Monday, October 27, 2008

Playing Catch-Up.

{ A radom mosaic, to illustrate a random post }


I have been tagged...twice now. And everyday I think to myself, " I really should write up those tag posts...." Then I procrastinate and never actually get around to doing it? It's not that they aren't usually really fun to do, or that I don't love reading what my fellow tagee's post up... it's just maybe more that I have stalling issues? So in order to clear my conscience and once again feel like an upstanding citizen of this blogging community, am going to finally and probably last of all, fulfill my tagging duties.

Here are seven random things for my darling sister in law, who makes me pretty, pretty things and is always spoiling me and who I love and miss at this moment, quite dearly.

#1. I have been craving some rather interesting food already in this pregnancy. For instance, and I do apologize in advance if this totally grosses you out. But for days on end now I have been making grilled cheese on whole wheat bread for us and then dipping it in ( yum, yum ) applesauce. I have even got Annabelle to eat her grilled cheese this way with me. Many years ago my Dad showed us this extra special way to eat grilled cheese. That must be where I got the idea, but it's been years since I indulged in this particular method of eating a grilled cheese sandwich but oh, I cannot seem to get enough of them. Other things I crave on a daily basis are, carrots dipped in blue cheese dressing, and orange juice with pop corn, oh an my current favorite snack: dill pickles. Did any of you have funny/odd cravings? Or any clues as to what these cravings might mean? Could this all mean that their is a baby boy in our future?



#2. I adore toddler-talk. It's one of the reasons I am just in love with the age Annabelle is at right now. For all the funny/cute things and conversations we have on a regular basis. One of my current favorites is how she calls a grass hopper a hopper grass.



#3. We are so excited to find out whether or not this baby is a brother or sister for Annabelle, if it's a " sister baby "we don't have the slightest idea of what we will to name her, on the other hand if it's a boy, it's already been decided and he will be our long dreamed of, Jack Dawson. Jack we have had picked out for years. Dawson is a name David discovered and we both love it most of all because of it's meaning: David's son.



#4. As soon as I finish up this tag I am going to whip up a batch of these. They are David's new favorite.



#5. Most of the year because my feet are so prone to get blisters, I try and get away with wearing either my Reef flip-flops or my black Mary Jane crocs. This becomes a bit of a challenge every winter, as you can imagine.



# 6. Secretly, I must admit I have a totally nerdy side. Proof is in the notebooks full of quotes I keep. I love collecting quotes. I cherish each one of those as treasured pieces of wit and wisdom and read them over often. Here is a random quote from one of my notebooks:



The Bible tells us that we are God's masterpieces. In the Greek, poiema: not only creatures but His creations, His poems. We are living epistles. And so, our lives are meant to be listened to, because it is God who is speaking into and out of and through them, through the parable of each day, the symphony of the years, and the masterpiece of a lifetime. I f He is speaking through our lives, then nothing else matters than listening to Him.



Life is a song we must sing with our days

A poem with meaning more than words can say.

A painting with colors no rainbow can tell

A lyric that rhymes either heaven or hell.



We are living letters that doubt desecrates

We're the notes of the song of the chorus of faith

God shapes every second of our little lives

And minds every minute as the universe goes by.



The pain and the longing

The joy and the moments of light

Are the rhythm and rhyme

The free verse of the poem of life



So look in the mirror and pray for the grace

To tear of the mask, see the art of your face

Open your ear lids to hear the sweet song

Of each moment that passes and pray to prolong

Your time in the ball of the dance of your days

Your canvas of colors of moments ablaze

With all that is holy,

With the joy and the strife

With the rhythm and rhyme of the poem of your life.



( Reference Eph. 2:10 and 2 Cor. 3:3 )



-Michael Card



# 7. Is actually my second tag. Thank you ever so much to the most adorable/amazing little domestically inclined homebody of an Aussie I know, for the fun tag.



I went to my pictures and clicked on the fourth album. This is the fourth picture in that album. It's Annabelle at around 14 months. And my does it ever a reminder to me of how fast time is going. And it make me so thankful that I am writing down in this blog all the snippets of sweetness I can, because the days and months and now years go by too quickly.

This was fun. Now I am going to run and make those cookies, before I turn into a pumpkin. Which happens shockingly early, these days.

These Happy Golden Days...










( I have to tell you the story behind this beloved little smock.

Minta made us matching mother/daughter aprons, as one of my many birthday gifts.

It's reversible, and exquisitely made and of course she loves it and I adore her in it. )


A reoccurring theme around our house these days seems to involve Annabelle and a giant pile of leaves. Great big bright blue skies with every shade of yellow orange and red, softly falling down from every nook and cranny and tree in our little corner of the world. With the warm sun and cool breezes, the past few days have been glorious. She has been out in our back yard dancing with the leaves on these chilly, sunny afternoons. She loves a blustery day. She comes by it naturally. I am starting to see little hints of myself as a little girl in her. For as long as I can remember I have loved to go out and lean in to the wind, or to go mud puddle jumping.


Both things we she share an affection for.

That's my girl.



