Barefaced and Beautiful

Hi friends,

I want to talk to you today about something that is heavy on my heart. I want to talk to you about body image, self-esteem, and how they can impact all of our children, but most often our girls.

Growing up, I was horribly insecure about my body. My butt seemed too big, my skin was bad, and I've had "child bearing hips" since I hit puberty. My weight has always been a struggle. At the schools I grew up in your clothes and how they fit you might as well have been the be-all, end-all of your value as a person, or at least it felt that way.

(ridiculous, right?)

These insecurities have followed me into adulthood, which seems ridiculous. They are lies about my worth and appearance. I know that they are lies, but they still sneak around in the back of my mind.

I don't want that for my daughter.

She is beautiful. Not because I am her mother and will always think so. Not because she meets some standard for physical beauty, but because she is herself. She is exactly who God designed her to be, and that is beautiful.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well

Psalm 139:14

So, I am her today to stand up and say "enough"! In honor of National Eating Disorder Awareness Week, my friends Sarah, Sarah, Aleisha and I are showing our #BarefacedBeauty to the world! Messages of true beauty and worth need to start at home. We can't depend on "the industry" to teach our daughters these values, because they will lie to them. It starts with us, and it starts now.

To learn more about National Eating Disorder Awareness Week watch this video

Dove also has a wonderful #BeautyIs campaign that just released this video, "Selfie". It's wonderful, check it out! I love what Dove is doing to take steps towards changing industry beauty standards.

Are you going to join us? Show the world your #barefacedbeauty, and show them what real #beautyis!

You can find me here:

Instagram . Twitter . Facebook

Be blessed!

Heather

Our Week in Pictures

Hey friends!

How was your week this week? We had a lot of fun. Are you on Instagram? Let's be friends! I'm its_alongstory. :)

On Sunday afternoon we went to Medieval Times to celebrate my sister's 23rd birthday. We go every year, which you would think is hilarious if you knew my sister. She's hip, and fashionable, but when it comes to fake jousting she is all. over. it! We go, we cheer, much fun is had by all.

Abbey was crowned the Queen of the Tournament by our knight! After each event the knights hand out flowers to girls in the audience. Just before the joust (the main event!) they hand out a banner like this one. It took Abbey a second to realize that this was better than a flower. Haha!

Who watched Sherlock on Sunday?? We have been waiting forEVer for it to come back, so we camped out on the couch with some popcorn and had a little date.

Both kids slept past 8 one morning this week! It was pretty much amazing. I actually got to make myself a cup of coffee and finish it before it was cold! I also got to sit down with my real bible and take real notes. Fantastic.

This guy turned 2 months old! Stop it. Stop it right now.

This is what happens when you get your sister's hand-me-downs. Pink diapers. Poor kid.

For some reason lately we have been eating an obscene amount of french bread. I decided to try my hand at making some myself, and I may never buy it from the store again! I used this recipe, and it was so good! I put my ice cubes in a pan, though. Throwing them on the bottom of the oven seemed risky!

That yummy bread turned into even yummier meatball sandwiches! Hooray for an easy Friday dinner!

I'm linking up with Jeannet!


Be blessed,
Heather

Valentine's Day Cinnamon Rolls

What is it about breakfast? Maybe it's just me, but there is something so wonderful about blessing my family with a big breakfast. I think that so many of our mornings so quickly move to oatmeal and cereal that taking the time to do something more than that just feels special.

What better day for a special breakfast than Valentine's Day?

And what better for that breakfast than cinnamon rolls??

They're heart shaped! and pink! and they have sprinkles! Sounds pretty special to me.
They also couldn't be any easier which is always good.

Start by opening up the outer half of your cinnamon rolls. I used canned rolls, but you could absolutely do this with your favorite homemade recipe.

Roll that piece back on itself so that you have a heart.
Tip: pinch the bottom a bit to really emphasize the bottom. Otherwise it rounds out during baking and you lose that heart shape.

Bake according to the instructions. While they're baking, add a little food coloring to your icing. Again, I used what came with the rolls, but a simple powdered sugar icing would be great here.

Take the rolls out of the oven and let them cool a bit.

Add your icing, and throw on some sprinkles. You could have this ready when the kids get up, or use it as a fun chance to get them into the kitchen. This is definitely a recipe that kids can do!

Do you have a meal that is more special than others?
What are your Valentine's Day traditions?

Be blessed!
Heather

Linking up at:

Almost Supermom . The Road to 31

Our Week In Pictures

Life, Instagram style. Because things are better unscripted...

We had one of those days where it feels like you are in the car more than home. Abbey was a trooper so we stopped for a "special lunch" at Culver's.

She went up to the counter to get her own ice cream (they get coupons in the kids meal instead of toys). I have never seen her look so big and so little all at one time. It made my heart flip flop a bit.

Side note: Apparently they look more alike than I thought...

 Owen 7 weeks                     Abbey 3 months

This is my general uniform at the moment. Still in jammers, wearing Owen, doing school with Abbey, and trying to get things done in the in-between moments. It's exhausting, but I'm grateful to be able to do it!

Science lesson for the week: Borax snowflakes! Very fun and super easy!

Look how pretty!

We had lots of fun trying out a new play dough recipe from Kids Activities Blog. Only 2 ingredients! Not sure it will replace my favorite recipe, but I didn't have to cook it, and Abbey could play with it right away, so it's great!

Happy babies in footie jammers are the absolute best!

This kid is a chunk. Seriously, 13 lbs already?! I'm already packing up the 0-3 month clothes. Stop it, little boy! But, he's slept through the night for the last week, so I guess that's a fair trade!

A little sneak peak of something coming next week!

I'm linking up with Jeanett!


Be blessed,
Heather