Small Town Mrs.

Featured

And then she …

Decided it was time to go back to work.

After the last 5 years of running my home daycare, the time has come for me to unfortunately head back to work. As much as I would love to continue staying home with my two kids, it’s just not feasible at this time for my husband and I. The last year I have only had 1 daycare kid and as easy as it was, it wasn’t paying the bills. So finally after about a year of applying for jobs that I really didn’t want, the perfect one came along and everything fell into place and felt right {other than the thought of having to go back to work haha}.

Not going to lie as much as I am excited for this new adventure with this awesome job, I’m still struggling with the thought of leaving the kids but luckily, I was able to get them into a daycare that I know they will love after some adjusting. It will definitely be an adjustment for all of us but I’m most worried about my son. He has been home with me for almost 3 years now. I know he will be fine but the random things that don’t even matter make me pretty anxious. I know in the end it will all be alright. We will only have a 20 min car ride to and from that I’m sure all I will get to listen to is Baby Shark and The Wonkey Donkey. I am off at 4:30 so I will still be able to get home around 5 to make dinner and spend time with them before bed.

I was really hoping I could make it without a job through the summer and start this fall but like I said earlier everything fell into place and like it was meant to be so we went with it! The day I accepted the job and got them into the daycare I had wanted, I really struggled and cried a lot but now I am at a point of getting a little more excited and ready to start. I know it’s going to take some adjusting for all of us, even my husband but I know this is the best for us and now I will be able to provide more for my family without the stress.

So on that note, if you are wondering, I will be keeping Small Town Mrs up and running and instead of being a stay at home mom I will now be a working mom. Which is still okay, because all moms matter and we do what is best for our family because we are awesome like that. Now that I am actually going to have to get dressed and wear more than workout pants and t-shirts, I can’t wait to share more on my style. I got lucky and am able to wear jeans as long as my knees aren’t falling out if you know what I mean, haha so I am on the hunt for great work jeans! If you have any suggestions let me know!

The day I had my interview and got offered the job that afternoon!

I hope you still stick around and follow along on this new adventure for Small Town Mrs and our everyday life in South Dakota now as I work an 8-5 job. Thank you goes out to all of you that have stuck around! It means a lot especially since I know I haven’t been the greatest at posts.

If you have any good tips and tricks on making this transition go smoothly I am open for anything and if you can send any positive thoughts and prayers they would greatly be appreciated with such a big transition.

Much love,

Ashley

Featured

Easter Basket Ideas

How’s everyone’s Wednesday going?! Well, here in South Dakota we woke up to snow once again covering everything and most roads are no travel advised. Yuck! I’m glad we enjoyed the couple nice days we had while they lasted. The only good thing about this snow is … it won’t stay long it is almost the middle of April so warm weather is just around the corner!

Other than the month of July {birthday month!!} and probably December {Christmas} I think April is one of my favorites! It’s Easter time and Spring is usually here! After months of cold and snow, April is a breath of fresh air. This week on Instagram I have been sharing everything Easter with all of you and I wanted to share the kid’s Easter baskets with you today! Since I haven’t shared with you before here’s a look back on what I previously did for Briggs!

Now for this year I got to add another basket filled with all the girly stuff! I knew I needed the same basket and liner for Lennon as I did with Briggs but unfortunately Pottery Barn didn’t make the Sabrina basket collapsible like his but we went with it. There’s good things and bad things about it not being collapsible but I haven’t decided which one I like better quite yet. The “stationary” handle looks so a lot better and it stays up but you do need the space to store it when you aren’t using it.

Briggs’s 2019 Easter Basket

Basket Pottery Barn Natural Sabrina in small
Plaid Liner: Pottery Barn
Cuddle + Kind Noah
Little Joe Chickapig Book Target
Breakfast Pajamas Little Sleepies – these are so soft I can’t wait to buy more.
If you have followed me for a little bit you will know I love matching brother and sister items and Lennon has the exact pair just in pink! I can’t wait for them to wear them!

