Awesome Halloween

In all my 37 years, I never remember nicer weather on Halloween. I remember crying when it was so cold out that my mom made me cover my costume with my winter coat and mittens, but I never remember nicer weather. We had an incredible day. We trick or treated with Kaya's class in the morning...

And I went to the IRS office to refute a charge in my Twister costume.... needless to say, I lost my battle with them and they did NOT think I was cute. However, the neighbors thought it was awesome and we dressed up with the girls....

I just loved how spunky Kalli looked tonight with her make up and crazy costume.

Loved this photo of Kaya in glowing sunshine (my favorite time to shoot photos)

We were lucky and blessed to have my dad stop by to trick or treat with the girls for a while

And our adorable 84 year old Busia to answer the door and pass out our candy (which everyone really loved)

Here is a shot with a bunch of our neighbors - I love living exactly where we live and feel blessed everyday to be surrounded by amazing families

When we got home the girls dumped their buckets right on my carpet and I turned my head and heard Kaya yelling "Mom, yook (look) at me! I'm an angel!" And she was making a snow angel in all the candy right on my carpet. She was so happy. I of course took the photo THEN got her to stop mushing chocolate into my carpet. All our candy is smashed, but she had such a nice time and it just cracked us up that she thought to do that.

I hope you all had a safe and very happy Halloween. I hope you also PRINT some photos from it and stick them into something for your family. If you have children or grandkids or you just love dressing up, look at this Halloween Book. You can just simply stick in ONE PHOTO a year for every year. How many of you would LOVE to look in one place to see all your different costumes over the years?? I would LOVE to have that to show the kids.

Don't eat too much candy if you can help it. I brushed my teeth thinking that might stop me, but I might have to go eat just one more smashed butterfinger before I go to sleep. :)

More Halloween Fun

Today we delivered Meals on Wheels and since the kids were off school, we took them with in their costumes. The gave the cute people on our route halloween balloons. The people LOVED them.

 

This lady, Mary, is my very favorite MOW client. I go into her home and unpack her whole meal and get her all set up to eat. She is just so kind and sweet I want to hug her. I love that we have this photo of her now. 

  

Just today I decided to dress up for a party we had tonight because I saw a teacher at Kal's school with this costume and I LOVED it. So we went all over, and we found the last one in town. And I borrowed a chef costume from my friend Jen, and Neil went as the Chef from Ratatoullie - we had a great time. 

  

Kalli made a kind friend who helped her with the games (most of the kids were bigger than her). Amber and Kal won the mummy game and her group also won the scavenger hunt. 

 

At the end, she was awarded the trophy for best costume (voted on by all the other kids). She was so excited. 

When it came time to bob for Apples, Kaya looked at the bucket of water and gave me this funny look and said, "There is NO WAY I am sticking my head near that yucky bucket of water Mama" but she wanted an apple, so they let her pick one. That kid just cracks me up. 

 

To end the night, we went out to this home in Griffith where the guy grows these HUGE pumpkins and carved about 80 of them into a theme. The theme this year was Dr. Suess. One of the pumpkins weighed 889 pounds. Can you imagine???  It was very cool to see, and we were the only people in the whole crowd dressed up and everyone kept commenting. It was just a great end to another amazing day this week. I hope you all have a HAPPY and SAFE Halloween.

Halloween Parties

We had Kalli's class party today, and I got to be one of the Moms who helped with the party. It was so much fun. Get 21 6 year olds in costumes, plow them full of sugary treats, and HOLY MOLY they get a little crazy! I felt lucky to be there. Kal had on these tall shoes, so she was by far the tallest in the class...

Then, last night, we celebrated my little brother's 33rd Birthday at House of Kobe (one of those cool Japanese Style places that cook in front of you). Since his birthday is actually Halloween, the kids wore their costumes and were so cute! Kaya was terrified of the fire that starts the grill, so she hid her head under a napkin.

