She's Here!

Ariana was born yesterday at about 5 via C Section

she weighed 7 pounds 10 oz and is 19 inches long

She is a true miracle blessing

Watch out world!

Long time no see.....well....and a fun Christmas idea too

So, I just realized I haven't posted since July.....crazy.  So much has been going on, mostly centered around our newest addition that hasn't made her appearance just yet.  I went into preterm labor in early October and the doc's were able to stop it with some nasty meds, but it worked and then I was put on bedrest for 3 weeks.  Luckily we have lots of family and friends around to help, as I don't know how we would've done it with our other 4 kids and my hubby working and going to school full time with me not able to do much.  I must say though that God is so wonderful and showed me a few things as well as strengthened my marriage in the process......  I've been off of bedrest for almost 3 weeks now and our girlie still hasn't decided it's time, although I thought for sure she was coming last wednesday, and even this morning.  I have a few hours of contractions or several hours of contractions that come and go.  The doc said I was 5 cm dilated last monday, and the babe is big and I have almost double the amount of amnio fluid that's normal.....so the doc said she's really surprised my water hasn't broken and that I'm still prego.  So, needless to say I'm sort of in limbo and I don't really like it.  Ugh.  Oh well, God knows what he's doing, right?  Anyways, being on bedrest for that long I had plenty of time to find loads of fun projects I want to do and so I thought I'd start sharing them with you......this is one I haven't started yet, but really do want to do before Christmas this year as all we have now is a plain feltish red skirt that isn't really that fantastic.  Let me know if you make one, or if you find a template to sew the skirt part and how it goes.  Thanks for hanging with me and we'll see if I can get a project posted every week till Christmas, some with pics of the finished product of my own {;0)

http://www.smockityfrocks.com/2007/12/christmas-tree-skirt.html

A New Giveaway!

Hop on over to my Etsy shop blog, Whisperblossom, to enter to win a pair of these

Would you like to try cloth Diapers, or just add to your stash!

I found an awesome giveaway to share with you....we are making the decision to switch to cloth now that we have two in diapies and one on the way.  I would love to try these on my babes, how about you?

Chubby Cherubs Cloth Diaper Naturals is offering a chance to win a $425 cloth diaper package!

Become a fan of them here. 

You can make Soap in your Crockpot!

I was looking around over at "A year of Slow Cooking" and found this fantastic idea for gifts (and many good recipes I want to try soon, especially in the heat of summer who wants to turn the oven on?).....you could use all sorts of different things to put inside the soap shapes....stickers, little toys, plastic flowers, really your imagination could take you anywhere.  So, I thought I'd share, and if you give it a try let me know how it goes!  Oh, also if you go to Michaels or Joanns for supplies, be sure to check your local sunday paper for the store ad and see if they have coupons as that will lower your total out of pocket dramatically!

http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/12/how-to-make-soap-in-your-crockpot.html

Happy Mom Day!!

In honor of my mother, I thought I'd share two cookie recipes that I grew up with...my mom made them often, and every time I make them for my kids I think of her.

Here's the recipe link for Oatmeal Scotchies,

and here's one for the czechoslovakian bar cookies she used to make.

I hope Mother's day finds you well, and that you are surrounded by those you love!

New on BlogFrog

Come check our new forum out over on BlogFrog.....I've created a new community so we can chat about all sorts of different things.  The newest topic is "What Artsy thing would you like to find a tutorial for?"....I figure we can help each other out to find the info we're looking for.  So, if you get a moment hop on over and check us out!

Thought Provoking Tuesday.....ugh a day late again

Someday I will get my crap together and get posting when I should, but for now I'd like to leave you with a few verses a friend shared/reminded me of.  I've been having a rough time of it lately with my marriage, and being tired from being prego again, and running after four other littles.......but, these verses are holding me up and helping me through it, so I thought I'd share and see what you think. 

2 Corinthians 4:8, 9, 16-18

 

I am hoping to share another craft/recipe later this week or early next week, but we'll see how life goes for the next few days.....{:0)

 

 

Just a quick hello....

