Memorial Day

"It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived."

- General George S. Patton, Jr

I am grateful for those that have served and continue to serve our country and keep our freedom safe. On this Memorial Day, I would like to share just a small experience with a vetran in our area.
At school, Christian had the opportunity to create a thank you card for a vetran that would be participating in the Quad City Honor Flight. The only reason I heard about this thank you card was because my neighbor was a Guardian on the Quad City Honor Flight for the vetran that received his note. He told the gentleman that Christian was his neighbor and the man so kindly wrote him the letter seen above. This man was also a teacher. What an example for future generations.

The part of the letter that really hit home for me was:
"We never thought of our service as anything but our duty since we all loved our country and wanted to keep it free for our family, friends, and neighbors."

I am grateful for William, and all the men who have served, including my Grandpa Johnson. I am also grateful for my brother, who now serves our country. I am grateful for his example to my children, and the sacrifice he makes to keep our country free. I hope that I can in some way show my gratitude for the freedom that I enjoy every day.

Happy Memorial Day!
{To read more about the Quad City Honor Flight go HERE. To also read another person's experience they had as a Guardian on a Quad City Honor flight go HERE.}

5th Grade Day

Thanks to a friend, I have taken the leap into Animoto! I love it! What a fast way to display photos. These are all pictures taken at 5th grade day. How much more fun can you have than bowling, mini-golf, go-carts, lunch, bounce houses, no school, and a whole day of fun? Not much!
Would you say this is a form of scrapbooking? I DO!

garage sale...

A few weeks ago, my friend and I had a garage sale. We gathered a bunch of tables and filled them with stuff that we no longer needed. I had many toys, clothes, and creative stuff. O.K. to be honest I had some {lots} of junk from inside my house. Well, from the toys that I was selling, there were some Little People that I have cherished since my oldest was a toddler. I think sometimes moms love Little People more than kids.

Really.

They are so cute and fun, and fun and cute.

I think they bring back childhood memories. There is a connection with the past.

We have these British Little People. Yes, they came from over the pond. Great-Grandpa and Grandma had given them to Christian when he was young; or Grandpa and Grandma brought them to the oldest as a souvenir....not sure. But I do know they came from 'The Mother Land'.

I get giddy over them! I love the fireman, that he is wearing scuba gear.

I love the bobby and the dog is just precious.

Well, I had them in the garage sale. I know it was so hard to put a price on them. Well, I took this picture thinking they were going to go to a lovely home, but no one purchased them. Nope. And I didn't have them priced very high at all {promise}. I think it was just a sign that they were supposed to stay with us. And I found them the perfect home on a shelf in Christian's room.

through the best lens...

When I attended Spark last year, I learned a lesson from Jefra in our photography class that I will never forget. She told us 'the eye is the best lens'. It didn't matter what fancy camera or editing equipment we had, photography begins with the eye. At the beginning of her presentation she showed us several amazing pictures she had taken with

{wait for it}

her cell phone camera! Really? Your Motorola cell phone? Wow.

So I have started taking many more shots with my cell phone, then emailing them to myself and downloading them to my digital picture folders. {That was also a trick that I learned from a fellow Sparkler}

I really have no excuse for not bringing my camera anymore. I have a collection of fabulous, in the moment, pictures that I cherish.

Well, this past weekend I was in Buffalo, NY and I had forgotten my camera. How was I ever going to shoot a good photo of one of the wonders of the world {Niagra Falls}??
With my cell phone of course.
Behold the cell phone camera shoot of Niagra Falls:

Now, I know I cannot print these in poster-size prints, but they are good enough for me.

Here are few more fave photos from my phone this weekend:

Loved the button farm booth this past weekend. It has really expanded into an amazing shopping experience! Tomorrow I will be back with some more pictures of peeps from my weekend! Happy Tuesday!

{three chairs...

I just need a day to relax in these chairs, sipping cold lemonade {or cherry limades}, and chatting with some girlfriends...{i wish}
Be back tomorrow!

Wacky Wednesday

I have loved these pictures for almost a year and I finally found the perfect paper from Dear Lizzy to put them on! Love the strawberry/cherry patterned paper and the felt strawberry...it just make me smile. I also am loving my tiny attacher. I love gathering tulle and attaching it right to my page. Eeeek! It just makes me happy!
I have always loved having lunch at my grandma's house. Before I had kids, my work was very close and I would go there often throughout the week. Last summer, my kids spent the afternoon with her and enjoyed a delicious lunch. These pictures remind me of the realtionship that I have with my grandma. I love her. She is so very wise. I still remember much of the wonderful advice she gave me during those lunch dates. There a many vivid memories of us sharing our lunch together.

Here is another layout that I made with Scrapbook Chicks May Kit. {Two {2, dos} 2-page layouts in a row! Wow, that has got to be a record for me.} It is so fun to put together year-end school pages and make a pocket to keep all the treasured projects from throughout the year.

Scrapbook Chicks is having a Wacky Wednesday sale today on lots of product.....have fun today creating.

