FHE = I *heart* monday nights

I look forward to Monday nights every week. Not to be mistaken for MonDAYS, those still stink but at night I can shed the worldly worries and focus on what is most important...family.

This year I wanted to strive to hold Family Home Evening (aka FHE) more often then last year. Then I found this wonderful blog that has the FHE lessons already with monthly themes and new songs to learn and some fun activity every lesson. It is because of this wonderful site I am happy to report an almost perfect "attendance" yay! I missed one this month because I was uber sick but Joe and Maribel had their own mini lesson without me so they are 100% while I am behind by one. That's okay because there's no rule that says you can't have more then one a week so I'll sneak the missed one in. Can't be too blessed if you ask me.

Tonight's lesson was on missionary work. It was so sweet watching and listening to Joe share his mission experience with Maribel. I asked him the questions about his mission and he eagerly answered while Maribel listened so intently which is rare since she liked to wiggle and roll around during every lesson. But afterwards she was our teacher showing us pictures and basically repeating the lesson back to us. I love hearing the lessons through her sweet little voice using her super sweet words like "Lestertime" (yesterday and last time combined) and trying to keep our focus by clapping her hands in a rhythm so we would have to repeat the same rhythm back. So cute!

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday! I'm off to 'cultivate my talents.' That's code for I need to scrap my layout for my March challenge at Skrap n' Chat. Guess I better get crackin'.

>^..^<

the good play dough...

This weekend I had to make so many batches of salt playdough that I lost count and will be set for play dough for a long while. It was part of my Sharing Time lesson on Sunday and since we have 50+ kids I knew I couldn't do store bought. Then I remembered a homemade recipe to make your own that I've been meaning to try and I loved it so much that I couldn't help but play with it a little...lack of sleep makes me more than a little silly.
You can find the recipe here. It's Mom, Grandma, teacher, and Maribel approved!

My lesson was about the creation of the world and the things in it. Unfortunately I ran out of time to use the dough balls which made me so sad, especially after staying up so late making the multiple batches. Instead I gave them their little dough balls with instructions to make something that they are thankful for to do at a later time. Here is Maribel making snakes. Yes, she's thankful for snakes and bridges and her kitties but after each creation she just as swiftly squooshed them back into the ball whence they came.
Ah well, it's the thought that counts right? *sigh*

I hope your Valentines was sweet and filled all things loving.


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i've been framed

I tend to dress on the go a lot lately and jewelry is the last thing I put on and it's usually on my way out the door. If I'm lucky I will be able to grab a necklace from the collective in a reasonable amount of time. Other mornings I'm not so lucky. I am convinced they like to gather into a large ball while I sleep just to make my mornings difficult.

While I was surfing some web waves I stumbled on to Pottery Barn's site and found these. That's so what I need since I can't seem to keep my necklaces apart long enough for when I need them next. Bing! I have an idea!! I can make these cheaper. After all, I am my mother's daughter. 

I remembered a post on one of the blogs I frequent where she gives a tutorial on how to make your own jewelry frame for less then $5. Since I already had some frames I wasn't using I put them to work. You can find the instructions here. It was super easy and super quick to do. Now I can grab on the go and not have to worry about them getting together to make my mornings difficult. So much better!

I even made a smaller one for my bathroom for when I shed my bling at the end of the day. No more digging behind the toilet for my chains that my cats love to knock off while I shower. Mmm toilet chains....*shudder*

It's also great for hanging and displaying earrings. I cannot tell you how many mornings that I have wasted more time then was necessary looking for a matching pair only to walk out with nothing because the days of purposefully wearing mismatched earrings is over. I think that ended sometime in 1993. At least for me it did.
Maybe it's time to bring it back, what'ya think? Yes? No?

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a bushel and a peck

Maribel and I sing this song almost everyday. It is our family song. You know how couples always have a special song that they claim as "their song" (yes Joe and I have one of those too) well this is ours. One of my fondest childhood memories is when my dad would sing this song to us girls in the car and so I carry that on in our car rides together.

Even though we are moving soon I still had to hang it up to enjoy. It seems such a shame to make something just to pack it away.

Have a great humpday!!

I came across this idea from a link party here with the original blog posts the "how to" on her blog here. Oh so many ideas so little time...but first I'm calling my dad to tell him how much I love him.

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la dee dah

Someone recently commented on a layout I posted in the S'nC gallery (actually Pam I think it was you ;0) that my creativity must keep me up at night. Well, this is one of those that did. I couldn't go to bed until it was finished which was about 3 in the morning but that's what I get for starting a new page at 10 o'clock at night.
When I get the creative spark, I can't stop until that spark lands on some sort of finished creation.

I finally got my little chubs on the Dear Lizzy line and all I can say is Oh so delish! The papers are not only beautifully spring, but so lush to the touch! I couldn't wait to make something pretty throwing scissors and glue in the mix! I tried my hand at the ever popular rolled rosettes and I can see these babies gracing themselves on many more future pages yet to be brought to reality.

But I couldn't stop there....

No way. I had to make something else with the oh so lovely fabric adhesive paper so I made me a little inspiration book. I found this awesome tutorial on how to make your own fabric covered journal and couldn't wait to get started. Since the Dear Lizzy fabric paper comes adhesive backed, I was able to skip the spray adhesive step and just cut to shape.

