Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. James 1:12 {NIV}

My firstborn turns 18 years old today. I know it’d be very cliche to ask where the time went … yet, as I look at this photo and reflect over the years we traveled together, I can’t help but think … where did the time go?!

The other day, Taylor was riding a different horse at the barn — for reasons I won’t go into as it’d be a whole different post — but right now she’s riding a couple different lesson horses to just have some fun and get her own riding back on track.

As she poked around the arena on a verrryyyy slowwww guy, her mood was light, she had a smile on her face {few and far between these days}, and commented, “He feels just like Clover.”

I was immediately struck by the thought, “Sometimes to start fresh, you have to start at the beginning.”

You see, Taylor basically found her riding passion on that trusty ol’ mount. Even today, Clover holds a irreplaceable and special place in our hearts.

Clover was Taylor’s beginning.

Lately, she’s had some crazy trouble with her horse and needs a fresh start in riding. She needs to have fun again.

Taylor’s been struggling … with a whole lotta stuff going on in her life, she’s been struggling. And right now, as she’s turning eighteen, she feels like she needs a fresh start.

Hold on … I’m not planning on going into a “whoa-is-Taylor-she’s-had-it-so-rough” thing. Truth is, I’ve been chastised for not “letting her get over it.” Along that line and as a side note, I would like to share something about my parenting …

When my children are walking through a valley in life, I don’t stand outside of that valley and shout down to them, “Put your big girl panties on and get over it already!”

No. That wouldn’t do us any good.

Instead, I walk down into that valley with them. I take them, I guide them, I encourage them, and we put their big girl panties on together.

Meaning … I don’t sit in their valley with them. I don’t allow them to sit in their own valleys. But in order to get them out of the valley, I need to meet them where they’re at, take them by the heart, and walk them through it.

How can a child — or anyone for that matter — “get over something” when they don’t have a guide out?

Anyway.

That said, I’ve been walking Taylor through quite a few valley’s as of late and she’s desperately searching for a fresh start in her life.

Eighteen years old. A milestone birthday. Adulthood? Gaaaa … this momma isn’t too sure about that one! Talking with a friend the other day, we agreed adulthood should be changed to twenty-one or thirty-five!

Tay … my sweet Tay … I want you to know I hear you. I see you. I feel you. I pray for you. And as much as this mommy loves you with all of her heart … your Father in heaven loves you THAT much more. I can only imagine how proud He must be of you Taylor.

He’s allowed almost every trial imaginable. And you’ve persevered. Yes, it’s been through tears and anguish you’ve persevered, but you’ve also done it with unimaginable grace.

Baby, I heard this song the other day and you immediately came to mind. Sweet girl, please let your heart be wide open as you listen to each word and let God speak into your life. Listen to His promises for you …

What if every tear you cry, seeds the ground where joy will grow? Fields … acres and acres of fields of joy are what He has in store for you. I believe it Taylor.

You can lean on me and I’ll believe for you … and in time you will believe it too.

Happy birthday love. There’s no way I could be more proud of you …

Nothing Is Wasted
:: Jason Gray ::

The hurt that broke your heart
And left you trembling in the dark
Feeling lost and alone
Will tell you hope’s a lie
But what if every tear you cry
Will seed the ground where joy will grow

{chorus}
Nothing is wasted
Nothing is wasted
In the hands of our Redeemer
Nothing is wasted

It’s from the deepest wounds
That beauty finds a place to bloom
And you will see before the end
That every broken piece is
Gathered in the heart of Jesus
And what’s lost will be found again

{chorus}

When hope is more than you can bear
And it’s too hard to believe it could be true
And your strength fails you half way there
You can lean on me & I’ll believe for you
And in time you will believe it too

Sometimes we are waiting
In the sorrow we have tasted
But joy will replace it
Nothing is wasted
In the hands of our redeemer
Nothing is wasted

When my girl’s birthdays roll around, we like to do something fun for their school treat. In trying to find a clever “something” for Piper’s birthday last week, I reminded her of  these treats and she was all over it!

Needless to say … they were a hit and still super yummy!

Now to find another clever “something” for Hunter’s birthday coming up next week …

Any suggestions for a fun treat?

And then she asked if she could have a sock monkey themed party … and yeah … I was all over that one! Proof in the photos below!

It’d also been a while since we’ve had an all-out party, and ahem, I still haven’t posted Hunter’s Fairytale Princess party {beware!}, so I decided to get my creative on and throw my Wynt a little shindig!

