Success!

When you're a mommy, you are constantly evaluating yourself.  The burdens we have when raising children can be heavy, and how you measure success on this journey can either lessen your load or add to it.  I speak from experience, because I have done more adding to my burdens with unnecessary worrying about my job performance than I care to admit. 

I found this note on the fridge this morning from a child who struggles to obey.  It was such a bright spot, and got me to thinking about that question "Am I doing anything right?!" that plague our mommy minds.

There is love there....

Love for mom and dad, and his Heavenly Father who loves him more than we ever can.

So friends, stop worrying.  Love your children and be a reflection of God's love, and you can call that success I'm sure.

Pray for the Buttrams

The last couple of weeks have been difficult for our community.  We were hit with damaging winds and storms that left West Virginia without power, as well as surrounding states.  I had never heard of a derecho before, but that is what hit us.
Then, a very dear friend who is also a pastor at our church, was struck by a car last week.  He is in critical condition.  Please, please pray for our friend, Kim Buttram.  I have known his family since I was a little girl;  I grew up with their four kids.  My husband became best friends with their oldest son in junior high.  Their two daughters have been friends of mine for years, one of them is Aunt Jessi to our kids, and her husband is a very close friend of my husband and I;  he is Uncle Josiah.  These people are incredibly dear to us.  His wife, Linda, has been a huge source of encouragement to me, specifically since I became a mommy.  We are heartbroken that this tragedy has occurred, and we are daily praying for healing for our friend.  My heart aches for his family who are facing this long road ahead.
Our good friend, S.D. Smith, aka Uncle Sam, who is Jessi's brother-in-law, wrote a lovely tribute about this God-fearing man.  In it you will learn more about our friend and his family, and there is also a link to a Facebook Page where folks are posting stories and encouraging words.
God will undoubtedly use this for His glory.  We are praying for His mercy and grace.  Please pray for Kim, for his family, and for all of us who love him. 

Vintage Finds!

So don't you love stumbling upon something amazing that no one wants?  Awhile ago I walked over to my grandparents' place, which is literally over the river and through the woods.  Almost anyway- it's a creek really, not a river.  My sweet grandparents are not living now, but their place it still there.  My parents gave us some of their land, which was once my grandfather's, so we built a house, and we all live up on this hill.

When I was a little girl, I would go into the feed house to get the horse feed.  It was in a big barrel and it smelled of something sweet.  I would scoop it up with an old coffee can, and take it to "Tumbleweed", my father's old pony.  There are no horses to feed now, but the feed house is still there, storing some of my family's old things.  I took a peek inside, and I spotted a chalkboard.  An amazing chalkboard.  I found some other things too, and after talking to my dad, I brought my husband back and we rescued some really cool stuff. 

We got the chalkboard of course, which I am really excited about, because a nice chalkboard can be pretty pricey.  No pic yet of that, I will show you when it is up on the wall.

I think this chair is beautiful.  I have a lady who has reupholstered several pieces of furniture for me, and she took a look and  is confident she can fix it.

Vintage buttons.  Need I say more?

This handmade skirt.  I don't know who made it, but it is in excellent condition.  I have already paired it with a tee and some amazing red wedge sandals I got for my birthday.

We also found some old toys and fabric of my mom's.  I am told that there is a couple of old typewriters over there as well, but it might take some time to find them.

Giving new life to old things is truly satisfying!  Wouldn't you agree?

Dessert for Breakfast

Today we had dessert for breakfast.

This past week we had everyone's (mostly) favorites every day. We had muffins one day, overnight steel-cut oats one day, scrambled eggs on toast with cream cheese once. We even had cereal one day, which we never do. I am not above cereal, but I have four kids, and they never just want one bowl, which means the box lasts about a day and a half. And the fact is that I don't like eating it for breakfast.

Today, I made this awesome cobbler. I wanted something easy that could bake up while we were doing chores. I think that because this recipe has so little sugar and butter, you can make it work for breakfast. Besides, a muffin is essentially dessert, and everyone eats those without reserve.

I made myself feel like a better mother by serving it with yogurt pooled beside it. Using a lot of blackberries (around three or four cups, I think, I didn't measure!), and adding a crumble made with a bit of oat flour, oats, brown sugar, and butter made it feel a little more breakfast-y.

Please don't burst my bubble by telling me about the evils of white flour and refined sugar, okay? It was delicious, it was Friday, and I've been a good girl lately.

Speaking of breakfast, I am excited to try this one. I am always looking for something new to try for our mornings.

Tomorrow we are having these cinnamon rolls. I like to mix them, roll them out, then put them in the fridge until morning. Usually on Saturdays I make my husband the manly food he wants, like biscuits and gravy, but I have been wanting to have these for awhile. Cinnamon rolls will be a cozy breakfast for tomorrow; I think we are going to have more snow tonight!

Have a lovely weekend!

Waiting for Spring

Our winter has been very different this year. We have had many warm, sunny days with very little snow. This has left us with spring fever around here. I have opened up the windows on more than one occasion, then left them open for a bit before realizing that it still is too chilly for that. And I've been asked more than once by my kids if they can wear shorts. Still too cold for flip-flops, but plenty warm enough to spend lots of time out playing. We have hardly used our winter coats, and that alone has made life easier. It is so much less exhausting taking children out when you don't have to locate everyone's hats and mittens!

Still, it is winter, as we awoke this morning to a little bit of snow. It was such a shock, let me tell you. I guess it will be awhile before we can count on all the warmth of spring, but it is much more cheerful to embrace the winter, than wish it away. So we are staying cozy with my favorite hot chocolate, found in this post, and keeping things cheerful in our surroundings as well.

Here is our mantle in our dining area. This is also where we do school mostly. The branches were our Jesse tree during Advent. When the ornaments came off, I made some pom-poms to adorn it. The pom-poms are kind of hard to see in the photo, but they are lovely! And who doesn't appreciate the simple beauty of pine cones and winter fruit?

This wreath took me a really long time, but it was worth it. Yes, it is much better to embrace winter. Lots of beauty to be found this season.

What are you doing to enjoy the season while waiting for spring to arrive?

The Christmas Gifts

Happy New Year! I hope I'm finding you well. Now that the holidays are over, I want to show you a bit of handmade. I didn't commit to making much this Christmas. I really wanted to just enjoy the season, which I did, I think. Although I never can get everything on my list completed. I didn't even start on the handmade stuff until a couple of weeks before Christmas Day.

For now, I just want to show you these little cuties. I made these kitties for my girls, inspired by this. These were so fun, and easy. I just had the best time picking out material and bits of felted wool from my stash. The head, arms, and legs of the dolls are from an old pair of pants. They are so nice and soft.

I just used this familiar pattern for the kittens, and I just re-drew the head, adding the ears and omitting the hair. I made the legs smaller than the pattern, closer in size to the cats' arms.

There are just so many inspiring ideas out there! Lots of talented people to grab ideas from.