Soul and Glow share a room and it’s filled with all their favorite things. They each have an antique French baby bed and we will probably be moving them to bigger beds soon. I’ll be so sad to have to put these baby beds away; True and Brave used them when they were little too. Their walls are decorated with lots of their art work, and the shelves and baskets are filled with plenty of their toys. It’s definitely a fun and playful room.

Sometimes I think there’s so much going on in this room and I need to simplify, but they love everything that it’s there. The bear rug gets sat on, so does the bean bag, the dollhouse pillow, and all the chairs. Glow always hoards stuffed animals on her bed; she calls them her “babies.” We added some hooks near Soul’s bed because she always wants to hang her bags nearby (she loves purses!).  And Glow requested her deer wear a headpiece. She kept bugging me until I made something for it, so wool felt flower crown it is!

A lot of the elements in the room are handmade or vintage, so I don’t really have many sources for the items as I found most at the flea market. The shelves on the wall are vintage crates and drawers, and the Rody Horses are from Tree House Kid & Craft. The deer head, hanging light, and colorful rug is from Uncommon Goods. The black and white rug is from IKEA ($20!). By the way, this rug had major trouble staying put on carpet, but this rug pad from Rug Pad Corner is the only thing that works and keeps it from moving. We have a big round one for the rug in the big girl’s room (see here) and it keeps it from bunching too. I hate when rugs bunch up on carpet, so I’m glad to finally have a solution. I used to constantly fix and pull their rugs to flatten them, but I no longer have to do it with this rug pad. There’s a certain texture on the bottom that grips the carpet, and a different texture on top to grip the rug. I think I shared the sources for most, if you have any other questions, ask away!

This is what the room looked like when we first moved in (our only kids were Brave and True), but it keeps on evolving as our kids grow.

Last Monday was a tough day and I just about had it with all things mothering, so I said, “I quit.” I wasn’t joking. I walked off the job. I went on strike. I declared that if they weren’t going to listen, then I was done, so I was done.

They would call, “Mommy! Mommy!”

“Um, don’t call me mommy. You can call me Ruby.”

That was my response. For real.

When Ben came home, and in exhaustion said, “I’m done.” I told him I’m going to work or he needs to stay home. I’m not opposed to flip flopping the current situation. The next day, my strike continued. I didn’t make breakfast, didn’t make lunch (thankfully the older girls do that already), we didn’t do school (I saw True trying to teach her sisters), and didn’t clean up one bit (oh you see a bit of the chaos above, and yes, I took pictures of the mess). I did get caught up on email though, so that’s one plus. HA! Ben came home and the house was upside down. I helped the girls with one thing, but that’s only because they started crying. *raising my hand* Totally failure of a mom right here.

Yep, my heart was so hard. My mom called and I told her how I quit, and she said, “Okay, come home now.” I talked to my MIL and I told her the situation, and I could hear her during Spanish lessons telling the girls they need to do a better job of listening to me. When Ben came home, he said, “So what do you want to do for real?”

Through the course of the day, I remember thinking that my heart isn’t being quick to repent and this is so scary. My sin had such a strong grip on me and it didn’t want to let go. In fact, it felt like my heart was holding on to this frustration, selfishness, pride, and rebellion a lot tighter and tighter as the day wore on.

I could tell Ben wanted to get mad at me and tell me to snap out of it, but he didn’t know how to. He wanted to be sensitive to my feelings, but also knew that I was being ridiculously selfish. I left Ben and the girls alone to eat dinner and I was chilling by myself. I knew that my heart couldn’t continue this way, nor do I really want it to. Sure, it felt good for a little while, but in the end, it will lead to destruction. I didn’t want to follow Anakin Skywalker’s path.

