Coffee anyone?

Good morning friends. Today is going to be a good day. You know those days you just wake up and feel refreshed. Today is that day for me.

If we were to have coffee today, I would tell you that it's not that I got a ton of sleep. I didn't. I have two toddlers who come in my bed. A good nights sleep is not in the books for me. Not right now.

It's more of a weight lifted off my shoulders. I have been so stressed lately. I have been a big procrastinator. And it took it's toll this week.

Somehow it slipped my mind that I changed my business name and I needed to update my business to reflect the new name. I'm a genius right? So on Monday, I ordered business cards. I have a show this Saturday. What on earth was I thinking. No way they would get here on time right? Wrong. A friend recommended JPGPrinting.com , I ordered my cards on Monday afternoon and they got here yesterday. I was thrilled. They are beautiful. Do you have a business? Use them. Seriously. They were awesome.

Then I needed a new sign. So I put hubby and our good friend on that project. I died when they brought in the finished product. These guys are skilled. After I showed you this picture...

..I would let you in on a little secret that said friend and his beautiful wife are starting a handmade biz of their own. One that we have been pushing them to start for a while now. I would make sure not to spill any of the details on their product line though. I'll let them spill the beans on the awesomeness.

But that is a enough business talk. We are here to relax right? To just chit-chat.

I would tell you how utterly excited I am about where we stand in foster care. Our paperwork has been handed over to our adoption worker. We are expecting a call this week or early next week to schedule our home study. After that it is really only a matter of time. I can't handle my anxiousness at times. I have baby fever badly and a little one is so close to being in our home.

I would tell you how much fun I have been having with our kiddos at home. They are both at such fun ages. Talon is starting to talk to me in sentences paragraphs. The child is so ahead of the game. He cracks me up. Rhiannon is growing up so fast. It makes me a little sad but at the same time I am so proud of the girl she is becoming. She is so sweet. Her heart is so huge. And she loves learning about Jesus. It warms my heart.

I could brag and chat about my kids all afternoon though. So let's stop here so that you can tell me what's going on with you.

Remember, there are threaded comments, feel free to respond to eachother. Make it a girls day at coffee today.

Little Dancer

:::::WARNING. WARNING. CUTENESS OVERLOAD::::

Rhiannon had her first dance recital. I about died. The girl had me in tears at both the recital and the rehearsal.

First up, Friday night. She had her dress rehearsal. From the time her make-up was on I was a mess. The girl is beautiful and growing up and I kind of hate it. We get there and I have to leave her up front. By herself...well with her class and a teacher. But without me, her momma. I got to sit in on the rehearsal, I could see everything she was doing up there. She didn't need me guys! She sat up there the whole time. She didn't come to me at all. She didn't try to find me or come running when she saw me. She was self-reliant. She ate her dinner and snacks, played with the toys I left her and was ridiculously well behaved. I was proud. 

Next night, recital. I cannot even tell you how cute she was. How her beauty brought me to tears. How her dancing for Jesus, knowing she was bringing joy to His heart, overwhelmed me. I cannot express the happiness this child brought me. I can show you though. Pardon the photo overload. Oh and enjoy the cutest video you ever did see.

 

 

 

4th of July Photo Dump

At the beginning of last week, my fear of how my kids would act for fourth of July started to build. As a kid I was terrified of fireworks. I didn't mind seeing them...from a distance but the noise scared me to death.

Luckily that trait is not genetic. 4th of July came and went, a while ago I know, and the kids did great. We had an amazing time with friends and family celebrating the freedom we are so blessed to have.

This was by far the funnest (is that a word?) 4th of July we have had to date. The kids could use a little bit of fear of the fireworks but all in all it was an amazing day.

Happily Ever After

Today marks six years of being married to my hubby. Six years of bliss... Don't we all wish that statement was true? That we had a princess fairytale happily ever after, rainbows and unicorns, perfect life after our I dos?

Truth is, marriage is work. Just like any relationship. We have to work at it and work hard. Most days, things are wonderful. Some days are okay. And some days I want to ignore every last one of his phone calls. Oh yeah, things just got real. Some days, things are not easy.

Wow, what a great anniversary post Kristen, tell us all your marital problems. Just give me a second. I'm going somewhere with this.

 

My husband and I have a great marriage. Like for reals, we are cheesy and cute and all things annoying to most single people. We are happy. We are in love.

My husband and I disagree. We sometimes argue. On occasion there is a slammed door and a "just don't talk to me right now".

The last two statements seem like they came from different people, I know. Here's the thing, we grow up watching Disney movies that portray this magical marriage. We meet our prince and ride off in carriage to live happily ever after.

 

And that's just not how it works. We each have our own opinions. We have our own personalities. Our own strengths and our own weakness. If we were made exactly like our husbands, we wouldn't need them and vice versa.

I look at my husband and at myself and seriously, God could not have designed a better man than Steven for me. Everywhere that I fall short, sure enough that man strives. As annoying as that can be, it really works out to an advantage in our marriage.

 I like to plan, Steven likes spontanaity. I am a worrier and Steven is more carefree. He likes to be early, I run late. We balance eachother out in so many ways.

But we are similar in all the areas that matter. I like to be spoiled and he likes to spoil. Ha. I'm kind of kidding. Joking aside, we are passionate about the same things. We love our kids more than life. We strive to live according to God's plan. We work well together.

What I am saying is this, there's a reason the movies stop as the princess rides off into the sunset. What follows, is not always pretty. But what the film makers don't realize is that in all of that messiness of marriage, something so much more beautiful is born.

