Is everyone up to their ears with back to school busyness? Hard to imagine Fall right around the corner when the pool is still open and the thermometer hovers at 90 degrees. Summer used to feel endless as a child…I miss that.

My selection for Friday Favorites will help me hang onto that summer loving a little longer…not to mention eat cake batter. What could be better! I present Funfetti cake batter Popsicles….thank you Unusually Lovely!

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You can show your love for this week’s favorites by going over and commenting on the posts and by pinning or sharing!

And if you love all of this week’s favorites, please pin, share, and invite your friends to this week’s linky party!

Jerri at Simply Sweet Home chose

29 Oatmeal Add-Ins from The Gracious Wife

Sheree from Stage Presents chose

Sorbet Rose Cocktail from If You Give A Blonde a Kitchen

Amy at A Day of Small Things AND Jen at Creatively Homemade chose

Funfetti Cake Batter Popsicles from Unusually Lovely

Kelly at Under a Texas Sky chose

Chicken and Fruit Salad from Miz Helen’s Country Cottage

Lisa at Condo Blues chose

DIY Exotic Sunroom Back Porch Makeover from Sew Can Do

Christine at Light and Savvy chose

Milk Can Table from Artsy VaVa

Dawn at LeroyLime chose

DIY Burlap Aisle Runner from The Country Chic Cottage

My kitchen…it is what it is. It is definitely the trade off for the roomy front porch I so enjoy. The footprint of the room is a smidgen bigger than the original kitchen in 1920….maybe…and what is life without a challenge. I’m not sure filling it with the many treasures of my past is the best solution, but it makes me happy…and that is a good thing. 

A neat panaramic view my hero experimented with…yes, my wall and counters are straight…mostly

No pantry? I have really put my wrought iron baker’s rack from Italy to use…I still really want a pantry.  

Another bit of strangeness …a full height cooking hearth. By 1920 most city folk did not cook over open flame but apparently the original owners also enjoyed a vintage touch. 

Limited cabinet space?….I have to admit I could have all the storage in the world but I would still prefer my pot rack.  

My hand painted German pie safe still makes me swoon…I just had to find room for it.   

The Kitchen…that is where memories happen!

Show and Share.  Inspire Me Monday.  No Place Like Home.  Tuesday at Our House.  The Scoop.  Inspire Me Tuesday

Thrifty and Vintage.  Make it Pretty.  Titus 2 Tuesday. The Art of Homemaking.  Monday of Many Blessings. Share it

Wow us Wednesday. Talk of the Town. Let’s Talk Vintage  Vintage Bliss.   Moonlight and Mason Jars. Tuesday With a Twist

Wonderful Wednesday.  Work it Wednesday.  Share Your Cup.  Share Your Style.  Home and Garden.  Thursday Favorites

Welcome Home Wednesday.   Brag About It.  Thoughts of Home.  Vintage Charm Party.  Your Inspired Design.

Shabbilious Friday. Friday Features. Home Sweet Home.  Feather Nest Friday.  Sweet and Simple Friday.  Tada Thursday

Waste Not Wednesday. Imparting Grace.  Morning Cup of Joe.  Home Matters.  Sweet Inspiration  Best of the Weekend

Vintage Chic.  Friendship Friday. Fantastic Friday. Snickerdoodle Peace Love and Link.  Sunday at Home

Share it One More Time. Amaze me Monday. Busy Monday. Inspiration Monday. Digging it.  Little House.

Finding Silver Pennies.  Inspire Me Monday

Remember that sense of freedom as a child when summer rolled around? The days and nights blended together with the intoxicating mix of watermelon in the garden, toes in some sort of water source, adventuresome car trips and fireflies in jars.  You rode bikes with your friends for miles, played tag late into the night, and counted the days until overnight camp.  Is this experience even possible anymore? If I could turn back time I would spend some more time in the summers of my childhood. The next best thing, sort of, is to bring some of that summer joy into my home. 

Lighthouses bring back memories of sandy beaches and salty water…and the thrill of the boardwalk at night. 

I am beginning to love the combination of light blue and yellow…lemons with a sugar straw and watermelons are happy tastes of summer. 

Sunflowers that towered over our heads!

The delicious bounty of a garden…nothing tastes better than a homegrown tomato

 The awe of standing near the edge of the sea and realizing just how small you are!
Let’s Party…

Show and Share    Inspire Me Monday.  No Place Like Home.  Tuesday at Our House.  The Scoop.  Inspire Me Tuesday

Thrifty and Vintage Finds.  Make it Pretty.  Titus 2 Tuesday   The Art of Homemaking.  Monday of Many Blessing

Wow us Wednesday. Talk of the Town.  Let’s Talk Vintage.  Share it. Vintage Bliss. Moonlight and Mason Jars

Tuesday with a Twist.  Waste Not Wednesday.  Wonderful Wednesday.  Work it Wednesday.  Share Your Cup

Share Your Style.  Home and Garden.  Welcome Home Wednesday.  Thursday Favorites.  Thoughts of Home

Vintage Charm Party.  Your Inspired Design.  Shabbilious Friday.  Friday Features.  Home Sweet Home.  Feather Nest Friday

Sweet and Simple. Tada Thursday.  Grace at Home.  Friendship Friday. Morning Cup of Joe.  Home Matters.

