IT'S THE WEEKEND!!! TIME FOR A FUN SALE...

TIME FOR A FUN SALE. ALL PURCHASES ARE 25% OFF. SALE IS FROM FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY....

HAPPY SHOPPING.

Thursday's Upcycled Bed Linen Fabric Sale is Underway...

Hello Lovelies! Just a quick reminder that all bed linens are on sale today-20% off. I have stocked the shelves this week with lots of new goodies:)

The In Shop Double Sale Today...

Just a quick reminder that the double sale is today.

Handmade items are 20% off....

Vintage Clothing is 50% off....

Happy shopping!

Oodles of New Fat Quarter Bundles...

After a hoppin' weekend, the shelves are restocked with some fun new bed linen fat quarter bundles. Here is a little peek at some of the new ones.

Red-need I say more!
Lemons and Limes....Yum!
Happy and Wild...Pure Fun!
Vintage Flower Power-
Oodles of those stripes....

A new garden of white bundle...

A lovely new lavender bundle...

Some Weekend Improvements....

It has been almost 7 years since this room had some TLC. The last time I painted this was 8 months pregnant with our little Bell. Since then, the room has gotten one more tenant. It now sleeps one teenager who loves Star Wars and one toddler who loves Thomas:) Yes, a very unique combination, but I think we have made it work. Here is the work in progress. We have finished the ceiling, walls, and some of the furniture. We still need to finish the trim, it is the last room in the house to get a white facelift to the trim. There is one more dresser and shelf that need to be painted. I even received the approval from my Coleman via "facebook." I believe his post read something like this- "my room is finished being painted, it is awesome." Perfect. The scary realization came across me though as I was painting. If this room goes another 7 years before being painted again. That sweet 13 year old boy will be a young 20 year man-ouch!

Here is the before...

And the after...

This past year I collected different globes for a mobile above Noah's bed. It looks so much better against the grey walls.

This picture of an old diesel train, was actually taken by my Dad over 35 years ago. It was the train my Mom rode everyday for work before they were married. They gave it to Noah this year for Christmas! It has got to be the most favorite of gifts for me(and Noah is amazingly fond of it as well-he told me I hung it in the wrong place-he couldn't look at it while he was falling asleep-it used to be on the side of the bed-I think i will be moving it!)

This collection framed on the wall are old schematics of how to fix a color TV. I found these up in MN last year and was completely fascinated with them. The boys have graciously let me display them in their room:)

Bell and I had some alone time tonight, so she was thrilled to do some painting with me. She has painted so often with me now, that she is quite good at it and I surely appreciate the help and company!

I am loving the look of the dressers!!

And I finally snuck up and captured a picture of "the Boy" -He never lets me take pictures-and I now know, it is not that he hates his picture being taken, it is a game he likes to play with his mother! That is alright, I am getting smarter and sneakier:) Gotcha my boy!

WEEKEND SALE-FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY....

THE WEEKEND SALE HAS BEGUN...20% OFF OF ALL PURCHASES. HAPPY SHOPPING!

Thursday's Upcycled Bed Linen Fabric Sale is Underway...

The Thursday Upcycled bed linen fabric sale is well underway. Lots of new bundles have just been added this week. All bed linens are 20% off. Happy shopping

WEDNESDAY'S DOUBLE SALE...

Another fun Wednesday in the shop-there are 2 sales going on.

20% off of all handmade items.

50% off of all vintage clothing.

The Injustice....

Something happened today to me, something that was completely unjust, and I wanted to share where it took my thoughts. I want to share this because I know that all of us face injustice in some form or another and it can begin to eat us alive, the anger that can creep in can be so much more harmful than the injustice itself. For a moment, I saw myself heading down that road until I caught a glimpse of something in my house, something that I recently acquired while away for my anniversary, these precious little ordinary objects brought my eyes back to the One who my focus needs to be on, and it has helped me to begin to let go of the injustice.

