green with envy

"smoochy"- noah's frog, our green view,
a green wall, my green boy (22 months)

st. pat's day shirts
follow this tutorial to make your own.

yummy cookies in a green box, green thread,
green suitcase, green book- "the giving tree"

baby love

tutorial links:
cloth baby blocks
paper bows
paper flowers
(i used magazine pages, and scrapbooking paper for my paper flowers. i also used twigs for the stem)
applique onsies
(i used fusible fabric underneath, lined the top fabric to it, then stitched the perimeter with a zig zag stitch)

her baby

"she's moving," melanie said, and i quickly placed my hand on her belly.

and waited.

waited to feel her baby.

melanie's baby.

melanie, the 10 yr old i met 20 years ago.

the 10 yr old who grew up in front of me.

and along side me.

the baby of a girl who by God's design was never my friend, but my God-sister.

i waited to feel her roll.

sweet baby girl.

and with my hand on melanie's belly, i remembered.

20 years of sisterhood;

meeting

oakdale church of the nazarene
enthusiasm
church roof, laying under the steeple taking in the stars
hand-me-downs
mission trips
my first apartment
concerts
introducing her to michael
moving 2 hrs away
then her moving an ocean away
seeing her again on my wedding day
the penguin car
popcorn and kool-aid
driving her to meet her future (college)
not knowing that as i dropped her off my future was changing (noah)
christmas break, and my first baby belly
her wedding day
first homes/neighboring homes
coffee at her place
friendship that stands the test of time and grace
and the good bye hug.

and baby rolled across the palm of my hand.

melanie's baby.

i couldn't keep the floodgates shut.

melanie's having a baby!

and i love her already.

because she is my melanie's baby.

proud daddy steve, "mel mel," baby (in the belly of course), me, and michael.

baby shower pix to follow!

handmade

i have spent most of this past week preparing for a baby shower i'm throwing this weekend.

i waited till close to the last minuet to make banners, paper flower bouquets, and to sew baby gifts.

today i'll clean, bake, and try to figure out how to fit 30 people in my home for tomorrow's celebration.

i'll take lots of pix of the event, and send you links so you too can learn how to create your own pretties.

in the meantime enjoy a few handmade items from someone who use to be afraid of handmade.

one of my new favorite, creative blogs is How About Orange. where i have found too many handmade things to try my hand at. i have been surprised by what i can do! these gift bows made from magazine pages were easy-peasy! so easy in fact i may never buy a bag of a dozen gift bows for a $1 again.

we recently attended two first birthday parties, both with the cupcake theme.
i whipped up these darling little cupcake shirts for the birthday girls.
they look delicious to this fairly new appliquer.

and because i was going applicrazy i had to make each birthday girl

another shirt with an ME look.

What are your weekend plans?

Are you a fan of handmade or do you fear it?

Spring. Is. Coming.

Spring. is. coming.

Spring: to appear or grow quickly; to move suddenly forward or upward;
to release or cause to be released from confinement.



It's raining on these hills outside my home. It's been raining on these hills inside my heart.

Rain. Is. Good.

The hills are thirsty.

Because of the rain there will be a GLORIOUS spring!

The hills have already turned a vibrant shade of green. I'm waiting for delicious blue skies, surrounded by puffy clouds to frame their beauty.

a lone lupin waits on my hillside, longing to be in community. It will. When the remaining lupin are released from their captivity they will join in a dance of purple on my hillside!

Wildflowers in shades of white, butter yellow, and baby pink will join them in the dance.
Some will be delicately chosen, they will dance into my home, waltzed away by little hands, delivered as a gift for this mommy.

Spring. Is. Coming.



thank you noah, emilie, and josie. thank you for seeing the almond orchard filled with blossoms, and saying (before i asked),"mommy, you want to pull over and take pictures don't you!" thank you for inviting me to do so.
it is good to be known.

CrAzY 8!

