Vintage Valentine Wreath

Remember this? My fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants Christmas card wreath? By the end of the season, it was plumb full of cards. But with Valentine's Day approaching, and the rest of the kitchen decorated, it was beginning to feel a little out of place.

So I stripped it.

Poor bare wreath. Can't leave it that way, all sad with haphazard ribbon.
No, it won't do.

So I did what I always do. I searched the great and mighty Google.

And then I found a veritable treasure trove of Free Printable Valentines.
Cue in the sound of the printer. And paper cutter.

Not quite right.

There we go.

For now, this works for me and my kitchen wall. But I have a real hankerin' to hit up Walmart for a couple of canvases, get out my paint brushes, and make true my threat to forge a painting or two for myself.

You never know. It could happen.

Want to try it for a weekend project? Use a wire coat-hanger bent into a circle tied up with wired ribbon in the same way as I have done above. Then simply paper clip various shapes of valentines and paper doilies to your liking.

She is her Mother's Daughter

No fabric scrap is safe from Megan's scissors.

Nor is this cat safe from being dressed in a custom-made-by-Megan Valentine coat.

She laid out her fabric, placed a store-made kitty coat on top, cut around it, hand stitched a few hearts....the same simple steps I take when I want to make something and don't have a pattern.

Yes, she is her mother's daughter. I am so proud.

Poor cat.

Disclaimer: We have said Cat is not allowed in the house, and though Cat is pictured in the kitchen, he is allowed no further. He comes in to eat to avoid attracting more stray cats to our farm. We are a one farm-cat family and would like to keep it that way. :)

Sharing today for You Capture: red

Persnickety and Patches

This morning Megan couldn't find anything to wear. She's not even ten, and it starts already.

This could be a problem, because as shallow as it sounds, I find I like my children so much more when they are dressed and their hair is combed. These simple things are easily forsaken when school is done in the dining room and there are no plans to be anyplace where anyone cares what we look like (besides me) until 6pm.

I went through Meg's pants and jeans with her, and she eliminated one after the other.

"They feel funny inside with pills."

"I have to wear a belt and I hate them."

"They're too tight in the thighs."

"They have holes and I don't like the draft and I don't have any clean leggings to wear under them." (Her solution to the draftiness.)

Jeeez. You mean I need to do laundry too?

But I knew an easy solution that could be done faster than a load of laundry.

Do what my mom always did.

Fashion some patches.

At least Megan won't have to wear leggings under them now.

(And I can procrastinate on the laundry for a few more moments.)

My Kitchen in Color. And a short detour about dirty dishes.

I suppose it was this ad that started it. Or maybe it was the bland monotone of both the winter view outside my window and the view inside from my kitchen chair. I had a sudden urge for color.

I began to "shop the house." I pulled the red vase from the entryway table, the red glass votive hurricane too. I found red and teal cookbooks and brought up my stash of blue ball canning jars from the basement.

I allowed myself a tiny bit of shopping. A Valentine plate from Target's "dollar" aisle (the $2.50 shelf), a green plate from The Mill for $2.00, and a blue glass insulator turned votive for $1.50.

Oh, look!  A fun artsy angled photo. Nah. I was just avoiding the full sink of dirty dishes. *wink* Jesus did say He came "that they might have life, and have it to the full," and sometimes that means leaving dishes in the sink. A "full" sink. Ha.

At least that's what I tell myself. But I do think it's true. It's only when I see a friend's spotless sink that I get all jealous of their dedication to cleanliness and then I doubt myself. Thus the hiding of the dirty dishes picture.

Sigh.

Anyway. Back to the kitchen. A red mug from a friend, various glassware....whatever I could find in my color scheme, I used.

 Yes, we always have a Papa Murphy's pizza on our stove. What of it?

The Christmas card wreath still hangs, but today I have plans for it. I love items that can easily convert from one holiday to another... I'll post when I'm done. 

I spy two berry hearts from Target's "dollar" aisle. ($5.00 for both)


This would be a fun project and nice addition to my sink.
Should I try it? I wonder where Robb's drill is........?

The plate clock above my sink does need to go. As in buh-bye.

I've had it forever and a day. Like, since the first year of marriage, and I can't even remember what it was like to not be married and have kids, so it must have been forever ago.  Maybe I should replace it with this:

May Your Cup Overflow - Gallery Wrapped Canvas Print

On second thought, maybe I'll just paint it myself! (It could say, "May your sink overflow. Ha!)

sorry.

This needs to stay a very cheap makeover. If it wasn't, I'd get this, too:

God Is Good - Gallery Wrapped Canvas Print

Because it's true, and I think it would be good to have in my face every morning, ya know?

Especially when I've left dirty dishes in the sink.

Language, Linguistics and Laura

Laura and I, 1987 

When Laura came into our lives that 4th of July weekend, she was 6 weeks early and little, born to our family of four who hadn't added to it's number since my twin and I were born 11 years earlier.

I remember hearing the news of the upcoming baby, over Oreos and milk at the kitchen table, and was so astonished I actually threw up. It took approximately one minute to get over the shock before my twin sister and I were excitedly planning and scheming to go shopping for the little sister we wanted.

