Background story: So both of our kids go to their mom/dads frequently. Brian’s schedule just changed at work and because of that our whole schedule was topsy-tervied upside down. Y’all, I mean we switched from nights to days, and switched to the other side of the week. Adjusting to this schedule has me feeling like I’m experiencing jet lag. Anyway, for now we get our kids back on Sundays (the long and short of it) and today when we got the kids back we shoved 10 pounds of sand into a 5 pound bag. It was definitely unintentional but we just couldn’t stop cooking and that’s mostly what we did.
Get to the story already, right? So I’m going to show you something cool we did today. That’s right, I was a cool mom today. This was honestly an awesome change in pace since Brian is the cool parent here and I just yell and complain about everyone walking into my house with sandy feet…
So me being the cool mom I am, let my kids make COCOA PEBBLES MILK SHAKES.
Like a margarita, but better!You guys, this malt maker is older than me. (Not older than Brian though) HAHAMarek helping mom with the white chocolate dipJayce dipping his chocolate covered cup lip into the crunched Cocoa Pebbles.
Ingredients: Any kind of vanilla ice cream (we used golden vanilla), chocolate syrup, milk (we used vanilla almond milk), white chocolate chips, and Cocoa Pebbles. You can use a blender, but we used the 25 year old malt maker that was a hand-me-down from my parents. Let me just tell you, they don’t make appliances like they used to.
SUPER SIMPLE AND BRINGS SO MUCH JOY!
First: You get your cups, and melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave or on the stove. Dip the rim of your glass into the white chocolate and then dip the rip of the cup into a handful of crunched Cocoa Pebbles.
Second: Mix 3 scoops of vanilla ice cream, 2 1/2 tablespoons of chocolate syrup, and 1/2 cup of milk in a blender or malt maker. (You decide how much milk you want depending on how thick you want your shakes). While mixing, toss in a few Cocoa Pebbles into the shake itself and mix it well!
Third: Pour into the cup, and serve with a straw.
Boom! Done. So simple. So much fun. They can help, and it’s not even that big of a mess.
I grew up as a pink wearing, ballet dancing, Britney Spears loving girly girl with one other sister. There was absolutely nothing to fully prepare me for mothering two rambunctious, dirty, loud little boys. It wasn’t like I was never exposed to crazy little boys, after all my aunt and uncle had FOUR of them who we were around often. But I think just simply being around boys does not fully prepare you for parenting them. I can see all of you moms with boys out there, shaking your heads in agreement. You understand what I’m talking about with the heart that stops as they launch themselves from the top of the play set, or the scream of *insert first and middle name here* when they push their sibling off of the trampoline. Boys are just wild, and I’m not saying that girls aren’t so please don’t take offense if you have a wild girl, it’s just a different kind.
Things I didn’t know about boys before becoming a mother to boys:
You will literally need to go to the grocery store daily. Even if you do big grocery trips weekly. You need to go, every.single.day. They have hollow legs that need to be filled, I swear.
You will be wiping boogers off of walls (especially by their beds), off of your coffee tables, off of your couch, off of your kitchen counter, etc. And don’t give me that “my boys have manners so they use a tissue, they would never wipe their booger on the couch” crap… You just haven’t cleaned hard enough to find their gold that they’ve been secretly wiping everywhere around your house.
Boys are dirty. Filthy. Like completely covered from head to toes in dirt or mud. Expect rings around your bathtubs and sandboxes for your living room and bathroom floors.
Boys, MEN have a hard time aiming. If you don’t have to clean your toilets and bathroom floors daily, I need your secrets. TEACH ME YOUR WAYS. There is literally pee, everywhere.
Legos. Legos everywhere. Legos in your bed, legos in your bathtub, legos in your car. LEGOS.
You will also more than likely know each and every Ninja Turtle. Don’t worry, they will correct you if you are wrong.
Quads, dirt bikes, and anything fast. My boys love riding and I really wish they would pick a safer sport. LOL okay mom…
Jayce (5 1/2) and Marek (4). Although I’ve only birthed one of the two (the smaller one with the large head), there is something to be said about a connection between a mother and her boys. There is a certain protectiveness that my boys exhibit toward me that is like no other. Even though we have our disagreements (daily, over something stupid) they would still protect me and love me until the ends of this Earth. Their love is so honest, so kind, and so pure. They don’t hold grudges when I spank them, or when I yell. They forgive me, almost in an instant. And THAT is the kind of love I want. A love that can forgive, appreciate, and grow. I am so thankful for these two little boys.
