{Antiquing, heart day and movie dates}

Today is the second day my oldest son is home sick from school.

Tomorrow is also the start of a four day weekend. 

Yes, that is a very long break from school for my boy...almost a week!

Good thing my parents are coming into town on Saturday.

They are coming because my girl is turning five next week! I can hardly believe it. We are keeping it casual this year. Last year we did the big party with loads of people and it was fun. But it was work. At this point our two oldest just happen to be on an every other year big/little rotation that is working out just fine if you ask me. So come April, I owe my son the party of parties to celebrate his eight years. 

This week I've been up to fun things, some dumb things and other things like plain old work. I did tell you my parents were coming right? Around here that means all hands on deck house cleaning frenzy! 

But first the fun things!

We celebrated V-day on Monday with decorating cookies with the kids at a friend's house. 

Shopping at my favorite antique store with a friend. 

Actually finding and bringing home cute things from the antique store.

And that required something like this..."hello honey, you know how you said I could buy anything to be better organized?"

Here is a little sneaky peek. It is in the boy's room and there are twelve, yes, twelve

little cubbies to store toys in! Now I'm on the hunt for some cute metal labels for each cubby.

{It barely fit in the van and we had to go back to pick up the chair. Oops!}

And such a good deal on a unique and fun piece that I just couldn't leave it behind. 

Plus, if I hadn't bought it my friend surely would have.

Plus, I was reminded later...it is my daughter's birthday next week.

Hellooo early birthday present. 

{It's the purple chair...I am so not a purple person but this was just cool...so I'm making an exception!}

Here is a photo of her doing her hair last night...courtesy of instagram.

 That is her latest obsession by the way. She takes the spray bottle or the kid's detangling spray if she wants a fresh orange scent and compulsively sprays and combs, sprays and combs.

Tonight I get to celebrate another friend's birthday by going to a movie with some girlfriends. 

I never ever, ever get to do that and am so excited!

We are going to see The Vow. Has anyone seen it yet? 

I've also been fluffing with the cleaning. A little rearranging, a little bit of hanging new things...it makes the deep cleaning all the more enjoyable. So things are changing just a bit, just enough to keep me from going crazy with the sameness! 

Also, did I mention this here already? I am definitely not doing Farm Chicks this year.

It was a hard decision but one I feel total God peace about. It is the right decision for my family right now. And the door is not closed forever. I got a very gracious email from the woman who puts on the show letting me know I could return when and if it worked for my family again. With all that said, I have way more time for things like fluffing my house, stocking my etsy shop {which I am always telling myself but never actually doing}, playing with my kids...cleaning the house, all the good daily things of life, right?

Oh, and those dumb things I mentioned a little earlier?

Well. You know when you don't really look at your kitchen cabinets. Like ever?

And then one day you do and you realize how dirty they really are?

I was actually just wiping the counters. 

And then I moved the microwave. 

Oh my.

And then I hit the cabinets. 

I have old white cabinets. They look white until you clean them and realize they are a very grey and dingy white. I attribute this to life and the fact we have no vent/fan whatever on our stove. Now, that's not so dumb. I don't have very many cabinets but what is dumb is when you hit the top of the cabinets and wipe the ceiling. And you realize that you have probably never. Actually not probably but definitely never wiped down your kitchen ceiling. And I really don't think that is the dumb part either. You know, never wiping down your ceilings. I could probably have gone my whole life without wiping down my ceiling. The dumb part is that I started and now there is no going back. There is a total difference between the wiped and unwiped sections. 

Oh my is right. 

I have done stupider things when it comes to my ceilings. 

Like painting my entire living room ceiling with a paintbrush. 

By myself. 

While my husband was at work. 

But that is a story for another time.

Oh, I have also been on a parenting book reading frenzy. 

I realized the other night after listening to my friends talk about all the parenting books they read that I sort of fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to all that stuff. 

That's not necessarily the best thing all the time. 

Plus, I had read something else recently that left me feeling a bit convicted and challenged in my role as a Mother and how there is so much more responsibility there then I let myself daily feel. 

So the first one I read was Grace Based Parenting by Tim Kimmel. 

Really, really good. I feel like I need to reread it right away again and take notes this time. And I want my husband to read it. The other one I have just started is one that friends are reading and a lot of people are talking about...Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus by  Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson. If you are looking for a good parenting book grab both of these. 

Maybe when I am done reading the second book I will share my thoughts more about what they are teaching me. 

I am off to get dinner cookin and get ready for my girl date. I'm fresh off of reading all the archives of this adorable and inspiring gal's blog and I'm going to go try and make myself cuter than normal in the outfit department. You know, jeans and some colors I don't normally put together. 

Daring, I know.