Don't Worry Be Happy

The day has come. . . BigBuddy has advanced another step in life. Today he got his Driver's Permit. MyMike practiced with him for a half hour in the church parking lot tonight and LittleBuddy comes running in to tell me, "He's a natural, Mom. He knows how to turn and everything." How sweet was that!!! Creating that mind-set is going to go a long ways in helping me get through the next few months. Not that I don't think he'll do well. He is a great son, and I know he'll be responsible. The only questions he missed on the written exam were the alcohol ones because he just doesn't keep that kind of info in his head - Bless him!

I don't know why I feel this way, but I'm just dreading it. Maybe its because its one step closer to his leaving, which I am not looking forward to. He's such a joy of a boy, really. Maybe its just that I'd rather drive in my relaxed mode to seminary each day, and now I'll have to be on high alert for all possible dangers. Maybe its because my dear friend's nephew is in a coma after being in an accident just last weekend. . . I really do want him to drive. I want him to grow up successfully and accomplish every thing his heart desires, and surely he'll have to drive a car to get wherever that is. . . . No, I think its just my nerve endings. I find that I worry more than I used to. And so, I need to create the attitude that he is a natural. He is full of faith and virtue, and I need to have faith in his virtues.



Really I should be grateful he's had so much experience on the motorcycle. MyMike has taken him out on hard, rugged trails. In fact, when it comes to THE BIKE, things have never been smooth, but he has always made the best decisions. MyMike has always commented on how well our boy handled things with a cool head. We are what we think, and I can be a calm, emotionally steady mother at 5:30 am . . . I'm going to keep repeating that to myself all weekend, and be glad that tomorrow - no school, we all get to sleep in! . . . More time to give up the worries and choose to be happy.


This simple 9 x 9 for LittleBuddy's book uses CTMH GoodTimes paper. These are pages 3 and 4 of a trip that had as many things go wrong as went right, and yet it is one of our children's and my favorite camping memories. When I can remember to find joy in the journey instead of the outcome, I am always happiest.

Out West

Maybe its because MyMike and I are from the West, but there's just something about Cowboys that we love. A good Western movie keeps us entertained. Our Cowgirl, just loves everything Western! My Grandfather was a foreman on a ranch in Western Canada, and the picture everyone in our family knows and loves shows a man resting on a fencepost looking out on the land. I looked at that photo last night in my family history book, and it just made me smile. It was fun to share family history stories with our children for family night. We learned of this Grandpa's great grandparents, how they migrated out West, originally coming from Germany, England, and France. Family history is part of the motivation for why I scrapbook, but on the other side, for my posterity. I wonder what photos they'll treasure from our day. . . .?

Honor

Our church has had really fun activities this year. Tonight's was a "Guiness Book of Ward Records." At others in the past there have been contests for the desserts. Once we won third, but for MyGirl, that was okay, but for the rest, its been a major disappointment. She has a competitive streak in her, that you'd never know if you knew her, but for each event, she has experienced enough losses to just really want it even more.

Tonight the theme was to create a dessert based on a scripture. After throwing around some ideas, I reverted to the fish that I made for LittleBuddies 4th birthday. Its from our Disney party book, and is fairly easy to make as long as you have Necco wafers. (This took 4 packages for the variety of colors - they don't make too many pinks and oranges, I've noticed!) So MyGirl greased the pan well (necessary to pop it out at the end), and baked it up, and made a big batch of frosting. Then I colored the frosting and decorated it up - a great group effort, considering I took the boys for haircuts in the middle. (That's just life, you know, and the cake had to cool anyhow.) We threw it together in a couple of hours, and guess what? We won!!! MyGirl's smile was a mile wide as she picked up our blue ribbon. It was fun watching her at the dessert table, answering everyone's questions, and being so pleased. On the way home, true to her sweet, pure heart, she commented, "I just feel so honored."

