Strawberry Cake to Celebrate!

Today we celebrated my moms birthday. I'm pretty certain she would not appreciate me sharing which birthday we celebrated though. 


Awhile back my mom told the kids she was going to have a special birthday celebration{for herself; someday} for the grandkids only. Audrey was especially excited.
So, when my moms birthday rolled around Audrey was fully expecting to go to Mimi and Papa's house and have a grandkids only birthday party. Complete with lanterns hanging from the trees.
Since that wasn't on the agenda this year we decided to give her a birthday dinner here at our house tonight. 
Owen and Audrey helped me pick out the cake ingredients, plates and balloons at the store so that helped build their excitement for Mimi's dinner celebration. 
Mimi requested Chicken Parmesan for dinner and we made Strawberry Cake for dessert! 
The strawberry cake recipe is one that my mom usually makes any time an occasion calls for cake so we knew it was one she would like! 

I decided I should share the recipe with others because its that good! So, without further ado I give you 

STRAWBERRY CAKE with Real Strawberries

CAKE: 1 package white cake mix 1 package jell-o gelatin, strawberry 1/2 cup frozen strawberries 1/2 cup water 1 cup oil 4 eggs Mix jell-o and cake mix together. Add water and oil; mix on medium speed. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add berries.Bake at 325°F. for 30-45 minutes in greased and floured 9x13-inch baking pan. ICING: 1 pound powdered sugar 1/4 cup butter, melted 1/2 cup frozen strawberries Cream butter, powdered sugar and strawberries together. Spread on cooled cake.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.
I had help with this one!

Add the oil, eggs and water into the dry mixture.

Puree the strawberries.

Add strawberries into cake batter.

Pour into greased pan.

We were so excited to actually get to eat the cake I forgot to take pictures of the icing being made. But, it was easy and tasted delicious!

Here is the final product!! So yummy!

All About the Moon {project and links included}

Last week in science we learned about the Earth.
This week for Science we're learning about the Moon.
 {Don't you love how I said we're learning about the Moon?! It's even a learning experience for me!:)} 
As I had been sifting through Pinterest for different solar system ideas I ran across some really fun ideas focusing on phases of the Moon. So, of course, I pinned them. 
Today we got to put those fun ideas to practice by creating our very own 

Oreo Cookie Moon Phases!

Elisa working hard.

Shaping the crescent phase.

Ava's final project.

Pretty sure Owen was taking some licks.

 Elisa's phases of the moon. 

Our science project also doubled as our morning snack {hey! don't judge!}

Audrey enjoying her moons.

Ava enjoying her full moon.

Owie with a mouth full!

 

Elisa texting pictures of her projects to her friends. 

We also checked out some cool sites about the Moon in general  or the phases of the Moon.

We watched a youtube about the phases of the moon. {disclaimer: there is a reference to Islam at the beginning of this video but otherwise great info}

I got a lot of ideas and info from this blog: Teach Mama

She links to this site which is from July 2007 but it's specifically about the Moon. We also clicked the current  month/year and learned what we can be watching for in the sky this month!

Leap Day

This year was a Leap Year. So in celebration we had a little Leap Day Party with our fellow homeschool families from our church body. My sweet friend Emily made the kids a cake and we played a few Leap Day themed games. The weather was amazing- close to 80 on Feb 29th! 

The awesome cake! 

There were several younger kids who asked 'who's turning 29??' 

Some of the kids getting ready for the cake.

Audrey being silly.

Audrey, her friend and Owen being silly.

The big kids playing ribbit, ribbit, hop.

The younger kids playing.

Edible Earth

I've decided to come out of blog hiding. Mostly because I want to start documenting our life again.
I feel like I've come out of a haze. That would be pregnancy, in itself; in general.
Our homeschooling is going really great right now. Like, the best its been in the 5 years that we've been homeschooling. Everything is flowing so smoothly. Maybe I shouldn't breath so I don't mess that up.....
But, I feel so much more productive.
On the note of being productive I've started making a schedule for us every day. I'm adding in tiny details. Like, cut up the carrots and put them in the crockpot.
Because, if I didn't, it probably wouldn't get done. And, then, at 4:30 I would realize I never put the carrots in the crockpot. And, thats no bueno.


