{Sweet} DReAmS

Hello folks! Wow! What a whirlwind the past few weeks have been. We had such a sweet December getting to see lots of family and friends. We have been off all week as a family, and it has been so nice to stay put and just be together. We only did one really productive thing while we were off, and that was paint and redo parts of Ava's room. ( more on that in another post)

 As I sit here reflecting on this past year, and thinking about what this next year may possibly hold for us as a family, and me individually, I feel encouraged, scared, and confused.

I feel encouraged knowing that no matter what we may endure this year God will see us through it. I also feel encouraged to know that the one thing I know for sure is,  I want my relationship with Him to grow into something more beautiful and intimate than I could ever imagine. At church this morning the pastor was talking about "resolutions." He said that as Christians our resolution should be " to know God and to make Him known." ........Yes it sounds plain and simple, but as I sat and thought about it, in the deepest depths of my soul there are parts of me that the Lord has not traveled to, and there is so much about my Heavenly Father that I have yet to discover. So this next year I will seek; purposefully pursue GOD and his love and mercy for me.

On another note I have a few sweet dreams about this next year. For those who know me personally or have followed my blog, you know I spend lots of time at various garage sales, estate sales and auctions. It is an addiction really. At these places I am surrounded by lots of very talented antique dealers and shop owners. It is a passion that I have found and {I love it.} I have always frequented these sales with the intent of purchasing something for my own house ( or my sisters house since it is a little harder for her to attend these sales.) I usually have my sweet mom right beside me .....shes my junkin' partner in crime. I always see lots and lots of things that are wonderful but I have no spot for them in my own house.....so I go on a "buyers diet" and don't buy them........BUT that is just it, there may not be room for these things in my house ......but somewhere in someone elses home it is the perfect piece!!!! Do you get where I am going with this yet???........So what if.....just dream with me here for a minute......I became one of those really cool junkin' people that we all read about on blogs who buys and sells stuff! I mean really I went to an auction yesterday and I passed up some really great deals that I could have bought and resold.......to be honest with you I have had this dream for a loooonnnnggggg time......i have just been too scared and intimidated to do anything with it. I mean really I could never be a cool as Miss Mustard Seed!!!! { Love} that lady...talk about super talented.

With all of that said, maybe, just maybe, this is the year to do something with this passion of mine!

 And all in all, I know it is not my timing or will that will make this happen, this has to be in the Lord's perfect timing and will for me. And you know what that is okay with me!!


And since I have this pet peeve of mine that I dislike blogs with no pictures in them......I will leave you with some pics of our sweet December.

Many blessings to you and yours in 2011.......now I am off to bed to have visions of painted dressers, vintage clocks, and piles of "junk" dance through my head.

Papa ( my grandpa) me and Ava at her school program

Ava and Grandma at her school

Cookin' with Nana

Sweet Cousins

Ava opening presents at Grandma and Pops.....I must add she is wearing one of my dresses from when I was a little girl! She insisted on wearing it......too cute!

More sweet cousins in Christmas jammies

oh and if you are reading this in Google reader, click on over to my blog and see my updated header! It's nothing too cute just some cute pics of sweet Ava Joy. 

{Merry} {Christmas}

Well I figured it was about time to visit this ol' blog here and post an update!

I have finally managed to be "done" with decorating for Christmas. By that, meaning it is what it is this year.  There are some pretty fancy pants Christmas decorations out there in blog land this year, and I have decided to not compete with those ideas! ( though most of them are brilliant and fabulous!) ......so here is a run down of what our house looks like for Christmas this year, as we celebrate the birth of our Savior!! ................And I am pleased to say, I bought no new Christmas decorations this year.....I just pulled together the stuff i already had!

This is my mantel!  This is by far my most favorite thing to decorate during Christmas!! I used the existing window, frame and ceiling tin that was already on my mantel, and just added some Christmas spirit around it. I purchased this Nativity set last year from Dayspring and I {LOVE} it! .........It is especially beautiful at night, when the silhouettes are lit up.

