FLASH SALE

Let me cut right to the chase then give you the story afterwards.

I have two CUSTOM listings that I am marking $10 off for one day only. Monday, October 26, 2015 in the morning until 11:59 PM the following two signs will be reduced. All sales must be made through Etsy. These signs may take up to 8 (EIGHT) weeks to be finished depending upon the volume of orders. They will all be made and ship/be ready for pick up prior to Christmas. If you want to pick up your sign use the code PICKUP at checkout on Etsy. PLEASE DO NOT USE THIS CODE IF YOU ARE NOT PICKING UP!!! In the drop down menu I listed the most frequently purchased colors. If you do not see the color you would like simply choose "other" and in the Notes to Seller box at check out write out the color you would like instead using the color sample chart that is pictured in the last photo of the listing.

1.) Regularly $40+tax, this one is marked to $30+tax. (Click link below for full information)

Personalized Mark 10:9

2.) Regularly $35 reduced to $25. This is a STEAL!!!

Order this sign HERE!

Now the fun part. The story. Many of you may know that the past week my husband and I have been gallivanting in Charlottesville, Virginia, acting as though we haven't a care in the world, let alone four children! And why? We were celebrating!! December 17, Trent and I will be married for ten years. In honor of our tenth anniversary I am marking these two signs, which recognize the value of a committed, Christ-centered marriage, down by TEN dollars. 

This idea popped into my head months ago when we started planning our trip. Originally I wanted to have the sale on our anniversary, but that is the very end of the busiest time of the year for Mama Hess. (I mean, who gets married the week before Christmas?? Oh yeah, us crazy, in love kids.)  So, there you have it. A great sale for you and a fun way to encourage your marriage, or a loved one's marriage!  I can't wait to see the colors each of you choose for your special sign.

 So: happy {early} anniversary to us and merry {early} Christmas to y'all! Look for a blog post of our trip - hopefully soon!!

Another Break & a Break Through

I know what you're thinking. "Didn't you just take a break?" And the answer is, "Yes." And I'll beg you to forgive me for this unusual behavior. So, the last day to order will be Wednesday, October 7th. I will reopen Monday, October 26th.

Favorite photo from my last break.

I PROMISE this will be my last break until my regularly scheduled break from when I stop taking Christmas orders. I will take a break from the Christmas cut off (Nov. 30) until the end of January. This gives me time to make all the Christmas orders before Christmas, and then breathe a little and even create some new designs that I've been wanting to do. Early in November I have a craft show I'll be at for all you locals who want to come out. More details closer to the date.

AND - I will be offering a FLASH SALE on the Monday I re-open. It will only be on two signs, but you can customize them and they will be finished before Christmas. I am so so excited to offer these to you all, so check back. I've never done a flash sale before. Ever. So this is going to be really big. You will love it. I promise!

For those of you who like my personal updates I have a really exciting one for you. As you probably know, I am not just a sign painter, I'm also a homeschool mama. And this year has been TOUGH for us! I have one Kindergarten student and two second graders. I've been challenging my Kindergartner to push herself to read. She WANTS to read, and knows the letter sounds and can sound out words. However, she has had a hard time NOT sounding a word out. She will sound out the name "Pam" every time it appears, even though she just read the same word one page ago.

That little girl on the far left is now a reader!!

Yesterday, it clicked. It was the quintessential light bulb moment. It made sense that every time she sees the letters p-a-m in that order, it will say Pam. And the same with the rest of the words in the little book she was reading over and over. She was SO excited to run to her big sisters and show them that SHE CAN FINALLY READ! And the way they gushed over their little sister and her big accomplishment was beyond precious. Then she waited for Daddy to get home to reveal her BIG SECRET. She wouldn't tell him all through dinner what the secret was. After she finished eating she ran for her little book and read it to Daddy.

