my mother's love

my mom has always been a thoughtful woman. when i was little i can remember her having to run errands and sometimes she would bring me back a surprise and i would be so excited because anything she got for me i would love...fast forward a few years and she hasn't changed all that much.

i think of myself as a thoughtful person and i have to thank my mama for that. i hope that i pass some of my mama to my own children.

another thing that i get from my mother is crafting, put us in a room together with a glue gun and scrap paper and we'd probably build a town. ha! yes, we are very creative. i think she's a lot better than i am so anything she makes, i study each detail wondering, how did she get that so perfectly? oh, i see now...

every christmas my mother sends a box filled with goodies, from cookies to shirts. this christmas she did the same and every present she wrapped was so beautifully done. each roll of wrapping paper perfectly matching the embellishment carefully placed on top. she takes the time to do these things with love. that's just one of the many things i love about my mother.

she also filled these wooden containers with cookies, there were about four of them altogether. she knew that i couldn't help myself, but try a little mixed media painting on them. i totally know why she sent them. she was so right :)
this is what one of them looked like before:

here's are a few shots of the still-working-on-it-after:

thanks so much, mama. you know exactly what i like. so happy to share a creative soul with you...

little me.

image: little-me-starfire

have you ever had a moment that you totally felt your existence? like..at this very moment i feel alive and it feels so good kinda moment?! i get that feeling when i'm on the floor and i can feel three little bodies climbing all over me in laughter. those are the moments i totally feel mommy. or when they need my kisses on their boo boos. or when my husband looks at me like i'm the most beautiful woman in the world. or when i do something for nice for someone i can feel their gratitude...

well, last night i felt alive again by a total stranger's simple sentence in my post about a book, hand wash cold by karen meizer miller. just a simple, "if he doesn't come through, let me know. i have a book with your name on it." what? who? (as i carefully looked at the name of the commenter). none other than karen maezen miller herself!

wow! as you can read how the rest of the story goes (all in the comment section) ...needless to say, i felt alive. that sentence alone made me feel so special. i guess what i'm trying to say is that you never know that just by a small gesture you can make someone smile. you can change someone's mind. you can change someone's life. you can make someone that was having a hard year have another beginning. 

karen maezen miller made my day. i was so excited that i called my husband from work and said "you have to go and read my blog. the last post. look at the comments. you must stop what you're doing this very moment and look at it now!". and he did and was just as happy as i was at that very moment. 

thank you, karen (if i may) for making my night so exciting and my morning too. i will never forget that. ever.

hand wash cold by karen maezen miller.....good read.

image from blogcritic.org

 Readers follow the author through youthful ambition and self-absorption, beyond a broken marriage, and into the steady calm of an “ordinary” life. Household chores and caregiving tasks become opportunities for self-examination, lessons in relationship, and liberating moments of selflessness.....(from Amazon.com)

i am super duper excited to read this! i was hinting to my hubby about christmas ideas and this is my first choice. it's hard for me to find a good read that interests me long enough. it's really hard these days with three little ones, so the book has to be extra special..this one is. i hope to find it under the tree :)

a gift for my best friend.

on friday it's my little sister's birthday. she will be 28 years old. i am going to have a small dinner party for her here at home. nothing big, just us and all the children. i asked her what she would like me to cook on her special day. maybe pasta or fish..whatever she wanted. she said sloppy joe's. yup. that's my sister. wine and sloppy joe's it is..!
i made a little something for her. this is part of her gift i wanted to share with you...

it's a a cuff bracelet and i added swarovski crystals to it. ...her birthstone in the middle..

i hope that she likes it and every time she wears it she's reminded that ..she's truly loved....

and i hope that she knows how proud i am of the person she's become. she is a wonderful daughter, mother, sister, aunty and friend. i'm so happy she's MY sister....happy birthday, my love.

it's almost here!

can you actually believe that christmas is next week? i haven't purchased not one thing! that, however, will not stop me from having a good time! no it will not. as you can see i did a family room christmas photo shoot with none other than my juju bug. he's already appreciating photography at the age of seven and i like that. a lot. so..he insisted that he take pics of me. as mommies we hardly ever get in front of the camera, right? we are always trying to capture the moment. i think it's very important for our children to have pics of mommy and daddy, too. they'd enjoy looking at them in the future. i had lots of fun and i really do act this silly most of the time..they're pretty used to it. 

ok, back to shopping...yes, i will do some of that this weekend. not looking forward to the cold at all...hope everyone's having a great week! the kids are sound asleep and i am finally getting there. my warm comfy bed and cushy pillows are calling my name. goodnight sweet ones..

'it's complicated' luv.

have you ever watched a movie and you absolutely fell in love with the set decor? is that what it's even called? oh, well..anywho- my hubby, sister and i watched it's complicated a few months back and ever since then i've not stopped talking about how much i love that house! the way it's decorated...oohhh my. i'm in love and one day i can sip my coffee in that beautiful setting. wouldn't that be so nice?

gorgeous kitchen

comfy bedroom

at the dinner table

beautiful hallway

gardening tools..beauty!

if you ever get a chance, check out it's complicated, starring  meryl streep, steve martin and alec baldwin!

when it's cold outside.

it's been freezing lately and we've been doing a lot of snuggling and watching movies. being forced to stay in one place makes imagination grow. with three little ones we are always trying to find something to keep us away from the "mom, i bored" syndrome. i think within the last couple of days we've watched  'polar express' at least three times. we've sipped hot cocoa with colorful marshmallows. put christmas decor out. tickled little chubby feet. made tents. ate delicious homemade vegetable soup (my first time making it) and it was delish! had our daily dance party in the living room, they love my playlist more than daddy's (he thinks his is better). i love my little family and even though we aren't rich, our kids don't get whatever they want and we struggle at times, this is us. we have love. we have each other no matter what. those are the things that keep me warm and make me oh-so-happy.

gratitude~

i've basically forced myself to finally blog. this week has been really hard for me. ya ever have one of those days that everything goes wrong ?whatever else happens..you're like "well, ok." i've had that type of week and boy i am tired. we are going through some tough times as a family right now, but we have also tried to stay positive. sometimes that can be very hard to do when your faced with serious issues. today started out as a good day. then someone said something to me that put me in a different place, i didn't like that place. then the stress headache started..yeah. BUT there is hope..the reason why i forced myself on here is because i need to do a "what i'm thankful for" list. seriously. and it will help me get out of this poopish mood. i don't like poopish. so here goes :) i'm thankful for:

• God..He's probably sick of my voice
• the way my children look at me when i get home from somewhere..as if i've been gone forever.
• a warm home
• the 3 cups of coffee that i had today..i needed every sip :)
• a job, even if it may not be what i 'love' to do
• my passion, creating is therapeutic for me
• vaseline..that stuff is the bomb during these dry months-forget the expensive stuff (baby scent kind, yummy)
• last, but no least, my husband- who truly loves me and knows that we are in this together. makes me smile when i'm down and has my back. in his eyes, i'm more than enough. just the way i am. 

ok..ya know, just thinking about all  those things as i was typing them put me in a lighter mood. going through something that makes you uncomfortable can sometimes make one realize what is important. material things don't matter. what people think about you doesn't matter. what does matter is that you are true to yourself. that you are doing what makes your heart sing and the rest just falls into place. believe that even though things around us we cannot control, we can control how we react. sometimes things happen for a reason (so cliche) and they do! we may not understand at the moment..or the reasons why. our higher power has other plans and all we can do is have faith. every little thing's gonna be alright :)