The Summer Challenge Week 2 + Linkup + Giveaway!

Happy Hump Day, pretties! Today I'm recapping the first full week of Summer Challenge outfits! Hope you're ready for some serious summer outfit inspiration....check out all of my blogger bestie's outfits linked below, too! Feel free to link up your favorite outfits, too--the more the merrier!! Also, you only have 2 more days to enter to win the $200 gift card to Gap Brands...enter if you haven't already!!

OK-now for this week's outfits~

Outfit Formula 4: Kimono + Tank + Denim Shorts
I'm not giving up finding a kimono!! Still looking because I think the trend is darling--i just can't find one that looks right on me. In the meantime, I pulled this long cardigan/shrug thing out of my closet. I usually only wear it in the fall/spring, but now I know I can wear it with shorts!! Yay!

Cardigan/Shrug: Target (similar)
Shorts: J. Crew Factory (similar)
Coral Tee: Nordstrom/Stem (exact, in Red Fiesta)
Sandals: Target (exact)

Outfit Formula 5: Lace Top + Bright Shorts + Colorful Necklace
I LOVE this outfit. It's light, bright and super easy!

White Eyelet Top: Loft Outlet (similar, similar)
Bright Shorts: J. Crew (similar, similar)
Necklace: Charming Charlie (similar, similar)
Sandals: Target (exact)

Outfit Formula 6: Chambray Shirt + White Shorts + Sneakers
I chose to wear my white sandals instead of sneakers because I decided I really need to invest in a bright pair of Converse! I'm thinking pink, red or teal...any other suggestions??

Part of this Challenge is also trying new things with your hair. Soooo....I watched like 3,000 bun/top knot/messy bun tutorials! It looked sooo easy but once I had to do it on myself it was a mess!! This was my first attempt--I'll keep trying!!!

Chambray/Blue Shirt: HM (these are hard to find!! option, option)
White Shorts: J. Crew Factory (similar)
Sandals: Target (exact)

Outfit Formula 7: Maxi/Summer Dress + Denim Vest + Sandals
I feel like I have been wearing my long printed maxi dress to death, so I opted for this short little jersey dress I found on the Target clearance rack for $8! It think it works!

Dress: Target (similar, similar)
Denim Vest: DIY'ed (similar, similar)
Sandals: Target (exact)

Outfit Formula 8: Palazzo/Track/Printed/Soft Pants + Flowy Tank
Whatever they are called--I hopped on the Palazzo/Track/Soft pants trend a few months ago and I've never looked back. I LOVE them--totally feels like PJs, yet looks pulled together and not super frumpy. Nothing is more comfy than this outfit!!! You have to shop and be patient for the ones you like, but once you find them, you'll love them!

Track Pants: Coscto (similar, similar)
Tank: Loft (similar)
Sparkly Sandals: Target (exact)
Necklace: Nordstrom/Kendra Scott (exact)

Outfit Formula 9: Graphic Tee + Denim Shorts + Sneakers
This is one of the outfits I could just live in all summer!!! Like I said, though, I need to invest in some super fun colored Chucks!

Graphic Tee: Forever 21 (exact one is sold out i think--option, option)
Shorts: J. Crew Factory (similar)
Sneakers: Nordstrom/Converse (exact)

As a girl of comfort, I can attest that every one of these outfits was super comfy and functional for my everyday, running around mom-life! Next week I'll have 6-7 more outfits for ya!

And don't forget, next WEDNESDAY, July 1st Create28 ~ Lovely Summer Looks starts!! Read all about it HERE and join us!!!

Don't forget to follow A Little Bit of Cheer on Facebook HERE

I'm on Instagram now! Yippeee! Follow me HERE

Follow any of my boards on Pinterest HERE 

Follow me on Bloglovin' HERE 

Puppies & Pretties // Daily Style Finds

Shoes to Shiraz // A Lovely Little Wardrobe // Making the Most of Every Day

Two Teens and Their Mama // Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After

A Little Bit of Cheer // Nick + Nik // Foxy's Domestic Side // The Mishaps and Mayhem of a Solitary Life // Quilty JoyJoy

Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy // Get Your Pretty On

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Shoes to Shiraz | R Squared | Two Teens and Their Mama | 

Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy | A Lovely Little Wardrobe | 

Mishaps and Mayhem of Solitary Life | Puppies and Pretties | Daily Style Finds | 

Making the Most of Everyday | She Thought She Could | Foxy's Domestic Side | 

Quilty Joy Joy |  Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After |

A Little Bit of Cheer | Nick and Nik

An InLinkz Link-up

The Summer Challenge!!

