Lake with the Gattins

We had the very best weekend with the Gattin Family at their amazing, lovely and welcoming home on Lake Hamilton. I'm so glad we finally got the trip together because everyone had fun-- bigs and littles! 

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Hand-Drawn Name

I've had a lot of fun playing with these. I saw an instagram of this girl drawing names this way with watercolor and colored pencils. So I knew I had to try it. My first attempt was wonderful. And then I messed it up trying to put texture on top. My second attempt was good but then I messed it up with adding the address. So I digitized it with ChatGPT into a watercolor and removed the address. I do love it! Click to see the original. 

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Picture Frame Mats From ANYTHING!

Ya'll.. I'm on a kick and I'm making mats out of anything and everything!! Any picture with a white or boring mat in my house is not safe! I'm going crazy and using anything as the cover as well. But geez, it's so fun!

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Blackberry Gin Spritz

Hello! And here we are with another delish cocktail recipe. I found this one on Instagram and knew it was right up my alley. I made a couple small tweaks and have enjoyed it this summer :)

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Back to School Shopping

The girls always love back to school shopping! We went early this year because we always wait until the end and everything is gone. So this year, we started with lunch at Olive Garden! Emmy has been begging to go since she saw the endless pasta commercial :) 

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BSB at the Sphere!

Woo hoo! Went to see the Backstreet Boys in Vegas last month! It was so much fun! They put on a wonderful show and it made my little millennial heart so happy. 

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Still Stitchin'

Still stitching from time to time. Love this new one that I made for a neighbors birthday. The colors are so pretty! The perfect little bag :) XOXO

Chermoula Chicken Kebabs With Zucchini Salad

Love summer meals like this. A fresh veg, herby protein, a little red wine. It's so perfect!! This one was easy and packed with flavor! Another win from the New York Times. 

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Pesce all'Acqua Pazza

We've been making a lot of fish lately and I absolutely love it! Emily has started liking more as well and I learned if I add pasta, everyone will eat it! This one was so delish, so light and so perfect as a summer dish!

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Week at Ferncliff!

The girls had the best week at Ferncliff this summer! My friend Mandy text me about trying out the day camp with the optional last night sleepover. Emmy was in! Then Kate decided she needed to go too... just in case Emmy got scared. It was so fun hearing all about the week and the things they learned.. independence! 

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Perfect Glasses for Backstreet Boys!

It all started with a text of some glasses a friend found on Etsy. I replied.. "I can make those." While I was really thinking, I can make even cuter ones! And how fun. I made these once before for BUNCO and for the SUPERBOWL. 

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Sesame Crusted Tuna

This one just happened! We had ordered the ahi tuna salad from Zaza's a few nights prior, Emily (like Emily does) took it from our plates and killed the tuna! She asked to have it again. So I grabbed some ahi at the store and let her help me decide how we were going to cook it. We typed in ahi tuna in instagram and watched some videos... 

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4th of July 2026

We had the very best 4th of July this year! It was laid back, chill, and literally got chilly one night! We went to the lake for the weekend. My parents and her sister, my aunt Toni and uncle Dennis joined us. We cooked good food and took it easy. The fireworks were so good this year! 

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DIY: Patriotic Hats

I made these fun and adorable hats for the girls to wear for the 4th. I went to Hobby Lobby and actually wasn't in the market for any of this but stumbled on these adorable iron-on decals. I almost bought the shirt ones. Now I'm super interested in that! 

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Green Goddess Chicken

Green Goddess Chicken.. as I'm calling it, was so fantastic! I'm adding this to the rotation forever because it was so quick and so easy! And GOOD! And I think healthy. Had to be healthy. 

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Cake Batter Blondies :)

I saw these blondies on an Instagram reel and I knew immediately that Brian would love them! So I made them for the 4th of July. And while he was eating one, he said, "I don't want anymore brownies!" Which he does after he's had a 3rd or 4th serving of a dessert. I looked up and said Brian, I thought you liked them and wanted them! He said, "If you would let me finish, I don't want anymore brownies. I only want these!!!"

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Mini Camp for Kate

There are some parenting milestones you expect to feel emotional. I feel like I usually keep it together for these. I don’t generally get over emotional on birthdays or first days of school, etc. I definitely did not have “three-day mini camp” on my list, but apparently that is where I found out I am not nearly as cool about independence as I imagined. For me! Kate was cool as a cucumber.

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Chicago with Kids

We just took a super fun family vacation to Chicago with our girls (7 and 8), and I had a few people ask me about things we did with the kids. So I’m writing it all down and sharing all my thoughts about Chicago with kids.