Comedic- you have the funniest sense of humor (you get it from your daddy). You say the wittiest things!

Radiant- you illuminate every room with your Sunshiney personality

Ambitious - you live expectantly, work hard at school, hope for your future (I can't wait to go to your restaurant, "Josefini Tortellini's"), and embrace adventure with bounce in your step!

Zealous- you embrace life, friendship, and worship (I love that you always have a praise song on your lips) with passion!

Yacking- Me: Josie why do you talk so much? Josie: talking is my favorite thing to do. And when your not yacking you delight us with your constant SINGING!

It is CrAzY that you are already 8!

When you were 3 I asked you not to grow anymore.
You told me you "had to grow to be 5"
(Emilie was 5 at the time. You have always looked up to your big sister).
When you were six you "promised you'd stop growing at 7."
But today,
TODAY YOU ARE 8!
Kids are 8!
How can you, my baby, be 8?

"They" said (who are "they" anyway), "it goes by fast."
"They" were right.
(I wish "they" were wrong)

"They" said, "enjoy them while they're young" and
"those are the best days of your life."

BUT I say
EVERYDAY has been better than the one before!

I've had 8 years of better than the day before with you!

If February 10, 2002 was the best day,
then today is the
Bestestestestestestestestestestestestestestest..............
DAY!

I am CrAzY in LOVE with you, and who you are!
(And don't even get me started on how I feel about your brother and sister!)

I'm SO GLAD GOD "added" YOU
to our lives
Josefine!

HaPpY bIrThDaY!

A few of my favorite things- part 3, "You had me at the box."

It started with a box.

Michael's grandmother, Gram, made a tradition of giving a Christmas gift to her husband, Gramps, every year in the same box. Eventually the box made its way into the family. Each year someone new receives a gift in the box. This year I got the box! Because the box is valued and part of tradition, just getting the box was a gift.

But the blessing didn't stop there!

Before I continue, you'll need some back story: nearly two years ago I had a naked wall in my house. While visiting my s.i.l. her buffet (which was being stored under her house) asked me if it could come live at my house on that naked wall. My heart went out to the abandoned buffet, and I asked Lindsey if I could "store" it for her . She agreed, and in addition said I could "paint it whatever color I wanted to." Being the thoughtful s.i.l. that I am, I chose a color that would never compliment the colorscape (it should be a word) of her home, RED!
I really want to store the buffet as long as possible.

Shortly after we Michael painted it red his parents were over visiting. Michael's dad liked the buffet, but commented that I needed a red bench in my front window to compliment it. I agreed, and ever since have been searching for a bench to compliment the buffet.

This Christmas my search was over-

Michael's dad made me a bench and painted it buffet red! As they removed the sheet, displaying my thoughtful gift, tears filled my eyes, and I said, "You had me at the box."

It is so good to be known.

A few of my favorite things- Part 2

Continued from yesterday's post...

I'm really blessed to have a husband whose parent's brought him up right! As a child they put him (and his siblings) to work alongside them; cooking, building, cleaning, problem-solving, creating, helping. And because of this Michael has confidence tackling many projects.

I don't think they knew then that they were giving their children a great gift. One that would translate into confidence and capability in their lives. THANK YOU NANA & GRAMPS! This is a gift we hope to (and are) passing onto our children.

Because of this gift given to Michael in his childhood I am blessed with the opportunity to have a great big "honey-do" list! And at gift giving time my honey-do wheels start turning.

Here are two "honey-do" and "knowing" gifts we LOVED giving.

Michael made the girl's beds for their American Girl dolls. Don't they look terrific! I made the bedding to match their bedding. The girl's were delighted when they discovered them on our Christmas morning by the tree.
Their dollies have already taken up residence in their beds- tucking jammies behind their pillows, and hiding A.G. belongings under the beds.

