a few favorites.

i can't believe it's already wednesday!

i've ran out of steam already this week.  i went shopping with an out of town friend yesterday morning for some baby stuff for her new little one due in may. {she's not finding out the gender. can you believe it??? i'm giving her such a hard time about it.} then i had lunch with my mom and did a bit of shopping with her too. i didn't spend a dime. don't you love 'shopping' like that? i wasn't necessarily the best steward of my time yesterday so i feel a bit behind today. my mood isn't matching the 'fullness' i feel from the wonderful and rare treats from yesterday.

not to mention the littles both have yucky noses and yucky coughs to go with it. my energy is running low today. and i'm trying so hard to limit my coffee to one cup in the morning but i just might have to pour myself another cup here in a bit.  bummed that i had to stay home from bible study today. but i felt like it was the best choice - and i'd probably have gotten paged from the nursery anyway. 

thanks for all the sweet comments on my post from friday. i'm really working on a follow up with all the little things that i've changed. i just want to be prayerful about it - because it's not about me. i seriously prayed over the changes that needed to be made. and discerning what i thought needed changing and what HE thought needed changing. 

and i believe that's the only way it's working for us. i've tried so often to have the same routine as xyz or the same cleaning 'schedule' as flylady etc. etc. etc. but like i said, i had an 'aha!' moment and started praying about what it means to be a 'housewife' for me and for my family. 

so that post will be coming. when i can really think through things.

but today, my head is foggy. maybe i'm coming down with a cold too... or fighting off a cold. who knows.

so i'll leave you with these pictures of my sweet girlie girl. she truly is a little girl after my own heart. yesterday she was walking around the house in my toms. i love it.

and here's a little bonus. 

i've discovered a few new websites and blogs lately that i just love love love.

thought i'd share. hope you enjoy. :)

under the sycamore - i do NOT know how i haven't found this blog before. i LOVE her. i love her style, and she writes for design*sponge so she has lots of diy ideas. i love her perspective on things and they're currently waiting to adopt a child from china. she has precious kids and her little girl reminds me a bit of my lil' miss. i think you'd enjoy her.

skinny taste - in my effort to eat healthy this year, a girlfriend of mine sent me this website on saturday. i changed my whole meal plan for the week. she has great recipes with the nutritional information attached. i also think she has a great variety so it's not salads all the time, etc. if you're looking for some healthy stuff, this site is for you. oh - and a lot of the recipes are pretty simple. which is great for this momma.

the wiegands - so, i don't know how i just found this blog either. casey and her hubby both went to baylor around the same time the hubbs and i did. i vaguely remember her - probably because my roomate and her were friends. :) she is a cool artist and has opened an art studio in dallas called a little artsy. i mean, talk about cool. there's something about the honesty of casey's writing that keeps me coming back. she's so real, she's beautiful and - of course - a little artsy. so i'm captivated. check her out.

have fun reading!

hooray for friday!

 

i don't think i've been so glad to see a friday in a while. 

i know we all have weeks like that.

yesterday afternoon around 4, i asked myself why i was so exhausted - afterall, it's been a pretty good week all in all. 

and i was reminded that life is heavy right now. not any heavier than anyone else's... but heavier than mine has been. ever.

and around 5 i felt the crying coming on. for no reason - just cracking under the pressure. 

but instead of crying, i made some sweet tea {because it was 82 degrees, right?} and we cleaned up the back yard so it was 'worthy' of playing in. it was nice to sit on our back porch and just enjoy the wonderful weather. i'm so looking forward to patio weather - especially since i now have a good back porch. it's basic, but large and covered. 

have you enjoyed your week? 

we've enjoyed the wonderful weather with a few trips to the park... meeting our friends that live close.