Back to homeschooling-and the point of this blog post.
We are doing Apologia Astronomy this year. And we're all- yes I said all, including me- loving it! We're currently on the planet Earth. So, today we made an edible Earth. We learned all the reason why the Earth is the only- and perfect- planet for human existence. We also learned the layers of the Earth.
And here is what they are-

The M&M represented the inner core (chocolate middle) and outer core (candy coating)
We then surrounded the M&M with Rice Crispy Treats to represent the mantle layer. (The rice crispies reinforce the molten rock and all...just kidding I didn't realize that until it was too late)

We formed the Rice Crispy (with the M&M inside) into a sphere

Like the Earth...ha, get it?

Next we dipped the Rice Crispy Treat Sphere into melted almond bark. 

This represented the crust. 

Once it was hardened it made much more sense. :)

Here is a plate of edible Earths. As they were hardening some of them started to lose their shape. I'm guessing due to the weight of the hardening almond bark vs the not yet hardened rice crispy treat.

My plan was too color some almond bark green and blue- you know, for the water and land. I did actually color two bowls of those colors but the colors never actually ever made it to the Earths. Doing this project with a 4 yr old, 2 yr old and 4 month old (along with the 2 big kids) we were lucky to get as far as we did before the Rice Crispies hardened without being shaped and the almond bark hardened without anything being dipped in it!


All in all this was a super fun project that the kids loved! And I really think creating the edible layers and talking about them as we went along will help stick the actual Earth layers into their minds. 


These times make me really thank the Lord that He is allowing me this privilege of being able to stay home and homeschool my kiddos.  

Things Ive Learned in a Summer full of 100+ degree Temps

According to this website we are on our 24th consecutive day of 100+ degree temps for the Dallas/Ft Worth area.
 I am currently 31 weeks pregnant in my 5th pregnancy and very hot.

And, that's probably an understatement.

But, trying to look at the bright side of this current situation, I've been mentally thinking of things I've learned through this heat. I thought- ya know so I can look back and remember this summer in all its hot glory- that I would write them all out here as a simple reminder that it's not that bad.
Right???

1. A $200 initial {ahh key word there} investment in an above ground pool is worth every.single.penny.
2. If I thought it was hard being pregnant any other summer {this is my 5th pregnancy and 5th time spending the Summer pregnant} I was wrong. This one is by far the hottest and hardest with a 3 year old and almost 2 year old.
3. Leaving the house to hang out with friends was much more appealing when I was 40 pounds lighter and it was 30 degrees cooler. {sorry guys}
4. I can get a lot more laundry done when I'm home instead of out hanging out with friends and having playdates. :) {shhh dont tell Derek}
5. The kids really do survive weeks on end without playing with friends.
6. Surprisingly, when we're home more the kids all get along better. Go figure.
7. A trampoline with a sprinkler spraying on it provides HOURS of uninterrupted fun for 4 kids ages 1-10.
8. I discovered Pinterest. Enough said.
9. We spend a lot less money eating out when the desire to stay home, in the cool air, over rides the desire {read: laziness} to not cook.

And the 10th thing I've learned this Summer full of 100+ degree temps is......

10.The Lord is changing my heart towards home again. Even if it took over 30 {non-consecutive} days so far this summer to give me the desire to stay home more.

Somewhere Along the Way

Somewhere along the way....I lost my way.
Actually, I lost His way.
I don't mean I lost my faith or anything similar. I just lost sight of what I am supposed to be doing in this life. What He has called be to do.
To be.
As a wife.
A mother.
A teacher.
A homemaker.

This past year I think I just felt the burnout of being a homeschooling mom. It was only our 4th year but it started off rough. With Audrey's eye issues and my dads sudden death our fall wasn't too great.
But the Lord did show His faithfulness through it all.

