Book Club

I LOVE a good book. There is nothing like opening a good book and getting lost in its pages for a while.  Nothing like finishing a great novel, an uplifting story, or a volume that has challenged you to change or be better and then wanting to tell everyone you know about how great the book was. On that note, I have decided to share a little book review of my all time favorite (non-fiction) book - Feathers from my Nest, by Beth Moore.

This book is incredible. I do not have a bad thing to say about it. It is so so so good and encouraging - I can hardly stand it! I've given it as a gift to almost every person I know. Each chapter can stand-alone, you can read them from start to finish or skip around to ones that look interesting to you. Or you can use the chapters individually as a devotional. 

In Feathers from my Nest, Beth Moore gives you little glimpses into her personal life by sharing the lessons she has learned during the course of her time as a wife and mother. This book was written after her children left home for college and Beth would notice little things (the "feathers" left behind in her now empty nest) around her house that would remind her of what God had done in their families life. You wouldn't think that you could read a really challenging devotional about a set of notecards, a binder, a hair brush or a dog....but then you find yourself in the middle of one of the chapters of this book and you are so challenged and encouraged. It's incredible. It totally changed the way I look at my ordinary, day-to-day experiences in life. Suddenly, teaching my son how to ride his first bike was more than just a rite of passage - it was a reminder of how God is always running by our side. A quilt wasn't just a craft project - it was a moment of a certain point in time, an object lesson about how God brings all sorts of little things together in our life to make something beautiful. I began seeing so many "feathers" in our own life and I was so thankful for it, because I would have been so sad to miss them. 

This book challenged me to slow down and see not only the great big things & moments in life - the recitals, first steps, and first words - but to also see that the little things were just as valuable and important. That God was just as much in those moments as well. 

So, if you need a good book to read or you're looking for a good gift to give someone - buy this book! And start looking for all the "feathers" in your own life as well. They're there; we just need to pray that God would grant us the eyes and heart to see them.

Oh, and here's a picture of me with the book's author. Yep, that's me & Bethie! Aside from getting married and the birth of my children, this was a BIG moment for me....but that's a whole post in and of itself :) 

Consider Me Inspired

If you have a few extra minutes, do yourself a favor and read these two articles - you will not regret it. They are amazing. I could go on and on with good things to say about them but I'll just let them do the talking...


1. Remember and Never Forget // by: Beth Moore
This article is full of encouragement about remembering what God has done in your life....and if you ask me, it kinda sounds like Beth Moore supports scrapbooking :)


2. Mom Guilt. Stop Ignoring It // by: Maggie Terryn
A great blog post about parenting and how we spend our time with our kids.

Consider Me Inspired....Post 1 of Many....

One thing I really wanted to do with this blog was have posts where I could share some ideas or projects that have crossed my path and really inspired me creatively. So, here we go...hope you enjoy!


Check out this post on Ali Edwards' blog. She is a great photographer and an amazing scrapbooker too! Hopefully this post and this idea will inspire you too! Photography Project: Document a Day in Your Life


Happy Tuesday!

The Little Quilt

Several years ago, when my son was one year old and my husband and I were expecting our daughter, I set out to make quilts for each of them. I was so excited to make their quilts and give them to them, hoping that they would treasure and hold on to them. So, I set to work. I made a sweet, soft lavender baby quilt for our daughter and for my happy, energetic boy I made a bright, fun quilt with blues, green and a pop of orange. I loved those quilts, I still do. I was so proud of them. However I was so proud of my son’s quilt that I made the mistake of wanting to keep it in perfect condition - forever. So, I kept it folded neatly on his shelf. I never let him play on it, sleep with it or eat anywhere near it. At the time I didn't think anything of it. I thought I was preserving it and taking good care of it. After all, I had made it, and put so much love and work into it...it was my job to protect it, right?

Then, in the blink of an eye, a few years passed and the day came when he was home sick from pre-school and wanted to curl up on the couch with a movie. So I set up pillows, stuffed animals and a blanket for him, then I grabbed his quilt. Surely this was a perfect chance for him to have it. He could relax on the couch and get better, warmly tucked under the quilt I had made him. But when I covered him up - something sad happened - I saw that the quilt was barely big enough to cover him up. This quilt that - at the time I made it - could have covered him and a friend was now barely long enough to cover up his curled up little body. I felt awful. I had been so busy "protecting and preserving" this quilt that I never let him use it, enjoy it, or love it. How was it ever going to be special to him or matter at all to him if he had never even used it? Most people don't grow up to say "Oh yea I loved that blanket, it sat so nicely on my shelf and stayed so clean all the time". No. The things that we cherish from our childhood are things that have stories and great histories behind them. Things that grew up right along with us. 