 

Both kids loved giving their handmade album to their uncle....  they were both dying to give it to him, so they had to each take an end and hand it to him together (note to self, next year, wrap two gifts even if one is an empty box)

  

And Kaya LOVED eating with Chopsticks...  they had these plastic cheaters I had never seen before that made it really easy for the kids to use chopsticks. Kaya had me take a photo EVERY TIME she got a piece of chicken into the mouth. 

  

Of course, her sister had to make sure I took some crazy food photos of her, too

  

And, here is all of us....  just happy to be together.

  

Happy Halloween Birthday my little brother (who never reads this blog, but maybe his friend Tracy who does will tell him to come look at the photos!) It was awesome to see you. My kids think you rock! 

Grateful for Today...

I am very lucky and I am thankful that I realize that every day. Tonight I listened to Kalli read her chapter book for her homework,

and I watched Kaya eat butter cookies off her little finger (like all of us used to).

And, we ended the night scrapbooking together and this is the page Kalli made all on her own.

She even selected the photos for me to print her from iPhoto (I love the Mac I inherited from Shannon and could not imagine not having it). We are the kind of family that "clinks" (toasts) our Milk Glasses and holds hands and prays at dinner.

I just felt blessed beyond measure.

We Love Pumin Carving....

 

THESE ARE THE BEFORE PHOTOS 

OK, I might have a photo problem....  I took 168 photos of our family carving pumpkins today. Thank goodness I finally went digital, huh??  My husband, Neil, has a secret hidden talent...  he is an AMAZING pumpkin carver.....  the pumpkins he creates are always so cool. Today, we used a saw, drill, awl, and staple gun. I am not kidding!! 

 

And, the little ones painted....  You should see my kitchen.

 

Here are a few of the results....

 

 

Here is a sneak peek of the one I am in the middle of working on. It might take me from now until after Halloween... . I drilled about 400 holes today. I have a lot left to do....

Neil is really in charge of pumpkins, I am in charge of seeds.....  I love pumpkin seeds...  I ate way too many today and I make them very salty....  I am so thirsty!! Here are my little helpers....

I hope anyone reading this has a fun, safe, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN WEEK! I just love Halloween.

I felt so lucky and blessed to be able to go with Kaya on her school field trip to the pumpkin patch.  It was a little cold for the kids, but the sun was shining and we totally had a blast. I took tons of photos and enjoyed every minute. Here are just a few...   the photos with Kaya on the animals.... she was making "moooooo" and "oink. oink, oink" noises. She was so funny. She also loved that red tractor SO MUCH. She waiting in line twice to just sit on it! It was awesome. Totally awesome. I felt so happy just to see her see it all.

Safe Trick or Treat

We had a Safe Trick or Treat in town today, and it was great. Man, there has been a lot of GOOD STUFF in my life lately. I need to get those instructions done and get them out to all of you who asked for them....

A Silver Medal

For Neil! He came in 2nd in his age group today in a 5 K the girls and I walked 2.5 miles! I was SO PROUD of Kalli. She did great! Kaya went between running, walking, then me pushing her in the stroller. We had a great time. What a fun way to start the day!

After Neil finished...  he walked back towards us and the girls were SO EXCITED to see him. He put Kaya on his shoulders and we all finished together.

 

We also had a family date night last night (for the first time in a very long time). We have had it in my planner for about 6 months! We went to the opening of High School Musical 3 in the theater. We do not go out to dinner ever (unless my dad takes us out) and we rarely go to the movies!!  We had a great time both at the show

 and at dinner later. Kaya picked the place "the place where they throw peanuts on the floor Mommy!!" 

 

Kalli wanted to go to Arby's (she loves that place) but she let us go to Texas Roadhouse because Kaya wanted to go there so badly (Neil and I wanted to go to Red Robin, but we kind of got out voted!)  It was a great night followed by a wonderful morning. Now, we are off to a party and a Safe Trick-or-Treat night at the local safety village! What fun!

Another Sweetwater Album from that kit

Here is a simple Friendship album using the wonderful Sweetwater Rub-Ons. They were so easy to use!
This is the 2nd album I have made in that kit. I cannot believe I still have three more albums to make from that one kit and the other ones look BIGGER!! I love how easy these were for me to make.

