It's what we do.

Over the past few years that we’ve been homeschooling Julian, we have gotten quite a few odd responses from people when they learn that we homeschool, especially if they know about Julian’s physical and emotional challenges. I have a range of responses, but mostly I just try to make it clear that this is what works for us.

On many occasions, including again this weekend, I’ve had people tell me “I could never homeschool my child. I don’t have the patience.” or “We can’t stand to be together that much.”

The smart-a$$ part of me really really wants to say “Really?”. And let it hang there until they think about that statement, because I don’t believe it for a second.

Why?

Because of all the mothers I know who have made this statement to me, 99% of them would find a way to do whatever was necessary to care for their child in any arena. That’s the kind of mothers they are.

If a baby was physically sick, they would work tirelessly to get the baby the medical help that was needed, no matter what. Even if Mommy wasn’t a doctor or a nurse, she would learn about every conceivable treatment option and pursue the best care possible. She would study and research and become that child’s biggest, most well-informed advocate for treatment and health. She would become a rock—an immovable force on getting what her baby needed. It wouldn’t be easy…but mothers are known for doing things that aren’t easy…starting with giving birth and lasting all throughout life. We aren’t in this because it’s easy. We are in this because we are mothers and that’s what mothers do.

What I do is no different. I had no choice. After 5 years of public school special education not working, we were left with no other choice. If Julian was going to get an education, I had to be the one to see that he gets what he needs. The school system was unable and unwilling to give him what he needed, by their own admission. I had to step up, otherwise my child was going to be wasting a lot of his life in a school system that refused to meet his needs. They gave up on him and that’s something I absolutely refuse to tolerate or to do.

In the beginning, I didn’t choose this path—it was forced upon me. When I put what Julian needed ahead of everything else—system time constraints, budgetary concerns and his perceived inability to progress, we quickly realized that there really was no alternative. He needed an advocate who didn’t give up on him. He needed someone to specialize in him. He needed someone who was not going to allow his challenges to be anything more than stepping stones. He needed a rock—an immovable force. Who better to be his rock than his parents—especially his mother?

I didn’t go into this knowing much about education, (probably more about what not to do, based on my own experience) but I learned quickly and am continuing to learn more every day. I am an expert in my son, as I believe most every mother is, and that carries more weight than any thing else could.
Homeschooling/Parent-led education is not easy--I’ll give you that--but what about being a parent is easy? Most things worth doing aren’t, in fact, easy—that’s just part of life.

I can accept that many parents would prefer to have other educational choices. I certainly do. I can accept that it’s not easy. Most definitely. There are plenty of life-circumstances that prevent or discourage parents from choosing to home school. 100% understandable.

But when I look closely at the women I know who have said “I couldn’t”…I have to think “you would if you had to”…and nothing would stop you. You would be the rock, if your baby needed it. I used to think I couldn't. Worse. I thought I shouldn't. Afterall, he has special needs and I am not a professional educator. I'm not qualified.

We see where that got me... :)

May you be a rock--an immovable force in whatever part of your life demands it and may you do so with passion and dignity and great strength.

Happy Monday.

Motherhood
The bravest battle that ever was fought!

Shall I tell you where and when?

On the maps of the world you will find it not;'

Twas fought by the mothers of men.

Nay not with the cannon of battle-shot,

With a sword or noble pen;

Nay, not with eloquent words or thought

From mouth of wonderful men!

But deep in a walled-up woman's heart -

Of a woman that would not yield,

But bravely, silently bore her part -

Lo, there is the battlefield!

No marshalling troops, no bivouac song,

No banner to gleam and wave;

But oh! those battles, they last so long -

From babyhood to the grave.

Yet, faithful still as a bridge of stars,

She fights in her walled-up town -

Fights on and on in her endless wars,

Then silent, unseen, goes down.

Oh, ye with banners and battle-shot,

And soldiers to shout and paise!

I tell you the kingliest victories fought

Were fought in those silent ways.

O spotless woman in a world of shame,

With splendid and silent scorn,

Go back to God as white as you came -

The Kingliest warrior born!

- Joaquin Miller (1839-1913)

ART

My swap contribution to the Scrapn Memories Birthday card swap. The rimmed-tag (made with QK) is constructed of one of my favorite fonts, "A Little Honey" and a ding font drawn by a pea.



{This is the inside message.}



J loves glitter pens. Actually *loves* may be putting it lightly. :)





My interpretation of Tracie's first sketch.



Our "garden" of peppers. Hopefully.

May all your cards be cut straight and may your peppers grow swiftly.
Happy Thursday.

It's Grey Day! (Blatant Mommy Bragging Ahead)

Today I thought I would post a few pictures of my sweet youngest boy, who informed me today that I can no longer call him "my muffin" because he's a "boy now" (wonder when that happened...the transition from muffin to boy). He's very artful, but in this family you aren't given much of a choice about art. Creative, artful play is part of our everyday (or at least that's our goal). Given our recent lessons on Easter, during which we celebrate (as Christians) as our new life found in the death and resurrection of the Savior, G used a ruler, a pen and a bunch of white paper and scissors to cut out about 10 crosses. He loves to cut. {Even his hair.} Thankfully, he had the wisdom to cut a rather large lock of hair from the back of his head, not the front. (That was a while back.)

