What I'm thinking about today...

Source: Uploaded by user via Sarah on Pinterest

"Mothers who know do less. They permit less of what will not bear good fruit eternally. They allow less media in their homes, less distraction, less activity that draws their children away from their home. Mothers who know are willing to live on less and consume less of the world’s goods in order to spend more time with their children—more time eating together, more time working together, more time reading together, more time talking, laughing, singing, and exemplifying. These mothers choose carefully and do not try to choose it all. Their goal is to prepare a rising generation of children who will take the gospel of Jesus Christ into the entire world."    - Julie B. Beck


This is the eternal question - how do you balance pursuing talents with keeping a simple, Christ-centered home?  I really miss my kids when they are at school all day and then hate having to rush them out the door to activities.  I also hate the thought of not pursuing and developing talents and interests.  I know all mothers debate this and it varies for every family.  So what's your balance/rule for how many activities each child may pursue?

Sometimes I wonder if homeschooling is the answer so they aren't gone all day and they have the chance to learn and pursue their interests???  BUT, then I realize that I'm having a hard time helping them with their homework - so how am I qualified to teach?! Ha!

Anyway...that's what's on this mother's heart today.  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Looks I love...

Lately I've been following this great fashion blogger.  She lives in Utah and is 21 - no kids so that explains a lot of her looks ;-)  BUT being a mom doesn't mean we have to wear a momiform...you know what I mean!  Anyway, take a look...

Source: thepinkpeonies.com via Sarah on Pinterest

One of my other FAVORITE Fashion Bloggers and Bestie, is Kristie.  I think her look is TOTALLY doable as a mom, and I *just* happen to have a fur vest!  Okay..so a fur vest isn't for a day that I'll be scrubbing toilets. ;-)

Source: blushingbasics.com via Sarah on Pinterest

I'm looking forward to getting my fashion-fix this weekend as I work with some clients in Columbus - oh my I have been missing the shopping there!  Icing on the cake is that I get to visit some besties too!
Now time to go do the dishes....grrrrr

Words of wisdom.

I'm a bit of a dreamer...maybe a lot. Darin will call me when he's having a bad day and say, "I need a pep talk."  Giving pep talks is one of my favs...and I like to think I'm pretty good at it.  I actually wanted to be a motivational speaker in my younger days - STOP LAUGHING - but I didn't live in a van down by the river so I never pursued it. (please tell me you remember that SNL skit?)

I found this treasure recently and I'm on FIRE now, so I gotta share...

Who doesn't love Will Smith as an actor; I just NEVER knew he could give such a great pep talk!  I'm impressed with his love of life and amazing work ethic.  I think this video is worth the 9:55 seconds.  (Well, his "flow of the universe" might be a little too deep for me BUT...there are some real gems in his words.)

My favorite Will Words are, "Being realistic is the most commonly traveled road to mediocrity. Why would you be realistic?!... It's unrealistic to walk in a room and flip a switch and lights come on, that's unrealistic. Fortunately Edison didn't think so." 

Amen!  I get a little angry when I hear, "Be realistic." It's like saying, "Expect the worst, expect failure, expect that you are not enough....why even try?" 

In the words of Audrey Hepburn,

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'!”    

Now go out there and have an awesome week! (slap on the booty)

The Playroom

This is our playroom.  I absolutely love how it turned out.  No, it's not perfect..could use some curtains but nevermind that, I love it!  Here's how it went down...
First of all, I can't take credit for the scrapbook paper idea.  I saw it years ago on a blog...before Pinterest darn it and now I can't find that blog. (if anyone knows, please message it to me so I can give them credit.)  Anyway, I bought two packs of this beautiful scrapbook paper at Joann's (on sale of course) - cost $20.  I then purchased glue dots - you read that right.  However, I QUICKLY learned that glue dots are not strong enough - word to the wise, use ZOTS brand glue dots, also at Joann's.  I used seven dots per sheet, one in each corner, one in the middle of two sides, and one in the very center.  They are holding up quite nicely.

Something you should know about me is that I am NOT a perfectionist.  I prefer to "eyeball" my projects which drives Darin insane - he's an Orthodontist so it should. ;-)  I didn't even mention this project to him.  He came home from work one day and three rows were done.  He squirmed when I told him I didn't measure anything but he let me run with it.  If you look closely (I'm sure you won't, right???) you'll see that it's not perfect in an OCD kind-of-way...BUT it's perfect for us.  This room is in our basement (walk-out, hence the windows) and it's right across from my sewing area.  We spend lots of time here.

I added the Chinese lanterns from Christmas Tree Shoppes - I paid $5 for all of them.

See...needs curtains.  Those bins are from Wal-Mart and are a great way to store toys.  The kids can quickly throw everything in...as you can see in the picture.

On the wall opposite from the windows is this bookshelf..our books are hammered!

Darin and I just finished the big girls' room and I can't wait to show you the pictures soon!

Scarlett's Letter

I knew I wanted a large "S" in Scarlett's room, so when I found this cardboard/paper mache "S" at Joann's I thought it was perfect.  I had a few ideas of how to embellish it but nothing solid.  THEN...it came to me.  I re-fashioned Scarlett's bedding...well on the guest bed in her room..by adding large rhinestones to the buttons.  It really glammed it up.  That was the perfect inspiration for her letter!  This was a painstaking but worthwhile project - perfect for these cold winter months...because the project took about 12 hours if I remember correctly.  Lots of Netflix to get this done! ;-)

Here's the process: 

1. Paint the letter in a silver metallic craft paint.

2. Hot glue rhinestones on every square inch - I was very anal about fitting them in perfectly, no bare spaces.

3. Add a satin ribbon and it's complete.

I used it as the centerpiece for her bday party and now it hangs above the guest bed in her room.

Total cost was under $12.  $8 for the letter, I already had the bag of rhinestones.  I paid $10 for them I believe, BUT I didn't use all of them on this project - easily have over half the bag left.

I'd like to add a blk/wht photo on canvas on either side of the "S". I still need to finish the boxes on her shelf - adding scrapbook paper to them. Overall, I just love her room - it is the perfect pink. I'll have to do a complete post with pics of her crib bedding and curtains that I made too.



Maxi Dress Re-fash

I stretched out the bust of this dress during pregnancy if you know what I mean ;-).  It wouldn't stay up and that was a problem.  While I was running on the treadmill, I remembered this top that never got any attention....

After my workout, I ran to my closet and put the two next to each other and realized it was a match made in Seamstress Heaven!

A snip here, a snip there, a long zig-zag stitch later...voila!  I love a Maxi with sleeves...I think it looks cuter in person, modeling is not my thing. awkward.

Christmas Decor...

I had a lot of fun decorating for Christmas this year.  This was our first year with a big tree.  Now that we've taken all the decor down the room feels so empty...so let's reminisce! K, so I thought I did a much better job documenting my decor but apparently not, oh well.  Here's what I got...