This Little Guy

Hans has been part of our family for 9 weeks now and he has started to act like the puppy he is...
he plays tug of war with Eds
he steal my socks when he thinks I'm not watching
he eats more than one bite of food at a time
he enjoys getting up for a midnight snack
he can go up and down the stairs by himself
he digs in the yard
he barks at the neighbors, but only when I am not home
he gets excited when I come home

It's amazing to watch him learn to trust and come out of his shell it's still an ongoing process but these little steps have been huge hurdles for him.

Remembering

This month on Studio Calico we are using childhood pictures for our avatars, this is the one I used and I sat here thinking about what I remember from when this was taken...
I don't remember that much from this time in my life, I remember moving around this age, I remember that I didn't like it, not surprising that I still don't like change.
I do recall that I loved to feed the birds in my socks, seriously I refused to do it in shoes or bare feet and I still love to wander about in my "stocking feet", as Gram called them, to this day.
I remember how much I loved hearing my Mom, Grandma, or Grandpa read me a story, I can still remember the distinct cadence of each voice.
I remember having a hoodie that I loved and going to McDonald's outdoor playground with my friend Betsy, we always wore our shiny pink satin jackets. My Mom and I used to split a big breakfast at McDonalds on Saturday mornings. We still got McDonalds on the way to school sometimes when I was in jr. high, I always loved those times with her.
I remember that I loved to sleep with my stuffed animals surrounding me under the covers.
I can still remember waiting for the phone to ring every Sunday morning, it was my Gram and Grampa, we carried on this tradtion until the day my Gram passed away... one of my favorite memories is the Sunday after I had Coleman, he was born on a Friday evening, we were in the NICU and I was holding him and Gram called my room at the hospital, the nurses were such angels and they forwarded the call to me and I was able to sit and talk with her while I held her only great-grandchild, this was so special because I am her only grandchild and we were so connected. I am truly blessed to have had them in my life, I miss my Gram and Gramp so very much that it physically hurts my heart. Now I am crying, not sad tears, just bittersweet tears. That's not all I remember but for now it's all I want to remember.

Sping In A Salad Bowl

Here is a quick recipe for a super yummy spring salad!

Salad:
1 bag of bag spinach, washed and dried
1 pint (or more) of fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
1/2 a block of Feta cheese crumbled
1 cup toasted pecan pieces

Dressing:
1/3 cup strawberry preserves
2 tbsp Olive Oil (light in flavor)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp crushed black pepper
1 tbsp (or more) of warm water to make it the consistancy you desire

Put all the salad ingredients into your salad bowl.
Combine all the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight sealing lid and shake vigorously, this is the fun part! Pour over salad right before serving!

Hope you all had a fantastic holiday!

Glimpses

I signed up for the Glimpses class in December, I forgot about it with the holiday rush. Next thing I know it's the end of March and Stacy Julian was coming to our store for a Glimpses Reception. I was so excited to get an invitation to the event... and then I realized, whoops, I signed up for the class and I hadn't even started it yet!!!!
For those of you know me it will come as no surprise that my people-pleasing-overachiever-self had to get this thing done, I couldn't meet Stacy empty handed!* I buckled down and got to work on my album, had a false start, listened to the audio and started again. What began as a push for a finished product took on a life of it's own as I snapped picture, gathered meaningful words and put it all together. It began to have deeper meaning for me, I realized this album is a gathering place for the little bits that make up me, a place to save pieces of myself to share with future generations. It's not finished and I don't know if it ever will be, it's one of those projects that grows organically through time. For once, I am really okay with that!
Side note: I could have met her empty handed, she wouldn't have cared. Stacy is truly a fun, sweet, smart, and caring individual who seems to have that rare ability to take people where they are at. I really enjoyed meeting her and it was awesome to hang out with the other amazing women that are taking this class.

Without further ado, a few pages from my Glimpses album:

















If you have made it all the way to this point, Thank You So Much!!!!

A Place of Solace

That old Tree


There was an old tree
in our yard growing up
it sat alone in a corner
for all to see.
I used to sit in that tree
and dream beauty of dreams

That tree was old, as years gone by
though was not frail, standing strong
that tree was tall as it reached the sky
and lived through time long.

In that tree I felt safe, at peace.
Even through changing years
that tree does never cease
in my heart that tree appears.

In the winter it would shelter the rain.
In the summer shade the rays,
and during autumn days
the garden would flood
with red, brown, and gold
and come the spring, flower buds
shall blossom again.

That old tree, with all it gives
shelters the rain, shines and shades
falls, then blossoms again.
That tree is a tree where friendship lives.

Kristy Holtum

Eight has been a tough age so far. A struggle between being independent and still needing help for a few things. There has been crying, hugging, laughing, more crying, snuggling, moments of annoyance for everyone and a whole lot of grumbling. I am glad that Coley has found a quiet spot where he can be still and let the thoughts and dreams flow.

Contented

So last week I was quiet, this week I am contented. I was blessed to spend time with lots of my wonderful, creative, kind and caring girlfriends over the course of the week. I am so thankful for those moments to help refill my soul. It got me thinking about some of my Florida girlfriends and how much I miss them, so I created a layout just for them using some fab supplies from various Studio Calico kits and bits I found on my desk.


I also was playing around with getting my Disney photos from 2007, yep two years ago, into some semblance of order so I could get them into an album... I am using one of those great We R Memory Keepers albums with the 4x6 slots and a few layout thrown in for good measure... here is my title page... by the way the album is lime green and all the photos have such great bright colors in them that I am thinking I'll use the BasicGrey Urban Prairie line for the whole thing, keep it consistent and all that...

Yep I have a glitter & bling problem... but if you can't use it on a Disney page where can you use it? Also the edge is punched, the black behind it is just our coffee table.

This final layout is lifted from a current issue of CK or SBE, I am so sorry I can't credit it at the moment but the magazine has gone missing... I am thinking the sausage dogs had something to do with it.


Hope y'all are having a great week!

Letter to American Crafts

Dear American Crafts,

Today I had a hot furry mess in my scraproom. Your Velvet Thickers shed all over my desk, floor, layouts, and cute outfit. I went through multiple sticky lint pages to clean up the fuzzy little bits. However it still appears as though a cat was shaved in my general vicinity. Mental suffering was incurred as I wrestled with the idea of throwing away these precious gems, in the end I sacrificed more pages of my beloved sticky lint roller. I feel that these should come with a large yellow warning label that reads... "DO NOT OPEN THESE BITS OF VOLATILE FUZZ NEAR ANYTHING YOU REMOTELY CARE ABOUT. BE ADVISED THAT WHITE OR LIGHT COLORED CLOTHING SHOULD NOT BE WARN AROUND THE BLACK TIE VERSION OF THIS PRODUCT. IN CASE OF EMERGENCY GRAB YOUR NEAREST STICKY LINT ROLLER." You do not have to credit me on the label.

Thank you,
Houston

Dearest friends, if you own these Thickers, please save yourself endless amounts of anguish by heading to your local Target dollar spot and picking up a sticky lint roller. They are also great for dusting lampshades and fabric covered albums.