Foyer update!

Remember ME???

Well, My leaves got ripped off!!

But I turned into THIS: (Yay!!)

Complete with shiny silver snow balls and three red birds :)

More to come as I find the time! I'm a busy girl these days!

Not forgotten

Everyday I think, "Crap. I forgot to blog again."

I keep meaning to. Really, I do! Ha!

This is a crazy time of year for me and it's hard to have a minute to go to the bathroom without a kids hanging on my leg or someone crying for my attention or something to go to, etc. etc. Wait...that's everyday...

I have 3 birthdays in one week - my kids' and my husband's. So I'm planning our first birthday party and have been deep cleaning the house. I was alone for a week while Mike went up to Chicago to be with his parents while his dad had back surgery....so I really had no spare time. I guess some things have to be put on hold. I'm still in physical therapy, at least it's only once a week now, but it's the dry needling! Yikes!

I have been trying to stay positive and remember to reflect the Proverbs 31 woman as I live in the middle of what could be a giant world of stress.

I shall return after this holiday weekend. I am going to be busy crafting and decorating and hope to chronicle things along the way!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Can you believe my baby will be ONE YEAR OLD tomorrow?????!!!!

Self Portrait #8

I know...I know.... I have commitment issues....

I noticed my hands the other day. They were itchy and dry, my nails needed trimmed, and I had a hang nail. Yeah, lovely.

My first thought was "Geez. I need some lotion."

Then I started recalling why my hands are such a mess...

I wash my hands a bazillion times a day because I'm changing diapers, answering the "Mom! I'm done!" call, feeding children, touching grocery carts...

I'm always touching a towel or tissue after washing my hands, wiping snotty noses or baby food faces, cleaning up spit up off the floor, or cookie crumbs from the counter...

They get covered in hair spray and detangling spray because I've got a daughter with beautiful curly hair...

I'm an artist, I'm hard on my hands with fabric and paint and glue and and and...

I plant flowers and don't own a trowel (should put that on my Christmas list) and I'm not afraid of sticking my hands in the dirt....

I touch a lot of things all. day. long.

My hands stroke my baby's cheeks when he needs comfort, touch fevered foreheads, tickle a silly toddler's belly and twist the little curls on her head, make my husband squirm, are the home of my wedding ring, hold little trinkets that are just too heavy to carry home, make people angry if I wave them annoyingly in traffic, make people happy when I wave at them because I recognize them from a distance, give high fives, applaud a somersault or first baby steps, play pat-a-cake, look like my mom's, and are frankly amazing.

I'm growing to appreciate and love my wrinkly, sometimes sore, un-manicured, strong, snappy, vein-y, regular hands. I could not be a hand model and I'm okay with that. :)

They still could use some lotion.

I'm trying still to model the Proverbs 31 passage about a wife of noble character.

¹³ She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.

¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Let's hear it for hands!

Happy Anniversary to me!

Seven years ago, today, I married the man of my dreams.

It's not always easy or beautiful, but it is true and real and pure - and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

On our wedding day, 2003:

Photo session (last week) with my good friend, Renee!

Yes! I still fit into my dress!! More pictures from the session to come - as soon as I get them :) I got these early to gift to Mike for our anniversary :)

These pictures were taken at my Aunt Jenny and Uncle Bob's farm in Bellville. This swing is and has always been the most fun tree swing I've ever been on. It's a little tricky in a gown :)
Didn't she do a good job?!

Self Portrait #7

I have had a long week since my last post. Levi was sick last time. Then I got it. Then Mike got it. All the while Elli was fighting a crazy high fever that wouldn't break among other things - today she's finally herself, I think. I am exhausted. I've been working with Mike and not feeling like I am helping him enough. I have been in this house for so long with no help, I am losing my already exiting mind! I have felt abandoned and alone. I feel like screaming for help, but no one will hear me. I have been hurt by people that I thought cared for my family, but are really just selfish and I don't understand how someone could intentionally hurt another person...especially when they consider themselves a strong Christian....but that's another post. I don't even know how to respond! How am I supposed to act when I see them?!

