A little bit of my story

This summer marks ten year since I battled the most shameful time of my life.

A domino effect that left my friends,family and co workers baffled at how I could be a part of such a scandal at seventeen and just barely graduated from high school. After all, I was the pastor's daughter and taught the four year old's at church on Sunday mornings.

In the ten years since, stumbling my way through counseling, college, marriage and babies, I have carried around baggage from the events past. Thanks be to God, the weight of my baggage gets lighter everyday as I learn to give that weight to Jesus, and stand a little taller knowing His grace is truly sufficient for me.

I feel more comfortable to talk about what I went through. I am able to articulate how I felt during that time and tell my husband bits and pieces as things come up in conversation. It makes me feel free. Free of feeling worthless and used and shamed.

I have no idea how God is going to use the events of ten years ago for His glory, but I am confident that he already has and will continue to do so.


"You stood before my failure, carried the cross for my shame, my sin weighed upon your shoulders, My soul now to stand...

So I'll stand with hands high and hearts abandoned, in awe of the One who gave it all"

A long week

It has been a long week.

A week of middle of the night meltdowns, whining, crying, fighting and so much more.

My toddlers have Hand, Foot and Mouth right now and it is making them cranky, moody, sleepless and in pain. And I am 28 weeks pregnant. And tired. And without family to help and a husband who doesn't have the luxury of a flexible job.

This week has been hard, but I knew I could make it because come Friday night my parents would be coming to visit and I could relax just a little bit and have some help. Only, last minute, they weren't able to come.

It has been a long week.

A week filled with middle of the night snuggles, kisses and the opportunity to teach my girls patience.

My toddlers have Hand, Foot and Mouth right now and it is making them persevere and learn to use their words. And all the while I am blessed to be creating a new little one. And feel her sweet kicks. And I have amazing Buffalo friends, one who even offered to make our family a meal. And my husband has an amazing job that allows me to stay home and teach my children every minute of everyday.

My parents were supposed to come this weekend and I was excited to see them and relax a little while they helped with the kids. However, they weren't able to make it, which worked out beautifully because the girls got extra Daddy time this weekend, we were able to take them somewhere special yesterday and make amazing family memories and were also blessed with a stranger giving us an area rug we were in need of.

Tonight as I prepare for the week ahead and spend time reflecting on this past one, I am thankful for a God who knows how to make all things beautiful, and gives us peace when there is chaos all around.

It has been a long week. A long, good week :)

We are counting our blessings... literally!

We have some exciting family news!









Baby Bradfield #3 will be arriving in November, Lord willing!

We are thrilled (and a little scared) to be adding a new little one to our family! Please be praying as we prepare for this. And please pray for me, as I once again struggle with morning all day sickness. I am thankful it is temporary and is because I am creating new life, yet it is still very difficult to be so sick while caring for energetic toddlers.

Blessings to you all on this Easter weekend. I pray that your weekend will be more than bunnies and egg hunts, and that you will take time to reflect on how our sweet Savior came to die, so that we can live!

DIY Doily Embroidery Hoop Wall Art

We recently moved our desk into the family room and so I wanted some fun wall art to go above it. I recently found an idea on pinterest (wish I could find the website) where a doily was stretched over burlap. I loved the idea but wanted more color to mine. This is what I came up with!

> Pictures are taken with my iphone because my camera is MIA, so sorry about the quality.

I have been waiting for my favorite Katie Daisy print to come in the mail so I could share this project! Katie's shop if filled with some of the most beautiful art and it is slowly starting to take over my home :)

Since I am on a limited budget, instead of using two 8x10 prints, I used one print I already had, Mountain Bouquet and then a You Are So Loved greeting card. I think the framed card still needs a little somethin' something'... but I haven't decided on what. Maybe a little bunting?

Anywayyyy... here are the supplies I used to make this gallery wall.

-Three different sized embroidery hoops (stole from another room in the house)
-Two doilies (already had on hand)
-Two Katie Daisy prints $21 altogether
-Two thrifted frames (already had on hand)
-White acrylic craft paint
-Sandpaper
-Fabric (leftover from other projects)

I love this project because I already had almost everything on hand. Here is what I did:

First I put fabric inside the embroidery hoops. Then I took one doily and stretched it over the entire hoop. For the other two, I just cut a doily in half and put the edges inside the hoops.

Then I painted the frames with Folk Art Acrylic craft paint (my fav!)from Hobby Lobby. After I painted two or three coats, I took my sandpaper and distressed the frames. They were originally an espresso color. I LOVE how the distressing turned out!




Sidenote -- if you already have a frame and you want to distress it but the frame is not the right color underneath, you can paint the dark color first underneath and then paint the actual color you want to frame on top. I have done this with several distressing projects :)

When I had all the doilies in the hoops and the prints in the frame I thought the project still needed a little something. So, I took a one of my favorite pictures of my dad and Amara and cropped it. Still didn't look right so I took some of the fabric and made a couple fabric rosettes. And voila!