 

my week has been all about working out our routine. working out what works best for the kids. for myself. for my house... for my husband. 

i long for our house to be a safehaven for the hubbs. when he gets home, i want him to be able to take a deep breath and let his guard down. instead, i feel like in recent weeks {if not months} it's been chaos. toys everywhere. unfolded laundry. impatient momma. crying and screaming kids. unmade beds... full laundry baskets... dirty dishes. 

and we are both fried at the end of the day. can you relate?

and i was overwhelmed. that it was NOT a peaceful house. that i felt like there was no hope for a peaceful & quiet house full of two kids and a dog. 

but last week i had a revelation.

 i had gone over to a girlfriend's house who always seems like she has it together. {she would tell me - and tell you - that i'm wrong... and that she doesn't.} it's just one of those things that when you walk into her home you feel like you just want to take a deep breath and breathe it all in. {ahhhhh........} it's quiet. and clean - not in the untouchable way - but in the comfortable way. and.... peaceful. and she has two kids - albeit one is 7 and one is 2... but TWO kids. and all the toys to go with it. seriously!

and after visiting with her i always feel full. always.

and then i had to go back to my house. that just feels messy and cluttered and disorganized and dirty. i'm not talking about the 'pretty' aspect of a house... i'm talking about that feeling when you walk in the door and you're smacked in the face with all the chores that need your attention. and your kids that long for your attention. and the t.v. that was left on and is now not playing mickey mouse but playing some cheesy pre-teeny bopper show.

and there is so much ... noise.

both literally and figuratively.

so much that you feel frozen. paralyzed. like you don't make a dent in what you have to do so you don't even try.

that's where i was. where i've been. and i was tired.

so, i emailed said friend. i told her that i knew how much of a stickler she was for routine and organization and neatness... and i wanted some tips.

she sweetly - and ever so gently - emailed me back and told me to give myself some grace. that her kids were older and more self sufficient and that makes a huge difference. that routine and neatness and organization come naturally to her - it's her personality so she doesn't have to try terribly hard for it to happen.

and that's when it hit me. 

it does not come naturally to me. and i've been beating myself up about it for years. but it doesn't. it's not my personality - in fact it's my personality to be messy. and artsy fartsy. and living life to the fullest, not caring if all the toys are in the appropriate baskets. i use that part of my brain... i think scattered thoughts, i always have.

so what does that mean for me? my husband IS a neat freak. and this not coming naturally to me doesn't mean that i don't want a peaceful house that is organized. i do. but i've accepted the fact that it just might look different for me.

so i changed my perspective. and there are a few things that have rocked my world the past week by making ever so slight adjustments here and there. not radical changes... simple changes, actually. but i feel so much better. i cannot even tell you how much of a difference it has made to our life and our home. my attitude. 

ahhhhh....... take a deep breath. it's friday. take it all in.

do they look alike?

i see some resemblence... but for the most part, i think b. looks like me and lil' miss looks like her daddy. what do you think?

our ham.

our lil' miss.

she's such a ham.

she thinks she's funny. 

we think she's funny.

she's funny.

last night, i was on the phone with my mom {aka 'nana'} and i was asking her if she could say nana. she did. once. and then she said "buh buh" {translated 'bye bye' in grown up language} and she promptly walked out of the playroom.

two minutes later she comes back holding a little wooden 'matching' piece that mimi had made for b a while back - with nana's picture on it!! she handed it to me and said, "nana" and then laughed.

she never ceases to amaze me. her first word {a few weeks ago} was doggie. i didn't pick up on it until my sister came over and told me that's what she thought she was saying. and now i see that EVERY time she sees a dog it's the same thing... "dah dieeee". she calls me mama when she's whiney... other than that she points, calls me da-da and then laughs at herself. silly silly girl.

she's officially a walker. for months she had been walking - when we basically made her. and then all of a sudden last week {after we stopped asking her to} she started walking. and when she'd get somewhere she'd clap for herself. wowa. we might just have our hands full with this little girl.

today she was playing with b's scooter that we leave inside. she's not strong enough to really push it, but i told her 'no' anyways.

then - again - she leaves the room - and comes back with b's helmet and gives it to me - i'm assuming - to put on her head.

my muffin.

how could i tell her 'no'?

project life: week six.

