There is somethin about  BRIGHT SCREAMING colors

that delights and intrigues me!

it's Magical and whimsical...

Dollhouse~ish,  playful and happy!

~

But then there is this side of me that gets overwhelmed easily,

so i gravitate towards  more muted palettes....

Maybe ,,,  i just need  a POP!!!  on the Walls...

a spotty, patina~like, POP!

and then  muted furniture and accessories.

hmmmm

~

But i love this  creamy dreamy palette sooo much too!

i think i would get bored and start conjouring up a

way to bring in some sort of colors....

who knows????

I guess i just need  2 homes.

one that is bright and fun...

( I'll name that one .....My Nanny Mcphee house)

and another that is more subtle  and relaxing...

(I'll name this one;  My Muted House in Paris)

;)

yah~  i'm liking this! 

hee hee hee..

(You'll have to excuse all the "hee hee's" .....thats just  my budget...... laughing at me)

ahhh,  someday...

xoxo shell

Sweet Tooth Fairy

At The Hawker Home;

There are just some occasions that

call for cupcakes.

and well....

2 years old and potty trained is

a REALLY, REALLY  good reason

to head to the Sweet Tooth Fairy Cupcake shop!

This lil baby is diaper free!

Seriously! 

no...more....diapers...

on anyone in our home!

The 2nd best thing about no diapers...

would have to be how cute their

tiny bum bums are in their pants with no

extra padding...

We can barely keep her drawers up now!

You never seen 3 kids so excited about

(#2)

.....

the deal was...if she poo'd

in the potty...

we would all get sugar  highs!

This wall was adorable it said...

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT,

SO EAT SOMETHING CUTE!

and well...

who are we to rebel...

so we obeyed the almighty words upon the wall!

There was something delightful

everywhere you looked!

I show up to these  ingenius places

and get all ....

"why didn't i think of this" ~ish

and...

well...

i don't wanna get all

Al Gore on ya....

but i come up with these amazing ideas...

and then a few months down the road...

BAM!

iT'S opENed up and thriVING.

(sighhhhhhs)...

(multiple sighsssssssssss)

It's not enough just to imagine...

One must act!

we must be careful to not put our wishbones where

our back bones should be....

i can only dream for so long.....

now it's time to

DO!

XOXO SHELL

Camp a Diddle Doo

It's summa time yall...

so the hawkers just gotta camp out!

But this girl dont really camp...

I GLAMP!

and so...

therefore...

by transitive property...

hubby is forced to glamp also.

:)

he doesnt mind so much though...

he got to rent a boat and fish...

and hike...

and play with fire....

oh...and whaddya know...

Pyro Junior!

This here is the bano.

which translates to bathroom....

(#1 only please)

Yes friends...the hills were alive with the sound of Music.

Kenzie wouldnt stop singing.

she loves makin up songs.

MoonLake is the perfect place to camp.

A lil bit o mountain...a lil bit o beach.

ahhh good stuff!

...and them the trip to Pizza hut on the way home...

Where kenzie sang....

some more....

and more and more...

but it was tolerable due to the fact that...

we were eating Pizza Hut Pizza!!!

yummmmmm

it's so dang good!

especially after camping food...

soggy cooler food....

cooking in the dirty pan ...again...food.

yah,  i guess in hindsight, it may not have been the pizza that was sooo great...

but probly by that point...you coulda fed me

cold  fish sticks...

i do love glampin but not so much sharing food

with dirty fingernailed children....

:)

xoxo  shell

Bunko Group goes to The Game

We took ourselves to the ball game...

our bunko group went to the game...

We bought us some peanuts..but there werent

no cracker jacks...

It was a G.N.O. so we didnt care if we ever got back...

(home)

so it was me and 1, 2,3 girls...

that went  out ...

to the old ball game!!!

we had sooo much fun...

i planned a fun game for us.

I made a list of scavenger items ...

we had  a hoot finding the items to check off!

I also made a betting sheet for the 4 of us...

it was hilarious to see the predictions of each innings numbers...

Lets just say..

some of us havent been to a ball game in a while..

...and some of us picked our numbers like we never

heard of the game.

xoxo  shell

A Birthday for Lou lou

Birthday Sweets for Breakfast!

A sparkly new Bike awaiting the birthday girl...

A day at the waterpark....

with the one's she loves....

Dinner with more loved ones at The Mayan...

(an amazing cliff diver dinner show restaurant)

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Lou lou is 7 years old.

She is a great big sister ...

a Choose the Right girl....

a bundle of talents and passion....

a great friend, a wonderful daughter...

and an all around lovely,

Child of God!

(and her does her mama so proud)

xoxo  shell

So Cute!

My sista drug me outta the house again....

and this is where her tooked me!

:)

This lil cupcake shop in salt Lake...

and as you can see...

it was sooo open!

The menu was sooo cute!

and so were the toddlers that

came with us...

my niece

my daughter

drooling....

if you live around these here parts....

I suggest you soooo CHECK IT OUT!

xoxo  shell

The ol' Zinger: How to Eat an Elephant

Warning:

I am about to  put out a bunch of dirty laundry.

Just gonna hang it all out for everyone to see.

Why not?

Noone is perfect.

We are all here just working through each day...

Some days are  a climb...

others just a stroll.

How well we cope with the ups and downs just depends on what season of our lives we are in.

It has been a rough two years....

My family and i have been through a lot financially

and personally.

Overall~

i would have to say that i have taken it all

and handled it very well.

but just as of late:

(like the last 3 months)

i've been struggling.

Every moment of happiness....i have to fight for it.

Any progress around the house.....i fight to get it done.

Just bathing and dressing myself and the kids....i force myself to do it....it's a fight.

I have to tell myself to put one foot in front of the other...

i have to talk myself into throwing in a load of laundry...

or picking up that first dish ...and then i have to convince

myself to keep going.

Life is a fight for me right now.

but it is one that i am willing to take on!

Sometimes i cry because i want to function normally ...sooo badly.

I am by nature a very Happy Girl.

so why is it all so hard right now???

why can't i laugh it off? 

why can't i put it all into perspective?

these are the questions that run through my mind...ALL DAY.

Life is soooo hard right now...even the tiniest everyday stuff...

it's a battle just to keep breathing....

but i keep on fighting the good fight. 

cuz deep down,  i know that is what this is:

THE GOOD FIGHT

in the end...for those who endure...

it will all be worth it.

We will look back at this life and we will see

that it was all but a moment....

a short fleeting chance to prove ourselves...

our strength...  our perserverance....

our willingness to fight for the stuff that really

matters.

I am overwhelmed.

Financially fighting to stay afloat and get ahead.

struggling with depression and exhaustion.

a hormone roller coaster  off of my meds.

I am 30 and living in the in laws basement.

On top of the world at one time but now starting over from scratch.

I am easily discouraged right now, it's true.

but i know two things:

how much Jesus Loves me

and

how to eat an elephant.....

ONe BitE aT a TiME!

so i fight....each moment of the day...and lil' by lil'

I EAT THE ELEPHANT IN FRONT OF ME

cuz there is a lot of happiness to be had in this life...

and damn it all...

i am determined to get back to a place where it comes

more easily my direction!

xoxo  shell

check out The other Z posts with jenny matlock HERE