{winners *** and a birthday}

Thanks to all who entered the giveaway~
I really enjoyed reading through your answers.
Sounds like lots of super sweet memories were made this summer..
as well as some great marriages going on… and good words of wisdom and advice from so many of you.
Nice to know too that if I ever happen to steal one of your ipods ;p I wouldn’t have to change much with it -
I think the majority of the songs you listed are all favorites of mine as well!!

*** third place:: schrockgirl

she said::Love love your giveaways!!! My highlight this summer was finding out #2 baby is on it’s way!! I have been so incredibly BLESSED with my incredibly awesome hubby, who continues to amaze me everyday, even after 5 1/2 years of marriage. We have the sweetest little tiny 22LB, 2 1/2 year old little boy, and we cannot WAIT to meet this new little “movement” who already is making his/her presense known. =)

*** second place:: Jifners

she said::When is your baby due? Mine is coming next Thursday! You don’t look nearly big enough to be at the end of pregnancy though! Okay, found this link on one of my friend’s facebook sites, so I thought I’d give a try for those prizes.

ONE THING THAT SURPRISED ME ABOUT MARRIAGE: How much work it is. Everyone tells you how wonderful it is, and it is, indeed wonderful. I have been married eight years. But it does take work. And lots of it. You have to work on communicating, you have to work on common ground (especially after you have kids), you have to work on discipline w/ your kids and how you both want to do it. You have to work on intentional time w/ each other. It’s hard work, but well worth the effort. Too many people just give up when it gets hard and just want to “get out.” It’s sad. How much more precious is something that you had to work hard to get..

I’ll link to this on my xanga as well. You have a beautiful family! And how sweet that you’re giving such wonderful prizes away. It shows your heart.

-Jennifer


*** first place:: CBrown6207

 
Please message me your addresses so I can get those gifts in the mail to ya!!

~***~***~***

We celebrated Emma’s 5th birthday on Sunday!

For weeks she’s been talking about only one thing…
“…i wanna pink sooter wif a basset on it. and wittle bunny wike dis big {showing us with her hands} and i will tall her cware and she tan wide in my basset on my sooter…”

Well. yes.
After mommy did some convincing of daddy…
a bunny named, Claire, joined the family early Sunday morning before church.

I’m wondering if any of you are bunny experts?
Claire hasn’t eaten since we brought her home late Sat. night.
I called the pet store yesterday and the guy said it was because she was in shock!
{ya think? being taken from your 12 other brothers and sisters and thrust into a noisy lively household that involves sudden sporadic rides in a basket on a pink scooter shouldn’t be the least bit shocking}  
He said it would take her awhile to adjust to her new surroundings.
Just wondering if this was true –
and not some patent answer the napoleon dynamite guy from Jack’s Aquarium is supposed to give me!




{having fun with the uncles}

***




{making a wish.. probably for more bunnies!}

***


{her best little girlfriend, Gracie}

***





{so loved}

***

I can’t believe my baby is five.
And soon not to be the baby any longer!
What do they say about blinking..
Opening your eyes after just a brief moment,
and seeming to find the years have passed impossibly by in that instant.

But what a precious.. absolutely precious instant it’s been so far.
As if God wrapped a piece of Himself up as a gift to us and delivered it in the form of this little person!

  
“I often challenge myself to recognize the many facets of my identity and to understand that motherhood does not completely define me. I want to set an example for my girls of fulfilling my one wild and precious life with a great many things and giving them the freedom to explore the wonders of the world in their own way. I tell myself that I will gradually have to let go and that life will not always be filled with the happiness of dress up and tea parties and spontaneously aproning up to make cupcakes with extra sprinkles.

Happy Birthday to our Emma Calen ~***

{a giveaway in the true spirit of pioneer woman}

But. wait.
Before you excitedly scroll to the bottom to get a peek at that fancy bright pink Apple computer…
uh, it’s not there.
Nor is the million dollar ranch house or the super cute hound dog named, Charlie.

But. gifts.
We do have some gifts.
… and they’re not half chintzy ones either.

Okay, try to forget I mentioned the whole Apple computer thing.

We do have apple LOTION though.
Which hey, having pretty hands is way more important than looking all stuck up with a Apple on your computer!

