Sample Saturday

Good Morning! I hope you are enjoying your summer so far. I’d like to ask for your prayers about the wildfires here is Colorado. There are many people evacuated and there is so much destruction already. Please pray for God’s peace and protection on those affected and those who are fighting the fire.  Thank you.

Here are some great blog posts from this week.

Kisses and Kiddos

Hold That Line - The Generous Wife has a great post about the importance of keeping boundaries in place around your marriage.

The De-Masking of Prince Charming - Yes, this subject has been covered before in countless articles. But it is rare to see such a healthy and Biblical perspective like the one displayed in this post from The Romantic Vineyard.

Parents Don’t Have to be Perfect- This post from To Love, Honor, and Vacuum has an excellent list of reality checks and a lot of grace for parents struggling under the (false) expectation of perfection.

Eli the Encourager – I love this post from mamacravings about appreciating a little one’s talent for encouraging.

Yumminess

Cooking with Cast Iron - This Art of Manliness post is a great overview of cast iron pans: how to cook with them, season them, clean them, and care for them.  There are even a couple recipes included!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Cherry Barbecue Sauce - The Foodie Bride brings this recipe for homemade sandwich that looks to die for. While I’m not big on cherries, I bet this sauce could convince me otherwise.

Patriotic Summer Berry Cake - This cake from Bakingdom is drop-dead gorgeous and full of fresh berries. Amazing.

Strawberry Lemonade Slushies- Only 4 ingredients to this frozen non-alcoholic treat from That’s What We Said. I think I need to make these as soon as possible.

Just for Fun and Giggles

Along Came Polly- I was cracking up reading this post from The Meat and Potatoes of Life. The pictures alone are priceless.

How to Frame Your Bathroom Mirror - This great step-by-step tutorial over at A Step In the Journey has easy instructions and great before and after photos. This seems like a great weekend project for adding some character to a boring mirror.

I couldn’t resist a grammar related funny:

 

 

Enjoy your weekend!

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Homekeeping Happiness

I love being a homekeeper full time and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. However, sometimes the big picture of “I love being a homekeeper” gets lost in the day-to-day grind of diapers, cleaning, grabby little hands, and noise. And when that big picture gets lost, I become frustrated and critical which doesn’t help anyone.

I find that it is so much easier for me to keep a joyful and content attitude when the daily grind is interrupted by those “little piece of heaven” moments. You know, those times when you look at your spouse or your kids and are just overwhelmed with amazement that God created something so precious and thankfulness that He let you be a part of it. Those are the moments that get me through the hard days, those times when Little Lady is teething or Little Man is using me as his personal jungle gym.

And let’s be honest here, sometimes “those moments” also have less to do with the family and more to do with things like chocolate. Or a great book. Or something that really makes me laugh. Heck, one moment was nothing more than enjoying a cup of coffee by myself, in total silence as both kids napped together!

So I figured a good goal for myself would be to make a list every week of at least 5 “Happy Homekeeping Moments” for which to be thankful. I know having a list to look back at will help me choose joy during the hard days. And with the list as a weekly goal, I hope to be more on the lookout for those special moments.

So now, without further ado, on to this week’s list!

1. At-home Anniversary date with Big Man: Chipotle burritos, champagne, chocolates, and the movie Up!

2. Little Man reading his “Lion book” to me, complete with the correct numbers, colors, and sound effects.

3. Little Lady cuddling and falling asleep on my lap after awakening early from her nap.

4. The Little Ones having an Epic Splash-fest during their bath, including giggles, squeals, and a lot of water ending up on the floor.

5. Receiving this book through Paperback Swap. It’s really good so far!

So that’s this week’s list. Hope y’all are having a great Friday! See you tomorrow for Sample Saturday

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Seven Years

Seven years ago today Big Man and I started our married life. We stood in a garden surrounded by family and friends and vowed to have and to hold for better and for worse. We committed to love each other always and forsake all others until death do us part. We exchanged the rings, drank to the toasts, ate the cake, danced to “our” song. It was the most beautiful wedding ever (in my totally biased opinion).

I have very fond memories of our wedding and our newlywed years. We had a beautiful honeymoon on an Alaskan cruise, and then set up house together in our first place. We learned how to live together, how to share a bed, and how much we did not need that fondue set on our wedding registry. We went through the tough seasons of Big Man’s military deployments and rejoiced when he came home. As much as I loved our first few married years, what came next was even better.

God blessed us with Little Man, and then with Little Lady shortly thereafter. We experienced the excitement and trials of pregnancy, the amazement of seeing our beautiful children for the first time, and the love and support of our extended family. We reveled in our babies’ first smiles, giggles, and steps. We learned how to live on little sleep and developed a high tolerance for Veggie Tales and Disney songs. Our budget got tighter when I quit my old job to be home full time, and we “restarted” our lifestyle and financial goals with a dream of building our own home and a commitment to living with no debt.

We are learning how to be parents through trial and error, with a lot of God’s grace. We’re saving money in our “house fund” and trying to be as self-sufficient as possible. Our days are filled with Little Man’s ABC’s and Little Lady’s mercurial moods. We are growing closer together as friends and lovers, and enjoying at home date nights and geeky hobbies. It’s an exciting and tiring season we are in right now. But it is wonderful, and I’m so happy to be celebrating seven years together.

I think, though, that my favorite part of this anniversary is the anticipation. Every year we have been together has been a blessing, and each year is better than the last. And that means that the best is yet to come. I’m excited about anniversaries down the road, to look back at seven years and say “Wow, that was a wonderful time in our marriage, but where we are now is even better.”

God has blessed me tremendously with Big Man as my husband, and with our two children. I am so thankful, for celebrating our anniversary today, and anticipating what the next year will hold.

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