Archives for March 2014

March 31, 2014 By Laura 4 Comments

She’s Sunshine

Can it really be? Can it really be we now have a 7-year-old? And not just any 7-year-old, but this crazy sweet, wildly creative, incredibly laugh out loud fun 7-year-old. She is light and love and laughter. She is the sanity to our insane. She blesses our socks right off.

Saturday was her big day…the big 7! Josh and I got everything ready the night before. She is Josh’s weak spot…the thought that can make the guy who never cries eye’s get a tad misty…she has his heart. She loves rainbows and everything colorful. A rainbow door was an easy choice and Josh rocked it well. Like a giant rainbow piñata. And she loved it.

I did a little late night, last minute crafting. A rainbow frilly stick for her birthday cupcake and a rainbow number 7 tee for her to wear in the Color Run. Anything for my lady.

She asked for a giant waffle from Waffle House. Josh takes her out to breakfast every Friday morning to different places. Waffle House is a big favorite. We called in an order for 4 giant waffles and Josh picked them up.

She ran the Color Run with Susan and some of our other friends. The boys were suppose to have their first baseball game and she didn’t want to be at the ballpark all morning, so Susan saved the morning. It ended up being rainy and cold, but they did it anyways.

Then there was lunch and cupcakes. So what if her little rainbow piñata stick almost burst into full on flames. We timed it just right and only some edges were singed. #nofireonyourbirthday #winning

And painting. She really wanted her own paints and canvases and her very own stapler for her birthday. So painting and stapling were on the birthday docket.

And we finished the night with Frozen. Harper spotted Rapunzel and Eugene in the movie and blew all our minds. We could not believe it. I then spent the next 30 minutes googling “hidden images in Frozen”…wow, there are a lot of crazy things out there.

I think she had a pretty good 7th birthday.

Oh Harper girl, you are such a blessing. You made us a Mom & Dad. You made us understand the deep love God has for His children. You made us realize our hearts were big enough to love even more than we ever imagined. Thank you for being the kid you are. Thank you for dreaming big and wanting to change the world. You are doing it already. You are a world changer. Thank you for being a girl after my own heart with your love of creativity and color and kindness. You are truly a light and joy in our family and a fierce big sister…you love those boys well…and keep them in line. You my dear, are beyond precious…more than rubies or jewels. And what an honor it is to watch you grow and change and blossom and shine. We love you like craziness Harper Ann.

Happy 7th Birthday…to the sunshine in our life!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 7th birthday, harper 4 Comments

March 28, 2014 By Laura 3 Comments

2K-Hooray!

Ya’ll are crazy kind! And I have all these crazy kind friends too. And I want to hug everyone and give them high-5s and fist bumps. Last night = so so fun!!!! The Noonday party was off the charts fun and I laughed so hard and told lots of embarrassing stories and bought the most fab jewelry and computer case EVA!!!!!!! I’m going with lots of explanation points in todays post.

We brought in a little over $2,000 in sales last night which means we are going to be able to get some pretty awesome free goodies for our tables and chairs fundraiser. So thrilled. Buuuuuut, if we get to $2,500 in sales, we get even more goodies. You guys, we can totally do it. Think birthday gifts and anniversary gifts and “happy spring” gifts and just because gifts and “treat yo self” gifts. I’m even adding to my order because I totally forgot about a few gifts I wanted to get. We can do this. We can blow these sales through the roof…we can help empower woman and families all over the world and we can raise enough funds for 5 tables and 30 chairs for kiddos all the way across the world in Swaziland, Africa.

We have until Tuesday to get all our orders in. Here’s how you order:

1. Go to www.rebeccadaniels.noondaycollection.com

2. Shop around and put 5 bazillion items in your cart 🙂

3. When you go to check out select Rebecca Daniels are your ambassador and type in Laura Kelley or Brea Freeman for the trunk show name.

4. Finish checking out.

5. High-5 yourself for not only being awesome, but for now being fashionably awesome and purchasing with a purpose.

That’s it. Easy as pie.

Last night was incredibly fun and I loved seeing all the items in person. I was actually a little surprised at what I ended up buying. Here were my purchases:

Brightly Wound Bracelet in Coral

Galaxy Wrap Bracelet

Navajo Wrap Bracelet

Rubik’s Bracelet, Jade

And Clementine’s Laptop Case

And I plan to wear them all together…minus the laptop case…because that’s how my wrist’s like to roll.

Thank you for caring and being kind and generous and thoughtful and geez, I just like you guys. Thank you for being straight up awesome! Have an amazing weekend.

Happy Friday!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Ngungwane, Noonday, Swaziland 3 Comments

March 27, 2014 By Laura 1 Comment

Hey, Hey, Hey

We had some wonderful items sent in again for the March craft classes. Thank you again so much to each of the ladies who sent in such lovely items.

