Go Fish{review and giveaway}

Today I am doing something new. 

Standing by a corral? Good Guess...but no.

I am doing an official clothing review, mkay?

Today I am reviewing the Notting Hill skirt, made by a very cool clothing and jewelry company called Go Fish.

This skirt is very fun and flouncy and I had a great time tromping around in the fields in it.

But I would also wear it on a date with the hubs in a heartbeat. Actually I would wear it anywhere. 


Very comfortable and soft, made of a rayon/spandex blend.


I love the deep color blue. Goes with all of my yellows, which is always a bonus.


It has a thick waist band and I covered it with a belt. Because I love belts.

I actually folded the top of the skirt over a little bit so that my belt covered the band more completely. But you could also wear the skirt without the belt and it will make the skirt a little longer.

I also love how the bottom of the skirt has a slightly ruffled edge.

Everyone needs a good solid skirt in their repertoire!

And if you hop on over to their blog, you will see the coolest bracelets EVER on their header.
I am kind of obsessed with these unique Peruvian bracelets. They are made from from a family in Peru, out of antique Peruvian fabrics. You can find it on the Go Fish website as the Mollie Bracelet. No two are exactly the same!  

This is one of the things I love about Go Fish--they have authentic products. Go Fish travels to developing nations and helps the talented indigenous people groups by purchasing and selling their homemade goods. 

Go Fish ever so kindly let me select a product to give away to ONE OF YOU. And I picked the Peruvian bracelet of course! Makes me so happy!


To enter this giveaway, simply hop on over to their Facebook and like them. Then let me know in the comments below! Easy peasy!

For additional entries,
1. Follow their blog via GFC or Bloglovin'
2. Follow them on Twitter.

Winner will be randomly selected Sunday, August 26th and announced the next day.

This giveaway is now closed, and the winner has been contacted! Congratulations to the owl of Stars in my Eyes!Thanks all!

Sweet hubs took my pictures--see, it was kind of a date. Love you honey!

twinsies

Just in case you haven't noticed. I'm CRAZY about these two love muffins.

I'm planning to visit them next weekend.

And I'm giddy at the thought. LOVE THEM.

Don't you love peaceful sleeping baby pics? James thinks NOT. 

Oh amigo. Or little leprechaun. He is a boy of many nicknames. Since day ONE he has always been extremely alert. Eyes always open and looking around.

He came thisclose to conking out. Please, please, pleeeeeaaaase.


ALMOST asleep.

Like one more second and he would have been out cold.

But no. 

Someone outside made the slightest peep. 

AND BOOM. Back to square one. Oh my. 

And Savannah just smiles. Hey! Isn't there a movie called Savannah Smiles? Why yes, there is.



LOL.


He is a mama's boy through-and-through. Will scream his lungs out til mama picks him up.

Then he's happy as a clam. Very consolable. And very engaging. 

Until we try to get him back down for a picture with his sissy. No way, no how, he was not going to have any part of that. 

All the while, sweet little Savannah just slept the day away. 

I was a good sleeper, just like Savannah, when I was a baby. So I have been told.

As peachy as can be.





And then, Savannah finally wakes up and decides it's time to eat. She is wisked away. 

As Savannah is eating, little amigo FINALLY decides to take a cat-nap. It was a conspiracy.


He reminds me of ALL my boys. They always wanted me to hold them. Always crying for mama.


Sweet prince, how I wish you would have napped with your sister. But auntie will take what she can get. 

And then he woke up 2 minutes later and screamed til the sun went down.

No lie, after all lighting was gone to take pictures--he fell into a deep trance.

Such is life with twins. And I was just there for one day.

I cannot even imagine the 3-ring-circus that my sister deals with day in and day out.

Madness I tell you!

I want twins. {hiiiii John! I see you!}

thrifty

You are hereby cordially invited to join me over at The Budget Maven today, as I discuss my attempts at being nifty thrifty!

Happy 7th Birthday Calvin Jack!!

we think this boy is pretty special

sweet

hopeful

shy

carefree

sensitive

happy

calvin jack.

you are one of a kind.

you have brought joy and sunshine to our hearts every single day.

for 7 years straight.

i hope you still give your famous hugs when you are all grown up.

you still remain the most huggable, squishy boy i have ever met.

xxoo, mama

peach and skittle

Almost every night after dinner, I jet out the door to go on a walk all by myself. The walking path just calls my name and I cannot say no.

