This Is Gonna Hurt.

Remember when your parents said "this is gonna hurt me more than it's gonna hurt you" to you all those years ago??  It usually came before a good spanking.  Oh, how the times have changed.

Now, we don't so much say that as much as we think it.

Two grading periods ago our oldest, fifth-grade son brought home a report card that two generations ago would've warranted him going out and picking his own "switch" off the bush.  Instead of a good, old-fashioned whoopin', our son got grounded until his grades were brought up.  GROUNDED!!!

NO video games,
NO sleepovers,
NO friends over,
NO iPod,
NO cell phone,
NO television {unless it was something his little brothers and sister was watching},
NO NOTHING!!!

To him, his life was O V E R!!!

This goofball kid had his world brought to a screeching hault!


We, as his parents, were NOT his favorite people.

We made him do CHORES.  Oh, no!  Not chores!

And when he wanted to play outside he had to play WITH his brothers and sister, NOT his friends.  The TORTURE!!!

A couple of weeks, though, something happened.  After all of those weeks of him surely having thoughts of hanging each of us by our toenails for making his life so miserable {HA!} he came home with an A on a paper.  An A!

And then a couple of days later he brought home a 100% paper.  And a smile on his face!

Two days ago he told me of a report that he needed to do to make certain his Social Studies grade would come up.  He needed to do this paper.  And he was telling me about it.  That's progress, people!

Best news of all??  Yesterday he bounced into the truck, reached in to his backpack and shoved a perfect spelling test in to my face exclaiming that he LOVED Social Studies and the states!  He spelled each of the United States correctly and THAT paper would bring all of his grades to A's, B's and C's!!!

Bestest news of all??  He is PROUD of himself.  HE did that!  {of course, if it weren't for us TORTURING him by taking his ENTIRE life away he probably would've been content just "skating" by in his grades...}

Moral of the story?  That lesson hurt.  Making our son understand that making good grades comes FIRST {before his social life and video games, that is} HURT.  Not being able to send him outside to play and run off the energy that about made me crazy HURT!  It DID hurt me more than it hurt him.  It did!

Tell me what parenting lesson has HURT the most in your household.  I bet we could all share some doozies!

instafriday

it's been quite some time since i last shared some of what we've been up to on instagram. {you can find me @jonahbonah} let's get caught up, shall we?


/1/ i have mixed emotions about the school year coming to an end...however, homework is one part of school i will never miss!


/2/ we bought a picnic table for the back patio. why did we not do this sooner??? mckinley loves to go outside and draw and color. and we've done some crafting out back on our new picnic table too!


/3/ this was taken on the eve of our eleventh wedding anniversary right after we finished *family movie night* with all of our precious children. only with God on our side could we have made it this far. {i love you, hubs!}


/4/ eleven years. so proud to be his wife. {i forgot my mascara at home...we stopped to buy some. i felt nekked without it.}


/5/ see that blue thing atop my mason jar? yep, that would be called a CUPPOW. it turns your mason jars into travel mugs. genius. my new favorite thing...you'll be hearing more about them from me soon. those kids in the background? they're just digging our garden. i can't wait to have a summer harvest!


/6/ dinner on back patio picnic table. best idea we've had in a long time!


/7/ grow, little garden, grow.


/8/ anniversary blue mason jars? yes, please! i may have already purchased 24 of them and feel the need to have more. {for the record, i'm giving three of them away today to the boys teachers for teacher appreciation.  more on that later...i found a SUPER cute printable i can't wait to share with you!}


/9/ smash booking. do you do it? i wouldn't call it scrapbooking. it's more of a whatever-will-fit-that-you-want-to-remember kind of book. well, that kinda sounds like scrapbooking, huh? whatever you want to call it...i went to michael's, bought me a smash book, and got started. the first page? our baby number five!


/10/ oh, you know, just me in another amazing creation from the printed palette. i can't get enough, y'all. blue mason jars and the printed palette. my favorite addictions.


/11/ i captioned this photo on instagram with *so many things i love in this picture. piles of laundry means a well-clothed family. handmade art on my walls. my love on his day off. it's a gloomy day outside, but my heart is full of sunshine.* so true!


/12/ daddy kisses. princess smiles.


/13/ do you take care of you? i know you take care of your husband and your kids and your house and your church family and your {fill in the blank}...but do you take care of YOU? do it. my love tank gets such a boost when hubs tells me to go get my hair done or a pedi or a mani. and when he says go i run out the door! i feel like a new gal when i walk out of that salon. i get a few hours to recharge my *mommy battery*. i truly believe we can take better care of others when we first take good care of ourselves. amen?

these last few weeks have such blessed weeks. i can't wait to see what God has in store for the next few!

do i follow you on instagram? let me know who you are and i surely will start!

