…she provides food for her family…

I picked up an old fashioned photo album from the thrift store today. Remember when people used to have real photos? Now its like, “here look at my phone, here is my daughters dance recital.” In other words, the thrift store was full of photo albums.

Of course the album’s cover design was a delightful modern bouquet of faded 1990’s pastel glory. So, I had to get crafty with it. Isn’t that the point of getting a thrifty score?

It went a little something like this

Our Family Meals. 31 meals collected just for us. I am hoping this “family cookbook” will simplify my process in providing food for my family.

Love,

Jess

This post was linked up with Somewhat Simple

Proverbs 31:15

¹⁵ She gets up while it is still dark;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her servant girls.

Just checking in to say I’m busy working on verse 15.

I came up with a recipe file of 31 family meals.

I started feeding the babies baby mush cereal. Leah likes it the best.

I made a portion of {birthday} food for my worker.

I am giving myself a lot of homework for this verse so I’ll be writing on it for a while. (or until a different verse catches my attention more )

Coming Up: Menu planning, freezer inventory, shopping list, coupons, recipes

Love,

Jess

Proverbs 31:21

²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

Hats, boots, mittens, snowpants….check

This Proverbs 31 “studying” is becoming very fun!

Love,

Jess

:morning:

:noon:

:night:

What a day…

Love,

jess

Top to Bottom:

Leah, 3 months, likes to sleep in a nest like a squirrel.

Claire, 3 months, likes to eat at night like a little mouse.

Molly, 2 years old, likes to follow me around like a loyal dog.

Ryan, 5 years old, likes to play tricks and tell jokes like a sly fox.

Peter, 29 years old, likes to stay up late at night studying like a wise owl.

Jessica, 30 years old, likes to get milked 6 times a day like a cow.

Hug your family extra tonight and pray for Haiti.

Love,

Jess

Click here to see my family blocks 2008

1. Beneath

2. Near

3. Within

4. Between

5. Beside

6. Into

7. Underneath

8. Inside

She sure knows how to define space and time!

Love,

Jess

Thankfully Neat Pete can cook grill! I know I will be relying on him for many dinners over the next 4 weeks.

Drs. are hopeful my morning all day sickness will subside around 16 weeks.

So now I can just chill survive during the witching hour (5-7 p.m.).

I may be overusing falling in love with the alpha-cross-out feature. We’ll see where this new grammar function relationship leads.

For now, I’ll be on the patio. Have a great weekend!

I captured the lost art of letter writing today. Well, I wrote a letter anyhow. Pen to paper. No words or pseudo-words were scrawled out with the exclusive use of my thumbs.

It felt so good to start a greeting with these words, “To My Dearest Uncle…”

My Uncle Wayne, (near the end of his life and his days battling cancer), lives out-of-state in a care facility. The kids and I send a big envelope of well-wishes that included art projects, cards, Scriptures and a family photo.

I hope our snail mail helps give him comfort as he hopes for a pain free Spring.

• Note: I’ll spare you the real before photo of our pre-attic closet disaster,  and go straight for the cute photos of how to make room for the play room. I know, it hurts my before-and-after loving gene, not to have documentation of my over burdened and buried craft table, and general dumping ground for stray belongings, but I will move on; mostly because I did this “transformation” on such a whim I forgot to take a photo. Most of you have already skipped to the rest of the blog post by now anyway.

1. Pile. Is it just my house or are your toys fertile and multiply? (kids’ room)

2. Sort. Plastic bins, plastic bins, plastic bins…oh sorry, I was busy rehearsing my organizing mantra. Isn’t my little helper so cute? Give, keep, sell…give, keep, sell…give, keep, sell…oops, there I go again!

3. Claim. This room is one 4 year old lying down by one 1 1/2 year old lying down. Nice square footage. I’ll take it; have my people talk to your people.

4. Gather. Move stuff around, aka fluff your nest, it is so much fun!

5. Conceal. Hi there attic! Wanna play hide-n-seek? Okay, you hide first. Good.

6. Learn. Making room for the play room includes making room for learning. The vintage ABC and 123 quilt was hung in my nursery when I was a wee one. Are the 70’s considered vintage yet? None-the-less, the vintage quilt, aka attic concealer, is a great tool for learning and general cheeriness.

7. Sit. {whimper, sigh!} Why did I let this a.dor.a.ble step bench be cluttered in old taxes and fall decor for waaaay too long? Well, no guilt, just pleasure now. I love the littleness of this space! Place a few books around to promote reading.

8. Add a family photo board in the playroom. It provides friendly faces to look at when Mommy  puts the baby-gate up outside her own room and instructs everyone it is now “Play Time” just so she can blog. er…I mean, because when kids look at the familiar faces, it encourages family connectivity, creativity and community.  Yeah, that’s it!

9. Relax and enjoy your hard work! Play!