I take a lot of pictures.
Understatement of the century.
But really, a lot. I snap them, I send them to family, I keep them on my phone to gush over after the kids go to bed. Like this one from when I put curls in Hailey’s hair for the first time for picture day and almost cried.
She’s been super sweet lately and I just can’t believe how quickly she is growing up. If any other mamas are feeling the constant back and forth between exhaustion with certain phases and exhilaration of precious moment, read this. It’s wonderfully written and really captures a lot of what being a mom to young children is like. One of my favorite lines is, I look like a mom, don’t I? It made chuckle because it’s exactly how I feel and is an odd realization.
Where was I going with all this? Ah, yes, the cutting room floor. Here are some pictures I’ve taken lately that didn’t make it onto the blog. Let’s start with the whole looking like a mom thing.
In the picture below I’ve adequately adjusted the brightness to downplay my forehead creases in hopes you will focus in on my lashes instead.
I have had some seriously awesome lash days (they’re a thing) recently. I noticed them after a week or so of consistently using coconut oil to remove my eye make up at night. I read somewhere how good it is for make removal and I truly am amazed. I just put some on a cotton pad, wipe it on my eye and it removes everything better than any product I’ve used. Score! But is it making my lashes grow too?? Maybe. I just know they seem so much longer and when paired with my current favorite mascara, it makes for many a good eye lash day.
When I came home from my parents’ house on Monday, they sent me with two more boxes of my “memories.” Confession: I am a nostalgic pack rat. I keep EVERYTHING, including my high school government notebook apparently. I’m making it my mission to comb through these and trash some of them.
It’s a slow and highly entertaining process. Old pictures, old diaries, old t-shirts. I could walk down memory lane for hours upon hours. I found this old vision board from middle school and cracked up laughing.
Apparently I have always wanted the same thing– to go to college, get married, have kids and do something with nutrition. Kind of scary but also kind of incredible.
Oh, and can we all stop and have a 6th grade swoon moment over this:
JTT for life. All the heart eye emojis.
Ok, ok, moving on… on the home front, we’ve been in a little bit of a construction zone. David decided to replace all our wood balusters with wrought iron ones. Somehow that led to also pulling up the old carpet runner, which I loathed, and then to sanding, re-staining and painting.
That man of mine sure is handy and though we still have some painting and cleaning to do, the stairs and balusters look awesome!
He switched out all the ones on our balcony too and they really give the house a different feel!
For dinner on Wednesday we tried a new (to us) recipe. Skinnytaste’s French Dip Sandwiches. I didn’t follow the directions perfectly, but even my improvisation turned out SO delicious.
I even went the extra mile and made homemade rolls. I used this recipe in my bread machine and they really kicked things up a notch. There is something about the smell and taste of freshly baked bread!
I also take endless pictures of these two, obvi.
I love that the temperatures have warmed up and we can wear dresses all the time. Both the above dresses (Hailey’s is Hanna Andersson and Kaitlyn’s is baby GAP) came from Thred Up at a fraction of retail. I know I have said it before, but I LOVE Thred Up for buying kids clothes. I get my favorite brands for a few bucks.
I know I’ve heard mixed reviews on the selling side, so I actually just sent a bunch of clothes in and promise to report back how it goes.
In other news, we jumped on the SunButter bandwagon and Kaitlyn is a big fan.
We are slow to jump on trends around here, but it is a nice alternative to have for peanut-free situations. I’ve also heard there is a recipe floating around out there for Sunbutter cookies that is delicious… do any of you know of it??
And finally, I’ll end on this gem that David sent to me the other day.
I think we should hang it right beside our gun rack to really hammer home the point. Thank goodness we have a few years before we have to worry about the girls dating… like 25 more years, right? Right? (Lie to me please.)
I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
If you’ve found anything you have loved lately, please leave it in the comments. I love reading them!
laura says
Agree completely with your assessment of ThredUp. I sent in my first bag of clothes about 18 months ago, and I was pleasantly surprised by what they accepted and the amount I received. I did another bag this fall, and it was so pitiful, I felt like donating would have been a better idea. I think I sent in 10-15 items, and they accepted two and paid me $2. Something ridiculous. However, the buying part is great!
Kate says
Serious lash envy over here!! I need to try the coconut oil – genius tip.
And that sign about dating your daughters? Hilarious! It was really funny to see how my husband started saying pretty similar things when I was pregnant – we went team green, so he had lot’s of time to think about that… 😉
Have a great weekend!
Cassie says
Thank you for sharing the mommy post. It is amazing! Love the railing. Have a great weekend.
John J. says
Ah, nostalgia! Compliments to David on the stairs. Handy, Dude!
Mary says
You reminded me when you said David is handy, that I recently bookmarked your post about getting kids involved in the kitchen because I hope my husband and dad can build a stand for my little girl like David did for Haley…any chance he could share that building process/instructions? Maybe Young House Love style?
marie says
This is a great post! fun! Happy Weekend!
Alyssa @ renaissancerunnergirl says
So happy you’ve jumped on the sunbutter train, and especially with Once Again. Literally cannot get enough. My boyfriend now looks out for sales and stocks up because a jar a week is easy for me.
Elizabeth says
In the adorable picture of Hayley at the top, she has the exact same expression and head tilt of your welcome picture on your blog. They were side by side when I scrolled through this post on my computer. Cute! I love that daughter sign, Jared’s so in love with our daughter – it’s adorable. have a great weekend!
Brynn says
I just received my first ThreadUp selling bag and am curious to see how it goes. In other new – JTT – swoon! What a trip to go through all of your old pictures and mementos. This week I am seriously loving the warm weather, cherry tree blossoms and food trucks!
Emmy says
Such sweet pics! Hailey looks so much like you- very pretty! Have a great weekend!
Julia @ Lord Still Loves Me says
I definitely still have all of my notebooks from school because YOU NEVER KNOW. But really, I do enjoy the times I pull them out every few months and look at the meaningless scribbles that once encompassed my thoughts for that day. There’s just something pure and transcendent about looking at old notes that you once took, and realizing you’re not that exact human anymore.
All right, done being philosophical over high school notes…
I was all about JTT. I grew up watching Home Improvement and wish it was on Netflix now so I could continue to live out that time in my life.
Have a wonderful weekend Brittany! 🙂
Sydney @ Bird Bites says
I’m going to have to try the coconut oil makeup remover! Thanks for sharing!
Brittany says
I love seeing how often you post Once Again Nut Butter products. We actually live 10 minutes from their factory and we buy their peanut butter by the 5 gallon bucket, so yummy! They’re also awesome sponsors for many of our local races. So cool to see such a great product and company getting some love!