I did however, machine stitched around the edging for added durability. I'm pretty rough on my notebooks as I like to carry them every where with me. You never know when something inspires out of the middle of nowhere. 
And since I love to give, I will make another one of these inspiration notebooks for a lucky someone. Just leave a comment and I will draw a winner this weekend.

I hope you had a wonderful hump-day! I know I did. It was my birthday today and talk about a wonderful day. Wooo-Wee!!!
A birthday post is forthcoming ;0)


>^..^<

so sweet

I love buttons. I have such fond memories laying on the livingroom floor with my feet swinging back and forth in the air sorting through my mom's button box. I would have little piles of my favourites and pretend they were a form of special currency that only queens and princesses would carry. 

So what do you do when the dear husband has control of the tv and watching really out there Japanimation? Why go blog hoppin and get inspired of course! I know. Silly question. While going through my blog list I caught this super cute button bracelet tutorial.  I tried doing other things but couldn't not have woa double negative there-oops mother daughter button bracelets for church today.

And since I was creating, I also did a little scrappin'.

I knew when Vic sent me this photo, I couldn't just let it sit on my hard drive. Seeing my niece hug that baby bump is sweetness at it's best.

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prepare & discover

I am repeating Ali Edwards "One Little Word" challenge from last year to choose a word that will be a focus or goal for the entire year. As I have given up on resolutions, I began to think about this new year and what word was going to be my focus. I couldn't decide between these two and since they kind of go hand in hand, why not have both?

Prepare

I really struggle with prep work. I know a lot of things need it, but seeing that procrastination seems to have a bit of a rep for being on the negative side, (or this would be my word every year *blush*) I have decided to take this bull by the horns!  I pray that I can conquer this, or at least gain some life experience that I can share with my posterity ;0) I feel like this is the year for change and so I should prepare what I can for when it comes.

Discover

This year Joe and I have decided to discover  Florida and check these crazy things and places out for ourselves in this book. I mean come on, where else are you able to put your car in park and have it roll UP the hill??? That's right, only in the Sunshine State.

There are also so many things that I have yet to discover and have put off fo so long and this is my year to do it. But first I must begin my preperations and plans so I can achive these goals!

Our top 5 places
1) St Augustine
2) Key West
3) Spook Hill, Lake Wales, FL
4) Swap Shop, Sunrise, FL
5) Dinosaur World, Plant City, FL

~*~

And with it being not only the first day of the year, but also the first of the month, which means new challenges over at SkrapnChat!!! Venture on over and take a gander. Your bound to find tons of inspiration to get those creative juices flowing!

I received my Ali Edwards winning from her Blog I'm still smiling about it =) and I love them so much that I used them as my inspiration for my layout below.

Here are the paintings. I can no sooner choose a favourite as I love them all <3

The designer is DanielleQ and I definitely seeing more of these in my near future. Check out her shop, aren't they delish?


Happy New Year!

>^..^<

what's in your purse?

Today I was persusing through my blog list and saw this cute post of
Elsie Flannigan's (love her btw) Of course I had to play along =)



Today my purse holds:
My ever faithful Olympus with extra memory card; pocket tissue holder made by yours truly; lip gloss; mini Totoro; Vulcan ears my sista sent me from get this-Vulcan, Alberta! Cool eh?; M's bracelets I made her and thought I lost; my mini sketch book that I jot my many crazy and random thoughts and inspirations (looking at it now I think it's almost time for a new one); keys; cell phone aka extension of my arm, ear, what ev; hand sanitizer in my fave B&Bw scent; a lollipop that I promised M could have after her dinner a week ago-oops; crochet hooks and naturally a current crochet project -hense the body parts (their arms in case you couldn't tell) ;0) Looking at all the shhtuff I have here, I think I need to go through my purse more often *blush*

Ooo and dont' forget about this Friday's online crop here!!! I have my challenges all ready to go, just waiting for the weekend to hit =)














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PS if you can't tell, neither will I

Fabulous Finds!

Who doesn't love a good deal right?

Check out these wonders that happened into my shopping hands! Tee Hee!

Yellow top, Glass votive holder, and the little dish from Anthropologie (my new favourite store); Cute kickers, and Mossimo clutch, from Target; Serving trays from IKEA; yellow photo clutch; sweet new apron from Ross (gotta *heart* Ross);0)


I also included some of my favourite things that I have been diggin' these days. As you can tell, the colour yELloW is one of them. ;0) along with some studio g alpha stamps; my sweet iron turtle yarn holder; and of course Joe and I's new found love for the Bananagrams game! (We just won't mention how many times he kicks my butt. Nope. Shhhhhhh) LOL

Milo's tie (something that always makes me smile); some cute earrings; silicone cupcake bakeware. When I'm not chasing my subjects for pics, I'm caught playing my favourite game LocoRoco (this game is seriously the cutest ever! ;0)


If you notice the table I have everything on, it's one that my Grandaddy made many years ago. It's been at my parents house for as long as I can remember and when my Dad came down earlier this month, he brought it with him. I feel so blessed to have a little piece of his legacy. Family is so important to me and here is a photo of my mom (as a baby) with my grandparents. (My Grandaddy that built the table) They have all passed on so this family photo is extra special to me.



And just for kicks here is Mr. Milo sporting his spiffy tie. He looks like such a stud when he wears it around the house.



***I was inspired by Elizabeth Kartchner's blog entry called Monthly Merriment. She is very inspiring and it's such a fun blog to read. Go check her out here.

cheers!