And even though all of the stuff about boys being gross and wild is true, I truly wouldn’t have it any other way.
Disclaimer: I had to bribe them with M&M’s for these pictures. Thankfully Sarah is great with them.
Happy Wednesday ladies and gents! Wednesdays are for wedding talk, so today’s wedding scoop is going to highlight a slightly less traditional wedding “to do”- wedding websites. These are a fun and creative way for you to keep your guests updated in real time with what is going on and what to expect. It’s a good introduction where you can add a little bit of background story, let your guests know what to wear, and even give them directions and links to your wedding registries. So without further adieu, here are some basic “Dos and Don’ts” when it comes to creating your very own personalized wedding website.
Do find the right website for you.
This one is key. I ordered my invites from minted.com, but I have my wedding website created on Basic Invite. Basic Invite had a really great, easy to use, and simple website page. Do you want to know the best part? It. was. free. Yes, you read that correct, completely free. Overall what they offered for their wedding website just worked well for what I wanted.
Don’t use it strictly for RSVP’s.
Our wedding website (and most wedding websites) give you the RSVP option right there from the page. I have that feature turned on for my website, however, I am still sending out paper invites with paper RSVP’s. Let’s be honest, the elderly you are inviting to your wedding are not going to RSVP via website or anything electronic for that matter. It’s just not going to happen. As if getting your RSVP’s back before the deadline isn’t hard enough, let’s not add further stress.
Do specify dress code.
This might not be a huge deal to some, but I felt like I needed to specify that my guests cannot wear jeans to my wedding. I put something along the lines of “formal, but tuxedo’s, suits and ties are not necessary. Don’t be afraid to wear some khakis but please no jeans!”
I’m from a small town in Northern Michigan, yes. People wear jeans with skoal rings to weddings occasionally.
Don’t include information that is exclusive.
If you are having a rehearsal dinner, bridal shower, couples shower, bachelor party, bachelorette party -that information does not need to be privy to everyone that visits your page. You can let the people who should attend these events separately on the where and when for that. This will avoid mega confusion.
Do include addresses, and detailed directions.
Since most of my guests are from out of town or out of state, they are going to need all of the help they can get as far as directions go. Thankfully my venue is really in the middle of nowhere so the traffic shouldn’t be too bad and the roads being so few and far between should be pretty hard to miss. I would highly recommend putting addresses, landmarks, and road names for your guests to get to where they need to be. In many cases if you are having your wedding in a place where there are multiple buildings that need to be utilized you should mention that as well. This will help avoid any frustrations during your wedding day, and lessen the amount of people calling your parents and in-laws for directions. It’s a win-win for everyone!
Don’t forget to have fun with it! I wrote up a little blurb about the day that Brian proposed to me and included a handful of pictures just to make it fun! I wanted it to be personal and something that was fun for our guests to peak at. Again, this is kind of a sneak peak into what to expect, just like the wedding invites.
I’ll share my wedding website, in case anyone wanted to see!
Wedding invites! The first impression for everyone who will be attending your wedding. I had never really put too much thought into the invites for our wedding because after doing some research on them, holy crap are they expensive. I tried to find the cheapest website to make ours on, but I just wasn’t loving the optionsor should I say lack there of…
SO! I decided to design ours on minted.com regardless of the price. Let me tell you why…
There are quite a few websites to choose from when it comes to personalizing your wedding paper products such as Basic Invite, Shutterfly, Vista Print, etc. Minted really outdid all of these websites (IMO of course) because not only were the designs out of this world BEAUTIFUL, but they really showcased the designers of the products. I am all about giving credit where credit is due, and when you design something that looks like the invite below, you deserve to have your name printed on the back of each and every invite sent.
They also gave me the option to enter in the names and addresses of our guests to have them printed on the envelopes with some beautiful matching greenery, and the best part was this was FREE since I had a coupon code. They also have you submit your information and customize the invite, and then the designer sends you an email with your proof done for you to view. Super fast, super nice, and very easy to work with. I was impressed, but WAIT, THERE’S MORE.
