Filling Up The Creative Tank

Hello Friends!

I've been wanting to post something here to show you that I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I wanted to tell you that I was making great progress on one of my 2015 home goals. But nothing has even been started, sadly. (I even thought of a couple more things that I forgot to put on the list!) I woke up with a cold on Monday morning that has thrown me, my energy, and my creativity for a loop. I even tried this morning to come up with a Four Things For Friday post....but I didn't even have enough for that!

What is it about January? I find that all I really want to do is wrap up with a blanket and something warm to drink and just TRY to keep warm. I think that all the creativity that I use to make Christmas special just totally zaps my "creativity tank" too.

I know I'm not the only one who feels this way. (Read Sal's post today!)

Maybe January is just meant to be a refueling time. 'Ya think?

One thing that is helping me refuel is the free course that Jeanne Oliver is offering on her site called Becoming | The Unfolding Of You.

This course (and I use that term loosely, because it's really just a video series....you can watch at your convenience, no homework) has been a blessing to me the last two weeks. There will be about 20 ladies sharing over 8 weeks. They each share in a video their story about becoming  their unique self in Christ and then each one also shares a creative project video as well.

Here is a link to what Jeanne herself had to say about Becoming | The Unfolding Of You.

If you are struggling through the month of January like I am, I think it will be such an encouragement to you.....both in your spiritual walk and in your creativity.

Today is the completion of Week Two, but it's not too late to jump right in because, as I said, you can watch whenever you like. There is no cost.(Thank you Jeanne!) You simply have to go to the site and register and then "JOIN" this specific course. It's that easy.

If you are feeling like your tank is a little empty right now, I hope you will take advantage of this wonderful resource!

You can even watch while wrapped up in a blanket, drinking a warm cup of something! Trust me, I know.

Lessons From An Eternal Optimist



I don't write a lot about my kids....not anything too personal at least. That is a conscious choice I have made. My children all have special needs and I've always felt that their personal stories would be theirs to tell, not mine, when they are ready.

 

But a couple weeks ago, my son told me a story that stopped me in my tracks. I decided to share it because I think it's something we can all learn from.

 

Celebrating his birthday a couple years ago.

 

It actually all started when my daughter was telling us about a game that she played at a party for her cross country team. The game is called "Never Have I Ever" and the idea is that you share something you have never done and you try to stump your friends and knock them out of the game because they have done it before. (As an aside, it seems a little negative to me and that you should get to stay in the game because you HAVE done lots of things before. But I digress....)

 

Anyways, my son piped up right away that he had played that game before too in one of his classes at school. And then he got very excited and said, "and I WON!!"

 

I was curious and as his Mom, it was my duty to investigate further.

 

Me: What? You won the game? What did you say that you hadn't done before?

 

[Son laughs uncontrollably. So much so that he almost can't speak.]

 

Son: "WALK! I've never walked before!" [still giggling]

 

[Mom tries not to sob uncontrollably]

 

To him it was all about winning the game.

 

 



With his girlfriend Tink. We tease him about this mercilessly.

 

 

I guess it may seem like I'm bragging on my son (well, maybe a little.) But Hubster and I can't take too much credit for this boy's attitude. Although we try to foster healthy attitudes in all of our kids, he arrived in our family at age four, full of positivity and not looking back.

 

He hasn't ever walked. He uses a power wheel chair full time. But in his mind, he gets to drive an electric blue convertible everywhere he goes.

 

In P.E. class, he often gets to be the score-keeper. In his mind, that is a position of power and responsibility. Plus he loves numbers....BONUS!

 

I remember one time he told me how he got to play kickball in P.E. I asked him if one of his friends kicks for him. He said, "Yea. And then I run really fast Mom!"

 

He doesn't even think about what he can't do. In his mind, he is just like everybody else.

 

He's an eternal optimist.

 



Playing and arcade game with Dad

 

I don't know about you, but I'm a "wallower."

 

I don't think of myself as a negative person, yet I've realized that I tend to wallow in my problems, worries, and what I can't (or think I can't) do. But it's really all in my perspective and I can choose to think about the positive and the things that I CAN do.

 

What about you? Are you a wallower too? Or maybe you're somebody who compares yourself to everyone else....their talents, their possessions, their accomplishments....instead of thinking how unique and special God made YOU! I've been THERE too.



At his 8th grade graduation, he won the Citizenship Award for hard work,
 positive attitude, friendliness, and school involvement.



