Friday Randoms

Happy Friday, friends!  I'm linking up with Andrea again this morning.  This isn't necessarily a list of favorites as much as it a bunch of randomness, but just go with it.

ONE.  Both of my babies started school this week, and they are loving it.  Read about their first days here and here.

TWO.  I will admit that I'm kind of loving this two-kids-in-school thing, too.  Harper only goes two days a week, so I get a total of 8 hours to myself, but it has been so nice.  On Tuesday, after I went to the gym, I stopped by Loft.  Alone.  I even tried on clothes.  It was heaven.  At the register, the lady in front of me apologized for taking so long.  Are you kidding?  No children were pulling at my clothes, screaming my name, handling every piece of jewelry in the store, or demanding fruit snacks.  I could have happily stood in line all day.  It's like a whole new world out there.

THREE.  As another result of school being back in session and getting back into our routines, I've gotten back into the groove of things at the gym.  I've been going sporadically all summer, but it's just so much easier to get there when I'm already leaving the house every morning anyway.  I hope the momentum lasts because I love the way a good workout makes me feel.  

FOUR.  Oh, hey.  Speaking of the opposite of working out and feeling good, I sure did buy my first bag of candy corn and candy pumpkins this week.  Griff is just as weak as I am in the face of candy corn, so he said I shouldn't have bought them.  Hey, if you want someone to blame, then blame Target.  I didn't go looking for candy corn.  The candy corn found me.  They know what they are doing placing those little bags of crack right at the register.  Damn you, Target.

FIVE. Izzy asked me to help her find Harper this afternoon.  Apparently there was a game of hide-and-seek happening.  I obliged, and this is what we found on Izzy's bed.  I'm not sure if it's the hider or the seeker, but someone needs to step up their game.

Harper Goes to Preschool

Harper started preschool on Tuesday, and she had a great first day!

She never cried when we dropped her off, but she looked so sad as we were leaving.  When we turned to walk out the door, she closed her eyes and put her head in her hands.  Right through the heart, I tell ya.  I didn't see this part, but Griff said he turned back to look, and Harper's teacher walked over to her and tried to tickle her to make her smile, and she pushed her hand away.  Ummm, looks like business as usual...let's run!

She was all smiles when I picked her up.  Her teacher said she had a great day, and that her class was a really fun group.  Harper is at such a curious stage, and she retains new information like a little sponge.  She is learning to spell her name, and now whenever she sees a pen, she'll pick it up and say to me or Griff, "Make an H?"  Oh, sweet girl.  

She will only be going to school two days a week this year, but I think it will be so great for her.  I'm praying this year not only sparks a love of learning, but also helps her navigate the rules of engagement.  To say she has a little sassy streak would be quite an understatement.  This kid is a boss.  I posted a cropped version of the photo below on instagram with the caption, "Lord, please bless this child's teacher with a sense of humor and buckets of patience."  

Seriously, this girl kills me.  Oh, my precious child, how mama loves you!  Get ready world.  She's comin' for ya!

Why Kindergarten Can Wait

Izzy is off to her first year of Pre-K as a five-year-old today, and I am so excited for her!

We had plans up until March to send her to kindergarten this year.  Griff and I had a conference with her teacher around that time, and she expressed some concerns about Izzy that we were also seeing at home: not transitioning well between activities, getting her feelings hurt easily, etc.  Well, this caused a few days of full-on stress mode.  We didn't want to hold her back from something we had been preparing her for, and from moving forward with her friends.  We also didn't want to push her if she wasn't quite ready for kindergarten.  It may sound silly, but I was a complete mess over this.  I called my pediatrician in a panic, and he was so kind.  He went above and beyond his job description and performed a quick counseling session for a mama who basically just needed to hear what she already knew.  If in doubt, wait.

We've talked to a few friends who have had similar situations, and they said that extra year made such a huge difference for their children.  My biggest fear was that Izzy would struggle, become frustrated, shut down, inevitably fall behind, and continue to fall.  I was a teacher before I was a mama.  I know how hard it is for kids to catch up and break away from the labels they are assigned early in their education.  I just want to give my children the best opportunities to be successful.  As our pediatrician pointed out, nobody ever says, "Man, I really regret holding my kid back that extra year."  If anything, it's the opposite.  After considering all factors, there were just no negatives to waiting an extra year.  I realize now that this whole idea of her "missing out" was my issue, not hers.  Sometimes us mamas just need to get over ourselves.

The second the decision was made to repeat Pre-K, I felt a huge relief.  I know it is exactly what she needs.  More than anything, I want Izzy to be confident.  There are soooo many things she will experience as a girl that will make her self-conscious, and I never want school to be one of them.  I want her to be a kind friend, a good listener, a helper, a self-motivator, a leader.  I don't want her to get by.  I want her to thrive.  I'm praying this year fosters a deep love and excitement for learning that will stay with her forever.  Now excuse me while I go cry in the corner.