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DIY: Painted Camp Trunk

This was fun! You know I'd like to say this was all for Kate to enjoy and appreciate and yada yada.. but this was all for me! I love this kind of thing! I love painting and making things pretty and just being creative. I stayed up late in my craft room, painting, and listing to music. It was lovely! 

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Chicago: Last day!

Last day! And there isn't a whole lot to write. Brian went and grabbed us all breakfast and brought it back to the room. We packed up our things and took it slow then headed for the airport. The traffic was insane!!! And an uber said it was going to be around $120! We figured it would take forever and the girls had asked about the L... so we figured, might as well take it! 

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A Day to Remember! American Girl Place, Chicago

It's just like it says.. a day to Remember! I can not believe how big and over-the-top this place is! The girls were so excited, I think it's a top 10 day for sure. Maybe top 2!! It was so fun watching them and witness their faces all day. It was seriously magical and I'm so happy they were able to do all of this! 

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Chicago: Day Four

Day four. Last full day! Also the day we went to the American Girl doll store, finally! But I'm going to post about that one separately cause it was all kinds of wonderful and really deserves it's own post. 

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Chicago: Day Three

Hello and welcome to day three! Which was so much fun! We walked through this park on the first day when we were headed back to our hotel. Just happened to stumble on it and it's so lovely! We planned to grab breakfast one morning and head back for the girls to run and play-- and for us to enjoy our espresso and a beautiful morning. 

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Chicago: Day Two

 

Hello and welcome to day two! We went so hard the first day that we slept in today and took it slow. We had reservations for brunch this morning -- also Father's Day! And Kate has really been looking forward to this one. So we took the long walk to the west loop and were able to do some sightseeing on the way! 

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Faith Lately: Learning to Receive

I don't claim to have all the answers or always know the right thing to say. But I do know that I feel things deeply and writing about them has always seemed to help. A huge life event happened to our family in 2023, and it changed the way I think about a lot of things. It deepened my faith and, at the same time, became something that has been difficult for me to process and talk about.

I use this blog as a way to document our life. I love looking back years later and reliving trips, birthday parties, holidays, home projects, and all the little moments in between. Truthfully, I write this blog for me. It's a scrapbook of sorts, and writing has always helped me process things, learn from them, and sometimes make sense of them.

So I'm starting a new series called Faith Lately.

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Chicago: Day One

Helllllo Chicago! We woke up early this morning to make it to the airport for our 6:51am flight. I feel like we were always here with way too much time, so we shot to leave our house at 5:15. Brian says we cut it far too close for his liking. We waited a long time to check bags, and it took a while to make it through security. We grabbed breakfast and coffee and walked right on to board. I feel like it was perfect timing 😊 But that’s not what you’re here to talk about.. it’s our fun, family trip to Chicago!

 

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Sylamore, Year 2

Round two at the Sylamore with the Johnston Family was another success. The girls love it! We did not camp this year and they were highly disappointed but I was deeply thrilled that Brian realized we are not tent kind of people. Hello cabin from here on out. 

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Salmon Salad, Pantry Copycat

Ya'll.. I had this dream of a salad at the work lunch the other day. I left knowing I need to try to recreate it as soon as possible and have it again. It was at the Pantry in west Little Rock. I did not add the salmon at the time but when I made it at home (more than twice now), we added and it was divine! 

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Memorial Day and AI :)

Memorial Day at the lake consisted of playing with Boompa's ChatGPT nonstop! And the girls loved every minute of it. So funny to hear them explaining exactly what they want in their AI-generated images! :) 

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Happy Father's Day to Brian!

 

Happy Father's Day to the daddy who does it all! We love you so much!! 

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Oreo Icebox Pie or Cake?

Brian asked for this Oreo Pie a couple weeks ago so I had to deliver. The girls "helped" me and could barely keep their little hands out of the Oreos. That's the problem with ordering those darn things, the minute they came in the grocery delivery, I had to fight everyone off so they would be left for the pie!! Also lied and told Emmy it was a cake cause she hates pie. Babies be silly. 

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Mahjong with Mah Babes

Can we talk about how fun it is to play Mahjong with your kids? The fact that Emily will sit there and play and not dump the table over if she doesn't win is reason enough for me to love it. It's so precious. They want to play every single day. They love to cheers, they live for the bird bam and lemonade. Its so fun! 

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Emily's 7th Birthday!!

What a fun celebration for Emmy's 7th birthday! We had her party the day before her actual birthday, which was also the last day of school. It was such a fun kick-off to summer! SO many kids, having such a fun time swimming! And these little party favors turned out precious. 

