paint covered hands = happy heart

Today I got to pull out all my *stuff* and just create. I had an idea in my head and I love being able to make that idea into something beautiful (and that actually looks somewhat like what I had in my head). A month or so ago I bought a barn window that said "bloom where you are planted" and ever since I got it I've wanted to creat my own. So today I did!

The window I bought

My version

--housework that can wait
--fingers and hands splattered with paint
--good friends that pick up craft supplies for me (thanks Jo)
--a friend that doesn't mind my messy house
--chores finished
--no complaints to hearing "leftovers tonight"
--understanding husband that always encourages
--beautiful words
--funny stories
--bedtime prayers

Thankful

Today was Ty's day off. I look forward to Wednesdays every week. Its so nice to have time just us (and Meara). We didn't do anything exciting but being together was nice.

 More gifts....

--haircuts
--quiet time
--wonderment of a 2 (and a 1/2) year old
--evening devotions
--playing outside as a family
--basketballs, softballs and toy jeeps
--laughter
--popcorn

 

So Blessed

Crazy busy the last few days with school starting and birthday parties, Gravette Days' festivities......

To anyone that is keep track and keeping me accountable...I'm still stopping throughout the day and thanking God for that moment, I just haven't gotten those moments transferred to the blog! :)  I finished the book One.Thousand.Gifts and have started reading something new but same similar subject. Its good, scary, overwhelming, daunting & so many other things all at the same time.....to really learn, dig deeper & truly try to understand God on a different level than I have ever even considered before. Its an interesting journey to say the least. Trying to become the person God created me to be....

My list of gifts over the last couple of days:

--Small towns
--good friends
--parades
--fresh squeezed lemonade and homemade bbq
--Street Dances

--watching the kids experience pure joy, just being silly and run around in circles
--Birthday Party giggles
--disagreements that lead to long talks
--night before school butterflies
--FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
--pot roast cooking in the crockpot
--family meals & devotions
--letting go...and just running without worrying if someone will see me

 --Creativity
taking something simple or plain & making it into something unique and beautiful
--Quiet mornings
--coffee on the back patio while listening to the birds sing

One.Thousand.Gifts

Missed posting for a couple days.....

--rain
--"funder" and lightening (or dropped taters and flashlights)
--sweet little friends
--roller skating
--independance
--cooler overcast days
--comfort food
--grasshoppers and catapillars
--crackle paint
--school supplies

--new haircuts
--chore lists
--playing catch in the yard
--hardworking partner
--clean kitchen

No NOs

Today......I will not be so quick to say NO. I promise to myelf (and my children) for today I will listen and think about their request and will not just say a quick NO because its easier or less messy or .......whatever other excuse I have at the time.

So....today we have gone swimming, had spaghetti O's for lunch and built living room forts with everything they could get their hands on!

I am thankful today...
--quiet time to read the bible
--swimming in the morning shade
--a puppy that likes to swim with the kids
--living room forts
--saying YES
--beautiful rain

Beautiful Gifts

As a mom I feel very blessed by the beautiful gifts of my children. I was given 4 children with very unique personalities and they constantly amaze me. I could fill a list of 1000 gifts just in them alone. One aspect of these personalities is the ability to just be silly for the simple purpose of laughing even if it is just laughing at themselves. This is one thing I could never do even as a kid...I didn't like "feeling silly" or like someone was laughing AT me. Obviously this is not something that Austyn has ever considered......she is quite comfortable being SILLY! And I adore her for it!!

 

--silly hats!

--ability to make others laugh

--confidence

--cool-er evenings

--sounds of summer

--cicadas

Dare I say "vintage" barbies were discovered in our 'need to move to storage' pile. I laughed out loud listening to the 3 big kids play with my old barbie. I answered many "mom what is THIS" questions and I'm kinda embarrassed to say the answer was "its a tube top" more than a few times. I'm a child of the 70s...what'd ya do???  

 

--busy days

--football practice

--using my degree

--marketing

--Popsicles in the pool

Thankful

Today I'm thankful for a lot!
--bruised ribs
--boy time
--quality time with my beautiful little ladies
--tree covered country roads
--pampering my girls
--pedicures in the kitchen

--yellow, teal and lime green toe nails
--dinner with good friends
--uneventful swimming time
--local people being kind to people they don't know to honor the memory of a beautiful little boy

Book One.Thousand. Gifts

"I used to think that God's gifts were on shelves one above the other and that the taller we grew in Christian character the easier we should reach them. I find now that God's gifts are on shelves one beneath the other and it is not a question of growing taller but of stooping lower and that we have to bow down, always down, to get His best gifts." F.B. Meyer quoted in the book One Thousand Gifts

John 3:30
He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less

Still struggling with actually putting what I'm reading and learning into action....but I'm working on it.

Thankful today for.....
Ice Packs
classic Disney movies
church challenges
diving in deeper....and learning something
good news on facebook
play dates