Every time I go on my walk, I thank the Lord that he lets me live here. Right next to this walking path. 

Most people think the town I live in is a God-forsaken dust bowl. You should see the grimaces when I tell outsiders where I live. But I think it's a special place and I don't care. It's kind of flat and has a lot of brown, but I think you can find beauty anywhere. You just have to look for it.

When I get back, John and the boys are usually playing outside. 

We have a new friend named skittle.


Skittle is VERY personable and has fans all over the neighborhood. I've never seen anything like it. 

The other night, we were walking and we saw skittle's owners pull out of their driveway and drive away. Skittle ran onto the grass and John said "I want to hold skittle".

A few feet away, one of the neighbor girls came lurking out of her house and she crept onto the grass. Before we knew what happened, she grabbed skittle and ran back to her house. 

We could not believe it. I was SO sad for John that he did not get to hold his beloved little skittle. But such is life when you are as popular as skittle.

A few days later, my other neighbor started asking me about skittle. "Does skittle have an owner? Because he's so friendly and just sits at our front door....he's so cute...." There was longing in her voice. She wanted skittle too! Haha.

The only one who is NOT entirely fond of skittle would be Peach.


Do you see Peach's ears flared back?

They have a love/hate relationship. They always insist on chasing, biting, scratching, hissing. At the same time, they can't seem to resist each other. Better get Peach fixed and SOON.

We got a call from the neighbor the other day because they were fighting so bad. Peach got a very bad report that she was being unkind to skittle and being mean. Oops. We have the naughty kitty.

John and Finn have been slaving all summer over this ENORMOUS scratching post for Peach. It's not finished yet. Skittle came by and took a nap on top.

John thought the scratching post would go inside the family room. Ya know. Just taking over the entire place.

Speaking of which. 

I startle EVERY time I see Peach in my bathroom sink.


John went on out of town for a conference the other day. During this time, the unthinkable happened: Peach caught her first bird. Or so we thought. 


Until a friend on Facebook informed me that Peach most likely caught a dead bird because birds have been dropping dead all over our neighborhood from West Nile or something equally egregious.

I didn't know what to do. There were sticky feathers and blood everywhere and Peach was walking around outside with the dead bird hanging out of her mouth. I die. 

I called my father-in-law but he was out of town. I would have to deal with the atrocity myself. Why oh why did John have to be gone at such a time like this?

I grabbed the broom and dust pan, and tried not to gag. As soon as the end of my broom touched the dead bloody bird, I let out a huge girly shriek. By now, I am trying not to faint. It was ghastly hot outside. I dropped the bird into a plastic target bag and as soon as I felt the "thud" of the weight of the bird in the bag, I shrieked again. Could not help it. I'd make a lousy hunter, of this I am sure. 

I ran back inside and the boys were all abuzz. "Mommy why are you yelling? Can Peach come back inside? It's hot outside. We went Peach. Whaaaaaaa".

I knew I was in a pickle. I didn't know what to do. It WAS hot and poor Peachy could get heat stroke out here. But I did not want her inside if she was carrying some disease. She must be quarantined!

I called John and texted my father-in-law and he did some research for me. At the same time, one of my nurse friends from church said that west nile was transmitted by "skeeters" and that I need not worry. From my father-in-laws findings, it is RARE or EXTREMLY UNLIKELY for pets to give their owners bird flu or H1N1 or whatever.

So after a {long) while, I reluctantly let Peach back in, with strict instructions to the boys not to touch her. She is still a kitten and likes to bite and scratch. 

It was a long few days.

If you hate cats, I know what are thinking: That's what you get for owning a varmint such as this.

I know, I know. 

BUT.

You should see how my boys' faces light up every time they see or pet her. They get SO excited about building her scratching post and cry when Peach stays out too late at night. Finn gets up every morning around 3am just to give Peach some wet canned food. Then he crawls back into bed.

And I kinda have a thing for her too. I baby talk to her and she just looks at me all aloof, like "mom, stop". I get giddy when she lets me pet her more than 3 seconds.  And yes, I have no idea who I am anymore.

he rides!

Last monday, John spontaneously decided to teach Ollie how to ride a bike.


I had no idea this was happening. I was inside the house. 



A little tentative at first.



and away he goes!



He came rushing in the house to tell me, "Mommy, I rode a 2-wheel bike all by my own self. Daddy let go of my seat!"



