ocean chic

Please forgive me for my title mixup.  I didn't realize if I changed the blog title, it would show up as the name of my blog.

I wanted to incorporate my business name, dear prudence, with my blog.

So I was blogworking (networking) the other day. 

I found this blog, Glam Garage.

I just love it!  I love her photos.

I wish I could live in these photos.

They are everything I am drawn to....

the ocean

those beach rocks!

sea shells

blue

vintage junk

shabbiness

beachy cottage

worn

If I could use someone elses bank account

I'd have her come and style my home.

Kate Spade | Bali Bound Sweepstakes, Kayce Hughes drawing

Kate Spade Bali Bound Sweepstakes

Well I always enter a sweepstakes!  and a drawing!

It's no secret I love Kayce Hughes clothing.

So this is a great drawing!

Go to your facebook page and search Pears and Bears and "like" it. 

Then you are entered in the drawing.

Have a happy sunshiney day!

It's going to be 74 today here in Oregon, yippppeeeee!

SUNSHINE!

I am so thrilled that the sun is finally going to be out this week!

I am going to get outside today and imagine I am back on the beach in Hawaii.

I'm going to check on the seeds I just planted in my raised garden bed.

And the poppy seeds I planted in the old metal frame of a wagon wheel.

The girls will play in their sandbox and on the swing set.

I just may go get a yummy frozen drink at Starbucks, decaf of course.

Maybe I will go on the hunt for a vintage birdhouse for my pasture fence!

I love days like this.  It stays sunny and hot out till late.

The girls and I play outside, daddy takes them on a ride around the lower pasture.

We'll come in and take our baths.

Then do our Bible reading.  We just finished the book of Ruth.

Then sometimes we brush each others hair and put rollers in or braids in.

But before any of this, say a prayer for me, I am on day 6 of this awful migraine!

The advil I just took didn't make a dent, so off for another relpax :(

I hope it is sunny where you are, go out and soak it in!

Everything but the kitchen sink, in my head

This little girly keeps me on my toes! 

In a span of 2 minutes, she ran in the house when we got home, slammed the door in my face,  jumped on a box and fell, grabbed my decaf coffee and drank it, and answered the phone that I wasn't going to answer!

oh and started talking to whoever was on the line!

SOOOOOO.....

I've had this blasted migraine that started last thursday, I had some stress last week and tues. night I tossed and turned till 1:30am thinking about the "meeting" I had on wed. morning.

Then I got ready for the event in Portland on Thursday.  Well all last week I was dizzy and irritable, two things that tell me a migraine is on the way.

Except I was extra dizzy, I even almost blacked out sitting at the computer, thank goodness I was sitting.

Thursday at the event, there wasn't much good food choices and I had a sugary ice tea with high fructose corn syrup, which I am beginning to think causes headaches for me. 

Ok lets shorten this, the migraine started thursday, I've taken 4 relpax, oodles of advil, sometimes these things work sometimes not.

Last night I took 3 advil and lo and behold it worked, I felt really good!  This morning I woke up with pain again.

So I'm running a few errands and I start thinking.

When I am in this much pain, it really gets me down

& then I get depressed.  I just want this pain to go away.

and then the kids will talk to much and I don't have a place in my head for all those words,

because my head is so filled with pain.

I wonder about all the people out there who live with chronic everyday pain.  I know my pain doesn't compare to what some people live with.

So anyway getting depressed just makes me not want to do anything.

No sewing

no cooking

no happy mom.

Then if I walk by a mirror, I see how tired I am and how migraines make my face look sad.

And my sweet children are talking talking talking

They think I have it all together.

In my head I'm thinking , oh sweetie , don't you understand?  I still feel like I'm 22!

I don't know what I'm doing with all you precious kids!

Or living on this farm, heck I can't even grow a flower!

Today I wandered into Borders to see if they had the new issue of 

Where Women Create.

They didn't.

I saw a quilt magazine with a cute quilt made out of circles.

I looked up the instructions and it was like I was reading

arabic

or

@#$%^&*

what does that say?  I don't know.

