Friday FIve-O #22 {Counting the Days Til Stay-Cation!}

Good Morning, Friends and Family!

I hope this finds you doing well on this lovely, cool Friday in July!

I don't know how your week has gone,

but mine has literally been filled with tumultuous emotions.

Some GREAT and some not so great.

Come check it out on today's

Last Friday was a Very Fun-Filled Day for me and my Little Scribblers.

It was the culmination of our Christmas in July Theme,

so what did I do?

I arranged for my very dear Papa Lutz to come play Santa for us :).

Now, this is not a new thing for him,

DEFINITELY NOT!

Playing Santa is a gig that he started years ago

and has become a way of providing for his family.

Anyway, he did a GREAT job (as usual) playing the part for my Little Scribblers

and I'm very grateful to him for agreeing to come share his talents with us! :)

Saturday I updated my Chalkboard Art in my bedroom.

Just in case you hadn't caught on yet,

I'm a little obsessed with my Chalkboard :).

Monday at work, I was tired.

Now I realize that that isn't excessively original for a Monday,

but I as more tired that usual.

In all honesty, I was beyond weary.

It wasn't that I had stayed up all hours of the night over the weekend,

it wasn't that I had a particularly difficult situation 

to deal with at work on Monday.

Just the opposite actually.

Everything in my schedule was exactly the same.

I think I was wore down in general.

When I get this way,

I tend to take a very negative outlook on life.

I've caught myself doing this multiple times.

Well, this time I decided that instead of becoming negative

that I was going to count my blessings

and stop and smell the flowers.

One of my blessings that I enjoy the most

are these wildflowers that grow along my route to work.

Wednesday was my Friday!

And just in time!

As I mentioned, I was tired and in need of some good rest.

So a Four-Day-Weekend/Stay-Cation was like an answer to prayer!

I was so excited about it that I posted this photo to IG.

With this Caption:

"It's My Friday! And I'll Splash if I Want To!"

Even though that is OBVIOUSLY is NOT me in the photo,

that pretty much sums it up! :)

Thursday, was like a Day in Heaven.

I slept in, had the house all to myself, cooked WONDERFUL food,

didn't venture out til after 7pm 

and then went to bed knowing I could sleep in again the next day! :)

Like I said, a Day in Heaven! :)

How do you deal with your own personal negativity?

What do you do on your Stay-Cations?

I would love to hear you stories!

Thank you so much for stopping by today!

I hope you come again soon!

Friday Five-O #21 {Christmas in July}

Good Morning, Friends and Family!
I hope this finds you doing well!
As for me, I'm exhausted as usual
and BEYOND ready for the weekend!

C'mon and tell you all about my week on today's

It has been VERY exciting around the YMCA lately!
Last week was Princess Camp Week
and Friday was Princess Tea Party day
complete with a Very Special Surprise Guest :).

See anyone you recognize? :)

Sunday brought my turn to work in the 2-3 year old class.
It's always an adventure in that class
because you never know what's going to happen.
This time I was working with a different team than I usually do
and I really didn't have much input in the day's activities
(which was just fine with me...
I have enough responsibility at work...
it's nice to be able to sit back and let someone else take over for a change!).
Well, the fun didn't stop during this particular class!
We had giant balloons, we went on a walk around the church grounds,
we played with rice, and decorated pictures with tissue paper! :)

Oh the FUN, FUN, FUN! :)

Monday started a new weekly theme for me and my Little Scribblers:
Christmas in July!
Honestly, I kind of had mixed feelings about this theme.
I personally am a Christmas Fanatic
and was overjoyed to be celebrating in the middle of the summer.
However, I was also worried that I might confuse my little people.
I didn't want them to think that Christmas was actually taking place
and getting disappointed when their parents
(1) refused to put up a Christmas Tree at home,
(2) didn't purchase any gifts,
and (3) had to break the news to them that it really wasn't time for Santa to visit.
However, that "problem" has kind of worked itself out...
every time the subject comes up,
one or more of the kiddos is quick to remind me
that it isn't really Christmas because it's not cold outside
and that we are just pretending. :)
Thanks for the reminder, Loves! :)
Anyway, on Monday we made our first Christmas craft:

Turned out Super Cute, but unfortunately didn't last long.
Almost immediately started melting :(.
If I ever try this craft again, I'm gonna have to finagle around with the "recipe".

Tuesday I had the WONDERFUL opportunity
to share one of my favorite childhood storybooks with my Little Scribblers.

