Hey!

Hey all! Today I'm guest blogging over at Simply Smithwick for Caroline while she's away. Head on over and check out some of my current, favorite fashion trends. I promise next week I'll finish our vacation recap!!! 

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! Happy FRIDAY :) 

Life's a Beach

Hey guys! We made it home from vacation alive and well. It's taken me a few days to recoup, and get back to 'normal' although I still have vacation on the brain and wish I was still in Florida soaking up the sun. And a big shout out to the lovely ladies who guest blogged for me, I adored each of your posts, thanks again! One of my favorite things we did in Florida was take the girls and spend an afternoon at the beach. They had the best time, and seeing them running through the water with smiles plastered on their faces just made my heart want to explode. 

How cute do they both look in their bikini's and shades? I think Addaline's hands are permanently attached to her hips, it's her 'sassy' pose, Lord help us! *Warning: TONS of photos*

 On our way to the beach, they were SO excited. We had shopped the day before and Addaline picked out new sunglasses, that take up half her face but are SO cute. I couldn't say no ;) 

 Macie looks like a little supermodel in this photo, goodness! So tall and skinny!

 My favorite girls in the whole world! The beach is definitely a place we could live happily ever after!

So beautiful! 

I'll recap our days at Disney later this week. These were my favorite photos so I wanted to share them first! 

Gettin' crafty wit it...

na na na na na na na nana

na na na na nana

gettin crafty wit it....

Hi! I am Katie.

I blog over at {The Lacy Family} where I talk about my family & the daily musings of our sometimes loco life.

When Molly asked me to guest post, I knew I wanted to do a craft. I have been "pinning" summer crafts on Pinterest to make with the kiddos & this was a great opportunity to make one. I loved the idea of homemade soap after seeing this picture.

Our soap turned out NOTHING like the picture. I followed the directions to a tee but it came out all wrong. Bad, bad, just very bad.

Not one to be easily discouraged, I forged on. I was determined to have a fun craft to make with my kiddos & to share with the lovely readers of The Fuschia News.

We attempted another recipe after I saw this picture-

How fun does that look?! Puffy soap in the bath would rock! When I saw the ketchup & mustard

containers in the $1 section at Target, I thought they would work GREAT for this craft.

Aw, ignorance is bliss.

Again, I followed the directions but the soap didn't break down to come out "puffy". Total bummer.

So before you think Molly has asked a craft-reject to guest blog, I DO have a craft I made this week to redeem myself.

My little sweetie, Addison, lost her first tooth this week so I made her a very simple pouch to put her tooth in. There is a little pocket on the front for her tooth & then a pouch for the Tooth Fairy to slip so cashola into.

This was my inspiration.

You start with a long rectangle piece of felt.

Put glue on half of it & fold over to create a pouch.

I made Addison one the other day & made the little pocket into a heart. I made a tooth for the one I made today. You could do anything though!

Put glue on the bottom half of your shape. I used felt glue that I bought at Hobby Lobby. Make sure there aren't any gaps when you put it on the pouch - you wouldn't want to lose the tooth!

Let it dry & voila`! You are done! We added some pom poms to ours since they were in our craft box but you could decorate it anyway you wanted to!

Pouch for $

Pocket for tooth!

Addy with her tooth pouches. It will be fun for her to keep them & pass them down to her kiddos!

Thanks for having me guest blog, Molly! I had a great time!

Stop by {The Lacy Family} & say hi! I'd love to hear from you!

Disney!!

Hi y'all!  I'm Heather from...

I blog about life, love, and furbabies.
...with a little goofiness thrown in.

I also host a weekly Book Club linky!  You should join in.

I am so happy to fill in for Molly while she and her family are at DisneyWorld!

My family has a tradition of going to DisneyWorld every other year.  It's one of my favorite places in the world.  So I thought I'd share some pictures of our most recent trip!

Disney doesn't do anything half-hearted.  

Not even shrubs.

We were greeted by Mickey & friends at the front gate.

Characters randomly appear for shows throughout the day!

Nobody does a parade like Disney.

Can't have a Disney post without the castle.

My siblings and I were kidnapped by the Evil Emperor Zurg.

I would like to brag state for the record, that I won the title for the highest score on the Buzz Lightyear ride the last trip.  My parents claim that my sister beat it on the most recent trip, but there's no proof of that.  Regardless, I handled the news with class.

...Or maybe I tried to take her out with a golf cart...

Blessings Overflow

The ever so sweet Lindsi approached me and said she would love to guest post for me, which I was thrilled about. I am just in love with her blog, and she has the best personality, and a wonderful testimony as well. I am over the moon excited for her sweet little family, and hope you'll show her some love! 

Hi, y’all! I’m Lindsi from Keeping the Home Fires Burning, and I’m thrilled Molly is letting me share a bit of my story/testimony with you today.

I began blogging just a little over a year ago to share our story and document our journey through infertility with friends and family---little did I know the support and inspiration I’d draw from other women who were walking in my shoes.

Let’s start with the happy ending: We’re expecting our miracle baby in early December!! J If you’d like to read all the medical details of our journey, please jump over to my blog. Today I want to talk about the emotional and spiritual journey we walked through.

