Pinning for others.

Pinterest, that site with a whole lot of ideas, but not enough time to carry them, right? Right! 

I have since gotten over the 'over indulging' part of  'pinning' for myself because I now have no need for more projects, I just want to complete the ones I have started! Amen? Amen! 

So, I start pinning for others!! Waa-hoo! Creating with other people's ideas, just how I like it! (And it's not my money, just suggestions but also use of my creativity!)  
I have this exciting task of helping a friend work out the options of curtains, valances and tie back for one of her most fun room of the house, her office! Well, I think it's exciting and fun because she has a great choices of red paint for two walls and a soft yellow for the other two.  She has great colors of teal, red, yellow, orange, red orange, and black; a lot of colors to work with. 

Now, here are some ideas I gave her, but really these are only a few. Most of these idea's are of what her curtains/valance could resemble], not the actual fabric.  

ring clips 

 box valance with simple buttons

 

 

curtain length of window vs. floor length or floor to ceiling

door knob for tie back; simple, pretty, basic

solid curtain, with colored edge.

 

draped valance over rod

So, now that I got my design fix, I am off to clean up spilled apple sauce and milk, and a gallon or so of water in the bathroom.  The bits of a mother's life with children. Cheers! 

The garden's from 231 Footer Street.

I took some time to work on my landscaping, with my empty spaces and over active spaces.  I have lots of plants, and lots of junk-y clay/dirt that I try to work with each spring/summer/fall to make it more plant worthy for the non-flowering plants that we have.  It is not always an enjoyable task, new wood chips, cultivating the dirt, figuring out why my plants are not flowering. What I do like is the outcome, the flowers, the pretty greenery, the look it gives to our house.   

Spearmint plant:
Smells wonderful, has done well even though it has been very wet and it is suppose to help keep away mosquitoes!  I'm not sure if it is working but I do enjoy the smell!  

 My ever abounding Hollyhocks. 

One small plant came in one small ice cream bucket and now they are everywhere. Spreading by seed and root. It is going to be a job to get back my south side landscaping, slow but sure, it will come.

 I had Jim and my mom make this planter while I was pregnant one summer, I think with daughter #2, actually I'm pretty sure it was then. It is exciting to see plants come up each year, not knowing if they survived the winter cold.  I did a whoops this spring, planted bulbs and for what ever reason, chose to plant them upside down. Like, really?, no wonder they are not popping up. I am quite bummed out by this but went through and turned them right side up. I wonder how much damage I've done.  I'll have to wait and see. Possibly even until next year. 

keystone planter:
 Day lilies (red, yellow, orange), Iris' (purple, yellow, yellow/maroon), Light Pink Peonies,
And lots of purple flowering plants that I can not remember the name of. Cheers!   

If you look close near the bottom of this picture, there is a Black Eye Susan, also known as Rudbeckia hirta.  I have been trying to grow this plant for years, I now have two flowering and two trying to make it. They are pretty particular to grow at my house but am so excited!

This is the back of my house, we get to visit these while we swing on the swing set. 

This to the right is a Spuria Iris, I have not been able to make this bloom. I think it is time to move her. The left is tall lavender phlox, which has not been blooming. 

The Asiatic Lilies grow/bloom like crazy and I'll be thinning them out this fall and adding color else where for next year. I am exciting about this, just to make and find the time to do so.

The tall, lavender Phlox (middle plant) that grew great the first year I had them, now after I moved them, they have not bloomed. Not sure what to make of this and they are just.so.pretty! I do need to figure out my issue. 

This container is next to our garage, and since the bottom rotted out, she'll be there until her sides give way. 

One of my many container flower garden, this is two layers and have loved it since i made it this way two summer's ago.  I have always loved Petunia's, especially shades and tints of purple. I have them in quite a few containers, most are doing quite well!

I'll be posting later in August, to see and show you if my Allium actually did come up to bloom and give you a peak at some of the other fun container garden's I have put together. 

  

The Bunny...

This bunny ---->  

Meet Cee-Cee!  Caramel Chocolate, the little lady with caramel fench tipped toes, dark chocolate eyes, A Holland lop. She is sweet! 

  This bunny, who is just so cute, is 8 weeks old. She has caused quite an stir, given us the 'run around', literally.

• We picked her up Tuesday afternoon, got her home, had a blast.  
• Wednesday went find, then came Thursday. 
• Thursday: she was in her outdoor pen, the pen got moved, the girls came in, then the bunny just hopped away, through a little uneven spot in the fence. So, we looked and looked, cried a little, put out food, keep everything where it was. 
• I said a prayer, because I was so distraught, 'just show us where this darn bunny is', i pleaded or so I felt like I was, silly I know. (I was more upset that she is so small and domesticated, felt like I was throwing her to the wind and a bad mother for not watching more closely.) 
• Well, God answered that pleading prayer, because I know, He knew I needed to know He is here, still present in my what seems like a very chaotic life. That he can answer any prayers, simple or complicated. 
• Claire and Eleanore was up later then usual Friday evening and they happened to be out in the front yard, low and behold, they saw her. A larger bunny was chasing her, said Claire.  Eleanore came and got me. Then she got her dad, then dad saved the day by using a butterfly net to catch that darn bunny. That two dollar butterfly net that has never seen a butterfly has now served a purpose. Phew, I'm sort of glad I splurged. ;)
• Now, she is home, back with us, not lost, the dad was right, she did not hop to far. I don't feel like such a horrible mother, the girls are happy, so is everyone else, even the bunny. Cheers! 

