Seizing My Day

So the other day I was over visiting Debby at Just Breathe and she had posted this…

Debby you have no idea how much laughter you blessed us with!!  Thank you!

not only did I laugh so hard I cried ~ so did Mr.McFunny ~

aka the spouse ~ who makes me laugh all the time!!

Now before you read this remember I have an adorable puppy named Merlin!  I am “his” person!

His sweet little tail never stops wagging!  He is a gals best friend ~

even if he is a stinker and chews up my whole house!!

and he also makes me laugh all the time!

What is a girl to do???

Woof ~ Woof!
Happy Wednesday!

Just Jenn

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The Home School Blog Hop !!  I could not get the button to work !!  and I already posted today!!  =)

Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

A talented man, with a childlike mind, had many many wise words to leave behind.

Quotes by Dr. Seuss

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“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs,

is making a chore for the reader who reads.”

~~



My sister Kelly doesn’t blog (yet!) but she will!  =)

I have a silly story to start off with…

First a little ditty..

I have introduced Kelly to a few of my favorite blogs to tempt her!

One of those fabulous blogs  is authored by Sasha at Lemonade Makin Mama…

I enjoy her honest heart, the crafty side of her and her beautiful photography !

Because Kelly loves the same sort of crafty projects I have seen in on Sasha’s blog ~

I sent her to check out Sasha’s blog.. and she liked it!  of course! !!

OK… so Saturday … I went to visit my sister Kelly!

I had some girl scout cookies to deliver to her,

and a special loved one to visit who is battling cancer ~

i hate cancer!

and then we both needed a few hours of fun!

Junk shopping fun!

So … a few minutes after I arrived in Marysville…

my sister shared a delicious cake with me

(that is not in my heart healthy eating plan… thanks Kelly! ha ha!)

It was SOOOOO good!!!

How does this tie into me talking about introducing Kelly to Lemonade Makin Mama?

Well this delicious cake we were eating ~

Kelly found the recipe on Lemonade Makin Mama’s blog…

Baileys Irish Cream & Cake ~ yummy!

You can find the recipe by clicking here on the word  recipe !!

Since I am a blogger now …

I had to have a picture of us eating it…

lets just say our day started out with laughter! see…

Aren’t we ladylike!!  =)

Who knew you could have so much fun taking pictures of yummy cake!

Sadie ~ the dog~ could not stand it any longer… she needed a taste of this food we made such a fuss over!

Not that I recommend feeding such a delicious cake to your dog!!

Thanks for sharing the yummy recipe Sasha ~ we loved it ~

Look at the joy you gave us!

I love the windy road you drive to get to my sisters house… the farms… and trees… and animals… especially on a Semi-sunny day… so I made Kelly stop and let me play a tiny tiny bit with my camera! (I need lessons!)

Is there such a thing as a beach house on a farm??

Because I secretly covet a life on a beach and a life on a small farm!!  =)

then..

After a couple precious hours with our friend & sister-in-law battling cancer…

I hate cancer.

We went off to have a few hours to ourselves…

sometimes a girl just needs some fun with her sister!

Creepy little trailer staring (or smiling) at us while we waited for our coffee in the Starbucks drive thru!

We had to take a picture!  Odd little happy faced trailer!

Here we are in Snohomish… First Avenue…

ready to shop the delightful antique shops waiting for us!

The nice ladies in Annie’s on First where kind enough to let us snap some photos of their store!

I would totally work in that shop if I lived a little closer than 2 hours away!  ha ha!

Wanna see a few fun treasures we looked at…

we didn’t come home with any  “live without” items!

sniff… sob… sob…

just some fun pictures!

that will do!

3 Sisters…

I actually have 2 sisters…

but we don’t sing!

Linda couldn’t come…

Next time?!

I played Bingo with all of these “antique” bingo cards when I was child!!

Really… my toys are antiques!!

LOL!

One day I will have an entry way that one of these charming guys can hang out in…

I have always loved these little butlers! =)

I LOVE old things…

old books, typewriters, spoons, furniture!! houses…

I need an old house! Perhaps ~ One day! =)

I love words and letters!!

These beautyful letters were $120?

yikes… I will make my own! =)

A quick 4:00 pm Lunch at Snohomish Bakery & Cafe??