Just wanted to say a quick hello, and apologize for the slim (no) pickings as far as blog posts go the last few weeks......  We are having another baby some time in November, and this time the pregnancy is draining me.  I've been really tired and such, although I suppose it could be having the other four munchkins too.  Anyways, hopefully I can get to feeling better and back to "normal" soon.  Oh, my puter is acting as a paperweight at the moment as well, which doesn't help anything.  I'm hoping my hubby will take it in soon to have it fixed, and then I'll be posting up a storm....or at least a few times a week.  Thanks for hanging with me.

Picture in "Stained Glass" sans the glass..

So, most of the supplies you need for this project you probably already have at home.  You will need:  Saran Wrap, Aluminum Foil, a sheet of cardstock (or three if you want to "frame" the masterpiece), tape, markers, and a Black Sharpie (probably brand name, as the ink seems to show up better), and something to trace if you want to.  Off we go......

First you need a sheet of saran wrap a bit bigger than your cardstock, 

and if your child wants something traced, have them pick the picture out now....

My son decided he wanted to do Batman.....

Gently stretch the saran wrap over the picture you're going to trace, and start taping the corners

and maybe a couple of the edges to the table or whatever surface you're working on...

try to have it end up as smooth as possible without wrinkles as it will 

make your life much easier with the tracing.....

With a black Sharpie (a skinnier one would work way better) that is not

dried out, i.e. the ink comes out really dark, trace over the outline of the picture underneath...

or draw whatever picture your heart desires but just the outline....

(this was not dark enough...I had to go dig another one out that was much darker.....)

Let the little one have at it with their markers to color it in.....you can either leave the original picture underneath, or slide it out and put a piece of white paper underneath.....

cause then it doesn't lead to as many "wayward" lines if you have plain paper underneath....oh well, it adds character, right?

Gently slide the book/paper out from underneath the saran wrap

take a piece of foil a bit bigger than your cardstock, and gently crumple.....but not too much, because....

you need to "uncrumple" it gently and stretch it a bit, but you want to keep all of the texture....

Turn the shiny side of the foil down, and place one piece of cardstock in the middle, and gently fold all the edges of the foil over the cardstock.....

turn it over and it should more or less look like this.....

Gently unstick the taped edges of your saran wrap, this might be a good time for an extra set of hands....

Line up the picture how you want it over the foil wrapped cardstock.... and flip it over and tape an edge to the cardstock and gently stretch the saran wrap as you tape to the back, flipping from back to front as you go to make sure you don't have any major wrinkles on the front.

Now, if you want to stop here, you're more than welcome to be finished....or you can add a bit of frame for your childs masterpiece.....

Take two pieces of cardstock in the same color and measure/spread out behind/against your finished artwork and where they overlap put tape where you won't see it.  You can glue the edge where it will be visible....

Then Glue ( you can just use regular glue, or whatever you have, I just had my glue gun out for something else) the artwork to the "frame"....

Here's the finished Stained Glass....

He, of course, had to find the "perfect" place for it, on his Batman wall....

I think he nailed it.

So, that's it for this one, I hope you can enjoy this with whatever munchkins you have in your life, and let your imagination soar with it......  If you'd like after you're done, come back and leave me a link so I can come see a pic of the masterpieces you've done with the little ones in your life.  Thanks for hanging out with me for a bit, I hope you enjoy this with your kids as much as I did with one of mine!

Thought Provoking Tuesday

So, I heard this a few weeks ago while listening to a "teaching" on the radio, while I was driving, and I've really been chewing on it the last few weeks.....The woman was talking about her reaction to her husbands "sin issue", and how her reaction was to go tell her friends and chat about how horrible it was.  Even her thought process revolved around the fact that she couldn't understand why he couldn't have sin issues more like her, cause hers weren't so bad (at least in her mind).   Then she talked about how God really convicted her about the fact that Jesus died for her sin too, that he died for us all.....

