The Celebrating Momma - Celebrating life one day at a time.

July 1, 2016 by The Celebrating Momma 1 Comment

twenty eight life lessons

Every year on July 1st I reflect over the previous years. I think about the life lessons I have learned. I take note of things I want to change. I make a list of things I want to accomplish. But more than anything.. I celebrate. I dance. I act like a goofball. Because it is my birthday.

I love celebrating therefore I love birthdays therefore I love today. Because it is my birthday.

Go ahead. Have a cookie for breakfast. Treat yourself to some ice cream this afternoon. Eat dessert for dinner. Have a dance party. Because everyone gets to celebrate today. Because it is my birthday.

Rather than keep reminding you that today is in fact my birthday I thought I would share a few life lessons I have learned over the years. Some I learned from other people. Some I had to learn for myself. Some were fun to learn. Some were difficult. All of them hold meaning to me. Here we go.

one. you need a tribe.
two. hurting people hurt people.
three. there is always something to celebrate. {today’s something: my birthday}
four. kindness is free.
five. grace is never deserved and it cannot be earned.
six. it is okay to not be okay.
seven. money isn’t everything. it isn’t even the next best thing.
eight. marriage takes work and is always a work in progress.
nine. don’t wrestle with pigs – they like it and you just get dirty.
ten. nothing worth anything is ever easy.
eleven. you can’t save people.
twelve. compliments are just as fun to give as they are to receive. especially when handing them out to strangers.
thirteen. the best way to share the love of Jesus is to simply love. no words needed.
fourteen. random dance parties are sometimes a necessity.
fifteen. you can never have too many friends.
sixteen. concerts are way more fun in the PIT.
seventeen. there is a lot of gray in the world. it may be the reason God gives us discernment.
eighteen. friendships don’t always last forever. and that’s okay.
nineteen. holding a grudge can destroy you.
twenty. people need people to believe in them. no matter their platform, status, or situation.
twenty one. showing up matters.
twenty two. true friendship requires vulnerability.
twenty three. learn people’s love language and shout it.
twenty four. it takes all kinds of kinds.
twenty five. serving Jesus isn’t a cookie cutter lifestyle.
twenty six. my husband will never be able to read my mind. unfortunately.
twenty seven. stepping outside the box isn’t always as scary as it looks.
twenty eight. the best celebrations are when you get to celebrate other people.

Do me a favor. Encourage a few people today. Have a dance party in your car. Celebrate someone that least expects it. Because it is my birthday.

Follow along over on Facebook and keep your eye out. I may just give something away. Because it is my birthday.

June 30, 2016 by The Celebrating Momma Leave a Comment

making moments count: the secret

From the moment we found out we were expecting baby number two I knew I was going to have to work a little harder to create special moments for just Jack and I. I feared that he would feel left out or that he had been replaced. Leading up to Jett’s arrival I made it my mission to make sure I was making the moments count. We were together all the time since I stay at home but I wanted to make it memorable. We went to Chick-Fil-A, took field trips, went on several dates, and made the most of our time.

Now that Jett is here we try and take field trips and do all the things we love to do…but with two kids it is hard. So hard. I end up feeling exhausted and frustrated because the amount of attention I am used to giving Jack {and he is used to receiving} is no longer available. While we were checking out the penguins at the zoo I found myself saying “it’s okay, you go ahead. I will look from back here with brother because the stroller can’t fit up there” and it broke my heart. It doesn’t matter where we are or what we are doing I just can’t join in and be as engaged as I was before. While I have such a strong desire to make special moments as a family of four I still want to make sure Jack and I are getting those little moments where it is just the two of us.

But it seems impossible.

With Jett still just a couple months old and Jake working a lot of hours I am lucky to get five minutes alone. If you follow along over on Instagram or Facebook you might have seen that I have been struggling and so many of you said me too! The past several weeks I have been so focused on throwing a pity party in my head and trying to figure out how in the world I am going to get some me time that I completely dismissed the idea of making moments count for just Jack and I. Once I voiced to Jake that I was struggling…and then talked to my mom…and then finally talked to Jesus about it…my thought process changed. Me time wasn’t going to fall into my lap. I was going to have to make it happen. The same went for Jack and Momma time.

But how in the world do I make special moments count with my almost five year old when I have a new baby at home? There had to be a secret way and I was determined to figure it out. I was willing to try anything short of hiring a nanny and that is just because I don’t think Jake would go for it.

I spent a lot of time tossing and turning in bed trying to figure it out. Once I did, I was frustrated. Surely the secret couldn’t be that simple. But I realized it was. So simple that I decided to put it to the test.

The next morning while the boys were sleeping I ran outside and found a perfectly shaded area and set up camp. If you call ripping open a package of powered donuts and throwing some grapes in a bowl fixing breakfast, then I fixed Jack and I some breakfast. I put his apple juice {because we were out of milk} in what he calls his fancy cup…and that took zero effort as well. I grabbed Jett’s teepee from his room for an extra special touch along with a one of our new favorite books. I woke Jack up and told him we needed to go outside because he and mommy had a special date. He was so confused but so excited. Momma and Jack dates don’t usually happen outside and where in the world was brother? Once I assured him Jett was asleep and all was okay he was excited to see what kind of fun we were going to have.

He immediately climbed in the tent and grabbed a donut.

