By Natalie
Postcards – This is by far my favorite way we keep in contact with Zoe. There’s nothing quite like snail mail. The other day we received a postcard from Berlin! How fun is that? Zoe was on fall break and wrote to us during her travels. I felt so connected to her when I saw her handwriting. I love seeing all the fun places she’s going around Europe and sharing our travels with her as well. It’s sweet to think of her on our travels as we pick out the best postcard we think she’d like.
By Natalie
Last year I had a few friends say “mom goals” to me referring to the craft themed advent calendar I created for Lici. I love hearing that I’ve inspired friends to be creative with their littles. However I’m also conflicted because I don’t want anyone to see what I’ve created and think that they’re not doing enough for their kiddos or they are not meeting some arbitrary mom goal. Creating these crafty kits for Lici is my love language to her as a creative. I find joy sharing my love for crafting, needlework and reading with her. It shouldn’t be every mama’s goal because not every mama is into those things. Other mamas have different interests and talents. They should mother the way that God created them to mother.
By Natalie
For the past few years I’ve done a version of the capsule wardrobe.
A capsule wardrobe consists of anywhere between 25-35 pieces. Typically excluding workout gear.
That doesn’t quite work for me. For one the weather fluctuates in Charlotte and I’m not ever sure if it’s going to be sweater weather in October or 80 degrees. I needed a little more flexibility in my wardrobe when it came to the number of pieces simply because I needed more layers and footwear available. I very well still be able to wear a nice pair of sandals in November after all, no need to exclude them. However I do like the general principles of the capsule wardrobe which are these.
By Natalie
One of my September goals was to go through all of our closets and cabinets. My plan was to declutter, donate any unwanted or unused items and sell anything we’ve outgrown.
Every year around Felicity’s birthday we go through her playroom and declutter. I had to start having her be a part of this ever since I gave away a seemingly unplayed with unicorn and she has asked for it ever since.
By Natalie
Years ago Brandon and I heard a sermon on margin. Margin in a nutshell is leaving space and time in your life and schedule, to prevent overwhelm. Margin for us over the years has grown into more than leaving time in our schedule, it’s having margin in our finances for those in need and in our case space in our home as well. This margin we had created was exactly why we could say yes to inviting Zoe into our home. Margin is key so you have time to breathe, you’re on time and so you have enough energy left for your family. It has allowed us to say yes to people in need and it’s something we’ve always tried to incorporate in our lives. Since Felicity started kindergarten I’ve juggled, balanced, scheduled, whatever you want to call the way that I try to manage our lives all while keeping margin. Not having a 9-5 job means that I have the flexibility to do what I want with my schedule, yet I’ve been finding myself trying to fit a whole load of things into my schedule. I’ve realized that I need to sit and revisit my margin for this season of life.
By Natalie
I went through my drafts recently and found some decent pieces that I never posted! I found this sweet post that I didn’t publish because I went into labor soon after. Loved rereading this with a smile on my face thinking about how quickly the time flew. This morning I watched that little girl put her big backpack on and walk into school.
Throwback to Five years ago… (more…)
By Natalie
Zoe. Our dear sweet Zoe. Confident, intelligent, thoughtful, driven, funny, honest, Zoe-oh. I miss you sitting on the floor. I miss you bringing me my refilled water bottle. I miss your laugh, our late night card games, the coffee you made me every morning. You standing in the early morning glow of the kitchen, your German cooking, your truth, your hugs, everything about you I miss with an intense ache.
By Natalie
Over Thanksgiving break we drove up to Washington DC from our hometown. We were able to leave Felicity behind for a fun grandparents day and show Zoe the Botanical Gardens, the National mall and Georgetown.
By Natalie
As you may know if you’ve been following along here for a while, every December I assemble an advent calendar for Felicity. This year’s calendar is full of activity sheets from The Box Full, along with a few fun craft kits I found in the Target dollar spot (my greatest weakness) and Michaels. I love seeing Felicity’s joy over this calendar and watching her crafting ability grow each year! (more…)
By Natalie
“I’ll take them.” I said without hesitation. What had come over me? When my friend Jamie mentioned that her girls weren’t crazy about their new preschool and wasn’t sure what to do, I spoke up. “I’ll take them.” I said. Knowing I could do it, I wanted to do it, and was pretty sure that I should do it. Jamie asked if I was serious. I nodded. “Let me know how they do in school the next couple of weeks.” I told her as she was still unsure if they needed time to adjust. (more…)