A Fresh Coat of Paint

This past weekend I painted our bathroom.  It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do to a room...and to my spirit.

It's a tiny room.  I thought I could get it finished while my little ones were napping, but it turned into a much bigger project than I had expected.

The painted trim was peeling so I had to start with sanding.  We wanted to remove the towel bar, which left 4 large holes in the wall.  There were spots to patch and more sanding.  I started cutting in with a brush, but the room is too small for a ladder; so I stood on the counter top, then took a lunge of faith to the opposite wall.  As I reached across the room, my legs burning, I tried to keep a steady hand as I painted the line beneath the ceiling.  I was suspended in mid-air on only my fingertips and tip toes.  My 5 year old walking in was very impressed with my spiderman skills. 

Then I needed to contort myself into awkward angles to try and paint behind the toilet, wondering if anyone would really notice if I didn't.

About halfway through, a bit of panic set in.  Is this color too dark?  Did I make the right choice?

Change is hard.

The fears I am trying to conquer.
The hurts I want to let go of.
The bad habits I am trying to break.

It's all hard.  But maybe those days when I feel like I'm not getting anywhere, maybe that's all part of the prep work.  Those days when I'm filled with doubt and wonder if I made the right choice...I need to remember that change is hard.

It's easier to hold on to the familiar, even the ugly, stained walls.  It's easier to hold on to my ugly because change takes time and energy, it stretches me and sometimes puts me in awkward positions.  Change is hard...but it's beautiful.

Every time I walk into that bathroom I smile.  I love the beautiful coffee and cream color of the walls, I love the fresh feeling in that space, and I remember all the work it took to get there. 

I know that I am going to get there too. 

"And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."  ~Philippians 1:6

The Little Years

This week I held a friend's newborn baby.  All the beauty of new life wrapped up in pink.  Her tiny hands moved in slow motion and wrapped around my finger.  She slept in perfect peace.  Her newborn smell, the softest skin...there is nothing sweeter than a baby.

Then I looked over at my baby.  Walking and climbing and full of personality, he will turn one year old this month.  Where did my sweet newborn go?

Recently my husband and I made this growth chart for our children.

 

As I transferred their measurements to the new chart, I found myself holding back tears.  It was like watching them grow up all over again.

It was hard to remember my older ones when they only came up to my knee.  I looked at my little ones knowing that they are growing just as fast.

Every day the kids back up to the chart and measure each other to see how much they have grown in a day.  All I want to do is hold on tight and keep them little.

Yes, these days are long, but the years are flying by.

My husband and I do talk about the future.  We dream of the days when the children are independent and it's just us again.  But we also want to live fully in this moment.  These little years have been overflowing with joy and laughter.  They have kept us busy, running non-stop on little sleep.  But these years have taught us so much about ourselves and our love.

I know they will be over before we know it.  There is so much that I want to teach my children, so much I want for them.  I find myself scrambling, feeling like this precious time is slipping away.

But that's where I cling to grace.

I fail them.  I don't have the answers...or the patience.  I may run out of time before they fly.  But I'm holding on to God's promise that His grace is enough.

"All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children."  ~Isaiah 54:13

Sunshine in my kitchen

I love beautiful things.  I am guilty of ripping pictures out of magazines and cutting up junk mail advertisements, just for the beauty I see in it.  I save greeting cards and scraps of pretty wrapping paper to use in other projects. 

I love to make cards for friends and I've even used these pictures to make a pretty cover for my Bible and journals. 

Here is my latest project:

I have been saving this picture of a sunflower for something special...and then I saw my ugly knife butcher block and decided it needed a makeover. 

I grabbed my bottle of ModPodge and set to work.  I applied a thin coat to the block, smoothed out the picture and then added another coat to seal.  Once that was dry, I added a few more coats to protect the image.  Super simple...but it added a little sunshine to my kitchen!

Trash and Treasure

"I have a surprise for you!", my husband excitedly told me over the phone.  While he was driving home, I was making a million guesses as to what it could be.

