It's Been A While

Hey there! I have not blogged since the first day of school. I have several reasons for that. In order to tell you those reasons, I'm about to do something that I've made fun of people for doing for years and (I can't believe I'm about to do it) blog about blogging. It's so annoying, but it must be done.

Long before the first day of school this year, I was considering shutting down the old Buffy Sunshine blog. I started this blog because I was taking an Elsie Flannigan art class online. The class required me to show my finished projects on my blog, thus Buffy Sunshine was born. It turned out to be a great way for my mom to see my horrible sewing disasters and keep up with the ins and outs of my days with the kids. I enjoyed blogging in those early days because it forced me to document more of my activities with the kids and I felt free because I thought only my mom and sisters were reading. As the years went on and the numbers on my blogs stats increased, I felt pressure to create "perfect" blog posts. It was still fun, but it was starting to feel like work. Then I found myself just doing "filler" posts to keep the stats up. I was disappointed in myself for trying to "create moments" rather than simply documenting random happenings with our family. There are many bloggers who get paid to blog and they create moments and they do a GREAT JOB at it. However, I wasn't getting paid and I was starting to make Buffy Sunshine more important that other (truly important) things. On the morning of the first day of school one of the kids said, "are you taking these pictures for your blog?" For whatever reason that innocent little question cut me to the quick. I just want to be a mom who takes pictures of her kids on the first day of school. For no reason. I don't want my kids to feel like they are always on a stage. So I took a little break.

But good news for those of you who are still checking in every now and then! (o yes, I can still see that some of you check back every now and then) I will be posting more frequently on this little space starting next week. It will mostly be about my work with Sunshine Magazine and my Alma Louise books and my face wash, but you'll get your Buffy Sunshine fix if you still need it.

I need a place to share about things like face wash without blowing up Facebook every five minutes. So check back! Happy Sunday!

first day of school

The kids started school yesterday. And by "kids" I mean three out of my four children. And by "school" I mean real school... not homeschool. I've homeschooled them for the past three years, but this year we decided to put them in school. The first day was PRECIOUS! They all said it was the most fun they'd ever had and they couldn't wait to go back today. I just kept thanking the Lord all day for the opportunity to send them to school and for the hours that I got to spend cleaning my house and cooking and being the "keeper of the home" that I'm called to be. I hope your week is wonderful and you're feeling refreshed!

phone pics friday

Hey errrbody! I cannot believe summer is almost over! I do love me some August though. It has always been my favorite month AAAANNNDDD it's the month I met Charlie. So every year around this time we start getting all mushy and gushy about the moments when we met. Fall is just a precious time of year. The photo on the far right of the middle row is a new product in the etsy shop. If you'd like me to paint your teacher's name (or your name) on an apple for the first day of school, please check it out in the shop. I hope your summer is bright and shiny!

PS don't forget to take a look at the Sunshine Magazine BLOG and find Sunshine Magazine on INSTAGRAM. You'll be glad you did.

Sunshine Magazine

Hi! I'm starting a magazine. It's called Sunshine Magazine. I've been working on it for a long, long time.

"But I thought you just opened an online store like two months ago called TurnTurn!" You're right. I did. And then something amazing happened and I sold EVERY SINGLE ITEM in the store. And then I had to ship all that stuff and I said, "NO!" "NO,NO!" NO MORE SHIPPING!" And I realized while I was standing in line at the post office for the fifth day in a row that the online store business was not the life for me... NO!

"But what about birthday signs and party hats?" You can still order custom things on my old Etsy shop. Click HERE or on the button on my sidebar that says, "Buy my stuff."

"But what is going to happen to Buffy Sunshine?" "Will you keep blogging?" "Why are you taking all these pictures when you don't even have a blog?" Calm down. (That last question is an exact quote of my mother from Hal's birthday party) I know some of you start breaking out into a rash when you think about change or your eye starts twitching or whatever. It's ok. Take a deep breath. I will still blog here... sometimes. It will be less frequent than in years past... HOWEVER... Sunshine Magazine also has a blog if you need to see a little more of me than what I can give you over here. Also, I post photos on instagram almost every day and that's a great way to stay updated with our fam.

So stay tuned for all the details about Sunshine Magazine... it is going to be so fun! You can click the link on the sidebar any time and join me at the mag.

Hal's First Birthday

We celebrated the FOURTH over the weekend. Because Hal is our "fourth" and because his birthday is in July, a patriotic party seemed like the most spectacular choice. We grilled food and made punch and shot fireworks and rented a water slide and my sister made a cake that almost made me cry from its awesomeness.

Happy Birthday, Hal! You have stolen a piece of my heart. You're the cuddly and sweet and calm and confident. I adore you.

showing my real

We're in Mississippi this week visiting my family and celebrating almost one whole year of baby Hal! Stay tuned for all the super fun festivities going on for our little FOURTH! I wanted to stop by and tell you to click HERE and check out Courtney's "Show Us Your Real" series. I'm sharing my real there today and a little bit of what a typical day looks like for us. Hope your week is spectacular!

glimpses of our fourth

We had a fun Fourth of July! I made popsicles and we stayed outside the whole day. I hope your day was full of sunshine and fireworks!