I guess I'm in a bit of a funk. My anniversary is on Monday and it's already full of things and appointments that don't include celebrating together with my husband. Life is hard sometimes, and this is one of those times for me.

I just want something to be easy!! I want to create something! I want to have a day to myself - just me, maybe some friends....but no kids. I need a breather. I need to recharge.

Self Portrait #6

A self-portrait haiku

My kisses can heal

A belly ache or boo-boo.

Mom works her magic.

Twins

Here is the skirt I was working on last week whenever I'd get the time! E is completely into matching mommy, doing what mommy does, helping mommy, everything. (Kind of makes me really really feel the need to be strong and healthy and a good model for her even more than before...yikes! How many times have I lost it and not made a good example of myself.....)

Anyhow, this is one of my favorite blogs to browse and get ideas- she's so good!! - and this is the post where I saw these cute circle skirts and decided that I HAD to make them and I HAD to do it just like she did.

What do you think?

Self-portrait #5

I'm a little late this week, but I'm gettin' it in just in time!

Looking at the Epilogue of a Wife of Noble Character,

Proverbs 31:22 and 24

²² She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.

I'm still trying to look at my life compared to the woman described in Proberbs 31.

Though this isn't linen, it's silk;

I'm not going to sell the garment I'm making, but I have sold before;

it's not a bed covering, it's going to be two skirts (one for me and one for Elli, because she's really into twins right now) - but I have made many bed coverings;

and does purple hair count?

I think I'm pretty crafty and resourceful and take care of clothing my family and I WISH I could sell my crafty-wares or artistry, but never seem to have luck with that. Not in my region anyway.

I'm trying, God. I'm trying. (That's a loaded statement)

PS - I'm not doing great with my doodle-a-day.....I'm going to past weekly my doodles instead of daily. I just can't squeeze that time in. I'll also post pictures of my finished skirts! (and other things I've made lately)!!

Doodle-A-Day: Twisting flower

Doodle Day 3: Twisting Flower

Doodled, well scratched and scribbled, while waiting for E to eat her supper and writing an evening to-do list. I was really frustrated. I don't dig this doodle.

Doodle-A-Day: J+M

Today's doodle, J+M, was drawn at the dining room table while Elli and Levi played in the play room exploring the new cabinet I bought at a yard sale today.

Doodle-A-Day: Autumn Girl

As if I don't have enough to do, I've decided this evening on a whim to do a Doodle-A-Day. I am not drawing or painting as much as I'd like -and I'm afraid that if I don't use it, I'll lose it. These aren't necessarily going to be beautiful, or thought out, or meaningful. I may or may not name them. I may try, since you can't have everything titled as 'untitled' and I really stink at coming up with names. I honestly just want keep up a habit of creativity and art.

So here's Day 1. Doodled at my kitchen table while listening to Mike and Elli play with spoons and have staring contests. I have no idea why this little autumn girl looks so sad.

Self-portrait #4

Today's a good day. My kids have been pleasant, making me pleasant, so I've accomplished a lot, and I'm still going!

I started a new job this week! I am working for my husband, at our church, as his assistant. As I considered the offer, because his previous assistant had to move out of state, I went back and forth. On the one hand, I have enough on my plate right now. Did I really need to throw something else into the mix? On the other hand, I won't be getting anymore last minute texts that he has an advisory team meeting or leadership meeting or whatever other meeting to throw off my plans. Maybe I can plan my time and my schedule with the kids better. Maybe by helping him, it will free up some stress in his life to help me at home, relieve some of my stresses, and let me craft. (I can only hope!)

I considered the responsibilities that I have to my children and to Mike as well. Biblically, I am called as a wife to be Mike's 'help mate.' (Ephesians 5:22-33) And I want him to succeed, so that's not a problem. I'm glad to help!

If I study the "Proverbs 31" woman, how do I look? Am I a wife of noble character?

