Friday Five-O #27 {Summer is Coming to an End...}

Happy Friday, Loves!

I hope this finds you doing well

and, of course, looking forward to the three-day weekend!

I KNOW I AM!

Not that I'm going to be sitting around watching Smallville or anything...

I'm planning on devoting most of my time to photo editing

and getting out and arranging my fall decor!

*SQUEAL*

Yeah, I'm a little excited about it...:)

Anyway, this has seemed to be a very long week

and this three-day holiday weekend isn't coming a moment too soon!

Come along with me 

and I'll tell you all about my week on today's:

Friday, my cousin Madi came to visit me at work.

Since starting college, she has taken a sabbatical from working with me at the YMCA

in order to better to focus on her studies.

But hopefully she will return to us sometime in the near future! :)

Anyway, she expressed how badly she is missing interacting with children,

so I took pity on her and allowed to come visit me and the TJ kids :).

And, how funny is this! 

She, I, and my two site assistants all showed up wearing cheetah spots! :)

Totally unplanned! :)

We are Fabulous and we Know it! :)

Sunday my heart near beat out of my chest with pride.

We had a special service at church for Youth Week 2014

and two of my handsome cousins, Nolan & Colton sang a duet.

Not only did they do a GREAT job

(as you will hear, they both have AMAZING voices)

but their song choice was PERFECT for the occasion!

Like I said, SO PROUD! :)

Love you guys! Keep seeking the Lord

and there's no telling where He will take you!

Tuesday the TJ kiddies and I created this lovely, late Summer Craft:

I'm so glad my lovelies didn't lose their artistic ability over the summer! :)

Wednesday, I put the finishing touches on my project for National Dog Day

(which was Tuesday) and enjoyed my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the Autumn Season :).

Basically, I had a WONDERFUL day! :)

PSL = Fall...in a cup! :)

Thursday I did a mini photo shoot with a couple of the little girls from TJ.

I plan to use them for a Book Review (later) on this blog.

But this photo is perfect NOT to share!

I absolutely LOVE it!

Let's just say, taking this photo COMPLETELY COVERED me in Gold Glitter!

But it was TOTALLY worth it!

How was your week?

I would love to hear all about it!

Friday Five-O #26 {Back-to-School!}

Happy Friday, Everyone!

I hope this finds you doing well!

I've had an interesting week to say the least.

Local schools have resumed

therefore, I am now back to working my split shift hours

rather than the all day shift I was working during Little Scribbler's Camp.

Come along and I'll tell you all about it on today's:

I spent most of the day on Friday over at Thomas Jefferson
getting ready for the new school year.
I didn't leave many supplies there at the end of the last school year,
so I had quite a bit of things to transport from the YMCA.
But I accomplished what I wanted to accomplish
and was still off the clock by 2:30pm :)!

That evening was Outdoor Movie Night with the Care Group

which was Extremely Cool!

We watched God's Not Dead and let me just say,
THAT is an AWESOME FILM!!!!
I encourage any and all of my readers to watch it!
Even the kids!
Definitely a Family Friendly Feature!

Saturday, I deep cleaned and rearranged my bedroom

(getting ready for the fall decor I am chomping at the bit to show off!).

One of the changes I made was to make a pile out of my small mirror balls 

rather than have them spread around the room.

Then not thinking about it,

I put that pile directly across from my westward facing window

(that I can see GORGEOUS sunsets through).

So imagine my surprise and pleasure when I walked into my room 

during the sunset and saw this:

I'm ABSOLUTELY in LOVE with it!
I don't see myself moving those mirror balls anytime soon! :)

Sunday, I updated my chalkboard art:

In my case, this is an UNDERSTATEMENT!!!!

Let me just say again,

I Love My Chalkboard!

Tuesday, I started up my nannying gig again!

(For those of you who don't know,

this past January, I started nannying a few hours a week

for a very dear family I attend church with.

Over the summer, my hours at work changed

so I was unable to nanny.

But now that I'm working my split shift again,

I'm available to nanny again!)

It was WONDERFUL to spend quality time with my G&G again!

I cannot believe how grown up they are getting!

Wednesday morning I was greeted by this LOVELY site as I pulled into work:

I am only a morning person by work requirement,

but this sight was almost worth being at work at 6:30am to see it :).

Did your kids head back to school this week?

I would love to hear their stories!

Have a Great Weekend!

Friday Five-O #25 {Photos, Photos, Photos!!!!}

Happy Friday, Dear Ones!

I hope this finds you doing well!

I've had a full week of photography and planning for the school year.

Come check it out on today's:

Friday was my beloved cousin, Steve's, 30th Birthday.
For those of you who know him,
he is a CHICKEN Fanatic!
That is, his favorite thing to eat is chicken!
(Wouldn't want someone giving him a porcelain chicken figurine...
he isn't THAT kind of Chicken Fanatic!).
Anyway, with that in mind,
he jokingly requested a chicken birthday cake from his mother-in-law.
Being the AWESOME woman she is,
SHE MADE HIM ONE! :)

Saturday, I took a day trip/adventure to Rockome Gardens
with some AWESOME people from church.
We saw beautiful sights, ate delicious food, and shopped in FABULOUS antique stores!
We came home completely exhausted,
but in spite of that a TON of fun was had by all! :)

Sunday, I was privileged to take photos of my gorgeous cousin, Maranda.
We usually try to take her photos twice a year,
but that just hasn't worked out thus far this year :(.
Nevertheless, we had a great night for photos
and, as usual, we had a marvelous time! :)

Monday officially began "Back-to-School" preparations at the YMCA.
Now, in the spare moments I found during Little Scribblers Camp
(um, yeah...WHAT spare moments?!?!?!?!),
I had actually already gotten some planning done,
but, of course, not all of it.
So I've been very busy this week preparing
for the start of the new school year this coming Monday.

