Thrive

This morning in the shower, I had an epiphany. (Is it just me, or do most "ah-ha!" moments seem to happen there?) While showering, I was able to put into one simple statement the purpose of this blog: "My Little Bit to go from JUST SURVIVING to THRIVING." This blog isn't about crafts or cooking or mommy tips, though this stuff is here; it's really about the little bit I do to Thrive. There's just nothing quite like knowing your purpose and being able to state it in one sentence. Thank you blogging for helping me find it!

A few hours after my epiphany, I was off to visit my parents. Accompanying me on the drive was Switchfoot's new album, Vice Verses. It is an AWESOME album. When the number 7 track came on, "Thrive," I felt like my mind had been read. I love it when a song can do that to you.


"I'm always close but I'm never enough
I'm always in line but I'm never in love
I get so down but I won't give up
I get slowed down but I won't give up

"Been fighting things that I can't see in
Like voices coming from the inside of me and
Like doing things I find hard to believe in
Am I myself or am I dreaming?

"I want to thrive not just survive."


I struggle with depression, laziness, and this overwhelming urge to throw the comforter over my head and go back to sleep because I worry I don't have what it takes to face the day. I worry that I'm not enough, that I don't have what it takes as a mom and wife to help my kids and husband flourish. I only have two hands and twenty four hours, and sometimes that just seems inadequate.

But I have determined in this heart of mine that I will not back down. I will not do the bare minimum. I will not just bathe my kids, brush their teeth, put whatever food into their stomach, and call it a day. I will not just tune out the things I don't care to deal with. I will not just have sex with my husband once every two weeks because I am tired and that's what psychologists say is the minimal amount needed to keep a marriage together. I will not throw myself into vices like alcohol,  television, or all the other ways a person can metaphorically throw the comforter over their head. I will not just survive.

I want to Thrive. Sure life is rough, and sometimes I haven't the slightest idea what the "right" thing to do is. Jobs fail, people suck, kids scream, bills are due every month, but I want to find the ways to Thrive. I want to make love. I want to enjoy my kids. I want to play my part in the molding and shaping of my children into the adults they were made to be. I want my cooking to taste good, and I want it to nourish my family. I want to create. I want to enjoy life. I want to triumph over difficulty. I want when God looks at me for Him to be able to say "Good job, Daughter!"

I am finding there's only a little bit of difference between surviving and thriving. It's the times of meditation, seizing the little teaching opportunities with my daughter, stopping long enough to dance with my daughter and "zerbil" on my son's tummy, waking up 2 hours before my kids do, making sure to run twice a week, planning a budget, and writing down my grocery list. It's an organized cupboard, a chat with a friend, my morning cup of coffee, a healthy treat, Saturday morning breakfast, and a project that saves me money and lets someone know they are loved.

I want to be a woman of purpose, full of love and grace. I want to thrive. I want my husband to thrive. I want my kids to thrive. And you know, I can say from experience that circumstances and checking accounts have nothing to do with thriving. I think thriving is a God-thing... my ability to thrive is directly related to my ability to depend on Him. I think thriving is a "carpe diem" kind of thing... seizing every moment and opportunity, good or bad, and searching, no matter how desperately, for the positive in it and the ways that I can teach my children (and myself) through it. I think thriving is a "making the most with what you've got" kind of thing... not looking at what you don't have, but looking at what you do have and working it into it's absolute best.

My favorite verse in the Bible is Hebrews 10:39. "We are not of those who shrink back... but of those who have faith and are saved." It's found in a letter written to arguably the most persecuted group of people, the Christian Jews. They were persecuted by the Romans and their fellow Jews. They experienced the loss of their possessions, insults from all sides, imprisonment, and sometimes torture and death. (Hmmm... and I have a hard time when my 3 year old goes number 2 in her pants...) And here they are told to not "shrink back," to not pull the comforter over their heads, to not just survive. 

So RISE UP Woman! Wake up. Pull off the comforter. Seize your day. Seize your opportunities. Do what you do to love others. Don't shrink back. Don't just survive. 

For you, woman, were made for so much more!

You were made to THRIVE!

Dinosaur Hoodie

 My daughter loves dinosaurs. I love that she loves dinosaurs. So, I decided to make her this hoodie. And since I made one for Addy, I had to make one for Jed too [Of course!]. Thank you pinterest and Handmade by Jill for the inspiration. By the way, if you enjoy sewing and have a moderate skill level at it check out the "Handmade by Jill" link to see how she did it. Hers is ADORABLE!

