the back door

i love watching the year in reviews on all the news  shows. i get emotional with almost everyone.  sometimes i've forgotten the story, but for most the memories are vivid. as i think about resolutions i also tend to look back on the rather yuck parts of the year because those fuel my resolutions. so this year i thought i'd do something different and give a best of 2012! enjoy... best moments: watching my girl learn to play the violin fall retreat with my group of preteens fall get away with my hubby spring break to florida with the kids trip to california for a conference doing "7" blessings in a backpack giving our offering away best songs: 10,000 reasons need you now by plumb we are young by fun home by phil phillips it is well by north point band somebody that i used to know by goyte someone like you by adelle one thing remains by kristian stanfill best new foods: zija energy balls green smoothies oatmeal break...

about a year ago my sweet girl started asking for a new comforter.  she had the same one since she was 3 and it was definitely "little" girl.  i had big dreams of making her a quilt.  we talked about it.  we looked at different ideas.  we talked more about it.  thankfully...this summer we were out and about and there on the clearance rack she spotted a comforter she fell in love with.  since i could never make it for less we bought it and brought it home.  as fall set in we started talking about making the rest of the room fit the color scheme. today we made that happen.....  here you see the comforter...and we made these hoops with some leftover fabric and scraps she picked out today.  saw it on pinterest :)  she spent about an hour creating her own canvas painting this afternoon to hang.  i love her desire to create!  she knew exactly what she wanted to do and did it!  when we hung the oth...

i've been in this simplify mode.  and christmas is something i wish to just make sweet, simple, and enjoyable.  including collecting the christmas tree! last year we found this great family owned small tree farm that had beautiful trees and very cheap.  it was the most pleasant experience we had had in a long time.  excited to head back this year we loaded up today to get our tree..... ...then you know the scene in the national lampoons christmas where they drive and drive and drive and drive on their way to cut down the tree.  that was us today.  all was rather joyful until we discovered our beloved tree farm no longer existed.  one child wanted to get a tree no matter what, so hubby sucked it up and headed our car towards "christmasfest" to get a rather expensive tree with the complete experience. it was during the drive when all those inside the car fell apart.  she was pushing his buttons, he was biting back.  the hubby was f...

gee, when my aunt said she still reads my blog i felt a bit of guilt.  july was my last post!  so, i thought i'd get back into this whole blogging thing.  i could catch ya up tonight but instead i'll just do some thanksgiving wrap up! each year we watch charlie brown thanksgiving and prepare the feast charlie and snoopy fixed.  this was our night before thanksgiving fun!  in case you have never seen it, we eat popcorn, jello, jelly beans, toast and pretzels.  it is a tradition i hope we still have when our kids are bringing home their future spouses! (by the way - we are in our state of refinishing floors so the room is a bit crowded!) on thanksgiving day we always head to my in-laws.  this year was no different, except for the trip the kids and i took to my folks to catch up with some cousins and my dear aunts and uncles! at the garner clan my sweet mother in law started this tradition the first year i joined the family.  we pas...

Last night my family headed to the Marshall County Fair.   As many of you are, we were eager for some rain and commented that every time we go to the fair there is a storm.   We were sure this would guarantee some much needed rain! Sure enough, a low rumble started and before we knew it a storm, and I mean a STORM was blowing through the fair grounds.   I had taken the kids into one of the exhibit barns where my husband was working to wait it out.   It sure seemed pretty intense and I found my daughter in near tears sitting on my lap.   I wrapped my arms around her and just assured her I was here and that we were in the safest spot we could be.   The storm passed and she said with great confidence she had received 2 answers to prayer:   one was that it rained and the other was that she was safe in the storm. In the middle of the night I awoke to yet another low rumble that quickly grew in intensity.   In a little while, she w...

 on friday, dear son turned 12.  it is hard for me to believe 12 years have passed since we held our tiny firstborn.  he was so sweet and cuddly.  he had a knick on his nose from a traumatic delivery, but was perfect in every way. today he has a scar from that knick on his nose, but is no longer tiny.  he does love to cuddle up with our dog, or sometimes with me on the couch to watch a movie.  he has a quirky sense of humor and a rather diverse set of interests:  weather, sports stats, uekele, genealogy, and annoying his sister.   we celebrated with donuts with the grandparents, he had the privilege of a day in their air conditioned house, and dinner with the family at bass pro shop, followed by ice cream..... i love this kid.  he keeps me on my knees, on my toes, and in the grocery store.  we definitely have struggles over control.  i pray that he grabs a hold of God's love for him and develops a heart that seeks to ...