Ready? Set. Here goes!

In my opinion, every party starts with a great invite and takes off from there …

In lieu of gifts, Wynter asked for the donation of a gently
used stuffed animal to donate to a local animal shelter.

What sock monkey party is complete without monkey pops?

And banana candies?

And sock monkey party hats?

And favor boxes filled with all kinds o’ monkey goodness?

And the cutest fondant sock monkey ever?

And big yellow gumballs {that I may still have coming out of my ears!}?

We had the party in our backyard. So to greet guests, we had a ginormous
sock monkey and a sign directing guests to come around back.

A sock monkey pinata!

And some goofy monkeys running amuck!

One of my favorite details was the sock monkey
“photo booth” … the kids had some fun with it!

And for Wynter’s school treat, we brought in a sock monkey
cup-cake … needless to say, it was a huge hit!

Everyone seemed to have a great time. My Wynt was in heaven. And I had some fun getting my creative on again!

How ’bout you? Is there a detail that’s your favorite?

Sources:
Photography – myself {hee}
Invites & Printables – totful memories
Envelopes – Paper Source
Postage Stamps
Cake, Cupcakes & Sock Monkey Cup”cake” – Creative Cakes by Allison
Candy
Monkey Pops – Baked
Monkey Hats – Wish Works
Pinata – Birthday Express
Favor Boxes – Nashville Wraps
Sock Monkey Favor Goodness – Oriental Trading & Birthday Express

Anyway … I took her to the doctor the next morning, and sure enough … nasty ear infection. After some meds, we decided to bring the treats in to her class at lunchtime.

And now for some deets on this little project! I had pinned a beautiful photo of chocolate cover peeps and thought they’d make the perfect birthday treat for Hunter. Easy-peasy, right?

Kinda not so much. Stay with me here, cuz I’ve got some Pinterest-gone-wrong thoughts to share with y’all!

I talked it over with Hunt {and sister-crew} and we decided to do some kind of “nest” and set the peeps inside. I knew I’d seen edible Easter grass in the past, so as long as I could find some we’d be set. The only unknown was what to put them in.

Bingo! while at Walmart for the supplies, I spotted these cute buckets {green & pink} … .97 cents! And then a friend of mine had some left over gumballs from one of her girls recent birthday parties … perfect!

Until I started dipping my peeps. Um, yeah. Not so perfect.

I used the melted chocolate candy wafer things … chocolate and white chocolate. And a variety of sprinkles. After I melted my chocolate and started dipping the peeps, it was just an ugly mess. After the chocolate bath, I dipped them into the sprinkles … and that was an ugly mess.

In my mind, I had a beautiful image of perfectly covered chocolate peeps. As the words “Pinterest fail” kept running through my head, I figured the photo I had pinned must’ve been done by a professional. Like a baker, or, I dunno know … a professional peep dipper? But make no doubt … it couldn’t been just a regular mom making treats in her kitchen. Oh … side note … I hadn’t clicked through to the original source before starting my project. When doing a Pinterest project, might I recommend you check out the original source before starting?

Back to my peep dipping.

After a bit, I scrapped the white chocolate {just not cute}. I stopped dipping the whole peep bottom {hee, peep bottom}, and just dipped the front. And I also stopped dipping the covered peep in the sprinkles, instead sprinkling the sprinkles on top of the covered peep. Whew.

Still with me?

Anyway … those changes made the project smoother, faster, and less ugly.

When I was done, I headed to the computer and thought I’d go ahead and take a look at the original source to see just who this professional was. Turns out she’s just a regular over-achieving mom who has a flair for the creative! Humpf.

Why am I sharing all of this you might be wondering? Well … I read this post the other day about “Pinterest peer pressure” and it made me laugh. There’s a lot of truth there!

I wanted to comment, but was too shy … are you too shy to comment sometimes? So … I wanted to comment and say … it’s all in moderation. I would love, love, love to do many of the projects I see on Pinterest. I’d love to throw grand parties for each birthday celebration we have. But I know my limits. Sometimes I have the time for it and I gain much pleasure from creating something lovely. Other times, I’m too busy, my heart’s not in it, I can’t wrap my head around anything other than getting dressed in the morning, and so I either don’t do something grand, or I settle for something right in between that won’t stress me out, or I settle for doing nothing … and feel good about it!