The little one starts tomorrow.  Heaven help her teachers.

5 Fall Essentials

I think I am in agreement with the rest of Texas when I say, "Bring on Fall!"  The calendar tells me it's fall, but the weather tells me otherwise.  That doesn't stop me from dreaming of crisp, cooler temps.  When I think fall fashion, these five pieces come to mind.  They are so versatile, and this is the kind of stuff I will wear over and over again all season.  What are your fall essentials?

1. Military Vest

2. Gap Legging Jeans

3. Madewell Shirt

4. Kate Spade Earrings

5. TOMS Booties

Linking up with Momfessionals today!

Grilled Salmon That Will Change Your Life

You guys, I found the best recipe for salmon.  It is seriously so good.  And until the past few years, I didn't even think I liked salmon.  I just always assumed it would have a strong fishy taste, and I had no clue how to prepare it, so I just steered clear.  This recipe has been a major game changer.  I really think even if you are not a fish eater at all, you should still give this a try.  It's that good.  And so, so simple.  I forgot to take a photo, which is probably a good thing.  My food photography skills are severely lacking, as are all of my photography skills, but that is neither here nor there.

Recipe from Honey Bear Lane, originally adapted from allrecipes.com:

1-3 Salmon fillets

1/4 C brown sugar (I only use 2 tablespoons)

2 T lemon juice

1 t black pepper

2 t salt (I only use 1 teaspoon)

1/4 C soy sauce

1/4 C olive oil

1/8 C water

2-3 cloves minced garlic

Dump all ingredients in a plastic baggie, add in salmon, and marinate for at least an hour.  Make little foil packets/boats for the fillets (we make individual boats) and pour on remaining marinade.  Grill for about 20 minutes.  The recipe says to take the salmon out of the foil packet and put it directly on the grill for the past few minutes, but ours is always falling apart too much to survive directly on the grill, so we just skip that step.  I didn't say it was pretty.  I said it was good. 

I haven't tried this in the oven, but I'm guessing it would have similar results.  We use the frozen salmon fillets from Costco, and they work great.  I like serving broccoli with this, and a little macaroni and cheese never hurt anybody.  Let me know if you try it!

Gone Crazy

Y'all.  I don't know what is wrong with me, but I am losing it.  Last week I wore two different shoes to the gym. We had an errand to run afterward, so I was out of the house for several HOURS wearing two different shoes.  Didn't even notice until I took them off and went to put them in my closet.  Awesome.  And then yesterday, the girls and I went to TJ Maxx after dance.  When we left the dance studio, I pulled my sunglasses out of my purse and put them on.  We parked at the store, I got out to open Harper's door, and saw my reflection in the window.  Not only was I wearing sunglasses, but I had another pair on my head.  I have officially gone crazy.

Painted Bookcases

Happy Tuesday, friends!  Can all weekends last 4 days?   Pretty please??  Griff took Friday off, and we packed as much productivity into the weekend as we possibly could.  There was grocery shopping, major house cleaning, a birthday party (for Griff and Izzy), a MOPS meeting (for me and Harper), baking, grilling, hosting friends for dinner, a visit with Meme and Great Auntie, approximately 45 trips to Home Depot, and LOTS of painting.

When we moved into the new house in December, Griff's parents gave us some bookcases that they were no longer using.  We happily accepted them, thinking they would eventually end up in our gameroom.  They have been living in the garage for the past 8 months.

As I mentioned last week, we have been working on our office/study.  It was in serious need of some storage and function.  I would love to have some built-ins made for that room, but we are saving for a bigger project, and those built-ins ain't cheap.  That's when I got the brilliant idea to refinish our gifted = free bookcases and put them to work in the office.

The Before

We did not go the chalk paint route for this project, so there was some sanding and priming involved.  We sanded everything lightly with a pretty fine sandpaper, then used two coats of primer, and three coats of paint.  The bookcases are not solid wood, and they just soak up the paint.  It actually went a lot quicker than I thought, and wasn't as huge of a beat down as expected.  We made a ton of progress, and all that is left is putting two coats of paint on all the shelves.  For the shelves, we did three coats of primer, hoping that we can get by with only two coats of paint since we have more primer than paint left, and nobody wants to make a 46th trip to Home Depot.

We used Sherwin Williams Simple White and SW Urbane Bronze (matched at Home Depot)

I posted this yesterday on Instagram #laborday

We moved the bookcases into the office, and I am just giddy with excitement.  I love how they turned out, and I can totally see the vision coming together.  Mama is doing her happy dance!  

At first, I thought I wanted them pushed together like this.

Then we tried them apart, and it made the room looked so much bigger!  But what to do with that space in the middle?

Ahhh, yes.  Perfection.

I'm so excited to finish the shelves and get them installed.  And just so you know, there is little in life that brings me more joy than styling bookshelves.  So pumped.  I'm a day late at this, but I noticed that Momfessionals link-up yesterday was "What's on your...Project List," so I'm linking up with her today.