Seasons & Being Prayerful

Been doing a lot of thinking lately......and a whole lot of praying.  I have several things going on in my life, some that are absolutely fabulous, and some not so fabulous.  We ALL have that going on.  One night, I was having a conversation with my Mom about the seasons we are both going through in our lives.  I'm talking about the struggles of day-to-day, the big and little problems we face in our lives, the things we "deal" with.  My Mom had been sharing hers, and I was sharing mine.  We laughed, cried and cried some more, and hugged a lot!  Then my Mom had brought up a friend of hers and what she was going through......man let me tell you, I thought I had it rough!!  Whew, I was just so relieved that I wasn't going through that.  Then I stopped and thought, if her friend had heard my struggles, would she have felt the same way?  I bet so!  Why, well I'd like to think we are all, in some way or another,  in tune with each other on the radar of how heavy is your load compared to mine.  We are all sensitive to what it means to each of us.  That being said, there are certainly days when I will, and have thought I'm having it rougher you and everyone else on this planet.  Heck, I just had one of those a few days ago! Those are what I like to call Valerie Pity Parties of 1.  I am no fun on those days.  But after the tears, sniffles, thoughts and how am I gonna fix this, I give it all to the Lord, and man is my load ever lighter!!!  Amen!

That conversation got me thinking more and more of how in tune I need to be with other people and their seasons, situations, troubles and struggles.  Mine can be a drop in the bucket compared to what someone else is going through.  These days I've been a lot more open and aware of how prayerful I need and have been, for others in my life.  When I have my alone time in the morning, or at night (depending on how my day starts with lil' hoss) I am just amazed at who comes to my mind when I'm allowing myself QUIET TIME, time to think, pray, talk to the Lord, time to just be still.  People I haven't thought of in weeks.  It's happened twice this week already!  I highly recommend you try it if you aren't already in practice of this.  There are so many more people in your life, close to you, acquaintance, church friend, co-worker, guy at the grocery store that needs prayer. 

Just wanted to share that lil' tid bit with you..........ya' never know what your thinking, I'm thinking or your momma may be thinking that lights a spark!

My Mary & Martha {MM} Moment.....

Ya'll know the story of Mary & Martha right?  Jesus and his disciples visit the house of Lazarus and his sisters Mary & Martha (their story is in Luke 10: 38-42 (NIV).

The visit is right around mealtime, and Martha is busy preparing the food for their meal in the kitchen while Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus hearing His message.  Martha then complains to our Lord about Mary and how she is not fulfilling her duties in the kitchen and making Martha do all the work!  Martha is then reprimanded (and she deserved it!) for complaning and Jesus tells her "....Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (verse 42)  I don't now much about Mary and Maratha's personalities, but I have my inclinations.  I'd like to think that maybe Martha was the older sister and was more of a leader and more hospitable than her sister?  Mary was maybe a tad bit lazy leaving all the cooking to her older sister, or maybe she was a bit shy?  I don't know, but I do know they are two complete opposites! 

That right there ladies and gents gave me a spiritual spanking, as my lovely friend Allison always says!  It woke me up!  I had my first M&M moment, and caught myself in it.......after it happened.  I am so glad to be able to share this with you because on my faith walk, I have been realizing more and more moments when the Holy Spirit has touched me, speaking to me and just being alive in my spirit!

We were at the park the other day and we had been there about 45 min and it was about time to pack it up and head home for lunch, then nap time.  Of course like any almost 2yr old would do, Holden threw a fit when I picked him up screaming and crying to head to the car.  I happened to just glance to my right and saw another mommy at the park with her little girl; and the look on the moms face just touched my heart.  She was sitting on a brick wall watching her daughter play and her face just looked somber.  I just felt like I needed to stop what I was doing and go to her.  So I did.  BUT in the back of my mind I was thinking: I need to get home!  I gotta get this boy fed, get him down for a nap and finish up the 4 baskets of laundry, vacuum, clean up the kitchen from breakfast and start prepping dinner all before he wakes up!  So I put Holden down half way out of the park and he bolted back to the play-scape.  I walked over to her and said hi and introduced myself.  She didn't even look up, just said hi and a smirk.  I started to make small talk about her little girl and Holden, commenting on the weather, ya know the usual suspects in a stranger to stranger conversation.  Then out of no where she just broke down crying, and I'm talking the ugly kind of cry; sobbing so loud both the kids looked over to see what the noise was.  I just held her, gave her a big hug and told her it was going to be alright.  I hugged on her for a few minutes, and she started to tell me that her and her longtime boyfriend broke up for good and he left for out of state a few days ago, and wants no contact with his little girl any more.  I told her my I'm sorries and how bad I felt for her, then I asked her if it would be OK if I prayed for her.  This is HUGE for me because I have never done this before, let alone to a complete stranger!  She said yes very welcoming and with a smile.  So we held hands and I said a prayer over her and her daughter and just felt the Holy Spirit in doing this.  She gave me a huge hug and said thank you.  I gave her my mommy card and told her to call/text/email whenever she need to talk or to just hang out.  

