Memorial Day Weekend

Here's a glimpse of how we spent Memorial Day Weekend.

We gave thanks and prayed for the military who've given so very much to preserve our freedom.

This weekend also is an important one in our family because it's Daddy's birthday!

Many months ago we made reservations to rent a very special house in Lake Arrowhead to celebrate his birthday with a long extended weekend.

The respite from daily life was very much needed for all of us.

Everyone had fun fishing

hiking 

 enjoying the home

 the boat

and the lake

the days were filled with lots of cuddles with daddy....

watching the beautiful birds and listening to their songs of praise

time playing with visiting friends for the kids

and the grown ups. 

On our last trip together, these dear friends taught me how to play my first card game, spades.

It has become a tradition now when we're together to play men against women.

I couldn't have asked for a better way to start the day, spending my quiet time out on the porch overlooking the lake.

And I couldn't have asked for a better man to spend my life with.  Happy, Happy Birthday to my honey. I thank God every day for the gift of you.

Trust In The Lord

 

I've been busily working on a logo for a friend's new business.


She suggested I take it and turn it into a print with this scripture.


I loved the idea and so a new print is born.


I think I mentioned before I work well with deadlines.


This was a deadline for me, due today.


I'm happy to share it with you.


These children and this scripture make me smile.


It's available here in the willow of wonder etsy shop.


Happy Wednesday... we head off tomorrow for a little vacation in the mountains.


Lots to get ready between now and then.


xoxo,
Jackie

Before & After

 Eight inches she cut off on Saturday.


She just decided she wanted it cut.


No nerves, no worries. Nothing.


She just wanted it cut and so she did.


Her comment afterwards, "I didn't know how good it would look mommy."




I was at a women's tea hearing a friend speak.


When it was over I had five text messages and two missed calls.


All from my husband.


One of them was the before pic with the hairdresser holding the 


place where she'd cut.


The hairdresser and daddy were wise enough to say they


had to wait to talk to mommy.






This is the child who wanted mermaid hair forever and ever.


I talked to her and said as long as you know that it takes time


to grow it back if you want it long again.


As long as you're fine with that, then go ahead.




I then drove to meet them.


And by the time I got there the after was already complete.


In an instant she looks older, she seems more confident.


She seems like a new little girl.


I'm proud of her and her generosity in giving her


hair to locks of love.

131. brave little girls

132. prayer

133. feeling strong in the Lord

134. re-reading a chapter of 1,000 gifts to my husband

135. barely being able to read without tears

136. grace

137. worship music

138. a vacation

139. the sibling squabbles that teach

140. siblings helping each other

141. exercising patience

142. feeling answers drawing closer

143. closure to a chapter

144. finding peace

custom pillows

I found this shop called My Adobe Cottage on etsy recently and loved what she's doing.  


First I love the vintage feedsack style pillows I've been seeing and thought one would look perfect on our couch.  But when I saw that she customizes them with words that are special to you and your family I just knew it was the perfect combination.


I chose 


           UNITAS IN CHRISTI
                       est. 1996
                   WILLIAMS




It means united in Christ with our wedding year and last name.


It's commemorating our unity with Christ in our marriage and
the beginning of our family.  


It's sentimental to me and will serve as a visual reminder of our great
and mighty King who is in the center of our marriage, our lives, our family.


Honestly, without Him in the center I don't know how people manage. At all.


I put this on quickly to see how it looks.
But it's going away as a surprise birthday present for my husband.
He has a big one coming up on the 29th.


I hope he likes it as much as I do.

Provision

Gratitude in the simple every day.

These tulips were an unexpected gift.

From a woman who is not a believer.

A woman we see once or twice a month

and often she speaks to me about 

peace and calm and being centered.

How much more 

I try to speak to her about

the only One

who can bring us these gifts.

Often times I feel I don't do Him justice.

I don't express correctly the depth

 to which I feel His love,

His presence,

His daily provision in my life.

It makes me question, 

do I always reflect His peace.

The peace I should have in Him.