Eventually (and pretty much right before bed), I opened my Bible to read a little bit (with much hesitation, but I knew it was necessary). Then, I read this article, “When Your Life Feels Like a Waiting Room,” and boy did I need to read that. Throughout the day I could see my selfishness in wanting my way, pride in thinking I was deserving of things going my way, and rebellion in not wanting to do the job I have. After I sobered up, and was rebuked with God’s word, I was ready to repent. First to God, then Ben, and then the girls. I told them all about how I failed and asked them to forgive me. Of course, I got to use it as a teaching moment to remind them that we all fail, and that’s precisely why we need Jesus, me especially. I’m broken and only He can do the fixing. Not even Olivia Pope is good enough to fix me. Only Jesus. I lead the charge when it comes falling short as a mother. I admit, while I do adore my children, I have plenty bad and hard days. And while it does take me awhile to repent, I’m thankful that God’s word transforms my selfish heart and gives me a new one. #ineedgrace #andtheyneedgracetoo

This week’s learned, links, and thankfulness…

When I went to the Michaels Makers Summit a few months back, I ended up winning an HP Sprout and it finally came in the mail this week. Excited to learn how to use it, but man I’ve been stuck trying to figure out how to enlarge the touch keyboard and use the wireless keyboard. Oye! Anyone have any tips or tricks?

Completed two more weavings this week. One already went to a friend, and another needs to get mailed off. It’s so therapeutic and relaxing to weave at night in bed.

I want the girls to make some hand painted art like this. Maybe they can write a story about our family.

This unicorn birthday is darling. My girls would love that idea!

As my mom was preparing breakfast Thursday morning for my sister’s birthday, something exploded in their kitchen and she got hurt. She is okay, and it could have been worse, but she’s in a lot of pain (she has 18 stitches and her whole left forearm got burned). She has medication, but it makes her feel nauseous. Please pray for my mom’s healing.

This vintage little girl dress is perfect for fall! And I want to have another baby girl to get this dress; the pockets are just so adorable.

I love this simple rustic beach wind chime. It would look so pretty hanging on one of my walls.

This site Greaterskies is pretty cool because you can create personalized star chart based on a particular day. A print out of the constellations on the day you got married or the day your child was born would be sweet.

My daughters have been taking Spanish classes and I like how these simple animal memory cards are cute and colorful.

The girls and I want to tackle some of the Halloween crafting classes on CreativeBug.

Oh. Em. Gee. Did anyone watch this week’s Scandal?! I can’t wait to see what happens next. #teamjake

Happy weekending friends!

They go to school once a week (we homeschool, but they go to enrichment classes at a school), and they love that the three of them are together at school now. Soul is always looking forward to their “school days,” and they all coordinate their outfits the night before. It’s so cute! When they come home from school, I always ask, “So did you play with any new friends today?” And they all answer, “No, we played with each other.” Oh my girls! They are all anticipating the next school year because then Glow will be joining them. Then, I can watch my four school girls coordinating outfits the night before. Thankfully, there’s no fighting about clothes yet. I’m sure that day will come though.

The girls got some really cute geometric coordinating outfits (made their job the night before easy) from Schoola, so you bet they rocked this together at school. Schoola has partnered with Gymboree to raise funds for the Malala Fund by selling new-with-tags Gymboree items. Forty percent of the proceeds will go to The Malala Fund to supports girls’ education in the most vulnerable communities around the world. You can shop to help and you can also donate your own women’s and kid’s clothes to support the cause by requesting a free donation bag here.

on true: top and pants. on brave: jacket, top, and skirt. on soul: dress.

This post is sponsored by Schoola. Your donations to Schoola can help raise funds for your school; you can even track where your donations have gone, and see how much you’ve been able to give to your school. It’s such a great program. I’ve been blogging for over 8 years now, and I’m always thankful for your support of this space and the brands I partner with.

Ice Cream Cone Costume
perfectly sweet for any ice cream lover

Supplies:
2 rolls of tulle (2 for an adult, 1 for a child)
1 yard 3/4″ knit elastic
Scissors
Craft wooden sticks
Bar pins
Craft paint, various colors
Glue gun and glue stick
Hand sewing needle
Coordinating thread
Large brown paper (or grocery store brown paper bag)
Bobby pins (to keep cone on head)

Directions:
1. Measure the length you want your tutu, double that measurement, then add a couple more inches. This is the length you will want to cut out all your tutu pieces. For an adult tutu, I used almost 2 rolls, but if making for a child, 1 roll should be sufficient. Set aside about 4 feet of tulle for your headpiece.

