Archives for March 2016

Swaziland prep is in full swing.  Supplies are arriving and I’ve loaded the back for Marcie’s van with two giant boxes because she so kindly offered to house all supplies in her spare bedroom.  Raise the roof.  I might have been most excited about these One World Play indestructible soccer balls.  The orange and pink have me swooning.

Amon has been asking for the last Sprite from Harper’s birthday.  Oddly enough, he refers to all sodas as “taffy” which we figured out he was trying to say “caffeine”.  This morning he also asked me for a real live sea turtle.  He can be very convincing.

Yesterday Amon had school and our littlest had an extra long visitation.  I had one goal and one goal only…do my business taxes.  I am numero uno procrastinator when it comes to my taxes.  It took me almost the whole 5 hours, but I finished.  I instantly felt better.  I’m headed to Camp Create next week and I told myself I would go with my taxes completed.  Now, it’s on.

 Nashville is quite the place to live…never lacking in amazing food and amazing companies reaching beyond themselves and into the world.  Project 615 is always a favorite.  I have had my eye on two of their newer tees.  Pizza, Tennessee and spreading love?!?!?  Yes, please.

Harper and I have been working on some more paintings.  We have two to finish up tonight so hopefully I’ll share them tomorrow or Saturday.  Again, all the money will head into Harper’s Swazi fund.

 I’m not much of a coconut fan, but I really want to make these Chewy Coconut Cookies.  They look delicious and I love a chewy thin cookie.  If you make them before I do, tell me how they are 🙂

picture source

 And I’m still making my way through Revelations.  It is by far been the heaviest book for me to read.  Not really your book full of sunshines and rainbows.  More like the most convicting book and the book which has me reevaluating lots of things in my life and heart.  Truthfully, I’ve never really taken God’s hatred for sin that seriously and Revelations makes no bones about it.  God hates sin.  It’s also crazy clear no one or no thing can change a heart…only God.  This is His business.  Only He can wreak that precious havoc in someones heart.

Revelations is full of hard truths and big love.  I am a ridiculous sinner.  I sin every day over and over and over again.  If only I listed out every sin for you to read…well, we’d be here a while.  What I deserve is hell.  What I’ve earned is hell, but then there’s God in all His mercy, love and grace when I choose Him.  When I said, “Yes Jesus.  I’m all in.” He snatched me right up.  His mercy flows and He saves.  His hand reaches down for me.  I do not deserve His love and grace, but He literally dumps it out in buckets full.  Over and over and over again.  What an amazing God who so intensely and purposefully loves us.

I am reading through Revelations while listening to Fracis Chan’s series on the book.  You can find it HERE.

 Happy Thursday.

A friend pointed out this is her last year in single digits.  I typically am pretty okay with my kids getting older because big kids are my jam, but this comment took my breath a bit.  Last year in single digits.  Harper made us parents.  She was our first tiny ball of babyness.  She got all of our “what the crap are we doing”ings.  I have a hard time talking about how much I like her and how I am sooooo enjoying the lady she is turning into right before our eyes.  Like she’s a real little human with all these thoughts and emotions and feelings.  She’s going to actually remember some of the stuff going down around our house right now which makes me sweaty because we still get a lot of parenting stuff wrong.  Big time.  Deep breath.  Inhale.  Exhale.  It seems like all I ever admit to our kids is that I am wrong.  Maybe God will use this 🙂

She asked for blue waffles for her birthday breakfast.  She ate 3.  There were 9 colorful candles because rainbow is still her favorite color…with the exception of when I make her pick a color…blue it is.  And she let Amon help blow out her candles because she adores him and he adores her.

Her door was a full on color and star explosion.  It was simple when deciding on what to do for Harper’s door because she’s shiny bright.

She got a journaling Bible, new pens, Hillsong’s new CD, a devotional for “tweens” Ohmygah.  And a small stuffed fox she’s had her eye on at Joanns.  She was delighted.  Amon, our littlest and I joined her for lunch at school.  She asked for Funfetti cupcakes with rainbow chip icing.  Thank you Pillsbury and Betty Crocker.