Best of the Weekend.  Sweet Inspiration. Fantastic Friday.  Vintage Chic. Sunday at Home. Share it One More Time

Peace Love and Link.  Snicker doodles   Amaze me Monday.  Busy Monday.  Inspirational Monday.  Digging it

Little House Links.  Finding Silver Pennies.  Inspire Me Monday.  Merry Monday

See you next week!

I am a vintage all the way type of girl…no big surprise there. I love the old, the worn, the rusty and the tattered. I think my Grandmother would have been very amused by my collections and was wonder why I would decorate with all the old junk she could not wait to upgrade in her day.  I do love my vintage treasures , but I am also very, very glad they serve only as an aesthetic purpose in my home. I do love my modern conveniences, this I can admit

Can you imagine making your own butter each day in this churn? I guess I can, however, I enjoy the large selection available to me from my local market…and no aching arms and shoulders. 

Just the thought of dragging all my areas rugs outside to beat them with this contraption makes me want a long nap…but to be honest the thought of pulling out the vacuum sometimes has the same effect so perhaps the issue is mine. 

 I remember all the curling iron burns from my High School days…the 80’s were brutal to my hair follicles…but imagine the damage I could have inflicted with these curling tongs from the 1920’s? Follow this up with a pointed instrument to buckle up my shoes and it is an Urgent Care visit in the making.  

As for the Princess this week…she clinched her true Marylander status with her choice of favorite snack…she is thankful for the convenience of Old Bay ready-made in a jar!

Let’s Party…

The Art of Homemaking.  Monday of Many Blessings.  Show and Share.  Inspire Me Monday.  No Place Like Home

Tuesday at Our House.  The Scoop.  Inspire Me Tuesday.  Thrifty and Vintage Finds.  BTTCG@Berideen’s. 

Make it Pretty Monday   Titus 2 Tuesday.  Wow Us Wednesday.  Talk of the Town.  Let’s Talk Vintage.  Share It


Tuesday With a Twist    Vintage Bliss. Work it Wednesday    Share Your Cup.  Share Your Style.  Home and Garden

Welcome Home Wednesday.  Thursday Favorites.  Wonderful Wednesday.  Moonlight and Mason Jars.                                    Inspire Me Wednesday.  Thoughts of Home.  Vintage Charm Party.  Your Inspired Designs.  Shabbilious Friday

Friday Features. Home Sweet Home.  Feather Nest Friday.  Sweet and Simple Friday. Making Broken Beautiful 

Tada Thursday.   No Rules Weekend.  Friendship Friday.  5 Star Fru Fru.  Morning cup of joe.  Home matters 

Friday Favorites.  Sweet Inspiration   Best of the Weekend.  Vintage Chic.  Sunday at Home.  Share it One More Time

Peace Love and Link.  Funtastic Friday.  Amaze Me Monday.  Busy Monday.  Inspiration Monday.  Digging it

Little House Links.  Finding Silver Pennies.  Inspire Me Monday

Sometime, in the early stages of our adoption journey, my husband and I had to make the difficult decision as to what special need child files we would be open to review. With the average wait of 6 years and climbing for  “healthy” girls from China, the special needs program offered a shorter wait and often included very minor or correctable needs. 

 After much prayer we listed the needs we felt we could manage and waited for God to put his plan into action. Flash forward about 6 months and we received that highly anticipated phone call and email file! As I gazed at that beautiful face I noticed her big brown eyes and smooth skin, her adorable ears and her gentle hands…I did not even notice her unrepaired unilateral complete cleft…it just did not matter, she was our baby.  

Our Princess was 20 months old and living in the remote mountains of Northern China. 

But what is a cleft palate/lip?  A cleft is a gap in the mouth that didn’t close during the early stages of pregnancy, and this kind of birth defect happens more often than you may realize. It is estimated that, worldwide, a child is born every 3 minutes with a cleft — about one in 500-750 births. Sometimes a cleft condition can be easy to see because it’s an opening in the lip. Sometimes it’s harder to tell if someone has a cleft because it’s an opening in the roof of their mouth (called the palate.)
There are many risk factors that can increase the likelihood of birth defects. While some causes are still unknown, genetics and family history, pre-existing medical conditions, poor nutrition and exposure to harmful environmental substances can affect the healthy development of a baby. As a result, these factors could also be the cause of a baby born with a cleft lip or cleft palate. We will never know why it happened but we will never know where her outstanding fine motor skills came from either…and that’s OK.  

