last minute halloween treats...

if you're still looking for something to give the little pumpkins in your life, look no further! 

these labels are in the etsy shop and are instant downloads! this means they're available as soon as you checkout. so no wait time involved!! if you want them personalized with a name, you can request that, too - and i'll do my best to have them to you within a few hours since we know time is of the essence! :) 

the labels are approx 6.5x4.5 inches and 6.5x2.25 when assembled. they are made to go atop a ziploc baggie (either snack or sandwich sized). just print, cut out, fold, and staple or tape it on top of your bag. boom. done!

we put mini twix bars in with the "twix or treat" labels. :) 

and filled a snack size ziploc baggie with cheese balls to go with the "Treats not Tricks" labels.

our little "bugs and kisses" bags feature hershey kisses and spider rings. or you could even add gummy worms/spider! spooky and cute!

the boo! bags are fun ways to deliver candy, too!

check out the etsy shop for these downloads and more. and use the code BOO10 for 10% off from now until halloween! :) 

make sure to check out THIS post for another fun halloween idea! 

3 months...

i'm a little late with liza's three month post (that seems to be a trend these days...) but lo and behold, even though i didn't post about it, it still happened! ;)

liza june, you are three months old! you are growing so much every single day. you are still just the happiest, most content, easy-going baby. and believe me, we KNOW what a blessing that is! there are many days that i feel like i'm just waiting for the bottom to fall out, because i'm convinced you just can't possibly keep up this "good baby" act for long. but so far, you've proved me wrong. you go anywhere, do anything, all without making a peep. you nap in the car, in your swing, in your stroller - wherever we may be! i'm so thankful that you're so flexible. (and i'm sure your sisters are, too!)

we laugh thinking about you being a "preemie" because you surely don't look like a teeny tiny baby. you're tipping the scales at almost 16 pounds! go, girl! you've started cooing and "talking" and it is the sweetest sound. you talk to libbi more than anyone else. and you smile the most for her, too. she has a way of talking to you (it sounds like nails on a chalkboard....sorry, libs) but you apparently love it, because you coo and coo and smile like it's your job. 

you're a very serious baby. you make us work for those smiles, but the payoff is definitely worth it. :)

you like to sit up and just take everything in. your little head is always on a swivel, watching everything around you.  i still think you look so much like libbi. even your little hair line is the same (your "mohawk" down the middle that won't LIE DOWN!!) but every now and then, i see a bit of laney in you, too. 

you don't mind tummy time, although it's not always successful....for whatever reason. ;-)

admittedly, you don't get much "alone time"...there's always someone (or two someone's) hovering nearby. but they seriously just love you so much. they would do anything for you and just want to be near you all the time. 

and you've got it rough, because not only do you have to deal with me taking your picture all the time, you have two big sisters snapping away, too. you're a lucky girl liza june to have big sisters who love you so much. 

we're so thankful for your little life and for all the ways you're growing and changing each day. we love you so much! happy three months!! 

easy halloween treats....

i've got lots of catching up to do... (liza's 3 month post, 31 days series, reviews, school updates, etc) but i'm putting it off for one more day. instead, today's post has an easy halloween treat, because if i'm being honest - right now, we're all about easy. i love to craft and create, but my windows to do so are very few and far between. so when i get the chance to be creative, i tend to find things that don't require lots of time or effort. but just because it's easy, doesn't mean it can't be cute!

so this year for halloween treats for the girls' classes, we decided to go with some vampire donuts! and of course, it just wouldn't be complete without the {cheesy} "fang-tastic" halloween label! :)

y'all know i love a cheesy saying. 

i'm a sucker for a pun. ;)

it's simple, yet cute. we bought some donuts from the grocery store, put a set of vampire teeth in the middle, added two chocolate chip eyes, and ta-da! donut vampire! 

one tip - i would go ahead and clamp the teeth shut the night before (or at least a few hours before) you put them into the donuts. that way they will stay shut once they're in the donut. otherwise, they tend to stretch back out and break open the donut. 

we put them in a good 'ol ziploc foldtop baggie, added a ribbon, and called it a day! 

nice and easy!

and if you're interested, these labels (and a few others) are in my etsy shop. 

