THIS IS OUR STORY

in august, we will have lived in this house for six years. we have made lots of changes — the biggest being our addition of 1400 square feet in a big, beautiful finished basement. sadly, i lost my passion for decorating a year into this house and i have finally decided that i need to try a little harder to make this place a home that reflects (me) my family. a few weeks ago i asked perry to whip up these $10 picture ledges that i saw on pinterest. they went together super fast — but there were some hiccups with the stain. then, the garage door came down on one of them and ruined the end. so now we have three – we had to cut one into two pieces. i am happy they are up and i love the way they look. i need to invest some time into what will actually go on them. i want more color and less family photos. more artsy stuff.

the quote that i framed says, “sometimes the right thing and the hardest thing are the same thing.” appropriate for the kids — and adults.

my favorite is the framed map of africa. my parents have had an old atlas since i was little. they happily brought it to me and i am going to love using all the bright maps on future projects.

i am always on the lookout for interesting letters. found this P at a local shop for only $12.

i am dying to paint the fireplace brick…perry would not be happy. i think it would look much better white. maybe i will do it when he is out of town.

last night i dropped grace off at school for the overnight field trip to the zoo. i was comforted knowing both of the moms she would be with, but it was still hard to walk away. in that moment i felt a change. it was the moment i realized that she was okay without me. i looked back to see her surrounded by her fiends and she was laughing. i wanted her to look at me so i could wave one last time. she didn’t. she was still laughing. i don’t know why – but i find it much easier to watch the boys get taller, stronger, and older. letting go bit by bit is proving to be one of the hardest parts of being grace’s mom.

i am the person who can use a computer well past its prime. i don’t mind rebooting 30 times a day. it seems like just yesterday that perry insisted on buying me a new mac…i fought it, but that computer won me over. on saturday, i had to admit that my mac was dying. i had exceeded its space and capabilities. *sigh* perry happily went skipping and whistling to the mac store to pick up a new iMac…a 27 inch beauty that is so ridiculously amazing i can’t believe i am looking at it …right here…in my den.

today i am thankful for a savings account. thankful that we plan for expenditures we don’t see coming. thankful for a husband who is crazy smart and loves me enough to spend all weekend making sure everything from my old mac is on my new mac.

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” ~Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Today I am grateful for friends that are as good as spring itself.

i went back and forth about taking ethan to the midnight showing of The Hunger Games. all the excitement about the movie, combined with the fact that Michelle was taking her kids, made me really want to take him.

as we were pulling out of the driveway at 9pm last night – i joked and told Ethan i was scoring big time in the “cool mom” category. he turned to me and said, “it’s not just about the movie. it’s more about the memory of just going.”

i loved that. and, he is totally right.

a couple weeks ago a friend of mine (jen) was about to embark on a painting project. i told her i would whip up the lettering in photoshop so that she could project it onto the canvas and get it perfect. sure enough – when i went to her completely gorgeous new kitchen, she had her painting up and it looks SO GOOD! i kept the file and played with it and settled on this for mine. now i need a groupon for a great deal on photo to canvas printing. i can’t wait to put it up in the family room. i thought about painting it…but i am so much better at photoshop.

i love these words for so many reasons…

our family vacation to jamaica * my 6 year obsession with the Legend album — still know every word to every song * grace loved this song and sang it constantly when she was 4. she would sing lots of the words wrong and that is what made it so endearing * and i just love the simple message

Friday night was “Friday Night Jive” at church. It’s a 50s theme dance for the high schoolers. I had lunch with Michelle earlier in the week and offered to help out if she needed it. it turned out we made a GREAT team again. We put together the cupcakes with the record on top — half an Oreo with a fondant center. I made bubblegum frosted and cotton candy frosted cupcakes because I saw something very interesting at Wal*Mart the day before. My kids LOVED it. I could only bring myself to smell it. YES! it smelled like bubble gum and cotton candy. I give it a thumbs up.

Notice the word “one” in that passage. If we keep our eyes open, and our hands ready, we are making a difference one person at a time.

There are thousands & thousands of people who have taken this challenge with you. Thousands & thousands of lives are being changed at this moment, including yours.  You have a chance to share what you’re doing and why you’re doing it with your friends and family. They may see the beauty in what you’re doing and stand with you.

One may seem like a small number. Insignificant. Lonely, even.

But one person – you – are making a difference for one person on the other side of the world. It’s a kindred connection that goes far beyond anything we can ever know. You may never meet the one person whose life you are changing for the better, and whose story has inspired you, but you can know the answer to that question – “Can one person make a difference?”

Absolutely.

i have the double affliction of not being able to say “no” and…being an overachiever. it makes for some busy days that leave me wondering why i put myself through it ALL THE TIME. why don’t i learn my lesson from yesterday’s hectic marathon of _____________. fill in the blank with baking, crafting, designing, running around town, organizing this & that for school, etc…

grace came home from school one day last week and told me that the friday ROCK STAR DAY was postponed and they were doing MAKE YOUR OWN SUPERHERO. i was so thrilled as you can imagine. off i went…into the realm of “let’s make the best superhero costume EVER!” she decided on “DragonFly”. this is what we came up with. we were both happy with it considering it only took an hour and we actually had everything except a black tshirt.

last week i told josh i would make some sort of native american treat for his after school club. again, WHAT WAS I THINKING? i look at far too many websites and *think* i can achieve the same results a professional would. WRONG!!!

then a friend called in a favor i told her i would do for her daughter…i couldn’t say no even though my week was already filled and i was suffering from yet another horrific ear infection. the kind that brings you to your knees when you bend over or, God forbid you sneeze.

i have now designed framed quotes for several teenagers in the neighborhood — word is spreading. these ten quotes took me 4 hours and cost me $22. what did i charge for them? $22. i need a business manager.

the countdown began to grace’s 9th birthday. you would think we are having a party for EVERYONE she has ever known. we have discussed every last detail…for the three girls she is inviting. THREE. that’s it. and, if you can believe it…i had to twist her arm to invite more than ONE. she is the queen of “let’s keep things small…AMAZING, but small.”

i give you…the beginnings of an UGLYDOLL birthday.

party city has packages of 8 invitations for $3.99. they are great. they are PERFECT. so why did i have to design them myself? *shaking head and rolling eyes*

as far as grace is concerned — there are just not enough hours in the day to watch movies about the end of the world and CRAFT! yesterday she started her morning with church, then straight home to finish watching WAR OF THE WORLDS. i was busy putting together the biggest and most intricate marble maze ever designed — for josh. after lunch i found grace hanging out in my den waiting for me to whip up a craft. just when i thought i had exhausted all of my resources for kid crafts — i found a few grace was interested in.

first we made monster bookmarks that turned out so much cuter than the examples we found on the internet. then, we made owl pillow boxes. we made three — one for each of grace’s favorite teachers. grace filled them with jolly ranchers. THEN…because she was still feeling crafty, we made MONSTER POPS. i have to admit — they were easy to make and even more fun to decorate. grace had the time of her life — not to mention she did such a great job on every last one. we wrapped them up and she delivered some to the neighbors, saved some for our family, and chose the best ones to hand out to her teachers.

i don’t know how we are going to top our SUNDAY AFTERNOON CRAFT-A-PALOOZA — but grace reminded me, as she walked out the door this morning, to come up with some more awesome crafts for us to do when she got home from school. her craft habit has become my full time job. i love it – mostly i love the time we spend together and how happy it makes her.