we're still kickin' and a GIVEAWAY!

well, guess what?

i've hemmed and hawed about how to start this post, so here ya go.

i miss you.  there.  i said it.  :)

i miss your comments of encouragement and the love that you show to me so graciously.

i miss sending reply emails and getting to know you better.

i miss sharing our life, and documenting it for my children(the whole point!).

the krauses are still very alive and well! 

 life has simply gotten the best of me these days 

and i've decided that it's moving waaayyyyy too fast for my liking.

i have a daughter who is 14 going on 30(see above).

my boys are becoming little men.

and my sweet maddie, well, she keeps me busy with sleepovers and such!

but of course, in the middle of all of that, you can find me hiding in a pile of laundry a mile high, or trying to figure out what to make for lunch(again), maybe grading papers, killing succulent plants, scouring the toilet, perhaps? 

maybe photographing my sweet husband repairing a leak.  

#iamthatgirl

if you are on instagram, you may see the goings on of our life over there(mary_krause).

it's so easy for me to share photos and activities on there, but part of me misses the interaction over here, too.

it's like sending a text when i should be calling.

or an email when handwritten is best.

i have really gotten impersonal and while it is convenient for this 90MPH life that i feel like i am barely hanging on for some days, 

i know that i crave slow and simple and being more reflective. 

being more present is important to me!  #helpmeLord

i don't just want to hang on for the ride, i want to enjoy the journey.

and i have to come clean, these past few months i haven't been doing that very well.

i'm sure some of you understand.

the Lord has been teaching us so many things, and He has been so gracious and tender with me along the way.

i am SO glad that HE is the captain of this ship, because i would for sure steer us right into trouble.

He is my TRUE NORTH.

unfailing.  constant.  

me....not.so.much.

SO!  with that said, my friends, we have been up to some pretty fun stuff that we are really excited about!

my daughters have this constant desire to create and make(no idea where that comes from!?), and so, with the Lord's help, we decided to DO IT AFRAID and start up our very own etsy shoppe.

believe me, i.was.scared!

our prayer is that HOPE homemade inspires you in your faith and that our pieces will be a constant reminder of His love and faithfulness to and for you.

i mean, we can NEVER be reminded of that too much, right?

so, to kick off our new venture, we would like to have a giveaway!

here's a peek at some of our creations.

and..........we are giving this necklace away to one of YOU!

something that i need to be reminded of DAILY.  or MINUTELY, more like it!

>>>we walk by faith, not by sight<<<

to enter:::

just leave me a comment on this post!

#easypeasy  :)

additional entries(leave separate comment for each one):::

1) visit our shoppe and tell me what your favorite item is!

2) share this giveaway on facebook/instagram/your blog

giveaway ends 5/10 and is open to readers worldwide
a random winner will be picked(out of a hat!) by 5/11  :)

please leave your email addy so that i can connect with you if you are the winner!

head on over to :::sew mama sew::: for TONS more giveaway fun!

thank so much for stopping by!

we HOPE you love our creations and that they inspire you in your faith.

it feels good to be back.  :)

SHOP:::FACEBOOK:::INSTAGRAM

xoxo,

mary

Spreading the Good News:::A Printable

i have been contemplating the horrific event from last week and the evil that is present in our world.
my heart breaks for the losses of family and friends and for the  innocent children who were gunned down senselessly.
i cannot imagine BEING one of those parents or being the parent of the man who orchestrated and carried this evil out.
as darkness and sin waxes worse and worse in our world today, there is this great opportunity for the Light of the world to shine brighter than ever.
after all, darkness is simply the absence of Light, and people around us need to know the Truth of that Light Who came to save us.
Who came to save them.
He is no respecter of persons.
i am the same as the murderer.
only saved by His wonderful grace.  sinner, still.
but now, i am a Light bringer.

so what better opportunity do we have to share Him than the season that we celebrate His birth?
it's like an open door that God is just waiting for us to walk through.

do you know anyone that needs to know?
has the Holy Spirit whispered in your ear as He has mine?
i have come up with some pretty lame excuses as to why, "i can't, Lord!"

