Mary Did You Know?

 

 

I love that song.  I think about my children and how much I love them and know that it must have been so difficult to be Mary.  When I think of how difficult it must have been to travel all that way when she was so far along in her pregnancy and then to deliver that baby far from home and without any comforts of a room, I am amazed.  Then to be the mother of the Savior who would give His life for the world.   

 

Tonight at our Christmas Eve service I listened to the Bible messages about our Lord and Savior and I sang those Christmas carols with joy in my heart knowing that I can do this because of Him.  Tonight was a night of joy as we remember His birth and His arrival on earth.  We know what this child would go through but tonight, we were able to emphasize the glory of His birth. 

 

I've been very busy the last few weeks with all the activities that go with this Christmas season, but I've tried to concentrate this year on why we have this blessed season. I've tried to make the most of  family time making sure to go to the Christmas progam and today I made time to spend with my Mom. Gary and I took her out to breakfast and listened to her tell us about relatives long gone. She's 90 years old now and her short-term memory isn't the greatest, but she sure can remember what it was like to grow up in the 20's and 30's.   I went home and made Canadian pork pies that were the tradition in our home when I grew up. Mom doesn't cook any more, but I still remember those pies and all the traditions that went with them.  When we were little, our grandmother would watch us while our parents went to Midnight Mass. We would try to stay up as late as we could to see if we could hear Santa.  It never worked, we always fell asleep long before they came home.  When they got home, Santa had come and we would have pork pie and then open our presents.  The grown ups would go to bed and my brother and I would stay up and play until we had to go to sleep.  Then our parents would have  a nice, quiet morning while we slept in.  

 

 

Tonight as I look at our little Christmas tree all is quiet.  The children are grown and have families of their own.  I'm sure that the excitement is high in those homes and those little ones are having a difficult time falling to sleep. One of my sons is missing it tonight as he protects his country in Afghanistan.  I am thankful that I was able to spend every Christmas with my children when they were growing up.  I miss having the whole family together during this time, but I'm thankful for the wonderful family God has given me even if we spend it apart.  I know that we all remember that special time long ago when God sent His son to save the world.

 

Merry Christmas everyone.  May you  have a wonderful time with family and friends and don't forget to pray for those men and women who aren't able to be with their families during this time.



Singing Hills

 

 

This month I had the opportunity to join two of my Close To My Heart team members  and my greatest cheerleader at a Scrapbooking Retreat in northern New Hampshire.  This was our first opportunity to be vendors at such a large event and I had an absolutely fabulous time.  It was a little nervewracking for all of us since we didn't know what to expect.  But I must say I think we did pretty well with the product that we chose to bring to this wonderful event. 

 

 

We had a wonderful area to set up.  I loved being able to see the beautiful landscape from these windows!

 



 

 

Some of these ladies had a wonderful system of setting up their work areas!  I was so impressed.

 

 

 

The ladies had lots of opportunities to attend classes.

 

 

 

And we all had so much fun!!  I didn't realize how tired I would be after all this since I had a blast.  That is why I've been MIA for most of this month.  Can't wait until next Spring when we get to do it all over again! 

 







 

What Can You Do With One Little Stamp?

If you had told me five years ago that I would love stamps as much as I do or that I would have as many stamps as I have, I would have laughed.  I had no idea how wonderful it is to use stamps in my scapbooking and card projects.  Here is a video that shows another one of the many techniques available to us when stamping:

I love to watch these videos for ideas that I can use in my own projects.

Enjoy!

So Thankful

 

 

 

Every year the students at our school dress up for Thanksgiving.  I love going in and seeing all the Pilgrims and Indians.  Though I have to say that it seems there are more and more Indians every year.  Every year I also get a picture or two of my grandchildren all dressed up.  This may be the last year they all dress up as my grandson is getting to be too "cool" to do some things.  LOL

 

 

 

 

See, the Indians even outnumber the Pilgrims in my family!  I love taking this picture every year because I did get a picture of my three children in their Thanksgiving costumes one year and I'm sorry now that I didn't do it more often.  

 

 

I have to say that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.  This year my mom visited and we had a wonderful time.  When your mom is 90, you never know how many more holidays you will have.  I'm so thankful that we had this time to share with her.  My grandchildren were so excited to have her visit.  

 

 

As you can see, that is my son-in-law doing the dishes in the background.  He's such a good guy.  Does the dishes every year.  

 

We had so much wonderful food and I enjoyed every last bite.   