Kelly loves her diet coke…  The sandwiches and gyros were delicious!

Oh my!! Close your eyes!!

eeeew!

Men looking like that should not have snakes on them!!

shudder! Even if they are statues! =)

Love seeing Birds on a Wire!

and look in front of a beautiful old church!

The lighting was not in my favor!

oh well!

There was so much to see…

Look at the old Firehouse building we saw on our way out!

We didn’t get to see the whole town…

its not very big…

but we only had a couple hours!

Hope I didn’t bore you too much!

I absolutely LOVE Seizing My Day with my sisters …

in little places like this …

lots of girl candy…

window shopping…

antiques…

country style…

yummy food…

old buildings…

just what this girl loves!

and a few “odd” sightings along the way…

I like weird things!

Creepy Mop… he was staring at us too! =)

I guess we are pretty!

I love time with my sister Kelly!!

Thanks for the fun day KK!

You will have to meet my sister Linda another day~

sorry you couldn’t come Linda! =)

Happy Monday!

I am spending the rest of my day with my  sick little boy!

He threw up 3 times yesterday!

Poor Monkey!

Could be worse…

no fever yet!

See y’all later!

Just Jenn~

Back in October of 2004 we moved to my home town… in Olympia Wa.  Back to my roots.   Our little family is mixed Canadian and American.  Our first 8 years of marriage we lived in British Columbia ~ there was no question that God wanted our lives together to start there ~ we said our vows in Vancouver ~ our babies were born there ~ we established roots.   Life was full of huge ups and downs… Our little family has had more than our fair share of trials (all for another post!)  Medical trials is what finally put this mommy over the edge… I needed to be home.  Home… where everybody knows your name..  (ah… Cheers… what a great show!)  anywho… I needed home… family… friends… a different medical system.    Moving here has been a huge blessing in many ways…  many many blessings!

But… 5 plus years later… we are still Kind of churchless!!   We have paved our path here…We connected  with a few old friends, family, new friends, schools, doctors,  and jobs.  We were able to buy our first home and we enjoy family adventures in places I hold dear in my heart.  Many many blessings and beautiful memories!  God is good.  But…  Settling in a church ~ feeling connected ~ finding fellowship ~ being a part of God’s family ~ has been difficult for us.  I have never felt so unconnected ~ unplugged ~ a lack of peace about where to worship God!  For 20 years I have know God as my loving Savior and always had peace in this area!

I think you need A little insight into my heart~ Our sweet, funny, witty, delightful, intelligent little boy has a few significant medical challenges ~ not limited to but including low vision and a rare genetic *undiagnosed* bleeding condition ~  (I will author that Novel sometime in the near future!)   … AND…  my sweet, darling, loving, tender, witty, intelligent little girl has some anxiety we have been dealing with over the years.  God blessed me with these 2 amazing children ~ but  these 2 kids combined with my passionate heart has made it hard for me to feel peace taking my kids to Sunday school … trusting their care to the hands of the folks running kids church.  Let me explain a little…  We started in a large church.. and it was ok..we tried to connect for 2 years…  but when Abby turned 6 and graduated to the first grade… the Sunday school went from 30 to 130??  She didn’t handle it very well… and she has good vision!  My head went wild…. if Abby can’t handle this big of a kids church… what will it be like in 2 years with Sammy… we hadn’t really connected much with families… I was feeling broken from all the medical challenges… though I clung to God… there was not that feeling of peace… belonging… it didn’t feel like our church family… So we moved on… we connected at a smaller church… My husband and I loved it… again… we stayed for 2 years… we connected.  We joined a  bible study, we tried to get involved with VBS, I attended a womens retreat, my husband participated in drama.  We made friends.  We belonged.  But the kids… did not.  There was no desire for them to go.  The were afraid of Awana.  They didn’t have many friends.  There weren’t really any little boys… and few little girls our kids ages.  The kids were not connected.  My heart was broken.  I could not continue to pray for new kids, I could not continue to drag them to our church.  My heart was heavy.  After many conversations and some prayer ~ we made the difficult decision to move on ~ again!  2 churches ~ 4 years ~ why is this happening?  why are we not ‘settled’ ?  where is the peace I always have?  why has this been so long and hard?

