This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

My sister is almost home!!! One more sleep until we see her!

Tonight, Ben and I are going dancing! My friend Hope Leigh is part of the Dance Free Movement, and I can’t wait to join in the Dancing Man Party!

Not that we really need coat wear in Southern California, but I think this would be a fun one to make.

Love this outfit.

Everlane makes the best basic tees. My favorites are their box cut tees and their cotton U-necks (great quality for under $20!). I’m wearing one here. If you try it, and like it, then spread the word to your friends and you can earn $25 credit to shop again.

This blockitechture set is cool. Another wooden block set I know my girls would love.

If you’re looking for a good candle scent, Capri Blue is by far my favorite! I’ve used it for almost 6 years now and it’s the only candle scent I ever burn.

Thankful for sweet children who put up with me and lavish me with grace and forgiveness. I know I’m totally not easy to live with.

Thankful for time to hang out with friends and seeing all our kids play together.

Even after said hang out with friends, I’m grateful for the quiet afterwards so this extroverted introvert can recharge a little.

While, I am running at full speed a lot of the time, and need to work at being more present, I’m thankful for being able to serve my family. Although the constant cooking, cleaning, refereeing, and laundry wear me out, it brings me joy to love this clan of mine. The days feel super tough now, but I know I will miss this later.

I’ve been behind in emails and responding back to comments (#storyofmylife), but I’m hoping to tackle that this weekend. I want you to know I’m thankful for the time you take to comment and I do read each one even though I’m slow to respond back. Happy weekend friends!

We just completed the whole Star Wars series and my girls are excitedly anticipating the next one coming out in December. They were sad when we finished the last movie, but happy to know the saga will continue. And they love Darth Vader because they said, “He becomes nice Anakin in the end.” They went from wanting to sport Queen Amadala’s hairstyles to now requesting Princess Leia’s buns. Glow’s favorite is Yoda, and she’s requesting a “Yoda birthday” at a hotel (we will see if that request changes between now and September). I love joking with the kids and trying to do Yoda-speak… “Such good girls you are.” Or “Much disobedience today there has been.” I’m not sure if that’s exactly the way he orders his parts of speech, but my imitation of it definitely gets them rolling on the floor in laughter.

So with their love for Star Wars, comes a lot of Stars Wars play. I’ve shared these blocks before, but the girls just get better and better at creating things with them. They have no Star Wars figures (yet), except a tiny Darth Vader keychain, but they’ve been creating their own with their Tegu blocks. They make all the characters with them! They also make dinosaurs, and use it alongside their pony toys, but lately, it’s been a lot of Star Wars. If you look closely in that last picture, you might even be able to spot their R-2-D-2! I think it looks pretty good and the little wheels let him roll around too!

I love wooden toys, but my girls are regular kids, so they have plenty of character ones too. They get spoiled plenty by the grandparents in the Disney department, everyone showers Brave with Spider-Man things, and My Little Pony is one we commonly get for them. Glow has lot of animal and dinosaur toys, and while I do love handmade and wooden toys (they’re still my favorite kind to give them), I grew up with lots of character plastic toys and turned out fine (and have plenty of good memories). I’m sure they will too. We do try to limit things though, and when they are given new ones, we move some of their other ones along.

When the kids were babies, we were pretty firm with our handmade and wooden toy rule, but we’ve had to adjust and grow as they have gotten older. So as the kids have grown, the toys in our home have changed too. I still love our wooden toys, and I think those still get played with the most, but they mix them with their character toys too! I’m sure in the near future, Star Wars things will be added into the mix. The biggest thing to me though is to limit the amount of toys because they really don’t need much. We try to move things along often, and when they don’t clean, the toys I pick up go into a “prize box.” Then, when they do something that warrants a prize (we don’t use food as a reward), instead of going to the store to buy a new toy, they pick one from the “prize box.” And it’s fair game in there; if something of True’s got taken away, Soul can pick that out and claim it as hers.

p.s. my sister-in-law bought the girls this Tegu block set for Christmas, but we saw how much play they get out of them, so we ordered a couple of these too.