I love Pinterest! I’m a fan of all the beautiful photos and projects and food and clothes and kittens and Ryan Gosling… but I think we each need to recognize where our limits lie and work within those boundaries based on kids, jobs, time on our hands. And we should enjoy Pinterest for what it is … a beautiful collection of ideas, recipes, and photos. No guilt involved. Some of us just don’t have the time or resources to be Martha Stewart.

Anyway … a bit of a tangent there … but mostly to encourage you. As with everything in life … you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have … the facts of life, the facts of life. Anyone? Anyone? :)

Okay, sorry, I’m getting a bit loopy. Seriously … I just wanted to encourage you to take what you can from Pinterest, enjoy it, and realize it’s just a pinboard for EVERYTHING on the internet … all that pretty, sometimes magazine worthy, stuff!

OH! and I was just turned on to a new blog … love it! They take Pinterest projects and do them to see if they turn into a Pinstrosity!

This was her classroom treat …

And these were her birthday invites!

Both items were inspired from things I saw on Pinterest here and here {links to original source}. But of course, I enlisted the help of my fav designer {who happens to be on maternity leave, so be sure to check in on her blog for info on when she’s back in the designing game!}.

I love when something I do from Pinterest actually works for me, cuz, um, I’ve had my share of Pinterest-fails!

How ’bout you? Are you “pin-collector?” Do you try the things you pin? Do they work for you? Have you had any major fails?

Overall, I’m woman enough to admit that I’m thoroughly addicted! Have a great weekend y’all!

And this feature just may have put a little spark in my heart to get Hunter’s party {yes, from last April!} up on the blog!

1,000 posts.

5,563 comments.

4,000+ visitors a day {yesterday hit 5,000! thank you pinterest}.

3 URL’s.

6 blog makeovers.

4 different blog titles.

8.20.07 … my first post titled australia {on my iweb blog!} and here I am today … over four years later … writing my one thousandth post!

I’d also like to take a minute to give a shout out to the 246 posts {yeah, I counted them} I wrote while owner of Broadway Paper.  And I may have had to wipe away a few tears after reading this post.  And this one.  It literally seems like an eternity ago.

Anyway.  Back to the present post.  Have you heard?  It’s number one thousand!!

In other related {celebratory} news … today’s my birthday!!!

I knew this {1,000th} post would coincide with my birthday and I’ve thought long and hard about what I could do to celebrate here with you.  I think what I’ve decided on will bless big!  At least that’s my prayer!

The girls and I won’t be doing our RACK’ed activity this year … pretty much cuz we won’t be here through Christmas, but also because I’m trying hard to focus my {physical and emotional} energy on the girls and our family.

What we’re doing instead are small blessings throughout the season.  We’ve rung Salvation Army bells {people can never resist the kids!}; Operation Christmas Child; we’ll be donating many of the girls toys; the girls are each sponsoring a new Compassion child; I’m doing some anonymous giving; and we’ll be packing and donating lunches to an organization our church is involved in.  Basically just keeping an eye open for where we can help out.

There’s one other thing I wanted to do this year to bless others, but I just couldn’t get it together … mostly, I wasn’t sure how to get it together.  Someone emailed us at MODsquad last year, sharing how they put an ad on Craigslist.  The ad was something to the effect of asking for someone’s need and then filling it.  I couldn’t find the email anywhere and my obsessive mind got all caught up in the specifics/logistics and well … I just haven’t put it out there.

But!  What I did decide for this grand celebration of mine?  I’d like to bless three people this Christmas season.  It could be you or someone you know.  Someone that is really in need.  That can’t afford to buy their children gifts, food, electricity bills.  A real need.

Do you know someone?  Is it you?  Please leave a comment, or if it’s too personal, contact me through an email or the contact link at the top of the page.

The girls and I will go through all the requests {names will remain anonymous to them} and we’ll pick three needs that we’d like to help fill.  One thousand is the lucky number, because that’s how much we’ll be spending per need!  I won’t be sending cash/check … so please make it something tangible … I can call the electric company, or I can send gift cards, etc.

Make sure to have your requests to me by next week Wednesday, December 7th.  I won’t be announcing any “winners,” but I’ll contact you via email {please be sure to leave a working email address}.  If I email you and don’t hear back by Friday, December 9, we’ll choose another recipient.

I love blessing others and I’m looking forward to this giving project!

Thank you dear readers … I love connecting with you … I’m encouraged by your kind words, your support and your open hearts.  You’ve blessed me here in more ways than you know!

Compared to last year’s party … this year was WAY low-key!  And perfect.  Just a couple of girls … a movie and dinner at a hibachi place where they know us by name we love.  Perfect.