Not Pictured for his basket is a new subscription to his Tadpole Crate from Kiwi Co! He has loved getting his project box once a month in the mail! If you are looking for a learning experience for your children instead of toys, I highly recommend checking out Kiwi Crates by Kiwi Co they have different boxes for every age, from babies all the way up to teenagers and adults. They send you everything you need in the box so no extra craft items laying around and it follows the STEM learning method. If you don’t know what that is it’s based on the idea of educating students in four specific disciplines — Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics in an applied approach. You can
USE this —> link <— to get $10 off your first box!

Lennon’s 1st Easter 2019

This basket was so fun for me to put together. I’m so happy to have had a baby girl but don’t get me wrong I love my son just as much but there’s only so much sports and tractors I can handle.
Basket Pottery Barn White Sabrina in small.
Liner Pottery Barn Long Eared Fur Bunny in Pink
the pink is no longer available but I have linked the Taupe color!
Cuddle + Kind Mia in confetti
Pink Breakfast pajamas Little Sleepies
* I did get the romper/sleeper for Lennon and the 2 piece for Briggs.
Pink Fleece Booties Zutano
Bows Little Ella Rae
*** Use Code ELLARAEFRIENDS for 15% off! ***
Ryan and Rose Cutie Clips and Cutie Tags
Lennon will also be getting the Cutie Tensil in Punch!

** I love the Cutie Tensils they are so awesome! If you haven’t heard of them its a spoon on one side and a fork/grabber on the other for when they are first learning how to use utensils!

I chose to get the kids one bigger gift and I knew I wanted it to be a Cuddle + Kind doll. For every doll sold they give 10 meals to kids in need. I love buying from companies that give back. I was originally just planning on getting Lennon one but I decided to get a matching one for Briggs … see there I go matching again … but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to buy the limited release of Noah to match Mia and get 2 free prints and feed 30 children in the mean time!

I do plan on adding a couple treats to their baskets and maybe some Play Doh or chalk for Briggs but I try to keep their baskets simple with stuff they will use for Spring/Summer or items they need and not so much toys.

Do you like to put your children’s baskets together or do you buy the ones already put together at the store?

Thanks for following along and I hope you find some Easter ideas for your little ones if you are still looking.
Much love,

Ashley

What to do with all those Christmas Cards??

Last week on Instagram I started a “What do you do Wednesdays” to just see other’s ideas on some random things that I can’t be the only one wondering about. My first one was what do you do with the Christmas cards you receive?

I love to making and sending out our yearly Christmas card to our family and close friends and love receiving them even more! Seeing all the cute pictures, ahhh I just LOVE IT!

I failed this year in displaying them they just sat like this and did not give them. So, I have two goals find something to display them on and figure out something to do with them after!

So I went to Pinterest to see what ideas there was there.

Goal #1 How to Display

Check out this idea from Haeley at Design Improvised! How cute is that?!

or this idea from The Painted Parsonage

If you aren’t as creative you could go this route by buying a remade one.

Or you can just buy a really cute crate or of course make one yourself if you are handy like

Goal #2 Storing

I found these ways on storing them! Check out this neat idea from Heidi at Honeybear Lane.

So this idea from I Heart Naptime is great if you have kids, to put them in a binder with page protectors so the kids can easily look back and not destroy it like everything else.

There are so many different options to chose from! I probably just made myself even more indecisive on what to do with all my cards! Hope I helped you!

Much Love,
Ashley

2019 a New Year… with New Goals

First post of 2019 with you guys and what better way to start off 2019 is with my goals for the year! If you are new around here, welcome!! First off, if you are reading this THANK YOU!! Thank you to my followers, thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read this! I started Small Town Mrs as just a way figure out this life as I became a wife and now a mother living in a small town. Things are changing a little on what I want this to be about but it will still stick to being real.

I thought maybe if I share these with all of you, you would keep me in check, help me out and be along with me as I take myself and Small Town Mrs to new levels!

