Creating
Well if it isn’t Nell, posting on SUNDAY, for her seven quick takes. Check out what Kelly and the gang have rolling over at her blog. 1. WILD I’m in an adrenaline holding pattern for the Minnesota Blessed is She WILD retreat this upcoming weekend. Seriously, cannot even stop being jumpy about it. We sold out a few weeks back and I’m just so bummed for the people who weren’t able to get their ticket in time. We always sell out at these retreats and this one was no exception. I’m the ground person so the last 8-9 months have been checking my list, talking to Beth, the director of retreats, checking back in with Saint Marks, the hosts, and then telling AA my head is going to explode. HA. Mostly from joy. Thursday we start in earnest getting everything ready and then the doors fling open Friday evening (complete with a trio of my oldest and his two best buddies playing their violins & cello for the ladies as they wait). Laura greets everyone and we eat, listen, chat, mingle, and of course, have Adoration! Saturday morning will be replete with breakfast, hearing a sister talk! confessions heard by over 15 priests from all over the archdiocese! art time, lunch time, more talks by Patty and Beth, dinner time, and then our private Mass with Bishop Cozzens and Eucharistic procession. My mom and sister are running the kitchen, dear friends orchestrating check in, so many wonderful women helping keep…
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I’m not on my blogging game! I have so many drafts but the interruptions are constant and the time scarce. The baby (toddler, truth be told) got four molars at once so no one has slept much. Work has been insane for my husband so mostly I’m battling many kids on all fronts by evening and can’t inch over to my computer! BUT. Yes, I reopened my Whole Parenting Goods shop with flannel skirts for the deep cold of winter that Minnesota is experiencing. Mostly because I just love flannel and lace. A few are left! Lent. It is a mere two weeks away and Blessed is She has another reflection journal authored by Laura Kelly Fanucci, even more amazing than our Advent one, and that’s saying something. If you want to do something different this Lent, something deeper, something beautiful and hope filled, it’s here. We always sell out so if you’re on the fence, get off it. Laura wrote more about it on her blog. The short of it is that “She Who Believed” is a journey through the Old Testament ladies and New Testament ones, hearing their stories and hearing our own echoing within them. It all ties in with our journeying with Christ toward Calvery. Beautiful and life changing! Okay, now for the big discussion. Can we all agree that mothers who work outside the home and mothers who work in the home are all doing their best? I have yet to meet a mother who…
Read MoreThey say to give a busy person more to do because it will get done. Am I living walking breathing snorting proof of that right now? Maybe? We are doing some moderate home renovations on the new house. We are camping with my sister still (who is totally a saint, mind you!!!). We survived the marathon! AA was in the top 50! I’m so proud of him and all his hard work. We had a wonderful #bistreamretreat at the Lodge this past weekend and I’m still soaking up the wonderful moments I got to experience with the team I work with! And just because I like to be busy (?), I’m also offering a new linen dress line. These babies take a long time to make so at 2pm on Friday, I’m opening up 10 spots available in five colors and seven sizes. When they’re gone, they’re gone! I don’t think I’ll do another round before the holidays, but we’ll see how long these ones take. There will be one listing on my etsy shoppe page with ten quantities. Pick your color, size, and number and check out through etsy (accepts paypal and credit card). The colors are: G R A S S S K Y S U N O A T S F L O W E R Because I’m all outta wordsmithing! The sizes are 6-12, 12-18, 18-24, 2T, 3T, 4T. Watch the shop at 2pm central or see a reminder in my instagram feed! Thanks for the love…
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Wow! Your survey answers were so so helpful. Thank you, my friends. Thank you for being here in this corner of the internet and thank you for your feedback. I resolve to write more frequently this summer about your fav topic: parenting!! and tell you all the things I’m doing wrong and what I’m learning from them. Ha! Quick catch up on the sewing side of things. I’ve been slowly creating small batches of things instead of my usual large orders. It’s more manageable and more swiftly in your hands that way! Three things are happening this summer with my studio. First off, I hung a pegboard! Okay, my dad and husband did but I love the work space so much. I also found a sweet desk off Craigslist and love the size. Limited organic knit swaddles! (And fall pre-order) pic from grace Custom bonnets! Pick your fabric! And forthcoming: bloomers & caps. They’re almost all done but I’m still adding elastic and ties. Those will be available probably next weekend? And a handful of summer bibs. I have a bunch of fabrics that are slaying me with their bold & brightness and I love them. Okay, now you know everything I know. Or probably way more. Mom brain means I’m a little fried! What’s happening this weekend for you?
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Are you also an affirmation person? I need that verbal pat on the back–well–ask my husband–maybe often? But more keenly, as a mother, I’ve wanted to have external validation that I’m doing it all correctly. I’m doing it all right. I’m making the best choices I can for our kids and for my health. I want it from my doctors and care providers. I want it from my own mother. I want to hear it from my community. My sense of validation starts to pull apart, seam by seam, as I grow deeper into my role as a mother. The time I felt worse and worse postpartum but had multiple care providers tell me I was fine, and it turned out my uterus was infected (a rare condition!) and I needed to be admitted to the hospital right away for IV anti-biotics. The time I felt judged as a wannabe homeschool mother when we knew, just knew, that school was best for our oldest. The time I knew that I had to step back and let my husband parent or it would kill our marriage. You see where the grounding erodes away? Where the hems are pulled apart? When my validation for decisions came from O U T S I D E of me. When I was counting on those around me to make me feel affirmed. Affirmation from within would make a difference. What kind of questions could I ask myself, inform myself on, pray for grace & guidance on? How could I find…
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I am so in love with the fabrics I have for this spring & summer leggings collection. The new design of a more roomy bottom and less of a skinny leg works well for my (YES ALMOST 20 pound 4 month old) big little baby. You may also have a little lovie in your life that needs some summer leggings love. Every time I release new fabrics, I hear this from you, kind friends: you are out of stock in the one fabric I love! To try to remedy this, I’m doing an instagram custom-sizing sale on Monday. This means you hop over –> to here –> my instagram account. Then you comment on the photo of the leggings you want, tell me the size you want, and I paypal invoice you so that it’s sold then and there and no one can snatch it up away from you!! A few of them but not everything! EEEK I kinda want to keep them all. But I won’t! I’m sharing the love, people. See you on the ‘gram tomorrow!
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