Of course, my dear husband who has supported me through all the really rough days we were having lovingly encouraged me to write this down. On the really hard days where I'm sure I'm ruining my kids' (and my) life, I can look back and remember why I'm doing this. I wouldn't trade this moment for all those hard days wrapped together. And such is parenting, isn't it? It's like those old ladies in the grocery store who are always telling you to cherish every moment because they go so quickly. And yes, even if the little old ladies are a little fuzzy on whether their child ever had tantrums, they are crystal clear on one thing.

It is worth it.

To Help the Perfectionist

I like goals. I especially like when they are attainable and when I meet those goals.

However, raising children isn't exactly like other goals. For example, in business, I may have a goal to make, say, $1,000. And I can work hard and be creative to meet and exceed that goal. There may be factors that detract from that goal, but there are a lot of things that I can do to make it happen.

This school year started out really rough for one of our girls. So challenging, in fact, that I questioned my ability to even teach her. Yet as the days wore on I came to realize that the material is not too difficult for her as I suspected at first glance. The challenge for this child is that she is a perfectionist. She has unrealistic goals for herself. For example, every week I give the children a pre-test for their spelling words for the week. The idea behind this is to see what they already know and what they need to study. At the end of the week when the take their test they can see how they have improved and what they learned. If, however, during the pre-test they already know how to spell all the words I do not require them to take the test. This was a semi-frequent occurrence for this child last school year. This year there are more words and they are more challenging. So during a pre-test she has the unrealistic goal of getting all 16 words correct. And then she gets to a hard word (without even trying it because she *knows* she will get it wrong) and will throw her pencil across the room, or start yelling, or run out of the room. I wish I were exaggerating. You can see why I would wonder whether going to "real school" (as the kids like to call it) would be a better option for her.

The thing with a perfectionist child is this: they are much more prone to depression and other psychological problems with physical side affects (such as cutting, drug use, etc.) In their unattainable quest to perfection they can spiral out of control. Perhaps going to school would curb those physical outbursts, but more than likely they won't be building her spiritual needs or really addressing the area of perfectionism that needs help.

The idea with helping a perfectionist is to remind them that doing their best is what is most important. It's really hard not to coddle the perfectionist and prevent her from ever failing (and watching the irrational outbursts that come from a perceived fail). Also to help them set realistic goals for themselves. Yes, it's good to have hard goals, but for the perfectionist they need to realize that spelling one word incorrectly is not worth throwing a pencil across the room or running away. And I don't want this child to have these intense struggles for the rest of her life. If I can help her work through this as a young girl I'm hopeful that it will be easier for her as she grows up into a young woman.

As we wrap up our third week of school I am grateful for how much progress we have made already. We have hard days, and days where she is unnecessarily hard on herself. But we're making it. And (dare I say?) even enjoying it. But pray for us. It's Friday - spelling test day.

Back to School

One week down, 35 to go. But who's counting?

I can't think "Back to School" without thinking of Billy Madison. Sorry. It's just the way I was raised.

There's so much good in this video. Is it silly? Of course. But the truth is so many kids feel that same way as the head back to school. Even our home schooled kids had those fears and a little anxiety as they headed back to school or officially started school.

This year we have two second graders and a Kindergarten student. This is my first year needing to teach more than one level at a time. The first day back was last Monday, August 17. The teaching part went well, but the homework part was a nightmare for one of our kiddos. There was a lot of yelling (mostly on my part) and a lot of frustration (pretty evenly split between the student and me).

First day of School - started out so fun and sunny!!

A large part of the problem was that I had a recent huge influx of sign orders, and normally I paint in the afternoon for about 2 hours while the children have a quiet time. Quiet time has turned to homework time and this student wanted me to sit directly beside her as she did her work. I told her I had my own work to do and she needed to do her own work. What she heard was, "Painting signs is more important than you." I'm not proud of it, but it's very close to the real meaning of what my words said.

Day 2 - sitting within touching distance as Abbey does schoolwork.