Kids + The Printed Palette

Oh boy, you guys already know that I love The Printed Palette for myself. {if you don't know this about me you must not pay much attention to A} what I wear or B} what I post on social media.} When Alissa, the rock star creator of the uber cool brand, posted tees for kids on her Instagram feed I was smitten. Like, must.have.that.now. smitten.


{This shirt has coral letters but, I knew Jake would love it. He's not afraid to wear pink and purple.}


{This boy. His little eyes lit up when I told him that this baseball style raglan was for him.}



I can't wait to show you some of the other amazing kids tees {and adult tees} The Printed Palette has to offer! Until then, you can hop over to their site and use the code JBONAH10 to save 10% off of your purchase.

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I'd love for you to take a peek at my newest post on Blissfully Domestic, too.

It's wedding season so I've rounded up ten beautiful recipes for you make for the next bridal shower you host. Even if you don't have a bridal shower to host, this round-up has yummy recipes perfect for spring and summer.


{click here}

50th Annual Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival

This past weekend the kids and I ventured out to the Shrimp Festival in Fernandina Beach, FL. We waited until Sunday to go because McKinley had her first dance recital on Saturday {more on that later} and it had been raining for days and days prior. Sunday's forecast promised sunny skies. Yay!!!

It had been years since the last time I went to the Shrimp Fest...I was dying to get down there and people watch and antique window shop. The food, of course, was a deciding factor in our going. Who doesn't love some fresh, fried shrimp and hushpuppies?? Did someone say Fresh Squeezed Lemonade?? Funnel Cakes? Bring it on!! It can all be found at the Shrimp Fest!


{look at all of those hands...like vultures, I tell ya!}

The sights are beautiful at the Festival! There are, of course, shrimp boats.




{that's our Jonah up front there...growing up so fast!}


{my favorite shot of the day!}


{Jonah and Jett spotted a shark!!}

You are sure to see a pirate, or five, while enjoying your day!


{we found these fellas waiting by the restrooms. the kids thought it was so funny. pirates have to potty too!}




{be sure to catch the "How To Be A Pirate" show if you do take the kiddos. my littles thoroughly enjoyed every moment!}



What else is there to do other than eat, shop, take in the scenery and watch for pirates?? Make memories with the kiddos, of course! But, don't forget your wallet!!


{before we even got there McKinley was asking to have her face painted like a kitten. wish granted, baby girl!}
{{a little tip // see that ice cream in her hand? if you make your way all the way to the little Marina Shop on the water you will find ice cream treats for less than $2.00 each. that's a significant savings to what you'll pay the vendors inside the festival!}}


{pony rides!! McKinley's day was made right under this tent!}




{there was a tiny horse, that was no bigger than a goat, that you could feed!}


{out of nowhere this really HOT police officer comes over and started feeding the ponies with us!! my day was made!! #itwasHubs}


{Jett braved the rock-climbing wall.}


{and made it all the way to the top! proud momma moment!}



Lots of people bring their dogs to the festival too.

Meet Espy. McKinley fell in love with Espy and didn't want to leave his side.


Espy is a Bouvier Des Flandres, a real life *dog with a blog*! {you may only know that reference if you have children who watch the actual TV show, Dog With A Blog.}


Have you ever been to the Shrimp Festival in Fernandina Beach, FL?? What is your favorite memory of going?

The Printed Palette {my new addiction}

if you have seen me *in real life* in the last four weeks you've more often than not seen me wearing new duds from the printed palette.



i fell in love from afar on instagram a few months ago. it took me winning a $25 credit to any queen bee market vendor to finally hit checkout in my etsy cart. now, i ask myself, "what the heck took you so long?"

the printed palette has a variety of amazing tees, tanks, bags and scarves. i need one of each!

also, there's the ikat maxi dress. *insert holy comfy outfit that i'll be wearing all summer and into fall*



when i first saw the dress i was bummed it didn't come in maternity. but, judging by these photos, it doesn't need to be. it's fabulous {and flattering, ifidosaysomyself} on a pregnant gal and one who's not preggo!





you can see more of my the printed palette goodies here and here.






good news! you can use the code JBONAH10 in their etsy shop for 10% off of your order. get yourself an ikat maxi, an anchored raglan and an it's awesome time tee...or, check out the new stuff!!!

THIS will be my next purchase. can't.handle.the.cute.



will you let me know what you buy? i can't wait to see you in your new printed palette duds!

Mother's Day Nest Pendants {a tutorial}

last week i showed you all an easy-peesy tutorial on how to make a simple spring wreath over at blissfullydomestic.com.

this week i'm teaching you how to make mom a nest pendant that she's sure to love and cherish for years to come. i'd love for you to check it out.

{the tutorial is here}

what are some other tutorials/crafts you'd like a tutorial made for? give me some spring and summer ideas!

simple spring wreath {a tutorial}

head over to Blissfully Domestic to see the tutorial for this spring wreath i created. it's super easy!

i hope when you finish making one for yourself that you'll share pics with me.