Simply Living

While visiting family in Oregon I was struck by the simplicity of small town life.  I used to live this life and forgot how different it is from the life I live now.We left this small town for the promise of a brighter future in California.  Now, let me say, I know God lead us to California and our life as a family was forever changed for the better by that move.  It was not easy as we left my family and loved ones.  But I know for us, we were meant to leave and forge a new life in a new culture.





The hustle and bustle of the Bay Area in California is certainly a different pace from small town USA.  There are so many things I love about living in the Bay; the mild weather, beautiful scenery, cultural events, all the excitement living near San Francisco brings. You can easily find fresh local produce, organic and hormone free food, amazing restaurants.  There is a continual barrage of things to do.  But with this came the need to take all of this in.  Make it part of our lives. With so many things available to us, we can't possibly ever do everything because our lives have become so busy.  There are so many things to care about; education, business, work, health, exercise, kids activities, sports, spiritual life, giving, helping others.  Just the larger volume of people to see and be friends with and events to partake in just make my life feel like it is busting at the seams.  It is beautiful and full of adventure, but sometimes I get soooo busy, I forget how wonderful it all is.







When I return to this small town of 10,000 people, the place where three of my children were born, I remember the good things.  Days of leisure, 5 minute drives to get to anywhere in town, driving through the countryside, the big sky, the whole town coming out for football games or firework shows. A sense of community and belonging. And time...time to connect, time to sit without distraction, to visit with loved ones.


I want to take this simple living lifestyle, peel away the habit I have learned to have to "do" something all the time and insert it into the beautiful life I have here.  It will take practice and actually some discipline.  I will learn to say no to some things in order to fully experience the things I say yes to.

Living simply is a choice and not a location! 

xoxo,

Carol

Craftivism Day for We Are Kenya

Hi there crafty people and do-gooders!

It has been almost a year since I have had a craftivism day and I sure do miss it.  When I can do something I am passionate about to show love to someone else, I feel full, joy and purposeful.

These small acts are done with the great hope that it will make a difference in one persons life.   I love to think about the small child that will hold the bear or wear the dress that I have made and my hope is they will know that someone somewhere cares about them.

Here are a few things we have done in the past for Craftivism Day:

We got together here to make bibs for babies in China,  Christmas Stockings for tornado victims in Alabama.

We  have made Birthing Kits for mothers in Haiti and  Pillow Case Dresses for girls in Africa.

This time we will join with Crafthope to make some handmade teddy bears.  The non-profit organization We Are Kenya has opened up a new dorm for orphans in Soweto Kenya.  Soweta is the second largest slum in Kenya.  We Are Kenya believes that changing the future of the youth will change a society.  They work in Soweta, bringing food, education and shelter to the orphans and children living in vulnerable situations.   They have asked for a few things for their new dorm.  They need twin sized quilts, stuffed animals, knitted beanies and scarfs and re-usable sanitary napkins.

Photo from Crafthope

We will make stuffed bears.  If you don't sew, or don't think you are crafty and can't do this, never fear.  This is a really easy project. Besides, there is always something for everyone to do, even if it is just hanging out with friends and cheering us on.

I found this great Free pattern for a stuffed teddy.  His name is Warren the Charity Bear.  I found him on Shiny Happy World.

Photo from Shiny Happy World

We will gather in my home on October 19th at 1:00 to make as many Charity Bears as we can in one afternoon.  If you have a sewing machine, please bring it.  If you would like to join us, please let me know.  Also, feel free to pass this on to anyone you think would be interested in joining us.

Hope to see you soon!

xoxo,

Carol

Claire Bear

Meet Claire!

She is full of sass!  She's spunky, doesn't like to be told what to do and gives the best hugs in the whole world!

I just love her spirit!  It will be so fun watching her grow up to see how this independence develops.  

Something I have learned from raising five kids is to let them be them. Let their personality blossom.  Of course it's our job to guide them and teach them but we have to remember to allow their own individuality shine through. 

Claire's parents are great at this. I consider myself blessed to be a part of her life and to get to watch her grow. 

