Christmas in July Gift Exchange// Match -Ups

2:59 PM Amanda Greathouse 0 Comments

 
First of all, we just wanted to thank everyone who signed up for this exchange. Everyone had so much fun participating last year and I'm even more excited to be co-hosting this year!
 
Second, and most important, here are the match ups:

















Ladies, look out for an email from Liz either tonight or tomorrow with the information that your partner provided for you. If you don't get anything from her by Thursday, please send her an email at chasinmasonblog@gmail.com and she will see what happened.


Some things to remember...

- please ship your packages by July 13th

- box contents should be $20 before shipping

- link up with a blog post of the goodies that you got on Monday, July 27th. No blog? No problem! Share on social media with #xmasinjulygiftexchange


Merry Christmas and Happy Shopping!



 

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Friday Favorites

1:28 PM Amanda Greathouse 1 Comments

Finally it's Friday! Let the weekend fun begin! It's going to be another hot weekend here in the Springs so we very well may just end up at the pool a bunch to have some cool, water fun!
 
But first, here are a few things I'm loving this Friday!
 
I actually got mine last year during their end of summer clearance & frequently sported it with a cardigan throughout the fall, but I'm really loving it this summer! It's such a comfy fit & still soft like when I first bought it! The color of mine has faded a bit so it's more of a charcoal grey than black, but that just makes me love it even more! I pair mine with some cute shorts & gladiator sandals all the time! #allgreyeverything
 
 
Red Moccasins
I love the moccasins! Can't help it! Grey has the neon green ones & has worn them so much they have holes in them! And we keep discussing getting him another pair & we have this weakness for red shoes! These red moccs would be perfect for 4th of July to spruce up a festive outfit & would even carry into the fall very well!
 
 
Greyson singing!
Little mister has been a singing machine lately & I just melt every time he sings me a song. He learns them mostly at school & will break out it one randomly, usually in the car [like mommy]. Here is one of my favorites -

 
I hope everyone is having a good Friday & looking forward to the weekend!
Don't forget to sign up to join in on the Christmas in July gift exchange! It is going to be lots of fun & you don't want to miss out!
 
 
 
 

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Every Summer...

5:54 PM Amanda Greathouse 1 Comments

With warm weather & the time to start checking off things on our summer bucket list here, I have been thinking about my summers & my favorite things to do. I really try to take advantage of the new places I've lived over the last many summers & try things I haven't gotten to yet.
But sometimes, the classics really can be the best activities! So here are a few things that I do every summer, no matter where I live!
 
{Get Ice Cream at a local shop}
I'm not a sweets person & really only like ice cream in small amounts, but I can't help but divulge & get a yummy ice cream at least once every summer! Its especially fun when there are extra fun flavors apart from the plain vanilla & chocolate.
 
 
{Go to a zoo}
 This was Greyson's first trip to the zoo in Heidelberg! I've been a regular zoo-goer since I was younger so it's been something I've looked forward to doing with Greyson each summer now. It's fun to share a tradition of mine growing up with him & foster his love for animals. He has definitely gotten more & more interested in the animals each time we go.
 
 
 
{Go Swimming}
We are no strangers to the water! We have always lived places where we have close access to water. We used to spend the weekends at the beach when we lived in Charleston & have had to resort to a pool or small lake these last few years being landlocked. But the cool, refreshing water is such a treat on hot days & we like to take a small lunch & enjoy as much of the day just playing in the water!

 
 
  {Watch Fireworks}
Another favorite family event is watching fireworks! Its always a fun time & a tradition to celebrate Independence Day together! I am already researching good places around the Springs to watch fireworks from this year & am crazy excited!
 
There you have it! My favorite summer activities that we plan to do every year & will continue doing so as Greyson keeps growing! I hope to instill a love of fun, summer traditions in him that he will look forward to doing each year as well!
What are some of your favorite summer activities that you do every year?! I would love to hear!
 
 

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Father's Day 2015

4:11 PM Amanda Greathouse 0 Comments

Our Father's Day was a nice, weekend long thing this year! It wasn't entirely meant to be, but happily worked out that way & he deserves it so it was all good!
 
Saturday morning we started off with a trip to Starbucks for some family treats! We got a couple pastries to share, caramel & vanilla iced coffee for me & Greyson got a mini Lemon Bar Frap! He was literally in heaven, savoring every sip. He shared with daddy a couple of times & learned how to scoop the whipped cream off the bottom when he is done.