For our tree this year we opted to do a real tree! .....This was a GREAT decision. We have an artificial tree that is 9.5ft tall....it is a beast to decorate I tell ya! .....So we went to the local tree farm here, and purchased a smaller real tree, and it has been perfect! ......Now we just have to remember to keep it watered. I donned the tree with the existing ornaments that I had, and added some burlap garland. I love this stuff! I will be purchasing more of it after Christmas to go on my tree next year. You may be wondering what is with the Cowboy hat at the top of the tree......well my star was MIA this year. I have no idea where it wandered off to. This was my husbands solution ......and I think it looks pretty cute.

I used an old shutter and some suitcases to display our Christmas cards! 

Although I really am missing my stockings hanging from our fireplace, I decided that was just not very practical for us. We build lots of fires during the winter ( maybe that is a product of being married to a fireman!) ........so in the years past it was a constant battle of taking the stockings up and down. So this year I went with something a little more low maintenance and I love the outcome!

I am really not a big fan of decorating my whole house for Christmas, but I did add some little touches to our bedroom. I love the simplicity of this cute little set up.

On a more important note, this is our center piece for our dining table. Yes it is baby Jesus. This is Ava's good deeds manger. The idea for this is, thinking of ways that we can give to Jesus on his birthday. Each day when Ava does something good on her own without being prompted, she gets to add some hay to the manger. So hopefully come Christmas morning, baby Jesus will have a soft warm bed to lie in built by Ava having a "happy heart!" She has caught on to this and absolutely loves it.

I hope you all are enjoying the coziness and happiness of the season of Christmas.  There is no greater time of the year to reflect on our Saviors goodness and mercy.

Merry Christmas!

SuGaR and sPiCe......

and everything nice....well most of the time!

A couple of days ago I was having a VERY difficult time with Ava. She has become a very skilled arguer at the young age of 3. Every time I told her "No" or anything to that sense, she had a completely "logical" explanation as to why she could do whatever it was I was telling her not to do.

Not only that but everything was DRAMATIC!!!!!! I know this is the way girls are, but I have not ever dealt with DRAMA at this level before. I mean seriously, I have not ever heard this child CRY so much in one day as I did that day.

Not to mention Nap Time. I really think TLC could do a show called " Nap Time Wars " or "Bed Time Wars" and make a killing off of it. I would watch it just for the security of knowing I am not alone, or to get tips even! Anyway............Ava has always been somewhat good at sleeping. Every now and then an issue will arise that we have to deal with. But on this very day when I told her it was time to take a nap ...... she looked at me and said, "Well mommy it is not dark outside." .....see "logical" excuse. Needless to say, I never convinced her that she never takes a nap when it is dark outside, she did not nap that day. Although, she stayed in her bed the whole time ( after being spanked several times) she never fell asleep.

...........So as the day progressed, unfortunately so did my frustration. Now mind you, this was a day that David was at the station so I was solely on my own for 24hrs! Typically not a big deal, Ava and I usually find plenty to do on these days, and all is usually well...........but not that day! I was the one and only "enforcer" that day .......and enforce I did, with the spanking spoon!

I really think there is nothing more discouraging than spanking your child all day, only to have her turn around and keep doing the things she is getting spankings for.......so I had to start being creative, by taking away her beloved scissors! .........yes you read that right scissors! ( they are kid friendly with a blunted tip that are only capable of cutting paper.....and sometimes not even that!) BUT Ava LOVES her scissors! She sits at her craft table for the majority of the day cutting up pieces of paper or scrap ribbon and gluing it onto paper! By the end of the day it looks like Edward Scissor Hands stopped in for a visit, but she stays busy, occupied and happy!

Taking away her scissors helped for a little while. For the remainder of the day I tried to stay strong and hold my own with her. I prayed a lot, put my face in my hands and shook my head a lot, sighed a lot, and wanted to cry a lot.....and did at one point. Yes it was bad.......especially when I had never seen this side of my child before.

The day ended, and by the end of the day I think she was so exhausted from all of the tantrums, she went right to sleep. That was a blessing, because I am not sure I could have handled much more.

Morning came and Daddy was home! .....( i think I am finally getting to the point of this story here!) I informed David of "our Day" that we had had. And of course he asked, "well, did you spank her."
"umm yes dear more times than I wanted to or can count." So we had to come up with a game plan!!! Our new game plan for that day was going to be, every battle is worth picking today.