"what will they think?"
"will they be offended?"
"i don't know what to say!"
"now's just not the time."

i have struggled to present the Gospel to them because they are people that i don't see on a regular basis.
my hairdresser, the owner of a shop that we love, our neighbors, the librarians and so.many.more people.
my prayer is that God will use this to plant a seed.
to open the doors to greater conversations than, "soooooo.....how 'bout that weather!?".
that as i grow these wonderful friendships, i am able to share with them my Best Friend.
who knows how God will stir in their heart?

i know this comes a bit late in the season, but i think all of our grieving hearts needed days to process what has happened and love on our families.
i am so grateful for my children, and that they are here with me.
my hearts aches with the families that are enduring such grievous loss and pain, especially during such a joyous season.
it would never, EVER be easy, but Christmas...it just seems worse.  ya know?
my prayer is that hearts would be turned to the Babe in the manger.
the One who came to reconcile us from sin, such as we have seen of late.
the One Who radiates HOPE and longs for us to look up.
may we look up.
may we pray.
may we reach souls for Him.
He is the answer.

with the help of my dear friend, Jennifer, i was able to bring this printable to you.

i designed it, and she so graciously(and quickly) made it so that there could be four on a page.

my computer and brain have limitations.  :)

thanks, dear friend.  :)

they are nice to just hand out as is, or to attach to gifts.
they spread a message of Hope and the true Meaning of Christmas



what you will need:

printer
paper (i printed on cardstock for weight)
hole punch
twine or ribbon
exacto knife(for the slit for the candy cane)
candy canes

i hope you all are having a wonderful week!
i treasure your friendship SO much...each and every one.
you are a gift to me!

sending lots of love your way, dear ones.

xoxoxo,
mary

all was calm, all was Bright

nathan and i finally had the opportunity to brave the stores(alone) and finish up(mostly) our Christmas shopping yesterday.

since giving gifts is my favorite, i have NO trouble seeking out treasures that i feel will best suit our loved ones and friends.  

money is always the issue.  always.

i would love to give SO much more materially, but that simply cannot happen and frankly, it's just not the point.

truthfully, i need to give more of my time and compassion to others, and they would probably appreciate that more than a gift card or any sweater that i think is just perfect.

it took a few minutes for us to get our brains aligned and really make some progress on our list.

does that happen to you?

in my frantic desire to provide someone with the perfect gift, i found myself entangled in the same lies that lead to the distractions that completely take my mind off of the Reason why we are doing this all anyway.

i get irritated with my poor hubby as he yawns and seems completely unstressed.
why isn't he stressed!?

then i get even more riled up over my assumption of his disinterest in it all, when, truthfully, he had it all right.

when i headed into target for the second time and heard jingle bells blasted for the millionth time, in the seventeenth version, it didn't take long for a still small Voice to ground my footing and become seriously grossed out by all of the commercialism that has completely overtaken the world.

i had fallen prey to it's lies and it made my heart hurt a little.  or a lot.

and then that Voice reminded me very clearly...

it wasn't like this that night.

it wasn't loud.

it wasn't flashy.

it didn't have glitter and music and a parade to make His presence known.

He was the Perfect Gift.

He still is.

all was calm.

all was Bright.

and as the Savior, our Rescuer, came into this world, He bore a burden so great.

it was us.

our sin.

so as i reassessed the day, and the hunting of the perfect gifts, the stressing over it all, i felt a great peace.

a peace that comes from the realization that Jesus broke the chains of death and sin for me, so that i don't have to be a slave to my sin anymore.

He has given me the victory.

forever and ever.  

amen.

but yet with the peace, came a very grave realization that not all have this Peace that i know.

my heart breaks for a nation that takes Christ out of Christmas and replaces it with meaningless nothingness.

even more reason for me to GO, tell and love.

and so i share this little vignette with you that is in my dining room.

a visual reminder of the Gift that was given to us over 2000 years ago.

the One that would forever change the course of this world.

One that can never get overplayed.

bear with me if i sound like a broken record over here.