I feel honored to be able to have the opportunity to create something with her that made her feel that way inside. I like to create something for the love of trying out something new, but its most satisfying to create something that makes someone else happy, especially my own child. The little time we took together, even if we hadn't won, was still really fun. That was enough for me - time together doing something creative. To have the memory of it being a successful experience, well once in a while, those moments make me feel honored to be a parent that can help my child feel really happy. I should add, that because she does have depression, to have her feel really happy makes me especially happy.

Just in case you wondered, since several people asked, it is based on the scripture from Matthew 17:27, where the Savior told Peter to go fish and find a coin in its mouth to pay the tribute. Note carefully the gold wrapped coin in his mouth, and an unwrapped smaller chocolate coin for the eyes. Sharing the miracles of Christ's ministry with my daughter, now that is a great honor. I am so glad to be born into this century when the printed word is so easily available and we can be literate in the words of prophets, inspired by the mouth of God. I love teaching my Sunday School class. Each Sunday I come away feeling honored to teach the words of God to such impressionable teenagers. Creating, teaching, loving, serving my family, these are among the most honorable experiences of my life.

It's All About Love

These are pictures of my family last October/November when Cowgirl was home for a short break. It's never long enough time anymore to be together now that one has left "the nest." I used the Emporium CTMH paper packet, silver accents, cocoa grosgrain ribbon, Heartfelt MyAcrylix - got a lot of use out of that, you can see! and Treasure of Life MyAcrylix, for the saying, Buttercup SassyStrands, a button from Foo-fa-la, and a scallop punch from ? (Paper Shapers, I believe.)

MyMike gave me such a fun Valentines this year. If anyone in the DC area wants to see a FUNNY and so G-rated performance, check out Pluck performing "Three Strings on the Titanic" at the Bethesda Theater, on Wisconsin Ave. We laughed and just enjoyed it so much. After wards at dinner we spent half the time just rehearsing all the comedic elements and marveling at how thoroughly amazing musicians these were. Think Victor Borge on the Titanic, with sharp, witty writing and stunts. I really just can't recommend it enough, and honestly, that doesn't happen very often! It's only playing until March 1, so don't miss it! If it wasn't Valentines I would have been sad to have not taken my children. They would be totally entertained, but it was nice to have time alone.

I read this quote today by Henry Van Dyke, and thought it very inspiring. . . .
Time is too slow for those who wait,
too swift for those who fear,
too long for those who grieve,
too short for those who rejoice,
but for those who love, time is eternity.

Must See TV

This is one of those humorous reality moments. LittleBuddy had the neighbors over to play Wii, and I wanted to capture their intensity. So, I asked them to smile for me. Notice, I'm hard pressed to get them to turn their heads, let alone make eye contact, but I did capture some cute smiles, thus the title, "Must See TV." This was paper I got from my Utah trip, last summer, at a place called Paper Creations. They had an amazing selection! I believe the patterned paper is AdornIt or MyLittleYellowBicycle, but I am not super at remembering to keep all that straight. Everything else on these pages is CTMH. Cardstock colors were Autumn Terracotta, Topiary, Chocolate, and Buttercup. I loved that it matched another company's patterned paper.

I should mention that I shopped a LOT that week in Utah, collecting a lot of fabulous papers, and my favorites were from BoBunnyPress, MyMind'sEye, FancyPants, and Wild Aspragus, or the ones mentioned above. So, if it isn't one of the above mentioned, I'd be shocked. I'll try to be better at jotting down all that info if I'm going to share it. I do love the little owls! They seem to be the only ones looking at me :)The stamp is from an acrylic set called Dream Big.

My creative project for the day was adding vinyl lettering above my kitchen sink. It reads, "Together," (in gold) then below it says, "a great place to be," (in black.) I love it! They are from DieCutsWithAView. I'll try to post it sometime in the future.

Norman Rockwell

Yesterday I was trying to add something to the bottom of my blog, but I couldn't figure it out . . . really! It's just embarrassing how UNtechnical I am. But, in the process I stumbled upon "Norman Rockwell Photos of the Day." Its at the bottom of my blog. Wish I could size it just to fit the photo, but you know. . . .