use the code: BOO10 to get 10% off! 

here's to a "Fang-tastic" Friday! ;-)

day 22....

so much for blogging 31 days, huh? ;)
we're still here. we're still alive. we've just had a rough week or so. 
both the big girls have been sick... the ever popular "virus" strikes again.

libbi and laney only made it to school one day last week due to a fever and cough. 
i missed bible study on wednesday in lieu of a doctor's appt for libbi. all three girls at the ped's office, surprisingly not so bad. 
(not counting the fact that laney had on libbi's shoes...on the wrong feet.)

laney must have picked up something at the doctor's office, because she was down for the count come thursday. both girls were home sick thursday and friday. libbi's virus had let up by friday, but laney's croup was in full force by then. 

yes, sick children. please, please lay all over your baby sister. this is exactly what i want you to do....

oh yeah, did i mention jeffrey was out of town during most of this? :) isn't that the way it always happens? 
such is life. 

over the weekend libbi seemed to improve, but laney didn't. her croup resolved after a {super} fun 
three days of steroids, but she just couldn't shake the fever and a new cough developed shortly after. 
she had a brief spurt of energy where she managed to fall head first into her dresser while climbing on her chair, but other than that she was pretty blah all weekend. 

we attempted family pictures on sunday, but you can imagine how well that went over. 

sunday night was a loooooong night. even more so than usual :) 
laney barely slept at all because of her fever and cough. libbi made it back to school on monday, but laney stayed home sick again. throughout the day she didn't fare much better, so we ended up back at the doctor {again} that afternoon. 

after a blood draw to check her white blood count, we were sent over to CHOA to have a chest xray done to rule out pneumonia. laney was a trooper through it all. she handled everything like a champ. liza was with us too and she was also a rockstar. she didn't make a peep the entire time (minus one relatively embarrassing explosion during laney's exam). libbi stayed home with buddy (my dad) and they had quite the time together. thankfully, all laney's test results came back negative - no pneumonia, white blood count was good. so we're treating her cough and getting lots of rest. she slept really good last night (thank you, Jesus!) and has rested a good bit today. we're hoping and praying that come wednesday she'll be feeling back to herself and that maybe, just maybe, she can return to school on thursday. and maybe, just maybe then i can shower and wash some clothes. ;)

hopefully i'll be back tomorrow with day 23 of the 31 days of honest effort series. my goal is to finish strong! and thank you to everyone that emailed and commented on laney's sleep issues (and mine, ha!) i received a lot of positive advice and encouragement. as soon as laylay is healthy, we'll be putting operation:sleep into full effect! :))

if at first you don't succeed....

happy tuesday that feels like a monday! :) 

today's post on honest effort is a little different. it's a post admitting that something i've been putting effort into isn't working. so i'm asking for help. i'm not usually one to solicit advice, especially on the internetz, but we're a little (lot) desperate. 

we've had some serious issues with laney and bedtime/naptime. 

as in, it's not happening. ha! we've tried just about everything i can think of and nothing seems to work. it's been going on for about 4-5 months. i'll give you the "short and (not so) sweet version"....

she's still in a crib, but only because the first attempt at a big girl bed was disastrous - on so many levels. 

we have planned to put liza in the crib and move laney and libbi in together in libbi's room. only now bedtime is so awful that i'm hesitant to move her. basically, she won't go to sleep without a fight. and she won't stay in her bed without a fight. and she can't (won't?) go back to sleep if she wakes up during the night. most nights our bedtime routine with her takes over an hour. it involves a lot of crying and a lot of rocking. i know she needs to be able to put herself to sleep. we shouldn't be rocking her to sleep each night for an hour and then transferring her to bed. she's almost 2.5. plus, then she wakes up around 1:00am each morning and can't get back to sleep so she scales her crib (which is a danger in itself) and comes into our room (which isn't really comfortable for anyone....except laney). if she does stay in her bed all night - which is rare - she will wake around 6AM ready for the day. much, much too early!

naptime is much the same. if it happens at all. it can take an hour or more to get her to calm down and fall asleep. and there are a good many days that i just don't have an hour plus to spend up in her room trying to get her to sleep. i've got two other babies to take care of, plus a host of other things, too. 

