forever friends...

I posted a while back about going to visit my friend Shannan before she moved off. We were just starting to pack and close on our new house, but I wanted to go help her pack and say 'bye' one last time before she moved. I think on the four hour drive there, I told myself a million times that I wouldn't cry... not when I seen her, not when talking about the move, not when leaving. And believe it or not, we never did! I was just so thankful to see her, Michael and the girls one last time. I think I just kept telling myself how thankful I am that she is apart of my life. And how iPhones and FaceTime are life savers! :-)

We got in some packing, but mostly laughing and story telling! Still not sure how I talk to her almost daily, but we always seem to have something to say. We also got to go out for drinks with her current neighbor!

.. LOVE her ..

It was a fun night of girl talk and drinks. Just so thankful for true friendships!

And you want to know how I know Shannan is my friend sole mate?? Shannan is against tattoos. They are just not her thing! Me on the other than, LOVE THEM! I have one, and I would love to get more but my first one hurt so bad! So one day I seen this tattoo and would totally love to get it. So I sent it to her asking if we could get it...

Want to know her response? Just a couple weeks later I received two necklaces in the mail... one with "To Infinity" and the other with "And Beyond". One half for me, the other for her. How is that at making my every wish come true?! It may not be inked on my body, but I can at least wear it! :-) What a jokester she is!

new house walk through

We are officially moved it!!! I totally was starting to think I would NEVER get to say that! I remember saying how bad our move was 6 years ago, but I did NOT remember it being this bad! I am worn smooth out! And the 110+ degree days are not helping either!

My mom came last week to help clean and get ready for the move. When she left, she took Hadlea home with her for a few days. Justin and I had first said she couldn't go, but after talking, we knew she needed to so she didn't get shuffled around every night. We start around 5PM every night after work and worked until 12-1AM. It was awful! But do you know how much you can get done without a 2 year old?! ALOT! My mom also helped so much with the move... from cleaning, to painting, to running after meals, etc. I just really wonder how I get anything done without her! Thanks so much momma! I love you so much!

Justin and I worked all last week with the movers coming on Thursday, July 26, which was also our first night in our new home! My mom and H were back by then and H was over the moon to stay in her new room! She LOVES it, and I am SO thankful! Berkley on the other hand... he still isn't sure! I am still carrying him around the house more than I am not! Silly dog... pretty sure he truly believes he is human!

So with all of that... welcome!

Front door and what you see when you walk in...

living room / kitchen / dining

{LOVE this floor plan. I don't think this picture does it justice. I think it is actually bigger in person. But I LOVE being in the kitchen and still watching the tv!} 

those white doors are my office... 

office!

{This is a large room. Probably the largest out of the bedrooms minus the master.}

Heading into Hadlea's room! 

I didn't get a before picture of this room, but it was Latte like the others. I painted this room and her playroom SW Zircon. I wasn't too sure about the color when it was first being painted, but I LOVE it now! I will post more pictures soon. I have her curtains up, but need to hang her decor.

Leaving H's room and heading down the hall to the playroom. 

The playroom and H's room are exactly the same.

Middle bath! 

Spare bedroom / Closet 

Master!

{This room is big and square. Kind of hard to photograph}

Master bath!

{The sinks are extra tall. Love them!} 

Master Closet!

This is half. Justin's side is opposite where I am standing. 

We have alot of work to do in painting, arranging, etc, but I am just glad to be here and staying! I will paint all of the dark cabinets white with a glaze. I am just not digging the color of them right now. But all of that will wait until we close on our other house!

Progress pics to come soon!

friday phone dump {on sunday}

We are about 90% moved in! Just alot of miscellaneous stuff left, which I hope we can finish mostly today! Moving has taken a toll on all of us, obviously...

While moving, some little girls were having a a lemonade stand so we stopped for a glass. Their sign said, "Pink Lemonade $.50. It is good!". Although it was Pink Lemonade. And it was $.50. It was NOT good! It was pretty much water. But I am sure if they had another table, we would buy again. Their beaming faces was well worth the $1!

Berkley and I made a bank run. He 'freaks' every time we pull in because he knows they will send him a treat!

Another worn out night after moving! I am not sure they were planning on me coming to bed that night!

Hadlea and I went to get donuts one morning. I asked her if she wanted a pink donut or one with sprinkles. She chose pink, so the sweet donut ladies added sprinkles for her!

With all of the controversy over CFA and same sex marriages, I thought of this picture I seen long ago....

Hadlea had her very first school friend birthday! It was Emi's 3rd birthday party! Here they are making funny faces! They were too cute!

We attended a wedding for our cousin. My niece, Hannah, had my phone and took tons of pictures of herself... and one of us!

Everything is finally coming together with the move! We moved and unpacked as we went. I currently only have 4 boxes of house decor that needs unpacked. I am waiting to decorate until after we get the rest of our rooms painted. H's room is almost finished! I need to get a few things for her walls and it will be done!

While moving, I went through alot of pictures. This one just cracked me up! Us girls went around town taking pictures together one day. Funny that we thought we were so hot and cool those days! Ha!

