bybmg: August 2015
 
It's the last Monday of the month, which means I'm linking up with Andrea about my Favorite Things!  Each month, there's a new topic (all the topics can be found here). 
 
This post is pretty much a photo dump, but my favorite summer moments were the simple daily little things. Just living life with my boys. Baby snuggles, crafts, slowing down, memories. Things that aren't necessarily "high five for friday-able" but things I don't want to forget.


Baby snuggles.

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Phew! What a week! Having a full week the first week of school is killer, but it was wonderful, too!

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Henry LOVES school. He came home the first day saying it is SO AWESOME. Highlights of the day were lunch (We get chocolate milk. I had a cheeseburger with pickles!), having one of his preschool friends in his class, and seeing a few more preschool friends at recess.

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Back to work. Monday was the first day of school! It's fun to get all dressed up again!

  

Teacher Work Day:

Necklace: Kendra Scott c/o Rocksbox 
*use code beckygoerenxoxo for a free month*
Top: Old Navy
Pants: Old Navy via Thred Up
Sandals: Birkenstock



I hope you will come here and feel like you're just seeing what the girl next door is up to. My pictures aren't perfect. My ideas aren't earth shattering. My life is low-key. I'm just a wife, mama, and teacher living the simple life.

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It's always a great mail day when my Ipsy bag arrives.  This month was no exception. If you're not familiar with Ipsy, it's a monthly subscription in which you receive a cute zipper pouch along with five beauty samples. The cost is just $10, and I think it's a great deal.






The bag this month was a fun pattern. Black and pink is always classic!


Oh Friday, here you are! This week was my first week back to work since the first week of May! How crazy is that? Thanks, Calvin, for the extended summer vacation. This week was kind of a whirlwind. I know we'll get in the groove, but it was tough! If you're a blogging friend, I will apologize that I haven't been able to comment as much as I've wanted to this week. I hope to get back into the groove once I find a balance of with work and family.

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We lived up the last few days of summer vacation with a few trips to ice cream places, making lots of crafts, and playing extra in the back yard. It was fabulous!

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Phew! It's been a few weeks since I've done a What I Wore Wednesday because of other commitments. Because summer vacation was winding down, I slacked off on outfit documentation a little, but it'll be back in full force as I started back to work on Monday. If you want to see what I wear on a daily basis, make sure you're following me on Instagram!


One of my last casual days of summer:

Hat: Target
Necklace: Kendra Scott c/o Rocksbox 
*use code beckygoerenxoxo for a free month*
Top: Target
Shorts: Old Navy
Sandals: Sperry (similar)

I was surprised and thrilled when I was selected as to receive and advanced copy of Jen Hatmaker's newest book, For The Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossibly Standards. TODAY is the release date! 



Two weeks ago, I shared part of what's in our church bag, a fun Lego pattern kit with printables. Today I'm back with what fills the rest of the bag! This bag is JUST for church. I don't bring it out any other time, so it's special. I hide it away during the week and clean it out and replenish it so it's fresh and ready to every Sunday.
With a big sigh I have to say that this was our last week of summer vacation. Monday Russ and I start back to work and the boys all head to daycare. Henry starts Kindergarten the following Monday. So, we tried to enjoy the week, though we were apart for some of it.

Don't forget to enter to win a photo canvas!

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Russ, Calvin, and I headed to southern Iowa for our annual cabins weekend with friends.  It's usually a no-kid weekend, but with Calvin being so small, he came along. It was a bit different having a baby there, but it was nice to enjoy the great outdoors a little and spend time with 5 other couples. I have to admit I'm already looking forward to next year when the weekend will be kid-free for us again.

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In having a mom (and dad) that are fashionable, it's not a surprise that Henry, our 5 year old, can have quite an opinion about what he wears. Now, his opinion might not always match up with mine (bright green shorts and a bright green shirt make the perfect outfit in his eyes, for example), but I know that making sure he feels good about what he is wearing will help him feel confident as he walks into Kindergarten this year. He also does not have a large concept of money or what type of clothing lasts, so I had a little balance when shopping for back to school for him.
I received the photo canvas in this post free for review. All opinions are my own. Read my disclosure page for more details. 

When we found out baby #3 was going to be boy #3, I knew I wanted to go all-out boy for his nursery. The day we found out, I'd purchased a little stuffed creature from Little Bit Funky which had Batman fabric. I decided to use that as the basis for a superhero nursery! I talked a little about the nursery in the planning phase here, but it's not all finished, so I wanted to give you a quick tour!

When you walk in the door and look straight ahead, you see his dresser/changing table and an antique chest.


The dresser is old. I painted it for Wesley's nursery. I love the color, and it still went with the new theme, so it went in Calvin's nursery! On top of the changing table is an Ikea lamp, Thirty One organizer, and a wipes container that I covered with fabric. Check out the tutorial for the wipes container cover here.
Lessons in Fashion:
a sporadic series where I share little tips with you that help make my wardrobe stretch. 
  

Today's Lesson: 
How to style a jean vest


A jean vest can be a great completer piece. It's wonderful for the summer, too, because it adds a nice finish without adding much warmth to an outfit. I made this jean vest from an old jean jacket and added the lace for a little extra detail. You can read the tutorial here.

Here are a couple ways I've worn by jean vest:
Another Friday!  Only one more week of summer vacation. It's been a wonderful summer. It will be so hard to get back into routines, but I am ready, I think! Here are some highlights from the week.

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We finally hit up the Des Moines farmers market last Saturday. It's always crowded, but there is a lot to see. We picked up some of my favorite flavored popcorn and a couple Dutch Letters and got a good walk in.

This post does contain referral or affiliate links. Read my disclosure page for more details. 

Lessons in Fashion:
a sporadic series where I share little tips with you that help make my wardrobe stretch. 
  

Today's Lesson: 

There are degrees of pattern mixing. Find the degree that you're comfortable with and try to kick it up a notch. 

Pattern Mixing can be a style that is out of a lot of ladies' comfort zones. Today I want to show you a progression of how I styled a floral/stripe pattern mix three ways. It's a slight progression of comfort. Start out small, and work your way to big and bold. Here we go!

1 - Stripe Skirt and Floral Shoes


Necklace: Kendra Scott via Rocksbox 
(Use code beckygoerendxoxo for your first month free)
Top: Gap
Skirt: LuLaRoe 
Cuff: Gorjana via Rocksbox 
Shoes: Express c/o Brandzaffair

If you are deathly afraid of pattern mixing, getting a pair of patterned shoes is where to start! Pair them with a striped top or skirt, and you're inching your way to the next degree.


First off, I will not say that this idea is my own. It is a spin-off from this pin. I changed it up to fit what works for me. The pin had printables, but I honestly don't have that great of a printer at home. I prefer to print colorful images in photo-form, so I redid it to fit some random Legos I put together and took pictures to be able to print at Walgreens. I just have to put that out in the open before we begin :)



We've decided Henry (age 5 1/2) is too old to go to our church's nursery. Wesley (age 2) won't go for some reason, so that leaves all five of us in the pew on Sundays. When Henry was down in the nursery, it was pretty quiet in our pew, but the combination of the two of them has caused some craziness the past couple weeks. It led me to think of ways to re-vamp out church bag. Today I'm sharing about this Lego kit.



These little get to know you posts get me every time. Thank you Beth from Our Pretty Little Girls, Jamie from Cocktails and Carseats, and Michelle from Grammie Time for inviting me to play along. Today I'm sharing 10 things I love and 10 things I hate (or disklike ;))!

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