I must admit I have gone this route many times, as my hubby tends to be in your face about everything, if he has a sin issue, it's right there for everyone to see.  So, I've been guilty of saying many times to myself that I must have to go through all of his muck to learn to rely on God.....and why does he have to do everything the hard way, why can't he be more like me?  

It's really the same thing the woman on the radio was talking about.  

God sent his son to die for each of us, so that some day we can be with him for all of eternity.....just because my hubby seems to wear his sin on his sleeve, and mine is more of an internal thing, it doesn't make any difference.  Sin is sin, and Jesus died for it all.  My sins aren't any better or worse than any other persons....

Do you have an issue with this....does it resonate with you?  Share your thoughts and feelings, please.....

Tomorrow is the day for the "stained glass windows" barring no great distractions....Thanks for being patient!

Found a cool idea for your little girlies

I saw this, and so wanted to share with you.....go check it out!

Pretend Makeup at the Polka Dot Daisy

I will be posting a craft for the munchkins of my own later today or tomorrow......It's kind of like a stained glass window of sorts that the kids can make, with things you already have....no glass involved!

Apology and New Offerings

I first want to apologize, as I've been promising you a new craft/sewing project and haven't got it done yet.  We've had a crazy few weeks, our oldest had scarlet fever and the two year old an ear infection, the hubby was off work for four days with a bad back, and we found out we're expecting again this fall which seems to be the reason for my exhaustion......Oh, I've also been working furiously to try to get the new Spring line ready for my shop.

So, if you haven't yet, stop by Here to check out our new line "Fancifree", we'll be posting new offerings every day for the next few weeks.  Be sure to check back often to see our new stuff.

Don't forget to stop by Here to enter our Giveaway for one of our new Spring Blossoms, I want to help you celebrate that Spring has Sprung!!

Giveaway on the Etsy shop Blog

Just wanted to let everyone know to go check out my Etsy Shop Blog.

You can find out how to enter to win one of the blossoms from the upcoming spring line....

Thought Provoking Tuesday

Here's a new artist my friend recommended, and I love her stuff.  Check her out here.....

JJ Heller "Your Hands"

I'm still learning.....

I was catching up on some blog reading, and found this post on Gypsy Mama's website...so I thought we could play along together.....

I’m still learning to let my husband be my husband, and God be God.

I’m still learning that it’s okay to say “no” sometimes, when asked to do something.

I’m still learning to quiet my thoughts and the business around me, so I can here God’s quiet whisper.

I’m still learning to just say thank you when someone compliments on something of mine, instead of explaining it away.

I'm still learning to let my kids be kids, and not little adults.

I'm still learning to treasure every moment like it's my last,
instead of getting so caught up with the "things" I have to do......


Okay, it's your turn.....

Whisper Blossom Give Away Coming Soon

When you get a chance, meander over here to see when I'm having the next giveaway for my shop.

You can also visit here to see the shop facebook page.

Thanks for your for your time and support!


Stay tuned for some info on how to make some cool looking curtains!

Thought Provoking Tuesday......a day late

Yesterday was really crazy around our house, I apologize for the delay.....anyways, let's get to it.

I was listening to the radio on the way home from dropping the munchkins off at school, and the speaker was talking about a story out of Luke 10.  The story of when Jesus and the disciples were having dinner, and Martha was getting peeved at Mary because she felt like she was doing all of the work and Mary was doing nothing important.  Mary had chosen to sit at Jesus' feet, while Mary kept herself busy (and anxious and upset) in the kitchen doing what she thought was important and necessary.  What did Jesus say?  I thought the speaker made a good point that Jesus pretty much said there's really only one thing to be anxious about in this life, and it's whether or not you've accepted Christ and his payment for your sins and therefore have salvation.  That Mary was doing the right thing in trying to follow Jesus and listen to what he had to say.  Following what Christ has for you needs to be the most important thing in your life, your focus as you go about your day.....

