Christmas tea party.

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A few days ago, my dear friend Melissa invited Luci Belle and I to her cozy, Christmasy home for a traditional tea party. 

Can you believe this?  It looks like a page out of Country Living...

Since I met Melissa in the fall of 2004 when I was a part of a Bible study she was leading, she has been a friend, confidant, and spiritual mentor to me.  I sat on her sofa multiple times sharing my heart, sharing things with her that few others knew. 

In her home, everyone feels comfortable.  People feel special.  As you can see from the tea party setup, she doesn't hesitate to light the good candles, use the silver tea service, the china, the vintage place settings...all for just an "ordinary" weekday. 

When we arrived, Luci Belle started exploring right away...this place was a toddler's wonderland!  Lots of things to touch and explore...collections of Santas, plush sheep, wooden nativities, angels, and lots of ornaments.  And the best part?  As a mother of three grown children, Melissa doesn't put anything within a child's reach that could be easily ruined or broken.   Ahhhh.  So I could relax, too.

What I love the most about Melissa is that she's a servant who walks with Jesus.  Two things she taught me that I try to constantly remember...

1) Always be thankful.  This is the only way to live and have joy amidst any kind of circumstances. 
2) Never talk negatively about your husband to anyone. 

Wise words from a wise woman.  I hope I can bless and encourage others the way this woman has blessed my life!

-ing.

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Here's a random collection of inspiring things I wanted to share...

Reading {books}:

Orange Jumpsuit by Tara Leigh Cobble.  I highly encourage you to read Tara-Leigh's three wonderful memoirs.

Loving Our Kids On Purpose by Danny Silk.  God wants our hearts first, then our obedience.  It is out of a love relationship that a desire to obey follows.  The premise of this book is building a heart connection with our kids, first and foremost.  Love it.

One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp.  Reading this for the second time through and discussing it with a friend.  Will write more about this soon...

Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches by Rachel Jankovic.  Great, dry humor, and a quick read.

Reading {online}:

The 5 Best Toys of All Time.  YES.  My daughter has more fun playing with paper and plastic recycling than anything in her toy bin!

Blessed Are The Entitled?  Interesting post on how Christians seem to feel entitled at Christmastime, which isn't a very Christ-like quality.

Santa, Strategically.  A pretty balanced view of how to keep the real meaning of Christmas the focus without totally giving up the fun tradition of Santa Claus.

Watching:

Why, Christmas movies, of course!  See my list of Christmas movie essentials.

Cooking/eating:

Homemade coconut milk ice cream.  A new staple in our house!  Mix together in a blender: 1 can coconut milk (not the lite version), 1/2 cup maple syrup, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 egg yolks, dash of cinnamon, dash of sea salt.  Add some cacao nibs or chocolate chips if you'd like.  Process through an ice cream maker, and voila!  Dairy-free, sugar-free amazing ice cream in about 20 minutes.  Your gut will thank you.  We often double the batch and then store the extra in the freezer in a tupperware.

Roasted winter veggies.  It's practically an every-night essential these last few months with so much squash in season.  Here's how: Cut up some butternut squash, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and perhaps some Brussels sprouts.  Or even get crazy and add some beets.  Keep them in large bite-sized chunks.  Put in a bowl and toss with melted coconut oil, salt, and pepper.  Spread in single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 30-45 minutes at 425 degrees until tender and caramelized.  As far as a cold-weather side dish goes, it doesn't get much better than this!

Discovering:

How To Be An Unschooling Family.  This post is from one of my very favorite blogs, Walk Slowly, Live Wildly.  When I read this post about unschooling in their adorable cottage in Colorado, my heart quickened within me.  THIS is what I want to do with our family.

Back to the Land, Reluctantly.  This article is a unique, entertaining perspective on the whole "urban homesteading" phenomenon, because this woman did not do it to be trendy, she did it out of necessity.  "It quickly became obvious that anyone with a rectangle of sunny ground outside can grow stuff; you just need to think about what grows up and what grows sideways so that you can get it all in there properly."

Mothers In Crisis: Ethiopia.  So many organizations are doing incredible work with orphans around the world.  But how about helping mothers before they get to the point of having to put their children up for adoption?  Mothers In Crisis' goal is keeping families together...love it.

Afghanistan: Touch Down In Flight.  An absolutely stunning video of imagery of the people of Afghanistan.

Seeing:

The incredible fall we've had in Dallas.  I haven't seen one this stunning since I moved here in 2004.  Every day there is a new golden tree to admire...

Listening:

My friend Jeremy Cowart used to be my source for all things cool in the music world when I lived in Nashville.  But since I no longer live near my dear Cowarts, let's just say my music selection leaves much to be desired.  Until someone gives me some good suggestions, I'm still listening to Gavin DeGraw like it was the year 2005.  Help?

Pinterest projects lately...

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So few days before Christmas, so little time.  Thanks to Pinterest, I now have seemingly endless amounts of inspiration and a constantly growing list of craft projects to tackle. Thanks to my mom being in town for a week over Thanksgiving, I've made a lot of progress!  Free childcare so Mommy can have some sanity creative-time?  Check.

First, a small home improvement project to brighten things up a bit...

I fell in lurve with this orange window...

