No Strings Attached

This morning my girls and I helped give out free hot chocolate in front of Wal-Mart for a few minutes.  My mom and her friend Teresa were manning the station and while I wanted to continue, the wind was chilly and having a 4 month old get sick days before Christmas is not my idea of fun!

What was interesting was that while we had a sign that said FREE hot chocolate and while we said FREE hot chocolate, people were very leery of taking it.  They just couldn’t imagine us doing something completely free.. no tips, no fundraiser, no anything.  Just a Merry Christmas!

I think part of the nervousness that people had was the venue, when you walk up to the doors and people are standing there, if you are like me, you are already rehearsing your “No” speech.  No cash.. maybe on the way out… you know the speech I am talking about.  So when we offered something free, we threw people for a loop.  It was unexpected.  How fun! It kind of fits the Christmas story doesn’t :)

I don’t know how many cups of hot chocolate were served this morning, but I do know that many more people were touched than actually took cups.    And let me brag on my girls for a second.  Yesterday when I was making the leaflets for the cups they asked about what I was doing.  I explained and they said Oh and just smiled and went on their way.  Then this morning I said we were going to go help a few minutes, that we needed a lesson in serving and they were all for it.  A little cold as they didn’t take jackets like they were told to, be they went and would have continued to serve for as long as needed. What was fun is that they never asked why or thought we were crazy, they just went.  What a lesson for us all.  We should all be willing to go and serve, even when we don’t know why!

And for those of you out there that need a reason for doing things like this, go read The Outward Focused Life or check out the website. http://outwardfocusedlife.com/

1 year ago

One year ago this weekend our life was thrown for a wonderful loop.  I found out that I was pregnant with Kylie! 

Oh how life changes in a year. 

What a joy and blessing she is to our lives!

Crocheted Necklaces

 I am becoming a jewelry making fool.  Last night I completed my 10th piece.. all in one week!

I’ve also learned a lot in the process.. like silver wire stays on the roll and unwinds nicely. Gold wire does not!  I’ve also learned that the best looking pieces have a variety of gemstones and acrylic beads.  This also helps with the cost if you happen to need a lot of gifts.

One of the nicest things about these pieces is that they are forgiving when it comes to size.  The mesh you  make crocheting gives the piece flexibility in the size!

  My inspiration for these necklaces came from Inky Smiles blog and like Erin, I recommend watching the tutorial below curtsey of Auntie’s Beads if you want to learn how to create these yourself.

One thing I would say different than the video is that it does matter (at least to me) how the beads are strung onto the wire initially.  Random is great, but if you have different sized beads or a few special beads, you need to take the time and string them on at different intervals on the wire.  Otherwise you will get a lump of special beads.  Yes, I speak from experience :) In the necklace above, you can see what I am talking about!

Well, good luck in your jewelry endeavors!

How about some fudge with your beads?

With only a few more days of school left before the holiday (oh Hallelujah) the girls and I made fudge tonight so that Maddie has teacher gifts!  You can see that this was serious business. I am always glad later that I take the time to do these things with the girls, but during the mess and the project, I rethink the whole "get your kids involved" concept!

To go along with the fudge, I have also made beaded necklaces (and one bracelet).
Here's an up-close view of a couple of the ones I have made so far.

And here I am modeling one for you :)

So, that's what I am doing tonight.  Well, that along with refereeing the girl's fights,
telling them to stop whining, and all manner of kid juggling.

I know, one of these days, in what will seem like a blink of the eye, the girls will be grown and I will miss these moments. And that's why I do it.  That's why even when I am exhausted to the point of tears, I make fudge and let them help even though it takes twice as long to make.  Because these moments are precious and years from now I pray that they will remember the fudge we made together for their teachers.

Beading to China

I came across this incredible site this morning and just had to share!  Please go look at http://beadingtochina.blogspot.com/ and consider purchasing some of her beautiful pieces.  Adoption is so very important to our family that I know I will be looking to support her efforts in a tangible way soon!!

Here are a few pictures of her work that I have stolen off her blog!

Have a great day!