This is hard to do. But I’m trying.

Thankfully I don’t have to do it right, or even well for that matter. Jesus has more tender, pursuing grace for this tethered soul than I’ll ever be able to fully understand.

Lucy at 7 months from Matthew & Amy Smith on Vimeo.

Remember B doing the same 6 years ago?!

February 2006 from Matthew & Amy Smith on Vimeo.

Last night around 10pm I faced the great nightly debate. Do the wise thing, after a long day with the minismith clan, and head to bed? OR, whip up a tasty snack, pour a glass of wine and catch up on my missed New Girl episodes. The later won.

My first thought was to make my favorite obsession of late – breaded, baked pickles…but alas, there was just a jar of pickle juice sans pickles hanging out in the fridge. Second runner up, baked zucchini. This was amazing and you should all make it TONIGHT. Even the minismiths gobbled up the leftovers for lunch today. Mother & kid approved. Win.

Baked Zucchini

• Zucchini (however much you want)
• Equal parts bread crumbs or panko and grated parmesan cheese
• Olive oil

1. Slice your zucchini nice and thin. Either in circles or longways. I used a mandoline, but cutting it with a knife works just as well.
2. Drizzle some olive oil over the slices and toss until even coated.
3. Put the bread crumbs/panko and parmesan cheese in a bowl. Sprinkle in some salt while you’re at it.
4. Dip the slices in the crumb/cheese mix and evenly coat.
5. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and cook at 450 for 10-20 minutes (depending on how crispy you like it) flipping once halfway through.

You can eat these plain or dipped in marinara sauce. Not the healthiest choice for a late night snack, but they’re dang good. Bathing suit season is highly overrated anyhow.

Two years ago we made the move from our pricey, cramped home downtown to a spacious, family-friendly ranch house in the burbs. We mourned the loss of our downtown hipster status but attempted to embrace our new fiscally-wise, suburban family lifestyle. Well, at least we thought our move was fiscally wise. We didn’t account for the Starbucks staring us in the face every time we turned out of our neighborhood.

As I mentioned earlier, Financial Boot Camp is in full swing here at the Minismith Homestead. My weekly (ahem…well, maybe daily…but we’ll just say weekly) visits to Starbucks had to be nixed. Just in time for my favorite season of all – Iced Coffee Time. After shedding a few tears, I started researching how to get my afternoon caffeine fix without the $2 charge. Hot brewed poured over ice just does not cut it. But after some trial and error recipes, I figured this was the tastiest and easiest option. We use a french press for our morning coffee, which is also what I use here. Of course this will call for using my slew of mason jars like any good born n’ bred southern woman should.

1. Get out your quart sized mason jar. Or 10, depending on how strong your addiction is.
2. Grind up 6 TBSP of coffee and dump it in the bottom. I like to eat my coffee, so if you don’t like it as dark, decrease that amount.
3. Fill up the jar with cold water and give it a good stir.
4. Put in your fridge overnight or for at least 8hrs.
5. When you’re ready to partake, pour the whole jar of messy sludge into the french press. Press and enjoy!

We had a fun weekend, enjoying St. Patrick’s Day with a shamrock-pancake-and-green-smoothie dinner. Matthew and I headed up to Asheville’s Navitat to zipline with some of the crew from the Grok conference Matthew organized/hosted this past week. It was the most fun I’ve had in a good long while. Zip-lining 200 feet up in the air over a ravine on the side of the Blue Ridge Mountains was definitely a highlight. Our friend Ismael did a stellar job juggling his camera to document the adventure while simultaneously swinging from the trees. Check out his photos and blog post HERE.

Teaching Brighton to feed Lucy was also a major highlight. Can we say delegating tasks FTW?!? Having a baby this go-round is a MUCH different ballgame than it was 5 years ago with a newborn and an 18 month old. Many days, these boys are lifesavers for me.

Here’s to the week officially ushering in spring. Next post up…Gardening 2012. Progress so far includes standing in my pjs staring at my weed-filled bed wishing it would magically prepare itself. Obviously, I’m on a roll.

It’s been years since I pulled out my sewing machine for anything more than a quick costume accouterment or to fix a fraying hem. Multiple moves, lack of space, and lack of motivation have seriously inhibited my desire to delve back in to the crafting side of me.

But it is time, people. Have you seen all the amazing sewing blogs out there now?! There are actual hip BOY things to sew now. Full blogs dedicated to it. Where were these sites when I was blindly trying to convert a pattern of ruffle bottom pants to something somewhat less feminine for Brighton and Levi to toddle around in. The end result still looked pretty girly unfortunately…

My favorite site I’ve found so far is MADE. Check out her tutorials for boys. Love it. And will definitely be sewing up the boys summer clothes this year since I found reams of linen and a pile of XL t-shirts that’ll be perfect for getting destroyed…which is what happens to all summer attire around here with a 5 and almost-7 year old boy.