When I opened the box after delivery, I found that the box had been HAND PACKED with a little note around the invites that said “packaged by Mark especially for Emma”. I just really thought this was the coolest thing since sliced bread. It made it very personal, and I love that.
So, out of all of the websites that I had visited in the invitation journey, I would recommend minted.com over and over and over again. The customer service and quality are truly worth every penny. Like I said, this is the first impression to your wedding so make sure it’s everything you want to set the tone!
A few years ago, one of my favorite local photographers Alyson Fink Photography made a post about some great books she was reading. Me being the bookworm I am immediately put them all in my cart on Amazon and ordered them because I love a good book. (Even though I probably won’t have the time to read them until I graduate in the Spring). Being a mom with two little boys, working full time, and taking classes full time doesn’t allow for much spare time to unwind with a good book before bed. I did actually pick one up after they were delivered to my house, and I’ve been working on it for almost 2 years now. I finally have been staying consistent with this one called Present over Perfect by Shauna Niequist.
I am so incredibly thankful that I’ve started reading this daily again even if it is just a 10 minute period of time to cool down and recharge after a long day. This is a book that I would HANDS DOWN recommend to anyone facing any situation in life. It is a somewhat faith-based book, but it also discusses balancing work life with home life, dealing with stress and other people’s expectations, children, marriage, careers, etc. It is incredibly eye-opening and really makes some good points that I could especially relate to. I will be honest, there have been certain paragraphs that I have read with tears welling up in my eyes. I will post some of my recent favorite excerpts below…
How beautifully written are these words that I’ve fought for the last three years to put into sentences? The reality of this page is chilling.This is the most recent chapter that I read this morning and was probably the best advice/few pages of truth about marriages and families that struggle to be juggled between work.“It’s very hard to be loved and connected to the people in your home when you’re always bringing them your most exhausted self and resenting the fact that the scraps you’re giving them aren’t cutting it” -Shauna Niequist
WOW. JUST WOW. I’ve struggled for the last few years with biting off more than I can chew with taking full time college classes on top of a full time work schedule and of course maintaining a household with two rambunctious boys and a fiancé AND planning our wedding. I count my blessings daily that Brian is an extraordinary dad. He doesn’t do the bare minimum like most dads I know, in fact he spends more full days with the kids than I do. He cooks dinner most nights when I have class, he cleans up after dinner and does the dishes. He plays with the kids, does homework, and gets them ready for bath, teeth brushing, book and then bed. He is the glue that holds me together. Without him I would be a frantic mess, unable to spread myself far enough to get everything done. He rarely (almost never) does anything for himself, never goes on “guy nights” doesn’t play poker with his friends, almost never even takes a break. He is fully committed to this family. I can’t count on both hands and feet how many times he’s walked into the bedroom while I’ve been trying to finish a midterm or final exam at 11 pm, and I’ve just looked up and cried. Cried because I’m exhausted. I’m exhausted because I have to get up in a few hours to go back to work, exhausted because the kids didn’t want to eat their dinner, exhausted because I feel so awful about not spending enough time with my kids in this critical time in their growing experiences. But every night I am reassured that I am a good mom, and I’m getting my degree to show my kids that hard work pays off. I am reassured that I am enough, and that he will always be here for me to cry on. I am blessed.
I digress… The book has brought me to a more level place mentally. It has opened up some doors for fixing the problems that have come up in my life. It has again reassured me that it is OKAY to say NO. It is okay to be busy, but that no matter how busy you are family will always come first. It also showed me that I am not alone in this struggle of the working mom or parent. I am not alone in feeling like I am spread too thin. I am not alone in feeling like I am not enough. I AM a good mom, I AM a good student, and I AM a good employee. I am enough, I am worthy.
Let’s talk wedding footwear for a moment. Although they are hidden by your gown most of the night, they are still a crucial part of your wedding day look. Now, anyone that knows me knows that I am like my mother and also my late grandma Marge. We love heels! As one of the most influential designers in high-end footwear once said, “The higher the better. It’s more about an attitude. High heels empower women in a way.” – Christian Louboutin
So of course I took that to heart, and although I wish I was about to write about my beautiful pair of Louboutin’s for my wedding day, the $1,295.00 pair that stole my heart were just not in the budget. (They were in fact about $1,095.00 over budget for wedding shoes I might add, HA!)
