Beneath My Heart

Nothing is Wasted…sweet Oklahoma

traci — Tue, 21 May 2013 13:46:49 +0000

My heart is breaking for the people of Oklahoma today.

I am sick about the lives that have been lost. I wanted to share with you something that someone wrote on their facebook page yesterday.

There are many dead in Oklahoma, including dozens of children, after that massive tornado this afternoon. This is a terrible, horrific tragedy. I can't comprehend the suffering of these people. Dozens of parents kissed their children goodbye this morning, sent them to school, and a few hours later they were buried under mounds of rubble. It's agonizing to think about. This town was literally torn apart by one of the most powerful tornadoes in modern history. I don't think any of us have ever seen a place ripped off the face of the earth like that. This is more chaos and misery in a country that has been plagued by too much of it recently. I pray for the people whose lives have been shattered by this storm. And I also pray for us, that we don't allow ourselves to be numbed by the seemingly constant barrage of death and destruction in the news. We really are blessed to have this life, as fragile and painful as it may be. But it can be taken from us at any moment, and eventually it will be, one way or another. That doesn't mean we should live in fear, or become disconnected and jaded -- it means we should try to fill our days with as much love and joy as possible. I think you can build it up inside you, like a reservoir, and feed on it when your days turn dark. I pray that God will comfort the people in Oklahoma tonight. They need all our love and support now.

I don’t think I could have said it better myself. I kept thinking about a song this morning…”Nothing is Wasted” by Jason Gray. The words kept rolling around in my head as I tried to make sense of this tragedy. So I decided to find the video on youtube and share it with you. I had never watched the video before, but I couldn’t believe it when I saw it. It shows a scene of devastation that made me think of Moore, Oklahoma. I love the line that says, “It’s from the deepest wounds that beauty finds a place to bloom. And you will see before the end that every broken piece is gathered in the heart of Jesus and what’s lost will be found again.”

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Our Office Makeover Has Begun!

traci — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:48:39 +0000

Happy Monday!!! I hope you had a great weekend! I wanted to pop in real quickly and show you the progress we are making on my office. I won’t be on the computer much today because I will be busy painting and doing more work in my office. Just a reminder of what this space used to be…this was an 11x11 ft bedroom that we were turning into my office/craft room. First we turned the closet into a craft supply area… Now we are tackling the rest of the room. This room has been a dumping ground of stuff galore! It has made me a nervous wreck! We cleared out the room and ripped up the nasty carpet and have started creating my new desk and window seats.

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Favorite “PINS” Friday!

traci — Fri, 17 May 2013 15:05:28 +0000

Wow! Another week has flown by! Today is Eli’s last day of PreK, but my other boys have two more weeks of school left. I cannot believe summer is almost here! Yay!! Now… Here are my favorite pins from Pinterest this week.

Enjoy!

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Our New TIKI Fire Sculpture {Eli’s birthday party}

traci — Thu, 16 May 2013 21:59:34 +0000

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of TIKI Brand® for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Aaaaaah, summertime! Don’t ya love it?! One of my favorite things about summer is spending time outside. We love to grill and eat dinner on our back patio. When we have company over, we spend all of our time outside. I also like to create an ambiance outdoors when we have company over. I love to have candles lit, or twinkle lights in the landscaping. Now I am very excited that I have one more thing to add to the ambiance…a new TIKI Brand Fire Sculpture.

TIKI^® Alumina^™ Fire Sculptures – Antigua

They are bigger than a candle, but less messy than a fire pit. Perfect! On Tuesday night, we celebrated Eli’s birthday at our house.

