Welcome Baby!

NO, not me!!!!!!
I have a friend who has a new baby boy. I wasn't able to attend her shower, but still wanted to do something special for her. I purchased a very cute 6x6 album and then created pages to fill it up so that she can just add pictures and have a completed album/brag book. After that she can give it as a gift or keep for herself, whatever does her the most good :). I really hope she likes it. I am going to try to get it in today's mail so she has soon. There are 40 different pages so these are just a few of them so you get the general idea.

In Honor of Jacob Allcott

I completed assembling and am mailing out this OPH comfortghan to the parents of Army Pfc. Jacob Allcott (21).

Curve ball

So, life has a way of sneaking up on a person when they aren't watching. I dealt with some things yesterday that I fully expected to have to face at some point in my life. Did I expect them yesterday? Heck no!!! These are issues that come with age. When did I get old? I don't mean great grandparent old. I don't mean can't do anything old. I just mean basic life issues and health issues old. I see people my age and think, wow, I don't look that old (meaning no longer 24). I probably do, but the person I see in the mirror doesn't. Where does the time go? I need to learn to slow down and enjoy more of it and stop being so wrapped up in the "have to" and relish the "want to".
I am going to share an exercise I am doing if you want to join me. You have to actually write down the answers, not just think about it :).

1. You go see the Dr. and he says you have one year to live. List 10 things you do in the next year.
2. You go see the Dr. and he says you have one month to live. List the 10 things you do in the next month.
3. You go see the Dr. and he says you have one week to live. List the 10 things you do in the next week.
4. Great news, you see the Dr. and you are fine. What 25 things do you want to do during the rest of your life?

Then, take those lists and turn them into goals with dates and specific ideas of how to achieve them. I have been promised that this exercise will lead you to a more rich and fulfilling life. I can see how that would work.

Remember, no one ever is on their death bed complaining that they should have spent more time at work ;).

Gift Exchange

Here is what I promised to share :). If you remember, I was part of a gift exchange that required a "made" item. For the gift I brought, I altered an Altoid tin and inside is a mini album. It all measures 3 1/2 x 2 /1/4 inches. It was super, super fun to make!!! Now I am wondering why I didn't save all those tins over the years..........................

Additionally, the gift for this exchange in addition to containing a made item was to be "creatively wrapped". Now, there are some very creative women in the group and the variety was amazing. The packaging was very entertaining. My contribution was to alter a show box. It was fun to do and provided for colorful packaging.

Goings on

I have made all sorts of projects in the last few days and I can't share any of them until after Saturday!!! It is making me crazy :). I have a scrapbooking crop on Saturday that has a gift exchange going on and the items I made were soooooooooo fun and I am pretty proud of them, but it is a SECRECT and since I am not sure who reads this and when.......................

Anyway, I hope to share after Saturday :).

Got started, and only started, on another of the 6 hour quilts. Now read started as strips cut and the center one put together, so beginning stages only. I also finished another OPH comfortghan for HMB and need to get it washed and mailed out. I will take a picture before I mail it and share, but I am planning to mail on Monday. Time to get it where it is needed.

I have found that I will have most of Saturday free with no one else home. I am working on what I want to do with this time. I am at a loss. There are so many options, I just don't know how to pick and I don't want to be exhausted at the end of it either. I DO know that going to the gym is on the list. YEAH!!!!!

Well?

What do you think? I am pleased with the results and excited to make more! I have so many different ideas rattling around in my head from this pattern!

6 hours? YES!

I was turned on to this quilt pattern by Kaye Wood. It claims you can make the twin size quilt in 6 hours. I thought, yeah, right. I was told it was super easy and since my knuckles and hands have been giving me such fits making it hard to knit or crochet, I decided to give it a try.

WOW!! Provided you don't count the time I spent selecting fabric :), it probably isn't too far off. Now, this is my first time through the pattern, but the concept is brilliant! I am doing a baby size, not a twin and completed everything yesterday except the binding. Having never done binding before (I always did pillowcase style) I decided not to start the process at 9 pm and saved that for later today. Hopefully it works out as well as the rest of the quilt has. I have LOTS of ideas based on this pattern and am fairly "itchin'" for time to play.

Where have I been?

Pulling wallpaper off the walls in the bathroom! What a JOB! That said, I am soooooooo happy to have those little blue and yellow flowers GONE!! My super wonderful DH took me today to get a new sink so the yellow countertop will be GONE as well once everything is installed. I am so happy. I will no longer have to try to clean around that annoying sink edge. We go a one piece sink and counter top and it is beautiful!!! Although my bathroom is currently in shambles, I am definitely doing the *happy dance* at my house!! :)

Look what I made!!!

That is homemade, not from a mix or the breadmaker with butter (the real stuff) melting on top, bread! And it only required three phone calls to my sister in the process. Well, four if you count the one when I let her know they turned out :). This was really a lot of fun, inexpensive (love bulk bins) and the bread turned out tasting pretty yummy. Will certainly do this again!!!

Summertime

I wanted summer, but this heat is amazing! Not that we have it, but that we have it again this year. I believe that the climate in our area has truly changed and that this multiple days of 100 in July is now normal. Not fun, but normal!
I am looking for additional ideas of activities to do with my kids during the little bit of time we have left. We love the dollar movies and swimming. I also have a trip to the Discovery Center on my short list and some more picnics. Any other ideas?

