Please, please, please!

Here is the deal...

Mandi over at Vintage Revivals is having this AMAZING contest:

I mean seriously, who could not use a GIANT push in the right direction! I really do love my house and have put my own touches on most rooms in the house, except one! I am totally lost and have zero vision on where to go or what to do....

I am so not one to "suck up" or plead my case, but I am desperate...

So let the whining, weeping, begging, pleading, acting like a 3 year old, begin...

Now I know that a kitchen might be a big deal and maybe not the most awesome room in the house for you to take over, BUT...

I promise that if you come and have your way with my kitchen you will not be disappointed, I mean it can only go up from here, seriously?

I am open to anything that is different to what it is now... Paint the cabinets, countertops,paint the ceiling, new table,you name it, I'll do it!

It is not that it is just so BLAH, it has so much unused space and lacks any and all character... I don't do so well with that. I day dream about being in a beautiful kitchen enjoying doing the dishes and enjoying cleaning up the constant messes of my three kids under the age of 5, (I can't imagine why I lack any motivation or extra time to accomplish this project or anything?)I mean isn't this what happens to all those blogland people out there with the most amazing white, crisp, welcoming kitchens? (Lie to me please!)

(I would love to figure out how to put some type of island or something? I need more storage, your imagination could go crazy with what you could do!)

I mean, what is not to love... orange, orange and more orange cabinets!

And seriously, who puts 12 by 12 floor tile for a backsplash?????

Awkward eating area that does NOT even hold our entire family...

Florescent lights in the kitchen...AHHHHH! I am starting to freak out just looking at all of these pictures...

Another wonderful lighting fixture crying out for a change!

You would have so much you could do and change and I would just sit there are agree with whatever you say... I can also tell you that if you did pick my house I could probably convince my husband to take care of some of the other projects that need to be done before you get here, like the appliances, and the floor, so...

you could have a truly AMaZING before and after...

ALso, another reason you should totally pick my kitchen is because I know that there are a lot of us out there who are "blessed" to have this same type of kitchen... Therefore , you could inspire all of us out there with what to do!

My husband would be eternally grateful to you, what he wouldn't do to get me to stop talking about how much I do not like our kitchen would be priceless to him...

And, I think I am pretty fun...so a few days down here in New Braunfels, Texas, would be so much fun. I could show you Schlitterbahn, the Guadalupe and Comal rivers, and show you one of the largest outlet malls in the country! BARGAINS GALORE! I mean people pay big bucks to come see "God's Country" as the tourists like to call it! How do you compete with that? Think of all the fun memories!

The Rivers:

Schlitterbahn!

Outlet mall:

Well, now I am going to go and try to scrape what is left of my pride up off the ground and wait for the results!

And to all of you out there who read my blog....I would love you forever and ever if you vote for my kitchen in a couple of weeks! I will for sure let you know when that starts :)

There is HOPE

You know how sometimes you talk and talk to your kids and wonder if anything actually gets absorbed? We strive as parents to continually tell our kids the importance of prayer and the power of prayer, although it is so hard for their minds

to fully grasp the wonder and power of it all ( I mean it is hard for me to grasp it all too).

Anyway, last night we had let the two oldest, Grace and Fisher sleep together. It really is the sweetest thing to hear them giggling and talking to each other. However, it was almost TEN and they were still talking. So I was on my way up there to lay down the law, and when I opened the door I saw that they had gotten Grace's "Jesus Storybook bible" out and were "reading" it. When I sat down they both had tears in their eyes as they started to tell me how they had found a picture of a guy (Namaan from 2 Kings 5) who had spots all over him and how he looked so sad. They then told me that they were praying for him so that God would heal his spots and make him all better...

Ok, well at this point all the anger I had for them still being up so late, quickly disappeared and I was just filled with complete JOY! I ended up reading the rest of the story and telling them how Elisha told him to go wash himself in the river and he was healed!

It was one of those moments in life where God just gives you a little glimpse of hope for your kids. How in the middle of my crazy life and all of my good intentions and all of my failures, he whispers, " Keep going..."

I am constantly in awe of who God is and how his hand is in every part of my life...

If you don't have a "Jesus Storybook Bible", it is such a great resource for kids. Every story points to the cross and is illustrated beautifully. We have very much enjoyed it!

I think you can find them on Amazon for like $15 bucks or so... VERY worth it!

Great gift for Easter... :)

A Mother's Vision...

I am reading the book, A Mother's Heart, by Jean Fleming. If you are a mom or want to be a mom, go and get it! It is the best book on mothering that I have read.

In one of the chapters she is talking about how and what we pray over our children. Do we pray for them to be healthy and and strong, or should our prayers go so much deeper then that? Are we fervently praying over the condition of our child's heart?

Here is a quote from the book, by a man named Forbes Robinson regarding his son:

"I want you to be one the best men that ever lived, to see God and to reveal him to men. this is the burden of my prayers. My whole being goes out in passionate entreaty to God that he will give me what I ask. I am sure he will, for the request is after his own heart.

I do not pray that you may succeed in life, or "get on" in this world. I seldom ever pray that may love me better, or that I may see oftener in this or in any other world, as much as i crave this.

But I ask, I implore, that Christ may be formed in you, that you may be made not in any likeness suggested by my imagination, but in the image of God, that you may realize not my, but his ideal, however much that ideal may bewilder me, however little I may recognize it when it is created.

I hate the thought that out of love for me you should accept my presentation, me feeble ideal, of the Christ. I want God to reveal his Son to you independently of men, to give you a first-hand knowledge of him whom I am only beginning to see.

Sometimes more selfish thoughts will intrude, but this represents the main current of my prayers. And if this is to be won from heaven by importunity, be ceaseless begging, I think I shall get it for you."

