End of the Year Teacher Gifts

I almost forgot to post these!

These are our simple end of the year teacher gifts. Teachers work SO hard, and I know that these little gifts don't fully express our appreciation for all they do, but I hope that it helps them know that they are loved!

I got the idea from this blog (via pinterest!)... she's got a lot of other cute gift ideas on her blog. I've got several bookmarked for future ideas!

We wrapped up a nice soft beach towel, an issue of Real Simple magazine (everyone likes that, right?!), and one of those great plastic straw cups that we personalized with vinyl + my Silhouette machine.

The tag says "All year you worked hard to make learning fun, so now it's your turn to relax in the sun!" 

Some other cute things to add to this gift (depending on your budget) would be to fill the cup up with a favorite candy, or a gift card to Starbucks; add a tube of sunscreen; add some Burt's Bees chapstick; put it all in a swim tote; throw on some flip flops or sunglasses... there are really a lot of things you could add to this! If only I had unlimited funds.... :) 

I would love to hear what ideas you did for your kiddos' teachers this year! Please leave a comment and a link if you've got one! :) 

In which she struggles with balancing time.

 The spring time is always extra busy for us. We have a lot of family birthdays during the spring, and add in our annual Missions Conference at church, spring break, Easter, end of the year field trips and parties, and I begin to believe we'll never just have a regular day at home.

I'm trying to find the balance between the things we have to do and the things we need to do. I often confuse the two and find myself overwhelmed because I feel like I no longer own my own time.

And then I become resentful of everyone around me. Being an introvert in a family of six seems contradictory to my existence at times.

But I have to remind myself of perspective... I'm not a victim of circumstances. I have the ability to say no and to choose wisely.

It feels like a very slippery slope right now, because my knee-jerk reaction when our lives are filled with lots of busy-ness is to hide and push away. But I think that there is a way to get what I need and be fulfilled with peace and solace in the One who created those things. And that is the Truth that He promises us.

That is the good news, and what I need to hold onto.

4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. 

(source) 

And the things that I wish to do with my time,  instead of running around like a crazy woman? 

Among them, to spend some time on my front porch (in my new hammock!) reading through a pile of library books. 

And to spend more real time with my little shadows, instead of shuffling them around. 

I don't really want to keep my house cleaner per se, but it is a need. I'm hoping to balance & plan my time more wisely with this app (basically a new interpretation of my SHE file.) 

You can download this app in the iTunes store. It's really awesome. You can set timers on it, have reminders for different chores, and sort out all of your different cleaning zones. Everything's customizable. The great thing about it is that it makes the job feel less overwhelming. 

Anyways, so that's what's on my mind this morning. :)

Senior Graduation Gifts

I have been teaching the senior high girls at our church for a couple of years now.

Never in a MILLION years would I have ever thought that I would 1)w ork with teenagers willingly and 2) love it as much as I do.

I love "my girls" so much. They are sweet, amazing, thoughtful, crazy, mysterious, complicated, emotional, gracious, loyal creatures.

I'll be saying goodbye to several of the girls over the course of this summer. They are off on the next big step in their life... spread out to different college campuses, over several states.

We've been studying Paul Miller's wonderful book, "A Praying Life." One of the quotes from the book that resonated with us all is this one, that I included on a little art piece for each one of them.

"The criteria for coming to Jesus is weariness. Come overwhelmed with life. Come with a wandering mind. Come messy." (Paul Miller)

I unfortunately only took pictures of one of the gifts, because I haven't actually given this one to the recipient yet. I gave the other ones away yesterday and realized I hadn't photographed them. Dang it!

I customized each one to have the same hair as the girl I gave it to. It was fun! I made these on little wooden boards I found in the craft section at Walmart for .97 each. I covered them with old book paper and went to town.

Proof of Life MiniBook

Now that the class is over, I wanted to share with you guys a few of the insides of my album. This book is to be a true scrapbook; ie. a book of scraps of my life. I'm excited to already be using it to record my days!

I specifically want this project, and the ones that stem out of it, to help produce a spirit of gratitude in myself. As I recently read,

“Gratitude bestows reverence, allowing us to encounter everyday epiphanies, those transcendent moments of awe that change forever how we experience life and the world.” (John Milton)

(created with the Very Virginia kit from NoelMignon)

Our week

I have not been blogging for a variety of reasons, that include:

-awful allergies that have left me fuzzy brained and often times, voiceless (which is probably not a bad thing for my family, hehe)

-a car with an expensive part that needed to be replaced, and then that same car having a flat tire the next day. weeeeeeeeeeee!

-a little boy that seems more talkative than ever this week, including asking "right, mom?" at the end of every sentence

-a two and a half year old who caused much bathroom drama this week, resulting in an hour and a half doctor's visit, at dinner time, with all 4 kids.... all with the final analysis that she is just dramatic and a really good actress (and perhaps a bit of a hypochondriac, if one were to look at the number of bandaids she "needs" every day).

I have not been an awesome mom this week at all. Not even the tiniest bit that makes it enough to somewhat fool myself.

Thankful for coming across this quote on a crumpled up piece of paper, found at the bottom of one of my purses that I was cleaning out this week.

"The criteria for coming to God is weariness.
Come overwhelmed with life.
Come with a wandering mind.
Come messy."

(Paul Miller, A Praying Life.)

He calls us to come to Him, not when we are strong or when we know all the answers or have our lives and hearts "ready," but when we are tangled up and gross and certainly not in our Sunday best. When I am weak, that is when He is able to scoop me up and be strong for me.

