daddy.

one of the things on our summer list was 'go to work with daddy'. 

and although that's not exactly how it happened, we did take some time on friday to visit daddy at work and take him to lunch.

brady had fun going from office to office saying 'hi' and giving high fives to j's coworkers. as soon as he'd say hi, he'd run out and try to go into the next office. luckily, it was friday at lunch time, so i think the break was welcomed, mostly.

brady was incredibly serious about working. 

jeff had told him the night before that he really needed his help at work on friday... so brady wanted to make sure that he did everything daddy 'needed' him to do. when we told him it was time for lunch, he shook his head and very sternly told me, "daddy needs my help for more work, mommy. no time to go."

precious.

and charlotte is moving FAST these days. jeff was showing someone how she crawls now and by the time he turned around she was all the way down the hall and in someone's office. 

love it.

we went to tin star for lunch. and of course, it was crowded, so the hubbs had to wait in a long-ish line to order. 

but it was okay. we had angry birds to keep a hungry little boy occupied and a line of people flirting with lil' miss while they waited. 

we are so thankful for a hardworking daddy so that i am able to stay home with the littles. i know it doesn't always work out that way, and some days i think i'd rather go into the office, but when it boils down, i know that i am very blessed.

we love you, j.

project life.

this week is an example of how simple your layout can be!

many of the pictures in the middle are from my iPhone. 

{and some are even extras from the week before or after... but you won't tell...}

right?

i got done initially and hadn't written anything down and was going to be done with it. 

but decided that i wanted to remember what was going on in some of the pictures so i went back and stapled scraps of paper on top. 

easy. peasy.

i love hearing of people starting this project and then they realize how TRULY easy it is. {ahem - katie & amanda!!} and their layouts are BEAUTIFUL. for reals. 

so excited for them... because it's really become a special thing for me. i'm so excited that i'll have it for years & years to come and that we can look back on these years FONDLY. ;)

happy friday to all. 

i am READY for the weekend. this week has been crazy. {fun crazy, but CRAZY!} yesterday afternoon i was ready to throw in the towel around 3:00. 

but today, i'm thankful for the new and fresh feeling of the mornings. and thankful that i got up before the craziness began and was able to spend some time in QUIET. 

love that. 

it helps me deal with the crazies when they get up and are raring to go. 

praying this heat doesn't get as hot as they are forecasting next week. i'm about to melt!

project life. july.

stay tuned for a HUGE project life post - hopefully tomorrow.

the weekend.

so the hubbs came home last night & while we were eating dinner he said "your blog post today was kind of....... heavy today."

i told him that it was just so heavy on my heart that i didn't feel right posting about our wonderful weekend away. he totally got it. it weighed heavy on him as well, so he knew where my heart was on it.

and thank YOU for letting me share. i love blogging when it becomes an avenue to share some of the deepest thoughts and realities of life.

and when it can becomes an avenue to share my faith. praise the Lord. 

the funeral for this sweet girl is today. she is still on my heart. it must be amazing to be with Jesus. we talked with brady last night about heaven. and i couldn't help but think that maybe pops {jeff's dear grandfather who went home to be with the Lord earlier this year} has found this precious girl in heaven. and they're sweet friends. 

 just a note: i don't presume to know how heaven will look like. and i'm not a theologian, so just know it was just a thought. but a precious one that lifted my spirits and reminded me that we should look forward to going to heaven.

okay. enough of the heavy stuff today.

i wanted to share about our weekend away with some dear friends to the lakehouse!

we didn't have kids with us.

so we woke up late {a.k.a. 8, 9 or 10 for some of us!}

we walked. we sipped coffee instead of gulping it.

and then we packed lunch and went out on the boat.

and stayed out there for a LONG time.

enough time for all the boys {who don't think they need that much sunscreen} to get sunburned. {burnt or burned?}

we ate lunch with plenty of pringles and jalapeno cheetos.

{have you had those? they're actually really good!}

we floated for 3 hours. seriously. and parker only got 'fish bit' twice.

apparently none of the rest of us were appetizing to any fish. hmmmm....

we borrowed some crazy cruisers from our neighbor.

they are funny. you have to stick your behind out and wiggle it to get them going.

love it.

and let me say that some of us got it down better than others.

and i won't expose any names.

but i'll say that i did make it up that hill without pushing off.

enough said.

going up the hill was tough.

but coming down it was totally worth it.

as you can tell by the blurry julie pictured below.

we watched the sunset.

we played games.

and it was quiet. just what we all needed.

thankful for sweet friends to share some big laughs with.

as one person put it this weekend...we had a few times where we went to that really happy laughing place.

you know the one.

where there are tears streaming down your face and if you've birthed two kids, you just might be in trouble? 

yeah, that one. 

heavy.

