I haven't mentioned it, but Josh has been out of town since LAST Thursday. Let's let that sink in. I'm really good at managing the household and the girls' schedules and getting it all done, but it's absolutely exhausting. Maybe it's totally archaic sounding and it probably ruffles the feminist feathers, but he kind of holds all the things together. My girls start to fall apart when their daddy is gone for an extended period of time and I tend to follow suit. On Friday night, we went shopping and out to dinner with my parents. I knew it would be good to get the girls out of the house for a few hours and we all know Soph loves to eat dinner at "Banana Bread". We ran to At Home {formerly Garden Ridge} and snagged a few things for some outdoor projects. We woke up bright and early on ...
Blog
5 on Friday
Am I the only one who is ECSTATIC that today is Friday? This week seems to have flown by and left me behind in the dust. It's been awhile since I joined in for 5 on Friday and I have quite a few random things to share, so hang on! ONE: After almost three full months of Bible Journaling, I am still going strong. It's hard to find the time to have an in-depth art journal session at 5 o'clock in the morning, but I usually find some time to be creative five or six days a week. I have been using Jesus Calling and the She Reads Truth app since the beginning of February, but my focus has shifted a little starting last week. Do you know about Secret Church? It's a pretty intense 6-7 hour teaching session led by the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's International Mission Board, David ...
Sophie’s Frozen Party
Let me confess that, as a mom, I've never been a huge fan of characters. Lunchboxes? Yes. Movies and board books? Fine. Bathing suits and birthday parties? Notsomuch. For whatever reason, when Frozen came out I sort of changed my tune. I need to tell you that it is my favorite Disney movie ever and I just couldn't tell Sophie no when she requested a Frozen party this year. We knew way back in the fall that this was the look she was going for, so I've been stockpiling supplies and decor for several months. When my mom and I packed up holiday decorations after Christmas, we kept everything sparkly and snow-covered to use for the table. In case I haven't mentioned it before, my parents built a barn last year and we've been itching to throw a party there. It was a beautiful day and with the ...
Pipe Cleaner Princess Crown Tutorial
One my favorite things about Sophie's party were the favors. While I had some store-bought candy to share with our guests, I knew I wanted to add a handmade element and these party crowns were the perfect addition. They were sparkly and quirky and they gave the girls a fun activity to work on once the gifts were opened and cupcakes devoured. Each one was beautiful and no two crowns looked alike. Warning: Affiliate links appear in the following post. Although shopping the embedded links won’t cost you any additional dollars, it might contribute to an amazing party for one of my little ones. Your support of my obsession is always appreciated! these in bulk and save a TON!), depending on the size and complexity of the design. Lay out a single pipe cleaner lengthwise on your work table ...
Gran’s Famous Tea Cakes
If you've ever been to one of our holiday celebrations, birthday parties or a family get together of any kind -- then you've tried these cookies. My mom makes {hands down} THE BEST iced cookies I've ever had and pretty much everyone who knows her will agree. She uses the same green bowl to mix them up {my sister & I plus all three grand kids got their first bath in that bowl, too} and as soon as she posts a picture of the bowl on Facebook, the requests start rolling in. A few days before Sophie's party, she helped Gran make a big batch of snowflake cookies, perfect for a Frozen celebration. There were lots of snowflake sprinkles rolling around and we even managed to sneak a few cookies in before dinner! I asked Gran if I could share the recipe with you today and she was kind ...
Celebrate
I know that everyone loves their people. Each person has a small network of family and friends that they just can't imagine doing life without. Sometimes I wish I could better explain how I feel about them. There are moments when I see them across the room and I start writing a blog post in my head at that very moment, hoping I can convey some small part of the feelings I have for them, but knowing I can never quite explain it in words. These people bring me SUCH joy. Bright and early this morning, my sweet sister emailed me two photographs from yesterday, knowing that I took exactly three with my phone and didn't even know where my camera was for most of the day. Immediately, my eyes welled up with tears. I was so thrilled that she sent it my way, knowing that she is crazy busy with ...
Faith Share Friday
I'm super excited to be co-hosting FAITH SHARE FRIDAY with Marielle over at The Resplendent today. It's an interactive weekly Instagram hop that provides you with an opportunity to get to know and connect with other Christian women in a way you might not otherwise have the chance to. Each week, the co-hosts share some faith-based questions {and their answers} and invite you to share your wisdom with everyone following along. You can hop on over to my Instagram account at 12 CST today today check it out! Just in case you don't want to wait, or you aren't into Instagram or blog hops in general, I thought I would share my question here and really encourage you to answer in the comments. Pretty please? I know you are reading -- I can see how many of you stopped by today -- can you share ...
Thursday Catchup
It's a rare Thursday post, but I have something else planned for tomorrow. It's been awhile since I did one of these posts and thought you might like to know all the little things that are going on in our house right now. I guess you could call this a "coffee date", but I'm actually drinking sweet tea right now. I love a good cup of coffee on a December Saturday morning, but I don't usually make it on a regular basis. Is that weird? What's even weirder is that Josh HATES the way coffee smells. I digress. READING: Books are still slow-going for me right now. I'm about a fourth of the way through A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin. No, I didn't read the first three books {please don't yell at me}, but it's because I was late to the GoT party. I know it will take forever to read them ...