...and then became obsessed with replicating it in my own kitchen.  My kitchen sink area resembles this layout, all white with the farm sink and glass cabinets on each side.  Except with a heckuva lot more stuff cluttered around it.  I was already planning to paint my kitchen walls creamsicle orange {one day} but it just seemed like so much to tackle with all that taping and painting around oddly shaped spaces. 

So, painting just the trim around the window?  Much more unique, and faster too!  My sweet husband decided to buy me paint for this project as a birthday present, so I went on a mission to find the perfect creamy orange...ah yes, "Orange Slice" by Glidden.

Sure brightens things up, doesn't it?

~ ~ ~

Once that was completed, I got busy making handmade Christmas decorations.  My love affair with wool has been taken to another level, I tell you.

Christmas yarn wreath with felt poinsettias.  I was inspired by this beautiful wreath from the Hope Mommies website, but I also loved the poinsettias like on this wreath.  So I sort of combined the two ideas and used the tutorial from this site which even includes an easy template you can print for the petals!  For the center of my flowers, I used three small green circles of felt and added a jingle bell.  I then painted a small, thin piece of wood with chalkboard paint, wrote on it with chalk pen, and attached it to the wreath with yarn.

It's amazing all the things one can do with a glue gun.

Pine cone garland.  I've been embarrassing myself for months now, scooping up pine cones and acorns from people's yards, hoping they won't notice.  I have pine cones scattered all throughout the house.  It was time to convert them into Christmas decorations!  I made this simple garland by tying yarn bows and gluing them to the ends of plain pine cones with a hot glue gun.  Then I glued each pine cone bow to a strand of ribbon.  Seriously took about 15 minutes total.

Handmade ornaments.  There are hundreds of handmade ornament ideas on Pinterest, but I decided to use my trusty pinecones.  Just brushed them with some gold and silver paint and glued yarn to hang.

I still love these paper birds from last year...

Felt Christmas garland.  Ever since I made the felt leaf garland for fall, I've been wanting to try another one, except stitching the felt pieces together this time with a needle and thread instead of using thick yarn.  Sometimes I like to pretend I can sew, you see.  I was inspired by this Christmas garland and decided to give it a go...

Felt mistletoe.  No doorway is complete at Christmastime without mistletoe.  How adorable is this?  I've already gotten some smooches underneath it.

Winter mason jars.  Finally, I recycled my fall acorn mason jars and made them wintery.  I cut some holly and berries out of felt, glued them to white ribbon, and added kosher salt for fake snow. 

I really wanted to make these adorable snow globes or yarn wrapped trees or a wine cork wreath, but there's always next year! 

Please share your Christmas craftiness too!

Images of Thanksgiving.

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"Thankfulness takes the sting out of adversity. That is why I have instructed you to give thanks for everything. There is an element of mystery in this transaction: You give Me thanks (regardless of your feelings), and I give you Joy (regardless of your circumstances). This is a spiritual act of obedience---at times, blind obedience. To people who don't know Me intimately, it can seem irrational and even impossible to thank Me for heart-rending hardships. Nonetheless, those who obey Me in this way are invariably blessed, even though difficulties may remain.
 
Thankfulness opens your heart to My Presence and your mind to My thoughts. You may still be in the same place, with the same set of circumstances, but it is as if a light has been switched on, enabling you to see from My perspective. It is this Light of My Presence that removes the sting from adversity."  - from Jesus Calling by Sarah Young

So many things are "not right" at the moment.  We, and others we know, are dealing with things like broken relationships, tragic accidents, financial struggles.  None of it makes sense outside of knowing Christ, who is the only one who can redeem all of this mess.  Each day, I have to remind myself again that the only way to live is thankful, both for the big and the small.  And that is why Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

I'm thankful for things like...

Stacks of plates ready to be filled with food...

Bottles of wine to fill the glasses...

Pears and honey and cheese and bread - crostini made with Pecorino from Italy shared by Kyle...

Handcrafted place cards made from card stock, a stamp, crayons, and sticks, inspired by Katy...

A long farm table to fill with people...

Friends to gather in the warmth of the kitchen...

A baby coming soon, and a beautiful pregnant mama who loves to share her gift of baking (especially these Rosemary Almond Biscuits)...

A pastured turkey that lived a happy, healthy life and then gave its life for our sustenance...

The Bailey Three...

My dad holding a mini reminder of his sister Lucille in his arms...

Both parents still here, and together...

A happy November day...

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It started with the perfect coconut milk latté on a rainy, cool morning.

And then there was art time on the living room floor.  I pulled out a drawing pad and drew photos of objects like a ball, cloud, boat, tree, rainbow...and my little artist figured out how to master drawing with crayons.

The sky cleared up, and we headed out for a walk.  Suddenly, it was cool and bright outside, and Dallas was aglow with fall.  Sometimes autumn really does come to Texas...

The rest of our afternoon included lots of work for Mommy for our small business while the little one pulled books off her shelf and "read" them to herself or sat on my lap and watched Horton Hears A Who.  There was also folding cloth diapers, doing laundry, washing dishes, and cleaning smears of almond butter off sticky hands and the coffee table.  

And then, an evening walk...

At the end of the day, I found that my little artist had learned how to color with pen on the couch cushions and her pajamas when I wasn't looking.  But this journal is about embracing every day, right?  And that includes embracing the mess.  So if you look at it through those lenses, it really was a perfect November day.