9 {Years}

Yesterday marked our 9 year anniversary! Crazy, right?! It doesn't feel like we've been married for almost a decade, but goodness, we're almost there!

Yesterday was definitely a unique anniversary...Aaron and I spent almost the whole day apart...he was on Daddy Duty with the boys while I was on Floral Duty making flower arrangements for my sweet sister Gloria's wedding which is tomorrow! But, last night when we were just about to fall asleep, Aaron said that it was such a great anniversary because even though we were apart for most of the day we both understand and know how much we love each other, and we don't mind "sacrificing" our day to help out our family that we love so dearly.

We are going to celebrate Sunday though. We've got Nana and Papi lined up to help with the boys and we're going to spend some time together! Woohoo! (Thanks, Robert & Jamye!)

So, Happy Anniversary to US! I love you, Aaron!

*Grace*

Clearly there was something more to it

Tears come gushing out of my sweet Johnathan's eyes as he walks up to me asking

"Why didn't you come to wipe my heiny?"

"Um, what? You're crying because Daddy came instead of me to wipe your bottom?"

"Yes."

Clearly there was something more to it than that. Something deeper behind those crocodile tears.

It was 8:30, a little past his bedtime, when he got up to go potty. Funny, having to use the bathroom is the only excuse we let him use to come out of his room past bedtime, and almost every night he takes us up on it. But tonight was different. You would have thought his world was ending with one look at his sad little face. Eyes brimming with wetness, cheeks moist with the trail of tears.

"Oh Johnathan, are you really upset because I couldn't come wipe your bottom or is it something else?"

"No, I just wanted you to come wipe me."

"Honey, are you really saying that you're crying these big tears just because I didn't come to help you in the bathroom, or is it something else? Daddy helped you, right? You still had help."

"But I wanted you to help, I just wanted you to come...I just wanted you."

There it was, and I knew it too. Somewhere beneath the explanation of wanting only me to wipe his bottom was the realization that what he really wanted was just me. And I knew why.

Our nighttime routine hadn't gone as usual, and Johnathan is a stickler for routine. Due to a rowdy little brother (eh, hem, Eli, that was you!) we weren't able to read our book like normal and the progression of our bedtime wind-down with it's clockwork-like schedule of reading a book, singing, and nighttime snuggles was cut short.

So, as I knelt in front of Johnathan on the kitchen floor, my mother's heart knew what he couldn't put into words.

"Honey, does your heart hurt because you need some extra love from mommy before you go to bed? Do you need me to love on you?"

"Yes, that's why I'm crying."

Johnathan's love language is touch. Even at his young age it is so apparent. When ever he gets really happy about something he will say "I want to come give you a kiss!" and will run over to plant one on me. Whenever he is upset he wants to be held. When he thinks I am upset he wants to be close to me. He hugs me multiple times throughout the day and is still a big snuggler. He needs it. And tonight, even though was going to bed, his little love tank was running on empty. His normal "fill-ups" that happen during our bedtime routine hadn't happened and the reason why he looked like his world was ending is probably because his little heart felt like it was. Feeling a mother's (and father's) love is a powerful thing, and when it's absent (or feels that way to a child) it can be devastating.

So, we went over to the couch and had some snuggle time. I sang a simple song (Jingle Bells, his request!) and then he skipped happily into bed and is now fast asleep.

It's nice to feel needed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Lord, please help me to always be able to slow down, and be able to see into the heart of my children. Help me to be able to give them what they need through your grace. Help them to see You in me, and to eventually come running to You when their love tanks run dry. Fill me up so I can fill them up.

In Jesus' Name,
Amen

Vintage Letter Tiles {DIY} Canvas Typography!

The last few weeks I've been focused on creating my inventory for Etsy, but today I decided to take a break from all that and just make something for our home! I wanted to try my hand at painting even though I am absolutely NOT an artist with a paintbrush...however, I can draw stick figures with the best of 'em, so I figured drawing a tree was right up my alley! I also wanted to include one of my favorite Bible verses in my project, and this is what I came up with:

I started with a blank canvas and literally just dropped blobs of various shades of blue for the sky, green for the grass and then blue and gray for the water. I simply wiped it all around with a dry cloth until the canvas was covered.