I know I have been just going through the motions of everything. I've been homeschooling this year because I know that's what I'm supposed to be doing. But, I had no passion or vision in doing it.

Then, all of sudden, some time in May this renewed energy and excitement about being home with my kids and homeschooling them and training them came back to me!
Maybe its the fact we have a new baby on the way. Maybe the Lord is using that to remind me of this important thing He has called me to. But, whatever the reason I am grateful.

I am so excited for our new school year. I'm so excited to get back into a routine of having purpose in our daily musings. To not just go through the motions of getting things done because that's what we're supposed to be doing. But, instead doing everything while being mindful of what I've been called to do and be. And aware and intentional about training these kids the Lord has entrusted to us.

I've really missed blogging. And, Im well aware very few will actually read this post after such a long absence but it just feels good to be writing out some of the thoughts going through me head. And to share with no one
maybe someone what the Lord is doing in me right now.


So, I hope as part of my renewed passion for this calling of mine that I start blogging regularly again!

Slacker+Pictures+A Big God=Post

Man, I've really slacked off on the whole blogging thing. I have pretty good reason though. 

No no, I'm not pregnant :) {you moms of many know thats the first thing that came into your mind!}

I've been working on starting a little photography business.

It's been something I've wanted to do for a long time. And this is the first time in 4 years that I'm not pregnant or nursing a baby every 2-3 hours so we figured I should give it a shot!

I started out in hopes of making some extra money to pay down some debt. {read: the car loan}. I was listening to Dave Ramsey {love that guy!} and he suggested taking photos on the side to a guy trying to get his debt snowball rolling. So, I thought.... hey I need to do that!

I got some stuff together and started advertising on Facebook and to friends. I figured Christmas is the perfect time to get this started since everyone wants Christmas photos! 

Then, we got the bill for Audrey's eye surgery she'll be having on Nov 17th {keep her in your prayers please!}.

WOWZA!

So....that's what all these session fees are going towards right now. 

Its so cool because we prayed for the provision to cover all these medical fees and between photo sessions, homeschool school picture sessions, family and our local corporate fellowship {that would be the Church} the Lord has provided and met those needs above and beyond anything we could imagine! 

{wait...isnt there a verse that promises that somewhere!?!?}

But, enough babbling from me....just check out my photography blog at:

LindsayLanePhotography.blogspot.com

or become a fan on Facebook here 

or by searching Facebook for Lindsay Lane Photography. 

Heres a few shots of my sweet kiddos I did last weekend!

 

Give a Cup of Food

This is a repost from last year. I thought it was worth reposting and reminding everyone that 1 click will give a cup of food to a hungry person. And, it wont cost you anything except a few clicks. 

I just ran across a way you can help give 1 cup of food to a hungry person around the world.

All you have to do is click the link above. Your simple click will donate that cup of food. We so easily click links to online celebrity gossip or the most current sale at our favorite store. So, I don't think its too much to ask you to click the link to help give food to the hungry. You can click everyday and make sure give that hungry mouth a meal.

 

Coming out of hiding....

So, here I am. Coming out of hiding. I've been planning on picking up the blogging again once life settled down a little.

And...

we'll here's hoping it has!

I'm excited to start our Christmas giving goals again. Remember last year and why I originally started this blog?

Well, its that time again!

My friend Stephanie over at Life As Supermom was inspired by this last year and has already started blogging through their plans to Give Christmas Away this year! So cool!

As a kick off to coming out of hiding and rejoining the {consisten} blogging world again I've entered a contest that could change the course of our families lives! If I won we could use the winnings to pay off our car and other small debt and become 100% debt free!

How cool would that be!?

Can you imagine the giving opportunities we'd have with the cashflow released from becoming debt free??

And...how fun would it be to get to be a "Good Mood Blogger"!!!

So, can you take some time everyday to cast a vote for me?

