Gross I know but you do what you gotta do. :)

On Sunday evening, once we got the entire house spic and span and the van was completely loaded,

Me, Nick and Robin sat out in the garage while the floors dried and we waited for Chris, Elizabeth and the kids to get home from the going away reception their church blessed them with.

This was the beautiful view the Lord provided for us as we waited.  

His faithfulness through all of this deserves an entire post of its own.

I hope to share with y'all soon of what all He has been up to.

Nothing in this entire process has been easy by any means...but His grace and peace  has been overwhelming.  Whew!!! We serve an awesome God!!  Makes me want to shout!

They got home around 8:00pm, we loaded up the last little bits of this and that, the kids kissed their parents goodbye and we strapped them in for ride home.  We pulled out a little after 9 and pulled into our driveway right around midnight.
After the kids slept the entire drive, they were wide awake. We were dead tired. lol

Aunt Lydia took this around 1:30 am....they were all still awake and wanting to sleep with Honey and Paw Paw.  Good times.  

Pray for me and little Nate Dog this week if you think about it.  

He still nurses and this is his first time away from his momma.  He was really missing her around 3am and again around 6am.....

I know it's now Wednesday but I'm linking up with this lovely lady anyways...

  

Stephanie :)

ps.  I promise after the wedding I have recipes and tutorials and all that stuff up my sleeve.  Until then, you get "my life". ...Right now, it's all I got.  Sorry.