Now I know some of you may be thinking, how is this a Mary & Martha moment.  Well, it gave me an opportunity to share Jesus with someone, and it showed me that I need to have a heart/mind more like Mary, and not Martha.  I need to be more attentive to my spiritual radar and when it goes off and when to engage it.  I have been feeling my spiritual radar more and more; I'm just learning how to use it!  That moment at the park when I was about to leave, I had a mind like Martha; I gotta get home, put him down to nap and and prepare for the rest of the evening, I gotta get it all done!  But the Holy Spirit put in on me right then and there to have a heart like Mary; taking the time to stop and listen to her story and be there for her, share His message with her.  

I have yet to hear from her, and I may never hear from her. We've been back to that park twice since that's happened and I haven't seen her.  But I've prayed for her and her little girl.  I know the good Lord is gonna provide and take care of them!  They're in good hands!  I think we have Mary & Martha moments like these to become more aware of ourselves and how we look at situations.  We are challenged by these moments to grow in our faith and to not be so busy in the world, to take time to listen. 

DIY Printable {Firefighter} Chalkboard Birthday Board

It's that time again!  Holden's 2nd birthday is right around the corner (23 days to be exact!) and I'm crafting up a storm.  Last years theme was Mustache, this year is Fire Fighter!  Pretty fitting for our family!  :)

I hand drew his stat board out last year.  Not too shabby for not being an artist, crafty is an art yes, but I cannot draw like my talented brother!

Taken with my cell phone, sorry for poor image quality!

After a little Pinterest inspiration, I discovered I could go digital ya'll-- MIND BLOWN!  :)  Having said that, it was NOT easy for me in the beginning, but I figured it out none the less!

Let's just dive right in!  The chalkboard sign I made was a 16x20 Poster size.  In the Haus of Hughes, you go big or you go home!  So, just keep that in the forefront of your mind when you are making your board; as to what size you want and what size to look for in a download.  Everything I used to create this was FREE!  Major bonus in my book! 

First and foremost, I will try to make this as simple as possible, but it really isn't in reality.  Well it is, and it isn't.  You gotta do some prep work before you can just make the stat board. 

Before you Start:
 -I can't remember what blog/site I found my chalkboard background, (I wanna give credit where credit is due!) but I did bookmark the link!  So here is the link I used for a large chalkboard background   Save this photo to your computer.

-Go to PicMonkey (a FREE photo editing site) to re size the background the the size you want.  PAY ATTENTION CLOSELY HERE.  Chose the make a collage option; upload your photo.  When you start you will have three sections to chose from, delete any two, doesn't matter which ones.  Now re size your photo; at the bottom on the one section you have there is a small white box with two different numbers in it "1234x1234" Change those numbers to 2400x3000 which is equal to 16x20.  On the left side of the screen you will see your uploaded photo, drag it over into the white box and there you have your newly sized chalkboard background, be sure to save it!

-Go to DaFont and check out the basquillion different fonts they have!  Oh, did I mention they are FREE as well!  Chose to your liking what you want on your stat board.  Here are a few of my favorites.  The possibilities are endless!  ***be sure to install all your fonts you've downloaded before making your sign, otherwise, they won't be there***

- It's very helpful if you have Photoshop, but I don't have an extra $700 laying around to buy a program I don't know how to use.  What's the next best thing, Gimp!  Oh, did I again for get to mention this is FREE too!  Download Gimp 2.8 (the latest version).  Now I'm not gonna lie I spent half of my day trying to figure out how to use the program to make my sign.

So here in order is how I did mine; trust me this will save you a huge headache and time!

Open the program
Under File--choose "Open" and find your 16x20 chalkboard
Under Windows--choose "dockable dialogs"
When the drop down screen pulls up chose "layers"
Here is where you will see all the layers of your work on your project.
To start adding text to your sign on the left side there is a "T" in your toolbox box; which stands for text.  Just pick a spot on your chalkboard and start adding text where you want.  Change colors, fonts, size even rotate them if you need to. 

