The Need to Create

Many Stay-at-home Moms miss adult interaction, the most. You know what I miss the most? Projects. I miss the time and avaialable concentration to be able to sink my teeth into a new project.

I want to "work" on something that doesn't involve dishes and laundry. And, although God is graciously working in my heart to enjoy these precious years with my babies...He has not yet taken away the desire in me to be alone, creating something that I've seen done somewhere.

So, it was rewarding to re-cover this ottoman that I found at a Garage sale. I'm not going to say I got through the process without any yelling. I'm not gonna say my husband didn't have to remind me that I want to love my children. But, I will say that the next time I will be better...more self-controlled. I know this because God is continually working on me...as I work on silly little projects.













$3 for Garage Sale Ottoman
$2.99 for Thrift Store Material
$0 for foam and batting re-used from a previous headboard project.

= $6 cost and lots of Finding Nemo watching for Gwendolyn...and the baby.

"Loving the Little Years"

I need all the help I can get on how to love my daughter and teach her about how God loves her. Our Gwendolyn is incredibly head-strong, and independent...aggressive and usually defiant. But she is also a little girl who LOVES princesses and ponies and flowers and stories that make her feel adventurous! She's the most passionate person I know, and I don't totally know what to do with that.

I am not naturally good at being imaginative...but, for Gwendolyn, it's an absolute MUST. I've even noticed how, if I get real low to the ground and make my face all interesting and talk in a hushed fashion, and explain things to her that way...she is WAY more interested in going along with what I've requested.

So, I am REALLY enjoying this short book, Loving the Little Years, by Rachel Jankovic. I love how she says, "I didn't write this book because mothering is easy for me. I wrote it because it isn't."

Take a look...

"...Imagine that then you say, "Don't do that. That is bad. Don't be a fusser. Deal with it." How did that help anyone? The child is taught that if the feeling comes over them, they have already failed. That is bad! But what m I supposed to do with it? It doens't just go away by itself. Little girls need help sorting out their emotions - not so they can wallow in them, but so they can learn to control them.
We tell our girls that the feelings are like horses - beautiful, spirited horses. But they are the riders. We tell them that God gave them this horse when they were born, and they will ride it their whole life. God also set us on a path on the top of a mountain together and told us to follow it. We can see for a long way - there are beautiful flowers, lakes, trees, and rainbows....
When our emotions act up, it is like the horse trying to jump the fence and run down into a yucky place full of spiders to get lost in the dark. A good rider knows what to do when the horse tries to bolt - you pull on the reins! Turn the horse's head! Get back on the path! We also tell our girls that God told us if we see one of them with her horse down in a mud puddle spitting at people who walk by, it is our job to haul them up, willing or unwilling, back to the path....
...First of all, the horses are not the problem. there is nothing wrong wiht the emotions...Talk to your daughters about how they might feel, and what you want to see when they do...Take a little break to say, "Hey sweetie, we are going in this store, but we aren't going to buy any toys today. If you start feeling like you want to fuss about it, what are we going to do?" Make a Plan. Use code words. Wink. Encourage. Give lots of praise when you see her overcoming little emotional temptations. .."

Letters to Friends On Stuff That Matters

My Dear Friend, Cara, and I decided to join in on this beautiful study at A Holy Experience, on loving Jesus and others with our words. Perhaps you would also enjoy this!

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Check out my latest letter to Cara, posted on her awesome Blog: A Life Downtown.

So Much to Enjoy!

I'm feeling so very blessed today...for my beautiful children, my lovely and comfortable home...for the green grass in my yard! I am thankful to the Lord for my husband's awesome job and the hard work he puts in, every single day.

She's smiling INSIDE

My Angel

This One's Just for Fun

From Her Heart to Mine...

My Dear Friend, Cara, and I decided to join in on this beautiful study at A Holy Experience, on loving Jesus and others with our words. Perhaps you would also enjoy this!

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Thank you, Cara, for thinking my very thoughts
...and writing them in a letter to me.

Hey Jenn,

Last Monday, on my way home from small group, I was coming onto the interstate at 1-19 and Valencia and as I merged onto traffic, I was playing back in my mind a phrase I heard myself say a few minutes earlier…“crappy wife”. I said, “Today was just one of those days when you realize you’re a crappy wife”, to which my friend replied, “Oh Cara, you’re not a crappy wife.”

And the reality is, I don’t think I’m really a crappy wife either. I said it in response to the fact that I had an ah-ha moment that morning where I realized that, while so many of the things I do seem so important to me in the moment, crafting, canning, sewing, knitting, reading, I have begun to realize that they serve only to gratify my sense of fitting into a version of motherhood that I aspire to based on what I see other places, but they don’t, in most cases, help ease my burden or my family’s burden at home. They don’t create a welcome home where my husband feels comfortable. They don’t allow me to spend more time with my kids. They don’t necessarily help us save money or pay off debt. So, in focusing on these things all the time, I end up actually feeling less dependable and worthwhile as a spouse and mother, and truly, making more work for both myself and Ricky.

I’m sure there is so much in that realization that I could analyze but what really struck me was how I chose to communicate it. I never actually talked about what I had discovered. I could have embraced the beautiful truths in this discovery;

1. I want to take care of my family,

2. I want to ease my own burden around the fact that there is never enough time,

3. I see the places I could improve and am willing to go there,

4. I believe I am hearing the Holy Spirit direct me as a parent and a wife.

But I didn’t. These are all great things. I should have focused on these things. Instead, I went all bad on myself and projected it out like I needed to promote the broader negative.

