Feeling Him

As I sit here in bed at 4:11 in the morning, blurry eyes and foggy brain I can't help but look back on the last few months with a serious sense of gratitude... And helplessness.

I've never been the kind to go out of my way to have a relationship with my Savior. I always knew that he was "there" but never felt like I truly needed him. 

Until now. 

Now as I lay here wearing the same clothes I have for the past three days, covered in Navy's food and Sawyers throw up and what I believe is chocolate from yesterday's cake making session, (or is that poop?) I realize, I truly need my Savior, my Lord. 

I find myself sending up little prayers all throughout the day, every.day.

"Thank you that Sawyer still has his happy spirit about him even though he was up all night tossing his cookies."

"Please, take these body aches away JUST for while I make this cake, whose deadline is far to close"

"Thank you, for taking away those aches"

"Thank you, for helping Navy take an extra 30 minutes in her nap so I could read this book that Sawyers been handing me all day"

"How's my Mom doing?"

"Please, help me not stress about the load of laundry I forgot to take out of the wash that now stinks and needs to be re-washed"

"How's Blake doing at work?"

"Thank you for calming waters when I feel like an inadequate Mom, because you know I'm doing things right."

Etc. etc.

I know for a fact I've been sending up at LEAST a hundred prayers a day, and you know what... It's making a difference.

I can see it make a difference in not only my life but in my children's lives as well. Because not only do I need him daily, but they do too.

And they NEED me to NEED him.

Tonight I couldn't help but be thankful for those calming words that I hear in the back of my mind that tell me I'm doing alright. Because, I know I'm not the worlds "best" Mom, I'm not even the worlds most "decent" mom. My entire house has NEVER been completely clean for a day, my dinners are faaaarrr from sub par, my looks are well... Let's just say homely, for lack of a better word, most days, my kids spend most days naked, and bills get paid rrriiigghhtt before deadlines, etc. But I know I'm just enough. I have just enough of the right stuff to keep my kids alive to see another day. I have just enough of the right stuff to show them what is right and what is wrong. I have just enough of the right stuff to love my family unconditionally. And, I have just enough of the right stuff to be thankful for all the "just enoughs" about me. And without those calming words my "just enoughs" would feel more like, "not enoughs".

Tonight, I am so grateful. I'm grateful that I am now starting to figure out what it's like to have that constant companion and not years down the road. 

I'm grateful to always have that "friend" that doesn't mind listening to my ramblings of my days, my wants and needs for my family and myself.

I'm grateful to start working on this relationship to show my Savior how truly thankful I am for the beautiful blessings in my life and work to deserve it! My handsome man, my healthy kids, my amazing family, and a cozy home. 

I'm grateful to just have him, because sometimes, in the middle of the night, when my newborn looks into my eyes and gives me the most heartfelt smile or my little toddler wakes up and crawls into bed with me for that late night snuggle lovin' or my husband wakes up just to remove the mounds of pillows I was too tired to move and just crashed on top of, i know my Lord is the reason why my life feels just so... Right.

So now at 4 in the morning while my heart is full of gratitude, I'm grateful for that sense of helplessness that has helped me lean on my Savior more times than once on a daily basis, because without him, I am truly nothing and those "just enoughs" would be more like "not enoughs".

Just a Little Crafting

I'm a sucker for rugs. What I'm not a sucker for, their price.

Why do rugs have to cost so much? Even little runner rugs, um hello... Fifty dollars?

No thanks. It's not like we don't have the money but I don't want to shell out that kind of cash for a floor decoration. And, we don't have the money ;) 

So after making Sawyers teepee we had quite a bit of drop cloth left. 

I instantly thought, "rug!" And after searching the World Wide Web, I realized I wasn't the only one! 

It was great having a tutorial, no matter how easy the project may be.

Let me just tell you this right now.... I was not disappointed with the finished project! 

And I actually took pictures along the way! (Because there was a lot of disappointment when I didn't while making the teepee.)

So, Here we go! A quick and easy DIY drop cloth rug.

First I measured out the area and cut my drop cloth, it was a really rough measurement and even rougher cut lol then I ironed.

Next I serged the edges. I was originally going to serge and iron down the edges and sew a top stitch but with a little one super interested in my sewing machine and Blake out playing basketball I just serged it. (And I am so glad I did!) 

Next I taped my fabric. First I was going to do 5 inch painted stripes with 4 inches in between but I wanted there to be a bigger difference so I did a 3 inch gap between the paint stripes. (Again, so glad.) It also wasn't as hard as I thought it would be with Sawyer. He just 'swept' the kitchen/rug almost the whole time I taped. That's why he photobombed half of the pictures.

Like I said it was a super rough cut so the end was pretty lopsided. No worries! After I painted I cut off the reminding fabric parallel to the last painted stripe. 

Next, I flipped a black garbage bag inside out and taped it to the counter top (for bleed through purpose). I flipped inside out so when I was done I could flip it the right way and still use it without getting paint everywhere. Once my workspace was ready, I got some tea, a granola bar, some music, and started painting! 

P.s. The rubber band around the paint can trick realllllyyy works! For the color I went with a more universal one, gray, or Behrs Antique Tin. That way I can place the rug anywhere and it still works. I purchased two of the 7 oz sample jars for $3 and two of HDs cheapo paintbrushes. I ended up only using one jar and one brush, so now I can make another one! 

Keep painting until it's done and let it dry.

After ten minutes I took it off the counter and laid it on the floor to dry with minimum wrinkles.

Because I did mine so close to bedtime my impatient soul didn't have to pace and wait for it to dry, I just went to bed :)

The next morning I ran down stairs and marveled at my work! It was beautiful but, not perfect.

I quickly cut of the uneven part and the top, went back to my serger and re-serged the WHOLE thing, took less than 5 minutes. I did that only because I love the way the white thread looks on the gray painted area. Because serging over the already serged, it ruffled the edges making it more beachy feeling, which I adore.

Because, I do have a little one that likes to romp around in the kitchen I went out to big lots and purchased a liner. It is originally shelf lining but it works great under the rug and for $2 you just can't pass stuff like that up! 

I cant decided if I want to go in and sand a few painted to spots to give it a more wear and tear look or leave it crisp. But for now I'm going to throw it in the wash to soften up the fabric where the paint is, re-iron and enjoy!

The whole project from start to finish (minus drying time) only took me a few hours. All conjured up while Blake was out playing his weekly basketball game with my family. It was seriously level::easy! I'm totally in love with the finished project and for $6 for cost of paint, brush and liner and left over fabric, I'll take it! Seriously loves, if you need a simple rug, this DIY is perfect, and even more perfect with little kiddos, I mean... WASHABLE!! If you do make one and have questions, feel free to ask. You won't regret it ;)

Xoxo: Mrs. T

Another quick DIY? Pots and pans taking up to much space in your cupboards and you have left over space on top of your pantry?

Hang them! 

All you need is a current rod some S shaped shower hooks and for weight issues a set of plastic pole sockets. That little package is only $1.50 at HD. It's worth getting, my first time around I didn't have them and in the middle of the night the whole rod, pots and all, collapsed. Making a huge boom and I almost wet the bed thinking we were being robbed haha. Just get them.

I stole my hooks from our shower curtain, it's looked like this for a month now, don't worry though, I just bought new hooks for my shower 

The lids you ask? Easy, a drying rack from the dollar store. 

Happy weekend loves!