Doing my sign this was way easiest for me because when I have the layers box open, it showed me every single text box I used on the sign, and that is how you go back to edit/move the boxes where you want them. Take some time to get familiar with the program before you start on a project, so you will be comfortable and knowledgeable in all that it can do.

Drum roll please............................................... ta-da!  Here is Holden's Birthday Stat board in all it's glory.

I printed mine at CVS on satin paper, they are $13.99.  They have poster boards you can print on, but I wanted to be able to save these for memorabilia for Holden and I can't roll up a board and stick it in the attic. Food for thought!  ;)

If you have any questions or need some help on making your sign, please email me and I will do my best to help!  Please link my blog if you do a chalkboard birthday sign yourself, I'd LOVE to see your creativity and hard work!  :)

 Have a blessed day!

Homemade Kiddie Foot/Hand Artwork

If any of you have a Grandma/Nana or Pappy/Pepaw’s like we do in the Haus of Hughes they LOVE any art of craft that we Holden makes!  Check out two of the gifts this year we have made!

So for Nana (Kenny’s Mom) and Grandma (my Mom) we made them these for Mother’s Day

For Pepaw’s (Kenny’s Dad) we made this for him. Which I literally made an *hour* before we went out for his birthday dinner.  Thank the Lord for this super-hot summer weather we are having, that it dried in like 10 minutes!  

This is just something simple somewhat simple you and your wiggly little one can do together in your own kitchen.  J I would HIGHLY recommend doing this after breakfast when they are still peppy or after a nap….any other time will turn into disaster.  Fair warning, I speak from experience.  And preferably one artwork at a time…..I did two Mother’s Day gifts and even though it was one right after the other, Holden just seemed to sense the urgency in how I wanted them to be toddler messy, but yet toddler neat (haha) and you’d think WWIII was happening when I painted his hands/feet. 

Materials:

Canvas or Cardstock

Paint

Foam brushes (one for each colos)

Sharpie

Toddler Feet/Hands

Lots of Patience

Think up any design you like or want to make, be creative.  Use the sharpie to write out your phrase or saying.  We used canvas for ours, but if you chose to use cardstock you can put your work of art in a nice frame for display.  If you chose to use the canvas as we did, there are little easels at Hobby Lobby or Michales for the artwork to be displayed on as well.  :) 

Please share with me what you come up with!  Enjoy and have fun!

Summer Catch Up!

Soooo again it's been 3 months (again) since I've written on here!  Eeeeeek!  I keep telling myself I need to post more, but then time gets away and I don't. :( I guess you could say I'm living life, versus writing about it?  ;)

What I do have is a list of blog topics to write saved in my phone and a few topics written out but never got posted.  So in a nutshell, here are some of our highlights of what we did these past three months.  They were kinda epic!  :)

Holden and I went glam-ping for the first time in Nana and Pepaw's 5th wheel!  Daddy couldn't come because he was on call. :(  But we did have an awesome time with Nana and Pepaw!

Daddy built Holden his birthday gift from both sets of grandparents!  His own play scape in the backyard!  He loves it and it's fun to see him play on it.

Summer is upon us, so we've had several dips in the kiddie pool in our backyard, in our neighbors pool AND hot tub--bonus, and had our first mommy and me swim lesson!

I finished my first ever king size rag quilt for our bedroom.  Took me about a month total to finish it, but I did it all on my own and I love it!

I've discovered Parks & Recreations on Netflix and it's hilarious and is what most of my nights after Holden is in bed.  ;)  I love me some Ron Swanson.........kinda reminds me of my husband!  lol

We've gone on our first bike ride with our bike trailer, we got for FREE!  Holden loves it and says "weeee" and giggles the whole time we're riding.

Had our first visit to a water park Schlitterbahn!  Our good friend Tiffany and her daughter McKenzie went with us and they both had a blast!  We had a whole day with no crankiness and water filled fun!

I taught VBS; Agency D3, for the first time ever at my church.  I had a blast and loved it.  I taught 3rd grade and had two great helpers who made the whole experience great!

We celebrated 4th of July for the first time!  Holden being 9 months last year, really couldn't enjoy the festivities of the holiday, so this year we had family shirts that match, walked in a 4th of July parade and saw fireworks!

