Filled With Praise

Monday, June 4, 2012

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Friday, June 1, 2012

30 Days of Thanks {Photo Project- Day 1}

I am going to do something that has been whirling in my mind for the last few months. For some reason, I am actually scared to do this. It really is not a scary thing at all, but yet my heart is hesitant. I don't know if it is because it would make me more vulnerable or because I fear the commitment of 30 days. Maybe it is both. Whatever the reason I am putting it out there that I am going to do it, so that I do not let another month pass by without doing it.

For the next 30 days, I will be adding a picture(s) each day of something or someone I am thankful for. No words from this point out, just pictures. I want to spend thirty days of just focusing on thanksgiving. Sometimes I journal at the end of the day and list all of the moments that brought me joy. It is amazing to me that even on a rough day, I can think of more things that were joyful than hard moments. Yet, if you had asked me how my day went moments before I sat down with my journal, I would have said, rough. So, I am going to try and experiment to see if I can train my eye. My hope is that throughout those thirty days,

my eye will begin to zone in on all the blessings in the less than picture perfect moments.

For me, it is easy to see the blessing in this...

However, there are also pictures of real moments.

Moments where I need to slow down and see the blessing of the less than picture perfect times.

I want my heart to grow in patience and thankfulness. I do not want to be in such a rush going through life that I miss out on soaking up all of the little blessings that God has planned for each day. So, there will probably be no real theme or expectation of what I will capture, but hopefully my eyes will be opened to what my heart needs to see in the day to day.

A little less talk and a lot more thanks.

Okay...here I go...no words for the next 30 days, just pictures.

Starting now!

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Father's Day Gifts

I always have the hardest time with Father's Day gifts for my husband. I try to have the kids give him something thoughtful each year, but it gets harder and harder to come up with a different idea each year. This year I have found two ideas that I am so excited about and I am thrilled to say they are pretty much completed.

{I found this idea at: Jenuine Impressions}

The first is a photo of the kids with We ♥ Daddy written on their feet. I loved this idea so much and I thought it would be easy to accomplish. However, I realized something while trying to actually get the picture...Elijah crosses his ankles all of the time when he is seated. He also wanted to look at the letters on his feet, which led to them being smeared. It took the kids and I forever to get him to keep his feet out straight. He is two after all. Finally, I got one. I am going to have it framed and I think my husband will love it! We had to run to the bathroom after taking the photo and scrub their feet to get rid of the evidence. (FYI...washable markers still take a lot of scrubbing to come off skin! :)

{I found this idea at: Design Aglow}

The next idea is a photo book. We have given him these before, however the difference with this one is that I left the prompts open that you are suppose to type the answers to before the book is printed. That way the kids are adding their own thoughts and drawings in their handwriting. I love that this will capture how they write and draw at this age as well as their love for their Daddy.

Hopefully, I can wait until Father's Day to give him the gifts...I am really bad at keeping a surprise.

Exhibit A: the Father's Day gift post in May. :)

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Test Encouragement, Birthday Treats, Teacher Appreciation and a Graduation Gift (Whew!)

The last two months were a whirlwind of activities. It seemed that we had something going on every single day. I love crafting and I find it relaxing to craft through the craziness. Here was some of the fun I had through all the activities.

Taylor had four days of standardized testing in April. Each morning I had a little treat sitting by her breakfast as an encouragement for her day.

On the first day, I had a little pencil box I had created out of cardstock. It said: "You are sharp! You are going to do great on the test." It contained 3 sharpened #2 pencils for her first test day.

The next morning, I had a little pair of sunglasses for her that said: "Your future is so bright...You need to wear shades."

The third morning she received a protein cookie. I made a little cookie card that said: "You are one smart cookie! You are going to do great."

The last morning was a treat for her to have after she got home from the test. It was an envelope that said: "You Rock!" inside the envelope were two packages of pop rocks.

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During that same week we celebrated her 10th birthday and she took these little treats to share with her class. The little plastic sleeves enable you to stack M&Ms or Skittles on top of one another and it creates a fun look. I added the little flags that say: "Celebrate Today".

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Teacher Appreciation week was next on the calendar. We LOVE our teachers and appreciate the amazing job that they do every single day. Our PTO does a wonderful job of planning this week. Each day is covered.

On Monday, the PTO gave the teachers a cupcake from the best cupcake shop in town...it had a note that said: "Our teachers and staff take the cake!"
Tuesday, each child brought in two flowers one for their teacher and one for a designated staff person. The flowers were placed in vases as the children walked in and after the last child placed their flower in the vase, each teacher/staff person had a bouquet of flowers.
On Wednesday, the PTO gave each teacher/staff member a giftcard to Starbucks with a note that said: "Thanks 'a latte' for all that you do!"
Thursday, the PTO presented the teachers/staff with a car wash giftcard that said: "Thanks for making everything CLEAR this year!"
Finally, on Friday, the students were to bring in two thank you cards (one for their teacher and one for a designated staff member).

In our family, we also send in our own treat for our children's teachers on Friday. This year, we sent in a takeout box filled with fortune cookies and a giftcard. The note on top of the box said: "I'm so fortunate to have you as a teacher!" I found this adorable idea and printable at: Eighteen25 .

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Finally, our niece graduated from college with honors. Unfortunately, we were unable to make the trip to Chicago for the celebration. Since we were not able to be there, we wanted to send our own party in a box. We purchased a bag of balloons and then we went to the bank to get some good ole cash. We rolled the bills and placed them in balloons. We then blew up the balloons and placed them in the box. I added some notes that would show as soon as she opened the box.

The notes said: "Megan, you always blow us away with your talents." "We are bursting with excitement for you." "So, what are you waiting for? Get to popping to see what your future holds."

She then had to pop all of the balloons to receive her gift! I found this clever idea from: She's Crafty .

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Whew!

So, that is what I have been crafting lately.

If you made it to the end of this post you deserve a high five! :)