I saw these a while back at an arts & crafts show and my kids instantly fell in love with them. I was certain I could make them for less than the $15.00 price tag but I wasn't completely sure how. Thanks to Pinterest, I found an amazing and FREE tutorial by Lil Blue Boo.
I decided yesterday was the day to whip out a few of these as Max is going on a trip soon to visit family and wants to bring gifts for some of the kids. I had all the supplies needed to make these and thought they would be great for the younger girls, so away I went. The bunny in the middle was the last one I made and it is by far the best. I am still trying to finish the nose on the green-eyed bunny, but I am using thread instead of embroidery floss so it has been a bit a challenge. Oh well, that keeps life interesting, right?
I am very pleased with how well these turned out and I plan to make more as soon as I gather up some more knee-highs. I have lots of nieces with birthdays this summer :) And to be honest, my boys are a little jealous ;)
Want to make some of these yourself ? Be sure to check out the Sock Bunny Tutorial (or any of her other amazing projects) at Lil Blue Boo. You will be so glad you did!
My Childhood Best Friend, Melis & I Graduation Day June 9, 2002
10 years ago on a sunny day in June, I stood before my family & friends and proudly accepted my High School Diploma. I have lived a lot of life in those 10 years, and for the last 6 I have had the pleasure honor of being your Aunt. Tonight, we will gather together to celebrate your accomplishments and usher you into life as an official all-grown-up-ready-take-on-the-world adult as you accept your own hard-earned Diploma. I have thought a lot about this day all year, and although I am one of the newest additions to your amazing family, I know it will be an emotional roller coaster for us all.
There seems like so much to say, and I know that this Summer leading up to College is going to be a blur, so I thought I would get it all out here. A few months ago, I wrote here about living life as a Champion, and let me assure you that this day qualifies. We are so proud of you and will be here cheering you on through every new accomplishment and trial. I don't sit here today claiming to know everything, but I have learned a few lessons in my life and I think they are worth sharing.
#1. Life doesn't turn on you overnight. The slippery slope of life very rarely gives way all at once. It starts with one small compromise at a time. Just as a road slowly washes away after each hard rain and eventually erodes away to nothing, the path of our lives can diminish the very same way. Compromise is a dangerous and slow process. You must be diligent in your Faith and careful of your steps to avoid the snare that compromise can bring. My first (and seemingly insignificant) step on the path of compromise was dating a non-Christian at 17. Within a year, I was a frightened 18 year old with a newborn in my arms and trapped in a volatile relationship. I never dreamed that this was the way my life would turn out. I was too strong, too smart for that. I couldn't see the danger that lay ahead and the drastic change that small compromises can make if given enough time. Only by the Grace of God, was I able to get help and start the process of restoring my life.
#2. God's Grace is Incalculable. This is one I am still learning. God's promises never expire. He is patient and His timing is perfect. Eric is the fulfillment of a promise from God made to me as a little girl. The promise that someday I would be a Dancer. I was made to be a Dancer. I never understood what this promise meant, and frustration set in over the years as I tried to make this dream come true on my own. I had planned to attend TCU and enroll in their dance program when I got pregnant with Max. I was devastated and certain that God had forgotten me, or that I had heard Him wrong. I gave up, but He never did. His plan for my life never changed and I am so thankful. God's will for our lives is always for the best, even when it doesn't look that way.
#3. This is only the beginning. Your parents have done an amazing job raising you & Brad. (I pray our kids turn out half as good as you 2!) I am so thankful that my boys have you as a role model. You are dedicated, hard working and genuine. You inspire those around you to be better. Today, we recognize your accomplishment of finishing High School and in essence, an ending to childhood. But, mostly we celebrate the beginning of your life as an adult. The chance to go out and conquer life and all it has to offer. Don't lose sight of what is important in life and know that we will always be here for you. Don't worry too much about the details, just cling to Christ and enjoy the ride!
"Heavenly Father,
I pray a blessing today over Ryan and his fellow graduates. I pray that you would give each of them clear direction and the courage to live a life that glorifies You. Thank you for your goodness and faithfulness in my own life and for all the ways I know you will show Yourself to these young men and women. Draw each one to you and give them people in their lives to keep them accountable and edified. Lord, please guard their hearts against compromise and the wooing of this world. Amen."
We love you, Ryan and we couldn't be more proud! Love, Ashley
"Every secret, every shame, every fear, every pain, live inside the dark-but that's not who we are. We are children of the day." ~Kari Jobe, We Are
Grace and Mercy seem to be a recurring theme in my life these days. I have been thinking and praying about them a lot...the need for them, the reminder of them and learning to accept them both is a daily struggle around here. It seems every lesson in my life recently is followed by these 2 truths. I can't deny my need for these amazing gifts, but I can't seem to wrap my mind around them either.
