so very thankful

this may be my most thankful thanksgiving ever!
when i look how far my family has come since last year at this time i am so amazed and grateful.
last year at this time husband was out of work. the company he was working for at the time laid off their employees off earlier than planned for the winter season in October and we were poor, husband was going crazy not working, and i was going crazy always being around the unhappy nonworking husband of mine.
it was a hard time but i learned so many lessons during that time.
like tensions run high when there is no money coming in and little mouths to feed, diaper and provide for.
or the fact that there were so many other people struggling around me that i was unaware of.
it was very humbling for me and husband. there were times we would hold on to each other and love each other and times of distance and annoyance towards each other and the situation we were in.
i think what made it so hard was trying to put on a front for our kids. we didn't want g and e to have a clue what was going on or that there were many times we were on each others nerves but i am sure they knew to some extent that there lives and ours were changing a little bit.
when Christmas came we had hardly any presents for the kids. in fact the only thing i remember buying was a doll for g on black friday and having a bib i had bought for e at swiss days. we were very lucky though because my ward surprised us with gifts for the kids and food for me to make for Christmas dinner.
Even though there weren't many presents we had a beautiful Christmas.
Attitude is everything my friend.
and that is probably one of my biggest take aways from that whole experience.
along with the no job situation i had developed arthritis in my knees and couldn't even walk up and down the stairs.  it was very humbling to not be able to stand up and sit down without wanting to rip my knees off from pain when all i wanted to do was play with my littles.
all this is to say times were hard a year ago; they are not perfect now, but for me are they are perfect.
i love this season in my life.
my daughter is the most amazing girl ever. she is sweet, silly and full of life in the most vibrant and innocent way. my son is such a heart stealer. he will forever have his hand on my heart and his laugh floors me! my husband is handsome, hard working, and has a good heart. He also has a job now, which i will never take lightly ever ever ever again.

In short there are so many amazing souls wandering around in my life and i am so grateful for this life of mine. i'm thankful for my Savior and Lord. and i am so thankful and smitten with this family of mine and that includes our little puppy dog betty.

child's artwork as wrapping paper

so recently my awesome brother came to visit for a couple of weeks. 

while he was here we had the chance to celebrate his birthday.

i started a tradition last year of taking advantage of dolly's love of painting. 

so when someone in our family had a birthday dolly would paint a picture for the lucky birthday boy or girl.

this time around i had the idea of wrapping tyler's present in a piece of artwork created by her.

 as you can see painting is a very serious business to my little one.

 this picture of her was actually taken the first time that she ever painted anything.

 her first painting will always have a spot in my home and heart.

anyways sorry for the departure.

a page ripped out of an old magazine is the perfect size to wrap a c.d.

you can also have your child paint on a larger scale of paper to wrap presents by way of using the big paper rolls that they sale at ikea in the children's section.

 i like to top the presents i wrap in different types of ribbons, yarn or jute.

jute turned out to be the perfect match with dolly's creation to man it up a bit for uncle tyler.

i love you pillow

so yesterday was a not fun day.

it was one of those days when anything that could go wrong did go wrong.

by that night when it was time for me to go to bed, i couldn't sleep.

 i was drained but not tired to the point of sleeping.

i decided i needed a quick project to cheer myself up.

my grandma had embroidered "i love you" for me and a couple of months ago she gave it to me to frame or make into a pillow or do whatever i wanted with it.

 so i dug through my fabric and found a cute coordinating fabric and made me a pillow.

 isn't my grandma crazy talented?!

i love love love  it! 

and it is so fun on my couch.

as for the coordinating fabric i chose a pink, orange and brown polka dot number that i got at hobby lobby a few months back.

my cute betty rebel was totally wanting to be in the picture and she makes the picture ten times cuter don't you think?

also check out her hair cut. 

oh i love her face! 

too cute of a betty rebel.

diy polka dot picture frame matting

hey there!
so i have a quick and easy diy for you today.

i picked up the picture frame below from ikea.

i thought it was the perfect picture for my latest etsy purchase, but i thought it needed some sort of pizazz to make it a little more fun.

 i love polka dots.

 polka dots are so fun.

i got some q-tips and black paint and just started randomly making my own polka dots on the mat that came with the frame. i didn't follow any rules as far as placement and i didn't worry about them all coming out completely black.

 in fact i kind of like the faded dots.

 it took all of five minutes. 

a perfect little diy while the littles finished up their dinner.

sweet charity

 picture via

 

"perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other,

when we don't judge or categorize someone else,

when we simply give somebody the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet.

charity is accepting someones differences, weakness or short comings;

having patience with someone who has let us down;

or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn't handle something the way we might have hoped.

charity is refusing to take advantage of another's weakness

and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us.

charity is expecting the best of each other."

