Pretty Pretty Song

"Yahweh" by Tal & Acacia. One of my students shared this with me and I absolutely love it. I want to wake up to it! :)

Fun & Pretty

I recently made some super cute herb coffee/tea cup sleeves that I LOVE (I'll try to post a tutorial and pics soon)! After this, I started getting a bit of a crafty bug. I am looking forward to painting a set of canvases with the 5 freedoms (as soon as I find my paintbrushes). But here are a couple things I stumbled upon when surfing my bloggity-blogs today that I'd like to make get. I think they're fun and pretty.

1. First Aid to Go

I realized earlier this week that if Elliot got hurt when I was gone, no one else would know where anything was. So I gathered some supplies and made a first-aid kit for our house, which is now sitting on our dryer (random, I know but it's a central location). Then I realized how many extra supplies we had. I have a first-aid kit in each car but it's somewhat limited. I'd also like to have one for my, Ev's and Elliot's bags. I also thought these would make super-cute momma gifts. Find instructions at Fireflies & Jellybeans.

2. Spa Headband

I think this one pretty much speaks for itself. I think I'd want to make mine with some green ribbon or some cool embroidered fabric strip, instead of the lace. But I would just feel pretty using one of these when I get ready in the morning. Find it at Flamingo Toes. She has a fun oatmeal scrub on this post too.

3. BLOOMIES!

I think these are SOOOOOO COOL!!!!! I think I can figure out how to make them, but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't turn out as well as these and that it would cost just as much to get the supplies each time to make the notes. They are encouragement notes that bloom into wildflowers!!! What a cool cool idea huh? LOVE it! Find them at I Love Bloomies.

Sledding!

When it snowed in December Elliot wanted to go play in it very badly, but he was sick. My excuse for January was that he didn't have the appropriate attire. Thanks to Goodwill and Walmart, we have the attire covered. For a grand total of $32 we were able to purchase snow boots, pants, and a new coat. Definitely better than the $100+ mentioned everywhere else for a 3T snowsuit. This weekend one of our friends invited us over to their house for sledding with a few other friends. Sledding followed by soup, chili, and conversation was LOVELY! And so stinkin fun!

Elliot told me he was "too scared" to go sledding when he saw everyone else do it. So I told him we would just try it once together and then if he wanted to go back inside we could. As soon as we got to the bottom of the hill, he had a big smile on his face and said, "Oh! Dat was fun! We do da sledding again, mommy?" So we did...lots of times. I was eventually the one asking to go inside. :) 

I want...

I want to be able to sit and write and know that I am expressing the message in my head and my heart clearly on a page. In order to do that, I personally have to know what that message is, which has been increasingly difficult for me to figure out with any measure of clarity lately.
I was thinking about the moon as I was reading a book to Elliot the other night. I want to write a poem about the moon watching things happen on earth. An object that has "seen" the creation of the world, its fall, its redemption, my Savior's birth and life, beauty of souls saved and the devastation of hideous sins performed. The precious moments in my life of love and life and light and truth. I don't know how to write the poem, but I want to.
I want to spend more time with my friends - listening and laughing and being silly. This is also increasingly hard with a families and schedules and distance.
I want to dance....beautifully and gracefully.
I want to live purposefully. Knowing that what I do today will make a meaningful difference for tomorrow. Considering the ever present factors of practicality, physical limitations, and the roles I must play, I sometimes wonder if I've lost the drive and courage I used to have to see a task through to completion or a vision from concept to reality.
I want to travel. I want to see and experience new things and new people with those that I love. I want to speak other languages.
I want to be the best wife and mother in the history of the world! I want my husband and my children to always know that they are loved and treasured beyond any earthly thing or any lofty idea. I want them to know that they are beautiful to me and to God. I want them to know that they are interesting to me and that I am curious to know them better.
I want to be vulnerable without being scared. I want to heal those that are hurting. I want to be light where there is darkness.
I want to know Jesus' words and heart and life well enough that they become my words and heart and life.

These are all things that I want, but I often wonder if I can have them. And I struggle with what to pursue. And when and where and how.

Delight yourself in the LORD

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD; 

trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn,

the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him.

Psalm 37:4-7a

Endurance, Gracefulness, and Courage

Me, Elliot & Ev (what joys they are to my heart) at Butterfly World on our Family Summer Vacation

The most sacred place dwells within our heart, where dreams are born & secrets sleep, a mystical refuge of darkness & light, fear & conquest, adventure & discovery, challenge & transformation. 

Our heart speaks for our soul every moment while we are alive. Listen... as the whispering beat repeats: be...gin, be...gin, be...gin. It's really that simple.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Just begin... again.