I don't know about everywhere else,
but we have had a pretty glorious summer here in Central Illinois.
Mild temperatures and pleasant summer breezes have the norm around here.
And I absolutely love it!
Tuesday, I snapped this photo because honestly,
it is a perfect example of what this summer has been like:
open windows and lovely breezes! :)

Now, NONE of that is to say that I want summer to stick around a while longer.
NO WAY!!!!
I'm CRAVING Autumn like CRAZY!
I want sweaters and boots,
scarves and jackets,
pumpkin EVERYTHING,
colorful leaves and crisp, cool breezes!
BRING ON AUTUMN!!!!

Are you looking forward to Autumn as much as I am?
What back-to-school preparations have you made this week?
I would love to hear your stories!

Have a Great Friday and a Great Weekend!

Friday Five-O #24 {Summer Camp is Coming to an End...}

Good Morning, Loves!

I hope this finds you doing well!

Speaking for myself, it has been a MUCH BETTER week than the previous one!

I hope that has been the case for you as well!

Come along with me and I'll tell you all about my week on today's:

Last Friday was truly a Good Day!

(After the previous week, I was DUE for a Good Day!)

First of all, it was Friday :)

and then I had the opportunity to do 

an impromptu Back-to-School Photo Shoot with my Little Scribblers.

We had so much fun!

And I'm QUITE GIDDY with how the photos turned out! :)

Friday evening, my mother and I took my little cousin, Tiara,

to see Olaf from Frozen at Barnes & Noble.

It was...an ADVENTURE to say the least.

First of all, the place was completely PACKED!

I overheard a B&N employee saying, "We are NOT prepared for this!"

Then, Olaf turned out to be a cardboard cut-out 

instead of the person dressed in a costume that I was expecting.

Luckily we hadn't told Tiara about Olaf so she was happy with the cut-out.

We ended up purchasing a set of Frozen books and a drinking cup with a straw for Tiara

(a belated birthday gift from Aunt Beckey...which Tiara LOVED!)

and I purchased Frozen (the movie) for my YMCA kiddos.

Saturday, I wished (from afar) my dear friends, Kevin & Hannah,

a Very Happy Wedding Day!

Love you guys! :)

Sunday after church, I spent my evening reading on my bed.
Talk about a Perfect Way to Spend the Evening!

While there, I took a moment to snap this:

I have a love/hate relationship 

with how the evening sun pours through these windows.

It's beautiful to look at, but at the same time creates an oven in my room 

which is quite unpleasant during hot weather.

But, PRAISE THE LORD, we are having a pretty mild summer so far,

so I was completely enjoying it at that particular moment! :)

Monday, I had to take my dear Pearline to see the Doc...

for those of you who don't know, Pearline is my beautiful 2007 VW Jetta.

(Yes, I name all my cars...I named this one after my maternal grandmother

because the color of it is "white diamond pearl".

I am not making that up...that's what it says in the description).

I've been having issues with my power steering

and let's just say the news was not great. :(

I am currently shopping around for other places 

that could fix her electrical problems.

We'll see what happens...

Wednesday at work, in celebration of the final week of Little Scribbler's Camp,
I made the kiddos a blanket fort to sleep in during nap time.

It was a HUGE hit!
And some of the kids even fell asleep! :)

My Little Scribbler's Theme for the Week was:
The Amazing Alphabet.
On Thursday, I attempted to drive that point home
by incorporating the beloved Children's Book:
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
and creating this canvas with the kiddos:

I think it turned out pretty good if I do say so myself! :)

How was your week?
Personally, I have some pretty big plans for the weekend
and I look forward to telling you all about them
on next week's:

Have a Great Weekend!

Friday Five-O #23 {Quick! Let's Put This Week Behind Us As Fast As We Can!}

Good Saturday Evening, Everyone!

I hope this finds you doing well.
I apologize that this Friday Five-O post is late,
but to be honest, it's been a pretty tough ride on the Roller-Coaster this week
and I simply did not have the heart to write this post earlier.

The last week has been...interesting...to say the least.

And I'm very glad to put it behind me.

Honestly, the bad parts were so bad, I don't even want to think about them anymore.

So, I'm going to focus on the positives that last week brought.

C'mon with me and I'll tell you about it on today's:

Friday was my adorable cousin, Tiara's, 5th Birthday.

We celebrated "Hello, Kitty" style at the Springfield Inn & Suites

(so the kiddos could go swimming when the party was over).

At alternate points during the celebration,
I had the opportunity to capture some more artistic photos...
What do you think?

Personally, I'm in Love with them! :)
(The photos AND the darling children!)

Saturday was a College & Career Picnic & Sand Volleyball Event.

It was hot and humid and CERTAIN players felt it necessary
to kick up dirt every time he dove for the ball...
but a ton of fun was still had by all! :)

Sunday, I was privileged  to take the 1 month photos of Miss Claire Watson.

I have been honored to photograph several occasions in this family

and this was just one more happy session! :)

I love this precious family!

Tuesday I took a second to capture this photo at work:

So many of my Little Scribblers are mini hurricanes 
blowing through the playroom leaving chaos in their wake,
and then I have the little guy that does this...LOL!

Wednesdays at the YMCA are "Healthy Days".
We have a Nutrition Lady that comes to visit us and teach us about eating healthy,
taking care of our bodies, etc.
Wednesdays we are supposed to support this
by giving the children only healthy snacks.
Well, I did the unthinkable.
I gave my Little Scribblers donuts.

Hey, if you had had the week I did,
you would've looked for reasons to increase your sugar intake too! :P

How was your week?
I sincerely hope and pray it was better than mine!

Thank you so much for visiting tonight.
I hope you come back soon! :)