Whether I stumble at times,

I know the key is to always point back to Him.

To the one who sustains.

The one who calms.

The one who plants seeds of hope.

The one who is faithful always.

The one I know is in control.

When she brought these flowers 

I said, "Oh for Mother's Day?"

She said, "No, just for today."

Just for today.

She, the one who doesn't yet believe

I believe was used by God

to point me back to Him

in the midst of a mind filled with chaos,

to see beauty in the small things.

Each morning when I rise, 

the sun is barely up.

I smile inside when these greet my weary eyes.

And I'm reminded of how

He loves me.

How he provides

in the smallest ways

right in my moment of need.

In return, I see

how much that love must

overflow

so I can be that

love to those

He places near to me.

'Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait 

for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ

 to bring you to eternal life.

Be merciful to those who doubt;

snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy,

mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

To him who is able to keep you from falling 

and to present you before his glorious presence

without fault and with great joy --

to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, 

power and authority,

through Jesus Christ our Lord,

before all ages,

now and forevermore! 

Amen.

Jude 1:21-25

115. tulips

116. paint

117. a break

118. time to organize

119. kissable cheeks

120. love texts

121. a son breaking a running record

122. a beaming daughter

123. seeking balance

124. everyone dropped off

125. a moment to just breathe

126. listening

127. help

128. vacation plans

129. summer drawing near

130. new plans

Flower Fields

me & my little ones over a spring break trip to see the ranunculus field in carlsbad, ca

it's like a little slice of holland to me.  beautiful right?

there was a time we could walk right in, now you pay a fee.

there was a time we took our pictures smack dab in the middle of those fields with no blockade.

not anymore.

i tried. 

i was reprimanded loudly, in front of my kids.

oops.

so i probably shouldn't have tried.

it was a teachable moment of consequences 

and that you shouldn't try to break the rules.

even if the rules aren't cool in your mind.

but we still got to enjoy the beauty of these amazing fields.

Do you not know?  

Have you not heard?  

The LORD is the everlasting God, 

the Creator of the ends of the earth. 

He will not grow tired or weary, 

and his understanding

no one can fathom.

Isaiah 40:28

Coming Together

I think I'll never be caught up.


But it's ok.


For now I'm so excited our family room is coming together.

The dream to remove the bar, my husband's ginormous speakers & funky holes in the wall for the 1950's tv (that my make shift curtain is hiding) finally happened.


We've been in our house for 12 years.  Wow. Crazy.


For a time we thought we'd sell.  And honestly I don't think it would have been practical to do this with crawling babies in the house.  So I guess it wouldn't have been possible to do this sooner.


In our early years in this house we both worked such long hours.  I left at 7:30 and usually got home around 8:30 at night.  I had an hour and a half commute each way to work.  It didn't bother me at all at the time.  I loved what I did.  But I don't think I could ever do that again.


Anyway, I guess I'm explaining why it took 12 years to get to this point.


I'm only giving you a sneak peak today.  But let me just say this has been a process of bringing a dream to reality.  I always wanted to tear out the bar and put in a built in for the tv with shelves and cabinets.

I haven't written about it much, but the tearing down and building up

took longer than expected, but it usually does, doesn't it.


I'll skip the many in between pictures of the building (which was a process of many decisions.. I couldn't even explain the process.  We did this with a wood worker and our own ideas from pictures and just gut feeling of space and sizing and the limitations of the room.  And sometimes it was a bit stressful.  But I'm not complaining.  I feel so blessed to even have a chance to do this.

Here it is primed.  The ceiling fan light will soon go.  I'm searching for just the right chandelier.  Just have to make sure the husband approves. :)


Here is a sneak peak of the finished product.  The built in entertainment center and library.  Those shelves on top are the library... and I must give credit where credit is due.  The library with the ladder was all my husband's idea.  And I love it.  Those chords will be for a small strip of lights that will be hidden behind the moulding.  He has a dimmer switch for them so there will be a low light.  I have to admit I actually like it.  I fought it at first, but it's brilliant.