Then it was time for Greg's Father's Day gift - an hour massage! It may seem like a silly gift for a dad, but with always working out & stress from work, his muscles were pretty tense & it was the perfect gift to help him just relax!
While daddy was getting his massage, Grey & I went to a nearby Hobby Lobby to "pee," which he did but let's be honest, it was mostly to walk around & oogle their goodies. And to no surprise of mine, fall décor was out! I was crazy giddy & had to force myself out the door without anything in my cart except some crackers & popsicle molds! But mark my words - I will go back for that gold & white striped pumpkin!! And of course we took a bunch of selfies & sang songs in the car while waiting for daddy to be done.

 
Sunday morning rolled around & we wasted no time getting to the fun. I made a quick donut run to the local grocery store & came back to find the boys making scrambled eggs together. Greyson was loving getting to sit on the counter & help daddy mix them up with his fork & not even the lure of strawberries convinced him to come down.



 
After we were full from our hearty donut breakfast, we headed to a local pool! They have 2 small kids pools that Greyson has a blast playing in. He can get in & out of the water on his own this year & has really become interested in playing with the other kids around him. We bought a little ring float to take with us & were quickly informed that floatation devices aren't allowed in the water unless they're Coastguard approved. Lame, but we had lots of fun anyways!





 
I hope everyone had an awesome weekend showering the dads in their lives with love & showing them how special they are to you!
 
 

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Christmas in July Gift Exchange

11:34 AM Amanda Greathouse 0 Comments

Elizabeth, Jamie, Courtney, and I would like to invite you to...a Christmas in July Party!

Last year we had so much fun sending and receiving summer boxes full of amazing things for the kids that we wanted to do it again this year. Not to mention many of the participants said they'd love to do it again, and who are we to disappoint all our blog friends?

The idea is to fill a box with anything you think your partner's kid(s) would love - water toys, craft supplies, books, etc, and the limit is $20 before shipping.

You can sign up HERE to participate from now until Friday, June 26th. You don't have to be a blogger to participate, but we ask that you share what you receive on social media with #xmasinjulygiftexchange. The matches will be emailed and announced by June 30th.

Send out your packages no later than July 13th, please keep your tracking number in case something goes astray. Don't forget the wrapping paper! Then come back on Monday, July 27th to link up and share what you received.

We are limiting this exchange to US residents only.

 
We certainly hope you sign up and join us! It is always a treat to receive something special in the mail!
 
 
 

 



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Friday Favorites

3:30 PM Amanda Greathouse 1 Comments

It's finally Friday! Yay for the weekend & lots of time to do all the fun stuff we don't have time to do on the weekend. They never seem long enough these days & while I know they should re-charge me, I always hate when Monday shows it's face!

But enough about Monday! Friday is a good day to just round out the week & collect all of our plans for the weekend & reflect on the stuff I have been loving these days!


Oh my goodness, it's so delicious! I am not a salad person by any means! I actively avoid it & hate the ingredients of most salads. But this one incorporates a lot of things that I like & gives me a way to get some green veggies in. I usually substitute fresh spinach for the romaine lettuce, but either way is good! I eat it almost every day & have even made it with steak as well! Yumm! Perfect, easy little summer dish!

These High Gladiator Sandals have caught me eye more than once!
 

This knee high gladiator sandals are so fun! They are so edgy and would be so cute with some jean shorts or a fun skirt. I have a pair of ankle gladiator sandals that I wear all the time & have been dying to get a taller pair for some versatility. These are going in my shopping cart [finally] this weekend!

Summer Margaritas are on the rise with the warmer weather & I am ready to get in on that action!
Sweet summertime calls for yummy cocktails outside on the patio, hanging by the grill, with good friends! And I love a good margarita. The ones with fresh fruit are my favorites! They just have so much flavor compared to a simple one that just uses syrup. This Blackberry Lime Margarita looks delicious! We will be trying it this weekend for sure!

After a rough end to the week, I am excited to chill & enjoy the hot weekend we have headed for us - 90 degree weather, seriously?! We shall be visiting the pool &/or splash pad! And conquering all that fun with bright pink neon nails!
Thank god it's Friday!
 
Happy weekending!


1 comments :

Summer Bucket List

5:12 PM Amanda Greathouse 1 Comments

So with summer officially starting this weekend, I figured it was about time to start planning our fun activities for the season! Last year we made a summer bucket list for all of the things we wanted to do while we had lots of warm weather & sunshine! And it was so much fun I decided we should do it again!
 
It's a fun way to keep track of the things we want to do & what still needs to be done so we don't lose out on the fun by forgetting it! Plus, it's just fun to share our adventures!