Elder Marvin J. Ashton

Ode to a best friend

Early Monday morning my favorite dog ever border collie Jasper passed away next to husband in our home. It was just a month shy of the five year anniversary of us being brought together with him in Oregon. I am so glad we were the car behind that truck that day as he proved to be my constant fluffy companion. He was there for me through everything including all of my recent illnesses the past two years. He would sense when I was sick and lick me to death and place his fluffy puppy paw on mine and stare at me with those brown eyes of his.
He was so gentle with the babies and Mr. E especially adored him and thought he was hilarious.
I will miss everything about my fluff.
It breaks my heart to think about it too much.
I remembered this morning one of the very first posts
 I had ever written on my family blog was about him.
I decided to share it.
(Izzy was our first dog, incase you are confused when you read the story below.)

Jasper, the gentleman

On Labor day of last year we were driving behind a diesel truck with his tailgate down and there was this cute fluff ball running around the bed of the truck. I was so upset that someone would actually drive on such a busy road with there dog in the bed like that; when the guy floored the gas and this puppy flew into our car. All three of us were in the car and in shock. Bryan immediately pulled over to chase after the dog while Izzy and I watched nervously. The guy in the diesel truck never turned around and he had no tags and hadn't been micro-chipped. We debated on giving him to a shelter. (Which if you know us we could never do. We attach way too fast.) And so we tried him out. Now we are so happy to have our little Jasper. He is so different then Izzy. Easy going, lazy and he prances as if he was an English Gentleman. I told him he's the Jude Law of dogs, with the cheating aside. Jasper could never treat Izzy that way he loves her too much. And we love Jasper.

i find myself lately telling her a whole lot

"you are so pretty."

 

and my heart melts at the reply,

 

"thank you mom."

a tiny peek in dolly's room part one

i want my kiddos to be able to look back on pictures of their room.

what it looked like on a regular basis,

not what it looked like when everything is neatly tucked away in its place.

 

so miss dolly this is  how your space currently is...

 

i made this new wreath to replace the other one  i made that sadly broke.

little keep sakes, such as your first embroidered sweater, Easter bonnet i made for your first Easter, an apron i sewed for you and a tinkerbell birthday card from grandma and grandpa.

 beautiful blessing dress and i still love your curtains.

 your bed is often not made all the way as you like to bounce, bounce, bounce on it!

 your huge closet.

you love dresses.

 there's my girl!

well little lady there you are.

your room.

4th of July diy

 

T.his is the first year I actually have decorated for this patriotic holiday and I had fun making these Independence Day outdoor decorations.

Someone had used them as part of a display for a fourth of July party and I thought they wouldn't be too hard to make.

It is really simple. I painted the cans blue and hand painted the stars white once the paint was dry.

You could use a star shaped stencil if you didn't want to free hand the stars.

then I cut red and white crepe paper to the same length and hot glued them onto the inside of the cans.

Husband made holes for me to put the jute through and he hung them up for me on our porch.

It's nice having Husband around when things are in need of hanging, and we enjoy him for other reasons too, don't get me wrong.

 Here is the supply list:

-red and white streamers

-blue and white paint

-empty soup cans

-scissors

-glue gun

-string to hang them up. (I like jute.)

This was a very easy, quick diy and I like how it turned out.

It is fun to watch the streamers blow in the wind.

I still have a wreath that I have yet to finish with all the birthdays and craziness going on over here, but I plan to finish it tonight.

 

Happy 4th!!!

for the love of batman

Someone stole brother's shirt!

a little something to tell the kiddos

I came across this and thought of the two of you.

 

  As Christopher Robin said to Pooh, “If there is ever a tomorrow when we are not together….there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we are apart…I’ll always be with you.”

 

Children I love you.

And please don't forget that.

 

xoxoxo,

 

Mom

hair, beauty and the like

I have a little girl whose hair has not caught it's stride yet and is a very lovely shade of golden brown.

I do on occasion daydream of brushing her head full of longer hair, curling it or putting it in pig tails and one day cutting her adorable zooey deschanel bangs that will highlight her beautiful eyes perfectly. but I also realize that my girl is already very strong willed. she only wears what she wants to wear. she is very determined and confident and these are all things I love about her, but it makes me realize that she may have very different ideas about bangs or whatever else regarding her hair.

even now I have made countless headbands and hair clips for her and she does not wear them ever. she prefers her plastic purple crown instead. while I love to see her in her crown that she wears against her forehead instead of on top of head, I do sometimes wish she would let me put that adorable cheetah print headband with the pink flower the size of her head on for the afternoon.