When we discussed his work, he told me step-by-step how he created his crosses and what they were and a few sentences about the meaning of Easter. I was quite shocked that he had picked up so much. Shocked but very proud.

These 2 were taken today. Our patio was in desperate need of a swift sweep (or maybe a power washer, but I'm not that bold). I got the big broom out of the shed but before I could get the sweeping done, I got called in the house to do something else. A little while later I looked out the window to see little dude working hard to meneuver the tall heavy broom thru the patio debris. He was truly working hard, and doing a good job.



When we discussed it, he said "I'm brooming, Moma."

Yes, it was 90 degrees today and even tho this was in the early evening when it had cooled a bit, it was still pretty warm. I have no idea why he was wearing snow boots outside. He loves those boots, primarily because they are easy to get on and zip in a hurry. And he is always in a hurry. :)

It was an exciting weekend. Joal was in Atlanta for a regional meeting for work and spent Saturday night and most of Sunday in a hospital with food poisoning. Fun. He's recouperating now, slowly. It was really scarry to have him in the hospital 4 hours away. That's all we'll say about that.

I sent Tracie Claiborne a sketch for her new I LOVE SKETCHES blog featuring plans for 8.5x11 pages (because we 8.5x11 scrappers are seriously overlooked) and she used it! And more than that, another person submitted another interpretation. Tracie's work is seriously inspirational to me...she's one of the few people I know in real life who value the story as much as I do *and* who is sqeeky clean and graphic *and* who scraps in my favorite size of 8.5x11. (Actually, she's the one who kindof gave me permission to go back to 8.5x11 after I temporarily bowed to the pressure of 12x12.) You should keep an eye on her pea gallery and her blog that's linked on the right. Always good stuff.

In other news: I paid $5 recently to learn that Provo's Cuddlebug 2x2 dies do not work in the blue Quickutz handle. I'm still waiting to determine if they work in the newer QK Squeeze. The plate of the die is a bit thicker than QK dies and while it will go into the mouth of the original blue handle, it's too thick to close to make the cut. So now I have a firetruck die (if it hadn't been a firetruck, I wouldn't have even bought it) that I can't use. Does anyone know if it will work in the Squeeze?

Deborah and I are participating in a Breakfast recipe swap and I am participating in the Birthday Card Swap at Scrapn Memories, all in the next few days. I'll post our art as soon as it's complete.

On my table is a sketch done with another Tracie sketch...almost done and the re-do page of my first concert with Joal. Coming soon. Promise.

My new dishes arrived today! I'm so excited--dishes to match my beautifully painted kitchen in an entire set of service for 12! Amazon.com customer service totally rocks!

Hope you had a great day!

35 years ago today...

4.28.72

A Photo with Two Lessons

If you've been around my blog very long you know that the story of a layout is at least as important as the photos and sometimes, moreso. I know most people start a page by choosing the photo(s), but sometimes what is unseen is as meaningful as the image.

Case in Point: this photo from one of my clients--Rick (posted with his permission).



To the casual observer or someone who doesn't know them at all, this is a great photo. Obviously a happy little girl who loves being with her Daddy (and maybe she has pretty much captured his heart). :) Technically great photo. Frame-worthy. Warm. Casual. Peaceful. Unrushed.

When I first saw this photo, it yanked on my heart. Maybe it's the daddy/daughter thing. Maybe it just seems so much like a moment that was special in it's normalcy. Don't you just wonder what little-girl wisdom she was sharing with him as she sat on his lap? And what does she treasure enough to carry in her purse? Where were they about to go? Was it a special day? Were they waiting on Mommy to come down the stairs?

All these questions made me crave the unseen story. At first glance, it looks like someone got lucky with a quick, just-happeded-to-be-holding-the-camera-at-the-right-moment shot...but that's not the case. What I later learned was that getting this shot wasn't an easy accomplishment. It took a tripod and several attempts to get it just right, but he took the time to set it up and was rewarded for his efforts with this very sweet picture.

Lesson #1 learned: Not every shot taken with a tripod has to look over-posed and stiff. A tripod can be a very useful tool, when there's no one around to help.

Lesson #2 learned: Don't neglect the unseen story. It doesn't have to be earth-shattering or even extremely story-like. Perhaps it's just a simple detail that turns out to be indicative of a person's character or the strength of a relationship. The words of a layout can bring those things that might otherwise go unseen straight to the forefront--giving the photo deep meaning and context. The unseen story can give a great photo an amazing amount of dimension and depth and personality, if only we choose to write the story.

Handbags and Purses

The 2Peas challenge is to write about your favorite handbag/purse.

I have several favorites. The first I own--my pink luggage bag. I found it at the airport of all places and I love it because it's the perfect size for carrying lots of stuff when traveling and it's very sturdy.

Love it and it's completely girly but functional.

I admire this Fossil leather bag whenever I venture to the mall (which isn't very often). I'm a sucker for good leather, but I'm also incredibly cheap so at $189, I'm probably not going to be seen carrying this bag soon.

Finally, I adore this Kate Spade New York Stripe bag from a few seasons ago. I've bid on several from ebay but so far, without success. I'll keep trying. I really like the stripes.

Did you know that Kate Spade makes a line of paper goods?

