:: Class Valentine's Day Treats ::

Had to do a quick post today about the precious Valentine's Parrish and I put together over the weekend for his classmates.  I figure that Kindergarten is probably the last year I'll be able to do these fun class treats with him, so I might as well go all out while I still can!  My mom (aka Tappy) found this idea on Pinterest and sent it to me, so I headed on over to etsy and purchased this download at PBJandJ.

You can also purchase customized bowls with your child's name, but I opted for the general version and just had Parrish write his own name 1) because I like getting him involved and seeing his precious little handwriting and 2) because these will be sooooo cute to use for Knox next year filled with goldfish crackers!!

The best news is that once you purchase the download, it is emailed to you within a few hours. So...you can procrastinate and still have the cutest valentine around.  :) Enjoy!

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:: To Olivia On Your Third Birthday ::

My precious Olivia,

Today we celebrate your third birthday without you.  Sometimes I still have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that you are not here with us anymore. I work and rework the events of that day and all the days before it trying to will just one little part to be different so maybe you would still be here.  I even second guess decisions from years before.  If I could just make one, tiny, seemingly inconsequential decision different, could we have altered the outcome?!?  I drive myself crazy going round and round about this in my head. Almost as if thinking about it and changing different decisions mentally could bring you back. And then I stop. I realize that satan is the author of confusion and doubt. I repeat these words to myself..."There is nothing you could have done."  And then these...which are the hardest...there is nothing you CAN do.  My thoughts always end in that cold, hard truth. And then I pull out my bible seeking comfort and peace and read this verse:

“Indeed, how can people avoid what they don’t know is going to happen? None of us can hold back our spirit from departing. None of us has the power to prevent the day of our death.” (Eccles. 8:7-8)

In November Daddy and I planted an Olive tree for you in the front yard and marked it with a beautiful stained glass stepping stone. It pictures a sleeping baby angel with beautiful pink wings and your name.  CC and I made it on the anniversary of your passing to keep busy, and I can see it from my kitchen window and it always makes me smile. It reminds me of you, especially in these winter months when everything else is leafless and gray. Your little tree stands there with these beautiful sage green leaves. Tiny yet shining bright. Just like you.  It was an appropriate tree for you for many reasons. Your name is derived from the word "olive" and you are named after your great, great grandmother, Mary Olive and Aunt Caroline Olivia. On your cemetery marker we inscribed Psalm 52:8:

"But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God. I will trust in God's unfailing
love, forever and ever."

When I visited your resting place last week and  read that verse as I always do, I was reminded that no matter the conditions surrounding olive trees, they will live and grow and thrive. It is even said that they cannot be killed.  And I am reminded that, like your little olive tree, we as your parents must have the same tenacity.  It is a rocky and dry path at times without you here, baby girl. But there is peace and joy that can only come from the Lord, too.  Yes, it was not by coincidence that you were named for the olive tree. It is a symbol of peace.  An olive branch was brought to Noah by a dove after the biblical flood, which means that although the waters rose and raged around that olive
tree, it survived the flood and still produced fruit. And my promise to you sweet girl is that we will too. I know that is what you would want.  The waters definitely rise and we
miss you more than can be described in words, but we will continue to produce fruit while we wait for the day we will live with you again in heaven for eternity because God promises us that...

"When (we) pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over us..." Isaiah 43:2

Today we celebrated your birthday in Animal Kingdom and yesterday we celebrated
Parrish's in Legoland. It is good to keep busy on hard days like this.  But we all kept thinking how much you would have loved it here.  Brother is bringing pink Minnie Mouse
ears back just for you. Last week he asked me why we have never taken him to see where you are buried so I guess it is time to let him visit. We were waiting for him to be old enough to understand and his wanting to go is just another way he has grown up so
much this year. We sent your brother to Kindergarten a baby and half way through the
year he is a big boy with no baby left!  I wish so badly you were still here to see it all and
live it all with us.

The other day I was thinking about whether or not I really thought you could see us from heaven. Part of me hopes you can while another part hopes you can't. Could you
possibly be happy seeing how sad we all are without you?  But then I read Psalm 39:5
again...

"You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a
moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath." 

And I think that if you can see us on earth the events are so fleeting in your big picture
that you are not sad and that makes me happy. Maybe there isn't even the capacity for sadness in heaven because we are restored and with The Lord.  These things I can
never know for sure, but what I do know is that when I look in your new baby brother's
eyes and see his excitement and big toothless grins I always think of you. I am sure you
selected him just for us. You knew we needed healing and you knew he was just the one
to do it. His spirit is so much like yours...sweet, content, excitable and happy, happy,
happy. Yesterday at legoland he laughed out loud so hard and so long that his whole
little body would stiffen up and shake. Daddy always jokes that he has an abundance of endorphins and you did too!!  Thank you for helping God choose him just for us.

