the influence conference

we all have influence.

it just depends on how we use it.

and now we have the influence conference.

if you've ever wondered how and why God can use you right where you are, this conference is for you.

will you consider joining me there?

i will be one of the community leaders helping that weekend (eeek!) and i would LOVE to meet you.

early bird tickets are on sale RIGHT NOW.

only 50 of them are available at this special price.

have you seen the speaker list?

yeah. it is good. 

i pretty much adore those girls hosting.
all three have been guests in my day in the life series.
(jessi, hayley, casey)

so let's hang out and hear some fab teachings.
it's going to be good.

***************************************

thank you for the kind comments and emails sent my way after last night's post.

i was a bit blown away by how many of you have been in similar situations.

it reminded me of this: 

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. 

2 Corinthians 1:3-5, The Message

yeah, sums it up pretty nicely.
xoxo,
annalea 

news-gazette feature

as i mentioned earlier this month, our home was featured in the local newspaper.  news-gazette reporter meg thilmony sweetly asked me if i would be interested in an article about our home, since it was "gorgeous and kid-friendly at the same time."  (i told you she was sweet.)

i love that you can see where our cat flaco gnaws on the back of the chairs.  yes, our cat gnaws.  he draps his body over the top of the chair and gnaws.  this is real life people.

meg and i "met" through twitter.  i was familiar with her writing through the paper and she recently began reading this blog.  i might be a stay-at-home homeschoolin' mama with a teeny tiny etsy shoppe, but it sure is neat how social media can connect me to all sorts of cool people.

and here is where i cue the newsies lyrics. . .

look at that pape with my face beamin'

tomorrow they may wrap fishes in it

but i was a star for one whole minute!

this was such a fun experience.  totally unexpected and fun.  thanks meg for the ask.  i promise to invite you to my next craft night.

************************************************************************************

oh and a quick and last reminder:

the first round of voting for apartment therapy's room for color contest ends today (noon pst).  we are holding steady in first place for the northern division, but if you haven't yet, feel free to favorite our room to help us secure a spot in the finals.  so exciting. . .

a favor and a feature

i have a favor to ask of y'all.  our room was selected as one of the entries for apartment therapy's room for color contest.  will you take a moment and favorite it?  (you do need to sign-in or register with the site, but they are super cool and do not bug you with anything.)  i figured the room was clean and the photo was recent so why not, right?  that is about as much as i can expect at this stage in life.  more, actually, than i can expect.  and the grand prize is a trip for two to nyc.  where i have never been.  so go vote, okay? 

and speaking of why the room was clean. . .
for the local peeps, you can find our house featured in the at home section of tomorrow's (10/16) news-gazette.  that was the the interview i mentioned last week.  i am looking forward to reading meg's article and seeing heather's photos.  (thanks so much meg and heather!  you were both so sweet.  it was great to have you over.)

i am ready for a fantastic weekend of family filled fun.  see you on the flip side!

p.s. next week i have a couple easy tutorials in store for y'all.  come back then to check them out.

on asking for help (and gardening)

i confessed earlier that our backyard took a backseat this summer.  but did i mention that the whole place had turned into wild jungle-land?  completely out of control.  weeds waist high.  sprawling tomatoes blanketing strawberry beds.  grape vines choking out apple trees.  gravel paths covered in green.  it was bad.  we needed to be rescued.

so we asked for help.

i know, i know.  crazy talk.  but we asked for help.

why is that such a big deal?  we live like we can do it all ourselves and we do not need each other.  this is such a lie. 









i think it is great to consider how we can encourage servanthood in our children.  we want our kids to give and give and give again.  we want them to be compassionate and loving.  we want to raise servant leaders.

but do we encourage them to ask for help?  is it okay that they communicate their needs? 

do they see us modeling this?











it is hard.  we are not great at it.  but that does not mean we can not try.  we simply asked for help.

it meant letting others into the mess.  it meant being open with the waist high weeds and out of control potager.  it meant exposing the chaos. 

(other times it could mean unearthing the laundry piles and dirty bathrooms.  yes, dirty bathrooms.  am i too proud to let someone clean my bathroom?)

and how often does a five year old show an adult how to dig up potatoes?  or a three year old wash off freshly pulled carrots with a hose to share with her uncle?  just two of many memorable moments.











midday, i took in the scene.  two college sophomores from church sitting at the patio table deep in conversation with jesse while chowing on chili and cornbread.  our retired next door neighbors joining us for a meal and being entertained by the kiddos.  my youngest brother pruning apple trees with my dad kneeling in the weeds nearby.  a beautiful intersection of our life.  my heart was warmed by the sight of all before me.





i am hoping our littles will remember this day.  one year we may give away half the produce from our yard to neighbors and friends, but the next we need to ask those same friends to come to the rescue.  i want them to remember that we asked for help. that we took an honest look at our needs and weaknesses.  that we were not too proud to be blessed by others.  that we gave others the opportunity to serve.  that we were able to receive this gift.

because being part of a community means giving and receiving.



(and for all that we received, we tried to give a little sweetness in return.)

if i had the chance to be cured from fibromyalgia today i would take it.  without a thought.  but i would be wise to remember - God has been able to speak to me so clearly in my weakness.  this thorn in my flesh has refined me.  would i be so willing to ask for help otherwise?

