Nearing the end of summer friends and I can honestly say that I’m completely exhausted. Ha! The best kind of exhausted but exhausted none the less. :) I know a lot of you are already headed back to school. (Here’s a fun post on back to school organization if you’re interested!) I hope the transition is going well! Two more weeks for us and this mom is hanging on by a very thin but mostly happy thread. ;) Here’s a picture dump of what’s on my camera and phone at the moment!
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This kid. His outfit says it all. :) Love him. There is no rest with this one in my life, but his toothless smile makes up for it.
My little buddy is allergic to something in regular sunscreen – his skin breaks out and he gets the worst rashes from it. I’ve struggled with this problem for years and have seriously tried over 20 different sunscreens on him. I finally found something that works! Sharing this for any moms dealing with the same issue. This Burn-Out Eco-Sensitive sunscreen is amazing. Goes on so smooth and doesn’t bother his skin at all. (Hallelujah!) I initially found this at a health food store and then later found it here.
Ad lounging at the pool with friends. Rough life, right?
Plasma cars are still our favorite!
This girl has had a great summer hanging with friends, hanging with the family and working on her play. My little Alice debuts in Wonderland next weekend!
Back to school is going to be a rough transition for my girls. Ha! I am going to start getting them to bed earlier each night and waking them up a little bit earlier each morning next week. Wish me luck with that one. I’ll need it. :)
El has spent her summer dancing. She recently got back from a week long dance convention in Long Beach. I told her to pack before the trip and she said “I already did mom!” Her stuff was laid out so neatly. It made me smile so I took a picture. :) She’s such a little mini-me when it comes to organization.
Proud of her and her cute friends.
I snapped this at her dance studio a few days ago. She came home from her trip and has been there non-stop learning next year’s solo routines. Hardly a break from dance for this girl! And hardly a break from workout clothes for me. I’ve been living in Zella leggings and tanks this summer. I always have great intentions of getting dressed and ready after I exercise, but most days it’s suddenly 6 pm before I even realize I forgot to get dressed. Some days it’s 6 pm before I realize I forgot to exercise too. :) #summerproblems
I did clean up one day this month for a camp performance and dinner with friends. Snapped a picture to document the rare occasion. ;)
{Zella crop joggers/twist front tee/sandals}
If I do get dressed I’m wearing these joggers! Hands down my favorite summer staple. They sold out so quickly and have now been re-stocked. I have them in the green and black and just keep rotating the two with different summer tees. My girls tease me each time I put them on about wearing them yet again. They are just so light weight, flattering and comfy!
{Tie Front Pullover/Zella Leggings/Pink Adidas}
Something else I adore that was re-stocked is my favorite tie front pullover. Love this. They came out with it in a pink (so cute) and also now have this similar version. I can’t wait to wear it more this Fall! I just can’t wait for Fall period. I’ll take cool weather and all of the tie front pullovers please!
We’ve been doing some MAJOR paper organization at my house this past month. I tore my office apart last week. Again. Shared some pics on my IG stories of the mess. :) I’ve been trying to get all of my files and everything in order before school starts. Today I had my girls sort through some of their old work that was accumulating. We had a movie paper sorting party mid day. :) I can’t wait to have this project checked off my list!
{White Swedish Lace/Bloom Burst Backpack}
New backpacks for 6th and 8th grade! Did I really just say that!? El’s last year of middle school. My girls picked out their own and I love them both. Nothing like a new backpack full of new school supplies for day one. :) I’m going to see if I can stretch one more year out of Kole’s backpack, but it might only make it to Christmas.
The start of a new school year gets me so excited to plan ALL the things! My head is bursting with ideas and projects right now! Some I can’t wait to finish and show you all and some that I can’t wait to get started on. OneCanoeTwo came out with their new planners for 2018.. SO cute! They sent me this adorable version and now I’m itching to use it! I’ve loved using their planner from 2017 this year.
Remember the fun new lamps from Barn Light Electric that I shared in this post? Betty (who works there and is such a sweetheart) wrote a fun post about them on their blog if you want to check it out!
She also wrote a post about my new dishes. Love them! Love Betty. Love Barn Light Electric. :)
Remember when I shared my Summer Living Room re-fresh? I’ve been looking high and low for something to replace that square Spring sign because it just never looked right to me. Too many square shapes and not the right size.
So last week I took it down. And I love it with nothing there! Which made me think about how we sometimes overthink decorating (at least I know I do!). A lot of times when I don’t love the way something is styled, after playing with it forever I always end up taking off half of the “stuff.” And like magic.. it looks better. Breathing room is a good thing and quite often less is more. A little life tip I needed to hear myself today. ;)
Found the quartz I’m using for our theatre room! Man. What a project that space has turned out to be. It has occupied a lot more of my energy this summer than I planned on, but things are moving right along and I can’t wait to get it finished. We have one counter in the room (I’ll share another progress post at some point!) and I chose this slab of quartz called “Calcutta Vicenza.” Very similar look to marble but it will hold up great in a space that will often be used by teenagers. Mission accomplished!
Summer evenings outside are my favorite! My outside lights all click on and there is such a soft glow when the sun starts to set over the ocean. I can just smell it. The summer evenings and my neighbor’s BBQ. ;)
Then it gets dark and we all head inside to continue our Harry Potter Marathon. Ad is reading the books and is flying through them at record speed so that we can watch each movie after she finishes a book. I don’t think I’ll let Kole watch the last few (they get so dark and scary!) but he has loved the first few movies. And I love our time spent cozied up on this couch together.
