i forgot to tell you...

...not to put the stickers on the furniture.  the things we don't tell our kids during room time, because, isn't it obvious?

good music

now, i love steve green's hide 'em in your heart just as much as the next mom, but when my sister-in-law, sara recommended seeds family worship to me and said it was in the same vein (as far as the songs being all scripture), but a bit more rockin', i was all for it.  we previewed it on i-tunes, and bought the faith cd.  the girls and i have been singing along all day...well, i've been singing along all day, julia has been asking for "more please," and abby has just been plain grumpy.

thanks aunt sara for the great recommendation.  abs agreed that you have good taste in music!

belated thrifty thursday-saving to give

i just watched this video of buddy from my church, grace.  as i watched him share about how there are people in my community, kids in my community, with nothing to eat, i looked over at my shelf.  where all of my deals reside  (aka 6 boxes of honey nut cheerios that won't fit in my cabinet that holds 15+ boxes of cereal).  i was thinking earlier today that i have more shampoo than our family could probably use in a year--most of which i got for free.  so, we are going to do a clean sweep of our house tonight.  and some of our stockpile will go for those who have nothing at all.  

i'm not saying this to boast.  good grief, i forget that there are those in need all the stinkin' time.  however, i wanted to encourage in all of this, you might see a great deal on something like skippy peanut butter and think, "we wouldn't use that in our family.  we're jif people."  but get it anyway.  and then give it away.

isn't that the real point of saving?  so that we have more to give...i need to remember that.

more napkin questions

you guys are the best!  thanks for all of your feedback about napkin colors (feel free to keep it coming.)  remember, at the end of all of this lilburn daze madness, someone is going to get a lovely gift.

for everyone that wants to help the munchkins in their life reduce waste, i am going to make kid friendly napkins.  we have started using these at lunch, and abby loves pulling out her strawberry shortcake napkins.

so, here's my question for you, what kind of kid-friendly napkin pattern/color/character would you buy or would you think might sell?

here are some pictures too of abby's napkin and what the hem on all the napkins will look like (the color of the hem can vary and it's a rolled hem on the serger for those seamstresses out there.)  let me apologize ahead of time, i need photography classes...these pictures will testify to that truth!

my little bag lady

she just loves wandering around the house hiding things so that i can't find them...or carrying her baby dolls and purses.  so cute.

help!!

okay, two seconds of your time.  if you were buying cloth napkins for your home, what color(s) would you want?  

editor's note...could you be specific too?  like what shade of blue?  what do you consider a neutral?  these things will help tremendously!  i know, i'm so picky!

gymnastics

this is my child's excitement over getting to go to gymnastics class.  every hop and skip and jump this last week has been done with this comment, "i'm doing gymnastics."  she loves it.  and while she is leaping around in the air, we are leaping out in faith to trust the Lord for the money to keep these lessons going and for opportunities for me to love the other mom's in her class well.  i never imagined this part of parenting!

pure delight

there is something magical in her eyes.  a day of getting to be a princess.  all dressed up and ready for the wedding.  thank you ash and scott for letting her be a part of your day.  and thank you for sharing the pictures.

sunday ritual

don't i have a great helper for going through the sunday ads?

christmas in august?

this is my husband after the shipment of canvases arrived.  

now if we can just get some of these painted before october 11th.

pretty

nothing like old friends

this week one of my old berry friends came over for dinner.  we had a blast.  we (my d-group gals, jon and i) loved hearing about what the Lord has been doing in blake's life and about his adventures overseas.  abby and julia loved having  a new friend.  it was just great to laugh hard and to get to pray for him.  moments like monday night are a real gift.

thrifty thursday...let someone else do the work!

even with a sinus infection raging, i couldn't pass this up!  

four bags of bliss

2 boxes of band-aids

2 bottles of shampoo

1 jane mineral powder

2 packs of bic pens

4 lightbulbs

all for $1.

and it took me maybe 5 minutes of work.  i am on the hunt for good blogs that share about rebates and free stuff.  more than enough showed me exactly what to do to get these great deals.  amazing.  $1.

where do you look for great deals?

what did you do last night?

