This picture overwhelms my heart with joy.

Disclaimer: Things are not always peachy around here. As a matter of fact, I'm a hot mess and so are my kids and house!😂
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As I was tucking Ava Greer into bed on Wednesday night she told me she wanted to start having a quiet time with the Lord in the mornings like I do. "Mommy please wake me up early to have my time with God and I want to sit where you sit to do it." Sweet baby was so excited that she actually woke up around 4 am and came to our room. "Mommy is it time?" I put her in bed with us and promised I would wake her when it was time. When it was time, I had to wake her super quietly because we had added another visitor to our bed. ❤ I tickled her little arms and face and she woke with the most eager spirit to spend time with God. I picked her up, wrapped her in a blanket, gave her her new book and she got started- sitting in the big chair where I had just spent my time with God. I went and took my shower and when I came back in she had my bible out looking for the scripture that went with her devotion. I reminded her to wrap up in prayer as I made my way back to the bathroom to get ready. After a while I heard little feet upstairs getting ready for school. What a way for that little 7 year old to start her day. The eagerness and excitement to spend time with God was beautiful. This is a beautiful picture indeed.

I remember getting this web page and was ecstatic about sharing my crafts, parties, gifts and most importantly my littles. I decided to look back at it today, only to find I didn't post not one time in 2016! So, I'm thinking I should get back at it and share a few things! Let's start with the biggest change since May of 2015 (my last post) ...PLEXUS. I seriously ignored Plexus for about 3-4 years. I thought it was all weight loss so I wasn't interested. I know if I eat right and exercise I can get weight off. A friend from college filled me in on it though and set me straight. It is all about Gut Health! Something of which I had no idea about. I didn't know I should have 80% good bacteria, 20% bad and the average person actually has 20% good and 80% bad. Who knew?!?!?!? Well I'm here to tell you I started in May 2015 and I'm still going strong today. As a result of improved gut health I have better sleep, more energy, sustainable energy, WAYYYYYYY less cravings, don't even love chocolate anymore, I poop everyday (Yes I just said that), I have WAYYYYY less anxiety (I'm a different person-ask my friends), and I have the most amazing team and friendships all because of PLEXUS. When people try to share plexus with you, don't feel like they are trying to make a sale. Don't assume the worst. The products work and people want to share to see if they can help you with any health issues or health goals. Best part is, you have nothing to lose because of the 60 day money back guarantee. I say that's a win win! I'm thankful for the blessings God has given me through Plexus and my hope is to help others receive the same blessings. Happy 2017! Here's to Happiness, Health and Wealth-What you think about...you bring about. 
​www.hugheshappiness.myplexusproducts.com or find me on facebook and send me a PM if you're interested and need help. 

I know it's been a while since I last blogged. I'm super excited that it's summer time now and I will have a little more time on my hands.

I decided to post today about my little love's teacher appreciation and end-of-the-year gifts for her teachers from all the little ones.

There are three precious women that keep our little preschoolers.this is not a typical daycare. Not only do these teachers provide a true preschool experience, they spend their days teaching our little loves about Christ and his love.They are some of the most godly women we have ever known. These women have a unique working relationship… Miss Christie's mom, nana, and her daughter, Kylie, work with her. God is most important to these women but it is clear that family is second.we wanted to make sure that we gave these women a true token of our appreciation. All of the families pitched in to make this happen.

Day one! Personalized beach bags

Day two! Personalized beach hats

Day three! Personalized beach towels

Day Four! Personalized cups

Day five!

We were able to send these precious teachers on a girls trip to Fairhope to stay at the grand Hotel! They were so stinking appreciative and excited!

So I told my readers awhile back that I would recap Ava Greer's birthdays and I didn't make it past 2! So here goes! Ava Greer LOVED princesses when she was three and loved to dress up in princess dresses and glass slippers! She couldn't get enough!

Ava Greer and Heath share the same birthday... March 25th. Layla Westyn was due on March 25th! That sure would've been something! 3 in one day! Heath had advised me while I was party planning to please not have her party until after Layla Westyn was born. He knew how crazy I get at party time and didn't want me to go into labor at the party. So, I agreed and decided it was best to hold off until after she came. Layla Westyn made her debut 3 weeks early. Actually while we were out and about looking for the materials for Heath to make the castle, I started having contractions. So I brought home this precious little bundle of joy and still had plenty of time to get ready for this little princess to have her princess party.

As you guys know, I love Pinterest, so I had a 3rd birthday princess board with lots of great ideas to get me going! I also had a friend that introduced me to a friend who made super cute banners for parties. This was before I had a Cameo Shiloutte so I bought 2 banners and cupcake toppers from her. I also ended up buying the cricut princess cartridge so I could make some things myself using a friend's cricut.

