Tuesday Treasure with maybe a hint of Made of Monday

Just over a week until Thanksgiving. Just a two days until my folks get here, and then the next day we are off!

The sound track of Thanksgiving travel is running through my head:

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house we go…

On the road again….

Oh there’s no place like home for the holidays….Pennsylvania and some homemade pumpkin pie…

But then home is here – not there. Oh, there are things about there that are home – the people, the food, the time together, and the sense of heritage. I find myself walking a fine line between here and there.  The older I get the less connection I have to the place, though the connections to the people don’t dwindle, or at least the desire for the connection.

I love my family, but for nearly 25 years we have lived some place far away. Not some insurmountable distance, but far enough that daily life goes on. Other family moves. Kids grow up. Life happens. I am so thankful for all the technology that has continued to keep us connected so much better than long distance telephone calls and handwritten letters!

This week’s Tuesday Treasure is called On going Home. It is all about the things that come to mind as we prepare to journey to the “homeland”. 

• ·         The pumpkin pie and sled from the songs we would sing on the way.
• ·         The Steeler’s paraphernalia that gets packed and worn with pride while we are there among fellow fans.
• ·         Tokens of the travel- Construction barrels that litter the turnpike!
• ·         Images of the places we will see along the way and visit while we are there.

If you are traveling this Thanksgiving, I pray for safe travels for you. If you will spend your time with family, I pray for peace and joy for you. If you find yourself far from home and without family, count yourself blessed! No, I pray for you, too!

Enjoy this weeks treasure!

Free Advice Friday

It is my turn ladies…looking for some free advice this Friday!

What do you do with failure?

Does it harden your resolve?

Do you try again?

Do you blame others? Do you blame yourself?

Do you move on?

Do you change courses?

Does it paralyze you? Or does it light a fire for you?

I find myself not failing, but not really succeeding either, in an overall sense. I see changes that need to be made. I see things that need improved, but I find myself unable to make the changes, unable to find a place to start and feel like “This is possible”.

 I may just be on the verge of becoming a hoarder, or worse…Maybe I am just not a perfectly clean house kind of girl, but it feels so good when the house is that kind of clean. And maybe I am just not a blog everyday and run an Etsy shop kind of girl, but if feels so good when it is happening. And maybe I am just not meant to be wife, mother and student. And maybe I am just not as organized and together as everyone thinks I am…maybe I am just not who I always thought I was…but where does this leave me? What of everything on my plate does God want for me and from me? And what if what He wants for me isn’t even on my plate, yet? Then what do it do with all of “this”?

Okay…well, ladies…any advice…

I think I might go start throwing things away!

Happy Friday!

Tuesday Treasures...32

So now that I am 32, I thought that 32 would make a great treasury...WRONG!

I really had to work hard to find things that had 32 in the description and appealed to me.

Oh it could have all been paintings or photographs or baby blankets...but i am made of so much more than that!

A few of this weeks listing were sort of pushing the 32...I included things that were 32 count or .32 or 3.2...or that were in a shop that had a listing that had 32 in the description...but 32 is what it is...

and so are Tuesday Treasures! Enjoy!

Made of Monday...Handmade love

Today I turn 32...

I remember my dad's 32nd birthday...at least I am pretty sure I do.

My mom and I had baked my dad a cherry pie. I sat down to eat my piece and lost two teeth. I was six, almost seven.

I wonder if my kids will remember my 32nd birthday.

Last night, I was showered with gifts by my sweet children and husband. Grace had made me a book. She had colored and drawn and sticker-ed. Her daddy helped her by writing the words. She was so proud.

But there was one more gift, in a blue gift bag, "hidden" at her desk...

Just before it was time for her to nap today, she was sitting on the floor next to me as I feverishly worked on an over due project. She asked me how to spell love, then asked for an eraser and then how to spell love one more time.

Soon she handed over a teeny scrap of paper with all the letters to spell out Grace, Love and my initials. Using my best mommy voice and interpretive skills I asked if it spelled "Grace loves Mommy".