If you have never read Skunks! Go to Bed!" to your kids,
you are DEPRIVING them!
And that is my "professional" opinion! :)

Thursday was a VERY Exciting Day in Little Scribbler Land!
Earlier in the week, I had phoned Bickford House
(an Assisted Living Facility for Senior Citizens located just up the street from the YMCA)
about making a visit to their facility and passing out some Christmas in July cards
and singing a few Christmas Carols to the residents.
But most importantly, I was calling to get permission
to decorate a small, Charlie Brown Christmas Tree on the back of their property
with edible decorations for the area critters.
I granted permission for all of the above,
so Thursday morning the Little Scribblers and I trooped up the lane
and had a Christmas Adventure! :)

We have had a TON of FUN this week thus far,

but I'm fairly certain that tomorrow is going to be the best of all!

Can anyone guess how I complete our Christmas in July theme?

You'll just have to check back in next to see for yourself! :)

Have a Great Weekend, Everyone! :)

Friday Five-O #20 {Still Single and Excited About It!}

Good Morning, All!

I hope this finds you doing well

and fully recovered from the Holiday Weekend.

For me, it was DEFINITELY an interesting weekend.

C'mon and tell you all about it on my

Since Friday was the 4th,

naturally I had the day off from work.

Mom was out of town taking care of Uncle Bob

(I plan to go more into detail about that later),

so I was enjoying having the house to myself.

But I had something pretty big going down that evening

that some of my close friends and family already know about:

I had a guy come see me.

I have been talking to him since the end of April

and he seemed like a really great guy.

So when he asked if he could come see me

(and officially meet me...

yeah, we hadn't met in person up until this point...),

I agreed.

To make a long story short,

I knew after about 10 minutes in his presence

that things weren't going to work out.

Regardless of this and the fact that I had nearly another 24 hours to spend with him,

I was still able to enjoy the Gorgeous Fireworks

on the Peoria/East Peoria Riverfront.

They were STUNNING!

Saturday, I was privileged to attend the 1st Birthday Party of my Darling Georgia Peach!

(Yes, the guy went with me...

a HUGE shout out to the Birthday Party hosts 

for helping me get through the day with him.)

In addition to attending the party,

I was also privileged to create some chalkboard art for the occasion.

Honestly, I'm pretty proud of it :).

I love Miss Georgia Peach with all my heart!

NOTHING is too good for her! :)

Sunday, after telling a few close friends and family in person,

I made the Official "I'm-still-single-and-thats-perfectly-fine-with-me" 

announcement on FB and Instagram.

Originally, I was just thinking of posting a selfie,

but then I noticed what shirt I was wearing.

SERIOUSLY IT WAS NOT PLANNED! :)

But, obviously, it fit the situation! :)

The Little Scribbler's Theme at the YMCA this week has been:

Ocean Fun.

To go along with this,

I wanted to snap some photos of my lovelies in and around the pool.

Let's just say I got everything I wanted and MORE! :)

Wednesday was Miss Georgia Peach's Official First Birthday...
and, check it out! Even Culver's was celebrating! :)

As I've already said,
NOTHING is too good for our Sweet Georgia Peach!
And this proves it!
She's a Rock Star and doesn't even know it! :)

How has your week been?
You know I'd love to hear you stories!

Thank you for visiting today!
I'll see you back next week for another

Friday Five-O #19 {Hello, July!}

Good Morning, Dears!

Happy Friday

and, of course, Happy Independence Day!

I hope this finds you enjoying this American Holiday with those you love.

But anyway, onto this week's

Last Week's Little Scribblers theme was:
Plants & Bugs.
We did a lot of fun crafts,
but on Friday we finished up the curriculum with Band-aid Fireflies.

I think they turned out great! :)
Super Cute!

Sunday in church I had a non-spiritual revelation.
I realized that my cousins are just as nerdy as I am.
It seems we can't go anywhere without our Best Friends.

You never know when we might have a few minutes
between services to get a couple of pages read! :)

Tuesday, the Little Scribblers and I greeted the month of July
by Splish-Splashing in the Pool! :)

Wednesday, I just HAD to capture this photo!

for some odd reason, holding my shoe helped
this Precious Little Boy fall asleep at Nap time two days in a row! :)
This is why I do what I do.

Thursday, I took my Little Scribblers on a Fourth of July Picnic
complete with watermelon and cherries!
Also, in celebration of the occasion,
I gave each of my darlings a small American Flag to keep.
The photo ops were AMAZING! :)

I love these Little Scribblers with all my heart! :)

I hope you all have a safe and happy Fourth of July!

Come back and visit again soon!