If you don't particularly enjoy sewing or aren't very skilled at it, here is a cheap, easy way to make a stegosaurus dino hoodie.

Materials:
Hoodie (Jed's is fleece and was $3.50; Addy's is Jersey-knit, standard sweatshirt material, and was $7.00; both from Walmart)
3 pieces of felt paper (1 white; 1 black; and one color of your choice for stegosaurus plates; only $.20 a sheet at Walmart)
2 wiggly eyes
Fabric Glue
Scissors
Pins

Pick out your color for the stegosaurus plates. I let Addy do the picking... purple hoodie and pink plates...can you tell she picked?? For Addy's 4T size, I folded the felt sheet in half and then cut it in half again so after I was done cutting I had 2 equally sized strips of felt (about 3" wide). (For Jed's smaller 12 mos sized hoodie I made strips 2" wide)

While I am sure you could make a more accurately shaped stegosaurus plate, I went with the super easy to cut triangle. Since sometimes I just want to get stuff done rather than be perfect, I free-hand cut my triangles. I cut my doubled-up strip of felt at a 45 degree angle.

I then took the piece I had just cut off to use as my guide for my next cut.

Now that I had my one triangle cut, I used it as a guide to cut the rest of the triangles.

After cutting all my triangles (I needed 2 sets of 7 for both Addy's and Jed's), I glued them together in sets of two. I did this to make them extra strong.

I placed an even, thick line of glue along the top seam of the hood and began placing my triangles one at a time.

As soon as I got one triangle placed, I pinned the triangle to the hoodie to make sure it would dry in place.

To conquer the problem of the tricky curve in the hood, I folded the hood flat along the top seam, placed the triangle behind it where it needed to be, and used the hood itself as guide for where to cut the triangle.

Place an even, thick line of glue down the center of the back and place your triangles.

I cut the teeth using a similar method to the stegosaurus plates. (Mine had a height of about 1 1/2" and a base of 2 1/4" on Addy's and a height of 1" and a base of 1 1/2" on Jed's). I made a thick, even line of glue on the underside of the hood opening (about 1/2" in) and placed the teeth.

I pinned them in place.

To do the eyes, I doubled up two pieces of white felt and free hand cut an imperfect circle. (Doesn't matter if its perfect...slightly oval looks good...just so long as you get 2 that look the same, hence the doubling.)

I doubled up 2 pieces of black felt and free hand cut the base for the eye, making sure Addy's had some eyelashes. I glued the wiggly eye and two pieces of felt together and then glued that onto either side of hood. (Note: I had my kids try the hoodies on first to ensure a "non-awkward" placement of eyes.) I pinned them in place.

Let glue dry for 2 hours and then they are good to go.

Because things are not always perfect in a crafting world, here are some of my notes:

• My very-cautious self went back and did a loose hand-stitch over everything. This took some time (but it was a great "breast-feeding" project). The glue seems to have a sturdy hold especially on the fleece, but I can't stand spending time doing a craft only to have it fall apart and I have no experience with fabric glue. 
• I kid you not, the fabric glue made me high (my husband got a kick out of watching me crack-up laughing over nothing). And while it may be funny, the headache that followed was not. I got one word for you: Ventilation!
• I laid out the triangles and the teeth before placing them to see how much, if any, spacing was needed.
• The fabric glue got a little messy, and you can see it in some places if you look closely.
• I used fabric glue on the wiggly eye and so far it's it's holding strong. I thought I'd give it a whirl, mostly because I was too lazy to plug in the hot glue gun. 

My overall thoughts on the project: It was easy. It was cheap (less than $10 per hoodie). And best of all, it was absolutely worth it when Adelaide put her hoodie on, raised her dino claws in the air, and started rawring. Heart is Happy!

IPad 2 Giveaway by CharBella Designs

I got to meet the owner at a crafting event at the beginning of the summer. Her husband happens to work with my husband. Her booth was full of beautiful, well-made goodies for kiddos. I loved her stuff! If you are looking for a unique baby shower gift or a one-of-a-kind piece for your own cutie, give her page a look.

Also, she is giving away an ipad 2... so definitely give her page a look and find out how to enter. (And this girl would love to give her hubby an ipad for christmas so pretty pretty please refer your entries back to me *wink*) 

http://charbelladesign.com/en/index.php?route=common/home

And for your viewing pleasure, my favorite item from the Charbella Designs website:

The Chic Cocktail Coat.
Hmmm... Does my Addy "NEED" this???