All I can say is WOW! Praying for our children's salvation and transformation through Jesus is the single most important thing we can pray for...

God wants his kingdom to be filled with people who are forever changed and who love him above all else, and we as mothers get to be a part of showing our children what that means everyday! What a challenge and a goal worth pursuing and being proud of! I can not imagine a more important role for my life and I praise God for entrusting me with this charge.

Spring Wreaths

My sweet neighbor is about to have her second baby boy anytime

and I decided to make her a diaper wreath.

I had great plans of making a tutorial and all that jazz but in my attempt to get it done

I completely forgot...

So here is the finished product...

It is pretty self explanatory and the possibilities are ENDLESS!

I tend to go towards the more sophisticated ideas, but you could take it anywhere.

All you need is a foam wreath form, some diapers (I used size 2 because the small ones don't quite make it around). Ribbon and any other embellishments you want.

Just wrap the diapers around the wreath and tie with a smaller ribbon until you cover the whole thing and then add bows, letter, rattles, binkies, flowers, really anything...

Make sure you put some ribbon on the top so that it will hang from a door hook

If you are anything like my husband, and are wondering why you would want or need a diaper wreath, well, you don't need a diaper wreath, but it is sweet to get to hang it on your hospital door and then when you

come home you can hang it on your door to celebrate your sweet new baby!

And just for Fun, here is a look at my front door for spring...

I just bought a grapvine wreath from Hobby Lobby and added some of there easter garland to it. I wanted to add some wording somehow, so I just grabbed an extra little chalkboard that we had lying around and put a word from the season..."Rejoice"!

Super easy and super cheap!

Family Photos

I got to take some family photos for our sweet friends Todd and Ashley.

They were so adorable and their little boy Ty was so much fun

to work with...

Enjoy...

Isn't he too cute?

And yes, we totally had to bribe him with the promise of ice cream...

totally worked

Who do you Serve?

It all started yesterday when, my unassuming husband, so sweetly came home for lunch to deliver a prize to my kids... a baby duck! It really might be the cutest thing, not quite sure how to take care of it though...

Anyway, after the duck got way to much attention, and the kids went down for a nap, I unloaded on my husband. I really don't even know where it came from...

But it was bad... with tear filled eyes I laid it all out there...most of my sentences beginning with: I want, I need, I don't, I can't, I'm tired... you know what I am talking about, right?

Everything I said was all about ME! After I, for lack of a better term, "vomited" all over my sweet husband, he so delicately concluded with, "I know, that is so tough..." Which is probably because he truly was not sure what was to come next... and after 6 years of marriage you realize that sometimes any bit of reality or truth is not always the best answer. Sometimes a simple acknowledgment of your irrational slur of crazy words, is what you need.

After he left and I was exhausted from my "outburst", I was feeling pretty good about myself. I was thinking that I really got to get stuff off of my chest and let him know how I really feel about certain things and that we got somewhere today... and then I started thinking...

I am the most selfish person in the entire world...

The Lord started giving me verses from His word pointing to the fact that this world is not where we find any of our worth or satisfaction. All of a sudden, I was just overwhelmed with guilt and embarrassment, that my husband who came home to surprise us with a silly duck that we named Tiger... he had to listen to me go on and on about some really ridiculous stuff.

Who really cares, what kind of car that I drive ( I am pretty sure at some point I said if I did not have a car that I could open the back door automatically I was going to cry, I know, my poor husband), or the color of my cabinets, or the fact that I am always tired and all I do is clean up after my kids, because at the end of the day, I am blessed beyond measure. My cup is more full then it deserves to be. I have been bought with a price and I am not my own! That pretty much leaves out any room for selfishness.

I am striving to lead a life that glorifies God and not myself. I am striving to raise my kids to worship their savior and not me, and I am trying to move myself out of the way so that He can complete the work that He has started. I tend to fail everyday, but I am overwhelmed at the mercy and grace that is poured out onto me, faithfully! In the midst of my selfish desires and worldly wants, He meets me where I am and offers something better then any automatically opening car or gorgeously painted white cabinets!

So I leave you today with this thought...

Who do you serve? Yourself or your Savior?

It's a daily choice to take yourself off of the throne and put the true king back on, but we make the choice because His ways are better then our ways and because He loved us first!

Dining Room COMPLETED!

Well, after half of my family down with strep and hopefully no more...

I have finished the dining room!

If you are just now reading about the dining room transformation you can see some of the process here, here and here!

It is exactly what I had imagined in my mind...

Here is one more before to show you the earlier color scheme: black, white, and grey.

BORING! ( no offense...)

I really, really LOVE the color of the walls, it's WOODSMOKE by Glidden. It is a true grey with some green undertones...it goes with everything!

Here is the room totally cleared out...

Notice the black lamp and black shelf...

I tried really hard not to buy much for this room, but

to re-purpose a lot of the decor that I had.

So keep an eye out for all the "new" stuff!

Here is another quick look at the dining room table before...

In the process of becoming BEAUTIFUL!

Finally, here are WAY too many after photos!!!!!

The whole feel of the room is so much more comfortable and inviting.

Which is exactly what I was going for...were not exactly the "formal" type.

I have always loved this Van Gogh painting and I was so excited to get it into the room.

The colors matched wonderfully!

The two pictures on the wall are just framed scrapbooking paper.

I actually found the frames for $1.80 at Hobby Lobby!

Sweet!

I love the simplicity of the buffet, I was feeling too cluttered...

The flower base was black and then got a fresh coat of spray paint, along with the lamp.

The curtains were a great find at Fabric.com, it was actually

only 4.95 a yard, you really can't beat that!

All of the blue plates, I found at Target and added the perfect

amount of texture to that side of the room.

One final angle...

I hope you enjoyed our dining room. It was way too fun to tackle

and hopefully next will be the kitchen!