Philippians Chapter 4, verses 13 and 14

This devotion just sort of struck a cord with me as I was on vacation.  I usually always pass this verse, it seems like it's everyone's 'favorite', everyone 'memorizes it', but as I read these Two verses together, a light turned on. Not just Phil. 4:13 but 14 too!. And possibly it helped to read this devotion to know how one shares in one's trouble.  It made me realize that you do need other's praying for you and that it is okay for other's to know your struggles. 




"I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles." Philippians 4:13-14 (NIV, 1984)

I don't understand some things that happen in life. When one of the most vivacious, fun-loving, beautiful, determined-to-tell-the-world-about-Jesus women I knew found out her cancer was back, my heart broke.

Short of a miraculous healing from God, Brenda wouldn't make it through the end of the year.

One afternoon, I sat with Brenda talking and processing her reality. At one point she got very quiet. It was as if she could see things I couldn't. After a few minutes of silent reflection, she leaned over and whispered, "I know in my heart I'm not going to be here much longer. And I need to know my girls will be okay. They need godly women to walk with them, speak into them and guide them into the future God has for them."

With tears streaming down my face, I committed to being one of those women.

A few weeks later, Brenda's feeling was confirmed as she let go of her family's hand and walked into glory.

Paige and Philecia were 19 and 14 years old, the same ages as my oldest and youngest daughters. I had no idea how to do this right. I didn't have a game plan or a degree in grief counseling. My schedule was crazy. My own kids made me question my sanity some days. And I was so hyperaware of all the many ways I'm flawed. But one thing I knew I could do — be a female voice that whispered often into their lives, "I love you."

Uttering three simple words into the deep grief of two brokenhearted little girls didn't seem like much, but God used it in profound ways.

I couldn't take away their pain. But I could bring joy in the midst of it.

I whispered "I love you" at simple, everyday dinners at my house. I wrote "I love you" on the tops of their birthday gifts and Christmas morning surprises. I texted it when I invited them for afternoon coffee and movie dates. Nothing about it was organized or done perfectly. But just the effort seemed to be what mattered most.

And bit by bit, day by day, love is helping us all figure out this hard time together.

I wonder if you have a friend going through a really tough time. Have you wrestled like I did with not knowing what to say? Being afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing? I understand.

But I've learned it's better to risk doing it wrong than to do nothing at all. A simple "I love you" said or written in conjunction with meeting a practical need is a great place to start.

In May, the girls celebrated their first Mother's Day without Brenda. I knew they would need an "I love you" to help ease the ache of this day. So, I invited their family to join mine for dinner that night.

Halfway through the meal, I wished I had thought in advance of some wonderfully profound words to share to honor Brenda. But right as I was lamenting not being better prepared for this moment, Paige pulled out a framed letter they'd written to me. In honor of Brenda, they'd decided to give me a gift they knew she would have loved ... a gold cross necklace.

I was crying so hard I could barely read their letter. But since then, I've read it many times. It sits on my bedside table as a reminder of how powerful love is. In the letter they included one of Brenda's favorite verses, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength," (Philippians4:13). Interestingly enough, the very next verse reads, "Yet it was good of you to share in my troubles" (v.14).

Yes, it is good to share in each other's troubles. And so, with a willing but very imperfect heart, I will keep whispering "I love you" into the lives of Brenda's beautiful girls.

I still don't understand why this happened. And I don't always know the right things to say in response to deep grief. But I do know love is a beautiful thing to bring into the gap of all the unknowns.

Dear Lord, thank You for showing me the power of Your great love. Help me to be a reflection of Your love to the ones You have entrusted to me. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

(Completely copied from Proverbs 31 Ministry, daily devotions from my gmail inbox. Follow this link to find the out where to sign up for daily devotions.) 

Vacation reading

Well, I say vacation but I am not sure it is one. I'm single parenting, have been at three houses in four days (by choice), I won't lie, it has been a little hectic. Now that we are at our final destination for the rest of the week, it has seemed to be a bit more peaceful.  Cheers!

What I can say is this book, "glitter and glue' by Kelly Corrigan is a good, simple read!  A memoir of a girl, heading out to travel around the world, get's stalled in Australia and then finds herself a nanny job. Through her job figures out why her mom has used the term 'glitter and glue'.  It came out this year, 2014 and reminds me of what I use to read when in high school. I'm glad I picked it up from the library before we left!

Happy Reading! 

This Boy

I love this little man of ours!  He arrived April 2013, He is pure fun! He introduced to us, a few weeks ago how to be a climber, he is starting to telling us what is on his mind, directing us with hand motions.  He is understanding baby sign language and I just love to see him use it.  He also pushes everything with wheels! 

Today he was climbing the slide in our back yard! He would get up to the top and sit down, turn onto his belly, slide down, get up, walk the long way around the swing set and do it all over again.  He was having so.much.fun!  I Love him to pieces.  

I  asked for a smile, here he is! (15 mos)

I made these for him last night.  I love creating garments for my children.
This boy has had more booties made for him then my two girls put together.
Material: Modern Textiles of Fargo ND

He just bumped his head, he was not to excited about that.
He gave it a rub, a  little mumble to let me know it didn't feel good and was on his way. 

I think... I am back...

Yes, I think I am back, wanting to use this space to share my life with others, the ones who are dear to me but far from me.  This little space I can share more of my story then just a picture or two on Facebook.  (BTW, I have decide to take a break from FB, I think I am going to enjoy it.)

It has been two years, two years with a lot of change, two years of thinking about sharing via this space, thinking 'Is it worth sharing?', trying to make since of simple post not long dramatic ones. Trying to make this a journal, a record of my artistic side of life. The sewing, crafting, painting, house projects, and gardening. But also bit about my children, the ministry that I am involved in and the great people I have in my life. 

So, here's to trying again, with no set standards, just write when I can, about my projects and life. 

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