Utilizing Your Local Library

Since moving to North Carolina, our local library has become a staple in our week. We attend story time, check out books, enjoy the coffee shop across the street, and play at the nearby park on nice days. I have become so deeply grateful for the friendly faces at our library now that we live somewhere new. Even on my loneliest weeks, I know I can look forward to library day.

As I've talked with other mamas, many have mentioned that they wished the utilized their local library but struggle to do so. Often when you didn't grow up going to the library or haven't gone much with your kids, it can be a challenge to know how to incorporate library days into your life. Here are a few tips to bring your local library into your weekly life:

Find a Story Time You Love

I've got to be honest, over the years we have attended some truly terrible story times. There was the one with the super mean librarian, and the one with the young librarian whose low cut shirt and peppy songs made her a bit too, umm, bouncy. And then there are ones with so many children you can barely see what's happening. But if you can find a good librarian, story time is magic. Ask around to find out who the best librarian is, or the best story time, and then go. It might take a few tries to find the right one, but once you do, it will be worth it.

Don't Be Embarrassed by Your Kids

Friends, my kids are the loudest, most obnoxious children at the library. They yell, scream, sing, dance, and cry. It's like they save their worst for the quiet library. Here's the thing though: the librarians are glad you are there. They want your kids at the library and welcome their joy. While I recommend sticking to the children's area with your loud kids, don't stay home because of noise. I'd also encourage you to use it as a chance to teach your kids how to behave inside. Repeated, gentle training yields results. It's just the eternal challenge of being patient as you get there!

Use Holds

Holds have literally changed the way I use my library. I used to get so frustrated because I could never find the books I needed. Or I'd try to run through the adult fiction section with my super loud kids, so distracted I couldn't find a book. Now, I do the legwork at home and simply pick up my books from the holds shelf!

Most libraries now have an app or website you can use. Figure out your login and password (you can ask a librarian for help!) and then search for books from your phone or computer. You can request books right from the website and choose which branch you'd like the holds to be delivered to. Once they arrive you'll get an email, and usually the hold is there for about 3-5 days. The best part? It's not just adult books on the holds list. You can request picture books too! We'll often request a favorite book or a new book in a series. I also will sit down with Eli and let him choose a few chapter books to put on hold.

Set Return Reminders on Your Phone

Ya'll, library fines are no joke. Our new library only does a 2 week check out, so I'm always worried about racking up fines. Stick a reminder on your phone when you check out the books so you won't get caught with too many fines. I also like to get a print-out receipt with all the books I checked out and hang it on my fridge. When it's time to return books, I mark off books one by one as I put them in my library bag to be sure I don't forget anything.

Go With a Friend

Story time is a fantastic way to have a play date! Go with a friend and let your kids enjoy story time together, then walk to a park nearby or play in the library's play area if yours has one. I know that some kids struggle to sit still, but don't feel bad about that. Just do your best and enjoy friends and books!

As you begin to use your local library, here are a few resources to help you find great books:

-- Read for the Heart by Sarah Clarkson- "From timeless classics to modern favorites, from picture books to adventure novels to read-aloud favorites, more than 1,000 wonderful stories for young people are recommended within these pages." (from Amazon)
-- Honey for a Child's Heart by Gladys Hunt- "A modern classic with over 250,000 copies sold, Honey for a Child's Heart is a compelling, essential guide for parents who want to find the best books for their children ages 0–12." (from Amazon)
-- The Read-Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie- "From a toddler’s wonder to a teenager’s resistance, Sarah details practical strategies to make reading aloud a meaningful family ritual." (from Amazon)
-- The Read-Aloud Revival Website and Podcast- a fantastic resource full of good books and tips for reading aloud

How do you use your local library? What tips can you offer to other moms?

Christmas Cards with Basic Invite

The holidays are almost upon us, which means it's time for one of my very favorite things: Christmas cards! Friends, I adore Christmas cards. I spend hours each year choosing the perfect card for our family to send out to our loved ones. When friends and family send me cards, I hang them on a wall throughout the Christmas season and them save them in my holiday scrapbook. I've begun telling friends that the best Christmas gift you can give to me is a holiday photo card.

This year, I've had the privilege of working with Basic Invite to create a beautiful holiday card. Over the years, I have used many different websites to create Christmas cards with photographs. I've had years where I loved my cards and the ordering process, and years where the process and the results were disastrous (don't even ask me about 2014!). Basic Invite made the process of creating and ordering my cards easy, and the results are stunning.

Here are a few of my favorite Basic Invite features:

Almost Unlimited Colors - Basic Invite is one of the few websites that allows customers almost unlimited color options with instant previews online. Once you select a design you can change the color of each element on the card to over 180 different color options so you can make sure the card is exactly how you want it down to the littlest detail.

This year I used a photo from my brother's wedding where all three of my kids are wearing a specific shade of burgundy. In the past, I would have spent hours looking through card styles to be absolutely sure the colors matched. This year, I simply chose my favorite card and then edited the colors to match. It was such a timesaver and my cards look stunning!