Our lives....and our world....would be a better place if we stopped wallowing in negativity and chose to see all that is positive in our lives and all around us. Some people are eternal optimists. They see the positive in everything. But I would say there are probably more of us who need to make a conscious choice every day to think more positively.  I know I do. Will you take that challenge with me?

Back To School 2014

 

 

It's that time of year again....Back To School! We survived  enjoyed our Summer, but all good things must come to an end. Yesterday was our kids first day of classes.

 

I always try to get photos of the kids before they head off to school for the first day. I tried to make it as quick and painless as possible yesterday and had them post in front of our chalkboard again this year. (You can check out last years pictures HERE.)

 

I have to admit, since we had our Summer List up on the chalkboard, I got a little lax about doing a calendar. August never made it up there. So I decided to make a little 1st Day Of School graphic for our photos before the list gets erased for this year and September (gasp!) makes it's way up there.

 

I took each of the kid's photos as they were ready. First up....our middle guy.

 

 

He was so excited for his first day back! He actually did five weeks of Summer school, but he was still happy to return for the school year. He couldn't wait to see all his friends. What a blessing! I remember the days back in Kindergarten and First Grade when I had to literally push him on the bus every morning. It was traumatic for both of us! Now he tells me all the time that he loves school. He's come a LONG way Baby!



 

I especially love this photo. I may be a little prejudiced because I'm his Mom, but I think he has the best smile ever.

 

 

Next up was my daughter (She and above son are both in 8th grade this year.) She REALLY dislikes getting her picture taken. Always has. In her first couple baby photo shoots she has tears streaming down her face. I cried too....and we bought the pictures anyways.

 

I reminded/warned her the night before that we would be taking photos before school. She said she would only cooperate if I promised to put them on my blog.

 

Here you go funny girl!

 

 

I love her cute boxer top from Target. So cute! She insists on carrying this huge binder case for school. It cracks me up!

 

She had a lot of ups and downs last year, but I am excited to see how 8th grade goes. She has a new teacher this year and I think it will be a good change for her.

 



 

 

And last, but most certainly not least, is our oldest son....a.k.a. The High School Guy. Yep, this one headed off for his first day of High School yesterday. He was cool as a cucumber. I think I'm a little more excited/nervous/terrified than he is.

 

It takes a lot of planning, work, brainstorming, and communicating to make sure everything comes together for him at school. Sending him to a new school with different staff always makes me kind of nervous as his Mom and advocate. But I am really excited to see what high school holds for him.



 

 

And what other child do you know who is most excited because he has Geometry first period of the day? Seriously, he loves Math!

 

 

We had a super busy afternoon since my daughter also had a cross country meet after school (who schedules these things on the first day of school?), but it was fun hearing all their stories and excitement about their day.

Here's to a GREAT school year!!

Have your kids gone back to school yet? Do you have any First Day traditions or special photos that you take?

What Season Is YOUR House?

Do you remember back in the day when you could have your "colors done?" I was kind of young at the time, but what I remember is that some supposed color expert would tell you what "season" you were based on your skin tone, hair and eye color, and personal color preferences. Based on what season you were, they would then recommend what color clothes, makeup, and even accessories would look best on you.

I've been itching for a change around here again. Looking around the other day I realized that Summer is not really my house's season. Not that I'm really ready for Fall, but my house definitely shines in the colors of Autumn. (With Winter coming in a close second.) With it's oak woodwork and floors, stone hearth, and the warmer paint tones, it's naturally going to look it's best in the warmer colors of that season.

(Old camera photos ahead. Consider yourself warned!)

 

If your home is painted in cooler shades with crisp, white trim, it probably looks it's best and most natural in Spring or Summer.

All this business of seasons doesn't keep me from changing up my decor for Spring or Summer, but since my home looks it's best in the Autumn, I think I feel more comfortable in my home then too.

 

 

 

 

Have you ever thought about what season your house is? Does it affect the way you decorate or accessorize? Does it make a difference in how comfortable you feel in your home?

Have you ever had YOUR colors done?

Summer List Update

Today I thought I would give you a little update on how we are progressing with our Summer List. (If you don't know what our Summer List is, you can read all about it HERE.)

 

 

As you can see, we're making some progress and have already checked off about a third of our ideas. In hindsight, I wish I would've been more conscious of taking pictures of everything we did. I will have to remember that for next year.



 

 

 

Even though we haven't checked off the library, we have been a couple times. And my daughter has already had her turn cooking. This past weekend we killed two birds with one stone, so to speak, and celebrated our daughter's birthday by getting doughnuts at Dunkin' Donuts for our Saturday morning breakfast.

