Quietube-Super Simple Tutorial

This isn't my usual type of post, but I want to share something that's been really helpful to my family. 

Have you ever heard of quietube? It's a great tool for watching YouTube videos without seeing all of the sometimes offensive images and words in the sidebar and comments. 

I love to be able to look up videos to supplement whatever my kids and I are having a discussion about or even to enjoy music videos.

But as a mom of young children, there are definitely things that I would not want them to see. Honestly, I don't want to see it! If you've spent any time at all on YouTube, you know that people can post the most profane and outrageous things in the comments, and I really appreciate the ability to eliminate the possibility of my little ones scrolling down to that section. Get a life, people! 

Here's what you do: 

Go to www.quietube.com 

You will see a screen that looks like this (sorry about my crummy photos) 

 

 Drag the quietube button up to your toolbar

Mine is right next to the all-important "Pin It" button : )

Now, when you go to the video you want to watch on YouTube, simply click the quietube button and all of the stuff around the video player screen is eliminated with a white frame.

 I hope this little tip was helpful! 

I'll be back soon with something pretty.

Weekend blessings-

Jeanette 


Joining the parties this week at:

Inspiration Monday at I Should Be Mopping the Floor 
Creative Bloggers Party at Homemaker on a Dime 

Seed Box & Mother's Day Goodies

I hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day weekend! I had a great weekend with all four of my kids. I had the added treat of having my oldest daughter, who is married, spend the weekend with us as her husband was away with his family. 
As any mom of grown kids knows, having all your kids in the house together makes Mother's Day (or any day!) extra special. I'll share a bit more about my day down below. 


About a month ago, Debra at Common Ground showed us some DIY vintage seed boxes she put together. They were so charming, I was determined to try my hand at one! Yeah, I've been a little slow over here :) 
I liked that hers were dark, but the only box I had around that was about the size I wanted was one my daughter passed on to me after she had already begun painting it white some time ago. I decided to just go with it, as is, before my motivation fizzled out.  

I didn't have any seed catalog images to use, but I had some vintage inspired calendar pages that included some pretty flowers. I cut a page to fit the lid and glued it in place. 

Then...

I changed my mind! Seems to be a theme.
I liked the way it looked, but I had a couple of other things that I liked the look of even more.

A page from a calendar book by Marjolein Bastin, one of my favorite nature artists, and a sweet vintage image {I've saved it for several years} from a Victorian Trading Co. catalog cover.

I decided I'd just lean them inside the lid. Hey, the original picture I glued in is still back there. You know, in case I change my mind again.
I tucked in a few weathered little pots, and the packet of Basil seeds that were in this month's Country Living magazine.
Sweet and simple. 
Debra's are much more authentic, and charming! If you haven't already seen them, go take a look over here. 
But I like the idea of being inspired by someone's project and making it our own with what we already have to work with. Mine will reside on top of the piano. For a little while, anyway : )

I'd like to show you a few of my Mother's Day treats! I didn't get photos of everything our day included {I know, bad blogging form}. My three girls (ages, 9, 15 and 22) brought me a lovely breakfast tray in bed. Pancakes, maple sausage and coffee-yum! The three youngest kids had coffee $, lovely artwork, and very touching words written for me. What a highlight for me! Waking up and having all my kiddos gathered on and around my bed, sipping coffee and chatting until we headed off to church-just the best!

My oldest daughter, Tess, brought me this sweet pink Geranium in a pretty white pot.

She made this darling little plant stake out of a Kohler enamel sample!

My other gift from her was this cool Coca-cola crate. 

What shall I do with this?? Oh, the possibilities.

I even like the way the bottom looks.

This little blue and white pitcher was a "gift" I picked up for myself at the thrift store. I'm not the only one who does that, am I?

Every year on Mother's Day our church gives Carnations to all the moms. This year they gave them to all the women and all the girls, so we ended up with a few. I tucked some into my "new" pitcher.

At the end of our day Sunday, my daughter treated us to pizza, and then we went for a sweet treat at Sonic. If you don't have those near you, they are sort of an old fashioned style drive-in where you park at the menu boards, place your order by speaker and they bring it out to your car. In the summer, the (very brave) "car hops" sometimes come out in roller skates!
This gorgeous tree was right next to where we were parked. 

All my kids together, lots of laughs, good food and so much beauty. My day was truly filled with so many blessings! 



Thanks so much for letting me share some of my Mother's Day weekend with you. It is a blessing to have you here!