I DID however splurge a little more than anticipated and bought some GORGEOUS Badgley Mischka’s that were much more in my budget.
Now I will be completely honest, they are not the most comfortable shoes in the world but how could I pass these up!? They are everything I wanted to complete my fairy tale look and I am so stoked. I’ve worn them around the house, and I of course had to go stand in them for over an hour while I was fitted for my dress alterations and since then they’ve broken in a little bit better making them more comfortable.
See?! I’ve been wearing them at home (peep my cute jammie pants)
Thankfully they are much more broken in since this first day I had them on.SO IN LOVE WITH THEM.
Are these the most practical wedding shoes? No. Thankfully my reception is indoors so I won’t have to worry about the grass, etc. Since the wedding ceremony itself is outdoors however, I did order these on amazon:
$10, and great (and somewhat comical) reviews! Almost 5 stars!
So I am waiting for these to get here so I can try them out in my own yard. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Next week I’ll be back with some updates on the preparation for my themed bachelorette party with some sneak peaks of my dress for that!
I have been mulling over this post for quite some time, and because of that I’m hoping that I can successfully organize my thoughts on here for you guys! With that being said, I truly I think that money is something that almost everyone struggles with at some point in time whether it be for a week, 10 years, or their whole life. Becoming a mom at the age of 19 really pushed me into the adult life quicker than I was prepared for, but you learn to roll with the punches. Ever since then I have been slowly compiling different ideas and ways to become more “thrifty” if you will, on how to save money (especially around the house).
During my pregnancy I was working as a barista for a local coffee shop making minimum wage. I had moved out of my parents very comfortable home and into a small cabin. When I say small cabin, I mean like 480 sq ft small with one bedroom, miniature kitchen, and small bathroom that you can hardly stand in -small. Since then we’ve come a long way and here are a few tricks to making the most of what you’ve got and allowing for your money to stretch further.
Stop eating out.
This is probably the most difficult tip for me. There is nothing I love more than going out and grabbing a nice dinner, or picking up a pizza because lets face it, I don’t feel like cooking after work and homework. A few months ago I did a little bit of research on how much I was spending on fast food, take out, etc. I kept every receipt and tallied it all up on the 30th of the month. I was absolutely shocked and saddened by the total amount that I was staring at. $325.00. THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS. Yes, in ONE MONTH, and yes, ON FAST FOOD OR TAKE OUT. I thought to myself, “Um, Emma? That’s almost your entire car payment….” No. This could not happen anymore. This was a reality check/wake up call. So, if you’re struggling with saving or having enough money to go around, revisit or at least pay better attention to the amount of money you’re spending on food that is not prepared in your home. It’s cheaper to make your own dinner and typically much more healthy.
Just a few of our homemade meals that cost under $12 to make for a family of 4. The most costly thing is the organic chicken that we eat. No antibiotics, no hormones, etc. My favorite part is they take a half hour or less to make!
Cut out the unnecessary bills.
I have never paid for cable, direct TV, Dish, or Charter a day in my life. To be honest with you, I don’t really care for TV in general and I can’t justify paying for a TV service just to watch commercials every 5 minutes. The only reason I can even THINK about possibly paying for TV in the future would be for sports channels. Oh how I miss watching the Red Wings and the Tigers.
Another thing would be to look at anything small that isn’t necessary. All of the small things add up, and here is a running list of some small little things that were costing a huge amount of money when piled together: Scentbird, Amazon Music, Netflix or Hulu, Insurance on you cellphone (this one is totally up to you, but it was costing me $15 a month which was just ridiculous), any other memberships that you aren’t using such as gym membership. Internet, (well this one is probably a stretch but if you’re really tight on money the internet might have to go).
Have a yard/garage sale and purge things you don’t use.
One of the things I have always loved is a good home purge. I am my mothers child and if it is no use to me, throw it away. After watching my mother in law make several hundreds of dollars from her yard sale, I figured “hmm, what a good way to get rid of things to free up space in my home and have a few hundred extra dollars to put in my savings or throw towards my car payment?” It’s literally a win-win for everyone. So, I’ve been gathering clothes, toys, and miscellaneous things that we do not play with/wear/use anymore and I am going to lay it all out in the driveway and sell it to people who have more room for it. I’m actually pretty excited to see how it all goes over.