So that's me and bags. It's a love/hate thing.

Happy Friday all!

do not give in to gloom.

My mom's pansies...front porch real estate in mom's world must have flowers. Even if Emmy the cat insists on laying in them regularly. I want to adopt that. The flowers. Not the cat.

This is my handsome brother, Army Andy and J. Only an Army man can wear a pink shirt. :)


Mr Brilliant with a straw up his nose in the middle of Starbucks. See the kindof stuff I live with...why did he need absolutely no coaxing or instruction on how to do this? He unwrapped the straw and before I could say "put the straw in your hot chocolate", it was hanging from his nose. Why? I have no clue. His brother was rolling in the floor with laughter. What can you do? I took a picture.

Last night Deborah and I went to the Quickutz Club meeting at Scrap n Memories. A cute and quick make 'n take, some fruit and cheese, a generous discount on QK products, a free QK tin and an hour later...we were happy campers. This is the card we made using the Revolution and the new Sophisticate alphabet and a foam stamp cut from a die.

Fun stuff.

Hope all is well with you. Happy Wednesday.

---
The greatest tragedy in human life is to live unaware of one's divine identity.
--Reverend William Harper Houff

No Escaping.

Wanna hear something funny?

So Joal is in Detroit for 2 days for work. Staying at a nice hotel, participating in a regional meeting for his company.

He called last night to say "You'll never believe what's going on at our hotel?"

"What?" I said.

"A CKU." he said. "There are scrapbooker women and scrapbooker luggage e-ve-rywhere."

"There's just no escaping us." I said. :)

Part of me wanted to ask him to be sure and be on the look-out for BH and if he saw her, to ask for an autograph. That's totally something he would do that I wouldn't.

And yes, he knew what CKU was before he got there.

No escaping the force I tell you.

Weddings.

Found this on Chelle Blog.

All about our wedding....

1. Where/How did you meet?

First day of our freshman year of college. We were attending a small college in Mississippi…and when I say small, I mean less than 150 students total. Some years less than hundred. Small.

It was after a chapel service, just before lunch on August 28, 1990. I was leaving the chapel and this guy in front of me turned around and said “Hi I’m Joal.” Three little words.

Changed.
my.

Life.

Then we had a short conversation about his t-shirt…Geoff Moore and the Distance, a favorite band of mine.

2. How long have you known each other? 17 years

3. How long after you met did you start dating? the same week. He’s an over-achiever.

4. How long did you date before you were engaged? 7 months.

5. How long was your engagement? April 4 to December 21, 2001

6. How long have you been married? 16 years

7. What is your anniversary? December 21

8. How many people came to your wedding and wedding reception? About 100 I think. I don’t really remember.

9. What kind of cake did you serve? Traditional wedding cake. White cake. White frosting. Lavender flowers. It was not really remarkable. (I was 19.)

10. Where was your wedding? a church in Jackson, Mississippi where I most consistently attended during my later teens. Being the daughter of a minister sometimes prevents one from having a “home” church.

11. What did you serve for your meal? No meal. It was a buffet of cake and punch and party/finger-foods. Weddings in Mississippi (I have since learned) are way more casual than most of the rest of the country.

12. How many people were in your wedding party? bride and groom, maid of honor, bridesmaid, best man, groomsman, preacher. yep, that was it.

13. Are you still friends with them all? No. I have occasional contact with the maid of honor and the bridesmaid…none with the men. That makes me sad.

14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? no. I was the official crier. Seriously. Stopped the ceremony for more than 2 minutes trying to pull it together. The minister was a good friend. I warned him I would cry…told him not to take it as a sign. He was very patient. He even repeated the words I had forgotten in my meltdown.

15. Most special moment of your wedding day? Joal singing to me. and the second kiss. We did the cursory tame kiss upon pronouncement, took about 15 steps down the aisle as Mr and Mrs. and then stopped and kissed again. It was sweet.

16. Any funny moments? not really.

17. Any big disasters? The only small disaster was for some reasons I got it in my head that I had to change out of my wedding dress before we left the church. (The ceremony and the reception were in the church. Again, it’s common in Mississippi.) I have no idea why I changed. I wish I hadn’t. Should have worn the dress to leave. That’s my one life-long wish for a do-over.

18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? It was Christmas. We didn’t have time for much of a honeymoon.

19. How long were you gone? 4 days.

20. If you were to do your wedding over…we would elope and get married on a beach somewhere. And have better pictures of course.

21. What is your song? We have 3. “Simple Man” “I Will Be Here” and “Love of a Lifetime”

22. Describe your wedding dress: see photo. White satin. Lace overlay over the bodice. Sweetheart neckline. Pearls. a hundred buttons down the back. long sleeves.

23. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? Silk flowers. Ugly silk flowers. (I was 19.)

If you decide to tag yourself and copy this - please leave me a comment so I can come check yours out!

Feels. Good. to be Home.

Yes. I'm still alive. (Thanks for asking.) I've been away. My Army brother was home on leave (before his deployment) so I made the trip, boys-in-tow, to spend some time with my entire family...and brought my sister home with me.

My sister, Deborah--the youngest of my siblings--is living with us now. She's 18--a full 16 years younger than me.

If one of us is hip and cool, it's definately her.

