Wednesday, February 27, 2013

the battle for my children

sometimes things (meaning the kids, the jobs, the household, the marriage, the dailyness of all of it) can be really hard.  sometimes i feel really alone in my struggles as a mother and wife.  i know that most mothers feel the same way i do sometimes. it is hard when you are right in the middle of a situation to see that anyone outside of your immediate view knows how you are feeling.  i've had a few conversations lately with women around me that tell me that i'm not doing everything wrong and that the things my family struggles with are pretty normal.

lately, my challenges have been with my parenting skills and with a couple of my children.  trying to raise responsible, healthy, strong (mental, not necessarily physical) children who have a testimony of Jesus Christ is exhausting. but i also feel mentally and spiritually stronger lately than i have in a while ever!  sounds strange, but i think i'm slowly winning the battle for my children's souls and that makes a certain person a little angry, so he's putting up a good fight.

my kids are good kids.  they try hard, most of the time. but we all have our days when we are tired, stressed, and not on our best behavior.  it's not too long before screaming, crying and tantrums ensue.

my children may not grow up and inspire thousands, or be known worldwide, or make a notable "list", but i think they are pretty neat.  i'll keep working and trying and so will my kids and so will that man i married.  my kids are worth it.... and so am i.


Monday, February 25, 2013

daddy daughter dance

amelia and her daddy went to the daddy daughter dance at the school on friday night.  amelia was so excited and talked about it all week.

before heading out...


at the hoe-down!



afterward, they went and got ice cream.

when a 2 year old has your phone...










Wednesday, February 13, 2013

getting crafty at young women's


i'm becoming quite domesticated these days :) thanks to my calling in the young women's organization at church.  for our class activity they wanted to make these darling fabric headbands.  so i dusted off the old sewing machine and enlisted the expertise of on of the girls' mom to help.   they turned out super cute and were super easy!

i probably should have checked the background of my picture before taking it, but  i didn't.  oh well.

here's a close-up shot... of my headband, not the toilet in the background. oops!

**update** this pattern is pretty darn close and it's free.

i found this tutorial online that is close to what we did, but not quite.  we used cotton fabric which required us to fold 1/4" under and top stick around the edge of the fabric of the headband piece.  but her pattern is excellent.

this is the closest thing i could find to what we actually made, but requires a purchase.

these are just easy enough that i will probably whip some up for my girls using just fabric scraps.