Awesome Sweetwater Mini Album

How neat is this that Sweetwater designed this mini book in a clear CD cover? So simple and such a nice little gift you could create quickly. I loved how it came out.

It was part of a Sweetwater kit I picked up last year and never opened.....  It has 5 albums in it total. I made only two of them - and they booth make me so happy. I think my friend Sherrie has one kit left still....  It is a cool kit in a silver tin with everything you need for five complete albums for $75. If you have any insterest in more info on this kit, email me and I will take a photo of my kit and see if Sherrie still has one left. I love their products and they make amazing mini books! Could be 5 great gifts for the holidays! :)

Journaling Question

Someone emailed me and asked me to explain how I do my journaling on the computer...
This was my response...
 I simply use Word (computer progam) for my journaling. I know you are "supposed to" write everything my hand, but I know I would never tell the whole story unless I typed it.
I simply measure the space I have for journaling after I lay out my photos on the page.
I open a blank document in WORD.
I set the paper size to be the space I have available for my jounrnaling and I set the smallest margins I can...  usually .5 for each margin.

EXAMPLE:
If I measure that I have about 3" wide by 6" high for journaling on a page...
I hope a new blank document
I go to PAGE SETTINGS and tell the printer that I am working with a page size of only 3" x 6"
I adjust the margins to .5 for top, bottom, right, and left
I type my journaling and pick a font I love
I print it on white typing paper first to check sizing and make any needed changes
I then usually print directly on the paper I am using for my page

I rely on my computer journaling so much that I carry a tiny portable printer with me to crops. I do try to hand write things on pages and in books so they can see my writing....  and I know some people would tell me I am wrong to use the computer...  but, remember, I am not scrapping to win any awards or follow any rules...  I make pages to tell stories for my girls about their lives right now. The best way for me to do that is to use the computer, and for me, that makes it wonderful. I never try to tell people to do things a certain way - I just want you all to do SOMETHING rather than nothing at all.

If you have questions about how I do this on the computer, email me klsb@comcast.net and I will try to help you.

Remember, I am NOT saying that you should all do your journaling on the computer....  I am just answering a question and letting you know that the right way to do things is simply the way it works for you.

Here are a few photos because you know I cannot do a post without a photo.....  here are some samples of pages I have journaled using my computer.... 

This is not a great photo, but this page has computer AND hand journaling on it

Another example of some computer and some hand journaling....

Remember, I never feel like I have to do things one way or the other....  I just do what works for ME as I am making that page. I do not let myself feel pressured to make things a certain way, in a certain order, or with certain products. I just make things that I think will matter to my family one day. That simply makes me happy. Please do things in a way that makes you happy. Nothing more, nothing less.

Have a super day.

Mom & Me - ALL ABOUT ME class

I am going to be teaching this for the town of Schererville soon....  it is not done yet, but this is the start of the mini tag book for this class. The Moms will get one book for them, and one for a child, and we will do them together in the class. I cannot wait to watch families create this memory together. :)

Four pages for my Sisters Album

As soon as I had Kaya, I started my "SISTERS" album.... I was so excited to have one place to go to see cool photos of them simply being sisters.... I love this book. I made four more pages in it this past weekend....

A few things I made this weekend

At my friend Sherrie's retreat in Iowa. It was a great time. I got a ton done and really just enjoyed creating with a room full of people for three days. Amazing women - funny stories - great projects - incredible food. It was nice and I even took a nap on Saturday. So much fun.

Here are a few 8.5 x 11 pages I made - I put these into the Stacy Julian system of All About Us. I use regular binders for my pages....

I have a lot more stuff I made that I will show you later. I hope you all MADE SOMETHING this fine Monday! :)

Go Bears!

We are Bears fans, too. No matter how badly they play, we still love them!

 

We always have the youngest kids at the games, and some of the only little girls, and the fans around us really are impressed with how much the girls both really enjoy the game. Having little Bears fans just makes me happy. 

 

We Love Soccer!

I love that my girls both love to play sports. Kalli is really doing well at Soccer this year.  We have been blessed with good soccer weather, too.  Kalli has really gotten better about getting in there and getting to the ball. We are really proud of her.

