Cyber Monday Sale

Cyber Monday/Small Business Saturday, whatever you want to call it… take 40% off all digital Christmas card designs today in the shop! As always, thank you for your support.

November 1 is way better than October 31

I hate Halloween.
Literally despise it.

Maybe I’ve shared that on here before, and if I have, my bad. I wish there was a way I could make my children hate it too so I don’t have to take them trick-or-treating for the next 10 years.
Sorry, total downer, but it’s the truth.

There is one good thing about Halloween. And that is that the very next day is November 1st, when means Christmas music on repeat via Pandora, Fresh Balsam candles burning 24/7,  and all things holiday are out in full force..

I mean really, how can you be in a bad mood over the next 2 months?

To top it all off, if you’re the overachiever who likes to get your Christmas cards ordered by Thanksgiving, good news for you! Christmas cards are now available in my Etsy  | shop | 12 designs in all, a few favorites from last year, but mostly new designs for 2014! Digital versions are available so you can print as many as you like, wherever you choose, or you can order actual cards directly from me.

Enjoy and Happy November!

Let’s Be Real

Can I just tell you how tired I am of seeing those “But first, coffee” prints, t-shirts, and mugs?
( I’m pretty sure people even have that tattooed somewhere on their body ) 
But let’s be real, coffee is good in the mornings, but you know what’s so much better?

Jesus.

Time spent in the Word, in the solitude of the morning.
Before the sun comes up.
Before the pitter patter of little feet ( yes, we officially have a walker now )
Before you check your e-mail.
Before Instagram.
Before Facebook.
Before to-do lists.
Before the hub’s alarm goes off.

Yes, even before that sweet aroma God Himself created.

Time with Jesus is far, far better than coffee.

I’ve been loving | this | plan from the wonderful ladies of She Reads Truth. Spoiler alert- all of their studies are a-mazing.

No more coffee first, let’s make Jesus a priority… and drink that sweet stuff while we give Him the glory.

Get the print | here |

Guided Access: Keeping Your Apple Device Kid-Friendly

I’ll be honest, they’re are times when 5 minutes of Avery on the iPad give me just enough time to get my stuff packed up uninterrupted so we can be out the door and on our way. Not something I’m overly proud of, just speaking the truth. The kid loves to look at pictures of himself and if it means he’s occupied for a few seconds, I’m game.

We’ve all heard the horror stories of children deleting every photo from a specific album, or launching the Living Social app and purchasing a cruise (that really happened!). Butttttt, after doing a little research, I learned that Apple made a way to avoid these mishaps.

Of course they did.

Guided Access keeps tiny fingers in a specific app, while eliminating certain areas of the screen so that even if they’re tapped, they won’t respond to a touch.

Ready?

1. Tap settings, then go to ‘General’.

2. Tap ‘Accessibility’.

3. Scroll down until you see ‘Guided Access’. Tap.

4. Turn on Guided Access, then set a passcode. You’ll also want to make sure ‘Accessibility  Shortcut’ is set to the on position.

(Bear with me on this next part, once you’re in Guided Access, it disables you from taking screenshots, so I had to take photos of the screen as best I could. Also, I switched from iPhone with those screenshots to iPad for the actual photos, but you should be able to follow along as they’re very similar).

5. Open the child’s app, camera, or photos (whatever it is they like to look at), then triple-click your home button. Guided Access should now pop up. At the bottom of the piano, there’s an area I’ve tried to highlight with red. It says “circle the areas of the screen you would like to disable”.

Because we have a free version of ‘My baby piano’, there are still ads. Thanks to Guided Access, I can make sure Avery doesn’t click on the ads that then lead to the internet. If you’re child likes to just look at himself in the camera, you can disable him from getting to the pictures and accidentally deleting them by blocking off that specific area of the screen.

6. Once you’ve circled them, the device will recognize the area and make a block that you can then resize.

Now that you’ve blocked off these certain areas, Guided Access will remember this the next time you open this app again.

7. Tap ‘Start’ in the upper right-hand corner. If it’s your first time using Guided Access, you’ll be prompted to enter a 4-digit passcode and then verify it by typing it again.

8. You are now running Guided Access and your screen should look like this:

And then this:

A few things to note:

You can disable the home button so that if it’s accidentally pressed, nothing happens by selecting ‘Hardware Buttons’ from Step 6:

When Guided Access is on, your phone will vibrate should a call come in, but it will not actually ring. A very small banner will appear at the top of the screen to let you know a call is coming in, but it’s very easy to miss a call when Guided Access is running.

The volume can’t be turned up or down once you’ve started running it, so make sure the device is at a comfortable volume before starting Guided Access. Otherwise it’s a lot of fumbling, entering passcodes, restarting Guided Access, etc..

After your first time using Guided Access in each app, all you have to do it open an app, tap the home button 3 times, and Guided Access will automatically start without having to enter any passcodes.

9. Once you’re ready to exit Guided Access, tap the home button 3 times quickly. You’ll be prompted to enter your passcode. Enter and then tap ‘End’ in the upper left-hand corner. Your app will remain open, but you can just tap the home button to return to the main screen.

Seems like a lot of steps, but this built-in feature is a lifesaver when it comes to making sure kids stay in a specific app (and when you just need 5 uninterrupted minutes!)

Praying for a Sweet Family

I haven’t actually written a blog post since November. Yikes! If you’re still with me, bless your heart.

It’s amazing how much of my day is now devoted to Avery, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Between being a mama, wife, working a “real” job, and holding down my Etsy shop on the side, our lives have between crazy chaotic, but that’s what we signed up for, right?

I have more posts scheduled, most that are now somewhat baby-related (go figure), some new recipes, crafts, DIYs, etc.. I’m a little all over the place these days, and blogging is few and far between since it’s about the last thing I think of when Avery’s down for a nap, but I’m really trying to be more consistent. We’ll see!

. . . . .

On a completely different note, my heart has been so heavy the past week as I learned about the loss of a dear friend from college.
Two weeks ago, a freak accident left Lauren fighting for her life after she was was life-flighted to the nearest hospital.
Lauren fought for 7 days, but went home to be with Jesus on May 29.

Lauren’s medical bills will be through the roof, even after insurance. A fund has been set up to help her husband pay for her medical bills, and any other expenses he will have as he prepares for the road ahead as a single parent.

As of this morning, they’re $24,000 short of their $100,000 goal, with 114 days left. The outpouring of support for this amazing little family has been crazy, and even in the darkness, God is truly showing up and making Himself known.

For the remainder of this month, ALL proceeds from my Etsy shop will go to Lauren’s fund. Every penny.
Aside from praying for this sweet family, it’s the least I can do to give her husband and kids peace of mind as they face uncertain times ahead.

Please, join me in praying for her husband, Jayson, and their two babies, Laim (3), and Evelyn (1).