Things heard this week in the Reese house

~"If he poops, I'm jumping out of here"

~"Text him that you bought him M&M's and I bet he won't be mad anymore"

~"We only get $100 to spend this weekend, Mom?"

~"Did you just ask me if you are ONLY getting $100 to spend?  Don't let me forget to smack you when we get out of this car."

~"I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and Gavin was playing in his room."

~"Ummmm, Gavin slept in my bed all night.  No one was in his room."  Yikes and Creepy

~"You fell asleep and bunnied twice.  I got up because it smelled weird."

~"What kind of two year old wants to watch Gangnam Style videos all day?"

~"But it's our night off."

~"I want overtime!"

Target Does it Again

So people ask Katy and I all the time how we find out about our deals and where we do a lot of our shopping. Ummmm Target baby!! I would have to say that over half of our scores come from that lovely "red" store! But we do cheat a little bit! We both follow "targetdoesitagain" on instagram and Pinterest. You can click here to follow them on Pinterest. These two friends are amazing at finding cute but cheap clothes, shoes, and accessories. Here are a few of their pictures...

These great gift-bags start at just 99 cents! 

Here is some cute Valentines Day garland for $7

Target always has the cutest shoes and these are no exception! Loving these pink sneakers!

Not only do they have cute adult clothes, their kids clothes are just as adorable! These toddler jeans are only $4!

You can also click here to follow Target on Webstagram! And if you do the whole instagram thingy you can just put "targetdoesitagain" in your search and they should pop right up! They are already showing some of the spring line which is to die for!

**All of the pictures are from Target Does It Again on Pinterest**

Looking "nerdy" is cool now? Ok... I'll go with it!

I feel like I'm getting old... well, I guess I am, huh?  I'm not getting any younger!  It started with my hands.  They are scaly, dry (no matter how much lotion I put on) and look like they should belong to a 60 year old.  Sorry Momma!  I know 60 isn't old but my hands don't match the "look" I'm going for... which is "hip and youngish."  The next thing that started aging too quickly for my liking is... my dag-on face.  Now that sucks!  Around my eyes and mouth are these... these... wrinkles.  I hate it!  Don't worry, I don't have enough money for botox so I won't be getting any work done.  I will just have to go with it!  BUT the most recent issue I've had is my eyesight.  I'm not too bummed about it, though, because I was able to get some nerdy glasses which my oldest daughter said "was totally cool."  Not only are they cool but they cover up my wrinkly eyes.  Double score!!!!

I picked my new specks up from the eye doctor yesterday and I've been struttin' around ever since.  They are a really cute accessory to my outfits... and you can never have too many accessories.  Lucky for me, the place I purchased them from was having a great sale, so I brought home two pairs of neat-o glasses.

Leopard Prints and Scarves

So I want to show off my new shirt that I found on the 70% off rack in Target yesterday! For those of you that want to get some good deals, head to Target NOW! They have tons of racks from 30% to 70% off, which includes jackets, pants and shirts. I was in heaven when I walked in and saw all those wonderful red signs!

So here is my find!!! I love love love this shirt. I can wear it any time of the year.

I paired it with one of my favorite accessories that I wear all year long. For some that may find it a bit different, a scarf makes an awesome summer accessory! Then I decided to go for my leopard print flats. They are still going strong after 4 years!!

As Katy always says,  "Remember... it doesn't have to match, it just has to GO." She is so right! Oh and my new shirt was just $9.99! Not thrift store cheap but not to shabby for a brand new shirt. 

Birds, Candles, Flowers... Oh My!

Let me start off by saying that I am in love with my house. It's spacious, homey, and has enough rooms for my many bugs and tutus. Not to mention that it is one street over from my mom and my sister's houses. Perfect!  My husband and I purchased our home in April but didn't move in til the end of June because we had the whole place remodeled.  The house was built in 1929 and it didn't look like it had been changed one since.... until the Reeses showed up.  We hired an AMAZING contractor who worked every day from morning into the night, to make sure that we (his friends from elementary school) had a beautiful and safe home.  I wish I had some before pictures but I don't know where my husband put them.  I will, however, show you some newer pictures of our home.