Jeanette 

Sharing this week at-

Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life 
Knick of Time Tuesday 
The Scoop 
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm
Budget Decorating at Creative Cain Cabin
Tweak It Tuesday at Cozy Little House 
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style 
Tutorials Tips and Tidbits at StoneGable 
Share Your Cup Thursday at Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage 
Home Sweet Home at The Charm of Home
Be Inspired at Common Ground   


 

Evidence of Life

 

*Last summer, while I was learning how to make a blog post, this was the very first "practice post" I put together (hence the bad blurry photos). I never shared it with anyone.  Today my house looks like a train wreck, so I thought I'd post this "publicly" as a reminder to myself about dealing with the messes of life and motherhood. Just maybe someone else with a mess today could use this gentle reminder, too : )


There was a time when the messes of family life used to really get on my nerves. On a regular basis. Let me stop and apologize (sorry Tess) to my oldest daughter who undoubtedly took the brunt of my crankiness in this area. I am a mother of four children ranging in age from 21 to 5, and I would just like to say, regardless of the “that’s not fair!” factor, in my experience we will NOT be the same mother with our later children that we were with our first. Life experience changes us, education informs our views and, hopefully, yielding to the Holy Spirit softens and molds us and sometimes gives us new eyes. Things that used to irritate suddenly give us a quiet pleasure. 

 I had one of those moments today, when I walked into my bedroom to find my bed all rumpled and full of stuffed animals. My 8 year old wasn’t feeling well and she had climbed into my bed with her “friends” to get comfy and rest while listening to an audio book.
There was a time when things like this might have bugged me. After all, I did just make my bed a short time before! But today I can smile at this little scene knowing that the simple comfort of my bed and her friends and a good story helped her feel better. My “older mom” perspective (most of the time-sometimes I can still get cranky!) tells me that these displays of seeming disarray are the evidence of life in a home.

 

 My daughter's perpetual “spread” of artwork, the half-finished game awaiting the next round at the table, the seemingly endless dirty dishes and the sticky mess after making and eating lots of those homemade donuts. These are the things that represent life in a home! I am not at all suggesting that clean-up isn’t important at some point. I am suggesting, though, that the next time we walk in to a mess that our little darlings have created that we could perhaps pause the tendency to immediately feel grouchy. To try and see it through different eyes-for what it really is. Evidence of learning, evidence of creating and imagination, evidence of the blessing of good food and comfort and fun. The evidence of LIFE! I wouldn’t want it any other way.  

Valentine Love Note Station

Every year for Valentine's Day, my kids and I make cards for each other. Nothing wrong with that. Some years it has been all I could do just to direct them in that small effort. 

This year, I thought it would be nice if I had a little more of a firm plan for helping my kids let each other know just what it is that they love and appreciate about each other {and their mom, too!}

I decided to set up a Love Note Station. I wanted to make an easy "destination" we will take turns at once a day until Valentine's Day. 

 

 
We can sit down and pick up a paper heart from the bird dish, or the message board, and just write one thing (or more!) about each family member that we love and/or appreciate that day.

 I showed you recently how I used a pretty kleenex tissue to print paper to use for some heart shaped notes.
 We also used some leftover red and white polka dot Christmas wrap to make heart shaped note paper.

After we write our notes {my five year old will need help from mom and sisters, of course} we will put them in our love note box.

We've already had a bumpy moment when my 9 year old just couldn't bring herself to come up with something nice to say about her 15 year old sister who had hurt her feelings. Sigh. We'll be working on that... {they really are great friends!}

 It was fun working on this together with Amelia! We started with an empty cereal box. We cut it in the shape we wanted and she glued some vintage sheet music love songs all over it. We cut a separate heart out of another cereal box and glued sheet music to that and stuck it (glue stick) to the front of the box.

 
Finally, I stuck on a couple of hearts cut out of red craft felt.

 

On Valentine's Day, while we are enjoying something sweet together, we're going to take out all of our hearts and read them out loud to each other.  

  

We have lots of "togetherness" in this family, and sometimes (many times) that means conflict. I'm really hoping that if they put some effort into seeing the good in each of their family members each day, those conflicts we be easier and quicker to resolve. A mom can hope, right? 

What are you appreciating about your loved ones today? I hope you will take a moment to let them know. 

Friday blessings to you, my friends! 



