As I sit down to share this post it feels a bit like dejavu. Like I have already written these words in years past because it’s likely I have these same thoughts each time this season comes. But that’s how seasons are after all. Spring is coming and so are the changes that it brings.  After a snowy week last week the weekend was warm and begging for us to come on outside. The sound of the table saw whizzing through boards that turned into a beautiful window box, little boys wobbly on longtime hibernating bikes, learning to use a jump rope for the first time and the garden gloves covered with fresh mess were evidence of the day.

I gave the flowers beds a once over glance before diving in and it looked like nothing but brown. Apart from some unruly daffodils that have sprung up in no particular order, the bushes are naked twigs and the once flowering plants are withered and show the wear of winter.  As I knelt and pulled away the dead I saw the new shoots coming up buried below the brush.  As I bent down on the level of the bushes I saw not only dry wood but fresh buds eeking out. I was reminded once again of the need to prune and pull back the old. Those bundles of dead grasses and old blooms serve their purpose to protect during the cold, yet at some point they have to go if the new is going to come. This winter has had it’s share of cold and dry, old blooms in our lives. Dreams that have peaked and tough things that I am ready to toss in the waste. Yet as I do the chilly air meets the new plants and I pray that the new ones will be strong enough to face it. Amazingly they are and day by day I can see their growth.  This year will no doubt be packed with growth and change and as the seasons roll on we will no doubt roll into another Fall and another winter. The faith journey will follow suit and we will go through those times of sharp pruning, upturned soil, new growth, mature fruit often followed by quiet times of quiet hibernation. I love Spring and all that it welcomes! But first comes the pruning. Necessary, delicate and growth-bringing. My Spring heart is revealed, new and ready for what is to come, but shivering every so often as it feels the remnant winter breezes.

This season happens to come at a funny time in the typical foreign service timeline. For those of you in the FS family you know that around 6-8 months you step back and evaluate your new life. This back home post has proven to be no different. The first month are settling in and enjoying the “harvest” so to speak followed by some hunkering down and navigating the new waters. By this point you have your feet solid on the ground, the logistics sorted out, lots of networks springing up but it’s time to really evaluate the depth of what you’ve been cultivating. What are we spending our time, energy, money and life on? What are we looking towards in the future? How are we putting down roots and maintaining relationships that matter? We are in the midst of that pruning season too in addition to spiritual pruning.  Thankfully through these seasons we hold on to the words in the hymn above that remind us that God’s presence cheers and guides us through His faithfulness!

We have been on a mini garden kick around here. It isn’t time for the big garden yet so we are having a little fun while we wait. I saw one ages ago on Pintrest and thought it was so cute. I tucked the idea away thinking my nieces might enjoy a mini garden for their birthday. I began my hunt about a month ago for little garden things and quickly learned that fairy garden paraphernalia is so March, not February. So I procrastinated a bit and then hit up a few shops last week. For you local peeps the best selection I found was at Merrifield in Fairfax although I hear that Blue Mount Nurseries (for your Loudon chics) and the other Merrifield locations should have a better selection by now.  I was delighted to find some sweet pieces to use but I will say most things can just be made from things you already have. I popped into Goodwill and found a cheery red bucket to use as the container. I let the boys “help”, ie put the rocks here and the bench here. Be soooo careful with the flowers. and don’t move….” You get the idea. Really I enjoyed the project and they eventually got that I was going to be guiding their every move.   I got tempted to add little tea cups or other details but I decided that would be the fun part for the birthday girls! I forgot to get a picture when they got it. Seeing as how we have a house full of boys we didn’t have any of the cute polly pocket type stuff to add!  I can’t wait to see what the girls do with it!

When we had all of the first and mess out I decided to attempt a little garden inside egg shells. If it’s a success we might use it as our Easter table centerpiece!

