My focus

Somehow, I seem to have let technology take top priority.  Not on purpose, of course.  But lately I've realized that I'm on my phone way too much.  Not even talking to friends...just looking at facebook and playing games.  When my kids talk to me, I glance up at them and then my eyes fall right back down to that tiny screen.  It truly hurts my heart that they might think that little phone is more important than them.  That's not true at all!!  But how do they know?  We've all heard that actions speak louder than words.

My children are my everything.  I want them to know, without a doubt, that their momma loved them with every fiber of her being.  I want to do more than just tell them...I want to *show* them.  I've purposed to start focusing on them.  To really listen when they talk.  To look into their eyes.  To be present when we're together.  These distractions are just that...distractions! 

We went to the zoo today.  It was a beautiful day.  The weather was prefect and the animals were adorable.  I took the time to talk with my kids and to be in awe of God's creation.  I enjoyed what they enjoyed.  We rode the carousel and the train.  We watched the sea lions preform a cute show.  The baby elephants were awesome--they were wrestling and sitting on each other!

I truly enjoyed my children today.  I am blessed to be their momma and I plan on taking that responsibility very seriously!

Oh, I can't forget Cade's funny comment today.  He overheard a man speaking Spanish to his little girl so Cade said, "hola!"  The man smiled and asked Cade if he speaks Spanish.  Cade then said, "Yes, and I speak French, too!"  As far as I know, Cade doesn't speak a lick of French!  It was hilarious!  (I wish I had more pictures of Cade to share.  He detests having his picture taken so they're few and far between.)

New Book to Read

A few months ago, I started a book club.  There were a few other moms in my MOPS group that loved to read so I thought it would be fun to get together once a month and talk books.  It has been a blast!  There are about 10 of us in the group, with typically 6-7 of us attending each month.  We all bring food and we usually talk about the book for about 10 minutes or so.  Then we talk about everything else under the sun!  That tends to happen when you get a group of ladies together!

So far we've read These is My Words by Nancy Turner, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, Blame by Michelle Huneven, Catching Fireflies by Charles Martin, Cloud Atlas: a Novel by David Mitchell, and now we're on The Red Tent by Anita Diamant.

I'm really excited to start reading it this afternoon.  I love getting lost in a good book.  Love, I say!

I'm so excited--Mosaic Reviews

I've been a terrible blogger...only 2 posts in the past 2 years?  Yikes!  I'm back, though.  And I'm super excited to be joining the Mosaic Reviews team!!  I'm looking forward to reviewing educational items with the kids and meeting new vendors and new friends.

Sooo...that means I better get this blog going again.  Tomorrow night I'm having an Usborne Books show and a hot chocolate bar so hopefully I'll get around to posting about that this weekend.  And my kids keep me rolling with the funny stuff they say and do so I'll be posting about that, of course!

Yay for blogging--I've missed it!

Not Even Missing a Beat

Sooo...I'm just gonna jump back in here, not missing a beat, and kind of ignore that year long hiatus that I took! ;-)  Last year was crazy.  And good.  And sad.  BUT, it's 2012.  It's a new beginning of sorts, and I seriously *love* fresh starts!

There's no way I'd be able to summarize last year in just a paragraph so I'm starting with the here and now.  Like this adorable little bit:  Camden, who is now 2 1/2 (yikes!), was standing in the chair at the kitchen table.  We have a pub height table so the chairs are pretty high up.  For the billionth time, I told her to sit down and in true 2 year old fashion, she said, "no!"  Oh. my. goodness, kid!  Anyway, I told her that she had a choice: she could sit down or she could have a spanking.  Know what her answer was?  "Little spanking!"  I don't think so, Miss Priss!  When I spank, I spank to get your attention...no "little" spanks!  Ha ha!  Good thing she's so darn adorable.

Oh, I have so much more to write about.  I'm afraid if I write it all now, I'll have nothing left to say later!  I'm going to take my time, and post over the next few days.  I'm so glad to be back, yall!

Reflections and a New {hopefully sticking} Focus

So every few months I get all kinds of bloggin' crazy. I'm going along nicely, blogging my little heart out, then BOOM! I give in to insane amounts of {self-induced} pressure and I disappear. It's my own fault, yall. I love reading blogs, seriously love it, and I admire so many women who write these blogs. Admire them, as in...dang, she is uber talented! Or dang, that girl's got it all together. Or man, I only wish I could parent/craft/homeschool/worship/write/clean/look/cook/decorate/etc. as good as her. It's pathetic but I'll be darned if I don't fall prey to it every time.

So, here's my new focus: I'm vowing to be the best ME that I can possibly be. I want to live with intention. No more of this wishing I could be something--or someONE--else. And this "living with intention" will include blogging. As I have time. As I see fit. For me. And I will *not* compare myself to all you awesome ladies out there. I'll try not to, anyway! ;)

The best ME includes living for Jesus, loving on my husband and kids, keeping my home, making nourishing meals/choices for my family, crafts!!!, reading books, homeschooling, working on my photography, making friends, and figuring out a less disgusting way of cleaning out the litter box!!!

Here's to 2011! It's going to be a GREAT year!

And now for a picture, cause you know you can't post without one ;)


{Loving those saggy, baggy, mismatched pajamas!!}

My Creative Mess (and Spongebob!)

I have a crafting problem. I start a billion projects and about halfway through I decide I'm not in the mood to complete them cause there's something else I'd rather be working on. Yeah, I think it may be crafty ADD. I truly enjoy creating. I also enjoy (LOVE) looking at all my pretty supplies! What I don't enjoy, however, is the mess that comes along with it. Case in point:



(Yes, my walls are orange. No, I don't particularly like them. We're renting and we'll be out of here in less than two years. No way I'm painting...saving that joy for my next house!)

It's a disaster but I'm getting stuff done, slowly but surely. Here are a couple of things I've finished recently and a few I'm working on:

Twine balls. Love these things! Super simple to make but a little time consuming. All you need is a styrofoam ball, twine (from Target dollar spot) and lots of glue sticks. You just wrap the twine around the ball and glue every couple of inches. I work on these On Sunday nights while watching True Blood with my husband.


These $2 knee socks from Target will soon be baby legs for my girl. She's 13 months and the stinker still isn't walking! She takes steps here and there but she finds it much faster to crawl. So adorable to hear the splat splat of her little hands as she takes off crawling down the hall!


Ohhhh...my wooden welcome! I really like the way this turned out. My kids and I were taking a walk and I saw that someone was throwing out a bunch of wood scraps. I, of course, picked some up and brought it home. I spray painted it off white (it didn't give complete coverage which is great--adds to the weathered look) and then glued on the wooden "welcome" word (also spray painted) that Ibought for $1.99 at JoAnns. Quick, easy, and looks fantastic on the console table in my entry.


A fun and fluffy coffee filter wreath hanging above the console table in the entryway. Love those little Command hooks...just perfect for something like this.


And last of all, I have to brag on my boy. He is such an artist...I'm really amazed by his talent. Seriously. He's 8. Look at this picture of Spongebob he drew on a little whiteboard. (He wasn't looking at a picture and copying it--he just drew this out of the blue.)

The boy has talent, right?!


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I *heart* my precious family! :)

*Thanks to www.nicoledenae.com