Refreshed and Blessed

Hi there!  Hope your summer is going well.  Mine?  It's fantastic!!

Seriously! No sarcasm at all in that previous statement. 

I took a break from orders and just did family life the past 6 weeks, and I got some REST!  We've played, we've been lazy, we've created, we've pretended, we've grown, and we've had a lot of fun. 

We ended the school year with lots and lots of fun things like school plays and school parties.

Jude was the Baker from The Three Men in the Tub.  And because of his need for assistance in walking, he was the last person to go up to take a bow and the had to go solo.  This Momma got super choked up when the audience cheered and clapped loudly for my redhead!  Never a dull moment with him.

We got most of the family to come out and eat crawfish, listen to good music, and support the Central Community and Schools during Cooking in Central.  In fact, Central sent a large part of their proceeds back with two dignitaries from Moore, Oklahoma.

Then we started with the fun. The children have been in their swimsuits about every day.

And Lane and I decided to give Atkins a try since we both had a little "baby" weight we wanted to shed.  It was successful!! So I've been in my swimsuit just about everyday too! (I don't want any grief about dieting- you have to be comfortable in the skin you're in!) The plan was much easier than I thought it would be, and besides helping us shed a little weight, it has thrown us into a super healthy eating lifestyle.  We were such fast food junkies before.  Now we eat so much better and feel better too!

We have played in the sprinkler, the pool... we've gone to the library, the movies, and the aquarium!

We have given potty training somewhat of a lackadaisical effort.  I say that because I haven't really been a drill sergeant about it for two reasons.  The first reason is that I'm not sure Aubrey Lane is ready, and secondly, I'm not sure that I'm ready.  Sorry if I get criticized, but I think she is growing up too fast and I don't think that she's going to start school in a diaper.

Speaking of school... the realization that school starts back in only a month just blows my mind.  School just got out for the summer!  I have really enjoyed having my Jude home.  He has been so happy and sweet.  He's also been doing some new fun things like pulling to standing position and standing up and doing toe touches... just that much closer to walking!!!

Also speaking of school, I have seriously considered homeschooling Aubrey Lane for preschool.  Well I'm about 99% sure I'm homeschooling her.  Never in my life had I ever felt driven to homeschool my children; however, homeschooling Aubrey Lane came in a tiny whisp of an idea one day.  Well as I talked about it, looked into it, and prayed about it, my enthusiasm for taking control of my daughter's education foundation has overwhelmed me!  I am still looking over some curriculums and haven't made a decision on which path to take, but I'm super excited to get started!

Other exciting things have been going on this summer.  One thing is the opening of Southern Charm Marketplace.  I now have a permanent retail space!  It's actually more like a retail display,  but I love it and it's just another little part of the dream coming true.  And since I took a break from orders, when I got back in the sewing room about a week ago, I felt so refreshed and inspired.  I'm truly feeling like me again. 

Well.. school is just around the corner, but there is still lots of summer left to enjoy.  Hope you are all having a great summer!

Bloom Where You Are Planted

So I have been talking to the Lord a little lately... actually ALOT lately about several things...

What to do about the business?  What house to build and when to build it?  What to do about Jude's therapy and development?  To put AL in PDO or preschool or do homeschool until kindergarten?  How to be a happy, encouraging, and adoring wife and mother? Should we have more children and when should it happen?

Instead of a designated prayer time, I have more like an all day ongoing conversation with Him.

Well yesterday during one of our "conversations" about home building, I walked away with an answer.

Love the home you are in.

Surprisingly, I was not flooded by disappointment with this.  Instead, I went to the Word to find affirmation of this.  

Most of us know the scripture from Jeremiah 29:11 like the back of our hand. It's one of our "staple scriptures" to cling to when life isn't exactly going the way we planned.  But according to my Aunt Jo Ann, knowing a scripture is like being tossed a life saver during a storm, but knowing the word and the context of that scripture is like being in a boat.  (I am completely paraphrasing from a speech she gave during a ladies' ministry that I didn't have the pleasure of hearing in person, but was told all about later from my mother-in-law.)

With all that is being said, it is so enlightening to know the context behind our beloved scripture, Jeremiah 29:11.  In Jeremiah 29, the prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter to the exiles from Jerusalem.  

Imagine the despair: you were royalty in your homeland, and you and your family were forced into exile in a strange land, Babylon.  They were just waiting on the Lord to tell them what to do next or improve their current situation.  They were waiting for things to get better; WAITING TO LIVE THEIR LIVES!