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

Still love looking at these Elvis pictures of my girls (and Ben). It puts a smile on my face.

Chocolate waffle ice cream?!! Um… yes!!!

I think I want to make one of these today.

I ordered this is XXL and I’m hoping it fits. I also got Brave the XS because she likes to be twins with me (it’s 30% off right now). LOL

The thrift stores have been so kind lately, and I’ve been finding lots of good things.

This scarab ring from Jean Jean Vintage is so interesting. I also love her new logo!

These striped boots would be cute for gardening! The older three have outgrown theirs, so time to find new garden boots.

Our Tegu blocks are the toys that get played with the most in our house!

Ms. Tips has 20% going on until tomorrow!

Something my heart has been pondering a lot on is that God already accepts me because He accepted Jesus in my place. My disbelief leads me to think I still need to do something, but I don’t, Jesus already did it.

I had a big put my foot in my mouth moment this week. Out of nervousness, I said something that was incorrect, but panicked after I gave that answer. It’s blog business related, but the business part of blogging doesn’t come natural to me. I love all the creative aspects of blogging and having a place to share my heart. I’m thankful for all the opportunities that have come from it, but I’m more creative than business minded, so sometimes my lack of confidence in the business part comes through. Ugh! And emails… oh gosh, I’m always behind! Blogs as a business is still a strange idea to me. I see my space as a place to just share things I love and what’s on my heart, so it’s such a fine line I think, but certain opportunities do come because of it. I didn’t start off blogging thinking this will be my brand and my business, but I feel blessed that certain things fell into my lap. I’m sure it’s weird to see some of your favorite blogs turn into full fledge businesses (and maybe you’re cool with it, maybe you’re not), but I think it’s easy for bloggers (everyone really) to lose perspective sometimes and things have gotten a little muddled I think. Anyway, you guys are a big reason why I get the opportunities I do, and I’m so thankful for that. Well, that little rant wasn’t something I planned. There I go word vomiting again.

I will be heading to North Carolina this week, and will have one free evening in downtown Charlotte to wander around, so if you have any recommendations, do share.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and my only requests were food related… I want to eat egg roll cookies, ube and queso rico (cheese) ice cream, and sushi. I do want to take a trip to the flea market, but that won’t happen until next weekend.

Happy weekend everyone!

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

I guess I have been feeling off this week, or so Ben tells me. I apparently have been crankier towards him than normal. I think I’m feeling kind on anxious for True and the standardized testing she has to do next week. I’m not a fan because I don’t feel they really measure what kids know and don’t like the pressure to teach to the test. Thankfully, we don’t have to do that, but I would still like to make sure she is equipped to go through it.

I love this black straw hat and admiring these shoes.

I told Ben this would be a cool garden cage to make.

This looks like a fun project to do with the girls!

Our contractor finished our bathrooms, but now the fun really starts with decorating. I do still have to figure out the light fixture for one still, but all the hard stuff is done. Whew!

It’s May and that means my baby sister comes home in 23 days!!! I’m so excited!!! I miss her so much!!! Thankfully, she’s had access to wi-fi the last few months, so we’ve been texting all the time, but it’s still not the same. I can’t wait to plan sister hang outs again! My sister did text me about some news of another squad that’s on the world race that has had to go through some difficult circumstances. During their fifth month, and in India, a group of them were in a car with some locals that flipped. They were all injured, but one girl ended up severing her spine and was told she would no longer be able to walk. I read this post that one of the squad leaders wrote and I just weeped. I weeped for the pain they are experiencing, the joy God is giving them, and how it rebuked my self-centered and doubting heart. Dusty wrote this, “He knew what He was doing when he assembled and called us together though. God never says, “Oops.” His plans are perfect, and His ways are so much higher than any of our ways. I don’t understand it, and probably never will till I see Heaven one day, but that’s ok. That’s why we follow Jesus and have hope in a better tomorrow. This faith wasn’t built on the seen and tangible, but rather on the unseen and hoped for.”