Yes and it goes with this she said as she handed over the mysterious blue bag.

Do we need to wait for Daddy, I asked.

I was told it no, that it was a special mommy - daughter gift!

She had asked my mom to make me a quilt for my. Thought I knew that was not what was in the bag, I did know it was something special. And it sure was...

A yellow pillow with Grace and her brother's hand prints stitched all over it!

I don't think she could have been more proud had she made it her self.

I love my baby girl and I love my mom and husband for helping foster her creativity and the value of something handmade for someone special.

Handmade with love...is what I am made of.

ETC - Embrace the Camera

To embrace the camera, one must have the camera and the SD card!

Duh, right!?!?

Not so much!

The kids and I went on a great Corn Maze adventure with the fun folks from church this week. As, I go to snap a photo of Grace holding up her prize pumpkin, two horrible things happen.

1) I realize that there is no SD card in my camera...

2) Her sweet little pie pumpkin falls out, leaving a trail of rotten pumpkin guts running down her arm!

So in true mom fashion, I stash the camera, switch to the phone and let her wipe the pumpkin ick on my pant leg. Such is life!

Linking up with The Anderson Crew...Just the Girls: Real Beauty Blog, who is sort of ETC'ing this week...and the lovely farm where we went corn mazing!

The Cow "bullet" Train

She was so excited to sit first cow! Can we say adrenaline junkie?

Jackson and his sweet friend, who happens to be my favorite
teenager and photographer!

Is it daring and adventurous?  Yes! Than my big girl is right there!
Note the nice girl in the background helping the kids...
her name is Corn Angel...!

She wasn't all the way out before she was asking to go again!

WOOSH!

Made of Monday…

I can’t spell to save my life. I am one of those bad spellers who spell so poorly that spell check can’t figure out what I was trying to spell.  I am blessed to have friends who are great proof readers. I passed up being an English major because of my poor spelling (and the comma – he and I aren’t friends, either!)

I am a bad speller because I am horrible at phonics.  I remember being totally baffled at the hand clapping for syllables…I could make any word just about any number of syllables. How did I know when I had it right? I didn’t! And I was pretty sure the rest of the class was making it all up, too!

Now my daughter is learning to read phonetically…I thought I would be able to help her with her homework at least through middle school. We still have not totally ruled out homeschooling, as an option…okay, well maybe phonics rules out home schooling.

She is in pre-school and brings home this work sheet that is letter blends. There is a note from the teacher that says the parents are to help their student in sounding out the blends, sign the sheet and return it. 

We sat down to work on it and I was lost.

 I tried.

I know what sounds L makes, and I used the sounds for the vowels based on the flashcards that were sent home for reviewing the vowel sounds.  Yet, every last one Grace told me I had wrong!

She is in pres-school and I am already useless!

I am a bad speller and I am NOT made of phonics!

Free Advice Friday

No man is an island….

For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction…

Money talks…

How many ways can it be said? Everything we do has an impact on something else, someone else.

Daily there are stories about the sad state of our world, a new toy that crosses the line, a celebrity who has done something sleazy, a group supporting something outlandish.  It is always followed by pages of comments, shared hundreds or thousands of times, and then….nothing… nothing changes. The same people who complained give in and buy their kids the toy or go to the sleazy celebrity’s next new movie or donate to a “good cause” even though it supports something the donor doesn’t believe in.

How often do we not follow through? How often do we say something and then it stops right there at the end of the statement?

I know I am guilty.

We said no princesses…not that we don’t like Disney, but we want our daughter to grow up knowing more than being a princess. We want her to know she is special and worthy of being treated with respect because of who she is, and we wanted her to grow up with some sense of what being a woman is really all about. She has a few princess things – a story book or two, an Ariel doll, but I feel like that is not bad for 4 ½ years! Not that we are opposed to girly, because believe you me, she is one girly-girl!

