Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Happy Memorial Day!
{No, I haven't gone crazy and spray painted my house in numbers. This is an interesting form of "art" in the Detroit area. I will elaborate on a future post!}
PS - If you haven't subscribed to get my blog posts by email or a blog reader by clikcing here, this is your last warning. I'm making the jump to Wordpress today and don't want to lose any of you!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Sugar and Spice... {thoughts on having a tomboy}
My little love has such a range of emotions. And they all are expressed so perfectly on her sweet, soft face.
One moment she is all sugar... and the next moment - SPICE!
And while I have yet to capture it on camera, she is often caught giving an evil glare to someone she's not sure about. Her eyes squint - one slightly more than the other - and she tilts her chin down and stares up at the perpetrator. And everyone cracks up laughing. Guess her look needs some fine tuning if she expects it to scare people away. I'll help her perfect it before she starts dating - that's for sure.
But something in me craves to have a girly-girl. To paint our nails together. Go shopping. Do all things GIRL. And this in-between, not knowing if she is or not, is killing me. I've turned into a motherly Sherlock Holmes - trying to decipher every move of hers for clues on her personality.
There are times that she shows her feminine, motherly, nurturing side. And then she gets bored and hops on a four-wheeler.
Perhaps it is because she is surrounded by her brother's toys. And there is nothing more appealing to her than Thomas the Train. Or a good 'ol Superhero.
Or climbing up on the tallest rock.
Despite my "training", she is refusing the wear any headband or clip-on bow. {And she finally has enough hair to clip!} Is this her trying to tell me that she wants nothing to do with dresses and all things frilly?
What about the time that she twirled and hopped in her tutu as my heart leaped with joy? This girl is sending mixed messages.
Why is having a tomboy so scary to me? Would it really be that bad?
I decide it won't. Because she will still be my sweet little girl. The one that I will embrace and love no matter what her preferences in extra-curricular activities are.
Because it doesn't matter if it's ballet class or soccer games. I care more about what her heart loves. And I want it to love Jesus. I want that to define her.
One moment she is all sugar... and the next moment - SPICE!
And while I have yet to capture it on camera, she is often caught giving an evil glare to someone she's not sure about. Her eyes squint - one slightly more than the other - and she tilts her chin down and stares up at the perpetrator. And everyone cracks up laughing. Guess her look needs some fine tuning if she expects it to scare people away. I'll help her perfect it before she starts dating - that's for sure.
But something in me craves to have a girly-girl. To paint our nails together. Go shopping. Do all things GIRL. And this in-between, not knowing if she is or not, is killing me. I've turned into a motherly Sherlock Holmes - trying to decipher every move of hers for clues on her personality.
There are times that she shows her feminine, motherly, nurturing side. And then she gets bored and hops on a four-wheeler.
Perhaps it is because she is surrounded by her brother's toys. And there is nothing more appealing to her than Thomas the Train. Or a good 'ol Superhero.
Or climbing up on the tallest rock.
Despite my "training", she is refusing the wear any headband or clip-on bow. {And she finally has enough hair to clip!} Is this her trying to tell me that she wants nothing to do with dresses and all things frilly?
What about the time that she twirled and hopped in her tutu as my heart leaped with joy? This girl is sending mixed messages.
Why is having a tomboy so scary to me? Would it really be that bad?
I decide it won't. Because she will still be my sweet little girl. The one that I will embrace and love no matter what her preferences in extra-curricular activities are.
Because it doesn't matter if it's ballet class or soccer games. I care more about what her heart loves. And I want it to love Jesus. I want that to define her.
Monday, May 21, 2012
An Important One to Read... changes are coming.
I am in the final stages of moving my blog from Blogger over to the Wordpress platform. That doesn't mean much to most of you. BUT, if you are reading this blog post from Google Friend Connect, you will soon no longer receive my updates.
How sad would that be?
To make sure that you don't miss a beat once the change happens sometime this week, be sure to subscribe to the blog here. You can choose to have it sent to your email or to another blog reading device once you click here.