After sitting back and letting me rearrange the one for my nieces I decided to use a  terracotta pot base  and let the boys make a mini garden for our back yard chipmunks! We added a little swing and some moss. Nothing fancy but fun!  And although the boys know that there is no way our chipmunks will be swinging in the tree I see this little sparkle in their eye when they talk about it that tells me it’s still fun to pretend. Ours did not have anything other than mulch, moss, dirt, stones and a few twigs for a tree. So you can go as simple as you want! Here is how they turned out!

it won’t shock me one bit if this gets taken over by worms and bugs within a few weeks. The boys will enjoy it, but I envision more of a Lord of the flies scenario than polly pocket!

 Plow and Hearth

one of my favorite Pintrest gardens was this one….Ninimakes. It has the best little tire swing and tree house!

this darling one in the drawer is from Midwest Living

Oh yea, and the real reason you all stopped by was to see if you won the giveaway! Thanks to all of you that came to visit shared! And again, sorry for my international friends that this didn’t work so well for! I owe you a giveaway!!

So without further ado, Drum roll please, our randomly selected winner of the $20 gift card from Three Loves is………….

Marissa R!!!!

she wrote:  My favorite Easter memory would have to be the Easter egg hunts my grandparents would put together for all of the grandchildren. That, and the plastic Easter eggs my grandmother would string up on a tree out front to decorate

Marissa, inbox me and I will set you up with Mary for collect the goodness!

For those of you that didn’t win, still pop over and see the Three Loves shop if you haven’t already! You will not be disappointed with Mary’s beautiful stuff! And her prices are awesome compared to so many handmade shops!  Thanks Mary for your generous gift! I know Marissa will find something great!

Hope you all have a great day!

Disclaimer: the random selection of the winner was conducted by a 5 year old picking a number out of the final number of comments. He was unbiased and unaware of what he was participating in And just a note, Seasons Worth Savoring is not being paid to advertise for Three Loves or any other company…this is just plain old fun!

Hey folks,

Spring is in the air!! We spent the weekend outside soaking up the sun, getting the yard spruced up and having our first chipmunk spottings of the year!  Not sure which neck of the woods you find yourself in but our neck of the woods is SOOOOO READY FOR SPRING! So to bring on Spring I thought we would do a giveaway! My friend over at Three Loves has generously offered…

A $20 Giveaway from THREE LOVES Handmade on Etsy!

A few months back I did a bake sale at a friends beautiful barn! I met a sweet gal named Mary and she has a wonderful etsy shop called Three Loves! Her stuff is adorable. You may remember that she made the boys Christmas shirts. She makes the most adorable little girl skirts, bow ties, baby products,etc. What I love about her products is that the fabrics are cute and vibrant but also thick and quality. Check out her shop THREE LOVES and grab some goodies! Seriously you will not go wrong! With all of this going green and eating natural and such there is also the need to move towards supporting people that are working and using their skills!! And Mary, she’s got skills!!

Mary opened her Etsy shop in April of 2010, almost three years ago.  At the time, she had a 6 month old baby, and had been busy sewing things for her and all of her friends and family members who were having babies.  At all the baby showers she would go to, she kept hearing, “You should sell this!”  And, so she decided to do just that!  She started with just a few simple onesies, a bib, and a set of burp cloths, and it has grown from there!  She really enjoys sewing and the chance to be creative with different fabrics.  (Plus, she’s accumulated quite the fabric collection!)  She loves that she can make small handmade goodies, package them up, and send them off to people near and far.  It makes her happy, and hopefully others too!

When I was a little girl I always looked forward to picking out a new dress for Easter. I remember a certain white frilly one that my mom bought me one year, and the blue and white nautical one another. My parents didn’t have much money when we were little but this was a special tradition and while most of my clothes were hand me downs when it came to Easter it was something picked just for me!  It felt so special.

To enter the giveaway leave me a comment in the comments section on your favorite Easter and spring memories! You don’t have to have a little one of your own to enter! Think of someone you know that might love a surprise this spring! You can win it for a friend!

Winner will be announced here on the blog on Wednesday. We will randomly select the winner of the giveaway and the winner will receive $20 towards Three Loves! And if you can make a choice fast Mary can have your handmade goodness to you in time for Easter!  (International friends are welcome to enter as well but would need to pay toward shipping and it might not arrive in time for Easter! I promise I will do a more international-friendly giveaway soon!)

