Texas Thanksgiving and this week....

So, we had a great week visiting Chris' family in Texas. It was a looooooong car trip down there (and an even longer one back), but we are so thankful for the time we got to spend with each of them. Our boys were in serious need of some grandparent and cousin time and we so loved catching up with brothers and sisters. There are some really exciting things going on in our family!!

We did some birthday celebrating!

I'm still a little in shock at the fact that I have a 6 year-old!! It's craziness!

We spent some great time with cousins in Arlington and did a little trip to Legoland for the birthday boys!

We had an amazing Thanksgiving feast at the B&N Otts Inn in Austin! : ) They cooked up an amazing meal and we got a surprise visit from Chris' sister Brooke...who flew in from Cali. It was a great week!!

We are glad to be home though and I'm ready to get things in gear for the Handmade Hope Christmas Boutique this Saturday here in Wheaton!! I've got tons to do and tons to make between now and Friday night!! Lord, help me!

So, it's going to be a bit of a crazy week! But, we have so much to be thankful for and our cups are very full! 

Hope you had an amazing Thanksgiving!!

New Items in the Shop!!

I've been crazy busy trying to get stuff done for my trunk show last week, 

the Handmade Hope Christmas Boutique in a couple of weeks,

and a little retail show after that. WHEW! 

It's been crazy...but I realized that I still really need to get some inventory listed on

my actual site for all the lovely people who might check it out and want to do 

some holiday shopping.

So...I've listed a few new things for you to check out!

Like this little heart elastic headband for little ladies...

Or a pretty layer flower hair clip...

or a pretty flower elastic headband...

or maybe a little something special for you!!!

So go check it out here!!!

Hope you are having a great Thursday!

The weekend is just around the corner!! YAY! : )

Handmade Hope with Hand & Cloth

So, I'm helping to create a Christmas Boutique here in Wheaton!

It's my first time organizing and event like this...it's a little overwhelming

and a whole lotta fun! HA!

So, I thought that occasionally I would link up posts that I've been doing on the Handmade Hope blog and let you guys in on some of the amazing vendors that will be there and some of the amazing organizations that will be represented as well.

Today, it's Hand & Cloth...and organization that provides dignified work for women at risk and coming our of trafficking. It's amazing! They create the most beautiful handmade blankets from saris! 

Need a gift for someone?? You just found it!

Come check it out here!

Otts' Family Thankful Tree

First of all, it seems that I may have not  have finished my Happy Day project...

needless to say, we have had a very busy last few days!!

The most important thing that happened was this amazing conference on Saturday...

Wow!! I'm still processing all the amazing things that God spoke 

at this conference.

Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be unpacking it here over the coming weeks!

But, today...I wanted to share our little (and free!) 

family project for Thanksgiving!

I first saw the idea here...and actually at my fabulous friends Shelby's house too!

Isn't it cute?! God has been speaking to us a lot about 

cultivating thankfulness

and this is a great way to do it and add a little fall decor to your house.

Also, my boys LOVED doing it too!!

I have a pitcher on my dining room table that I figured would be perfect for our

thankful tree!

Gavin with our new tree! Sticks from the yard, some extra card stock, 

a paper punch, and some yarn...DONE!!

We each wrote what we are thankful for on each tag. Mine was that I'm thankful

we get to go home to Texas for Thanksgiving!!

The boys were thankful A LOT for Legos! HA! They also drew pictures of family members...

it is really sweet!

So, there's a lovely project for you for fall...not to mention free which is always fun!

I'm also about to print out a cute chevron "give thanks" banner from Pinterest! YAY!

Have you printed out this yet??

My lovely friend, Megan, has this wonderful printable on her blog!

Mine is on a shelf in my living room! Beautiful!

Hope you're having a wonderful fall day!

We have much to be thankful for!

Linking up with...

Happy Day Project: Day 4

Buy a book for a friend...that's the challenge for today!

I've been dying to read this book...

ever since I watched this video...

Watch it!! If you hear yourself this in video then you should read this book too!

I really feel like God is going to speak something really good to my heart through this book and I'm so excited about it!

I have an amazing friend, Shelby, who I so wanted to read this book as well...but I couldn't afford to buy a book for me and a book for her...so, I ordered one while it was crazy on sale online and figured I'd read it really quickly and pass it along to Shelby.

But, then, this amazing lady from

sent me a text this morning saying that for her Happy Day Project...she would be sending me a copy of "Grace for the Good Girl" and guess what???

it's even signed by Mrs. Emily herself...what? So awesome!

Isn't it funny how we give out of our own need and God sees our desires and blesses us in the most unexpected ways through amazing people in our lives!

I love that about Him!

Thank you, sweet Jenni!

And, Shelby, I have a book to give you! HA!!

*Oh, and on a side note...we have our first vendor's meeting for our Christmas Boutique here in Wheaton! So excited to talk to everyone and really get the ball rolling!!

Check out our event Blog!

Happy Day Project: Day 3

Day 3: Give a gift card to someone who is homeless

So, I jumped into the Happy Day Project loving the idea of being challenged

to do an act of kindness every day this week alongside 

others all over the country. It's an exciting thing!

However, after looking at the challenges, I also realized that some of them 

would not be easy for me to do and would need some adapting.

We are very tight financially right now as my husband looks for a job here 

in Chicago...so...buying a gift card, or a book, or ANYTHING

is next to impossible.

But, I didn't want this to stop me from taking on the spirit if the challenge.

So, I've just had to make modifications along the way...