Littlest screamed and cried almost the whole lunch.  Truthfully, on the inside I was really angry with her because I felt bad for Harper.  On the outside I smiled fake smiles and made conversation with all the surrounding 3rd graders.  Harper just rolled with it because she’s used to it.  I kind of hate that she’s used to it…but maybe it’s more…maybe it’s compassion and empathy…I’m choosing that way of thinking.

Harper requested Josh’s grilled hamburgers for dinner with strawberries and BBQ chips.  She even picked out fancy sesame seed buns 🙂  Girl knows how to do it.  Then of course there were more cupcakes and cups of rainbow sherbet with sprite.  I was quite smitten with all her choices.

There was playing outside because the weather was amazing today.  She got visits from family.  Her best little friend who lives on our street stopped by and gave her a mosaic butterfly box.  Then we ended the night crafting and watching Red Bull Soapbox Races…yes, this is a real thing and it is hilarious.

She’s past my chin now.  I think she’s going to be taller than her shortish mom.  She’s kind, colorful, creative and thoughtful.  She loves reading and running and creating and the outdoors.  I love how fiercely she loves her friends.  I love her easy going personality.

I pray for her self image all the time.  I pray she always marches to the beat of her own drum and loves who she is in Christ.  I pray she sees her worth and beauty in Him and in Him alone.  I pray she loves Jesus with her whole heart and lives a passionate life for Him.  I pray she loves mercy and justice.  I pray she is kind, loving, generous, compassionate and respectful.  I pray she always laughs wildly.

Oh Harper Kelley.  You are a gem.  I have no clue how God thought we were worthy enough to parent your amazing little self, but here we are and we are grateful.  We are so honored and humbled to be your parents.  You make every day awesome and you bring some sanity into our insane little tribe.  Thank you for being you.  Thank you for shining so bright.  We love you!

Today is Amon’s 4th birthday and he has had quite the celebration.  We did things like take him and his buddy Maddox to Chuck E Cheese while all the big kids were away on sleepovers.  They we’re hilariously precious together.

He got a giant Mickey Mouse balloon yesterday because, duh, it was Thursday 🙂  A Mickey Mouse door greeted him this morning.  There were donuts for breakfast.  He got to play at his grandparents house today with cousins which meant playground time and slushy fun.

Amon Kelley Fun Fact #6:  He never ever ever wears a shirt.  Minus when we make him for public outings.

He picked Chickfila for dinner.  Bless his heart.  We went to Easter service tonight and then afterwards it was cake and ice-cream time and happy birthday singing round #2.  He asked for chocolate cupcakes with white icing and cookie ice cream.  Done and Done.

Tonight in church I jotted down a line from a song we sang.  It made tears well in my eyes immediately and it reminded me of Amon and what all God has done in and through his little life.

My mourning grew quiet and my feet rose to dance

On Amon’s birthday every year I get quite emotional and not because he’s getting older, but because of how God used Amon to heal our hearts.  We waited almost a full 18 months to see his sweet face.  And the last 6 months of this wait we were walking in fresh hard grief after losing Mom.  I had never experienced sadness and loss like that.  When I think about who I was in this timeframe and the head, mind and body game I was playing constantly with myself and against Satan it makes me want to throw up.  Definitely not a time in my life I would want to venture back into.  It was hard as hell.  I cried every single day after Mom died for almost an entire year.

We finally got to bring Amon home in August…9 months after Mom’s death…and we immediately went into full blown open heart surgery mode.  He was home bound, couldn’t be around many people and was on meds prior to surgery.  Then it was surgery time.  We stayed in the hospital for almost a month and then again being home bound, more meds and limited visitors.  We were a mess, BUT and this is the best part…I felt joy again.  Harper felt joy again.  We all felt joy again.  Amon brought light and laughter and love and JOY, JOY and more JOY.  We had been in a pit for what seemed like so long.  We were down and out.  We were broken hearted.  And then Amon arrived on the scene.