Good Mood Gig from SAM-e

Raw{e} Girly

I decided to join this weeks Raw{e} theme over at Sailor and Company.  I had the perfect picture for last weeks theme but with everything going on with my dad I didn't have time to get it off my camera and onto the computer....much less my blog. Oh well. This weeks theme is girly. What could be more girly than playing outside on a swing set dressed as a princess?! This is Audrey a few months ago. Its also one of my favorite pictures of her. I think one reason I love it so much -- other than the fact that it's an adorable picture!-- is because the colors are so vibrant straight out of the camera!

 Please continue to keep her in your prayers. We have her MRI scheduled for tomorrow morning. I really have peace that everything will come back fine and her eye problem is just some freak thing. Once the results are back we can set a date for surgery and get her taken care of and back to normal! God is good!

In Memory of My Dad- Mark Fredde

Derek and I put this together in memory of my dad.

Two Weeks Ago

Two weeks ago I lost my dad.

He had had a massive heart attack the previous Sunday and was on life support. 

After running a CT scan, a base line test for brain activity and talking to the nuerologist to get an idea where everything stood with his brain we made the decision to withdraw the machines that were keeping him alive.

I believe he was probably already gone on Sunday. The paramedics had to resuscitate him at the house and again at the ER. It was estimated he was without oxygen for 20 minutes in the ER alone. That wasn't counting the time without oxygen at the house before the EMTs arrived. I believe they brought his physical body back to life with machines.

Even though I felt like he was already gone having to actually be apart of making the decision to have the machines withdrawn- the machines that were keeping his body alive- was one of the most awful decisions of my life. One I hope to never again have to make. 

Lots of people have asked if I was close to my dad. Regardless of how close or distant you are from a parent when their death comes you're still losing a mom or dad. But, to answer the question; yes and no. There have been times in my life that I have been closer to my dad. Unfortunately, the last 2 1/2 years have not been one of those times. Partly by our (Derek and my) choice and partly by his. But, whats done is done and you can't change time. Previous to that my dad has been in and out of my life by his choice. 


When I look back at my dads involvement, or lack thereof at times, in my life I feel an amazing amount of grace and forgiveness for him. Two things only the Lord can supply me with. Without the Lord holding my hand, in my relationship with my earthly father, through my life I could have developed into a bitter woman from the experiences with my dad. But, the Lord has given me his eyes to see my dad through and grace to see that my dad was just a hurting person. 


That Sunday morning, before I had gotten word of my dads heart attack, I was standing in the shower having this conversation with God. Derek and I had been reading a book that prompted our conversation the night before as to why, if our faith is really that important to us, aren't we screaming from the rooftops and banging down the doors of our friends and family members that we love making sure they get their relationships right with the Lord. There were 3 people who came to mind as I was standing in the shower talking to the Lord about this. Wondering why I haven't made sure these people know what the Word says about where they possibly stand with the Lord. My dad was one of them. One person who accepted the Lord as a child but bore no real fruit as an adult. One person who, out of shear love for him and Him, I should have made sure he knew how much I loved him by making sure he knew how much He loved him. 
But I didn't. 
And, I know that ultimately that is the Holy Spirits work. But, I also know that as a believer and follower of Christ its my job to spread His truth. 

And, I failed with my own dad. 

I don't know where I stand theologically on the whole once saved always saved. Or can you lose your salvation. Or anything like that. But, what I do know is that we don't know the number of days the Lord has ordained for us or anyone we know. And how important it is to make sure we're right with the Lord always. And to make sure we're carrying out our responsibility here on earth to share the gospel. 

And, I hope that I one day get to see my daddy again.


My dad wanted to be cremated so we put off a memorial service for a few weeks. This Sunday is the service. Please continue to pray for my family. Please pray for my boldness when it comes to the 2 other people the Lord brought to mind that morning. Because my faith is important enough and I do love them enough to make sure they're aware of what the Word says.