This morning, Matt and I left early to go spend some time at the hospital with my Grandmother, who at 82 just had her appendix out!! After that I ran a quick errand on the way home and got home in time to feed the kids lunch. After lunch I needed to make up some large dishes of lasagna to feed some bands coming in to play at church tonight for our Sr Highers. I headed back out the door to drop them off at church and was very much looking forward to returning home and spending some quality time with my kiddos-the week has been busy and emotional and I just really needed to take a good long look at the kids and love on them, but on the way home, something happened. As I was sitting at a light, all of the sudden I got smacked from behind, talk about waking me up! And as I turned to see what happened, I see this young woman, on the phone , pull around me, blow past me and run the light to get away. And she did, there was nothing I could do, the light was red and there was not a single thing I could do but watch her drive off, scott free from any responsability or consequence! And trust me, I attempted to drive for awhile in the direction she went, hoping to get her plate number, I kept playing the event over and over trying to remember her license plate number, wishing I had taken a picture with my phone, on and on. Those thoughts played over and over to the beating of my wild heart:) I was not far from home, so I just went home to survey the damage. She had busted out my brake lights, and left a lovely reminder of the color of her car permenantely etched in mine. After spending time on the phone with my husband, police dept, and insurance company, I could take a breath and think. But I will have to go in and file a report in the morning, and I will be without a vehicle until we can figure out how to fix the brake lights, and one way or another we will have to physically pay for the damage she has done to our van. So, with all of that, what word do you think keeps running across my lips, my mind, my angry heart....INJUSTICE. This is just so unjust so unfair!! Why in the world should I have to pay for someone elses mistake, fault, sin-evilness----sigh. It could drive a person looney thinking on that too long and I can bet many of you have faced things like that or worse that have left you feeling just beaten down by the injustices you have been dealt in life.

But, I really hate when anger begins to raise the temp of my body so a good cry can do so much in releasing that but only temporarily, soon the frustration comes knocking on my mind again, and I allow thoughts to repeat like a broken record, even if there never is a good result. I began to think alright, Lord, what is it you need to teach me, what is it that will make this ache, this hurt, this anger fade. And with that running across my mind, I caught a glimpse of something precious to me. Something that already has become a reminder of grace and mercy in my life. it was this.

A pair of rusty, weathered, crude, iron spikes. They are meant to serve as a reminder of the most important event that has ever occured in our world's history. They are a reminder of the "INJUSTICE" that Jesus faced when He died carrying the sins of every person on this earth in order to save us from an eternity apart from Him. Can you even begin to imagine taking on the horrifying torment that He took on when He was nailed to the cross-and He knew no sin!!! He was in no way responsible-He was perfect, pure, righteous-something none of us can ever claim! And on top of that He did it willingly. Well...when I began to wrap my thoughts around that, when I choose to stop pondering on the poor me and start pondering on the gift I was handed freely by the God who created EVERYTHING and wants me as His daughter, wants to make me pure...well, the "injustice" I faced today seems pretty silly in comparison! And honestly it feels pretty good to just let it go(and I am going to attempt to keep all of that at the front of my brain when I pull out my checkbook to pay for the damages:)LOL)

And even beyond that, there is a verse that came to mind-which I believe is exactly why the Lord wants us to "hide His Word in our heart." It is from the Lord's Prayer-Matthew 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. He expects us to do the same as He has done. So if He can forgive us-I think I should be willing to forgive as well-and I am working on that one:) Looking forward to the peace it will bring. And I will sleep more soundly tonight knowing that He wanted to teach me today of Himself and that I have been offered a priceless gift despite the "injustice" of what my sin cost Him.

Those nails or spikes in the photo, were found on Matt and I's Anniversary get away last week. We spent some time treasure hunting in antique and thrift stores on our way up to the cabin. I found these buried under some junk. A dollar a piece but to me worth gold. They appear to be old railroad spikes, but immediately when I came across them, I thought of Jesus-what cruelty to have your hands and feet nailed to a tree. When I showed them to the kids, knowing full well they would be a priceless object lesson, Joslyn said, oh, it makes my tummy hurt to think of that going through Jesus' hands and feet. I have laid these spikes out for us to see everyday as we pass through the living room. The kids cannot help but to pick them up and feel them, study them, and it always brings up questions of Jesus. I feel as though it is the best and closest thing next to feeling Jesus' actual wounds. I love those nails deeply, and I think they would be the first thing I would grab if our house were on fire, because I need that reminder every day, every hour, every minute!

UPCYCLED BED LINENS SALE TODAY ONLY...

UPCYCLED BED LINEN FABRICS ARE ON SALE TODAY. THEY ARE 20% OFF-HAPPY SHOPPING:)

Such a Sweet and Unexpected Surprise....

I received such a sweet and unexpected gift today! It is amazing how special something can be when it is completely undeserved. I was given a little box by a friend today-inside were 2 beautiful pairs of earrings. They had been made for me by a student of ours at church. What an absolutely lovely keepsake they will be . She did such a great job and I will be so excited to wear them! Here are some pics of them. Love love love them!

Thank you my precious friend!! I was completely touched.

AND THE WINNER IS....

ANNE!!!!!! ANNE YOU HAVE WON THE WHITE GARDEN FAT QUARTER BUNDLE...

