love

N is for Nudge

Need a nudge to think a little more positively?
View this video of Stephanie Nielson skiing.
This amazing woman had to struggle back to life, literally,
and here she is, once again, enjoying life to the fullest!

You should really read her story.

Her story will move you, and it will make you cry.

It reminds me to truly enjoy the little things!

Pass it on if you know someone who could

use a little nudge today!!

***

a little more love

"Don’t let the label fool you" Part 2

Around September,

I purchase enough socks for the boys

to get them through the cool weather

until sandal season comes.

More specifically,

I stock pile enough to keep me sane to get me through

the times when I didn’t get to the laundry

or when the socks go to that mysterious place

that keep mothers up at night wondering,

“Where did all the socks go?”
Over the last month, we have been having

a sudden little-boy-sock and underwear shortage.

As I was folding and putting away laundry,

there never seemed to be the right amount coming through.

I looked under couches, in between couch cushions,

inside snow boots and under beds.

Nope! None!


I asked the boys to hunt for lost socks

and they only came back with two socks.

I finally broke down and begrudgingly

bought another pack of socks.

The underwear part was still manageable.
We were so close to sandal season!

Then I had the thought,

“I never even checked my youngest son’s spy cases!”

He has a variety of “Spy Cases”

filled with hats, capes, light sabers, fake money,

moustaches, sheriff badges and bandanas!”

He just never knows when he will need to grab

a handy spy case in a jiffy!

They are like disguises on the go!

I have a spy case too, but it has concealer, face powder and lipstick; and on a rough day, sunglasses.

I walked in his room,

slid open the spy drawer and carefully opened several spy cases.

When I opened the black spy case,

little boy socks and underwear poured onto the floor!

I was elated to finally solve the mystery

and yet upset that he withheld important evidence

that could have helped (my sanity and) solve this case much sooner.

I called the guilty party into the room

and showed him what I discovered.

With tears filling his eyes he said,

“But those are my dress up/spy socks and underwear!”

I explained why it was not an option,

they had to go back in the drawer.

He understood and apologized.

The only thing still puzzling me

is where he got the idea of Spy socks and underwear?

 

7:00

After a long, busy day 7:00 p.m.
came and my body literally put me to bed.

It literally stopped.

I am thankful that my body is much
smarter than me!

Good night!

Answer to the “Don’t let the label fool you” post

coming tomorrow!

Don’t let the label fool you

What do you think I found inside

this black case that was in my youngest son’s room?


Post a comment to make a guess.

The winner will receive a small gift.

If there’s more than one winner,

a winner will be picked randomly.

Have fun!

p.s. Don’t let the label fool you.

Family members are excluded

from the contest. Sorry!

a happy ring

My sister gave me this

happy ring for my birthday!

I love it!!!

If you love it too,

you can get one over at Etsy!

letting go

Warm weather came early the last three days,

so we pulled the bikes out of the shed.

The training wheels came off of my middle son’s bike last September,

but he wasn’t very interested in learning to ride it.

So the past three days, I have been running

up and down our street holding on

to the back of his coat while he tries to stay balanced on his bike.

As I am running along side of him,

keeping him from certain contact with the pavement,

I am coaching him and reassuring him that he will get it little by little.

(This explains my angry back muscles)

On Wednesday,

gravity and fear had the best of him.

Thursday,

I saw a glimmer of hope.

And today,

today he got it!

I let go.

As painful as it is for mothers to let go of their little boys,

I was more proud than anything!

The smile on his face was priceless!

After riding up the street by himself he said,

“I like doing it with out any help!”

Isn’t that the goal of parenting?

I clearly remember the day I got it!

My father took my two older brothers and sister to the school blacktop near our house and off they went on their bikes. I really wanted to learn how to ride like them. I wanted to go fast without my training wheels too. My father took the training wheels off of my bike and patiently held the back of my bike as I peddled my little legs as fast as I could. I remember hearing his voice with his instructions behind my head as I concentrated on not falling.

Then I remember looking over my shoulder and looking behind me.

My father was not holding on to the back of my bike keeping me safe and steady, he was far away standing there smiling.

He let go.

I was doing it all by myself.

I think that is the hardest part of parenting,

knowing when to let go.

But isn’t that the goal of parenting?

Will our children fall and get hurt?

Yes.

Will we be able to catch them each time?

No.