When finished, I just laid out the frames and hoops on the floor and moved them around until I found an arrangement I liked.

This may be one of my favorite diy projects ever. I mean seriously... aqua, doilies and Katie Daisy art. Can't get much better than that! I smile every time I walk past it :)

Table Love Part 1

I have been wanting a new dining room table for a couple years now. Every time we plan to purchase one however, we find other ways to spend the money. Last year we had decided that we were finally going to purchase a new one with our taxes. I got so excited, and claimed our "old" table as my craft table. I started to paint and hot glue and Modge Podge without putting anything between my project and the table. And then a couple weeks later, our car died. So then not only could we not get a new table, but the one we already had was ruined on top.

So, I have been debating for the last year on what to do. Every time I sit at, wipe off, or do anything on that table, I curse the table. I want it to die a slow and painful death. This Big Lots piece of junk has got to go. I search Pinterest and drool at all the beautiful farm tables and refurbished tables like these ones.




Then finally last week, the most amazing thing happened. One of the chairs broke.

Then yesterday, another chair broke.

I was in heaven! Finally, I can start looking at tables, or hopefully find an old one for free to paint and sand. Seriously, best day ever!!

So, that's the exciting happenings around here :) Table Love Part 2 coming soon when we actually purchase a table or pick one up from the side of the road. I can't wait! But first... a ten day trip to Michigan is in order!! We leave on Wednesday and I can hardly breath thinking of all the hugs and laughter and fun!

Love,
Danielle

2012 Reading List

I really love to read. But, since I don't have as much time as I used to, I have to work on making it a priority. I have a ton of books that I can't want to dive into but had to whittle it down due to lack of time. So I am making a list of my top 12. I figure one a month is doable :) I am excited to order the first couple on my list today!

1. The Prodical God by Tim Keller

2. Sacred Parenting by Gary Thomas

3. Give Them Grace: Dazzling You Kids with the Love of Jesus by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick, Jessica Thompson and Tullian Tchividjian

4. One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are by Ann Voskamp

5. The Urban Homestead Your Guide to Self-Sufficient Living in the Heart of the City by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen

6. Unfashionable Tullian Tchividjian

7. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

8. Beyond Charity by John M Perkins

9. Real Marriage by Mark Driscoll

10. Adopted For Life by Russell D. Moore

11. Small Town, Big Micacle: How Love Came To The Least Of These by W.C. Martin

12. Developing The Leader Within You by John Maxwell

I am hoping to do a little gardening and canning for the first time so I am planning on getting a couple books on those subjects soon. I am up for any recommendations!


I also have a couple books on my list to read to the kids. I don't think we have yet to purchase new books for the girls. Everything we read to them is from the thrift store. Even their Beginners Bible is secondhand. But here a couple books I want to purchase for our devotions.


My ABC Bible Verses

The Jesus Storybook Bible


What's on your reading list?

Oh black paint, how I loathe you

For the last few months every morning I wake up and wonder if today is going to be a day that Amara naps. She has always been a good sleeper. She usually took really good naps at home when we kept to our schedule. Then suddenly we moved and everything changed.

The days of both my children napping at the same time so I can get an hour of peace and quiet are gone. I cherish some afternoon time alone because it is usually the only time I ever have to myself. No quiet drives to work, not even a five minute shower in peace. Amara no longer wants to nap or even stay on her bed. I am pretty sure this is common due to her age not to mention all the change in the last year. Generally I just try and keep her in her bed or at least her room. I am learning to adjust to Amara not napping, but I do think that she should be able to lay quietly in her bed and read or play or something.

Well today, that something she chose to do was sneak out of her room, open my craft cabinet (that I have been needing to get a lock for but haven't found the time), climb up the cabinet to the the top shelf, grab black chalkboard paint... thus beginning the massacre. BLACK.PAINT.EVERYWHERE. There are no words. It was sad. I cried (I do that a lot). There was a lot of lecturing and unfortunately yelling. And a lot of scrubbing. And a lot of laundry.

So not only did I not get even fifteen minutes of peace, but I had to do extra work. And as I was scrubbing and crying, I began to wonder if this is the best course for my life. Maybe I should work and put my kids in daycare. Maybe I should do something, anything other than clean up dirty dishes and puke and paint.

Days like this are weary. Weeks like this when I wonder if my house will ever be clean or the laundry ever be completed make me weary. I feel like an episode of Lost where everyday I wake up and think I will have more answers, but instead every night I go to bed with only more questions.

Then A quote I heard recently came to me.

"Anything highly worthy of doing is the hardest thing you can do."

Being a stay at home mom isn't always easy. But it is highly worthy of doing. And God is faithful. I stay at home because I believe it is the best thing for my children and our family. I want to teach them to be Jesus in this hurting world. I stay at home, and work from home, because although the days are hard, I don't want to miss it. I don't want their lives to fly by and I missed it because I was at work and they were being taken care of someone else. I want to witness every part of their lives because I know it will be gone when I blink my eyes.

I don't want to miss the beautiful things. And I don't want to miss the messy parts either.