dirt pie

Yesterday we all woke up a little grumpy.  Too many days of being lazy and self indulgent.  The nasty word "bored" showed up and feelings of discontent was seeping in.  I strongly dislike the word bored!  Have I ever mentioned that?  And discontentment is the root of evil in my mind.  But so it goes.


So we loaded up and went to town.  We sat in a very crowded food court, in our very plush fancy mall, surrounded by a whole lot of grumpy post-holiday shoppers.  You know the drill.  The hardest decision we had to make was which fast food choice we all wanted.

Fast forward to later in the day when we made our way to church.  They had set up a food packaging thing in the middle of our sanctuary.  The organization was called Kids Against Hunger.  They showed us a video of the conditions in Haiti...of children urinating in the streets and playing in muck.  One of the most disturbing stories was of a women making food for her family from dirt, a little butter and salt.  She would bake these dirt pies in the sun until they were hard and that's what they used to fill their tummies.  I sat there eyes rimming with tears thinking of the food court earlier in the day.  Thinking of ALL that we have...ALL that we take for granted, and the enormous ENORMOUS divide between "us" and the rest of the world. 

I don't know what to say.  We did our thing...made those meals.  Felt good about ourselves for a millisecond.  It felt like so little.  How can we make a mark when there is so much need?  Sometimes I really don't know how God can stand seeing what He sees.  I saw it for a 5 minute video and that was more than enough.  I do know one thing.  It will be awhile before I complain about cooking a meal for my family. 

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year's...
recounting all you've been blessed with this year.

BTW... a BIG HUGE thank you to Leanna for helping me figure out my new background, header size and button.  She is wonderful.  I couldn't do any of this techy stuff without her!!!!!



 

Shimmer and a WINNER!!

Hi Ladies hope you've been enjoying the in-between holiday week.  Honey took this week off, so we've been busy running here and there.  We got some fun house projects done.  You know I can't wait to share:)  It's just been a really nice break.  Makes me wish my peeps could be home with me more. 

Woke up to this winter wonderland this week.  What a treat!  I didn't have time to get out and explore much up close, but the errand run to the post office and Home Depot was beautiful.  I just love it when the snow and ice collect on every little twig and blade of grass.  If you could only see it in person.  The snow looks like millions of glittering diamonds...the air was filled with silver glittery snow flakes.   It was really magical.  Makes me almost like winter;)  Now if I could just figure out how to photograph the shimmer...that would make me really happy.  Anyone know how to do that??

{Does this house look familiar??  Merry Christmas mom and dad:)}

And finally...thank you girls soooo much for the amazing cuff ideas.  I wish I could make each one of you a home painting.  I hope you know that.  I got so many great sayings.  It would take me forever to use them all:)  But I have some really good stuff, so I promise to get busy and list some soon. 

NOW

for

the

winner...

Carissa @ lowercase letters wrote:

happy 2 whole years!!! this the best giveaway. i adore your amazing artwork. i want to win bad. the saying i love that keeps my mind focused and my heart in check is: "run to the Cross." i'd so want my cuff to remind me!!

Congrats Carissa!  For those of you who are interested in a house painting, there will be free shipping for the month of January.  Valentine's Day is coming up...maybe you can put a bug in your Honey's ear;)

Have a blessed day.

more

It's Christmas...I wasn't going to blog for a while, but I couldn't wait.  I'm sitting here all warm and snug.  The kids are playing in the background.  It's been the perfect day...warm home, good food, the love of my family.

Life as I know it is beyond good, but for many this day represents pain.  For many it's a reminder of loss. 

I just read about my blogging friend Edie whose home was destroyed this week by fire.  So thankful they were all spared, but my heart aches for them.  If you have a minute please lift them up in prayer.  I really can't even imagine what that's like...being homeless and at Christmas.

Makes me all the more grateful, more aware of this special day...these precious moments in time. 

Of His mercy and grace. 

Hope you had a day filled with more than your heart could take.

Happy Birthday Jesus!

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!!  For us the festivities began today.  We are home this year...alone.  We kind of prefer it this way.  We'll have our big dinner tonight...complete with Christmas punch and candlelight.  Then we'll go to church for our candlelit service.  Tomorrow will be gifts and play and lots of nothing.  Just the way it should be:)

This was our snowy morning:)  Kind of cozy and dark.

We made our annual donut run in our jammies:)

Enjoyed all the sweetness the doughy sugary stuff could offer. 

Now it's on to embracing our littles.

Cuddling in... 

and celebrating all this holiday means.  Happy Birthday Jesus!!!  Merry Christmas everyone.  Hope you enjoy every second.  I'll be back on the 29th to announce the home painting winner.  See you then:)

Have a blessed day.