I think that sometimes I am so afraid of being successful or of positive growth, which I know sounds strange…but is very true, that I deflect the specific good with general negativity.

I should have said. “I realized this morning that there are some specific things I can do to begin to value Ricky more in my everyday choices. “ not “Today was just one of those days when you realize you’re a crappy wife”

Our pastor, on Sunday, was talking about simplifying the language we use to respond to situations. I would like to try to simplify how I project out what I see or hear in my head, using only truth. It is only in recognizing and embracing truth that we begin to see freedom and growth.

Whaddya think?

CARA

Costco Price Comparison List - Updated!

Check out the Updated Costco Price List at Pinching Your Pennies!

Awesome!

Trader Joe's Price List

Healthy Life Deals has a whole Trader Joe's Price List posted...So HELPFUL!

Check it out HERE.

Letters to Friends On Stuff That Matters

My Dear Friend, Cara, and I decided to join in on this beautiful study at A Holy Experience, on loving Jesus and others with our words. Perhaps you would also enjoy this!

*********

Check out my letter to Cara HERE.

Our Little Man: 6 Months!

Our Augustine!

Gwendolyn Jeanne

Dear Lord, make her your daughter. Give her eyes to see your love and a heart to hear your will. Take the Vigor and Might you've given her and let it be used to sing Your Praises.

Give her parents clear minds to lead her into your arms. Amen.

Just before 8 o'clock in the evening. The babies have been put to sleep, and I'm pretty sure so have the many beautiful plans I had to accomplish...well...much of anything else.

I tell myself, "That's okay." And, today, I believe it.

That thick, leather-bound book beckons to me from my bedroom...and tonight, I'm going to pick it up. I long to be swept away by pure, un-apologetic TRUTH...rich and beautiful. And I long for it to truly define me.

God's Love in Words From a Friend

My Dear Friend, Cara, and I decided to join in on this beautiful study at A Holy Experience, on loving Jesus and others with our words. Perhaps you would also enjoy this!

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Jenn,

How do you wrestle home words? How do you wrap all your thoughts and put them in a box with a bow and a pretty package?

My words are sometimes so empty, but I want them to be full. They are sometimes so flat when I want them to be buoyant. I want them to bring life but they bring death. I want them to hold on but they push away.

And in these moments of missing the mark, I am reminded that my words don’t always have to come out as quickly as they do. They don’t have to flow from spontaneity…They could flow from careful consideration of the other person. They could fight for growth instead of my rights. They could bring change in loving truth, rather than pain in quick wit. It is possible to slow down and see the other side, the other person on that side.

And when words fail, we can be silent. For, in the silence, God speaks. And sometimes, His words through our silent presence are the perfect response.

God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

…

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.

In Him,

CARA

It's February...

Well, Tax Season is upon us. In years to come (and in my dreams), I hope to be jetting off to visit my dear friends around the country, during Bic's very busy work season. For now, the kids and I are staying busy visiting our local Costco and eating all the samples.

Aren't they way too cute?! Gwendolyn, OF COURSE, was in a bad mood.

What Does Conversation With YOURself Look Like?

In my bible Study, we are reading through Living the Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney.

Chapter 2 was a real eye-opener for me. Mahaney talks about the "Voice of our feelings."

- "on a daily basis we are faced with two simple choices. We can either listen to ourselves and our constantly changing feelings about our circumstances, or we can talk to ourselves about the unchanging truth of who God is and what He's accomplished for us at the cross through His Son Jesus."

After a computer crass that cost him all his notes for an important sermon, he expresses how he began listening to himself.

- "Almost immediately, the voice of my own feelings started to speak. 'How could God allow this? Why is this happening? ...Oh, great - now you're sinning! You're a pastor? You're going to try and preach to others after that pitiful display of anger? How can you ask God to help you prepare now? This stinks. Look at what you've done!'"

But THIS is what happened when Mahaney began talking to himself.

"Your sin of anger has been atoned for by Another. Jesus died for that sin. Jesus, the One who passed every test, who was tempted in every way but never sinned. He stood in your place and He was punished in your place. God has forgiven you and he's going to help you prepare and preach this message - not because you're sinless but because He is merciful!"

What does the voice of your feelings say to you, on a daily basis? Are you listening?

That Figures...

I Stayed up late last night...playing on the computer, messing with my pictures without any interruptions.

"I'm sure it will be okay," I thought. "I mean, how early are they really going to get up?"

- 6:15am...both of them.

I have two things to say about this:

1. It's a dang good thing that they are so cute.

&
2. Praise the Lord for television.

Gwendolyn The Magnificent

My Blessings are Truly Abundant!

Top Ten Things I Never Imagined Doing While Getting Over the Flu

1. Scrubbing Rotten Milk out of Sippy-cups
   
2. Having my stomach pummeled by 30lbs of laughing sticky-ness
3. Shopping for wooden food in my living room
4. Blowing the noses of one duck and one frog
5. Preparing multiple tiny meals which all receive the "DON'T WANT IT!" response
6. Latin Dancing to the ending credits of Toy Story 3
7. Cooking and eating invisible eggs, chicken and pasta, at a plastic stove with little pots
8. Wardrobe changes and video shooting with a pretty lady
9. Cleaning Toddler poop off the baby swing
10. Retrieving a person walking on my dining table, swinging the iron chandelier
    

I hear that whole laying in bed, watching grown-up Television or sleeping the day away Thing is totally over-rated.