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a 'thankful' leaf garland

 
this is just a quick post to show you a little project we did over thanksgiving. my mom made these huge leaf shaped sugar cookies and for some reason seeing those gave me this idea. you only need a couple things, fortunately i already had everything on hand.

i went through my scrapbooking papers and scraps and pulled out some fall looking colors, then i got my mom's big leaf shaped cookie cutter and traced it 17 times on the different papers (the number will vary obviously due to the number of people in your family), then with some help from my mom and sister we cut them out. i just left the pile of cut out leaves on the table with some different pens and a white sharpie marker and asked everyone to write something they were thankful for whenever they felt like it.
 
my parent's house is chaos when all 17 of us are there, especially with 9 of them being crazy kids so unfortunately i didn't get any pictures of the process. 

anyway, when all the leaves had been written on i used some embroidery floss (don't know if that's what it's really called. it was something my mom had that was a little thicker than thread) and i poked 2 holes at the top of the leaves with the needle first then i threaded the floss through. i did tie a knot at each leaf so they wouldn't slide around when hung up.
 
i think sweet caroline's was my favorite..."i am thankful for myself". love it!  
 
i love the children's handwriting and the fact that they truly write from their heart. the leaves that my parents wrote on i made the bookends of the garland so all their kids and grandkids were sandwiched between them. they are celebrating 40 years of marriage in december, i'm certainly thankful for that!
 

 

so there you go, our 'thankful' leaf garland. i believe we have a new tradition. it will have to be every other year though since we all trade off coming home and going to our in-laws. i don't know if we'll just add to this garland or make a new one, we'll see. it will be fun to hang up every year though and reflect on what we've written in the past. and what a lovely reminder too to continue to count our blessings.

xo xo

 

good mail days

i love getting fun things in the mail, especially when you're not expecting it. much to my surprise, within the span of 2 weeks i received quite a few fun packages so i thought i would share some of my good mail days with you starting with the most recent.

i have been a follower of the blog simplemom.net for about 2 years now. i remember the first night i stumbled upon it, i was so excited as to the things i was reading and all the information that was there that i just had to send an email. so i did, i sent an email expressing my gratitude and sharing how happy i was to have found this website. as a follower of the site it has been fun to know in advance about the book that was being written by tsh, the founder of simple mom, and kind of hear some of the ins-and-outs of it. anyway, i was able to pre-order the book but didn't know when it would be shipped so it was a nice surprise when i got this in the mail.

 
 
got my signed copy since i pre-ordered:)
 
"tsh oxenreider is the creator of the popular blog simplemom.net and is the founder of simplelivingmedia.com. she is passionate about simplifying life and eliminating clutter so that the truly meaningful things in life can breathe." that is from the "about the author" page in her book. i love that, i also love that she is a christian woman and she is a huge dave ramsey fan.

another little excerpt from the first few pages of her book... "there is no reason to complicate your family culture just because the culture at large is complicated. when you choose the simple road over the one cluttered with gadgets, theories, and systems your whole family will probably have more peace and less stress. and at the end of the day, that's what truly matters--a family and a home at peace. a home full of people, content with their belongings, their relationships, and their available time."

isn't that great?! i'm so excited to get started reading this. there is even home management templates in the back of the book--woo-hoo!

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another little package came a couple days before halloween, sent by my sweet mother-in-law. she is always so good about sending the boys fun stuff in the mail.
but this cute little hand towel was sitting right on top just for me. 
 
the boys were so excited to rip into their goodies but they were good sports letting me take pictures first!
 
cooper immediately on his own got out a notebook and wrote mimi and russ the sweetest thank you note. he wrote the "i love you" on the back. i love it every now and then (in my case it's every LONG now and then)  when you get a small assurance that you just might be doing something right:)

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one of the fun things that i got to do when i was visiting my sister was go to the horse shoe craft and flea market in denver. there were so many fun talented vendors there, i collected many business cards since i wanted more than i could afford. my sister left with the perfect chair that she'd been looking high and low for and got it at the perfect price...even better! one of the vendors that i purchased from was kind enough to reserve the bracelet that i wanted on her etsy shop since i didn't have the correct form of payment at the time. so again, a nice little treat when i received it in the mail!
    i am such a sucker for a nice hand written note, it made receiving the bracelet that much more special.
 
it ties together with ribbon-- so stinkin' cute! i love it! this bracelet is from bringaboutart.etsy.com. definitely check it out, she has some beautiful furniture pieces as well.

so here are a few other vendors that i loved that you just might like too. the first is mukee.etsy.com, this guy makes handmade jewelry from reclaimed skateboards! super cool! i bought a pair of earrings from him, unfortunately i don't have a picture of them but there are some very similar to the ones i have on his site. then there is resplendid.etsy.com. she takes repurposed frames or vintage windows and makes chalk boards or gilded glass frames etc... i loved seeing her work in person, such beautiful stuff! added to my wish list:) some other fun vendors that were there: dandysocialclub.com, studiolila.com, and planetogie.com (oh my goodness, these plush creatures were so adorable in person!)