I also read this post, “God is Greater Than Google,” and what another rebuke to my heart! I need to be slower to my phone and quicker to my knees!

I’m so thankful for friends. We all need people in our lives! I’m thankful for old friends and for new ones. I’m so glad I don’t have to navigate this tragic and beautiful world alone.

Happy weekend friends! Thank you for the time you check in here!

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

I went to IKEA and came home with other things that weren’t on my list. Oye!

Chocolate and peanut butter cake?! Um… YES!!!

Anyone know the type of plant in this pin (the one with pink flowers)?

How adorable is this shoe for a little girl!

Read this interesting article about how Americans now spend more money eating out than on groceries. We typically spend less than $100 a month dining out (that’s what we set for our monthly family budget), so that’s definitely not us.

Checked out The Secrets of the Notebook from the library and I was so intrigued with this woman’s family history.

NBA playoffs start today for the San Antonio Spurs… oh man, it’s that time of year again! #gospursgo

Thankful to get some rest once this past week from cooking dinner. We went over to my mom and dad’s and they spoiled us with lots of delicious food.

I love my daughters so much. Yes, they drive me nuts, but mostly it’s cause I let my own self-centeredness get in the way of loving and teaching them as I ought. God uses these little four blessings to refine me and remind me that I am a finite creature. They teach me to cling to Christ.

This week has felt like one jumbled mess! Between getting our bathrooms remodeled (everything downstairs feels gritty), the joys and chaos of mothering, lots of homeschooling lessons, Ben working lots of late nights, and the added stress of getting True ready for her first round of standardized state testing has put me on edge. Especially that bit about state testing.

One thing I love about homeschooling is that we don’t really have to teach to the test, but at the same time, I want to make sure she’s equipped to navigate it. I’m sure the reading and writing will be a cake walk for her, but math isn’t her strength. Also, I’ve seen the Common Core way of asking questions, and it’s pretty sneaky (sometimes I’m not even sure what they’re asking). We’ve been spending extra time doing math activities and worksheets in preparation for it. In regards to all the other school stuff though, we are almost done for the year. Hurray!

Tuesday was a particularly rough day (f-bombs included), by the end of it, I was no longer talking to the children, just yelling. Is this the story of my life or what?! I shared a little about it here too. I could feel a lot of anger and crankiness in my heart, so I started texting some friends (and my own mom) to pray for me. They lovingly pointed me back to Jesus, and reminded me that my desire to control is exactly what put Jesus on the cross, and only through Him am I set free from my own desires. I needed to hear that truth. I was just exhausted, and it’s okay to be exhausted because it’s normal. It’s just that my heart needed that rebuke and reminder, and that’s why community is so important! We weren’t meant to navigate our lives alone; everyone needs their own village, and I’m thankful for the one we are part of.

Did you know I get scared to share these parts of me here? But it helps me think through things when I write it out, and while we all know we probably aren’t alone in feeling the things we go through, it’s nice to read someone else going through it too. It’s kind of validation that we are all in this together.

Blogs started off as this grand community of sharing and has grown into a full on business for a lot of people, and now it’s mostly about consuming. I’m personally very thankful for the opportunities that have come from it, but now these once personal (and encouraging) spaces can feel a bit too commercial. I’m not saying it’s wrong to take part in sponsored posts and work with brands (I do it!), but blogging is just a different game now. Despite how its evolved, I still love that this is a place where I can share what I’m learning in this stage of my life, ultimately, this space is still very much me! And honestly, I’ve said this before, and I hope I don’t sound like a broken record, but I’m very thankful for all of you who do take the time to read here (or on instagram). The tidbits and encouragement you do share really mean a great deal. Sometimes after I hit publish on a post like this, I worry if I said too much. Then I remember, it’s not good being a people pleaser, and there’s no harm in thoughtfully saying what’s in my heart. It really is my hope and prayer that the stories I share here stir your heart towards grace (and that you’d learn from my mistakes!).