Entertaining Angels?

"Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers,

for some who have done this have entertained angels

without realizing it!"

Hebrews 13:2

It was a typical Saturday for Claire and I.

Wes was working all day at the hospital,

and so Claire and I headed out to run the typical Saturday errands.

A quick stop at the bank, some light Father's Day shopping at Target,

and finally grocery shopping at Meijer.

Back in my pre-motherhood days, these errands would have been a fun and enjoyable way to spend a Saturday afternoon. But with a busy toddler, these errands become a game of

"how quick can mommy grab what she needs and go?" while Claire plays "how fast can I try to stand up and jump out of my cart while mommy looks away?" along with several rousing rounds of  "how many packages can I grab out of our cart and bite through?" I'm telling you, Claire is QUICK and BUSY! If you ever see me out shopping with Claire, you will literally probably see me singing and dancing just to try and keep her entertained enough to keep her seated in her cart so I can get my shopping done. It is exhausting! {Please tell me I'm not the only parent who experiences this!}

After successfully completing our stop at the bank and Target, we were finishing up at Meijer. Claire had managed to chew up a package of cheese, as well as throw a container of blueberries onto the floor where they  spilled everywhere. Remember, blueberries are round... so they roll. {The sad part is I picked as many of them up off the floor as I could and put them back into my container to purchase. I needed those blueberries!} Needless to say, I was a bit... frazzled and worn out by this point.

As I was scanning for the shortest checkout line, an older gentleman, probably nearing 80 at least, walked up to Claire and I. He stopped and said a few words to Claire... I can't remember exactly what.

He had a British accent; something you don't hear around our parts very often. I didn't think too much of this encounter until the man started to walk away and then turned back and looked me in the eyes and said "Bless you." Nothing profound, nothing I've never heard before. But there was something about the way he said it; it was like he very sincerely meant it.

Have you ever met someone who, because you know that they care about you, it confirms to you that God cares about you too? This is how this man made me feel. It was truly as if God was speaking directly through him to me. Was he an angel? There's no way of knowing, at least not this side of heaven. Maybe he was simply a human with a godly heart.  Or, maybe he was an angel. But whatever the case, he made an impression on me that I hope to never forget.

There are two things I took away from this man:

{1}

A sweet reminder of God's personal, gentle love for me. A reminder

that he sees every detail of my day and cares about every one.

{2}

A reminder to be intentional about really SEEING the people that are around me. It is so easy to hustle and bustle my way through my to-do lists all the time, forgetting to slow down and focus on what is truly important: loving the people around me. This even includes those I don't know. Everyone has as story. Everyone has a soul that was created by God. Everyone is important, and everyone needs to feel cared for. Even a smile and a friendly hello can mean volumes, reminding people that they are not alone in this big, often scary world. 

Lord, help me to slow down, and use me to show your love to the people you place in my path. Thank you for using the man at Meijer as a messenger of your love and care for me. Amen. 

Thanks for reading.... and may God bless YOU!

Happy Nesting!

{Now that I'm on summer break, stay tuned for some new projects!

It's time to get crafty!}

These are a few of my favorite things...

Well helloooo!
Did you miss me?
I thought so.
Life has been busy!
And... the weather is FINALLY warming up,
so the sunshine has been calling me
away from computer time.

Plus, my creating has been on hold because...
I ordered a Silhouette SD and it hasn't come in the mail yet and now why
would I want to make anything without it???
Yay! I'm so excited!
Those hard earned mileage checks I get from my school
for transporting from one school to the other
are finally paying off :)

But in the meantime,
I thought maybe I'd pass along of a few things that
I currently love:

{1}
Gallery walls.
So fun, so personalizeable, such a great way to fill a blank wall space.
I happen to love all things birds in my decorating
(hence, "Nesting Time,")
so here's a lovely example:

Bird themed Gallery Wall

Our Humble A{Bowe}ed

{2}
Cute summery bags/totes.
Who doesn't need more of these?
This little bag I found is sweet enough
to make me want to dust off my sewing machine,
untangle the thread that is lodged inside of it,
and hone my sewing skills!

Ruffle Tote @ Loves All Things Vintage

{3}
Silhouette Art
I love the vintage-y feel of silhouettes,
and the fact that they can really
personalize your space too.
(Apparently I'm into personalizing)
Check out this example and many other's at
Paper Clips and Playpens

love. love. love.

