All Good Things Must Come to an End

Well, we had such a beautiful Saturday only to have a rough spot hit us Sunday - the flu.  Thus far we have two with the flu and one with bronchitis.   All Thanksgiving plans have been canceled to stay home and clean and get better:)
Have a happy Thanksgiving all!

Alabama Saturdays

Ah, Saturday, sweet Saturday.  This may just be the best Saturday I've ever had.  Let's recap:
1.  Slept late and awoke to breakfast made by my wonderful man. 
2. Was able to watch my "stories" ( The Pioneer Woman) while sipping coffee - yum!  By the way, she did her Thanksgiving show and I LOVED IT!
3.  I got completely dressed make up and all while my man took the kids on some errands.
4.  Cleaned my house and folded AND put away ALL laundry.  The all caps lets you know just how amazing this feat was.
5.  Shopped for seats to go in the toy room but instead bought these babies which will go beautifully with my curtains I'm making:)

(I already had the solid orange pillows, I purchased the floral pillows this evening at TJ Maxx.  This color palate matches the color palate of the Waverly material I had wanted to purchase but was way too expensive.  I got a good deal on these at the Maxx)
6.  My little girl went with me shopping:)
7.  My man made homemade chili (recipe compliments of Pioneer Woman).
8.  We watched the Alabama game.
9.  We had Family Game Night where every member of the family's name gets put into a bowl and a name is drawn one at a time.  Whoever's name is drawn selects the game that will be played and EVERYONE must participate.  We set a time limit of 20 minutes per game since there are five of us (little man doesn't count yet).  I picked Just Dance 3 and let it be known, I kicked butt!! 

Best day ever!

Giving

Although fall is my favorite season of the year, we are entering my favorite time of the year.  I hope the difference is as evident to you as it is to me.  Thanksgiving, Christmas - brings a time of joy, love, and generosity to me.  During this time of year, I want my children to birth an attitude of praise and thanksgiving.  I also want to show and teach them there is a world out there full of people in need of love and help. 
As with many subjects, there is an internal struggle within me to be selfish and to be generous.  I catch myself thinking of, "one day I'll have..." then moments later think,"oh, I want to give to that cause or that project".  I realize there is a delicate balance but what I want to cultivate and nurture my heart toward is a heart of kindness and generosity.
Who would have thought kindness would be such a challenging subject matter?  I believe I took it for granted until here lately, with the kids getting older, I've been made aware of how snippy and harsh sounding I can be toward them.  Another doozy is my temperament while driving.  I really didn't pay attention to how I treated other drivers until I heard one of the kids say, "you shouldn't say 'idiot'".  Well, I'm working to improve my kindness.  I'm still reading The Happiness Project and she talks of a mindfulness of how we behave or treat others.  I'm trying to have an ongoing reminder in my head of, "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted...".
Back to generosity: We've participated in Operation Christmas Child in the past.  Numero Uno and I would buy a box "from" each of our children.  Our kids would be with us when we bought the supplies but that was the extent of their participation.  With the conversation I had with a friend earlier in the year of "teaching our kids that this earthly kingdom is not what life's about", I wanted to include my children more in the reasoning and process of Operation Christmas Child.  As usual here lately, I was able to find a pin on Pinterest with pointers on what to pack.

On a side note, I met the author of faithfulprovisions.com at the dot MOM conference.  She was really nice.  Her list of what to pack was very helpful.  It also included the idea of your child writing a letter to the recipient of the box and including a picture. 
So here is what we did this year:
1. I showed my kids the DVD provide by Operation Christmas Child (needless to say I was crying while watching the video).
2.  I asked my kids to think about how much of their own money they would like to give to buying items for Operation Christmas Child.
3. I added what me and Numero Uno were going to contribute financially to the project.
4.  I took the kids shopping and let them pick out what they thought were good ideas based off the list I copied from Pinterest.  I did add a blanket and toothbrush to each box.  I'm not sure my kids would have ever suggested either:)
5.  My kids wrote a letter and added their own pictures to their boxes. 

You know what I noticed?  These actions produced some results I wanted and others I did not.  The part I didn't want but realized was a necessary lesson? When one of my kids wanted to take the money back after he had given to the cause.  (Understand he only gave a little so it was not like he was left in need of something) Why?  Because he saw what we had added to the pile and thought he would be able to get all the money.  It was hard for me to see my kiddo not wanting to be a willing partner.  However, we all are selfish.  I'm even guilty of thinking "what could we do with the tithe we give?"  I feel a little ashamed of admitting that last one but it is  a life lesson I am still learning to give.  Now my reluctant one eventually abandoned his selfish desires and got involved in the process.  My kids really enjoyed the letter writing and it gave them a sense of ownership.  They also started asking questions about the boys and girls who would be receiving the boxes. 
My desire is to show my kids that I am still learning everyday to follow Christ, to deny self, to help others.  I do not want my relationship to be fake and I want to be open when I struggle with obedience because I believe that frankness will do more to show my kids what it means to follow Christ than slapping on a smile and listing out all the do's and don't's of the Christian life. Don't mistake what I'm saying, I would much rather give my kids the do's and don't's.  In fact, I would much rather they adhere to the "Do as I say and not as I do" philosophy but then in my heart I know there would be no depth to their character nor a true depth to their relationship with Christ. 

