Shabby Apple $50 Giftcard Giveaway!

I have a fun giveaway for you today!

You've heard of Shabby Apple, right?

 

Shabby Apple specializes in  Vintage Clothing. They also sell super cute accessories, shoes and bathing suits most of which are vintage inspired

I love dresses and I really love Shabby Apple Dresses!

I try & wear a dress 1-2 times a month, especially during the Spring & Summer.

 Between work events, church, baby showers, bridal showers and weddings, I have a ton of events this year that I will need to wear a dress to.

Here are some of my favorite Shabby Apple dresses right now.

How fun is this dress? Perfect for church on Sunday. I am loving the Kelly green & navy combo that is so in right now.

 

 I also love this one. I would totally wear it to school. (Can you tell I love stripes?!?)

 But, I also love polka dots. This dress!!! Want!!!

 I am also loving lace. In fact, I am wearing a lace shirt today. Lace is so feminine & girly.

This lace dress comes in a few colors, but I love the minty colored one:

 We have a few weddings this year.  Pretty sure I need a new dress, like this one!

Do you have any fun events coming up that you need a new dress for?

If you won the $50 Shabby Apple Gift Certificate, what would you get?

To enter the giveaway, just leave me a comment letting me know!

A new dress for a special occasion...For work... For fun? Maybe some jewelry or shoes?
If you are a follower of my blog, you get an extra entry.
Leave an additional comment letting me know you follow.

Giveaway ends this Friday, May 3rd 

Winner will be chosen via random.org

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Also, don't forget, this Wednesday May 1st is our fourth Pin-Spired Link Up!

 

I look forward to this link up each month!

Can't wait to see what outfits you pinned & wore!

Our 2013 Garden {Week 1}

For the past 3 years, I have planted a garden in our backyard.
Kevin grew up with a garden in their backyard & so did I.
We LOVE homegrown veggies. They taste amazing!

I get a little too excited every April when the weather turns warm because that means it's Garden Time!

I carefully plan out what I am planting in each garden box (that Kevin built for me!)

Each year, I have do most of the same things, but I like to try out something new each year.

Here is our 2013 Garden:

 Garden Box #1

Here is what is in Garden Box #1:

(This is my first year doing Spinach. I did Lettuce last year & it was awesome. Hoping the Spinach turns out well also!)

 I do Cucumbers & Carrots in seed form. I plant them in these little planting pots (so that the seeds stay put when you water them)

 I have all my herbs in the first garden box also:

 I was able to put a lot of things in the first box because the items I did plant in there don't get too big!

Garden Box #2

 

2 of these....yum!

Garden Box #2 didn't have that much because the Zucchini gets massive & so does the squash.

Garden Box #3

 This box is purely tomatoes. Normally I do 5 Early Girl Tomato Plants in this box. They are my most favorite homegrown tomato. They are the BEST!!! YUM.

But, this year, I did 4 Early Girl plants and decided to try my hand at an Heirloom Tomato. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Around the perimeter of our Garden, we have 4 fruit trees:

   In years past, I have crammed in too many "vine" plants into the Garden Boxes, so this year, I decided to utilize some of the space outside of the garden boxes. Keeping my fingers crossed this works out better & some of these plants don't take over the garden like they have in years past.

 The girls think our homegrown watermelons are weird because they have "black seeds" in them. Brings me back to my childhood when there was no such thing as "seedless" watermelon!

 My favorite thing (besides tomatoes) to grow...Pumpkins! We got TEN last year, from one little plant like this:

 Trying my hand at these, thanks to a recommendation from one of Kevin's co-workers:

 (Going to try and make homemade dill pickles with these!)

I have been asked if I have any gardening tips.

Here is what I would advise:

1. Plant your garden in a place in your yard that gets lots of afternoon sun.

2. Make sure you water your plants 3-4 times a week during mild weather and everyday during a heat wave.

3. Get new dirt each year, more specifically one for gardens. We order a Garden Mix from our local nursery. 

4.  Block your garden off with a fence (or barricade) if you have a pet who likes to ruin your garden. Our lab dug up 3 of my tomato plants within 2 hours of planting them. UGH. And, last year, she kept eating them off the vine. Bad Dog ;)

5. If you are planting Tomatoes, you MUST get this:

$5 at Home Depot. It works wonders!

I will update our garden progress about once a month, it's such a fun little hobby, and the girls LOVE helping me plant, water & pick the veggies.

Do you have a Backyard Garden? What is your favorite thing to grow?

Let me know if you have any other garden questions (and feel free to add your tips!)

Dedicated.

We had our sweet Luke dedicated at church on Sunday.

Little boy outfits are growing on me, especially These shoes! Love them!

We also had the girls dedicated when they were babies. What is the difference between a dedication and baptism, you might ask? We choose to dedicate. A dedication is where the baby is dedicated to God, it welcomes the baby into the church, and has the parents dedicate themselves to raising the child as a Christian and ask for prayer and support from friends, families and church.

When Luke (and the girls) understand what it means to be baptized and ask Christ into their lives, then they can be baptized then they can make that choice. 

The verse we chose for Kevin read at Luke's dedication was:

Proverbs 3:5-6

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."

Our hope & prayer is that sweet Luke will grow up to be a man who loves the Lord, trusts the Lord and depends on the Lord in all things.

After church, we came back to our house for a luncheon reception with our families & the people in our Small Group. You know me....any excuse to have a party :)

Lunch was simple. Sandwiches & Salads.

I need to blog my tortellini pasta salad recipe. So good!

 The weather was GORGEOUS! 85 degrees! Couldn't have asked for better weather!

Lovely ladies in our small group:

Of course, it isn't a party without one of my mother in law's cakes!

 Cross cookies for the kids:

 Luke with both sets of Grandparents. So blessed to live within 5 minutes of both.

Our prayer is that God give us wisdom and guidance as we raise him and that he will come to know God's great love for him.

We are so thankful to God for surprising us and blessing our family with Luke.

Thank you God, for this good and perfect gift!

He is a true joy and I can't imagine our family without him.