Honestly, I could not believe it. With all of Ollie's gravitational issues that he had as a toddler, I just did not think he would have the coordination to pick up riding a bike so quickly.

In case you cannot tell, he is pretty pleased. As are we. I am learning that I need to stop putting Ollie in a box. He is constantly surprising me. 


And would someone tell his mother to cut or style this poor child's hair? Sheesh.


Hair has NOT been a priority this summer, in case you could not tell. 


I personally think that both John and Ollie need to have their hair done like Arie's on the bachelorette. 

2 lovely ladies

My dear friend Jessica came into town and I was so thrilled to visit with her! We got to hang out with Jessica's sister-in-law Sarah, who is a new friend of mine.



Jessica in the middle, Sarah to the right.


When I first met Jessica, I felt immediately at home with her. And the funny thing is, I feel the same way about Sarah. They are home to me. And to hang out with them BOTH, TOGETHER was a very special occasion indeed.

side note. Jess and I are both wearing shorts from american eagle, the skinny bermudas. It cracks me up how they fit us so differently because I am a shorty. Oops? Did i just compare? Hmmm. Read on.


These girls are sweet and funny. And really listen and care. 


But even more, they truly love with Lord with all their hearts. They are the real deal. True saints of God.


I am blown away by their wisdom and depth of character. 



They tell me the truth, not matter what. And leave me challenged yet encouraged. They are gems!


I thought I was doing good if I listened to an extra sermon per week. 


Um, Jess listens to sermons all week long. She worships the Lord throughout the day and has 3 children, 3 years old and younger. 


Jess linked a sermon to her blog, called The Snare of Compare, by Carolyn Mahaney. I have to admit, my first thought was, "Oh I never compare myself to anyone. I don't need to listen, I'm good." 


Either I'm prideful or just plain old thick-headed. Because this sermon is EXACTLY what I needed to hear. God knew I needed to hear it and Jess was there to prompt me on.


I encourage you to listen to this sermon. I don't want to give away the good points and spoil it for you.


So go listen. And then come back and let's chat, shall we?
*******
Here is my interpretation of what Carolyn said.


Like me, you might think that you never compare yourself to others. You know it's wrong to compare. And so you have tricked your mind into thinking that you are not at fault here. 


But let me tell you. It kind of has a sneaky way of creeping up on you, unawares.


Say, for example, that someone wronged you, or hurt your feelings. This person seems to skate through life, trial free, whereas your life has lots of trials. You might even dwell on that person in your mind longer than you should, stewing the problem over(I never do that, ahem). You eventually find yourself asking God, "what about so-and-so Lord? What are you going to do about them?" You are comparing how God is dealing with them, versus how God is dealing with you. 


And if you think God is going to let you off the hook and give you sympathy for how wrongly you have been treated...well according to the passage at the end of John 21...you've got another thing coming!


Basically in John 21, Jesus tells Peter some sobering news: that when Peter is old, he is going to be crucified. And the first thing Peter says is "what about John?"  LOL. Oh Peter. How I can relate.


Jesus does not offer Peter sympathy. He basically tells Peter, "It's none of your business how John dies."


and then Jesus says to Peter.


"FOLLOW ME."


Did you catch what happened? At first glance, it seems as though Jesus was a bit harsh to Peter. The poor guy just got some terrible news!


But in reality, Jesus gave Peter the most LOVING possible answer: Don't turn your eyes off me for one second. Don't look to your right or left. At anyone else. Look at ME and follow ME.


You see, Jesus knows that the second that we start looking at someone else's situation or lot in life, we are in grave danger of falling into all sorts of deadly snares. We start becoming the judge. And he loves us too much to let that happen. We are to keep our eyes on HIM and follow HIM alone. 


Since listening to this sermon, I have caught myself quite a few times {subconsciously} comparing my lot in life to another's lot. 


And Jesus has given me NO sympathy in this area. Because that is not gonna help me. Instead He says. Look at me Davi! 


And that simple little thing has REALLY helped me. So that is why I am writing on and on here. Because I truly hope it helps you too!


p.s. I don't think sympathy is a bad thing. If something bad happens to someone, they have my sympathy. But if they then start comparing themselves to others...maybe that is where sympathy is no longer useful...perhaps it's better to give encouragement, to spur them back on toward the Lord. I'm still mulling it all over.