Be sure to share this giveaway with all of your friends!! Everyone is welcome!

Happy Spring!

I joked in a previous post about the Doom’s day kits that I often see on Pintrest and how really what the world (at least the world of young families with children) needs are stomach bug preparedness kits. Laugh now folks. Moving beyond the joke….you know you want one! {and dad, just because this seems atrocious that your daughter would write on the world wide web about something like throwing up, doesn’t mean I shouldn’t share….I would hate to keep such a treasure a secret! It would just be wrong}

After each and every family member took their turn on the stomach bug this winter I grew weary of the running around the house to each closet to get this or that, all while trying to get back to my patient before the next round began.

My sister-in-law Sara made us an emergency kit for Christmas complete with collapsible water jugs, special granola bars, matches, etc. It lives down in the laundry room and is handy in the event that we might need it in an emergency or times when the power is out for long periods of time due to storms. And now, residing just next to it is…

Neat sheets- I have been on the hunt for these for a while. I used to see them at Target and Walmart. I found these similar sheets at Michael’s for $6. They are basically waterproof, thick sheets for picnics, etc. Easy to wash and happen to not be towels. Not sure about any of you but I got soooo tired of washing load after load of towels.  My plan when the bug strikes next year is to whip these puppies out and layer them. When one bites the dust it will go straight into the washer….leaving the next neat sheet ready to go. They are big enough to cover the boys beds which means I won’t be layering up loads of towels to cover every inch. And I imagine they will be quieter than making the kids sleep on trash bags!!

Cheap blankets- walmart and target are marking down blankets right now as the seasons change. Grab a few super cheap blankets. When the bug hits take off your kiddos bedding and replace with these. That way your good stuff won’t get ruined and you won’t be running to the laundromat. I speak from experience on this. When Jackson got the bug I actually went up to Owen’s bed and pulled off his comforter. After 4 days I figured he was in the clear and gave the poor boy back his comforter…guess who got the bug that night?! huh?!

Clorox wipes- obviously you will need to do big time cleaning but in those wee hours of the morning and middle of the night you need something disinfecting that is handy and can be thrown straight into the trash.

Pedialyte packs- I love these, I normally don’t go for all of the individual packets because they are pricier but these are worth the cost. I don’t know about now but it used to be that pedialyte in the bottle had to be thrown away after like 24 hours. These packets allow you to mix them with water just what you need, as you need it!

Straw cups- our kids have accumulated these at every party. They don’t fit well in my cabinet but instead of throwing them away I keep a few for “special occasions”. Who knew the stomach bug could be considered a special occasion?! Anyhow, with sick kiddos it’s nice to have cups that close securely and have a straw so they can keep hydrated in bed or wrapped up on the couch without the risk of spilling.

Bucket or bowl- let’s face it, who wants to reuse the bucket or bowl for anything else once it’s been used for major sickness so just buy a cheapo bucket and throw all of your “kit” into it. Then you can sterilize it and use it again.

Garbage bags- in the middle of the night when the washer is already working away and you have more loads incoming, toss them into a trash bag while they wait to spare everything around them getting “the bug”.

Something bubbly- not of the alcoholic variety, although that will be helpful for you as the parents once this all passes!! Something more along the lines of gingerale or sprite to settle tummies. If this is stored upstairs its gone and not ready to go. Stash a bottle with your kit so it’s available!

Now don’t be deceived these items are not propped nicely out of a bucket down in my cabinet….this little display is especially for you my wonderful readers. And while it looks colorful and cheerful I advise you not give these as gifts to friends. They might thank you someday but most likely they will think you are wishing the bug on her and not be so thankful. Just a wee bit of advice!!

I hope none of you EVER need a kit like this!!! Feel free to pin it if you think you might! People might laugh but they will be so jealous when they know you are rockin’ the kit while they run frantically for all of the necessities!!