So-if you’re not following me on instagram (sarahwickersham), you can see some highlights each Friday on thee ol’ blog (I also share all of my instagram pictures to my twitter as well).  I used to post a lot of my pictures to Facebook, but now I’m too lazy.  And I literally take a picture an hour so I didn’t want everyone to think I was bombarding them with my life.  Mostly because I’m just amazed at how cool and big my child now is.  Oh and Oliver’s pretty cute too.

Check back each week for the “dump”.  Ew.

PS {I saw this instagram template on Pinterest here.  It is for Photoshop users, so unless you have that program it won’t work.  It was only $5 bucks and supa cute!  There’s also a part of the download that allows you to automatically resize your pictures to fit right in the frames.  Easy peasy.  The font I used was “Dawning of a New Day”.}

Meet my lovely sister. She always is sending me fun pics that she has created. I loved this one and decided to keep it

Lola is so darlin’. She knows exactly when it is bed time. When we lay down and get ready to sleep she hops right into bed and joins us. If one of us gets out of bed, well… your out of luck because this girl will steal your spot QUICKLY

My mom and I were getting ready to go out on the boat. We really wanted to take Lola with us. We tried to dress her up and sneak her on

Oh the joys of spring and summer Lizards are EVERYWHERE here in Central Florida. NOW WE KNOW WHY

This was my FIRST ‘Friday Phone Dump’ ! Hope you all had a wonderful week. To all the wonderful mothers out there, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY.

Hello from NYC!

SO! Last Saturday, we went to the spring football game on the KU campus. Part of the fun is taking a free bus ride around town. Matching shirts are optional.

We also spent a few minutes daydreaming about the best school in the State. Rock Chalk, my friends. Rock Chalk.

School is almost over, thank goodness. My kitchen shelves are full of projects brought home and Simon has taken 33 spelling tests this year. 33. I know. Do you know how many times we've had to study spelling words? 33 TIMES. In other news, Bennett is learning how to draw stick people and Cora is finally learning to use a sippy cup. They ALL need more practice.

Speaking of Cora, she can also be a complete pain in the butt. Don't come over and ask to use our toilet unless you don't mind grabbing a hand full of TP from the top of the toilet. Keeping it classy here!

Lastly, we almost have a walker on our hands. She can walk 10 or so steps before crashing down. She hasn't met the requirements of her Aunt Tara but she is pretty darn close. I am thankful that her sore little knees are getting a break. 

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This weekend we went swimming, let Simon stay the night with friends (an event that deserves a post in itself), and we went to Manhattan. Today we went to church, had a picnic, went to Art in the Park, and spent the rest of the day outside. We live such a blessed life.

How did I get so lucky?

I hope you all are having a glorious Friday! I am so excited for the weekend.

I would like to apologize for my absence on my blog lately. I haven’t been posting much because I do a lot of my writing and formatting while I’m working at my desk job. My boss is okay with it, don’t worry. My coworkers, however, have been abusing the privileges and as a result, there is a block on social media sites. Which is just lovely for me! Kidding! Unfortunately, this means I won’t be making my April goal of blogging three times a week.

While I try to write as much as I can offline now, I still have a hard time finding time to blog outside of the 38 hours I spend at work during the week. I’m going to try and do better, especially with the end of the semester drawing near.

[Sidenote: I have some big news to announce soon, so get excited!]

But as for today, it is Friday and that means … FRIDAY PHONE DUMP!

-Don’t drink and shop, guys. Just kidding! Do it!
-Going out with my best girlfriend and my newly ombréd hair (tutorial coming soon!)
-My new favorite sushi roll at Chef Sake’s … Lobster!
-My last “picture at a red light” before ombré hair.
-You know it’s almost summer when you sit outside eating frozen ice with absolutely no nutrional value.
-Warm, cozy bed.
-My new LC by Lauren Conrad lucky jewel.
-The totally unacceptable cold front that forced me to bring out my old college sweatshirt.

I thought I’d do something extra this week and do a dump of my favorite photos that passed through my instagram feed this week.

 - @brookefraser being cool in Brussels
- @barefootjake’s dog being the freaking cutest thing I have ever seen.
- @LaurenConrad being lovely.
- @thecivilwars being perfect.
- @thepioneerwoman being touristy.
- @elizabeth_glenn being a good friend and taking a picture of my new hair.
- @barefootjake’s other dog being the other cutest thing I have ever seen.
- @ellieholcomb being talented with her hubs.
- @blaireadiebee being fashionable, as always.