Sharing over at:
Common Ground- Be Inspired! 
Diana Rambles-Pin Me! link party 
Funky Junk Interiors-SNS Valentines! 
Fox Hollow Cottage- Power of Pinterest
Craftberry Bush-Inspiration Gallery  
Alderberry Hill-Make the Scene Monday 
Homemaker on a Dime-Creative Bloggers Party Hop
Cozy Little House-Tweak It Tuesday  
The Dedicated House-Make It Pretty Monday
Decor to Adore-Valentine Link Party  

***Wonderful***

A few years back I read a quote that said, "Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful". Lightbulb! My life a seeming perpetual un-perfect mess, my brain latched on to this and has clung to it ever since! : )

Christmas eve, and Christmas day have once again illustrated this for me. SO not perfect. I SO did not "check all the boxes" this year. In more ways than one we've had a mess. 

Tonight, kids tucked into bed with their new favorite Christmas toys, I tripped through the mess on their floor to say our Merry-Christmas-goodnights. I went downstairs to tend the thermostat, check the doors and lights etc. I got to the living room and just stopped in my tracks for a moment. 

There was the warm light of the Christmas tree and in an instant I saw the calendar of my kids' childhoods in my mind. One more childhood Christmas behind them, and their mom. It will never come again. A bittersweet satisfaction came over me as I let my heart say goodbye to Christmas 2012.

The curtains are all open and I see the icy-bright iridescence of moonlight across the snow covered landscape beyond the warmth of the Christmas tree lights. The beauty of this place-our little hometown-and this place of seeing in my heart....it leaves me awe-struck. 

Moments later I turn to walk past some dishes, yet un-washed. Shreds of Christmas paper here and there. We'll tend to it tomorrow. I step over a coat and boots at the bottom of the stairs as I'm heading back up. I'm fighting a sore throat and cough coming on and, as I reach my room, I feel....happy.

Christmas of 2012 is behind us. Certainly not perfect, but it was wonderful.


Sharing at:
At the Picket Fence-Inspiration Friday

Savoring Summer

 Summer is slipping on by, and we aren't ready to let it go....sigh. 

We're grabbin' hold of some sweet summer memories with a cookie and lemonade picnic at the river park.

Recipe for these easy and delicious cake mix cookies here

  

 Pretty vintage glasses and linens always make things feel a little more special.

We stopped on the way to the park to cut some wild Sunflowers
on the side of the road.

 

  
Lots of space to run after we finish our cookies : )

  
The frogs were the highlight of the afternoon for my critter-loving 8 year old.

  
~Wishing you all the beautiful summer dreams you can grab hold of, my friends~

Jeanette

 

Evidence of Life

 *Last summer, while I was learning how to make a blog post, this was the very first "practice post" I put together (hence the bad blurry photos). I never shared it with anyone. 
Today my house looks like a train wreck, so I thought I'd post this "publicly" as a reminder to myself about dealing with the messes of life and motherhood. Just maybe someone else with a mess today could use this gentle reminder, too : )


There was a time when the messes of family life used to really get on my nerves. On a regular basis. Let me stop and apologize (sorry Tess) to my oldest daughter who undoubtedly took the brunt of my crankiness in this area. I am a mother of four children ranging in age from 21 to 5, and I would just like to say, regardless of the “that’s not fair!” factor, in my experience we will NOT be the same mother with our later children that we were with our first. Life experience changes us, education informs our views and, hopefully, yielding to the Holy Spirit softens and molds us and sometimes gives us new eyes. Things that used to irritate suddenly give us a quiet pleasure. 

I had one of those moments today, when I walked into my bedroom to find my bed all rumpled and full of stuffed animals. My 8 year old wasn’t feeling well and she had climbed into my bed with her “friends” to get comfy and rest while listening to an audio book.

There was a time when things like this might have bugged me. After all, I did just make my bed a short time before! But today I can smile at this little scene knowing that the simple comfort of my bed and her friends and a good story helped her feel better. My “older mom” perspective (most of the time-sometimes I can still get cranky!) tells me that these displays of seeming disarray are the evidence of life in a home.

My daughter's perpetual “spread” of artwork, the half-finished game awaiting the next round at the table, the seemingly endless dirty dishes and the sticky mess after making and eating lots of those homemade donuts. These are the things that represent life in a home! I am not at all suggesting that clean-up isn’t important at some point. I am suggesting, though, that the next time we walk in to a mess that our little darlings have created that we could perhaps pause the tendency to immediately feel grouchy. To try and see it through different eyes-for what it really is. Evidence of learning, evidence of creating and imagination, evidence of the blessing of good food and comfort and fun. The evidence of LIFE! I wouldn’t want it any other way. How about you?