This is how I see things....

If you've had the blessing (or misfortune) to walk around my house lately then you might have noticed the new decorations that have popped up over the last few months....

 Stickers on the back of the cabinets....

 Stickers on the fridge....

 Pencil on the wall...

 Crayon on the wall...

 Crayon and a sticker on the door....

 Stickers on the hamper...

 Stickers on the ground outside...

More stickers on the wall with sticker placing in action....

YOU might see that I have a whole lot of cleaning ahead!  Each marking that has been placed on the wall by a crayon accidentally left out, or a pencil swiped off my desk or for the oodles of stickers I've collected recently--I leave them all there.  Some of you may walk into my house and never notice the pencil marking or crayon drawings and some of you may walk in and never take your eyes off of them.  Some of you might think my house has been overtaken by a busy toddler but do you know what I see? 

Each marking and each sticker is a reminder to me.  A reminder that I am eternally blessed. 

I am blessed because I was finally given the ability to get pregnant after a long struggle. 

I am blessed because I carried my first pregnancy full term. 

I am blessed because I gave birth to a perfectly healthy boy. 

I am blessed because my dream of having a boy was answered.

I am blessed because my son is so amazing.

I am blessed because my son has his daddy's brains and my goofiness.

I am blessed because my son continues to be happy and healthy.

I am blessed because I have a little boy who loves me more than what words can describe.

I am blessed because I've been given the chance to do it all over again with Carsen.

I am blessed because I have a husband who firmly held onto my hand and walked through life with me.

I am blessed because I know my husband will never let go of my hand.

I am blessed because I have such amazing parents.

AND did I mention that come February I'll be blessed all over again!!! 

I know you are getting tired of hearing about how blessed I am and how blessed I feel but this is how I feel. 

I am a on-the-go kind of person so I don't always take the time to sit down and "smell the roses" and truthfully who really has the time too!  The "smell the roses" time comes for me when I glance at the wall and see what LB has drawn this time or when I find a sticker has popped up somewhere else new or when I sit down at this computer late at night looking through photos to get my inspiration for the next blog posting. 

I am blessed because I am oh-so-thankful for what I have now.  I no longer sit and dwell on the things that have yet to come into my life to make me happy.  The future no longer holds my happiness....the present does! 

Have a good night! 

Love~SL



Weekend accomplishments

This turned out to be a fantastic weekend!  I feel so accomplished!  Well truth be told I barely finished the laundry, the house didn't get vacuumed, the floors didn't get mopped and I didn't convince daddy that getting chickens before Carsen arrived was a good idea but this is what did happen...

-Saturday morning I purchased my first sugar pumpkin of the season and immediately came home and roasted it up so I could make pumpkin butter.  While the pumpkin butter was brewing on the stove I roasted up the seeds so I could enjoy them all weekend long.  The only evidence left of that pumpkin was the skin that I kindly fed to our compost.

-Saturday night for dinner we cheated and purchased one of those whole rotisserie cooked chickens from the grocery store.  What was left over was saved for Sunday morning....

-Sunday morning-first thing-I tossed the left over chicken carcass into a pot of water on the stove and let it boil for hours and hours. 

-At 11am I put Bug down for a nap, kissed Daddy good-bye and then I went on a mommy date!  My mommy date took me to the 22nd Street Antique Mall (my first trip there) to get a start on my Christmas shopping. 

-1:00pm I SCORED!  I picked Bug up a 1960's Roadmaster tri-cycle for $8 bucks!  Yup, a fully functioning, all the guts are there, worn down here and there because of love for-EIGHT DOLLARS! SCORE!!!!  I also picked him up two stocking stuffers-three tiny wrenches and a rolling pin! 

-1:30pm.  After a quick stop at Starbucks to conclude my mommy date I was back home to enjoy all the wonderful smells coming out of the pot on the stove. 

-By 2pm I had strained the chicken from the stock, sorted all the bones from the meat, cut up my celery & carrots, put everything (minus the bones of course) back into the pot with the additions of barley, pepper and garlic salt for a few more hours of cooking.

-Somewhere between here and there Bug, Daddy and I all ventured out into daddy's shop to help clean, sort and get dirty. 

-Somewhere after here and there I manage to rest a little bit with Bug, eat some of the DELICIOUS chicken & barely soup I had made, make Daddy some brownies from scratch, clean the bathrooms, finish the laundry, can and freeze the soup for the start of winter, eat dinner and collapse on the couch!

By the end of this weekend I was feeling like a true domestic diva housewife, with a side of urban homesteading in there. 

Life is great and it's weekends like this that reinforce that my family and I are completely blessed!  We are simple people, who don't make a lot of money.  We focus all of our time & energy on just our growing family and therefor stress has been cut from our lives.  We really wish that everyone would be given (and cease) the opportunity to jump out of the rat race and live a simple life. 

Have a goodnight!

SL 

this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Craigslist Find....

Daddy and I, in an effort to cut costs so one day I can be a full time mommy, have turned to craigslist, estate sales and thrift stores to buy some here and there needed items for around the house. 

(On a side note....thrift stores are the BEST for crafting.  Stay tuned to see why)

One day while searching through the antique section of craigslist I came across this awesome kids trike... (see awesome bike below)

 If you have ever been to our house then you know we like to use old, rusty bikes as yard art.  After a week of hemming and hawing I finally decided I had to have this trike.  It ain't a bad buy for $20 bucks!

Little did I know but it seems someone else has fallen in love with it too.  

I have begged Daddy to let me restore it for LB's use but he insists that it's "way cooler" as yard art.  So, behind Daddy's back, I am secretly hoping to find another one in my budget that is fully functioning.  

this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
via. soulemama

this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.  

via. soulemama