How many times do we get caught up in all of the things on our "to do list" that we forget to count our blessings?  How many times are you willing to stop when God puts someone in your path that needs you're help and God's love that can shine through you?  Are you willing to get down in the muck of other peoples life for Jesus?  Are you willing to follow God even if it leads you off of the path you think you should be going down?  Do you feel like you're doing everything you're supposed to, but are still feeling like you're missing something?  Where is your focus today?


Thanks for hanging out with me for a moment, and feel free to leave me anything you'd like to add or comment on.  Oh, I'm thinking I'll have a post soon about either making playdough at home, or making some simple curtains for your window....or maybe both if I get the chance, which would you prefer?

Do you love your Dots?......Thought Provoking Tuesday

Sorry about missing last week, I've been getting stuff ready to put in my etsy shop, and the hubby has been getting ready for his finals on top of working.....Anyways, I ran across this today, and thought I'd share and invite you to share your thoughts as well.



Becoming Real....at InCourage

Do you accept your "dots"?  Or are you forever trying to change them, or pretend they're not there in order to please others?

It seems so easy just to "stuff" the yucky stuff down, or hide it somewhere.  But, we all know how that ends up....well, at least when I do that, it rumbles around for a little bit and looks all neat and clean on the outside, and when you least expect it, it comes bubbling out uncontrollably and profusely.... If you talk about it with some one you trust and they have the light of Christ in their lives too, then it usually ends up so much better.  You can talk and cry and pray together, and let God do his part.  Seems so much harder at first, but then when you actually take those sorts of steps everything is better in the long run....and those people close to you don't get covered in the muck of life that comes from the end result of trying to hide and be something that God never created you to be.

Fun and Funky Placemats for Every Day

So, I'm apologizing for not getting this done and up last week like I promised, but I've been under the weather and life goes on anyway.  But, here we go.  

You'll need whatever size of cardstock you'd like for the backround (I've found that it makes a heavier duty placemat, although you could just use construction paper too.  You could use a larger size for larger mat, my kiddo's are still small, so we just used standard size.), contact paper (I found a roll where the width is just a bit longer than a sheet of paper/cardstock at Walmart for about 5 bucks), and markers/crayons/tissue paper/glue/paint....really whatever sort of medium you want to play with (well, maybe not playdough.....just stuff that will lay flat, unless you're not planning on using your piece of art as a placemat, lol), oh and a pair of scissors.

 

Let the munchkins go to town decorating their papers how ever they'd like.

and, yes, my 2 year old can't draw hearts and flowers yet, she had some mommy help.

 Rue decided she wanted a "hodge podge" of things, while the boy was drawing where all of his

meal things should go....he even went as far as to get the fork and butter knife out

to make sure he "drew" them the right way.

Rue wanted to add some tissue paper, so we spread a bit of glue and she put a thin layer

of tissue squares on top.

 

Now we're ready for the contact paper

Peel the corner of the paper off of the contact paper and then just one side and lay the contact paper over the top of your creation, and gently press down, smoothing any bubbles out as you go.

I did find out that if you start in the center and smooth outward then the bubbles go away much

better, but the boy wanted to help, so we just went with it.

Then flip and repeat.   

 

Then cut around the edges with your scissors to make a seal so that water and mess

can't get in to ruin your design (and the contact paper makes for easy clean up)

Ta da!  You're finished, and have some cool lookin' mats to protect your table from

food mess, and they're so inexpensive and fun to make you 

could make one for every meal, lol.

  

Thanks for stopping by and hanging out with me for a bit, I hope that you and your kids will have

tons of fun making some place mats that you both will love.

If you want, leave me a link in the comments section, so I can see your 

artsy mats in action.

