A couple of recent layouts

Created this on a recent cabin crop weekend....was having a love affair with the polka dot paper! The girl with the big hair? Yep, that was me when I lived in Wisconsin.....the other layout is a "then/now" look and Zak and Me.

Have a fun day and thanks for visiting me.
reen

Questions of the Week

"Mom, before we were born.....where did you meet Dad"?

"Did you meet when you were in college"?

I need to know these things.......Zak, 7.

How to open a bottle of wine 101 - Cheers!

Giving Today.....

I'm giving this blanket to the local homeless shelter today. It was simple to make, just tied knots all around the fringed edges that I cut into strips. The kids at school are having a "Coat & Blanket" drive for the Poverello House. It's my little donation to help someone that has less. I'm also giving two new hoodies, one from each of my two boys.

It's all about giving today and what a great feeling it brings when we do!!

Snow Angels Mini Book!

What a difference a year makes.....

With the start of the New Year, comes a whole new beginning. Yet another opportunity to "get it right". To learn from our past and focus on improving for tomorrow.

I decided to look back to 2006, it was one of the toughest years in my marriage. I think every couple goes through those "tough times" in their relationship, we were no different. I think I learned that year why they make you say, "for better or for worse" in your marriage vows. Things had just gotten worse! I was struggling, we were both at a turning point. This first layout just describes "2006 in a nutshell" . It documents one of the most difficult years we've faced as a couple and how we "turned it over to God" to see us through.

I had a lot of growing to do. It felt like at that point I had hit the end of one chapter as a Mom. My kids were growing and didn't need me in the same ways they always had. I needed to move forward, to seek out a piece of my own identity. I needed time to rediscover myself...a time for change.

My prayer was to let me allow God to be the driver, to lead me in the direction where he needed me. I think he has. I think this series of layouts clearly reflects where I was in '06 and what a difference a year made to me.

In 2007, I found a little part of me again. I became a working Mother and went back to my career in marketing. The part of me that needed to be recharged, was resparked! Having a job took some of the pressure off of Rich and gave the kids a whole new respect for what I was capable of doing. They were all so proud of me and that was a wonderful thing! 2007 was a great year! I think God answered my prayer when he blessed me with a wonderful job that still allowed me to give a piece of myself to my own kids and still help out our family.

I can look back and see that he really tested us and forced us to look at our promises to each other. I found out that by honoring our vows to each other, we honor him. . It was a good lesson...a good choice to let him be in charge of the plan.

Here's looking forward to an even brighter tomorrow, a spectacular 2008!! Happy New Year!!

A few scraps....

As you can see, I enjoyed the hobby a little bit this weekend. I joined the girls over at "the village" for a mini virtual crop. A very nice group of people. ......Finally put a few ideas down that I'd been tossing around in my head. I ended the weekend with 5 completed layouts, not bad for being the slow poke that I was. I'll share a couple of more layouts later in the week.

I have decided that Scrapping makes January seem brighter to me :)

Happy Day!

Question of the Week....

Me: Tomorrow is pajama day.

Zak: Mom, Is Sponge Bob inappropriate?

Mini Virtual Crop Weekend

Starting Friday through Sunday. There are no points, it's just for fun. There will a lot of challenges and even a few prizes to be given away. You're invited!

http://www.scrapvillage.com/

Hope to see you there!

reen

P.S. Sorry I've been missing in action with my Morning Crew friends. My username became inactive and I've not been able to get it reactivated. Miss you all!

One Sunny Day in January

I came home feeling sick and just thought I would lay down for a nap. Well, when you have two little energetic boys, that's just not about to happen.

Zak really wanted to break in his new Christmas bike and Matthew thought Stripe needed some fresh air. So a homemade basket for the handle bars to carry our critter....and we were set for a brisk walk/ride to feed the ducks at the park. Yes, the kids dragged their dear ol' Mom down to the park (sniffles and all).

We are expecting 3 inches of rain over the next several days. I'm happy that we had our day in the sun. A day full of warmth, fun moments, and happy little smiles. I love these kind of days. I know I'm complete and I have every little thing I could possibly need. If I don't....well, it can wait until after the storm.