So, I quickly got over my need to keep that quilt in perfect condition and began letting him use it whenever he wanted....(except when he was learning to stay dry at night, because...well, you know...). And I also set about making him another quilt. A nice big twin sized one that would be long enough to cover his body for a long time. And one that reflected what he was into at the time and what he loved; a quilt that had, in his words, "all the sports on it". And he loves it, and he uses it every night at bedtime, along with that first baby quilt, which just about covers 75% of him.

My point is this, we can't be too afraid to let our kids live life and enjoy it to it's fullest. We can't be too afraid to let life happen. Spills, dirt and imperfect moments happen. Don’t get me wrong, I do think that it's our job to take good care of the life, the things and the people that God has blessed us with, but we can't be so busy making sure everything is perfectly neat and tidy that we become too afraid to let life get a little crazy and messy or even fun. Sometimes that's how the best memories are made. 

Frustrations & Realizations

A friend and I were talking on the phone about something that I think many Moms deal with....or maybe it's just me. Sometimes it feels like there are SO many great ideas out there...quilts to make, ruffled skirts to sew, pictures that need scrapbooking, cupcakes to make....however, there is so little time. Especially when you have little ones at home all day. And sometimes that can be so frustrating. If you're someone who enjoys expressing yourself creatively through sewing, scrapbooking, knitting, painting or other hobbies, it can feel like once motherhood enters your life you loose a little part of yourself because it's just not that easy to sit at your kitchen table and craft with kids running around, needing a snack, wanting to play with you or wanting to get in on the project themselves. If you value creativity and spending time with your friends making crafts, you can get frustrated and wonder when you'll ever find time for yourself again. Then of course "mom guilt" kicks in and you start feeling bad that you even wanted to spend time away from your kids working on a project or doing something for yourself. It's a viscous cycle.


So what do we do? Well, I definitely believe it is important (for your mental and emotional health) to take a little bit of time away from our kids and go on a date with your husband, do something fun with a girlfriend or just curl up with a good book and give your mind a break. I also realized that sometimes in the trenches of motherhood we fail to see beyond todays set of circumstance. What I mean is, while I do wish sometimes that I just had 4-5 hours to sit and work on a project - I just don't have that kind of time right now with 3, soon to be 4, small kids at home with me all day. But, the day is coming (faster than I think) that all 4 of my kids will be in school all day...I'm almost half way there right now. And while I know that I will be helping out in their classes a lot and going on field trips, there will also be days where I have from morning till afternoon all to myself. To do whatever I wish. To sit and sew or scrapbook or fold all the mountains of clean laundry that are always sitting in my basement. That may be a very, very exciting thought to some Moms, and in certain aspects it is to me too, but mostly it's a gut check. It reminds me that my time with my kids is fleeting, it is flying by faster than I can even keep up. Before I know it my kids will be spending the majority of their day away from me. We always talk about how we have our kids with us full time until their 18 years old. But really, I think it's a much shorter amount of time. We really have about 6 years. Six years when we can spend all day (or at least the majority of the day) with them...teaching them, influencing them, laughing with them, crafting with them....and then, off they go. They go to school full time and then when they get home we have to concentrate on homework, dinner, extra curricular activities and bedtime. Realizing that just made me think - how am I spending my time with them right now? When I'm 50 years old and I look back on this period of time in my life, will I be proud of what I did or will I wish I could go back in time, slap myself in the face and tell myself to get with it!?!?! I hope I'll be proud of how I spent my time with them. I know I can't be perfect, but I can try my best to be a faithful steward of the time God gives me. I can choose to sit down and spend quality time with my kids and simply just enjoy them. Because they are my priority, they are my focus. They are the best gift I have ever received. If I have to wait until 8pm to get some time to myself, that's fine. I'm blessed to be able to spend my day watching Baby Einstein, building Legos and styling the baby doll's hair. I wouldn't trade it for anything.