We have a whole list of actors, actresses and singers that we don’t watch or listen to because of their politics, who they donate to, and things like that. Is it a drag? Sometimes, especially when it feels like we are the only ones not seeing a certain movie or listening to a certain album, but it feels good to take a stand.

I am always good about it? No…

Sometimes I just choose to not look into something, having a gut feeling that it probably is not in line with our politics or our values…but when it counts (it should always count, right?) I try to stick to my guns…sadly those are the times when my one movie ticket or my one abstaining from liking something on Facebook are such a small drop in the bucket that it does matter…except to me.

All this to say…there is nothing in today’s world that is not political – and by that I don’t mean strictly government politics…

No man is an island….

For every action there is an equal but opposite reaction…

Money talks…

And that is my “free” advice this Friday.

Tuesday Treasures – Autumn Harvest

I sat down last night to put together the list of items for today’s treasury, and I was still excited about apple picking. We had such a good time on top of the mountain in Charlottesville, surrounded by friends and the juiciest, crispest, yummy apples. Now our countertop is piled high with apples in various shades or red, gold and green just waiting to be baked into even yummier treats. All of these apple picking memories, paired with the need to get a few Thanksgiving items listed in the etsy shop got me thinking about the autumn harvest.

Fall is such a bountiful time of year. Even though the leaves are changing and falling away, and summer’s gardens are soon to be turned under there is so much to be thankful for. Apple and pumpkins, pears, corn, squash, and nuts all are gathered this time of year. Soon the thanksgiving table will over flow with all the blessings of the harvest.

Which got me to thinking about what we give thanks for at Thanksgiving…is it just the harvest? Shouldn’t we also give thanks for the bodies that work the land for the harvest? Shouldn’t we also give thanks for those who gather at the table with us? Shouldn’t we give thanks to God for the seasons and His wisdom in creating them in cycle?

I know that I love breaking into the sweaters and gathering around a fire. I am thankful for these, too, the times to be close and cozy, to gather close and talk softly. There is nothing quite like the soft glow from homes in the twilight of the day. I am thankful for these, too, the call home to family that comes in autumn, when summer travels and play are over and we come inside and gather around a hearty table.

Autumn is such an amazing time of year. As much as spring blooms with new life and promise, autumn is a show of God’s splendor and a reminder to me of His generosity towards us. Today’s treasury highlights these ideas for me…enjoy!

Made of Monday…

I have to hurry and write this before its Tuesday!

Grace's first sleepover! They were asleep by 9:15.
I remember being little and Thursday nights being a
big deal because I got to stay up
 and watch the Cosby Show. It was on at 8!

I always thought I was a morning person. I am not a morning person who just jumps out of bed at the crack of dawn, but if I am awake, let’s get the day rolling!  I love the being up and having all the “have to” stuff done before the day is really even started. I love breakfast – except eggs. I love the quiet and the chill of morning air.

Or so I thought…

Here I sit for the oh, how many days have I been blogging now, time writing as today turns into tomorrow.  This blogging thing sure is teaching me a lot about myself.

My hard-working husband has been working even harder this semester, taking on a job working nights. Well, as I am learning nights turn into mornings, so I am learning to love the wee hours of the day where night meets morning.

I find that folding laundry after midnight works for me, and that a late night chick flick is perfect company for dusting or doing dishes.  Sometimes, though this makes for one tired mommy, and so I still nap when the baby naps, now and again, when there are not phone calls and business to attend to.

Late nights can be lonely at times, especially the nights when the neighborhood college kids are coming and going, enjoying the freedoms that college life affords the young.  But for now this works. The nights my husband is home I do my chores while he studies past midnight. The nights he works I do my chores after the kids are in bed and the house is quite. 

So goes the life of a once morning person, turned night owl…

And this Monday (it is still Monday!) I am made of the hours I keep.