 Our Princess after we met her in China, already charming her Mama and Baba

 Cleft lip and cleft palate can be repaired through a series of surgeries and orthondontics.  While it can be corrected, it really is not an “easy fix”…despite what you may see in Operation Smile advertising.   Our brave girl has had 3 major surgeries and some pretty extensive speech therapy with quite a few more surgeries in her future…continuing into her young adulthood.

Her first surgery at Johns Hopkins 

  She is a spunky bright little girl who charms everyone she meets. She is very determined to speak clearly and has made huge strides with her speech therapy.  The only real struggles we have with her are probably universal to every family with a three year old….Does the phrase “I do it myself” sound familiar? She is our joy and we are humbled and honored that God has entrusted her into our care.  It really is a miracle.  

Once upon a time, on the faraway island of Okinawa, a Pre-school teacher and a Naval Officer, met, fell in love, and were married…

…Life was busy and full of adventure but they both knew someone was missing from their home.  So, they began a long journey to find her…a long journey indeed. Often they felt discouraged on this journey …holding on to faith alone and one day…

                             
…They opened an e-mail and fell in love! And traveled half-way around the world to bring her home…

…They became a party of three on December 15, 2014…and a new adventure began…

And they have never been happier or more complete.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Sweet Inspiration@Repurposing Junkie

5 Star Fru Fru@A Tray of Bliss

Silver Pennies Sunday@Finding Silver Pennies

Inspiration Monday@Our Southern Home

Busy Monday@Pinch of Joy

Proverb 31 Link up@Proverb 31 Wife

No Place Like Home@Rose Chintz Cottage 

BTTCG@Bernadeen’s Blog

Inspire Me Tuesday@A Stroll Thru Life

Wonderful Wednesday@Oh My Heartsie Girl

Titus 2 Tuesday@Cornerstone Confessions 

Make it Pretty Monday@My Dedicated House

Wow us Wednesday@ Savvy Southern Style

Talk of the Town@Knick of Time

Welcome Home Wednesday@Suburban Simplicity 

Home and Garden Thursday@A Delightsome Life

Share Your Cup Thursday@Have a Daily Cup of Mrs Olson

Share your Style@Essence of Home

Favorite Things@Katherines Corner

Thoughts of Home@Poofing the Pillows

Home Sweet Home@The Charm of Home

Love Peace and Link up@Twenty Something

Share it One More Time@Shabby Fru Fru

Sundays at Home@Thoughts from Alice

Best of the Weekend@21 Cottonwood Lane

Dishing it and Digging it

Monday of Many Blessings

Sweet and Simple Friday@Rooted in Thyme

Feather Nest Friday@French Country Cottage

Shabbilious Friday@Shabby Art Boutique

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Although not technically selling this book, I am quite privileged to be on the official launch team! 

  It is very easy to think you have the author, Heather Nelson figured out when you meet her…beautifully restored turn of the century house, adorable twin girls, a devoted, mission minded pastor husband. Add to this a successful counseling practice and book deal and it starts to get much easier to listen to that voice….the one that insists….you will never measure up. Just like that,the voice of shame becomes stronger than the soft whisper of God’s assurance…”you are perfect in my eyes”.

Shame, the thief that robs us of the glorious freedom and contentment is no stranger to most women…every human being if we are honest. But even more insidious, it convinces us we are alone and the only way to function is to push it down, cover it up and deny.  If no one spots that shame at least we can appear to have it all together. 

 Heather bravely steps up and pulls the curtain back to exposure the lies of shame and helps us through the steps to acknowledge and face our “secrets”. Only then are we to experience true joy. By sharing her own story Heather breaks down her own outer shield of protection but you also see how God replaced it with joy…and you find you love her even more. 

What others have to say…
All this time I thought I struggled with guilt, but to put words to it … it’s shame. I felt like I was reading the response to many prayers and questions that have been in my heart.” 
“This has been so enlightening. I think after reading this that I have areas of shame but I called it something else. I look forward to reading this again later and with others that I can discuss with.” 
“Reading the book this sentence has struck me deeply, ‘no one who feels shame experiences true joy.’ (p. 32) That one sentence has been so good to sit and ponder with. As I wrestle with my own story and child hood of origin it’s leading me to Investigate why I feel shame and how I simultaneously feel robbed of joy.” 

Heather’s book will be available from Crossway publications on June 30, 2016.  It is available for pre-order through Amazon.  Just follow this link. 

Get to know Heather at her blog Hidden Glory

Titus 2 Tuesday@Cornerstone Confessions