 Our philosophy with discipline has always been " you have to learn to pick your battles." This has worked for us. Not every battle is worth fighting when it comes to kids. It does not matter to me if she wears her pink shirt or her purple shirt. We have always tried to give her a since of independence, as long as it is within reason and our approval. .......and maybe we got to a point to where we were not picking as many battles to fight as we should have, and the consequences finally came to surface.

So with Daddy being home .....we were equipped and ready, " Army Aldape" was ready to fight!

......the rest of the day happened! Ava got only one chance to do what we were asking. She was allowed NO leeway that day. By about mid day we had our sweet little Ava back! ( Daddy was the main enforcer that day!)

Looking back on this I was reminded of one of my most favorite songs " Daddy's Hands." here are some of the lyrics.

I remember Daddy´s hands, folded silently in prayer.
And reaching out to hold me, when I had a nightmare.
You could read quite a story, in the callouses and lines.
Years of work and worry had left their mark behind.
I remember Daddy´s hands, how they held my Mama tight,
And patted my back, for something done right.
There are things that I´ve forgotten, that I loved about the man,
But I´ll always remember the love in Daddy´s hands.

Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin´.
Daddy´s hands, were hard as steel when I´d done wrong.
Daddy´s hands, weren´t always gentle
But I´ve come to understand.
There was always love in Daddy´s hands.

This song has always been very near and dear to me, as it reminds me much of my own Dad. There is just something special about a little girl and her daddy. There is just something in little girls that is devastated when we know we have disappointed or upset our daddy's. I see all of this in Ava. 

It was amazing to me what a few hours of being disciplined by Daddy did for Ava, in this very phase of her little rebellious heart. I truly believe kids go through different phases. This is part of them learning how to react to the world around them. Apparently Ava had come to a point  where she needed us to pick more battles with her, because she was learning how to take advantage of the leeway we had given her.

We are still learning how challenging parenting can be, but we are thankful for the wisdom and discernment that the Lord gives us.

"He who spares the rod hates his son,
       but he who loves him is careful to discipline him."  Proverbs 13:24

"A refusal to correct is a refusal to love;
   love your children by disciplining them."  Proverbs 13:24 translated for The Message

Needless to say we still have plenty of SuGaR and sPiCe moments with this precious little girl.

 

Some {favorites}

Once again I have slacked on this......somehow this is not surprising! Honestly my brain and life have been full of things to blog about, but I have not found myself sitting down to do it. Oh well such is life right!!!

One thing that I have been on a quest for, is simplifying my inventory of toiletries and cleaning stuff. My bathroom and shower were beginning to look like CVS. Seriously all joking aside, I had enough Shampoo and Condition to rotate them daily and not use the same one all week......maybe even for two weeks! eekk!.....I was always on a quest to find the best one, you know, the one that smelled the best, and controlled the fly aways in this 100% humidity weather! .....And if I had a coupon, and it was on sell you better believe I was going to buy it just to say I paid .50 for it!!! ........Well these little tendencies led to a somewhat ridiculous situation in my personal toiletry department!

I am pleased to say that I have overcome this little addiction and am loving my simplified bathroom!! Our shower now is home to only 1 shampoo bottle, 1condition bottle, and 1 bottle of soap! And these are all products that my husband loves as well so we share!

{ Shampoo and Conditioner}

 Can I just say I LOVE this stuff!!!! This is Natures Gate Henna Shampoo and Conditioner! It is paraben-free, alcohol free, and pH balanced. ( yes did you know that there is alcohol in some shampoos! ) Natures Gate has several different ones to choose from, and all the ones I have tried are great, but the Henna one is my favorite! I get so many compliments now on how shiny my hair is!! Gotta love that! These cost around $4.99 a bottle at Village Foods ( the closest thing to a Central Market or Whole Foods that we have here.) I have seen them at HEB as well, but they are more expensive.

{Soap}

This is Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap. This stuff is simply amazing. It is free of detergents and it is a Certified Fair Trade Product. We love the Almond scent and the Lavender scent, for when I take a bath or shower at night. I also use these on Ava! ( carefully though because they are not tear free, they have essential oils in them and will burn the eyes. ) If you ever want to be entertained, sit and read the label on the bottle! It has me all sorts of confused. They are a little more pricey than other body washes, but I find they last FOREVER!! We have had these bottles for well over 2 months, and still have close to half a bottle left. The larger bottle you see is about $8.00 or so, and the smaller one was about $5.00. We have super soft water here, so I love that I do not feel like I still have soap residue all over me after using this stuff.