We can see your citrus tree in CC and Grandaddy's yard here in Florida and this
morning I looked out our window at it and sang happy birthday to you. It makes me smile to see it thriving and bearing so much fruit.  It's bitter sweet to stand in the place where we planted that with you when you were Knox's age and be planting one for him now without you here with us.  

Happy third birthday, sweet Sissy!  We love you more than the sun, moon and stars and all the peanut butter and jelly and grains of sand in the whole wide world. 

Mommy

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:: Kitchen Design & Preston's Prayer Pager ::

A few months ago I worked with my friend Mandy to select paint colors, lighting, and design elements for her kitchen remodel and it turned out so fantastic, I had to share some before and afters below...

Before (see below) her kitchen was divided into three parts - kitchen, eat-in breakfast area, and keeping room.  By moving the keeping room area to the front of the house and taking over the breakfast nook as part of the kitchen, Mandy was able to utilize valuable space and make her kitchen feel three times bigger.  The cabinetry was designed and custom made by Oak Mountain Cabinetry and all lighting is by Circa Lighting.  The dining table specifically features two Thomas O'Brien "Hicks" Pendants.

Mandy wanted to lighten things up and get away from the more earthy tones of her original kitchen, so we selected cool colors for her new kitchen.  Benjamin Moore Glacier White went on the walls and ceiling, because it is a good, crisp white without a lot of yellow undertones; the cabinets were painted Benjamin Moore Deep Silver, which is a deep, slate gray I am in love with.  

We decided to install double arm sconces on either side of her downdraft hood for added interest and task lighting, and I love they are unexpected, yet functional.

Because her formal dining room would now be part of her new kitchen, Mandy worked with Oak Mtn Cabinetry to design a built-in china cabinet that is sheer genius! 

Here's a before and after side-by-side.  The transformation is incredible!  

A "mommy" work desk was built-in next to the china cabinet and provides a convenient place for Mandy to stay organized. 

Free floating shelves, painted to match the cabinetry display family pictures, baking goods and a pretty collection of bowls.

The beautiful "hicks" pendants up close and personal...

The chalkboard was an antique store find by Mandy's husband.  This Christmas we went to a party at their house and Mandy had written a Christmas message on it... "Wise Men Still Seek Him."  I love that!

Below is the before and after of her living room space we selected paint for...

We re-vamped the couch by having one solid back cushion custom-made to replace the 2 traditional cushions that came with the sofa, recovered the two bottom cushions, and added two round bolsters.  My favorite detail is the large "W" monogram on the back.

Instead of getting a new tv cabinet we decided to paint her old one her new trim color and now it looks like it is a built-in piece!

I couldn't resist including this one of Mandy's oldest enjoying the new keeping room on his bean bag...

Or this one of her youngest enjoying his afternoon snack at the new kitchen table...

I think it's safe to say the whole family is enjoying the new selections!  Email me at info@oliviacharlesantiques.com if I can help you with paint, lighting, or design selections in your home and stay tuned for more before and afters of a the projects I currently have in the works! 

And I couldn't leave out a few snapshots of Parrish's first basketball game on Saturday.  I was truly expecting less of a game and more of a free-for-all when I walked into the gym that day.  Basketball is a hard skill to master, in my humble opinion, and I expected that 5-7 year olds, some of which had just learned to dribble, would be less than stellar, but let me just tell you....that was a full-fledged basketball game!  So entertaining and fun to watch!  Go Mavericks!  :)

As you can see Knox also thoroughly enjoyed the game...

And later that day on his way to hunt with his daddy, exhaustion from the game finally took it's toll on Parrish.  

I want to close with a prayer request...many of you have been following Preston's story and recovery on Facebook via his "Prayers for Preston" page and I wanted to let you know that we sent his family a prayer pager from Olivia's Foundation.  The number is 334-705-9227.  Please continue to keep Preston and his family in your prayers and then page them by dialing this number and then following the brief voice prompts.  Our prayer is that the pager will be a comfort to them during this time....as it was to us.

We are in the process of getting a pager to the family of sweet Anne Reese Grote as well and will post that number as soon as it is delivered.

As usual, when my attention is brought to new pain and suffering in this world, I wonder how on earth I went 30 years without really grasping the depth of the sadness that is all around me.  I suppose part of it is just getting older and being more aware, but being touched by tragedy opens your eyes to the brevity of your life and awakes in you a desire to make your life count.  As we anticipate what would have been Olivia's 3rd birthday at the end of this month, I am amazed at what all she accomplished for the Kingdom in her 9 short months on earth.  We miss you and are so proud of you, baby girl!  

"Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my days are numbered--how fleeting my life is.  You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.  My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath....And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?  My only hope is in you."  Psalm 39:4-5, 7

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