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and finally, the package that was the start of my good mail days...
 
blocking out my address takes a little away from the full affect of the envelope but oh well, you know. i was so surprised and giddy when i found this in my mail box, there really didn't even have to be anything inside the envelope because i loved it so much by itself! but lucky me, there was other equally awesome goodies inside.

travis millard was one of my high school art buddies. we actually went to school together all the way from elementary school through high school but became friends in high school due to sharing a lot of the same art classes. travis was always very talented and is an amazing successful artist in los angeles now. of course we lost touch after graduating, now fast forward several years to facebook....this is one of the reasons facebook can be so great in my opinion. reconnecting with people who you actually care to be reconnected with!

so to get to the point, one day travis posted a picture of this print he did paying homage to our high school art teacher for a show he was participating in called re: form school show in new york.
 
it's hard to describe the feeling i had when i saw this because to really understand you would of had to have had mr. wright as a teacher. i loved him. i hated him. he made me cry many many times but it always made me want to come back and "show him". he always participated in the same kansas city art shows year after year and year after year i always went and stopped by his booth to say hello. seeing this print brought back a flood of memories. art was the only thing in high school that made me even want to go. travis couldn't have nailed this any better!

of course i expressed all this to travis and how wonderful i thought it was and the next thing i know here in my mail box is my very own  giclee print. and let me tell you, it is so beautiful in person! i carefully unwrapped it and just starred at it running my fingers across it. it's a framer for sure! i'm so excited to have a piece of travis's art work and the subject matter is very dear to my heart as well.

look at all the other super cool stuff he threw in:
 
 
so cool! you seriously made my day travis, thank you so so much!
you can check out more of travis's work at fudgefactorycomics.com.

 wow! so there you have it...my good mail days:) if you made it all the way through, thank you so much and i hope something in there sparked some interest or at least made you smile. anyday now the Christmas cards will start arriving and i can't wait! that's like a present in the mail every day!

i hope each and every one of you has a wonderful thanksgiving spent with the ones you love! all my immediate family is in town for the holiday and for that i am extremely thankful.
thanks again for stopping by.
xo

brothers for life

i'm pretty sure it's normal for most siblings to have a love/hate relationship while they're young. they can fight constantly one day and then the next they are best buds. or they can not be getting along and then the neighbor boy or some other kid can be mean to one of them and it's like 'oh no you didn't!'. it's like i'm allowed to be mean to my brother but boy i'll be ready to fight for him in a second if anyone else is. i've seen that happen numerous times and it makes my heart want to burst, not due to the fighting part but the sticking up for each other part.

which brings me to this, evidence of a "best bud" type of day between cooper and porter.
 
cooper spent a lot of time making porter a "jet pack" out of poster board. he drew it, colored it, cut it out, taped it together and wrapped it up along with other random toys he threw in a box for him. he made it a big deal that he had this present for porter and we all gathered around to watch him open it. he had the above note attached to it. i'm sick that i didn't get a picture of porter wearing the jet pack! i don't know who was more proud though...cooper, porter or mama!

since that's kind of hard to read, it goes like this:
to porter you are the best.
porter you are very cool
you are won of the 3 best
boys in the univers. porter
you are funny. this is a
late crismis present.(he meant early christmas present) i hope
you like my present. love cooper  then the lovely picture of porter and his huge muscles!

yeah, i don't know...i think mama is the most proud:)

i was reminded of these pictures from this past summer in colorado on our "camping attempt" day.
 

 
 
for some reason this is the picture that gets me choked up, those little arms tightly wrapped around each other is just precious.
 
and they're off for another adventure!

i love it when we have "best bud" type of days around here. Lord knows i need to see that every now and then! i know these boys have plenty more days of fighting and not wanting to have anything to do with each other but my prayer for all 3 of them is that they would continue to bond and grow together and know that no matter what their brothers will always be there for them....brothers for life.

365--week 40

i might be a little short on words as i'm trying to crank some of these posts out before it's time to pick up my crazy boys. it's only been one day and i'm already missing them and sick of the quiet! people what is wrong with me?!

here we go...

day 274
 
oh my goodness! i can't even tell you how much i love this little dude! he has the sweetest, softest voice and articulates every word and repeats everything you say.(gotta be careful!) it is priceless! i was so happy i was able to make it to one of makayla's soccer practices. you did awesome girl!