This gift was given to Micheal's grandmother, Gram.
For all they years she has been a Grandmother, Gram, has had a photo taken of each of her grand-daughter's and great-granddaughters in her mother's dress, seated in her own childhood rocker.
We thought it was time all those special photos were matted and framed for Gram.

The photo in the center of the frame is of her mother, Lilian May Riley Sullivan, in the dress.
Nana Sullivan is surrounded in the frame by her great, and great-great granddaughters!

I could hardly wait for Gram to open her gift, to see the expression on her face, to know this tradition she has carried on is valued by the generations.
(the two empty mattes are awaiting pix of new great-granddaughters).

BTW- Michael works by day as a fine art digital print-maker, and by weekend as a photographer (thanks honey for working the two jobs needed so we can eat and have a roof over our heads! thank you for making it possible for me to be a s.a.h.m./home schooling mommy to our kids), and again has the skills and resources to make a project like this happen.

Happy Twenty Ten!

The bright side of this New Year is that my hair doesn't look as hideous as it did 10 years ago on New Years !
Happy 2010

Our Christmas

Because the Christmas season is filled with extended family we celebrate our family Christmas the week before Christmas.

We start with our Christmas eve.- singing together, reading of Jesus' birth in the book of Luke, praying together, then off to bed (so mommy and daddy can fill stockings, and make preparations for our Christmas day).

We wake to surprises under the tree, and open stockings.

We celebrate Jesus' birthday with a birthday breakfast party, just as we have celebrated each of our own birthdays through the year (complete with the table set, balloons, and streamers).

We read the story of Jesus' birth again, this time from the book of Matthew. We talk about Jesus being the gift we received that first Christmas. We speak of how God became man, was born here on earth, and how he longs to be born in us, live in us.

We open presents.
We go to church together.
Come home and play together.
We have a yummy "Linner" (lunch-dinner. This year we treated the kids to Tepanyaki. Entertainment, good food, and no cooking or clean up make for a very Merry Christmas).

Because our Christmas is a week early, we make it a goal to be done with all Christmas wrapping, crafting, buying, and preparing by our Christmas. This gives us a wonderful week off to enjoy the Christmas season, to enjoy advent and the coming of Jesus.

I never knew 9 years ago when we began this that it would become tradition. I LOVE that it has.
I confess moving Our Christmas was a little awkward those first couple years, But it has become so familiar, so who we are.

What Christmas traditions does your family have or have you created?

Merry Christmas'n with the Joneses!

Expect-fully!!

Advent day 15- FREE HOT CHOCOLATE STAND!
Scripture- Zechariah 9:9-17
This was our 6th year giving free hot cocoa to our community at Christmas. Every year WE are blessed in the giving. We love to stand together as a family and give out up to 160 cups of Hot Cocoa.
The voices of my children shouting "free hot chocolate!" delights me. This has become our Jones family tradition, and I LOVE THAT!
This year (and every year) I prayed for all the individuals that took our free gift, and for those that that pass us by, that they would receive the FREE GIFT that God gave us that first Christmas- JESUS! I pray that Jesus would be born in each of them.

Advent day 16- Christmas Caroling
Scripture- Philippians 4: 10-13

Advent day 17- Bake Cookies
Scripture- 1 Thessalonians 2:19 & Romans 8:16-17a

Advent day 18- Cookie/Ornament Exchange PARTY!
Scripture- Luke 2:8-20
The kids invited 2 friends each to our house to join us for their very own Christmas party (Thanks for letting this adult crash the party kids). All the children brought cookies and an ornament to exchange. They also brought a non-perishable food item to give to our local MANNA HOUSE, and $1 to give to Charity Water.
We had a fun time playing a game, eating junk food, listening to a favorite story "The Tale of Three Trees," exchanging treats, decorating cookies, discussing a local charity, watching a video about Charity Water, and giving to both.

