Fresh chamomile flowers from the garden.
Snacks.
One sweet little girl.
And some fresh eggs from our chickens.
Not a bad afternoons work for our little kitchen table. 
...Around Here...
My sweet Henry.
He's five and a half and
kind of a big deal around here lately.
This past Saturday he lost his first tooth.
The tooth fairy came and left him $2.
Word on the street is that she thinks the first tooth is pretty special
so she leaves a little something extra.
And on Sunday he got his first pair of lace up sneaks,
because he says he's ready to learn how to tie his own shoes.
He thinks six can't get here fast enough,
but I'd like to suggest it stop off for a cup of coffee and take it's sweet time.
We're in no rush around here.
...A January Blessing...
Warm sunshine on a Saturday in January.
Sending you all warm wishes for this new week!
...Book Club Baby...
Hi Piper.
Whatchya doing?
Hi Momma! I was just about to sit down and start reading Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert.
I wanted to make sure I was ready for when your book club blog starts up in February.
I think that's a great idea sweetheart!
Join the All A Flutter Book Club!!
Our first book is Committed by Elizabeth Gilbert, the amazing author of Eat Pray Love.
I'll have the All A Flutter- Book Club blog officially up and running in the next day or so,
but until then go get your book and start reading. Our first 'get together' will be in early February.
P.S. I checked around and the cheapest the best price I found was through Amazon for $12.
Plus, you can get free shipping if you pick up The Happiness Project at the same time
(it's only $13 and comes highly recommended by Miss Summer), which would come in handy
since that's the next book we'll be reading.
Listening
That's the word I chose,
and that's what I've been doing.
Listening.
Listening to my heart.
Maybe it's because of the new year,
but my heart has been asking me over and over...
Do you know who you are?
After losing Samuel everything had to start anew.
It was the only way to be able to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Being able to begin each day with a little glimmer of hope in my heart
was one of the gifts God gave to me after losing Samuel,
and it's been the key to my survival.
I know that I will never be the same person I was before August 15,
and I don't want to be. My soul has changed for the better,
but now I have to make sense of a life without struggling for survival.
I feel like I've stood through this amazing storm,
watched it calm, and now get to rebuild,
only I'm not exactly sure what that looks like.
Please don't misunderstand...
I know that I'm a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, Believer.
It's the other things that I'm listening to my heart to figure out.
Where do I fit in? Do I need to fit in?
How do I take all that I've seen, felt, know and turn it into a life that reflects me, us, Him.
This past Sunday I heard part of the answer.
Our Pastor was talking about how God created each of us with minds to make
choices and within those choices you get to decide what kind of person you are going to be.
Before you can really decide though, you must first decide what kind of person God
wants you to be. From there you will see the rest will fall into place.
So I'm going to keep listening to my heart,
and asking God what kind of person He wants me to be.
You know...
I already feel it starting to fall into place.
What about you?
Loss or not,
I think this is something that we all deal with from time to time.
Do you know who you are?
Are you the person you want to be?
My New Old Kitchen
Way back in December I mentioned the new kitchen island
that Scott and I decided to buy as our Christmas gifts to each other.
Remember....
Wouldn't you know it,
that little kitchen island ended up triggering a whole slew of home improvement projects
that we are still working on finishing up.
Repainting our family room and kitchen, remodeling the laundry room, fixing up our bedroom,
and giving a little face lift to our bathrooms,
That's a long list.
But, that's the thing about living in an older home.
You're never really done.
The one thing that is done is my kitchen.
We gutted and remodeled our kitchen during the summer of 2006.
I shared some before and after details here.
This time around we just changed up the paint and accessories,
but it sure makes the kitchen feel all shiny and new.
This is our fabulous new island.
If you looked at the link then you know how much more counter space this island provides.
It has made life so.much.easier.
I painted chalkboard paint on the back of the island because
1. I love chalkboard paint
2. I didn't like the backer board that came with the island.
One of these days we may switch it out for bead board,
but for now Henry is having lots of fun with it.
The pot rack was a basket from an old bread delivery truck.
We had used it in our kitchen before the remodel,
and decided it was time to bring back.
The plants in my hanging enamel pots are called air plants and I found them on Etsy.
They need next to no water or direct light, which is exactly what I needed for that spot.
I bought mine at Tortoise Loves Donkey.
There's my new espresso machine.
I love it!!
Tea anyone??
That wire basket and all of it's contents are from the thrift store.
I'm very proud of that fact.
Oh! And so is the lamp.
I love that lamp!
Well, there you have it.
My new old kitchen.
All spiffed up for a new year.
I'm linking up to the First Project of the New Year Party
over at Sanctuary Arts.
Wishing you a wonderful week!!
My Vintage Valentine
After the Christmas decorations come down
I always get the itch to do a little re-arranging.
By mid January I'm usually done sprucing
and ready to enjoy my new space.
The only problem is that I usually skip over decorating for Valentine's Day.
Not this year, though!
I've still spent the last 3 weeks sprucing up my house,
but I made sure that I took some time to add a few love decorations into the mix.
I must warn you...
You won't see much red or pink, and I don't have
anything that resembles decorations found in a Hallmark store.
Instead I've used vintage inspired papers, books, and fabrics,
along with a few handmade goodies that were created by my 5year old.
This garland hangs above my fireplace mantle.
I used vintage fabric, vintage seam binding, and vintage buttons, all found at Goodwill.
This little display sits on my mantle.
The hearts are made from craft paper and pages from a vintage copy of The Love Story.
We made more hanging hearts, I had henry draw a new picture on the
vintage projector screen-turned-chalkboard, and then I used a sweet vintage tray
found at the thrift store as a magnet board to display one of my favorite photos.
I love fresh flowers and a few indoor plants.
That sweet owl is a vintage Avon creme bottle,
and it makes me very, very happy.
This banner was a team project.
I picked the papers, Henry cut them out, and then I added the letters.
I used more vintage seam binding, lace this time, to hang it.
This is just a little something to fancy up my fridge.
Some Amy Butler scrapbook paper, rub-on letters, and a few staples.
While I was cleaning up,
Henry got to work on a top secret project.
He found the paper, the scrap of seam binding (yes, it's vintage),
the stapler, and then disappeared into his room.
This is what he came out with...
"It's for all of us Momma!"
go ahead and swoon....
he made a family banner that includes a picture and initial for all 5 of us.
I'm still working on a few projects, but they'll have to wait.
Right now there is a cup of tea and a book calling my name.
What about you...do you do it up for Valentine's day?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