I'll get some photos up tomorrow, but for now, I've collected some links I wanted to share:

First, the gallery of a relatively new pea, who does awesome 8.5x11 work--emma29. from Minnesota. Yummy stuff.

And a site I've been drooling over called French General. Oh my. Check out the ribbon collections and the paper coasters and the cast iron birds (photo above).

And a place I hope to visit in Atlanta next week--Nicholas Kniel. Dreamy.

The Homemade Simplicity Blog...who couldn't use a dose of this kind of positive attitude?

And on the home-front, my honey played a casual little local gig in Franklin tonight with a singer he's admired since his teens. Pretty cool. That's all he'll let me say. Otherwise I would be inclined to spend an inappropriate amount of blog space telling you old funny concert stories and generally gushing. If, on the off chance, you were a teenager in the early 90s and you were into the Christian rock music genre', you might recognize this picture from back-in-the-day:

:) This would be the musical equivalent of me getting to scrap with Brenda Cosgrove and Lindsey Ostrom.

Happy Friday...and congrats Michele, on the new job!

Preds lost. I'm remodeling.

Preds lost.

Double overtime.

But they still lost.

Dang.

There's a remodeling challenge going on at 2peas. The assignment--aimed at people who've been scrapbooking for a while--is to pick an old layout and re-do it. I dug deep, as you can see, and found this layout that was finished on 1.26.1998. This picture was taken at our first concert together...a Whitecross concert in Arlington, TX. We had been dating about 2 months and yes, my honey corrupted my music preferences with his metal. (Gasp.)

I am having to reprint the picture from a scan. I have my fingers crossed that it turns out sharp. There will be no deco scissors, no music note punchies and no tilted photos. I still like the people paper but it's not right for this. The handwritten journaling isn't so bad...but I do prefer the computer. No emotion...I was still in reporter-mode. (This was pre-Rebecca Sower/SLLT, of course. Reading her book gave me permission to leave reporter-mode. Bless that woman.)

On the first attempt, I managed to capture the basics--the who, what, when, where. This time I have the benefit of 16 years with this man...the story is deeper and there's alot more to it.

Stay tuned for the astonighing reveal of the new and improved version. (OK maybe astonishing is a little strong.)

LOL!

first and only

Creative Mess and Chaucer!

Julian came down to my office not to long ago and looked around. He looked at me, put his hand on my shoulder and said "Mom, you are a messy girl. You need to clean up this mess."

Pot. Meet Kettle.

But he did have a point.

Not that I conceded.

Yes, my workspace looks like a creative volcano, a craft store eruption and a home school curric fair gown badly wrong. Combined.

Does anyone else do this...or am I the lone nut on this tree? I have a counter that is 12 feet long, an 8 foot table behind me and plenty of floor space, and yet, for some as-yet-unexplained reason, I find myself working in a space squarely in front of my computer that's actually smaller than the page I'm working on. Can someone tell me why this happens? It's less than the length of my keyboard! My stuff crowds me out of my space. When did this habit develop and how an I going to break it?

I sometimes get a hair bit green with envy of people who work clean. I just can't do it. A clean space makes me insecure and if stuff is put up and organized, I can't find a darn thing.

In other news,

a) I read the sweetest blog entry today at http://seekingfaithfulness.wordpress.com/2007/03/06/scrapbooking-recording-faithfulness/

b) Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? Yep. Sure is. How perfect is that? So tell me, what's your favorite poem? Did you have to memorize any poems in school? Did they stick?

In the eleventh grade for English I had to memorize the first 20 lines or so of the introduction to the Canterbury Tales. It was agony. It made no sense and had no value to me. A fan of old G Chaucer I am not. It was that "old English" pronunciation that made me hate it. Really. How does knowing twenty lines of old, out-of-date English help me be a good citizen or a better person? I still loathe that day. But, for the most part, I can still wander my way thru a recitation of this passage of literature. Why? I have no idea. But it's there.

My favorite poem is a a simple Wordsworth poem--in plain English--Daffodils. I don't have it memorized...but I do have it printed. And I enjoy it far more than the Intro of Canterbury Tales. Ever.

c) It occurred to me today that when we no longer have any children to haul around on a regular basis, I want to drive a Jeep. Not a sissy SUV like I drive now. A real Jeep. A Jeep with zip-up windows and a roll-bar. I wanna be that girl.

A few days ago, the boys and I were out doing some errands when I spotted an antique fire truck in the parking lot near our PO. It had a "FOR SALE" sign in the window. As you might have guessed, we had to stop and check it out--and yes, It was awesome.

We must have spent a half hour looking it over, from horn to taillight. I had to ride them pretty hard to keep them from climbing all over it. I came home and googled Pioneer TN (a tiny little town in Campbell County) and did some reading about the little town. She's a beautiful little fire engine...rusted out in places but still shiney in others. Until I had Julian I never knew how much I could love a fire engine. :)

Obtw, has anyone seen my adhesive?

Happy Easter!

Special thanks to Hallmark.com for contributing the art for today's blog. Isn't this lovely?

I hope your Easter is lovely and alive!

Isn't she Cool?

This is Jen Stewart's project...isn't it cool?

Read about it at 2Peas.

Happy Saturday!