Quote of the Week

During her worst of times she said.........

"It's not the end of the world" --Susie

For Layle's Challenge @ Method Playground

A little Christmas Challenge by Layle Koncar at Method Playground blog.

http://www.methodplayground.blogspot.com/

The challenge was to stamp on raw chipboard. Well, I took an entire 8.5 x 11 sheet of chipboard and stamped this Heidi Swapp damask pattern down one side to create a boarder. I used the StazOn ink in Jet Black for this. Round chipboard Accents and label are by Scenic Route, photo corners are from JoAnn Craft Essentials line., misc. ribbon.

TFL and have a Merry Little Crafty Christmas!

Children make the Holidays Sweeter!

Zak's little gift bag makes me smile, the picture he drew...the message he wrote...so precious!

Matthew's handmade decoration and ornament; gifts to our family. The biggest gift from him is his appreciation for Holidays around the World, what he teaches us about other cultures and celebrations that are different from ours.

Children make the holidays brighter, sweeter, so memorable! I'm blessed and these boys and their little gifts make me happy!

Merry Christmas!

Quote of the Week

"I have decided not to hand out homework this week. The students have been working very hard in the classroom and I'm presenting them with a free homework pass for this week." ENJOY!!!!!!

from our 2nd Grade Teacher! Yippee!!!

Teacher Gift Tuesday!

A little Christmas mug full of pencils and some handmade bookmarks for our favorite 4th grade Teacher. Pure Sweetness when it's given with lots of love and appreciation from this little pupil.

We love our teachers at Christmas and everyday!

Potluck Monday

Nothing screams the holidays like a good ol' potluck! I'm so blessed to have so many really nice co-workers that I also consider my friends. We had a great spread of food at our potluck; good eats, lotsa laughs, and a fun gift exchange.

Everyday in December is busy, it's hectic, but it's great to take time for some fun....I do love Christmas time.

In front of the Christmas Tree

Zak has a Christmas party and program coming up. I just love hearing him sing and hum and practice the songs to himself. He's keeping the entire set a secret. His party is going to be a "Snowman" Party. We are in charge of the "snowballs" or the white cupcakes, which I'm sure they will decorate.

Matthew has a "Christmas Around the World Party" that he's looking forward to. His school and his class is VERY culturally diverse, it's the perfect theme for this class and this age. They will get to sample foods that originated in each of the different countries that each child's ethnic background represents. My little "Mueller" will represent Germany. So we learned that the gingerbread dates
back as early as the 1800's and orginates from Germany. How lucky that it happens to be one of our favorite recipes of this season!

So lucky me! A busy week ahead of cupcake and cookie baking with these little guys by my side to lick the bowls. (Well, except the tiny one...he just gets the occasional carrot treat.)

Sketch 3 of 3 for December

I'm not a huge fan of sketches, but who has time to scrap and come up with new designs in December?! Not me! Sketches are such a great way to scrap when you really feel like doing something creative, but can't spend the entire day devoted to it. I'm liking them more and more. This is my last of the 3 sketches for a December challenge over at Scrapvillage.com.

Now back to licking envelopes and mailing out my Christmas cards.

A Mother's Christmas Card

This is a Christmas Card that will never land in anyone's mailbox. You see, it has dirty little knees and distracted little smiles in it. It's the one that's just not quite "perfect" enough to mail to the entire database of names. It is the card that shows a moment of brotherly love and an embrace that not many others could understand or appreciate, not like a Mom does. It shows all the dimples that warm this heart...it shows the grins of silly boys. This photo captures all the smiles of a very mischeivious moment when the boys toyed with the idea of jumping in the stream below. It's a Christmas Card that only a Mother could hold dear to her heart...the one with the dirty little knees.

Sketch 2 of 3

A layout of our fun time at the fair when the kids both won a pet fish. We named them Flip and Flop that day, when their water got dumped out and we almost lost them! They are still both alive by the way, they are hearty little fish!