Maybe I’m not so ready for summer to be over after all.
:)
What a great post, Erin! A bit of this and that for sure! I think they are just about the best posts because they reflect life in all its fun, messy, organizing day to day glory. I used to read a lot of blogs that would detail the life of the blogger and over the last month or so I realized very few blogs that I read include a personal touch like this and I miss that. Maybe that is one of the reasons your blog is a favorite of mine. I feel like I know you a bit even though I’ve never met you. I appreciate the time and care you put into each post and know with million other things you have going on, that your blog is a definite investment of your time. Thank you for sharing. I sincerely mean that. Fun stuff for all going on! :) Have a happy day.
Jeanne! Thank you for your constant thoughtfulness. You always have such sincere, kind words (that take time out of your day to write!) and I truly appreciate that. And love you to pieces for it! I have noticed the same thing.. blogs moving more and more away from anything personal. It’s kind of sad, but I know that it’s a hard thing as a blogger to balance how much to put out there about family/kids/life. I probably over share sometimes, but if I completely take my family and real life out of it, blogging just wouldn’t be as fun and mean as much to me. So I’m thrilled to hear you like posts like this! I’m not stopping them anytime soon. ;) Thanks again sweet friend. Once again you brought a huge smile to my face! xo
I totally agree.. I’ve cut down on just a few of my very real favourites too!
Such a busy summer…guess that is what it’s all about. Lots of wonderful memories. we have about 3 weeks left till school starts up.
Good luck to Miss Ad and her big production. I have no doubt she will be amazing. I will wait to see El on So You Think You Can Dance one day. I am addicted to that show! And of course, Kole is cute as ever.
Looking forward to seeing how that theater room comes out. It will be such a cool hangout for the kids and their friends. xxoo
Thank you so much sweet Pam! You are so thoughtful. I LOVE So You Think You Can Dance too and have been so bummed that I haven’t had more time for it this summer! It’s all recorded so I’m hoping the girls and I can find some time next week for a little dance TV marathon. Thanks for the reminder! :) And yea for 3 more weeks of summer! I hope you are enjoying it! xo
Loving those joggers! And getting a new planner is definitely like Christmas in my book :)
Right!? What is it about new planners! Ha! The best present ever. Right up there with a great pair of joggers. ;) Thanks cutie! xo
Hey Erin- I’m having a hard time choosing a planner. Which have you found to be your favorite so far?
Hi Kim! Oh man.. so many fun planners to choose from! I really love the onecanoetwo planners that I mentioned! Day designer is another fun brand I really like. I’ve used and love both! xo
I love all the real life happenings! Thanks for sharing!
How about our cities swap weather? I will take 70 degrees and you can have snow and 30 degrees! We are in 70s this week but in a few months it will be gone. Makes me sad.
Amy in Wisconsin
Thank you so much Amy! Oh man.. I might take you up on that! At least for a little while so I can get my Fall/Winter fix. ;) Enjoy it right now for sure! And then come and visit me in a few months. :) xo
Loved this post Erin! And loved all of the outdoor glowing lights in the evening :) Have a great day!
Thank you so much Lisa! I hope you have had a good summer! xo
I love these every day life posts.
We’ve been considering moving recently. We live in a small village with only a few hundred people and the nearest city is 1.5hrs away. There are not many kids in the village. So summers can be very boring..unless we want to travel ALOT lol
How many kids live in your neighborhood? .
Also I have a girl going into 8th grade. . How crazy is that. .they were just born lol
Thank you Heidi! I don’t know how many kids are in our area but definitely too many to count.. ha! That’s a tough decision for sure. Let me know if you decide to move! xo
Wow, what a busy and FUN summer! My oldest starts TK tomorrow {she’s 4} and I’m a ball of nerves. Also, check out CarpenterFarmHouse on Etsy, she makes some wonderful laser cut outs and they would look so good on your feature wall in the living room! She’s #onetofollow on Insta too :)
I hope you guys have a great last few weeks of summer! I have definitely been channeling you lately getting all the things organized for back to school! thanks as always for the inspiration!
Love it Lacey! Feels so good to get organized before the kids go back doesn’t it!? Wishing you the best of luck tomorrow! She will do great! And tears in the car after drop off are totally normal. ;) Thanks for the suggestion too.. I’ll check her out! xo
I just ordered the sunscreen you recommended for my two kiddos. They both break out with every sunscreen I have tried. I’m excited to see the results.
Oh yea! Let me know if it works for your kids too Jennifer! I hope it does. I was so thrilled to finally find something that doesn’t give Kole a rash! xo
Wow! What a busy summer you have had! Sounds like everything is coming together for you and that you have enjoyed it. Personally, I’m ready for school to start so I can get organized and back to a routine.
I hear you Brenna! So excited for a routine again. Change is always a good thing isn’t it!? :) xo
Love this, Erin. My R has the same blue and white backpack. And how cute are your kiddos. Glad to see we are not the only ones with emoji pillows floating around. I have finally hit the, “I’m ready” for school to start mode. LOL. This mama is tired, too. Let’s get a lunch on the books ASAP.
So fun to hear from you Courtney! Made my day! And right!? One minute I was loving summer and then all of the sudden I was like ok.. ready now. Time for school. Ha. :) Lunch sounds AMAZING! I’ll text you dates! XO