Some thought she was an ooops with such a large gap between siblings, and older parents. But we knew better. She was planned. By our parents and by our God. 

She was one spunky kid. I supposed she had to be with two big sisters who dressed her and redressed her and taught her to talk early and do tricks on command. She sucked her nuk upside down and rotated it in her mouth when requested. Around and around and around. I taught her to pick her nose, and who knows what else.

We taught her good things too. I think she could say John 3:16 as soon as she could talk.

I believe she was only four when she declared she wanted to be a missionary. I suppose lots of kids say that sort of thing, but she meant it.

Laura with our niece, Victoria, 2010

Yesterday, my little sister boarded a plane with two suitcases and a backpack and moved to Mexico. We had our goodbyes and tears the night before. As I walked into church that Sunday morning,  her plane was leaving the ground.

She's a linguist, and I suppose I could take credit for her language skills, what with all the big sister coaching on her pronunciation when she was little. Sara and I would have her say a word over and over until she got it right. I could claim credit, but God gave her a fascination with language, a love for the Word of God and a passion for people without the Scripture in their heart language.

She's moved to Mexico to work with Wycliffe Bible Translators, and I'm a proud big sister.

If you would like to follow her journey, here is her blog.
Leave a note telling her you were sent there by her big sister. :)


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Tap. Tap. This thing on?

Yes, I'm still alive, and we are all well.  See?

I simply haven't shown up here since the last day of last year. I'm not sure what happened.

But I know this: The kitchen is staying cleaner than it's been in forever, the laundry is done, and my kids are enjoying their new math curriculum. Robb and I have made a new habit of putting the kids to bed, and taking the short walk to our favorite place on the farm, En Gedi. I suppose this is the biggest factor contributing to my silence. I've been talking to him instead of you!

Robb has been attending a mens group that has been watching Mark Driscoll's sermon series, The Peasant Princess. I watch it online, and when he gets home from his class, we discuss the material. The series has brought healing to us in areas we didn't know needed work and brought increased depth to our oneness. We highly recommend it. :)

Life is good. Really good. Don't get me wrong. It's hard too. Robb's been in class for his GRI these last two weeks and we are waiting on God's provision. We're fine for a bit. We know God provides. We also know God is rarely early, but never late. Still. That's not an easy place to live.

Still.

Life is really, really good.

I love my husband. (RDOL ~ random declaration of love. {Have you SEEN him lately?} Before and after weight loss post coming soon.)

So. Since I've not been here and you possibly wonder what we've been up to, just for fun (or not, if you've already seen these), I think I'll share some of my recent facebook status/stati/whatever.

We have a teeth brushing problem and a bad language problem in our house. Therefore, when bad words are spoken, the new punishment is brushing teeth. So there you have it.

Taking Mitchell to his first Bible quiz tournament at Crown College. Crazy, competitive, but best of all, God's Word is quoted all weekend.

Too bad Crown didn't have such a hip coffee shop when I went here! Enjoying it with my Mads now.

Mitchell's team did ok, yesterday was better. Boys are having fun. Their team name is "Here Comes Trouble." So true. :)

And.....our quiz team makes it to silver finals... tired mama. Long day. Happy boys. :)

Hubby so dedicated to diet, we r at restaurant, he orders a salad but runs next door to the grocery store to buy better dressing. What's funnier is he had fried ice cream for dessert. I guess he saved his fat grams for later?

Just finished my first batch of liquid laundry detergent. 2.5 gal.for about $1.00...now to use it!

Got a haircut. or a trim. or whatever. :) I'm soooo high maintenance*sarcasm*, July was my last haircut!

God still performs miracles. Today he raised a baby doll from the dead. After yrs of being mute, she now cries. Or maybe that wasn't God. A mute doll is a blessing.

Random fact: my husband spends more time on the phone talking to friends than I do.

Stagnation in spiritual life comes when we say we will bear the whole thing ourselves. We cannot. -Oswald Chambers

I have baby Jesus in my pocket.

God is good. I say so neither to convince myself or you, nor do I live in denial of any pain, but I choose to believe the truth that He is good, and therefore interpret all of life through that lens.

And on that positive note, I'm gonna go snuggle my skinny hubby and try to stay warm. It's FEEEEEZING tonight! (-10* of freezing.)

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Christmas Summary....

I've been resting and enjoying this Christmas vacation. Didya notice? :)

I've cleaned. My room is spotless thanks to a cleaning frenzy yesterday in which I almost missed our chiropractor appointments. Yes, I was in the Zone!

I've baked and cooked, trying new recipes, mostly from my favorite Flat Belly Diet cookbooks.

I've entertained friends. Braved the Mall of America a few short days after Christmas.

I've not stressed about blogging or sewing or school or life.

I needed that.
And that is why I am just now posting Christmas pictures. :)

Christmas was great.

Most every year, we pack up our van, drive to my parent's church, the one I grew up in, for the Christmas eve service, then head over to my childhood home for soup and (just one) present. We pretend we drove a few hundred miles more than the 15 from our home to theirs, and we stay up late, reading stories by the fire, and spend the night.