he bought me this..... so i made him these.... we are all so glad to see this...

my little girl loves to craft.  i do too, however, i kind of stink at it.  i don't often have things on hand and each project usually ends up a disaster.  so yesterday when she asked me to do a craft with her i relied on pinterest to spark an idea.   we had to improvise a bit, but i was thrilled with the product and proud of what she chose!  we got some paper since we didn't have any blank canvas around the house:)  and each chose a bible verse to put on it.  we used letter stickers to write out the verse. then we finger painted all over!!  i have to say, it was kind of fun to finger paint!  it had been a long time for this momma.  i believe we have had the same set of finger paints for 8 years.   this is mine in progress...well, actually done and just waiting to dry.  when the paint dries, you peel off the stickers and voila....   mine says: act justly love mercy walk humbly ...

last week i had the amazing opportunity to attend a conference in costa mesa, ca.  just a tad bit south of la and very near the beach!!!  the best part was that i got to drag a friend along with me:)   we were both a bit distressed to notice we were booked to fly out  a full day and half before the conference started, but when we saw this....well, we decided to just count our blessings and have some fun! the next morning my dear friend talked me into heading to the mission at san juan capistrano.  apparently swallows migrate there every year.  we missed the swallows by about 2 months, but we sure did enjoy the mission. we spent the rest of the week just soaking in the conference, sunshine,  and ocean air. on our last night, we hoped to catch an amazing sunset...but this was as good as it got.  still......amazing!

oh how i love these two....my hubby and our little girl.  every sunday night son and i head off to youth group together.  we are gone for about 3-4 hours.  at first princess was rather distressed, but now, i think she looks forward to it. i love when i get home and hear what they have done together that night.  hubby could easily let her do her own thing while he does his, but he doesn't.  they almost always have tea time.  princess loves tea and hubby enjoys a good cup too.  she pulls out the fancy china and prepares little snacks while he fixes the tea.  i don't know what they really talk about, but i can guess it is entertaining.   some weeks they have made cookies together.  they were quite tasty too.  last week she made them dinner.  i love this bond they are forming.  i pray it lasts.  i pray this gives her a glimpse of how cherished she really is.

so for whatever reason, my pictures are wonky...sorry! this year i flew with the kiddos to florida to hang out with my parents. we had done this a few years ago, but we were all ready for some time away this spring. so i guess in random order:) we visited thomas edison and henry ford's winter homes. we took a tour with hand held chatter boxes. i snapped this picture because i thought we looked funny all standing around listening to descriptions of trees, houses, and plants! it was a beautiful spot and we had a great time there! i requested a sunset at the beach one night. my parents had scoped out several beaches and found clam shell beach. we had to ride a tram down a boardwalk through the mangroves. it was so cool to then end on this amazing beach. since we had left hubby at home we sent him a message:) while waiting to take the tram back after sunset we noticed people dancing and swatting. then we started dancing and swatting as we quickly discovered millions of no-see...

i often tell people i have a bit of an identity crisis. i'm a little bit rock and roll, a little bit country, part earthy, part hippy, part vintage, part classy, part big city, part blue-grass....i kind of like it all. but lately i've felt a bit of a twinge to figure out who i am in Christ. now, i know i'm redeemed, loved, cherished, bought, set apart. what i really want to know is what God is calling me to. you see i am starting to believe i had gotten a bit too comfortable living this christian life. i think God might be wanting to make me a bit uncomfortable, or really, just step out to be who He created ME to be. so, with all of that rumbling through my head i took a walk one day. it is a good sort of feeling you know, not one with dread and doom, just a little conversation that gets me all giddy inside (if you have ever been around me personally you know that i get giddy and squeal in a high pitched voice and do a little happy dance!). so i was out walking and ...

this post is weird. hard to explain and will probably be a bit all over the place, but bear with me as i bear my soul and share a bit of my journey. i was never a fearful girl. i kinda always thought life was an amazing journey that was full of risks. i lived by the motto that God was in control and that was that. then that all changed. kind of overnight, but then not really. or i should say, it changed but i didn't grasp it. when i first got sick in november of 2010 it started with feelings of passing out. i never did, but the fact that 3 -4 times i'd waiver in a store and grip whatever was nearest was enough to start building fear. i would almost panic going into a store. as the dizzyness built it just got overwhelming. and that is what i thought it was - pure overwhelmnant (pretty sure that isn't a real word). then fear gripped me about a variety of things: ...i was sure i had blood clots in my legs that would kill me at any moment. ...i was also sure i had a brain tumor...