glimpses of grace

the last two weeks have been challenging.  i have been vague in my posts.  partly out of necessity and partly out of sheer fatigue.  over the last month or so, we have realized that my struggle with sickness (migraines and sinus infections) over the past 5 years has made parenting abby a less than consistent venture. 

so as my body has begun to heal (praise GOD for ae and cathlyn and shaklee supplements!), my eyes have been opened more and more to just how much of abby's behavior i have ignored, brushed off and tried to avoid.  the results have been less than lovely in her character.

we started requiring of her what the Lord requires.  obedience.  no whining.  no complaining.  no arguing.  and to say that we were (and are) met with resistance would be quite the understatement.  in case you haven't met abs, she is a passionate soul.  and when she is good, she is very very good, and when she is bad, she is awful.  she's a hitter.  a kicker.  a screamer.  and yes, she is four and still hitting.  most of it is directed at me.  most of it is her extroverted heart's cry for ALL of my attention.  and yes, it is a complete and hideous lack of self-control.  earlier this week, in the middle of her receiving some counsel, she picked up a big toy truck and was about to throw it at my head.  AT MY HEAD!!  WHAT!?!?!  custard's last stance came to mind.

in the middle of all of these hard days, there have been such sweet glimpses of grace.  that's what i wanted to share with you.  but grace isn't grace without need.  and now you see my need.  i'm not a perfect parent.  not close.  and no, that's not a thinly veiled attempted to get parenting affirmation.  and abby (and julia for that matter!) are not perfect children.  we need grace.

so those glimpses...

a friend that lives in japan who i rarely correspond with wrote this to me:

Dear girl!  I just felt like God wanted me to tell you that you are doing a great job with your children and building into their lives.

You are doing great things by His grace.

i was so utterly discouraged when she sent this (and an e-mail this week that was equally encouraging.)  it amazed me.  she doesn't see me parent. i was just reminded that God will gently lead and encourage those of us who have little ones.  he sees my heart.  he covers my failings with his grace.

we also had company and abby's behavior was less than stellar.  i noticed rolled eyes a couple of times from our guest, and my heart just broke.  didn't they know how much we were trying?  how much she is learning?  how hard our week was in training?  didn't they see our hearts?  no.  they didn't, but the Lord sees.  the next night, i was discouraged yet again (someone else rolling eyes!  good grief!)  i was pondering our many shortcomings as parents, and i looked outside.  the sky was pink.  it's a special thing between me and the Lord.  an intimate reminder to me that He loves me.  loves me dearly.  i nearly wept.

and then this morning.  one thing that i do with abby is try to just pray throughout our day together.  nothing fancy.  nothing big.  just pray as we go.  we pray when we hear sirens.  all the time.  this morning, abby told me she heard a siren late last night and prayed.  then, we discovered that our dear neighbor friends' youngest daughter drank motor oil last night and was rushed by ambulance to the hospital late last night.  abby was being faithful--and in the process prayed for her friend without knowing.  God is at work in her heart.  amazes me.  (and our little friend is okay.)

so thanks beck for the reminder to look for glimpses of Him.  He truly is everywhere.

yummy goodness

tonight, my daddy took me out for dinner.  a belated birthday dinner.  i have to admit, though pricey, it was the best filet i have ever eaten.  thanks daddy for a lovely evening and for your encouragement!

opinions wanted...no, opinions NEEDED!

in the next two months, i'm going to start some craftiness in preparation for the lilburn daze festival.  jon and i are clueless though about all of it.  what should we make?  what should we charge for what we do make?  the list goes on and on.

we decided that you guys would be a great test audience.  so, this is me pleading.  on bended knee.  would you please please please give us some simple feedback over the next two months? it would help us tremendously.  and maybe we could even get a contest in here?  for every comment you leave, you get your name entered into a hat.  after the festival is over, we'll draw a name and let you choose something from our craft list for your very own.  does that sound like fair compensation for your efforts?

so my question for today is this...scrabble tile pendants, have you seen them?  do you like them?  would you buy them?  would you buy them if they were cutesy for a child?

(note: we didn't make this, it's just off of our beloved etsy.)