Girls! It's time!!!! Early bird registration for the Summer Style Challenge with Get Your Pretty On, opens TODAY (Friday)!!
If you are new to this blog, I have been participating in these style challenges for nearly a year and it's been such an awesome experience! I recapped all of my outfits from the Spring Challenge here:

Spring Challenge Recap ~ Week 1
Spring Challenge Recap ~ Week 2
Spring Challenge Recap ~ Week 3
Spring Challenge Recap ~ Wrap Up

In a nutshell, the Challenge provides you with a shopping list, plus 21 days of outfit "formulas"...totally takes the guesswork out of what to wear everyday! Read all about the Challenges HERE.

Then click HERE and sign up on Friday because prices go up on May 28th!

Here are my favorite outfits from the Spring Challenge ~

I'll remind you again before registration closes, but grab some friends and sign up HERE!! I promise, it's so much fun!

Don't forget to follow A Little Bit of Cheer on Facebook HERE

I'm on Instagram now! Yippeee! Follow me HERE

Follow any of my boards on Pinterest HERE 

Follow me on Bloglovin' HERE 

Seven on Sunday: The Final Summer Challenge :(

Just like I knew it would, summer went by soooo quickly! I have to admit, though that everyone (myself) included is excited to get back to school and start a routine again...as crazy as it gets sometimes!

I started the Summer Challenge 10 weeks ago with the hopes that we would make the very most of each and every day of our precious summer. And frankly, so **I**, personally would make an effort to enjoy each and every day with my precious little ones who are growing up too quickly. Looking back at all the pictures, I think we did an awesome job at making the most of our 10 weeks. We hiked, we baked, we camped, we scootered, we swam, we ate Popsicles, we danced, we sang, we got Slurpees, we hung out with old friends, we made new friends, we rode trains, we went to the fair, we shed a few tears leaving my dad's old house, we played with cousins, we ran through vineyards, we witnessed a beautiful wedding. Most of all we laughed...a lot. Yep, it was a wonderful and exhausting summer!

Here are the seven photos from our last Summer Challenge week. Next week, it will be back to the grind and back to our regular Seven of Sunday, which is just s snapshot of our week in pictures. Cuz we'll be too busy for any challenges!!! :)

Day 1: Sunday-- Beautiful day for a family pool day! It's rare that Daddy comes with us! The weather was perfect but when we arrived at the pool, we were the only ones there! Score!!!

 

Day 2: Monday--What a lazy, lazy day. I swear, no one wanted to do anything!!! We kinda just hung out all day, then around 3:30 decided to take a walk to get out of the house. I think this is what they mean by the dog days of summer. Sarah with her bike helmet on :) She wanted to hold my hand while we walked which was very rare for her!

Day 3: Tuesday--We couldn't waste any more days being lazy so we packed up and went to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The place is so cool and I am amazed at everything every time I go. I think this jellyfish "display" is my favorite thing. We also surprised Scott at his office afterwards! :)

Day 4: Wednesday--It was off to Costco to stock up on some school lunch items. As you know, I'm new to making lunch for the kids to take to school! I let Brooke and Will choose a few things they wanted for their lunch. They chose Danimals, Nutri Grain Bars, Fruit Cups and Sun Chips!

Day 5: Thursday--At our house Pizza Night is ALWAYS Friday!! However, since I had to work all day today I changed it up and had pizza night THURSDAY! Crazy! LOL! They loved it, clearly.

Day 6: Friday--We went to Fenton's for the best french fries, crab salad and ice cream!! Sooooo yummy--i don't think there was a crumb of food left.

Day 7: Saturday--Crazy day! We left the house at 7am for an 7:30 soccer game (Brookey did AWESOME!). Then it was immediately off to "Glamping" in Napa! As we now know, that ended up on a **shaky** note!! Har, har :) Other than the earthquake, it was great fun. We love staying in a Yurt (which is basically like a round cabin). Three kids and a Yurt:

Well, that wraps up the Rooney Summer Challenge of 2014! What a fun summer!!! See ya back here Wednesday for Recipe Wednesday for the best, easiest recipe ever created. And of course, regular Seven on Sunday next Sunday!!

XO ~ Casey

Seven on Sunday: Summer Challenge Week 9!