 

Yesterday it was off to Black Friday for seven hours of shopping!  I have to admit I got myself some goodies. Joann's had lots of great deals.  You should have seen the checkout line!  I know some people think I'm crazy, but I think I enjoy spending the day with my daughter more than anything.

 

Today I stayed with my grandchildren while my daughter and son-in-law went to a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert.  It was back to the mall with my husband (you would never see him there on Black Friday) and grandchildren with a stop at the candy store so the kids could pick out their very own candy, a walk around the mall, and a stop at the coffee shop to pick up hot chocolates.   Yes, lots of sugar. What are grandparents for?    Well, that seemed to backfire as I still have the kids and they seem to have so much more energy!

 

Hope your holiday was as special as mine was.  The next few weeks will be full of fun and festivities!

THINGS I LOVE ABOUT AUTUMN

I am blessed to live on 12 acres of beautiful forest land, my dream home.  I longed for a place in the woods just like this when I was just a little girl.  I was fortunate to grow up surrounded by woods and wanted the same thing when I grew up.  Last week I decided that I would take a few pictures of some of the beautiful views around us. 

These are a few photos of what I saw while taking a walk .

 

This is the view from the end of our driveway.

 

Beautiful colors all around.

 



 

The tote road that is perfect for 4-wheeling on an ATV. 

 

The sun peeking through the trees at sunset.

 

I love red Maple leaves.

 

 

The view as you emerge from the tote road onto our road.

 

I always loved birch trees.  I'm so glad we have so many.

 

Now I must  scrapbook and journal about this. I have the perfect paper and layouts using the Flirty paper pack.  Isn't that convenient?

 

 

Every Autumn day I come upon this beautiful scene on my way to work.  This year I decided to capture it in a photo.

 



 

 

I inherited my love of taking photos from my Dad.  I don't have many pictures of him because he was the one who was always taking the photos. I actually have a picture I took of one of our kid's birthday parties and all you can see is his arm and his camera.  Dad was never without his camera or a book.  He loved his cameras.  Do you remember the Polaroid instant camera?  I was always amazed to seer that picture appear.  Now we don't have to wait see the pictures we have taken.   Dad would be so amazed with our digital cameras of today.  And I know he would love them.  Thank you Dad for giving me this love of photography.  I hope that there will be someone else in our family who carries on this love.  I love you Dad and miss you.

 

So Excited!

 

Today I worked on plans for my 10-page layout using the Pear and Partridge paper from Close To My Heart.  I love creating beautiful pages that my "girls" can use for their scrapbooks. 

 

 

Isn't this just the cutest paper pack?  This is actually one of the layouts we will be making.  It is featured in the Pear and Partridge Workshop on the Go.  I took four other layouts from the new book called Make it From Your Heart that is new in our Fall and Winter Idea Book.  It has beautiful new layouts and card patterns.  Now I have to wait for my Workshop on the Go to come in.  The FedEx man cannot come soon enough for me.  I can't wait to play with this.  Can you believe we're thinking about Christmas already?  I'm so glad my "girls" wanted to do this early.  Then all I'll have to do is paste the pictures once Christmas is done!

 

I am so looking forward to tomorrow.  I have the whole day off and I get to play with some of my new product.  I planned a 10-page layout for my scrapbook class a few weeks ago using the Flirty paper pack.  We put all the pages together and tomorrow I'm going to embellish to my heart's content.  I have so many cute pictures that would go perfectly with that paper pack!  Maybe I'll even get pictures of my creations and post them.

 

Here is a picture I took from our crop last month.  It was our first crop of the school year I miss these ladies over the summer. I'll have to do something about that next summer and plan some time that we can spend together creating!

 

 

 



 

I Love This Company

What a surprise I had yesterday.  There was a package from Close To My Heart addressed to me.  I had shared on the company bulletin boards and asked if anyone had a problem with their Slate ink pad as mine would come out of the track every time I opened it.  There were a few posts, but no one seemed to have the same problem.  However,  after hearing that it would cost almost as much to send back the defective ink pad as to buy a new one, I stated that I would probably just buy a new one.  I wasn't upset.  Those things just happen.  Lo and behold.  This wonderful company I work for sent me a brand new Slate ink pad and an Avonlea compliments packet.  I was never expecting this.  I never even called the company.  Someone just read my post and made sure my ink pad was replaced and a little surprise was sent also.  I love this company.

Close To My Heart is always improving what is offered in our catalogs.  This year they have added card workshops, (I don't have to come up with my own any more) home decor, and an adorable Halloween party Workshop on the Go.  Here is a video that shows you all you can create with this exclusive paper pack.