A bit of Beauty: a favorite

My mama introduced me to this book years ago. I think it was one she read in classrooms when she was a substitute teacher. It is funny, it rhymes, the illustrations are soooo good, and right now Ransom likes it read on repeat!

A bit of Beauty: budding percussionist

Lately Ransom is trying out his drumsticks on new surfaces and enjoying the sounds he's getting. But when the opportunity presents itself and drumsticks aren't handy, he does't squander his chance to make some noise. I love AJ's face in this picture. :)

A bit of Beauty: dreamcake

Tried a new recipe yesterday via one of my favorite food blogs: mynewroots.blogspot.com. It's called cashew dreamcake, it's vegan, raw, husband approved, and everything in it is healthy for you! I had no qualms giving the little boy a second (small) helping!

A bit of Beauty: teepee

This teepee was my girlhood setting for playing Tiger Lily. I used leaves from my mama's irises to use as feathers and let my imagination go to Neverland, or the New World because Pocahontas was a favorite of mine, too. And now Ransom gets to play with it!

A bit of Beauty: lingering Christmas

We're still under the weather here so I haven't been as quick to take the Christmas decorations down. Soon, they'll make their departure, but in the meantime here's a picture to remember this spot that i enjoyed putting together. The nutcrackers are name Eduardo and Zamir! (Their given names on the box, not my invention.)

A bit of Beauty: under the weather

Ransom and I have been feeling sick this weekend and it's lingering into this week. There's been a lot of liquid drinking and Dick Van Dyke Show watching. This morning after AJ went to work Ransom and I were sitting on the couch, me reading, he playing with his alphabet tablet. Then, he reached over and took my hand and I melted.

A bit of Beauty: musical men o' mine

Captured this moment this morning. How sweet! Most times when we play the piano, the little boy usually joins us on the bench. There was a time when he'd sit next to me on the bench, climb into my lap, crawl off the bench on the other side onto the floor, come back to his original position, and do it all again. Now he's more interested in playing on the piano, adding his own flair to my music. He's my little Gershwin!

A bit of Beauty: snowflake

I made a bunch of snowflakes for the windows yesterday to make our house January festive (and to lessen the blow of taking away Christmas decorations...when we get around to it). Also, it snowed this morning, and it even stuck around for a little while. Isn't that fun?

A bit of Beauty: seeing the Story begin to sink in

As Ransom was busy playing in the living room today, I looked over at the coffee table and saw these toys placed as you see them. He had been playing in this spot earlier and had put this little family together. It's so COOL as a parent to watch our son make connections like this.

A bit of Beauty: silly

Today was hard. Third trimester beginning had me tired, teary and sniffly today. The little boy who lives here is getting molars, which added difficulties. A bright spot in the day, though, was this little guy being so excited about this booster chair his great grandma and grandpa made him. It was cute to watch him playing in it. :)

A bit of Beauty: Husband bakes lava cake

Bragging, that's what this one's about. In 2012 my husband started to watch Master Chef with me and then he converted into a foodie. He now makes hollandaise from scratch, he introduced me to risotto, makes his own pasta from scratch, and now, for the second night in a row, he's busted out chocolate lava cake. Ah, I am a blessed lady.

A bit of Beauty: story time

I'm reading a book called "Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches" by Rachel Jankovic and last night this part from chapter two stuck out to me:

"...the state of your heart is the state of your home. You cannot harbor resentment secretly toward your children and expect their hearts to be submissive and tender. You cannot be greedy with your time and expect them to share their toys. And perhaps more importantly, you cannot resist your opportunities to be corrected by God and expect them to receive correction from you.
"God has given us the job of teaching His law and demonstrating His grace. We are to be guides to our children as they learn to walk with God."

After reading those words I am challenged to let go some of the selfish little ways I want to spend my time and to savor Ransom more. Only a few months remain of our time with him being the only little one in our home, and I want to work on being present with him, not always preoccupied with a list of other things.

Today there was a lot of reading stories. We have "Caps for Sale" memorized and Ransom is intrigued by Adam in his beginner's Bible. "Mama, Adam naked!"

A bit of Beauty: an anticipated package

It was a happy mail day today (rather, yesterday...I am blogging this in the early hours) when this package was opened. This is a cookbook I've been eager to look through by a blogger whose writing has impressed me in the past, and I'm excited to have her recipes at my fingertips. Cooking is one creative outlet I get to plug into everyday, so I hope this will help refine and encourage growth for me so I can be a blessing to my family and to others. :)

A bit of Beauty: a little creator

Caught this picture of the little boy before he noticed, and I'm so glad. The ones I take trying to convince him to smile aren't as true to life and I'm a fan of candids! I want to remember how weeks ago he would eat crayons, draw on the table, and drop them on the floor, not really getting the concept of coloring. Now he likes to line the crayons up and sometimes coloring actually happens! Still I have to watch to make sure he doesn't sneak crayons in his mouth...

A bit of Beauty: eating it!

Day two of the bit of beauty photo challenge. Today it was dinner! :)

A bit of Beauty

It feels like it's time to do another photo challenge! This time I'm going to try to incorporate the name of this blog into it by capturing something I find beautiful in each photo. I may post a picture every day for awhile and see how it goes. Here's to being brave enough to find the Beauty in everyday life. :)