If you aren't sure if you read through Google Friend Connect or not, just go ahead and sign up this way - just in case.
I have some fun photos to share with you today, but I really want you to click this link to subscribe to my blog so that I won't lose your precious readership this week after I move to Wordpress.
Did you click it? Are you subscribed? Great!
Now, onto the photos. All of these are straight out of the camera (meaning no editing). I don't have time to edit, and I have no idea how to. Just bein' honest. Sometimes I just get lucky with my camera.
Don't forget to go subscribe to these posts. Just in case you will be cut off from seeing any more adorable photos of my kids and long winded narratives from me. I think that would be tragic.
We will make the big switch this week sometime. You may see some times of the blog being down, but this will be a good move.
While you're at it, subscribe to the Better Life Bag shop newsletter to be the first to know about new products, discounts, and shop info! I have a few exciting changes coming up in the shop that you won't want to be left out on.
How sad would that be?
To make sure that you don't miss a beat once the change happens sometime this week, be sure to subscribe to the blog here. You can choose to have it sent to your email or to another blog reading device once you click here.
If you aren't sure if you read through Google Friend Connect or not, just go ahead and sign up this way - just in case.
I have some fun photos to share with you today, but I really want you to click this link to subscribe to my blog so that I won't lose your precious readership this week after I move to Wordpress.
Did you click it? Are you subscribed? Great!
Now, onto the photos. All of these are straight out of the camera (meaning no editing). I don't have time to edit, and I have no idea how to. Just bein' honest. Sometimes I just get lucky with my camera.
From working in the garden this past weekend.
No monumental thoughts about sin this time. Just planting life.
Standing on a table trying to experiment with new camera angles.
Nature Walk in the Woods at the Grandparent's House.
Where we can usually be found. Laying on the ground while our kids play.
Anyone else have kids that want you in the same room {at the same level} all the time?
Yogurt {the healthy icecream}
Hiding in forts of blankets.
Hiding from dinosaurs, and dragons, and sisters.
No superhero to rescue us here.
At Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI
Waiting for that icecream truck to come.
And summer to start.
Don't forget to go subscribe to these posts. Just in case you will be cut off from seeing any more adorable photos of my kids and long winded narratives from me. I think that would be tragic.
We will make the big switch this week sometime. You may see some times of the blog being down, but this will be a good move.
While you're at it, subscribe to the Better Life Bag shop newsletter to be the first to know about new products, discounts, and shop info! I have a few exciting changes coming up in the shop that you won't want to be left out on.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Felt Alphabet Magnets {Tutorial}
So, make them I did. And after 15 hours (YES - 15 hours - 2 car trips), they are finally done.
All 26 letters.
And I love them as much as I thought I would.
They were super simple to make, but if you don't have two seriously long car rides to spare, I might suggest just buying them on ETSY from some sellers who specialize in making them. That is, unless you don't value your time - or just have extra to spare!
Making them consisted of printing out large, bold letters in the font of my choice on cardstock.
Cut around each letter and then cut the letter out twice in felt using my favorite sharp scissors.
Using a blanket stitch, stitch around both layers of each letter... stuffing with poly-fil as you go. {I found using the sharp end of scissors helped to get the poly-fil in there tight. And if you have a letter like "o" with an area in the middle - blanket stitch around the inside first.}.
Want to see a blanket stitch in action? Watch this {and click over to the blog to watch if you are in email or a Reader}:
Apply a magnet with super glue to the back.
Attach to your fridge and watch as your kids magically learn all of their letters! Of course they will learn them all - because I made them!
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Kite Flying - Thoughts on Flying High and Plummeted to the Ground
I think he saw it on Kipper. Kites. And wouldn't stop talking about it until we went to the store and got one.
And then wouldn't stop asking about it until we ripped open the package and freed it into the sky and the wind.
It kept his attention for all of five minutes, but the kites gave me hours of entertainment, relaxation, and times of meditation.
Something about watching something so light have so much power and height made me think. Something about listening to the wind whip through the tails caused me to feel.