We all have 24 hours in the day. How we spend them is up to us. And the time is coming....the time when I will have a chance to catch up on all of the laundry and thoroughly clean the house. The time when I really can throw on some Gilmore Girls and scrap or sew for hours at a time...more than just once a month. The time that I can dig into my Bible study homework the way I really want to. The time that I can go and wander around Target and Hobby Lobby without having to stop and look in all the toy aisles. But I have a feeling that when those days do come, I might spend one or two of them crying into my laundry and having an emotional breakdown at my sewing machine...because my babies are growing up way too fast. :)


We only get one shot at it. Once they're grown, they're grown. Give up on doing it perfectly but do it with a lot of heart and a lot of laughter and a WHOLE LOT OF JESUS. And rock them all you can. - Beth Moore, on raising kids


Psalm 90:12
Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Psalm 39:4-7

LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. 

Remind me that my days are numbered— 

      how fleeting my life is. 

You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.  

My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
      at best, each of us is but a breath.”
We are merely moving shadows, 

      and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
   We heap up wealth,
      not knowing who will spend it.
And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
      My only hope is in you. 

A poem that always gives me a better perspective on life as a wife & mom...


Babies Don’t Keep

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren’t his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Ode to the Scrapbook

If you have known me for any significant amount of time, there are probably a few things you know for sure about me.... and one of those vital facts is that I love to scrapbook! I got into the hobby when I was a freshman in college and have been scrappin' ever since. Yes, I admit it - I am a scrapbook nerd. I love wandering around a scrapbook store… it inspires me! If money were no object my basement would most certainly look like a small scrapbook store.  I've had so many fun girls nights out at local scrapbook stores.

However, about 6 years ago, I faced a bit of a halt to my scrapbooking momentum. I had to slow down dramatically because something else was demanding my attention...my first baby. Yep, my hubby and I became parents. I envisioned myself sitting at my kitchen table scrapbooking happily while my baby sat in the bouncy chair or baby swing or toddled cheerfully around the house...that just didn't happen. Before I knew it, I had LOTS of pictures on my computer and a very small amount of time and energy to devote to the craft. Then it happened to me again in 2007 when our second baby was born, again in 2011 when baby #3 arrived and it's going to happen to me again when baby #4 arrives later this year. Life just doesn't stop. I have found that with each New Year, time seems to fly by faster than the year before. This past year I was greatly encouraged to get back to scrapbooking and also to change my perspective on it. I have even been blessed to be able to start scrapbooking with my own little ones. I love it! So I wanted to take a minute to share with you and hopefully encourage you a little as well, if you need it :)

I realized, through the rediscovery of a great line of scrapbooking products, an evening at Bible study and through the inspiration and encouragement from some friends, how important it is to not only capture the wonderful moments that God gives us, but to document them. Then we can tell our children and future generations about what God has done in our life. A good friend of mine shared with me that she heard that scrapbooking your families life is good for your children’s self esteem. That had a huge impact on me. I want my kids to see that, if I am taking time away from them to go and scrapbook with a girlfriend, I am not leaving them behind. I am taking them with me because I am putting pictures of them in my scrapbooks! They are the main characters of our family’s story and I want them to see how thankful I am that God sweetly and graciously put them in our family. While I certainly don't want to think about this, I know that there will be a day when it's time for me to leave my children on earth and look after them from the view of Heaven. And I hope that by leaving scrapbooks behind for them, they will take comfort in having something that my hands touched, something with my handwriting on it, something from my heart that I put time and effort into. Sorry if that's too morbid :)

Also, I read a GREAT blog about making Ebenezer Stones for our family to cherish (an idea that I absolutely love and want to start doing in our household); you can read about it here. I have recently been blessed with the chance to work on the Bible study, Believing God by Beth Moore. In Session 7 of the videos Beth talks about the vital importance of living lives that are legacies of faith for our families. She references Ebenezer Stones and the beautiful story in Joshua 4 where the Israelites cross the middle of the Jordan on dry land and God tells them to take a stone from the middle of the Jordan and set it up as a monument. Then, when their children ask them what it means. they can testify to what God had done for them. She brings to mind encouraging verses like Deuteronomy 6:4-9:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. 

And Psalm 77:11-12

I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds. 