february has come and gone....but there were quite a few discoveries ...my hubby and i need to date more again. we've put that aside due to finances and finding sitters, but we definitely need to get back into the dating habit. we shared a quiet cup of coffee one morning at our local joint. it was sweet. ...my man does a great job at holding down the fort while i take off for a week ...son definitely thrives on attention. ...princess thrives on snuggle time ...both kids are growing and we are discovering their gifts, personalities, and attitudes ...i've discovered a desire/need to be intentional ...reading - i've missed that. a year of dizzyness really didn't lend itself to reading. in february i read 3 books. ...discontment - this is actually a good thing. God is shaking up my little world! ...fears - this is a whole other blog post in waiting ...self-control - yep, starting to see it develop:) ...energy balls (find me on pinterest) these are AMAZING little balls of jo...

last monday the kiddos were out of school. my little girl had been asking for a playdate for many weeks and well, i'm not so good with that kind of stuff. so this was a great day. i asked for the girls and then we decided to just all get together...so we headed over to my dear friends house for the boys to play, the girls to play, and then well, of course us moms to play:) i may or may not have a slight problem with pinterest. i try to limit myself, but boy do i love the ideas floating around. i keep telling my dear friend she needs to get on, so that morning i got her hooked up. as we were deciding how to be crafty we browsed pinterest and saw that adorable yarn craft above. (well, not exactly that one!) now, something you should know about my dear friend. she has yarn out the wazoo!! and she loves to get rid of things so this was the perfect craft. we sat down and made yarn ball after yarn ball. isn't it cute? she just did a round one, but i wanted to attempt to do the heart...

discovery: joy in following a call many of you know a friend and i set out this fall to get blessings in a backpack going in p-town. it seemed like a slow start, but we were committed and this past november we started handing out 25 backpacks each friday . the blessings are supposed to be for the kids, but i have to say, i think the blessings i receive are beyond my wildest dreams. this past week my dear friend tama was featured in people magazine with this article . she has been our faithful cheerleader in this attempt to help feed some hungry kids. reading this made me all the more thankful that she is my friend! but what i really want to say is how amazing this program has been. each friday my friend and i personally deliver the backpacks to the kids. their faces tell it all. some of them have run up to us and given us hugs, others say thank-you in some of the sweetest voices with the sweetest smiles. the past couple of weeks hubby and i have had several conversations abo...

discovery - my word for 2012. well, i intended to be a bit more faithful in blogging about my discoveries, but alas, i failed. so i thought to my self, "self, get crackin." so here i am midway through february (it can be considered midway on the 9th right? i mean there are only 29 days!) and decided i'd give you bullet point discoveries from january. i like bullet points, but i usually think and process in circles so this might be a bullet point list in random order! ...the joy dare has given me many discoveries....like what i consider things to be grateful for ...grace - i'm discovering just how much i need it, don't deserve it, and crave it all at the same time ...how cool it is that my hubby knows random odd facts ...my family finds great joy in sitting in front of the tv on friday night and learning about people's family trees ...learning that i'd like to do more homemade ...i have an issue with sugar. kind of like a love affair ...son really doe...

so last night this little girl decided she wanted to learn to sew. well, i'm not an overly patient teacher, but hey, why not? she was very patient as i got my work done this morning. then after coming in from playing outside we sat down to get to work. i quickly discovered it was more of her wanting me to sew something for her:) i whipped up a pillow case shirt for her out of an old one i had in my stash. i need to find a ribbon that matches but it is a very vintage cute shirt:) and no, i didn't get a picture of that. but while i was sewing the shirt, i set her to work on cutting out hearts. she was very diligent for about 7 hearts. then i cut a few, then she cut a few. i had been inspired here ( i am pretty sure if we met in real life we would be instant friends - but for now i just pretend that she is my real life friend! ) to put something like this together. i sewed them all together and fell in love!!! and yes, i already have it hanging up! then i got my cra...

discover this year i decided i needed a word again. you see last year, i'd like to name as survival. that is how i felt all year - just surviving, for many reasons. although, i will say God grew me in amazing ways last year - it was still survival. this year, with the gift of zija in my life and God's bit of goodness i felt the need to focus. for the first couple weeks of 2012 i pondered. i had a few thoughts, but mostly i just chewed on them. then, one morning while chewing on those pondered words a new word immediately jumped at me: discover....ah yes, God, there it is. so what am i out to discover you may ask? well, i'm not so sure. but i feel like God has asked me to discover Him a bit deeper this year. to discover where He is at work, where He is leading me, who He is leading me to. i want to discover a bit more about my hubby; where is God leading him, what is growing in his heart. i want to discover my kids; how God is putting them together, what their dreams are...