cookies, crafts, and a very Merry Christmas!

We've made some crafts! The kids got full control of the color scheme, and I'm cool with that. We have all kinds of paper chains & lively decorations going on now. I snapped a few photos, but mostly I just wanted to be in the moment. I could fully live it or make a great blog post about it, and I chose the former. I know some moms can do both, but not me. Not right now.

Today we're making peppermint bark & cookies for our neighbors. Tomorrow, salt dough wreath ornaments. My sissy and her girls are joining in some of our fun, too, which makes it seem extra Christmas-y & special.

I agree with Ashley. Among other things, I want to give my children the gift of my presence. Being 100% there. I'm shutting down the blog until after the New Year. There's too much to soak in, to make & enjoy together, and I don't want to miss it!

On the house front, we're going to try to order a sink & a few other things for the children's bathroom tonight. I may wait to post again until we have the bathroom finished. It'd be kind of fun to jump back in with a reveal, don't you think :)

So, stay tuned, y'all. We will be back. But, we're laying low blogwise for a bit. Check back in with us from time to time in January, though. We'll see what we have to share with you all! Until then...

MERRY CHRISTMAS and Happy New Year, too!!!!!

p.s. I wanted to share this clip with you all. It's John Piper explaining why Christmas, or really the birth of Jesus Christ, was a preparation for the cross of Christ. God became flesh so that He could offer that flesh as a perfect sacrifice on the cross, to make a sinful people His own. It's a strange message to modern ears, a hard message in many ways. We don't naturally want to hear that the little baby in the manger came, mainly, to humble Himself, suffer, and die. But it's also a joyful message, because through that dying love, Christ redeemed a people to Himself and made us His own. He adopted believers as His beloved! He came to die, so great was His love. That God Almightly loves me - unworthy me! - is all the cause for rejoicing in the world. Amen and Amen. Merry Christmas.

the world's worst blogger and water 4 christmas

It's me.

All me.

I am the world's worst blogger. I didn't post a single stinkin' pic of our so-called Christmas Craft Week. I stink at this.

Just wanted to be clear on that.

Now, can I tell you about something that actually is guaranteed? water4christmas on Etsy. I mentioned it earlier this month. It's a joint effort from dozens of crafters nationwide, all pooling together their crafting efforts to raise money for fresh water for an African village. The organization is legit, and the shop has already raised a ton of money for wells! SweetP and I made a few contributions to post, and all but one of our items has already sold. SweetP's handmade felt nativity family sold in the first few hours :)

How cute is that?

And I sewed up some quick paper chains. Three of the listings sold within the first day or two, but I still have one more listing up for grabs. You can see it here.

Maybe you'd like to buy it? You know, in case you didn't get around to your Christmas Craft Week, either. Or maybe not, but you might find something else in the water4christmas shop that would be just your thing. You get a cute little crafty gift, and a village gets water. What could be better? :)

Are y'all taking bets yet on whether or not I'll get even one Christmas Craft made with my kids before this holiday season is all said and done? Hope not. I'd hate to encourage your gambling ways.

Have a happy Monday :)

Christmas Color Scheme 2010

Hey, all!

By now you all know how much I love my neutrals. Especially white. This directly translates to a love of white, silver, and gold Christmas decor. I just love images like these...

{Domino}

{Country Living}

{Martha Stewart}

Sam and I both love the quiet elegance of a simple, serene color scheme with just a tiny bit of bright color. The children, on the other hand, of course want a colorful, glittery, bright, over-the-top

Christmas House!

And, really, Sam and I do like to see them smiling and excited, so I guess we want their option more than our own:)

I'm attempting to take some of their ideas and mix in some of Mama and Daddy's style to get a result that everyone loves. A home that feels cozy and full of family, love, grace, and happiness without looking like the Grizzwold's. Sam is out of town all week for work, so I thought it might be a good week for extra crafting just to keep everyone's spirits up and to fill some of the long evening hours until he comes home. Next week, Monday through Friday, we're going to try to add some new handmade (or at least partially handmade) Christmas decor to our home each day. ANd we'll probably have lots of sugary, fattening goodies while we craft, too. Time to get reacquainted with the treadmill.

Here's the happy, cheerful, but still slightly guided and cohesive inspiration board.

1. Michael Miller "Ta Dot" 2. image via kristenlaird.com 3. goodhousekeeping.com 4. honeypiedesign on Etsy 5. pamwares on Etsy 6. divinagioielli on Esty 7. Ribbon Unlimited on Etsy

Doesn't that sound like FUN? I'll try to post what we come up with each day :) If you all are making festive things for your holiday season, please leave a link in the comments and we'll come see what you're up to, too!

P.S. Well, my girls have informed me that turquoise has no place in Christmas decor. And especially not pink and red with turquoise. Oh, well. They also told me that there must be red and green together. I was going to try not to do the traditional combination thing. Oh, well. This is what I get for asking their opinions.