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Last Day of School 2026!

Last day of school for these plaid wearing cuties! They were so excited to leave school behind and start the summer. Especially since usually the last day of school means you go home right after promotion ceremonies. This year, only for Kate. Emily actually chose to stay at school with her friends for the rest of the day! Doesn't hurt that she's obsessed with her teacher. 

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Rice in Schools @ Forest Park!!

Where work and life collide! One of my very last events at the Department of Agriculture was the stop at Forest Park for the Rice in Schools program. And it included 1st and 2nd grades so I got to tag along with my kiddos and their friends for all the fun. 

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Greers Ferry with the Caldwells

We did a weekend at the lake with the Caldwell's back in the middle of May and had so much fun! We always have fun with this family and these silly kids. Especially at the lake! 

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Mother's Day 2026

Double celebrations in one weekend! Came home from celebrating my birthday in Hot Springs to celebrating Mother's Day with my mom and sister. These kiddos are so fun and love each other so much! 

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Just a Spritz Older! My 40th with Friends

How much fun was my 40th birthday celebration with friends in Hot Springs?! They planned the most fun and special weekend. All on Mother's Day weekend and they are ALL mothers! Lucky is quite the understatement. 

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My 40th Birthday!

My 40th birthday was on a Saturday this year. So I went to work on Friday, I work with a bunch of men, not thinking anything would happen. Actually I had zero thoughts that it would even be a thing. Went into a meeting and came out to this. Actually, let me back that up. At the end of the meeting, they played a song and a slideshow that had been made entirely from AI of me and getting older... and the photos were terrifying. 

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Crawfish Boil in El Dorado

We made a trip down to El Dorado in April for an annual crawfish boil. My parents and brother go every year but this was our first. Actually, let me back up, the girls have been before! But they had so much fun, they actually picked up the crawfish. And we had a great time eating them :) 

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Stitching Bags and Thangs

This has been a new little fun hobby. I know I have a machine that can do this kind of thing but this one I can control with my hands! I saw an instagram video a couple months back and thought, hey, I can do that! So I went and bought some things and went to town. 

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Dance 2026 + Recital

I had so much fun watching Kate shine during her dance recital! She did such a great job and got up there with no fear, knew her dances and looked like she was having a blast!

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Wicked in Little Rock!

No one mourns the wicked! This family loves Wicked and so does Erin! I actually was introduced to Wicked by Erin many years ago. We've seen it together twice-- one in Memphis and then this time in LR. And this time we took our girls. Kate and Emily saw it in NYC last summer and this was Lucy's first time! It was so great!

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BVT: Living Room Redesign

I have struggled with this room more than any room, maybe ever. Feels strong. It's a great room, great size but it's the first thing you see when you come in the house and I want it to be pretty but cozy and I really wanted it to be a room we all love being in. The main thing throwing me has always been this back wall.

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Broadview Bracelet Stand

Want to see something absolutely precious? A bracelet stand started by some neighbor kids. All on their own! They drug all of these things to the end of the street and went to work! The banner, prices, everything was all them. And the stand kept returning day after day. It was so cute and precious to watch. 

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Kate got Braces!

Remember that expander Kate got a little while back? Well now she's ready for braces!! And she did so well. It's amazing looking at the picture above where that tooth to the left of her middle teeth is so far back. It's pulled forward and even with the others now. She has such a beautiful smile! 

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Easter 2026

I didn't take a single picture of the girls or our family on Easter! I don't know how that happened. But I did get a few little fun memories leading up and the day of. Above is the kids table and we have so much fun dressing up tables around here. Emily always likes to help and she makes them as colorful as possible. This year we used eggs as the nameplates and it was so cute! 

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Hillcrest Softball - Bright Sparks

Hillcrest softball was so fun this year! It's the first sport we haven't had to beg the girls to go to practice or play. They loved it! And I'm confident we'll be back again next year. They also learned so much and improved a lot. They are pretty good little players. 

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Dinner at Ryn with Scott and Holly

My last spring break post! And what a good one with some really lovely friends! We've had so many fun meals together and this one is at the top! Holly got us a reservation at Ryn in Bentonville. It was so wonderful. The food was amazing, the ambience was devine, and the friendship was the real star of the show. :) 

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Painting Pots for Spring

This was so much fun! I saw some inspo on Pinterest of people painting pots so I added some to my grocery order and got to work. Ended up doin these one Sunday after church and Kate joined me. The weather was beautiful and it was so relaxing. I always forget how much I love to paint. 

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