Back In Business

It's been a while.  How have you been?  I've been busy and I am ready for school to start.  I like routine, I like routine when you can fall on it or abandon it for a while. I, like many of you, have dreams.  Not huge dreams but tangible dreams. I like to think of myself as creative and sometimes it's hard in the day to day grind to find ways to be creative.   Oh I make a few things here and there but sometimes I like to make things that matter.  A couple of years ago I started a business with making jewelry.  I had no knowledge of how to do it only that I wanted to do it.  It's funny how that little bit can prompt you to move.  Maybe I'm just a little reckless and I don't always think things through. ... hmmm...
I created a company called LayaBelle (my two sweet daughters combined) and started venturing out in to the big wide world of retail. It's not for the faint of heart but from the little front room of my house surrounded by the sound of my kids and the t.v. and the dog I started creating.  I used a lot of the old pictures of my Nana and my mom when she was a little girl. All was good in my world.
 My Nana passed away and I just felt the wind leave my sails.  It's funny looking back I thought I handled her passing with as much grace as God would allow me.  I guess subconsciously I didn't. My "want to" was just gone.  I tried but the happiness in making others happy was just absent for a while and I think that's okay.  I truly believe if you don't ever give yourself time to heal you'll never really heal.
This brings me to today.  Today I am going to bring some of those photos out and I'm going to create again.  I'm going to make others happy which in turn will make me happy.  I'm going to help others take those beloved photos out of the musty old picture albums and wear them with pride and beauty. What is your favorite photo of a loved one?  Was your great grandmother just gorgeous and courageous?  I can create a way for you to share them with other people.

Please visit LaylaBelle page on Facebook and private message me if you would like to make an order.  Don't forget to like and  share!

Teachable Moments

 

 I don't know how other moms feel during the "preteen" years but I'm getting a good dose of "tolerant stares and a whole lotta "I know"s- geesh!  Well I wanted to encourage all of you out there that feel like you can't find your sweet child that, you could have sworn was there just a few months ago, there are teachable moments still at your finger tips.
  The other night it was very cold and Belle was in the kitchen wanting to make hot cocoa.  She asked if she could have some and I said, "sure" and then she got busy bustling around in the kitchen.  Luckily I walked into the kitchen at just the right time to see her mixing her hot milk with baker's cocoa.  Now some of you reading this just *cringed* because like me, you have made the same mistake in your life.  I calmly asked her if she had tasted it yet and she said she hadn't so I leaned up against the counter and watched her taste it.  Hehe, it was funny to see her go to the sink and spit it out with disgust.  Now, could I have taken it from her and quickly poured it out before the bitterness could touch her lips? Maybe I should have been in there making it for her so she would never make a mistake?  Should I have yelled at her and told her she didn't know anything and that she was too stupid to even read directions? Heavens no! (I have never called any of my children stupid by the way.) What I did do is watch her taste and then lovingly told her that I had made the same mistake before and that all she had to do was ask.  I love Belle and I love watching her change and mature but I also know that she still needs me. She also needs to know that I wasn't born with all the answers and that I had to learn from my mistakes.  Parents, don't sign off on your children in their teen years.  Don't chalk it up to letting your kids find their way. God gave me two beautiful girls to guide and love and discipline so that they will be wonderful people.  I see so many parents not even know who their kids are and that's just sad because what sometimes happens is they are forced to deal with who their children have become and its not always "sunshine and roses". I also see the other end of the spectrum and that's watching teens not even know the first thing to do because everything has been done for them, they have never made a mistake.
   So yes, I used baker's cocoa as a teaching tool in my "teachable moment" and I'm proud of it.  I will go a step further and say that we are always doing these things with our Heavenly Father.  We jump in without  thought to consequences or repercussions and we sometimes taste bitterness.  God wants us to go to Him daily, hourly, every minute and ask Him to guide us.  What is your baker's cocoa?