(linked up to kinderGARDENS.)

a weekend of awesome

the title says it all.  (but for those who want details. . .)




i played photographer for someone else's family.  it was super awesome.






we rescued our yard with lots of help from friends and family (and i have the blisters to prove it).  more on that tomorrow.  (but this was the most awesome of a weekend of awesome)




these are the best peanut butter cookies ever.  seriously.  i could eat them all day.  except that would not so awesome in the long run.  (quick note: i use all butter and no shortening for the same results.)
 
church and the crash-the-pastor's party saturday night were awesome.  God is at work on this campus and community.




we cheered on two football teams and they both won.  if i was a *real* sports fan, this would have been fantastically awesome.  but i am just a highly spirited person who is bored easily with televised sports, but, still, pretty awesome.






and we ate lots and lots of goodies from the potager while in the potager.  doesn't get much more awesome. 

how about you?  any awesome in your weekend?

(one thing about a weekend of awesome?  a not so awesome headache to end it.  uggh.  praying it goes away before homeschool group tomorrow.)

kinda like this

we went camping last night.  we are now very tired.

it was fun though. a bit chilly, but oh so fun.

this afternoon has been full of baths and laundry and naps and pizza.

now for some disney dalmatians and early bedtimes.

p.s. enzo was a super first-time camper. yay!

the students are here! the students are here!

can you tell i am excited?

this is the week that chambana adds tens of thousands of new residents.  we drive through campustown at great risk. we avoid target, meijer, and wal-mart like the plague.  move-in week is full of traffic, long lines, and frat parties.  lots of students with no homework.  enough said. 

and we also get to be a part of something so exciting.  we see new beginnings.  we stay young with crazy late night parties and adventures.  we raise our family around college students.  we share our journey and take part in theirs.

we watch lives change.  we are changed.  the world is changed.

we are part of a campus church.

this weekend kicks off our fall semester.  we reunite with our brothers and sisters after a summer spent on different schedules, in different cities, and with different families.

SO EXCITED.



and i wish i had something like this to wear for this week's events.  i made it out of a large t-shirt earlier this summer for another girl in our church.  cute, right?

it only took an hour or so. . . maybe i can pull it off?

week redeemed

yesterday i woke up with a deep desire to redeem our week from the maddest and the saddest day before.  i decided to go on my first solo adventure with all three littles.  this was a pretty big deal to me.  with fibro, it can be scary having the kiddos out on my own.  was i nutty for following a crazy wednesday with an adventure filled thursday?  maybe.  but i knew we needed a change of venue.  

my friend stephanie wrote about her trip to the tea garden earlier this week.  it planted a little seed of an idea which grew into this outing.

so, come take a walk with us. . .  



looking for japan house



pink petals were fluttering down on our heads from this tree.  it was storybook-like.



the tea garden



hopping from stone to stone



hello toes.



the winding path.  luca was looking for a good picnic spot.  it did not qualify if we could see cars.  we needed "alone time." :)



dandelion observations



barefoot in the grass



loves that thumb



my three little harts

we ate a yummy picnic outside the arboretum and relaxed in the freakishly warm 80 degree april weather.  at the end of the trip, luca remarked

we didn't even fuss at all today!

he was right!  we had such a sweet time. 

i highly recommend a visit to the tea garden and neighboring arboretum.  quick practical note - bring change for the parking meters!

i want to say thank you so much for all of the wonderfully encouraging comments on that post from wednesday night.  i felt loved by y'all. 

breakfast at the farm

all you c-u locals need to make your way to prairie fruits farm and creamery for their saturday morning open house.  the breakfasts are ah-mazing!  simply delicious fresh, seasonal yumminess!  last weekend we shared the biscuits and sausage gravy, an egg and chard strata, and lemon buttermilk cake.  oh so good.  the goat milk hot chocolate is a big hit with luca and gia.

work was done on the barn since last year and there is now indoor seating available for the cool spring mornings.



and the baby goats!  you can ooh and ahh over their cuteness.  the littles love them. 

they also offer pre-farmer's market goods for sale.  last year we made chevre and spinach quiche with our take home goodies.  the cheese is creamy and tasty. 



this is a great family outing.  a nice way to start the weekend before jumping into the normal saturday house and garden work.

so go visit a champaign farm and eat some fantastic local food.  see you there!



this little guy will have to wait until next year to partake.

mama-kiddo invasion

okay, so did friday just end?  for a week full of incredibly long and exhausting days, this last one zipped on by at lightning speed.  karen came today, along with seven other mamas, with a grand total of 19 children making our house one hoppin' playground for a couple hours this afternoon.


a sampling of the mama-kiddo invasion.  i think they should invade my house every week.  for reals.

to me, this is community - this is family - this is church.

more friends.  oh brenna you are cute.

i made hearty lentil soup and spiced banana bread.  karen brought bread.  alison baked cookies.  mamas packed lunches full of strawberries and spinach and cheese and crackers.  we filled our bellies with yumminess. (but poor janel had a slight injury while grating parmesan.)

there were some scuffles, lots of diaper changes, several crying bouts, and a little backyard play in warm afternoon sun.  we mamas laughed and caught up (as best as possible among so many littles).  my favorite quote of the day (from gia):  mama (while sobbing), that's my bed and there is a boy in it!"  sorry jonathan, no boys allowed in gia's bed.  (ever!!!)

and i'll leave you with a trio of adorable three year old girlies.  oh my, can't you just picture them as teenagers?  look at those beautiful faces.





yes, my daughter is hilarious.

photos of enzo and hamilton coming soon. . .