Is it important to let our children experience painful life lessons?

Yes.

Will they learn and grow through painful life lessons?

Yes, and no.

We hope so.

Sometimes it takes a couple falls to learn.

Sometimes it takes years.

I do know that the more we rescue

the longer it takes for them to learn.

We aren’t meant to hold on to the back of their bikes for the rest of their lives.

As parents, we are to teach them life skills,

and live a life of character,

so that when they fall,

they get back up,

wipe themselves off and try again and again.

At some point, we are to let go,

stand on the sidelines and cheer them on,

so they can look over their shoulder

proudly and say,

“I am doing it!”

random red heart

These are random, red items

you can find scattered around our house.

I think the only edible item in this photo

is the tiny, red-hot, cinnamon, candy heart.

Although, I am positive one of my boys

chewed on a crayon at some point when they were younger.

***

In case you are wondering

why I am still posting pictures of hearts and such,

I mentioned that I would post a picture

around the theme of love

each day in the month of February.

Hope you enjoy them.

turtles

a little love



Sorry, Tommy Robin, but I just got

the cutest, little turtle in whole wide world!!!

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of hanging out

with my other niece and nephews.

My niece is very creative and prolific in her artwork.

At seven years of age,

I am amazed at her skill with a pair of scissors.

She created and gave me a couple hand made gifts

for my birthday and a darling piece of candy.

This is the turtle she made.

She found a part of a nutshell

colored it green,

snipped a piece of plastic for the neck,

drew a turtle head on paper and

attached them with tape.

Pretty creative!

***

If you never thought about

taking a walk with a turtle, have a listen to this.

a little love

The boys and I made and hand delivered lemon cupcakes

with strawberry icing to several ladies

in the neighborhood.

One was home recovering

from surgery

and the others are widows who live alone.

It was a small gesture to let them know

that someone is thinking of them.

Too often it is easy to get wrapped up

in our own lives

and our own needs

while we forget that there are others,

right next door, who need a little love too!

I think it is important for the next generation

to see genuine love being exhibited daily

in actions and in words,

not in just material goods.

And just as important,

that love is not just to be gathered up and hoarded

but to be shared.

I read 1 Corinthians 13 to the boys tonight

before I tucked them in bed.

The first verse always makes me smile:


If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a

noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.


My husband is a musician and a music teacher.

Over the years, he has a collected a variety of instruments

and believe it or not, we actually have a gong in our basement.

Every time I read that verse,

I think about how true it is

that ‘words with out love’ are like a noisy gong.

That gong is so loud and nerve wracking.

Hmmmm?

Thankfully, the gong is rarely used.

Unfortunately, words lacking in love still escape my mouth.

Reading that passage was a great reminder for us all.

I hope you had a good day and that this week you can find a way to show a little neighborly love.

4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

busy weekends

Some weekends

just fly by and this was one of them.

By Tuesday, I knew I was over-booked

and I needed to plan out, in detail,

how I was going to accomplish the things

that I needed to do and then,

how to manage the guilt of not getting my other lists finished.

I decided to delegate.

Whew!

***

My sweet, little niece and nephew

spent the night Friday night which we all loved!

I told my niece how my sister and I

used to make and trade “friendship pins”

with our girlfriends when we were little.

We got out some beads and made some.

It was so fun doing some girly stuff!

and yet another heart

happy about today

Things I am happy about today:

Giggly nephew and niece sleeping over
Friends who know how to fix computers
Left-over red, velvet birthday cake
Children with no colds
Friends who are falling in love
Stores where I can pick up socks, 2 birthday gifts, a loaf of bread and (shall I dare say) frozen chicken

Some more cute V-day inspiration…

Make and take monster card for the kids

Darling, darling lace hearts by michele made me

And a vintage valentine tea party Jenny Haas Photography

Thanks again, Scott

pipe cleaners

Yesterday, for my birthday,
my youngest boys blew up balloons
before I woke up,
but they couldn’t tie them.

I could just see their little faces
as they sat there in the dining room
holding the balloons and thinking what to do next.

All of my boys are creative
and I have always encouraged them to work
with the obstacles they face.
I believe that obstacles can be a great way
to learn, grow and develop character.
There are many times when I have to think
“out of the box” to get around a tricky obstacle.

I smiled when I came into the kitchen
and saw balloons set out on the table
tied with pipe cleaners.