You could just do what my brother did and put a apple sticker over the little circle that says, Dell.
Now that’s what the ultra cool with it people do.

Actually, this was supposed to be a Hello to Summer giveaway!
… not, a Hello to Fall instead.

which means one of two things –
I’m a horrible procrastinator or I’m in denial summer is almost over.
{the right answer is yes, and yes.}

The procrastination part I’m working on with a fervor…
trying to get all those things left undone, done before baby.
Knowing this was easily going to turn into a Welcome Spring 2011 giveaway before I knew it!

And, as to not being ready to yield summer to fall quite yet… *sigh*
truth is, I know I can’t ignore the fact that regardless of my love for the hot, long days of sunshine -
fall is standing on the edge of summer waving it’s crazy leafy arms in the wind just dying to embrace us.
and I can’t help but feel it whip around me every now and then, and have a smile pop out on my face.

there really is something to love about every season, is there not?  

I’m excited about this giveaway because I’m not really the one doing the giving-awaying…
a friend asked {back at the beginning of summer} if she could give a gift certificate to her Etsy here.
some other friends went and wrote a book and gave me a copy to share.
another friend has some plain awesome products I’ve given away on here before.
and yet another, said she just wanted to give something to the lovely people here. {she reads alot of yours but doesn’t blog}

So, because I not only have super talented friends but highly generous ones too this whole thing is happening.
{now if only one of you would get that corporate job with Apple we’d be set!}
I added a few of my own little things as well, cause I was inspired too…
and mainly because I love gifts. buying them. giving them. getting them.
yes… it’s one of my five love languages!!  

And… since I feel that I’m blabbering like a sleep deprived, Indian food filled pregnant lady with heartburn….  I’ll move on to the real point of this post and share with you what exactly we’re giving away.

first place:: {i suddenly feel like a boxing announcer – “in this corner we have… “}





a basket full of all my favorite things –

remember the Wen products? -good stuff.
and the Airbrush Legs? – need that more than ever now that things are going pale with fall.
something to smell your house up w/out burning it down – fragranced reed diffuser’s are the best.
a picture frame that says “my favorite place is inside your hug”- designed by my genius friend here. {and available in most Hallmark stores}
the apple lotion I mentioned at the start – from Bath and Body.
and… a bit of music of your choosing from itunes.




this incredible book is included in there also~
written in such a easy to read, laid back manner…
leaving you feeling challenged and convicted, and yet not overwhelmed.
it’s intended audience was to young brides… but I think it applies to brides of all ages!
it helps too that the authors are two sisters who are friends of mine, and I know their hearts match what their pens write. 
{find out more about them, and this, here.}



second place::



a $35.00 gift card to Evie n Lizzie on Etsy.
a friend of mine who makes some pretty amazingly cute childrens clothes~

there’s also a great scarf, black flower pin, and peace sign included.


 
 
third place::



a bucket with a little bit of entertainment~
One Night With the King, and 10$ gift card to Borders.

= = ~ = = ~ = = ~ = =

To enter, I wasn’t sure which question to ask so I thought I’d make it multiple choice.
Pick one of the following and answer.
Or all three if you’re so inclined. {i love hearing the thoughts behind the people}

1. one thing that surprised you about marriage
2. a memory from your summer that was a highlight
3. a favorite song, and why

If you want to be entered more than once link up the site somewhere else {blog, facebook, etc.}

I’m going to let Emma help me draw the winners since she can count pretty high now
and since it’s her birthday this weekend!

We’ll announce the winners next Tuesday.
… unless this baby decides to announce herself first in the meantime.



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(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber  

*special thanks to Rachel, Christy, Michelle, Rebecca, and Jodie!

{the last of the maternity shots}

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(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber  
 

{and check out this cool giveaway on my friend  Jenny’s site – if you don’t know her take a little time to do that. she’s great!} 

{My hands are holding you}

To be held by Him is not the same as me holding onto Him.
because unlike me – He never is fickle.emotional.stressed. or tired.
He never turns loose. –

 



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(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber  

{being right vs. being righteous}

Ever wake up and not really want to go to church..?
Today was one of those mornings.

Not really any particular reason.
okay. maybe I could have thought of a few.
Really good spiritual reasons too like…
being tired.not wanting to brush my teeth.take a shower.shave my prickly legs.comb my hair. put on make up. choose 1 of the 2 skirts i can fit in. and bend over and buckle my shoes.