That evening I took a step back and evaluated my priorities. Do I enjoy painting? Yes. . Do I love homeschooling? Yes. Do I love my daughters? Yes. And then I needed to think about what I can change to still do all of these things (if possible). Most important on that list are my daughters and homeschooling. I enjoy the other things as well, but if I have to sacrifice any of those things on the list, it will be the painting. In order to still do the things I like best some changes need to be made.

Day 5 - getting into the groove and loving these quieter moments of the day.

1. I need to go to bed earlier. I've set myself a time limit on how late I will work during school nights so that I am a better teacher and a better mom.

2. I need to be willing to give up that chunk of afternoon time for painting in order to help my daughter gain confidence in her ability to work independently. We have compromised on this. I allow the children one hour FIRST to watch a movie. During this time I will write e-mails, respond to messages, create designs or paint. Whatever doesn't get done in that hour has to wait.

3. I need to extend the lead time from order to completion. Previously I was telling customers 1-2 weeks, but my goal was to get all orders completed in one week. However, since I'm not exactly sure how many signs my new hours will allow me to complete I have increased my time from 3-4 weeks from order to completion. As I get into a better routine this may look like 2-3 weeks or it could increase from 4-5. It all just depends on the volume of orders.

Please don't feel guilty about ordering. I WANT you to order. I LOVE painting. I'm still just so grateful that you all are so trusting in my ability to create something beautiful. And I'm excited that many of you are willing to wait three to four weeks to receive something I have made.

I would love to hear how you all fit in all the things you love? What do you have to give up to make your schedules work?

The Joys (and trials) of Sharing a Bedroom

For the first six years Trent and I were married we lived in a 1,080 square foot home in the city. We had three tiny bedrooms and one small closet. After our third daughter was born we really felt the squeeze of finding space for all the necessary things that kids have (clothes/shoes/coats/beds). We aren't even addressing toys, here. I searched the internet high and low for ways that other large families make small spaces work for them. Unfortunately I didn't find much that was helpful and did my best to be creative and make things work for us.

We are now in a four bedroom home with 2,400 square feet, and somehow we still feel that squeeze from time to time. Our three oldest girls share one bedroom which is about 10'x11.5'. (Plus a 5'x2' closet, which is really helpful!) There are unspeakable joys that go on in that little back bedroom. The girls laugh and chat, tell stories and read them. There is also the occasional fight that must always be worked out because, well, they share a room.

This is their room. It has pieces of each of them intertwined. Horses for Anne, owls for Abbey, and baby dolls and monkeys for Maggie. The room consists of a bunk bed:

(Bedding from Home Goods)

Anne sleeps on the top and Abbey and Maggie share the bottom.
 
There is a larger dresser across from the bed that belongs to Anne.

Maggie is wiping down the dresser. (Dresser painted by yours truly)

Each of the girls has their name, it's meaning, and a special verse on the wall. They also have an assortment of trinkets that they seem to love. :)

Then there are two smaller dressers are tucked inside the closet and Abbey and Maggie share those dressers.

All three girls have dresses hanging in the closet.

One thing that we have found that works for us is limiting the amount of clothing the children have. Let's be honest, they have about 3 shirts that they love to wear on repeat, along with a few dresses here and there. It really is not necessary for my 4, 6, and 7 year old to have enough clothes to last four weeks without needing to wash them. Trust me, they have more than enough clothing.

Things the girls love.

How Anne spends time in their room.

At this point the biggest punishment is when they can't settle down and someone has to sleep in the guest room ALL ALONE!

Generally it's one of these two that can't settle down.

 I like to credit their close sibling bond in part to sharing a bedroom. They already talk about when they grow up they want to live beside each other. They even picked out a house close by that they just love. It did my heart good to see the house they chose. A ram-shackle mess of a house that desperately needs worked on. They saw the beauty through the mess.

Sisters: growing up with my best friends.

I like to have the girl's art and characteristics displayed as well. this is a flag Anne painted. (Lampshade was made by my friend, Jessie)

I like to believe that that is what family is all about. Seeing the beauty through all the mess. We are far from perfect, but we can be joyful in the midst of our imperfections. We have that opportunity because of God's grace. Because He saw through our messes and showed his unfailing and compassionate love.

