everyday grace

friends.

it has been a long and busy couple weeks at our house

we hosted family and friends for 2 weeks straight

which was fun, of course, but also draining

(can i get an amen from all my fellow introverts?)

then, less than 24 hours after seeing our family off

i had to bring my house back into order

AND get everything that wasn't a large piece of furniture off the carpet

now, before you go thinking i like to create strange tasks for myself, 

i should mention that our landlord is selling our house

which means carpet cleaners (hence the pick up frenzy)

then photographers the next day 

(aka more pick up frenzy / stuffing half of our things into boxes and closets)

and now showings for the next 3 days

(try keeping a house showing ready with two toddlers in tow...i dare you)

and amidst all the busy,

there are moments of anxiety, if i'm being honest

about whether the next owner will want to keep us on as renters

or if we'll be out of a house in the next couple of months...

but the Lord has been faithful to remind me that anxiety is not from Him

and He used these verses to encourage me:

"4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
(Philippians 4:4-8)

i assure you, as a person who is no stranger to anxiety, i know these verses well

and yet, reading them in context as i read my way through Philippians, 

i was even more encouraged by them

for the first time, i noticed that the verses immediately following these 

talk about God's provision in Paul's life

and that subtle reminder was just what my heart needed that morning

then the next morning, as i faced my mountain of tasks

i decided i'd put some music on to help motivate me

so i searched one of my favorite worship artists and let youtube go to autoplay

and song after song, lyric after lyric

i realized that what my soul needed was to be reminded of Truth

how easily we loose sight of it when our world gets a little rocky

so i sang along and basked in the many evidences of grace in my life

feeling incredibly refreshed along the way

and yet again, this morning, as i read my devotional, 

these words leapt off the page at me:

"There is no misery that Jesus cannot turn into ministry, 

no brokenness He cannot transform into beauty"

our current situation is nowhere near misery or brokenness, 

let's be clear about that

i just loved that picture of restoration and the encouragement it brings

there's so much perseverance and standing firm involved in running this race we call life

it's such a blessing to be reminded of Jesus' work in our lives, especially when the going gets tough

there's evidence of grace everywhere - you just gotta look for it!

(lyrics from "Loyal" by Lauren Daigle)

settling in

well, 

it's just over half way through September and we are finally starting to settle from our move

i'm so excited to share our new little space with you

whether that's through my feeble attempts at home decor

(seriously, not my forte)

or through the little things we'll be doing around here:

cooking

mothering

exploring

living

i've not taken my "fancy camera" out of it's case since we moved

except to second shoot that wedding i mentioned last post

but i have taken a few snapshots on my phone

so without further a do, here's a glimpse at what life's been like the past couple weeks:

(if you follow me on instagram, you've already seen these, so this is for the rest of you!)

our new view

books unpacked = a morning with dr seuss!

produce bought!  another "milestone"!

gotta take a break from unpacking...beach day!  (and beach hair  ;) )

girlies painting in the backyard = unpacking in peace

whoops, guess i got too into unpacking - girlie got into my mascara while i wasn't looking

rainy day people watching...another distraction while mama unpacks

finally starting to cook meals in our new home!!!

(this would be Sheena's recipe - I just used sheep feta instead of goat cheese)

...and that about wraps it up

happy weekend, folks!

under the weather + under the boardwalk

well, as you can guess from the title of this post

(or at least from part of it)

we've been under the weather this week,

battling a pretty nasty stomach bug

it started with Daniel on saturday

then by monday i fell victim to it

and today, the girlies seem like they're fighting something 

(hoping it's not the same thing we had, cause that was bad - we'd appreciate any prayers on that front!)

in the midst of all this sickie-chaos / whine-fest / mama-just-wants-her-coffee madness this morning, 

i looked up and thought to myself, 

"how is this week not over yet?!  i don't even think i can make it through today"

then i picked up my 50 promises stack and flipped to the next verse

as i reached out, i half heartedly thought to myself, 

"wouldn't it be ironic if the next verse was just what i needed to read?"

and of course, what do you think happened?

"do not be afraid; for i am with you.  

do not be dismayed; for i am your god.

i will strengthen you, i will help you, i will uphold you 

with the right hand of my righteousness."

my Jesus never fails

i'm so grateful for His help, the reminder of which i needed so badly this morning

and let's be honest, the morning didn't miraculously get better

the kids are still whining,

my head is still pounding,

my coffee is still barely sipped

BUT

i'm leaning on Him for strength to apologize to my kids when i'm short with them

or better yet, before i hit breaking point i am able to stop and say a little prayer

to ask for His help, His strength, His patience, His love, His kindness

***

on a {mostly} unrelated note,

sitting in bed while i was sick

gave me time to finish sorting through my phone pictures from our most recent day at the beach

this batch is mostly from under the boardwalk

there's just something magical about a space that's not always accessible

and just look at the crazy designs from the water's reflection on the wood planks...so cool!

