Monday, February 27, 2012

Home is Where the Heart is

Last weekend I was able to be help host a bridal shower for my sweet sister-in-law. I was co-hosting with two other lovely ladies, her sister and good friend. We split up the planning between the three of us which made things very manageable for this momma. My duties included the decorating and one small appetizer. The theme was Home is Where the Heart is, which was so fitting since Valentine's Day had just passed. 
Let me tell you the blog world and Pinterest made finding ideas so easy! I found so many things I wanted to make to decorate but I had to tone it down to just a few. My favorite thing was the heart garland I crocheted for the mantle, it was so easy and so turned out really cute I think. I also found some great printables from DimplePrints and Tatertots and Jello that worked really well. I brought some things from home as well to add a homey feel and I think everything turned out really cute. The food was so yummy and the cake was to die for! We played some games and all around had some fun girl time. 









I love showers- I love how family and friends get together to help start off families and help them prepare for the new life they are about to embark on. I love the quality time that is spent playing games, eating and oooohing and ahhhing over the gifts. This was just the start to the wedding fun that is coming up, I can't wait for more!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

My secret Valentine

For the past two weeks I made it my goal to do something nice for my husband everyday until Valentine's Day. Now he would not approve of this since he thinks Valentine's is a silly commercialized holiday. So I had to be a bit sneaky, I did things that were nice, but not too nice, things that didn't seem too out of the ordinary (some he didn't even notice). Since I'm not perfect I think I missed a day here and there but I doubled up to make up for it. Here's what I did:


Feb. 1: Made him a nice big breakfast of eggs, bacon and grits.
Feb.2: Made chocolate chip cookies which are one of his favorites
Feb. 3: Wrote a sweet note and sent it in his lunch
Feb. 4: Let him choose the movie we rented
Feb. 5: Sent a sweet text message
Feb. 6: Nothing (it was a Monday and I was off my game)
Feb. 7: Brought him a treat to work from my Grandma's birthday party
Feb. 8: Missed this one too 
Feb. 9: I doubled up, we had lunch together AND I picked up all the trash in his car 
Feb. 10: I missed ANOTHER day (not my week I guess)
Feb. 11: Spent extra time on him during my prayer time
Feb.12: Let him play his video game (that I strongly dislike) with no mocking or eye rolling
Feb. 13: I had to make up all the days I missed so I, made a valentine for him with the Little One, did the dishes even though I cooked and we spent some quality time together playing UNO.
Feb. 14 Made a special breakfast of heart shaped pancakes.

Our marriage is not all roses and candy hearts but it is special and deserves to be treated that way and not just for one day or for a month but always. It is hard to remember that when we are exhausted from late nights with the baby, when we are stressed about bills or when we are just plain annoyed with each other. I plan on enjoying my new little Valentine today and I hope you all enjoy the day as well!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Valentines with the Little One

 My husband and I have never celebrated Valentine's day but now that there's a little one in the house Valentine's day seems much more fun. So I decided this year to do a little Valentine crafting on the Little One's behalf. I got my idea from here. It looked easy enough, but the part that she doesn't mention is that getting your almost 6 month old to press her hand to the paper is likely to cause a paint mess disaster. My Little One wanted to grab and eat the paper, eat her hand with the paint on it, paint her high chair tray, anything but press her little hand to the paper. 
Right before the paint fun!

I feel like I should have known this was going to happen, I have worked with kids. I was even prepared (or so I thought) with baby wipes, a paper towel and extra paper. Well let's just say she got a nice bath after and so did  the high chair.
After the paint disaster
It really could have been a lot worse, but it made my Type A self a little crazy. The valentines did turn out pretty cute though if I do say so myself. 


Hopefully grandparents won't see this until they receive their valentine, if so I'm sorry for ruining the surprise!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Crazy Week.

This week was a little crazy and today we are recovering. We did get some cleaning done since the house was a wreck but the rest of the afternoon has been spent being lazy. Here are some pictures from our week:
I made these delicious waffles early this week, my husband who is NOT a fan of breakfast for dinner even enjoyed them. 
My Grandma turned turned 90 this week and we celebrated with a little party. The Little One was enamored with her aunts sparkly sweater, hence the crazy baby look.