Well, we're nearing the END of summer. The kiddos go back to school Monday, August 25th so we are trying to make the most of each day! I think we've done well with our Summer Challenge! Remember, the Summer Challenge was to try to do something fun, together as a family each day. I think we've succeeded almost every day with a small handful of exceptions (this week being one of them!).

Last week, the wedding excitement was over, but we still had the pleasure of my brother in law and his family staying with us for a few extra days. We tried to make the most of it! The rest of the week we were busy getting ready for school to start!

Day 1: Sunday--Today we all went to a special Mass in the park called Mass on the Grass. Then the boys went to Berkeley to hang out. That evening we cooked Vietnamese wraps on the little indoor grill. This is kind of a tradition when we get together with Scott's brother's family. Sooo much fun! Look at my white boys with their Vietnamese food! :)

Day 2: Monday--Scott took the day off on Monday and it was a gorgeous day to head up to Sonoma. The beautiful view from from Domaine Carneros. Why is Will holding on for dear life??!!

Day 3: Tuesday--Tuesday was a sad, sad day :( Everyone flew home to Indiana, Scott went back to work and it was just me and the kids home all alone. We decided to get out of the house and go school and soccer-shoe shopping. Ugh..17 stores later, we ended up with 8 pairs of shoes (lots of Buy 1, Get 1 for 50% off deals!) :) On a nicer note, here is Sarah spending a little quality time with Baby Emily before she left.

Day 4: Wednesday--School supply shopping. Ugh. Need I say more? I decided next year I am going to take each of the kids individually so they can actually ENJOY the experience. Today WAS NOT enjoyable!!

Day 5: Thursday--I honestly cannot remember what we did on Thursday and there are no pics on my camera to document it. I do know it involved lots of laundry, cleaning and buying Brookey a new school uniform. But nothing "Summer Challenge" worthy!!! #epicfail :)

Day 6: Friday--Friday was a beautiful day for a little shopping and the park...the park being their reward for me dragging them shopping. Let's just say a Nordie's dressing room was involved again :)

Day 7: Saturday--Even though Brooke did league soccer last year, and Buddy has been doing soccer "classes" since he was 3, I think I elevated to official Soccer Mom status with both of the kiddos in the league this year!! It's gonna be CRAZY! Today was opening day so we spent the morning watching the kids' parade, hanging out at the park and taking team photos. Here's my Power Puff and my Rockin' Ranger (can you guess who is who??!) :)

One more week of the Summer Challenge left and I intend the make the most of it!! Cheers to a great week!!

XO ~ Casey

Seven on Sunday: Summer Challenge Week 4

I can't believe we are 4 weeks into summer already! The weeks are just flying by! It's been a fun summer so far with much more to come!! We did well with our Summer Challenge this week!

Day 1: Sunday--Today we said goodbye to my dad's house in Fresno--the house where we moved when I was in middle school. Lots of awesome memories in that house but I'll be glad to know my dad has a place that's easier for him to take care of. The kids will miss the pool!!! :(

Day 2: Monday--Today we made a chocolate chip bundt cake. Sooooo yummy! Recipe coming soon :) I thought it was so cute how Will was sharing spoon-licking duties with Sarah. And yes she's wearing a big hair bow and no pants...because that's how we roll in the summer here :)

 

Day 3: Tuesday--We went to Michael's to pick a "craft" for the kids to do. They picked giant coloring posters!

 Day 4: Wednesday--One of the places the kids wanted to go this summer was the Lindsay Wildlife Museum. They LOVED LOVED LOVED it!!! We also had a picnic in the park. Such a fun day!

Day 5: Thursday--Riding bikes and scooters to the little sand park down the street. At 2 years old, Sarah is already a professional scooter rider!

Day 6: Friday--Free Slurpees at 7-11 on 7/11...enough said :)

Day 7: Saturday--My bestie of 30+ years came to visit with her beautiful family. We all had sooooo much fun! The kiddos had a blast playing together and got along so well. Here are our daughters....I love this pic. It's just sheer JOY. Friendship at it's finest :)

 30 year besties!

 

Seven on Sunday: Summer Challenge Week 2

What a week!!!!! This week was really busy with "planned" activities. Brooke and Will had VBS at our church every morning this week and right after that, Will had swimming lessons all week. Not to mention tennis, football practice, an ice cream social, dentist appointments for all 3 kids and I met up with an old friend in Calistoga on Thursday. Did all of these "planned" activities stop us from doing things together from our Summer Challenge List? Uh...maybe!#whatwasithinking

Day 1: Sunday--Family shopping day at Costco...always a pleasure! HA! Yes, all three of them insist on sitting in the cart. You practically need a forklift to move the thing!