I know I can sew a Lollibag but instructions with a lot of words....

can't do

So I bought the latest In Touch magazine, where Kim Kardashian betrays her sisters.

So your probably wondering why is she out if she has a migraine?

Good question.  My new curtains from Ikea let in more light than the last ones, so I awoke at 5am today.

That must not happen one more time.

  So I went to Target to find a shade or something for the window.

I ended up getting room darkening curtains to put behind the Ikea curtains.

And then I thougt as long as I'm out I should get those curtain hooks from Pottery Barn.

I arrived at 9:48 and they didn't open till 10 so that is why I then wandered over to Borders.....

They don't carry my curtain rods anymore.  So I'm not sure what I'll get.

And now it is time to put Sophie down for a nap.  Sweet little Sophie.  And while she is napping, is called:

THE GOLDEN HOUR AND A HALF.

It is the most coveted time of my day and today I feel like I must lay down too because of my head.

But then I will have wasted the golden hour and a half.  I would love to be reading a good book.

or I would really enjoy finishing the Lollibag I've been working on.

Those are fun things, but really I have dishes in the sink and laundry and ironing to do.

OH or how about the shirt I'm working on with some cute Amy Butler fabric, I followed the patterns body measurements to obtain my size.

Which did sound big but I thought no, they must know their sizes!  Well I got the shirt almost done and I am swimming in it.  Even if it was maternity I would still be swimming in it!

So I have to rip it apart and cut in down and start over, ugh!

So anyway if anyone wants to saw off their head and switch with me, let me know.

Curtians from Ikea

Who loves Ikea?

Me too!!!!

The closest one is in Portland.

So as long as I was up there for the event last week....

I set up my lollibags, and had 3 hours till I had to work.

My 16 yr old son Nic went with me.  We decided to go to Ikea.

I wasn't planning on buying anything, of course.

But as we went through the little "make believe" apartments, these curtains caught my eye.

I did a double take, then went up to them and felt them, awwww, love.

Yes, I fell in love.

I had to have them.

They are a thick, linen like cotton, with a liner sewn behind too!

Now before I post the picture, keep in mind, they are in my bedroom now, and the wall color is brown.

So it doesn't look the best.

I am planning on painting the walls

Bavarian Cream by Benjamin Moore.

It will blend nicely with the background of the curtains.

Not near as beautiful as in person!

I love the big green leaves with pinkish red berries.

  So my walls will be light and I am making a new headboard.

I am going to put these boards horizontally on the wall as a headboard.

I think with everything a creamy white, with just pops of color from the curtains and the headboard it will look nice. right? 

If not , please share your opinion now :)

I have 4 of these boards.

What order shall I put them up in?

Red, blue, green, red?

or

Red, blue, red, green?

or

Green, blue , red , red?

Well I still have to finish painting Laurens room, before I can even buy the paint.

But I will put pictures up when I finish it.

I will take decorating advice, so fell free to share!

happy mother's day

Happy mothers day!

To everyone who still has their mom,

and to all who have lost their mom.
I'm right there with ya.

I'm hoping my mom would be proud of me.

New Lollibags

I just listed all these bags on my etsy shop.

I have black bean chili in the crock pot.

Doing laundry.

Having a good earth ice tea :)

Lauren's latest design

Here is Lauren's latest design , a new skirt.   There are two layers. 

The bottom one is made from a vintage sheer yellow drapery.

The top layer is jut some cotton fabric we found at goodwill.

She added a gathered waistband.

With vintage buttons down the front.

She wore it to school today.

Don't you love that waistband? 

This was another design with no pattern.

She just whipped it up.

Lolli is seeming to be losing interest in her sewing lately. 

That makes me sad, because I don't think she knows how talented she is.

I don't want to push her though for fear I will push her away from it all together.

I think she should start designing for Kayce Hughes, don't you?

Portia~an answer to prayer

Doesn't she have such a distinct look?  Sweet Portia, my 4th child.  A baby I thought I would never have.

I started having my children when I was 18.  I had always wanted to be a young mom.