Thought Provoking Tuesday

At least I think that's what it's supposed to be.....not thursday right?  We've been snowed in here for two days, again, so I'm a little jet lagged I think.  Anyways, I wanted to share about what the teaching was on sunday when we went to church, and I had the bulletin to reference the passage right up till about an hour ago.  I think one of the munchkins made off with it.  So, the teaching was out of Luke, and I'm going to try to set up the story for you, as I've misplaced my bible as well.  Anyway, Jesus and his disciples decided to go across the lake as they were tired, and wanted rest.  So, they came to the "non-jewish" gentile side of the lake, and found a man that had been demon possessed and shunned by all of society.  Long story short, the demons begged for mercy (even though they'd given the man none), ended up going into some pigs which drowned themselves, and the townspeople came to see the man who had been "cured" and was now calm, and because they were afraid they wanted Jesus and his disciples to leave.  The man wanted to stay with Jesus, but Jesus told him to go tell everyone who would listen about what happened and how Jesus had saved him. So, he did.

Now, the parallel the teacher was on, was that Jesus only had to speak, not ask God for help, therefore showing that he was God incarnate, and also that there are such things as demons and that they do exist.  They are not figments of imagination to be blamed away by silly excuses like maybe they didn't know what they were talking about way back then because they didn't have the diagnostic tools necessary to really figure out that it was just some mental disorder.....Really.  But, God pointed something else out to me along the way, on a different parallel.  I got stuck on the fact that Jesus left when the people were afraid so they told him they didn't want him to stay.  Our teacher also shared another story about another time where Jesus did a healing, and the townspeople welcomed him (that's something to think about to, would you be readily willing at the drop of a hat to have Jesus over?  I only say that cause most of us would say lets go somewhere else, because we're worried about being judged......) and didn't want him to leave.

The thing I thought was interesting, is the fact that God is right there waiting, from the first time you decide to let him in and accept his forgiveness so you can have eternal life, all the way till the end.  But, if you don't want him, he will not barge in.  He patiently waits for you to invite him into whatever you're doing at the moment, and will always be there when you decide that you need him, and he does know you and knows whats best.

How cool is that?

What do you think about this?  Please leave me a note and share what you've been chewing over this week...

Oh, sometime this week, I will post a cool idea/tutorial for some easy placemats for the munchkins to make.

Tissue Paper Rainbow Catcher

So, today I'm sharing something that my 2 year old especially likes, but it's also something my 8 year old enjoys as well.....You need different colors of tissue paper, scissors, clear contact paper (we found some in the aisle with the shelf liner paper at walmart), and some construction paper (if you want to cut out shapes to add in with the tissue paper)....

Before the fun begins, you need to roll out a square/rectangle of contact paper, cut it off the roll, and peel the paper off.  I usually try to just peel one end of the paper off at a time so I can tape the corners to the table the kids are working at, just make sure the contact paper is sticky side up.  You can either cut out squares (really it doesn't matter if they are all uniform, or really square) before or after you get the contact paper fixed to the table.  (This would also be a good time to do construction paper shapes if you decide you want to do them)

Then the kids can put the shapes and tissue squares wherever they want on the contact paper.  Just try to help them not put a pile of them in one spot, just spread them out.

 

Like that pile up there to the right of Rue's hand....don't worry we fixed it.

 

I just love watching those tiny fingers work their magic....and how every piece has a specific spot.

This part can be a bit tricky, but I've found that if you (once again) only unroll one end at a time it goes a bit better.  This time you want the sticky side of the contact paper down, so the layers sort of stick together.  Oh, I usually try to cut the top piece a bit bigger than the bottom piece underneath so it will overlap, and then it doesn't matter so much if you get all the edges lined up and perfectly matched.....trust me mine aren't....

 

As you continue peeling the paper from underneath, gently press on the contact paper so you don't end up with bubbles and lines in your finished project.Then you can either fold over the sticky edges to encase the masterpiece, or you can use your scissors to trim the raw edges off.

Rue decided that she wanted to hang her masterpiece in her big brothers window, because he did something to his blinds a few months ago and they ended up on the ground and they can't be fixed.  So, long story short, he's not had any sort of "window treatment" for a bit now.  So, we got the tape out and decided where it would go, and also that we were going to make another to go beside this one so the bottom part of his window would be completely covered with her art.  (I should've just rolled out a longer piece for her to work on, but you know how hindsight is 20/20, right?)  Sorry for the funky quality of the pic, way too much snow outside, and his light bulb had burnt out..... but you get the gist....