My personal goals for 2019

BE PRESENT with my family!!! The last couple months I’ve realized how fast time is going and how fast my kids are growing up. I also don’t want them to see me constantly on my phone and thats hard trying to grow this little blog so I am going to spend less time scrolling & watching and being more productive with my time on social media.
DATE MY HUSBAND! Not going to lie between 2 kids it’s been a struggle. As much as my children needs attention I forget he needs it to. So I am trying to commit to AT LEAST 1 date night/day just us once a month!
Make “ME” time a priority whether that means taking a half hour to an hour each day to workout or just do my own thing in town by myself, strolling around Target probably. As much as I LOVE being home with my kids all day everyday, it really wears on a mom on top of everything else we have to do. I want to take time for personal development so I can be the best mom and wife to my family. Even if that also means getting up earlier to have that quiet and me time!
BE HAPPY and LIVE HAPPY! I know I’m not the only one looking at everyone’s else’s lives and comparing them and wanting what they have. They got nothing on me and my family anymore! I’m tired of trying to fit into other people’s lives and making other people happy when it just stresses me out and my anxiety starts kicking in and making me question everything.
SIMPLIFY – Quit spending and make our life more meaningful! Adding another little human, and everything that comes with that new human our small home got even smaller and the messy brings out my anxiety and stress. Goodbye things that don’t give me JOY!!! I will be watching the Marie Kondo series on Netflix 😉
Lastly, I want to BE IN THE PHOTOS. I want to quit picking everything apart about myself in a photo I take. I don’t want to look back in a couple years and regret that I have NO photos of the kids and I except for the one time a year we get their pictures done professionally. I want to be in those memories with them not on the sideline.

Now, who’s gonna help me stick to my personal goals? Thanks for reading!!!

I do have different goals strictly for Small Town Mrs. but I’m not quite ready to share those until I figure out a few more details and where I want it to for surely go without taking you guys along on a disaster.

Much love,
Ashley

Gap/Old Navy Friends & Family Sale

If any of you were like me, and love Gap & Old Navy you probably hit up the Friends & Family event last week! it was 40% off with an extra 10% if you had their card.

My main mission was to find pajamas for the kids & Thanksgiving outfits. I nailed both of those. Here is everything I found!

To add right now for cardholders you can access the Pre-Black Friday deals of 50% off with code CARDBF and add another 10% off with the code PLUS10 so thats 60% off the items right now if you are a card holder! For Old Navy’s code is EARLY. One thing I love about Old Navy/Gap is that you can use

High-Rise 7/8-Length Moto Compression Leggings

Their Thanksgiving outfits!

We will now be ready for GAME DAY!!!! Go Hawks!! Lennon already had Briggs’s hand me downs of all his game shirts!

This does come in other teams too just incase you don't like the Iowa Hawkeyes ;) — NCAA Crew Neck Toddler Tee

Here’s the pajamas I found all at Gap Factory. They do have a lot on sale right now with FREE shipping! Gap Pajamas are probably one of my favorites for kids. They are cute, fit well and last!

Right now these Arch Logo PJ’s are selling for $9.99!!!

Printed footed One-Piece – the ones I got were already sold out but these are identical & a great price too!!

I hope you enjoyed my stories of these and find this helpful! Hopefully next time I can do an actual try on for you. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving week and if you enjoy Black Friday shopping at stores like I do Good Luck!!!

Much love,

Ashley

My Baby Gift Guide

Here are my top gifts for babies 1st Christmas this Holiday Season!

Cuddle + Kind
If you haven’t already heard about this company, they are seriously awesome! They make hand knit dolls and inspirational prints. For every doll sold they give 10 meals to help feed children and for every print its 5 meals! Right now they even have a deal for every 2 dolls purchased you get FREE shipping and 2 FREE prints and to top it off you feed 30 children! The dolls come in 20″ and 13″ and the prints come in 10″x 10″. This is on my list for Lennon this Christmas!

Look at how cute they are! Check out more of them here!