 

Glad I didn’t follow through with any of them though…
church was GOOD! and I felt genuinely refreshed and encouraged.
Which seems to often be the case with things like that, doesn’t it?
When you’re the grumpiest about going is when you end up needing it the most!

A good friend of ours talked today. He’s not a pastor, just a sincere guy with a love & passion for Christ.
What he shared was something he felt God laid on his heart to tell the church.

He’s funny, and I laughed alot… but the Holy Spirit also really used it to further drive in some nails of truth He’s been dealing with me about. 

The title was:: Is it more important to Be Right than it is to Be Righteous?

It’s not that long. only about 35 min. but I think you’ll enjoy it if you listen…
the cow story at the end is the best!

{don’t know why it uploaded in 3 separate tracks, but it did. and you’ll need to turn off my playlist}

track1::

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(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber  

{Biblical Womanhood?}

“The question of “sex-equality” is, like all questions affecting human relationships, delicate and complicated. It cannot be settled by loud slogans or hard-and-fast assertions like “a woman is as good as a man”–or “woman’s place is the home”–or “women ought not to take men’s jobs.” The minute one makes such assertions, one finds one has to qualify them….

The lives of individual female Christ-followers will never look exactly alike, so we must never reduce the message and definition of biblical womanhood to that of a role. Nor should we allow others to define this message as such, for being a woman made in the image of God and rescued from corrosive, indwelling sin by the atonement of Jesus is the preeminent definition of biblical womanhood….”

Read the full article here:: Are Women Human?

Honestly, questioning a woman’s biblical role has never really crossed my mind {until recently}. Even as a stay at home mom who homeschools her kids, you would think it would. But I’ve never defined those things as, “this is what I feel the Bible teaches.”  Which I know many in that category do/ or believe that.

About not working outside the home – When asked why, my answer is, “I don’t really want to.” Which is not a cop out for having to give some huge explanation. None is needed. Because that’s the answer, plain and simple. Sometimes I think I’m weird that it typically never crosses my mind to want to be working somewhere {else}. Now, there have been times I’ve wanted/ would like the extra money. But when I think of being able to buy a new pair of shoes in exchange for flexibility and freedom, nope. not really worth it to me. I’m just independent enough that way that I don’t like answering to others demands and expectations! {just ask my husband}

About homeschooling my kids – anyone who knows me well knows that has not been something I’ve ever done a happy dance over… savoring the smell of freshly sharpened pencils and new workbooks. Criticize if you want, that’s fine. But it’s been, and is, a struggle for me. Actually one of the strongest points of disagreement in our marriage. I came to the place a few years ago of releasing it the Lord. Being able to put my big girl pants on about it and realize that just because homeschooling isn’t my thing – my kids certainly are, and I can do this for them. And strive to do it well. In retrospect, compared to many other things, it’s not overly hard. {remind me I said that tomorrow at about 11:00 am}

Course that’s not to say this time next year my kids won’t be in public school and I’ll be working at Macy’s! We don’t make decisions in concrete~ we’re not old, but old enough to know that there have been many things in our 14 years of marriage that God has changed our hearts on. Shown us we were dead wrong. And redirected our path. So, more than likely, our lives might look very different than they do now in 5 years. In some ways I think that’s how it’s supposed to be.. what it means to be conformed to His image. to walk in the Spirit – simply listening, following, changing according to His leading.

So huge rabbit trail there to say that even in the areas of my life where others looking in might conclude I’m doing them based upon what I would say the Biblical role of a woman is, no.. it’s not that at all. I don’t think God made us from cookie cutters. And glad of it. It’s about individuality. And I really mean, individual. Even apart from your husband. And since I’m sure that raises some eyebrows, though I think you know what I’m saying… you alone before God are responsible/ accountable for your actions, attitudes, responses. Of course couples should follow/obey God together, but I know for some they don’t have that option. For those of us who do, we should. But it makes it much easier to follow Him together if we’re first following Him individually!

But even as individuals. And especially women there seems to be those who want to map out and define for us what our role SHOULD look like….