I LOVE that my kids are bigger, that we are at a stage where we can throw fun parties together.
I enjoyed listening to all the kids giggles. Listening to them share their own stories, including stories of how their families are serving Christ in the community this Christmas season was delicious! MY KIDS HAVE DELIGHTFUL FRIENDS!

Advent day 19- Our Christmas Eve.
Scripture- James 1:17
You read that right! it's our Christmas Eve. 9 years ago we moved our Christmas. Between Michael's family, and my families, we already have 3 Christmas' to attend on Christmas day!
That is a blessing! BUT in order to have our own family Christmas we'd have to wake before dawn and be sleep-deprived-in-the-car-for-too-many-hours-eaten-too-many-Christmas-cookies-zombies by the time we hit our final destination, my Aunt Mary and Uncle Joseph's house (i'm not kidding). So we moved our Christmas to the Sunday before Christmas, and WE LOVE IT! We love having our family all to our selves, enjoying each other, and making our own traditions.

So tonight we'll be reading the Story of Jesus' birth, enjoying the wonder of it all, Expect-fully waiting for JESUS!

I'm also glad to know that when my own kids are adults they will not have to squeeze us in on Christmas day, as our family Christmas will always be reserved for the weekend before.
DID YOU GET THAT KIDS! YOUR ALL MINE THE WEEKEND BEFORE CHRISTMAS FROM NOW UNTIL FOR.EV.ER!

Wassail, Tow-trucks, and Flying.

Advent day 6- "Here we come a wassailing!" Make wassail and watch "Little Women."
Scripture I John 1:5-22

Directions for Nana's Sweet Wassail-4 cups brewed tea (i use lipton).
4 cups cranberry juice
4 cups apple juice (not apple cider)
1 cup O.J.
3/4 cup sugar
4 cloves
1 tablespoon cinnamon (and/or cinnamon sticks)
(it is very sweet. i add 6 cups of brewed tea to lessen the sweetness).

Add ingredients together in a pot, heat, and serve. Let it simmer all day with a ladle and Christmas cups in close reach! Your home is guaranteed to smell Christmasilicious!

Little Women is by far my favorite childhood book. I became a part of the March family when I was 14. I'd escape to the park down the street from my home, find my way to the shade of a tree, and imagine I was Jo March.
I love to watch the movie each Christmas. Over the years I have discovered that In some way I am each one of the March girls- Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy.
Have you read or watched Little Women? Which March girl are you most like?


In my last post I mentioned that Michael and I were going on a date.
Here's how the date turned out!
The van broke down.
Thankfully we had the camera (i always have my camera) and were able to occupy ourselves during the 45 min. wait for AAA towing to come rescue us. As you can see from this pic. we didn't go hungry! Thank you Rod (tow-truck guy) for chauffeuring us the 45 min. back up the hill to our town in your sweet ride.

The van is now awaiting surgery. It needs a new timing belt ($523). We are hoping (praying) that is the extent of it's injuries. If they're are more injuries it will have to undergo another surgery ($2,000+).
I was thinking it would be nice if the "medical expenses" for the van could be included in our other medical expenses from this year, since we have already met that deductible.
<
On the bright side, the kids weren't with us when the van broke down, and we already had our other vehicle in town (can you imagine what a nightmare it would have been with kids, and then needing to get our other vehicle had it been at home, 30 miles from town. yikes! good timing God! - no pun intended).

And God, Thank you (as I mumble "bah hum bug" under my breath) for another opportunity for you to Provide, and show how You love us. We're counting on You again!

Finally, thank you to all of you who prayed for me! I did it, I played the guitar at church! I have a greater respect and admiration for the folks that get up there and lead both instrumentally and vocally each week. It's not easy.
I'm especially GRATEFUL for the individuals that lead with me-
Ross- who coached me through it saying, "just breath, you can do this, take your time" (i was SO nervous, so out of my comfortable element).
Susan- who whispered to me, "they're singing, your doing fine, they're singing (that was somewhere in the middle of song 3, when I was shaking so much I feared I would have what would appear to be an epileptic seizure).
Jeff- who had tears in his eyes, but don't tell him I told you, cause "grown men don't cry."
If your going to step out of your comfort zone, into something you've longed to do, but don't know if your capable of, make sure your surrounded by people who LOVE you, have your back, and want you to fly! Make sure your with people who want to fly with you.
Playing guitar was a blessing, but soaring with these individuals was a greater blessing!

