Happy Friday everyone!  Ok.  So you know I’m not much of a giveaway person.  But when Lindsay (a darling mom of four and blog reader) contacted me and mentioned Stella and Dot I was tempted.  Because I really like Stella and Dot jewelry.  Then when she mentioned that if I host an on-line show a portion of the proceeds will go to a charity or cause of my choice I said YES PLEASE!  So cute Lindsay sent me a necklace…

And it just seems to go with every scoop/v-neck top I have.  I love the simplicity of it on its own for every day.  It would also be perfect for layering with other necklaces.  Right now I have my eye on the Together Forever necklace – so cute to wear the two together!  I know this necklace will become a staple for me.  And I want to give one away to one of you!  Leave a comment if you are interested.

I also have an on-line Stella and Dot trunk show open.  Spring is such a busy time of time year with Mother’s Day, Graduations, birthdays, baby showers (I buy more gifts during April/May than any other time of year!).  This is a perfect solution for gifts.  And it never  hurts to pick up a little something for yourself while you’re at it.  :)  Aside from the Together Forever necklace I mentioned, here are a few other items I have my eye on right now:

A percentage of the proceeds from my trunk show will go towards Autism Research.  Which I’m thrilled about.  Also, the month of April is Autism Awareness month and Stella & Dot is donating 20% of retail sales from their Autism Awareness Collection to support the HollyRod Foundation.  There is a guaranteed $10,000 donation which is amazing!  This collection will be open starting April 1st.

Shopping and giving.  Two of my favorite things!  So leave a comment with your name and city to enter the giveaway and check out the fun jewelry in my trunk show.  And while you’re at it, have a fabulous Easter weekend!

We kept a few books on the shelves.  El’s favorites that have been read over and over.  Junie B. Jones, Ivy and Bean, Little House on the Prairie,

and my favorite – the Beverly Cleary collection.  Speaking of books El loves, she is currently obsessed with the Thea Stilton series.  Very fun for 6-12 age girls!  Ad is loving The Boxcar Children.  Nothing like great children’s literature.

So that’s it!  Not a major makeover, but it feels SO good to have all of our books boxed up and ready to move.  It also feels amazing to walk into El’s room and not cringe!  Organization just calms the mind, doesn’t it!?  I can’t wait to start tackling spaces in the new house.  I keep trying to convince Kenny that when the new house is finished we should keep living in our current house and I’ll just pop up to the new house to clean and organize and decorate it for a few hours each day.  Once in a while he and the kids can come and visit.  But only if they take their shoes off and don’t touch a thing.  

Popping in with a few recent pics of the latest progress!

 We are adding a fun detail on the treads going up.  I’m excited to see how it looks when it’s all finished!

Kole of course spent the day in his happy place watching the “digger” again.  Oh the time we’ve spent watching the digger!  Just doesn’t seem to get old.  :)

Someone asked about my ceiling/door size when I shared this pic of my mudroom last week:

She mentioned that my dutch door was so big it made the door into my mudroom look like a little hobbit door.  That made me laugh!

That door isn’t the entrance into the room, it’s storage under the staircase (a hobbit door with a purpose).  Thought I better clear that up in case anyone else thought that too!  I’m short, but not that short.  :)

And choosing the look/style for my inside window trim.  My finish carpenter put this together for me to make sure he knew what I wanted.  Aside from adding a wider shelf right below the window it’s perfect!  I may have squealed.  :)  This is a peek of my mudroom.

This is the scene I see from my kitchen every day.  Six chairs at the table yet all three of my kids always end up parked together on one.  Some sort of barbie, polly pocket, or stuffed animal living on the table along with our food.  And leftover toast (from breakfast) and pasta (from lunch) which leads me to believe that on this day the breakfast dishes weren’t cleaned up before the lunch dishes.  This wouldn’t have been the case six months ago but currently mom is busy so the bar is set pretty low.

My hutch in its current state.  It’s a bit boring to me.  Fine for now but I’m so excited to mix things up in the new house!  I have so many fun decor ideas floating around in my head.

At my mom’s last time we were visiting.  Kole is always sitting on Kenny’s lap trying to be like him on his phone or laptop.  Or in this case, grandpa’s calculator.

My dad gave Kole the watch he is wearing and Kole is obsessed with it!  He wears it all the time.  Calls it his “cuckoo clock.”  It’s so adorable that I just can’t bring myself to tell him it’s really called a watch.

Happy Monday friends!  Here is my pic of the day – Kenny and the girls icing my birthday cake.  They look so determined don’t they!?  We take our cake icing pretty serious around here.  :)  I’m 36 years old today (cough/choke!).  Addison told me this morning I don’t look 36.  I asked her how old I looked and then quickly followed it up with “think very carefully before you answer that question.”  She took a minute and then responded with “21.”  Good girl.  Best present of the day.

We celebrated over the weekend.  Shopping and a date night with Kenny (he was such a good sport – hates shopping but knows I love it) and dinner at the beach with friends from out of town.  I have a date with girl friends on the horizon and one with Ad’s teacher for parent teacher conferences this afternoon.  I had a hot date this morning with Kole and the laundry.  :)

So happy for one more great year.  So grateful for wonderful friends in my life.  Love to you all today!!