Coming together changes you. Usually...at least for us, for the better. Our weakness are altered by the strengths of our spouse. Where we fall short, they pick up the slack. Our love matures. It turns into a love that you don't see in a googley eyed Cinderella.

There is so much more behind it. There is a romance that isn't shown in rose petals and crowns. Marriage is tough but people, our spouses are worth it.

Sole Hope

This past Saturday, I was privileged enough to be a part of something huge. A work that was placed in the hearts of two of my friends. An organization that shines the love of Christ.

Sole Hope is an organization who says "putting closed toed shoes on African children, one pair at a time" is what they do. Being a part of even one event, showed me that they do so much more than that.

They love. They reach out. They share the truth of the Love God has for us. They allow us to be a part of it.



I wish I could share with you all that they do. What this organization is about, instead I want to ask you to head over to their site. Look around.

The men cutting the hard backing foe heels.

I would love to direct you to the tab titled Get Involved. Consider hosting a shoe cutting party. Or if you can't do that and are local, come to mine... I am not sure when but Steven and I will be hosting one soon. We would love if you could come and give your time and hearts for these children.

Nat showing us what to do.

The shoe cutting party I attended was hosted by my sweet friend Natalie and her husband Micah. This couple can throw a shindig. The beauty of the event was amazing but came nothing close to showing the beauty in their hearts or the passion they have for this cause.

Donated Denim and fabric for shoes.

 God did amazing things at that party. He blessed all of us in the process. HE was there. HE was moving and HE provided.

Tracing and cutting shoe patterns

If you want to hear all about the plans He had and what He did through our willing hands, head over here and read about it.

Donations for a raffle with proceeds going to Sole Hope.

I hope you will all take a look at Sole Hope and see how you can be used.

On a less serious note, how about a photo outtake?






That would be Micah, photo-bombing my picture of the donation table.

Little Princess

My girl is growing up. It becomes more and more evident every day. It makes me sad. But at the same time it is so much fun. She is so much fun.

My mom requested a grandma day at Disneyland with her this week. A day with the works, Hair and make-up at Disney 365, face painting, parades with ice cream and seeing all of the princess'. I allowed it on one condition, I got to be there during her makeover at Disney 365.

 

She was so shy when we got to the place to get her hair done but the staff was amazing with her. After holding my hand for a bit she was completely happy, in her element getting all made-over.

I could have done without the make-up. Her hair was adorable but then the purple eyeshadow came ahh. When we went in the dressing room to put her in her princess gown, I secretly removed half of the make-up. She is still a baby. It was too much. My mom later told me she did too, haha.

She had such a great day. She came home and told me that all the Princess' loved her. So sweet. Such a great memory.

Sitting there watching was adorable but so hard at the same time. She is getting so big. She is not a baby anymore.

One second you are bringing this baby home from the hospital. Months of preparation go into picking the perfect coming home outfit. You bundle up this precious gift you have prayed over for so long. Long before this day.

The next thing you know, she is sitting before you, her little heart desiring to be a beautiful princess. And oh, how beautiful she is. This is scary. So scary how pretty she is. I dread her teenage years. Phone calls from boys, first dates. Please keep those away for as long as possible. Thanks.

When she was all dolled up, she twirled and glowed. She wanted everyone to see how wonderful she was.

I want that feeling to never leave her. For her to always know how beautiful she is. Not just with the makeup, not only when she is dressed up but in her jeans and a t-shirt. Not only when she is a 3 year old at Disneyland but when she is my age. To know that she is beautiful and loved. That she will always be a princess because her Heavenly Father is the King of Kings.

I hope she never loses sight of what matters most. The beauty on the inside and her relationship with her savior.

But for now, I will enjoy this moment. While she spins and twirls and wants nothing more than to be like a princess.

Not to forget my boy, who was bored to death with this whole princess ordeal, I want to leave you with his "Please tell me it's almost over" picture...

Coffee Date

Hi friends.
If we were to go on a coffee date today, you would see me chug a coffee in 2 seconds flat and then order a second. I'd ask you not to judge and tell you it has just been a long week.

 {source}

Once that was taken care of I would tell you that today we are sending out all of our foster care paper work. For reals this time.

I would tell you how we had some hang ups with our doctors office and the DMV. I may even tell you that at times, I thought this just wasn't going to happen. That I thought maybe I had heard God wrong. Maybe it was a mistake, that we weren't called to this.

After that was off my chest, I would tell you how God gave me a peace about this. How He brought me to the realization that those hang ups weren't to cause stress but were needed. That maybe, just maybe, the child that is supposed to be in our home just wasn't ready yet.

I would tell you how I have a peace knowing that God is orchestrating a perfect plan. He is making a path for us to follow. It may have ups and downs but it is all part of the journey that we are on.

Next topic of conversation would probably be our homeschool plan. I would tell you about how I finished up Rhiannon's calendar and have even started adding in some field trips. How I am starting to stress out a little. That I'm not sure that I am cut out for this and am a little afraid of messing her all up. How I am freaking out a little about school hours with me being a part time working mom. How I don't know what I am going to do. I may wig out a little. Just tell me it will be okay. I can pull it together rather quickly.

After I was so selfish to talk about myself for so long, I would apologize and ask what has been going on with you. I'd love to hear what is happening on your end. Please, share.

The blog now has a reply button to all comments, feel free to discuss with eachother. We are all friends here. :)

Alsooooo.... I'm linking up with my friend Alissa for a Coffee Date Linky and think you all should to. Go!  And let me know if you do so I know to look for your post :)