Jamie's Pink Baby Shower

My sweet friend Jamie is having her first girl in two weeks! She and her husband Greg have two little boys, Hudson and Harrison, 6 and 3; they are so excited to be welcoming a girl into the family, Houston. Maria, Jamie's sisters, and I hosted a shower on Sunday at my house. Jamie has joked that after two boys, she's ready to see all things girly. We decided to do lots of pink desserts, pink flowers, and pink bows for the occassion. What a great turnout of guests for the shower! And oh, the adorable gifts she got, including the outfit that Jamie came home from the hospital in, given by her mother; she will be bringing Baby Houston home in the same. I can't wait to meet this blessing!



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Out of my comfort zone!

One of my best friends, Shannon, joined a fairly new company, Rodan + Fields. They are the doctors who created ProActiv in 1994. It was a 9 billion dollar company that they eventually sold. They surprised people by using infomericals as their means of getting the word out, but it worked!
They began to see a trend-- people weren't coming to them with acne problems nearly as often; it was concerns with fighting the signs of aging, sun damage, rosacea, eczema,... So a few years ago, the doctors launched Rodan + Fields with amazing new products. At the core are four skin regimens: Reverse, Anti-Age, Unblemish, and Soothe. What strikes me is that now they have products for everyone with skin! ;) If ProActiv was a $9 billion dollar company, and acne actually effects only a relatively small percentage of people, and aging effects everyone-- wow!
Originally, R+F was 'behind the glass' at large department stores; in fact, it was the #1 best seller at Nordstroms and Lord & Taylor. Why did they pull the products from these stores? They found that it wasn't the store employees selling the products; it was word of mouth, friend to friend...just like we do everyday, "Where did you get your hair done? Where did you find those boots?" Direct sales is a smart business model, and consultants are proving that daily.
I'll rewind back a few months...Shannon was talking to me about this. I recognized the doctors' names since I'd used ProActiv before with great results, and I'd seen their new products mentioned in a magazine (later found out they are in magazines monthly-- Allure, O, Martha Stewart Weddings, In Style, and more). She invited me to her business launch right about the time we were moving and all that goes with it. I agreed to go only because I love Shannon:). As I listened to my new friend, Candice, explain momentum and the fact that this company has not hit that level yet, I was very interested. Two weeks later, I asked Ron to go with me to another business presentation. Since he's been in a variety of sales positions, he's usually skeptical since he's seen both sides. He thought this was something to pray about. We did, and I couldn't stop thinking about it. I felt that I should do this even though it's definitely out of my comfort zone! Since I resigned full-time teaching, I've been teaching parttime and doing other side jobs to help us financially. I've never had an opportunity to 'write my own paycheck.' I joined this company on September 1. It's so groundfloor, that I'm only 12 people down from Dr. Rodan and Dr. Fields. That's crazy! I love that unlike many direct sales companies, I do NOT have to host parties or stock inventory. My customers simply go to my website, brookemayfield.myrandf.com, and place their order, and it ships to them. No delivering for me to do either. A few other things I love about this opportunity are the new friends I have made, the Christian leadership in the company, and the training calls that I can listen to at my own leisure (usually when I'm folding laundry!). I'm excited to see where this road will take me! Here's a quick video from the first R+F consultant, Sarah Robbins.

Brooke's Bargains 53

It went from 85 degrees to about 45 degrees overnight! Chilly yard sale morning here! The girls and I went to two different neighborhood sales. We actually found the best stuff for Reid today, but we already gave the finds to Brittany.

2 shirts for Ron & a sweater for me with tags, $3 total

Addison got jeggings;), 3 pair of cords, a shirt, mittens, & a bib for $5.75

Ava picked out the leotard for her dressup collection; plus we found her 2 pairs of shoes, 2 shirts, 2 pair of Gap pj sets. $11

I'll have a better pic of this soon! Someone at church heard that I was looking for an antique sideboard. She sent me this picture last night and said it's mine in exchange for a little decorating help at her house. I'm excited! Can't wait to paint it and put it in my dining room. I'm thinking about trying out the chalk paint recipe that my friend Haven used!

Welcome to the world, Grace

I am so excited to say I have a beautiful niece! Reid is now a big brother, and I'm welcoming my sister to the world of hair bows, pink, and dolls! :) It excites me for Addison to have a girl cousin only 5 months younger too! What fun they will have.

Brooke's Bargains 52

I love when I see the words "neighborhood yard sale" on Craigslist. Brittany, Ava, Addison, & I went to about 12 yard sales Saturday. We know this will be Britt's last time for several weeks since the new baby is going to arrive any time now! We found some great deals.

$3 light to replace another one of the brass lights... Almost there replacing all the lights and our friend is coming this week to install them!

DVD, 4 hardback books, and 2 paperback books: $7

For Ava: $4 for a swimwuit, 3 skirts, and 4 shirts (including Land's End, Gymboree, & Gap)

More for Ava: Kelly's Kid set, jeans, 2 dresses, Dorothy costume, $5.50

For Addison: 2 sets of Old Navy pjs, Gap sweater, bubble outfit, 5 pairs of leggings: $5

For me: a dress, brand new pajaama pants, and 5 shirts, $4

Remembering...

