childlike faith

Seth has been having issues recently with bad dreams and thought (mainly of monsters).  Literally they have been tormenting his thoughts.  While on a walk last week, he looked up at me from the stroller and said, "Mama I can't stop thinking about monsters.  They won't go away."  So I stopped and we prayed for protection from the bad thoughts.  And we talked about how important it is to be careful about the things we put in front of our eyes and ears. Then we kept walking and a few minutes later, almost on the brink of tears, he says, "Mama the monsters are still there!"  So we stopped again.  I prayed silently, not knowing what to do, but knowing that Seth is God's child, and that the spirit of fear has no place in him or our family.  Then I asked Seth, "Seth, do you want to ask Jesus into your head?  Invite Him in and He will come and He will fight the monsters for you."  He eagerly said yes and prayed with me.  A few more minutes went by on our walk and he yells out joyfully, "The monsters are gone!!!" :)  Since that day, Seth has not had another bad dream or thought of monsters like he did before.  AND every few days he wakes up and tells me about a dream he has had about Jesus.  Last night's dream was about Jesus being on the TV, telling Seth to "open the door."  Our God is so faithful to hear us, protect us (even from monsters!), and guide us at ANY AGE.

darling shoes

I found a great new clothing and shoe line for little girls called Zara.  Look at these shoes I just got her:

Adorable, right?!  I love them!  On Sunday, I dressed her all up so she could wear her new shoes.  Yellow dress, white sweater, brown sandals ...

Apparently the memo got out, because Olivia's little friend, Selah, was wearing the exact same combo!

project: doorway puppet stage

I had come across this idea on Pinterest I don't know how long ago.  I thought it was rather clever, and finally gave it a try.  Using a tension rod and some scrap fabric, I made the kids a little puppet stage/playhouse:

I made it to look like a house, complete with a roof, chimney, blue sky, tree and flower garden.  I'm really rather proud of it, especially since I did it all in one evening, and it only cost me $3.59 for the tension rod (which Google Shopping Express dropped off for me that day!).  

I was so excited to show it to the kids the next day.  Olivia cried when I put it up in her doorway and Seth thought it was cool to run through.  Not the reactions I was hoping for.  Oh well.  Maybe I'll bring it out again in another year when they can find something cool to use it for. :)

project: monogram flower wreath

I have been trying to clear out my craft closet lately and came across a few leftover fake flowers and butterflies from the kids birthday party last year.  I decided to make a little monogram wreath to hang on Olivia's bedroom door:

I love how it turned out and so does Olivia. She still points to it every time she goes in her room.  I purchased a paper mache letter "O" and hot-glued the flower blooms and butterflies right on top.  Super simple, and super cute.  Once I made it, Seth asked if I could make one for him.  :)  

a little bit of this and a little bit of that

A few random topics happening in our household: 

1) We had a couple of moms and their kids from church come over today for a play date.  Seth has become really good friends with one little girl, Mikaela, who's a year older than him.  They adore each other and get a long really well.  Today, they were playing in Seth's room when I heard Seth yelling and crying.  I got up and went to go see what was going on.  In between the tears he says, "I don't want to be married!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  Hahahahahahahaha!  I asked Mikaela if they were pretending that they were married and she said yes.  Obviously this little boy is not ready for that type of commitment.  It gave me a chuckle.

2)  Speaking of Seth, he is OBSESSED with puzzles right now.  It started a little over a month ago, and we've been progressively buying him more and more puzzles.  He's at the point now where he's doing 60-piece puzzles in under 10 minutes.  I think we need to get him some more challenging ones.  My smart boy!

3)  Bedtime is not the favorite time of day with our children (as I'm sure is the case in many households).  Brushing teeth is especially not their favorite time ... because they want to brush their teeth themselves.  Usually I'm glad to hand off responsibilities to them as they become more independent, but they don't technically brush their teeth.  They just suck off the flouride-free toothpaste from their toothbrushes and call it a day.  In an effort to brush their teeth more effectively, we've found that them laying on the ground while I brush makes it much more fun (Why?!?!?!?! I have no idea.).  Here's me trying to do both at the same time.  It's much like trying to tap your head with one hand and rub your belly with the other ... it takes a lot of coordination.

4)  I leave you with a picture of my little lady and I.  Have a wonderful day!

little girl's first haircut!

Little Miss Olivia got her first trim today!  We took Seth in to get his hair cut and hers was looking rather scraggly as well, so we had her ends trimmed a little.  I didn't realize how much of a control freak I was until the lady was trying to give her bangs and a bowl cut.  Bangs might have looked cute, but I was not ready to commit to them yet before seeing more of her hair grow in.  So I asked her to just trim the back so it's all straight.  It was barely anything, but I can tell!  Olivia started freaking out when I put her in the seat, but then they gave her a sucker and she did fine after that.  Our little girl is growing up so fast!