That about wraps it up! Until next time....(which I hope is next week!)  :

Brightest Blessings,
Valerie

Easter Basket Ideas {non-candy} for 18+ months

As Easter is sneaking up right up behind me, and by right up behind me I mean in 4 days!  I am scrambling my brain as of what to put in an 18 months old Easter basket.  Holden was 6 months last year, and didn’t get to go walk around the yard and search for eggs, so this year he gets to and I want to make the first year memorable!  But with that in mind, I also don’t want my son bouncing off the walls from a sugar high that I have to deal with the sugar crash later in the day.  No thanks dude!

So what is one mommy to put in the eggs of the egg hunt for her 18 month old?  From above talking about sugar rushes/crashes, I surely don’t want to put all candy in there!  He’s never had candy, nor will he till he’s 10 if I can help it!  And any and all candy that goes in there will be consumed by me or my hubby…probably the latter, but I digress…….

So I got some good ideas from my good ol’ noggin, aaaaaaand my pantry.  Also mommies/daddies, keep in mind, these kiddos don't know what's "supposed" to be in the eggs, so let your imagination go wild!  It's just fun to watch them explore and the joy on their face when they find it and see the little surprise in there!   

So here is what will be in some of Holden’s Easter eggs in no particular order:

-Box of raisins

-Yogurt covered raisins

-Goldfish

-Teddy Grahams

-Coins/dollar bills for his piggy bank

-Buddy Bucks (for our local grocery store game machine)

-Crayons (if they fit haha)

-Stickers

-Baby carrots

-Little People toys

-Dried fruit

-Vanilla wafers

-Animal Crackers

-Granola

***DISCLAIMER***  Before putting ANY food items in your plastic eggs, be sure to wash them!  ;)

 

So now you have some candy free ideas of what to stick in your toddler Easter eggs for their hunt! 

Now here is what we will have in Holden’s Easter Basket.

Oh *side note*!  I got these really cute bunny footprints at our local grocery store to tape down to the floor leading outside to the deck in the backyard that leads to the grass where the eggs will be hidden!  It will be epic!  So if you see those anywhere, grab them and have fun!  

Here is what all I have for Holden's actual Easter basket....this won't all fit in the basket per say, but I might put it all in his wagon and have it outside for him.  :)

 Here is are some photos of what is in the basket in case you need some ideas!

I got this basket at World Market on clearance for $4 woot woot!  We have Holden's first baby bible in there, The Bunny Book, a train book, and some little rubber duckies that swim in the tub!

These are some plastic eggs I got at the dollar store, for you guessed it, $1!  Camo and sports theme.  Typical little boy themed stuff. :)

Grandma Sharon got all these lovelies for Master Holden. :)
 

Praying

This won't be a long entry, mostly because it's 11:22pm and I need to get to bed.  But this was weighing on my mind and had to get it out there in world, so maybe someone else who needs to read/hear this, it will reach them. 

Don't underestimate the power of praying.  Ever.  In my current bible study class, Live a Praying Life by Jennifer Kennedy Dean (who I got to meet last weekend....will post about that in the next week!) and it has just opened my eyes to a new kind of praying.  Not "how" I pray, but how I pray.  By that I mean, not the words that are mashed in between Dear Lord and Amen, I mean the reason why I pray; the necessity of me praying; the process or prayer for me. 

This bible study is just amazing I can't get enough of it.  I plan to write a blog 1. about the bible study and my thoughts and 2. all my notes I have been taking during the study, I want to share with you all.

After today's bible study session, I feel that know I have this knowledge of prayer, that I need to share it with whoever is willing to listen.  In church on Sunday Pastor David said, to show up, step up and toughen up.  You may be asking, what does that have to do with prayer, EVERYTHING.  This is how I got the translation to me, everyone else probably got their own translation as well.  Showing up is half the battle, as the old saying goes.  I am showing up to the Father, I am letting him know I am there, I am letting him see me work through his praises.  Stepping it up is what I am doing with my praying life.  I am not only praying when I need something, or want something, I am always in prayer.  I am always conscious that I am praying and what I'm praying about.  Toughin' up with my way of being Holy and prayer.  I am not going to let Satan take a hold of my life or come into my life.  I am gonna rough house him if he tries to show up; I'm prepared to fight the demons!

I could go on for days right now that all is running through my head, but I got the gist of what was heavy on my heart tonight.  I hope the spirit is speaking to you as He is speaking me tonight. 

Brightest Blessings,
Valerie