Simple

Is it really that simple? All week I've been feeling like I could pull my hair out. The kids are beating each other with sticks, my head feels like it's going to explode, and we feel so. . . distant. This isn't a normal feeling that I have towards my relationship with the kids. This morning as I stood amidst the chaos in a pile of raisins on the kitchen floor (Willow's "seeds", apparently I have a future member of FFA on my hands) holding a child covered in his own poop that my one clean shirt was now also smeared with (it's all in the details, right?, I wanted to run away. But where? I took a step back and knew exactly where I was going to run, a place I have been running away from lately, because "I could do it all myself". As seen by the evidence before me I realized that what I was telling myself was a lie and I needed Him. I asked the kids for forgiveness, said a prayer for peace and patience, and turned up some worship music (well, after cleaning up the poopy child and changing my shirt). If a random stranger stopped by our house and peaked through the window 10 minutes later he would have seen us. Us. Crazy, dancing up and down, hollering, laughing, happy lovers of Jesus.

A clean house won't make my life better. Obedient and cultured children won't make my life better. Unless I have Jesus. It's that simple.

Link Love

I have had a crazy busy week packed with tons of fun. Hopefully this weekend I'll get a chance to post some pics and a narrative of our recent adventures. But for now I'll share some things that are interesting and inspiring. Have a lovely weekend, soak it up!

- Cannot stop listening to this song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skUJ-B6oVDQ Have always loved Coldplay even through the years when I was so very confused by the lyric "should I blow off my head", haha, to later come to the realization that he was actually saying "shoot an apple off my head". Hearing aids may be in my future.

-This family http://www.familyonbikes.org/ I so badly want to sell everything and jump on a bike and hit the road with my family. Daddy Oak isn't feeling it so much, he'd much rather jump onto the couch and watch yet another Arnold movie.

-I haven't broadcasted it, but I've been dabbling in the raw diet for the last two weeks. I'm on a quest to try and heal some health issues I have. I am glad to say I am feeling great but constantly crave donuts. Not just a donut, but a cherry and cream cheese danish pastry. It's all I fantasize about. Really. Currently loving this yummy flat bread http://www.rawmazing.com/recipes/raw-food-recipe-tomato-flat-bread/ especially when smothered in the green deliciousness of an organic avocado, slices of cool cukes, and some Willow made alfalfa sprouts. Pair that with some mama-made kombucha and a powerbar (http://www.elanaspantry.com/power-bars/), you've got a winner and the formula for a meal that's been pretty much sustaining me and filling me with joy!

-Other than fantasizing about donuts I spend my *free time* dreaming about making Willow and Cedar some new duds from these patterns http://www.oliverands.com/ with some of her fabulous material http://heatherross.squarespace.com/

-I am so doing this someday http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/kitchen-hardware/kitchen-lighting-made-from-weck-canning-jars-113779 I have been fairly enamored with the idea of using mason jars for kitchen lights for a while, but this just knocks my socks off. Love. It.

Apparently that's all Cedar thinks I should post since he's doing the most pathetic (and adorable) cry for mama loving right now. Have a wonderful and blessed weekend!