Proud Mom Moment

Today was the grand opening of a new mall in the Phoenix area. There was a mini fashion show. My daughter is the one in the middle. The mall is built to look like a small downtown area. The idea is cute,but when it is 110 out in the middle of summer. Who wants to shop when you have to walk from store to store in the heat. It was hot there this morning and it isn't even summer. She loved the coat, but thought the hat made her look like a train conductor. Her outfit is from Banana Republic. The guy standing next to her has the most amazing blue eyes. I get to live a little vicariously through her. I just oh and ah over the clothes she gets to wear and the hot male models.

The exciting news. She is on the banner outside Dillard's. Dillard's is like Macy's, for those of you not familiar with Dillard's. The store is a stand alone building. These banners hang down from the street lamps, and go all around the building.

She got a kick out of seeing herself, but is glad they are not at the mall by us. She finds it awkward when her friends see her in ads. We are very proud of her. This year she is doing all her schooling online. She spent last summer in Japan modeling and is planning on going back in January. The real shocker is she is only 15. Now that your jaw has dropped and you think what kind of mother allows her 15 year old daughter to go off to Japan. Well, that would be me.We had to trust her. The agency she is with over there is very good at looking out for all the girls. She is very responsible and has more common sense than a lot of adults I know. We have a great open line of communication. That's a good thing for a teenager. She tells me everything, things I don't even want to know she tells me. Oh, she still has her teenager moments and she had her share of ups and downs. For the most part she is a good kid. Grouchy in the morning. Not sure she will ever outgrow that. Her dad's not a morning person either.........

I could do this every Sunday

I had another Sunday all to myself. Daughter missed her flight home. I didn't have to go to the airport to pick her up. Don was working. Hubby was in driving school. He got nailed by photo radar. How do you teach your teenagers not to speed when their dad does. Some days he is my "third" child......... I love turquoise and red. And a little glitter. It says soar, fly solo, ascend, glide.
Escape.....................Do you see a pattern here. I think I must need to get the heck of Dodge(Phoenix) for awhile.

This old letter I got in a bundle from Kari. I think the letter is written in Swedish. She is from Minnesota,so that is just a guess. The date on the postmark is 1908. When I was working with this I really was curious about what the letter said. Well, by the time I finished I had made up this whole story about these two people (the sender and the receiver). My guess it was a torrid love affair. Two lovers who were torn apart, by parents who did not approve of the relationship. Or maybe it was a secret affair. The man (the receiver) was really married to someone else and the women (the sender) was with his child. Left in the home country to fend for herself. An unwed, pregnant women. Oh the scandal. Well needless to say at one point my eye glasses were steamed up. My imagination was running wild. All fueled by caffeine. .......Back to reality,darn it anyway.

A Productive Sunday

Last Sunday I had the house to myself. That is rare these days. It seems like someone is always here. Now don't get me wrong. I love each and every one of them. But, I do like my alone time. With all that free time I could have and should have spent it doing laundry and housework,but nope I played. Good for Me. I love Rebecca Sower's work. Her work was the inspiration for the little dress on a canvas.

Since I was home. I told myself I wasn't going to go anywhere. So often I will start something and think,oh that would look good if I had this color paper or marker. Then I find myself running to Michale's to see if they have what I want. Invariably I end up picking up something else and never getting what I really wanted. I end up with lots of stuff that I don't really know what I'm going to do with. Sound familiar? I made myself just use what I had. Just some random tags and little goodies. No real plan on what I was doing.

I remembered it was my not so favorite sister-in-law's birthday. I usually wouldn't make her anything. 1,she never appreciate anything and 2 (I'm not ashamed to say) I don't like her. Oh don't get me started. But I always play the game and send her a card. Not having a store bought one,and remember I wasn't leaving the house. I thought I will be nice and make her one. I know I will never hear whether she like it or not. After 25 years in this family I really don't care. All in all I had a great day to myself. Of course it has taken me till today Wednesday to post this. And guess what? I still don't have the laundry done. Good thing there is always tomorrow.