When we experienced our first pregnancy loss, I had no idea that I had any sort of “problems.” We chalked it up to “stuff happens,” which is the wisdom we took from the doctor’s office. After the next two pregnancy losses, I found myself in a place of self-pity and self-doubt, questioning my worth as a wife to my husband. From there my thoughts spiraled downward, questioning God. “Why does God allow these things to happen to good people?” “Why does God let all these other undeserving girls become pregnant?” “Surely infertility isn’t God’s plan for my life?!”

I’m not one to be a ‘Debbie Downer,’ so I didn’t like these ugly thoughts and feelings hiding out in my heart. It didn’t take me long to dive into God’s Word and seek His wisdom through prayer. I stopped asking God directly for a child, and I stopped asking Him to provide direct answers to my questions. I started asking for peace, because I knew in His time a plan would be revealed—and it would be PERFECT! God hadn’t ever let me down in my twenty-eight years of life. In fact, His plans for my life (up to that point) had always blown me out of the water.

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day."

-Habakkuk 2:3

God heard the cries of my heart! During our last few months of medical treatments, I experienced nothing but a deep, deep peace and comfort knowing my Savior had something amazing in store for our family. There was something beautiful that was done in my heart during that waiting period—no words can do it justice.

We found out we were pregnant very quickly after getting the “two thumbs up” sign from our infertility specialist. My heart has been spilling over with joy the last two months! I’m still in disbelief that God has granted us the deepest desires of our hearts. My spirit has been one of 

constant praise for a God of love and immense grace!

This is a song that spoke to my heart time and time again during our ‘waiting phase:’

During my time spent on earth, I've learned that most women are in some sort of waiting pattern--waiting to finish high school, waiting on prince charming, waiting to buy a house, waiting on children, waiting on that big promotion, waiting on grandchildren, waiting on retirement, etc. Us silly women are always waiting (or wishing) our lives away! We get real good at waiting and worrying, don't we?! Take heart, friends! Whatever waiting season you might find yourself in, I hope you cling to the promises of God and let Him do an incredible work in your heart.

Thanks for taking time to let me share my heart with you today! Stop by my blog, I’d love to meet you.

LINDSI HANCOCK

Blog Swap Goodies!

The time has come to reveal your goodies from the swap! I was a bad partner and didn't get mine mailed until Tuesday morning because my life has been chaotic, so I'm hoping my awesome partner gets her package today!! I was paired up with the lovely Ashely. I just adore her blog, and she has the cutest little girl, seriously! I've read Ashley's blog for quite some time, and was super glad to be paired up with her. She sent me some of the greatest stuff!

I have never seen the Febreeze air freshener that she sent me, but I'm officially in LOVE! And I absolutely adore that the salad tongs go with my kitchen, great taste Ashley! Thanks for everything you sent me, I have loved getting to know you!

So all did everyone get? Make sure to link up your goods, can't wait to see them all!!

Recipe and Randoms

So I tweeted a photo the other day of a 'to die for' dessert and a few of you wanted the recipe, so I thought I'd share it with everyone. You will thank me later!

 Brownie Pizza

1 pkg brownie mix (I use the low fat)

1 8 oz cream cheese

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

chopped peanuts (I used walnuts the past 2 times and they tasted great as well)

chocolate syrup

2 bananas

1} Bake brownie on round pizza pan as directed on box (I baked mine for about 24-25 mins), let cool

2} Combine cream cheese, brown sugar, peanut butter and vanilla (I soften mine in the microwave for about 30 seconds)

3} Spread mixture over brownie

4} Top with bananas, peanuts and chocolate syrup

5} ENJOY!!! 

We leave for Disney on Saturday and the kids could not be more excited. Macie and I spent most of nap time yesterday looking at all the rides Addaline could go on. Fortunately there are only 2 or 3 she can't go on, which is a lot smaller number than I thought it would be. I'm SO looking forward to being in Florida and enjoying the sun and time together with family. I can't wait for a day at the beach, vacation food, swimming, and not having a care in the world. Awe the sweet summer time! I'm also thankful for my mom staying at our house to dog sit!


Macie being home for the summer is already becoming quite the interesting situation. She is bored with all of the daycare kids, and the fact that we won't really be going a lot of places this summer is getting to her. I will try to take the kids to do something hopefully once a week, but to an 8 year old, that isn't enough. I'm hoping that with vacation, then church camp for 4 days, and vacation bible school for a week, those things help break up the summer and she isn't so bored. I'm also hoping that my mom and Gerrad's dad (they're retired) can maybe take turns taking her to do something once a week or so throughout the summer as well. I hate to see her bored, and also don't want it to get to the point where her and I are at each others throats all the time either. What do y'all with older kids, do with them during the summer? Camp is out of the question because I'm home, and can't really justify spending $100+ a week on camp, but am open to any other suggestions!


Does anyone want to guest blog for me while I'm gone? I'm not sure, but am thinking of having 2 or 3 guest posters for while we're gone. I have some fabulous readers and would love to share a few of them with you!!