{face wash}

oh boy .....is this a touchy subject for me. I have battle bad skin for most of my life after puberty. I have spent hundreds of dollars on products with promising results, only to be disappointed. Yes, I have even tried Proactiv......it was equivalent to rubbing bleach on my face. Acne was gone, but it was traded for very red and dry skin. I know it works for a lot of people, but I have very sensitive skin, and it just tore me up!!! ...These two products above I { heart } so very much! My sister introduced me to a method called "Oil Cleansing," and I love her for doing so. I will be honest with you. My first reaction to the thought of rubbing oil on my face to clean it was terrifying. I mean, oil clogs pores and causes Acne right??? That is what the dermatologist said all my life. Well, I have news for all of the dermatologist who ever treated my skin issues by prescribing me birth control pills, ridiculous amounts of antibiotics, and the awful drug Accutane ..........cleaning my face with this oil has helped me tremendously! Sorry, yes there is a little bit of bitterness running through me here! ....okay I am over it. Back to Oil Cleansing. To read more about it go HERE. Basically you mix the Sunflower Oil and the Castor Oil together using a ratio that is good for your skin type. I use  90% sunflower oil to 10% Castor oil. If you have oily skin you would increase the Castor Oil a bit......really just go read the article it will enlighten you. 

By no means is my skin completely flawless BUT it is much more predictable, and I don't feel like I am going to have a nervous breakdown while doing my makeup every morning, because my skin is so bad. I use to wear very heavy foundation to hide behind my acne. I am pleased to say now I wear only a light powder and concealer when needed. { LOVE IT!} 






{Deodorant}

Okay I am not ashamed to say it, I am a sweater...and not the kind you knit and wear. The kind that you want to run away from in the other direction. Switching to a deodorant that was aluminum free was scary for me. This would mean I would sweat more.....or would it??? I am pleased to say that I made the switch to aluminum free deodorant, and have managed to keep all of my friends, and my husband. The shocking results.......I actually do not sweat as bad I use to. Imagine that! I will say that the transition period was hard. What was happening in my case, was the aluminum in my deodorant ( which is the anti-persperant) was causing my body to overcompensate and sweat more. Sounds funny I know! But now that I have taken that out of the equation, I sweat only when necessary, and not all the time. For this I am thankful because sweating is natural and normal, and one way the body rids itself of toxins. And now I can live in peace knowing that my deodorant is not contributing to a risk of getting breast cancer or Alzheimer's because it is aluminum free! 

 I have tried a few other aluminum free deodorants and this has left me feeling the most confident. Also shocking......my husband uses this too and loves it. And he is a big time sweater......the kind I sometimes want to run away from! I have seen this deodorant range any where from about $2.50-$5 a bottle. The cheapest place I have found to order it from is amazon in bulk. I have seen it at HEB, but it is about $5.00 a bottle.






{Cleaners}

 These are my new favorite cleaners! .....Like I described my bathroom earlier, under my kitchen sink was not any better. It was full of cleaners containing very harmful chemicals that could cause someone to possibly grow three eyeballs if inhaled too much......not to mention the awful things it could do to a child if they got a hold of it. I love these J.R Watkins cleaners. I use the Universal one for pretty much everything except for mirrors and windows....hence the Window Cleaner on the left. They smell absolutely delightful.  I have also used some of the Mrs. Myers cleaners, and I like them just as much. The bottles are smaller though and the same price of these $3.99-$4.99. I have lucked out a few times at TJ Maxx and have scored some Mrs. Myers for $1.99 a bottle! 


{for my BABY} 

Even though she is a big {three} ....she is still my baby! I love this shampoo paired with my Henna Conditioner for her. It leaves her hair silky smooth, and tangle free. She has never complained about it burning when it gets in her eyes. I think you could use this a a body wash as well, and I have. Even though it says Shampoo. This is also about $4.99 a bottle.



Whew!......Sorry I did not expect for this to be this long! I hope this helps my one blog reader pick some "better for you" toiletries.


