Home of the free, because of the brave

Sometimes, we never really stop to think about those that make the daily sacrifice to protect us. There are those that pay the ultimate price. My deepest gratitude goes out to those who have served and those who are still serving to protect our country. Thank you to my husband, for all that you've done and that you continue to do, you truly are our hero for all the sacrifices you make every single day.

This year, I had the pleasure of attending a 2nd grade Military appreciation assembly. Our good friend Riley had the honor of reading her essay out loud. It brought me in tears to hear how much these children understand what sacrifices our military men and women go through. She reads:

"Military people go out to sea, in air, or on land and fight battles. Some people sacrifice their lives sometimes. I sacrifice time with my dad because he is in the military. He may miss birthdays, Christmas, and other holidays. I am proud of my dad. I am thankful for the people in our military. I am glad I am free in the USA. We can learn. We can be anything we want. We are very lucky. Thank you to all the veterans."

We often forget that not only are they sacrificing their lives, but they're sacrificing time. Time away from wives, children, family. Some holidays go unnoticed. Families are separated for long periods of time. Children grow up without a mother or father for months or years at a time. 

There aren't enough words to express how truly amazing our veterans and active duty service members are! 

Happy Veteran's Day! & Thank you for all you've done and continue to do! 

Family First

Family- where life begins and love never ends.

Thanks to the Cruz Family for letting me capture this!

Fair winds and following seas!

There are enough words to express my gratitude to our friends/neighbors. It has been truly a blessing and a honor to have these people in our lives. Thank you for everything you've done and for all the memories we've made! We will definitely miss you! May God continue to bless you, watch over & protect you, and guide you in all that you do. Love you Walker's!

Center piece for the food table. Madison's favorite meal prayer.

Fresh sunflowers are the best!

 

 

Love you always Hanna! Thank you for being a great role model for all the other military wives! I truly admire your strength and love!

 

Lemonade Party

This is great for summer parties! I did this spread for our staff meeting a couple years ago, during the hot summer days. It was quick, easy, and inexpensive!

There was lemonade, iced tea, and a fresh fruit bar so folks could flavor their lemonades or teas. We also made DIY chalkboard labeled mason jars.

Teacher Appreciation Week

It is so important to make educators feel loved and appreciated. What better way to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week than with flowers. 

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week to all our teachers out there! 

April Showers Brings May Flowers :)

Motherhood

Being pregnant is such a beautiful gift. The only person in the world who gets to hear what your heart beat sounds like from the inside. Now that, is a miracle in itself. We never really think about the beauty of it. But if you take a moment to really sit down and think about what women go through to carry and birth a baby, it's amazing. God has truly blessed us women with the beautiful gift of child bearing.

Blessed with the Best.

Being a military family means you move around a lot. It also means making new friends along the way. These kids and our families have been such an amazing support system. Every so often, our husbands leave, some at the same time. It’s so heartwarming that we can all bond together as a family. We spend holidays, share deployment struggles, and help one another pass time while waiting for our Sailors to return home. I couldn't be more thankful to have these families in our lives. This gift of friendship is truly a blessing. We will miss each and everyone of you, and continue to think of all the memories we've made these past couple years. 

Walk with him.

It's not easy being a wife and a mother. But here are some words I live by:

"Genesis 3 tells us that it was not good for man to be alone. He was, in a sense, incomplete and lonely. He needed a companion, a friend. Your husband needs to know that you will walk with him, hand in hand, through illnesses and job losses, through failure and disappointment. But on the flip side you must also work at having fun within your marriage; to laugh a lot and to show interest in the things your spouse enjoys (Prov. 17:17), to be silly, to remember the fun you had when you first started dating or at various times in your marriage. Your place is to be his friend. HIS BEST FRIEND!"

Speak life into him!

Words by the First Lady of our church, my spiritual mom- Maile. Visit her blog at askmai.com ! There's so much insightful information and tips you can find, no matter what season of life you are in! 

Photo credit: Our good friend Hanna Walker :)

Birds and The Trees painting

Family Tree

Originally, the leaves and branches were supposed to be all white. However, when beginning to paint on the white, I realized I needed to sand some of the stain off, so the paint could stick. As we began to sand, the tree looked pretty cool. So we decided not to paint it. 

Sooo with some scraps lying around, this piece was free! I found some left over wood that my husband had used for our headboard that he made. 

-I cut the wood half 

-I stained it with some stain lying around in the garage

-My friend drew the tree on with chalk, 

-Sanded the tree down to the shade that I liked

-For the birds, I printed out some templates and then traced them onto wax paper. From the wax paper, I carved out the birds onto the wood with an exacto knife, sanded the birds, and then hand painted over it. 

-For our last name, I sanded out a small ribbon and used the same Mod Podge method found in a previous post. Enjoy!

Pallet Signs

I absolutely am in love with pallets! So with this cute little piece- you'll need pallets, sander, wood glue, stain, chalk paint, words printed on inkjet printer (make sure words are flipped backwards), damp towel 

1) I used a pallet board that was cut in half. You can choose your own length and width. 

2) I sanded it down then put on a couple coats of a stain. 

3) After the stain was dry I coated it once with some chalk paint that I bought from Joann's. There's a wide selection of colors there. 

4) Once the paint is dry, I brushed on some Mod Podge where I wanted my letters to be. 

5) I placed my letters on ink-side faced down (the Mod Podge works as an adhesive, the ink will transfer onto the wood) Make sure to press out any bubbles 

6) Let the Mod Podge dry completely 

7) Once the Mod Podge is dry, grab a damp towel and slowly dab at the paper. Be careful to only remove the paper and not the ink, so be gentle. 

8) It might take a few tries, but you'll get the hang of it :)

Wine bottles & Twine

This was by far, one of my favorite projects! && super easy!

First, drink all the wine. You'll need four bottles. You can use twine or rope. For this I used rope, it gave the bottles more texture.

1) Tie a knot at the top of the bottle.
2) Use Elmer's glue to glue the twine/rope until you've reach the bottom.
3) Use hot glue on beginning (after untying the knot) and also at the bottom end of the rope.
4) You can use things you've found lying around for the letters. For this I used fabric flowers (leftover from my friend's projects), corks that we cut into thin slices, a canvas/burlap flower that I purchased from Michael's, and some pearls (also left over from my friend).

So I really only paid for the burlap flower and the rope. Well, and the wine. Haha.

DIY Tufted Headboard

My husband surprised me with this!

My husband built the frame and board. Sorry forgot to take before photos. I'll post the link to the instructions we used. The only difference was I used curtains instead of fabric, cause it was way cheaper. :)  

Find the instructions here: https://doordiy.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/tuft-luck/

Ah, the love of farm tables

Sooooo....this table used to be an all white, dirty and worn, dinner table. I originally painted it yellow, but my husband didn't like it. So I came home one day, and it was a completely different table. I must admit, he had a better choice in colors than I did. 

For this piece, he chopped off the legs down to the right size to make it into a coffee table. Sanded the whole table down and stained the wood in walnut. He then used teal spray paint (I know, cringe. I hate spray paint) to spray down the bottom and the legs. 

Looks pretty good though right?!