to grandmother's house we go

Psalm 23 (NLT)
The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name.
Even when I walk through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.
You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.
You welcome me as a guest, anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

my last living grandparent died today. my dad's mother, my grandmother, left this world and was reunited with her creator early this morning. at 92 years old, she's had slowing health for several years, but more serious heart issues the past 6 months. and as we prepared for our trip to maryland for thanksgiving, my dad prepared me for the possibility of her death. I was prepared with the "thought" of it, but the reality of her not being at the dinner table tonight for the first thanksgiving in my 40 years was a different story.

when someone dies, I always feel that life should S T O P for the day. somehow continuing to go on with the daily routines and responsibilities just doesn't seem right. but today that's exactly what we all did. the boys gathered out in the lawn for the scheduled flag football game, my aunt prepared and served an out of this world delicious meal; 25 of our family and friends gathered to be thankful together; there were a few tears, but also good stories about grandmother; and there were plenty of us thinking about her and her impact on our lives.

Thanksgiving has always been a special holiday for me. when I was a child, we spent every Thanksgiving in maryland at my grandmother's house. we traveled from "the city" to "the country" for a few days. and even though many hours separated me from my father's side of the family, it only took a few minutes for us to be reacquainted and enjoying a life far different than our own. as an adult, we now visit every other year as we alternate holidays with mark's family. and now my family (mark, spencer, connor) eagerly anticipates the pilgrimage to grandmother's house for Thanksgiving.

now that grandmother is gone, will things be different? will we still come home for Thanksgiving? even my grandmother, in her final days, had concerns about her son and his family coming "back home" for Thanksgiving once she had passed. how did she know? how well does she know her children?

my grandmother was:

strong/ hardworking/ creative/ a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and friend/a gardener of flowers and vegetables/ a quilter/ a reader of books/ a believer in Christ Jesus/ a traveler/ loving/ caring/ a card player/ a master at scrabble/ lover of sea shells/ honest

I have no idea how many quilts my grandmother personally handmade (hundreds). or how many quilt club projects have her precise stitches included in them (hundreds). but let's just say there was always a project being quilted, always fabric being sewn together on her sewing machine, and always at least five finished quilts in her closet at the ready for gifts. her many quilts in our home will now take on an even more special meaning as our family quilter is now gone.

"mom, I'm sorry your grandma died. are you sad?" unsolicited words from my tender hearted 5 year old during a quiet bedtime moment. thanks for touching his little heart to comfort me, God.

so I don't say goodbye tonight, I say "see you later", grandmother. for I know I will see you again in heaven when I am reunited with my heavenly Father and all those who believed in Him that have gone before me.

not so much here

absent- not present or attending; lost in thought: not attentive

that's been me the past week and a half. to my loyal followers: I'm sorry to be gone from this place for so long. things have been happening...just not on the blog.

things keeping my attention these days:
my business
my family
volunteering
crafting {but no knitting}
correspondence catch up
christmas presents
being thankful

so my wonderfully supportive husband reminded me that my posts don't "have to be" anything other than what I want them to be. I don't "have to" follow any rules {like showing great photos each post; writing wonderful prose; finishing out-of-this-world crafts}. just touching base is good enough. so for today, this is good enough for me. have a wonderful pre-Thanksgiving weekend.

what have you been up to? leave a comment and a lucky reader will receive a selection of hand-made holiday note cards.

holidays by hand

rachel over at Small Notebook is one of the six hosts of the Holidays by Hand Festival every tuesday for six weeks. this past weekend aunt karen and I were crazy crafters. after visiting Archiver's Holiday Extravaganza weekend, I was able to put together my holiday cards and a few other goodies. those of you who know me, know I'm a card freak...I love the process of making cards, writing letters, and then sending cards. I just love a hand written note, so many times I give cards as gifts. I try to keep my creating easy and simple and leave all the ornate embellishments to the professionals. I hope these card ideas are a few you can copy and use this holiday season.

our journey begins with our supplies scattered on the dining room table:

blank cards, stamps, stamp pads, paper, ribbon, and the cricut Project #1
Holiday Postmark Note Card

I started with plain white cards {from Michaels}, santa claus lane paper, 1.5" green circles, thin strips of red card stock, and a 12.25 stamp. I found this stamp set at Archiver's in their Hot Spot section. I assembled all the pieces together as shown in the card picture and added the postmark stamp to the envelope as well.don't forget to add your own personal signature to the back of your cards...hallmark does it-you should too! this is from my favorite stamp set from Close to My Heart-Made by Me.