P.S.S. Mom, it came late this afternoon! It's lovely. I immediately thought of a wildflower that grows in Door County. Trillium. Grandma Lockwood loved them. Thank you :)

I happened to be wearing my black turtleneck sweater with another necklace today. I just took that necklace off and put yours on after I opened it :) I'm still wearing it now. It's perfect. Love you :)

ETC - almost forgot!

Every once in a while I get into reading some random blog that someone else recommends and, if it's a good one, reading through the entire archives in like three hours. Sam was working from home late one night a few weeks back, and I was wrapped up with one of those blogs - a good one. Emily Anderson. Y'all have probably already been reading her for years, but she's new to me. She's fun to read.

Emily has this great idea called "Embrace the Camera". ETC encourages moms to get out from behind the camera and actually get into the photos with their children. I loved the idea, and I'm totally needing encouragement to get in the shots. It's not that I've been purposefully avoiding it - it just takes some effort, and it's easy to forget.

Anyway, I messed around with my self-timer the other day when Little Dude was the last one wrapping up lunch. (He's often the last one wrapping up lunch.) The photos were all blurry and wonky, but this one turned out sort of nice in a still slightly wonky way. Or maybe we'll call it "artsy" instead. Definitely room for improvement, but I'll take what I can get. He's leaning in for a kiss, by the way. So, here's my first ETC :)

Water for Christmas

This is Meg's brainchild. She and a handful of blogging friends are getting this thing up and running. It's pretty neat to be a part of it.






The Etsy shop opens on Monday, December 5th. I'll give you a link up then. Maybe there's something you can cross off your Christmas shopping list while contributing to Water Week at the same time?

There's sure to be some prettiness.

happy thanksgiving!

Hey, everyone! We're heading out to Door County again for a little turkey and family time. The laptop will not be making the trip ;) Hope you all have a wonderfully wonderful holiday weekend. See you soon.

Happy Thanksgiving!

displaying the children's art

Our kids - all four of them (boy included) - have an ongoing love affair with paper. They write. They draw. They cut. Paper has been an intimate part of my everyday life since SweetP was just starting to scribble. And it looks like it's here to stay. The negative side of this paper-oriented subculture is that there are constantly little bits and growing piles scattered all over the house. Try as I might to harness it all, the paper wins every time. The positive side is that I will have plenty of momentos from our children's younger years to cherish when they fly the nest.
Many of my favorite drawings get displayed for a time on the refrigerator and then carefully put away in my special 3-ring binder. Others that are some of the children's favorite get stored in simple, white paper-sized boxes from IKEA. When the boxes get too full, we start to get rid of a few things, always holding on to those that are the most prized (no one is allowed to toss drawings, paintings, cards, poems, etc. without Mama's okay, though). Sometimes I rescue a discarded lovely and put it in my folder instead of letting them pitch it.
The refrigerator has been fine here, but it's not really positioned in a place where the artwork is showcased. And, honestly, creations x four = a very packed fridge front. Sometimes the papers get to me a bit when all I want to get is the milk and, instead, I'm bombarded with watercolored tulips. So, I've been thinking up some way of displaying the children's art in the kitchen eating area. We eat all of our meals there, and the space has been needing something more personal anyway.


I tossed around a few thoughts, and felt very original and creative when I decided to go with clipboards on the wall. However, then I looked through Ashley Ann's archives to get a good look at her boys' bunkbeds and saw the walls in their room. Not so original of me after all. Guess it's more like forgetfulness.

But, I'm glad that at least my subconscious remembered the clipboard idea. And I'm glad I wanted to see her boys' beds because now I can give her props. I was apparently inspired by her clipboards. I added sticky felt pads to the back so my wall wouldn't get all scratched up by clipboards swinging to and fro as they are wont to do when in a high-traffic area like our eating nook.

I was bothered by the "Office Depot" insignia (did I spell that correctly?) on the clip part of the boards. It just somehow seemed dorky to me to leave them that way. I wandered through Office Depot looking for a suitable way to mask the words, and even asked an employee about label options. Tip: if you're going to cover up "Office Depot" on any of your Office Depot merchandise because you don't care for the way it looks and you're asking a sales person for assistance with that project, choose your wording very carefully. Who knew Office Depot peeps had such an allegiance to their logo? I did not mean to offend. Honest.
I came up empty-handed at the OD, but I went home and punched out some textured scrapbook paper. Maybe I could just hang a tag over the clip and the words would be hidden (?).

Or not. The tag thingy hung over too far. Words still clearly visible. Now, this is not a do or die part of the project. Really - I could have just left them as is. Ashley Ann did, and she certainly doesn't do much in the way of dorky decor. Her house is Inspiration Central. She also seems really cool to hang around with, which I like. Anyway, I could've left things well enough alone. But, I figured if there was an easy way to personalize them a bit, why not?