He's just too good not to share.

xo, 

mary

our CHRISTmas mantel

hey, friendlies!  :)
i'm a little late to the partay, but i'm popping in to join in on the fun over at the lovely lettered cottage mantel linky!
plus, i wanted to show YOU my mantel, too.
it was really easy and fun to put together.
i'm a pretty simple decorator, and i love to use natural elements in my home, and that is what inspired me this year.  :)

i wanted the focus of our mantel to be on Jesus, Who is our only True Hope in this weary world.
the thrill of Hope, that we can be reconciled to God through the gift of His ONLY Son!

the only money i spent was on the beautiful print from lesley, the frame from target, and the mandarins.
i had the rest already tucked away here and there.
as you may be able to tell, the late 1800's mantel is still just propped up against the wall.
it may never get nailed down, and i'm okay with that.

anywho...we have been SO busy trying to finish up school before Christmas.
the girls have been crafting and creating maniacs and i can hardly keep up!
we have baked lots of goodies(and ate them).  #hello!muffintop
and after thanksgiving, let me tell you...it's REALLY hard to buckle down and focus on school.
like realllllllyyyyyyyyy hard!
as a home school mama, once you get into vacation mode, it's really hard to get back in the focus of school.
but we're doing it.
most of us anyway...my littlest is acting like he has serious ADD, but he is just super excited(kinda like me).  :)

i hope that you all are enjoying this blessed season, and remembering the True Reason that we celebrate.
from RECENT experience, i know just how hard it can be to keep the Right Focus.
the devil sure does try to steal my joy some days, but i am not going down with out a fight!

we, as a family,  have purposed in our hearts to have a different Christmas this year.
less about ourselves and more about Him.
and that means more about others.
God graciously led us to a family who could not afford Christmas this year so we were able to shop for them.
the kids had so much fun!  who am i kidding...nathan and i had a blast, too!
to God be the glory.  :)

we also bought the Jesus Storybook Bible and have been reading it every day for advent.
i'm pretty sure i have enjoyed it the most.
the simply written Bible stories that weave the perfect path to Him and mirror His perfect plan of redemption thrills me to my core!
the fact that my Savior was born in the lowliest of places and dwelt among sinners, born only to die for my wickedness and yours wrenches my heart in the best way.
i am so humbled and grateful for His free gift.
the debt that He paid so that I don't have to.
born to die, my Jesus was.

this is what Christmas is all about!
spreading the Good News that Jesus was sent for all sinners.
and just like any other gift, we have to take it for it to be ours.
my prayer is that i will be a light for Him this season...encouraging those among me to

"Let earth receive her King!"

have a wonderful day, friends!

i'll be back this week with a Christmas home tour....yay!

xo,

mary

and just like that...

...the shift has occurred again. 

goodbye, thanksgiving.

hello! Christmas!

haha.  nathan is in his socks.  :)

while i've hardly digested the thousands millions of calories i consumed over the weekend from our thanksgiving feastS,  the pilgrims have come down and have been replaced with the much anticipated nativity set.  

and while i tucked away the last of the pumpkins, bittersweet and bits of harvest, the peppermint wreath is already being made, bing is set on pandora, and we are decking the halls like the rest of the country. 

how crazy FUN is that?!

but let's back up the train a bit.

we had a lovely thanksgiving with both sides of our family this year.  

and while i'm on the subject, i would like to give a shout out to my moms for being such amazing cooks.  

with that said, i really, truly, SERIOUSLY need to step away from the comfort food buffet line.

what is wrong with me?  i've totally traded my mostly raw diet for anything cooked, baked or loaded with sugar.

SOMEONE HELP ME.

situations like the one below don't help, either.

instead of black friday shopping this year, my mom, sister and i, opted to do some holiday baking.

i can assure you that one of those pans of mixed nut bars(lower left) is already half gone.

we split the goodies that we made between the three of us, but still!

also, those walnut crescents in the upper left hand corner are my FAVE.  yikes. 

i'm totally in trouble with all of this taunting me in the basement freezer.

(that's where i do the laundry and the freezer is RIGHT next to the washer and dryer.  VERY convenient...and private...muahahaha!!!)

AND i'm not even going to explain henry and the bottle of sprinkles.  it pretty much sums up his existence.  :)

after school, we spent most of the day cleaning, packing away fall, and bringing up a few Christmas decorations.

that is, after i apologized to all of my children at least three times for losing my temper and yelling at them.

at the time, i did not know why it was so hard to round to the nearest hundred, sound out the long E sound, or put quotation marks around a quote.  

all day long i was edgy and i kept telling myself, "turn the volume down, mary!" (see?  quotation marks!).

because i wan't just yelling, i was YELLING!

thankfully, my children kindly forgave me and we proceeded with the Christmas cheer.  :)

this is the advent calendar i made last year.

i used an old cork board from the thrift store and covered it with fabric.

then i used some pretty ribbon to decorate it, and push pinned those little $1 boxes from michaels in.

the kids LOVE it.

i kinda do, too.

i tried my hand at chalkboard art today, and besides being time consuming, it was really easy!

check out how i did it, HERE.

i have been trying to find a home for my folk art carved wood chain(somebody seriously carved that thing out of a solid piece of wood), and the lyrics to O Holy Night came to mind.