Project #2
Winter Wonderland Card Set
I again started with plain white cards, a winter wonderland sheet of scrapbook paper, and the matching page pebbles. Cut, mat, glue, and embellish with the pebble. All done!

Project #3
Joy Card Set

Used that same pack of white note cards, 1.5"red and green circles cut on the cricut, white letters spelling JOY, and jewels for the holly. no big deal here.

Project #4
Gift Tags

I just used gift tag templates to cut out tags; added a few rub on letters for the 'to' and 'from', and we'll call them finished.
Project #5

Picture Block Ornament

**sorry for my poor photo quality. our camera isn't the best in low light...and it's night time...so I can't go outside and photo.**

this was the project I was MOST excited about completing. my inspiration came from Becky from her Christmas projects done in 2007. my supplies included: 2" wooden blocks, holiday papers, craft paints to co-ordinate with my paper and cut to fit on my wooden blocks, pictures of my special family members cut into 1" circles, decoupage medium, eye hooks, and ribbon for hanging.

I started by sanding and cleaning my wooden blocks.

I painted my blocks green to co-ordinate with one of the colors in my holiday papers.next I chose and cut the photos of my boys to feature on the ornaments.
I then decoupaged the paper onto the block then the photos. then the waiting...and waiting...and waiting for it to dry!
After they were dry {okay semi dry, not completely, because I'm so impatient}, I added the eye hook and ribbon.
and now I can't wait to make the other ornaments!

and Project #6 is still in process- a Christmas Scrapbook, so check back over the coming weeks to see how it turned out!

thanks for stopping by! and special thanks to rachel for being our host!

got a vote?

lisa shared a most appropriate verse this morning...had to share it here too: "and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6b

so no matter what your party, I trust you exercised your citizen responsibility today and voted for your candidate.

may God Bless America and may God Bless the new President of the United States.

need a button...get your own button here.

think then ACT

if you visited yesterday, you know the meaning of my title. I've been 'thinking about'/'wanting to' send special cards to all my American Cancer Society, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk supporters. I started the process thinking I would cut out paper ribbons then decided on painted ribbons. first try-painting the ribbon freehand- BIG mistake...then I remembered the P.C. ribbon stencil we sold a few years ago. off I went to the basement in search of those stencils. once found, I created my desired pink color and began making cards. they aren't all perfect; some have paint smudges, but my card making project is now out of my head and complete.

happy halloween weekend

october 31-november 1

a few weeks ago we went to the scarecrow festival downtown. remember the post? the boys wanted me to adopt a dog at the adopt-a-pet tent? we left with just pictures. anyway...SOR found his inspiration for his halloween costume. Mario was his choice. the creating was my job.

this may seem like a little thing {his deciding on his costume based on this scarecrow}, but it's one of the traits I love seeing in spencer. he knows what he likes and what he doesn't. I'm more of a thinker...I would have 'thought' about my costume for two weeks, then decided. he just decided. when I think about it, how many things did I not do, because I was 'thinking about' doing them? scrapbooks not started because I didn't have a plan; knitting on hold because I have to 'think' about learning a new technique; traveling the road traveled, because I would have to 'think' about how I'd travel down the other. I'm not beating myself up-I know myself. I am a thinker {know those four personality traits? director, relator, thinker, socializer?}. so, while I know myself, I also want to challenge myself to stretch a little. that's why I love learning from my children. so this week, I'm going to try to think less and experience life more. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Lord brings me this week.my mario:
mario and my stormtropper: {look at CER's nose...how cute is that?}

the annual family carving:

{from left to right: SOR-self created; KMR- polka dots; PMR- mac love; CER-tall & happy}

mom and dad came up for the weekend to see SOR play flag football. before the game, we took a quick trip to cabelas. SOR manned the camera on our trip. this is one of the self portrait photos I found on my camera.
and after scoring four touchdowns and a win for the team, we all posed with our star player.
in addition to having mom-mom and pop-pop at the game, mr. & mrs. I. stopped by as well.

it was a wonderful family filled weekend.