Below Left: Living Room   Right:  Harry Potter TV room (upstairs)

Below:  Gavin and Kingston's Room

Below: Kitchen (will be getting cabinet knobs in the future)

Below: Kitchen Island (old cabinet turned floating island.)  Found on the side of the road.  Just added knobs, wheels, and painted with a crackle finish.  Ta da!

Below:

My Reading Nook (favorite room of the house)

Table (from TJ Maxx $175) Chairs (from thrift store $60 each)

I love decorating my new (to me) home.  My favorite place to shop for homey, shabby chic things to beautify my house is TJ Maxx The Home Goods Store on the boulevard.  I could get in major trouble in there if I didn't have my husband to say "ok, Katy.... We don't want the show Hoarders knocking on our door, do we?" "I'm not a hoarder!" I say... with my arms crossed.  ....but I do like lots of decorations in each room.  My husband would be perfectly fine with a couch, TV, Fridge, and a bathroom.  No decor at all.  That's a man for ya!  Me?  Nope!  I want cute, cozy looking things as far as the eye can see.

Left: "to file" and "to do" bill holder $24, Candle Jar $7, little pitcher with flowers (yardsale) $4 

Right: wooden bird $12, wire basket $4

White Platter $12 and White Pitcher $12  

Left: Tall squiggly things for my vase $5  Right: Open chest ($12) holding candle & picture (frame: $4)

New Laundry Room baskets for $9.  

I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into my home.  As I add finishing touches to the other rooms in my house, I will post pictures.

~But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua 24:25

Eggless Cooking. Who Knew?

So last night before bed the kids requested pancakes for breakfast for the following day. Of course I said yes! Well this morning when I woke up I realized that I had no eggs! What!?! I always have a stash of eggs somewhere in my refrigerator but for some reason this morning they were gone; magically disappeared! Needless to say I was regretting having to tell my children that the pancakes were a no go.

Then I got to thinking, yea I do that occasionally, maybe I can google "pancake recipe with no eggs." And I did just that! I couldn't believe my eyes! There were tons and tons of websites that had different recipes for no eggs. Now I was on the search of a decent reviewed one. That's when I came across www.egglesscooking.com. Who knew! She had an amazing pancake recipe that I am going to share with you. But if you are ever in the need of some eggless cooking recipes, that's the place to go!


Ingredients:

1 cup of wheat flour
1 teaspoon of sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup of milk
1 tablespoon veggie oil
1 tablespoon of water
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of butter

Directions:

Whisk together the dry ingredients.

Mix together the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

Stir in the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Do not over-mix. Lumps are okay! Set aside.

Heat your griddle at medium-high. Once pan is hot add your butter and let it melt.

Add the melted butter to your pancake batter and return pan to the stove. Mix the butter into the batter.

When the pan is hot enough start pouring your pancakes. I always do one at a time. Cook until bubbles appear on the side facing up.

Carefully flip until pancakes are golden brown.

Enjoy!!

***Also you can add anything you want to yours! I usually add blueberries are chocolate chips :)

Don't they look YUMMY!

The kids sure enjoyed them!

Jcrew Knockoffs!

A huge fad going on right now is what people call the "Jcrew" necklace. You really can wear it with anything. Just head over to Pinterest and type in "Jcrew Necklace" and you will see! Here is a picture of an actual Jcrew necklace, which can cost you about $150.00. A bit pricey for my taste!!!

So over Christmas break when we were in Arkansas I found a store in the local mall that sold knockoff  Jcrew necklaces so I bought one for Katy. If you didn't know, she has been obsessing over them for quite some time! I only paid about $20.  Her necklace looks exactly like the one above. 

I really do like these necklaces, but those who know me, its a bit much. So while searching Etsy I found a shop (if interested click here) that sold these knockoff necklaces. They also sold smaller versions! I was in heaven. So I decided to purchase a few. Here they are!!

I cant wait to put them with my outfits!!! They will make a great accessory throughout the entire year! 

Oh and I paid $17.00 for both of these!!! There are plenty of other shops on Etsy that sell the exact same thing! Hope you join in America's new obsession!

All Striped Out!

Every time people come over we hear the same question, "How in the world did you paint those stripes on your wall?" Well here here ya go...

I really thought my husband was going to kill me during it because it took him forever to measure and draw the lines. After doing some Pinterest research (you can see my inspiration here), I knew that I wanted about foot wide stripes. I left all that math up to my husband. For those that know me, math is no where near my strongest subject!

