Joyfully Weary

A few worthwhile things I've stumbled upon while wandering the internets. It drives me crazy when people say "God only gives us what we can handle", He frequently gives us more - we are suppose to need Him and His people. However, this meme still made me chuckle and will probably be my response to that phrase from now on.  Stunning pictures of four sisters over thirty-six years.  Another link about pictures - a photographer convinces strangers to pose in affectionate poses together with some fascinating results.  I've put myself on a spending freeze (besides Christmas presents) until the New Year, but that doesn't stop me from browsing and I am currently a bit obsessed with this chic, yet comfortable-looking  dress . When not on a spending freeze, one of my favorite online boutiques is  Ever+Mi.Crush , and they are having a storewide 50% off sale through Friday, November 1st. Tons of great deals! Here are three of my favorites...

I've been mentioned a couple times before that we all had the privilege of being a part of Jeremy's littlest sister Emily's wedding ceremony: Jeremy sang, I was a bridesmaid, the boys were ring-bearers, and Little Lady was one of the flower girls. Leading up to the big day I was a little nervous. Since I had my own duties/role I wouldn't be able to make sure the kids were all doing what they were suppose to. Luckily, the kids did amazing and  Jeremy's family were all a huge help - Uncle Colby came to the rescue as usual. Dan and Emily, who are probably the most other-focused couple we know, where also extremely laid back. While the day was beautiful (and important to them) they are/were both wise enough to know that it's the marriage that matters most not the wedding - this made the event fun and relaxing for everyone. Here's some photos from the big day. our immediate family on jeremy's side: us, his parents, his three sisters, their sp...

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that one of my children's favorite things to do is create collages. Most of the time it's very open-ended. They always have access to cardboard scraps, glue, and a box full of junk  treasures. Sometimes, however, I like to give them specific tasks. A couple weeks ago I had them make Autumn tree collages.  Our Supplies: cardboard, brown/black pipe cleaners, leaf colored felt squares, cotton balls, green rice (this was left over from a sensory bin), white glue, & blue crayons. *optional: hot glue Step 1: use blue crayon to color a sky at the top of your cardboard. Step 2: if desired glue cotton balls (for clouds) onto your sky. Step 3: spread glue onto the bottom of your cardboard and cover with green rice.  Step 4: twist and bend pipe cleaners into a tree shape. We folded and then twisted 2-3 pipe cleaners together for the trunk and then separated the ends to create branches.  we mixed in s...

This sweatshirt was a happy surprise from my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. We had all admired the $200 one   Cupcakes and Cashmere wore a couple months back, but since our budgets couldn't quite afford that one, they DIY'd one for me by adding a ruffle to a shirt from F21. top: gift/diy ( similar $77), pants: h&m ( similar ), shoes: diy ( similar ) cardigan: target, dress: hand-me-down, necklace: diy, boots: target ( similar )  I picked this coat up at a new-to-me local thrift store back in August. I was ecstatic when they told me it's price was just $8.  Then about a month ago, I found Little Lady a houndstooth coat at a children's resale event. Now we can match and it brings be a shameful ridiculous amount of delight.  The earrings are from an old friend's shop in Wicker Park. The top portion is a bullet casing - which I think is tons fun - and the lower is mixed metals, which has solidified them as my new favorites....

So this is the first Small Graces I'm doing for October which I find funny because it's been a really amazing month.  We kicked off the month by celebrating the union of Emily (Jeremy's youngest sister) and Dan. It was a fantastic event/weekend; hopefully, I'll get around to sharing some more photos of the festivities soon.  words cannot expressed how blessed/proud i am to member of this family. photo c/o tonya lindsey Another big event that that happened this month was a reunion with my best girlfriends from middle school. We had a fabulous time catching up - you can read a little bit more about it here.  