We are so lucky and blessed that Busia gets out to the field for every soccer practice and game. For Kalli to have her Great Grandma there cheering her on is amazing.

And, of course, little bug loves cheering her on and making daddy carry her to the car after the game.

I just love this Picture

 

Being her Mom totally cracks me up all the time. When she gets big and runs away from the camera, I will be so sad.  

While I Am Away

I love this box. I am so excited to use it for the first time. I am going to Iowa to a friend's scrapbooking retreat for a few days, and I left this for the girls.

It is the While I'm Away box from Once Upon A Family. It is the first time I have used it.

I filled it with envelopes - one for each of them to open each morning and each night that I am gone....

In the first one for Thursday night - they have a cover page for a mini book and the o'rings to attach all other pages....  and each envelope contains a photo of them and a note from me....  the last one includes lots of trimmed ribbon for them to tie on the o'rings. I cannot wait to see these when I get back!!!

Motherhood is so much harder than I imagined sometimes....

Kalli lied to me today. She lied once before (that I know about) and got in trouble NOT for breaking the frame, but for lying about it. And she lied again today and I believed her then accidentally caught her in the lie. It was about her getting in trouble for talking in school (for those of you who have met me, you are probably NOT stunned that my child MIGHT get into trouble for talking in class....). I was crushed. I made her feel terrible because she is a very smart little cookie and she knows better....  it just hurt my heart. She is punished (for lying). There were lots of tears and she went to bed curled in a ball. I curled up around her (once she was asleep) and cried a little because I hate that she had to grow up and learn to lie. I always wish I could keep them little.

I had some cute news for you about her too - and now it is a bit overshadowed by the fact that she lied....  but here it is...  she decided last night that she wanted to start selling things in my craft show booths...  I have been teaching her to sew (totally because she wants to learn) and she wants to make purses, bags, ponchos, and journals....  she even named her little company Kalli's Creations. I loved that little name. And she informed that she needed her OWN table in my booths. "I do not want to just put my stuff on your tables, Mom. And, I am going to have Daddy make me a sign." What a funny kid. Here is a rough draft of her new logo that her Aunt Shannon made her today.....

I love it. I love the idea of her picking out fabrics and making them into something that makes her feel happy and creative. I love the idea of her earning some extra spending money for working hard. I love the idea of her having her own little table in my booths. I hope she enjoys the creative process. That little bug will probably make more money than I do (well, if I ever let her out of her room again after lying to me). Man, motherhood is so fun one moment, and crushing the next.

Good Photos

I love these faces.... they make me so happy. They pile on top of each other in the hallway and yell for me, "Hey MOM!! Grab the camera!" Gotta love that. It is amazing that we do not spend more time in the ER with the way these three tackle each other.  Looking at photos like this makes me feel incredibly blessed.

Is it wrong to miss a person so much it simply hurts your heart?

Still, after 2 years, 9 months and 14 days, I miss my Mom that much. I miss her all day every single day, but certain moments it overtakes me and I find it hard to breathe. Like tonight. A simple thing really, running to Stracks (our local grocery store) with the girls after dinner. They were so adorable. They were just having fun being together and snacking on free bakery cookies....  they were doing this hugging game and Kaya knocked Kal over and they fell on the floor. They were laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. And I glanced down the aisle quickly just to see if my Mom happened to be there. Like the old days, when we would just bump into each other there having no idea we were in the exact same place. She would take Kalli from me (she was three when my Mom died, just like Kaya is now) and kidnap her and get Kal her own bag of good-tasting-bad-for-you treats that Moms cannot afford to buy (but Grandparents can). I ached for her to see them loving each other on the dirty floor in the grocery store. To see how cruly Kaya's hair was today and how tall and thin Kalli has gotten. I am so grateful she got to see them be born and kiss and hug them, but what about all of this she is missing now? How am I supposed to feel about that? I know I was incredibly lucky to be born to two amazing people who loved each other as much as my parents did. I know that. I know people suffer way worse fates than the one that we were handed. That is proven fact. Yet, I still find myself unable to hold back the tears walking around the grocery store where I used to get all excited to just bump into my Mom. It is obvious that you should miss a person on the holidays and special family events...  but it is odd to me how much I miss her just doing those day to day things that I think I took for granted. I mean, what did we buy the last time we shopped at Stacks together? Why does it bother me that I cannot remember that? Ugh.

