a little birthday give-away!

since it was my birthday a few days ago (but, birthday month right!?) + valentine's day is coming up, I wanted to host a little give-away. so I partnered with a dear friend + super talented lady - Katie of  archer + hare. one lucky gal(entine) will get to have these beauties! 

 

to enter to win, make sure you are following along on my blog and leave a comment with your favorite pie! the give-away will close 1 week from today, and the winner will be drawn at random and emailed directly, feb. 18th.

 

you can find archer + hare locally at the dime store or in her etsy shop! and you can read a little interview about Katie here!

a new year, a new prayer.

when the new year rolls around, I pray and ponder on what I would like this year to look like. and more importantly, how can I align my life and heart to my heavenly father's. what does he want for me in this year, for my children, for my marriage - what does he want to do in my heart. and this year, the only word I kept hearing over and over was freedom. it was quietly prayed over me a few months ago by a dear friend, it was sung over me in worship, and over and over the Lord just kept whispering into my heart and spirit, freedom.

 

I want freedom for you. and freedom only comes through me.

 

freedom in motherhood. to be the mother I want to be - or rather the mother he wants me to be. I am not bound by the way others do things, but instead have the freedom to know and play with my children, to be present, to love fully, to embrace the messy. to be free from expectation - the heavy one's that I put upon myself.

 

freedom from shame, guilt, and condemnation. those are clothes that the enemy wants to cover me in. God never speaks those words over us.  freedom from past mistakes and failure. to not dwell in the sea of sin, but cling to the savior, to the one who comes to set us free. and even the freedom to forgive myself.

 

freedom to hope again, to dream new dreams - to pursue things that I love, even if I am not great at them, to draw and paint, and pursue photography in new ways, to be creative on a daily basis, even if in a small way. even if someone is doing the same thing, and maybe even better than me. so what!? freedom to just do. to be a storyteller - a little dream I have always had, to write. even if I just start here, with my blog.

 

freedom in my marriage, to experience real joy and intimacy, and deep belly laughs. to choose it first, before friends, before ministry, even before our children. to be friends, and date, and have fun. freedom to dream big things for our marriage and family. God does make all things new, and we can give him our struggles, our hurts, even our disappointments - and trust that he is good.

 

and even though i don't set traditional resolutions - i have little goals like learning the piano, wear more dresses (which means trying to shave more consistently), and work out goals, i mainly just want to pray the prayer of freedom over my life

A Day At The Dallas Zoo!

A couple of days ago we met up with some friends at the Dallas Zoo! I had never been before + neither had my littles. we spent most of our time in 'Africa', learning about the giraffes, and we even made it to hear the elephant demonstration. sparrow's favorite subject besides art is geography, so we spend a lot of our days learning about other countries, cultures, and the animals that live in those places. so she was so happy to see elephants, lions, and giraffes in person!

^these crazy kiddos love each other so much!^

^so thankful for this maya wrap - little juniper just snoozed away^

 

 

MOZARTS!



while we were in Austin for thanksgiving, we took the littles to one of my favorite coffee shops-Mozart's! it over looks lake Austin and has the most breathtaking view, I love to sit on the outside deck, sip coffee and read a good book. 

during the holiday season, they have a light show synchronized to music, and it is just magical. sparrow + juniper were both a bit mesmerized by it. this year they did the infamous 'fox' song, and it was so funny to hear the crowd humming along.

sometimes when you ask a stranger to take a picture of you - you never really know how it's going to turn out, but surprisingly I love this one.



Merry Christmas!

hope you are having a very Merry Christmas spent with the ones you love!

love,

meg, chris, sparrow, and juniper

maple pecan pie!

you guys! this is seriously the best pecan pie I have ever eaten, and you know what? totally easy. admittedly, I always avoided making a pecan pie - they always looked so beautiful + elegant + so I assumed they would be hard and tedious. not so!

I made this pie last year for thanksgiving, it was such a big hit - it's become a staple, and it's here to stay. and even better, it was born out of my hatred for corn syrup, so instead has maple syrup.

filling:
1 1/2 c dark brown sugar
1/2 c maple syrup
1/4 c melted butter
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tbs of bourbon (optional, but trust me just adds a bit of magic to your pie)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
a dash of nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt (I like using sea salt)
2 cups pecan halves

this is the recipe I use for my pie crust and it doesn't specify, but I recommend using pastry flour. you can also use a pre-made crust if your in a pinch!

preheat your oven to 350. place your pie shell into a pie dish and refrigerate until filling is ready.
In a medium sized bowl mix together dark brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, eggs, vanilla, bourbon, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt - until well combined. then gently stir in the pecans.
pour filling into your pie shell and bake for 40-45 min. let cool 2-4 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

Austin Science + Nature Center

I always try and squeeze in a trip to the science + nature center and the thinkery  when we are in Austin visiting family. sadly, I didn't take any photos with my camera when we were at the thinkery, but it's an awesome children's museum ~ you can easily spend all day there!

Austin's Science + Nature Center is tucked under a bridge near zilker park, has beautiful walking trails, a small zoo of rescued animals ~ the baby fox was so cute, a dino pit, where the littles can 'dig' for dinosaur fossils, and tons of educational exhibits that they can explore. my personal favorite is watching the honey bee colony. it's so fascinating watching the little worker bees' make honey.

sparrow loves it + if you ever find yourself in my home city, I highly recommend taking your littles there. and to the thinkery!