i love it when the tide's out...and i love sharing these beautiful things with my munchkins (and you!)

beach days are the best days

happy friday, friends!

how was your week?

ours was great:

lots of playtime outside

(thanks to the {mostly} gorgeous weather we've been having)

a bit of baking 

(one of the girlies' favorite activities lately)

not that much sleeping

(story of my life - hah!)

and not one, but two beach days

(gotta take advantage of 'em while the weather's agreeable!)

and, as always, i had my handy-dandy phone in hand

to document my little explorers running wild and free...just the way it should be

honestly, guys, the world around us is so beautiful, i can hardly stand it

but i'll quit rambling and let the pictures do the talking

keepin' it simple

sometimes, simple is best

take for example, the things i've been thankful for these past couple of days:

that these two have each other - usually the best of friends, sometimes the worst of enemies,

but there's no denying they love each other

for spinach and eggs...for reals, guys, this is a combination i couldn't live without!

warm soup + the stillness of naptime - a rare combination, but oh-so-wonderful

you know what else is simple and awesome?

roasted broccoli

3 ingredients, 3 steps - you can't get much simpler than that!

you guys know i'm not one for complicated recipes

and this one is no exception!

i needed something to serve alongside the simple salmon we were having for dinner

and i threw this together using whatever i had on hand

it was so good, we didn't have any leftovers

but if we did, i'm sure they would have been delicious thrown into a salad for lunch the next day...

(that was my original plan)

anyway, try 'em for yourself and see what you think

ingredients:

- 4 cups broccoli (chopped into medium sized florets)

- 1 shallot / small onion (roughly chopped)

- 1-2 tbsp bacon grease

steps:

1) use a large pan to melt the bacon grease on medium heat

2) add onion and broccoli and stir so that everything gets coated nicely

3) transfer to a large cookie sheet and roast them for 20 minutes, pulling them out halfway through to flip them (i decided to be lazy and lined the cookie sheet with foil to help with clean-up)

i made them earlier in the day then gave them a quick pan-fry (no added grease) to heat them up just before dinner

if this is a bit too simple for you

i'm sure you could do all kinds of flavor variations,  

like maybe a sprinkle of parmesan just before serving?

or lemon zest and fresh ground pepper might be good too...

let me know how it turns out if you change it up!

excuse our absence, we've been summering

because around here, once it hits, 

you never know how long summer will stick around

so we've been taking full advantage 

of the long days and the hot sun

by spending as much time as we can outdoors, 

trusty iPhone in hand,
to document all the fun we've been having

aaaaaaaaaaaaand here's a teaser from our camping trip last weekend

--stay tuned for more where that came from!  

p.s. happy 4th of July and belated Canada day;
as duallies, we're grateful for BOTH countries!  :)

friday favorites

it's friday - hooray!

our family had a bad sleeping week

but hopefully the kidsies will remember how nice it is to sleep through the night soon

and get back to it

at least with the weekend coming up, us tired parents can split up baby-duty so it's a little easier to manage

plus, we each usually get a sleep-in day, while the other takes the girlies downstairs

so in celebration of friday, i thought i'd share some recent favorites around here:

- we've been enjoying (and occasionally even dancing to) this playlist lately:

- melty goat brie and pepper jelly sandwiches

(don't knock it till ya try it - it's soooooo good!)

- the bunny we spotted in the backyard yesterday morning...a HUGE hit with the girls

- lots of extra time spent with my sister this week

(including one day when she watched the kiddos and straightened my hair while i got some work done...yes, i am blessed)

- discovering a new coffee shop in town with the most AMAZING drinks

- working through more pictures from my newborn session last weekend...so many favorites from this session!

- my wonderful husband, who went to the grocery store at 9:30 last night so that i could stay home and work out then reward myself with the watermelon he brought home for me

- my instagram friends, even the ones i've never met...it may be superficial, but it's really nice to flip through pretty pictures, read about others' ups and downs, be inspired, encourage and be encouraged

- introducing the girlies to french toast...easy enough to whip up on a weekday, "fancy" enough to get the girls excited for breakfast.  cut it into strips and it makes a great finger food!

easiest french toast

2 slices whole grain bread

1 egg

a couple dashes cinnamon

a squirt (1 tsp?) agave nectar

a smidge coconut oil (to grease pan)

- heat coconut oil in pan on medium / medium high heat

- beat egg and add cinnamon and agave nectar

(these can also be added as toppings at the end, once the french toast is done - i just decided to throw them in the batter so they'd cook on and make the meal a little less messy)

- dip both sides of your first bread slice into egg batter

- place bread on frying pan.  once first side cooks up, flip it and cook the other side.  this doesn't take long, but it depends on how much egg your bread soaked up.

- remove from pan and repeat with next slice

- cut french toast into strips and serve with fruit and yogurt for dipping (optional, but a big hit with the littles)

and that's a wrap - happy weekend, everybody!