I've mentioned before that our family goes through a ton of orange juice, so I'm always looking for ways to do something with all the old cartons . In the sprit of Autumn and Halloween, we turned a few into lanterns this week.  Our Supplies: empty oj cartons, black spray paint, flameless tea lights, x-acto knife, scissors, tape, black construction paper, and a hole puncher (optional: tissue paper, color tint overlays, stencils, push pins, foam board, & pipe cleaners)  Step 1: Use the x-acto knife to cut up the orange juice carton. We discarded the middle of the carton and cut the top portion to be approximately 7'' tall and the bottom portion to be approximately 1" tall. Then use the x-acto to cut windows into the top portion of the carton, ours are roughly 3" x 3".  Step 2: spray paint cut-up orange juice carton Step 3: cut "panes" slightly larger than "window" openings.  Step 4: decorate panes....

Little Lady -  This girl has been keeping us on our toes. She's either 100% sweet or 100% sassy and how quickly she can flip the switch is amazing! cardigan: thrift, dress & shoes : target, leggings: old navy Mini Man -  Mini Man's capacity for people constantly amazes me. He makes a great middle child because he always wants to play with someone and for the most part he doesn't care what he's doing; he'll play baby dolls with Little Lady one minute and ninjas with Big Buddy the next. I love that he's so flexible but sometimes it makes it easy to miss what captures (besides people) his heart. Just this last week or so I noticed that he frequently plays with cars at Maca's and friends' houses. We don't have a ton of car stuff and what we do have we don't get out much because Big Buddy never showed much interest in it. This week, however, I've made it a point to play cars with him a bit and I have also left out a ra...

This past weekend was beyond amazing; I got the chance to reconnect with a great group of ladies. From late elementary school through middle school I had a very tight group of girl friends. We were far from popular but we had each other and we were smart, creative, funny and supportive, and that was more than enough. photo via amanda anderson photo via amanda anderson Then in eighth grade, I moved to a new school. A year later another girl from the group moved out of state. We made efforts to keep in touch and had a couple, all-group get together's, but slowly we drifted apart. From my side of things, they were a bright spot for me during those early years - and in many ways a saving grace - while a lot of the rest of my life was chaotic, messy, and unhealthy. I ended up going to three different high schools and, in an effort to find myself and some solid footing, I tried burying parts of my past...I wanted to become someone different. When I finally came aroun...

This skirt is actually a dress, a bridesmaid's dress in fact. It's the dress Jeremy's little sister chose for her wedding a couple weeks back. I love that she went more of an untraditional route and that the clothes and accessories everyone in the party wore (except for her) are pieces that can easily be restyled and worn again.  scarf: florence, sweater: target, dress: victoria secret     I found sweater at Goodwill. I was drawn to the pattern but it was it's softness that sold me. sweater: thrift, skirt: gap, shoes: dsw Want more? Check out these link parties to see lots of other ladies having fun with their clothes:  Watch What I'm Wearing ,   Monday Mingle ,  Style Sessions,    What We Wore ,  and  What I Wore Wednesday .  

First, here are a few old seasonal photos that I hang around our house every fall. This sweet day is still so fresh in my memory that it seems like it could have been just yesterday, but somehow Big Buddy is already six and I've had two more sweet babies wear and outgrow that silly scarecrow costume...the years go by too fast.  And here's a few worthwhile things I've stumbled upon while wandering the internets. This father's creative pictures of his daughters are tons of fun.  Jeremy and I have spent a lot of time this past year talking about what church should be, what body of people we want to commit ourselves too, etc.  This article  has some great thoughts on the subject.  Several of these coming out stories brought me tears. I want to honor the LORD  but   and I want to show the people I care for how deeply they are loved.  Newspaper lace - gorgeous! (via Design Sponge ) If, like me, you are always on t...

Several months ago we were lucky enough to stumble upon a free piano on Craigslist; I was posting some of our no longer needed things and couldn't resist checking the free ads. The family who was giving it away were moving, had five kids, and were excited to hear that little fingers would be playing it again.  When Jeremy  (and the students he talked into helping him - perks of being a professor)  carried it into our home I was actually pretty happy to see that the finish had bits of wear and tear - though it plays beautifully. I had seen (and drooled) over several painted pianos on the internets and thought that when we got one it would be fun to paint it. Our home has original wood trim and floors  (which Jeremy would never allow me paint)  so bringing in new wood pieces can be tricky and tends to make our rooms feel smaller.  five kids - it was pretty beat up The painting itself turned out to be a bigger task than I thought - it t...