Paper Feelings

Yep. I've officially crossed some kindof line into true paper obsession. This is not news...I just thought I should say it out loud. Isn't acknowledgement always the first step? Oh wait. That would be the first step towards recovery. I don't want to recover. I like it here. :)

So, just for fun, here's my list:

Sarah's TOP TEN List of PAPERS

10. Basic Grey Color Me Silly
9. Scenic Route North Shore
8.KI Memories Colorful Simple Stripe
7. Basic Grey Oh Baby Boy Jackson
6. Basic Grey Blitzen Garland and Ribbon Candy (so not just for Christmas)
5. My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus "My Favorite", the stripe
4. BoBunny Backyard Bubbles
3. Chatterbox PoolHouse, especially the Poolhouse Stripe
2. My Mind's Eye Kaleidoscope Sister's Flowers
1. Scrapworks Skinny Love Sequence

These would be the papers that I am attached to. I've used them over and over and still want to use them more. They just don't get old to me. They are familiar and I know what they work well with. They are dependable. Hmmm. Let's not analyze the deeper meaning of these feelings too much, OK.

So, tell me about your old favorites.

Joints are not supposed to do that

Oh my goodness. Pain and complaining ahead. Stop reading now, or consider yourself warned. Life is not always scrapbooking and music...and here's the proof. Sometimes it hurts. Bad.

Although I have never experienced the pain of childbirth (in the normal way), since Julian was born some 11 years ago, I have had the awful curse of loosened shoulder joints. I have no clue why the two go together (shoulder joint trauma and childbirth) but apparently it does, and while the later goes away, I'm here to say the former sticks around as a serious reminder.

I can be minding my own beeswax, nice and quiet like and I reach for something and a sudden ripping maddening pain jars thru my shoulder as it slips out of place. My eyes water and my vision blurs and I usually say very bad words in very loud tones. It is unlike anything else I have ever felt. It is insane. In the few but agonizing moments between when my shoulder joint slips out of it's normal place and the time it gets realigned, I would gladly agree to any other torture, maybe even dismemberment. Want to clean out my bank account? Go ahead. Anything. It's that bad.

I tell you this because for the first time a months, I had one of these episodes today. I reached out to touch G's head and I heard it and felt it all in the same moment. I sank into the sofa and cried. It was one of those long pathetic painful crying jags that sent my sons to huddle in the chair, waiting to see if Mommy has actually lost her mind or if she might eventually get over it. It probably seemed for a while that it could go either way.

Finally after about 30 minutes of snivelling and moaning, Julian brings me a cup of water and sits down next to me. "Don't touch my arm." I said. "Are you dying?" he said dramatically, and with a slight bit of contempt. "No" I said, but the thought did cross my mind that dying might be easier and hurt less. I didn't tell him that. Grey, emboldened by his brother's movements in the face of my obvious collapse, collects the box of Dora the Explorer bandaids from the kitchen table and offers them to me. "You'll feel better" he says, handing me the box and beating a hasty retreat to the chair across the room.

I spend the next 1.5 hours on the sofa, curled up, holding my left arm immobile across my chest, not moving. Snivelling. Moaning. Crying a little. Being very un-Mommy-like. The soreness will remain for a few days but the memory of it will keep me from making certain movements with my shoulders for weeks. And then one day, I'll forget to be careful, and suddenly, there it will be again.

So much for the happy blog.

I've been thru this cycle 5-8 times a year for 11 years now. It worsened after G. For a short while the thought of hugging someone (anyone) terrified me. What could be worse than being in the midst of a hug and suddenly have a pain-filled conniption? Talk about traumatizing a friend.

I don't understand it--it's totally random and unpredictable. Like having children isn't hard enough. My aunt (a surgical nurse) says it's pretty common, although I don't think I've run across anyone else who has it happen this often and for as many years post-birth as I. Lucky me.

Later in the evening, the boys and I decided to try a new recipe. So we made a half-recipe of this:

Chocolate Raspberry Cookies
Recipe courtesy Paula Deen
See this recipe on air Monday Apr. 02 at 1:00 PM ET/PT.
Show:
Paula's Home Cooking
Episode:
Baby Shower

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup lightly packed brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup Dutch process cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 (6-ounce) package raspberry creme filled dark chocolate baking pieces (recommended: Hershey's Premier Dark Chocolate Baking Pieces Filled With Raspberry Creme)
Raspberry Icing, recipe follows

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Lightly grease baking sheets.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugars together at medium speed until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well.

In a small bowl, combine flour, cocoa, and baking powder; gradually add to butter mixture, beating until blended. Stir in baking pieces.

Drop cookies by tablespoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets.
Bake 12 to 14 minutes.
Remove to wire racks to cool.

Once cool, drizzle with Raspberry Icing.

Raspberry Icing

1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon seedless raspberry preserves

In a small bowl, combine all ingredients, stirring until smooth.

Recipe can be found here.

Can I just say that I think chocolate definately has healing powers? Never fear...I'm taking the major part of the cookies to a friend's house today. Share the wealth, ya know. :) Actually the icing--as simple as it is--was superb. Raspberries...I never realized the appeal of raspberries and chocolate. But my eyes have been opened.

Happy Tuesday. May your joints all remain correctly aligned.

