HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I have been doing the 30 Days of Thankfulness on Face Book. I started a little late. I wanted to preserve my list in one place. What better place to do it, than my blog?
I want "THANKFULNESS" to become a way of life for me.

So here it is in case you are interested.

The # before each "thankful" is the date I posted that "thankful" on FB.
3. Another beautiful day in Texas. Two sweet little grandboys to play with. All the bills are paid for this month. I have a lot to be thankful for. I will do it everyday, not just on November 26th. God is so good.
5. A beautiful Thursday......Hope all my friends are blessed beyond measure today.
6. I am thankful for the end of another good week and the beginning of a great weekend. Tomorrow I will see dolphins and whales.
7. I am thankful for a wonderful day in San Antonio. The weather was WONDERFUL!!!!
8. I am thankful that I don’t have to go out in the rain anymore this weekend. I am home to stay.
9. I am thankful for a new week. I am also thankful for a place to CREATE.
9. I am thankful that we have food….even if the meat is tough. LOL. How can cubed steak be tough? My chicken fried steak was a bust tonight.
10. I am thankful for a husband who works so hard to take care of our family. And I am thankful that because of him, I can take care of my mom and keep her here rather than alone in a nursing home.
11. I am thankful that Wednesday is grocery store day. It means we will have fresh food to eat for the next week.
11. I am thankful for all those men and women who server our country in the military. And for those who served in the past. I am thankful that because of them, I can live in a great country of Freedom.
12. I am thankful for good news. Yesterday was a day of good news concerning friends health issues. Thankful for answered prayer.
13. I am thankful for Friday and another wonderful weekend adventure with my sweetie. I don’t know what that adventure will be…..just know it WILL be an adventure.
14. I am thankful for a warm soft bed and a good night’s sleep that leaves me refreshed for a new day with my family.
15. I am thankful for the glimpses of sunshine that pokes from behind the clouds occasionally.
16. I am thankful for my wonderful daughter in loves, April and Amy. Today is April’s birthday. I am celebrating today because when she was born, God knew she was going to be my son’s wife. I had to wait to get daughters but God blessed me with the best. I am thankful for their mothers who showed them by example how to love God and their families.
17. I am thankful for a place to create. And loads of things to create with. And a supportive husband who understands my need to create.
18. I am thankful for the heater that keeps my home warm and comfy when it is cold outside.
19. I am thankful for my brother, who helps with my mom whenever I need it and takes care of the details. He often steps outside of his comfort zone to do what he can.
20. Today I am thankful for the rain on the roof and the snores in my ears (My sweetie on one side and Puppie on the other). It means I have a home and I am not alone.
21. I am thankful for a day of creating and an an evening with my LOVE.
22. I am thankful for the people in my life. I am so richly blessed by my family and friends.
23. I am thankful that my love is on vacation this week. We get to have lots of adventures. Today we will play with GRANDBOYS and have fun.
24.I am thankful, today and EVERY day, for my wonderful sons. Michael Lambert and Zach Lambert , I know I don't get to spend much time with you because you are busy being great husbands, fathers, and providers for your family. But I want you to know how much I love you and how very proud I am of both of you. You're the best!!!!
25.I am thankful for my computer. I can keep in touch with my friends. I can explore for inspiration in my creation. I can find the answers to many of my questions. And I can keep pictures of my family at my finger tips to look at when ever I please. Technology can be a wonderful thing.
26. THANKSGIVING DAY I A M T H A N K F U L F O R L I F E ! ! !

I leave you with this question........
WHAT ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR??????

I Entered a Blog Challenge

Back in September I entered a Blog Challenge on one of the blogs I follow regularly. Karen M. of Real Life in Pictures. hosted the challenge in honor of National Sewing Day on September 10th, The "Sew Happy" challenge which was to:

"add something that you would typically use when sewing" and add it to your card, layout, or project! Some examples of items are the following (pins, thread, buttons, zippers, material, rick-rack, ribbon, lace etc). You can find her blog post HERE.

Click HERE to see my layout for this challenge.

This is the prize I won for entering.

When I opened the envelope I immediately "fell in love" with the papers and embellishments that I received. All the embellishments were handmade and absolutely beautiful. I use a lot of turquoise and green so I knew I wouldn't have any trouble at all using this wonderful prize. As I laid everything out on the table to look at it, I realized I had THE PERFECT PICTURE. The picture was one of my favorites that I have been saving for the right inspiration. And when I looked at this set of papers and embellishments, I was inspired. It was a picture taken in April of 2008. At a family gathering, I asked Mike to take a picture of me with my boys and grandboys. I loved the outcome so much that I had it put on a credit card so I could carry it with me all the time.

And here is my layout using the kit.

The only thing I added to the mix was the Making Memories Rubons that I used for the title, Me & My Boys, a few pieces of solid cardstock, and the Making Memories Chipboard Flourishes and butterfly. The turquoise mat was border punched using an EK Success Single Embossed Curve border punch.