"ain't no thang!"

So, today...instead of a gift card to someone in need...

we sent a food donation to Micah's school for the annual food drive!

I know what you're thinking...hot chocolate?? It was on the list...promise!!
And everyone deserves a treat, right?! HA!

Someone will be blessed by our small but yummy donation 

AND we had an opportunity to show our boys how we can

help others in need! WIN WIN!

Happy Day!!

Happy Day Project: Day 2

Write a handwritten note to someone...

I honestly can't remember the last time I wrote a letter to someone without a reason...

like to thank them or tell them congratulations.

So, I LOVE this challenge today, because

it encourages me to do something I rarely do.

I love getting letters in the mail...

honestly, any mail that isn't a bill is a blessing.

An Anthro catalogue, a letter, a package of supplies

 for my shop. I love it all! HA!

Heather at Life Made Lovely made this beautiful printable

paper that I'm writing my note on today!!

I can't wait to give it to someone...

Don't forget to check out Joy's Hope for today's printable 

and charity!!

Oh...and write someone a letter today!

It's cold and rainy here...

a perfect day to write a note and work my tail off 

for my first ever Trunk Show TOMORROW!!!

WHAT?!

The Happy Day Project: Day 1

It's the first day of The Happy Day Project

hosted by 

Julie and Jeannett!

Each day this week there is a little act of kindness to perform

along with a lovely printable and information about

a great cause! Brilliant idea!

The task for today is to deliver a treat to a neighbor...I love this one!

And it couldn't have worked out more perfect, because our neighbors just had a baby

on Friday! YES!

So, I'm making this recipe.

Oh. My. Goodness.

This cinnamon bread is out of this world good and so easy!

It has become a staple here at this house and it was free

since it's all ingredients I already had.

I meant to snap a pic of the yumminess before taking it over there,
but didn't...oh, well!

You'll have to make some for yourself! HA!

Hope my neighbors were blessed!!

Orphan Sunday

Tomorrow, November 6th is Orphan Sunday. Have you heard of it?

It's an international day to pray for and give to orphans all over the world. I first heard about it through and email I received from Show Hope. I immediately wanted to take part! 

"Lord, how can our church rally around this things that is so dear to Your heart and that you so strongly mandate for us to take up."

So, as a church we are taking this opportunity to pray for and support Restoration Gateway, which is an organization in Uganda that does orphan care and also provides for other needs in their Ugandan community. 

I'm so excited to see how God stirs people's hearts for the fatherless and the unique ways the Holy Spirit will prompt their hearts to respond to His call.

There are different callings for different people. Some are called to give financially, to pray, to take trips to places like Uganda to support organizations there. Some are called to adopt or to foster children. 

The question is not IF we should be a part...it's HOW. The Church has a huge role to play in seeing every child put into a family.

So, what's your part??

Pray and ask the Lord how He wants you to be involved. Restoration Gateway allows people to sponsor a child each month as a part of caring for them. You could make a huge difference in the life of a child, who will one day be the next generation of their country. A generation raised to fear the Lord, raised to pursue His callings on their lives, raised to walk in peace and restoration.

Now, that's something worth giving to!

The Happy Day Project!

So, I have to admit that I'm a sucker for Blog Challenges...

I did the 31 days of thankfulness with The Nester...

well I did a few of those 31 days...HA!

31 days is a long time to try to blog every day! Sheesh!

It was fun to be stretched though and I really think that it 

brought a greater desire to cultivate thankfulness! 

So, it served its purpose! : )

Anyways, I saw The Happy Day Project on

Julie's lovely blog, Joy's Hope.

It's a challenge to do an act of kindness every day this next week...

isn't that a great idea?!

I have sort of a crazy week coming up, 

but I thought...who doesn't have time to bless someone else...

If I can't make the time for that then my priorities are screwed up.

Can I get an "Amen"???

Okay, so here's the details

I'm brainstorming my ideas this weekend so we're ready to go on Monday.

Every day you can check in at Julie's or Jeannett's blog for the 

fun printable and cause info.

Hope you want to join me in spreading the "HAPPY" this week!

Instagram Friday!

Here's our week...man, this week flew by!!

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

We walked the neighborhood with some friends!

They had so much fun and pretty much burned off all 

the candy with their running from door-to-door! HA!

 Sawyer wore Gavin's old shark costume!

I love this costume...with all the padding on the bum!

A rare pic of me and the hubs...I am going to get better at getting ones

with me in them!

 Sawyer wants to do everything himself....

hence the messy soup meal after trick or treating!

Oh, well! HA!

Here's a sneak peek at some Christmas stuff I'm working on for

my trunk show next Wednesday...I'm doing 3 yarn wreaths...

I LOVE working on Christmas stuff!!

 For school, we had to make a "clown" hat for Gavin.

He wanted a jester hat...

paper, elastic and a sewing machine can do wonders!! HA!

Hope you have an amazing week!!

I'm hoping to post on details of Orphan Sunday tomorrow!!

It's going to be exciting!

Linking up with...

Rainy Day...

We're experiencing a yucky day today...

rainy,

cold,

not so great attitudes around here...

ya know what I mean?

Yeah.

One of THOSE days.

But, this little man walking around in his super hero

cape and Star Wars lunch box

makes the day a little brighter.

Here's to a day filled with GRACE.

To a mama supernaturally getting a ton done for her show,

to a hubby who feels the Spirit's presence all day long,

and to kiddos watching movies all day! HA!

Hope you're Thursday is graceful.