Anyway.  I wanted to share the bday treat we brought into school yesterday.  I found it on Pinterest {of course!} … super cute, super easy and the birthday girl was on board {which is a bonus btw}.

So … here’s the before {drum roll please} …

And here’s the after!  Despicable Me minions!  Cute, no?  Seriously super easy … the original source is found here, but I’ve created a PDF of just the directions for the cupcakes and you can download it here.

I made it a little easier on myself than what the directions call for.  First, I pre-ordered the frosted cupcakes.  Second, I used frosting from a tube {black gel}, and because I ran into a little frosting fiasco {don’t ask!}, I didn’t frost the rest of the goggles in.  But hey, they’re 8 year olds … who’s gonna notice right?

Taylor and I had lunch with Wynt and Piper and I’m happy to report, the cupcakes were a hit with everyone!

After lunch, I had the seriously incredible privilege of listening to Wynter’s classmates list one adjective that describes her.  Can I just say … what an incredible thing to do!  The teacher wrote each word down on the board and created this bubble around Wynter with beautiful words that not only describe her, but also build her up.  I’m going to print out a copy of the photo and put it somewhere she can see it regularly and let it’s words soak into her heart.

Therefore encourage one another and build one another up …
1 Thessalonians 5:11 {ESV}

And, um … it was two boys who gave the words “cute” and “adorable.”  And while, yes … I agree with those sentiments whole-heartedly … it freaked me out a teeny bit.  :)

Happy birthday my precious, vibrant and full-of-life eight year old.  You care for everyone, you want to see everyone happy, you sacrifice, you do, you love.  I am blessed beyond belief to be your mama!

If you’re ever stuck with a gift idea and are looking for something fun {and not too serious}, take a look at what “day” it is and gift away!

I have a friend whose birthday is June 10 and I wanted to send her a little something.  June 10th is iced tea and ball point pen day … wa-la! instant gift idea! :)

My sweet girl turned sixteen yesterday …

So many emotions and feelings I have.  Like how did I wake up one day to find a sixteen year old in front of me?  In my mind, she’s still this little girl.  And oh how I wish I could go back to those days of the “collapsible pout” and noodles every night for dinner.

My precious, precious Tay.  So many words I want to share … yet, somehow they’re alluding me.  I can’t seem to wrap my mind around many things these days {evident in my lack of posts}.  And now I sit stumped thinking of a way to express the deep and tender love I feel for this child.

You know the saying that goes something like “they’re watching when you don’t know they’re looking?”  I think that’s been the case with this one.  So many values and beliefs I’ve tried to instill in her … things I would beat myself up wondering if she was “getting it.”  Only to wake up one day to realize she had in fact been listening and watching.  And man … has she gotten it!

I am so proud of this girl.  So proud.  I think back to some of my favorite posts of her … like this one … and this one {from her birthday last year} … and realize there isn’t too much more I can add.

Taylor you are growing into a beautiful, beautiful young woman.  And I don’t mean your outward appearance … I’m talking about the beauty that lies within you.  Beauty you’re revealing amongst the most difficult of situations.  Others may not understand the grace, forgiveness, and beauty that lives within you … but your Savior does, and truly He’s the only one that matters.

I love you precious girl …

And now for the gifts!!  During some recent reading for the MODsquad, I came across an idea that I’ve decided to do with all my girls.  Taylor made a commitment to stay pure until marriage, and to honor that I decided to give her special gifts that not only speak to her commitment, but also lead to the importance of the commitment and her wedding day.

Think “something old; something new; something borrowed; something blue.”  First up and just in time to mark her sweet sixteen … something old.

I haven’t seen my real dad since I was nine years old, but I had an old worn cameo necklace from him that I’d saved.  I didn’t have the chain anymore … just a decrepit looking cameo.  But! the jewelry store was able to spruce it up and put it in a beautiful ring setting and I gave it to Taylor explaining it’s purpose … and she’s treasuring it!

Another idea I got from Stacey at the MODsquad, was to put together a book of affirmations for Taylor.  Stacey did it for one of her daughters and I thought it would be a perfect way to mark Taylor’s sixteenth!  I enlisted the help of family and friends to send any memories, encouragement or scripture that they wanted to share with Taylor.

Taylor loved it!  She poured over every word and read memories she had forgotten about.

And last but not least … Taylor got a new best friend!!  And dare I say … she’s in love!?

Happy sweet sixteen my beautiful love …

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