Back to the scrap supplies. Punched out six holes, used six scrap stickers and good ol' Elmers Glue.

I think I like 'em!

Not sure about the string. I had it on at first, but then I took it off. All together, that many bows looked a little too crafty/handmade to work with the rest of the kitchen. {maybe}

Here they are sans string and all in place :)





So, there's that! Thanks to hubby for the leveling and nailing to get them into a nice arrangement. Now, off to work some more. It's a painting day :)

November Begins

We have some house-related things in the works, we really do, and progress posts are coming soon. Before we get to those, though, we have a few more "family" posts to share.

This afternoon, I just wanted to post a few photos from our first week of November. Nothing earth-shattering. Just Monday through Friday of our week. It's been fun trying to capture more photos of our everyday. Moments that aren't usually the ones I'd think to document. I may be starting to sound like a (sappy) broken record, but you know the time invested in these everyday things makes this house *home* far more than the chairs we're painting ever could. Our days have been blessed far beyond what we could ask for, and the physical and mental rest from house projects has been very good for us. We're gearing back up, don't worry. We know we can't take too long off from this house business, but the time off has been sweet.

Here's a little everyday...















Have a great Monday night!

Punkin's Daddy Date (age 6)

I know. No home improvement.

Again.




But, these were just too sweet to keep to myself :)



They just left in Sam's car (a big treat for the kids) about half an hour ago.

So fun.

randomness

Hey, guys :)

I'm out of practice these days with writing blog posts, I guess. I sat down in front of my computer and just stared at it. I typed a few post titles, deleted them, tried again. Hmm. Is this blogger's block? So, I just decided to bring you up to speed on some serious randomness instead and type whatever pops into my head.

First up, sorry it's been so crazy long since I've posted! Our modem went kaput about a month ago and, when Sam returned from Best Buy with a brand new one, we couldn't get my laptop working with it for some reason. For two weeks Sam putzed around with it, trying to get the thing going, but it just wouldn't go online with the new modem. Now, I should tell you my laptop was a sorry little thing. S-L-O-W and more than slightly annoying at times. So, Sam wasn't really too sad when he decided that it was time to just get a new laptop for me. By the time we bought one and I (who am technologically challenged - I just learned how to text about 2 months ago - what a goober) finally learned how to use the thing, several weeks had gone by. No posts. Sorry, guys. The time actually flew, and I'm surprised it's been as long as it has. But, here I am. Posting :)



And here's my new computer. I'm writing this post on it, and I'm planning for photos. However, I don't know how to add photos on this computer just yet. So, I have to wait until tonight when Sam can show me. Then I'll add the photos.

It's much faster. Thank you, Sam :)



Did you know I was a soccer mom for the first time ever this fall? Yup. And, also for the first time ever, I was introduced to someone as "Jacci, the coach's wife".



And did you know I now have a six year old daughter?





Or that you can sew little circles of scrapbook paper into a super-happy garland? You just feed them through, one after the other and a few stitches in between make the thread chain. So cute.



The party was two weeks ago, and I still have the garlands up.



Did you know that you can prime over just a section of a wall and then roll over the whole thing with paint and the primed part won't show lighter? And that the primer will successfully cover over the crayon that necessitated such a use of your Saturday afternoon in the first place?

Did you know that if you sit down to type a blog post in the middle of the day, your children will assume that means they don't have to start their Latin and they can just bunk their math work?

Excuse me for a moment...

Okay, a few more.

Did you know that bathrooms almost never, really almost never, clean themselves. I know! So weird.

Or that homes do not renovate themselves as you go about living life? As one very sensitive commenter noted when he/she submitted the following uplifting sentiment: "Do you actually ever do any home improvements any more?"

Sigh.

But on that note, did you know that you can make a home feel more homey by loving people in it? Even if the hallway trim is still not painted.

Even if one entire room is still overtaken by the round saw.

Even if the one project you chose to work on last month flopped and left you with this to stare at for weeks.




And your dining room chairs have been replaced by these for the past month.





It can still feel more homey. There can still be contentment and joy. A happy home doesn't have to be a picture perfect home.

Good thing :)

She's Alive!

I'm here. I'm well. We're all well. And now, after several weeks without internet connectivity, we're online! :) I have a post in the hopper. I just need to figure out how to download photos on my new 'puter. Thanks for staying with me!

True Woman: Indy 2010

this is where i went

to be taught

to grow

to stand.

because this is what i believe

because This is Who I worship, adore, and belong to.

"What is the ultimate meaning of true womanhood? It's this: True womanhood is a distinctive calling of God to display the glory of His Son in ways that would not be displayed if there were no womanhood. Say it again. It's a distinctive calling. True womanhood is a distinctive calling of God to display the glory of God, the glory of His Son in ways that would not be displayed if there were no womanhood. "

- Pastor John Piper

http://www.truewoman.com/

all photos are property of www.truewoman.com