Friday, February 14, 2014

{This Moment}

Following Soule Mama's idea...

                                                                      A Friday ritual. 
                                 A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.
            A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.





Friday, February 7, 2014

This Moment

Soule Mama's inspiration... 




{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. 

Mom's Night Out movie review


It's not very often that we go to the movies in our house. It's just not something that we put very high on the priority list and I certainly don't get to do it very often with just friends....in fact, its not really very often that I do ANYTHING with just girlfriends. It's not that I don't have them (although I am known to have a pitty party for myself occasionally and think that I am going solo on this insanity ride of motherhood) because when I really think about it... I have some great ones. My problem is the location of my closest friends ranges from sea to shining sea and some are so far away we have continents between us. And lets face it, as moms we just don't take the time for ourselves. We do so much for everyone else. Between the laundry and dishes, and making sure there are lunches packed and carpets vacuumed, food made for church potlucks and tutu's made for dance recitals... we don't have much more to give... especially to ourselves...



When I got the email for a chance to go to an early screening of the new movie "Mom's Night Out "coming to theaters May 9th, I didn't even care that it was on a week night or that we had to drive over an hour north (something I usually avoid like the plague). I called the first friend I could think of and we made it a plan to have our own MNO!  Woo hoo! :)

It's amazing how much we all need a bit of time to ourselves... and I'm not talking about those stolen moments of hiding in your bedroom reading a book for a few moments out of the day (yes I am guilty of this) or the few second of quiet you *should* get behind the closed door of a bathroom (usually with people knocking at the door or little fingers coming in under it!)... I'm talking about getting to have adult conversations, Relaxing in a chair without someone climbing on you. Eating a meal that you don't have to cut up for someone else or share with a picky eater.



Sitting there in the dark theater with my good friend and a big thing of nachos (cause lets face it, I had dinner ready for the family but ran out of time to feed myself!) the movie began to roll and I felt like it was playing a view of my life... only with the charming actress Sara Drew playing me! I mean it, it was kind of scary the things that were like me, right down to her sitting at the computer to write her blog and finding she suddenly had nothing to say....


This movie was a breath of fresh air to say the least! I honestly went into it thinking that this movie would be your stereo typical movie about moms gone wild with no accountability and how they down play the importance of motherhood and have no care for being a Godly wife or mother.... but that couldn't have been farther from what this movie was about!




This movie was real... it was honest... it was so stinking funny  (mostly because we could all relate to what they were saying/doing) 
and this moving was motivational.

 I personally walked out of that theater a better person and ready to be a better mom when my kids get up in the morning.


How many times can you say that about a movie? This movie was about moms, but it showed the side of the dads too and would be a great date night movie, family movie for all ages (my 6 and 9 year olds would love it!) and of course... MOMS!!! It had the undertones of a great Christian film without the preachiness that one might expect. It told it like it is and inspired me to want to be a better mom not just for my kids but for me. It reminded me that even tho I feel somedays like the worst mother ever, and sometimes I feel like I am getting nothing done and failing at everything.... I am enough... and that God put my girls with just the right mom for them....I think we all need that reminder sometimes. And we all need a Mom's night out from time to time to make us appreciate what we have and who we are...




So go see Mom's Night Out on May 9th! The story is great and the cast is amazing!! Make it a priority to go on opening weekend and tell our entertainment industry that we need more movies like these!! There are so many ways to support Christian entertainment and to be an example in a world that will try to tell you that you aren't enough and that you have to be everything to everyone. There's only one that can be that and He loves you just the way you are!

" Life isn't about a parking space. 

Its NOT about God taking 
all our problems away
and giving us a PERFECT life. 

Its about finding 
Meaning & JOY & PURPOSE.

In this- in the crazy-in the chaos"

-Moms' Night Out


Thursday, February 6, 2014

Seahawk love

Considering I am from around Pittsburgh, its just a given that I am a die hard Steelers fan, but one can't help but get caught up in this overwelming feeling of Seattle pride for the Seahawks after their Superbowl win on Sunday. Just to log on to facebook or walk thru the grocery store in our sleepy little town you can't go far without hearing people talk about it. It really is infectious!

The last few weeks have been busy for me too as I have been sewing up a number of these fuzzy guys in time for the big game!



To celebrate the Seahawks big win, I am offering 10% on all purchases made today and tomorrow (Friday, Feb 6th) in my shop !  Just use the word "SEAHAWK" as the coupon code at checkout! :)

And not to worry, I have the Pittsburgh fans covered too! :) There's always next year! 
Be sure to check out my other new creations! 

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Bumsak- Review

It's always so exciting to open your email and see the words "You Won!" If your inbox is anything like mine, you get a lot of emails trying to trick you into buying something with enticing titles... but this was an actual, legit email telling me I had won something from a contest I had entered! And not just any something... but a chair from Bumsak!!

To be honest, had never even heard of them until I happened on to someone else's share on Facebook about this giveaway. From what I understand, they are a new company and they were doing this as a fun giveaway for the new year. I never in a million years thought I would actually win!!

Living in a smaller house means having to get creative with the way we put our furniture and having two growing kids means that we are needing more sitting space! The days of two little monkeys sitting on thel ittle Dora couch to watch tv are over....and while we will always cherish snuggle time, there are times we just want to relax on our own too! So, to win this was just perfect for us!!




Within just a matter of days, we had this delivered to our house! My kids were so bummed that it wasn't bigger....

Until we got it out of that bag (which took a little work but it was fun!).... and it began to grow...

....and someone seemed to think that it was just for her! lol (That is the bag itself, without the cover of our choice on yet)




The bag isn't quite the color that I thought it would be. It's much darker than the sample color that was on their site. I wrote to them about it and they offered to send me another one but I really do love the color so we just opted to keep the one we have.  If you look on their website, be sure to run your curser over all the colors... there's a number of samples that seem to be grey and they really aren't. That little glitch in their website is the only complaint I would have about this company at all. The chair itself is AMAZING!!



The feel of the cover is really great. It has a nice quality to it, not like your average bean bag chair would. The seams seem to be strong and the animal hair (which is just a natural part of our lives... wonder why? lol) brushes off of it much easier than I thought it would. As for the filler? It is so QUIET!! I remember having a bean bag chair as a kid, that the dog later took over, and we couldn't hear the tv when she was trying to get comfortable! lol That problem is no longer with this chair! The Bumsak chairs are filled with high quality foam, not those styrofoam beans that we are used to!  And the next best thing about this chair? They are made in the good ol' US of A! Now what's not to love about that?! If I hadn't won this chair, I would still say it is well worth the money and has made a great addition to our livingroom!




 Kid tested- Animals approve!

Disclaimer- I was given this chair by Bumsak as part of a giveaway. I was not asked to write this review nor was I compensated for it, I just like to share good products when I see them! :)