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Ky Opry Finals

traci — Thu, 16 May 2013 14:24:47 +0000

Hey Friends! Well, we have had an interesting week. Tuesday night, we were celebrating Eli’s birthday with family at our house. Right around the time everyone was getting ready to leave, Eli got hit in the mouth with a skateboard busting his lower lip and knocking back his front teeth. UGH!!! I took him to the ER about 9:30 pm, and we didn’t make it home until after 1:00 am. Here we are waiting at the hospital… He got three stitches in his lower lip, and it was very painful. This mama felt like she was going to pass out when they kept giving him shots in his precious little lip. Today, we are headed to the dentist for them to take a look at his teeth. As much as I hate seeing my baby in pain, I am so thankful that it wasn’t worse. So that is why I didn’t post yesterday. I spent the day taking care of Eli and letting him spend his birthday money at Toys R Us. He definitely deserved it! I love that I have a job I can put on hold when I need to. Before the week is up, I wanted to share with you our trip to the Ky Opry last week. WE HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! We went down on Thursday night so Jonathan could practice with the band. He has never been able to go down early to practice with them and usually only gets to practice with them a few minutes on Saturday night right before the show. It was nice to have a little extra time there as a family. It was like a mini-vacation. We are so very grateful for our sweet friends, the McKees. I cannot tell you how much we love this family!

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I’ve got my passport! Guess where I’m going!

traci — Tue, 14 May 2013 13:28:13 +0000

Hey Friends! I am so thrilled to tell you about a trip I will be taking next month. It’s a trip that required me to get a passport. I’ve never had a passport in my life, which means I have never been out of the country. Well, I’ve been to Hawaii, which to me seems out of the country!

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Easy and Inexpensive Teacher Gifts

traci — Mon, 13 May 2013 02:05:40 +0000

Hey friends! I hope you had a wonderful weekend and Mother’s Day! I am trying to recuperate from our 4 day trip down to the Ky Opry! Jonathan did a GREAT job, but didn’t win. But I was so proud of him. He placed second in the junior division and third overall. The talent was so amazing, and I will share a whole post about it with you this week, along with his videos. Today I wanted to share some easy projects with you that I have done on my blog over the past few years that make great teacher gifts.

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Favorite “PINS” Friday/Saturday!

traci — Sat, 11 May 2013 15:14:32 +0000

Howdy, Y’all! I’m sitting in a McDonald’s somewhere near Draffenville, Ky using their WiFi. I am laughing at how “unconnected” to the world I have felt since we got here Thursday! I don’t have WiFi where I am staying, so I haven’t been able to post the past two days. AND my cell phone doesn’t get good service where we are at either, so I haven’t been able to check my emails and such either! It’s such a weird feeling, ya know? But I have been soaking up some really good mama time with these four sweet boys… Jonathan practiced with the band on Thursday night, and yesterday the boys and I went to the mall and a movie. Cy is helping to build an addition to the garage of our sweet friends, the McKees, this weekend while we are here. So the boys and I got to go play while he worked. Tonight, Jonathan performs in the finals of the Talent Search at the Ky Opry. We are super excited about it. He knows that it isn’t important if he wins, but that he trusts God to help him do his best. I can’t wait for the show. Sooooo much great talent to listen to! Anyway, I wanted to share my favorite pins from this week, even if I’m a day late.

Enjoy!

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KIDVENTURES for the summer!

traci — Wed, 08 May 2013 12:46:08 +0000

Hey guys! Are you ready for summer?!! In just a few weeks, my boys are gonna be out of school, and that means that I need to get to planning. My boys get bored pretty easily, so I have to make an effort to keep them busy during the summer. That is why I am so glad that I have this little book to help me out. My friend, Jen, has written a wonderful little book with a ton of activities to do with your children this summer. Jen and I met several years ago at a conference and became instant friends. I love Jen because she is the mom of four boys like me. Except her 4 boys are quadruplets! Yep! The cutest little boys you have ever seen. Jen is also know as “QuatroMama” in blogland and writes a blog called 4tunate.

You can connect with Jen here:

Blog: 4tunate.net Twitter: @QuatroMama Facebook: 4tunate Pinterest: QuatroMama Instragram: QuatroMama

Jen has worked really hard at creating this book, and I am so excited for her!

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Jonathan moves on to the finals of the Ky Opry!

traci — Tue, 07 May 2013 12:32:45 +0000

Hey friends!

Well, Jonathan made it to the top four in the Junior Division this past weekend at the Ky Opry Talent Search!

He will be competing against 9 other singers in the Beginners, Adult, and Sr. Adult Divisions.

This weekend, he will sing two songs, one fast, one slow. He’s going to be playing the guitar on his fast song and is looking forward to it.

The competition is tougher this year than last, in my opinion. There are some really talented singers, and I LOVE listening to them sing.

Here is Jonathan’s performance of Rascal Flatts’ “Wont Let Go” from this past Saturday.

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