Wonder Bibs, Wonder Plates and Teething Ring by Bella Tunno
If anyone had babies this summer these would be perfect gifts for them for Christmas, because most are going to start foods or starting to chew on everything! They have some of the cutest/funniest sayings mainly for the parents enjoyment. We actually got each of these as a gift for Lennon and she loves her teether! It’s so easy for her to hold and chew on. We have yet to use the bib and plate as she is not on food yet but I can’t wait! The best part of these, that I haven’t even mentioned yet is that you buy one product they give one meal! If you haven’t guessed I’m all about making my dollar go a little extra this Christmas!

Ryan And Rose Cutie Clips & Cutie Teether Rattles

I recently just found Ryan and Rose and have become obsessed! If you know me in person I like to have everything match so Lennon may have gotten a few different Cutie Clips to go with different outfits … ssshhh don’t tell Dalton! They recently even did a collab with our favorite bib maker Billy Bibs!
(Pictures courtesy of Ryan And Rose)
Cutie Clips

Cutie Teether Rattle

Cutie PATS

Personalized Gifts!

Nothing is more special than baby’s 1st Christmas Ornaments. Whether you get them from Hallmark like this hand print or the small shops you can find the cutest unique ones!

These two adorable ornaments are from my friend, Shauna over at Little Monster Creations! She does the cutest name signs for babies too! Like the one she did for my two kids! She did ours in black and white but does amazing color ones too to match any room! Unfortunately, the cutoff for Christmas delivery has passed BUT she is still taking orders! (Pictures courtesy of Little Monster Creations)
UPDATE: she is still taking orders for these ornaments until she runs out! So go quick and grab one or a couple!

I do have another local friend who makes adorable name signs too. Her and her husband make amazing wood designs! They go by R Duo Designs and are from Faulkton, SD. They have an Etsy store! These are their baby signs, I have seen these in person and they are amazing! She does such great work and really puts love into these.
(Pictures courtesy of R Duo Designs. )

And we have come to the end of my Christmas Gift Guide for babies! I hope you like my list and decide the little ones in your life need some of these!

If you have any other awesome suggestions drop them below and let me know! I love finding new shops to buy!

Much Love 💋

Ashley

SaveSave

Operation … repaint the hallway

After the gutting of our main floor.

Looking into the spare bedroom

Cleaned up & ready for trim.

This is now the 2nd time I’ve painted the hallway. The above pictures are from when we gutted the entire main floor down to the studs after we bought the house almost 7 years ago. When I picked out paint colors the 1st time the style was darker colors and lots of different colors. That dark brown you see in the last picture was the main color for all the walls in the house and if it wasn’t that brown it was a different crazy color. See that bright aqua in the spare bedroom, yep, what was I thinking?! But I guess at the time that was in. I did have a chevron comforter that matched it perfectly, so that’s probably why I chose it in the first place. Fast forward to 2018 after Chip and Joanna Gaines and their amazing show, Fixer Upper, ruled everyone and everything light and bright happened! You guys it looks so much bigger now! I absolutely love it. Hope you do too!

Before

Don’t mind the messy spare bedroom…

I saw this yellow in a friend’s bedroom during our renovation and thought I just had to have it too! In a small hallway to be precise.

During Operation repaint hallway….

Theres that messy spare bedroom again.

I should’ve probaby shut that bathroom curtain

Doesn’t that look so much better?! I love it! I added some final touches and voila!! I do need to update some pictures to add Miss Lennon to the wall, I suppose.

Final Touches!

For the gallery wall I used a lot of items I had in other areas of my house so a lot of them are stuff I bought awhile ago but I did throw in a few new pieces and linked the ones I could find.

Paint: Pittsburgh Dusky Dawn
Cresbard Sign: 163rd St Desgin Co.
Smaller Picture Frames: Target
Friendship Sign: Expressions ‘Nmore
Grey Open Frame: Found at a craft fair couple years ago.
Metal K: Hobby Lobby
White Picture Frame: Hobby Lobby
Home sign: Celebrating Homes – if anyone remembers them, they used to sell the Bean Pots. I told you some of the stuff is pretty old.

Hope you enjoyed!

4 Years … and a lifetime to go!

Today we are celebrating our anniversary!! We are celebrating 4 years of marriage today! We spent our special day celebrating with our family and friends all day long and into the next day! It was one of the best days of my life along with the days our children were born.