All of that partyin' wore her out!


We let her try a sippy cup this week!
We are doing Baby Led Weaning and we started this week. Watching her learn how to eat is very entertaining!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Wednesdays are for World Changing.

Last week I mentioned that many times I have pass by those on the street asking for money. It is easy to look away, fiddle with my radio and continue on my journey in the comfort of my air-conditioned car. I do not want to do the easy thing, I want to love others and love doesn't ignore. So this week I have packed a small bag with a few comforts to easily pass to the next individual I come across asking for help. Since I like to be prepared I have a small stockpile of travel size items ready for when I go out of town, so most of the items I pulled from there. 

Here's what I included:
Shampoo
Bar of soap
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Floss
Chapstick
Deodorant
Clementines
Washcloth

I have packed these bags before and I love to hand them out. This time though I am going to add the person who receives the bag to my prayer list, so even though the items may not last the impact will.

Monday, February 6, 2012

A Messy Saturday.

My Saturday started out lovely: My husband let me sleep in a bit since he knew I wasn't feeling too well, then he made a large breakfast of eggs, grits and bacon, yum. After that it took a turn for the worse. 
I went to put the Little One down for her morning nap and she basically screamed at me the whole time. I came back out into the living room and there my husband is wearing the look that says,
"I have something I really want to do but I doubt you are going to be excited about it"
 I knew exactly what he wanted all by that look. 
In a not so nice tone I said something to the effect of "what? you are going to the basketball game?" In which he responded "nope, guess I'm not". 
I was angry, disappointed and jealous all at once. There was a "discussion" and he ended up going with my blessing.  He is a good man and he made up for the fact that he would be absent for a couple of hours by vacuuming, doing the dishes and making lunch. Let me tell you I did a lot of praying in that time he was gone so God could work on my selfish and jealous heart.
I know I was mainly upset because I cannot just get up and leave any time I want, it either takes a lot of planning and coordinating to leave the Little One with someone or I must take her along, which is not always ideal. I was also disappointed, I had envisioned our Saturday being lazy and we would both share the baby responsibilities. I never shared these expectations or made plans so he didn't know that was my vision of the day. 
This is what I wanted to do on Saturday

This marriage thing is difficult even more so now with a Little One involved. I am learning to ask for help because as much as I want to, I cannot do it all. We are both learning that we are incredibly selfish beings and that is just not going to work for anybody.
So we are keeping on, learning what works, what doesn't and doing our best to forgive and change things when we make a mess of things.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Wednesdays are for World Changing.

If you were to ask me to describe myself I could give you several adjectives that I think do a pretty good job, such as hardworking, creative, a people pleaser (I'm working on it!), loyal...but apathetic is not one that I would 
choose. When I think about it though, I think a lot of the time I believe it does describe me. 

Apathetic: adjective
1.having or showing little or no emotion: apathetic behavior.
2. not interested or concerned; indifferent or unresponsive
(thank you dictionary.com) 
When I pull off the interstate and there is a man standing with a sign asking for money I avoid eye contact and put him out of my thoughts. When my husband suggests we make a meal for a family I nod but take no action. When I hear of nations going through war and famine I do not pray. 
There was a song playing on the radio the other day and this one line caught me
"Why don't you break my heart til it moves my hands and feet" 
Big Daddy Weave, Love Come to Life 
So what have I let the Lord break my heart for? I don't want to just choose one cause to champion but I want to let my heart be soft so that it can be moved to take small actions that show His great love. So many times I wish I would have give that man some money or something to eat, or offered an encouraging word to someone but my heart was too hard and I did not act. 

When I was little I wanted to change the world! Now I know that I may not be able to bring world peace but I can love and love changes things. His love changes things. I am small but He is not and if I let Him, then He can do work through me. How amazing is that?
So on Wednesday's I will be posting one way to make a difference, it may be offering a kind word to someone, praying for something or taking action. So today I am giving up apathy.  

Followers