Bluebonnets 2012. Not even the flu can stop this crazy Texas Momma!

Texas spring.

Bluebonnets.

Green Grass.

80 degree weather.

We get a beautiful few days, and then

its

dead flowers

brown grass

100 degree weather.

So...

even though our house was full of sickness

with Kylie and Lexi both suffering from the flu.

We went and took pictures.

cause, yes.

I am a crazy Texas Momma

and bluebonnet pictures are a tradition!

With girls this cute, I couldn't take the chance of missing out on the pretty flowers or weather!

A Dozen Handmade Cards

I've had an unexpected few days at home. Kylie and Lexi both have the flu and so not only am I not working, but I am TRAPPED inside my house!

So far I have cooked, cleaned, made a pathetic video, read a couple of books and made a stack of scrapbook pages. With the leftovers, I made the cards below.  This is the first time I've made cards in probably a year, and it was a nice change of pace. I like using up scraps of paper and embellishments. I may spend money on crafts, but when it comes down to it, I am very thrifty! Kinda nice to say that 12 cards made and not a dollar spent! (well, lots of dollars were spent at other times, but not specifically for this project!)

All the papers and stamps are from Close To My Heart. The embellishments come from here, there and maybe even a button or two from an old outfit!
I thinking of giving this set of cards away. What do you think? And would you use them?

Kid-Sized and Budget Friendly Jello

This may be a total no-brainer for you, but given that our house is new to Jello, I thought I'd tell you my new trick :)

So why is Jello new to us? Well, all of the prepackaged jello's have red dye #40 in them. And up until I found this box of berry blue, every other box had it too. And since Maddie's allergic to red 40, jello was off limits in our house.

Until Kylie had her tonsils out. She had jello at the hospital and loved it.  So we bought the prepackaged stuff and Maddie steered clear of the jello and the sticky fingers.

Then I found berry blue at HEB and were thrilled! And to be honest, I was glad to find the large box because the prepackaged stuff is super expensive! I can't believe how much they charge for basically tinted water!

HEB (our grocery store) had 4 boxes. I bought them all.

So as I was getting ready to make the jello, I knew that I didn't want a large vat of jello that would end up being only half eaten, that would be contaminated by little fingers and sick flu germs. So I went with single serve jellos. 

We have tons of the the 3oz plastic cups and they were the PERFECT portion sizes!

You can see the cups of jello in the fridge. Notice that I tried to use our silicone ice molds. That was a total bust. But hey, you win some and you lose some.

And here are my sweet sick girls. Little Berry Blue Jello cups make the flu seem not so bad.

Hey, next time you go down the baking aisle at your store, see if you can find us some new flavors of jello. No RED DYE #40 please.

The Dining Room Reveal

The Reveal.

Sorry it took so long. In typical Emily fashion, once the project is done (or almost done) I move to the next project and forget about the finishing details, like taking pictures. Plus, I'm looking for a mirror to sit above the black shelf where the picture is. Then the picture will sit on the top shelf and it will be complete. But, I've looked around and I can't find a mirror I like, so when I finally get one, I'll let you know!

I know you were worried :)

 And... Tah Dah. or is it tada? [side note. I've been stuck at home with two little girls with the flu. I'm feeling a little crazed.]

Here are the things I love about my dining room. And why you should be jealous!

1. The color. I love the gold/yellow. It makes me happy. It also looks great with the wood in the house. The honey tones in floor shimmer. I also think the white trim pops off the yellow. Yes, it's a very strong color, but the rest of my house is pretty strong in similar nature driven tones, so it works!

2. I super love how open my dining room is. Don't super love that the highchair is so prominent in the pictures or that the child who uses the high chair leaves evidence of her meals everywhere. But I do super love the reason we have the high chair.

3. Uncluttered corners are my new favorite decorating space! I realize that floor space is a premium in houses. But man, I am loving the uncluttered and very freeing empty wall and corner! And, because I don't have furniture and other stuff competing for attention on that wall, I can do fun artsy things like iron fabric to the wall and make canvas wall art! If you missed the post about how to make the artsy stuff, check out the tutorial tab at the top of the page.

4. And finally, the china cabinet wall. The table and china cabinet are in my favorite style. Pretty to look at, but not fancy. I think the simple lines of the furniture play beautifully with the room and contrast nicely with the china and glass in the cabinet. [another side note: yes, this is the same china that I tried to sell unsuccessfully for the last few years.  Since cleaning out lots of junk, I have room to store it. Maybe I'll even use it!]

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed my dining room tour.  Ooh. maybe I'll make a little video later today! Come back tomorrow and see! Look!! I made a really sad video!! Enjoy! :)

Insecurity vs I am Enough

Insecurity. We all deal with it in some form. Whether it is at work or at home, whether we wallow in it or hide it, insecurity is a place we have all been.

Currently I am working through a bible study called Living Your Life as a Beautiful Offering by Angela Thomas. I am really enjoying the study as her lessons are short and to the point. Yes, I wish I had an hour to devote to morning bible study, but I don't. So, this study gives me something to think on in a couple of minutes and I can supplement on those rare mornings that I don't have a child join me almost the moment I get out of bed. (Side note: maybe it's just my house, but opening the bible is the best alarm clock I have. It doesn't seem to matter how quietly I turn the pages, something about that open bible and me getting some alone time with God just makes my children wake up.)

Back to the bible study. We are working through the sermon on the mount.

Today's lesson was on being enough. That in our meekness we realize that we "will never be enough and recognize that we will always need a Savior to complete us." I don't know about you, but this really resonates with me.  I truly struggle with being "enough" at home and at work.  I know that I hide my insecurity pretty well, but I am always working to be "enough". I take lots of extra classes on teaching, am always trying new things, researching and going that extra, extra mile to be enough! 

Why, do I feel this way? There isn't a clear cut answer and I think that's the nature of insecurity. If it was an easy fix, we would fix it and then not be insecure!  I can tell you at work, the answer for much of my insecurity is that I don't have a traditional art teacher background.  Because of that, I am always second guessing myself and allowing things others say in passing, or things they don't say, or things I think they say.... to become worry spots for me. I am always aware that I'm not enough.

Recently, I was having one of those weeks and telling Doug about how I felt and he gave me the best encouragement.  (Thank goodness for awesome husbands!) He made an analogy to a baseball manager. Yes, this fits for me as I love baseball.  He said that some baseball managers (with world series rings as managers) were truly great baseball players in their own right, so good that they are in the hall of fame for their own careers. But some baseball managers played in the minors for years and years and they were never "good enough" to make to the majors, but they know the game and the positions and can see the big picture so well that they make great managers and win world series.

This just made since to me. I've felt that since I wasn't a professional artist with tons of training, that Iwasn't  good enough and shortchanging my students.  But after Doug said that, I was able to see that because of my meekness about traditional art and since I wasn't so concerned with doing things the "right way," I was able to encourage students to see a bigger picture, to try more things and in short to become better artists.

So, am I cured of my insecurity? No. But I can say that when I take a minute to stop and reflect, that I know that God has me where I am supposed to be. Contrary to what some might think, it's not an easy job. Teaching economics and coaching debate was easy. In fact, of all the 13+ things I have taught, teaching art is the hardest thing that I have done. But in the midst of the daily struggles, Iam reminded that "my flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever." (Psalm 73: 26)

And when I get down I remind myself that because of Christ I AM ENOUGH!