Jesus said "...He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted..." {luke 4:18}

i don't know about you, but several people, that i would consider aquaintances, have experienced great loss over the past few weeks. 

it's heartbreaking. to read about it and to somewhat feel a little bit of their pain. 

to think about losing one of my sweet littles. to cancer. 

it's overwhelming. 

but yesterday, as i was driving back to town, i received a text message from a sweet friend telling me of a great loss that her family experienced over the weekend. a senseless tragedy in the form of a horrible car accident. and although i do not know this part of her family personally, i have come to love them through the extension of my dear friend. 

and let me just tell you, it was more than i could take. 

it felt paralyzing. for me, who didn't even know the immediate family personally, it all just hit home. 

my heart is still aching for them even as i type this. 

i was away from all of my family when i received the message. away from jeff and my littles. 

i had two hours to ask how our dear heavenly Father could allow such things to happen. so suddenly. without any warning. and to allow a father to outlive a child. it just seems cruel.

but as i was fighting back tears, i received another text from my dear friend. it read:

"such an awful tragedy. indescribable. and has been so hard to see everyone mourning. but god is good and we know He is loving on her as we speak."

amazing. it brings tears to my eyes even still.

she's right.

God. is. good. 

even in the midst of such senseless and awful tragedy.

the awful fact is that we live in a fallen world. and tragedy happens. 

but it's all a means to an end, really. because it is in this devestating tragedy that we cling to our sweet Jesus. and it's in the tragedy that we realize the hope we have in heaven. in seeing this precious little girl again and meeting our Lord face to face. 

for me, though, what can be paralyzing is that this meeting with our Lord could take place any second. for us, or for any of our dear loved ones. this is what hits in the depth of my soul and can, if i'm not careful, absolutely overwhelm me with grief & anxiety. 

but as i have been praying for this sweet family today, our faithful God has reminded me over and over how this is a sin. for me to worry & to be anxious for my own loved ones is a sin. for jesus said "and who of you, by being worried, can add a single hour to his life?" {matthew 6:27}

whoa. 

powerful message, right?

my dear friend was {and is} right. GOD IS GOOD. and, as she put it in her first message to me, He has a PERFECT plan. much more perfect that mine every could be. HE knows when my time is up. when my dear husband's time is up. when my precious, precious littles' times will be up. and who am i to worry about when that time will be or how it will come? worrying about it does not and will not change it. praying about it will draw me closer to him and strengthen my trust that my loved ones are in HIS hands, not mine. and that is so much better. 

"but seek first HIS kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. so do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself. each day has enough trouble of its own." matthew 6:33-34

this will be my focus in raising and loving on my children. this has to be my focus. because no matter how hard i try, i do not have control. 

i love the lord.

i love this sweet family. 

and i pray that all of those who have experienced this tragedy, and others like it, would find the perfect peace that only comes from trusting in the one true living God.

project life. MUCH better.

i was less than inspired by my layout last week. 

however. that's what is SO great about this project.

you put it behind you & move on to the next week. 

you don't have to WAIT to be inspired again - you just are. 

as soon as you get your pictures developed. 

there's no waiting around & figuring out a new layout. the format is the same. 

the PICTURES are different. 

it's a different story. told the same way. it's genius!

i even went for a blue & red theme this week. since it was the fourth & all. 

love this page. 

have you started yet?

bookshelf makeover.

do any of you follow the jones design company blog?

ummm yeah. she's SUPER talented.

{and she has GREAT hair!}

when i first discovered her blog a few months ago, i saw this post.

with this picture of her favorite spot in the house.

{i'm afraid to put it up here for fear of it making my rendition look so dinky!!}

anyway... i have that very same wall in my house {going up the stairs} and i was dying to do the same thing. but the hubby wasn't crazy about it.

so a few weeks ago, i thought of something.

my dark & dreary bookshelf!!

i would love to paint it {or even just the inside of it} a yummy turquoise - but i fear that's a fad and i don't want to participate more than a few 'pops' here & there that are easily replaceable.

so i decided to recreate it like this -



i took out a shelf {it used to have three} so i could add a big lamp.

i'm on the hunt for three globes for the top. {i think i've mentioned before how high our ceilings are - and how that's a grass-is-always-greener-on-the-other-side thing.}

and i don't have any idea what to put in that green polka dot container. {my mom won it at pokeno - but it doesn't fit with the decor in her house... so she gave it to me! thanks mom!} i'm open to suggestions, friends!

he still isn't crazy about it. he might even think it's a bit bizarre... but hey - it did the trick... to lighten up my dark and too formal for me bookshelf.

all it took was an old mary higgins clark book & some double sided tape. {notice it's not perfect - but i actually LOVE that about it.}

anyway - that's my latest fun project around the house - although i've been working on some sewing stuff too... which is always hit or miss for me! i will say that i sewed my first dress for myself. and i'm even wearing it! plus - i made this little pillowcase dress for my lil' miss that matched. {that she promptly 'exploded' on while we were driving to church sunday... can i just say that there is something about the way she sits in that car seat that must make it just right for her..... tmi?}

hope you're having a fantastic week!