Gratefulness

Joplin, MO has been weighing heavy on my

heart and mind this week.

My In-Laws live there and what they've told me over the phone

seems like a movie.

How can that be real?

My Sister-In-Law didn't see it coming.

I don't think many did.

She and her family were in Wal-Mart shopping one minute

and the next minute there was daylight, wind, and rain in her face.

I saw a picture of the Wal-Mart.

The next time I talked to her I told her I loved her.  

 Here in St. Charles we've been having crazy weather as well but no tornado sirens until today.

Mainly just really blustery, warm afternoons.

Like, Piglet blustery.

The kind where you can feel the energy in the air.

 About an hour before a storm the other afternoon, Matt, Griffin, and I went outside.

I layed in the grass for the first time since I was little.

I watched the clouds.

I watched Griffin run and run with the wind in his hair.

Matt spun Griffin in circles.

So grateful for our home and just being together.

It was a special hour.

So free.

So full of laughter.

So full of love.

I think we can have more of those times if we just played more.

Not worry about shooting the wolf closest to the door.

Not solving our and every one else's problems.

Just break out of the daily routine.

For an hour.

And just run and spin.

And watch the clouds.



Words To Live By

If today was awesome...
HIGH FIVE!
If today could've been better...
TOMORROW IS A NEW DAY!

Happy Monday!

Wordless Wednesday - Hopscotch, Chalk Dust, Word To Yo Muthah

Happy Wednesday!

Mother's Day, Placemats, and Time

I had a good Mother's Day.

Matt let me sleep in.
Griffin told me I could sleep in by running into my room first thing, jumping up and down on the bed

next to me and yelling, "Happy Muvuhs Day, Mommy! You close eyes!".

It was a rambunctious but good start to my day.

I wound up sleeping for another 3 hours after that.

Nice.

 I also had time to make these placemats.

I love them!

I fell in love with this fabric that I got at Patches on Main Street.

I immediately knew I wanted to make placemats with it.

I made a simple 3 layer placemat with two pieces of fabric and a bath towel sandwiched in between.

I just sewed it all together along a binding strip.

I'm not that great with a sewing machine so the seams aren't perfect but it gets the job done.

 He picked "Cat in Hat" as the mat he wanted to use first.

It was a good day.

Nothing special or out of the ordinary.

But so special.

I just wanted some time and I got it.

Time to sleep in.

Time to make the placemats.

Time to do a blog post.

Time to edit pictures.

Just some quiet time.

I think I need more of that.

It makes me a better Mommy.

Happy Monday!

****I am linking up to Life Made Lovely Monday.

I love Heather's blog.

Check it out!****

Happy Mother's Day weekend!

A very happy Mother's Day weekend to all you mothers out there!

The first year Matt and I were married, he made a "Step-Mother's Day" card for me.

He read an article about Step-Mothers being the unsung heroes.

He taped it to the card and embellished all around it with hearts and things.

It was so sweet.

This year I told him what I wanted.

We aren't big on getting gifts for each other but

I wanted a Lisa Leonard necklace.

I love Lisa's work.

Love love love.

 And I luuuuuuurve my necklace!

Isn't the packaging great?

So simple.

Colorful.

 There it is.

Perfect. And a pearl.

So simple and beautiful.

I forgot to take a picture of the back.

There's a little heart soldered on the bottom of the pendant with "xo" stamped on it.

That's one happy Mommy.

Not the best picture of me but hey...

I love my necklace.

I love my life with my family more.

I'm one lucky gal.

:)

Happy Saturday!

Wordless Wednesday - 'Ol Blue Eyes

Happy Wednesday!

Comparison, Ramblings, and Swagger

Comparison is the thief of Joy.

I read that awhile ago and boy has it been on my mind.

I love the blogs that I'm dedicated to reading.

I love the women who write them.

Like her & her & her.

I read their words and they fill me up. I love that.

I love the things I learn from these blogs.

From new recipes to thoughts on parenting to creative projects to internal challenges.

But I also hate how I compare myself.

My little house.

My lack of tons of children running through the house.

Not being a young mom.

Etc.

You get the picture.

When it really started to bother me I thought maybe I shouldn't follow so closely.

But really I just want to teach myself NOT to feel this way.

My life as it is right now is nowhere near what I thought it would be.

But who's is?

 Don't get me wrong now.

There is a great and powerful force of joy and love in my life.

I'm grateful for what I DO have.

Every bit of it.

 I am struggling with this blog at times.

I would love for this blog to be a vehicle to give back to people.

Giveaways, Linkys, creative people meeting other creative people.

But here comes the comparison again.

Who wants to read the ramblings of me?

I only have two children.

Only one lives with me.

I lead a very quiet little life.

I work too much.

 Each week - several times a week - we go for a walk with G and pick out rocks.

Each week we raise the level of the lakes and canals at our house with these rocks.

We watch movies, try to get G to eat something other than carbs, do crafts, & bake.

Who wants to read about that?

The blogs that I love to read have houses FULL of children.

Chaos.

I would love that.

 But I'm going to press on.

I used to journal.

I don't anymore.

This has become my journal of sorts.

I've decided to create an album of this blog every year.

Did you know you can do that?

You can.

Go here to find out.

I want a reminder of the little moments.

I know our life won't be like this forever.

And how easily we forget from year to year.

But I want to remember.

And when we finally DO have more kids, I want to laugh at myself.

I want to reread this post and laugh and laugh about how I once wanted to be surrounded by chaos.

:)

 I'm also going to be a bit more open.

Like using names.

Griffin, Matt, Rachael.

There. Names. For those of you who don't know.

We've been working on skipping.

I'm proud of him!

He's got his right side down pat. The left side just sort of shuffles along.

But hey. He's got swagger to cover it.

I also gave him a hair cut.

See? Exciting stuff going on here.

Happy Monday!