To add to the love going on today it is also my in-law’s anniversary too! Happy 31 {update oops 32} years to you guys! We love you Papa Monte & Mum Mum Sue {according to Briggs} When we picked the day, I knew at that time I wanted a fall wedding with the gorgeous colors and we wanted it to be a special day that meant something more than just our wedding so Oct. 4 2014 it was, after we asked them if it was okay of course!

If any one reading this is engaged take my word for it enjoy the day it goes so fast. I know everyone says that and it’s really true. What I do remember from that day it was Gypsy Days so it was a hassle to get to the church and had to take many side streets to get there! Ohhh my dress to this day I am still in love with it, it’s probably a good thing it doesn’t fit anymore and that it’s packaged away to preserve it. Maybe one day I will want to do something special with it. My colors were blush, ivory and grey. My bridesmaids picked out different dresses all in the blush color. The guys wore charcoal grey tuxes. I found the cutest flower girl dress on Etsy and bought the cutest 2T tux for my nephew. The flowers were perfect, the decorations were perfect everything that I was so stressed about was perfect. If you can, I highly suggest hiring a decorator! We hired Simply Designs out of Huron and they did all the work so I didn’t have to stress about trying to decorate in the middle of the night since there was a wedding the day before. The only thing that went wrong that day and my amazing personal attendants took care of it before I even knew was our party bus didn’t show up at the right time so we had to wait for them. There fault not ours, they went to the wrong church. We partied from the time we got on the bus until we got shut down by the venue.

Enjoy this throwback Thursday collage of our day 4 years ago! To everyone that attended our wedding THANK YOU it wouldn’t have been the day it was without you there. If you weren’t there hopefully you can enjoy these pictures and feel like you were there celebrating too!

Headpiece: Brass Lotus

The next day we spent the day in the grain cart, nothing like starting your life as a farmer’s wife right then and there!

Happy Anniversary Dalton. Love you!

Much Love 💋,

Ashley

2016 … has come and almost gone!

Where did 2016 go?! Hi everyone, wow it has been way too long since I last posted. Please forgive me that it has been too long. I have been spending time offline and in the moment with my family and friends as much as I can. Even though Facebook and Instagram still seem to get me a lot of time but what can ya do! So let’s catch up now and hopefully will have more separate posts of each great thing that happened this year.

Well November 2015 we found out we were pregnant due in July! In the beginning of December we went to the Dominican Republic for a week with our group of friends and it was a lot of fun even though all I wanted to do was lay by the pool and have fruity frozen alcoholic drinks but couldn’t. Oh well! We spent Christmas time with all of our family. 2016 started and we finally got to tell our family the great news that we were adding a family member! In February I went on a first girls trip with friends to the cities (Minneapolis, MN) while the guys went snowmobiling in the mountains which they do every year. Us wom {as the men call us} have decided it will now be a yearly thing just like their trips!
Spring flew by with planting and spraying and all of a sudden we were 39 weeks along and it was time for baby! I delivered a healthy baby boy! {more about him later}

I took off 2 months to spend and get to know him and now daycare is back in full swing and it has definitely been an adjustment but we are getting things figured out with this new mom status of mine! This year has had its up and had its down but I wouldn’t change it for the world!

As we are entering the holiday season, I cant be more excited to finally have a little one to enjoy my favorite time of year! In this crazy world at the moment I hope everyone gets to slow down, even for a day, take a breath and spend time with their family and friends or whoever is important to them and remember there is always something to be thankful for.

Much love,

❤️Ashley

Photo:Pinterest

The Remodel …. The Finished Project!

The kitchen. It sure doesn’t look like this today!

When we first moved in this was my favorite spot of the house and really the only thing decorated!

Closet … At first they only wanted to do one row of hanging clothes and I said that would not work! My husband and I both have more clothes then we need. P.S. This is now overflowing with clothes.

Finally!!!! We made it through a whole house remodel! We started the beginning of June and ended at the end of August! It felt like it went really quick! So here is the finished project!