Motivated Moms

I am so very, very excited! I have a friend who directed me to this site. I LOVE them. I printed out the samples and used them for a few days. I have now decided that they are worth every penny and happily gave them my $4 for the rest of the year. Motivated Moms. What a great name :).

Now I know that for many of you this would seem like a complete waste of $4. Please know that I have tried over and over again to create these on my own and have been completely unsuccessful. I just couldn't get it quite right and was continually starting over. I am very happy to just add a bit or skip a bit with these and they cover the important things :). I still love FlyLady and her concepts, but these lists are a lifesaver (house saver) for me.

Next on my "list" is to delegate some things to my children. I know that I am not doing them any favors by not teaching them how to care for a home and that the responsibilities are shared in the family, but it is also pretty hard for me to let go. Soon, very soon.

Quote for the day

Never give up what you want most for what you want at the moment.


Just think about it :).

Back to it.......

The vacation is finished and the catch up time at home is finished and now it is time to return to your regularly scheduled programming.
It was great that we got to see so many people. We had the opportunity to visit with three different groups of family. They are all wonderful people and were fantastic to spend time with. If would have been nice to spend more time with all of them, but it was just not possible.

I did some self examination and learned a bit while away just because of all the events and surroundings (trust me, this was not planned soul searching :)). Things in life seem to take time or money and occasionally both. There are trade offs for each and I haven't been able to balance them well with the constancy I would like. I also seem to think that I can have both and so haven't made decisions as to which is more important and exactly what that means both day to day and long term. Now I know my "problem" I can get to work on it. Hopefully that will mean resolution on some internal conflicts soon and with that will come peace!

Worry and Stress

So I saw this saying today that struck home-

"Worry is a waste of imagination"

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, makes you think doesn't it? Things have been a tiny bit stressful lately and I am working diligently to let go of what I can. I am very much looking forward to my upcoming vacation. I am disappointed that I need to go into the office the morning before I leave AND that I need to be able to periodically access email AND take my cell phone so I can be reached. I am pretty sure that it won't happen often, but the thought is just sad.
Enough worrying about it though :).

Superman

Can't do it. I know it is not a remake, but a furthering of the story. I know it is meant to be flattery. I can't do it. Superman is and always will be Christopher Reeve and I can't see the new movie. I hope everyone who does enjoys it as much as my friends who have seen it. It is supposed to be wonderful!

Los Angeles

I spent Friday in LA for a conference related to work. It was a quick trip flying down and back the same day and classes the entire time I was there so the only parts of LA I saw were on the shuttle between LAX and the hotel and from the plane. On the way home it was dark and the sight from the plane window was easily one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. After we had been in the air for about 30 minutes I looked out and it was pitch black with the lights below. It looked like someone had dropped a bottle of glitter onto black velvet. AMAZING!!! I spend a good amount of time yesterday trying to recreate the look for a spread in the altered book I am playing with, but I wish you could all see the picture captured in my brain!

Balloons and more balloons

Once a year the "Spirit of Boise" happens. This is a big gathering of hot air balloons and they launch for four mornings (weather conditions allowing) from a park in town. They let the public down in the launch area and it is AMAZING!!! In the past I have gotten the boys up and we have sat by the rim that surrounds the park and watched the balloons go up. This year we went into the park and were right next to the balloons as the inflaited and took off. So very, very cool. It was worth getting up super early and being exhausted now. The colors were breathtaking. I hope some of the pictures turn out. You can view photos from the event on the website. The 50th anniversary Mickey Mouse with the golden ears was there as well as the Energizer Bunny (HUGE!).

More cards!

I had a great time making these cards from a single sheet of double sided paper. I was so happy with how they turned out and the owner of the store where I purchased the paper had asked to see them when they were completed. She was pretty thrilled with how they turned out as well and asked me to create a set for store display. This exact paper was sold out, so we selected something similar and I had a ball playing with that paper as well :). Of course I forgot to take pictures of those as I was so excited to deliver them. She loved them and that did my creative soul good.



Now, to decide what pictures to trade out for the Trading Faces Swap. I am having a very hard time deciding which to either let someone do or ask for help with. Think anyone else wants to do some of my 47,000 Christmas photos? LOL!
Hmmmmmmmm, must decide soon, the deadline is looming!!!

Father's Day

This is a tough one for me. I am married to a wonderful man who is a fantastic father to our boys. I am so grateful for this and words can't express how blessed I feel. I try to make certain he knows this as well not just today, but everyday.
I also miss my own father a ton. April was 8 years since his death which was very sudden and unexpected. I am glad it was fast and there was no suffering involved. I do hate that I never got to say good-bye. I have many wonderful memories and I am in the process of trying to document some of them to share with my children and others, but it is a long and at times painful process.
So, today I combine my love of both my father and my children's father and try to make certain my husband knows how truly special he is.

"Fathering is the most masculine thing a man can do." Frank Pittman

gowns

These are two burial outfits that I mailed out to TLC today. It has taken me months to get them completed due to some pain issues in my wrist and joints as well as just how crazy life has been in general. I am excited to have them finally done and mailed. :)