As you can see, my children have more toys than they even know what to do with. They have so many toys they can’t even find the ones they’re looking for because there are too many. We went through (after this photo) and cleaned out over half of the toys in their room for our yard sale.
Cut down your electricity.
This one is simple. Hang your clothes instead of running the dryer. Shut lights off when you walk out of a room. (Still trying to train my boys on this one). Turn TV’s off when you leave the room. Cut down on phantom electricity such as, unplugging toaster, coffee pot, and chargers when not in use. I’m not kidding, with electricity every little bit helps.
Avoid going inside the gas station.
I always pay at the pump. If I go into the gas station, it’s game over. I come out with gum, a candy bar, three bags of chips, a pop, and a slushy. It’s best if I just pay outside since I’m an impulse buyer.
These are just some of the basics and a few easy ones to avoid doing in order to save yourself some money.
It was definitely hard to wake up and come back to work this morning after having 4 days off last week/weekend. The fourth of July always flies, and even though we went and saw two different sets of fireworks shows, shot off our own fireworks, had a cookout with our neighbors, and spent at least 3 days on the lake it STILL doesn’t feel like the fourth of July has come and gone. Time flies when you’re having fun, right?
So I will leave you with some pictures and updates on how our week was after the fourth. I think I previously stated in the last update post that I hardly took any pictures over the fourth because we were having too much fun… So…
Brian and the boys down at Lake Michigan looking for beach glassExcuse my face and hair, but we were having a blast hunting for beach glass at Magoon Creek in Manistee on Friday!Dozer, our 152 lb Bullmastiff loves the fireworks we set off in the driveway
On Saturday morning we set out for an adventure to Bear Lake, courtesy of Captain Bob.
Jayce, Bella, and Marek ready to go tubing behind the Bennington!The carefree summer vibes that both Brian and I grew up with… So thankful to pass that on to our kidsJayce and Bella fishing off of the dockBrian and Captain Bob in the MastercraftJayce in his big boy Kayak. We are excited to train in the lakes for a year or so before hitting the river
So in a nutshell, that was our weekend. Sunday we laid around and caught up on chores because we were so tired and sore and sun-kissed from the previous day on Bear Lake. Winding down from a fun weekend is always hard on a Monday morning but it makes me that much more excited for the weekend to follow!
This weekend I am going with my mom and sister for my dress fitting (whoops, I forgot to lose the extra 10 pounds that I wanted). I say that as I sit here eating mashed potatoes and gravy.
I’ll be back later this week to share some of my tips on meal prep for the week with two boys and a fiance as well as a review of a date night restaurant that we are going to try in Ludington on Saturday night.
I bought this cute little hanger for my wedding dress THE NIGHT that I got engaged. I ordered it from Hanger Design Center and I am so in love with it! Originally our colors for the wedding were going to be navy blue, hence the blue ribbon up top. However, since then things have changed and we went with burgundy and blush. I still love the blue for my hanger though.
There is just something about seeing “Mrs. Pendrick” written in real life that just gives me the butterflies. I cannot wait to see my dress hanging on this soon! 91 more days until we say “I do” at the top of Crystal Mountain Resort!
If that doesn’t accurately describe our life as of recent, then I don’t know what would…
I haven’t written in weeks because we have just been SO BUSY. June was full of birthday parties for us. My sister, my sister in law, my dad, and Brian turned 30 29 (again) this year! To top that off, I am taking four, yes I said FOUR online courses for college trying to get this degree done with. Oh yeah, and working still full time.
So it’s been pretty hectic!
So with that being said, I will leave some pictures of Bri’s 30th, (I mean 29th) as well as some photos from the 4th of July parade that we were in and also some random photos from the last 2 weeks.
(We didn’t take many pictures from the 4th because we were trying this new thing called “being present” with out children instead of having our phones out the entire time the fireworks were going off like everyone else did.) Rest assured, even though there are no pictures proving so, our boys had the time of their lives this week.
29 again……Ice cream cake with our triplet nieces and boys for Brian’s birthday partyAren’t these birthday cookies the cutest?! ABC Cookie made them, right out of Manistee, MI!These were on sale on Etsy, still in love with them.Riding the crane in the parade!“Don’t strain, call Zupin Crane”
That’s all until tomorrow when I show off a few more of my favorite wedding pieces, as well as the production of our wedding table center pieces!
Picking up the Pendricks 