One of my most common prayers is: I trust you Lord. Help me to trust you. I have faith in you. Give me more faith. I love my husband. Help me to love him more.
Wherever I am… Lord, show me how to do that more. Make me more like you.
Bethe’s Favorites
1. Unroll Me – You guys – this is going to change your life. I get SO MUCH JUNK EMAIL. And honestly, I hate reading all of it. And I hate deleting all of it. And I have a conundrum… I like to get regular emails from the brands I love, because when it comes time for me to shop, I want the coupons that come with those emails. But, I don’t want to scroll through them every day, because it creates this “I need” consumer culture, and it’s a temptation I just don’t want.
That’s where Unroll Me comes in handy. It’s genius, really. It scanned my inbox and found every single email that I’m subscribed to and let me choose whether I wanted to unsubscribe, keep as-is, or roll it up into just ONE daily email. To give you an idea, I unsubscribed from 84 emails (84!!!!) and chose to roll up 49. This means that every day I get one email that then shows me all of my subscribed emails as tiny screenshots. If I want to read the email, I simply click on the image and I can see the whole thing. I went from getting 100 unwanted emails a day to just one digest. It’s my new favorite web app.
2. The Gruffalo – This is Wrenn’s favorite show on Netflix. There’s actually two – The Gruffalo, and The Gruffalo’s Child. It is produced by the BBC and may be one of those most beautiful, calming children’s programs I have ever watched. Think beautiful animation, classical music, a quiet, sweet story, and clever writing. We watch it over and over and both of us still love it. In fact, on my work-from-home days, now that Wrenn has dropped her morning nap, she will take her cup of milk, climb onto the couch, tuck herself in with my quilt, and watch this 25-minute episode as her morning “quiet time.”
3. Better Call Saul. You guys, this is my new favorite show. Mr. Right and I watched all of Breaking Bad this past fall – it was our one shared show (we have VERY DIFFERENT taste in TV). So obviously we were super excited to watch the spin-off, and it’s just as good as I hoped it would be. If you’re an uber nerd like me, there’s a podcast hosted by the writers, editors, and actors from the show. Anyway, every Tuesday night is our “date night” where we settle in and watch this together. It’s our thing.
4. This top. I am SO EXCITED to bust out my spring clothes (am I the only one who forgets what clothes she has during the off-season?). Sundresses, flowy tops, white jeans, sandals… spring clothes are my JAM. I don’t need to do any shopping right now, but if I did, I would totally start with this top. I love the color, the neckline, and the fact that it’s still a little loose. (PS- I’ve been happy with everything I’ve bought from this site, and they deliver super fast.)
———————————————-———————————————-
For prints and other lovelies, visit Texas Lovely on Etsy.
Other places you can find Texas Lovely:
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/texaslovelyshop
On Instagram: texas_lovely
Couples Shower Invitation Design
I’m going to admit something – I don’t love designing invitations. I don’t know why, but they totally stress me out. I think it’s because there’s a fine line between really boring and really tacky, and that sweet spot in the middle puts a lot of pressure on me. But, I designed this invitation for a shower we hosted in Midland over the weekend for Mr. Right’s cousin, and I’m so delighted with how they turned out! He’s an outdoorsy guy and she’s pretty feminine, so I thought it was a great combination for the invitation.
Wrenn did great on the 5 hour road trip (which we did two days in a row), and I have decided that that dry West Texas air is perfect for my impossible-to-curl hair.
Now excuse me while I rush to finish start their wedding quilt – I’m a little behind!
———————————————-———————————————-
For prints and other lovelies, visit Texas Lovely on Etsy.
Other places you can find Texas Lovely:
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/texaslovelyshop
On Instagram: texas_lovely
Choose Happy: A Free Download
It’s Monday and I just felt like doing something nice for my friends in Blogland. And so, here’s a little gift for you – a free download of my new happy print.