I have some fun things planned for next week here on The Stars So Fine. Here’s a sneak peek ..

Don’t forget to follow me on Instagram (@madisonmelissa)!

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A common problem in our house is that the baby is missing. What's that? You can't find the baby? Just find the Legos and there she be.

Or check the porch.

THE BABY is also so close to walking but she isn't quite ready to let go just yet. It's strange for me to see AN INFANT walking because CLEARLY infants don't walk. Whatever. Somebody push her down.

See an INFANT? Thank you very much.

Lest you think I only take pictures of Cora Jane, here is one of Matt. I mean Bennett. I mean Bennett looking like Matt.

Isn't this so exciting? I should post pictures from my phone all the time. Here is Bennett drinking on the porch! Yay!

My sister calls this town “Wah-tesk-a”

On our way home from the Vera Sale!

Printing our visitor pass for NYC WTC memorial…. can’t wait!

 Afternoon snack! yum! And yes Thad it was paired with Pepsi!

Tatting over my lunch… practicing my loops Kara!

Enjoy!

M.

the vera sale! …more to come
Enjoy! M.

I’m going to start to try, notice I say try to dump my phone pictures on Fridays here on the blog… we’ll see how it goes!

enjoy!

m.

It’s Friday and that can only mean one thing… actually, it could mean a lot, but here it means… Friday Phone Dump! I have “done a dump” in a while, and I wish I could tell you I had a dozen dump-worthy photos but I don’t (it’s been a busy week).

1. The view of downtown Mobile as I leave work. I love taking a drive through the railroad straddling streets and oak shadowed streets of my sweet city. (Sssh, there may be a Mobile post in the works).

2. Taken during my evening run with Emilia this week. I love that it gets darker later now and I have the opportunity to run somewhere other than the overcrowded rec center.

3. Honest Tea. Believe it or not, I discovered my new favorite drink at Disney World. When my family and I went in January, we had a lot of extra meals left on our meal plan, so before we left we basically bought out the Boardwalk Bakery and took it all home. I grabbed a half of dozen of these green teas and I absolutely love them.

4. This is the dedication in the latest book I’m reading (When God Writes Your Love Story). I’m a sucker for sweet or quirky dedications. One of my favorite books, Once Again to Zelda,  is a list of stories about the dedications in the world’s most popular literary works. It’s so interesting to hear the stories behind the stories.

What photos are “dump worthy” from your week? 

1)  The boys.  Corrigan never wants to make eye contact and Connor looks like he is willing my phone to fly from my hands with the power of his gaze.

2) Old toys are new again as Corrigan is finally learning how to play “appropriately” with his toys.  He used to just push the car up and down the ramp, now he happily rides it down over and over again.

3) Stopping for strawberries after school.  I loved that he was oblivious to the candy on the stand beside him, he only wanted those strawberries!

4) Car ride to someplace or another.  It was a beautiful week, weather-wise, so we took a lot of rides to get out of the house and get some wind in our hair.

5) Someone needs a haircut pronto.

6) Me. Sitting on the back steps. Wind in hair. No makeup, tired.  Still a good day!

7) Another car ride.  With his $2.00 wooden xylophone we found at a discount grocer. Score!

8)  Corrigan looking out over the lake on his first big-boy hike.  Awesome memory.

Have a great weekend!

I have been a terrible blogger lately.  I have much to catch up on, then hopefully some updates will happen!  Until then, here’s a little phone dumperoo for you.

p.s. did you know that bailey’s irish cream makes their own coffee creamer (found next to the coffee-mate in the refrigerated section of the grocery store)?  it is de-li-cious.  i’m not usually a fan of sweet creamers, but even i’m a sucker for this one.  i highly recommend you go find it and put it in your coffee this weekend.  :)

last year, my easy months were first care (becoming an expert at ear infections and rashes!) and cardiology clinic (improving my skills at heart murmurs and EKGs!).  this month, i am on “development.”  in the past two weeks, i have spent time watching children receive therapy for speech delay, participating in intensive pre-school classes for kids with autism, and listening to lectures about adhd, dyslexia, and autism.  i feel like i have spent the last 15 months pretending to understand these things, whenever they were quickly mentioned at various times in the hospital, but now i finally have a grasp on them!  while observing can get boring, i am so thankful for this opportunity to learn.  in fact, it has piqued my interest so much that i have even started reading a development textbook with sincere excitement!  i’m on the road to really understanding how to assess my patients’ development in a thoughtful and meaningful way.  and i still have two weeks to learn even more!

happy friday!

happy friday!