Retro Race Shorts

Flat Front Kid Pants

Kid Pants with Pockets

And the girl clothes! Well, there were always too many adorable girl clothes to whip up out there. Just no girls in our home to make them for. And in came Lucy. Hurray!

This dress! Gah! So cute!!

Ruched Leggings

Circle Skirt

When we lived in Philadelphia, my friend and I were on a sewing mission. We’d befriended a woman who had started an adorable clothing line of modern western shirts for her son. I can’t for the life of me remember the name of it, but she was a goldmine. Her warehouse downtown was stacked floor to ceiling with amazing, designer fabrics from her off-season lines that she sold to us for $3-5 a yard. We stumbled away with armloads full of beautiful fabric. Most of which was still shoved in boxes from our move over 4 years ago. Until last week…

Having a baby again is wonderful. It’s a unique season of watching a tee-tiny newborn become a vocal, interactive personality all their own. It also has it’s challenges after being 4 years removed from that kind of dependency. It’s amazing what 4 years can do in these early years. When Lucy came along, the boys were getting their own snacks/drinks, buckling themselves in, bathing and getting ready for bed. It was luxurious! They could actually talk to me and tell me what they needed or what hurt…instead of “mindlessly” screaming in my face expecting me to figure it out. Now obviously, this is just a season. A paradoxical season that has it’s highs and it’s lows, like any other season in life. It is both a joy to be a mom of a young baby again that also has it’s share of hard days.

That being said, I need an outlet. I can’t drop the boys at school and be free to conquer the world for a few hours a day anymore. I have this sweet little chunker to entertain and enjoy.

Thus the sewing season has walked back in and nestled itself in my dining room. I may not be free to walk around downtown, enjoy a few hours at the gym, or peacefully meander through Whole Foods currently. But I can make the most of nap times and generally being more housebound by doing something creative that helps me be me. As you fellow moms know, this is a vital part of maintaining your healthy, sane Mama status.

(I’ve still gotta figure out this whole picture deal on WordPress…but school carpool awaits me.)

Lies versus truth. The words permanently engraved on one of my dear friends arms. A beautiful daily reminder. Truth is ours to be had and if we simply claim it and cling to it.

The father of lies Coming to steal
Kill and destroy
All my hopes of being good enough
I hear him saying cursed are the ones
Who can’t abide
He’s right
Alleluia he’s right!

The devil is preaching
The song of the redeemed
That I am cursed and gone astray
I cannot gain salvation
Embracing accusation

Could the father of lies
Be telling the truth
Of God to me tonight?
If the penalty of sin is death
Then death is mine
I hear him saying cursed are the ones
Who can’t abide
He’s right
Alleluia he’s right!

Oh the devil’s singing over me
An age old song
That I am cursed and gone astray
Singing the first verse so conveniently
He’s forgotten the refrain
Jesus saves!

He redeemed us from the curse of the law.
He redeemed us from the curse of the law.

Give it a listen: Embracing Accusations

Pulling out an old favorite this morning, that I’d abandoned far too long in favor of convenience.

Living in Philadelphia with no car, a toddling 18 month old and a newborn strapped to my chest, there wasn’t much room in my sole grocery bag for anything superfluous.

Cleaning products were not an option when I had to purchase a jug of milk with each trip to the neighborhood grocer. So most cleaning products I made for pennies and they served me well.

Fast forward four years and here we are all cozy in overly convenient Greenville. With a Publix or Target on every corner, it’s just so much easier to grab a cool, hip bottle of yummy smelling Method spray than pull out my grimy old homemade spray bottles. But we’ve got some finances to get in order and my lazy rear isn’t helping one bit.

So out came my trusty Clean House, Clean Planet. 10 minutes later I had two bottles of $.23 All-Purpose Cleaners. There are definitely seasons for convenience…it’s just getting back out of them, when you know it’s high time, that is the hardest for me to do.

She’s trying. Still not quite there yet.

He sees beyond this broken, earthly self to the woman he created me, intended me, to be.

I am not what I feel. I am not my failures or successes. What freedom that offers. I am wholly who He sees to be. In that place alone does my true, restful confidence come to life this morning.

The shot above is one of Matthew’s. If you’re not following him on instagram, you should be ;)

Matthew is working his tail off at Zaarly, travelling to their headquarters in San Francisco every month. I’m working my tail off learning to be a mother to three. The boys are loving being back in school (after a very brief homeschooling stint). And Lucy is loving being the baby of the family, wooing everyone with her wombat eyes and girly giggles.

Here’s the coming of spring and leaving the winter…in every sense…behind.