The Peasant Princess: Part 3, The Little Foxes

Every marriage has fears, foxes, and friends. Fears can break trust and intimacy, foxes are the seemingly small sins that sneak into a marriage and create disunity, and friends need to be there to hold a marriage in accountability and help each spouse love one another and Jesus more.




I just remember David saying as we walked out of church that week, that this was one of the best most practical sermons he had ever heard. To which I absolutely agreed. Are you curious now?

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

So grateful.




I am still flying high for my friend Leslie and her sweet new boy babe, Cade Nicholas who arrived most perfectly on Oct 14 and has quite thoroughly stolen the hearts of all those who are blessed to know him. He is my most special ever birthday bud. Still thanking Jesus so much for all those answered prayers and continuing to pray for your recovery Leslie.

I wanted to thank you for all your happy congratulations on our baby news. We are overjoyed at the prospect of this new little person joining our life and family in the spring. New baby is due on my Mom's birthday, May 7 th, which I think is so sweet. The first trimester is almost over now. And I am so thankful that after our first appointment last week...that we had a good report and were able to hear a strong and quick little heartbeat. Annabelle was just entranced by it all, and she was able to hold a model baby the represents the size of our baby now. Oh so small and sweet. I am starting to let myself get really excited. Ever since we lost our first baby, I have been guarded about allowing myself to get too excited too soon...but Annabelle's enthusiasm is so contagious. She gets giddy every time we talk about the baby. And of course she wants to tickle my belly button and kiss it and pat it. She'll ask me during the day, " Mommy how's your baby?" All these things melt my heart. I am loving experiencing this from a whole new perspective this time around...and being able to share this baby joy with our resident sweet and eager big sister in the making.


With all the uncertainty in the great big world around us, with the economy in such upheaval and the political front so heated, I really, especially appreciate the view I have through the eyes of my two and a half year old. She sees and takes pleasure in the little things, like a picking a pretty leaf off the ground or learning new Bible stories, having tea parties, playing dress up, and pretending the day away with her little collection of dollies and animals.
We are enjoying the beautiful colors and weather outside, taking daily walks and excursions into the back yard to jump in the leaves. I made pumpkin bread for the first time a few days ago. So much about these autumn days makes me want to cook soup and fresh breads and serve steaming cups of chai tea. So many things on my list that I want to try between now and Thanksgiving. Like this and this using these as my inspiration and I would love come up with something like this or this or this to decorate my home for Thanksgiving, which we are so looking forward to hosting again this year.
The sun is shining and there is a pile of leaves in the back yard just waiting to be raked up and jumped in...so off we go. Pictures to follow.

{ The Peasant Princess # 2 }



Warning: Hot Topics Covered. At least PG-13-ish...not for little ears. Great for married ones. :)

Friday, October 17, 2008

{ Seriously Spoiled }


I have been overwhelmed with love and gifts for my birthday by all of you. You ladies are so seriously sweet and have blessed my very soul this week with your thoughtful packages and birthday wishes. The mailman has knocked on my door every week and I have been continually blessed and surprised. So a great big group thank you hug to Aminta, Jacy, Leslie, Lisa, Deb, Wendi, Andrea, and my Mom and Dad...


( gorgeous birthday bouquet from Peter, Minta and Co. )



( This loveliest bag for fall from the oh so precious Jacy )


( all sorts of polka-dotted sewing goodness from sweet Leslie )


(This print from Debs, I adore you, and the print too of course. Pretty box and paper from Wendi. Sweet notepad and chocolate bar from Andrea and a Starbucks gift card and cute monogrammed coin purse from Lisa. )


Now I need to know when all your birthdays are so I can get you back. Also, this is just the first installment of gifts. More pictures to come. Incredible, I know. I have been thoroughly spoiled. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! And thank you!


Wednesday, October 15, 2008

And the Winners Are....


Numbers randomly drawn:

Winner of give-away #1. is : Misha

Winner of give-away #2. is : Ashley from Have a Lovely

Winner of give-away #3 is : Amanda from Blessings All Mine

Winner of give-away #4 is: Lisa from Lisa's Adventures

Winner of give-away #5 is: Jessica from Living the Swell Life



Congrats dear ladies...Email me at seachellegirl@msn.com with your address and mag. choice ( Misha ) etc. So I can get these little birthday treats sent off to you. I only wish you all could have won. And I will definately be doing this again. I don't know about you, but I had such a ball with this little online birthday party. Thanks for playing along with me.

Did you catch that?

It's taken me two days and many bribes to get her to focus long enough to record her sharing
this sweet little secret of ours with you...
So here you go, take 13 or so:
{ pause project playlist now }
Take I


Take II




And yes I did bribe her with chocolate to get her sit still for a few seconds so I could capture her saying this. Isn't that awful of me? But I am so I am curious if you could at all understand what she said? She was pretty excited and talking fast so it might be a bit hard to decipher. Watch them again if you need to...

Happy Birthday Give-Away Gifts!



Give Away #1 :


A One Year Subscribtion to one of these three magazines:
You choose.