True Things Challenge: Album Cover

Yesterday, I played the song "True Things" for my Sr. High Sunday School girls, and we had a long discussion about our identity- what we think defines us, what we think others define us as, and who we are seen as by God.

My girls challenge me. One of them said something that I have been mulling over. Is God gullible or foolish for loving us? Obviously, if God were human (or had human attributes)- then yeah, He would be rather foolish for loving us. But His attributes are so much bigger than ours. Perfect. Holy. Things we can't really wrap our finite minds around.

I'm still grappling with how best to answer that. I really liked what Wilna Furstenburg said the other day about God's love,

" God doesn't need our permission to love us; he loves us anyway! We can love Him because He loved us first. You do not have tobecome a better person before He will love you more. Just as you are. No matter what. He loves us with no strings attached. He love us because He is love. He cannot HELP but love. His love comes from a source within Himself... He doesn't have any external factors that influences his love."

Incredible. Truly.

***

Last night, I started my journal/album for my True Things Project. I really want to take my time with this, to savor each step, and probably sometimes, struggle with each step.

I would love to see if any of you join along with me. Make sure to link back here.
(Please feel free to ask any questions about my artistic process on the album cover and I'll explain in the next post!)

Good stuff.

"One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly."

— Andy Rooney

This week...

(random pictures interspersed tonight to break up all the words I had to pour out...)

we have hardly been at home. Tomorrow night is the first night this week that the hubs & I will both be at home at the same time. Exhausting. My thoughts are rather rambling tonight, so bear with me. I've had lots of "blog posts" written in my head lately, but not actually typed out.

It's hard trying to find a balance of things we should be doing, that we could be doing, that are good for us, and that which is too much.

I ventured to Wednesday night church for the first time. It was so good for me. I teach the youth girls on Sunday mornings, so I don't get a lot of time with other adults, discussing & learning & encouraging together. A couple of the women in the class that I was in brought up a subject that is very close to my heart (unbeknownst to them); a raw and still sometimes wounded part of me. I sat there and felt so loved by God... I absolutely knew that He cared enough about all the little parts of my life, the things that hurt me, the things that bring me joy, to show me in that way that I was not alone. It was very much confirmation that I needed that time there. Even though it is HARD as heck to get the kids and myself out the door, I seriously see a need for it. I felt like I was gulping up fresh water during that time.

I think I like to deceive myself- actually, I KNOW I like to deceive myself- into thinking that I've got it all together, that I'm handling things alright, that I'm a strong person and I can manage fine by myself (gee, I wonder if that's where Emerson gets it from... hehe). Moments like that, though, show me how very much I'm just stifling my own desperate need for community. I received a further reminder of that today.

Emerson & Atticus kept crying over very silly things, and I had a long talk with them about what is important to be emotionally invested in and what is not (of course, in their own terms). Somebody putting the potty seat down when you wanted to do it yourself is not really a great reason to flop down on the floor and sob.

And yet, mere minutes later, I am screaming and yelling because one little boy had pulled out the mustard and smeared it all over his face and hands, while we were getting ready to head out the door. Sure, it wasn't a great choice on his part, but it didn't warrant the full on temper tantrum that I pulled.

Everyone eventually was ready to go, and I sent the kids out to the car while I struggled with my bags and baby and headed out the door. I got to the car and Emerson, with a sweet smile on her face, proudly told me that she buckled Atticus & Sabriel into their seats to help me out.

It was such an act of simple grace and love for me. I had been nothing but a witch to them, and yet, this sweet girly of mine reached out to show me empathy. My eyes filled with tears as I gave her a huge hug and asked for my kids' forgiveness for my harsh words; my unkind & impatient attitude.

I called a friend and confessed how I was a total ass... and she reminded me that it was good for my kids to see me being a failure. That it teaches them grace & love and all that good stuff. My heart aches with the fact that yeah, I'm gonna fail my kids time & time again, but I am so glad I have hope that God is using it in their lives... there's something beyond my failing them.

And I'm glad I have people in my life that can continue to remind me of that- as long as I don't cut myself off and continue the charade of how "I've got it all together." Yeah. That's what community is all about.

People being real with each other, talking about hurts and scars and growth and redemption and grace. Challenging each other, not just saying things to make us feel good about ourselves. Reminding each other that it's not just about the moment of salvation, but it's about growth beyond that too- but that it's all wrapped up in the Gospel.

...that we are simultaneously far more sinful than we ever dared imagine yet far more loved and accepted than we ever dared hope for.

Oh, what a precious thing that hope is. :)

(I told y'all I was rambly tonight! Sometimes a gal's gotta get things typed out in order for them to sink in all the way, ya know?)

Work In Progress

I had the absolute pleasure of guest designing for Work In Progress kits this month. Trish (who is such a fun & sweet person to work with!) sent me my kit in time for me to get to play with it before Ariana was born, so I was able to do some creating before the craziness of a newborn all began.

I got to work with the October Main kit & add on- and it had the adorable Monstrosity line from Sassafrass that I had been dying to get my hands on! Monsters & my kiddos seem to go hand in hand.
I loved that I could do some bright, colorful, and quirky projects with this kit, along with some elegant, fanciful, and autumn-ish (yeah, it's a word) projects.
These birdhouses are in the craft section of Walmart. They have different styles, and they are around $2! I am a little bit addicted to them right now!
I found these wooden hangers in packs of two in the Target Dollar Spot. (Okay, seriously, where would scrappers be without that wonderful place?!) You'd better believe I grabbed quite a few of them for future projects! ;)

You can check out more designs from this kit here.

Thanks again, Trish, for this fun opportunity!

Ariana

"A baby is born with a need to be loved - and never outgrows it."

- Frank A. Clark