I came across this quote today and I thought to myself, self remember this:

 

This is a world where women, girls are constantly reminded that they don't belong to themselves; that their bodies are not their own, nor their power or self determination.

Willow cuts her hair because her beauty, her value, her worth is not measured by the length of her hair. Even little girls have the RIGHT to own themselves and should not be a slave to even their mother's deepest insecurities, hopes and desires.

 

-jada pinkett smith

 

so I will tuck this away and when she wants me to have nothing to do with her hair as she is wildly happy to just be her, I will be wild about her being her, for there is no one else I want her to be.

 

when my cute girl does decide to wear a headband it is usually like this.

falling down

Today has been a day of many falls.

Physical and emotional.

Dolly fell off the kitchen chair today and smacked her head on the hardwood floor. One minute it was happy laughter and molding of play doh and the next minute she is saying very proudly “mommy look!” holding up her play doh creation and she leaned over to far and bam there she went to the floor.

While trying to comfort my baby my other baby took a stab at walking and bam down went brother with a cheek to the hand of a doll and a bruise bloomed on his perfect chubby cheek. Now I was trying to comfort two upset babies.  After calming them down there were wonderful naps by my babies.  But while they napped I talked to my insurance company about my new coverage and hung up thinking how do people afford healthcare? With my growing medical bills I was hopeful that my new coverage would be better. It isn’t really. And with all of Dolly’s and my own health concerns, our health insurance is a BIG DEAL. As I am sure it is to many of you. Well that deflated my spirits a bit and I tried to relax, but couldn’t. My mind was still racing from yesterday, as yesterday was an emotional rollercoaster with both of my parents battling it out in divorce court. What I am getting at is I am tired. So tired and sick. My arthritis is flaring up with this stormy weather and I have been dealing with the stomach flu. The emotional toll on top of it all got me down today and no matter how many cans of diet coke I had (four) I was not feeling better.

After their naps there were more stumbles by my little man. He is accident prone like me you see. But I noticed a pattern with him. After a fall he would look for me and as soon as I scooped him up into my arms the biggest smile would form on his sweet face.

I realized that this was the best gift that God could give me today. He gave me so much in this sweet interaction with my baby. He reminded me that I am so so so lucky to be a mom to these glorious babies. He reminded me that sometimes the simplest acts bring the most comfort. He made me stop and look around and reevaluate my attitude. Today could get better. It is never too late to turn it around.

So I, with the help of my babies turned it around. I called a couple friends and had some nice chats with my girls. I made brownies with Dolly. I kissed my little man’s precious face over and over again. I snuggled with husband on the couch. I watched the new Hart of Dixie.  And now I am off to bed and to thank the Lord once again for amazing little ones and for husband.

Our Heavenly Father and his beloved son are creators and have entrusted each of us with a portion of Their creative power.                                                                                                     David. A. Bednar

my izzy girl: new items in the shop

 how fun is this vintage "home sweet home" embroidery hoop.

this darling mint dress is so darling.

it is the perfect spring find for a new little lady.

my izzy girl shop updates

i am filling my etsy shop up with many fun vintage clothing finds for your child this summer.

here are a few of the new items in my etsy shop:

 

i was very lucky to have this adorable tulip shirt featured on the vintage kiddo collective blog.

thanks for the mention!

check it out here.

 this little beauty can be found here.

 this is one sweet dress.

this happy toddler dress can be found here.

 

there will be new items added weekly.

it feels good to be stocking my store again.

thanks peeps!



happy earth day!

Earth laughs in flowers.  -Ralph Waldo Emerson

my little dolly can never help herself when it comes to flowers, pants or dirt and rocks for that matter.

she loves all that this beautiful earth offers us.

so i may be a tad bit obsessed with plants and flowers as well.

as for the rocks and dirt; they're great but we are not as close as dolly and they are.

my little cactus that i potted today in honor of earth day.

we picked out some plants over the weekend and now it is time to plant them all.

husband picked out this one.

our little lady chose a jade plant and a beautiful green plant to put it in.

 

this is my handsome guy!

i can't wait to make him a special little home on my window sill.

as for little e, we still need to get him a plant.

i am thinking a succulent or two or three.

 

happy earth day peeps!!!

 

hi there

welcome to my new blog where i will ramble about my family, my thoughts, home decorating and projects, my etsy shop and other what nots!

so glad you found me!