ETC - Embrace the Camera

Embrace the Camera 

Pre-law school (aka pre-broke as a joke) we had lots of nice things. One of those nice purchases was a digital SLR. Oh, How I love my camera. It makes even the most mediocre pictures better. But this week, my camera is out having professional camera adventures...it won't ever want to return home after the fun it is going to have this weekend on a real shoot!                                                                                                                                                 

So these pictures are me embracing the camera that is my phone...and not some great new better than most cameras phone. And embrace I shall! The baby boy is smiling and I don't look too fat. YAHOO!          Check out all the other Camera Embracers over at The Anderson Crew!              

Tuesday Treasures – Trains

This weekend The Things I am Made of and a few friends will be at the Historical Appomattox Railroad Festival in Appomattox, Virginia. If you are in the area please stop by and check us out.  TIAMO will be joined by The Whimsical Peanut and Aubrianah Shannen Photography.

So today’s treasure is trains and not just because of the railroad festival…I can recall throughout my life a nearness to trains. I can remember walking across the train tracks to get to the river, nearly every time I was at my grandma’s house. The train tracks ran right behind one of my high school friend’s home. In college, I loved to take the train home from school, along the Potomac and through DC. My husband and I’s first house was not far from the Amtrak station and a busy train thoroughfare.

My dad is an avid model railroader, train collector. Only recently was I subjected to a train collectors’ convention – it was like my dad times a thousand only mostly older and mostly grumpier…mostly. Many of the guys there were like my dad – still a kid at heart. It is as much fun to find something new as it is to tear something old apart and see how it works.

My kids have taken to trains quickly, as well. There are train tracks right at the edge of campus, so we frequently see trains in our travels through town. Grace loves to count the cars and watch for cabooses.

Without further ado, today’s treasury….Trains!

In other TIAMO news…The blog has a new sponsor!  DMC – Dance and Music Creations, located in Wyndhurst, this fabulous studio is one of Grace’s favorite places! She is in her second year of dance and loving every minute.  They offer all sorts of dance classes – some even just for boys- zumba and music and voice lessons, as well. Be sure to check their link out!

Made of Monday....

It is Monday and I am made of BUSY this week!

I am behind in homework.

I am behind in bible study.

I am behind in housework.

I am behind on gifts and volunteer projects.

I am behind in getting ready for the Historic AppomattoxRailroad Festival…

(So maybe I am made of BEHIND, rather than BUSY? Either way it doesn’t bode well!)

So I am going to go try to get caught up on at least one of those…

Meanwhile check out the new Hair Tutu tutorial, 

DMC - the wonderful dance studio where Grace learns all her best moves AND the exclusive retail location for Hair Tutus...oh and this is week is bring a friend to class so if any of you local gals have a little lady who would like to check it out with Grace just let me know!

the HARF, 

the fabulous girls I am going to be at HARF with –

Aubrianah ShannenPhotography and The Whimsical Peanut.

Saturday ….Success!

Success this week was getting the baby boy healthy! It took a lot of prayer, a lot of lost sleep and enough steroids to make him the size of Hulk Hogan!

Other successes this week?

Let’s see…

Having a blast at Touch a Truck!

Another wonderful, uplifting Girl’s Night at my mom’s!

A slew of birthday gifts and a baby shower gift….but only one that I can post pictures of – the rest will come next week.

Several (yes more than 1…more than 2) ETSY sales! And I am excited to say had more site views this month than last! YAAAHH!

Oh, and a HEALTHY baby boy got a hair cut today!

What were your successes this week?

Friday, A Question for the Ages

I am leaving here in about an hour and half for a weekend away with the kids…and I have nothing in my suitcase!  So here is another effort in procrastination…

Advice time ladies…or more reassurance…I am not totally weird or lost in left field on this one, am I?

Facebook Friends:

I am not friends with this guy...and he is my dad!

I seem to be odd ball out when it comes to Facebook friends. I have maybe 35 friends (okay I stand corrected I have 84…I didn’t realize that I know 84 people, but I am glad you are all my friends!) while the rest of the world has 300 friends.  It is just who I am. I much prefer a close group of great friends to a larger group of acquaintances. I am sure there are some of you ladies who can keep up with a whole yearbook’s worth of people and feel totally connected with each and every one, I just can’t.