Lil’ Hoots Boutique is an etsy shop that just opened in January and sells a variety of things including wreaths, digital prints, jewelry, chalkboards, and photo props! The shop owners Carrie and Shelby are both moms and middle school Language Arts teachers who love creating and crafting! When they aren’t playing with our sweet little boys or grading papers, they are creating fun home decor and other unique items. They love chevron, chalkboards, burlap, bunting, owls, and color!!! They also love making custom orders! You can check out their Etsy shop here and their Facebook page here.

Dobee Designs is run by Sara in Australia. She makes a wide variety of adorable items and sent in bookmarks and earrings for the March classes. What, what!!! Sara gives a portion of each purchase to My Refuge House. My Refuge House is a home, located in Cebu, Philippines, that provides holistic care intended to enable the trafficking survivors educationally, spiritually, physically, emotionally, and mentally to stand on their own again. You can also find Dobee Designs on Facebook here. As always Sara, you are too kind.

Becca of Ruby Lou Writes sent in fantastic prints for everyone. Becca not long ago started doing hand lettering and fell in love and enjoys gathering inspiration from all over. I was so excited when she sent in a package full of prints. They were fun and beautiful. You can check her Etsy shop out here.

As always, there were also key fobs, Timbali Crafts and Noonday Collection as well. Everyone needs a key fob and you know Timbali and Noonday have my heart.

And speaking of Noonday…tonight we’re having a Noonday party at our house from 6-8. You guys I can’t tell you how big I want this party to be. I want our house filled with woman…I want internet orders from all over the world. If you are local please come, bring a friend and shop. Noonday’s new line is crazy good and here’s the deal: I really, really, really want to turn our Noonday goodies into 5 tables and 30 chairs for our Ngungwane carepoint in Swaziland, Africa. You can read my post on it HERE. When you host a Noonday party the more items people buy, the more credit you get to purchase items for yourself. What we’re going to do is take those items we get on credit and turn around and share those with you guys while raising funds for tables and chairs for Ngungwane. So the more you purchase the more items we will get to turn into money for these tables and chairs…$610 to be exact. And if we raise more, then Ngungwane will just get extra.

If you can’t make the party, you can also purchase online at www.rebeccadaniels.noondaycollection.com When you check out just select “Rebecca Daniels” as your ambassador, and type in Laura Kelley and/or Brea Freeman for the Trunk Show name. This way our show will get credit. We can shop with purpose and not only help support woman and families around the world, but also buy some tables and chairs while were at it.

Not kidding…I’m over the moon excited about tonight. Awesome goods and food and people and drinks and no children…what, what (insert raise the roof hands). Bring yourself and a friend. It’s sure to be fun. Shoot me a message if you need more details.

Have an awesome day.

Happy Thursday!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Africa, craft class sponsors, Ngungwane, noonday collection, Swaziland 1 Comment

March 26, 2014 By Laura 4 Comments

The Big 2

Yesterday was Amon’s 2nd birthday. There were donuts and cupcakes and balloons…lots and lots of balloons. Amon digs a good balloon and holy cow…you should have heard him lose his mind at Kroger on Valentines day in the floral/produce department. The sea of balloons blew his mind. He legit loves balloons.

Harper helped me make strawberry cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. And I gotta say…they did not disappoint. I let Harper pick the cupcake liners from my rather large collection and she picked 12 different liners. Super fun and then we doused them in sprinkles.

Birthday door action. We kind of rocked some balloons this year.

Donuts for breakfast. And singing of “happy birthday” 5 different times.

The rest of the day was filled with cupcake eating, a Joanns trip, new flip flops and there was even a birthday bath that ended with him projectile vomiting into the bath water. I even got a picture…of him…mid projectile puke…it’s the funniest/grossest thing you’ve ever seen…I’m having stationary sets made…but I couldn’t bring myself to post it…I did share it with some friends via text though.

Oh Amon. If I could only begin to say what all you mean to our family and how God has used you to renew our joy and hope. How He has used you to heal our hearts. You are one incredible kid to say the least. You are crazy and insane and wild and busy and fun and sweet and incredibly joyful. You make us laugh every single day. And I can’t imagine our family and life without you. We thank God every single day for your birth mom & dad and what an honor and blessing and privilege it is to be your parents.

Happiest of birthdays to our ace of hearts! We kind of totally adore and love you.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ace of hearts, Amon, birthday love 4 Comments

March 25, 2014 By Laura 4 Comments

Craft Class 2 & 3

Friday night and Saturday afternoon I held two more craft classes. The ladies were amazing and it was so much fun…just like the first one. We even had a pair of sisters from Indiana and a sweet lady all the way from Maryland. Cara, Abigail and Bekah you ladies are crazy fun!!! Thanks to each of the ladies who came and crafted. You were a pleasure.