A Different Approach

I made headway on 9 pages this weekend...only one of which is my own, but that's a good thing. Strangely enough. Getting back into commissioned work is proving to be a little challenge. Somewhere along the way in my personal scrapbooking, I have completely stopped using the pictures as a jumping off point and started using the thoughts. With someone elses pictures, I don't have thoughts to start with.

Ack!

I knew this before I started these projects...but what I didn't realize was how much of a challenge it would be for me to get back to the other way.

Not to complain, because I love the work. It's just different for me and I'm a little out of practice, but I'll get there. Soon hopefully.

So tell me, what's your approach? Where do you start? Do you ever mix-it-up and start with a different element?

In other news there's a pea--Angela Daniels--who has started a cool collection of *ScrapSecrets*, a concept based on the chronic overshare of Post Secrets. Who knew scrapbooking could be so deep?

In other news, (that's the last time I'll say that, I promise) my Army brother is coming home for leave in mid-April! The plane tickets have been purchased and the right Army people have signed off on it--cross your fingers no one changes their minds. Being a good brother, he's coming to see me and has promised to bring his laptop with his "hundreds of pictures" from Italy, Germany and wherever else he's been lately (some of which I will probably sleep better not knowing). That's the good news.

The less than good news is that when he returns to Italy, he will immediately deploy to Afghanistan. I can't comment on that at this point.

Happy Monday.

Yes, I'm giving you homework.

So it's almost 1 am and I'm reading this little book and laughing and crying. Yes, it's messy and not overly attractive but it's good for the soul, once in a while, to get a little carried away. Wisdom, sweetness, and humor--all in one small book. Can't beat that with a stick.

One of the funniest bits of advice to a Dad regarding his daughter as she enters the boys-might-be-okay phase:

"Odd-looking boys will start showing up at your house.
This is to be expected because adolescent boys are odd-looking."

So I'm stealing a page from it...here's your homework:

Write her a short poem that includes her name and
how much you love her and her mother, and how much God loves her. Recite it to
her every night in prayer.

When I was very young (less than 10...probably 7 or 8), I got into a spat with my Dad over something. I haven't a clue what--I just remember it was Big. Trouble. That was not something that happened very often, at least in my memory. (Mom may remember it differently.) Anyway, I remember after we "made up" my Dad brought me a little poem that he had written for me and he read it to me. He said he'd written a few days before, after he'd stood at the window and watched me walking home from where the school bus dropped me off at the end of our road. He'd had my mom type it up the old Olympic typewriter and he signed it in a scrawling penmanship that I can recognize to this day as his and only his. It was in a little frame.

On seeing Sarah come home from School:

I look across the waving field and there I see her
unconcerned

She crosses green with books in hand, her little
heart today has learned

But now she's free and time is rent, she wanders
through her own bright world

And as I see her cross the yard, it's sweet to know
she's Daddy's girl.

My dad has been a writer and a poet for as long as I can remember, and though I've read and loved many of his works, nothing will ever come close to being as special as these 4 lines are to me. It's the only poem I've ever memorized that stuck. It's the only piece of paper I've kept for more than 25 years. It's reassuring. It's a piece of my father that stays with me, no matter where I am or how old I am.

It needs no picture and no fancy paper and no embellishing. It's picture is written on my heart.

So, no matter if you have a son or a daughter or if you are a mom or a dad, or a grandmother or grandfather, try your hand at this assignment. It doesn't have to be perfectly rythmic and it certainly doesn't have to be an epic...just a few lines to express your heart to a child you love. You never know where that thought may take your child someday.

Now go do your homework.

Please.

What is a man?

At the request of my man, I am reading "Wild at Heart" by John Eldridge. I'm only a few pages in and the questions, "Where are all the real men?" and "What is a real man?" are looming.

Here's something to consider:

Society at large can't make up it's mind about men. Having spent the last thirty years redefining masculinity into something more sensitive, safe, manageable and well, feminine, it now berates men for not being men. Boys will be boys, they sigh. As though if a man were to trully grow up he would forsake wilderness and wanderlust and settle down, be at home forever in Aunt Polly's parlor. "Where are all the real men?" is regular fare for talk shows and news books. "You asked them to be women" I want to say. The result is a gender confusion never experienced at such a wide level in the history of the world. How can a man know he is one when his highest aim is minding his manners?

Thou Shalt Scraplift!

Thou shalt ScrapLift! I found this layout in Designing Scrapbooks 2 and loved it. That happens to be one of the prettiest papers KI has ever put out (in my little opinion)--it reminds me of a shower curtain from my childhood--and the design is just so clean and easy.

So I lifted it straight from Cathy Z! Insert photo, title and my own journaling...this may be the fastest page I've ever completed! :) Not that *fast* matters, of course.

I like how she did the journaling in a way that is especially easy to read. It's double spaced, justified and in a sans serif font. Can't get much easier on the eyes that this.

I have a new client...191 photos (so far) of the life of a little girl! Little girl pictures! How fun is that going to be!! (And a workable deadline that will allow me to have a life and get some sleep in the meantime...) Sabrina, I may need to take another peek at your books for some inspiration. :)

Happy Tuesday!

Awe and Shock

Gonna be a long one...buckle up.
First the Awe...

