I think it's time

I am so excited for the weekend! It's supposed to to stay sunny and you know me and the sun. I love it! I'm so happy to spend time with my family and not have to go anywhere. The end of the year rush is really getting to me. My oldest only has one more week of school and the middle two are done the following week. We are almost there!

So I think it's finally time...*deep breath* I think I am ready to take my little guy in for a hair cut. Maybe even this weekend. If you know me IRL then you know I have been putting it off for a long time. He is my last baby. Sadly, as hard as I try I can't get him to stop growing. Of course he really doesn't do much of what I say. I think I can handle a little trim. His hair is getting a little too wild. Especially after a long day of outdoor play.

Lastly, I know someone knows the name of this flower...(Melinda?) I need to get an encyclopedia of plants. I love going to Trader Joe's and getting flowers. I really need to keep up on having fresh flowers in the house. They make me smile. I love looking out the window at the daisies I planted. The ones that are left. (My baby helps himself to them.)

There's been some anxiety going around our house. These are anxious times. Sometimes I don't even know why I'm feeling it. I came across this verse:

When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul. Psalm 94:18-19

and

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13

I would be nothing with Jesus. He is everything to me. :) Wow. I know he'll give me the strength to push through these few busy weeks, and then push through summer. I'm not sure how I'm going to keep the kiddies busy.

I will have to do a post soon to show off my goodies. No not another purse. ;)

Have a lovely weekend!

xo

All grown up

Thank you all so much for your prayers! My talk with my dad went so well I know it was the Lord. I was so worried that our talk would put him on the defensive (I had a few things to talk to him about) but it didn't.

I had a conversation with one of my aunts when I first got back from Hawaii that I was surprised at how my dad seemed to listen to me more. I guess it's because of the situation, and now I am grown up with a family of my own. :) I don't know but it's neat to be able to have adult conversations with my dad. My dad and I haven't had many in depth conversations. I guess because I was so much closer to my mom.

And my sister is fine. Just some social skills we all need to learn. :) This pic of my dad, sis and I is from the Marriot Waiohai Beach Club in Poipu, Kauai. This was our second time staying here and we love it. It's the only hotel I've stayed at in Kauai (we stayed with family when I was a kid) and I'm hoping to stay there if we (me and hubs and the kiddies) make it back next year.

Enjoy the sun! We've been having such great weather here in the northwest. Love it!

xo

The sun changes everything

pic from hawaiisunshine.org

Waking up to sunshine is so good for my soul. Today is a new day! And we have nothing but fun planned.

Yesterday was so topsy turvy. I got to spend a couple hours with no kids. Yeah! And then got a message from a concerned parent about my little sister. We couldn't touch base right away so I wandered around Costco worrying about what she'd done wrong. I had so many mixed emotions about having to deal with it at all. Don't I have enough on my plate, Lord? and It's not fair! I felt like a little kid throwing a fit. :) I love that He loves me regardless. I actually feel silly now looking back, thinking of all the energy I spent stressing about something I really have no control over. God is the only one truly in control and He'll give me whatever I need to get through whatever situation I'm in. :)

When I did finally get to talk to the parent the conversation wasn't as terrible as I thought it would be. Yes, I needed to talk to my sister about some things. No it wasn't the end of the world. But it reminded me of the new position I'm in. My dad's schedule has switched at work and now he's not as easy to get a hold of, plus he's not a woman. Sigh. So part of my weekend plans include filling in my dad on what's going on and such. But not today!

Today is a play day! Today is a not worry about tomorrow day!

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Matthew 6:34

Isn't that so true!

I bought these daisies on my Costco trip. I love color. The pot in the background is from a Mother's Day present my mom gave me years ago. She and my sister planted flowers in it. It was sweet. It's been in the garage for a very long time waiting. Finally got around to putting something in it again. It felt good. The other pot is from Costco. I got that a couple months ago with some other flowers in it. They didn't last very long so it gets new life too. :)

I hope you all get to enjoy the long weekend!

xo

P.S. If you think of me, will you pray for wisdom? I really need wisdom on what words to say when I talk with my dad. Thanks!

My name is Julie...

...and I'm a purse-aholic. ;) Not really. I just like them a lot. For Mother's Day my hubby did a good job and got me the purse I talked about here. It is such a cute purse but tiny. Every time I would think about using it just didn't work. I need room in my purse. I have 4 kids. I did get a little break today to run a couple errands. I needed to pick up some stuff I had for the kids from good old Nordy's (They're having their half yearly sale) and decided to take a peek in the purse department. I found this...

pic from ElaineTurner.com

Isn't it cute! You can't tell from the pic but it's pretty roomy. I love it and will get so much more use out of it than the other bag. So I exchanged the other purse for this one and the one below.

pic from nordstrom.com

So instead of one tiny purse, I have two. (The pink one is a small size but I'm pretty sure I can fit a diaper and wipes. That's my purse requirement.) Now my collection is complete. ;)

xo

our weekend fun

It was so nice to have sun this weekend! We had some friends and family over for an impromptu bbq. I haven't seen some of them since last summer (my hubby gets to work with some of them so he sees them all the time). Everyone's kids have grown so much! Only Tosh (the dog) has stayed the same. :)

Sunday after church we went down to uvillage which my husband said is much more enjoyable to shop at than our local mall. We decided because it's outdoors. He lasted much longer than I anticipated. I haven't been there on a weekend in years but it was for a good cause. They were selling discount cards that you could use for the weekend. The money collected from the sales of the cards went to benefit women's cancer research at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Some of the stores even donated a percentage of their profits for the weekend. I enjoy shopping in general, even more when it's for a good cause. For me shopping is easier than this. Looks like they cancelled having it in WA this year so maybe that'll be my excuse. Someday I'd like to give it a try.