 

 

 

 

If you read my original post, I talked about being intentional. I've am reminded every year when we do this that it takes more than making a list to be intentional. It takes thought and action. It would be easy for Hubster and me to get to the weekend and just take it easy and relax or busy ourselves with so much that needs to be done around the house. It takes planning and sometimes even reconsidering priorities!

 

And now in the interest of full disclosure....

 

As far as the goals I told you that we made for each of our children.....that plan is not going as well as I would have liked. Let's be honest, not too many kids want to spend the Summer working on their Math skills. It takes a lot of motivation from Mom and honestly, that's probably why we aren't making as much progress. On a positive note though, two of the kids have been listening to audiobooks (a wonderful thing for kids with learning issues) and have gotten very interested in a new (to them) series of books. So it hasn't been a total loss. I just think we will have to rethink this for next year and maybe come up with a better plan. We may have bit off a little more than they can chew....at least for our kids.

 

So how about you?  Did you make any goals for yourself or your family? Are you making any progress?

Remembrance

I'm BA-ACK!!

My son and I returned Friday evening from a four-day trip with his eighth-grade class to Washington, DC. Despite a lot of rain and problems with the wheelchair lift on our bus (which my son needs), we had a great time.

 

 

It had been several years since I had been to Washington for an extended time and was able to see a lot. Our days were packed with visits to various museums, monuments, and memorials.

 

 

 

 

 

I was reminded over and over of the great contributions and sacrifices that men and women have made throughout our country's history to protect and defend our freedoms.

 

 

 

 

 

Never so much as on our visit to Arlington Cemetery though (someplace I hadn't been before.) It was sobering to think of the number of lives that have been lost in the defense of our country.

 

 

 

 

 

The morning after our return, we received a sad call that Hubster's Grandma had passed away. She had been in declining health for the last few months and took a turn for the worse while I was gone.

 

She was the one of the sweetest, positive, and  most cheerful people I've ever known. She loved the Lord and she loved her family. She also loved to cook and often overdid it on holidays.....much to the rest of the family's enjoyment. The last time we visited with her was on Mother's Day. Despite how she may have felt, she never complained. She was in good spirits and was sitting up in a chair watching Food Network.....typical Grandma. She was also known in the family as "The Sticker Queen" because on every card she ever gave any of us for birthdays or Christmas there were always several decorative stickers on both the envelope and card.....along with a special Bible verse.

 

This morning as I was thinking about Grandma, I remembered that a few years ago as she began thinking about the possibility of moving out of her own home, she gathered all of her granddaughters and granddaughter-in-love (that's ME) together and let us each pick out a cup and saucer from her teacup collection. I decided to get out the beautiful cup and saucer and use it for some tea this morning to remember Grandma.

 

 

 

 

We will say goodbye to her on this earth later in the week, and we will miss her, but her influence on us all will never be forgotten.

 

 

 

 









I Am Enough

Enough. I've always thought that was a funny word. I mean, say it. It's funny, don't you think? And it's spelled weird too. I've been thinking about the word enough though.

Here's what I mean.....

When my teenager stomped out the door in the morning one more time because I'm "the meanest mom in the world," I thought, "Sometimes I don't think I am enough for this child." Or any of my children for that matter. I know beyond the shadow of a doubt because of the way God worked out every detail, that these kids were meant to be ours....but sometimes I just don't understand why He thought I would be the right mom for them.

Quite honestly though, there are a lot of times when I don't feel like enough.....but I am. Sometimes I just need to keep reminding myself of that.

When dinner is put on the table late or overdone.....I am enough.

When I hear, "but I don't like this"  one more time at the dinner table....I am enough.

When wet laundry is sitting in the washer for the second day....I am enough.

When the scale reads a number I, and the world, don't like....I am enough.

When I have to say no to one more thing I'm asked to do....I am enough.

When my teenager storms out the door again....I am enough.

When this little blog goes another whole week without a new post....you guessed it.... 

I am enough.

The ironic thing is, that in the whole grand scheme of things....I really am NOT enough. I am a sinner. It is only because I am created in Christ's image and saved through His grace that I am enough.

I am a Dancing With The Stars fan....I admit it. But I loved what contestant Candace Cameron Bure said on Monday night's show. Let me paraphrase it for you....

I want to dance well. I want to please the judges and get a good score. But ultimately I am dancing for an audience of one and that's God.

I love that! I may not be dancing on TV (thank goodness!), but that applies to anything I do as well. The only thing that matters is what God thinks. And He sees me as "ENOUGH" through His Son. And His strength is made perfect in my weaknesses.

