Conflicted

This is my favorite time of year...

It's busy and stressful but filled with all the things I love...

family

friends

food :)

I love the time we spend together.

The happiness, the peace, the joy

...being with people who really know you

and love you anyway

My oldest turns 8 this weekend.

Which means a party...

I was so excited, brimming with ideas and now I'm just tired...

heavy...

I have 2 more birthdays to figure out before the end of the year...

I'm not sure what we're doing for Thanksgiving or Christmas...

I haven't even started a Christmas list...

I still need order a cake and finish the details of my oldest's bday party this weekend.

Add to that my hubby's preparing to go out of town.

Once a year he goes on a mission trip to Uruguay with our church.

He loves it. We're used to it.

But now this time year holds a lot of painful memories.

It was this time last year...a day or two after hubby had left

my mom was told nothing more could be done...

Thanksgiving is the last time I knew for sure

my mom recognized who I was...

It was two days after our youngest's 2nd birthday,

the morning after our middle two sang in their preschool

Christmas program...

the phone's ring woke us

and I knew she was gone...

Now I have almost a year of memories without

one of the most important people in my life...

and now my favorite time of year feels like it's also going to be the saddest...

xo

pics 1 & 3 from martha

pic 2 from country living (I think)

A few snapshots

I have a confession.

I'm not a big halloween person.

Usually we make a trip to the pumpkin farm,

set the pumpkins outside

and call it good.

But my 4 year old really wanted to decorate.

He wanted to make our house spoooooky.

He's hard to resist.

So we decorated a little. See our little mouse motel?

The neighbor boy told me it was cute.

Who knew?

This is pretty much the gist of my inside decorating.

I figured I could handle a few spiders and cobwebs.

And my son's happy. :) Except he wants to hang bats up in his room...

Oh and the glitter pumpkins. I just kinda tossed those up there.

They don't really have a home yet.

The kids and I had fun making those.

I made these little treat bags for the ladies at my MOPs table.

So easy!

I just used some goodies from Rhonna.

I've been feeling a little crafty lately!

(I don't think I've felt like doing anything craft related for a looooong time)

Yay!

xo

Don't laugh!

This is what I spent my Friday night doing.

I asked my daughter earlier this week if she wanted to make her bday invites.

Of course she said, yes.

Of course I should have realized that meant,

"Mom, make me some invitations."

(I'm not very crafty. I tried to get out of it...but she wouldn't let me off the hook...)

So this is what we came up with...don't laugh!

She did help...

She okayed every detail.

She put the red stripes on the bowling pins.

I guess she was the creative advisor. :)

I know they're not the most beautiful invitations ever,

nowhere near perfect,

but she likes them...

That's what matters right?

I am exhausted...

xo

Is it that time of year already?

1 mom +3/4 sick kids

(1 who is extremely cranky)

equals

lots of TV

(at my house anyway)

xo

Be.

Hello!

Becky's blog just introduced me to some of the cutest jewelry ever!

She's having a giveaway for a sweet necklace.

Click HERE to enter.

Pampering Beki's etsy store is here. Cute, cute stuff! Inspiring too. :)

click me

You'll find the beauty above there.

BE.

I think I might need to buy it!

A little reminder of all the things one wants to be,

hopes to be

and tries to be.

A reminder to be present.

Enjoy each moment.

To not always think about what's next on the calendar,

or what the future holds

but instead to just BE.

I could go on and on.

I was just fascinated when I thought of all the inspiration

those 2 little letters hold. :)

Have a blessed weekend friends!

xo

the little things

After catching part of NieNie on Oprah

hubby and I have been talking about the little things...

all that we take for granted.

Why is it so easy to do that?

So this week

I made the kids breakfast (instead of cereal again).

I sat down and ate lunch with them

(instead of trying to multi-task).

I made muffins to eat on the way to the pumpkin patch.

(I used Kasey's blueberry pumpkin bread recipe. They were a hit!)

Just little things that seem to make days more special.

And make everyone smile.

the corn maze

beauty night

The girls had beauty night at church Friday night.

I usually don't mind these sort of things,

but I was tired...

(and bloated so I really just wanted to be home on my couch in my pjs...

I think I ended up falling asleep in what I was wearing)

But you know what...my girls didn't mind a bit.

We had fun.

My favorite part was the talk on inner beauty...

That God made us all beautiful just the way we are.

I hope my girls were paying attention.

So they could hear it from someone besides their mama.

There are so many messages out there about beauty

and what you need to do to achieve it.

I so want them to truly know that they already are beautiful!

(especially as they get older)

I love that my kids never care what I look like.

(At least not yet)

It's so great being loved just the way you are!

Happy weekend friends!

xo

from pb

God has graciously allowed

some of my fears to come true

so I would discover I would

not disintegrate.

-Beth Moore

xo