{4}
Claire's new skills.
I know, this one isn't a craft,
but I want a record of some of the amazing talents
of Claire at her ripe old age of 13 months.
Recently, she has started saying "octopus,"
"meow," and "messy."
She also now laughs LOUDLY
as if she heard the most hysterical thing ever,
whenever people around her start laughing.
She loves to hug and kiss,
and she likes to pretend to feed her babies.
She loves being sung to, and she sometimes sings along.
She especially loves "This Little Light of Mine"
and she likes to "shine her light."
She is at such a fun stage and if I let myself,
I can get pretty emotional thinking about the fact that she won't
be this age for long.
So I guess I can't take this time for granted, and soak in
all the special moments each day that I have with her.

That's all I got for tonight, so happy nesting!

The Name Game

I don't know about you,

but I can't help but give my child nicknames.

I mean, LOTS of nicknames.

The poor thing is probably so confused at this point

as to what her name really is.

As a way of remembering all of these nicknames,

I thought I'd do a little posty post about them.

After reading this:

You may think I'm silly. You may think I'm weird.

You would be right.

So here goes, my current nicknames for Claire:

1. Claire bug

She's little, like a bug.

This one isn't too complicated.

2. Sunshine girl

She smiles a lot, which brightens my days.

Hence, she's my little sunshine girl.

3. Pickle

I think my sister started this one.

Pretty sure she calls all little kids this.

Sometimes I add a little something special

and call her "pickle juice."

4. Smiley Cyrus

This one started when she was pretty small,

just a few months old.

She was smiling one day, and it just sort of rolled off my tongue.

5. Claire bear

It rhymes. That simple.

6. Sister

Or any variation of this- sis, sissy, etc.

This is to practice for the day she becomes a sister I guess.

Or, in case she decides to become a nun.

Also, I used to call my dog Sophie this because she was black and white

and did remind me of a nun.

And since Sophie was cute, and so is Claire... it just happened.

7. Justin

This is reserved for when she has a stinky diaper.

(Told you... silly and wierd)

Here's the story behind this:

Remember the movie Hope Floats starring Sandra Bullock and Harry Connick Jr.?

Well in that movie, Harry Connick's character is named Justin Matisse.

And there is a line in the movie where the little girl says something like

"You stink Justin Matisse!"

Therefore, when Claire has a stinky diaper, she stinks.

And then I think of that line in the movie, and I call her Justin.

End of story.

I believe that concludes my current list of nicknames for my little Justin.

Haha. Justin might be favorite right now.

In closing... here is a silly picture of Claire.

(She takes after her silly mom I think)

Party Time!

Even though Claire doesn't officially turn one until Wednesday,

today was Claire's 

1st birthday party!

We had a great time celebrating

Claire's first year of life,

and taking time to think about

what a joy and a blessing she is to us.

The theme of her party was 

"Our Little Sunshine"

{What can I say, I'm a sucker for themes! Even in high school,

I once threw an "Under the Sea" themed dinner party, ha}

I'll share more photos of the party details in a later post,

but for now, here are some of my favorite shots from the day.

{The birthday girl}

{In her party hat- thanks Aunt Rebecca for those!}

{Playing with her tambourine... future percussionist like daddy?}

{She loved her new talking dog}

{Grandpa being... himself :). Love you dad!}

{Hmm... this seems kind of tasty...}

{Yep. Definitely tasty!}

{Wes and I with our birthday girl}

Claire- You are such a gift to us!

Your mommy and daddy love you more than you know,

and we look forward to many more birthday celebrations for you

as we watch you grow into the little lady

that God created you to be!

Happy nesting!

Let it be known...

Claire cried for the first time today

when I dropped her off at the baby-sitter's.

She reached her little arms out toward me and cried, cried, cried.

Talk. About. Heartbreak.

I thought maybe she was going to 

bypass the separation anxiety thing,

seeing as how she is eleven months old

and up until now the Wicked Witch of the West 

could have picked her up

and she probably would have smiled and pinched the witch's nose.

(Well, maybe that's a slight exaggeration)

But, today was different.

Today, Claire wanted her mom!

Walking out the door to head to work,

while I was soo sad that I had to leave

and I wished so much that this wasn't the case.

a small part of me felt a tinge of relief

that my little girl

wanted me.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Claire.

It captures her joyful, silly spirit

that I love so much!

No wonder it's hard for me to leave her every day.

But, I'm happy to share...

that next year I will be a part-time school counselor

and a part-time stay-at-home-mom!

I truly believe that God saw the desires of my heart

and worked out the details.

He made a "stream in the desert"

as I like to call it.

He made a way where I didn't think there was one.

He worked out our finances, he created a part-time position

where there had been none.

And I couldn't be more excited!!!

What area of your life do you need to ask God
for a stream in the desert?

Happy nesting everyone!