Maybe it's because everywhere I go, I take their twins with me. Their evil twins. You know the ones....Guilt and Shame. You notice I said "take them with me". Carrying around Guilt and Shame is a choice, just as choosing to walk in Grace and Mercy are, and yet...I feel stuck between the two. It should be a no-brainer, right? Walking in Grace and Mercy or under a cloud of Guilt, weighed down by Shame.....hmmmmmm. Decisions, decisions.
I hope you sense my sarcasm here, but honestly - when I sit back and examine objectively the two sides I am baffled at times as to why I have a hard time choosing the beautifully wrapped gift that Christ has laid before me fresh and new each morning. My feet hit the floor and I throw on my dirty old rags instead of the beautiful robe He wants to adorn me with.
I mean think about it, if my husband came home everyday with a present for me "just because" I would be thrilled. I wouldn't hit him with a list of questions, seeking out his ulterior motives and reminding him of all the not-so-wonderful things I have done in our marriage and try to talk him out of showering me with love. God is no different. He wants to cover us with love and blessings. He wants nothing more than fellowship with us. He wakes us up every morning to a beautiful sunrise and the chance to start fresh. He offers us Grace and Mercy everyday....no strings attached.
"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23
I have spent the last few weeks doing my mental gymnastics and trying to get a handle on this, and I have come to realize that (at least for me) there is a third part to this equation...Humility and Vulnerability. In order for me to throw off the Guilt & Shame and walk in Grace & Mercy, I must be Humble (make mistakes, ask forgiveness, rely on Christ) & Vulnerable (drop my guard, accept criticism or judgement, make myself susceptible to heartbreak or disappointment). Sounds like fun, yeah? I didn't think so, either.
A few weeks back, my amazing friend Brittany at My ABC Soup was sharing some of her testimony with our Monday Morning study group and she said something that has been playing over & over in my head and is helping to change my perspective on this matter. "It is not who you are that holds you back, it's who you THINK you're not." I am sure this is a re-quote and not an ABC original, but none-the-less, I had never heard it before and it has completely shifted the way I think about things....this topic in particular.
The fact of the matter is, the person I think I'm not is who Ireally want to be. Free, Joyful, Holy, Humble, Gracious, Patient and yes, even Vulnerable for the Glory of Christ. I can't be these things on my own, I need Christ DAILY. I need to pick up His precious truths and adorn myself with them before anything else. I need to meditate on and trust in His word. Because the truth is, He sees exactly who I am. He sees His daughter, beautiful & blameless, bought for a price, an heir to the throne.
I just love this new song by Kari Jobe, she sings beautifully and I love the reminder here to let our Light shine :) We all have something to offer (even when we think we don't) and it is more attractive than anything this world can sell you...so SHINE!
It has been an unacceptable (almost) 2 months since I last posted. I promise I am still alive and kicking, just a little undone these days. I have a few posts in the works that I have been mentally preparing for a while now and hope to have them up this week, plus a few crafty things I have been working on and an update on our Holiday weekend :)
I was pretty excited when I realized that there there was no school on Good Friday this year. Don't get me wrong, a day off from our normal morning routine is always welcome, but I was so glad to have a day with my kids to really focus on Easter and what we were are celebrating before all the busy-ness of the weekend takes over.
We have made Resurrection Rolls every year, and this year was no exception so we started the morning off with an old favorite. I have included a short tutorial below in case these are new to you!
First, you need to gather your ingredients: 1 can of refrigerator crescent rolls, marshmallows, melted butter or margarine and cinnamon/sugar mix.
Roll the marshmallow in the melted butter and then in the cinnamon sugar mix. Explain that the marshmallow represents the body of Christ being prepared and anointed with oils & spices.
Next, place the marshmallow onto 1 section of the dough and wrap it tight to represent Christ's body being wrapped in fine linens before being placed into the tomb.
(I let the kids wrap their own, but then went back and tried to pinch together all the seams, so the marshmallow wouldn't leak out.)
You then place your prepared rolls into the tomb (oven) and bake according to the directions on the package.
Finally, remove from oven, let cool and break open to reveal the tomb is empty and Christ is Risen!
This is a really quick & easy way to show young kids the story of Easter and we love it. Our rolls took about 12 minutes to bake, so I read the Easter story from the Gospel of Mark while we waited for them to finish. Logan is still a little young for this, but Max is plenty old enough to sit still for a few minutes and think about the true meaning of Easter. I hope you find the time to do this project with your kidlets this weekend!
I have seen several versions of an Easter Garden online recently (Thank you, Pinterest), but I have never made one, so I decided that this would be the year to make these adorable creations. That being said, I planned on actually starting this project weeks ago so that I could use real grass seed for a real garden where something actually grows....but I dropped the ball. I never did get the grass seed or soil, so last night I ran to our local Dollar Tree store and picked up some moss to use instead. I think they still turned out great!