I'm super happy with the paint colors.  Choosing them was a labor of love.  I'm a sample girl and I go crazy putting swatches and ideas up on the wall.  It probably isn't photographing fully right, but truly I'm happy with the airy, light, and vintage feeling the colors have created.

I'm still playing around with things we already own to put on the shelves and definitely will carefully select things to add to them.  That part is fun.


The couch is a diversion from what I normally go for, but we had the white slip covered sofa for awhile and I quite honestly was getting tired of washing it all the time.

So I went darker and more simple and tailored, less frilly than I normally would want to.  I must say it is amazing to have enough seating in this room now.  We never have.

My plan with the darker couch is to go ultra light with the paint and to soften it up with some light linen pillows and curtains.  I'm saving all kinds of tutorials lately.  I just need more time! :)


By the way, if anyone is curious, the walls are called dove wing from Benjamin Moore.  The ceiling and trim is snowfall white.  Also by Benjamin Moore.  And the cabinet is a Sydney Harbor paint called Pumice.  Only it's not by Sydney Harbor.  I had it color matched by valspar.  I honestly think it wasn't color matched correctly.  But I loved what they came up with the most.  Only I recently painted my little office space in valspar paint and am not super happy with how rough it is and how easily it scratches.  So I took the paint sample to Catalina and had them match it with their paint.  I chose a pearl finish.  It's not super shiny, but is enough so it can stand the wear and tear that book shelves will get.  If anyone is interested feel free to email me and I can send a picture of the combination they created.  It truly is a custom color that took me two trips at a couple of hours each for the paint guy to perfectly match.  He started light and added little by little.  The first time around I had my kids with me.  The second, I decided to use a babysitter.  When I say this was a labor of love, I really mean it! :)


All in all, I have a vision.  It's not there yet, but it's coming together.


That little ottoman there is part of a chair in the other room.  But I placed it there because I'm leaning towards getting a tufted ottoman for a coffee table and wanted to get an idea of how it would look.


Just thought I'd share a little sneak peak.


We're still putting the library together  and the cabinet doors are still being made so the full reveal will probably take a bit.


But today I thought I'd post part of what has been taking up so much of my little free time.


Plus, my mom mentioned I haven't blogged much lately.


I know, and I apologize.


I feel like I'm never caught up lately 


and I'm trying to be ok with that.




My parents came up and we celebrated Mother's Day


together and went to one of my all time


favorite restaurants, The Coral Tree Cafe.




Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!


May you treasure this role and the gift to be


raising God's precious ones to know and love Him.


May you be given an extra dose of patience and


perseverance for all the challenges we face, both


big and small and may you know that He delights


in you and all you do for your family.


xoxo,
Jackie

p.s. I'm linking up to Life Made Lovely for the first time today!
Follow the link for many lovely inspirations.

Seriously Adorable & Scripture Memory

Oh so many things to share, and still not enough time.
I would love to show you a full montage of the kindergarten circus from just before their spring break began.  


It was a full blown show on the stage with ring leaders, elephant and lion trainers, tight rope walkers, gymnasts, strong men, clowns and magicians.  I honestly was so impressed.  


Ava was beaming.  The whole time leading up to the circus they're instructed to not tell their parents.  And she stuck to it.  I knew nothing.  I loved every minute of seeing her confidently perform as one of the tight rope walkers.


So, so adorable.

And the main reason I'm logging on is because it's the first.. and that means it's time for a new memory verse.


I'm choosing Jeremiah 33:3 


"Call to me and I will answer and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know."


I have a few things I'd love to have the Lord answer in the next few weeks.  I'm praying for Him to reveal himself in a great way, showing me unsearchable things I do not know.


In the meantime, I'm also busy making 20 of those little stationary designs taking a photo of the child and putting it with their artwork for my daughter's preschool class.  And I had a request to take a couple of my prints and have them put on canvas.  The order is placed, now I'm anxiously waiting to see how they turn out.


I hope everyone had a great weekend.  Happy May 1st!