Paintings!

Hey y'all! Since my girl Aly called me out, I thought I would put some pictures up of some canvases I have done recently. If you are interested in anything, shoot me an email (cardigansandcrayons@gmail.com). I am trying to get some Christmas ones done so I can get some pictures of those up, too.

Here are the prices:

Canvas Pricing

8x8                  $30

8x10                $35

10x10              $40

6x18                 $45

11x14               $50

12x12               $50

10x20             $55

12x24              $60

16x20              $60

18x24              $70

I can personalize it however you like. The one I did for Aly was done from a cell phone pic of a rug. So, here are some ideas of what I have done, and email if you have any questions...

What I'm Lovin' Wednesday

 

I'm lovin'....

New fall shows!

My new birthday presents!

Cutting board.....

Tray....(I added coffee beans and tea lights)...

 

My sweet kiddos....

And sushi! (Tried it for the first time yesterday!)

Sweet Eli

I seriously can't describe Eli without using the word "sweet." That is exactly what he is. If you read my post about Sam and how he is so fast to master things (and if you didn't, shame on you!), Eli is the complete opposite! He was my longest labor (19 hours). And while we're on that....my epidural didn't work either. All 6 times they tried (3 tries per needle...OUCH!) But he was well worth it! It took him the longest to sleep through the night (13 weeks). He also didn't walk until he was 18 months old...and I was 7 months pregnant. I was so worried I would be carrying around 2 babies for a while, but thank goodness he caved and started walking!

He loves sleeping. Sometimes he asks, "I go night night now, Mama?" YES!!! :) When he sleeps, he requires blankets. Lots of them! But he does have one favorite, a Taggie. We couldn't find it last night when we were putting Eli in bed, so he went on to bed without it. A few minutes later, Meri Hobbs found it and I took it to Eli's room. He shares a room with Noah, and I didn't want to wake Noah, so I just kind of tossed the blanket on to Eli's bed just in case. In the darkness, I heard a whispered, "Thank you, Mama." Ahhh, precious baby!

He gets on a kick and will repeat something 10,000 times a day. Most days it's "I luh you, Mama. Luh you so much." (Which if that's the most annoying thing he does, I'll take it!) But last week, it was, "You a bomb, Mama!" (Apparently he has recently heard the phrase, "You're the bomb!") And daily I hear the sweet words, "You beautiful, Mama." Aww.

I love my sweet boy and hope he will always keep his sweet nature. I can't wait to watch him grow up and see how God will use that precious heart of his to use him in mighty ways.

The Princess

Meri Hobbs, our 4 year old, is the only girl in the mix. She is adorable! If you aren't sure, just ask her!! When I look at some teenage girls and see how they dress/act to get attention, I worry about how we are molding our daughter's self-esteem. And then a conversation like this takes place:

(After dance class):
Me - "Who was the prettiest dancer there today?"
MH - "Me, Mama!"

So, I think we're good there!

She is a sweet, sensitive, happy, loving girly girl! She loves dolls and purses and dressing up and make up. Which is a whole new world for me because I am NOT a girly girl! She is also very perceptive. If she feels I am starting to get frustrated, out comes the, "I love you, Mama. I think you're beautiful, Mama!"

I fear she may have a touch of defiance in her, though....The other day, she and Eli were watching Diego and Diego said, "Stand up and clap with me!" Meri Hobbs' response? "You're not the boss of me, Diego!" HA! Seriously?!

She just started preK and is learning so much. I am loving watching her as she discovers new things. She is great at learning her Bible verses for AWANA and loves going! She loves reading and we read multiple books multiple times a day!

I love my baby girl and pray that as she grows she will have a soul with a craving for God and a heart that clings passionately to Him. (Psalm 63:8)

We Interrupt Your Regularly Scheduled Program....

I am going to take a break from introducing you to the amazingly awesome fam to share with you my earth shattering realization that no blogger before me has ever realized before. Ever. 

So I have been a part of this blogging world for like, ohhh, 5 minutes and let me tell you I am hooked! I do enjoying sharing part of my life with you, but I LOVE reading other people's blogs. Which is weird. I don't know most of them. It is crazy. I read one blog, which links me to another cute blog, which links me to another one and another one and the next thing I know it's 1 a.m! Several times, I have literally had to cover my mouth to keep from busting out laughing and waking the whole house!

