Our golden shoes.

This weekend we celebrated Easter, and it was our best yet. Easter egg hunts, cake decorating, a wonderful morning at church, candy eating, family gathering and really, really great memories.

One activity we did I think will turn into a yearly tradition: reading of "The Country Bunny and the Little Golden Shoes".

(If this book is new to you, here is the one sentence recap: A country bunny with 21 children to tend to, is able to maintain her status as one of the 5 Easter bunnies, because of her mothering skills in the home, and the extra help of a special pair of magical golden shoes. Message: As long as you always try your best, you will get the help you need to do great things.)

My children have read this before, and my husband and I grew up on this story. It is one of my ALL TIME favorites. But this year, we made it even more special.

On Easter Eve, we walked over to my Grandmother's house where she was waiting for us...ready to read her very own copy of this story (she is the Country Bunny to a "T"). She read it aloud in her own words (which we audio recorded) and then at the end, I pulled out a wrapped box with a real pair of golden shoes to hang up on the wall as a reminder of the amazing message in this book. The kids were tickled to think they had their very own pair to look at.

I wish I could have posted this before Easter, but alas...it was a last minute idea. I had bought a pair of old vintage toddler shoes at an antique store years ago, and I spray painted them gold. I laced them up with leather lacing, and VOILA. A family heirloom to pull out every Easter.

If you haven't ever read this book, you may be a bit confused. You need to go read it...it is worth reading ANY time of the year!

Cuts.

We just cut 7 1/2 inches off Addie's hair over the weekend, and she loves it! We love it! The Little Miss no longer has her baby hair attached to her head, which makes me a bit sad. But oh she is so cute!

Speaking of cutting things off, I am taking a break here for the next week. The internet seems to be the #1 place to check into these days, but I am needing a mandatory diet for 1) to make sure my inspirations aren't coming strictly from a screen (the WEB'S image overload can be just that...overload!) and 2) to get some necessary projects done. With only 3 months left in my pregnancy, I have given myself some big deadlines so I can be free to mother my little one with as few distractions as possible.

So this week, there are new designs on the agenda, as well as some other less interesting but mandatory projects. But I will be back soon, hopefully with some pretty exciting updates! Spring designs are coming, and I think you will love them! So check back soon! My internet diet can't last too long...I absolutely love keeping in touch with you guys! So, farewell blog world...time for a brief vacation!

xoxo

sarah jane

Excuse me.

We aren't getting much sleep around these parts...and it isn't from a newborn...yet. It is from children old enough to think waking up in the night and keeping their parents up for hours at a time is a rather fun passtime. I mean, I love my kids and all...but I may be taking a break from blogging till I get my brain back. In the mean time...have fun making wall art!

Weekend peeks.

Around my house:

1. More color. Moving in and getting closer to having a clean vibrant space!

2. Two stickers made friends on my wall.

3. Sleepy boys after a long day of adventure seeking.

4. A happy mama who's Valentine's present was 2 FULL days to myself! Result: an almost moved in house!

Happy Site Friday: making the masterpeice.

Happy Site Friday is a state of mind today. A place I need to go in my heart and my head to get over a really hard week! I LOVE this quote, and I was reminded of it from my friend's blog here. She is a mother of 6 (including triplets) and a graphic designer. Just what I needed for a pick me up this morning!

THANK YOU ALL for your sweet well wishes on the pregnancy! I wish I had the time to email you all back individually and thank you! It is so exciting to be creating a new child inside me...more than a miracle!

But in case you EVER get the sense that motherhood is all bliss and no tears in our household, please think again. Sometimes I think because blogging is JUST A FRACTION of real life, we forget that life with children is NOT picture perfect moments. Cakies started a "messy monday" post, and I am seriously wanting to start one too. Gotta get my courage a bit hight though:) Life can be quite chaotic.

This is all from yesterday:

Ian screaming so loud in the car I can't get through to GOOG-411 on my cell to get a phone number. The automatic operator kept thinking I was trying to get the number for "AHHHHHHHH!" instead of my daughter's pre-school.

Ian finding the Costco size package of toilet paper and unraveling it in my shower.

Addie and Ian fighting!

Addie forgoing a much needed nap so she could dump out all the toys while I was napping.

People coming over to visit and being too embarrassed to invite them in yesterday!

More Fighting!

Ian finding the dental floss and unstringing THE ENTIRE 75 YARDS all over the living room and tangling it all around himself and the furniture.

Children who think 2 am is a good time to eat breakfast and do a puzzle in the play room.

The red stains from Baby Motrin all over my bedding from a midnight dose to a screaming three year old who hates medicine and is very good at spitting it out at record lengths.

BUT then I melt from the sweet:

Addie has stopped calling me "Sarah" and now calls me "Mudder"

Ian, because he can't say his "S's" very well, says "I love you too much" instead of "I love you SO much"

Addie exclaims at least once a day "Mudder, you are the most wonderful Mudder in the whole world!"

