Unplanned break

So last week got a lot crazy and I ended up taking an unplanned break from my blog, facebook and even twitter some. We had some crazy PTA issues come up at the kids school that I was busy dealing with. I think we have the nitty gritty behind us and I'm so happy. 7:00 am emergency meetings and I do not get along very well. I also spent all day Friday at school. Science Olympiad in the morning, counting fundraiser money and copying homework and doing folders in the afternoon. I think I was there longer than some of the teachers were. At least we are now on Winter Spring Break.

I spent today CLEANING my work area. It just wasn't working for me. Got rid of a lot of stuff that I wasn't using. I LOVE how my area looks now. So much more functional and less cluttered.

I have 3 card sets ready to list in the store and at least 3 more ready to be put together. It feels so good to be creating again. Now if I could get around to actually scrapbooking again I'd be really happy.

I'm letting go of Make it Monday this week and just going to be creative this week. I'd like to get some more cards sets made, a few banners and possibly some sewing. With the kids on Spring Break this week getting stuff done is a little hard and we have a few things we'd like to do this week as well. Hopefully we can get to see Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 and maybe the park, that depends on mother nature showing up though.

I will be back to blog though!!

I LOVE this banner. The shoe is my favorite part.

 

This was a custom banner for a bachelorette party.

Hello Spring!!!

My windows are open and I am in flip flops. Spring is here and I'm happy. I'm also ignoring the evil weather people who keep saying the 4 letter s word is a possibility for next week. Next week is spring break for my kiddos and I do NOT want s@#$. Haha!

I don't know how much I'm going to think about trying to make this week as I'm working on some other aspect stuff for Pink Owl. I've had these little nagging things on my mind for months now that I'm thinking I need to get taken care of so I can feel free to create. Not that those things are bad things, they are really fun things, I just haven't given them the attention they need so they feel like bad things. They are things that I want to design and things like post cards and packaging stuff for the business. I just need to get them done.

I do have 2 rag quilts cut. I am missing 3 pieces for one and 5 pieces for the other. UGH! I am not a happy person when that happens. Hoping to pick those things up today so I can get them sewn tonight. I am also determined to get some graduation stuff at least sketched out so I can start on them soon. I am also going to get some Easter stuff made. I do have the designs in my head and a few sketched out, so I want to get them together to see what I like. I'm also itching to get back to making doll clothes. I think those might be great things for Easter baskets for little girls.

I have TONS of fabric I could use to make dresses like this for the dolls. They are so easy to make and just as easy for the little girls to get on their dolls. Wouldn't they be perfect Easter gifts?

I hope everyone is having a wonderful first FULL day of Spring. Now if only she sticks around!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

7 reasons I'm so lucky!
1. I am lucky because I get to be mom to Dart and Audrey and wife to Mark. Love them all and while they make me want to pull my hair out at least 10 times a day each, I can't imagine my life without them.

2. I am lucky because I have the most amazing friends. Friends that I know I can turn to whenever I need a shoulder to cry on, a reality check, a good belly laugh or just a smile, hug or buck up and deal! I get to see some of these girls almost daily whether it be school stuff or baseball.

3. I am lucky because I have the most amazing family. We may be totally crazy and loud and yes, we drive each other crazy, I am incredibly lucky to have all of them in my life.

4. I am lucky because I have been blessed with creative talents. I haven't done anything creative in a couple of days and noticed that my mood is kind of off, I know for certain it has to do with my lack of creating. I feel so alive when I am in the middle of a creative project.

5. I am lucky because I have 3 angels watching over me every single day of my life. All of them touched my life in different ways and taught me different things for which I am forever grateful.

6. I am lucky because I have the ability to make a difference, whether it be in a life of a child I get to come in contact by volunteering at my children's school, a difference for future generations by choosing to use a reusable grocery bag over a plastic bag, or a difference in my own child's life by encouraging them to go after their dreams, I know I can be involved in that difference.

7. I am lucky because I am alive. I get to enjoy basketball games(despite my bracket being a mess thanks to a few teams), I get to enjoy baseball games very soon and I got to enjoy the amazing weather we had in Missouri today. There was no snow on the ground and for that I am very happy!

I hope all of you had a wonderful and safe St. Patrick's Day.

Stories

"Stories are data with a soul" Brene Brown

I have been working on cleaning up my external hard drive for over a month now. It was bad. I had some pictures saved 3 or 4 times and there was no organization to it. I discovered a little over a year ago I am definitely a saver by date, it works for me. I still have other little categories I tag with, but for me date is the easiest way for me to find a picture. In doing this I have had to go through several years of pictures that were not saved by date and get them saved that way. I also have been going through and deleting bad pictures, pictures that I have a million of. Do I really need 500 of my brother running? I mean you see him run in 1 picture you've see all 500. Now of him getting his medals and all, that's different, but actually in running form, no, I don't need that many.

While going through this process I have come across so many different stories I can't wait to tell. Some that I forgot all about, some I've had in my head for a while and some that because of changes in life now need to be told.

This picture for instance, not the best quality picture. In this picture is my son, his best friend(his brother from another mother as Audrey says) and his best friends dad(or as my son calls him his other dad). However, at this time we did not even know them. How crazy is it that in 2 years time they became "brothers" and that it is only these 3 people in this picture. I have not cropped this picture or done anything to it. So now I am watching for other pictures of just the 3 of them so I can tell the story of how the friendship evolved.