Here is our list for 2015:
 
Go to the splash pad
Visit Pikes Peak
Go to an Colorado Rockies game
Make popsicles
Go to a new zoo
Chase down the ice cream truck
Have a picnic in the park
Go see fireworks
Check out a local festival
Make sidewalk chalk art
Go camping
Have a water balloon fight
 
With Greyson being older this year, there are so many more options of fun stuff to do! I'm especially excited for the new, unique to Colorado things we have planned, like our first Rockies game & visiting Pikes Peak.

What will you be doing this summer?
 
 

1 comments :

Toddlers Unfiltered

5:53 PM Amanda Greathouse 0 Comments

Ah we all do it! We take pictures of our kids being adorable & cooperative, giving cute little smiles. We share those pictures with others & make everyone smile. But what about the ones that look adorable, yet they are capturing something maybe untold to the viewer?
I'm completely guilt of it! I take so many pictures of Greyson & maybe leave out some of the crazy details about what was actually happening in that picture when it was taken.
 
So I decided to share some pictures & the real story behind them as can be seen on my iPhone!
 

 Okay, so this one is obvious that he was being outrageous! He decided the inside of the box looked like a good place to try to sit & definitely got stuck! Don't worry, he wasn't in there long!
Aw little boy eating strawberries, right? No. He stole the package & proceeded to take one bite out of each strawberry.. Touche!

This is the adorable little smile of a boy who has learned to take selfies of himself on mommy's phone, which he isn't supposed to have! He snuck it while I wasn't paying attention & captured his own messy face red handed!

 While this looks like a cute picture of him just lounging at Lowes, in reality, he was refusing to walk or sit in the cart & kept running away to the swings & patio furniture to post himself up!
 I draw your attention to the dirty windows & books on the floor, courtesy of the tantrum thrown just minutes before this calm looking scene!
And my gardening gloves that he wanted to wear to play basketball. Apparently they help him handle the ball better! But he was refusing to give them back for weed pulling purposes!
And last but not least is mommy's little helper. Of course, he was really pouring out the spices on the counter & chair, which he pulled into the kitchen & climbed up on, and spreading it around everywhere! Our counters so a nice job concealing all the Savory it is sprinkled with here!
 
So there ya have it! Some unfiltered pictures of my little silly guy! He is a frequent trouble maker, but man is he cute while doing so!
 
Do you share the pretty pictures & conceal the chaos too?!
 
 
 
 

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Home DIY// Staining Furniture

5:38 PM Amanda Greathouse 0 Comments

I have always wanted to be a DIYer! I have a thousand & eighty things pinned on Pinterest that I just "have to try" and I don't really think I've made a dent! But a new house & currently limited budget for the non-essential household things has driven me to take on a few of the ideas I've had floating around for some time.
First up was some furniture for our living room.
We got rid of our coffee table awhile back in Germany after the 100th time that Greyson battled it with his face & lost. But, now that he's older & not falling around constantly, we decided to recover one! We have an old outdoor patio set that was given to us & part of it was broken in the move. Without having the whole set for the backyard, I decided to put the chairs on our front porch [which will also get their own DIY soon enough] & refinish the "coffee" table for our living room. It is still sturdy, just worn & dirty from being outside.

So I laid out each piece of the table & sanded it down with a sandpaper block. I honestly can't remember the grain of it, but it was about a medium. There wasn't a whole lot left on the wood to get off so it worked out well & came out smooth. Then applied the Ebony wood stain all over, except a few spots that won't get seen anyways since I was being impatient. And then finished with 3 coats of the clear satin sealant to give it a semi-shiny appearance. The table pieces dried for just shy of 72 hours before I put it together & we were up & using it in our living room!
It isn't perfect by any means & we will likely touch up a few spots that didn't take to the stain the same due to the wearing of the wood, but I can't complain much for my first staining project! And I learned the hard way that the stain will soak right through the rag & cover your hands in stain! Luckily, most of it came off with Dawn & lots of scrubbing, but my nails didn't fare too well!
Since I liked the way the coffee table turned out & hate my furniture not matching, I decided to use the leftover stain to do Greyson's table & chairs set as well as his little lounge chair. They both came unfinished from Ikea, which made it easy since there was no sanding or anything that needed done. They were already assembled, so I just took them apart, stained them & got them back up & running in just a few days. I love the contrast the dark stain gives all of it with the white table top & seats.

I have a little stain leftover yet since a little goes a long way & trying to decide what else to use it on. Maybe Greyson's book ledges in his room? Guess we'll find out soon what I cook up!
Hope this inspires you to give something in your home a little rejuvenation!



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