Upcoming Valentine's day for Silly Geese who love Coffee? It's You, Hi, You're the problem...

    Christmas lights back in a tote all jumbled in a ball, tree packed away, house getting back into order.

Or maybe none of the above because you've been fighting a yucky crud for the past 3 weeks? Just me? If you see my immune system wandering around out in the wild looking confused please direct it home. I miss it.

Looking forward to the next big holiday, Valentine's Day! Of course, I had to take a fun farm themed approach here.  A line of silly geese decked out in heart themed apparel?  Check:

 

 

If you are a silly festive goose you might just love this tee.  It is made of a super comfy and stretchy jersey knit, great for casual wear or layer it with a cute pink themed outfit on as shown above.

Also...if you LOVE a silly festive goose I suggest this tshirt as the perfect present to show your love. Matchy matchy is the ultimate lovey dovey proof of a relationship I've ever seen:

 

 

 

OK, maybe that it a wee bit too THEME for you.  Maybe you would prefer a simple normal style that can be used year round AND for the Valentine's red and pink general color scheme season:

1. MAMA Hoodie Sweatshirt

2. MAMA Crewneck Sweatshirt

3. MAMA Red plaid tshirt

Another multi season design that can work year round is this cute multicolored I Heart Coffee tee, hoodie, and sweatshirt:

1. I Heart Coffee Hooded Sweatshirt

2. I Heart Coffee Crewneck Sweatshirt

3. I Heart Coffee Tshirt

Alright. Now maybe you just aren't so particularly fond of this upcoming holiday because you've recently gotten out of a difficult or damaging relationship. I haven't left you out!  Here you go: It's You, Hi, You're the Problem, It's YOU:

This is a change up and play on words from the lyrics of a popular song 'Anti-Hero' by Taylor Swift.

So whether or not you are celebrating this upcoming Valentine's Day, remember:

💗YOU are Loved 💗

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

Today is a good day to be kind...

 Today is a good day to be kind.

    Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.  Much of what happens to us actually has nothing to do with us. What do I mean?  How someone chooses to treat you says everything about their character and nothing about yours. Their behavior isn't personal.  So. That gives us permission to stop taking things personally.  It is an incredibly freeing perspective shift.

    Does that mean we have no responsibility here? No. It goes both ways. How YOU treat others says everything about YOUR character.  Choose to continue acting purposefully in a way that is God honoring and is in line with your character.  What is that called??? INTEGRITY. 

New today in the Vintage Dutch Girl Etsy Shop is this new graphic design to remind ourselves and others to act in accordance with our character:

 

 

BE KIND

 

BE LIFE

BE TRUE

BE LOVE

 

 

PNW Exploring...and wives who steal hoodies...

    We are located in the Pacific Northwest.  One of THE most beautiful areas of the world.  We have stunning mountain range views and driving over the passes makes you feel closer to our creator.  My husband is a huge fan of exploring those mountains, rivers, trails....and places with no trails. I blame his brother mostly for those off the beaten path jaunts.  Lot of adventuring and exploring!

In honor of that love of exploring we came up with a vintage mountain poster style design that I just love:

 

The front of the hoodie sweatshirt has the word 'Explore' on the front left side in orange.  Comes in many colors if the gold yellow is a wee bit too bold for ya! Find it HERE.

Decided we need t shirts in this design too, in soft style unisex fit:

 

 

 

 

Find them HERE.

OK, we all know that if a wife's husband has this hoodie sweatshirt...you WILL be stealing it. I think it's in the marriage vows somewhere that a husband MUST share their cozy hoodies without complaint:

 

What a blessing that we can explore nature and discover new beautiful areas in our world. Feeling thankful today for creation.

A

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come Free Thanksgiving Print...

There's just something about old hymns that resonate within my soul.  I think it's because I feel connected to the church of the ages, all those Christians who have gone on before us.  I think about multiple generations of my family who must have sang this hymn every Thanksgiving.

I've decided I need more hymns in my life. Not just SINGING them, but reading the rich words.

I have another printable for you! This .png printable is free for personal use only.  It is a full (no white frame edge) 8x10. Just right click, save and print.

I pray you and yours are having a wonderful Thanksgiving season!

Blessings,

Amanda - Vintage Dutch Girl

January: Whew...

Once again, life got in the way of blogging! Massive January update:

We started off the year with Lance and I heading out of town to escape for a winter wonderland weekend in Winthrop, WA. Say that five times fast.

As is always the case before we head out on a vacay, I spend many hours packing the kiddos things and whisking them off to Grandmas, packing my things, packing our food, loading the car yadda yadda yadda. Of course it's all topped off with the inability to leave dirty dishes in the sink and you got yourself a tired Mama.

Seriously, I have to bleach spray my sink before I leave or I get all jittery and uneasy. Genetic predisposition maybe? Hmmm, maybe some of Grandma's Dutch deep cleaning stuck!

After our 6 hour drive, we met our Bro and Sis-in-law in Winthrop and stayed in a charming cabin overlooking the Methow River. Private hot tub on the deck, full kitchen, large cozy rooms, fireplace, and SNOW. So very wonderful!