The best thing about this tradition is my mom's caramel rolls for breakfast which immediately follow
the unwrapping of the stockings loaded with treasures.

It's a good gig.

Oh look! A picture of me! On my phone! Shame!

With four daughters in the family and Grandma next door, my dad was outnumbered for years. The ratio is finally starting to even out..... 

We lolligag and do last minute prep all morning until the rest of the relatives come from no so far off lands, like Burnsville. With the exception of an aunt that recently decided to winter in Texas. But then again, that's kinda like another country. Ha! Said aunt spent the night at Grandma's right next door to my parents' house, so she got to lolligag too! Lucky her!

(Next year we will have more distant family. My little sister leaves for Mexico soon to work on Bible translation with Wycliffe. Though I guess Mexico is still not really a distant land, it being our neighbor and all. And right next to Texas at that. *ahem*)

Relatives arrive with food and mysterious packages. This year the menu was hors d'oeuvres. No last minute turkey carving or mashed potato whipping. We snack all day long on finger food.

Yum.

I think my favorite part of our holiday traditions is relatively new. This is our third year to exchange white elephant gifts.
 

Oh, look what I got! A white elephant!

These pink flamingos are a family joke. My sister stole them from my grandma for her husband. So naturally Grandma got to pick a new present which turned out to be:

Very niiiiicccceeee, Grandma!

 

What do Grandmas over 90 want to get rid of & contribute to a gag gift exchange? Silver platters, of course! This platter went from one grandma to another!

Madison was thrilled with this angel tree topper. Her mother? Not so much. Our tree already touches the ceiling. Poor angel would get a crink in the neck if we put her up there. At least that's what I tell Madison!

My mother was lucky (??) enough to get the Go-Girl I contributed, and Robb snagged a lovely Fitz and Floyd vintage salad bowl. We've heard it's worth a small bit of money, and if you like that type of thing, watch for it,  it might just show up on ebay!

I missed taking pictures of the cookie jar that Grandma gave, the very one that sat on her kitchen counter when I was a child. Or the cube of shag carpet squares. Or the plastic Stitch that blows bubbles... I love seeing my Grandparents cracking up, and the puzzled expressions on my kids faces at the random stuff that is unwrapped!

Our Christmas was relaxing, peaceful, fun.

I am so grateful. This year has been full. God is faithful.

I could say so many things, and I wish it wasn't lunchtime and that my kids weren't hungry! :) I'd stay and chat awhile more.

For now ~ Happy New Year!

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Visions of Messy Sugar Plums {Christmas is No Time for Perfectionism}

 Peppermint Patties

Twas the day before Christmas, and my cluttered kitchen

filled with cookies, goodies, boots, coats and mittens.

The sugar's out on table, in red, green and white

I do not need to tell you, by end, it was quite a sight.

You've been there I'm sure, it's a messy tradition,

we set aside tendencies to decorating perfection.

Sugar is everywhere, the cookies are messy

But every last goodie tells it's own happy story.

Spoons covered in frosting and finger licking elves;

I look at it all and laugh in spite of myself.

The kids had their fun, made their own version of pretty 

To control their fun would have been really silly.

So in your holiday traditions, keep this in mind,

there is no room for perfect, I think you will find,

much peace love and joy in more "good- enoughs"

so please take perfectionism off your Christmas list of stuff.

For what fun is a mother who gripes and controls 

how the cookies appear, I would hope that she knows

that perfection is costly and everyone works gaily

when a mother lets go, and redefines beauty.

 

For this is the season of upside-down things

of a God come down here, in a manger a King.

For the broken and messy, a star shines through the night.

May you find Him this Christmas, He's the way, the truth, the light!

From our Family to Yours:

Burden and Birth

My emotions have been matching the seasons.

After struggling through the blinding blizzard of fear, thinking I had faith, but my actions speaking to my soul state, walking in circles, like Mary on her Advent journey, bearing a burden.

Hers was a joyous burden, though, so different than mine, taking on the pressure of providing for my family, too many things on my shoulders, when no one expected it of me but myself, the stress weighing down on me physically, and dizzy with it all swirling around, finally the sun has come out. (I know that's a pretty long run-on sentence. But that's how I was living. Running on. And.On.)

I must give my husband the credit. And my God. Together they spoke my own words back to me.

Choose joy today, Kristina. Choose it moment by moment. Day by day. Whatever you do, choose joy.

My husband has been good to me. Sitting with me in the quiet of our En-Gedi, modeling peace under the burden of providing, reminding me that God is the only one who really provides.

He has spoken promises in our hearts if we only listen and practice trust. Faith is being sure of what we hope for.

He leads and releases me of obligation, says, "Trust me." Both my man and my God speak truth. Gently, ever so tenderly, together they whisper, "Joy. Choose it."

Even in the midst of insecurity. In the middle of strife. When bearing the burden of the mundane. Choose.

Because of  Christ, and by the power and hope of the Holy Spirit, the burden is birthed to joy. And the whole world sings,

"Joy to the World, the Lord has come."

How has He brought joy to you?

May the God of hope 

fill you with all joy and peace 

as you trust in him, 

so that you may overflow with hope

by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

~Romans 15:13

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