Independence Day!

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

All in a Tuesday's Work

I got these side tables at garage sales last summer. They were kinda beat up, so I slapped some spare paint on them and stuck them in our living room.

Cute, but very vanilla against the also somewhat cream/yellow hued walls. I wanted to paint them white, so they would stand out against all the vanilla-like tints in the living room. The only catch, I didn't want to spend any money.
I was surprised and very thankful to find a little can of white paint in Ava's closet!
So, 3 coats later, these little tables were looking nice and fresh!

The smaller table is in rougher shape. So, some pretty paper and ModPodge, and the shelves got a facelift. I love it!

Then I remembered something else to ModPodge.
Love how these jars turned out, too!

(graphics found here)

Here's a sneek peak at our weekend-
Birthdays to celebrate:

and fun ways to celebrate July 4th:

I hope you are looking forward to Monday-celebrating the freedom we have as a country, honoring our Founding Fathers, and letting Old Glory wave!

A Few of Her Favorite Things

Coloring (not always on paper)
"Pony wide"

Anything girly and fun

Baths...are probably her very favorite activity. She will walk away from anything, anytime to take a bath.

I love my almost 2-year-old! She is so creative, and brings so much joy!

7-8 Weeks Old

The Swing

Last October:Just this week:

Not quite a year's difference, but fun to see how much Miss Ava has grown up!

Father's Day

{Before leaving for church}
{Then daddy grilled BBQ chicken}

{Delicious!}

I am thankful for the daddy in this household.
He leads
protects
serves
loves
blesses
encourages...
gives pony rides
reads stories
tickles
cuddles
and we know he loves us very much!

Chalk

We bought some of this:

Then we went and had a lot of fun playing with it.

It's so fun to have an active, busy Miss Ava
and a Miss Lucy who is just as busy, but in a baby sort of way.

New Light

This is the old light over the sink.It was a nice, bright halogen that illuminated well, until the bulb burned out.
I thought a recessed light would look really nice over the sink. Scott liked the idea, but we tried to find a bulb for the old light, with no success.
Recessed lighting fixtures are relatively inexpensive. We bought one.
Then we (Scott) pulled out the old light, and the wiring literally fell apart.
Yikes!

That light may have been the original from when the house was built back in 1973.
We are now thankful for a hard-to-replace burned out bulb.
Fire hazard removed, and this handsome guy put in a nice new fixture.

All we need now is some trim and a little touch up paint. I love the new light!

Removed

I listened to the phone ringing, and stared at the piece of paper in my hand. Sighing, I wondered if I was mistaken, but I did not remember bringing the book home!
"Public library, how may I help you?"
"Hi, I have a book on my account that I don't believe I actually brought home. There was an error when we used the self checkout, and I don't believe the book was actually checked out of the system; in fact, I believe we left it at the front desk."
After a brief exchange, the lady informed me that she would clear the book from the card, and we wouldn't have to worry about it.

Later this afternoon, I again found the overdue notice from the library on the kitchen counter. Smiling, I enjoyed knowing that I no longer had a debt with the library, and I threw the notice in the trash.

Suddenly, it struck me. Jesus did that for me! I was overwhelmed by the solemn joy in the moment, thinking of the price Jesus Christ paid to remove my sin. My sins were removed from my account; I no longer have a debt before God! The moment I trusted Christ as the Savior of my soul, the only Way to heaven, my Intercessor to God the Father, the Remover of all my sin-that moment defined my life forever.
I am free.

Tears sting my eyes as I think of every reason I should not go to be with God when I die; every time I pain Him with my deliberate ignorance of His love. Yet Jesus loved me, had mercy on me.

And the most amazing part-the enormity of the price He paid, the mercy He shows each and every second-is that He did this for every human being to ever live.
He paid that price for you, dear one!

Rejoice with me today that forgiveness is free, redemption is free, the price is paid!
Trust Jesus Christ with your heart, your soul, your life.
The only true freedom comes when your sins are removed and you are living a life sold out to God.

Are you living that life today?

The Great Adventure

This last weekend was crazy busy. I came away tremendously blessed and excited for next year, Lord willing! The statewide homeschooling conference was held by NICHE, and Scott was blessed to be part of the coordinating and directing team for the children's program. I was excited to be his help in any way I could, and the entire children's program was a blessing to the staff, the children attending, and the parents of all the children. Praise the Lord!Miss Annie posted about the NICHE Children's conference here.
Rachel Wissmann also posted about the conference here.
Please check out both blogs for pictures, and more conference details. Enjoy!

6 week Matchup

Ava
Lucy

Beautiful

The six-week-old
and the twenty-one-month-old.

Love my girls, so much!

{The little sister-mommy.}

Breakfast

...is twice as fun with cool shades on!