At a Loss

Well since the great curtain debacle of 2012 (yes, I am referencing two days ago) I have been at a loss for what to do.  I did return my fabric to Hobby Lobby this morning and as I suspected they will not receive any more material until next Monday.  If you only knew how long it takes me to actually come up with a DIY plan and follow through on it.  This set back may put me off from doing curtains all together.  My one saving grace is the fact that I wrote about it on this blog and now will have to carry it through:)  So, what have I been doing with my time?
Well, I made a chocolate chip pie...

It lasted all of three hours.  My family consumed it.  Very easy to make.  I will have to make another one soon but I'm gonna have to wait until I go get groceries cause we are LOW on groceries.  I'm making my family eat from what we have in the pantry and it is killing them.  I believe we are a tad spoiled. 

I have been slightly tiffed with Numero Uno over the past few days and have been more silent than usual which has left me with some alone time.  Yes, we could stop and discuss the fact that I'm certain it is not good for a relationship to be in a tiff for a few days or we could just move on to what topic I'm getting at.  I choose the latter:) (Also, in a perfect world I would not divulge my tiff but ehh, I'm not perfect)  Needless to say, I've been perusing my old Southern Living magazines.  Which, by the way, I LOVE!!  So need to get me a subscription for the new year.  I noticed in the November 2010 (told you they were old) a table scape pic.

Here is my rendering of it.  Your thoughts?

Now, before you burst into laughter, please realize: a). I do not have an ample budget to fund this scene and b).  I'm entertaining my little pod of a family not the White House.  Okay, so seriously, should it stay or should it go?



The House of Halfway

I should really do a better job of cataloging my attempts at DIY projects and the "bumps" I meet along the way.  I would probably have enough material to write a short novel:)
I came across this pin on Pinterest a while back and was immediately pumped.  But like most pins, it sat there for a while until I realized I probably had enough money in my budget to make the curtains.

 

Well I headed off to Hobby Lobby to find some material I would like to use.  I absolutely love Fall colors.  However, my big problem is I use TOO much brown and burgundy and my house comes off looking dark.  Recently, with the painting of my pantry door and painting of my foyer piece, there are some pops of color.  I wanted my curtains to add some color as well to brighten the room. 

There was some absolutely beautiful Waverly material there but even with the discount my cost would be $154. 

 

 

While they are BEAUTIFUL, I simply can not afford that!  So... I found a cheaper material that I was just as happy with.  $35 for 6 yards.

Armed with my list of instructions (which by the way, House of Hepworths does a fantastic job detailing this project) I was ready to go.  After multiple trips to Hobby Lobby to make sure this was the fabric I wanted and multiple phone calls to my sister-in-law who is an interior designer, I was ready to go. 

Step #1: Cut fabric 10" longer than needed.  I measured my window length to be 98" so I had added 10" to make it 108" needed for one panel.  I doubled that number and purchased 6 yards of fabric...or, so I thought.

 



I laid out my fabric on a clean floor as instructed, measured out 108" and cut.  As I went to lay out my next 108" of fabric, this is what I discovered:

SICK.  That is the word that describes what I felt upon my discovery.  I looked at my order ticket: "6 yards at $8.99 with 40% discount".  What I measured?  5 yards.  ONE YARD SHORT!
So, what is the life lesson I learned today?  Measure the ENTIRE length of your material to make sure you got what you paid for before you cut.  Since the lady behind the counter informed me to get all my material off the same board in order to ensure the same color throughout, I have to wait until tomorrow when the store is open to go and see if I can order some more material since there will not be enough left at the store.  Ugh.
I knew that pin was too good to be true:)


Wish Me Luck!

Well I am starting a new project tonight.  Something tells me it will take me all weekend.  I am making curtains!!  I saw a pin on pinterest on how to make your own curtains and I'm gonna attempt it.  I will take pics and keep you posted:)

Dedication

Sunday marked two weeks since our baby's Dedication service.  For some reason I'm not exactly sure of, I have taken a hiatus from blogging for the last two weeks.  I'm chalking it up to a temporary funk I am in and am moving forward.

 



I was beginning to wonder if Quattro was going to be dedicated since he's 10 months old!  It never seemed to work out with Numero Uno's work schedule.  Both sides of the family were able to attend and it was a nice service. 

I'm extremely grateful for the church we have and I pray God's continual blessings on it.  As far as blessings go, I also pray a special blessing on Quattro that he will grow in strength and character.  I pray he will enter into a relationship with Christ as a natural result of the family environment he is in.  I pray God will be his peace and comfort no matter what troubles of life arise.