From Chaos Comes Happiness

          My girls start school tomorrow. Katie will begin 5th grade and Ella is starting 1st.  And I am . . . ecstatic.  I'm so ecstatic, that I almost feel guilty about it.  I love my girls dearly . . . and if you have followed my blog for any amount of time, you know how very much that statement is true.  But my friends . . . I cannot wait for them to begin school this year.  We have had an incredibly wonderful summer full of adventures and laughter and fun. We've traveled from almost one side of our wonderful country to the other. We've volunteered and spread good cheer. We swam, we danced, we slept over, we picked cherries and blueberries, we walked, we gardened, we laughed, we fed, we ate, we celebrated, and we played just about as hard as anyone could. And now, this momma is desperate to get a little normalcy back to her days.  With the small exception of the art classes I taught - I've hardly painted the whole summer long. A...

        I have a certain table covering I use when creating.    It's vinyl and strong and easy to wipe down. I bought it years ago at Kohl's, I believe. I originally bought it for a family gathering in the spring/summer season. But at some point, I must have put it out for a crafting day and gotten a splash of paint on it. Since then, it has become my official crafting table cloth.  And it makes me super happy. The minute I pull it out, I am reminded of the hundreds (yes, hundreds) of things created on its very surface.  I am reminded of the moments of pure bliss I've experienced when I am in that major creative mode.  I see the splashes I have made on it, and splashes the girls have made, too.  It certainly has a few story to tell. Like when I discovered who the artist was inside of me, and discovered the kinds of art I wanted to make.  Or like the moment when Ella painted a mustache on her face.  This weekend, I pulled it out...

I've been thinking so much about how I am raising my daughters these days. I want my daughters to know how it feels to help the world, and to know that they have the power to make a difference in it. I don't want them to think there are obstacles they can't overcome. I want my daughters to be grateful for all that they have, each and every day of their lives. To know that even though there are  wants , they truly have all that they need , and they have more blessings then they could even imagine. I don't want them to ever obsess over the labels on their clothes or the number of shirts in their closets. I want my daughters to think back on their childhood and remember the moments when they showed  kindness towards others. When they volunteered. When they made cookies for neighbors. When they prayed. When they loved, and when they were loved in return. I don't want them to expect things to be handed to them. I want my daughters to treat other...