Too take advantage of the last bits of the sun we had a little picnic in the backyard and Johnny hosed down the kids. Well just the girls, the boys weren't really sure about it. Dad is so much more fun than mom. ;) I can't wait for sunny summer days! Hopefully they're just around the corner.

And I almost forgot to mention my little sister got baptized Sunday morning (first service). Definitely an exciting and bittersweet moment.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

xo

Changing my focus

Hello my friends! I can't believe it's already Friday. Finally! :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day. I did. God really blessed me with his grace. It wasn't the miserable day I'd worried it would be. My oldest daughter planned breakfast in bed for me (she made a little list of everything and gave it to her dad, so cute!). She is so naturally thoughtful. I loved the little handmade gifts the kids made for me in their classes. Aren't those the best?

We spent a little time in our front yard planting some new flowers. I worked on putting this flower pot together. I know it's not the traditional Mother's Day activity, but I really enjoyed it. My mom loved gardening. It's one of the things I wish I would have gotten to do with her now that it's starting to interest me more.

Wednesday was so rough. I guess all the emotions I expected to have Sunday hit me then. I spent most of the day in the bed. My husband was a good sport about it. He helped as much as he could. I think my oldest could almost run the house on her own. I would never tell her that of course. :) She is a huge help to me. God really knows what he's doing when puts families together.

To pull myself out of my pity party I started thinking about all the things I'm blessed with. The basic things...a healthy family, a roof over our heads, clothes, food. All the stuff I take for granted. How blessed I was to have my mom even if it wasn't for as long as I would have liked. It was hard, but changing my focus definitely helped.

Here is my beautiful family! I think our last family picture was before Jaxon was born. Time flies.

Oh and I got my information from Compassion. We're sponsoring a 6 year old little boy named Anthony from Ecuador. I'm so excited about this opportunity to be a blessing to someone so far away. My hubby has a real heart for South America, Uruguay in particular. I'm sure I will be talking about that sometime in the future. :)

If you're not already please pray for my friend, Melinda.

Have a wonderful weekend!

xo

Hope

Everything I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother.

-Abraham Lincoln

I hope I can be a wonderful mom to my kids, just like my mom was to me. I want so badly to be a blessing to them. Even when I was going through my rebellious times, I knew I wanted to grow up to be like my mom. How lucky I was to call her mom, to have her shape and mold me. And as I grew up, how lucky I was to call her my best friend. She knew me like only a mother can. :) I'm so glad she met all my kids, and wish they could have grown up with her in their lives. I hope my mom kids will be able to overlook my faults and see all the things I am trying to be for them.

Have a blessed Mother's day my friends!

xo

I did it!

Years ago (like when we only had Jo) we used to sponsor 2 little girls through Compassion. Money became tight and we had to stop. I always told myself when things got better we'd sponsor again. The Lord has been nudging me the past few weeks (maybe even longer, my perception of time is often off) that now is the time. A lot has been going on. I'm so easily distracted.

It's funny though because I've seen Compassion mentioned quite a few times in blogland. I haven't followed the LPM blog lately, but it caught my eye today and I'm excited to catch up. It's kind of felt like God reminding me of what I'd said so long ago. I can't wait to get the picture of whomever He has chosen for us and I look forward to including the kids in it. I hope it'll be reminder to our family of how blessed we are.

xo

Oh and the pic is of a Martha Stewart project a friend made for our Mother's Day MOPS meeting. They're super cute. I got to keep a few for my girls room. Yay!

Kasey's photo challenge Tuesday

I thought I would join Kasey's photo challenge this week. Something fun to do. An excuse for pictures of the kids. :)

I am inspired daily by these kids. Everyday is different. Each of them is different. I learn so much about myself from them. They remind me of life's simpler pleasures.

To linger...
To laugh...
To do my best to live without fear...
To enjoy every moment.

I love that the girls know what to do and the boys could care less. They're busy. :) One day they'll all look the same direction. Photographer I am not. Maybe someday...

Happy Tuesday!

xo

What do you think?

pic from nordstrom

I love purses, can you tell? I came across this one this morning when I was checking email and all that. Basically avoiding getting out in the yard and the Monday errands I need to run. I think it's so colorful and fun. Just thought I'd put it out there. ;) I'm also loving her bangles. I wonder if they carry something similar at F21.

Alright, I'm off to accomplish something.

xo

My Bday Boy

I can't believe how fast the years have gone by! Happy birthday my darling boy!

xo