How many times have we wished that we had recorded our grandparents or great grandparents or even our parents stories? What about our own stories from childhood? I used to think I didn't have much of a story to tell, not like I've gone out and conquered Everest or discovered something great, so what kind of story could I have that needs to be told. Then I got to thinking about things I wished I asked my grandma or things I wish I knew about my dad. And then I came across this quote by Brene Brown "Our stories matter because we matter." That is so true. Our kids stories matter. Someday they may want to know why they do a certain thing or why something matters so much to them. I wish my mom or my dad had done more to record stories about my dad so I could share them with my son. The 2 of them are so alike it is scary and my son never met my dad. I think it would mean so much to my son. I have given him a few things that were my dads and because of me telling him "that reminds me of your Grandpa Blair" they mean something to him, but I wish I could give him more of the story behind them. My son is obsessed with stats of sports I mean seriously obsessed. He can rattle off stats I had no clue he knew about, things that even I just don't get into. That was my dad so much.

We need to tell our stories. For ourselves and for our children. Whether it be in a "scrapbook" with pictures and pretties or just in a blog or journal our stories need to be told. Our children's stories need to be told. I so wish I had written down all the little things my son added to "Good Night Moon" when we would read it. It was a nightly thing for about 4 years. He could not go to sleep without Good Night Moon. As we would read it he had little things he added to it and he would always say those things when we would read the pages. I wish I had recorded that. It was to the point that I had the book memorized and even when it was left at home one time when we went to visit my mom instead of "reading" the book to him I simply "read" it from memory.

What stories are most important to you that haven't been told? What stories of other loved ones do you wish you knew more about? Do something to tell your stories. Start a blog just for stories, even a word document just to tell those stories. We all know the big ones, but what about those little ones, the ones you forgot, until something triggers the memory? Those are the stories that give us soul, those are the stories that matter.

DONE WITH WINTER

I will be the first to admit that I normally love winter and the snow. However after what I'm sure has been 40 inches this winter including around 8 yesterday I'm done.

This is what we woke up to yesterday morning. It was wet slushy heavy snow.

Woke up this morning and it was still there, not as much, but just enough. I went out to check the mail and as I was walking down the steps I hit a patch of slush just right and...well I'm sure you can guess where I went. I fell HARD! I saw stars just like they do in cartoons. I was pretty sure it would bruise. I however did not imagine the bruise I would end up with. It's just below my lower back and is about the size of a softball and almost black! I sat through a 2 and a half hour PTA meeting this evening in pain. Forgot to take more advil before I left. It hurts to sit down, it hurts to stand up and I don't even want to think about how it's going to feel to get out of bed in the morning. And I had on good shoes, not boots, not flats, but a fairly new pair of tennis shoes. They still have very good tread to them. Guess slush in March is no match for any shoes!

On a brighter note we are supposed to see 70 degrees on Thursday! I hope it comes and stays. According to the farmers almanac we are supposed to get another major round of winter weather sometime between the 24th and 27th. I really hope they are wrong!

Make it Monday

Here's the list this week:

• Graduation stuff designed
• Easter cards
• Easter banner
• Digital cards
• cupcake toppers
• cupcake wraps
• thank you card sets
• a new blog header
• a rag quilt(possibly 2)

Wow, if I get half of these done I will be happy. Mojo is flowing so that's good, just getting down to work and actually doing it.

This was a custom order for a bachelorette party. LOVE the shoe.

7 on Sunday

1. My thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those effected by the tragedy in Japan. It just seems to keep coming for them. And my prayers especially go to those who have not heard from their missing loved ones.

2. Read this quote yesterday and it has been running through my mind all day today. "Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing ever. But to hold it together when everyone else thinks you'd fall apart is true strength." The Notebook. So many times this has applied to me, including now.

3. Anyone reading this that might be interested, my kids are selling Otis Spunkmeyer cookies for school. These are the kind you pull out of the tub and place on the cookie sheet and bake. No scooping, no measuring, nothing, just pull out and bake. The PTA at their school has had an amazing year, we were able to purchase a much needed new piece of playground equipment and a new set of desk top computers. Through the district we also had help in purchasing a mobile computer lab. With over 500 students in their building they really needed 2 computer labs. Because of these purchases, we are looking to rebuild our funds some for our budget next year. If you want to order some, just let me know. They are $15.00 for a tub.

4. I am seriously addicted to Pinterest It is basically an online pinboard. You can create various pinboard subjects and then whatever you find on the internet that interests you, you can "pin" to your board. You can also see what others are pinning. It even includes the links back to where you found whatever it is you are pinning, so you don't even have to remember it by the bookmark name. I'm going through all my bookmarks and pinning various things I had that I wanted to make or cook or bake, etc. I LOVE IT!

5. March Madness is here. This evening after baseball Dart filled out 2 brackets. 1 that he hopes will happen and then one that he thinks is more likely to happen. I will be filling mine out tomorrow. Love this time of year.

6. It is 17 days, 15 hours, 5 minutes and some odd seconds until the greatest day of the year. Opening Day of baseball. I LOVE baseball season. I'm a tried and true Royals fan, but also cheer for the Cards when they aren't playing the Royals. Am hoping the Rangers have a good season too. Let's face it the chances of the Royals making a run for October is slim, so the Rangers are my pick. I love Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler is a Mizzou boy, so I have to cheer for him. And he's a great player as well.

7. Hoping to get lots done this week for the Etsy shop. I am working on some graduation stuff, Easter stuff and hope to do some sewing as well.

A peek at a Graduation item!