Audreys Eyes

Many have asked how Audreys eye appointment went this afternoon so I thought the easiest thing was to write it all out on here and share it via my blog....rather than over and over again on an individual basis.

The opthamologist diagnosed Audrey with something called Cyclic Esotropia. She said it is very rare and often caused by trauma, which is not the case for Audrey. After reading up on it a little apparently some opthamologists can go their entire career and never have a patient with it. Another site said 'its extremely rare and poorly understood.' Her CT scan in the ER on Friday came back clear but this Dr wants to do a MRI to see if there is something else going on that the CT scan wouldnt/couldnt pick up on. She mentioned looking at the smaller tissues and checking for brain leisions. Needless to say the fact that she wants to do a MRI kinda freaks me out so we decided we want a second opinion. We have a scheduled appt with another Dr on Friday. Praise God they had a cancellation and could get us in so quickly! So, we'll see from there. THe Dr today told us the only way to correct this is surgery so we shall see.

Basically Cyclic Esotropia means a cycle to the eye(s) crossing  inwards. 24 hours straight, 24 hours crossed. This is EXACTLY what is happening with Audrey. Around nap time (before and/or after) her eye might try to straighten on a crossed day or try to cross on a straight day, but thats momentary and doesnt last. 

The Dr told us to patch the 'good' eye a few hours a day on the crossed days but everything we've read online (either from the very very limited studies we've found or from parents themselves) says that can make it worse. So, we'll be happy to get a second opinion, and possibly third, and be able to go from there.

So, thats where we stand with Audrey. Please just pray for her appt on Friday and some more answers from that Dr.

As if this week couldn't possibly get any worse....

I wanted to put a quick update on my blog to let our friends know whats going on and how they can pray for us.

We have our first scheduled family vacation (ever) scheduled to start THIS Friday. The plan is to go to Orlando to visit some friends and spend a week at Disney World. The kids have been looking forward to this for months. The past 2 weeks have been brutal for them because of the anticipation and excitement.  


I'll start with yesterday since that was the worst day and work my way backwards. This might be long so bare with me. 


Yesterday morning, right before we go to church, my brother called to let me know  my real dad had a massive heart attack. Without all the gory details hes basically on life support and theyre trying to get him stable enough to do a CT scan to check for brain activity. It is believed he was without oxygen for 20-30 minutes. He was worked on for awhile at the house by the EMT and then again worked on for awhile at the ER to get him back. As of now hes not breathing on his own at all and is in a medically induced coma to let his body rest. He was having seizures yesterday until they could get those under control with meds...which then caused some different problems. They had to stop the seizure medication and get those other issues taken care of and reintroduced the meds at a slower pace. As of right now we're waiting for them to get the CT scan done to be able to know what all has happened/is happening.
There is so much more to the story but those are the basics. Please just keep my dad and my family in your prayers.

This past Friday Audrey woke up and about an hour into the morning her eyes went crossed. And, she couldnt uncross them. We have never noticed her eyes crossing before and this was very sudden. We took her to Childrens Medical Center ER and after a CT scan to rule out any kind of nerve damage or anything else causing interferance with the nerves controlling the eyes it was determined she has Strabismus. Lazy eye is commonly called Strabimus but they are not the same thing. There is a difference. From everything I have read Strabismus can cause Lazy Eye but Lazy Eye is not always Strabismus. 
This was very very sudden and pretty much freaked me out. Even the Childrens Dr was stunned about the suddenness of its appearance. Since its a holiday weekend we couldn't get into the Pediatric Opthamologist until Tues. The eye obviously bothered her because she was holding it closed, either with her hand or winking it closed, all day. I ran by the store and picked up eye patches. Once I patched her 'good' eye it made the 'bad' eye go straight. She woke up Sat morning with her eyes back to normal, which was wonderful. She woke up yesterday with her eyes crossed again.  We had her patched all day so she didnt have double vision, holding her eye closed with her hand or by winking, and could play normally. She woke up this morning with her eyes back to normal again. Everything I've read says this can come and go but (obviously) still needs to be corrected.