***new to project life? check out this post here. project life is a product created by becky higgins and, i believe, helps 'non-scrappers' document life in an easy, creative & efficient way. you get to make it as elaborate or as simple as you want. that's why i love it. check out my other project life posts here.***

happy things.

did y'all have a good valentine's day yesterday?

i did. it was a happy day - despite the various temper tantrums in the morning. i think we all are a little tired in our house right now.

we had pancakes in heart shapes for breakfast. 

and a little treat from momma was waiting for them. just a little something.

b. had a valentine's day party at school. we had to bring 18 unadressed valentines for his classmates.

i saw this idea on a friend of mine's facebook page. 

i 'stole' it from her. and she said she 'stole' it from someone else. 

so i have no idea where it originally came from... but you can be sure it wasn't my idea.

it was just plain cheap cute.

a sweet & thougtful friend found this notepad at hobby lobby saturday and gave it to me. this ought to be my mantra.

and after the last few weeks, i know that this rings true in my house. 

{and my hubby knows it's true for me too... now that's scary.}

a precious box filled with valentines.

a challenging bible study that is doing wonders for my soul.

and sweet blooms from the hubbs.

these are my happy things on this wednesday.

what are yours?

campaign outings.

***disclaimer: as i wrote this post it turned into something a little more serious than i had intended for monday morning. read at your own risk!***

the campaign is heating up - although we really have no clue when the primary will be. 

originally - when we signed up for this - it was supposed to be march 3rd. and then it got pushed back to april 6th.  and now... well, now we're in no man's land. 

it could be april 17th {which is a big date already in our house}. it could be in may. or it could even be in late june. 

that's a lot of variance. right??? i keep telling the Lord that He can be done teaching me a lesson in blind faith. i get it. trust Him. every day... not seeing anything further down the road, but the day at hand. i get it, Lord. can we just move on? please???

i told the hubbs that it has to happen, right? i mean - we have to have an election before november, right??? the campaign part will be over at some point, right???

currently - i'm not getting a response. 

womp-womp.

anyway. i don't write about it a lot - but we're having - dare i say it - fun while campaigning. not every day, of course, but a lot of days. we're meeting a lot of new people & getting support from places & people that we never dreamed over. we are beyond grateful. 

when we started this - we had no idea where the votes or the money would come from but felt that the Lord would provide exactly what we needed. not what we wanted necessarily - or what WE thought we needed - but what He knew we needed.

and the Lord is faithful. always always always. isn't He?

i'm constantly amazed. it's not easy... trusting Him. it's easy to say i trust Him. it's easy to talk about it - but with my whole heart? it's not that easy... it's even scary. somehow i forget all that He has done for me. for us. 

but He is always good. even when it doesn't feel good.

so.... we have a lot of meetings. 

and last week we had a special thing. we went to an event for rick santorum. {have you been to his website? i don't talk about the presidential election much because i'm not the most educated person on all of the issues - but i'd encourage you to go read his statements on the issues. they honestly blew me away. where has this guy been the whole time???} it was freezing. and the kids went with me. and we handed out push cards to people walking up. we had amazing people that met us there and helped us - in the freezing cold. and it was fun. 

did i mention it was freezing??

 but we had a great time. it was so.... well... energizing. i didn't even get to stay to hear rick speak. but i heard he was great. there were hundreds and hundreds of people there. excited about his message. the possibility of change. 

aren't you proud to live in America? regardless of whether or not you are a conservative or moderate or liberal - aren't you proud to live in a country with the right to vote??? where we get to choose our president? our Governor? our representatives??

i think a lot of us take that right for granted.... some don't even exercise that right. 

i encourage you to get involved this year. in some way. in some form. get involved. choose an issue. make a stance. determine to make an educated choice. 

there are so many people in the world who would love for that right. and so many Americans who have died protecting that right. and spend their lives serving YOU to protect YOUR right to vote. 

be thankful for that right today.

yesterday.

 we met the hubbs at the galleria for a lunch date yesterday.

unfortunately, the campaign puts him home after the littles go 'night night' mostly. so it was nice to meet up with him for some 'play time'. {and french fries, of course.}

lil' miss squealed when she saw daddy walk up. 

it made my heart happy. i'm sure it made daddy's heart happy too.

her hair is a mess. i do not know what to do with it. there's this chunk in the back that gets ratty FAST. as in, as soon as she gets up it looks like there's something sticky in it. 

ugh.

i still think she's precious though. don't you?

the bug is our little 'jumper' right now. he jumps on and off everything. 

there's no doubt we'll end up with a broken bone this year. despite my best efforts.

happy weekend!!!