Friday Faves {3}

Loving the challenge of finding joy in the little things found on this blog. Seriously. A must-read. God is using it to help me learn all about joy in the chaos.

Sweet cousin Katie being a good sport for a cousin-pile. Darling.

Getting to see the WHOLE of an entire family {minus one sweet face}...that was fun. And rare. And special.  And unforgettable.

Seriously can't look at this picture without smiling. My 3 favorite people. Turns out if Baby R ever wants to snuggle, Big D suddenly wants on our lap, too. #knewitwouldhappen #lovethemso

Pure, lazy, tv-watching. Didn't even have the decency to take his coat off. {Can you tell he's deprived of the tele?}

Words can't escape me. Precious {or as my cousins say, "presh"}.

Goal-setting

I've never been much of a New Year's Resolution person. Like most, I fall off the wagon far too early and beat myself up far too much for something that was probably not realistic in the first place.

Thanks to Money Saving Mom, Crystal Paine, I've been thinking more and more about the possibility of goal-setting this year. This would include setting attainable, measurable goals with time lines and sticking with them. It would also mean re-evaluating frequently in order to be realistic about why they are/aren't working.

I'm interested in your thoughts.

• Do you set resolutions?
• Do you do goal-setting?
• What have you found that has worked in this area?

Help a newbie out...{Leave comments here, on FB, or send me an email @ joskeathley{@}gmail{dot}com

Grown Up Christmas List

So...even though I don't prefer Amy Grant's music (or voice or...her in general), the Grown Up Christmas List song always kinda got to me.

And now Michael Buble croons it. And my, my, my...my heart both soars and aches at the same time.

I've been working on my Grown Up Christmas List since about the first week of December. It's come together quite slowly, and I have been humbled and happy to learn that I might be growing up a bit. This is the first time in a long time that I didn't really WANT anything for Christmas. I mean, sure, it's fun to open presents. Especially when they're personal and thoughtful. But I'm more of a quality time person, anyway.

This year, though...in light of all that's going on in the world around us and the chaos that just is constantly swirling...I want things that aren't THINGS.

So here you are, friends, my grown up Christmas list.

• My kids to be happy. And not with the gifts under the tree. I mean...happy. With us, with life, with what we have, with non-tangible things, relationships, each other, and most of all with themselves.
• My kids to experience joy. Real joy that is not based on circumstances but on the basis that we are so very blessed.
• My family to have quality time together. Screen-less time. Giggles, stories, and memories made.
• Us all to be healthy, though I realize this is relative and can change in the blink of a moment. But I don't want to take advantage or for granted these happy & healthy days we have.
• I want this world to stop selling things to my kids. I want my 6 year old to realize what good he has  instead of seeing what he doesn't have.
• To fill my children's hearts with compassion. I want them to love without cause, and I want them to give out of a heart overflowing with Jesus.
• To learn content~ness, which apparently isn't a word. {Contentedness is what "they" want me to change it to, but that just sounds fluffy...}
• Children to never fear walking into school or a mall or a park.
• Friends to know they are loved by my actions/words.
• Marriages to be peaceful and purposeful...not at all revolved around children, but around Jesus.
• A church that is only concerned with the things Jesus is concerned with.
• Orphans to be loved and adopted.
• The unlovable to feel loved.
• To be generous when we can, as people have been generous to us.
• To stress less. I want to enjoy days, even when they're rough. {If you know me, you know I REALLY struggle with this.} I want to learn to go with the flow and take things as they come.
• Ruby's adoption to be final. But yet, I want peace for her birth parents. This can't be easy for them.
• Broken hearts to be mended. That those that have lost loved ones would savor memories instead of pain...and that there would be no regrets. If there are regrets, may we learn to swallow them and move on and use them as fuel for our current friendships and relationships.
• Hatred to just...go away. That we would love one another and TRULY be Jesus to our world {instead of trying to be God's judge here on earth}.
• Families to be whole
• People to be passionate about things that matter.
• Peace...in the world, in our country, in our corrupt state, our little village, and our home.
• Those that I love to seek. Truly seek God. The Word is truly the only way to do this.

And even though my list will probably continue to grow, I will use this as a basis to reliaze what is important...in my family, church, and relationships. And though I don't do resolutions well (who does?!), I will set goals slowly and prayerfully, hoping that a few of these things will be in 2013.

And to tickle your ears...here you go...

What's on your Grown Up Christmas List?

It's Christmas Time!

I don't know if it's because of my Grampa's death that it kinda snuck up on me. We just kinda grazed over Thanksgiving {believe it or not, I still haven't had any turkey!}, and now that I'm home, I'm READY for Christmas. Everyone's Christmas trees peeking out the windows are making me want to get mine up and going...

Last year, I was battling new baby-ness {& a bit of depression} and couldn't even imagine decorating for Christmas. So this year, so far {and I only have a few things out} - I am just crying tears of joy over the little things. Hearing Big D sing along to the Christmas songs as we put the tree up as a family, how ca~ute this mini tree is that hangs on the wall in our "eating area," and just SEEING all the things I've collected in my {few} short years as an adult.