Ian needing at least 4 sets of kisses and hugs at bedtime.

Addie telling me out of the blue at lunch time: "Mudder, don't worry. I will still be your daughter when I grow up."

Ian running around the house naked for 10 minutes shouting "Horray!" after going potty for the first time.

And so much more...

So, to any of you who need a little "pick me up" this morning, print off this quote and know you are doing the best work ever! There are so many payoff's when you start looking! It's really a masterpiece...motherhood is the best work of art I have attemped yet. But masterpeices take time and masterpeices can be messy in the middle. Trick is to see the creative process as beautiful!

Happy Friday!

GTD: Getting Things Done.

Weekend Task #1: Clean and fold laundry.

Ian's Agenda: Bake with Daddy.

Which task won? Bake with Daddy

Weekend Task #2: Unpack all boxes in Mommy's office.

Addie's Agenda: Sew dolly blankets with Mommy.

Which task won? Sewing dolly blankets with Mommy.

Weekend task 3: Organize parent's bedroom

Kid's agenda: Snuggle and wrestle with parents

Which task won? Snuggle and wrestle with parents.

Please don't come over to my house today. I have very happy children, but a very neglected house. Sure is nice to take a break from housework though!

Being Real.

In this day an age, we are split doing many things. No longer does the woman stay at home all day with the kids, she is homeschooling; or teaching music lessons from her home; or has a daycare; or she is a soccer coach; or even has a side business. Sometimes I forget all this since it seems times have changed all so slowly. (what? it isn't 1952 anymore?) And yet, we still want to dedicate ALL of our time to one thing inparticular. In my case, I want to be COMPLETELY 100% at home, or I want to dedicate an ENTIRE DAY to my art. I have talked about this before: times are different now. We are required to have split focus. I don't believe that this requires a frantic, A.D.D approach to life. Quite the opposite. It requires us to be FULLY present in what we are doing in the moment. I have found that true satisfaction with a job or task you are doing is to be completely aware of that task (i.e. not coming up with your next blog post while you are feeding your children dinner...just feed your kids dinner, and enjoy the experience!)

Since our lives are scattered between so many things, being present is even more important. And also that much more difficult. Take being in a yoga class for instance. What is the main focus? Listening to your breath. The simplest most basic of functions can be one of the hardest to become aware of. Yet when we do allow our minds to only sense what it going on in ONLY that second, there is an incredible sense of wholeness and fullness.

Same thing applies to our multi-tasking. We must be living in the present in every task we are accomplishing to achieve that same sense of wholeness and wellness. And again...one of the most challenging things to accomplish. But during dinner I was thinking about the crisis of going to the post office yesterday and forgetting it was Veterans day which means my customers will get their packages a DAY late. By dwelling on that, dinner was a chore rather than a moment to connect! (I did realize my flaw early on, and completely enjoyed my husbands made-from-scratch lasagna...yummy:)...and seeing my daughters new found love of mozzarella cheese). But my point is, just because we multi-task doesn't mean we have to think about all things all the time. Quite the opposite. We must think about one thing at a time, and trust that will be enough.

I didn't think this post would be as long as it is: but my thoughts this morning were prompted by a blog post I read from a retailer of mine in the UK, Livy & Me. She admitted to going into teaching full time this year, and wanted to tell her customers (she is the owner of Livy & Me: unique baby gifts) that her store would still be going strong. She also referenced a site that caught my attention: Business run by humans: a site deticated to REAL LIFE PEOPLE running REAL LIFE BUSINESSES (which is most of us I think).

People aren't going to get a recording when they call you, they aren't going to get a template email...they are going to get YOU. And YOU is a busy multi-tasker full with many other facets of your life: something that you should be proud of...not stressed about. It also causes problems...like a few weeks ago when I was really sick, and spent the afternoon in the hospital...business slowed down a bit. And I had an upset customer. But once she knew I was REAL, and REAL LIFE happens, things were cool.

Being real for your customers is as important as being real for your spouse, or kids, or friends. So in a sense, what we do all day DOES fall under one umbrella: Being REAL. And oh, what a gift that is! And it can infact be a wonderful experience...but only when we take it one at a time, and live completely in the moment of what we are doing NOW. NOW is REAL. So, enjoy the now, and you will enjoy it ALL!

Happy thoughts and love!

xoxo

Sarah Jane

{Sorry! no pictures today! my picture insert button is asleep or something...guess that makes me real!}

Just stay little.

If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will—to your surprise—miss them profoundly.

Thomas S. Monson

Oh how true!!! The total chaos around the house (like Ian pulling out the entire roll of toilet paper and his new found skill of sneaking utensils out of the kitchen and putting them in the washing machine) is simply physical proof that I live with angles. Funny angels. Clever angels. Know-how-to-push-me-to-my-limit angels...but angles. Oh...I wish they could just stay tiny forever! I just hope that when we are all big and fat and old, that we will still love each other just as much...maybe even more. But I sometimes find that hard to imagine! Just stay little!