The Best Of...

Happy Friday! Here are a few things I found this week to be The Best of....

The Best Art Project:

I found a super easy painting activity at my favorite art blog! My girls loved painting these "Monet Water Lilies" using oil pastels (crayons would also work) and water colors

The Best Blog for Mom's of Boys:

An amazing group of moms that I have come to know and love through the Relevant Conference, have started a new blog for Mother's of Boys. It has an outstanding team of mom bloggers and their passion is reaching the heart of their boys for the Gospel and preparing a generation of men to love the Lord.

The Best Teaching:

While visiting the Good Morning Girls Blog, I saw this video of Beth Moore teaching on Glory Through Suffering. If you have a couple of minutes it will profoundly move you!

The Best Heart Post:

I love Teri Lynne's post on Being a Child First! It truly blessed my heart this week.

The Best Story:

Kristen shares this great story entitled, What To Do When Your Pants Rip. Read it, enough said.

The Best On Summer Nesting:

My favorite Nester is telling you how to Summerize Your Home. Oh how I love her and her dwelling place!

The Best Link Up Party:

I love Seeds of Faith and their Wednesday ifellowship. You will meet some great Christian Women Bloggers here!

This week, my friend Stef at Layton Family Joy also started another blog link up for home school moms called Homeschool Village. This was also fabulous!

I hope you have The Best Weekend,

The Porch

Nothing refreshes me more than a chat with a good friend. Today, I am so glad that my friend, Stef, from Layton Family Joy is visiting the 29lincolnavenue porch! What I love about Stef is that she is real. She holds nothing back. And, she makes me laugh. I just like her! Today, she is sharing a story of big faith and a bigger God who delights in surprising us!


Blowing Bubbles

My 2yr old son has a new favorite outside hobby, he blows bubbles. It's very exciting for him because I no longer hold the bubbles nor the wand - he has complete control of the bubble making process.

And he's a huge success! He blows a few bubbles shouts with joy, "I did it I did it", smiles big and directs me to his latest accomplishment, "Look big bubbles mom - right there right there - big bubbles".

There is so much excitement over these bubbles I can't help but cheer him on, "yes - I see - big bubbles - YOU DID IT"!

Occasionally he is unsuccessful. All of them end up popping. Yet that does not stop him in the least - the process of making bubbles delights his little soul.

I see his heart - it's swollen with happiness and I wonder why I stopped blowing bubbles. I'm not talking about the sticky mess he's holding in his hands - but real life challenges with a chance of failure on the other side.

Have I grown so comfortable by surrounding myself with feel good easy moments that I do not take risks anymore?

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Last month I grabbed my bubble wand - my desire to write and encourage women for Christ - and started blowing bubbles. I put God at the focus of my blog - not myself. I sent out a few submissions to Christian organizations to be published. I started writing an online bible study.

Some bubbles popped immediately - another greatly received (the contract w/ DaySpring for my card). One even combined with another and ended up becoming a fantastic new opportunity I had not thought possible (contributing to Gather Inspirit blog). In all of the excitement that has happened in 1 month's time - I wildly shouted, "Look - I did it, BIG BUBBLES"!

I encourage you - do not allow the fear of what could might possibly maybe happen prevent you from ever trying!

Pick up your bubble wand and start blowing big bubbles again!

God is the MIGHTY God - not a might God!

Thanks Stef for reminding us of this amazing truth! Be sure to visit Stef and check out her blog Layton Family Joy. I know that you will be encouraged. Not only is she blowing bubbles, but she has agreed to be my roommate at the Relevant Blogging Conference in October. How fun is that?

Looking Forward,

Sweet Deal

Girls, do you love a sweet deal?
How about shopping at home in your PJ's?
Do you like to give beautiful gifts that are unique?
Well, I just have to pass along a great gift idea that allows you to enjoy all three of these things plus the chance to win $400 to the charity of your choice & a $250 Visa Gift Card.

