North Carolina State University's Free Expression Tunnel

Mini Style | She Loves Band Tees

I should probably just change this to Teen Style the week's I feature Mackenzie.

One thing for sure, my girl is an old soul. Some of her favorite celebrities are men that could easily be her Dad, including Johnny Depp and Robert Downy Jr. She has liked Johnny Depp since she was in 2nd grade. On the first day of school that year she wrote that she was going to marry him. WHAAAAT?

She also loves old music such as The Ramones, Aerosmith, Guns and Roses, David Bowie, Nirvana, and Alice Cooper. Of course she does love other stuff too, her favorite being the band FUN. but her favorite era is probably the 90's. And her favorite way to express it is in all these shirts she gets. I can't even tell you how many she has, but this is her latest one.

Flower crown: gifted

Gorillaz Shirt: Flashback (local store), $20

Skirt: gifted
Glasses: Firmoo

Ear gauge, nose ring, necklaces, rings, and bracelets: random stores or handmade by Mackenzie. 

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Mini Style | Fish Out of Water

Like I've said before, Mackenzie is hardly "mini", but I enjoy sharing her style as well every now and then. She definitely has her own unique style, but I kid you not, she gets complimented everywhere we go. And I have to say, she does have an awesome personality to go along with it all. 

Hat - American Eagle, $15

Jaws Shirt - Kohl's, $10

Jeans - Kohl's, $22

Shoes - Wet Seal, $15

FUN. Necklace - Handmade by Mackenzie

The Walking Dead Necklace - Walmart, $2

Hair - Bleached tips by me, $13 (for bleach and developer)

This is definitely not one of my favorite outfits of her's but I just go with it. To let you in on a little secret, we actually bought that shirt for her brother, but she wears it more. At least we can get some really good use out of it, right? And that hat! Oh my, she wears that thing all the time now! She has a thousand hats, and even purchased another one at the same time as this one, but I don't think I have seen her wear the other one.

                    

We Went Geocaching

We have been going Geocaching with our children for quite a few years now. Not only is a fun activity for us to do as a family, it's totally free! I wrote about one of our first Geocaching adventures back in 2010, and we have been doing it off and on since, usually during the warmer months. And, since it was an unusually nice and warm weekend, we decided to go out and hunt for a few of them.

If you have never been Geocaching, I seriously recommend checking out the website, downloading the app, and getting yourself out there with your family and getting involved. Being a big family, we can't always afford the most lavish things in life, but thankfully, I am such a minimalist when it comes to having "stuff" and believe the best things in life can't be bought. Some of the best times we have had as a family have been doing things that cost us absolutely nothing, except maybe the gas to get us there. 

What are some free or inexpensive things that you enjoy doing with your family?

                    

Mini Style | Oh Hey, It's Kenzie!

Last week, I talked about letting my children have their own unique style. I really only have a couple of rules when it comes to clothes, and those are, nothing revealing and nothing that degrades them in any way (example: a shirt that says something like "talk into my microphones" across the breasts.) Luckily, nothing like either of those have ever been an issue, but there was a time when Mackenzie used to love to wear socks with tights with sandals and jean skirts that drove me crazy. The girl is a toothpick, so it wasn't her best look. But I have always chosen to pick my battles, and in doing so, I have really been able to see each of  my kids' personalities shine.

Although I don't always love what Mackenzie wears, there's not a place we go that she isn't stopped by someone who compliments her on her hair or her style. So, I know it's nothing more than the mom side of me who has outgrown some of those young people stores (but, hey, I did let her pierce her nose last year, so that should win me some kind of cool mom award, right?).

Mackenzie has definitely grown into a beautiful young lady, and although she's hardly "mini" anymore, I like to think that allowing her to make her own choices in so many areas, including her sense of style, has made her the confident, creative, trend setter (as opposed to a follower), that she is today. Girl knows just what she wants!

Hat - American Eagle, $15

Floral Shirt - PacSun, $20

Tank Top (under top shirt) - Walmart, $3

Jeans - Thrifted, $7

Shoes (unpictured) - Toms, $50

FUN. Necklace - Handmade by Mackenzie

The Walking Dead Necklace - Walmart, $2

Hair - Bleached tips by me, $13 (for bleach and developer)

On a side note: Look at that snow! We almost always have the most pathetic snow falls, which result in the shutting down of EV-ER-Y-THING... including school! So, today is a snow day for us! Did I mention that the kids were already out last Friday, Monday (MLK holiday), and Tuesday too? Yep, after already being out for 2 weeks, less than a month ago, for Christmas! That's how we roll here in NC!

 

                    

Christmas Unwrapped at Crossroads Fellowship

The church our family attends had its huge Christmas event this past Wednesday. From the moment I found out about this wonderful family event, I knew I wanted to go. I text Amanda immediately to invite her and her family, and we made plans to attend together.

I can still hardly believe this was a 100% free event because of all it had to offer and the number of people who attend (close to 10,000 people). Our church truly is a church that loves to give back to the community. The kids had a blast and it was a wonderful opportunity for Amanda and I to spend some BFF time together.

Sometimes you have to throw all of your notions about great photos out the window and just enjoy the moment. These photos are horrible quality but I still love them. I didn't want this to turn into one of those times where the perfect photo was constantly on my mind. The lighting in the church was dim and my Canon doesn't have an on board flash, so I relied on auto for most of my pictures so I wouldn't have to be fiddling with manual settings all night.

In Candyland, the kids got to play games, received a bag of candy, and got their face painted. With as many people that were there, lines were surprisingly quick to get through. They even had fun playing with the nativity puppets. Check out Elijah sword fighting up there with the wise men staffs. Typical boy!

 

No surprise that one of my favorite little stops was at the Christmas Jazz Cafe where I stuffed my face full of cookies, brownies, cakes, and other treats. There were little red velvet cakes... enough said! And you can only imagine the sugar rush all of our little ones had after that! At one point I think they were all wrestling on the floor! Ha!

 

Gracie, Elijah, Phoenix, and Tyler made their own Christmas ornaments and got to meet The Grinch too, but another one of my favorite areas was the Dickens Village.  Everything was so well decorated and the Christmas trees were beautiful! There was so much more for us to see and do but we just didn't have enough time to squeeze it all in.

Lastly before we left, we had to take a few photos and made a stop at the beautiful Nativity scene outside. Sadly, Jason wasn't able to go with us because he is currently on active duty, but I am already looking forward to this event next year, and having him go with us. 

Head over to We Don't Give a Hoot to see more photos from the Christmas Unwrapped event that we attended!