Back in high school, I started collecting books of his and calendars. Then I kind of forgot about him for twenty plus years, and over Christmas time I stumbled upon the "Normal Rockwell Christmas Book." Looking through the paintings more as an adult, it just hit me why I like him so much still to this day. He painted real life - black-and-blue-eyes, loving grandmas, gawky teenagers and all. My scrapbooks are my real life paintings. We have pictures of broken bones and close-ups of when we just woke up. I have more than one of "the look" as only a teenager can give, and my children vacuuming up/playing with/touching bugs. We also have photos that I am sure are deja vu experiences for me, so immediately were they etched on my mind and heart, and I recognized "this is that." There are events and holidays and visits from relatives aplenty, but there are also kids sitting in the car, or reading a book or making brownies. There are smiles better than I ever would have hoped to be able to capture on film as an amateur photographer and glimpses into their personalities that I didn't know I captured, but somehow the picture found it.

Even though Norman Rockwell's world was a lot different from mine, from decade to location, I recognize the truth and the humor in what he portrayed. It was his world, and he shared it with us, because that was his truth. I know my pages capture truth, and humor in my world too. I love looking back and knowing sometimes we were dull, sometimes we were hysterical, but whatever we were, we were US. This is OUR life, and its a memory easily relived again and again in a scrapbook. Journaling is important to me too. When I visited my grandma before she passed away I can still remember one of the most tender moments in my life - knowing it was really the Last time I would see her in this life, because I came home and wrote it all down. I'm glad there are pictures of me next to her, but it was the reality that I WAS THERE and this is what I experienced that means the most to me. My pages of that day aren't my "best work," but they are my truest feelings, and capture a moment I want to never forget. Sometimes our emotions affect how we create. That's part of my reality too. The moments in life that Mr. Rockwell has captured tell a story of a little second of a reality he knew and I'm glad he's left his work to share and inspire me.

Created With Love

This was a very fun project! It is LittleBuddies birthday, and I had seen this idea almost a year ago, and hadn't tried it yet. It's base is a File Folio folder, which is 12 x 24 inches, fully opened, and tabbed on one corner. I've seen these filled with photos, which is darling, but I didn't want to highlight the photos. Usually I write my children a letter in their birthday cards highlighting their accomplishments of the last year, and why I'm so glad to be their mother, so this is similar to that, but just changing the format. Because its his birthday, and he turned 10, I wanted it to be the "10 Things We Love About You."

This is it fully opened. Each section is 4 x 6, so you cut the patterned paper 1/8 inch smaller, so when glued it bends at the score lines.

This is the back side, with the front cover actually showing up here. You make the cover last. I used the Stardust paper packet, which I LOVE! Inside there are five tags which can be pulled out. Everything is Close To My Heart except for the ribbon, which is from Michael's. I used white brads, Topiary ink sponged around most of the edges, a corner rounder for all 4 sides of the tags, and my 1/16" hole punch for the brads. I cut a 20" piece of ribbon for the outside ties, and a few smaller pieces for inside.

I love these kinds of projects, but was especially glad that my LittleBuddy loved it so much he's opened it all up and pulled out each tag and read the whole thing three times today. He thought it was the best birthday card ever, and I think I'm going to make one for each of my children in 2009. If you're interested in the directions, send me an e-mail, and I'll be happy to send them to you.

Bargains

This is a CUTE CUTE stamp set. You can actually see it better at www.CloseToMyHeart. com. You can see the whole catalog there also, just go to product and click on the Spring 2009 baby boy pic. He's Adorable!

I apologize if you see these posts changing. I have something - I don't know what - but its the same part of me that has to rewrite every talk I've ever given in church at least twice, and more is not uncommon since moving into this ward, where they give you more than a month's notice. That something in me wants to edit again and again, make it better, tweak it here and there. . . . I know, bordering on insanity. And I realized that I was writing more personal thoughts than creative connections, so I apologize. Staying focused, its sometimes hard for us creative types.
Well, I'll get back to sharing more creative ideas, and I will try to think hard if my posts fit my original intent. Always learning, always growing, always trying something new. . . .