I wanted to show you what I did with the munchkins last summer.  I had rolled out a long piece and had the kids go to town, and we also used construction paper shapes (the hearts and flowers and stars, which you just put in between the layers of contact paper, when you do the tissue paper stuff) which aren't as transparent.  Really, for the older kids you could do a whole "scene" or picture this way.  

I didn't have anything covering the window in our backdoor that's in the kitchen, which was sort of creeping me out, and I didn't want to hang a curtain because I was afraid it would stick out too far as our steps downstairs are perpendicular to the door.  I tried that mylar sticky reflective stuff, which you're not supposed to be able so see through, but you can, and it's a pain in the butt to try to adhere or cut or mess with.  Long story short, I cut up their tissue paper design and taped (shh, we won't tell) the pieces onto the glass panels in the door.  It worked great, and I get that nice color which is so awesome about this time of year, with all the gray and snow and such.  Again with the funky pic, but really the colors haven't faded as much as I thought, because we get full sun on that side of the house, and it's been up there for at least 6 months.

So, do you have any neat artsy craftsy ideas to share?  Please do.....

Kaleidoscope colors in the midst of the Snow

I've been meaning to share some fun things to do with the munchkins in your life for a while now, but just now remembered to take some pics to go along with the words.  Here's how to make beautiful tissue paper flowers that your munchkins will have tons of fun doing.

These are great for kids around age 5, prolly depending on the child.....my 5 year old son had a bit of difficulty with the stem wrapping part, but loved picking out the colors for his flower.

So, the supplies are relatively simple, you need tissue paper in many colors, and some pipe cleaners in green shades (or at least this is what my oldest insists on, really you can go as colorful as you'd like.) and some imagination.

Next, unfold the tissue paper and lay all the pieces on top of one another, and then cut strips about 4-5 inches wide (across the width, not the longest side.) and then cut those strips into 3 pieces.

Pick out at least 4 "squares" of different colors, but you can do as many as 10 or so.  Then lay all the "squares" on top of each other.

Next fold the stack like an accordion....

 

Then, take your pipe cleaner and fold the top 1-2 inches over the fold you just made in the tissue paper stack, and then twist the pipe cleaner together so it's now "holding" the tissue paper.... 

 

So, the pic up there is not behaving and going to the center....but oh well....Next you gently pull the innermost layer of tissue paper upwards out of the "accordion"and do that again on the other side.....then keep alternating sides until there's no more layers left.

 

That's it you're done, although my oldest insists that you must have a ribbon to tie you bouquet together with...

 

In the next few days, I'll post on how to make an awesome colorful display for your window....or rather something your munchkins will love to do that will brighten up the gray dreary drab feeling of winter....

Thought Provoking Tuesday

So, I've seen lots of idea's for different days of each week, and I've decided to try to devote Tuesdays to share things that have grabbed my attention lately.  Particularly in the area of my faith and how God is working in my life.  Okay, I heard this song around Christmas time, and it really pulled at my heart.  It's one of those where if you really listen to the words it's very profound.  I really wanted to share it with you, just in case you've not heard it yet.  So, here goes......I haven't figured out how to import the whole little box to watch it here, so you'll just have to visit the link, I guess.
.
Downhere, How Many Kings

Season for Change

I feel like the tides are changing, that maybe God's working to mold me into who he wants me to be, even if it's just a small piece that's being reworked.  Like years of work towards one small goal might be coming to pass.....and man, it's not much fun.  I feel like he's finally "killed the lizard" (from C.S. Lewis' book The Great Divorce) of my bargain-spending-money issue, although I know it may take quite a bit longer before I don't have relapses and twinges to spend when I don't need too.  I feel like I finally (after my whole life) have the control (only through God's grace and help) to keep myself away from and say no to myself in this area.