For the last year we have bounced our poor children with visual challenges,  anxiety and shyness… around to a few churches… to no avail.  Discouragement is high.  My heart is still heavy.  I am at a loss.

Bear with me as I seem to switch gears… but not really!  you will see where I am going…

I home school our precious little man ~ he needs personal teaching ~ materials need to be eye friendly, they need to be bigger, closer, the pace slower, he needs more hands on than most kids ~ I love it~ I enjoy teaching him ~ and though it can be time consuming using the copy machine to enlarge his school work ~ I am happy to do it ~ I am helping him stay above the curve!  It is exhausting at times… but the most rewarding fulfilling job I have ever had!  I often wish I had started my daughter on this path too … but she has roots.. she has amazing peers and wonderful teachers… I have not had the heart to take her away from that!  So ~ my son also attends a wonderful program  through the public school system.  He gets to attend classes every week at a public school only for home schoolers!   It provides us with classes and resources that I am extremely grateful to use ~ it compliments my teaching!  All parents are encouraged to stay and help the teachers… which I do.  I can use the photocopy machine to enlarge his materials ~ fabulous!  His teachers are excellent and really care about his disability.  They work with us to make sure he sees everything the other kids do!  They are wonderful!  OK.. I have a point here..  Many of his classmates at this school for home schoolers go to the Big Church I talked about in the beginning.   The one that was too big and we weren’t super connected to … so we left.  That one!  Sammy has formed beginning friendships with some great little boys… from the church we left.  I feel so humbled.  Did I do the wrong thing 3 years ago?  We are praying … looking… seeking… hoping…. and 3 years later… we are back where we started… maybe?!

Last night I shared a stirring in my heart with my weary husband!  it has been with me for a little while…  perhaps we should try it again… the kids have grown… medical stuff is calm right now which makes the mommy calmer =) … we have learned ways to cope with the medical challenges and anxiety… we are growing… learning… living… loving… hoping… praying… maybe I was wrong… maybe God wanted us to take that crazy journey for a reason… maybe it was the only way to meet the people we met along the way… to learn things about ourselves and our family we would not have otherwise learned?  We are taking a leap of faith and going to give the big church I had roots in… the one we first tried to establish family roots in … one more chance.   I am humbled!  I need this journey to be over!  I need connection.. I need peace… we need fellowship that is constant.  = )    Pray with me that God will overwhelm me with peace… Pray with me that God will grant my children the strength and confidence to connect… Pray with me that God will grant me the same!   Pray with me that our family can call a church home…  I know it will take a few weeks or months..  but here we are Lord…  hoping, praying, seeking…     =)

Whew.. that was heavy!  I am taking a leap of faith posting such vulnerable thoughts out here!  I have made some amazing connections here… in blogland… in cyberspace… you ladies have beautiful hearts, you are encouraging and inspiring to me!  This is not my shining hour… not my encouraging post… it is simply where my heart is today… and most Sundays lately… if you are still reading at this point….  Thank you for staying… thank you for listening and for praying!

Blessings to you and your families this Sunday!

(publish Jenn – just click the publish button! – here goes!)

Just Jenn~

I failed!! Do you remember my post on February 1st ~ A Bag A Day ~ My fabulous idea to purge my house of clutter 1 brown bag at a time?!  Yep… I failed!  In early February I took my first 7 bags into the kids rooms… and 4 large tote boxes… and I purged!  I didn’t manage to photograph all the before and afters but I captured enough to give you the idea!??  So I enthusiastically started in my kids rooms, we sorted, cleaned, purged, filled brown bags and four colored totes … and then…I even started my bathroom before I put my daughters room back together!  and then….  I went to the dentist… and I got deeper into  blog land… and well…. my daughters room still needs to be put back together! a month later!!  and the rest of my bags still  sit empty!

So my fabulous Early Spring Cleaning is going to be edging closer to Spring Cleaning!  ha ha!

Flash forward 20 days later?

TAKE 2 ~  1 Brown Bag A Day!!

Would you like to see what I actually DID do before the dentist and before I got sucked into the depths of beautiful, wonderful blogland?!!  =)

My son Sammy’s Room ~

sorry ~ we had already started sorting before I wised up and got the camera!

