Highlights

 It's been a great week at my house.  I started out with sharing my January Goals and then shared 10 facts you'd be surprised to learn about me.  We are finally on the mend and feeling better, it's been sunny, we are getting back into our regular routine and enjoyed some great TV this week.  Anyone watching Celebrity Apprentice??   I always enjoy that show and the drama.
 

1. I'm getting excited for Valentine's Day and starting to collect fun things for the month.  Target dollar bins have been very helpful and so has Target in general.  I found the red square plates for under $2 which is much better than the $20/valentine plate PBK is charging and the mailboxes and stickers came from the Dollar bins.  I made festive cookies and am excited to plan lots of heart activities.  My Pinterest board is overflowing with adorable pink and red things.

2. My women's Bible study group is going through this book and I've heard it's wonderful!!  I'm hoping to learn a lot and enjoy time with friends each week.  I'm also excited because all of my moms groups - bible study, BSF and MOPS are back in full swing for the year.

via amazon

3.  I wrote a post on the importance of sending thank you notes and then I got FIVE thank you notes in my own mailbox this week!!  I sent out SIXTEEN of my own so I'd say this week was a good one for being thankful :)  Have you written your Christmas thank you notes yet??


 4.  I've officially turned into my mother.  It was bound to happen.
I found myself feeling sorry for the birds and squirrels with the chilly temps so I strolled through the backyard bird section at Wal-Mart and before I knew it I'd put a giant bag of bird seed and a suete cake in my cart.  I'm usually not a bird fan, but they sure were excited about their new buffet of treats.

 It was chilly, but SUNNY so we hung out in our backyard for a few minutes.  It was nice to get some fresh albeit freezing air :)

5. It's been chilly in Mississippi this week and my cats have been extra snuggly.  They are BFFs and are eager to find a lap to sit on.  I don't mind one bit and I may have joined them for a nap (or two).

Hope you have a great weekend!!

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

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Our Backyard

Our backyard was a major highlight when we were looking to buy a house.  It was the perfect size, had already been landscaped and fenced and was private.  It's charming and a really enjoyable place to hang out.

Olive has slowly been acquiring new toys to entertain herself and she is thrilled to get to play outside.  We've played outside ever since July when the weather was nice.

Enjoy a random collection of backyard photos.

 This is the face that Olive makes e.v.e.r.y. time an airplane flies over our backyard which is frequently :)

 We also have some "wild" neighbor hood cats that like to drop in for a visit.  It's all fine and dandy until someone steps in cat poop.  When you don't have outdoor pets and step in poop in your backyard, you say curse words in your head.

See this guy up on the roof??

 Olive's got some pretty sweet basketball moves.

 A blur of fun times :)

We had a lot of fun out there in late summer.

I'd love to add some new plants and flowers, find a patio table and chair set and maybe a few new water toys for Olive this summer.  We will probably need to look into tiki torches and citronella candles because the bugs in Mississippi are NO JOKE!!  I'll be keeping my eyes peeled for good deals in the coming months and keep you posted.

Any tips on where to find affordable outdoor furniture??

Toddler Time: In and Out Game

One of Olive's favorite toys is a toy that I MADE.

It cost me almost nothing because I saved these things from becoming trash because I knew they'd be fun for little hands to play with.  She skips over plenty of her pricier toys to play with this one so it makes me want to make more games for her as she gets older.

Supplies you'll need:

1 empty wipe container

30 small lids

(I saved the lids to milk cartons, fruit puree tops, 

apple sauce twist off tops and any other lid that was small)

Our toddler game usually goes like this:

 She brings me the wipe container and I dump the contents.

She counts and puts the lids into the container.

It sounds like this...

1, 2, 2, 1, 1, 2, 5, 1, 2, 2, 9 :)

Warning: I always supervise Olive when she's playing with this toy because the lids are small enough to fit inside her mouth.  She usually keeps them out of her mouth, but I don't feel comfortable with her playing independently with this toy just yet.

Have you ever made any games for your little ones to play?

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Delivering a Smile

I made a few extra mini loaves of banana bread to give away.

Added a little bow and delivered them to neighbors.

They were a hit and we were happy to make our friends smile.

What I've Been Wearing

The holidays were busy and I got dressed in pretty cute outfits 95% of the time.  I rarely had time to take individual outfit pictures so my real life snapshots will have to do for capturing my looks of the last few weeks.  I'm loving the colder weather and enjoying cardigans, scarves and getting to wear layers.  Bring on winter in Mississippi!!

 1. Christmas Eve

top & cardigan - Old Navy (NEW)

Olive's dress is GAP and her headband is from Hobby Lobby

2. Christmas Day

dress & shirt - Old Navy (NEW)

chew beads - ebay

earrings - Francesca's

boots - Target

Olive's dress & tights are from a boutique in Jackson

 3. Blanket Scarf Bandwagon

scarf - Target

cardigan - Old Navy (NEW)

Olive's sweater was a gift and it quite possibly the cutest thing ever.

 4. Church & Mexican with my family

scarf - Marshalls

chambray top - Old Navy

Say hello to my sis :)

 5. Roadtripping

flannel top - Old Navy

earrings - Limited

hello Topher :)

 6. Doctor's Appointment

top - GAP outlet

scarf - GAP

earrings - Francesca's 

glasses - Lucky

bracelet - Kate Spade

7. Another Doctor's Appointment Bathroom Selfie

sweater - Old Navy (NEW) which I'm obsessed with!!

chambray shirt - Old Navy

earrings - Francesca's

Olive's wearing Old Navy too :)

Which outfit was your favorite??

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10 Things You'd Be Surprised to Learn About Me

10 Things You’d Be Surprised to Learn...

1. My closet is a mess right now.

2. I have never read a Harry Potter book or seen any of the movies.

3. I tidy up my entire house every night before I go to bed,

but I often have dishes in the sink.

4. I have lovely china that was a wedding gift that’s been in storage at my parents house for 10.5 years.  I blame that on moving multiple times and living in small places in big cities.  I’m hoping to resolve that sometime soon.

5. I write down everything.

6. I am a hoarder of stationery and notepads.

7. I am bossy… always with a smile.

8. I find favorite menu items at restaurants and always order those. If I’m feeling brave and branch out to something new, I’m usually disappointed.

9. I have the reoccurring dream that Olive is lost in the house and I am known to wake up my hubby looking for her.  He barely flinches now and just tells me Olive is in bed and I should go back to bed.  I’d love for those wacky dreams to stop ASAP.

10.  I’m not a morning person, but I’m always sweet to my cats when they jump in bed to meow good morning.

Tell me a fun fact that I'd be surprised to learn about YOU!

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Are You Familiar with Wall Decals?

I've been noticing wall decals taking over the world.  Well, the instagram world anyways.  They seem to be a popular choice in nurseries and bedrooms and I'm intrigued.  The option of having temporary decoration that could easily be removed when you are over it sounds very appealing.

I have a half bath downstairs that I think might be the perfect spot for some wall decals.  The walls are light gray and I'd love some fun details on the walls.  I don't think I could commit to a large room, but this tiny bathroom seems like the perfect spot for a POP of print, or rather, decals.

I'm thinking about polka-dots... shocking, I know.

I've found some great decals and a few, fun stencils.

Here's what I had in mind...

via etsy AllStickers

via etsy LittleBirdiesCookies

via etsy Decal

via etsy Livettes

So my questions for you are...

Have you ever purchased wall decals?

What did you think?

Were they as easy to remove as suggested?

Any shops to recommend to me?

Any tips I should know before jumping in?

Many thanks & much love!!