I will try to get pictures posted of the house this week. Maybe for my next Friday update?! :-)

friday phone dump

Wednesday night, I got to have dinner with some girls friends, Katie and Allison. They are sisters, and I met them both through blogging! They are just hilarious! Daddy had already put H to bed when I got home so I got to snuggle with my other baby!

Every morning, Berkley rides with us to drop H off at daycare. He sits in the front seat. He can roll the window down, so as soon as he does, Hadlea wants her window down too. We take side roads, so I always let them ride with their windows down. As soon as we let H out, Berkley crawls into her car seat and rides back home with his head out the window! He is too human!

NOTHING better than a sweet sleeping baby!

NEVER pay your painter until you have checked every inch of your room! This is the result! :-( I didn't check the room because I hated the color so bad, that I didn't even go into the room. Now... the painter will not return any calls! Guess what I will be doing this weekend?! Re=painting... and calling the BBB! :-)

Berkley is getting alot of love on this Friday, but he deserves it! He sleeps on my pillow like this every night! My little ball of heat!

And although we have ALOT going on, I LOVE seeing these football count down pics on facebook! We are now LESS than 50 days to the start of the season! Come on fall and football! Hoping we take H to some games this year... start her off early, right?!

Happy Friday, Y'all! We have a weekend of 2 birthday parties, cleaning, painting and moving! So thankful my momma arrived today to help with the cleaning part! That poor lady gets stuck with the crappiest jobs !:-)

it's no longer JUST a castle...

 See this super cute wood castle? You can buy it HERE.

To you all, this might be just your average wooden castle. To me, it will always be a reminder that there truly are amazing people left in this world. {sad we have to say that, right?!}

So this past weekend, I went to a craft show with my MIL. I ran across this wooden toy booth. The guy that makes the toys is in a wheelchair. I have seen him at several events over the years, and I always stop, speak and admire his work. It is truly amazing! His name is Frank, and he owns Frank's Wooden Toys. I showed Hadlea a few things at his booth, and she chose the above castle. I asked him if he took a credit card because I didn't have enough cash or a check on me. He told me no as he didn't have a machine, only cash or check. So I then asked for a business card. He is located out of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, which is very close to me, so I thought maybe I could just drive over and pick one up at a later date and bring a check.

He then suggested I just take the castle home with me so I didn't have to make the drive, plus he didn't want to ship it and charge me shipping. So my response, "so... you want me to just take it home and mail you a check?". His response, "Yes". I said, "and you are okay with that? It is fine with me, but only if you are comfortable really doing that!". His next response, "You are a Christian, right? $60 isn't much to me compared to the guilt you would have towards Him {as he points toward heaven}."

Y'all... I about totally lost it! My eyes just started filling up with tears. Who is this guy? Who is trusting enough these days to let a total stranger just walk out with a toy you spent HOURS making not knowing if you will ever receive payment for it?! Not one other booth would have done anything like that!

After sharing this story with my MIL and aunt, my MIL offered to give me the money, and I could just pay her back. But I knew I needed to send the money and write Mr. A a letter. He may not have thought one thing about it, and you may not think it is anything major either, but to me, it meant so much. I honestly do not have the words to describe how my heart felt after that experience. It wasn't a $1000 item... it was merely $60, but he totally just let me walk out with it. No questions asked. I offered my address and phone number in case there was an issue, but he didn't even think it was necessary! I left it anyway.

And Monday morning, I sent a letter with a check. I started not to share my letter, but it is truly how I felt about the situation. I strive to be a better person because of Hadlea. I hope one day she reads this, looks at that castle {because I will never get rid of it} and knows that the world is still good. There truly are good, caring people. And I pray, pray, PRAY that she is one of them!

Mr. A,
Included is your check for the wooden castle you so graciously let me take home for my daughter from the Affair of the Heart… without paying for it first! What you did for me that day will forever stick in my heart. What a kind, thoughtful, generous and trusting man you are. I know you love the Lord, and that sir, made my heart so happy. That castle is no longer just a castle to me… it is a reminder that there truly are good people left in this world. You do not know me. You did not owe me anything. But, I will never forget what you did. I will be telling my daughter the story of that castle, and I can only pray it touches her heart as it did mine. I can only hope that the story will remind her of your generosity, and that she will become a better person because of you.

Your trade is truly magical. You told me you wish there was someone you could teach your trade to, and I will always pray that God sends you that person. God gave you the most amazing gift… to make things for children that will light up their face. The evening after bringing home my daughter’s castle, she played with it for over an hour. Her imagination ran wild, and I couldn’t help but sit there and watch her sweet face smiling from ear to ear. And the only reason I got to sit there and watch her is because of you and the trust you had in me to mail you a check when I returned home.

There is a special place in heaven for you, Mr. A, that I have no doubt. You may have never thought anything about what you did. After all, you told me that $60 wasn’t much compared to the guilt I would feel towards Him if I didn’t send the money, however, it will always be something I remember.

Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for teaching me that trust and generosity can change someone’s life forever. Because I know you have just changed mine.

Sincerely,

Heather H

You can see a video of Mr. A HERE. This video really shows just what a kind man he is! He is now selling to Melissa & Doug. He also told me he was contacted by another company out of Illinois or Iowa (?). He isn't even sure how these people find him. But I have no doubts! Good things come to good people! God is good, and I have no doubts He is taking care of Mr. A!

what's going on...

So who knew selling a house {picking up, cleaning, showing, etc.}, getting a house ready to move in, having a full-time job and a 2 year old could be so crazy?! :-) Holy cow, my mind is everywhere! So... kind of a recap:

• We FINALLY closed on the new house on Monday, July 9. {We were supposed to close on July 3. I previously had painters, cleaners, carpet/tile guy, movers all set up, and wouldn't you know our original date would get moved. Trying to reschedule everyone has been a nightmare! Yikes!}
• We FINALLY got Hadlea's room and playroom painted. The color... still questionable?! I have only looked at it twice, and I cannot bring myself to walk into that room again until I am putting stuff in it! Praying my gray looks ALOT less periwinkle with black and white accents in it! Ha!
• I had a high school friend get married, and I waited until the last minute to notice that the wedding was at 3PM. I was planning to leave at 3PM because I thought it was at 6 or 7. It is a 2.5 hour drive. #awesome
• I planned for H to go to a birthday for her little daycare friend, only to lose the invitation so I had no idea where it was at, what time or a phone number to call them. #awesome
• Can you tell it is totally my week?!

But...

This little girl has learned to right her tricycle and is everywhere! She might have learned a couple months ago, but I am just documenting it!

We had a showing Friday night so we had friends over at the new house for pizza. It was totally last minute as the Roumbanis' were going out of town for a few weeks, and then we decided to call the Goff's since Taran is making some stuff for H's new room. We planned to fish, but it started raining... but it left this beautiful full rainbow! ...perfect rainbow the very first time in our new home totally equals good luck, right?!

Since the kids couldn't play outside because of the rain, they made the best of the empty house inside! Have you ever had 5 kids running/crawling around in an empty house full of tile! LOUD... is all I can say! But they were loving it...

Daddy and Richard started on the fence at 5AM on Saturday. The rest of us slept in! :-)

H and I met Nana and Aunt Sharon for a little shopping at a craft show. H was so awesome! I will write another post for the things we bought!

Sunday was spent over at the new house! It was a LONG day! Daddy and Richard finished the fence, I mowed the yard and cleaned up some stuff. The painters were there for H's room and playroom. We got so much done and Hadlea was PERFECT to just play with her babies outside!

We later took a little swim since H was SO good!

And of course, daddy was itching to do a little fishing!

We met some of our neighbors and everyone has been so friendly! Although, I am still VERY nervous about the move and leaving my 'home', I know it will be a great move for our family! As long as I can get my crap together in the mean time! :-)

the story of sosa

Babies. Hadlea is ALL girl when it comes to her babies. She plays with them non-stop and never leaves the house without one. But... she does not sleep with one. She has always had one specific blanket that she sleeps with and cries for it when she gets tired. But, she has never had a baby/stuffed animal she slept with until around March of this year.

My cousins came in for the weekend, and we took the kids to the Dollar Store for a toy. Hadlea picked this one rabbit and always said it was from her cousins: Anna, Harvey and Zac. She then started sleeping with it. She could not go to bed without it.

I always worried about losing it because I knew I would never be able to find another one. Enter Mother's Day weekend... We go to my Granny's for the weekend, and we lose THE rabbit! We looked high and low. We hadn't left the house without it so we have no idea where that darn thing danced off to, but it was gone.

My Granny used to buy Beanie Babies when they were popular and sold them at her local store. She has TONS! She went and got Hadlea this red Sammy Sosa baseball player beanie baby. She seemed to be fine and had no issues with it taking the place of her rabbit.

But... before we left my Granny's for the weekend, we lost THE Sammy Sosa Beanie Baby! Eeeek! So off we dig for more... however, she would NOT take it if it wasn't RED! Thankfully, we found a red Jerry Rice football player, which we continued to call Sosa! Ha! {So thankful my girl wasn't a two year old reading genius! :-)}

Little red Jerry Rice Sammy Sosa goes alot of places with us. I honestly think it is funny that she chooses to take her 'Sosa' rather than a baby sometimes!

And because I am SO tired and running on little sleep, I have no segue into this next part of my post... although it totally has to do with a Sosa... :-) Hadlea got a package in the mail from Gigi the other day...

And wouldn't you know it was a PINK SOSA! Talk about one SUPER happy girl! Gigi sure knows the way to Hadlea's heart!

 Meet our Sosa's... red, green and pink! {the green was supposed to be Berkley's, but big sister took it over SUPER fast!}

Oh our Sosa loving girl! I think these Sosa's are the only 'babies' around our house that are not getting their bottoms wiped, diapers put on, getting spankings and set in timeout 100+ times a day! It must be good to be a Sosa!