 

 

 

 

 

My Mother Is.....

On Monday, my son brought home this paper that he had filled in about me at school. It gave me a good laugh and did my heart good too.

 



 

 

 

My mother is nice.

 

I try. One of my grandfather's favorite sayings was "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice."

 

She cleans the dishes.

 

Sometimes I feel like that's all I ever do. So I guess he's noticed!

 

She likes dogs.

 

This is true. Especially our dog Sugar. My boy likes dogs too. Especially our dog Sugar.

 

She looks like a heart.

 

I think this may be literally true. I hope it is figuratively true as well.

I would've gladly accepted the answer "Julia Roberts" though.....but I'm just glad he didn't write "Dora The Explorer."

 

She sounds like a popstar singer.

 

That may have something to do with me singing "Part Of Your World" around the house like nobody's business...all. weekend. long. But I'm sure he was just being nice.

 

She smells like cookies.

 

Okay, this is sort of a weird question I think. But I'll take it! I'm glad he didn't say mothballs, garlic, or a wet dog.

 

She always is a good parent.

 

[Weep]

 

My mother is playful.

 

I loved this. First, that he thought of this word. And second, that he thought it described me. I try to keep things fun around here.

 

 

I thought this was so sweet. It made me smile and gave me a couple good laughs. But it also made me happy to know that this is how my son sees me.

 

If you are a mom I'm sure you've felt the same way I do sometimes....that you aren't fun, that you are stressed out, that your life is just one continuous film loop, that you always wind up being "the mean mom,"  that maybe you're not giving your kids the best that you can, and maybe you smell like wet dog (or baby formula, or laundry that's been sitting in the washer for two days....you can fill this in yourself.)

 

What a relief to know that my child doesn't see me this way. Maybe it's time to see ourselves through our children's eyes and cut ourselves a little slack.

 

What do you think?

 



Comments: Pros and Cons

When I began this blog, I wanted to be able to share some of the creative ways I try to make our house a home. I hoped that readers would want to participate in conversations about topics I blogged about....that there would be more interaction....that I would meet new people.

I know that I haven't been at this blogging thing very long, but a girl can still hope.

So, to that end, I've made some decisions about comments on this blog. 

I initially set things up in a way that would prevent spam and anonymous comments. However, that meant anyone who commented had to be both registered and signed in to one of the available networks. For most of you, that probably would have been Google. 

I understand this can be an inconvenience when you just want to leave a quick comment and I want to make it as easy as possible for my readers.

So I've decided to open things up for anyone to comment. This will make it much easier for everyone.

Let me explain what you need to do.....

First, type your comment in the box, Then, where it says "choose profile", pick name/url. Enter your name. If you do not have a website or blog of your own, you can leave the URL box empty. Then just hit publish. Easy peasy!

Okay, here come the cons of these changes. 

First, as I said, this potentially leaves me open to spam and inappropriate commenters. So I've decided I will be moderating comments to prevent anything of this nature from reaching my readers. This is not meant to be censorship, because I would like there to be healthy discussion. But it will keep spam advertising and inappropriate content from reaching my readers and keep this a family-oriented blog. And for the record, I am not a fan of anonymous comments either.

I pay close attention to the blog, so comments will still be posted in a fairly timely manner.

Secondly, when you comment with only your name you do not leave an email for me to respond directly to you. I can only respond to you in the comments and you may or may not see it. If you would like for me to be able to respond directly to you, then registering with Google is probably the way to go. Please note that you also have to be signed in to your Google account to leave a comment this way.

Another option would be to include your email address in your comment.

Okay, I think that's it. If you ever have any questions, you can also email me by clicking on the Contact Me page.

If you would like to connect with me on social media, you can read about that HERE.

I hope to hear from you soon!


Today's Thankfulness....

* For a weekend to get things done around the house.

* For my Mom....and the chance to celebrate her birthday this weekend.

* For a son who doesn't complain about homework even when he doesn't really want to do it....especially on the weekend.

* For a family who is patient with me even when I am not so patient myself.

Four Things For Friday 11.15.13

The weekend is almost here! Happy Friday!

Here are my rambling thoughts for this week....

1.) Earlier this week I shared my Thanksgiving table.  In the spirit of full  disclosure...and a couple laughs...I thought I would show you how the table looked before I decked it out for the holiday meal.

Just keepin' it real, folks. HA!

2.) Last night I went to three stores to get three specific things. None of them had what I needed to get. How frustrating is THAT? I could see maybe one store, but all three?

