Let's Celebrate!

We bought the house y'all!

Whoa...what a ride!! I have a few more gray hairs on my head, but we have keys! 

SO...let's re-cap. In the past two weeks:

I launched a new blog.
I released an eBook.
We bought a house.
We packed up our house to move.
...and it's Matt's birthday today! 

Oh my goodness! We are a bit tired, extremely grateful, and feeling a little crazy. So to celebrate, my eBook is available for whatever price you would like to pay. TODAY ONLY! Click on over to get your copy! And please be sure to spread the word!

Tomorrow, the price will go back to $27.00. (I am lowering the price permanently to get my book into more hands and hearts!)

Have an amazing weekend!

P.S. Texture Clothing winner will be announced later today!

Ritual & Routine

Moving a home, even when it's a joyful occasion, causes great distress. Everything seems to be upside down & out of order. During this time, I rely on ritual and routine to find my balance again. 

Something as simple as making my coffee every morning can bring comfort. The aroma. The steam rising. That first sip...oh how I savor. It's become a way for me to step into the sacred morning hours with more grace in my heart. I'm so thankful for the miracle of caffeine! 

Lighting incense. Playing my favorite music. Breathing deep. All of these center me back into the present and help to slow the spiraling effect of our entire world being packed up in boxes.

And yet...I need more than just the coffee and incense. The more out of control my life seems, the more I sense my need for Jesus and His strength. I sit with my Bible and soak up scripture...letting the grounding truth wash over me and center me for the day. When I am weak...HE is strong. Now that's true comfort.

So, with coffee in hand and my heart at peace, I will continue to pack up our life into boxes. Trusting that we will find peace & order again. For I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

What rituals & routines bring you comfort daily?

Make Your Toys Tempting

During this packing process, we have downsized our toy bin to a small basket. Woody is kind of wondering where all of his friends went...but as the lone cowboy in the room, he's happy to have Princess Anna's undivided attention. 

This is what it looked like before the downsizing. Yes, that IS a life jacket. Now...I know this is not much compared to a whole toy room of toys, but it was a lot for us. We've never really had a dedicated toy room, so everything just gets tossed in a giant basket.

And it was NOT appealing. Who would look at this big pile of stuff and think...

"Hey!! Let's play!!"

Well, the dogs do. But that's beside the point. The girls would pass it by day after day and go on to something else...like tattooing themselves with Sharpies, or something equally as invigorating.

But the instant we downsized and displayed only a few toys...Emma sat right down and was enthralled! When it wasn't an overwhelming mess, she was drawn to the simplicity of choices. 

I do know all the secrets of toy bin rotation.  But it's never worked for us, mostly because we just don't have that many toys! I prefer to keep only what we are using right at that moment.  The majority of our "toys" are dress-up clothes and accessories...with a few puppets, instruments, baby dolls, a stroller, and the play kitchen.

When we move into our new house, there will be some major purging and re-organization of activity areas. I can't wait to get it all organized and have an AMAZING space that will inspire and bring the girls joy every day. We are planning on creating a dedicated art/sewing/play room right on the main level and I've been pinning some colorful and innovative ideas to get inspired!

Tell me about your art/sewing/toy rooms!
Do you have an organization system that you love?