This is a very real BEFORE picture. There is beauty and life in that mess.

So there you have it. How to fit three girls into one small bedroom and have them enjoy it. In fact, they are already talking about when little sister can join them in their room. If and when that happens I'll be sure to update you all on the changes we make to the room.

Shop Announcement and some Recent Custom orders

Friends, there are so many joys I have with this adventure of working from home, doing something I absolutely love. However, the one struggle I am facing recently is the skill in walking away from work. My workspace is in our "eat-in kitchen" (cough, cough).... okay, and slowly spreads to the homeschool room, the living room, the garage, and the office. And usually there is a stack of signs lining the entryway of our house waiting to be picked up. And often lining my server (turned paint cabinet). And you just never know when you might find one drying on one of the bar stools, or on a humid day you might find one (or three) lying on the living room floor under the ceiling fan.

I normally take a scheduled break immediately following Christmas. However, this year I am feeling the need to have a break a little sooner than that. Last year back to school time was a slower time for me, so I chose these dates to attempt to more naturally coincide with that time of year.

****** The last date to order so that your sign will be able to be made and shipped/picked up will be Friday, August 28, 11:59 pm. After that my shop will reopen on Saturday, September 12. If you need your sign before those dates or in the next week after I reopen please order early. Thank you all so much for understanding!!!******

AND NOW! The fun!

 Customized Mark 10:9 with first names and wedding date. Shown in black and white. Sign measures approximately 12"x24".

 Custom phrase done on pallet wood. Shown in bridgeport gray wash and charcoal lettering. Sign measures approximately 16"x20".

 Custom phrase. Background is distressed black over dark walnut stain with cream lettering. Measures approximately 17"x24".

 Custom stamped baby onesie.

 Custom phrase for above a girl's double bed. Shown in black, white, and pops of coral blush. Sign measures approximately 36"x12".

 Custom verses for a Texas wedding. Mark 10:8 and Mark 10:9 done in coordinating fonts and colors. Shown in Cabernet stain and magnolia white lettering. Signs measure 12"x18".

 Custom phrase for an Etsy customer. Shown in gp purple and magnolia white lettering. This little sweetie measures about 9.5"x12".

I hope you all enjoyed looking at these as much as I liked making them! Thank you all for you continual support. It's a fun journey!

Intentionally Uncomfortable

Some of you may be surprised to know that I like to be comfortable. Although I'm rather outgoing, I like to be outgoing within the confines of my comfort zone. Does that make sense?

As the school year was ending I knew I wanted the three oldest girls to take swim lessons. Everything within me wanted to take them to the pool I grew up using. This pool is about 15-18 minutes from our home. However, there is a pool in my own community which is only a 7 minute drive. It seems like a no-brainer, but I so wanted to take the girls to MY pool.

Maggie tends to be the "pet" in every class she is a part of. :)

Since the girls are homeschooled, I feel it is really important for them to get to know people in our community. At some point I imagine they will go to public school or play sports or be involved with others in the community, and I want them to have prior experiences to build on these future relationships. They will not have that opportunity if I take them out of our community for extracurricular activities.

Snacks were the way to keep Caroline contented during the hour we were at the pool.

So we went for it. On the second day I struck up conversation with a mom with six children - she had a child in a class with Maggie, and a child in the class with Anne and Abbey. She was really wonderful and kind. There were several other moms who I had the opportunity to chat with and who my girls made friends with their children. We were able to reconnect with one of the helpers from the VBS that the girls attended, and also saw some of the families from swimming at the grocery store. Small things, for sure, but it really made me start to feel a part of our community.

Abbey was hesitant in the beginning but worked hard and was such a great listener!

Sometimes, what may feel uncomfortable at first turns out to be just what was needed. I'm looking forward to more ways to build relationships within this wonderful community in which I live.

Anne jumping off the diving board. By the end of the second week she could jump off with no one there to catch her and without a floatation device.