I know I am still one of the single most blessed people on the planet. I know that for some reason unknown to anyone with a medical degree, my dad survived against all odds. I know that I have beautiful, happy, truly funny children who make every moment more than worth living. And I am grateful for all of it. I always have been the kid that appreciated being born into my family and took notes on the little things..... but man, what I  would not give to see Kalli and Kaya hanging off of my Mom's cart at Stracks tonight begging for all those little treats I cannot afford. To see the way she looked at them one more time. And to flash my lights and honk my horn in the parking lot when we went our seperate ways. 

Making something else on Monday!

Hey - I did it - I got creative! I am in a challenge with my friend Shannon (we pull things out of a jar each week) and I had to use a rub on. I wanted to work on this anyway, so here it is.... 

This is an excellent item from Once Upon A Family called "I am always with you". It is for me to stick in my bag when I travel so I have photos and little notes from the girls and Neil. I can hang it up in my hotel room and look at their cute little faces. Kaya is working hard on her note from me as you can see here....

I am working on a treat for them when I go out of town later this week called "While I am Away" I cannot wait to show that to you guys when it is completed.  I love that these products let me do little things that really matter to my family.

Hope you made something today!

Make Something Monday

Hey - to those few of you remember when I started Make Something Monday??  And a few of you played along? I have had a couple people email me and ask me to keep doing it because it motivated them to create something. So, here we go, I will try to get myself BACK ON TRACK to making something every Monday. Remember - just one little thing on Monday (printing photos, uploading pictures, cutting paper, setting up albums, etc) will mean you have done over 250 little things in 5 years - how cool is that??  We can do this. I know we can.

I have high hopes at bigger creativity tonight, but for now, I have made invitations to my local Creative Workshop, stapled them to new Once Upon A Family catalogs, & put them into cool clear bags. When Kaya and I go get Kalli from school, if the weather stays nice we will put them on our neighbors' doors this afternoon.

I am excited to help people create a meaningful gift for the holidays. If you are local and want the Creative Workshop information, let me know and I can email you a PDF of all the projects. Heck, if you live far away and want to see it, let me know because I am sure I could mail out the kits wherever you are, too. I have no clue how to post a PDF, but email me klsb@comcast.net and I will email it right out to you. It has about 12 projects you can come create where all you have to do is bring the photos I list for you (once you sign up) and you will leave with an AMAZING gift! I am so exicted about this workshop. I really hope some people sign up because I love everything they can pick to create.

Hope you make SOMETHING today. If not today, set time to do one little things this week. Remember - do not make it harder than it needs to be - just create something and I am sure it will make you happy.

Teachers helping a fellow teacher...

I have been asked to have a Once Upon A Family for a teacher who is going to donate all of her hostess perks to a fellow teacher whose home was recently under water. We had terrible floods here in Northwest Indiana, and this teacher is due with her first baby on December 5th. Well, everything she had purchased for the baby got lost in the 8 feet of water she had in her basement. So, the teachers are getting together to learn about the wonderful OUAF products and every purchase them make will go towards helping the new mom-to-be gather items that will become heirlooms for her new little love. How awesome is that?

I am going to raffle off a complete Handprint Book Kit (Book, Paint, Brushes, Instructions, Cover Page) so one lucky person will go home ready to create a family heirloom this Thanksgiving and the teacher will go home with a little extra money to use for something she needs for the new little one.

I feel lucky to be a part of something so simple and yet so meaningful.

Beautiful Day for an outside event...

Here is where I will be today:
FAll Arts and Crafts
CAlvary Church
9900 Columbia Ave
Munster, IN
9AM - 3 PM

See you there if you are Local.

Here is the completed handprint cover page. Man, I love this book.