All of that said, I am not friends with many of my friends’ husbands. A few of those husbands are not on Facebook.  I only counted three that I am friends with – two are out of town and one I use to babysit for so I saw him more often than I see most of my friends’ husbands.  I just don’t feel right about being Facebook friends with everyone’s husband or guys in general and this from the girl who until post-college always had more guy friends than girl friends. Even my maid of honor was a guy.

Several of my husband’s friends have sent me friend requests – mostly guys from school who he is close to. I haven’t accepted those. It isn’t that I don’t like the guys, it’s just I don’t feel the need to be “friends” with them. I need a little space from that part of his life – school has already infiltrated so much of our family life.

I am friends with one of my husband’s  friends, who I have never met, but he is someone who is important in my husband’s life. At this point in all of our busy lives Facebook is the best opportunity I have to get to know him in any sense.

And it is not that I spend my time on Facebook  man-hating. If I had to guess I would say that since I am part of a couple, it is his job to be friends with the guys? Or maybe in this place in my life I have so little girl time, I don’t feel the need to drag the guys a long?

What do you think? Who do you not friend? Who do you friend?...and the infamous last question, WHY?

ETC - Embrace the Camera

Embrace…what a word.

These pictures were taken in the wee hours of Thursday morning, as I embraced my sweet, pitifully sick baby boy.  They aren’t pictures of joyous times or moments that are ordinary and extra ordinary all at once.  They are pictures of the rough road of real life.

We are blessed to have to two healthy, vibrant children. Each time they are sick, I thank God for their health. I cannot imagine what it is like to have a child who is not well. I cannot imagine what that feels like or how parents survive. Two days of a sick baby and I am physically and emotionally spent.

I know we are being lifted up in prayers and supported by friends and family for this short time. My baby boy will be well in a day or two.

As, I post this my heart and prayers go out to those whose children are not well.

Visit the other ETC's via The Anderson Crew.

No item of the week post for now...maybe later...

Wednesday...off topic...

It is Wednesday.

Where has this week gone? A trip to Roanoke to the doctors for the baby boy – two and a half hours actually in the office, plus 2 hours on the road. It was all worth it as he is doing so much better, but I am spent…so instead of a selection of lyrics I am going to share with you a post from my friends over at Just The Girls: Real Beauty Blog.

It is about motherhood – and being a beautiful mother.

I was reading – with the help of a 15 month old – a magazine in the doctors’ office yesterday. There was an article written by a mom, reflecting on ten years of motherhood and the ten lessons she had learned. One of these light bulb moment lessons for her was not to judge other moms.

This photo was taken by Faith,
one of the super talented photographers over
at Just the Girls: Real Beauty Blog

This is a lesson I am still working on. Not judging moms – my own mothering included –is hard. There is a fine line for me as mom; of thinking I am better than another mom and worrying about the safety, well-being of children and sometimes even another mom.  I believe that a great deal of what is wrong in the world today is a direct result of not valuing children – not making our children a priority. So, while I get each mom has her own style and way, and sometimes even a different style and way for each of her kids, I take real issue when people don’t put the safety and well-being of their kids at the top of the list. Children aren’t accessories and parenting is a privilege, not a right.

As a mom, I know that my daughter flourishes with praise and support, and that when she need discipline a big piece of that is helping her learn a better way. Why is it so hard then to take the same approach with grown-ups? Not that I think I should discipline other moms who aren’t living up to my standards, but a little compassionate support and encouragement for a mom who is struggling goes a long way – at least for me it has.

As Ruth points out over at JTG:RBB even the most beautiful of moms have ugly moments, so we should give each other grace.

After all, parenting is a process not a competition.

And we can all be beautiful moms – if we try!

Made of Monday...Q&A

It was a weekend that had more questions than answers.

Sometimes in life are just like that.

For every answer, there is another question.