So, please pray for that appointment tomorrow as we'll get an official diagnosis and a plan of action.

With all this we thought....ok, another bump in the road for our trip. Even if we cant get her glasses in time for our trip we can just patch her eye on the days theyre crossed and she'll have to enjoy Disney World that day. Kinda sad but still doable.

Thursday I was having issues with my new blackberry my brother had given me. So, I took it to the Verizon store to see what was wrong. She suggested a software upgrade and when she did it it crashed my phone. Her response was basically 'ohh, the white screen of deaht. Sorry.' And sent me on my way. I didnt understand how I could walk into Verizon with a working phone and walk out with a phone they crashed and not be given a replacement phone...or something. I figured since I wasnt the one who actually bought the phone that was the reason. So, I was without a phone for several days. (If you called or texted and I didnt respond, that is why) 

 Last Sun (Aug 29) Derek was playing flag football with some guys from church and he slipped as he was running (full speed, he wanted me to add), fell and cracked his collar bone in 2 places. 11 days before we were supposed to leave for Disney. Inconvienent but manageable. 


So, this is where we stand. Its been an awful week and hopefully tomorrow we'll have a better understanding of everything going on with Audrey and with my dad. 


I have a phone again so I can recieve texts and phone calls again. 


Thanks in advance for all the prayers!

Edited to add: I have an amazing amount of peace about everything right now (thank you Jesus!). I'm praying that no matter the outcome God will be glorified through all the circumstances and it will all work together for good. Im clinging to His promises and constantly reminding Him of them ;)

$50 GAP gift card for $25!!!!

GROUPON  

 Have you heard of Groupon? 

They post unbelieveable daily deals for your city or in todays instance for a national brand. 

TODAYS groupon deal is a $50 GAP gift card for $25!!!!

Thats half off people!! You can use it for sale stuff too....so that makes you're sale purchase even sweeter!

Click here and go grab the deal as soon as you can! This morning their website crashed because of how popular the deal is....you don't want to miss out!

{Don't click the google ad if its Groupon ad. Click any of the above links so I get your referal ;) }

Raw{e} Vintage

This weeks Raw{e} theme is Vintage.

This is a picture of an old childs bike that sits in the yard on my husbands grandparents land.

Here is the straight out of the camera untouched shot.

The Lindsay Files- Middle School years

I've really dropped the ball over the past 3 weeks with blogging. Especially with The Mommys Piggy Tails meme of recording my youth. Since I didn't write my 6th or 7th grade years I thought I would just smush 6th, 7th and 8th grades all together and do 1 big happy {or maybe not so happy??} middle school post. {I'll have to come back and add the embarrassing awkward middle school pics}

Sixth grade started out well. We were in a new school with lots of new faces. Four different elementary schools fed into my school that year. We were the Griffin Middle School Griffins. I was still in LEAP {what they called the gifted and talented program} and that was the first time I remember realizing one of my teachers thought completey differently than I did. {Read: she was a liberal with a completely different worldview} Not only was my LEAP teacher different but so was my History teacher. One of my other sweet innocent friends and I had this teacher for history and he made no secret of the fact that the Bible was nothing more than a good history book. Wow, welcome to middle school Lindsay. 

That year I experienced mean girls at their finest. I still had my close circle of friends but the need to be cool as the lowest girls on the totem pole really took full force that year. I guess being a good girl wasn't the coolest thing anymore. 

My friends Tiffany and Amy both moved off that year, making me one sad girl. I guess my mom decided she had had enough of the public school system and that ended my school career in The Colony.

Seventh grade was my first year of homeschooling. Looking back on it I really appreciate that period of my life. My mom was trying to make enough money to stay at home as a single mom and some of the families of our church stepped in and would help homeschool me during the day. 

That was also the first year that I was old enough to be apart of the youth group at church. I remember getting on the bus for our very first year youth camp and wondering what I had gotten myself into! Fortunately, I made quick friends with kids I only sort of knew before. I don't remember much about that first year at camp other then the van ride there! 