Vs 11 says that "Her husband has full confidence in her..." - he must if he thinks I can help him....right?

Vs 12 "She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life." - I try!

Vs 17 "She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks." - Heck yes, I do...and they are! Ha :)

So, I'm going to try it. What have I got to lose? I'm working in the office a couple mornings a week, and from home most of the rest of the time in between other tasks and the kids. I was working when I took my self-portrait today :) I've got to take a break now and then to make a silly face with a silly little girl :)

Self Portrait #3

I personify everything! If there's only one egg left in the carton, I tell it not to worry, I'll use it soon. I talk to my flowers and tell them how pretty they are, or that I'm sorry I forgot to water you! Don't die please!! If there are rows of something that I need at the grocery store, I don't grab the first and obvious one - I grab one that wasn't expecting to go next, just to throw off the store shelf dynamics. I see faces in everything too. You get the idea.

Neurotic? Maybe.

I've been doing some re-decorating and re-purposing of some furniture pieces, which is why I haven't been posting much...well, anything...other than these self-portraits. I can't get anything finished! Working on it...

I came across a Bible verse a while ago and it made me think of my house and all of the stuff that's in it. It made me laugh! Currently, the dresser in my bedroom is crying this out to me:

Psalm 71:9
Do not cast me away when I am old; do not forsake me when my strength is gone.

I'm trying not to, dear dresser! I am going to sand you down, clean you up your rough spots, fix your broken drawers, brush on a nice new coat of paint, polish you up real nice, and make you like a brand new piece! You're going to be better than you ever thought you could be!

Do you think God ever tells us that? "Stop worrying, Jessie. I would never cast you away! You might feel broken, I'll fix that. You've got some rough edges? I'll fix those too. Just wait! I'm going to shower you with my love, polish you up real nice, and make you like a brand new piece! You're going to be better than you ever thought you could be! Just, let me take care of you. I love YOU!"

2 Corinthians 5:17

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Self Portrait #2

I am overdue on my self portrait for the week!

I have discovered that in knowing that I'm going to be blogging stuff about myself, I am thinking about myself a lot more. Not that I didn't ever think of myself before, but I'm trying to think of positive things about myself that I can be proud of and real about.

I still don't know what I'm going to post that will be encouraging, since I am exhausted and stressed and worn thin. Levi is teething and has been so needy as of late that I can't think straight! I love my son, but honestly!

Though I am annoyed a lot of the time, there really is nothing like a mother's touch. He can be in such pain and frustration with his teeth and learning to walk and everything, that no one but me can help him. I give him an instant comfort, an instant safe feeling, an instant relief. What a power and gift! My mom is the same for me! I can be ready to lose my mind, but I call her up and she talks sense into me, listens, cooks for me, or just does nothing. It's knowing that mom will be there for anything.

Honestly, I wish someone had this 'gift' with Levi so I could get some sleep! Ha! But this to shall pass...right?!

I'm a mom. I'm sleep deprived. I live on caffeine. I scream a lot. I love my kids. It's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it.

It's worth it.

A weekly self-portrait

I'm tired of putting myself down and I've noticed lately that we, as women and mothers, seem to be tired of feeling bad about ourselves. We have had enough of society's definition of beauty, because not only is it unrealistic, it's downright discouraging. I am sick of beating myself up. I have had enough of feeling inadequate.

I had heard that when I get in my thirties, I will finally start getting comfortable in my own skin and not worrying about society's beauty standard. Why did it have to take until then? But, I have found that to be true! Granted, I am newly thirty, but, I have slowly been coming to realize that there are more important things in life than how I should be looking in my jeans. I am ready to free myself. I think this is true, because I had a dream where I was naked in front of a bunch of people and I was okay! I wasn't freaked out like I would have been a year ago even! I didn't wake up traumatized or disturbed...only confused why I would have dreamt something like that.