I was so proud of their ingenuity

and their problem solving skills.

What a great gift it was to see them

growing up and being resourceful

and not running to get rescued.


I was also impressed with the color choices

of the balloons and the pipe cleaners!

***

Some of the best gifts I received this week

could not be wrapped.

Of those,

one took a lot of hard work, courage and self-discipline

and some were simply selfless acts and kind words.

I treasure those things in my heart

more than anything money can buy!


***

Here are some pipe cleaner crafts that are worth checking out!

A little heart garland

pencils

finger puppets

Paper heart headband

and

And a cool, vintage, hot, pink hat at Etsy! Wow!

Enjoy!

many moons ago

this is my sister and me many moons ago


Twig & Thistle

has some really cute/free valentine fruit stickers to check out!

100 Layer Cake

has some cute ideas as well as some free downloads to check out too!

I love this melted crayon heart idea over at

the long thread

And CraftyPod

has this darling little heart sachet!

***

my smallest elf

smile

On gray days, I put on my brightest top,

make sure I talk to my sister on the phone

(even just for a minute),

send the boys outside to “play”,

set some time aside to pray and collect my thoughts,

take an extra B complex

and

sometimes

I watch a video or two that makes me smile

this video makes me smile

and this video challenges me

to be thankful for whatever

God has brought in to my life

l o v e

Simple,

adorable

and inexpensive

…check out this post at creature comforts

and

this card by kristina werner

* * *

Make

this

your

best Monday

ever!

therapy

My mother and sister took me out to breakfast

this morning to kick off

my week-long birthday celebration.

I’m going to stretch it out through Valentine’s Day!

We went to the café, First Watch.

It has excellent, fresh food and great service.

I had the blueberry pancakes.

Yum!
If there is one near you, swing by and grab a bite!

I love going out with my mother and sister.

When we all three start talking

we enter a different dimension.

There is laughter, reminiscing and a bit of teasing

and the only pauses in the conversations are for inserting food in our mouths.

Our laughter and giggles tend to spill

over to the next table

as we try our best to hush ourselves.

It really is a form of therapy.

I love watching my sister trying to control an insatiable laugh

and my mother trying to pretend she doesn’t know us if my sister and I do something too silly.

I feel so blessed to have my family live so close.

It truly is something that keeps me sane.

****

This year, I am asking for a sewing machine for my birthday.

I usually do not ask for anything very expensive.

But this will definitely pay for itself

initially in mending and alterations

and later in many, many ways.

My mother wanted to know if Elizabeth will get a sister.

I don’t think so.

My boys are already sketching out their ideas of what they want me to make.

Apparently, there will be a Luke Skywalker

version of Elizabeth

and a stuffed rock monster.

Hmmm, so much for the

retro, floral material I picked up last week.

yummy stuff

This is our little snow man.

In the morning it was a

snow woman.

We were a bit confused

until we realized

it was snow resting on the scarf.

Some yummy stuff...

and some more...

and darling paper and a fox box to wrap it up!

love...

garlands

Elizabeth shares a little love

I love this heart garland over at sweet-paper!

And this one is cute too!

Oh, and this one too!

blood...

I went on another fun visit to the E.R. tonight but this time with my oldest son.

He was getting some blood work done today and passed out.

He is a veteran blood donor and recently a platelet donor too!

So, this was a surprise!

After he came home from giving blood,

he felt awful and his symptoms grew worse every hour.

I took him to the E.R. to get him all checked out.

All is well, now!

Speaking of blood...

if you have the stomach of a nurse,

why not donate some this month.

Here is a link to the Red Cross

to find out how and where to donate.

With all the snow and crazy weather around the United States

their donations are low and they are in great need!

Why not check it out!


and now for some cute stuff...

look at this adorable, little tent from Dear Lizzy


and these cute cards and headbands from katie did

Love

Hello, February!!!

Top five reasons why I like the month of February:

1. My birthday is in February
2. February means March is coming soon

(March = Spring = Warm Weather)
3. Valentine’s Day gives me an excuse to sprinkle the color pink around the house
4. My crocuses and daffodils start popping up around the end of the month
5. February is the month of LOVE!

Each day, for the month of February,

I will post a picture around

the theme of Love!!

Come back and check it out!

This is a cute idea to try,

especially if you

still have your Christmas lights up!