We sorted ~ and used Peter Walsh’s clever piles ~ keep, toss, donate, sell!  The green and purple totes you are about to see are the “sell” piles  ~ really I did more than 7 bags in the kids rooms b/c the totes count too!

Sammy’s  room is a fun room when it is clean   ~ I proudly painted it myself!!  The kids may have rolled a few lines on the walls in the Spirit of “helping”.  The road is painted with chalk board paint and we used/use soap stone to write on it…it is far less dusty!!

The closet is open and a useful space ~ when it is tidy and organized.  I used some cheap $16 wire shelves to hold toys on one side and clothes on the other!  His room is so small – so we opened up the closet and got a loft bed to add functional storage and play space!

oops ~ another sell item out of order!

Abby’s lovely purple room!  Also painted by yours truly!   What a mess!  She has a much bigger but odd shaped room ~ we also opened up her closet b/c we liked the open feel!

Messy Messy!

On my next Bag a Day Post ~ Hopefully next week I will squeeze it in?! ~ I will post her finished organized room!  I also took pictures of the 2 purple bins full of barbies and horses ~ that will be her “sell” items if we manage a garage sale this year!  Currently the purple bins are MIA in the garage I suspect?!!   SO ~  Here are the 7 bags from my first purge week WAY back in early Feb!!  The bags include items to toss, recycle, donate and  a few “sell” items that didn’t fit into her purple totes!

Not bad, eh?  or Not bad, huh?!

I have rights to both phrases as we are a blended American/Canadian family!   =)

This is only 7 of my 10 brown bags I managed to complete ~ the other 3 were filled from under MY bathroom sink … just MY side!!  How embarrassing!  I should have taken a before picture… lesson learned!  Here is the underside of my sink now… and the 3 bags!! One to recycle, toss, and donate.

what will I use this space for now??! =)

I tried to hide the most embarrassing items like the tampon boxes!

Now… if you will excuse me I have some brown bags to fill!  =)

Have a Great Weekend ~  I am hoping to drive to Marysville to hang with my sisters tomorrow!

… in the rain!

I might be around on Sunday.. for a few minutes… maybe?!

Just Jenn~

Today is my Think Food Thursday ~

A yummy recipe, a favorite food, a helpful food tip ~ shared from my kitchen to yours!  I am definitely an amateur chef  =)  (hardly a chef but I like the title!!) But hey ~ I have a few yummy recipes and tips up my sleeve! Remember my rule breaking post?  Well… remember I rarely follow a recipe ~ I change them ~ attempting to add my own heart healthy flare to it!  I will only share my successful attempts ~ promise!!  One day when I am more organized ~ I will shout out all the delicious food recipes you shared with me ~ with your permission of course!!  I love food! and photographs!! Hope you don’t mind the pictures ~ I am a hands on learner ~ I watched The Pioneer Woman on TV cooking ~ and learned she does this in her cookbook ~ the picture thing ~ honest I am not a copycat ~  I had no idea until yesterday!!  Its a good thing to be like her~ right!!  Besides ~ she is a WAY better cook than I!  I need to go buy her cookbook!!  anywho ~ hope the picture cooking doesn’t bug y’all!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins!

What ya Need ~ sorry the Monkey pot holder is MINE!

1 3/4  cup All Purpose Whole White Wheat Flour

1 tsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice (trader joes)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 cups Zucchini shredded

1/4 cup oil

(I used Lighter Bake – prunes & applesauce)

1 tsp. Pure Vanilla extract

1/3 Cup finely chopped nuts

Directions:  Mix dry ingredients, mix wet ingredients, mix them together, bake and eat!  LOL!

Muffins baked at 355 for 12-15 minutes.

Mini Loaf baked at 355 for 15-20 minutes?

Last Minute M&M’s are optional!  The baby M&M’s make my kids smile when I offer muffins!!  =)

some of y’all caught me trying to sneak those in to not take away from the ‘heart healthy’ – ish – ness of them!!  ha ha!

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Ready for the picture tutorial?

I like to chop my zucchini in my hand chopper thing?! 3 smallish zucchini's.

3o seconds later… viola!

Mix dry ingredients ~ My secret mixing spoon - a pastry blender! Love it!