The greatest thing about this party was that a sweet friend of mine and I planned together and shared all this cute stuff! Her little sweetie pie was celebrating her 3rd birthday as well.

The invitation was done by Holly and I added the little Cinderella dress.

I knew I wanted it to be super elegant. Another precious friend of mine was at home from work for a while with a broken foot and she sat, bless her heart, and cut and pinned these little chair covers! Then I sewed them up! The are precious and I still use them lots. I wish I had a pattern to share but I just made my own. Thank you Mal!

This is the castle Heath made. Such a sweet husband to do all the crazy thing I request.

The little dress Ava Greer is wearing came from Etsy and our sweet friend we planned with bought it and we just borrowed it.

Now, the food was lots of fun! I decided to make white pumpkin cake bites. I bought different sized crown cookie cutters and went crazy! I did crown sandwiches, crown fruit kabobs and crown cookies. My friend Carrie, aka THE BEST CAKE DECORATOR EVER, helped me with the cookies and the cake! She came over and we did some major team work!

I bought blue vinyl and cut out little Cinderella and glass slipper Shilouttes. We got plates at the dollar tree to make it seem like a Royal celebration. The favors were crowns and wands for the girls and we had a chest plate and sword for Paxton... Our little prince that attended!

Cinderella was amazing!!!!! I can't say that enough!!!! Amazing! The singing, dancing, cleaning, transformation into her ball gown! Amazing! She seriously ran the whole party!!!!!!

Hope you enjoyed it all! We sure did! It was magical! ☺️

Hughes Happiness

This big girl pulled out her two bottom teeth!!!!!! We were all so super excited and proud of her too!!!!!

She couldn't wait to put those itty bitty teeth in her tooth fairy pillow that GiGi made her!

I love pinterest!!!!!!!!! Anytime I'm in a bind or need something quick, I can count on Pinterest! I found these precious free printables!

There were so many cute ones I did three different notes. I loved THIS free printable!

THIS one was pretty cute too though!

This was an editable printable that I found on Pinterest. I can't find the pin now though. Good thing I saved it on my computer. Ava Greer was most excited about her money, but the next best thing was the letter. She took it so very serious and has been a little too obsessive about brushing and flossing. All of a sudden twice a day wasn't doing the trick! 😉Sweet girl wants to please!

I was super nervous grabbing those little teeth out of her pillow with it being so close to her head. I pulled it off though without her waking. These little loves and traditions are so much fun! I'm blessed!

Hughes Happiness

This sweet baby just turned 5!!!! My best friend Lindsay, did a great job with the celebration even though she waited til 5:00 the night before! Haha! Seriously I wish I were that laid back! She got it all done though. Our other friend, Lynsey Smith, did a frozen party for her little one and so willingly shared these cute little food tags, labels, and signs.

I had the priviledge of making the cake for the birthday girl and Lindsay lucked up and got yummy thumbprint cookies from Edgar's in the perfect colors... THE DAY BEFORE THE PARTY! Hehe!

Such a fun pool party celebration! This family is seriously a blast to be around!

Hughes Happiness

We totally switched roles! Now she has the braces and I have the Big Bow!!!!!!!!

Hard to believe this baby girl just went off to Kindergarten! It can't possibly be! I feel like she was just born. Now she's off to big girl school and has two wiggly teeth! Time is flying and my heart is broken and filled with joy all at the same time. With the busyness of school starting, this sweet little celebration was put on the back burner. Of course I knew I wanted to do it, but a month at the beach slowed me down on getting things accomplished for the party. Luckily I had almost everything...Heath made these cute little picnic tables for Ava Greer's 4th birthday. I made these cute little apple plates as a back to school craft in my first grade classroom years ago and thought I would make them again for the party. I just hand cut the pieces and my friend Carrie glued them on the red plates. This was a super small party with only a few little upcoming kindergarteners so my friends and I all set up while the kids were playing.  

I cut black vinyl using my silhouette and Ava Greer wrote "milk" on the labels with a chalk pen. It's fun having your little ones take part in the decorations!

We set it all up in the back yard. You would think with as many parties as we have thrown in this yard of ours, that I could figure out the lighting for picture purposes! I just can't though!!!!! It's almost like I forget in between parties! The sunlight was directly on us and we couldn't get a decent picture until the sun started to set!

The cake...Of course I used Pinterest to inspire ideas for the cake. My good friend Carrie helped to make it perfect! She makes the most amazing cakes. It just so happened that this particular week she had 5 cakes from a Friday to a Saturday so I told her I would do as much as I could without her and I would help her with the rest. So, After Carrie came and got the cake from me she covered it in white homemade fondant,  made the apple using store bought Rice Krispie Treats and modeling chocolate and then I came over to help her make all the little decorations. She is seriously so super talented! Dare I say, She's better than The Cake Boss?!?!? Heath and I love looking at all of her cake creations! Thank you Carrie! This was by far the cutest of all creations at this party.