Here is another quick tutorial for our Easter gardens if you are interested in making one of your own. For each garden, you need 1 shallow tray or dish, 1 small pot, small rocks or pebbles, moss, poms poms, 1 decorative butterfly and a hot glue gun.
I was able to get all my supplies at the Dollar Tree, so we were able to make 3 full gardens for only $6.00!
First off, we decided to paint our trays with some spray paint I had on hand because they were clear and had bright orange stickers on the side that I couldn't get off.
Next, I attached each pot (which came in gray, how perfect!) to the tray using a hot glue gun and then let the kids spread rocks around the front half of their tray.
Once each of them had the rocks laid out, I helped them spread moss around the back half of the tray and then covered the top of the pot with hot glue and spread more moss on top. I didn't glue everything down, partly for time's sake and mostly because I would like to disassemble them as much as possible to store and re-use them next year.
Finally, I let the boys pick out which pom poms they wanted me to use to make their caterpillar out of, hot glued them together and placed them in the pot.
I still need to look around today for something to use as the stone in front of the tomb, so that we can close it up and wait for Easter morning when a beautiful butterfly will emerge to replace the caterpillar as a sign of the Resurrection and new life!
I had a lot of fun with this project and I think the boys did, too!
First of all, let me just say I am a big fan of Darlene Schacht and her ministry to women around the world, so I knew I would like this book....but I REALLY liked this book. I was originally drawn to her blog a year or so ago because of it's title, "Time-Warp Wife". I have said several times in the course of my marriage that I was born in the wrong era, that I would fit in much better as a housewife in the 1950's. I don't say this because I am dying for a pink Cadillac, believe it's perfectly acceptable to vacuum in heels, or secretly hope the bee-hive makes a comeback.
Candace Cameron-Bure wrote the foreword for this book and I believe she hits the nail on the head when she states, "I believe that families would be stronger today if we as women took back our femininity and invested more of our strength and power in our family." To me, that is the difference between the 1950's housewife and now. As a society in the 1950's we were still in touch with and accepting of the Biblical guidelines set for families and today our priorities are vastly different. Men were men and women were women....and it was acceptable to appreciate the difference.
I understand that this book won't make everyone happy, especially those women out there adamantly fighting for women's liberation, but I agree wholeheartedly with Darlene's message. It is one based on Biblical principles and that is one thing that I don't want to be liberated from....TRUTH. I knew after reading just the foreword and the introduction that Darlene and Candace both shared my heart about marriage and mothering. In the introduction, Darlene writes, "As a Christian, I accept the Word of God to be true, and each time I apply it to my life I quickly discover that there is a good reason God put it there. His wisdom exceeds mine." And in the foreword Candace so accurately states, "God created men and woman equally but differently. He gave us separate roles that are of equal importance but different performance." If you can also agree with these 2 statements and have a heart to grow as a wife and mother, you'll love this book, too!
Darlene's book is full of encouragement for all women in varying stages of life. She sees no difference between a working mom, single mom, or stay at home mom. She encourages all women to make family their priority despite their present circumstances and encourages us not to compare one to another. "That doesn't mean that we can't have our own interests or earn extra money, but it does mean that we are to prioritize family because that's what love does." (Pg. 32) It's true that sometimes mom has to go to work. That doesn't make a woman "less-than" or "disqualified", whether we work or stay home is not what defines us. The Proverbs 31 woman is heralded for her service to her family but even she bought and sold, toiled and worked. The point is not what you choose to do for work and if it comes attached to a paycheck. What makes a good mother, a great help meet and a happy woman is the heart she has for her family.
I was overwhelmed by the amount of information, insightful analogies and scriptural encouragement found within the pages of The Good Wife's Guide. I was blessed by the honesty and vulnerability Darlene possesses and her willingness to share with us. More than that, she doesn't just leave you with some feel good stories and a can-do attitude, she is constantly leading us back to scripture and to Christ where our true strength is found. I am thankful for women like Darlene, for the talents Christ has blessed them with and for the courage it takes to lay bare their hearts for the edification of others.
Darlene was also kind enough to include a whole section at the end of her book dedicated to the "how-to" of homemaking. She includes organizing tips & tricks and some great cleaning schedules. I would encourage you to order your own copy of this book. I know you will be blessed by all she has to say, and her ministry is definitely worth supporting.
*I did receive a complimentary copy of this book in return for my review. The opinions expressed here are my own. Thank you!
I just received my copy of Darlene Schacht's new book, "The Good Wife's Guide: Embracing Your Role as a Help Meet". I am so excited for this book and to share my thoughts with you as soon as I finish it! Stay tuned for the full review.