Halloween Party Hat Swap #2

The Halloween Party Hat swap over at speckled-egg is in full swing. After my usual Saturday grocery shopping,dry cleaner, running my daughter to a job,and of course stopping at a scrapbook store. This is what was waiting for me when I got home. Sonya sent me so many nice goodies. I love white pumpkins and this one says BOO. Hubby dove right into the candy.

Mr Crow welcomes his new party hat.

Take a look at this banner. It is so Boo-tiful. The picture does not do it justice. The workmanship is topnotch. I love everything. Thank you Sonya

Something new to wear

Well, not really. But I would if I could. Katrina was my partner for the swap. She has the most adorable shop and she is having a sale. The swap was over at jeweled elegance. Katrina told me she had some helpers when she was making the dresses. Don't you think they did a great job? I love the beads around the waist on the polka dot dress. Look at the detail around the neck of the floral dress. There is a surprise on the back of the black and white dress. A zipper. Too cute.

And then there is something for the naughty side of me. But that's a different post..................

Halloween Party Hat Swap

Over at speckled egg she is having a Halloween party hat swap. Sonya is my partner. I hope she likes the little black bird as much as I do. Sonya's site is Love of Yellow Roses. If you haven't checked it out, do. The site is very pretty. Anyway, I couldn't just send her 1 cone (party hat),especially with a name like Yellow Roses. So I threw in another one.

What do you think? Think it is fitting for a someone named Love of Yellow Roses? I love the way the rose came out. And the saying is so true

From the Old to the New

When my kids were little I was fortunate to be able to stay home with them. So, with all that time I read every book, sought out other mom's, absorbed every bit of information I could. All this just to make sure I was doing "everything right." Oh silly me! During one weekly mom's group meetings we had a speaker come in. I have no idea what her name was. I don't even remember what she looked like.(Oh yeah sleep deprived, with two toddlers). But I did go away with the above saying. It has hung in my house for the last 17 years. Mostly on the refrigerator. At one point I was going to cross stitch a cute little sign. Never got around to it. Anyway the saying has always stuck with me. I would look at the saying when I was up to my elbows in paint, play-dough,markers,chalk,mud,Legos,Barbies, and think it okay to let them express themselves. They are teenagers now and I'm not so sure the messes are all that creative. Dirty dishes and clothes laying on the floor is not my idea of being creative. Any way, now it hangs in "my space". Well I thought it was about time I did this little saying some justice.

TA-DA! What do you think of my new sign? The little buttons on the left say dream,imagine,create . I'm very happy with the way it came out. Now I just need to find a

new home for it. Somewhere in all this mess.

Actually this isn't bad. It has looked a lot worse. I seem to work better when everything is pulled out. "My space" is an extra bedroom, where all the old furniture has landed. I ooh and aah over studio pictures that everyone post. I store all the ideas in a corner of my mind. Someday when "my space" is all grown up it will be beautiful. Until then I'm just grateful I have a space I can call my own. Now it's your turn to use this little saying and be as creative as you can. If you do let me know. I would love to see everyone's version

THANK YOU

I have been awarded the "You make me smile" award. Thank you Cindy at Yapping cat studio.Check her out she does wonderful work and you will just love the picture of her when she was little. I was hesitant when I entered this whole big blog world. I'm not one to blow my own horn. I have never wanted to be the center of attention and I hate talking about myself. Although I will be the first to tell you my faults. I grew up in a house full of negativity. I never noticed it until my husband called it to my attention many many years ago. Since then, I have always tried to see the positive in everything. Sometimes I have to go way down to my toes to find that. Our lives are so busy that we often forget to lighten up and enjoy each moment. " We Laugh to Survive".
The blog world is so supportive and so many of you make me smile everyday. Like a lot of you this is my only quiet time. I wake up early,get a cup of coffee and read my favorite blogs. Somedays like today I get a little extra time to enjoy the view of your world.
I'm now awarding Casii at Grannypantychic blog. (Don't you just love that name. Congers up an image everytime). She is a hoot. Check her out. I'm sure you will SMILE