Amon didn’t heal us…God did that, but he used this sweet boy to lift our eyes upward again.  Even in the hard season of his heart condition…the ups and downs and fear surrounding open heart surgery on your 6-month-old…there was joy again.  Joy and grief were coexisting instead of just grief solo.  I wasn’t out of the woods just yet…God had a lot of work He needed to do on my heart and mind…and I was still feeling my way through grief, but He was redeeming, restoring and renewing.  He was bringing me step by step…showing me the way.  He was spotlighting areas of my heart which needed changing and also healing areas in my heart which felt shattered.  Amon was an everyday reminder to me of God’s goodness and faithfulness…and still is.

Good Friday is always good, but this year it feels extra special.  I cannot get over the sheer goodness of Jesus and His intense and immeasurable love for each and every one of us.

  My mourning grew quiet and my feet rose to dance

This is what the power of Jesus does.  This is what God is in the business of.  This is the hope and promise we have in Christ.  He is so good.  He is so faithful.  Tonight I am praying and thinking about all of those who may feel a deep hopelessness.  You are brokenhearted.  Your pit might be big and deep and you just don’t see a way out, but there is.  He is there, He is good and He is working and moving even when it doesn’t feel like He is.  Just hold on because before you know it you will rise and dance.

Happy Friday!

Easter is just a few days away and in keeping with super simple around these parts because you guys, I’m barely keeping these small humans alive, I busted out our painted egg cartons again.  I snagged a few things for just a couple of dollars at Target like bazooka bubble gum, a package of peeps, chocolate carrots, tics tacs, a backpack key chain for the bigs and chapstick for Amon.  Done and done.  Long live yummy Easter treats!

And here’s a repost from last year because we’re still in full on Spring Break mode.  Enjoy!

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April 2, 2015

You guys, I have sat down to write a thousand and one times this week and then no words come.  Maybe it’s because my heart and head are a jumbled mess or maybe because life has seriously been it’s busiest this week.  Last night I made my to-do list for today and put BLOG in all caps.  I’ve missed you guys.

So thought I would share our easy and fun Easter treat we do for our kiddos.  You can read about last years HERE for more thorough directions.  These are so crazy easy.

You need an egg container, craft paint and fillers.  I made all these last year, but had to make an extra one this year for our new littlest…she got fuchsia because she’s a spunky, cute one.

All I did was paint the top of the egg carton, throw in some fun grass which I have seriously had for years…the same bag of Easter grass…it’s a weird death quirk I wrote about HERE…and then added fun treats.  I keep one little box of eggs just for this and reuse them each year.  My surprises were one small toy, a few marshmallow bunnies and I stuffed the plastic eggs with some Sour Patch Kids and M&Ms.  I also did a small chocolate chicken because we love Max’s Chocolate Chicken by Rosemary Wells and Hudson asked the other night “Would you ever give us a chocolate chicken?”…I’m all about making a kid’s dream come true when it comes to a chocolate chicken   For the toy the big kids got a small $4 lego set, Amon got a bear because he is obsessed with bears and our littlest got a soft stuffed bunny.

And there you have it.  Super easy.  Super fun.  Super affordable.

Happy Thursday!

Last Thursday kicked off the Kelley kids spring break.  I’m realizing everyone in our family needs a little break every now and then…not just mom and dad.  To get away.  To take it easy.  To break the norm.  To get out into the world.  To breathe easier and move slower.  In January we headed to a state park for 2 nights.  We left our current littlest behind in good hands while we hiked and biked and went swimming.  We all enjoyed the break and came home a bit renewed.  So on Monday we hit repeat.  Left our littlest in good hands and hit the trails again.  Biking, hiking, swimming and running.

There’s something about being away from your home even for just a few days and nights…even all together.  Something about the break in the normal routine and the everyday grind.  Something about getting away.  It makes us all a little lighter for a bit.  And honestly, it feels good when things can be pretty heavy and daunting feeling at home with so many things going on especially in our foster care journey.