Here are the paint colors I used:

And the paintbrushes...just some from a starter kit at Hobby Lobby.

After I had my background I drew my tree...my sticks!...with 3 different sized brushes. I mixed together a mixture of black and gray paint for sort of a charcoal colored hue.

Then I added some leaves by mixing together some green and gray paints and just used the dry end of a brush to tap them on the branches.

Close up of the leaves...they sort of blend in to the background.

Then, I grabbed my set of vintage Anagrams letter tiles that I purchased on Etsy and went to work with my verse. I simply hot-glued them to my (drying!) painting...yes, I was impatient!

And there we have it! A beautiful gift for ME!!! ;)

My abbreviated version of Psalm 1:1-3

Blessings, *Grace*

Linking up to Home Stories A to Z!

Grace Note Gifts Grand Opening Sale! :)

Hello all! My shop is up and running with some new categories added just today thanks to some dreary weather...good time to stay inside and work on my listings! So, to launch the creation of Grace Note Gifts on Etsy I am offering a 25% discount as part of my Grand Opening Sale! Enter Coupon Code GNG2012 at Checkout!

Happy Friday!

Blessings, Grace

Self Sabotage

Have you ever had good intentions of doing something and then become a victim of self sabotage? I have, lately in fact, and I thought maybe writing about it would help end the cycle.....

Babies. We've got 'em...we've lost them...we want more...but boy, am I bound and determined to use every excuse in the book to postpone the creation of the next one! :) Eli is going on 2 and we figured we'd be ready for another one about now...Aaron is ready, I am too, sort of, but I when it gets down to it I am a big ol' scared mess about getting pregnant again. After 4 losses, Johnathan's less than ideal pregnancy and Eli's scary delivery there is just something inside me that is more than a little apprehensive, and I'm sure that's completely normal. But I need to get over it!

Recently I decided on just one last "excuse" before we tried again for baby #3 (#7 really). I wanted to get "in shape"...well just in a different shape than I am now, a more toned, fit shape...and that was going to be my last roadblock before having another baby. BUT, I have totally sabotaged myself in regards to getting into the shape that I thought I had to be in before I get preggers again. *If I'm not in shape, I can't get pregnant yet...and then I can put off facing my fears until later, that sounds good (insert cookie in mouth, forget about working out!)*...yeah, that's how my mind works I guess.

So, I am realizing that sometimes you've just got to take that leap of faith, and (obviously) I can't be the one in control...I've tried, and failed...so I'm just going to give up this fight of worrying needlessly about the future regarding the next baby and just see what happens! AND, I am going to try to get even more fit so I can keep up with my boys who have their own way of keeping me in shape! :)

Blessings,
*Grace*

Our Garden {at Night}

The last several weeks the boys and I have been working on our side garden. We have a neat little area right off of our living room that had been previously neglected, and I wanted to take advantage of the outdoor space. We've potted some herbs, planted a few flowers and hung bird feeders & houses. We've hung some signs and frames on the wall for visual interest and just yesterday we mulched the bed to cover the dead vine-y mess that used to be there. Then, for some added nighttime ambiance, we strung outdoor lights on the pillars and overhead surrounding our little garden area. The effect is much more magical in person, but I tried to capture it the best I can here with my limited photography skills and simple camera.








*Grace*

An Afternoon with Uncle Brosky!

I got a call today at noon from my brother asking if he could drop by...well of course!!! He had just landed at DFW which just so happens to be fairly close to our home. Yay!!! I told the boys that "Uncle Brosky" was coming over and they both shouted for joy and started running around excitedly...it was pretty cute! I also gave Aaron a quick text to see if he could join us for lunch in between his morning and afternoon patients. Uncle Brosky (Grant), is a much loved person by us...he is my favorite brother, after all (*wink*)...and having a chance to get to hang out with him is always a blessing. We had a wonderful time together and the little dudes especially had fun building (and wrecking) train tracks and block castles with their beloved Uncle Grant.