you name it, we've tried it. i've turned her doorknob around, we've used the video monitor, we've tried cry it out, talk it out, scream it out, everything except for kick her out. -ha! kidding :) we've offered rewards, punishment, tried ignoring it, putting her in a crib, putting her in a big girl bed. i mean, i'd even let her sleep on the floor if that would work! :)

but she doesn't relent. she will literally scream and carry on for hours sometimes. is this something that we just need to wait for her to "grow out of" or is there a solution to our never ending sleepless nights? it's kind of sad that our baby sleeps better than her older sister! 

so in the effort of being fully honest, i'm admitting that what we're trying isn't working. and i'm humbly asking for any suggestions you may have on helping our sweet laylay's bedtime run a bit smoother. she's just as cute and sweet as she can be, but Lord knows she needs some sleep - and so do we! :) 

thanks for any advice or suggestions you have to offer! feel free to email me at:

mrsamytippins {at} gmail {dot} com. 

"When I go to bed, I sleep in peace,

    because, Lord, you keep me safe."

Psalm 4:8

this is day 15 in the series "31 days of honest effort" 

(click the link to read all posts in the series) 

six...

our first date was the summer before i started 9th grade. 

i had just turned 13. 

that was 18 years ago. 

and i've loved you every day since. 

through all of life's ups and downs, 

the good times, 

the bad, 

one thing remains true: 

you are my answered prayer and

i still choose you. 

happy six years to the one my heart loves.

here's to many (many!) more! 

this is day 13 of the 31 day series, "31 days of honest effort"

 click HERE to see the series in it's entirety.

winner...

the winner of the wildblumen custom stationery giveaway is....

Lynsey!!

look for an email from me, lynsey!

and thank you to everyone that entered. 

don't forget to check out wildblumen on Facebook or 

email megan for a custom design at:

mtjohnson31@gmail.com

thanks, megan for sharing your talent with us! :-)

this is day 12 in the 31 day series, "31 days of honest effort"

 click HERE to see the series in it's entirety.

trying for the weekend...

five on friday, full force ahead....

in the spirit of my 31 days of honest effort, today's five on friday is all about ways we're going to dig in and do life this weekend! no matter how little sleep i've had, how "busy" we think we are, or how fussy  a certain two year old may be, i'm determined to make this weekend a good one...full of family, fun, and lots of memories! :) 

 **********************

1. the girls and i spent today at my parents' house. libbi and laney just love being outside at their house and swinging on the "playground" (as libbi calls it). those girls could stay outside all day. and for the most part, we did. it's such a beautiful time of year and we just had the best time swinging and playing and enjoying the fall weather. we topped our evening off with dinner at the mexican restaurant. pretty much the best day ever as far as my girls were concerned: grandparents, swinging, and cheese dip. what more could they ask for? 

2. tomorrow we're celebrating my niece's first birthday! we can't wait to celebrate sweet little mattie and her first year of life. there's just something so precious about first birthdays. i love the promise of the year ahead and the celebration of the year behind. plus, any time there is cake involved, i'm in. :)

3. after the party, the girls and i are going to a festival at the local park tomorrow. it's always an adventure taking all three out by myself, but we're making memories and that's what counts. and again, there will be cake (and other food) at the festival, so all of us tippins girls are up for the challenge. 

4. jeffrey and i are celebrating our anniversary this weekend! it's been a crazy, busy, wonderful six years. i'm so thankful for his friendship and his love. we're going out on sunday, so once again, there will be food-ha! i'm starting to detect a theme here....and possibly a good reason for why i've still got baby weight hanging around. 

5. finally, we're in the process of moving the big girls in together. and when i say, "in the process" i mean i'm basically prepping libbi for sharing a room with her sister - ha! but, seriously - i'm in the beginning stages of planning out their room (if you follow me on pinterest, i'm sorry for blowing up your feed with shared bedroom pins). i have to keep reminding myself it is a work in progress. i don't know why i feel like there's going to be this grand "reveal" and all will have to be complete before they can move in. obviously that's not the case. and i'd also like to know if it's possible for me to become one of those people that has a ridiculously low budget, and stays under it. you know they type - they write posts like - "how i designed susie's room for less than $200!"? yet they still have all these fancy looking pieces and somehow just got really "lucky" with their thrift shop finds. 
do those people really exist? and if so, how can i become one? all tips (and cheap thrift store finds) welcome ;-)

happy friday, friends! can't wait to see what the weekend brings!