2. Measure the waist with the elastic and then cut it about 5″ less than the waist measurement. This keeps it nice and snug on. Hand sew the short ends of the elastic together with with a straight stitch. Can also leave it the length of the waist, and then adjust after you have all your tulle pieces on.

3. Attach each piece of tulle on to the elastic using a slip knot. Fold the tulle strip in half, put the folded end under the elastic, pull the the other ends through it, and tighten around the elastic. Be sure to keep the elastic flat and not tighten it so much that it bunches up. Repeat until you have reached your desired fullness for your tutu.

4. Paint your craft sticks to resemble your favorite sprinkle colors. I only did one side, but you can do both if you’re feeling ambitious. Once that dries, glue pins to the back of each wooden stick.

5. On your brown paper,  create a circle with a 20″ diameter. If you’re using a grocery bag, you may need to make it smaller. Cut out your circle, then cut out 1/4 of the circle out. This gives a nice visual of the shape of the paper needed to make your cone. Roll your cone and glue the edge to keep the cone in place.

6. To creator the “fascinator” part of the cone, cut out two 24″ strips of tulle. Lay them on top of each, then tie the ends together with a small string or thread. Glue it inside the cone and adjust how you’d like it to spread out on the head.

7. Pin your cone in place with bobby pins. It’s best to pin where the tulle is and cut a tiny slit on the other side of the cone, and insert another bobby pin to affix that side to your head.

8. Pin on your sprinkles everywhere!

I wore a white dress with my tutu, otherwise a white top and white slip under the tutu would work too. Ya’ll know me, I love any excuse for ice cream!

This costume was inspired by this tutorial. A friend of mine asked if I could help her make it, and I excitedly said yes because… well, ice cream! The skirt they used is store bought, so I figured we could make our own using tulle. It’s really so easy to make a tutu. Their idea of using popsicle sticks as sprinkles is pretty genius, so there was really no need to change that. I did add some tulle to the cone because I thought the headpiece needed a little something more. I can’t wait to pass this costume over to my friend and see her in it!

This costume would definitely be adorable for little ones too! Maybe you can do black and white tulle to make cookies and cream ice cream and figure out a way to put Oreo looking chunks all over. Or do lots of different colors for the tulle and be a scoop of rainbow sherbet. There’s just so many costume ideas you could use this easy no-sew tutu for!

Supplies for this project were provided as part of the Michaels Makers Series.

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I thrifted this vintage skirt and was planning to give it to one of my younger sisters. After I washed it and tried it on, I decided I’m going to keep it. HA! Sorry sisters. Then, when this top popped up in the Calivintage shop, I was quick to make it mine. Actually, it was sitting there for a whole 15 minutes before I came cross it and claimed it, which totally surprised me because it’s such a cool top. I have a top similar to this that I got from Anthro a few years ago (worn here) and I wear it all the time, but it’s longer, and I was always wishing I could have a cropped version too. This one is just what I was wishing for.

My favorite shoe designer is Rachel Comey, and while her goods do cost a pretty penny (a lot of pennies really), I always check eBay to see if anything I’ve been eyeing comes up in my size. Recently, a pair of Dahl Mules were up for grabs, so I bid my max about an hour before the auction was supposed to end, and hoped no one else would outbid me. When I checked my email an hour later, I was happy to see I had won. No one else bid! Thus, I scored a brand new pair of Rachel Comeys for a way less than half of what it is going for. Not bad, eh?! I had some money left in my personal allowance budget, so I was able to splurge on something. Shoes (and antique rings) are my weakness.

what i’m wearing: top, calivintage (new here, vintage there). skirt, thrifted (new here, vintage there). shoes, rachel comey (get it here, or stalk eBay until something comes up, this one in a 6.5 is cute!). bag, thrifted (new here, vintage there).