We're doing an advent calendar as a family {with activities, service projects & treats}, as well as the Christmas Book idea found here. I will blog more about that when they're wrapped! {Yes, it's Dec. 1 & they're not wrapped! But I do have the 24 books picked out and labeled with numbers...progress, people.} I'm also hoping to do the Truth in the Tinsel project with D, but am not sure it will start today, just for time's sake. The Jesse Tree is an idea, too...

I'm not sure what you're doing today, but I'm listening to great Christmas music & decking my walls with Christmas gear! The Hubs is going to put our icicle lights up later, and we're planning on ornamenting our lovely tree, pictured above.

Have I mentioned I'm excited about the Advent season this year?!

On Being Sickly...

Doesn't it seem that illness always comes at the worst possible time? I mean, really...is there ever a good time to be sickly? I think not.

But this week? This has been my view...

It's my Mickey Mouse blankey from my childhood. Sharing a room with my sister had 2 perks: 1) Matching Mickey Mouse bedspreads (that are totally rad, btw) & 2) my baby ceester's preggo ET impression. If she doesn't kill me for publishing that fact to the whole world, I'm just going to have to talk her into doing it for "old time's sake" next time I see her...

I digress. I've been sick this week. Sick. Not just one kind of sick, but 12 kinds. And the worst: itching. It started on Monday just after the "stomach bug" attacked. And it's gotten bad enough that I can't sleep now. I won't go into anymore details, but just know...if you haven't seen me since Sunday, this is why. I'm on meds now...hopefully they'll pull me up on outta here, but if not, me & my Micky Mouse Blankey will be on the couch watching reruns on the Netflix & scratching all my itches.

On a lighter note...do you ever have something that smells of someone/something long after many washings and MANY years of storage? This blankey smells like my childhood. And it makes me miss my sister a ton. {4 hours is too far away...}

Friday Faves {2}

Coming in a little late for my Friday Faves. But here we go...

My favorite trick or treaters: A "army man," Mr. Staples, & Little Red Riding Hood {Aren't her boots just the best? I tell you what...I am blessed. My sister gives me all her clothes from her chillens...and she has impeccable taste!}

What lady doesn't love getting flowers every now & again? I love him. He makes my heart flutter a bit.

Miss R sure has a lot of energy. My favorite thing that comes with energy is all that PURE JOY. This is the best shot I could get of her squealing at her big brudder over something silly I'm sure! She cracks me up.

Can't get enough (nor will I ever) of their bond. He adores her...and she him. We.Are.Blessed.

It's the little things, folks. Getting ready for our church's annual Craft bazaar, where I will be selling customized gifts. I'm making samples of all of it to have on hand. Can I just say? Crafting is just...a healing balm for my soul. {This is my mini rag tag wreath. It's SO cute!}

I leave you with my favorites...Big D & Baby R. How could I ask for more?

Linking up with Finding Joy. Good stuff. Take some time to read every.single.post.

Ruby is one!

Okay, so actually, she's already 14 months old. So this is {already} 2 months late.

Her party was so fun. I'm just gonna share it with whoever cares out there! :)

Of course, I started pinning ideas for her party from the moment I joined the ever-loving time-sucking idea sight, Pinterest. At the end of the post, I have links to where my ideas all came from.

Mister couldn't BELIEVE we were having a party without balloons...but what can I say? I like to be different. And I wanted her party to be classy & chic. I don't know if we pulled THAT off, but I sure loved the outcome! And a bonus - I was able to use all the decorations for her bedroom, which still was lacking in that area.

I should apologize now for the massive amounts of pictures you will see in this post. But...hey...just know that though there are many here, there are MANY more on my computer. :) I did pick out the best ones for you!

 The cake was made by a dear, dear friend {who also happened to make our wedding cake}. We tried to make candy buttons - FAIL. So we used real ones instead!

One of my favorite things I did was Ruby's name. I do a lot of letters as gifts to people, but usually initials. If it's longer than 4 letters, it sure is big b/c the letters are quite large. But this time, I spray painted them (new to me). I like them, but I think I prefer painting with acrylic. Surprisingly faster, and I prefer the matte look it gives. But the button clusters are awesome, are they not? {PS - I also spent hours spray painting buttons...it is NOT as easy as it sounds!}

Isn't this display just ca~ute?! I took advantage of the candle thingies and made a 12 month display of her pics. LOVE.

I'm not a big punch person, and I saw this on one of my pins and loved the idea. It was a hit.

You'll have to forgive me for putting THREE pictures of her wreath on here, but they're my new obsession, and this one is the best one I've made yet. Seriously cute stuff. {I'm selling customized ones for Christmas gifts if anyone's interested.}

I found a tank top at a rummage sale and sewed on buttons to it. I made her first tu-tu, which actually wasn't nearly the project I thought it would be. I love that her outfit tied into the button theme.

At first, she was pretty hands off with the cake. But after she got a few good tastes, she dug in....

Ruby LOVES wrapping paper, tissue, etc. We were constantly redirecting her to what was IN the paper. Surely people understood...

One last picture of our birthday girl...she is just such a joy.

Watch for a blog coming soon with how we implemented her bday decorations to make her room look more like...a little girl's room!

As promised, here are the main inspirations:

Tutu - Treasures for Tots {She has a BUNCH of tutorials featured on her blog. Neat stuff.}
Party Theme & Decorations - The Rollins Ruckus, Kara's Party Ideas