Yesterday was so cool. I had most of the day to myself (a rare treat) to attend a baby shower for a dear friend who's having her first girl (after 3 boys). We are so excited for them and the shower was held appropriately at the most adorable girlie place--a Victoria Tea Room in downtown Franklin--Lillie Belle's. I totally forgot my camera and *have* to go back for the purpose of pictures. It was like stepping into the pages of Victoria magazine (which I don't think is published anymore...but maybe you remember it as fondly as I do). Think cluttered up, rosy-ed up Martha. :) It's been a really long time since I took three hours to have lunch! It was a grand time with some of my favorite women.

I actually arrived early and parked on the square in historic downtown Franklin (HDF) with the purpose of doing a little shopping. Well, not really shopping, because there was no intention of buying. More Creative rejuvination...seeking out of creative things and eye-candy. HDF is an old-soul town with lots of old-soul shops and plenty of sensory delights for those of us who enjoy the likes of antiquities, art, and specialties. It is a place that appeals to me on many levels--the creative level, the seeker-of-unusual-treasures level, the small-town, old-fashioned level, the small business level and the relaxed, non-Mother level. I don't get to go very often but when I do, it is sheer delight.

My favorite store this trip was a new place--Rock Paper Scissors. It's a paper store. They sell invitations, gift wraps, wedding finery, note cards, greeting cards, journals, etc. Oh. My. What a cool little place. I really wanted to take a picture of one of their cabinets...it was about 8' tall and filled with blank envelopes, and note cards of all different shapes and sizes, organized horizontally by color. Great colors! Pink, Chocolate, an ocean blue, a cream, a yellow...yummy stuff. I purchased a few pieces...some 5x5 envelopes, scallopped oval cards and scallopped circle cards...in my favorite shade of pale blue. (See the photo.) Can't wait to play with these! And the little chocolate gift bag...happiness is very simple for me. :)

Did a bit of shopping, went to the luncheon, and the made a stop over at Scrapn Memories. (I'm going to attempt the challenge...25 pages before Aug 1...more on that later.) I turned in this page ("That's Love") for the contest. Necessity is the mother of invention and all that...If you look closely at the larger image, you can tell that the title "That's LOVE" is actually painted brown. I only had black letters and they didn't look "right" so I painted them! Found the coolest little canister of chipboard shapes there from American Crafts...and some new Heidi Swapp stamps. Forgot the chocolate Bazzill I intended to pick up. :)

I love calm days...and yesterday was calm. and Nice.

Now the Shock...

Before I even got out of bed this morning, Joal met me with the newspaper. This story about Eric Volz got his attention and he knew I would want to know. Several years ago we spent Thanksgiving Day at the Anthony's (Dane and Maggie's)...we haven't kept up with them very well since the end of our cluster group (from church) but I can't imagine what this family is going thru right now. How horrible to feel so helpless in the face of such a crisis. My heart is just so heavy today...from the mountaintop to the valley in the space of one day.

God's peace be with you, whether you are on the mountaintop or in the valley.

Sweet Discoveries...

One guess as to what this is?

:)

:)

:)

It's a button--a pewter button from The Button Emporium & Ribbonry in Portland Oregon. I think I probably own nothing in the way of clothing that would be fancy enough to merit a button like this...but what fabulous cards and scrappy things one could make with this button. (On second thought, maybe it's not supposed to be a clothing button, but a button ment for higher, more crafty-like purposes.) I don't know...but there's a whole bunch of them that are yankin' my chain! Need to think of a reason to go to Portland.

Something outrageous popped into my head today and the more I mull, the more I like it. Since the big scrapbook project for NWYC, (38 12x12 pages in less than 2 weeks) the thought of starting over on my own cruise book has been daunting me. I'm just not sure I have the heart to start right away on another one...but I have all these great pictures that I want to keep out and look at and show everyone. It was a weird thing going on in my head for a couple of days now...until today. It hit me. I don't think I'm going to do a big cruise scrapbook for myself.

Huh.

Can I do that...not do a scrapbook?

Let that sink in for a sec.

Not make a scrapbook?

Yep. I'm not. I have a yummy aqua blue 6x6 accordion mini-book from All My Memories that will do perfectly for my 10 favorite photos and a touch of journaling. Ten pages. I could have it done by the end of the weekend.

What a relief.

What does this say about me?

Not Acceptable.

We interrupt this scrapbooking blog for something a little more substantial and certainly more important.

First of all, let me just get one thing out of the way. I admit that since the enlistment of my brother into Uncle Sam's Army, I no longer have any objectivity when it's comes to the military. I know I should have cared more before he enlisted--just by virtue of being a good American-- but I didn't. I was uninformed and that was irresponsible and wrong. The situation is being remedied. And fast. Army Andy's enlistment got the ball rolling, for me. He made something that used to be another topic on the news very deeply personal.

Maybe you saw the recent news coverage about the dispicable conditions Army hospitals in the US are experiencing. I watched some of it (as much of it as I could handle) and agree--it's a disgrace. As a medical care consumer, I wouldn't tolerate those conditions for myself or my children, why should I let it be "enough" for our soldiers?

Maybe you listened as I did to the gut-wrenching Perspectives report by ABC news that recounted to story of a soldier who returned home from Iraq with a severe Traumatic Brain Injury. Did it make you cry to hear that he lost months of rehab progress becasue of a simple paperwork problem? It made me cry in the Publix parking lot. He's somebody's brother and husband and father. He's an American soldier. This should not have happened. And how many other times has it happened that we don't know about?