Day 2: Monday--While Brooke and Buddy were at VBS, Sarah and I got new Play Doh. You'd think it was Christmas when I told them! They spent at least an hour making all sort of different creations!

3

Day 3: Tuesday--Brownie making was on the agenda for today!

Day 4: Wednesday--By Wednesday, I was sooooo tired!!! So I thought tonight would be the perfect movie night!! Popcorn, pillows, The Lego Movie....well, Sarah went to bed at 5:30, Brookey wandered off after 30 minutes into the movie, I passed out cold after 35 minutes and Buddy was the only one left watching. Does this still count for the Summer Challenge? #epicfail

Day 5: Thursday--Thursday evening was the VBS ice cream social at out church. It was so cute hearing them sing all of their songs they learned during the week! Here are the kids with some of their besties from school and church. We are truly blessed to be part of this community.

Day 6: Friday--Oh, good Lord I was happy when 5pm on this day arrived!What a week! Friday we had VBS in the morning and all 3 kiddos had dentist appointments in the afternoon. Ughhh!! We stopped at Starbucks for a mid afternoon pick-me-up. Does this count for the Summer Challenge??!! #youbetitdoes #qualitytime,people

Day 7: Saturday--Saturday was flag football and track in the morning, then garage cleaning in the afternoon! The kids had fun riding bikes while Scott cleaned the garage! The day was topped off when Scott did the Ice Bucket Challenge to benefit a local Catholic High School. It was HILARIOUS! The outtakes are even funnier than the real thing! LOL! It was a real team effort to do this....someone always kept laughing, wandering around, screaming...or in my case, not being able to lift the bucket without cracking up! #familyfun :)

See ya next week!!!

Seven on Sunday Summer Challenge Week 1!

We did it! Summer Challenge Week 1! Monday through Friday we were able to do at least one thing from our list! We had a lot of fun waking up and deciding what we were going to do that day!

Sunday: Day 1-- We spent Sunday celebrating THIS super special guy!!!! He's such an amazing Daddy so he spent the day grilling for himself!! LOL!

Monday: Day 2-- The kids and I took it easy on our first "official" day of summer. We hit up the library to sign up for the summer reading program, rode bikes and spent a lot of time outside. I even got a nap in! Ahhhh, summer!!

Day 3: Tuesday--We packed up and headed to our favorite Northern California beach, Fort Cronkite in Sausalito. We visited the Marine Mammal Center for the first time which was a great (free!) activity to add to our beach trip!

Day 4: Wednesday--Pool day once again! I love this pic...even when he's relaxed, he still looks stressed! Ha! He's been that way since birth!

Day 5: Thursday--Today I took the kids along with one of Will's preschool friends to Pixieland, a little kiddie ride park. We had a blast riding the "rides," having a picnic, going to the park and eating popsicles! Sarah loved the tea cups! Shocking :)

Day 6: Friday--It was hot today so we went to the store to find Otter Pops...much to our dismay, Safeway didn't have them :( So we settled for Sour Patch Popsicles. Yuck, as far as I'm concerned but the kids loved them! Clearly :) We just sat under the tree outside, got sticky and the kids rode bikes. Fun and relaxing :)

I have to add this pic to Friday, even though it's not a Summer Challenge pic...but it's super funny! Brooke and Will went to night VBS (Vacation Bible School) in our neighborhood for three nights this week. So for three nights, Scott and I experienced what it was like to have ONE kid in the house. Talk about WEIRD. Completely foreign. Anyway, Will is NOT the singy, dancy, praise-God-type kid but apparently (according to Brookey) he got up on stage and danced and sang at VBS. She about died of laughter when she told me. On the last night the kids performed for parents and sure enough, he sang and did the hand motions like a Southern Baptist! LOL! I had to take a picture to prove it :)

Buddy praising the Lord! Not a great pic, but you get the idea :)

 Day 6: Saturday--Although we're only officially counting the weekdays as "summer fun" days, we had fun on Saturday, too :) After a brief hiatus (one week??), we're back to Saturday sports. Brooke is doing Track Camp for the next 6 weeks and Will started the new season of summer flag football. He's with the big kids now and his team is the 49ers!! WOO HOOO!!!

The girls at Track Camp

49ers! Yay!

O, 

Ok, that was more than "seven" but it was a super fun week!! xxoo