Our mornings started later.  Our nights lasted a little longer.  Everyone moved a bit slower.  We hiked each morning.  Swam in the afternoons and nights.  We played games, ate treats and snacked like it was our job.  We ate meals extra leisurely.  Kids played outside constantly.  We watched movies after dark or if you were Solomon you laid in our bed and watched cable cooking shows to which he said things like “I just can’t quit watching this Mom.”

Everyone came home physically exhausted, but feeling fresher.  I can’t even count how many times I thanked God for our strong healthy bodies this week.  To be physically active is a such a gift and blessing.  I remind our kids of this a lot.

Now we’re home, but still spring breaking pretty hard.  Wev’e got two birthdays in the next 6 days.  Celebrating the oldest and youngest…the two with the most uniquely forged bond…both massively in love with each other.  They are our book ends and the sweetest book ends at that.

Yes, spring break I do like you.  You have been quite good to us already.  Let’s carry on.

Happy Wednesday.

Josh Kelley was out of town all weekend so to celebrate keeping 5 children alive while solo parenting for a few days Sunday morning meant donuts.  I would like to add that the Langhorne Slim tee I was wearing got us free donut holes.  The world is magical.

I finally broke my Chickfila hiatus.  The last time I planned to break it, when lunch time rolled around I couldn’t find a Chickfila.  It was sad.  My best friend Ashley talked me through the dilemma via cell phone while traveling through Georgia.  This is what friends do.  Anyways, Saturday was my day and it was every bit as glorious as I remembered…even though it was eaten in the car while at the park because turns out it was way colder outside than we anticipated and most of us were wearing shorts.  God bless Chickfila.

Painting, painting and more painting.  Amon watercolored.  I worked on a “thank you” gift.  Harper and I worked on her next set of canvases.  A total blast.  We are on spring break this week and her next set of canvases might roll out closer to the end of the week instead.  We’ve got a lot of spring breaking to do.

We also packaged and shipped all of Harper’s paintings which have been paid for.  It was ridiculously sweet helping her package these up.  I mean, we are both still so blown away by the generosity of you crazy kind people.  She is almost half-way to her goal and I couldn’t be more thrilled for her.

And Solomon lost his second tooth.  He’s seven and has been waiting for those teeth to start loosening up.  He lost his first tooth just a few weeks ago and the next wasn’t far behind.  The first one went under his pillow and the second got thrown on our roof keeping with Ethiopian tradition.  He was super cute as everyone gathered outside to watch him chuck that tooth.  I love this kid!!!

 Hope you had some weekend faves too.

Happy Monday!

1.  Goo-Goo Clusters are made here in Nashville so I just can’t help myself sending these to all my out of state peeps.  I send them as thank-yous, I’m thinking about yous and just becauses…everyone needs a Goo-Goo in their life.  Everyone.  Minus peanut allergy people 🙂

2.  I’m currently smitten with Project Free 2 Fly.  Oh my heart…women coming along side other women.  And they are out of Tennessee.  Tennesse has some good people.

“Free 2 Fly was born out of a desire to start a creative business that would exist to do one thing:  help women in our community who are unemployed but desire to rise above their current circumstance.   Many women face circumstances that are holding them back from reaching their full potential.  We want to not only encourage them, but also show them how they can rise above and move beyond that circumstance. ” 

I am loving so many of their products, but wowzers, I need this portfolio in my life.  AmIRight!?!?!?

All their bags and earrings are killer.

And don’t even get me started on how much I adore the sweet Tennessee stamp on their goods.  This company has is going on, on so many many levels.  Awesome purchase with a purpose alert.  Tell you friends.

(all Free 2 Fly photos from their website…not mine!!!!!)

3.  Solomon is a gymnastics king.  Handstands, cartwheels, one handed cartwheels, walking on his hands, flips and he’s currently almost taught himself how to execute a front handspring.  Every time he falls I cringe, but he hops back up and off he goes.  I don’t even know who this kid is.  Isn’t it so fun seeing all their little quirks and talents emerge?!?!  I love it.