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE WHITE GARDEN GIVEAWAY!!!

YOU CAN EMAIL ME THROUGH THE SHOP WITH YOUR MAILING ADDRESS OR LEAVE A COMMENT( I WILL NOT POST YOUR MAILING ADDRESS-IT WILL BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL).

Let's Back Up a Bit...

As I was writing tonight for bell's birthday-I had this awful feeling in my gut that I missed sharing about my sweet Joslyn's birthday which we celebrated almost a month ago. Sure enough as I was looking back over my posts, I had not. I realize now that I had thought I did because I had shared about it on facebook. Oh, sometimes this cyber world thing is too much to keep track of and sometimes I just have a hard time capturing how precious my little ones are to me or how amazing a moment is.

Joslyn turned 9 this year-and we are looking so forward to having her first birthday party when it gets a bit warmer! She is our easy going, peaceful, wild joker-yes, she has a very unique and priceless combination of character qualities. She can bring laughter to some of the most stressful situations as well as humble you with the most genuine of compliments that you know has not been used carelessly. Joslyn is our middle child-she is that in two ways-she is the middle of all 5 kids and she is also the middle of the 3 sisters. I know so often there are "sterio types" for middle children-but honestly-what a precious gift they are to a family! She is this amazing and lovely creation that bridges the gap between all of the kids. I have no doubt that the Lord has a unique purpose for her in this life and certainly in this family as well!

The kids each spent time writing some special cards for her.

Matt and I took Jos out for lunch-this year we actually ate in the mall because she had something special in mind this year:) We got her ears pierced!!

She thinks it was worth the pain-but boy did it sting.

Sadly this year, just after Christmas, Joslyn's sweet Thumper died. We all had gotten a very bad case of the flu over Christmas and we believe her bunny caught it as well but just couldn't make it through. Joslyn handles sadness differently than our other girls-tears are not the first way she expresses sadness but with Thumper-oh, those precious tears flowed. That sweet bunny had been so very important to her. So timing for getting a new bunny was just around the corner with her birthday and we were all excited for her to find a new little creature to care for.

Meet Spots-the new love in Josie's life.

Her birthday fell on a Friday this year so we were able to have Grandma and Grandpa out for the day to celebrate. Grandma made the most rich and yummy dessert for her. So blessed and thankful to have another year to celebrate her life. She has always been my most perfect and best birthday present ever! She arrived right after my birthday! My heart had been broken after loosing a baby over Mother's Day the year before and her birth was a healing gift from the Lord. One that we talk about often with her. Her life always teaches me to trust the Lord and His perfect plan. And that He has an amazing plan for her life! Love love love this beautiful girl!

Tinker Bell Is 6!!!

Today was a day spent celebrating Bell's life! She turned 6 today-how is that possible! She is a gentle spirit filled with thought and laughter and always sees the best in others, I am so moved by that in her. Each time we sat today , she was spilling over with thanks to Jesus and had so much to share with Him about her birthday. Her faith and trust in Him is precious and she has taught me so much about Him!

We started the day with donuts-sprinkles of course!!

Cole made this scarf for Bell and she just absolutely adores it!! What a joy it was to see him work on this for her. Matt and I came home from our anniversary trip and he had been crocheting it for her while we were away. She wore it all day-I had to convince her it was best to take it off when we were eating!

Bell had her heart set on getting some calico critters for her birthday, and I was finally able to locate some yesterday-whew! I remember my sister playing with these when we were little. They are really such sweet little toys! The quilt she is playing on was my gift to her. I was able to make it while Matt and I were away for our Anniversary. I made a matching quilt for Elizabeth, her doll who comes with her everywhere.

Lots of fun making the cupcakes together!! Everyone pitched in at some point. I love these days when we are all together and focused on the same thing! Such a blessing!

We even lit the candles a few times for Noah's sake. Everyone wants to blow the candles out right!

And we ended the day with sprinkles:) It is the simple things that bring so much joy!

Talking with Grams and Gramps and sharing all about her day. It was a good day.
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All tucked for the night and I have to mention this-it just cracked us up. After Matt and I's lunch with Bell today(Red Robin-yum!), she wanted to stop at the "treasure" store(aka the thrift store-can't imagine why she likes thrift stores-LOL) Joslyn had given Bell some birthday money and that is where Bell wanted to look. See that red monster in the corner there. It is halarious-it was still in it's box, brand new and it sings "Sugar Sugar" that super fun oldie but goodie! We giggle everytime she presses his foot and he begins to dance and sing.