Then he walked through the door with this:

Oh. 
This was not exactly what I was expecting.

"Where did you trash pick it?"
"I didn't, I passed by a yard sale."
"You paid money for this?!"
"Yeah, it was only $12!"

I'm thinking we have very different ideas of what a good deal is.
But, the more I looked at it the more potential I saw.

It's a handmade trunk that some little boy had used as a toy box and covered in his sticker collection.

It took me over an hour just to get the top clean and I spent the rest of the day scrapping off stickers when I had a spare moment.

It was really sweet of my husband to think of me.  I've been looking for a bench or trunk to keep in our mudroom.  It's the perfect place to sit and take off your shoes and then toss them into, out of sight.

I wonder how many people walked by it, thinking it was just a piece of junk.

The owner himself thought it wasn't worth his time.

How many times have I been just as judgemental with things, or worse, with other people.
One glance at the imperfections and I walk away, never seeing the treasure that is hiding inside.

Homeschooling: FREE Preschool Activities

This year I am teaching my two older ones 1st and 2nd grade.  We have Bible and story time as a family, but while we are doing Math and English I need activities to keep my 3 year old close, but quiet.  Here are some of our favorites that I made for free, mostly from things I had around the house.

Color Matching:

I was in the Home Depot picking out paint colors when I came across these cute color samples.  I grabbed two of each of the basic colors and now we have a matching game. ( Free!)

Lacing Beads:

A shoelace and some chunky wooden beads...so simple but he loves this one.  He will lace the beads on with such concentration.  We match by color or bead shape, or make patterns.  It's great for fine motor skills too.  (This is obviously for littles that are past that put-everything-in-my-mouth stage)

Matching Shapes:

I cut pairs of shapes out of card stock.  I glued one set to another sheet of card stock and laminated everything with clear contact paper for durability.  Kids can match the loose shapes to the ones on the card.


Fun with Felt:

I have a huge stash of felt in every color of the rainbow and I am constantly trying to find new things to make with it.  Felt sticks to itself, so I give the kids a small sheet and various cut out shapes and they make pictures with the pieces.

I've also made sets.  We have a felt pizza: a brown circle for the crust, a smaller red circle for the sauce another white circle for the cheese and then lots of felt toppings.  They love designing their own pizza!

For ABC practice, I wrote the alphabet on a sheet of felt with permanent markers.  I cut out pictures that start with each letter.  They match the pieces to the letter sounds.

Junk Jar:

 I have an empty peanut butter jar full of lots of little random things.  Buttons, ribbons, paperclips, trinkets...The kids love to sort them by shape, color, texture, material...

To play "I Spy", they shake and spin the jar, searching for the object that the other is giving clues for.  They can also search for items beginning with a certain letter.

All these activities are put in their own zipper bags and kept in a drawer (or box).  I told my preschooler that this is his schoolwork and when we get out our books for school, he runs over to grab one of his activities.  He is really proud of them and it has been a huge help for me.
A few minutes of preparing these has brought much more peace to our day.

This week I've found myself curled up on the couch with crochet hook in hand.  I love Autumn.  I love the chill in the air and handmade hats and scarves on my little ones.  I'm trying to use up my yarn stash before I start on this year's Christmas presents. 

I go through phases.  It's been months since I crocheted anything...but now that I've started up again, it's hard to stop.  I just love seeing a tangled ball of yarn turn into something beautiful just from my hands and a hook.

There is just something about working with yarn...it brings back that wholesome love that is lost on store bought items.  It makes me cherish so many things more...simple things that we take for granted. 

This week in school we are learning about the early American settlers.  We churned our own butter...not straight from the cow, though my kids are insisting that we need one now.  It was so simple and pure and fun...and maybe it's just the novelty of it...I'm sure it would have gotten old if it were a daily chore.

Life has become so easy for us in modern America...but easier isn't always better.  I want to know where things come from.  I want to be able to meet a need with a little creativity instead of just running out to the store.  I want my children to value time.  I want them to understand putting love in what they do.