We love you, Bro!!!








*Grace*

Extra, Extra, Read All About Etsy!!

It's official, I've listed my first 8 items on Etsy...and have already made two sales, thanks Aunt Carolyn! Grace Note Gifts has begun!

Come and take a look...no pressure though, I'm just excited about it! :)

*Grace*

Bird Watching

Have you ever noticed how cheery the early morning songs from birds are? I never really noticed it until a few weeks ago when I heard a sweet little bird singing out in the early morning hours. I realized that I hadn't heard that simple melody in several months since it's winter, technically speaking, here in Texas. And all of a sudden I realized what I'd been missing, or have just been overlooking, for so long. The sweet, simple, happy chirps from our little feathered friends are so cheerful, and really do plant a little happy seed in my heart.

So, to cultivate little bits of the simple joys in life, the boys and I have tried to encourage some little birdies to come and visit our side yard. We've added some feeders with different types of food, a little watering station, a bird house and that's just the beginning. We've already succeeded in having a little sparrow couple frequent one of our feeders. We all love watching them eat and are already in need of refilling their food!




Here's to life's simple pleasures! Have a great Thursday, y'all!

*Grace*

Something {New}

Okay, so all of y'all know about my obsession with candles, right? Well over Christmas break my sis Gloria and I were talking about our dreams for the future. We talked (and laughed!) over things we wanted to start or do with our lives. Our discussion was lively and ended up pulling in the rest of the Pittman siblings, and in the end we all shared our dreams and hopes for the future.

One of my "dreams" if you will was to begin making my own candles since I love using them so much. And a few weeks after Christmas I started researching candle making and made my first purchase of supplies. I decided to go with Soy wax for many reasons...Sustainable, U.S. Grown (my suppliers grower at least), Biodegradable and sort of the "In" thing right now. Anyways, for the last month+ I've been candle-making and trying to come up with my "perfect candle"...and boy, there is a lot to it...wax/fragrance oil ratio, proper wick size for various jar sizes, figuring out the right heat temp and pour temp for the different waxes, calculating burn rate, etc. There is a lot more to this candle creating thing than I first thought, but I am loving learning all about it.

So, that brings me to the point of this post! Since I love making and creating candles (and jewelry and other items) I thought why not open up an Etsy shop where I can share some of my favorite things...for a small price I might add(!)...with other people looking to buy quality, hand-crafted goods. I can't say this is the first time I've wanted to offer some of my creations for sale...in the past I've sold jewelry (Ruby Moon Designs) via local gift shops in the town we used to live in and briefly offered it up online...but I have so many (too many) things that I love to create so I decided to branch out from offering up just jewelry and will be displaying a wider variety of things for sale. Mostly this is just so I can keep on creating without building up too much stuff, haha! :)

If you want to check it all out, please feel free to visit me at my new shop on Etsy, Grace Note Gifts or at my new blog where I'll post updates on my latest creations. As of now there aren't any listings up yet on Etsy, but they should be up within the next week or so!

Blessings, Grace

Coincidence? I don't think so!

Last week I was super stressed out mid-week due to Johnathan having some asthma issues. Most of the time when my boys are sick I am okay...ear infections, strep, allergies and the common cold don't phase me like they used to, but every once in a while I am seized by fear when something more "serious" happens with their health.

Tuesday evening/Wednesday were the worst for Johnathan and thus my worry, which I let run rampant, got the better of me. Thursday morning I sat down to do my quiet time (the first time I'd done it last week) and the verse for my devotional was this one: Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7...Coincidence, I think not! The whole devo was about bringing Jesus our anxious thoughts...something I am bad about...and trusting Him with our troubles. I have to admit this is one area I really struggle with, so the verse and subsequent encouraging words throughout the devotional were more than timely.

Here are a few words of wisdom from my devotional (taken from His Victorious Indwelling, Feb. 16th devo).

