A lifestyle blog, with lots of photography, creating and pretty things.

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September 22, 2013

I'm Proud of You

Ahh, Mr. Rogers. He was genuine, as a kid you never doubted the fact that the Mr. Rogers you saw on the screen was the same man off the screen, but as sceptical adults you develop those doubts.
 
After the Boston Marathon bombing, I came across this quote for the first time (although it has been around much longer):
 
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
                                                                                                       ~ Fred Rogers

And then I came across this compilation of "Heartwarming and Beautiful Facts" about him. What a great guy, huh?

Finally, I discovered Alexandra Franzen's blog (I have mentioned her on here before) and she is also a BIG Mr. Rogers fan. She talks about this book, "I'm Proud of You." I just finished it and can honestly say I cried and smiled through every chapter. There are quite a few religious undertones to the book but it doesn't take away from the message (if religion is not your thing).

 
Cute side story: I left the book in the van for my husband to return to the library for me. He started to read it himself. I had to renew it so he could finish it. He was reading it in the van while waiting for the boys to be done at school and shed some tears as well. A couple of days later a couple of the moms approached him to see if everything was okay because they saw him crying!
 
 



September 08, 2013

Back to School

All 3 of my boys are now going to the same school. I remember when Grayden was born and calculating how old he and his brothers would be when they would all be in school together. It seemed so impossibly far away but last week it actually arrived.


I almost feel a little sorry for all of the teachers having these 3 roaming the halls together. To make myself feel better, I try to believe they save their most rambunctious behaviour for home.



I love that all 3 of their teachers keeps a blog that tells me what they are working on and what is coming up in the class. It helps to ask specific questions about their day if you are looking for an answer other than, "I don't know" or "I can't remember".

This feels like a new chapter in our lives. I am excited; bring it!

September 02, 2013

From This to That: Cowls, Owls, Journals & Enthusiasm

I have been on a creating spree, turning materials from one thing into another this weekend. It has been fun, it hasn't taken away from my family time AND I still got some laundry on the clothesline. I call that a score, touchdown, nothing but net WIN.

My yarn went From This:


To That:


It is a big, florescent, super chunky cowl. It will definitely keep my neck warm in the colder months and I do believe I will be safer as no car is going to miss those colours on a gray Vancouver day.

I used my arms as knitting needles, super-fun. If you are looking for a quick project, you can check out Simply Maggie's tutorial complete with video. I made 2 of these for girlfriends before I made mine and used regular worsted weight yarn. They turned out very nice and I used the recommended stitch count of 12. They were very loose and airy.

 For mine, I used 12 stitches and suffocated myself when I was checking the length.  I ripped out the stitches to start again just casting on 6 stitches. I only wish I had made it a bit longer but I would have needed a second skein of each colour.

And then my clay went From This:


To That:


Playing with clay makes me feel good. It helps that my kids encourage me by saying I am awesome and can make anything (thanks boys!). I used Sculpey III clay, it stays soft even when I forget to cover it until you bake it. Be warned, the baking instructions are not on the package. You can find it on the website or use this rule: bake 15 minutes for every 1/4" of thickness at 175 degrees. F. For these little critters, I baked them for 30 minutes.

The clay is very hot and stays very hot for a good hour after you take it out of the oven. It may not feel like it is hard enough for you when you first take it out but trust me, it gets harder as it cools down.

My wallpaper scraps went From This:


To That:


A pretty little journal. I had my sewing machine out to fix my oldest son's backpack for back-to-school tomorrow and tackled this mini-project I have been thinking about for awhile.

It really took less than 10 minutes. I folded 10 sheets of letter paper in half, cut out the wallpaper a smidge bigger all around than the paper and sewed them all together along the fold.

I think I have a new book to brainstorm blog post ideas!

And finally, some blank paper and an exercise went From This:


To That:


One page full of the things I love to do that make me hum with happiness; inspire me; recharge my battery.

Michelle Ward is generously offering this sample chapter of her book, The Declaration of You, when you sign up for her newsletter. She is the When I Grow Up Coach and I want to have as much fun as she does, doing what I love when I grow up!

Please visit her and become inspired.

What did you make this weekend?