That little kite submitted itself to the wind. If the wind blew to the left, that little kite swerved. If the wind died down, a plummeting nose dive soon followed.
Yet, the majority of the time, it was so relaxed up there. Just floating. Letting the wind do the work. And I heard God ask me, Why do you not let me do the work in your life? And I realize all the times that I fight God. That I resist the direction He takes me. That instead of a kite in the wind, I'm a salmon swimming upstream - against the current. His current. His plan.
And to feel. To feel peace. To forget worry. To rest. To experience His love. To float. To live.
He speaks again. Why do you not just rest? Rest? What about my surmounting "to-do" list? What about teaching my kids their letters and manners? What about my business? What about death? And pain?
It could all be gone tomorrow. They could all be gone tomorrow. All of it could. And there is nothing I can do about that. But I can have peace. Experience peace. Know peace.
Peace that doesn't make sense. And the sooner I stop trying to understand God and just experience Him, the better it will be.
Because God doesn't make sense. Bad things happen to good people. Young mothers are taken too soon. Children get hit by moving cars and could be gone before they were ever really here. And God is good? Yes. God is good.
We can't know His plan or His reasons. And, for me, it's better to just surrender to that. Not as a escape or an excuse to make me feel better. But to allow me to move on and to see the good. To see people rallying together that otherwise would not. To see brevity and the mist that life is - and embrace it. Each minute.
Each smile.
Because the wind may die down and there is nothing we can do except plummet to the ground. And somehow, that is exactly in His plan.
PS... Word to the wise. Since I'm not an expert in kite flying, I have lots of advice to give. Tip #1: Watch where you're running. Especially when running backwards to coax your kite to embrace the wind. There might be a drain just waiting to swallow you. Embarrassed {yet painful} laughter will ensue... along with days of soreness.
Yep. That's the drain. Taller than my 15 month old. My leg went right through those holes and my body did a terrible twist and tumble - landing in what I'm sure resembled the chalk outline of a dead body. How's that for lightening up a serious post?
Linking here:
And then wouldn't stop asking about it until we ripped open the package and freed it into the sky and the wind.
It kept his attention for all of five minutes, but the kites gave me hours of entertainment, relaxation, and times of meditation.
Something about watching something so light have so much power and height made me think. Something about listening to the wind whip through the tails caused me to feel.
That little kite submitted itself to the wind. If the wind blew to the left, that little kite swerved. If the wind died down, a plummeting nose dive soon followed.
Yet, the majority of the time, it was so relaxed up there. Just floating. Letting the wind do the work. And I heard God ask me, Why do you not let me do the work in your life? And I realize all the times that I fight God. That I resist the direction He takes me. That instead of a kite in the wind, I'm a salmon swimming upstream - against the current. His current. His plan.
And to feel. To feel peace. To forget worry. To rest. To experience His love. To float. To live.
He speaks again. Why do you not just rest? Rest? What about my surmounting "to-do" list? What about teaching my kids their letters and manners? What about my business? What about death? And pain?
It could all be gone tomorrow. They could all be gone tomorrow. All of it could. And there is nothing I can do about that. But I can have peace. Experience peace. Know peace.
Peace that doesn't make sense. And the sooner I stop trying to understand God and just experience Him, the better it will be.
Because God doesn't make sense. Bad things happen to good people. Young mothers are taken too soon. Children get hit by moving cars and could be gone before they were ever really here. And God is good? Yes. God is good.
We can't know His plan or His reasons. And, for me, it's better to just surrender to that. Not as a escape or an excuse to make me feel better. But to allow me to move on and to see the good. To see people rallying together that otherwise would not. To see brevity and the mist that life is - and embrace it. Each minute.
Each smile.
Because the wind may die down and there is nothing we can do except plummet to the ground. And somehow, that is exactly in His plan.
Yep. That's the drain. Taller than my 15 month old. My leg went right through those holes and my body did a terrible twist and tumble - landing in what I'm sure resembled the chalk outline of a dead body. How's that for lightening up a serious post?
Linking here:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