My goal was to have all my kids by the time I was 25 so I would still be young when they were old. 

 I thought that was a brilliant plan.

And I did, I had my 3rd child, Lauren, when I was 24.  I wanted more kids, but hubby didn't and he wanted me to get my tubes tied.

So I did.  That was in 1996, the year my mom passed away.

It was very agonizing for me to do, I should have known that was God telling me not to do it.

But I really didn't talk back to my hubby back then, we had only been married 3 years.

Ha ha, boy how things have changed :)

So I did it because I thought well what more could I ask for I have the daughter I've always wanted and I am almost 25.  But after a few years I had such remorse over it I would just sob.

I couldn't believe I did that and I couldn't take it back. 

So I started praying.

I prayed for a couple years, Lord please let me have another baby! 

 Well one summer, it was 1999,  I got a phone call.

  It was from a lady from my church.  I knew who she was and had said hi to her maybe once, but I didn't know her.

She called and said I have something to tell you, but your going to think  it's wierd and I'm really scared to tell you this.

I was thinking what in the world???

So after hemming and hawing she said:

God told me to give you a maternity dress.

I still get chills and tears to my eyes when I say that.  I think I said something like

Shut up!  Really?  and then I said well when do you think I'm going to have this baby????  Of course she didn't know.

This photo was just days after we moved to Oregon.  Portia was just 6 months old.

So that marked the beginning of an exciting time for me.  I thought well  how is God going to accomplish this?  I wanted it to just miraculously happen.

It didn't.  

 So, I started researching tubal reversals online.

I was so sad that they were so expensive, I knew I would never be able to get one.

But why would God give me that maternity dress then?

I found a dr. in Texas whose mission it was to help women who wanted reversals.  His fees were way below other dr.'s.  After much begging and tears to my hubby, he sold one of his cars and gave me the money.

Here's the crazy part.  In the spring of 2000 I flew to Texas ALL BY MYSELF to get this surgery.

I flew in, had it done, and I got a fever after the surgery and I was distraught.  I knew I couldn't afford another night in the hospital, but they let me stay at no extra charge. 

The nurses were like mothers to me, they prayed for me on the way into the operating room because I was scared and crying.  They took care of me like I was their daughter.

So the dr. said well you really had those tubes fixed good to not have any more kids!  They had been cut and burned and there was just a little bit of tube left by the time they reattatched them.  But he gave me a 70% chance of success.  It didn't matter to me what he said, because I know what God had promised me!

When they released me I took a taxi back to my hotel, and hobbled around, I hurt, I was sick and alone.

  The next day I flew home.  It was exhausting, I still can't believe I did that alone.  But when I go after something I want, honey watch out!

It took almost a year and I will confess I did doubt, but fnally the night before mothers day in 2001 I took a test and it was positive!

Hubby was shocked, he didn't think it was really gonna work!  It was a good pregnancy.

I cherished it.  I didn't find out if it was a boy or a girl, I wanted to be suprised.  But I had been praying for another girl.

Portia is just the sweetest little girl, she is so quiet and shy, well she was when she was little. 

Now she can talk up a storm.  At times I have to say, Honey it is time to stop talking now.

Portia loves mermaids and wants to be one when she grows up.

She loves to be like her big sister.

Portia is so tender hearted.  She cried for days when we came home from Hawaii because she missed her grandparents and uncle.  She writes letters to her cousins in Minnesota all the time. 

She loves washing dishes by hand.

Feeding the sheep.

.

She love going on date night with her daddy.

Portia is a good big sister to Sophie,  playing with her and taking care of her.

Portia is silly.

She loves the beach, building sand castles and boogie boarding.

I love her with all my heart. 

And she is truly a miracle.

I won a Giveaway!

I don't remember how I stumbled upon Deborah's blog, called Art & Soul by Deborah.

But I did and she is such a sweet lady and talented too!

I love her watercolors.

And this is what I won!

A watercolor print all matted.  I chose the sunflower because my girls are always planting

sunflowers!

Thank you Deborah!