I am so excited to see the adventures that lie ahead for her.

xoxo,

Carol

Craft bunting Easy for kids

So my all time favorite blog is Under the Sycamore by Ashley Cambell. This is the first blog I ever followed. I never really knew about blogs before this. I was amazed at her outlook on life, her heart and vulnerability. It caused me to look at my own life and family and start noticing the small things that make life so rich and lovely!

I have been following her for several years now and it even inspired me to started my own blog.  

Ashley posted an easy DIY the other day and I wanted to try it with Chloe. You can see her post and instructions here. 

We had a fun project date while her siblings were napping at home. 

Super easy for kids to do and great for their motor skills.

Have fun.

Xoxo,

Carol

When Time Stands Still

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Have you ever had one of those moments when it felt like time stood still?  Even if for a moment?

I have had this experience a few times over the last few years.  

One time was at a birthday dinner for Courtny.  We were at a local mexican restaurant with our whole family and some really great friends.  As I sat there watching everyone laughing, celebrating and generally just being happy, I was struck by how I almost missed out on these great moments.  You see  after 4 years of marriage, Tom and I divorced. 5 years later we reconciled and remarried, but it was not easy.  We still didn't know how to be married.  We were broken people who loved each other, but didn't know how to recognize or deal with our brokeness.  God's love saved us.  As we learned about the unending love that God has for us we started to grow and change and put each other before ourselves.  We had wonderful times and really hard times, but we kept going.  We didn't give up!  We locked that back door and decided we were in. So when you can't leave, you are forced to change and figure out how to work things out.  I am so glad we did.  I would have missed out on these magical moments of watching our family loving each other.  The growth that happens when there is unity and connection and love is miraculous.

We love to gather together as a family and with friends.  I have these moments of time standing still more and more.  This family night was one of those nights.  We weren't all here this night, but it was still magical.  Our family is growing within our immediate family unit as well as with friends we like to "adopt" into our clan.  I am grateful!

My meager attempt at a pinterst project.

The firepit is a great gathering place.

Snuggles

She loves her daddy.

Story time in the teepee.

Great friends and new babies.

Grateful for this guy who works so hard to make our marriage and family a priority.

Until next time.

xoxo,

Carol

Hi friends.  I finally updated our family photo.  We have grown by 2 since the last time we took pictures together. Our family friend Christina also joined us since she is practically part of the family.  Brittny took all the photos here. She was such a trooper seeing how she had to set the camera and run to get in the picture in time. 

Brittny and Jon have 3 beautiful kids now.  Chloe, Claire and Maverick.  Chloe is as smart as can be, Claire is a pistol and sweetheart all rolled into one and Mav is the sweetest little guys you could ever meet.

Everyone is healty and busy and doing great.

Tom and I still love hanging out together and make date times out of any type of activity we find ourselves involved in, whether it is work related or kid related or getting stuck in Winnemucca, NV for two days waiting for our car to get repaired.

Here is to a new year full of great expectations for more wonderful memories, fun times with friends and family and hopefully accomplishing some goals in the midst of this crazy, exciting life.

xoxo,

Carol

PS  Stay tuned. Tom is turning 50 this year and we are planning a great party that is totally perfect for him.

Family vacation.

Last week we went on an amazing houseboat vacation on Shasta Lake. Our very dear friends invited us to share their vacation and we had a blast. My favorite time of day was going to bed and falling asleep while staring at the stars. It was so beautiful and peaceful. This is what I woke up to in the mornings. Why don't I sleep outside more often?

Kids are so great at entertaining themselves. I never would think to cover myself in mud to keep myself busy. I loved watching the kids play. For the most part our cell phones had no signal. There was a LOT of grumbling about that, but I was really grateful for it. Instead of having their noses buried in technology, everyone was playing, having conversations, relaxing. 

There was lots of tubing, wake boarding, and waterskiing. The dad of the family we went with grew up going to the lake every summer and is incredible at...well any type of water sport. He has all types of toys. We were so lucky to get to try things out. 

Here is Kelly barefoot skiing. 

And doing flips on the knee board. 

We also had plenty of time for relaxing.  Here the guys were snoring in stereo.

I think family vacations and traditions are so great. I value these times and am grateful for the opportunities!  Thank you Asbes. 

Xoxo,

Carol