Instead, through Jeremiah, the Lord tells them, 
"Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters.  Increase in number there; do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper." 
Jeremiah 29:5-7

I don't want to wait to live my life.  I don't want to wait for things to happen.  I'm not going to go through day to day saying, "when the house gets built, we will....", "when the children are older, we will...", "when we have more money, we will...", or "when things slow down, we will".

I just love themes.  Every party and event needs one, in my opinion, and it just drives my husband insane.  But it's who I am- NO APOLOGIES.  So...  I'm going to set myself a little theme of my own; a theme I want to start living by today:

Bloom where you are planted. 

Right now my husband and I are planted in a small house, in a small town, with two small children, on a small income.  And I am going to enjoy every bit of it.

I'm going to invite that couple over for dinner, not matter how small and unimpressive my house is.  I'm going to take a vacation, no matter how small my budget is.  I am going to enjoy potty training my daughter and teaching my five year old to walk!!  I am going to enjoy cleaning the house, doing the laundry, and bathing the babies.  I am going to keep fixing up my home and making it pretty until the day our new home is built.  I am going to bake the cake that no one should eat because they are watching their figure.  I am going to love my husband through every stressful moment.   

I am going to "bloom where I am planted."  And I am planted in the Lord and where He has me in life right now.

Sure this is not where I grew up or where I had dreamed of living forever, but I am making friends and memories that will last a life time.  I am going to make the most out of every season in this life starting with the season I am in.

Getting Up to Speed- Part 3

So we started 2013 with just enjoying our babies and family.

Bad Picture Warning- my camera got dropped and broke on our vacation so all my pictures will be courtesy of the trusty iphone.

Aubrey Lane is growing so fast.  It really seems that she went from being a baby to a big girl overnight. 

We watched and listened in amazement as she developed.  It was so exciting to hear her say her animal noises and tell us where her nose is.  Here she is pointing out her "billy butt" belly button.

It still blows my mine that she can correctly identify her shapes!  I know these are "typical" development milestones, but I'm not taking one iota of it for granted.

I'm also impressed at how naturally girly she is.  She is already a shopper and LOVES shoes.  I kid you not.  She had a meltdown in Target because we did not buy her sandals she picked out.  (Don't get me wrong, we DO NOT encourage such behavior and we have had to learn how to correctly and consistently discipline a child with typical development.)

Oh but she is just the sweetest thing, and I love her so!!

On to my Jude dude.

After the New Year, we took Jude to the eye doctor, and decided it was time for new glasses.  Actually, he needed new glasses!  His old frames were broke beyond repair, and his vision has actually improved a little so it was time to get a new prescription.  We picked a whole new style of frames and they are soooo cute.  He's so handsome with them on.

Meanwhile, the Jude dude is steadily making improvements in his physical development.  At the beginning of the school year, Jude could walk well in his gait trainer with the seat and with someone holding both his hands.  In the fall, he began using the gait trainer without the seat. And since then he has started walking well with someone holding just one of his hands!

As the last few months passed by, we watched winter turn to spring (my most favoritest time of the year) and have enjoyed trips to the zoo, class parties, field trips, and hanging clothes on the line... Ahhhh.

The Mister also built me a raised veggie garden.  With Aubrey Lane's help watering it everyday it is now full of plants and herbs waiting to bloom out.

In the meantime, business has been BOOMING!!  I am blessed by the success the business has received.  I have sat back in gratitude with so many WOW moments and achieved a great deal of pride and sense of accomplishment.........

HOWEVER, as silly as it may sound to some people, there are other things that give me a bigger sense of pride and accomplishment.  TWO little things in particular...

Despite the success I have experienced with The Mustard Seed Boutique, it cannot out weigh the importance of being Lane's wife and Jude and Aubrey Lane's mommy.  And unfortunately the success of the business has stolen my time from them; therefore, I made a couple important decisions.  The first is that I will not be accepting orders over the summer.  I plan to do this every summer and... every December.  Yes, thats right.  My Christmas was a mass of chaos and exhaustion trying to manage my orders.  Next decision is that once I do start accepting orders again, I will only take 2-3 orders a week at least until Aubrey Lane is in preschool.  I have prayed and prayed about this and I know that this was the right decision because I felt a huge weight off my shoulders when I made it.  And I feel confident that most you (friends and family) support that decision, and that means so much to me.

Well... we are pretty much up to date now.  I'll be back with more summer fun!!