A Mother's Day Wish List - Guest Post at Tales of the Scotts & and GIVEAWAY!

Today I am really excited to be guest posting over at my friend's blog, Tales of the Scotts. I'll be sharing what I am hoping for this Mother's Day, so be sure to stop by.

And in other Mother's Day related fun, you can win a $50 Shabby Apple Gift Certificate or a $25 credit to my shop over at 5 Days 5 Ways. I have loved Abbie's blog for a long time now and love any opportunity to work with her. So go enter!

Happy Mother's Day! 

Things Every Mom Should Do

Mother's Day is coming up fast so I got to thinking about what being a mother means to me and I thought about how often I get overwhelmed, feel inadequate, feel like I am doing too much, doing too little. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about when I actually get it right!

The fact of the matter is I do feel like it's too much sometimes, but I do have a few things that I have found can be so refreshing and they are so simple and so cheap.

1. Eat lunch. This sounds silly, I know. But often my crabbiness and inability to deal is directly related to the handful of cheddar bunnies I ate for lunch so I could fold laundry while the kids were occupied with lunch. Nourish yourself as well as you nourish your children.

 2. Snuggle and play. There are days when I feel like my kids do nothing but get on my last nerve and then jump on it...all day. Take some time to snuggle with your kids (even if you don't feel like it) or play a game of legos with them. They aren't concerned with the 18 mile long to-do list you have and their contentment will rub off on you. I promise. Then tackle the dirty kitchen with renewed strength!

3.  Spend some time alone. I truly believe that too many women spend too much attempting to do and be it all. We are all guilty of it. But you can't burn the candle on both ends. Leave the kids with the hubs and take an afternoon for yourself. Don't use this time to run errands for the family! Browse an antique store, sit in the bookstore, grab a cup of coffee. Be amazed at the perspective some silence can give you.

Source: flickr.com via Erin on Pinterest

4. Pray with your kids. I think the most important thing we can do for our children is to show them how to love Jesus. We have gotten into the habit of praying in the car while we take my son to school. Even after a crummy morning, this prayer time helps to re-focus my heart on what is important and shows the kids that we depend on Jesus every day, for everything.

I hope these things can help you in the mundane day-to-day of mothering. It's not easy! When you feel discouragement and inadequacy creeping in, try one of the above. I wish I always chose these things, but I don't, so give yourself some grace on those days too. His love covers on the worst days especially well ;)

Stay Lovely Mamas!

Coffee Date!

I hope you are all having a fantastic week! It's coffee date time with Rags to Stitches again so grab some coffee and join in, its lots of fun :)

I love reading and responding to your comments and questions :) I would love to hear what you are talking about over coffee today!

Happy Friday!

When it Rains It Pours

It has been an INSANE week. The past few weeks have been quite a bit crazy so I apologize if it hasn't been very interesting on the blog for the past week or so...

When you work on your own, it is rarely a steady stream of work every single day, exactly the same. It is one very quiet week and then 3 weeks of chaos...

I finally finished up a couple large projects and lots of little things in between. When I went to clean up this office on Sunday, the aftermath was pretty brutal.

I discovered I drink way too much coffee, that I eat too much cereal and that the laundry situation is reaching critical mass. 

I still get a little happy when I pack up some prettiness and ship it out. As stressful as the handmade life can be, it's a lot of fun too.

 There are some fun things on the horizon too, so stay tuned. There will be lots of fun to share in this week!

See something you like in all the craziness? Pop by the new shop and see for yourself :)

 

Coffee Date Time

Welcome to another Coffee Date Friday with Rags to Stitches! I hope you have had a great week! It's been crazy around here (as usual) so sitting down to reflect on the week is like taking a wonderful deep breath.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and thank you for stopping by!
 

Homemade Fruit Bars

I posted this photo of these tasty fruit bars on my Instagram a couple weeks ago and immediately got several requests for the recipe. And of course I forgot so here it goes on the blog.

I got the recipe from Food and Whine which is a fabulous website for those looking to just eat better in general.

Once you decide to eat more natural and eliminate processed foods from your diet you quickly realize how hard it is to keep easy snacks on hand for your kids. And it can get really expensive! Organic/all-natural snacks tend to come in packs of 5 and last all of one day and of course they cost twice as much. 

I don't have a lot of time to spend making homemade everything so having some convenience items on hand is important. These were incredibly easy to make. The dough was what I was most worried about, but it came together super fast using my standing mixer.

I wrapped the bars in parchment paper (so I can reuse) and placed them in a large ziplock bag. 

This is  a great recipe to use with that last cup of strawberries that look like they are going to go bad any day and I actually used frozen blueberries and it worked great. 

Enjoy! 
 

Views from the Road

As hard as it can be to wake up at 5:30am to run (especially on a Saturday morning), I know that I have some beautiful scenery to look forward to.  We took a new route on our run Saturday. Arkansas is starting to get so green and pretty, I had to take a few pics during our run.

Still trying to figure out how people can run everyday on treadmills! I would die of boredom! There is so much to see, fresh air to enjoy. I love it.

When we first moved here people would always ask why we would leave Florida. It is pretty and all, but we have so much to enjoy so close by here in Arkansas. I like having more than the beach and Disney World to look forward to. Been there, done that, moving on.

Living here has made me realize there is so much more to life than living somewhere with great shopping, restaurants and nightlife. Life can be so much more simple and I am finding that simple is better. Simple means less competition with the Joneses and more time to hear the Lord. To take time to really be with my children and show them that a great time is more than just Mickey Mouse.

I am learning that while "things" are great, there is more, there really is. And it comes to those who are willing to stop, look around and appreciate what is around them. The things that are free, yet priceless.

Have a lovely Monday!