winners, prayer and other random things.

First of all, just so you know, Blogher is in charge of choosing winners for ALL of the giveaways that I do through them.  I personally, LOVE that, it takes a lot of pressure off of me because it IS hard to choose just one, especially since I have a personal relationship with so many of you.  With that said...

Blogher has indeed chosen the first two winners: 

Amy won the Zeo Sleep Manager...yay Amy!
Jenn won the Withings Scale...which she will LOVE!

Yay for you ladies!  There's another great giveaway tomorrow!

Random thing number one: 
70 degrees on January 31?  Yes, please. 
We are playground hoppers.  There are several in our area and if the day is warm enough (tolerable for mom) and dry enough, we go.  With boys, you HAVE to get outside.  Trying to contain their brand of crazy indoors is just a recipe for disaster. 

Random thing number 2:
I can't share what's going on here but once again I am standing on the threshold of HOPE.  If you've been here long, you know what to pray for.  Let's just say, it takes a LOT of work to be STEADY regardless of circumstances and how you are treated.  I give myself a B- so far.  I hope I can share lots of great things soon but for now I am hanging to Romans 12:17, Proverbs 25:22, and Psalm 112:7.
Word.

Random thing number 3:  Maps are everywhere.  Versions of this embroidery are everywhere.  Here's my version. :)

I hope your week is going LOVELY. :) I've been getting up in the wee hours of the mornings to read and pray.  If you have a specific request that I can bring to the attention of Jesus on your behalf, I would be honored to do so...just leave a comment on this post or feel free to email me.   I mean it.  Anything.  Nothing but love here.

xo

i had to...

Moses had his school Christmas program yesterday...the best part, according to Moses?
Wearing a tie.

He was VERY excited about his performance so I did all I could to make him feel special...new tie, freshly ironed shirt, his hair all done up.  I even offered him some man deodorant. :)

He felt very spiffed up.
And you would not believe the number of people who didn't recognize him...people who know him well.  That tie and hair just aged him by years and years.  My heart could barely take it. 

And this one was pretty cute too. :) 

Handsome, handsome boys.  I am one blessed mama.

I had to go to the program alone with Aaron...thank you Jesus for my iphone.  Between taking photos of himself (see above),playing the chicken game (angry birds) and two packs of fruit snacks...we did alright. 

And here is why doing Elf on the shelf is totally worth it.  Aaron was SO excited about teeny tiny donuts.  I mean, look at that face!!

And a little business. 
Over to the right you can find my "follow me on Pinterest" button...I've been on there forever but finally decided to make it easy to find me ---------------->

I will be closing the shop mostly on the 20th with a last day to ship (priority) on the 21st.  I will leave all the pdfs in the shop but everything else will go until sometime in January.

You can scoop up whatever is left in the shop until then for 50% off by entering DEC50 in the coupon code section when you check out.  There are a few cute things left in there that would make lovely gifts...not to mention my prints. :)

And I just want to take a moment to THANK YOU!  This past year has been an amazing one...I am so grateful and thankful for each and every one of you who take time out of your day to "visit" me...or comment or email.  You have made this a great year!  If you have an ideas for me to improve this site or things you would like to see happen here...please leave me a little note in the comments. :)

Please know that I am genuinely THANKFUL for you!

insta catch up. #2

Let's catch up via instagram photos, shall we?
I have never heard this song but I say this line to myself dozens of times in a day. 
There is never a day or moment that I have nothing to do.  

Hot tea is a daily occurrence. 
Sometimes multiple times in the day because I.  Will.  Be.  Cold.  Until.  June. 

 We just finished reading through this at bed time.  Best book ever. 

 One of my favorite pages from said book.  A wonderful lesson hidden here. 

Say hello to the enlargements that will be gracing my walls soon. 
Hello big eyes. 

Hello sweet boy.

 Daylight saving was not good to us.  I despise it.  Took days and days to un-grump this one.

With boys, who are crazy with high energy, we hit a playground every chance we can get.

 On a recent trip I taught Moses "the underdog" to which he replied "that was SO MUCH FUN". :)

 Moses draws a lot of superheros.  They are ADORABLE.  Here we have superman and batman.  Obviously. 

 The other day I was changing hoho and he recited the line-up of these items as: man, daddy, pig, Jesus and baseball. 

I've been spray painting pine cones.  If I can request a color of the pine cones in heaven it will be aqua for sure.  These just need some glitter, I think.

 Been semi-handmaking a Thanksgiving gift for the new babies in my life. 

 Little bit funky stickers anyone?

 Squinkies.  The herpes of the toy world.  No?

 Is it just me, or is shopping with one child a dream?

 A little fun geekery for a custom order...

inspired this fun hoop in return. :) (this one is still available).
What's it like to just sit and watch TV?  I wouldn't know. 

Here's to a happy day for you!

modeling photo bomb.

 This post was supposed to be about the cool Norway jackets I made for the boys.

 Instead, it's turned into a post about Moses' random need to pose in every photo he is in.

 None of these poses are requested. 

 Just what pops into his little head when I want to his photo.

 I'm not sure where he gets it. 

 Because we have neither posed like this for photos nor asked him to do so.

 Some are more normal looking...

 ...others are more interesting...

 ...Aaron seems to have only one option.

 Regardless...it makes for an interesting photo shoot.

And this?  I have no words for this.

At least their jackets are cute, right?

it was worth it.

we are home now.
and i lived.
and even had fun.
i am super grateful to have in-laws like i have.
people who i can spend a week with.
and still love, want to talk to and look forward to seeing again soon.
it was a good week and i am so glad that i was brave enough to do it alone.
we missed doug...but my boys got a week of time and love from their family.  and that was worth it.
here's our week in as few words as i can muster.

we swam.  a lot.  i think the average temp for many of the days was 95-100 plus gobs of humidity.

we played with cousins. at the lake that daddy grew up on.

we spent time with Doug's grandparents.  both who are nearly 90.

this photo is precious to me...nearly 90 great-pa having a chat with four of his great grandkids.  precious.

the boys got to see all of their aunts and uncles.
another reason that made me go.
how often would they get the to see them all at the same time?
not often.

the boys had lots of fun and memorable times with grandma...

...who gifted me with these dream bowls of mine. :)

the great grandparents got to see ALL of their great grand kids at once.
and all but three of their grandkids.
i'm so glad i didn't wuss out.

i shared a room with this kid.
i don't miss 5:14am wake up calls.

the boys made memories at a place that is super special to doug.

i learned how to make a norwegian wedding cake.
which moses has requested for his birthday.
norway is a special place to us and we are just heartbroken over the events there.

the wedding cake tastes awesome.
i had it for breakfast on sunday and lunch today.

moses got to have  six hour swim day with ALL of his extended cousins.
it was SO fun to see all these little kids running around with different shades of blonde.
they were a bunch of little norges for sure.

and these four got lots of quality time together.
it was a great week.
lots of memories made.
and i only made two wrong turns the ENTIRE week.
and if you know my lack of internal GPS, is pretty amazing.

somehow i feel ready to get my bum in gear and get to work.
i've ordered lots of new fabrics and plan on lots of hobo's and headbands. :)

thanks for enduring all my photos.
xo