I am ready to start living and believing what my husband says he sees in me, and God must see when He looks at me... that I am beautiful, created for a purpose, perfect. Yes, I said perfect. That's so much more important during these days and minutes that we are granted than worrying about how I look! God doesn't make mistakes, we know that. Why do we treat ourselves as if we are something that needs to be fixed? I look at my daughter and I see a beautiful little girl who loves herself and believes that we love her for who she is and not what she should be or how she should look. I do not want to be responsible for squashing her self esteem because I'm modeling the opposite. I see my son and want to help him grow up into a man that one day will love and respect women and not expect them to be a certain form or shape or grace the cover of a magazine before he'll acknowledge them.

I'm not saying that taking care of ourselves is a bad thing. I think it's important to eat healthy and to exercise (I' m going to be working on that)... to be responsible for the health of our bodies. We are temples! Christ dwells in our bodies and we are responsible to take care of them. But enough is enough! Let's be proud of who we are. We have muffin tops and jiggly arms, cellulite and stretch marks. Our breasts are not as perky as they once were. Who cares?

Why obsess? We have more important things to concern ourselves with. Our self worth comes from the Lord! Our joy can not depend on whether or not we can fit into the jeans we wore three years ago, or even three weeks ago. We will only be full of grief and depression. Our joy must come from Him and not depend on our circumstances. He trumps them!!

I have seen a few blogs that are doing a weekly self-portrait of themselves and I have been challenged, personally, to do it myself. Not for you, but for me. For my husband. For my precious children. You are welcome to tag along, I even encourage you to do it with me. You don't have to make it public like this, maybe in a journal or something. Just reflect on yourself and how incredible you are that God made you just the way he wants and has plans for you! Isn't that amazing?!

I am not very comfortable having my picture taken unless I am holding one of my children, and even then, I don't know what to do with my face! I'm not comfortable with how I look! I'm a little bit more comfortable taking pictures of myself, because I don't feel as silly when no one is watching. I guess I've always felt a bit vain taking pictures of myself, unless it's a picture of my hair - and then it's not even of me really. I think this challenge will help me to get over that. What memories will our children have of us if we don't include ourselves in the photos.

So I am diving into the challenge and will do my best to take a self portrait every week. I may be alone, I may be with the kids (because they are, after all, a part of me).

I'm ready to be more comfortable with myself and I'm interested to see how this will affect my daily life.

My Foyer

Here's the latest thing I've done to my home!

I was finally ready to beautify my bedroom, but then decided to vamp up my foyer. I decided that this is the first place and first impression of my home and why should it be blah? I want it to be fabulous like the rest and make people feel happy and comfortable, instead of awkward. So I decided on a whim to buy some paint and have at it! Here's how it went:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Isn't it fun!!? I grew a tree in my hall!

I've been wanting for a long time to try starching fabric to a wall, but couldn't figure out what I wanted to do exactly....and then I thought A-Ha!! And conveniently, my cousin who is an aspiring artist of sorts was hanging out, so I had her grab some chalk and help me draw it on one afternoon.... surprise Mike! He, as usual, had no idea what I was doing. He usually doesn't like surprises, but enjoys this one :)

The idea is that since the tree is painted on, and the leaves are starched on and removable and re-usable, I will change my tree with the seasons! This winter I'll take these down and make it wintery with snow balls and such, maybe ornaments or something. In Spring I'll make it have little bright greet buds and pretty pink blossoms! This, clearly, is my Autumn tree. It's so close, that I am willing it here - I can feel it! The air has already been cooler! You all can thank me later :)

This is the view from the top of the stairs. (Notice that I ripped the chair railing out! It was pretty rewarding taking my little crow-bar and snapping off the planks :) Yeah, it was a gooood time. Now, there's nothing wrong with chair rails, they just don't fit into my taste - except my kitchen, presently - and it seemed a little silly in my hallway. Don't hate me because I hate chair rails! Ha!)

