our happy rooms.

So, I chose something so like me, and so unlike me, all at the same
time. In our last home, we chose what we liked for colors, but also
with the lurking thought of resale in the back of our heads. This
time around, it's what we want and how we want our home to function.

We have three rooms upstairs - a big big bedroom, a medium bedroom,
and a bathroom. The large bedroom is going to be a guest room slash
project room slash music room. I want it to be fun and creative. I
want it to be green. Lydia's, I want to be sweet like sorbet. So
here's what we're doing.

The hallway leading downstairs will be a neutral that transitions the
colors into the more muted naturals of our main living areas.

What do you think?

thanks for our new house.

Here's a page from another great book from my Mom. It's called Thanks
for Thanksgiving, and this page and the feel of the illustrations
reminds me of the feel of our new house we're working on. In fact,
there's actually a window to the left of the fireplace exactly like
the "cuddling" page. And a staircase just like this one.

Today we spent the morning at Lowes, finalizing our kitchen pieces.
We're doing a combination of custom built-ins thanks to Sam, and pre-
constructed cabinets from Lowes. They have bead board fronts, and
look very charming. We're doing white cabinets with wood butcher
block counters. And lots and lots of open shelving. Lots. It's going
to be great. I'm so thankful. After a few months of living in a
kitchen with about 36 inches of counter space and no dishwasher,
we're going to feel like kings to even just have a dishwasher, let
alone four bedrooms and a new kitchen. Wowsers.

Real pictures of the house to come soon. I promise it's not just in
my imagination.
Actually, here's two to tickle your brains.

decorating for Easter.

I'm helping get the church decked out for Easter, and I turned to Nettleton Hollow to get some fresh ideas. I ended up with some twisted willow, myrtle, and craspedia. My inspiration is the photo here that shows the myrtle mixed in with the willow. The yellow is to give a little pop. I'm tired of silk flowers and fake things, so here's some of the real deal to make spring come alive in our church - and since I believe that everything is somehow connected - in our lives and hearts as well. Beauty affects so much.

I was reminded of that while reading the book that I posted about last. Beauty can speak volumes as it touches a tender chord in our hearts. Especially as women. We are put together in such a way to want to be beautiful and create beauty out of our lives and the things that we touch. Whatever your style of beautiful - modern or folksy, whatever it be, each of us has something that moves us and makes us feel like we've created loveliness. And hopefully that's what we're going to create here in the church this Easter when we're celebrating the resurrection of our Jesus. He deserves lovely. And a whole lot more.

The dude behind Nettleton is very nice to work with. I'll update this post after I get the actual product, but Justin was super helpful, responded immediately to my email (which lamented the fact that they were out of myrtle, asking if they had any sad seconds in stock), and immediately replied that he did think they had a sad leftover that they would pop in the order as a freebie. Sure, I might need to hot glue a few pieces on here and there, but I'm confident that it will work, one way or the other, even if it's just the willow and the craspedia. Their blog is fabulous with so many decorating ideas for weddings and events! You can visit it through their website.

How are you decorating for spring?

sorry my images didn't post first time around! Here they are!

a day.

My Samuel is out of town this weekend, up in Chicago helping our
friends the Bozzay's put their house back together after some
construction projects uncovered more problems that extended their
projects unexpectedly. These things happen. And I'm stoked that he
can be around another good man pal who helps build him up. But today
was just a bit of a day. Millie was up for an hour in the middle of
the night last night teething, Lydia woke up whiny and proceeded to
make it her theme for the day; I don't have a car so was feeling a
bit fenced in; and Millie also continued to be fussy throughout the
day. A big box came in the mail from my mom today, since they
cancelled their trip to visit (which also made me sulk today). It
contained the girls' birthday gifts (oh my, mugs and bowls with their
pictures on them! They were thrilled.), and two fabulous books for
them. I read the one and just sat and cried. There was wrapping all
over the livingroom, Millie was tearing it to bits, Lydia was trying
to comfort me, and I was literally sitting in the middle of it,
crying, realizing that these are the moments that life is made up of,
and I don't want to wish any of them away, even the rough ones. The
book is titled "someday", and I'll completely spoil it for you by
putting all of it right here. The illustrations are charming, and
completely "make" the book. If you are the mother of a girl, you must
get this book.

One day, I counted your fingers and kissed each one.
One day, the first snowflakes fell, and I help you up and watched
them melt on your baby skin.
One day, we crossed the street, and you help my hand tight.
Then, you were my baby, and now you are my child.