"One finds constantly that ninety percent of our trials and sorrows are made up of anticipated or imaginary evils, which only exist in our disordered, unbelieving minds." -Food for the Desert

"You would not be easily startled by events if you saw all that you have in Christ to enable you to meet everything calmly." -George V. Wigram

"You ought to begin your day with this confidence, that you have enough in Christ to meet every difficulty that may befall you." -J.B. Stoney


I wanted to write this post mainly to remind myself to continually cast my cares and anxiety on Jesus. Eli is sick this week with RSV (yuck!) so I have the perfect opportunity to give my cares to the One who can give me true peace!

Happy Monday!
*Grace*

A {FULL} Week

This past week was a full one...almost every day was super busy and we had a bunch of fun even amidst some stress (my stress-everyone else was super!).

Monday was spent getting things ready for Valentine's Day...Johnathan had a party at school and we were the ice-cream bringers...mostly so I could pick out his own special, dairy-free ice cream and label it properly so his teachers would give only that to him.

Tuesday morning we did our own little Valentine's with the boys...I even let them eat a piece of candy before breakfast, shame-shame on me!...and then Johnathan went to have fun at his Valentine's party at school while Eli and I went to grab something for Aaron. Tuesday afternoon and evening Johnathan started having asthma trouble (the stress-maker for me, I HATE when the boys have breathing issues). Aaron and I had a low-key evening...we made creme brulee, gave each other our Valentine's letters and called it a good day!

Wednesday morning Johnathan woke up in full-blown asthma attack and so we started him on his treatment. Luckily the meds started to work by noon so we hopped over to spend some time with my sweet sisters Gaily and Gwenny. Gwen hosted a wonderful get-together for us moms with our boys.

Thursday was spent getting ready to host a dear family from our church. We had them over for a wonderful time of eating and fellowship. Their 3 kiddos were super sweet and the visit was just about as pleasant as it could be!

Friday was a restful day more or less. We ran a few errands and just hung out around the house mostly.

Saturday we spent running a few more errands in preparation for hosting a b-day party for my sweet sis Gwen. The house was already in party mode after hosting our church friends Thursday so preparing for Gwenny was a cinch! I did add a few pink touches around our home in the form of some simple flowers to add a festive touch!

And today, well it's been a day of rest. Here are some pics from the week...yeah, I went a little flower crazy with it...it's not often that we have pink in our home and the girl in me enjoyed it! Haha!





















Blessings, *Grace*

Favorite Find {A Trash to Treasure Chair!}

About a week ago I was just heading out from our street when I spied an adorable chair in someones trash pile. The garbage truck was scheduled to come that day and I couldn't risk such a cute chair ending up in the dump, so I grabbed it up knowing I could do something with it. When I got it home I realized that the seat was missing (probably why it was in the trash pile), but no matter, I had an idea in mind. After discovering it was painted with a paint that would not withstand the outdoor weather I outfitted in with some indoor/outdoor paint similar to it's original color. For the missing seat I simply painted a piece of plywood that I found laying around in our garage...and it was already the perfect size, score! I picked up the cute flowers sign at World Market and the pots and herbs/flowers I got at Home Depot. There is still some work that needs to go into our little side "yard", but I am happy with this small improvement...such a happy place to look at now, although I'll be switching out the plants pretty soon for some that prefer more shade. Looks cute for now tho, doesn't it?!!



Blessings,
*Grace*

Climbing Trees {4 Little Tarzans!}

Yesterday we had a fun sister & sons day that my sweet sister, Gail, hosted. During the course of the afternoon the boys decided they wanted to climb trees, and even though Eli was a bit too little to do it by himself he still wanted to join in on the fun, so I propped him up in the tree. Looking at those 4 little Tarzan boys in the tree was beyond priceless, and I had to capture the moment. Aren't they just precious?!!





Thanks, Gaily and Coley-Woley for hosting such a fun day yesterday!

*Grace*

Candles & Cute Boys

This past week has been a fun one of experimenting with candle making and hanging out with my little dudes. It's been a wet week and the boys are a bit under the weather, so it's been nice to stay inside, make candles and cookies, play and watch movies, have fires and snuggle...my kind of week! Sometimes it's good to have some days that are just a bit lazy...









Have a great weekend, y'all!
*Grace