Since it's by my front door, I added some really cute hooks on the banister of the stairs right inside the doors for guests to hang their coats or purses. It used to be that they came in and it got a little awkward when they had to toss their coats on the rail, or on the floor of the steps. I like them a lot too!

You can also hang your favorite princess bag up out of your baby brother's reach :)

More goodness from the rest of the hallway to come :)

Hall Tree How-to

Here for your at-home pleasure is how I did my Hall-tree!!

Pick your naked wall.

Grab a creative buddy and start drawing! I recommend using chalk because it usually smooths in with the paint when you paint over it and washes off easily with a wet rag. Don't use orange on a white wall...it stains and will make you really frustrated....I know this now, because that's what I did. *dislike*

My lovely assistant here is my cousin Allie. Smile, Allie!

Once you've got the tree at a place that you feel is complete (enough) then start painting!

I didn't exactly follow the drawing on the wall. I did for the most part, but as I was going and could see what was forming on the wall, I had to change it.
I made it less heavy and more flowing and full of motion. I painted WAY less branches than we drew...because I knew what was coming and there was no way I was going to do it! And it would have just looked bulky.
Once finished painting, grab your lovely stack of fabrics:
and trace some leaf patterns onto them and cut away!
Lots and lots and lots of leaves! Small, Medium, and Large!
Make your paste solution. Here's what I did - ish.

@1/8 cup of cornstarch

mix with @ 1/2 cup of water

then mix with @2 cups of hot to boiling water.

Let it cool and get really impatient and wonder why I used boiling water because it's taking forever to cool!!!

Patience is not my strongest virtue.

Once the starchoction (yes, I made that up) was cooled enough to stick my little fingers in, I dipped them in, rung them out a little and slapped them on! Easy as that!
Close up! You can see they are smooth to the wall like wall paper:
Let them dry and enjoy a beautiful, as temporary as you want it to be - yet durable - wall art display.

To check out my complete 4 seasons transformations, check out these links:

My Autumn Tree

My Winter Snowball Tree

My Spring Tree

My Summer Tree

Cute Fabric-Scrap Wreath

'What I've been up-to' Update #3

While I was on my blogging hiatus, I was busy crafting, redecorating, and other such business. Here's one of the projects I did!

Cute Fabric-Scrap Wreath

I've got a lot of fabric scraps. For some reason, I just can't throw them away 'because some day they will be good for something.' I have found my first use :)

Take said pile of fabric scraps and grab a foam wreath form or two.
Start braiding!! Braid and braid and braid some more! (Help from a cute kid is optional)
When you think you have enough to wrap around the wreath, you don't. Keep braiding.
When I decided "Heck with this braiding business, I'm going to start pinning.", well, that's what I did. I took my box of a bazillion straight pins and my wreath form and pinned the fabric braid to it! I like the colored pin heads with my scrappy fabric :)
Pin around, tuck the ends and pin them down. Hang on the freshly painted front door!
And enjoy so much that you make another :)

Kids' room make-over

'What I've been up to' Update #2

My second attempt to let you know what I've been up to the last several months since I've not been blogging much!

I finally finished my daughter's room!

The poor girl had to wait forever for me to finish because I kept getting bored and getting into other projects. Finally, however, I did finish :) Here's how it turned out!

BEFORE:

AFTER!!

Giant flowers towering over her head on the walls

Her bed cave with some of mommy's artwork. I may still hang a white bed canopy here, but that will be for another day. (I wish it would stay this clean!)
Photo collage to gradually add to and grow - it already has grown since taking this picture!

Elli decided that she needed to 'help' me every time that I went in to paint her room. So I assigned her to one flower. She did, however, paint on her own and strayed to other parts of the wall and on top of the flowers I already painted - but that was soon fixed and she decided not to do that again. :) I kept it in her flower garden and hope it's not painted over a stud, because I want to cut it out and frame it! She used every color that I used on her wall and did pretty well, I think.

I added embellishments here and there that stick off the wall - butterflies, flower centers, etc.

She's pretty content in here :)

He's not so much.