He couldn’t believe we were eating breakfast outside….just the two of us! It was so fun to watch him be excited about it. Having a new book to read at our breakfast picnic added the perfect touch. The arrival of Would a Worm Go on a Walk by Hannah C. Hall couldn’t have shown up at a better time.

We had read it the night before a couple times and since he is obsessed with spelling and figuring out how to read things he wanted to read it to me this time.

The pages are so colorful and bright so it is very appealing to young kiddos. The story has a silly theme throughout that kept Jack giggling but my favorite part was the overall message. It asks silly questions about animals doing certain things that just don’t make sense and then ties it all together at the end teaching our littles that God makes each and every creature, including us, unique and special. I love that the book encourages us to be proud of our quirks and individual qualities. We had so much fun reading it…multiple times.

I think we have read the book at least twelve times over the past couple of days and giggled over our favorite silly parts every time but we also discuss all the things that make us unique and why we love those things.

I want my boys to be proud of their differences and confident in the fact that God designed them uniquely for a purpose. Would a Worm Go on a Walk does an incredible job of encouraging exactly that. This is a book we will definitely pull out on a regular basis.

So what does reading a fun book encouraging us to talk about our unique differences at a breakfast picnic in the front yard reveal about that secret I was talking about earlier? Everything. The secret is simple.

Make the mundane special.

I don’t have the time, energy, or finances to go over the top in order to create special moments on a regular basis. But I can do things to make the mundane a bit more fun. Our breakfast picnic took less than five minutes to set up and fifteen minutes to enjoy but it was the best part of the day for both of us. It gave us a few minutes to be silly, talk about how awesome God is, and point out each others qualities and silly quirks. Our mundane breakfast time turned into something spectacular with very little effort.

Be sure and grab a copy of Would a Worm Go on a Walk to help you start making those mundane moments worth remembering. You won’t be disappointed. You can grab your copy here.

How will you make your mundane activities produce moments worth remembering?

P.S. I might be giving away a copy of Would a Worm Go on a Walk on Instagram sometime today. Be sure to follow along so you don’t miss out. :)

June 29, 2016 by The Celebrating Momma Leave a Comment

our summer bucket list {an update}

Y’all. I don’t know if it is summer, the fact that I have two kiddos, or a combination of both but I feel like I am drowning. My house has been semi clean this summer which is a shocker but I feel like there is zero time to do anything productive that doesn’t involve my boys. I love them. I do. But I just want some time to do something productive other than bath time. ha. My time management skills are failing hence the reason it has been dead silent here on the blog. There haven’t even been crickets chirping or doing whatever it is that crickets do. I am trying to do better…really I am. Here is to hoping July goes a lot smoother but if it doesn’t please don’t hate on me.

I really have been busy. Life has been fun. We have been laughing and splashing and doing all things summer fun. I thought I would give an update on our summer bucket list to help me evaluate where we are. Jack is marking things off of his list pretty fiercely. Me…not so much.

In case you missed it…here our the bucket lists we made for summer.

We have had the best time marking stuff off of Jack’s list.

We’ve played in the sprinkler. Once with friends and once with Daddy!

We went to the new Ninja Turtles movie but didn’t take any pictures. Oops!

We have swam in Mimi and Poppy’s pool several times.

We’ve gone on a short walk…

and we have even had a couple play overs.

We went to Silver Dollar City.

And we have had a few water fights…see above pictures and take note of the battle on the bumper boats. ha.
Jack still needs to go to the splash pad, catch some lightening bugs, go to the playground {if Chick-Fil-A counts we have technically done this!}, make snow cones at home, play outside as a family {he said it has to be in the front yard so we have to redo this one}, fly a kite, go to a water park, and go fishing. He still has a lot of summer left to enjoy!

Momma hasn’t been so successful with her list.

Jake and I celebrated nine years of marriage in the midst of a super busy couple of weeks so we spread it out over a few days. On our actual anniversary we spent the day running around with our boys…

Then while the boys and I were on vacation Jake took off a bit early to join us and made it in time to celebrate my sister’s birthday with us while the kiddos were at the condo with a sitter. I didn’t think it would have anything to do with our anniversary but when we left we spotted a horse drawn carriage and Jake pulled over and told me to hop in. So fun! We did the exact same ride nine years before on our honeymoon.

Then when Jake came back to enjoy another day of vacation he took me out to one of our favorite restaurants and I had the best dessert there ever was. I made him get the chocolate cake because I thought I wanted both and we could share. He got one bite of mine and then I hoarded the rest. :)

As far as my #CelebratingSummerOutdoors challenge I am doing pretty good – not perfect – but much better than I thought I would do. I haven’t been great at documenting it every day but I plan on sharing all the fun we have been having outdoors soon! But to prove I have been outdoors here you go…I have since decided I probably shouldn’t sit in this float like this. oops.

I still have a lot to do. Host a party, go to a concert, read 5 books {I haven’t even read one yet!}, watch a fireworks show while eating homemade ice cream, jump in the pool, rent a boat, take a road trip, say yes all day, purge the closets, take a mini getaway with Jake, have coffee with a new friend, join in on a family dance party, eat a snow cone or two, attend a small town festival, and nap in the hammock. I better get busy.

How is your summer going? Have you checked anything off of your bucket list or did you even make one?