If your kids are like mine ~ you “hide” nuts in your baking!!

remember the hand blender chopper thing ~ I blended pecans & almonds first ~ forgot to capture it on film!

Wet ingredients ~ horrible picture ~ sigh! sorry!

Stir wet and dry ingredients together.

I currently use Wilton cups... they work ... the jury is still out on "loving" them?!

12 muffins and just enough for a mini loaf! Yummy!

The baked goods!

This cracked me up ~ after I checked to see if it was done! So I did it to all of them! LOL!

creepy little face muffins looking at me ~ I might bite their heads off if they keep staring at me!

Seriously, they still crack me up! That was not planned!! The judges had a hard time taking a bite =)

The Judges give them a thumbs up ~ my picky eaters like them ~ that makes the mommy happy!

Happy Baking Everyone! Hope your judges like them!

Just Jenn~

ONE day I will post before 8 am East Coast time … really … I will!!  Right now I am happy to post once a day during the week!  Weekends are family fun ~ so those days are hit and miss!

Oh NO !!  Girl Scout Cookies are in MY house!!   Samoas, Thin Mints, Lemon Cremes, Tagalongs!!  Aaaaah!

Now you see why WillPower must be talked about today!?  =)  I have a will and I have power!  Power to eat all 8 boxes if I dared!!   They are so yummy I really could eat a box a day!!  I am not a huge cookie monster ~ but these are extraordinary cookies as we all know!   Last night I was visiting Jen at 3 Little Monkeys ~ you can find her link in my blog roll! ~ anyway ~  She mentioned willpower.  or a lack there of!~ LOL!  and I knew right away what my word for today should be!   My little girl is a scout ~ so we sold cookies to friends and family ~ 112 boxeds entered my house ~ and I did not waist anytime helping her shuffle them right out of here!!  he he  You see in the past I have not displayed willpower!

See ~ see what I have to look at and try not to eat!

Only ordering 8 boxes was the first step to willpower!

They are supposed to last ~ the kids are so excited to have them as their lunch treats!!

Abby is so proud to have them in her lunch box ~ she goes to public school ~ while Sammy schools at home!

So I must have will power ~ so my little girl can have ‘special treats’ longer than a day or 2!!

I put them up high on a shelf so they are harder to reach…

High on the shelf! I forgot to tie them with string!

Just like Frog and Toad did!  Do you know about Frog and Toad Stories??  They are Wonderful stories!!  I used to check them out when I was a little girl and fast forward 20 years later I started reading them to my children when they were wee little things!  Arnold Lobel’s Newberry Honored Book “Frog and Toad Together” has a wonderful story about Cookies and WillPower!!  =)   Here is a sneak peek!  Our books are well worn ~ except the large print one I found recently!  My little guy Sammy has low vision so the large print was a great find!!  I would Highly recommend these stories for children 2-8 years old!

Cookies is one of my favorite stories ~ each book has 4 or 5 stories in it! They are about friendship and little life lessons!

Can you read this... it is Frog explaining to Toad what will power is... Toad is the 'grumpy one'!

So you see ~ 20 + years after I read these wonderful stories ~ they are still teaching me life lessons!!  Except maybe I should tell you that in the end… after they make the cookies really hard to ‘eat’… they decide they have no will power and Frog gives the cookies to the birds… so they won’t eat them and calls it willpower!  and then… Toad gets mad, tells Frog to keep his Willpower… He is going to go home and bake a cake!!

I guess I better start baking!!

Have a Wonderful day!

If you have little ones ~ go buy a Frog and Toad book today ~ you won’t regret it!!

Just Jenn~

PS  I have only eaten 2 cookies a day since Sunday!  Yay me!

This is just not right!!  Maybe … occasionally … once in a while… we see Sunshine in Washington State… in February.   Usually it is accompanied by 30-40 degree weather!!   Although I did not actually look at the temperature this weekend ~ I am sure we probably hit 60-65 degrees!   Weird!  and LOVELY!  So instead of posting about my Failure with my ‘bag a day’ plan … which I need to address!… but…  I decided that since y’all back East are braggin about your snow… I should brag about our sunshine while it lasts!  =)    (I hear the rain is on its way… its ok… kinda…  that is what we expect in Wa … in February!)   So here is a little peek of  our Sunny Weekend in Washington!