Sometime the questions are fueled by uncertainty, sometimes by curiosity, sometimes by doubt, sometimes by orneriness.

Sometimes the questions are fueled by hope.

As we approach the end of law school, there are so many questions about our future. The basics like where will we live, where will my husband work, where will Grace go to school. All of those are part of the bigger question – What does God have in store for us?

When we came here it was beyond obvious that God had something great in store for us here, but in the process of being here I have learned that here is not the ending, it is not where the greatness will occur. Though here has had its moments of greatness, this season of life for us is one of preparation and growth…so now where? And, now what?

When we so clearly saw that here was where God was leading (no, bringing!) us, it is hard to not expect the same glaring neon lights pointing to the next step. So far, though, there has been no giant blinking roadside arrow. I thought there was one – one of those big arrows like you see on the interstate crying, screaming “Stop Here!”  It led someplace unexpected and I had made peace with it in my heart, but it wasn’t our arrow and it left me with so many questions…Why? What next? How to reconcile the peace I felt in my heart knowing now it wasn’t our path to take?

Sometimes I just have to turn the questions off and take the answers that are in front of me and do the best I can. 

Answers or no answers, I am made of questions.

Success this week is surviving!

We were blessed so many times this week – with great fellowship, with support and with food! All these blessing more than make up what I have lacked in motivation this week.

Specific successes this week…

That Accounting mid-term I turned in last Saturday – I got a 94! Success!

I had 3 Etsy sales!

I finished and mailed out Girls Night Out Invites for my mom. I even made an extra set to list on Etsy, so watch for those to be posted soon.

I lined up a walking buddy! YEAH!!!!

Grace had her first sleep over. It went brilliantly!

Oh, and someone else’s success to share. That special teacher I wrote about in my Made of Monday post for back to school, well she was named Teacher of the Year for her school! Congratulations, Mrs. Johnson!

Free Advice Friday

It’s a rainy Friday morning. I have a to do list a MILE long and a book on my kindle calling my name. 

Motivation, where are you!!!

Taking that Accounting Mid-Term last weekend has me feeling like we are on the downhill side of this semester….BUT….we are NOT!

Finishing a set of these postcards to go out as
 Girl's Night Out Invites
and posting a set on ETSY are on my to do list!

I find myself in one of those unproductive frenzies…so much to do and yet I keep adding things to the list and projects to the stack. I go to make a to do list of the top priority things and I get waylaid adding every detail of every project I have for the next two months.

Now, I am down to brass tacks on at least 4 or 5 things and well…I need to get focused, but of course that involves getting the house in order.

Am I a procrastinator?

How do you get motivated? Focused?

HELP, friends, HELP….

Don’t you just love Free Advice Fridays!

Thursday Round Up

Item of the week this week….check it out! Thanks…

And an extra special post over at Just The Girls: RealBeauty Blog. I wouldn’t be so eager to share, but the guy who wrote it is kind of special.

And ETC! 

My mom seems to have taken to heart my ETC post from last week, as she was very willingly in pictures this weekend. (Thanks Mom!)

These pictures are from a family trip to the park. We packed a picnic lunch (and stopped to by MCD tea…)and went to enjoy a beautiful fall afternoon. This park is probably my favorite of the local parks. It has beautiful old trees, which means shade. The play equipment is big enough to accommodate traffic of various ages, but not so big that I can’t easily keep tabs on the kids.

As I was getting these pictures ready to post and thinking of what made all the pictures I had to choose from either good or bad, I realized a few things. First as the photographer, it is important to be generous to those you are photographing. Even when just snapping family shots, take the time to say “your bra strap is showing”, or “here, let me fix your hair.” Not that ever picture has to be perfect, but if you can why not fix it now instead of hate the picture later.

Secondly, editing, specifically cropping is a beautiful thing.

 And finally, just get in the picture! The more pictures you are in the more chances you have to like one, right?

Don't forget to stop over at The Anderson Crew and check out all the other ETC fun!