So Anthony explained to me exactly how he was able to figure out how many stripes were needed and once he explained the process it was really simple! All he did was measure the length of the wall. Once we figured out the wall was about 17 ft long, he knew that we were going to need 17 stripes! So from the end of wall he started measuring out a foot and so on.

Measuring out the stripes

I was so excited because I didn't think it was going to be that simple! Well I learned that it wasn't that simple at all. Measuring out the 17 stripes was the easy part. Now it was time to draw level vertical lines over and over again. Thank goodness my husband is one patient fella! He used a yardstick that also had a leveler in it. That helped the process a lot. I think it took him about two hours to finish drawing the lines.

Drawing the lines

Once the lines were complete it was time to tape and paint! I definitely was left with the easy part. Oh and if it looks a little dark in this picture, it was! We were actually in the middle of a hurricane and the lights went out! But do you think that stopped me?? Not one bit!! I just painted on. We eventually had to pack up and head to my parents because the power stayed off for about 3 days. But I got the project done!!

Painting!

Here is the finished project! I love love love my wall!

Did y'all have to eat the stupid apple?

Who hates to do laundry?  ME! ME! ME!  I dread the stinkin' pile that accumulates on my laundry room floor.  With 8 people living in my home, the dirty clothes would reach the ceiling if I didn't wash clothes every day.  And people, there are 5 girls in this house that loves to play dress-up.... so I can count on each girl having 2 "dirty" outfits per day.  And by dirty, I mean a "worn for a minute but too lazy to hang back up in the closet so I will just throw it in the dirty clothes for mom to wash" outfit.  Ugh!  It wouldn't be so bad if laundry didn't have 4 stages.  Washing, drying, folding, and my least favorite... putting away.  I will stop my rant now and get back to my duties.

I wish I could ask Adam and Eve one question: "Why in the world did y'all have to eat the stupid apple?"  It is because of you two, that I have to do laundry in the first place.  Geez Ugh and Blah!

Over every cute outfit, put on the Armor of God

This week I'm going to show you something a little different than what I'm used to wearing..... heels.  You can dress up any outfit by just throwing on a really cute pair of "ankle killers."  I took a picture of myself wearing a peach-colored shirt that Morgan gave to me.  In each picture I paired it with a different "topper."  It is so fun to be able to make different outfits just by changing or adding one piece of clothing, jewelry or shoes.

Enjoy!

I love this ruffly, peach shirt that Morgan gave to me.  I layered it with a navy blue blazer from H&M, my trusty boyfriend jeans and a pair of Chinese Laundry very yellow heels.  Remember... it doesn't have to match, it just has to GO.  

This time I changed to a black cardigan on top, but kept everything else the same.  Showing off my heels

This is my favorite and most practical for my everyday life.  I love my big, oversized sweater from Old Navy and of course..... my UGGs.

An outfit I threw together when I went out with my husband this weekend.  These are the same Charlotte Russe boots that I wear almost daily, only I folded down the sides for something different.  

And lastly, I had to take a picture of the latest scarf that I have knitted.  I'm so proud!  LOL

More important than clothing yourself with cute things is making sure you also put on the armor of God each day.  

~The belt of truth, the shoes of the Gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, and the breastplate of righteousness.  

Ephesians 6:10-18

Home Sweet Home

Do any of you have that home away from home? A place filled with love and people that would do absolutely anything for you? Well we do and we couldn't be more blessed!

Here is a small back story for you...

When Anthony and I first got married it took us some time to find a church that we could call home. We sat in many pews and listened to quite a few sermons but just couldn't find that "one" where we felt like we belonged. After months of church hopping I told Anthony about the big church on Volvo Parkway and that maybe we should try it out. I cant begin to tell you how many times we drove by that church but for some reason that one Sunday we decided to stop and check it out.

We were immediately greeted by what they called their "Parking Lot Ministry" and by the time we got to the front door everyone knew our names! It was unreal. Anthony and I just looked at each other in disbelief. Had we found the church? We didn't want to get our hopes up until we heard the Pastor and the Word that he brought. But I can tell you from the moment we walked in the front door, I knew deep down that that is where God wanted us.

