SQUEAL!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AisforAnna

It has begun...

Please have a browse.

I'm pretty excited :)

Help me!!!

Hi everyone!

I am having a dilemma...just a minor one...but it doesn't feel quite right so I thought I'd be like Rachel and put it out there...what should be my etsy name? So far I have two accounts. One is 'A is for Anna'; and the second which I opened a few years ago is 'Anxious Anna' (I was pretty anxious at the time...but not so much anymore...especially as I am trying to sell calm stationery items! lol!) The problem is there is already an unused account called A is for Annabel and the name Anna is completely overused in etsy titles: check some "Anna"s out though on etsy, there is some really nice stuff! So please....help! If you think of a name that relates to my blog title or is a reflection of me and what I make that would be even better.

Thanks! Off to play with my 15 month old now and stop thinking about it for a bit! Bye!

*Sigh* it really is " slovely"...

I just wanted to share this with all my bloggy friends *all three of you* whom I love. How utterly sweet is this little cherub knitting a scarf? You can find more of this illustrator's works here, but none of the others popped out to me as much as this one. I found it while trawling through pictures for my Biblesong class this Sunday...totally irrelevant but cute none the less.

Better than a Hallelujah...

Today is Father's Day. A day that families spend together, eat food, celebrate being alive and what it means to be a family. In my family, while it might not be the most 'comfortable' experience, when you are not around to celebrate with your loved ones, you realise how much more you appreciate and cherish the moments that you do have.

One reality in my life that I have to face right now is the joy of having twins, but the realisation that this makes it more of a challenge to spend time with my extended family. My mum and dad, and Spilsbury side of the family still have enough leeway to travel and come visit us, but my brother Peter and Rhi and my niece Lily are more restricted in time and budget. My Aunty is having her first baby in November who I am not sure when I will be able to meet, and the same goes for my relatives and how and when they will be able to meet our babies after they are born. Luke's grandparents too have only met Isabelle once and it breaks my heart knowing that the people in my life who I care about the most are able to spend the least time with us.

So, after my more recent trip to Adelaide, and one night of praying and deep pondering ;) I remembered to listen to this song, one of my new favourites, Better than a Hallelujah, by Amy Grant. That even though a little part of my heart lives elsewhere, back in Adelaide, and back with family members wherever they are, my cries and prayers are precious to God, as small as they may seem to other people. And I especially asked God to abundantly bless the family I see everyday, my husband and babies, and to help me appreciate the blessings I can see right in front of me, rather than look back to what I am missing out on. I am still sad about these things and I think I always will be, but I am hoping and praying and trusting that God knows the very best for us, and that his love endures through all these things. His plans are ALWAYS for our good, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:11-13 (TNIV)

So to the father of my babies who I see everyday, and I know who is such a rock for me, Happy 2nd Father's Day! Sometimes I am unsure whether you realise how grateful we are for all that you do for us, because life sometimes seems so ordinary and the same, but you are wonderful and we are blessed to have you as a husband and daddy :) Thank you. All our love, Anna, Isabelle and the twins xoxo

Better than a Hallelujah

Amy Grant

God loves a lullaby

In a mothers tears in the dead of night

Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

God loves a drunkards cry,

The soldiers plea not to let him die

Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries

God just hears a melody

Beautiful the mess we are

The honest cries of breaking hearts

Are better than a Hallelujah

The woman holding on for life,

The dying man giving up the fight

Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes

The tears of shame for what's been done,

The silence when the words won't come

Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries

God just hears a melody

Beautiful the mess we are

The honest cries of breaking hearts

Are better than a Hallelujah

Better than a church bell ringing,

Better than a choir singing out,singing out.

We pour out our miseries

God just hears a melody

Beautiful the mess we are

The honest cries of breaking hearts

Are better than a Hallelujah

Making Room

With the idea of an expanding family, Luke and I have been looking at ways to cut the clutter. Two weeks ago we began our team effort (mainly Luke's effort ;) and made my 'old' desk 'new' with a good sanding & a couple of coats of paint. I love white furniture...if I had it my way, every piece of wooden furniture in our house would be painted white or very dark brown, like our new twin cots. I think Luke did a great job and it was fun to actually carry through with an idea that I had wanted for this desk for ages. Now there will be a lot more space in this part of the house and I get my old desk back! Here are a few pictures of what we did. It took about 5 days all up...if it were my choice we would have done it in 2 and I am sure it would have looked quite poorly! :) Luke finished off the desk, sanding it back along the edges to create that rustic look that my two other pieces of white furniture have.