"Taste and see that the Lord is good. 

Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!" 

Psalm 34:8

this is day eleven in the series "31 days of honest effort" 

(click the link to read all posts in the series) 

one big truth....

i used to be a teacher. it seems like it was in a completely different lifetime, but in reality, less than four years ago, i was spending my days teaching kindergarten. there were many things i loved about teaching, but one of the components i enjoyed most was being able to help a child learn something new and actually "see the lightbulb" go on for them. it was a feeling like none other knowing that i played a part in teaching a child how to read, how to count, how to add and subtract and then witnessing them excitedly put their new knowledge to use. 

after i had libbi, i went back to work for about eight months. i still enjoyed teaching, but more than anything, i desired to be home with my baby. it was hard going to work each day knowing that my heart was somewhere else. after the school year ended, we made the decision for me to stay home with libbi and i couldn't have been happier. it was honestly my dream come true. a few months later, i was pregnant with laney, sick as a dog, and thanking my lucky stars that i didn't have to go to work each day. who am i kidding? i was thanking God i didn't have to get out of bed each day. it was rough. ;)

after having laney, life seemed to settle down a little and then we found out we were pregnant with liza.  every now and then, in the midst of pregnancy sickness, toddler tantrums, and four-year-old attitudes i would think about how much my life had changed in such a short time. i went from writing lesson plans, teaching reading and writing, and doing parent-teacher conferences to rocking babies, changing diapers, and learning how to discipline my own children. and yet, it was what i had always dreamed of doing. 

but somehow, in the midst of living my "dream" i can let the doubts start to creep in. and these doubts turn into lies that i start to believe. once i let these untruths break the surface, they can invade my thoughts like a small crack in a sheet of glass. and before i know it, they have splintered out into my life and there's a spiderweb of lies covering what i know to be true and threatening to shatter. 

"what you're doing doesn't matter." or "that's not good enough." are lies that i can easily start to believe. for a long time, i struggled with feeling like i wasn't doing great things for God. don't get me wrong, i wholeheartedly believe motherhood is a calling and i am 110% thankful every day that the Lord has given us three beautiful girls. but motherhood is not always a "job" where you can see the immediate fruits of your labor. when i was teaching, we would work on phonics skills and the end result would (hopefully) be a successful reader. and i would feel a sense of accomplishment knowing that the hard work had paid off and i had taught a child skills they would use for the rest of their life! being home with three small children is a bit different than being in a classroom. the "end result" is not as black and white or often as revered as other accomplishments. 

how many times have you seen the quote, "if you can read this, thank a teacher."??? i've seen it posted countless times. but have you ever seen anything reading, "if you can potty on your own, thank your mother."???  

nope? me either.

and so i can start to believe that i'm not doing enough. that my "job" isn't big enough. or that i'm not doing anything worthwhile. but then God reminds me of one big truth: i'm not called to do big things for God, i'm called to do things for a Big God.

i don't have to worry about my worth or if i'm doing enough, because if i'm following His will for my life, then i am absolutely doing what's worthy...and it will always be enough. He doesn't call me to do great things on my own. He calls me to follow Him - and He is a Great God that will work through me to accomplish great things. parenting my children may not be a "job" in the eyes of the world. loving on my babies may not win me any awards. but if the only thing i do in this life is raise my girls to know Him, then i will feel like the most accomplished person in the world. if my girls love Jesus and love others, then that will be my greatest reward. and i will continue to pray that He daily reminds me of my #ONEBIGTRUTH: 

i am not called to do big things for God, i am called to do things for a Big God! 

"For you are great and perform wonderful deeds. You alone are God."

Psalm 86:10

click here to see other posts about #onebigtruth

this is day(s) 9-10 of the 31 day series. click HERE to see the series in it's entirety.