4.  Our school always has fun nights and events for the community going on.  I simply love this sweet place and crazy sweet people.  This week they had a Dr. Seuss family math night.  A blast was had.  Every grade had math stations to play, each hall had art projects displayed we used to answer a math glyph riddle and it was all Dr. Seuss themed.  The planning, time and attention this staff uses never ceases to amaze me.  Plus, the Kelley’s won the biggest bag of popcorn I’ve ever seen.

5.  One of Hudson’s goals for 2016 was to try “sooshey”.  Again, I don’t even know where this kid came from either.  Anyways, we had some rare solo time together so we took him for sushi.  And he didn’t like it.  Totally was not on board, but did devour some hibachi chicken and rice.  And gave chopsticks his best effort.

#twinning

6.  This week has been full of creativity and color.  I’ve loved it.  Here are some recent orders heading out.  If you would like to place an order just message me HERE or shoot me an email.

And 7.  Harper’s art sale yesterday was a hit.  I practically cried all day…on and off…despite my goal of not being a cry baby this week 🙂  I just was so overwhelmed by your kindness, generosity and willingness to come along side her…and me.  God’s goodness is astounding and Harper could not believe all the art sold.  She had people giving way more than the price, sending her encouraging messages, making special orders and lots of people asking for more because they didn’t get one.  I hope you know how truly and sincerely thankful we are.  For real!!!!  This weekend we’re going to paint some more and hopefully we’ll have another sale next week around the same time.  She is insanely excited as she inches closer and closer to her goal.  Thank you for being apart of this with us.

Happy Thursday!

First of all, Harper is ridiculously excited.  Even if not one thing is purchased, I think she is just thrilled at what she and I made together.  She’s really proud of our work and the way we collaborated and I am too.  Second, thanks for stopping by to take a look…even if you purchase nothing…thank you for taking time out of your day to come here and mull around.  I have been so overwhelmed with emotion in the way family, friends and strangers have supported Harper already.  Every time someone says they are praying for her and our trip and every time a card shows up in our mailbox with all these kind and loving words for our girl, I boo-hoo.  We talk about the words and the people and the support and I remind her of God’s goodness, His love, grace, mercy and the way He provides.  Third, if you do choose to purchase, thank you!!!  She is working so hard and still has quite the ways to go, so seriously, thank you!!!

These were such a sweet collaborative between the two of us.  You can tell my writing from hers, but I totally love hers more than mine 🙂  We hope you enjoy.

If you would like to purchase a canvas shoot me a message HERE or email me pitterpatterart at gmail dot com with the letter of the canvas you would like to purchase and I will send you the payment details.  You are more than welcome to purchase as many as you would like…wink wink…I will combine shipping costs for multiple items…and feel free to share with your own art loving people friends.  All canvases have finished painted sides, are ready to hang and signed by the artists on the back.

All money will go directly into Harper’s Swaziland fund.

A.  **SOLD** 8×8 canvas “Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18 $75 donation plus shipping **SOLD**

B.  **SOLD** 8×10 canvas “So I will wake and spend my days loving the One who raised me up.”  $75 donation plus shipping **SOLD**

C.  **SOLD**8×10 canvas “grace”.  $75 donation plus shipping (This is Harper’s favorite) **SOLD**

D.  **SOLD** 8×10 canvas “Loving God includes loving people.” 1 John 4:21 $75 donation plus shipping **SOLD**

E.  **SOLD** 9×12 canvas “but if not…He is still good.” $100 donation plus shipping **SOLD**

 F. **SOLD** 12×12 canvas “Oh love, great love Fear has no place in you” $100 donation plus shipping **SOLD**

Again if you would like to purchase a canvas shoot me a message HERE or email me pitterpatterart at gmail dot com with the letter of the canvas you would like to purchase and I will send you the payment details.

If these go over well, we’re going to do another round of them.  And again, thanks so much for stopping by today!  I totally appreciate you and all your kindness, love and prayers.

Happy Wednesday.