All of that to say; my scrapbooks are like Ebenezer stones for my kids. They are one way to remember His miracles and mighty deeds. I can use the pages to testify of all that God has done for our family. Whether it's a page about a big deal or a normal, every day event. A birthday party or a first day of school, a family member that's gone home to be with the Lord or a day spent taking a trip to the Lego store, a dance recital or a favorite toy, a new baby or our beloved family pet. We must remember that every good and perfect gift comes from above.  I have come to believe that part of my job as a Wife and Mother is to document those gifts in a way that can point my kids back to the Lord. So that when they are having a bad day, or a period of time where they are feeling like nothing is going their way and God is nowhere to be found - maybe, just maybe, they'll come across one of the scrapbooks and think "Oh yea, God healed my broken leg....he blessed us with that family trip....he got me through switching to a new school..." and maybe they'll be encouraged and feel like things really will be ok. Or maybe they'll think...."wow, Mom really cared about us. She took the little bits of time she had away from us and spent them putting pictures of us in albums and writing about how much she loves us and how glad she is we're here". Either option is fine with me.

In closing this novel length post and in the spirit of spurring one another on, I wanted to share a few links with you. 

The first is to an amazing sight and system of simplified scrapbooking called Project Life. I cannot say enough good things about how easy and user friendly this system of scrapbooking is, and I have just started it! But if it perks your interest in the slightest, do yourself a favor and click through this website, watch the videos and learn about Project Life. Here is the link: Project Life

The second is one that I just discovered by Nancy O'Dell. She has partnered with Creative Memories to create a line that is really pretty. My favorite products are her books, which are on my wish list! She writes about coming from a 4-generation legacy of scrapbookers and the deep impact that had on her and scrapbooking for her kids. She also met with a child psychologist who confirmed that yes, scrapbooking is in fact GREAT for kids self esteem. Check out a great article about her and a link to her things here: Nancy O'Dell

So, if you're a scrapbooker - take heart and chin up! Don't get discouraged feeling behind. Scrap whatever you want to remember the most and work at it whenever you can. You won't regret it! If you're not a scrapbook nerd like myself, that's ok too! Maybe the article on Ebenezer stones is perfect for you or maybe you’ll think of some other fun way to document God's blessings in your life. Either way, I truly believe that we have a responsibility to somehow capture the works God performs in our heart and lives, then share them with our families to help call those things to mind. 

Psalm 78:4 - We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the LORD, about his power and his mighty wonders.

Away We Go...

Ok, let's clear up a few things right up front...

1. I am not an English major....High School was 10 years ago and I can't remember some of those many, many rules and regulations about punctuation, run-on sentences and the like...so please forgive me. I tend to ramble on and I write very conversationally.

2. I am not full of myself....nor do I think that other bloggers are either. I am not writing this because I think that I am uber wise or have tons of great, influential, important things to say....I AM starting this because it's a thought that has been on my mind for a long time and because I feel like I come across great blog entries or quotes or videos, etc and I wanted to have a place to share them. I figured that starting a blog might be an easier way to share those things as apposed to continuing to flood the email inboxes of my dear friends & fam. 

3. "Captured Hope". Why? Where did that come from? Well, I feel like that is what inspired this little endeavor in the first place. Something came my way, encouraged me and gave me some hope. A quote, a Bible verse, a blog, a picture...just something. And we all experience moments like this. Something comes across our path and gives us some inspiration or encouragement (two things I value greatly in life) and we want to capture it. We want to hold on to it for a second and pass it on. I value hope greatly. It's what keeps us going. It's what gets us through loads of laundry and dishes and wiping noses. It's what gives us the energy to get up early or stay up late working on Bible study after our kids are asleep. It's what gives us courage to have another baby when we wonder if we're even doing a good job raising the ones we have.  We hope that we will influence our kids or make a lasting impact on them. We hope that rough moments in parenting will be "just a phase". We hope that our kids will know how deeply we love them. We hope that we'll be the kind of wife that makes our husband proud to say "Yep, she's mine...I'm so glad she married me". We hope that we will make a mark on our little corner of the world. 

The words of Lamentations 3:21-25 give us great hope.

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for him.”

The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
   to the one who seeks him;" 

God gives us hope. It is one of the most precious gifts He gives us...and there is something inside us that wants to capture that hope, to hold on to it for as long as we can. 

Romans 15:13 - May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit

So, here we go!