Advent days 3, 4,& 5

Advent day 3- Drink hot cocoa with 22 mini-marsmallows (that's how many days there were till Christmas), make advent chains, and fill in a Christmas activity book.
Scripture- Matthew 3: 13-17

Advent day 4- Slumber Party by the Christmas tree!
Scripture- II Corinthians 5:17-18

The kids thought I was taking pix of them jumping on the couches, but I was videoing them and all their goofiness.


Advent day 5 (today)-Spend the day with Nana n' Gramps!
Scripture- I John 1: 5-22

Today's advent activity gives the kids time to make memories with their grandparents (they'll be doing some Christmas decorating up at the lake house), and gives Michael and I a much needed break! I can't remember the last time we really looked at each other, or talked. I miss him. So a little unfinished Christmas shopping, dinner (with a gift-card), looking at each other, talking and/or enjoying the silent togehter, topped off by the movie "The Blind Side" is our childless plan for today!

And here is a little prayer request for me- I'm leading worship tomorrow at church. I have lead worship a zillion times vocally, BUT this time I'm leading instrumentally too. I'm playing guitar!
I need prayer for my nerves (Yes, even I get stage fright) to be settled, to have confidence that I can do it, and that I will glorify, and honor God in this offering of praise. THANKS!

Your Light Has Come!

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See the darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears upon you.
Isaiah 60:1-2

Advent activity Day 2- "Go to the Cool Bean Cafe for peppermint hot chocolate, and play Christmas Speed Scrabble!"

If you are ever in our neck of the woods (Oakhurst, Ca. If you visit Yosemite National Park, you'll likely drive through our neck of the woods, "The Gateway to Yosemite" to get there) and your wanting a GREAT cup of java, make sure you stop by the Cool Bean Cafe.

The Cool Bean Cafe is owned by the sweetest newlywed couple EVER! You will be BLESSED by their inviting personalities, and their love and desire for this community. In addition they offer DELICIOUS fair trade coffee (the Gingersnap Latte is my personal favorite).

And are you asking, "what is Speed Scrabble?" It is the funnest (it's a word) game EVER!
What you need:
Scrabble pieces from 2 or more games (i place a matching mark on the back of set pieces, so i can return them to the original Scrabble game as needed).
How to play:
Dump Scrabble pieces on table, flip them with letters facing down
Each player takes 7 pieces
Flip pieces and create a crossword puzzle with all the letters
The first player to use all pieces says, "take 2." All players grab 2 letters from the pile, and continue to build the cross word puzzle.
This process continues until the pile is depleted.
When the last player has successfully built their crossword puzzle using all the pieces, and their are no more pieces on the table to be taken, he/she counts down to 10, allowing the remainder of the players to time to try to complete their crossword puzzle.
When the counting is over the game is over.
DO NOT UNDO YOUR CROSSWORD PUZZLE!
Players count their points by counting the numbers on Scrabble pieces. Letters that are used in multiple words get multiple points.
Unused Scrabble pieces count against the points you accumulated.
The player to go out first automatically gets 50 points added to their points.
The player with the most points is the winner!
For Christmas Speed Scrabble we made a rule that each player with any Christmas word, received an additional 50 points for each word!

The kids and I enjoyed our time together, away from homeschool (shhhh, don't tell them they were working on their spelling as we played) and our normal responsibilities. We enjoyed sipping on cocoa and playing together.