Today would have been my loving mother-in-law's 70th birthday, but she passed away 16 days ago. As I read that sentence back to myself, it still seems very strange. Strange that my husband and brother-in-law no longer have parents, strange that my girls won't have her here anymore, strange to imagine this coming holiday season and all the ones to come forever without her, strange that she's no longer on the other end of the phone...I'm so thankful for having her be a part of my life for the past decade and more, and I'm grateful to God for the peace that truly comes because we know she loved Him more than anything. One friend of the family wrote of Ron's parents, "They were rich in faith and were glad to share this wealth with all those they ministered unto."There's so much I want to say here. I want to capture her sweet personality and heart. I want Ava to remember the fun times she had with Mammaw. I want her to understand somehow how much she loved Ava. And then there's Addison, who will never have even one memory of her; that breaks my heart.
Ava, from day one, Mamaw thought you were the best, so when you started to do things like smile, situp, crawl, walk, talk, pretend, she was the proudest grandmother. I don't think we could search the world and find a grandmother who loved her granddaughter anymore than she loved you. You couldn't wait for her to visit each time. She almost always brought you a gift that you looked forward to. Most of the time, I could find you two playing tea party in your room. You soaked up every moment of her visit. Our last visit with her was a few weeks ago; we all went out to lunch for Uncle Danny's birthday and then to Silver Dollar City where Ava & Mammaw rode the teacups together:)
I will try to help Ava remember these priceless memories, and I will tell Addison many stories about her grandmother. A few years ago, I helped her set up a Facebook; it was something she enjoyed so much-- reading back through her page, I saw these comments that do capture her heart for her family:
"My older son has a daughter, Ava, and they are expecting another one in May. It's hard to believe that I will be doubling my joy...for Ava is surely the joy of my life."
"I have been skyping with my four year old grandddaughter Ava...it was absolutely priceless! She has the most delightful expressions and gestures when she talks. I love her so much.. and when she says, 'I love you Mammaw this much'my heart just melts!!"
"I want to tell my sons, Ron and Danny, that I love you with all of my heart!! You have blessed me in more ways and more times than I could ever tell you. You have brought so much joy to my life, and I don't know how I could make it without you. Thank you, Lord, for my children!!!"
I watched her with her quiet grace as she was a pastor's wife, mom, mother-in-law, and friend. She respected her husband, loved and cared for and listened to her sons, supported me in my new roles, and laughed with friends. Hopefully someday, I'll be someone's mother-in-law, and I'll have grandchildren, and I can honestly say, I hope to be like her-- kind, uplifting, and loving. Some of my best memories are her praying with me; the Thanksgiving when she and I were really into Rachael Ray so we pretended to be her when we were cooking (what a wonderful cook she was!); playing Words with Friends at 2 am; listening to her stories of Ron when he was a little one; texting her pics of the girls and getting back such excited responses. I'll probably never see a sudoku book, Fox News, an iphone pic of my girls, or The Mentalist without thinking of her.
I wish I were better with words...

 

Ava's Dress-Up Party

It goes without saying that Ava loves to dress-up. She has a big imagination, and I can see her being in theatrical productions in the near future:). When trying to decide what to do for her birthday party, Brittany suggested a dress-up party and told me to just wait until we moved-- great advice (she also knew that planning a party three weeks after moving into our new house would seriously motivate me...more on that later;). When I was five, I would have thought I'd died and gone to heaven if I had as many princess dresses as Ava. The majority of them have been yard sale finds (paying $1-$3 for them is perfect compared to the $25 tag at Target!) and birthday/Christmas presents.
I love etsy and pinterest! It makes party planning even easier. I found her printable invitations and cupcake toppers here.  A few days before the big event, the girls and I went to Hobby Lobby to get ribbon, plates, napkins, ect.
One of the best ideas I've ever had was asking Jordan, a precious teen from church, to come help me. She made everything so much easier, especially since my sister couldn't be here. Jordan pitched in and did stuff before I could even ask her to. It.was.wonderful.
On the day of the party, Ava was in full dress up mode by 10 am (the party started at 6 pm)...sparkley dress, tiara, jewelry, lip gloss, glitter eyeshadow... She couldn't wait for her friends to arrive. It was such a fun night. The kids played and giggled for hours. There's nothing better than having family and friends around and seeing your child laughing and having the time of her life.
I went to bed that night very, very thankful (and very tired:).

Ava & Tuesday

 

I love crafting.

Thankfully, I just had to raid the playroom to come up with plenty of things!

Niki & Mary Abbott

Mimi (I have a feeling my mom was worn out from all the stuff I had her doing before!), Papa, & Addison with her tutu on

 

 

I borrowed my friend's Pampered Chef kit. Loved it so much I bought one.

Britt saw this idea on Pinterest and passed it along to me. They made edible jewelry out of chocolate covered pretzels, fruit loops, cheerios, and gummy lifesavers.

Ava's dresses

"wardrobe change" #457

 

 

Mary Catherine, Shannon, Maria, & Daisy

 

the "big" girls doing A's makeup

 

 

 

Ava & Lexie

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet girls! Amelia, Maddie, Abby, Hannah Mae, Irby, Lexie, Paisley, Ava, Caitlyn, Mary Catherine, Macy Claire, & Mary Abbott