a quilt is being given away!

my friend over at {Re}Visionary Life is giving away one of my quilts. yay! please go over and check it out. a lovely space. a lovely person.


 


go get it, friends. a Rafflecopter giveaway

honesty and the fight

the past week or so has been a mish-mash of a bunch of things. which, i suppose, is how life is. just inherently what it is.



we've been loving summer. we've been together. it's been awesome.









alongside all of these lovely photos-- a fourth of July, a breakfast outside, a trip to a National Park, loving on kiddos and enjoying the days--- alongside it all, has been a battle.

a fight.

a fight familiar.

a fight revisited.

and i've found myself discouraged. discouraged in the fight against fear and anxiety, yes. but also discouraged in the fact that the fight is there at all. i thought i had beat this thing-- thought i had arrived on the other side of something i wouldn't have to see again.

but we all know that that's just not how is goes, right? i won't be perfect-- won't be done fighting with myself until i get that filling breath of eternity. perfection and ease is not going to show up on my door step. not until all of my fights are over.

so for the here and now the fight against so many of my tendencies continues.

i have a few more weapons in my arsenal this time, though. weapons that i know work for me in the battle. each year i hope to gain more weapons-- more wisdom.

i think that the fights we all face would be so much harder without honesty. honesty ends up being a great weapon for me. it's a hard thing. really hard. especially here. in this space. where i have no control over who reads, and how they interpret, and what their opinions are about what i've said. honesty... it's not easy. for any of us.

but it's so good. so so good for us to tell each other what's really going on. so good to hear from a friend that they struggle with doubt sometimes too. that they don't know where God and His gospel fit into their days right now. to hear that the person sitting across from me knows, has been there, has fought, has depended, has failed, has tried again.

we're good for each other. honesty is good for us.

and that's about all i have, friends. Jesus is meeting me in the fight. really. He is. but the fight- for all of us- continues.

so glad we have each other. so glad He invented community, family, friends, people. He makes cool stuff.

winner announced

thank you all for commenting and sharing. it was so fun to sit and read all the things you like about where you live. thank you.

so--- the comment winner, randomly selected, is...

"One of my favorites is my print of "Her Room" by Andrew Wyeth that my dad framed for me. I had always loved that picture, and for many years I searched for a print. One day my parents noticed it in the museum store and bought it, my dad made the frame for it. I only wish they had seen me open it for Christmas. I was so surprised and emotional about it!"

i will get these to you as soon as i can, hilary. congratulations!

thanks again, all of you. i will be back here soon. i have a larger giveaway coming up in conjunction with some other lovely blogs. continue to shop with that discount code until tomorrow.

a happy happy thursday to you, friends.

a little giveaway

the sewing machine has been buzzing over here. lots and lots of sewing.



so i want to give something to you, kind readers. here's what's up for grabs:



a little packaged deal. a squirrel:



and a pair of 16" napkins



how do you get your name into this virtual hat? leave a comment. tell me something you love about your house. or an item in your home that you love. whichever.

post your comment anywhere between now and thursday at 8 a.m. i'll announce the winner sometime that afternoon.

if you'd like double points (name in hat twice), then share a link to my shop (phoebeflock) or to this giveaway. tell me you did so in the comments and i'll give you double points.

oh! and as an additional thank you to you, here is a code for 10% off in the shop from now until friday (June 20th). code: PHOEBELOVE

i hope you win.

a trip.

just returned from visiting these fantastic folks:



what a joy it is to be together.



God has made some really cool stuff. family is right up there in the top 50 best things. i'm pretty sure.

along with all of of those beautiful growing and flying things.









being states away from this family has been hard. really hard. there were definitely tears as we drove away. but, i will say, i think we've established a bit of a rhythm. we've figured out how to live on top of each other for a couple of weeks each year and then not at all for the other 50. we're still tight. pick up where we left off. and enjoy the moments we have.





we had a blast. didn't do a whole lot. made meals together. cleaned up together. sat outside together.





the "together" part was the best. i'm so thankful for these sisters of mine. they are both such good company.





a wonderful trip.



hope your summer is off to a refreshing start. i'll be back here soon with a giveaway. i hope you win.

playing with kids

i've been trying to follow through on that last post. i'd give myself a B on the follow through. not too bad. not stellar. but the effort is there. i hope the habit will follow. 

we made play dough:

and then the other day we did something that i thought was a fun exercise. so i'm sharing. 

zeke went down for a morning nap. we each picked something that we wanted us all to do together. it had to be something feasible, at home, etc. we all had to be able to do it. we all had to do the other people's activities willingly and, hopefully, with joy. 

we picked legos out of a bowl to see whose activity would be first. i set a 15 minute timer on my phone. and we commenced. 

my lego was pulled first. so we did what i had wanted to do--- legos. 

(please forgive the photos of this post. i didn't bring the camera-- just the phone.)

kate was up next. coloring. (no surprise there- this girl is crazy for coloring)

samuel brought up the rear with painting. 

we really had such a nice time. i enjoyed hanging with those two. and i think it was good for all of us to prefer someone else for 30 minutes in participating in an activity that we didn't choose. 

i liked it. i hope we do it again soon. give it a try at your house, if you want. 

happy week-start. 

that middle kid

this girl.



about 3 blinks ago, she was in my arms.



and then she was bounding around- bouncing her curls with every step.



samuel recently got a calendar. he saw in the month of april that there was a day labelled, "Take Your Son or Daughter to Work Day." he immediately inquired and the deal was sealed.

so, this past April, he went off to work with his dad. he drank coffee and worked at the computer. it was fantastic.

i was left at home with that girl and this dude.



just the three of us. oh, friends. it was such a nice morning. kate and i made granola. we read a pile of library books. we colored together.

as the morning continued i was struck by how often i did these things every single day with samuel when he was kate's age. but now my mornings are filled with educating samuel, trying to teach kate a few things along the way, and hoping zeke doesn't wake up before math is finished. the simple joy of preschool tasks are lost. they don't usually stand a chance.

i know that not every kid can be the first-born. i know that there are gives and takes all over these education decisions we make. no choice is perfect.

but the difference struck me. my little girl doesn't get to do simple things with me at home. not often. activities and schooling is usually catered to the bigger kid in the house.



well, not this summer. this summer i am going to strive to create at least one activity a week specifically designed for that beautiful middle kid. i'm going to try. i hope to report back here. i hope i will actually follow through. i hope that i will take the opportunity that these freer days offer.

if you are a home-educator, is this an issue you have thought through and considered? any tips/help/wisdom you could offer would be appreciated.

hope your summer is arriving soon. we started ours this week. the breeze is blowing through the windows. i hear laughter coming from outside. oh hopeful summer, welcome.