Glitters of Grace {part 2}



A while ago I wrote a post called Sparkles of Grace and today on my walk it came back to me. I have been having some rough days with the girls. I love them like crazy, but honestly they are screaming at each other (and me) all day long! Not only that, but they are not listening to anything I say, which leads me to yell all day! I know its not what I'm supposed to do, but it is what I do do. And when I do this, the girls feel like I dont like them! Its been an awful cycle. So I went for a walk to think and let go of some of the stress. While I was walking, I thought about those glitters of grace, those small bits of love that you toss high in the air to land anywhere and everywhere. I have been holding onto my glitter, not giving easily and certainly not tossing it! So I think that maybe its not my kids that need to change, but me! I need to tell them I love them out loud so they hear it, tell them the good they do, not just the bad, to hug them and read to them and push them on the swing. Simple signs of love that convey so much. I can do that! Maybe those bits of love that I liberally toss out there will stick to them and really make them feel loved. And maybe that love will help them toss some of their own glitter! :)

Fabulous Friends!

There is nothing better then time spent with good friends! Today we were blessed with a day spent with just such friends! The kids played outside in the sunshine (ok in the clouds) and I got to sit with my dear friend and chit chat all day! It just doest get better! It was simple fun that is refreshing to everyone! No one wanted to leave and I am realizing how important good friends are to everyone. I get time to sit and talk peacefully (ok mostly peacefully) and the kids get time live in new world created with friends! New idea and thoughts that are shared and bless everyone. As a homeschooler, the subject of  socialization comes up here and there. Many times we talk about the kids who are not given time to be with their peers, but what about the moms? How many of us moms don't take the time to socialize together? Sure our kids need friends, but we do too. Taking our kids to a class or to some other activity outside the home is a great way to meet people and to socialize, but we forget that taking the time to sit with friends can be so much more effective sometimes! Not only do the moms get time together , but the kids also get a chance to work together, to solve problems, and even work out difficulties! Sometimes we forget that playtime with friends is simple and yet so effective! So here's to playtime and great friends!!!!!!

The kids were making their own Lilypads! Aren't they cute?!

I hope that you all find time to have some fun with friends too! Happy Spring!

Beautiful Butterflies!

Today I headed out to our backyard, and as I looked up into our blooming crab apple trees, I saw the most amazing thing, 20 -30 butterflies! They were everywhere and so pretty! I believe that they were Red Admiral Butterflies! It was so cool to see them fly off in bunches when the wind blew! I was excited and I called the girls out with their nets and bug boxes! We were able to catch a few of them and it was so fun to see them up close and really look at their colors! I have never seen that many butterflies in one place in the wild. I must admit that I was more excited then the girls. I think that it was a special little gift for me from God! It amazes me that there is such beauty in simplicity! Who knew my own backyard can have such amazing wonders! I must say that seeing such amazing gifts all around me give me such a deep gratitude for all that God has blessed me with! It is always the little moments that seem to mean the most! What do you think? Is God's love seen best in the little, simple moment?



I hope you are all having a wonderful weeked!



Happy Easter!!!!!

Wishing you all a very happy and blessed Easter! We have been blessed with so many beautiful blessings and best of all, love that never ends!

Happy Easter Everyone!!!!!!

Naturally Fun Parties for Kids~ A Book Reveiw!

Naturally Fun Parties for Kids

By: Anni Daulter with Heather Fontenot

A while ago I volunteered to review this party book, and I got it in the mail last week. I will tell you thin, I was not disappointed!!!!! This book has it all~ invitation ideas, decorations, recipes, time lines, and activities!!!!! There are 12 different parties, 3 for each season of the year. Each of them is different and unique, and each of them is earth friendly and beautiful!!!! When I first saw this book I fell in love with it! If I had gotten it from the library, I would have probably bought myself a copy! There were so many great ideas here and it was like holding a pintrest board in my hands! I know for sure that there are at least five different parties in this book that I think that I can realistically do easily this year! The ideas are simple, but the results were unbelievable! There are a ton of pictures in this book and they are really beautiful. I love how they use what they have on hand and show you how those elements can really work together to become a party that will impress any guest you invite! But enough talking, I will show you what I mean! I was having my sister in law over and I thought it would be an amazing opportunity to use some the ideas from this book to have an Easter egg party! The first party in this book is the Egg Dyeing Spring Party! It is a beautiful outside party with upcycled fabric banner, fabric wrapped glass bottles with flowers in them, Inspirational banner made with fabric and sticks, bread baked in flower pots, and of course egg dying (they include all the natural dye recipes). I thought I would pull out some the ideas and apply them to my house (it was too cold to be outside). The results were wonderful!!!! I think that it was really pretty! Here are some pictures for you to see and I will tell you what I got from the book!

Here is where our party took place!

I used a variety of vases I got from a thrift shop and added some pretty spring flowers and fabric strips to them! This was one of the decorating ideas from the book and I really liked how simple and pretty it was!

Here are the cups to hold our paint. The fabric I had was rainbow and I had the right color for each jar! :)

Here is my fabric banner. It was one of the main decorating ideas in this party and it was so easy and pretty! All I needed to do was cut the fabric into strips and tie it on to some string! Easy Peesy!

Here is my version of the inspirational signs. They used one piece of material and put the word on it. I did what was best for my space and they looked really cute!

Here are our wooden eggs and paint all ready to go. Because my sister in law live a ways away, I thought that painting wooden eggs instead of dying real ones would be better for transportation! It was a great project and the results were wonderful! The kids painted the eggs up right away and then they moved on to some painting on paper! When is painting never a fun thing to do?

Food for lunch was a simple picnic type affair. In the book, they had some wonderful looking recipes for bread baked in flower pot, egg quiches, and frozen lemon pops! With so many kids, I thought that finger foods would be a bunch of fun and easy!

Finally, here is eggs after they were done a dry! Aren't they cute? I think so, and as the kids all said these are eggs that cant break and wont rot! ;)

So my opinion is that this book is really great! Its perfect for any type of party you want ideas for or for any fun get together that you want to add something special to! We are going to have a blast with this book and hope that you check it out too! Let me know what you think!