Curious? Well, meet Sarah Mae from Like a Warm Cup of Coffee:



She knows a gal who not only loves chocolate, but is ultra talented:



She makes these darling earrings:



And now for the sweet part: If you go here and buy a set of these lovelies for $10 plus s&h before April 30, you could win $400 to the charity of your choice and a$250 Visa Gift card for yourself! And that is not all...the extra cherry on top of this sweet deal is the winner will also receive a 2nd pair of earrings to give away or keep for yourself!

For full details, stop by and see Sarah Mae at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee. And be sure to take a look around, she loves Jesus and good cup of joe... two qualities I find irresistible.


Have a great day,
Stacey

P.S. I picked the red pair!

Ultimate Blog Party 2010 After Party Post

I love people. I am energized by them. But, this past week I had the chance to meet so many people I could not keep up! Many stopped by 29lincolnavenue to say hello and to look around! I hope they felt welcomed and encouraged. Somewhere, they are all sipping their Coffee Awesomeness and trying to recover from all the partying!

I also had the chance to do some visiting of my own. I am amazed at the number of super talented and creative bloggers I found. I wanted to share 3 with you that I will be adding to my daily reading list.

1. Robyn at Our Homeschool Home is so fun. I have seen her around the blog world before. Isn't it nice when you keep bumping into someone and you finally realize, "They are the real deal!" and you take the time to get to know them? She is a delight. I like that she has a heart for her home and her family, she takes great pictures (I am so jealous) and she wears yoga pants and is not afraid to tell you about it.



2. Joy is truly that - a joy! She blogs at The Stay At Home Missionary and this girl has her heart in the right place! She knows her mission field, speaks the truth and she desires to encourage women. I want to be like her! And, she has the most beautiful family I have seen.

3. Finally, how could you not want to know more about Fishmama? Her blog is called, Life As Mom. It is such a nice place to visit because not only is it well organized, but Fishmama really wants to help moms in the journey of motherhood! She desires to bring joy into your life and has great ideas to make your life easier. Can I hear an amen? I know I'm preaching to the choir, but who really wants to help us out as mama's? Fishmama that's who!

I hope that you will take the time to visit these three lovely ladies and their blog homes. I know you will be glad you took the time! I am looking forward to the next few weeks and all that I have to share with you! The Porch will be open for some sweet tea and encouragement, I will be hosting a giveaway to celebrate reaching 50+ followers, and hopefully with fingers crossed our new blog design will be debuting soon! Meanwhile, join the 29lincolnavenue blog frog community! This is the place we can get to know each other a little better. It is super easy, just click on the icon, follow the directions and start chatting it up! I have started a few discussions so feel free to comment or start a new one!

Looking Forward,
Stacey

Words To Live By

The Nester is having a giveaway today in association with Dayspring. They are giving away beautiful signs called book crops from the Dayspring store. You can even customize your own! Here is one I would love to hang in my home:

So check out the lovely Nester and then hopover to Dayspring...they are quite amazing as well!

Looking forward,
Stacey

Blogs I Love

Have you ever read words that inspire you to do something? That move you to tears, hug your children more or just slow down and be refreshed? I have been making it a daily assignment to read such words penned by Ann Voskamp at A Holy Experience. Her words truly speak to my heart! Today she is writing for (In) Courage on When You've Been Framed: Life as Art.

Here is one of my favorite quotes from Ann:

Where two or three are gathered, there He is also. What I love most about the homeschooling lifestyle is that we are all together, in all our glorious mess, day in and day out. We are not time-torn or fragmented. We are gathered. There is no dichotomy between God and secular: we are making a one-piece life. We are real, transparent, and growing –sometimes painfully– with each other, season upon season, and God is in the center, bathing us sin-scraped ones with His Grace. That’s rich.

I live in a glorious mess, day in and day out. Although, I tend to see the mess more than the glorious. But, I'm trying to see more. What a beautiful picture put so eloquently into words!

Looking forward,
Stacey

Loving Your Family

I am looking forward to this coming week as we count down the days to Valentine's Day! Here are a couple of ideas I have used in the past that were big hits with our family.