I think I have figured out why I love them so. I rarely get adult interaction. Now I'm not complaining (this time...many times I am, but not this one). Reading about other people's lives is where I get to "hear" about your day. And laugh at the things you're going through. And realize that I'm not the only one in the world wiping up apple juice and poop all day. It simulates my absent adult time. And makes me feel a little bit connected. AND I can do it when I have time to fit it in. Which is usually after bedtime. When the rest of the world is asleep so I can't hang out with someone or have real adult time. So I'll take the fake stuff.

Why do YOU enjoy enjoy the blog {under}world?

Sam

Finally, let me introduce you to the kids and then we can get to actually blogging!

The eldest, Sam is 6. He is too much fun! From birth, everything has been easy with him. He was my shortest labor (seriously, the first was my shortest. Crazy, huh?!) He slept through the night the earliest (5 weeks). He potty trained in like one day. He is just a smart kid! He can look at his spelling words and know them. He picks things up quickly! He has the most amazing heart, too. God has big things in store for this one! I want to share two recent examples of his heart for God. Got this message from his teacher the first day of school--

I overheard him talking about befriending people who don't believe in Christ so we could let them know the truth and teach them. :-))))

Seriously?! This is what my boy is talking about on the playground the first day of school? Could not be more proud! Then, one day, he came home and asked me if he could be so-and-so's friend. I said, of course you can! He said, "but mama, he said he didn't know if he loved God, so I can't be his best friend." Ahh, he is already learning to make wise choices in his friends...and wants his closest friends to be ones that love God with all their hearts. I sure hope he keeps this frame of mind into high school and college!

He is so funny. He thinks he is the manager of the other kids and can be so bossy to them! He is also a tad bit OCD (or maybe I should say he's a bit of a perfectionist in some things so it doesn't make him sound crazy!) He has gotten better, but would melt down if his covers weren't perfectly pulled up across his neck and straight to the other side of the bed. He will only wear certain socks. His shirts have to be the correct length or he will not wear them. He brushes his hair straight down....don't you dare try to part it! He is quite picky about all his clothes. Before he could tie them himself, he would only let me tie his shoes because I did it best. I could go on....  :)

He is so helpful around the house. He helps with the other kids (buckling Eli into his carseat, helping Eli put his shoes on, fetching diapers and wipes and bottles for me....) and is responsible to pick up his room, bring his dirty clothes to the laundry room, and make up his bed -- which he is so proud of. He "decorates" his bed with stuff from his room...trophies, teddy bears, books, whatever...and calls himself a bed "artist." Whatever, at least he gets it done willingly!

Sam loves sports and wants to play everything he can. And he is a pretty good little athlete so far! It is fun getting to watching him at his games! He is our social butterfly, and constantly wants to go to someone's house or have someone to come to ours. He thinks he is 18 and prefers to hang out with the older kids. He sits right in the middle of the youth group at church on Sunday nights.

He is well mannered and kind and soft hearted and respectful. He is all boy and definitely has his trying moments, but he is a great kid and I am so proud to be his mom! I can't wait to see what kind of man he will grow up to be!


Well, I was gonna do all 4 kiddos in one post, but obviously I'm "that mom" who can ramble about her kids all day. But this is MY blog and I can say what I want!! :) Stay tuned to read how awesome the rest of my crew is....

The hubby

This is me and my wonderful, husband, Eddie. And here is our story:

I have known Eddie as long as I can remember. We grew up in the same town, and went to the same church. He is 6 1/2 years older than me, and I had a huge crush on him! He worked for our youth minister when I was in the youth group, which is how I got to know him.