Not caring for returning soldiers is beyond disgraceful. I'll have to pull out the big dictionary to find a word that is strong enough to express how wrong this is. When I consider all the stupid things we pay for with tax dollars in this country, it makes me ill to think of the thousands of soldiers who have already or will in the future return home to find that the United States is not prepared to give them the medical care and support they need and deserve, and in many cases, were promised as part of their compensation plan.

It's plain wrong.

I don't care if you support the war. I really don't. Support it or not, but it *is* on-going and our soldiers are doing the jobs they are called to do. When they need medical attention--whether at home or abroad--I believe that no expense should be spared to get them the medicines and medical care they need. An American soldier is an American soldier, whether he's fighting a war you and I "believe in or not".

It shouldn't matter.

What can be done?

Write (or email) your congressional delegation. Let them know that this is unacceptable. Those billions of tax dollars that they so freely spend...those belong to us. Make your voice be heard.

Support para-government organizations that are supporting veterans. Not just with your money, but also with your time.

Participate in local projects that are supporting our soldiers, in the field and their families at home.

There is no reason for these attrocities to be so common. Our government can and must do better. People are always calling for more government oversight of this and that. Why are we not over-seeing our government, in this area?

Don't forget--by the people. If we are going to claim the priviledge of being a United States citizen, we must shoulder our part of the responsibility for seeing that our government fulfills it's obligations.

Below is a snippit of a speech made by Senator Maria Cantwell, the honorable Senator from the Great State of Washington that I thought was particularly poingnant. The Senator is alligned with the Democratic Party, and is not in favor of the war, however, she is speaking the truth about caring for returning soldiers.

Don't skim it.
Read it.

We must remember that we have to honor our commitment to our troops—the U.S. military who have sacrificed so much. And no one here on the Senate floor will ever forget the awful cost of war. In Iraq, the loss of nearly 2,500 members of our armed forces, and I’m deeply concerned about the 18,000 that have been wounded.

And just as our troops have been stretched to the limit, it’s time for us to realize that our capacity for veterans’ health care has also been challenged. Based on credible projections from the Independent Budget, composed by Veterans Service Organizations, the federal government is under-funding veterans’ health care by at least $2 billion and the demands on the system are growing.

In March, the V.A. told congress they are seeing 38 percent more Iraq war veterans than they had budgeted for. So what's the impact? Some veterans are waiting more than 18 months just to get access to V.A. health care, and thousands of others across the country are waiting for access to care. As of the last month, more than 2,900 veterans in Washington state were waiting over 30 days to gain access to outpatient care that they deserve and have not been able to get because we have not adequately funded the veterans’ health care system.

Some experts suggest that one-third of the soldiers coming home from Iraq seek mental health services, and we need to make sure that we are adequately funding mental health. A lack of capacity in the veterans’ mental health system has caused a V.A. official recently to remark that when it comes to mental health the waiting list renders care virtually inaccessible. I believe this is unacceptable and that we have to do our job and do not shortchange veterans’ health care. We must give those who have stood up for us the access to care that they deserve.

Thanks for indulging me.

Eye-candy Advertisement!

I love an advertisement that makes no bones about what it wants you to know. Make a bold statement or go home. Get the message across in the three minutes I have to read a magazine...don't make me work for it. :) I also love ads that feature ribbon, so as you migh have guessed, I'm loving this Making Memories ad in the new Scrapbooks etc.

It's straightforward and simple.

Ribbon.

Message received loud and clear.

Ribbon.

On old-style spools.

Just thought you should know...

Bright Bright Sunshiney Day!

Happy Friday!


It's a delightful 77 degrees in middle Tennessee and it's absolutely gorgous. If I could package this day up and send it to everyone I know, I sure would. It's just that grand!

The boys are happy to be playing in the yard --sans coats and hats--and for once there's no mud involved. I've hardly heard a peep out of them for about 40 minutes now (I've been watching them from the window)...they are working diligently on a "project"...I thought the plummer-in-training look was kinda cute...

Made a card today...I'm so into simple things right now. Paper, ribbon, chipboard letter into a charm...I've been enjoying this card. You can't really tell by the picture, but the ribbon as a very slight irridescent shimmer to it...it's yummy. For some reason I thought of Rebecca when I bought it...and it was 60% off at a Hancocks that's closing so it was a really good buy. I bought all they had left...green is alwas good, right?


There's a challenge going on at www.scraptastic.com that I am just loving! If you have some time to look, the gallery there is outstanding. I'm really drawn to the AI Challenge they are doing...the assignment is to reinterpret a piece of CD cover art into a scrapbook page. The entries are here...awesome stuff!

In other news, three of my really good friends are all about to add little baby girls to their familes and I am so excited! It's completely wonderful to be doing some pink projects and looking at pink baby gifts! I can't wait to meet our new little friends.

Speaking of girls, we are up-ing the "girl quotient" in our house too...just not like that. LOL! My sister, Deb is coming to live with us in a few weeks and I am so beyond excited. Can't wait!

Have a great weekend!

PS FEDEX completed the mission. (sigh of relief).