***The fine print: Please feel free to enjoy for personal use only. Do not repost, sell, email, or distribute to others. Feel free to share this link with your friends though!
———————————————-———————————————-
For prints and other lovelies, visit Texas Lovely on Etsy.
Other places you can find Texas Lovely:
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/texaslovelyshop
On Instagram: texas_lovely
My Cheerful Scrap Quilt
I’ll let you in on a little secret. Most of the time when I start a new quilt, I have no idea what it’s going to look like. Before I know the pattern, I start with finding really fabulous fabric. A beautiful quilt has beautiful fabric. From there, the inspiration just comes to me.
I have been collecting fabric since I started quilting seven years ago, so I’m at borderline hoarding status. And that stuff is expensive, not to mention I love ALL of it, and so I’ve been hankering to make a scrap quilt from pieces of my previous quilts. To me, there’s a piece of every loved one I’ve quilted for in this quilt – it’s my version of looking back and reminiscing over an old photo album. This one reminds me of being pregnant, this one reminds me of my mom, this one reminds me of a niece or nephew… and this reminds me of sweet Wrenn. It’s all there. 
For this quilt, I simply raided my stash, started cutting rectangles, and then made up a pattern with what I had. It changed as I went – originally I as going to do stripes of scraps and then stripes of solid white fabric, but Mr. Right reminded me that I have done a lot of quilting white borders lately, and suggested I do something that’s pure color. For once I listened, and I love how it turned out. So crazy. So colorful. So cheerful.
Even the navy binding came from my stash… already cut to size and ironed. Apparently I miscalculated how much I would need on a previous project (Bethe + math don’t really go together… I misjudged by about 20 feet of binding), so it was ready to just pop on.
I imagine the caption for this photo would probably say: “Move over Wrenn. Stop touching the quilt Wrenn. Mommy needs to get a picture, Wrenn!” (PS – Wrenn LOVES to climb up in my lap while I’m at my sewing machine and watch me quilt and touch the fabric and admire all of the pretty colors. I can’t wait for her sewing lesson!)
I love all my quilts… they’re kind of like children, it’s hard to choose favorites. But this one is one of my very favorites. I found about 10 feet of this vintage mango striped fabric in my stash that was perfect for the back (I just love the contrast of the bright mango with the dark navy), and because I have so much leftover, you’ll probably be seeing a lot more of this fabric in the future. 
And the best part – when I was finished, off it went to a friend who has a baby in the NICU. This quilt made me feel so cheerful, I felt like it was my way to share a little ray of sunshine during a stressful time. I love making quilts, but I love giving them away even more.
———————————————-———————————————-
For prints and other lovelies, visit Texas Lovely on Etsy.
Other places you can find Texas Lovely:
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/texaslovelyshop
On Instagram: texas_lovely
Put your nose in the corner
Disclaimer: Before reading this article, please note the following things:
1. I have no idea what the heck I’m doing.
2. Most parents have no idea what they heck they’re doing either.
3. What works for my child may work for your child. Or it may not work at all. All of these crazy kids are so different with their own unique minds and personalities. It’s the reason none of us know what they heck we’re doing!
4. This is what’s working for us this week… this month… in this season. In my 20 short months of parenting, I’ve quickly learned that works for this child in this season may not work for this child in a different season.
Okay… now that all of these disclaimers are out of the way… Can we all agree that disciplining children is hard? I had this idea in my mind that my adorable, big-hearted child would simply be well behaved… most of the time. And if she wasn’t, I would be a spanking parent (to each their own… no judgment either way). It worked for me growing up, so why wouldn’t it work for this daughter of mine?
And then we tried it. And spanking did two things: (1) it didn’t phase her in the least and she looked at me like I was insane or (2) it royally ticked her off and sent her into a fit of hysterics. The one thing it didn’t do? Change her behavior.
Other things I wanted to do: Give lots of grace. We gave lots of second chances. We tried to substitute bad behavior for good behavior. I probably said 100 times, “Baby girl, we don’t hit our friends… we hug our friends,” and then hugged her. And my child kept hitting.