I am telling you … I have NEVER seen this in Washington!!  Never…

not in February!!

Every Summer I take umbrella photos with my kids... I love umbrellas! I love that they love playing with them... either rain or shine! In this rare case... shine! In Winter! This is Nuts!

And THIS is So ridiculous!!

What I can’t  show you is that there were 3 other neighbors out mowing with Mr. McFunny … you see grass is getting long because it has been growing – growing in February!!  There were kids in out the neighborhood … playing, riding bikes and skateboarding… in short sleeve shirts!  People were out gardening in flower beds!!  This behavior Crazy Wild for February!  Last year we had 2 feet of snow around this same time!

Even Merlin had his own Fun in the sun!!  I took him to the school field down the road for a run, we played catch with his ball… sort of… and  Merlin chased some Robins… Poor Robins!  At least he didn’t eat them like our disgusting felines do!!! I walked a few laps on the track while he chased the helpless robins!  Then we headed back because he was tired and hot and needed a cool drink!!  I was hot and needed a cool drink!

And then my ice maker got all ‘clogged up’… so I had to break the giant ice cube ball that was hindering us from getting ice… ICE … for our drinks!!  In February!!   Lucky Merlin  ~  he loves ice cubes!!

Want to know what I did? besides walk the dog, play ball and break ice cubes on the ground? Well… Someone had to be behind the camera!! Otherwise this Sunny Blog would not have been brought to you today by the letter … S…

The sun makes me crazy! It will be painful to face tomorrow… I hear ” it ” is coming back …
darn that rain! I only have 5 more hours to get out and enjoy the Sunshine!! Bye y’all!

Just Jenn ~

I am a rule breaker!  I am!  I confess!  I can’t help it!  I Like to do things different…I like to beat my own drum… I like to walk off the beaten path… if you give me a recipe I will change it… if mini skirts are in I am wearing capri pants instead… I am just like that… I always have been!

So I am a rule breaker!  This is important to remember in a few minutes!

I am blessed by you!!   Your blogs are beautifully written with humor, wit, grace, love, encouragement, intelligence, craftyness and devotion.  Sometimes they are written with a little weariness or a discouraged spirit… They are truthful!   I am constantly in awe.  I am constantly laughing.  I am encouraged, inspired, motivated and darn right happy to be here blogging with you!

I have been blogging since January 11, 2010.  Not long!  I am overwhelmed by this world!  I had NO Idea!!

I love it.. I can’t keep up with it!  I want more!  =)

This bring me to AWARDS!  and the Mrs. Humble Pie part!

Along the way ~ I  received a few lovely awards from a few Amazing, Wonderful blogging Women I have been Blessed to meet!  Honest… I am grateful to receive them… and encouraged by them!

I am eating humble pie because I have been sitting on a few Awards for a while now… you see… I lack the technical skills to quickly figure out how to put them in my post and how to link the ladies who gave them to me on my post.  Both of which I think… I can now probably.. maybe… confidently say I know how to do!

Back to Awards.  Awards come with rules… uh oh… rules… I break them remember??!!

Seriously I can NOT pick just a few of you to ‘shout’ out!!  I can’t!  I won’t.  (stomping my feet like a 2 year old!)  So here is where I break the rules!  Please ~ Please forgive me for breaking the rules ~

~You are ALL wonderful!  That is the truth and I am sticking to it!!  ~

Being that I am a rule breaker ~ I am going to ‘shout’ y’all out!!   I love to click on others comments and see the blog behind the comment!  That is how I have met many of you!!  So ~  Because I think you are all Beautiful Bloggers ~ and you all deserve a little Sunshine in your day ~ and we could all use a little Happy 101 boost ~  Please leave behind a sweet or funny comment about Jenn the crazy rule breaker and then if you like please take an award with you!  And In the Spirit of Jenn’s rules ~  click on three comments from bloggers you have not met yet from my comment roll today!  (If you are the first few to comment today … you might need to click on some from yesterdays post… so many lovely ladies to choose from!!  Thanks for commenting yesterday ladies!  I was blessed by your words!)  Seriously I am passing out awards here!  Don’t forget to pick one!!   this is me… breaking the award rules!

