Beach

^My sister-in-law Kaitlyn, sister Jessica, and me. See the story of this picture here :)

^Twins again

^Morning walk and dig on the beach

I don't have a ton of pictures from our beach trip last week, because the majority of my time was spent napping, reading, and digging holes in the sand under an umbrella.  We had a great time taking a break from everything and relaxing with our family.

As we were packing up, Charlie said, "I don't want to leave....I want to live at the beach forever!!!!", and I totally agree.  Maybe one day...!! 

Baseball Tee

My tee, Jessica's tee 

My sister, Jessica and I came out of our rooms at the beach last week, and we were basically wearing the same outfit for dinner that night.  Hah!!  We've both been loving our baseball tees lately....so cozy, so fun, and pretty cute!

I tried desperately to get outfit pictures, but the beach wind made that almost impossible....so a sister picture it was (with a little beach haze on the lens along with it.)

I do like this tee with a casual outfit, but I've also styled it with a dressy outfit as well.  I like it (!) and I'll show you soon.

Linking up with Shanna and The Pleated Poppy 

Bookworms

The boys are quite the little bookworms, which is so great, because Noel and I both love a great book. Today, the fabulous Shelby, from Brandon and Shelby, and I have teamed up, and are each sharing our boys' current 3 favorite books!

1.  Mercer Meyer's, Little Critter: The Best Yard Sale.  We are reallyyyy into the Little Critter books these days. I think Little Critter is hilarious (the illustrations are fantastic), and the boys love the stories.

2.  Peter Eastman's, Fred and Ted Like to Fly.  This one is a super easy read, with an "opposite" motif throughout.  The 2 dogs do fun things, and they each have their own airplane...so, of course it's a winner!

3. Alison Jay's, The Nutcracker.  You have no idea how excited I am to say that this is one of the boys' favorite books.  I've never found a kid version of the book that I loved, but when I took Charlie and Walker to see The Nutcracker this past December, I found this one, and love it so much!  It's really similar to the ballet I used to perform, and the boys love the idea of toy soldiers coming to life, and the thought of going to a place where everything is made out of a sweet! 

You can find Shelby's 3 recommendations on her blog today (they're great ones!)

Shelby has become a great blog friend of mine.  She is also a momma of 2 sweet boys, and I wish all the time that we lived closer so that we could all play every day.  She is beautiful, takes the most insanely gorgeous pictures, makes really fun films of her family, and has a heart of gold.  You will LOVE her and her blog.

What are some of your favorite children's books?!

Old-Fashioned

We went to a new park for a birthday party a few weeks ago, and there was a merry-go-round there!  I was so excited, because this was a park favorite of mine growing up, and because I haven't seen one in forever.

I see the potential danger in them...falling off, getting too dizzy...whatever(!), but I love that this park preserved a piece of good, ol' fashioned playground equipment.

I love that I'm raising the boys during this time...it's the time they were meant for and they're going to do amazing things, but I try so hard to teach them those "old fashioned" traditions and manners, and to introduce them to those experiences.  

I have the inner mommy struggle on the daily about wanting the perfect balance for my boys.  I want them to have structured, learning time, but also want them to be able to play by themselves and discover knew things from doing that.  I want them to know how to handle and work an iPad, but don't want them to be in front of a screen for very long.  

I'm working hard at it, and having fun doing it. Just want to make sure they get that good, home-training. :) 

I hope you have an amazing weekend!!!!  Give a kiss, or a squeeze, or a call to a lady in your life who means a lot to you.

Fall into Spring

Sweater, Skirt: JCrew (similar), Boots, Necklace

I am all about spring clothes, but I was a little sad to put these ankle boots in the back of the closet.  That is, until I saw Kate Bosworth in an old Lucky Magazine (while I was on the elliptical at the gym) in this outfit.  Duh! Ankle boots look fantastic with shorts and skirts.  Done and done.

I wore this last weekend for a night out with Noel.  He's officially done with his first year of law school, and he totally rocked it!  So proud of him.  Now he's on to a clerkship for the summer, and maybe a more "normal" schedule.  Maybe?! :)

PS.  I've started a new Netflix series that I'm kinda obsessed with....Dance Academy! I think I love it because it brings back great memories of my dancing days.  Please tell me someone else watches it so we can discuss our feelings.

Linking up with Shanna and The Pleated Poppy 

Take me out to the ballgame

We had a great night this past weekend at the Durham Bulls baseball game with our friends, Heidi and Monte, and their adorable daughter, Brooke.  They just moved back to NC, and we've missed them!! The thing about great friends is that you can pick up right where you left off, and we had a fun night doing just that.

^And we did a little yoga on the lawn after the game :) 

Hope you had a great weekend!