Royce Addington

It was January 2004, my sophomore year of college, when my dad called each of us kids individually to talk with him. No warning. I figured he liked to shroud these sorts of encounters in mystery, which always made me anxious. Like most people, we did not have family meetings because things were going well and we just wanted to sit down and talk about how grateful we were for each other, eat lollipops and put roses in our hair. Nope. We had family meetings because something was wrong and it needed to be fixed. 

However, this was different. This was an occasion that made a mark on my spirit and life and made me feel incredibly loved, especially as I think about it now. During our time together my dad shared that each year he would personally and privately reflect on his own character and pick three character qualities to work on in the coming year. (He used the list developed by the Character Training Institute, found here) That year he had also reflected on each of his children and three character qualities he saw could be developed in them. He wrote those on a piece of paper, along with some Bible verses to memorize and meditate on. We sat and talked about different practical ways that these underdeveloped areas could become stronger. 

I don't know if my dad thought this was very effective because we never did it again as a family, but I asked for my own copy of the little Seven Leadership Perspectives card and their character qualities. He gave one to me and I still have it in my Bible, next to my Lifting My Husband through Prayer card.

Each year, now I go through my own reflection time, thinking about last year and the year ahead. This year only one of my "character resolutions" comes directly from my card, and I'm trying my hand at creating the other two. Here they are...

Endurance vs. Giving Up

The inward strength to withstand stress and do my best.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving."

Colossians 3:23

"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

1 Peter 5:8-10

Gracefulness vs. Carelessness

Having beauty of form, composition, movement, or expression in daily words and actions.

"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her househol and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her."

Proverbs 31:25-28

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight."

1 Peter 3:3-4

Courage vs. Cowardice

The ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation and act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, or discouragement.

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live, and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life."

Deuteronomy 30:19-20a

And so I begin again! Though my heart is more fearful than inspired, my body is tired and my mind is dull, that is often the way things have to be in the beginning for transformation to actually take place. 

I am grateful for 2011 and the love and blessing it has already brought, and I look forward with hope to what it will bring in the days to come.

At a Farm Near You!

photo source

This picture represents the amount of factory farming in the U.S. OH.MY.WORD! Awful, right? Not because factories are bad and not because farms are bad, but because most factory farms are not producing good food or treating the animals they're raising for it well.

SO...here's where you can be responsible about what farms you support! :) There's this great resource on the Food & Water Watch website where you can search according to your zip code and it will bring up all the CSAs, health supermarkets, and a bunch of other stuff. I put a 50 mile radius from my zip code this is what came up. Six CSAs (and yes, Victory Acres is on there), a bunch of farmers, 7 restaurants, 3 co-ops, 17 stores, 19 farmers markets, an orchard, a brewery, and even a B&B that cleans their furniture only with natural lemon oil and handcrafts their bathroom amenities with organic ingredients and essential oils AT the B&B. Isn't that cool?!?! I found some awesome new stores and restaurants that I didn't even know were super close to our regular stomping grounds. SO excited! 

And the website is....http://www.eatwellguide.org/i.php?pd=Home. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Christmas Eve with the Smiths

Every year we spend Christmas Eve with my side of the family, we usually do some sort of brunch or lunch at my parents house and exchange some gifts there and then move on to the extended Smith family at my Grandma Smith's house. I think the way my grandma decorates for Christmas is awesome! She puts a tree in every room of her house and often has themed decorations for them. When I was little she would transform her china cabinet into Santa's House, complete with Santa snoozing upstairs and Mrs. Claus knitting in her rocker in the living room. Since my grandpa died about 8 years ago (wow, has it really been that long?), I've gone each year to help my grandma decorate. I LOVE IT!

My mother is more intentional about traditions than Tevya, and it made my Christmases growing up magical and special. I have no idea how she never forgot a tradition, and if she was ever tempted to "not do it just this year" she didn't succumb to it. It was beautiful! One tradition that we still participate in with them is opening pajamas on Christmas Eve and taking pictures in front of the tree (which we help decorate). 

Below are some of our pictures from our fun times this holiday with the Smiths.

Elliot and his Emmy

Christmas tea...of course!

Putting a hook on the Noah's Ark ornament...or as Elliot calls it "a zoo on a boat"

Sisters and Joy

Elliot playing with his "people"

Helping with pumpkin cake...race cars are necessary when stirring

My hubby...isn't he just a hoot!

Ev & Beth

Cousins at Grandma's #1

Cousins at Grandma's #2

Me, Elliot & Cousin Madison - HUGS!

New guitar!

Elliot's gift to his grandparents this year! - SO FUN!!!

The Sibs + Elliot

My favorite men!