And hitting. And hitting.
It got to the point that every single teacher she encountered (Sunday nursery, Mother’s Day Out, nursery teacher while we teach ESL) pulled me aside and quietly said, “I don’t know how to tell you this… but Wrenn has a hitting problem.” Technically, she had a hitting and and also taking her shoes off and throwing them at other kids problem. Which was crazy, because she LOVES kids and LOVES people and doesn’t have a malicious bone in her body.
But she’s also a toddler and not exactly able to control her emotions just yet. Or verbalize them. And I suspect at times, she simply did it because she thought it was funny.
Not only did the teachers warn me about the hitting, but I witnessed it. One day I watched her hit another child as I picked her up from school. And then she started hitting me, and my husband, and Harley the Wonder Schnoodle.
Finally, we got fed up and decided to go with a zero tolerance policy. Baby girl was done with her second chances. From now on, hitting equals time out. Every. Single. Time.
We started out by putting her little chair in the hallway near her bedroom, facing a wall. It gave her a defined place to be. We made her sit there for 90 seconds (I’ve heard the recommendation of one minute for every year… so that’s what we went with). After she had put in her “time,” we would hug her, tell her we loved her and forgave her and that her slate was wiped clean. (Much like the fact that when we ask God for forgiveness, He wipes our slate clean.)
After a week or two of that, we started making her stand up in the same area, with her nose in the corner. And it just kind of worked. And this crazy thing started to happen. She got used to the routine of it. Every time she would hit me out of frustration, I would calmly say, “Wrenn, go put your nose in the corner,” and this child would walk across the house and go to her corner and stand there until I came to get her. Most of the time (not all of the time, mind you, but most of the time) she calmed down while standing in the corner, and by the time I went to give her a hug and tell her I loved her, she was happy and ready to start over. Occasionally the corner brought tears, but most of the time, it provided a break from whatever was causing her to act out.
The separation did her a lot of good.
So then we started enforcing time out for all disobeying, as well as throwing tantrums. Now, anytime she does any of those things, we calmly say, “Go put your nose in the corner,” and off she goes. Most of the time, the corner calms her tantrums. Most of the time, it works. And the best thing it has done… her teachers have happily been reporting back to me that Wrenn is hitting “a lot less than before.”
Trust me… I count this as a victory! And occasionally, the teacher even reports NO HITTING.
So, in this season, with this child, we’re going to keep doing the zero tolerance time out, until it stops working for her. While I want to give her extra doses of grace and mercy and many second chances, she seems to thrive on the consistency, and so I’m adjusting to what works for her. This time.
And in the meantime, if you need me, I will probably be standing near the corner, waiting to give my child her hug and tell her she’s loved and forgiven and her slate is wiped clean. It’s the very best part of time out.
———————————————-———————————————-
Don’t forget, I have a custom quilt available in my shop: Texas Lovely on Etsy.
Other places you can find Texas Lovely:
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/texaslovelyshop
On Instagram: texas_lovely
Tea Party
I’ve been waiting all my life to have a tea party with my daughter. Last night while Mr. Right was heading home from the office, she and I “cooked” dinner in her play kitchen, then set up a large picnic tea party for Wrenn’s “friends.”
This precious child probably played like this for an hour. I taught her how to cradle her teddy bear like a baby and give her a bottle (which was actually a play bottle of cinnamon, but that’s what imaginations are for). We made carrot soup. She wore a bow (which never happens, but this was a fancy occasion) and her Santa pajamas. Which, by the way, she points at the Santa on her pajamas and then says “Ho! Ho! Ho!” with such conviction. It’s Christmas every day in this house.
I am so thankful for little girls with giant imaginations, and for opportunities to stop everything else and get on the floor and play with my child in the midst of the chaos of life. She is such a joy.
———————————————-———————————————-
Don’t forget, I have a custom quilt available in my shop: Texas Lovely on Etsy.
