picture not-so-perfect beach pictures

Sand. Sunset. Beautiful ocean. Precious matching boys. 

The perfect beach pictures. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has this idea in their head of smiling, cooperative, happy kids on the beach. You know, kids who sit still and actually smile at a camera without being bribed with starbursts. Do those kids even exist?!

You know the pictures I'm speaking of:

image via

 SO, I have all these images in my head of my adorable boys sitting on the beach in the sweetest matching Kelly's Kids outfits that I have had for over a year. These pictures will be perfect.

Famous last words. 

and my favorite...

I probably won't find these pictures on Pinterest & they certainly aren't what I had in mind as "perfect." But they are our kind of perfect because they show off some fun personalities & they are real. Real {and funny} pictures of our sweet boys!

A Week at the Beach

We spent all of last week in Cocoa Beach, Florida. I've been going there since I was 4 years old & it was nice to be back! Although, the 13 hour drive with 2 littles was way too long.  We were there with my parents but we each had our own condo. It was perfect--we were right on the beach, the kids could spread all their toys all over, but we could still escape to a clean condo 2 floors up. :) Perfect!

If you recall, our first beach trip when G was a baby was an absolute nightmare. He HATED it and screamed the whole week. We actually came home early. I was so worried that Griffin would be the same way. The verdict?

He LOVED it!!! Griffin is our fearless one and would crawl in the sand, towards the ocean, with waves crashing towards him...all while laughing. It was great!

Grayson loved it too! He dug in the sand all week and swam in the pool. He worked so hard shoveling & pushing his giant dump truck. Btw, how awesome are his sunglasses?!

I'll let the rest of these pictures do the talking. I took a ton! Sorry in advance:)

It's nice to be back home, but we really did have a great week! It was so fun being at the beach with two little beach bums. I remember being at this same place as a little girl & dreaming of the day I could bring MY kids to the beach and play. So surreal! 

Back to reality!

Grayson's Big Boy Room

Grayson got a new bedroom before Griffin was born. You may remember this post where I showed off his new big(ger) boy room.  Well, Grayson has been out of the crib since August and in his full size bed since November. We have finally gotten his furniture rearranged & everything on the walls. I even made the bed so that I could take pictures--let's be honest, ain't nobody got time for that. 

This bed used to be Grayson's crib...so glad we got the conversion kit! I'll be so happy when those huge bed rails are no longer needed, but that won't be for a while! G's bedding is the Greyson set from PBK. Those pillows are from Home Goods. My mom found them and they match perfectly! I still need to find a dust ruffle, but I'm in no hurry. (I'll give a cookie to whoever finds the Griffin photobomb)

That big canvas is from Target...you can find one similar here.

That Big Brother frame was how I told Ben we were having another baby! The lamp is also from Target.

This bookshelf took forever to find and I love it! It's from a really cute store in Franklin called Rooster Tails. 

I just hung up G's artwork this week and love it on that big wall! I just got 4 clear command hooks, some cute green ribbon at Hobby Lobby, & tiny clothes pins. Such an easy art wall! 

 Peekaboo!

Friday Five

1. Last night I went to my first ever Tae Bo class. We have a relatively new studio nearby and I tried my first class for free. It was SO fun! Our teacher was actually the son in law of Billy Blanks...so, it was the real deal. Best part? The 450 calories burned in one hour just doing the basic class!

2. Griffin's 1st birthday party is in the works! I decided on a carnival theme & I have people working on his invitation and outfit right now. I'm excited to see it all come together! 

3. I have discovered my new favorite summer breakfast: multigrain toast, avocado, & a fried egg. I cook my egg in coconut oil and I swear it cooks better than any other method! 

4. We leave for the beach on Sunday night and I am SO EXCITED. I need a vacation. However, the drive makes me nervous. We are leaving when Ben gets off work around 10:30pm & driving the 12ish hours to Florida. Let's just hope these boys will sleep most of the way! 

5. I'm a little embarrassed to admit, but I am pretty happy that the crazies of New Jersey are back! I love RHONJ and all of their drama. It makes for some great mindless summer tv!

my Goodwill gallery wall

We have this bare wall in our kitchen that has driven me crazy for 4 years. I've always wanted to hang pictures but I could never figure out how. I scoured Pinterest for gallery wall inspiration but I didn't want just your basic black frames. 

image via Pinterest

 I loved this gallery wall but I didn't want to spend the money on Organic Bloom frames...or even the knock off ones at Hobby Lobby. It inspired me to be thrifty and make a colorful gallery wall!

I went to Goodwill and found 5 frames for about $25 total. 

Then I hit up Hobby Lobby for some spray paint. I picked these 2 fun colors! 

I got to work spray painting my cheap frames. It took about a gazillion coats of paint, but they eventually were completely covered! 

....SO, our wall is no longer bare. It's not complete, but it looks so much better!

I have a printable I want to add but I need to frame it & a crocheted wedding gift with our name that I have never been able to hang. Who needs Pottery Barn when you have Goodwill?!

a weekend wrap up

This past Saturday night was my friend (I typically call her my pretty tan friend) Mary's bachelorette party. She is getting married in a couple of weeks & we had to celebrate her before the BIG day! 

 

We started at the Nail Bar in Franklin and it was amazing.  I'm not the kind of girl that needs to have my nails done frequently, but this place was awesome. I kind of felt like I was on Sex and The City. ha! We all got some wine & had pedicures with the bride. It was so nice! 

 

 

 Here is the bride! In the almost 5 years we have known each other we've had 4 babies between the 2 of us. Isn't that nuts?! Mary was a surrogate over the past year & had twins for a local family. She's pretty much the most selfless girl I know! 

After we got our nails done we went back to the hotel to hang out & get ready for our night out. I need you people to know that I wore 4 inch wedges all night AND DID NOT EVEN FALL. I never wear heels anymore and they make me slightly nervous. I was pretty impressed! 

We ate dinner at Cantina Laredo & then hit up the Big Bang downtown. It's my favorite downtown spot--a dueling piano bar & so much fun! 

I felt safe all night after running into these brave souls...The Ghostbusters. 

I mean, really. You see it all on Broadway.

It was such a fun night! I can't wait to have even more fun at the wedding! 

On Sunday morning we headed to church. Of course the boys were wearing matching outfits so of course I had to get the camera out! Why does Griffy look so big?!

On Sunday afternoon we went bowling with our Sunday School class & the kids. It was a little crazy with so many littles, but it was fun. Grayson is obsessed with bowling & is already talking about going for his birthday!

 

 It's so nice having a group of friends in the same stage as us that we can just do life with. We love our class--they've become more like our Tennessee family! 

It was a great weekend....next weekend we will be beach bound!