Lately, I seem to be hearing it from so many directions – in my sunday school class. among friends. in blogs {like here}. in comments and private messages {hearing from some who’ve been raised in certain circles that have even produced in them a false sense of shame for being women, embracing femininity, etc.} have heard it on the radio too, catching occasionally, ‘Revive our Hearts,’ where Nancy Leigh DeMoss is talking about  “The Counter- Cultural Woman.”

And I’m so not saying what I’m hearing from some of these sources isn’t right. Not at all. Just that it’s obviously an issue many women struggle with, face, and are seeking God’s light to guide them into truth. REAL truth. I think we do need to be careful with what we determine is truth. Even when someone points to a chapter and verse and says, “here…” We still need to be wise and attentive to the voice of God within us, and not blindly follow. I told Shayne that it seems anymore Christians can make the Bible say pretty much whatever they want it to. Which is scary how naive others {myself included at times} are to quickly jump on board just because someone has said, “thus sayeth the Lord…” When perhaps that’s not at all what thus sayeth the Lord truly meanteth!

So, in case you forgot after all my words in between…
go back up and click the link and read the article.


Would love to hear some of your own experiences and further thoughts in this whole area.



Hope everyone has a great weekend~
the boys are off to watch a high school football game,
and the girls and I are going to the dollar theater to watch a chick flick!



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(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber  

{plastic church people}

This morning while cleaning up the breakfast dishes…
Emma was behind me playing on the table with her Polly Pockets and Ben’s G.I. Joe’s.
When I was finished she asked if I would play too.

Took me a minute to locate where the camera even was and dig it out -
But here’s some of the bits and pieces I caught:

Tonight after I downloaded the pictures I snapped of Emma’s imaginary church,
I found myself a bit amused as I was looking through them by some of the expressions looking back at me.

The song, “Stained Glass Masquerade” came to mind, and I googled the lyrics.
As I read through the words they stirred and convicted my heart.

And I want to be sure to say that even in making light of some things above I'm quick to remember-
I've played the masquerade all too often and all too well many times throughout my life. 
I've been that scowly faced person before. 
wanting to point out others faults. 
slap my hand over my mouth in self righteous disbelief. 
worn the biggest astronaut helmet I could hide under. 
and left others lugging their oxygen tanks around behind them from my cutting words, or worse yet...
unspoken ones. the ones that speak loudest through my prideful, arrogant, self elevated spirit towards them.

I really want to live mask free. truly.
And not just in a, that’s the thing we’re supposed to say kind of way…
But in a, even though I know there will be tons more times I’m going to get it wrong.
mess up. play the part. participate in the masquerade.
HIS grace will continue to work. to draw me.
to show me again and again…
it’s not about getting it all right outwardly it’s in being right with Him inwardly – in that kind of way, i want to live mask free!

Who we really are is where only God sees.
Life flows from the heart.
Which is why we are called human beings.
Not human doings!   

{words to song}

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small

Cause when I take a look around
Everybody seems so strong
I know they'll soon discover
That I don't belong

So I tuck it all away, like everything's okay
If I make them all believe it, maybe I'll believe it too
So with a painted grin, I play the part again
So everyone will see me the way that I see them

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain on our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone who's been there
Are there any hands to raise
Am I the only one who's traded
In the altar for a stage

The performance is convincing
And we know every line by heart
Only when no one is watching
Can we really fall apart

But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be

Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay

Are we happy plastic people
Under shiny plastic steeples
With walls around our weakness
And smiles to hide our pain
But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain on our stained glass masquerade

But if the invitation's open
To every heart that has been broken
Maybe then we close the curtain on our stained glass masquerade

Is there anyone that fails
Is there anyone that falls
Am I the only one in church today feelin' so small


 

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(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber 

{dust.}

“. . . and so it was that the animals first saw the visiting duck, quivering by the willow trunk. Her eyes glinted young and eager; her tail feathers anxiously pricked; her beak stretched into a curve, roughly similar to a human smile.
None of this the animals saw, however. Their shallow eyes were drawn away by the strange flecks of color scattered through her feathers—the traditional brown replaced by golden yellow and orange. Her feet were oddly discolored and smaller than usual. A single green feather sprouted from her tail like a shoot of grass.
She was certainly different than any duck they had ever seen.