House painting give-away...2 yr. blogiversary:)

Hi girlies...well today marks my 2 year blogging anniversary...YAY!!  I can't even believe it's been that long.  That's like forever in the blog world. I have to admit I'm a little proud.  It's been so much fun sharing my life...creating fun things...getting to know all of you.  What in the world did I do before?? 

I set out on this adventure with just a couple of goals.  I wanted to find a distraction from the long winters in Minnesota and eventually sell my artwork. God has helped me achieve both of these things.  Thanks to this blog my winter depression is so much better.  I think looking for the positive and sharing it has changed my focus.  I'm so grateful! 

Anyway to celebrate big I will pick one reader to receive a custom home painting.  I love doing these.  It's an extremely personal thing...your home.  This is unconventional, but to enter the **home painting give-away**  I need ideas for cuff sayings.  So leave me a comment with what you would want your cuff to say.  Got it...it's a giveaway for a house painting, but I need a comment about my cuffs.  Sorry it's so confusing.  Rest assured, I will give one of them away too.  You've just got to wait for it.  Oh and if you're the winner and live in an apartment or don't want a home painting...we'll work something else out;)  I'll announce the winner on December 29th.  Good luck!

  

So I'm in the process of gathering all my supplies, but before I make too many I really want some ideas for sayings.  They're kind of expensive to make, so it's just easier to ask you now:)  So bring me ideas ladies...lots and lots of ideas.

And finally a big shout out to my momma today.  It's her birthday:)  When I was home recently I found this picture of her when she was my age.  How weird is that?  Isn't she beautiful!!  You know how you have a memory of what your parents looked like when you were little??  This is how I remember my mom...young, beautiful, tan...my whole world.  She still is.  I love you mom.  Hope you have a very special day.  Feel my hug:)

Have a blessed day.



taking authority

I have no idea what in the world I ate before I went to bed last night, but I was plagued with one bad dream after another.  Seriously it went down like this...first I killed someone.  They were bad and deserved it...but ick!  Then I put a baby in an oven I was cleaning.  Hmmmm wonder what that means??  In another dream I went to our neighbor's house and the door was cracked.  I walked in and there was nothing there.  Nothing!  That startled me awake.  And finally last but not least, and this is the worst by far, three of my favorite blogging friends showed up on my doorstep.  I forgot they were coming...like that would happen;)  My house was a complete and utter disaster.  We're talking cobwebs and an inch of dust everywhere.  I didn't have one piece of clean clothing.  I was in complete panic mode. 

{Image found here.}

Isn't that crazy for one night's sleep?  At some point I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and regroup, and while I was awake I immediately started praying.  Lord I take authority over these dreams right now in your name.  I pray your perfect peace to flood over me and calm my thoughts and make my mind pure.  I bind what the enemy would have for harm and loose the exact opposite.  Give me sweet sleep...in Your precious name I pray amen.


My momma taught me to pray over bad dreams when I was a little girl, and it's something I've never forgotten.  Comes in handy too when my girlies wake up crying from something scary.  We have to remember as children of God we have authority.  It's a powerful thing we possess and so easy to forget about.  Just thought I'd share those thoughts with you:)

Have a blessed day.   

My other blog crush

I almost feel like I'm cheating on my Meg with this one, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.  I am officially smitten with this lady...Kelle Hampton.  Over the summer a friend told me to check out her blog, Enjoying the Small Things, and after reading the birth story of her Nella I was a complete blubbering mess.

She has won me over with her amazing writing and gorgeous pictures.  I usually don't fall so hard for big time bloggers.  She has like 9,000 followers and to me it's just hard to connect knowing we'll never be "virtual friends". 

But despite all that I feel compelled to leave a comment along with all the other multitudes of readers. I don't even care if she reads it. I just have to tell her what I think. And it's funny I get a little nervous before I send it. Hoping to stand out...to make her feel something that no one else has yet. Isn't that crazy?!

After every blog post I am either teary eyed or smiling from ear to ear. She makes me want to squeeze my kids and that's a very good thing.

I am inspired by her photographs and don't even get me started on her style. YES she's the reason I cut my bangs and YES she's the reason I wanted a fancy schmancy camera. I even have that sweater. But I swear I had it FIRST!

I am in love with her girls Lainey and Nella. Nella was born with Down Syndrome, a complete shock to Kelle by the way. You can tell that she is just the apple of everyone's eye...that sweet one. I just want to squeeze her!

I am completely amazed at how she gets so many candid shots of her family. It's really amazing. I know for me when I pull out the camera everyone poses and puts on the smiley face. I'm thinking she has that camera around her neck 99% of the time.

Anyway I thought you should know who my newest crush is.  If you haven't already you just have to check her out.  Oh and ladies...do tell.  Are there any new crushes out there??  Does anyone make you want to cut your bangs and buy fancy cameras...besides me anyway:)??

Have a blessed day.

All photos courtesy Kelle Hampton.