First Meet the lovely ladies who gave me these Awards!  As I really love blogging with them!!

2 Beautiful Bloggers gave me this Beautiful Blogger Award!

Cindy who is Putting the Fun in DysFUNctional

&

Almost Unschoolers

I also received the Happiness 101 Award from 2 Lovely Ladies!

Pennie at Mom Thoughts

&

Amy who is Keeping Up With The Shultz Family

I also received the Sunshine Award from my local friend

Tammy at Tammy’s Two Cents

Whew!  This post stretched my technical skills I feel like I need a beer ~ and I don’t drink beer!  =)

I guess I will have to relax with a grande Hazelnut Latte instead!

Here are the lovely award to choose from that I am passing on to my faithful blog friends who give me encouraging comments!  Those are Jenn’s rules ~ and I am sticking to them!

Just Jenn~ The Rule Breaker

The rules for accepting the award are kind of fun:

• Thank, and link the person who gave you the award.
• Pass this award on to 15 bloggers you’ve discovered, and think are fantastic.
• Contact your nominees, and let them know they’ve won.
• State seven things about yourself.

Put the logo on your blog or within your post.Pass the award onto 12 bloggers.Link the nominees within your post.Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.Share the love and link to the person from whom you received this award.
I am passing on the Sunshine Award to…

All Girls Were Greeted by this Sweet Sign My Little Girl Made!

5 little girls

1 crazy mom

some sewing supplies

100   “feelie hearts”  for a Children’s Hospital!!

A good friend of mine is the Coordinator for a Grieving Center at a nearby Children’s Hospital. They comfort families who have lost a loved one. Every summer they host a camp for children who have lost a loved one. For the past 2 years we have hosted a little party and tied those fringed fleece blankets for that camp. This year The Camp received a large donation of those blankets ~ so we decided to sew pocket sized “feelie hearts” they give to their clients every day. Though it was a little crazy ~ I enjoyed every chaotic minute of it and I think the girls did too!! My favorite part was seeing their proud little faces as they finished each heart! To protect the ‘identity of her friends’ I am being selective about the pics that I share! But… Tammy’s Two Cents gave me permission to post her beautiful little girl… you might recognize her from Tammy’s posts!! =)

Cute decorations handmade with love

Sew Fun, Sew Some Love, Sewtastic ...

Handmade with Love =)

Then ten little hands stuffed many little hearts!

And ten little hands stitched up the hearts!

The party started at 6 pm on Valentines Day… they little ladies slept over night … oh the giggles… but I did manage to get them to ‘sleep’ by 11:15?? =) The next morning after the ladies ate muffins, strawberries and milk… they set to work!! Stuffing, stitching and even hand sewing a few hearts …so much love went into their work! They were all motivated to stuff and stitch 20 hearts each!! Goals were barely met before mom’s came to pick up… but they did it!!! Way to Go little Ladies!! I was so exhausted … but proud and high on the love these little ladies put into their work!! See What they did!!!

love love love

Not only was I proud… but they were too!! =)

One sewer went home before we took this! Sew Cute!

A motivation chart... a sticker for each heart completed! That's My Girl!

We will definitely do this again!!! Some of these little ladies are in Girl Scouts… My little girl included. She has decided to do this again next year on a wee bit larger scale for her Big Bronze Award Project… (you scout mommy’s might know what that is!) It is a community focused project to help our little scouts learn to be a part of the community! I can’t think of a better project!! Mommy is Proud of You Abby!!!!

The Next Night….
All the little ladies were gone…
kids were in bed….

“Merlin Struck”

… its ok… we only ‘lost’ ONE heart!!! =)

Naughty Naughty Puppy!

Funny Funny Puppy…

I laughed So hard I cried … I barely got the photos you are about to see… =) must always remember to snap and shoot before you loose the moment!!

Oh Merlin !!!

PS… My little girl is pictured standing next to the motivation chart!

Friday is my ‘Family Photo’  day… and I realize these wonderful ladies From the Shultz and Peterson Families have a family McLinky day…  so I am linking up.. except I can’t seem to grab the McLinky… am I linked and  I have their button… click below and read their stories and even Link up your own if you like!

It is all about family!!