Enjoy your weekend.

Capturing Handprints....

When I saw this Once Upon A Family product....

I instantly thought it was to be used only for children....  and then I thought better! I gave my friend the idea to take the book to her family reunion this summer and she created an AMAZING family heirloom by capturing the handprints of her entire family.....  so, I decided to do the same - and we started tonight for Make Something Monday!

 

And this book is sure to be something we love forever and ever..... 

  

We are going to get Busia tomorrow and Neil's whole family over Thanksgiving. There are a few basic questions like Favorite Color, Favorite Food, Favorite Book...  things like that - I LOVE THAT MY GIRLS will have this for their entire family. Man, that makes me happy. :)

Think about how awesome it would be to get your entire family to do this over Thanksgiving or Christmas or any time you all get together. You will never be sorry. I will be sorry forever that I do not have my Mom's handprint to press my hand against when I want to. 

Get your handprint book here. It is so easy and fun to do. I just used a foam brush and acrylic paint.

I am working on a simple title page - need to cut some letters out, and I will post it once I get it all glued down. 

Have a great day today. 

KLSB 

Your life is an occasion. Rise to it.

This is long rather rambling post, so I wanted to start out with two photos I feel grateful that I have:

Have you ever had a day that you almost cannot even explain? You guys might think I am totally nuts, but man, yesterday was that kind of day. It is hard to explain, but for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be at this moment in time. I am so grateful that I lived my life yesterday....

It is too long to type out, but basically, I was overwhelmed with signs that everything I have done in the past has led me to exactly where I am right now.  I tired to explain it to my husband, and he thought everything was simply coincidence (and I think he thought I was nuts), but I do not believe any of it was an accident....  I met an amazing lady because I dialed the wrong number, I met another person who absolutely needed a product I had to sell her....  things like that. Oh, it does sound like I am nuts when I type it out.... 

And a woman came into my booth and was looking at my Gratitude Tree and she glanced at the following photo of my Mom and she said, "Wow - it is incredible that someone embraced life to that point." I asked her what she meant and she said that rarely does anyone allow themselve to enjoy life to the point of that kind of laughter. And she mentioned what a blessing it is to have it captured in a photo. She had no idea that the photo was of my Mom or that my Mom had passed away. She just noticed this one photo of a random person and commented to me how amazing the person was just from seeing that one picture. That person has no idea how impacted I was by her comment.

Anyway, the day ended with this long, drawn out way of how our family picks a movie.... and after this odd process, we ended up with Mr. Magoriums Emporium (which I had only seen a few moments of here and there). All four of us laid on the air mattress in the basement and watched the entire movie snuggled togehter. Well, I SOBBED through the darn movie...  it really struck a cord. It started with them saying how all stories end and then you need to start a new book (I knew I was in trouble at this point) and then it went on to show this amazingly wonderful last day and as he "left" this earth I was sobbing..... And there is this incredible life lesson played out in the movie.... it was beautiful and meaningful and MAN, it made me miss my mom. What I would give for one last day with her.... basically the story was about finding the courage to move on because that truly is your only option.

Here is an exchage from the movie that stopped my heart for a moment:

Mr. Edward Magorium: (to Molly about dying) When King Lear dies in Act V, do you know what Shakespeare has written? He's written "He dies."  That's all, nothing more. No fanfare, no metaphor, no brilliant final words. The culmination of the most influential work of dramatic literature is "He dies." It takes Shakespeare, a genius, to come up with "He dies." And yet everytime I read those two words, I find myself overwhelmed with dysphoria. And I know it's only natural to be sad, but not because of the words "He dies." but because of the life we saw prior to the words.

Mr. Edward Magorium; I've lived all five of my acts, Mahoney, and I am not asking you to be happy that I must go. I'm only asking that you turn the page, continue reading....  and let the next story begin. And, if anyone asks you what became of me, you relate my life in all its wonder, and end it with a simple and modest "He died."

Molly Mahoney: (starting to sob) I love you.