Seventh grade was also the year I was introduced to Christian Rock. No, I'm not talking about Micheal W. Smith or Steven Curtis Chapman. I'm not even talking about Petra or Styper. I'm talking about Five Iron Frenzy and MXPX. {What you've never heard of them??} I have to say those bands changed my life....

Eighth grade brought about more changes in my life. Big changes.  I started off continuing to homeschool but after Christmas break my mom put me in a Christian school. She was getting married and we could actually afford a Christian school. {well, I assume thats why I got to go there! ha!} 

The school I went to was a Fundamental Baptist Church which meant skirts only for this pants wearing girl. I actually kind of enjoyed the skirts only thing until it came to play sports. Yes, my friends, we were required to wear coulottes for sports. We played softball, on-the-field-against-other-teams-softball in coulottes. We had our baseball socks up to our knees and sported cute navy blue skirt shorts. We were quite the sight I tell ya. 

With the end of my middle school years brought the biggest change in my life to date. My mom had gotten remarried and we were moving to Colorado. I was leaving everything I had ever known in my life so far and moving several states away. 

Leaving the only house I could remember living in.

Leaving the town that I had spent my life living in.

Leaving the church that I had grown so much in and had shaped so many of my life values.

We were leaving Texas and moving to Colorado.

Welcome to the summer going into high school. 

The summer I spent knowing no one at all but learning to really love the Colorado landscape.

Can you pull it out?

Over at Sailor & Company a new meme has started and I thought it would be fun to include our most recent funny from Audrey. (She shares them with us alot!)

Audrey is constantly walking around with big 'ol wedgies stuck up in her hiney. She never said anything to me about them and never complained. But, one day last week I called her over to me and said 'Audrey, you have a big wedgie in your bottom' and I pulled it out. And then she went on her way playing again.

Last night she came up to me and said 'mommy, I have a wedgie. Will you pull it out?' and she lifted up her dress.

I was cracking up as were her big sisters. It was so hilarious coming from such a little thing!

Rain

I've been feeling a little blue lately.

I'm kinda worn out.

Burnt out.

I dunno....just tired.

Sometimes we forget to stop trying to do everything on our own and just rest in Jesus. 

Why am I always forgetting that?

Back after I had Owen I was going through a really down period and I would play this song over and over and it really ministered to me during that period.

I ran across another blog the other day where the author is having a really rough patch and I shared this song with her, in hopes that it might minister to her like it did me.

I decided since I'm feeling kinda blue again lately there is probably someone else out there who this might bless too.

We are blessed to be led into worship by these guys every week at corporate worship.

New Stuff...BABY stuff!

....in my Etsy shop! 

I decided to list some baby items.

I've been making baby sets as gifts for friends and since people always say I should be selling these sets I decided it was about time I did.

We're saving for our vacation so any sales will go towards that.

After that we'll be saving towards Christmas and finishing our bedroom addition.

We're trying to give in an even bigger way this Christmas.
Once August hits I feel like it means we should star getting serious about how we're gonna give and what we're gonna give to this Christmas season. 

Anyways, visit my shop and buy some items :)

And refer your friends.

If you refer someone and they purchase something have them mention

Because He Gave and YOUR name

and I'll knock $5 off their order 

and you'll get a $5 credit. 

That means refer 3 friends who place orders and you'll get 3 FREE burp cloths!

You can do free, right?

I can also do custom orders. 

Like this: 2 burp cloths, guitar bib, tie onsie and initial onsie.

Or a custom order like this:
Ruffle back (not pictured) appliqued onsie, matching chenille bib and chenille burp cloth.

Or custom clothing orders like this:

If you're interested in anything I pictured but don't have listed in my shop email me at Lindslane82@gmail.com and put ETSY in the subject line. And we'll talk prices and setting up a custom order for you!

Visit Homegrown Bows On Etsy!