I am Moving Y'all. Save the Date!

It has been a long time coming for sure, but I am finally moving from Blogger to WordPress.  Not only that, but we will now be:

http://creativeoutpour.com

I'm am so happy to be getting rid of that dash y'all.

I am busily working on all kindza crazy giveaways to celebrate my blog warming with you!  There is going to be a new one every.single.day.  So, pay attention.  Mark your calendar!  We will go live

Monday, November 18th.  Giveaways will commence immediately following!

5 on Friday!

I'm linking up this week with 5 on Friday!  You should too!  Click the icon above to be included.  Here's my random 5:


1)  Have I mentioned my kids mad love for pom poms?

2) Toms Deodorant does NOT work.  This is the second or third time I've purchased it when Wal-Mart was out of my usual natural deodorant & I might as well have just sprayed perfume under there.  Ha!

The one that really works is:

They almost always have it at Wal-Mart & it works really well.  Also, it smells amazing without being too strong.

3)  Looking for a dry shampoo that works amazing?  This is the one I use.  I got it from Amazon:

I chose this one by literally doing a search online for the best dry shampoos.  This one was well respected.  It works very well & even looks good the following day sometimes!  Another cool thing about it is gives you a lot of body at the root; which I love because my hair is FLAT without a lot of love.

4)  Looking for a great devotional for your kiddos (think toddler/preschool)?

We have loved this one & I just noticed they have made another one:

Such sweet simple truths.

5)  Birth is amazing & it is always a blessing to watch your close friends become a parent.  One of my closest friends had twins after a long infertility battle.  We waited for the babies at the hospital for hours & hours.  We fell asleep waiting on them & eventually had to leave at (1am) because they hadn't come yet.  I loved getting share that with her & her family.

Sweet friend.  Looks at these two precious babies:

Happy Friday y'all!  Make it a good one!

Family Life Luncheon for Arkansas Women Bloggers with Barbara Rainey

On Monday I got the privilege of visiting the headquarters of Family Life.  They invited Arkansas Women Bloggers there to hear from Barbara Rainey about family & how her faith directed her to raise her children.  Such a blessing to get some wisdom from her!

She also shared about Ever Thine Home products:

These products are great vehicles to share our faith with people who enter our homes & also use to teach our children the truths about JESUS.  They have items for Easter, Thanksgiving & Christmas to use to keep JESUS the center of the celebrating.

They treated us to a delightful lunch & after we had great time of fellowship together.  So fun to be spending time with these women that I share so much in common with!

Me & Barbara

Heather from Heather's Dish, Stephanie from The Park Wife & Founder of AR Women Bloggers & me.

 Such a fun day!  I love being a part of the blogging community!  I feel so privileged to be doing what I'm doing.

Teaching Them About #SIMPLEGiving with Champions for Kids

I've posted before about the work that Champions for Kids does.  Why I love partnering with them in their #SIMPLEGiving programs is that they make it easier for people to give locally to children in need.  Since they are set up in Walmart, so many people are already going to shop there for other things.  Their purple bins are all set up at the front of the store:

(Front L to R: Donation Bin, Bins with products to buy & then donate)

When you go to check out, the bins with the pre-selected Kimberly Clark & Unilever products to purchase are right there.  So, it's simple to just grab what you'd like to donate & then deposit it in the donation bin as you leave the store (it's by the exit).  Their current program aims to collect personal care items for children in local schools which are then distributed by the school nurse.

It's such a good way to start teaching your children about giving in a very practical way.  Even if you're a super busy person, you'll end up with your kids at Walmart at some point most likely.  It's simple enough for even my 2 1/2 year old son to understand.  I let them pick out which items we were going to donate & put them in the basket.  It melted my heart to share that with them & just wonder what they were thinking.

Here is my basket of the items we gathered; Suave shampoo & conditioner, Degree deodorant & Cottonelle Cleansing Cloths.  They chose great things for the school to have on hand for kids that need them.  It makes me sad to think that there are kids that are not able to get their hair washed, take a bath or use deodorant if they need it.  What a privilege it is to be able to help provide that for them! 

I let them carry the bags from check out & put them in the donation bin themselves.  They loved it.

I want to encourage you to use this as an opportunity to teach your kids about giving while giving to children in your area.

         You can find out more about #SIMPLEGiving at:

• http://www.championsforkids.org/simplegiving
  
  
  You can also follow them: 
  
  
• Twitter

• Facebook

A Lovely Day

I was so excited about Halloween.  I thought about it way ahead of time.  I imagined my kids in the cutest costumes.  Then, I felt like maybe I was going to end up overdoing it & getting everyone all stressed out, so I decided to make it simple this year.  Right?

Cute, right?  So practical & they can use them after Halloween! They were $8.99 each at Crazy8.  I was super proud of myself, but then I had to go & complicate things.

First, I decided to make Katie a princess dress.  Then, she also had to have a pre-historic costume for school.  So, I was thinking she could use Jack's dragon hoodie (kinda like a dinosaur).

Fast forward to Halloween.  Katie wore the hoodie to school & it was my day with Jack by himself.  It was one of those days!  Just plain awful.  Fits, crying, spankings all.day.long.  I was exhausted when I went to pick up Katie from school.  I brought the kids home & put them both down for a nap & I set to finish up Katie's dress.  I looked at the clock & it was almost time for my husband to get home from work & I hadn't even started dinner.  He had a super long day (up at 5am!) & would be ready to eat & tired.  It is then that I realized that we left Jack's costume at her school! So, Jack no longer had a costume.  The only boy costume we had left in the house was what he wore last year.  #mommyfail

My husband came home tired & a little stressed.  I was exhausted.  For some reason, Jack was crying about everything.  No dinner was ready.  Nobody was in their costumes.  We had to make a decision.

Spencer went to get Taco Bell while I thought about it & he thought about it.  We decided the boys were going to watch a movie & pass out candy to the trick or treaters.  Katie & I would go out Trick or treating.  Somehow, I finished her costume & she looked adorable:

She also had a blast.  Super sweet night.

It turned out pretty well considering the long, crazy day.

Today was such a peaceful, happy day with the kids.  No stress.  Everybody was in a great mood.  Such a different day & that's how it as a parent of 2 littles.  It changes constantly.  It definitely keeps me on my toes, but it also teaches me what really matters.  I am learning to shrug off a lot of the things that make us crazy & to keep it simple - -LOVE.  I need to just LOVE them.  Everything else is just details.