Truly He taught us to love one another, 

His law is love and His gospel is peace. 

Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother. 

And in his name all oppression shall cease. 

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, 

With all our hearts we praise His holy name. 

Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we, 

His power and glory ever more proclaim! 

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

i think i may be a little addicted to chalkboards.  

especially when they deliver such a Wonderful message.

tomorrow we get to pick out our tree(nathan's home!), and dig up some more fun stuff from the basement.

it's always so fun to see what you have, remember your favorite things from years past, and find those that you have recently made or collected.

over and out, girlfriends.

when are you able to get together for a peppermint mocha and some cinnamon bread?

uh...i mean, veggies and tea.  ;)

xo, 

mary

thirTEEN

some of you may know that i have officially been the mother of a teenager for a good nine months now.

you know your life is coming full circle when your daughters pinterest boards are cooler than your own.  :)

i mean, do i really look old enough to have a teenager?  ------------------------------------------------->

#dontanswerthat

this darling girl has been the recipient of all of my worst mothering mistakes.  she was my guinea pig. 

my heart's desire as a teenager(GASP! that's what she is!), was only to get married and have children.

seven was my 'magic' number.

after i had a few kiddos the number decreased, but by God's grace, i think it may just still be our number.
 but that's for a whole different post.  ;)

i got married to my love when i was 18, and one year and one month later, miss elly was born.

baby in arms...we were in LOVE.

now she's growing up on us.  *sigh*

as i look back at all of my naiveness as a young mother, and my millions trillions of mistakes, i see a story that is grace laced in every way. 

i was not always a great mother.  i was a very strict, demanding mama who required nothing less than perfection for a long time. 

of course, i know this is impossible, but it didn't stop me from trying.

i didn't give grace, and so that put a barrier between my very own daughter and myself.

as weird as it may seem, and as harsh as it feels to me, my daughter and i have not always connected in the way i thought we would.

it would take 13 years for me to fully grasp the gift that my daughter is to me and that she was specifically chosen for me.

what an honor and a blessing!

here are a few pictures of her birthday party this past february. 

it was a very bitter cold day, and her brother had a bad ear infection, but we had a great time just the same.

i know it seems late to post this, but i so badly want to document this vapor of a life.  :)

we chose a crafty theme for the maturing girl.

she requested fish tacos and individual nutella cheesecakes.  

#todiefor!

certainly the ONLY way we ended up where we are today is by the grace of God.

and a whole lotta caulk.  because Lord knows, He had to fill in a multitude of gaps that i left along the way.

and He still is.

elly is so much like me it hurts sometimes.

i think that contributed to our clashing.  ok.  for surely it did.

she is a beautiful girl, inside and out, and she is just bursting with talent!

i'd like to say that she is a lot like me in her love of creating. ;)

we both come alive when we are able to 'make'.

she also has a very tender heart, the best kind.

can you even stand the wisconsin sweater?  i am SO making that but with the united states on it!

she did that all by herself, and the sewing is amazing!

also, she has been able to bless a few of my bloggy friends(and others) with these baby moccasins. 

aren't they the CUTEST?

she is a wonderful knitter, a gifted pianist, loving sister, daughter and friend.

family singspiration just would NOT be the same without her.

this season of my life with her has {by far} been the best ever.

we totally 'get' each other, we love to create together, and yes, we share favorite TOMS and certain clothes.

i can break out in, "i just called......to say....i love youuuuuuu!" with fake mike in hand at target and she only gets mildly embarrassed.  :)

hey, that's my job!

so today, and every day, i'm so thankful that God chose ME to be her mother.

watching her grow up has been my privilege and i am keenly aware of how quickly time is fleeting.

we may only have her for a few more years, and i plan on enjoying every little bit.

eye rolls and all.

i hope she never forgets Who she truly belongs to.

she was bought with a price, a very high One, and my prayer is that she will radiate that Life to all those she meets.

Lord, i thank you so much for blessing me with this rare and precious jewel of a daughter.

may YOU shine brightly through her and continue to fill in all of my gaps!

mama loves you, elly grace.

xo, 

mary