I'm not really sure why I get it in my head that I can do anything I see, but I need to get it out of my head before I drive my self even crazier than I already am! I seriously had no clue how to use royal icing, but I did learn some things. Funny thing is, my friend Holly once tried these with no prior experience and they turned out perfect!!!!!!!!! I'm hoping to do a better job next time. I figured out that my icing was a little too thick which prevented the smooth look that I was going for. They tasted yummy though and really that's all that matters, right?!?!

The "sack lunches" for dinner were super simple...Uncrustables and goldfish. I felt like a slacker, but they were both on sale at Publix and I had stocked up on them, so I didn't even have to make a trip to the store. The little apple cutouts were some left over that I used in my classroom one year.

I had all intentions of doing an awesome backdrop with these little printables I found on Pinterest...as I said though I had lots of other things going on with back to school projects and work that I used a little something different. Last year my principal asked me to make a backdrop for First day of Kindergarten pictures that Bill Miller came to take. This sweet little celebration was the day before school started and I was in my office working when I realized I had the banner I made last year! The pinwheels were added to it though to give that fun pop of color. My sweet friend Cindy made them for me. Dr. Brooks, my principal, loaned me this cute antique desk. The fun photo prop pieces were something I found at Wal-Mart last year and I knew I would be able to use them for something special at some point in time. So, it kind of all just came together. We really had a blast celebrating these little loves as they made their way to KINDERGARTEN!

Hughes Happiness

Seriously!?!? Could you not eat this little cutie pie right up!?!? He's precious! This is my friend Lynsey's little love. All babies are miracles, but Sawyer weighed 1 lb 2 oz. and was 11 inches long. At his lowest he was 15 oz. He was born at 27 weeks. He's a miracle! A blessing!
Blake, Lynsey and big sister Ellasyn Claire just celebrated his 2nd birthday. It was a Choo Choo theme with invites by HollyDays.

A friend of Lynsey's recently had a train themed party and loaned Lynsey the Happy Birthday banner and a train she made to put napkins, chips and buns in. Lynsey made a banner with Sawyer's name to match.

The menu...

baked beans, potato salad, corn on the cob( Sawyer's favorite!), BBQ ribs from Saw's, and Lynsey cooked a pork tenderloin for BBQ sandwiches.  They also had watermelon, cake (made by Dana Beasley) Lyns said it was AMAZING!, ice cream, and cookies for dessert.  Her friend David Goff made the cookies.  She said they were delicious too.  He is very talented.

Her sweet momma made his outfit...she tried to make it look just like the invite!  

I hope you enjoyed looking at these precious pictures as much as I did. Lynsey you put on another precious party!

Hughes Happiness

Our children's ministry is amazing at DOCC! They put together this wonderful night of fun to welcome our babies into Kindergarten and Kids Worship. We started the night in the foyer signing in, getting our cute "bus" name tags, and guessing how many crayons, kisses, markers were in each jar. Then we went upstairs to the kids worship area. It was all new for them since they've all been in the preschool area before now. We are blessed to have such cool guys working with them! Not to mention all famous! Hehe! James Spann (ABC 33/40), Matt Allen (college football then on to NFL) and Marc Phillips (musician, composer and performer). All totally dedicated, super fun and energetic guys! Matt serenaded us with a hysterical bathroom song while Marc played the piano. The kids loved it! Well, we all did! Right after the quick intro and silly song we jumped on the bus to head to the elementary school and have pizza in the lunchroom. What a great idea! A wonderful introduction into kids ministry but a wonderful way to prepare those sweet babies for what's to come at big school. After dinner we rode the bus to the park for relay games!Heath and I were both able to play! It was awesome. AG and I did the three legged race and we ROCKED it!!!!Our last stop was back to the church for ice cream and a special welcome to the Children's ministry gift. Sandy Stephenson and Cindy Barksdale always go beyond for these babies. I can't tell you how much this all meant to us. These women are totally invested in our babies. Of course this is an emotional time for me, so I think back to all of our life celebrations and these women have walked alongside us since the day both girls were born...talk about blessed! Before we left, the kiddos were given their special bible and they awarded each jar filled with goodies to the kid with the closest estimate. Ava Greer guessed there were 81 kisses and guessed the closest amount (73) so she got the jar of kisses! She was so proud! So excited! It was a wonderful night filled with sweet memories!

Thank you to everyone that played a part.

Hughes Happiness

Tonight we had Kindergarten 101 and thanks to Skip To My Lou I was able to bring this little happy to Ms. Roberts. I hope you can use this cute little tag to offer a helping hand to someone too. 😊