There is one last thing that I will throw out there, and I will not be graphic about it. ( or try no to be!) The Diva Cup. Have you heard about this. I will be honest, when my hippie sister first told me about these I wanted to barf. Literally. Well after having a baby, and not being about the wear tampons afterwards for whatever reason, I thought I would give it a whirl! And I have never turned back since then. Love it! ......Anyway that is all I am saying about that. If you have any questions ask me I will enlighten you.......and for obvious reasons I did not take a picture of this. That would be major barf material.  

Her {Big} day!

Sorry For slacking off on this post! I have had it in my brain to post these pics of Ava's first day of school and I have not had the time to do it! ( Busy doing what I am not sure! )

Here are some pics of the morning of Ava's first day of pre-school. I almost got all teary eyed again when I looked at these......she is growing way to fast!..... and honestly I am loving every minute of it.

Sorry this is short to say the least .............but bedtime duty is calling ( story time, bible reading, prayers and lots and lots of kisses! )


...........stay tuned i have a "favorite things" post brewing in my head!

  

{Three}

Well it happened my little girl turned {3}.....I can't believe it! It seems as if a transformation took place overnight. She woke up on Friday, her actual birthday, and she was a different more independent little girl.

We enjoyed the day on Friday as a family doing all things Ava! Tea parties, baby dolls, drawing, and eating pancakes! Here she is blowing out candles on her pancakes.

  She was so excited when she opened her Dora shoes! I had to have a come to Jesus meeting with myself before I bought these. She saw these at the store the other day when we were shoe shopping. I was insistent on buying her the Twinkle toes sketchers shoes, and she wanted the Dora shoes. So like a good mommy I went back and got them for her birthday. It was worth the look on her face when she opened them.

Saturday we had a small family birthday party for Ava at our house. It wasn't anything too fussy just a nice family gathering. And I have to brag for a minute, David smoked the best brisket I have ever eaten! It was melt in your mouth good! I guess it was worth him waking up at 3:00 AM to put it on the pit. Anyhow, we had a great time with family celebrating Ava's {three} precious years.

Happy Birthday Ava Joy! What a JOY and blessing you have been to your mommy and daddy, and to everyone around you! Our prayer is that the Lord will use your soft sweet spirit to do amazing things for Him! We love you precious one!


.......I must say that this has been an emotional birthday for me! I am not sure why, I think it is just the combination of her being {three} and the fact that she is starting pre-school tomorrow! It has just been hard for me to grasp all of these changes at once. We went to meet the teacher tonight, and it was sweet confirmation that we have made the right decision to put her in pre-school. She loved it! She sat down immediately and started coloring and talking to her teacher. I almost cried when her teacher asked her what her name was .....she so confidently and proudly said " Ava!"

So it has finally happened folks' ................she is a big girl! ( but still only weighing in at 28lbs! .....so see she really isn't that big!!! )

{This} & {That}

Well I am pleased to say we are finally getting settled back in our house and things are starting to look and feel like {Home}

I have a whole new accumulation of stuff that has been sitting in storage. So unpacking has been like Christmas! I had forgotten about some of the {new} stuff I have gotten. Things that I happened upon at Estate Sales, garage sales and thrift stores. So I guess they are new to me, there are very few things in my house that are new! And you know what, that is they way I like it.

Today Ava and I are having a VERY lazy day!! .....Well not entirely, we did manage to wash the car this morning. We did lots of "chore" type stuff yesterday.....like having the hubby help hang all of the stuff that I have been wanting to hang. So I guess it's okay for us to throw in a lazy day today.


Wow! ...I really have a little bit of writers block! Not much else is going on. I have been reading through Crazy Love. It is the best book that I have read in a while. I feel like it was the perfect book to read while starting this new chapter in our lives. I am trying to sort through what the Fall will look like in our house. Lots of changes! Pre-school, possibly soccer or dance for Ava, finding a new church to call home. But above all we want this season to be what the Lord has ordained.  We don't want to be over committed to fruitless things,  we are ready to be involved with a church body that is being the hands and feet of Jesus!

This is the top part of my hutch that I put above my sofa! I {love} the impact it has here.

I am loving this dresser that I snatched up at an Estate Sale for $20!

Not sure if my mantel will stay like this I like it but I don't LOVE it.....but I am out of ideas at the moment! 

Okay I better get going before you and I both become basket cases, since this was a pretty pointless post! ......Looks like Ava has already become a basket case!