Customizable Card Back - Basic Invite offers a number of options for the back of your card including solid colors, patterns, and photo layouts. As you know, my family moved this year. I was hoping to include some information about our move in our card, and Basic Invite did not disappoint! As you can see, my cards have a "new address" graphic with all our moving information for friends and relatives.

Over 40 Different Colors of Envelopes - Basic Invite is just as colorful with their envelopes and envelope liners as with their cards. Customers can choose from over 40 different colors when it comes to their envelopes so that they can make their card stand out even before it is opened. All of the envelopes are peel and seal so the envelopes can be quickly and securely closed without licking a single one because really, who wants to do that?!

Address Capturing Service - Basic Invite offers an address capturing service that allows customers to simply share a link on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other form of social media to request their friends and family’s addresses which will be stored in the customer’s account and can then be selected during the design process. Talk about a time saver! Basic Invite offers recipient address printing at no cost on all Christmas card orders.

Foil - Foil holiday cards are available in gold, silver, and rose gold. Customers can choose flat or raised foil on all of Basic Invite’s foil designs. My holiday card includes raised gold foil. It looks even more stunning than it sounds and is such a lovely way to add some extra flair our cards.

Custom Samples - Basic Invite is one of the few websites that allows customers the ability to order a printed sample of their actual card so they can see exactly how it will print as well as feel the paper quality before they ever have to place their final order.

Not sure what style you like? Basic Invite offers over 500 Christmas card and holiday card designs for you to choose from. They also offer custom holiday cards for businesses and holiday party invitations. 

I know many of you love to receive and send Christmas cards. Right now Basic Invite is offering 30% off with coupon code: holi30. Run over and start your holiday card now, and don't forget to send me one!

Thank you Basic Invite for partnering on this post.

When Home Doesn't Feel Like Home

We have lived in North Carolina for a little over a month now. Our moving van arrived with all our possessions, overwhelming us with boxes. We have begun the process of registering ourselves as residents of NC, changing addresses, getting government documents in order. Eli has been at school for a few weeks now, while the girls and I have begun to establish routines.

And still, my days feel difficult, exhausting, and overwhelming. After a particularly rough day on Tuesday, I took a moment alone and realized what was making my day so difficult. I wanted to go home. You probably know the feeling; the ache in the pit of your stomach and the lump in your throat as you think about the comfort of whatever place you call home. Just seconds later, the realization hit me. I WAS home. I was standing in my new house, aching for a house we sold within a community we loved in a state we left. I've never experienced quite that level of displacement before. I suddenly felt unmoored, adrift across the country from everything I know and love.

As I have ruminated on these ideas this week, I realized the hardest part for me is the knowledge that I cannot go back. I cannot undo this move, I cannot catch up on what I have missed in Colorado. The only way through is forward. All I can do now is create a new life here, making new friends and creating new community.

I know that all this will come, just as it has in the many other places I have lived. But it still doesn't make it easier to be right here, right now. I'm reading this book with some dear CO friends about being brave, and the lesson couldn't be more timely. I'm realizing the great value of community, even when it's phone calls and Skype messages. I'm thanking Jesus for technology and for sweet friends who reach out to me throughout the days.

I feel small and afraid, but I know that the only way to stay the course is to stand up and be brave, trusting God each day, each moment. And so I raise my hands and bravely welcome a new life. It's terrifying, but it's also exciting. I know Jesus good things in store and much to teach me.

What about you? How are you being brave in your own life?

Perfection is Exhausting

I'm finally sitting down tonight after a long day in a long week with my kids. Ben has been out of town almost every night this week. Our house has been on the market for four weeks, in a city where selling a house usually takes a weekend. I am exhausted. I am so tired of keeping our house perfectly clean and juggling three kids all by myself.

I've been especially frustrated this week because the whole point of this move is so that I don't have to do it all anymore. I keep hoping an adult will step in and say "It's ok, let me take care of this for you." And then I realize, I'm the adult.

Over the past years I've been loving, parenting, leading, teaching, ministering, shouldering burdens, homemaking, and so many more things. I've struggled so much with the need to be perfect, and the false belief that I have to do all the things to be worthy of love. (Anyone else an Enneagram 1?)

As Ben and I have prayed through this move, we have intentionally set aside both of our striving and goal-driven ideals to do what is best for our family. We are stepping out of what is comfortable and our need to be perfect. We are choosing to raise our kids in a way we believe will serve them well throughout their lives.

But after so much prayer and agonizing decision making, we stand here. Ready to go, plans in order. But our house hasn't sold. Some of our plans are looking different than we expected. I assumed following God's lead for us to move across the country meant everything would fall in to place. I assumed it would be a perfect move. Instead, I'm desperately trying to keep our house perfect while I fall apart.

Isn't it funny how God uses specific life events to teach us lessons? Here I am struggling with perfection in the midst of literally struggling for perfection. I cannot keep my house pristine and still be a sane human. I also cannot keep my life flawless in every area and have a healthy soul.

In a whole new way, I'm seeing that I desperately need God's grace. He has called me to holiness through the blood of Christ, not perfection. Those two are vastly different. And so I pray, I dig into His word, and I daily moment-by-moment ask for His grace in the midst of my gaping imperfections.