Sometimes, when you sleep, I watch you dream, and I dream too...
That someday you will dive into the cool, clear water of a lake.
Someday you will walk into a deep wood.
Someday your eyes will be filled with a joy so deep that they shine.
Someday you will run so fast and so far your heart will feel like fire.
Someday you will swing high - so high, higher than you ever dared to
swing.
Someday you will hear something so sad that you will fold up with
sorrow. (amazing illustration of a teenager with her legs pulled up
to her in an armchair, with a letter on the floor)
Someday you will call a song to the wind, and the wind will carry
your song away.
Someday I will stand on this porch and watch your arms waving to me
until I no longer see you.
Someday you will look at this house and wonder how something that
feels so large can look so small.

Someday you will feel a weight against your strong back. (shows a
young mother giving a piggyback ride)
Someday I will watch you brushing your child's hair.
Someday, a long time from now, your own hair will glow silver in the
sun. (lovely illustration of the back view of an older woman sitting
in an adirondack chair on a porch, watching the sunset)
And when that day comes, love, you will remember me. (And it shows a
framed photo sitting on an end-table - the photo that was the
illustration from the first page where the mom was counting her
fingers).

Completely full circle. It made today seem very tiny in the big
picture of things.

And made me in a strange way, much more cognizant of the future of
the memories we are creating. I'm getting ready to order some large
prints of photos, and now I'm thinking - what would my children want
to look at someday when they're grown and want to post cherished
photos on their walls? Will they want just a cute photo of them? Or
would they want a photo of them flashing a big smile to sam or I, us
in the picture, smiling back at them. It just made me think.

sewing for ruthie.

Lydia's birthday is coming up on Friday, and part of her gift is the "naked no more" gift of love for her babydoll, Ruthie. Naked babydolls really bug me. I'm not sure why - they just look so sad and undone. Ruthie's current outfits are oh-so-fun for Lydia to take off, and oh-so-difficult for her to get back on. So most of the times, Ruthie is a sad babydoll with no clothes. I got out the tupperware of fabric last night and burrowed through until I found something just right. Then I went back to my days as a twelve year old, sewing for my American Doll, Kirsten, and I made a pattern for little Ruthie. I vaguely remembered how to do the bodice, and then the rest came along pretty easily. Here's the result. All you sewing geniuses, do you have any ideas for making the bodice a little neater on the inside? I did a full-lined front, and two fully-lined back pieces, but left the sides open since I'd be sewing the front to the back, and so those seams are really messy on the inside, since I don't have a serger. Any ideas? I'm thinking I should have closed up the sides when I sewed the rest of it, then when I reversed it, just hand slip-stitched the front and back of the bodice together.

I can't wait to see her face when she opens it!

update - well, I wrote this about two weeks ago, and then didn't download the photos from the camera until yesterday. She loved the dress!

birthday number one.

I can't believe Millie is one tomorrow.
What a year it's been for all of us, her included.

Here's a quick picture of her birthday party - she ate almost her
whole cupcake - double-fisted, going at it with a big grin the whole
time. What a different experience from Lydia, who gingerly poked at
it like it would bite her!

getting to know our community.

We've delved full-force into community events and our mission for coming to Kentucky! Many paths are converging all at once, started by a friend sending me a grant application that we can create a qualifying program for. Tonight we went to the drug awareness council meeting, a monthly meeting to discuss activities that will prevent and stop drug use in our county. UNITE is a program that contributes financially toward many of our council's activities, and we briefly met the community coordinator, who encouraged us to develop activities and then present them to UNITE for approval and funding. The contingency is that we provide some type of drug prevention into it - which can be as simple as having a trained anti-drug counselor conduct a presentation for a few minutes at the start of a community game night.

We have lots of ideas, and now, timelines for implementation. Time to name our organization, apply for a few grants, and work with our city drug council to partner in projects that can help our youth here in Leslie county build a strong foundation in Christ on which they can base their big life decisions.

Lydia's 3 year pictures - a peek.

This morning when the temperature jumped over ten degrees in an hour,
I decided it was a good day to get outside and take some pictures for
the girls' yearly shoots. Here's a sneak peek of Lydia's group of
pictures. I was so sold on having her wear this jacket, and I'm glad
I did as I really like the contrast it creates with her blond hair
against it. But, I had to cut about 3 inches off the end of the arms
to make it work. It's the most adorable denim jacket ever, but It's
never fit her correctly - she couldn't even get her hands through the
ends of the sleeves this morning - they cinch really tightly at the
ends. But seeing as it was a hand me down and we wouldn't get any
wear out of it anyhow, out came the scissors. I think it was worth it.

I can't believe our baby is three. What great joy she's brought to us!

an inspiring read.

This article here kind of describes the work/life partnership that Sam and I are attempting to achieve. Ironically, Gabrielle is a designer, so there are some definite parallels. I am inspired daily by her blog, which discusses the intersection of design and motherhood - everything from fabulous birthday party ideas to new design trends.