And because the animals rarely saw new things, they thought this new duck was unnatural. And because she was unnatural, they thought her strange. And because she was strange, they decided they should not like her. And so they did not like her—not at all.

The old willow, who was always watching and listening, sensed this unspoken decision at once. She felt suddenly saddened, thinking of years and years ago, before any of the creatures had ever come to the pond, before the apartments had been pulled up around it, before the road had been paved and the fountain erected. She thought of herself, just a tiny seed. She thought of how glad she had been to find the small pond with its sweet water and warm earth. She thought of how sad she would have felt had the ground chosen to dislike her. But of course it had not, for dirt rarely thinks itself better than others. . . . “  ~Dust, by Bryn.

An excerpt from a children’s book I read late in the night Friday.
It’s simple truth rolling over in my mind.
Like one turns a penny from side to side examining it in a distracted, yet deliberate way.

I felt the spirit collide with my flesh as old wounds resurfaced and freshly scabbed ones were pricked… having that contradiction within myself of desiring a deeper walk with God – KNOWING that it is often through suffering He draws me closer. Especially, it seems, the acute sting we experience at the hand of others… being judged. misunderstood. criticized. talked about. even blatantly ignored.  And yet finding myself as I’m being drawn to Him, and having this strange sense of gratefulness for the circumstances… all at the same time and in the very same moment having the pangs of bitterness tighten the doors of my heart and any Christ like response fades in an instant. And suddenly, I’m simply tired of trying.  

And as I flipped my penny of thought back and forth I found myself asking why it seems the one thing that God said was the greatest of all is the hardest of all for us to do?

On the other hand it seems fairly effortless for Christians to follow after things that have absolutely no chapter or verse behind them- and yet that which God says is most important. first. above everything else. that He addresses repeatedly. refers to as our trademark. and even prays Himself for it to be our defining difference… like that hard rubber ball bouncing around a room and each time it hits the wall of the world they hear the loud echo of it’s power… somehow we minimize it’s meaning. mechanically give it lip service but don’t truly follow after it in our hearts.

We focus so much on exterior things but miss the very framework that holds every other principle of the Bible together!

When I came to this thought I stopped and remembered something a friend wrote to me 4 years ago.
It was during a time when our church was going through alot of nasty backbiting and disunity.
It’s copied in my journal and I went and dug it out because she says it so well~

to extend the same mercy we have found iN Him, and continue to find, to those kneeling in the dust around us.

It’s the only way to stay focused on Christ.live with eternity in mind. give up the illusion that any of us are better than the other. quit pretending. and start admitting. we’re all imperfect and in need of grace. 

{Oh, brother! and finding Home}

Note to Self:: when you need to talk to one of your brothers and they don’t seem to be responding – simply send a text telling him you’re in labor and can’t get a hold of anyone else in the family! the time between hitting send and hearing my cell ring was less than a minute!! i was laughing. he was not!  ~my facebook status last night



{love my boys!}

As one friend said –
“Ah, the perks of being a pregnant lady! I’ve forgotten all the ways of exploiting it…. ”

Exactly.

*** ~ *** ~ *** 

Shayne is gone this week and the kids went with him to stay at his parents!
The house is so strangely quiet.
Surprisingly – I don’t like it.
I told Shayne to remind me of that on my next rough mommy day after the kids are back!

It actually has been something that has struck me in such a deep way -
and I know it’s not the first I’ve felt this, but for some reason the acute awareness of it makes it feel like it is…
That regardless of the craziest toughest messiest most exasperating frustrating confusing noisiest disobedient whiniest tear filled mundane days as a mom~ I’ll take those ANY TIME over this. This… strange silence.

Though surrounded by a neat and tidy house –
Not a dish in the sink.
Not a sock in the dryer.
Not a bed unmade.
Not a fingerprint on the back door.
Yet, such a hallow feeling.

Our homes certainly are not made of bricks and stones.
They are living breathing human dwellings that walk beside us and house the things we truly love most~ 

Kate and I have been emailing each other each morning and night. Which has been so sweet.
She wrote, “I’m writing in my journal every day while I’m here. I don’t want to forget the places I learned to trust God more…” 

I picture her face even now and smile.

Yes. Though “home” – I’m not really.

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(¸.·´ (¸.·´ (¸.·¨¯`♥ amber