And on a side note....Don't you hate it when the make-up you use is discontinued? I was very happy with what I was using and now I have to find something new. I'm not a happy camper.

3.) In my life I have learned that the only way to overcome the feeling of the dread of something (like Hubster being away on a business trip most of next week) is through prayer.....and LOTS of it!

4.)  I love this guy!



Sugar the Wonderdoodle.

He is loyal, a constant companion, loves unconditionally, doesn't judge, and is a great listener (often better than some of the humans in our house.) Even his Grandma loves him.....which is saying A LOT. His standing in our home has been sometimes rocky, but God doesn't mistakes and he knew I needed this dog even more than the kids do. 

Today's Thankfulness....

* That my husband has a job....one that he enjoys and is challenged by.

*  For sweet and supportive friends.

* That God knows what we need more than we know ourselves.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

When You Know, You Just Know

Ours was a whirlwind romance....married one year to the day of our first date.

He knew before I did that we would spend the rest of our lives together.

I took a little convincing, but finally I got it. He was the first one I hadn't had to try to make love me. He just did. And when I finally had that revelation that New Year's Eve....I knew.

                  

You know how people always say that when you find the person you're supposed to spend the rest of your life with "you'll just know?"  That used to drive me crazy! Give me a real answer already!

But I'm here to tell you it's true. For me it was knowing that he loved me....without me having to convince him....that made me know.

Today we're celebrating 20 years of marriage. Twenty years! It seems like forever, but on the other hand, we can't be old enough to be married 20 years. I have a lot more pounds and he has a lot less hair, but it still can't be possible.

Like any marriage, there have been ups and downs. But I can't imagine going through it with anyone else. God knew what he was doing for sure when he brought this man into my life. This idealistic, dreaming, fearful, perfectionist girl needed a practical, confident, positive, faith-walking man like him.

We don't have any big celebration planned today. We've kind of been celebrating for a couple years now. You see, when we reached about 17 years, Hubster starting telling people we had been married for "almost 20 years." We even went on a celebratory trip to Disney World (no kids) back in April because it was just the best time for us to go. So it has kind of felt for a while like we had already reached the 20-year milestone.

And tomorrow he will probably start telling people that we've been married almost 25 years anyways! 

(I apologize for the poor quality of these photos. They are photos of photos which were not that great to begin with. In 1993, wedding photographers weren't using Photoshop to make your wedding photos look perfect enough for Pinterest. We also got married in the late afternoon in November. It was an overcast day. It actually started snowing as I walked down the aisle and by the time we left our reception, there was about 2 inches on the ground. Anyways....didn't make for great photos. But I'm just happy to have them.)

Today's Thankfulness.....

* For God's provision for the perfect man for me.

* For 20 years together.

* For a husband who is a wonderful and godly husband, provider, and father.

Keepin' It Real

If you've come here today looking for a post about a beautifully cleaned closet....sorry...it's not happening today.

Today there will be no "pinnable" photographs.....not even any unsuitable for pinning ones.

I thought about not even writing today at all, but I decided that I would just be honest.

As I write this, it's still only 7:30am, and it's already been a rough day in our house. 

I always want to be careful of protecting my children's privacy. So let's just say that it involved a pretty big, screaming-at-the-top-of-your-lungs tantrum, the possible re-injury of a knee that was hurt back in the Summer, and me sending said child on the bus to school anyways.

Nope, there won't be any Mother Of The Year award coming my way any time soon. (But in my defense I'm still not sure if it was a real injury or just for drama sake.)

This is the kind of stuff that happens at our house. We have three children with special needs. 

No, I'm not trying to play the special needs sympathy card. And I'm not looking for a pat on the back. This is the life we chose and we are blessed beyond measure. But I don't want anyone to ever think that things are all sunshine and roses at our house....because they are not. And I just want to be honest.

Amazingly, when I sat down to do this post, what came to my mind were the verses in Psalm 121:1-2.

 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Wow! Did you get that? 

 

The Maker of the Universe is there to help ME! Even on tough mornings like today's.

 

All I have to do is LOOK UP.

 

And whatever situation you find Yourself in.....He's there to help you too.

 

That gives me great comfort today and I hope it does you too.

I will continue working on my mud room closets today, but it is slower-going than I thought it would be. But I'll get there and I promise I will share the "afters" with you when I'm done.

Today's Thankfulness....

* For Scripture that I learned as a child coming back to my mind this morning.

* For the help that comes from the Lord.

* For my usually-sweet children.