Other places you can find Texas Lovely:
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/texaslovelyshop
On Instagram: texas_lovely
Thrifty Thursday: Dress-Up Clothes
A few weeks ago we hit the dress-up lottery when my cousin sent us a box of her daughters’ outgrown dress-up clothes. God bless people who pass down hand-me-downs… especially when those hand-me-downs include Disney princess dresses and… {gasp}… plastic princess heels.
———————————————-———————————————-
For prints and other lovelies, visit Texas Lovely on Etsy.
Other places you can find Texas Lovely:
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/texaslovelyshop
On Instagram: texas_lovely
Wrenn has a snow day
We Texans have had our entire year’s quota of snow days this week. Today was our first opportunity to get to actually get out and PLAY. But of course, as Texans, we’re totally unprepared when it comes to having snow clothes (now when it comes to 100-degree play clothes, we’re golden). This was my attempt to pair every warm item in Wrenn’s closet to come up with something snow-worthy. Fleece footie pajamas + boots that are too big (so the pajamas will fit inside) + her vest + her jacket + a random hand-me-down hat.
This was Wrenn’s first real experience playing in the snow (last winter she couldn’t walk, which limits the snow playing). She had no idea what to do!
And because I want to be real with you, here’s how the brief snow soiree ended… in hysterical tears. Girlfriend was COLD and HUNGRY and OVER the snow. So we quickly got back in our pajamas, had a snack, did some cuddling, and she was good as new. I promise.
I’m so thankful to have my entire family home safe (those roads were scary today!) and cozy. And, I’m thankful that we’ve got good friends who live just a street away who are up for last-minute dinners during bad weather. It’s good to have playmates!
———————————————-———————————————-
For prints and other lovelies, visit Texas Lovely on Etsy.
Other places you can find Texas Lovely:
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/texaslovelyshop
On Instagram: texas_lovely
Bethe’s Favorites
(Free!) Trendy Desktop Patterns
My computer desktop has never looked so good! This site has so many fun (and free!) downloadable backgrounds to choose from.
{source}
DIY Hems
I love to sew, but one of the things I don’t do is hem. Ever. But this tutorial makes it look so easy, and I’ve got some jeans I’ve been meaning to bring to the tailor, well, FOREVER (because let’s face it… all my jeans should be tailored for flats, because it’s what I wear 99% of the time). Now I’m inspired to give my newest thrifted designer jeans a try on my old sewing machine.
{source}
Heart Dress Tutorial
Valentine’s Day may have come and gone, and well, poor Wrenn missed it with her month of fevers. And I’m left with a ton of candy I had bought for her teachers and classmates at school. But that’s neither here nor there (don’t worry, I’ll make sure it doesn’t go to waste… I’ll be eating it until it’s time to buy Cadbury Eggs). I’ve decided that just because Valentine’s Day has passed doesn’t mean I can’t still make this adorable dress for Miss Wrenn. I love the idea of using a current dress as a pattern. And, well, if you add a giant heart, it just multiplies the cuteness.
{source}
Sewing Turbans
So, it turns out turbans are super easy to make. I was in the mood for a quick craft project last night while we were hunkered down, waiting for the ice storm to hit. This tutorial was so easy to follow, and now Wrenn and I have matching headbands. Well, Wrenn refuses to wear hers for more than 3 seconds, but if I happen to catch her with it on his head, you can bet I’ll snap a picture for proof. I’ll be blogging the project over at the Fort Worth Moms Blog in a few weeks, so you’ll be able to see photos there.
{source}
And to all of my DFW friends… I hope you stay warm during our first ice storm of the winter season! I’m thankful that I can work from home today, cozy by the fire, safe and warm.
———————————————-———————————————-
For prints and other lovelies, visit Texas Lovely on Etsy.
Other places you can find Texas Lovely:
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/texaslovelyshop
On Instagram: texas_lovely