The Spirit of Giving

Originally posted Dec 8th, 2008
"God loves a cheerful giver," are words spoken often in our house. i think it is important to cultivate a spirit of giving in our children, and in each other.

typically when one thinks of giving they immediately consider their wallets, but in all honesty our wallets are pretty bare. because of this we have looked for creative ways to give over the years. i hope that regardless of how empty or full our wallets are we will always seek creative ways to give.

a creative way to give to the community:
free hot chocolate stand- for 5 years we have served free hot chocolate to our community. first, we get permission from a local small business, and use of an outlet. next, we set up a table complete with 2 large coffee pots (we borrow these from our church) filled with hot chocolate (enough for 160 cups), toppings of whipped cream, and marshmallows, and add a candy cane. then, we put the kids to work, inviting passers by to receive their free hot chocolate.for an individual or family:

the 12 days of christmas- we have had the opportunity over the years to surprise families in need of christmas blessings on the 12 days before christmas.
first, choose a family that needs to blessed! may be a family new to the community, a family facing financial difficulty, or a family struggling with health. there are many who need a bit of light to shine on them and their circumstances. many who need tangible love from their community (or even strangers) poured on them.
next, find 12 families (including yourself) to be gift givers for the 12 days leading up to christmas. assign a day to each family, give a gift tag to accompany their gift, and directions to the recipients house.
then, deliver gifts! gift deliveries are top secret. deliver early a.m. or in the p.m., be creative in your deliveries, send someone dressed as santa, or in camouflage. this is the one time a year it is okay to doorbell ditch (accept don't ring the doorbell)! finally, with the last gift delivered on christmas, send a card with everyone's names, wishing them a very merry christmas! this years gift tags have a #1-12 on one side, with this saying on the other. for family:
with as many as 7 families filling the jones house, and a grand total of 23 family members, well, that is a lot of gifts! we decided to get creative to find a way to blesss family members. how do we do it? breakfast in bed!
on christmas eve. morning families are served breakfast in bed. the night before we leave a door hanger on each door (just as you would find in a hotel), asking family members to tell us the time they'd like their meal delivered, beverage choices, and other special instructions.
on christmas eve. morning we wake early and get to work. michael does most of the cooking, while i serve as assistant. we ready the meal, ready the trays, add a special note accompanied by the christmas story of jesus' birth, then deliver the breakfast trays.

Coming, Expecting

A few years ago I was given an advent box as a gift. The box has 25 smaller boxes to fill. Honestly, I wasn't thrilled about the responsibility that had been given to me. I Immediately felt overwhelmed at the duty of filling each of those little boxes with Christmas treasures.But the box has surprised me. Instead of filling it with store bought treasures I realized I could fill each box with an activity for each day. Because of this box the time of advent (which means "coming" or "expecting") has become the richest month of the year. I have found myself more intentional about the kids, being in their world, creating along side them, participating in their wonder and their giggles, making memories with them.

My goal for December is to share with you the activity planned for each day leading up to Christmas. In addition there will be daily scripture reading (thanks Kristen who suggested this, and shared her list).

The activities vary from drinking a cup of hot cocoa filled with 25 marshmallows (the days there are until Christmas) to having a Free Hot Cocoa stand.

Today's activity was to paint a Christmas tree on the sliding glass window (I am o.c.d., so the kids were surprised that the daily windexed window was going to be covered in paint!) The kids also made 25 ornaments from construction paper.


We discussed the meaning of advent, that the Savior had come to our world, to be with us, to be born in us, to be living in each of us.

For the next 25 days of advent we will add one of the handmade ornaments to the painted tree. The ornament will have the name of someone we love, who we will pray for. We will pray that Jesus will be born in them, that He will be their Savior, and live fully in and through them.

I hope you enjoy the next 25 days of advent with us!

What does your family do to celebrate advent?

(Scripture reading Isaiah 40: 1-11)

Give Thanks!

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100

some of my favorite worshipers- entering His courts with praise.

What are you thankful for this Thanksgiving?