We got a lovely first day of cross country skiing in doing a 14.5 mile loop. The first half was a hard uphill climb then you got to turn around and coast (aka, fly down the mountain praying you don't catch a ski edge and wipe out) the entire way back down to the car.

To warm up you head back to the cabin and jump into the hot tub! And because you are a smart person, keeping in mind to not drastically underestimate your core body temp and stay in so long you overheat. *Ahem*

The next day the boys decided to head out of town a mile or so up in the mountains to find better snow for sledding fun. The girls? Sleep in, watch movies, lazily drink our coffee (while sitting in the hot tub of course) then stroll through town and shop a bit.

FINALLY decide we should go see the boys and drive up there...Only to find Lance lying by the side of the road. Um. WHAT?

A rock? Oh. Where? Submerged in the snow. Oh. Lance took a direct hit to his shoulder blade? Yeesh.

Fast forward a 20 minute agonizingly bumpy drive down snowy mountain roads, 15 minutes worth of frenzied packing up the entire cabin while Lance stays in the car and moans ( we threw everything in the cars as fast as possible - really, it was quite a site to behold. If only I could pack that way), and a tense hour and a half drive to the Chelan ER where the ER nurse says:

"No, you couldn't POSSIBLY have broken your scapula, do you know how many G's of force that takes!?"

Fast forward 45 minutes:

"So, the X-ray shows you broke your right scapula."

Yep.

"So what position exactly was your arm in when you hit the rock?"

"Well, it was raised up because I was holding the video camera". I tell ya, I bust out laughing. Not sure if Lance thought it was funny or not. The ER doc just raised his eyebrows.

Ah yes, I love humor in stressful situations. Does that mean I'm emotionally immature? Maybe. While pregnant with Lil Chick at 34ish weeks and my OB doc said she was admitting me for full time hospital bedrest I SMILED. Nope, didn't cry. Didn't freak out. Just smiled.

For your viewing pleasure, the sled crash:



SO. Needless to say it has been slightly chaotic over here. I dug my nursing cap out of storage, was a single Mama to Bubbalu and Lil Chick, tried to keep a handle on the house (unpacking, blech) and ran my Etsy shop. Not going to lie to you, it wasn't easy. I was quite overwhelmed!

After a couple of rocky weeks Lance is now back at work and healing nicely. We were so very thankful that surgery was not required...and that our Sis in law is the nurse for an EXCELLENT orthopedic Doc! Ya know, being a Dentist and severely injuring your right arm/shoulder/back is not a good thing. SO thankful he is healing well.

A week after his accident, we had a fun week of snow in our hometown, schools cancelled and everything! Snow that lasts is a rare treat and the kiddos had SO much fun playing outside. I discovered a love of shoveling snow as our regular snow shoveler was still lying on the couch healing. Seriously, making ginormous piles of snow that take weeks to melt? YES.

I went cross country skiing through town the first night of the snow with my bro and sis in law and took a hard fall, spraining my ankle pretty bad. Awesome.

I may have cried a few times over the next few days. Just keeping it real.

10 days later and I am now the one healing nicely....but am fighting a nasty lingering sinus infection.

Doggedly determined to NOT be down. To NOT be cynical. To NOT get angry. I think that's how Satan gets to me. Throw a TON of stressful stuff all at once and watch me crumble. Nope. Not gonna work.

I'm leaning on the Lord.

After all, HE is in charge.

Amanda - VintageDutchGirl

I'm Raising a Human Being...

Seriously, thank you thank you all for your kind words of support and kindness regarding my 'Parenting a Spark Plug' post from Monday.

It's been a bit smoother around here. Usually when Bubbalu is having a rough go of it I need to drop everything and spend some serious quality one on one time with him. Unfortunately, that is when I least want to spend time with him.

But it's not about my wants and my needs and my preferences.

I'm a Mama.

After all:

"Remember you are not managing an inconvenience, you are raising a human being" … Kittie Frantz

I made up some free printables, I figure I need to read this quote as much as possible. Take and enjoy!

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Amanda

Follow VintageDutchGirl on FACEBOOK :) Cause sometimes I post on there...If I feel like it...If I'm bored...because I'm out of queso or chips.

Parenting a Spark Plug...

Some days I fail as a parent.

As least I feel like I've failed.

Yes, the kiddos may have been fed, clothed and kept out of general danger, but their other needs may have been left by the wayside.

You know, teaching them the fruits of the spirit like PEACE. PATIENCE. KINDNESS. SELF CONTROL. GENTLENESS. Patience. Patience. Patience. Pat - ok you get the idea.

I've had MANY of those days lately. Survival days. Struggling to provide those basic needs of a human, but ignoring many of those other, ya know, things. Let's just say our strong-willed child is once again trying valiantly to become ruler of the family.

God made him this way. God blessed him an unusually firm character, a drive and determination and spirit of fortitude that will one day become the very thing that helps see him through anything he sets his mind to accomplish.

He is a firework. A spark plug, if you will. Small package, lively zippy personality, huge potential.

Today I'm praying for patience, guidance and for a spirit of gratitude for the gift this wondrous child has been to us. For what character development parenting him has produced in ME.

Cause sometimes He needs to tear me down with whatever means necessary to wake me up again.

God knows what HE is doing. Imagine that.

Amanda