There were only a few freak accidents like me almost decapitating a fellow crafter with a canvas. I thought about that one a bit longer and how unfortunate of a death that would have been…right up there with being crushed by your spouse on the bottom bunk at a couples retreat. I also got one of the ladies boards stuck on Josh’s drill bit…Susan fixed it. And I might have insisted a few of the ladies change their last and get their goats back to match their newly created wreaths. So much fun!

Commence crafty photo overload.

And how about phone pictures. Several of the ladies sent me their pics. I wore my glasses both days…to try and hide how tired I looked. Makes sense. I decided I should have listened to the Walmart optical lady who suggested I get the glare-less lenses, but they were way more expensive than the plain ones so I opted out. I should have taken her advice. I’ve also decided I’m super awkward around people I don’t know, but especially when they want to take a picture. So I do weird things like bend my knees or hunch my shoulders over because everyone wants to looks shorter and Quasimodo-ish in pictures. Evidence as follows.

Thank you so much ladies. I loved meeting each of you.

The plan for April is two more craft dates. I’m nailing down dates and will offer the spaces up to my wait list folks first and then the remaining spots here on my site.

What a pleasure and blessing and honor it is to get to do something you love to do for a living. You guys are pretty dang awesome!

Happy Tuesday!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: art, craft class, wreaths 4 Comments

March 24, 2014 By Laura 3 Comments

Six Hundred Ten

Last November I went to Swaziland, Africa to meet all the incredible people and kids at our care point Ngungwane through Children’s HopeChest. Ngungwane is something Josh and I introduced to our previous church and we have sponsor kids at the care point and are still very much connected to this country and all their amazing people. I really want to go back this year and am working on getting a team together to make this happen. Excited to see what God has in store.

You can read my posts from Swaziland HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.

While I was there I had lots of opportunities to talk with Amy and Steve who work directly with Ngungwane about some specific needs at the care point. There were several big projects and then they also mentioned needing tables and chairs for the on site building. This building is used for all types of things, but they now have a preschool teacher coming to the care point 4 days a week for all the littles and they have no tables or chairs.

While in Swaziland, one of the things I felt God really impressing on my heart was just what all He could do through open vessels…flawed people…sinners…who simply say “yes” or “okay God”. We want to be those flawed, but willing vessels.

We’re having a Noonday party this Thursday, March 27th at our house from 6-8. Here’s the deal…I talked with CHC this week and Ngungwane’s wish list for the tables and chairs would be 5 tables and 30 chairs. Each table is $50 and each chair is $12. That puts us right at $610. These are good, metal tables and chairs which will last them for a long time. When you host a Noonday party the more items people buy, the more credit you get to purchase items for yourself. What we’re going to do is take those items we get on credit and turn around and share those with you guys while raising funds for table and chairs for Ngungwane. So the more you purchase the more items we will get to turn into money for these tables and chairs. It’s a win/win.

I would absolutely love to fill our house with women from all over. I would love to meet you and chat and purchase with purpose together. Noonday is an absolutely incredible company and there new spring line is off the charts. So if you want to have a fun girls night come and hang with us and bring a friend.

We’ll have food and drinks for you as well. So mark your calendars, call your friends, send me a message if you need more information and get ready to have some fashionable fun while helping change the world.

Happy Monday!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Africa, Childrens HopeChest, noonday collection, Swaziland 3 Comments

March 21, 2014 By Laura 1 Comment

Real Quick…

I’m sitting alone in my house and in about 30 minutes 12 new woman will walk through our front door and we’ll spend the evening crafting away…and I kind of am totally stoked. Still nervous, like last time, but feeling a tad bit more confident. It’s just really neat to get to craft and meet and talk and hang out with new friends. Exciting.

How about a few quick random things from our week…I knew you’d be game…

Haircuts for Solomon and Hudson. I love them with fresh cuts.

Birthday shopping for Harper.

Legos…all day, every day.

Our first Made South package.

Double bird…need I say more?!?!

Baseball for days.

Good drinks with good friends.

And homemade cake…because some people and some days just deserve homemade cake.

Enjoy your weekend.

Happy Friday!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: craft nights, insta friday, iPhone, istagram, random 1 Comment

March 20, 2014 By Laura 3 Comments

Love & Patience & Rolling With It

Amon is cray! He is by far our wildest and craziest and most energetic and busiest toddler we’ve ever had. And probably the happiest. He is so much fun and yet, so frustrating at times too. Then throw in the whole “lack of communicating” thing and sometimes things get a bit wonky around here.

My kids fight. They can throw down with the best of them, but I will give them this…they are all so very loving and patient with Amon. They humor this kid. And they love him fiercely. And I’m pretty thankful I get to see their love and siblingship (totally made that word up) first had.

Amon is a giant ball of joy, but sometimes that joy and energy are hard to reign in…like while watching a show. But my big guys…my dudes who display patience like Abraham…they love their littlest brother and just roll right along with it.