long legged style {small style}

livi hasn't made an appearance in {small style} as of late so i thought it was about time.  this is mainly due to her awesome napping schedule {thank-you babywise!}.
every time i take livi in for her check ups at our elderly dr's office, he rants & raves about how tall she is going to be. "it's those long legs!" he says.  according to our white browed dr, she's going to be the tallest in the family, kinda like my own baby sister, mekr, who now towers above me.  now that summer is finally here, those scrawny little legs & arms just look so scrumptious in little sundresses & the like.
so here's a little {small style} tribute to those long legs & those delicious little baby toes!

perhaps martial arts are in her future?

oh, those dimples!

i am absolutely in love with that smile!

{sundress}: carter's {blankie}: swaddle-by-design, which i bought at chapters on clearance so not sure if they are still there or not... this blanket is my absolute favourite.  it has the swaddling instruction written right on the tag, which is easy peasy for passing onto babysitters {or daddies as the case may be}.  i also love this blankie because it's huge... you could probably swaddle an elephant in it!  

heaven's perfection.

i am a perfectionist.  was a perfectionist.  now a recovering perfectionist. my early concept of perfection was that everything on the outside had to be without wrinkle or blemish.  anything anyone could see & pass judgement on had to be sparkling, without fault.  consequently, i lived quite rumpled & disorganized on the inside.   failures taunted me constantly.  cutting criticism.  anything that was less than perfect i saw as a reflection of my incompetence. i was lead astray by that old attage "practice make perfect".  i practiced & practiced but never made perfect.  striving became an obsession, something that i enjoyed when i succeeded but was devastated by when i came up anything less than perfect.
and then the revelation came quite suddenly that my definition of perfection needed to change.  i had been reading about how Jesus stepped out of the perfection of heaven & lowered himself into this imperfect, smelly, dirty place.  but He was still perfect.  He lived here on earth, but He was living out of heaven's perfection.  perfect peace.  perfect joy.  perfect love. perfect.
i want to live out of that place.  the place of perfect grace that creates the ability for perfect love. undisturbed perfect joy.  perfect peace.  it is that place that i long to live.  not the crumb-less, wrinkle-less place i had created on the outside.  there will be crumbs in this life & there will be wrinkles.  but that perfect inner place never has to be disturbed.   it is a sanctuary in times of stained clothing & smelly bums.  it is a deep well of salvation.  it is something driven & inspired by the Holy Spirit.  something beautifully perfect that sticky hands cannot reach.
i believe that God put a craving for excellence in me.  a good craving that i had misunderstood at first.  a craving to see the excellence of heaven here, in the inner perfection of His love & joy & peace which then gets accidentally reflected on the outside without any striving in between.  this is stepping out of heaven's perfection.  living out of heaven's perfect. the secret is in understanding what matters.  the priorities unseen. love, peace, joy, relationship, souls...

"i used to be afraid of failing at things that really mattered to me, but now i'm more afraid of succeeding at things that don't matter."

{bob goff, love does}

crazy noise

our house is noisy.  loud.  deafening at times.   but it is amazing to me how noise transforms based on how i perceive it.  with so much noise in our house, it has been a necessary key to survival.  when i can hear crying as training or the incessant 'mommy! mommy!' as 'i love you' or the shrieking as learning to communicate my entire experience is transformed.
but for the days when my tolerance is dwindling for the loud crazy noise, i have been trying to help them channel some of that noise.  here is one of my absolute favourite resources at the moment. we have both the mp3 & the dvd.  the dvd is a great way to get out some of their pent up energy... and those dance moves, just adorable! and if the dvd isn't accessible, we can break out into song just about anywhere and "make a crazy, crazy joyful noise... a wacky, silly, funny noise that you enjoy!"

and for quieter nights i love this too. davith usually listens to this cd while falling asleep.  they have amazing testimonials on their website of kids who suffered from night terrors sleeping soundly through the night or kids with behaviour challenges finally being at peace.  it is amazing the profound effect & power of scripture.  i must admit, i turn davith's cd player on a little louder than usual when steve is away so that i can hear this as i fall asleep.  i loved it so much i bought volume II.

bad blogger anonymous

well, i did it again! another week without posting... i could blame it on that gorgeous weather we've been having, on the trillions of errands that took over my afternoons or on my hubby who hasn't been at a hundred percent capacity, leaving me as the only able bodied parent... oh yes, there are a great many things i could use as my excuse... but in usual blog tradition, here are two videos as a peace offering...
i was just thinking about how much i am loving the 3s and here are two reasons why...

park wear {small style}

well, summer is in full swing here in ottawa & we are loving it.  i love where we live for lots of reasons but one of the many reasons is our proximity to the park by the river.  the boys love throwing rocks & sticks & watching them float by.  evie & i count & feed ducklings & turtles.  livi chats to the branches bowing in the breeze.  it's one of my favourite ends to a sunny day. here are some pics of my favourite end to this sunny day...
{kai}: onesie {gymboree}, shorts {children's place}, sandals {no imprint, thrifted}
{eva}: dress {carter's}, sandals {no imprint, thrifted}
{sadly, davith & livi did not make an appearance in this edition of small style ... it take a little pinch of magic to get everyone's outfits all documented on any given day... maybe next week!}

someone has found a new storage
compartment... for his rocks!

kai's still filling his shirt with rocks

  

the perfect end with a perfect picnic

where i belong.

once you've tasted His presence, you're ruined for anything else.
this is the cry of my heart.
it's where i belong.

happy mother's day

"how in the world can a woman become a Mother & rightly raise up a child - unless by a miracle of the Father?"

 {ann voskamp}

because being a good mother is all about knowing the perfect Father.
in the young days of my motherhood, i feared i would mess it all up. that a mother's day would come when i wouldn't get a card or a call.  that a day would come when my kids would resent me for all my imperfections. that my humility wouldn't be enough to heal the wounds i had inevitably inflicted.
but then i heard Him whisper to my fears... just find refuge in me, the Perfect Father.  the perfect parent. and they will follow.  just point them toward me & in me, they will find all that they need.  all lack melts away in My presence.  all criticism dissolves, for I am the perfectly extravagant, loving Father.  and in me nothing is lost, nothing is wasted. 
because being a good mother is all about knowing the perfect Father.