Now, I feel like we've moved on to some key spiritual identity issues.  I've always struggled with putting my husband in God's place, which we all know no man could ever measure up to those standards, right?  So, I've asked God continuously to help me not do that, and to focus on Him instead of trying to control my hubby and what he does so I can feel "okay".  Do you know what happens when you pray for something like that, or like patience, really any of those sorts of "virtues"?  God gives you ample opportunity to lean on him and "learn" the very thing you've asked for.  So, I feel like He has been trying to help me in this area for a very long time, and I am really wishing I could "get" it, so I could be done struggling with this.

What do you feel like God's trying to help you with lately?

Messy

So, the kids are home today from school for "teacher work day", and the Hubs is at work and I've done it again.  I've really been struggling this week with the yuck of depression, and Satan seems to be on me like some sort of slime....or well at least sitting on my shoulder whispering nonsense in my ear, because once you're a child of God you can't be of two masters, so S has lost the ability to get any farther.  But, sitting on my shoulder does more good sometimes than one would think, especially if you're already down in the dumps.  The last few days, I find I'm having a real struggle in my marriage with giving my husband words of encouragement,  instead of words that tear him down in some way.  Words that give him respect, instead of words that grate on his nerves or accuse and irritate him.  Even when I try to do things the right way, they get all twisted and mooshed and come out completely the opposite of what I intended.

I guess I'm remembering that you can't "muster" up any of the fruits of the spirit, you can only give what you have, and therefore making me realize maybe I've been not so great at feeding my spirit lately..... cause heaven knows what I've been giving out isn't hope, peace, patience, kindness ect..well, at least not as much as I'd like.....  But, I'm so grateful that God gives us all the time we need and that he's always there when we're ready to get back on track, and after almost seven years of marriage my hubs and I know this is just a rocky blip in the road.  Now, I'm not saying if you're having depression issues there might not be a medical need there, but I'm on some meds and I know that my current issue mostly has to do with the fact I'm just walking a little off the path, and that the big G can meet me where I am and help me get back on track.  I'm so glad that we have a Father that cares for us so, and will always be there, no matter what the screw up, ready to help and welcome us back......kinda like the prodigal son I guess.

This post is linked to Friday Fails at My Blessed Life.

Winter

Over at Incourage a challenge was made to use the creativity that God has woven into us all, and stretch our "wings" a bit.  So, I thought I'd give this a try, we'll see how I do, as I've never attempted Haiku before now.....

Winter

Soft, Crunchy, Crisp Snow

Glorious White, Clean, and New

Moment to Reflect

New Year, New Thoughts, New Idea's.....

I'm not usually one to make a New Year's resolution, I don't know why, other than maybe it requires too much work and it usually brings up the thought of failure.  Who likes failure, right?  Anyways, this year I am going to try to start a couple of new habits to replace old.....sort of like that saying of out with the old, in with the new thing.  So, here goes....

First and foremost, I would like to continue in my pursuit of a closer relationship with God, and choosing to say yes to allow him to work in my life and through me to reach others for him.  Which also means trying to find time to study and pray more often, and purposefully doing so, rather than just doing it when I "have time".

Second, I want to continue to move towards my husband, instead of putting him where God belongs and requiring him to be more than he ever could be.  I want to have the sort of marriage that is a blessing to our children, so that they can look and see what it should be.  To have it be a light for Christ and and example for them, so that they base what they want in marriage and beforehand on what God wants rather how the world says it should be.  I want to work for our marriage so that we are still giddy and in love when we are 85, rather than old and crotchety and tired with each other.

Third, I want to continue to make strides in my housekeeping and money management skills, so that we have a schedule and have savings in the bank.  This one may not seem like a big deal, but one of my biggest issues, and one that God is currently working very hard on, is money and saying no to a "bargain".....and housework and schedule's are not my strong suit whatsoever.....

So, I am going to attempt to make small steps, with God's help, towards these changes, and we'll see how it goes over the next year....with lots of prayer and help, I'm sure.