community.

Many days I'm sitting at home with my kids and I feel like something is missing. I make my coffee, pick up toys, listen to them laugh & play... but I'm craving that heart to heart with other mamas and family.

When Noah was a little baby and Audrey too, we lived on my parents farm. We saw them everyday and I was luck enough to have my grandmother living there too. My grandma would come over each morning. We'd make coffee together and she would snuggle my babes. I'd listen to her stories over and over and soak in her wisdom. Even when her visits were minutes long I cherished feeling her warm smile over me and sharing a hot cup of coffee together.

I'm craving community. And kinship. You know those few women (or men!) that truly "get" you? Whom you can shed tears with and laugh and bare your soul in front of and it results in a filling of your soul. I'm missing my kinfolk. As the spring begins, we are thinking about a move at the end of the summer. I'm hoping and praying the move brings us to a place where we can enjoy renewed community with others.  After spending a weekend with family and friends and returning home (200 miles away from them), this is what it boils down to.

How do you cultivate community where you live? Do you feel connected to others on an almost daily basis? Who are your 'kinfolk'?

Productivity... ahhh.

We had a gorgeous, productive weekend!!!

My mother, father and brother in law came up to visit and helped us accomplish SOO many things around the house. I appreciate it more than they know...  <3 Having three sets of hands around helps tremendously. Noah usually takes up most of my free time leaving other projects unfinished. (In this case, since November).

This is what we did.


Bryan and his dad and brother cleaned out one of the bedrooms on my mother's side of the house and it was a job, let me tell you. You could NOT walk into it. You could just open the door and peer in afraid....sweating a little bit.. Now, you can walk all the way through and there are TWO guest beds set up. The rest of the place is begging to be painted.

I'm going to help my mom paint it green (with the left over paint from our bedroom). We are going to then paint her Jenny Lind crib bright yellow as well. It's going to be adorable!! (See inspiration pic)

They moved the ginormous bed that was taking up most of Noah's playroom to that room (see pic where end of bed is). This freed up a TON of space and we were able to move the bookshelves from downstairs hall/office to his playroom.  (Notice the completed chalkboards!!)

THEN we painted most of what needed to be painted in the hall and stairwell. So everything is starting to get put together nicely and really feel comfy. 

Still some more painting to be done but we're almost finished!!

Now to get started on all my sewing projects!  I've got a bit to do before I'm totally done with his playroom...
~ hem curtains
~ reinforce shelving
~ add shelving to top of closet
~ create and apply fabric wall decals
~ buy and hang paper lanterns over stair well
~ hang chalkboards
~ finish book slings and hang
~recover rocking chair  (anyone with really good way to upholster a cane backed rocking chair WITHOUT removing the cane?)

They watched Noah for us this morning and we got to sleep in till 8:00. Isn't that the single most amazing thing you've ever heard!?! ALSO watched him while we to church at Burlington Vineyard so Bryan and I got to spend some time with each other. It was really nice.. <3