Mr. Edward Magorium: I love you, too.
(picks Molly up, sighs heavily)
Mr. Edward Magorium: Your life is an occasion, Rise to it.

listen to this if you have a couple minutes....  I found it while trying to link to a part of the movie I wanted to post here. I have no idea how to put a you tube video in here, but I think you can link to it. I never heard this girl before - I guess she was on TV.... I loved the video.....  I think, if you have not seen it, you should rent this movie and look for the message you might pull out of it.

OK, I have got to go back to my booth....  Both girls are coming with me today to play with the 7 year old in the booth next to me. They are so excited to make a new friend. I love how kids look at the world. I hope you all have a day that brings you some sort of clarity about something. And that you enjoy every moment.

Booth tomorrow....

Neil, the girls, and I went to set up my booth for an event this weekend tonight....  I loved setting it up the night before which will make the morning so much more relaxing....  I did not bring my camera.... but I loved the booth today. It is so much better than last time. I will be sure to take some photos tomorrow.

Here is the frame I actually put photos in for display...  I love Kaya's little face.

And, little kids are so cool. Kal and Kaya simply brought a bag of straws..  yes, drinking straws....  and played with them over and over and even invited new little friends they made to play with them. For over an hour the girls and two new friends made things, played with, and enjoyed a 99 cent bag of straws...  I love little kids. I love how they just instantly asked anyone small to play with them. Listenting to them made me proud. I am very lucky. Very very lucky in my life. Enjoy your weekend.

Making Frames...

I have a booth again this weekend to promote Memories for Everyone...  talking to people about on-line classes, local workshops, and Once Upon A Family products....  I love showing these products to people because most of them wish they had something - but their children are getting bigger and bigger and they have not really made anything. These products fill my heart with a sense of peace that I have already left behind something that matters!  My friend suggested having something cute to actually sell on site to get people to stop in the booth for longer (I totally never would have thought of that) so I decided to make some frames and see if they sell....  I made them quickly, but I thought they came out OK. Thanks, Jen, for the idea. :)

If you are local - I will have a booth at the Lincoln Center in Highland at an event on Saturday from 9 - 4 and Sunday from 11 - 3. Hope to see you there.

I hope anyone reading this takes 10 minutes this weekend to make notes on life right now. You will never be sorry!

Change...

I hate to admit it, but I hate change. I think I fear it actually. I like consistency and change messes all that up. So the other day my friend Shannon in Florida asked me if our leaves were changing yet because her son needed some fall leaves for school. I told her I did not think many had changed yet, but that we would look. Well, we looked on the way scootering to school today and I was STUNNED at how many leaves had changed right before my eyes and I failed to notice. Most of the trees still look totally green if you look UP at them....  but looking down was incredible....  so much color, so many fallen leaves...  so much change RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES and I was missing it.

 

What other things are changing in front of me and I am missing it???  This question gripped me as I pulled Kaya home in the wagon (stopping every few feet to gather some fallen leaves).  I almost became overwhelmed at all the changes happening my life every single day. I almost needed to come home and take a nap to stop thinking about all the things in my life that I cannot control....  a very interesting, nerve wrecking, and thoughtful way to start our day.  

Then Kaya grabbed this batch of flowers, pulled one off and said, "You know Mom, I was as small as just one of the flowers when I was a wittle (little) baby." And I almost cried. That is true you know - she was that small once. How the heck did she change so much right in front of my watchful eyes? Have I missed it? It made me wonder. I really need to take a look to make sure I am capturing the little things before more leaves fall off the tree.... 

Now, on a lighter note...  How stinking cute is this Mini-Kalli we created for her classroom??  It even stood up because we added a cardboard easel I had lying around to the back of it. It kind of freaked me out seeing it stand all over my house. (The girls kept moving it from room to room because they knew it freaked me out.)

The weather here changed SO QUICKLY from around 80 this weekend to 59 degrees this morning. I am betting this is one of the last photos I will have of the kids playing with their beloved sidewalk chalk for a while...  I am grateful I ran in to grab the camera this weekend....  Man, I need a nap thinking about all this change. Hope you are capturing the little things that are happening today that might be changed tomorrow.