Inspiration Tuesday

Today this girl graduates from preschool and is ready for Kindergarten. Wow! She definitely inspires me everyday. I enjoy her here with me; playing, shopping, working, running errands, coloring, creating, etc. I am going to miss these days of just her & I.

found this photo here. I have lots of lavender near my porch....just need to add the splash of orange! Love this!
Happy Tuesday...

Going Back

Today I was thinking about my past, and feeling overwhelmed by the photos that I haven't printed and the memories that I haven't written down. But today I was reassured that everything is going to be ok. I was looking for a particular picture and post that I made several years ago. So I was trolling the blog posts from years past. And wow. I found some good stuff that I had forgotten. Some great and not so great mom moments. Some good, good memories.

And I am grateful.

I hope you will take a trip back in time on your blog today. And look at the past posts and pictures.

Now I need to print this bloggity-blog o' mine!

Any suggestions?

{Roadshow}

 

mother's day

Why do I love being a mom?
I witness ordinary miracles every day. {six words} Or.....it isn't easy but worth it!

seven degrees of inspiration

I received an email from a good friend last week and wanted to share it here. This friend I only spent 3 days with at CKU-Anaheim. This was almost 3 years ago. We have kept in touch. I can't wait for the day we can get together again! She is such a beautiful,creative soul. Here is her email:

I'm sad your feeling you've lost your Scrapin' Mojo. But you inspired me. I was at a crop two weeks ago. Which really almost never do and I had seen your blog post and one of your layouts inspired the attached one in photo.The second photo is how you inspired me a long time ago. I had seen a post you post about Christine Middlecamp's blog a long time ago and started following her blog every so often, which is about as much as anyone. She posted about a fabric designer that I fell in love with....Patty Young anyway when I was redoing Maddy's room for her big girl bed I wanted to use her fabrics. I bought a pillow Patty actually made with the fabrics as my inspiration. So a year plus later I'm finially finishing the project. I painted these huge flowers on the wall and the centers are magnetic board to hang art up high and work with letters ect at the bottom. Hence it all stems from your blog. Anyway, I hope you find your mojo.



This is why I love blogging.....I am inspired daily by the blogs that I read. My husband laughs because I read my 'blog line' more than the newspaper or current events. It is where I seek inspiration daily. I am happy that my friend and I can continue to inspire each other thousands of miles away....thanks friend!

mom's taxi: she drives, kids crazy

( The Six-Word Memoir is a new literary style championed by SMITH Magazine and inspired by Ernest Hemingway's original story of just six words: "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." )

I found this site thanks to my bookclub friends.

Why do moms matter?

Please share your six words. I will be back soon with more of my six-word memoir.
Happy Mother's Day!

Head In The Clouds

Be back in a few days....

Watch This

I know this is all over the internet...but have watched it several times today. It has made me grateful for the ordinary day I have had; and that my stresses are so, so small in the large spectrum of life. Just watch.

May Day..May Day...

The Story Matters May Kit is here! Yay! Here are the layouts that I created:


The Warmup: When I start with a new kit, I always dive in and make a quick layout just to get my creative juices flowing. They take less than 30 minutes, and sometimes they turn out fabulous, and other times not so much. But I always start with a quick one to get the feel for the kit.
The story: This is usually a layout that I have been thinking about for a long, long time. It has been in my head and I just need to get it down on paper! This layout was first thought about last Easter when Ella wore a dress that I also wore when I was little. I didn't get a picture of me in the dress until this February when my mom and dad brought it with them to Iowa.. This is what the journaling on the tag reads:
A few months ago, I was thinking about my grandma and all the dresses she handmade for my sisters and I. We had a new Sunday dress for every season or holiday. If I were to add up all those dresses it is at least one hundred dresses....all made with love. Now that I am older, I realize and appreciate my grandma and the dresses that she made for me and my 4 sisters. I am grateful for her talent of sewing. I now have a special box of those dresses that my girls enjoy.

For this layout I went back to this post and used it for the journaling on this layout. I was so happy to find this picture in my piles and piles of pictures, and I used my blog to find when it was taken and a little poem that Christian had written about his First Tee experience. I love when this happens between my blog and a creative project. It is like kismet. {The chipboard golf ball on this layout is from here.}

P4R

Here is a picture of the Operation: Cheerful Heart spinner that so many people created for Reese. She truly loves it! When we went to visit a couple of weeks ago, she looked at it every time she walked by. It is truly a work of he{art}! Even though Reese and her family have not come to the end of this journey....this really brightens her days! {And her mom's days} I hope we will all continue to pray for them!

Ella and her friend "Weese" {still having a hard time with her R's} She loves this girl and will not let us forget her in our prayers. It is through little children that we learn life's biggest lessons. Friends forever!

I'm All Set.

Here it is. The end of another fabulous weekend. I switched it up this weekend and just worked the booth and let another Pickle gal teach! It was fun to see old friends and also meet new ones. We had a great time. Manchester has some fabulous creative people. We were also across the way from Tattered Angels & The Button Farm. Our row was rockin'! I got into a tight squeeze for set up and take down...but with the help of friends I always make it through. Thanks for all the help....jazz hands! {Man mine are dirty----check out my NSD shirt! *wink*Love it!}