1. I purchased heart shaped post it notes and gave everyone permission to leave love notes all around the house! The fun part was finding them in the most unexpected places!

2. I found small metal mailboxes at the $1 spot at Target last year. I put them on the breakfast table and each morning there was a treat, sticker, or small present for my girls to receive. This was super easy and they were giddy with excitement to get their mail each morning! This year I am going to start on February 7th for 7 days of You've Got Mail.

3. I researched each name in our family and the meaning of it. For our Valentine's Day dinner I made heart shaped place mats for each person with their name and the meaning of it. I laminated them so we can use them year after year!

4. We had desert as our dinner on February 14. Last year it was strawberry shortcake, but this year I think we are going to some type of fondue dinner!


How about you? Do you have any great Valentine traditions to pass on? Join the Link Party and let us know! Remember to copy the url to your actual post not just your blog!

Love,
Stacey

Check This Out for the New Year!

Here are a few things I have found that are great resources as you start the new year!

This blog is packed with great ideas. Currently, Molly is focusing on great and easy ways to organize your life. She also has tons of free downloads as well!

I love these super cute elastic bookmarks. This is a fun and easy craft projects that you and your kids can do! My daughter made them for Christmas gifts. While over at Whimsy love, look at her other amazing craft ideas. She is a genius!

I love a good bowl of soup and have I found the best one to share with you! My dear friend Robin, made this Italian Sausage Cheese Tortellini Soup for me in October when she came to visit. We ate some, froze some, and enjoyed it again after our baby was born. You need to stop now, go to the store and pick up these ingredients...mmmmm it is so very good! I found the recipe at allrecipes.com


Looking Forward,
Stacey

Blogs I Love

I found this amazing design blog recently and could spend countless hours looking and dreaming! Houzz is packed with amazing photos of inspiring rooms. They celebrate every style and have a neat way of showcasing designers that allows me to browse whether I have 5 minutes or 50! This recent post caught my eye:

http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/6913/list/When-Lots-of-Clutter-Works

As a mom of young children I am very excited to know that Lots-of-Clutter-Works! So grab a cup of coffee and have a look around! Oh, and the other cool thing about this site is that you can create an Ideabook. This is your "dream notebook" where you can cut and paste pictures of rooms or decorating ideas that you love! It is neat to see your own personal style evolving as you cut and paste pictures in your book. Brilliant!

Looking Forward,
Stacey

Blogs I Love

I love a good blog and I love to pass on what I find. So from time to time I will be sharing with you some of my favorites. Many of which you will find on my side bar.

I have mentioned before that I am a Design Girl Wannabe. You can also add to that Artistically Challenged. This would not be such a big deal if I did not have a highly artistic creative daughter who could draw, paint and create all day long. I am always looking for easy to teach art projects that don't require a lot of expensive materials or tons of skill on my part.

Recently I found a great blog called Art Projects For Kids. Every day, Kathy Barbro posts a new art project idea. Every Day! A NEW IDEA!!! I can't tell you how this site has blessed my life!

This year , I am experimenting with one of Kathy's ideas called an Art Journal. An Art Journal combines both art and words on the page. She posts Art Journal ideas on a regular basis. The reason I love this idea is that my highly creative artistic daughter also happens to loathe writing. So this is one way to help her work in her strength while also building up her writing skills!

Today we worked on the cutest self portraits ever! Now, this idea is not specifically an Art Journal page, but I converted it to fit in our journals. Here is the link for the how to: http://www.artprojectsforkids.org/2009/08/my-summer-self-portrait.html

And, you can see one of our portraits above! I think she turned out awesome! We made one small change by using words to describe ourselves instead of what we did on summer vacation. We also used watercolor pencils on the background and then went over that with a wet paintbrush. This just saves a ton of clean up time!

Looking Forward,
Stacey

P.S. If you look closely, you can see that she "loves Star Wars" and "Jesus". Too cute!