After service, we couldn't stop talking about the people, the pastor, and the message that was preached that day. We knew we had found the place for us!

Well we most definitely did and almost eight years later we are still there and could not imagine being anywhere else. Parkway Christian center is our family. We both knew it from the first day.

I feel extremely blessed to raise my children in such a loving and caring church. I love that my children get excited to go to bed Saturday night because they know they will be going to church the next day. It makes my heart smile :)

We are deeply involved in our church and we would not have it any other way! My husband and I are the Young Adults Elders and my hubs is on the church board. We also volunteer wherever we are needed. A church runs on its members and we try our hardest to help out in any way that we can!

We are proud to call Parkway Christian Center our home!!


Here are a few pictures that I love! I could post a million more...

Here is a picture of our Young Adult group from last year!
We need a new one!

The kids on stage!!

One of my most favorite views in the sanctuary;
looking down from the sound booth!

Simply Redeemed

As a mom, my greatest desire is that my children live a life according to God's will.  I want their relationship with Him to be steadfast and strong.  And I want them to be heaven-bound.  I want them to learn from their momma's many MANY mistakes and take the road less traveled rather than the road I detoured to, too many times to count.

"I am a Christian.  Do you know what that means?  It means I'm far from perfect, but simply redeemed!"  This is a line from a song by Heather Headley that I have to repeat to myself alot.  Why?  Because sometimes I feel so unworthy of God's love, God's forgiveness, and God's blessings.  But what is wonderful is that He is merciful... and boy, do I need some mercy.  I'm not going to list each of my sins for you because there is really no need, there are too many, and you can't save me!  Only Jesus can.... and has!  The thing is, is that I still have to reap what I've sown.... and by "reaping," I mean raise a teen daughter.  LOL  Ok, it's not so bad (at times) but the problem is I'm worried that the way I was, when she was growing up, is going to be more of an influence on her than the way I am now.  The road I went down was not narrow... but wide!  I didn't do drugs, smoke cigarettes, or drink alcohol.... I had babies.... without being married.  I know that, to the world, this is a regular occurrence and not frowned upon like it used to be.... but I don't want to be "worldly" and I don't want my children to be either.  I pray each day that God gives me the wisdom in raising up Godly children who are witnesses for His Kingdom by their words and most importantly by their actions.  

Jesus, guide my steps in parenting.  May the changes you have made in me be evident in my life, for all those who come in contact with me.... especially my children!  Amen...

-While I was yet in my transgressions, somebody paid the price for me.  I offered up my life to Him and now I say again... I am not perfect but simply redeemed.  -Heather Headley

Me as a baby, holding my baby

My baby, Kristian, (very near the age I was pictured above) holding her cousin

It's as Easy as 1, 2, 3!

We have the cutest white shabby chic kitchen table and chairs that I bought off of Craigslist about a year ago for about $200. We never had an issue with this table until my third baby learned to walk and climb. Kate and the table do not mix! At all! She is so different from her brother and sister and it sometimes takes my OCD into over drive.

Well she got a hold of a permanent marker and guess who lost that battle? Yep the white table. It isn't too bad but this momma notices and it drives me crazy. So I decided to make a tablecloth. I really didn't want to go out and buy fabric so I decided to look at our stash of sheets (I may or may not have a problem with stashing sheets) and found one that I loved. So I got started! First things first...I know how to sew but this time I just didn't feel like doing it so I used my trusty stitch witchery. If you have never used it, I promise you will fall in love!

First I draped the sheet over the table to see exactly where I would make my cuts.

I then took the scissors and cut the sheet around the table. I made sure to cut it a bit longer to make room for hemming with the stitch witchery.

Then it was time to iron! This is what stitch witchery looks like if you are interested.

Once the iron is nice and hot, you place the stitch witchery in between the folded fabric to make your edge. 

Then place the iron over each spot for about 10 sec. Its as easy as that! I know.

I know I need a new iron board cover. I promise it is not dirty. It is just extremely old! 

Here is the finished product!!

I rounded the edges to give it more of a finished look. I love it and the best part is I can throw it in the wash when my precious monsters decide to get spaghetti sauce all over it!

Cost:
sheet- $7
stitch witchery- $2
Total= $9

There is no way that I could find one that cheap while shopping. Plus now I have one that fits my table perfectly!!