(This pic is when I was in high school and he was interning in our youth group)

I graduated high school and went to Ole Miss, and he was in seminary at New Orleans. Being the avid Rebel fan that he is, he would come to Oxford for the football games, and we started dating! September 5, 1997 was our first date (no clue how I remember that!). He was a youth minister then. He graduated from seminary and became pastor of a precious little church in Pontotoc, MS (which is like 30 minutes from Oxford). He asked me to marry him at the church one Wednesday night and we were married in December of 1999, which was during my junior year of college. I was doing a lot of my observations for my elementary education degree, and could do much of my work in Pontotoc schools, which was really convenient. We then moved to Tupelo for him to pastor a different church, and I taught 4th grade until we had our first baby. We moved to Georgia to another church for 5 years (and 3 more babies), and moved to Louisiana last year which is where we hope to have our happily ever after!

What can I tell you about Eddie?? He is funny. He is charming. He is comfortable being himself. He can talk to anyone --and usually does! He is so hard to go anywhere with. I am constantly reminding him that he isn't running for mayor!! He is at home who he is in the pulpit. He is honest (sometimes that is unfortunate! ha). He is thoughtful. He is helpful...with the cleaning, the kids, the cooking, anything I need help with! He takes the initiative. He doesn't wait for me (or whomever) to ask him to do something....if he sees something that needs to be done, he does it. He loves cookies, ice cream, and hot fudge. He is a hard worker. He can be a perfectionist. He is direct (again, sometimes unfortunate!). He stays healthy and exercises consistently.  He is caring. He cares about the souls of people. He is honest. His favorite channel is the Food Network. He is fun. He has eyebrows that furrow so that he looks mad even when he isn't (and couple that with his tone that sounds mad even when he isn't is often unfortunate!!). He drinks decaf instant coffee every night before bed. He is loyal. He is respectable. He is trustworthy. He is wise. He loves sports. He loves hunting and fishing and golfing. He always tries to do the right thing. He falls asleep on the couch. He is called of God and gifted by God to be a wonderful preacher. He takes his role as pastor very seriously. He is humble. He stands up for what he believes in. He loves to bake. He doesn't back down from the Truth, even if it isn't popular. He likes to argue. He has no problem eating off of anyone else's plate! He truly grieves over his sin. He is a man that daily strives to be the man God desires him to be.

If you can't tell, I love this man! I am so blessed that God chose me to be his wife! I am so undeserving of the gift that he is to me. "I have found the one whom my soul loves." (Song of Solomon 3:4)

(And I still have a crush on him!!)

Introducing ME!

Wow! I feel like I should have a dynamic opening for my first sentence of my first blog post! But I don't! So, welcome!! Let me introduce myself. Although, the 2 people who will probably read this (hi, Mom!) already know me. But just in case....

I am Stacy. First, I am Christian. If you know nothing else about me, I want you to know this! God has saved me, redeemed my life and is  in the process of changing me. And boy does He have lots to change! That's really what this blog is about. Me changing. Me growing. Me becoming....well, me. The me I want to be. The me HE wants me to be, and I'm so very far from that. But praise God, He is the potter and will finish the good work that He has begun in me!

I am also a wife. A pastor's wife! Eek! That provides me with lots of (self-imposed) pressure. Thankfully, I am married to a Godly, amazing, understanding man who reminds me that the only One I have to please is God. Everything else will fall into place. I love being a wife. I love being Eddie's wife. And most days, I love being a pastor's wife.  Because I love being Eddie's wife so much, I can get a little possessive of his time, and sometimes that is a conflict with the busy life of a pastor. But that's part of what makes our life so interesting, too.

And, I'm a mom. A full-time, stay at home, 24 hour mom. We have 4 unbelievably awesome kids! Sam (6), Meri Hobbs (4), Eli (2) and Noah (11 months). They are so much fun and I am so completely in love with being their mom. Some days are crazy and I get stressed and grumpy and impatient and complain that I just need some ME TIME, but I would not trade these moments for anything!  I want to introduce you to these kids (and Eddie, too) so I will do that over the next few days. Let ya meet the whole fam!

I'm also a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend, a cousin, a niece.....but I won't do a paragraph for each one...yet! :)

When I told a friend who is a pro at blogging that I was thinking about doing a blog, she asked me what my focus was. I don't really have a focus. My focus is simply life as I know it. My journey to ME! I want to be better at life. I want to be a better Christian, a better wife, a better pastor's wife, a better homemaker, a better mom, a better friend....a better me. So if you want to join me on my journey, come on!!