Give Away #2:


This monogramed teacup from Anthropologie.

Give Away #3:


A $10.00 Starbucks Gift Card



Giveaway #4:

This cozy little Autumn Banner

Give Away # 5:

This splendid little book.

If you haven't already left a comment on yesterday's post...please do so here and answer these two little questions:

(1. Coffee or Tea?

(2. Milk or Dark Chocolate?

Winners will be announced later on tonight.

This is so much fun!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Happy Birthday Give-Away!


So I was so excited to tell you all that today is my birthday. Except that someone beat me too it. I feel like there has been a behind the scenes birthday conspiracy around here. Thank you ladies all for your sweet birthday wishes and posts and packages and love. You have made my day a dozen times over. I am so touched and blessed by each and every loving one of you.


And since it's my birthday and I can I have been planning a little birthday give-away. I remember going to a birthday luncheon once where the birthday girl gave all the guests presents and I loved that idea and told myself that one day I would do the same...what fun to not only receive but give presents away on ones birthday!!! That is what I want to do today.


So leave your me a comment here... And answer these two questions...

(1. tea or coffee?

(2. milk or dark chocolate?


And check back in a little later to find out more. I have multiple birthday gifts that I am so excited to get to share with you and you and you!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

{ As Requested }

Pictures from my top-secret summer project.
Quilts for the babies of my
{ spunky and bright for that darling, zippy one year old girl we adore, Rylan Mae }

{ and vintage and boyish for baby Cade, who is soon to arrive and oh so loved}




{ and us, a most recent family snapshot, taken by my mom }
On a totally unrelated note: I am going to have some little fabric scrap packs for sale in my Esty Shop in the next couple days, for those of you ladies who expressed an interest in that. Which reminds me, if you haven't already you have to check out the latest swap up at Domestic Bliss.
It's called Tidbits, and let me assure you, it's going to be such a lot of fun!

Monday, October 06, 2008

New Feature...

Since I figured out how to embed videos of the sermons from our church, here on my blog and since I got such a great response back from some of you, on the that last sermon I posted up. And since I am so challenged/convicted/encouraged every week by the sermon and have a hard time keeping them to my self anyway...I decided that I am going to go ahead and make a weekly post out of it. This is the first sermon in the current series we are going through on the book of the Song Of Solomon. It is such an excellent resource for married couples or any of you who have a desire to someday be married.
David and I have been wow-ed weekly by the ways we both see we can seek the Lord to change us, for the growth of our realtionship and I feel like we aready have and are going to continue to reap some major benifits after having listened to and prayfully applied the biblical principles set forth in this series on the Song of Solomon to our marriage. Also if you have a interest in this topic I would highly encourage you having your husband/boyfriend to listen along with you.


In the first sermon of the series, Pastor Mark Driscoll gives an introduction detailing the sexual sin that saturates our culture. Sex can be viewed as either a god, as gross, or a gift. The Bible teaches us that sex is a gift that is to be stewarded wisely.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

{ Secret Spilling }



You have got to see this.
I mean before you read another word.




This has been the elephant in the room of my mind for the last month.
Keeping this gigantic secret from you. It's been really, really hard, not to drop hints for all of us I think. Especially on your tougher days. It would drive me nuts...and I would want to blurt out: " but Leslie, do you even know how loved, prayed for and thought of, you are? " Knowing that there was this whole secret world brewing, one that was was about to blessing the living daylights out of you and your precious foursome.
What a ride this has been for you...I have been so amazed and challanged to watch you hold on for dear life to the Lord, and continue to hope, always looking for the sliver lining even through the wild and crazy ups and downs of the last nine months.
I am so inspired by the way you pull joy out of the most difficult days.
The way you laugh can with me on the phone while I knew you were about to go crazy with the itching.
The way you love Rylan, even after she pulled your skirt down in the post office, etc. ( Naughty little pistol )
The way you so obviously adore Nick. And vice versa.
The way you see life so beautifully and live it to the hilt.

I am more convinced than ever in the power of the verse in Acts that says:

" It is more blessed to give than receive."

And wow, are these women ever awesome. I totally adore and look up to each and every one of them. What a example of the body of Christ, expressed by ladies who have never met face to face, but know each other as you once said, by heart.




Here is a little poem I wrote for the Baby Poem game I am hosting over at your shower blog. I am afraid it might sound a little cheesy but you get the idea. I now know that I do not have a poetic bone in my body. ;)


The world will soon be a much cuter place...
With the arrival of your sweet baby face
We wonder so much just who you will be
little boy Cade, mini-man, little bean


Mellow and calm like your Daddy?
Or maybe more like your big sister, spunky and full of zip?
One thing we pray, that you stay oh so safe
A second little miracle baby
Tucked away tight, each day growing stronger
As God tenderly holds you, as He makes a way
Taking up space just a little bit longer.
Safe and secure inside your beautiful Momma.

So ready or not here I come
To steal your hearts completely
To add one more precious life to your happily ever after.
To be loved up and kissed up and brought up by you
Entirely on from this, my happy little birth day.