day 275
  so this was the whole reason i got to go to colorado. my sweet cousin flew me out there to take some pictures of her and her groom in the mountains. seriously? how did i get so lucky? i'm afraid i got the better end of the deal! my cousin fully knowing that i am not a professional photographer and that i've never done bridal pictures before but yet still wanted me to come out and do this for her. thank you carrie, i was and am so honored that i was able to do this. (thanks to my photographer friend, cija, as well. i'll try and post some of my other favorites soon too)

day 276
 
i love this! weekend reading homework for makayla and preston wanted to get in there and listen too. love seeing my sister in her daily routine as a mama!

day 277
 
cool dude preston! this was on our way to the airport and we stopped to try and get a few pictures of the boys. being in a hurry really wasn't such a great idea, we didn't get many pictures. we were so busy most of the time i was there that we failed to schedule in time for pics of jenna's family. maybe we'll try again over thanksgiving??

day 278
 
home sweet home. porter learned to read (memorize) the eric carle book "brown bear, brown bear, what do you see" while i was gone thanks to my mom. he was bursting with excitement to show me and he didn't miss a beat! i was so proud of him. i caught him in his room just reading it over and over to himself. i hope this has sparked the interest in wanting to learn to read:)

day 279
this was just a random shot taken of easton while he was playing basketball (okay well i made him stop and look at me). just thinking about this cool kid who is almost 10, whose feet are ginormous and who is almost as tall as me--sigh. where has the time gone?

day 280
 
a couple days back home and reality is in full swing... helping with homework (or reading to porter while daddy helps with homework). i think i was missed and that made me feel pretty dang good!

thanks to everyone on both ends who made those 6 days i was gone possible. it was a much needed break. i came back feeling refreshed and renewed. i love you all!

xo

365--week 39

well hello there! i have had a great day just doing all sorts of things by myself! yep-- just me, myself and i. the boys are with jeremy's mom this weekend and i have been checking things off my never ending to do list, which is a wonderful thing by-the-way! jeremy's at the fire station so he'll be home with me tomorrow and we'll pick up the boys in the evening. but the best news of the weekend is....my sister and her family get here tomorrow night for thanksgiving vacation and my brother's family gets here in a couple days too! woo-hoo! i love the holidays! this should be a good one too--my dad bought a karaoke machine! the single fact that my dad bought a karaoke machine is hilarious in itself but oh boy, some good times are about to be had! fo shizzle-LOL!

okay my posts are totally going to be jumping all over the place as i am really trying to get caught up with my 365. so here's a look at week 39, which is september 24th through the 30th.

day 267
 
if jeremy and i could only have one date a year it would be going to the plaza art fair. there are a lot of reasons as to why but i won't get into those now. this year we actually got to go with one of my best friends and her husband, between their 6 kids and our 3 it's hard to coordinate schedules to get together sans kiddos but we did it and had a blast!! in this picture i'm either laughing at my friend trying to use my camera or at the fact that jeremy is crouching down for some reason. (he's 6'4" and i'm 5'2")

day 268
 
i don't know why they seem to think they can do everything better when they are on the table and not at the table?!

day 269
 
easton has become quite the chiefs fan for the first time this year and i can say for sure that it's due to his teacher. each week they learn about the team that the chiefs will be playing, where they're from, and all sorts of facts (i think it's part of their social studies curriculum). he raddles off all sorts of stuff and i'm like "wow"! he'll sit there and watch the whole game with jeremy and really get into it. i'm pretty sure his daddy likes that too! anyway, jeremy cut this arrow head out of wood and easton painted it. go chiefs!

day 270
this is one of cooper's sweet notes except this time he used pipe cleaners:) he made an "i love you" one for me too.

day 271
just an afternoon outside after school. i bet it won't be long until his feet will actually touch the ground:)

day 272
whoa--i'm not in kansas anymore! colorful colorado it is and did i mention i am all by myself? what a wonderful little vacation! i got there in the afternoon and was immediately playing chutes and laddersand all sorts of other games. these guys are sooo sweet! (my brother was actually there too at the same time for some medical classes. crazy--what are the chances? we had movie marathons every night! good times.)

day 273
 
 my beautiful and amazing sister! she's making us some mouth watering salads for lunch...such a great hostess! can't wait to see her tomorrow:)

hope everyone's having a great weekend. thanks for stopping by!
xo

 

 

1-4-1981

 

my dad found this the other day while cleaning out some of their files. on the back it says " 1-4-81, when mom was feeling sick". i was a 5 1/2 year old girl who loved her mommy.

as i was looking at this i couldn't help but think of my rough (to put it mildly) teenage years and wonder if my mom ever pulled out drawings like this that i made just to give her some hope. i know that ultimately her hope came from the Lord as she's told me she spent a lot of time on her knees but now as a mom myself, i think i'd be putting up the sweet innocent drawings from the past to remember that person is still in there somewhere deep down. (of course i'm praying that my boys aren't anything like me when they are teenagers! chances of that happening---slim!) in my case though, that girl eventually came back. thanks for the time you spent on your knees mom. i love you still and for always.

xo