The spots from left to right across the top of the page:

• The journaling spot that I added "Me & my" to was part of the kit
• The metal rimmed Family tag. The words family were printed on transparency also came I will be attempting to make some of these myself in the future.
• This spot was created using Spellbinders scalloped circle cut from purple patterned paper and circle of black cardstock. The turquoise piece was first border punched with the Fiskars threading waters punch and then cut using a circle die positioned over the border.
• The last spot is a black cardstock scalloped circle topped with a flower included in the RAK.
  The white flower is layers of paper flowers that had been Cuttlebug embossed and topped with a small silk flower.

The spots from top to bottom.

• The top spot in this picture is created with a turquoise scalloped circle, a white and black patterned paper circle, and the border was punched with a Martha Stewart border punch and then circle cut. The 3 little heart brads that embellish this spot were included in the RAK.
• Turquoise patterned paper circle topped by black and white polka dot patterned paper border punched using the Martha Stewart loopy punch.
• Green dotted patterned paper scalloped circle topped with turquoise cardstock circle. White and black patterned paper is border punched with a dotted scalloped punch by EK Success This spot is topped with a chipboard butterfly sprayed with my homemade "glimmer mist". The tiny pearl strip down the middle of the butterfly was part of the RAK.
  
  The grouping of embellishments in the lower right corner all came from the RAK, except the chipboard flourishes. I painted them using my homemade "glimmer mist". I used a Ranger mini mister filled half full with water. To the water I added 3 drops of Peeled Paint Distress Ink Reinker, a tiny scoop of Pearl Ex gold pigment powder, and 3 drops of Gum Arabic, which is a binder. I shook it all up and sprayed it on the chipboard in layers until I reached the desired intensity allowing it to dry between layers.

Thanks goes out to Karen at Real Life in Pictures for the wonderful RAK of beautiful papers and embellishments. Check out her blog to see some of her beautiful items that she makes using her Cuttlebug.

SATURDAY ADVENTURE

I haven't been a very good blogger this month. I've been busy playing with my sweet grandboys and life in general. Life has been good - no, it has been GREAT!!! I haven't spent much time at the computer so I didn't update my blog. I didn't do much creating, so I didn't update my blog.

Yesterday we decided since it might be the last gorgeous day before some cold weather rolls in, that we would spend the day exploring. We started out heading to South Austin. If we don't have anything else planned for Saturday morning, we know we can get in some good exercise, good pictures, good breakfast, and a general sense of well-being by heading south. We begin by parking off Barton Creek between Daughtry Art Center and Parmer Auditorium. The grounds there are always beautiful and there is a very clean public restroom.

This Muhly Grass was pretty. It was heavy with morning dew and even though it was quite hazy out it still glistened as it bent over with the weight of the water droplets.

We headed across Riverside Drive to Auditorium Shores, We crossed over Lady Bird Lake on the First Street Bridge and walked the trails by the lake to Lamar. As we crossed back over the Lake on the Lamar Blvd Pedestrian Bridge we stopped to take some pictures.

Looking to the east is the railroad bridge. The sun peeked from behind the clouds just enough to make the water glisten with a silver sparkle. Two men were fishing from a boat making a nice silhouette, so I had to snap this picture.

And looking to the west, past the Lamar Blvd bridge the sky was clear and bluer. This picture and the one above were taken within a few moments of each other. It really shows how things can change in just a matter of moments as clouds roll in and out.


There is a planter of beautiful roses on the pedestrian bridge. They were so pretty covered in the morning dew. The bush that this pink bud was part of gave off a sweet aroma. It was good to just breath in and enjoy the beauty.

Back over on the grounds of Parmer Auditorium I found this plant. The blossoms were covered in dew with droplets of water collecting on each petal.

Mike snuck this picture in as I was concentrating on capturing some of the roses near the fountains at Parmer Auditorium.

Another perfect rose bud.

After our "nature" walk we headed to Torchy's Tacos on South 1st Street. They make a great Migas breakfast taco with fresh avocado and pico de gallo. YUMMMM.

After breakfast we headed to the Farmer's Market. Mike enjoys Hot Rock'n and Pop'n Kettle Corn and they have a booth there every Saturday morning, so when we are close by, we always stop to get him some.

We came home, did a little work around the house and then headed north to Belton to explore the historic downtown area. There are some cute little antique shops on the square around the courthouse.

This picture is taken from the corner looking up past a statue of one of Belton's forefathers to the Court House Rotunda.

The shops were full of wonderful antiques at very reasonable prices. Not only is it fun to explore, but there are many opportunities for still life shots that may someday grace the front of a note card.

I was fascinated with this rooster statue sitting on the sidewalk in front of one of the shops, so I snapped a picture.

My favorite shop was "BY GONE ERA" This wonderful store was full of vintage clothing and other treasures. The displays were thoughtfully done and there was so much to capture my attention. I will definitely visit this store again and again.

And this is my TREASURE from the day's adventure. My new bird cage is about 22 inches high and 15 inches in diameter. It is made of Teak Wood. The door "lock" and the legs are hand carved. I have no idea how old it is, but I feel like I got it for a bargain price. Now I will be on the lookout for the perfect bird to live in my cage. I am thinking something very eclectic and altered. My sweet husband thinks it should be KEVIN from the movie UP. We'll see.

After exploring Belton, we decided to head back south on the country roads to avoid any traffic that might be on the interstate because of the UT/Baylor Football game that had taken place in Waco earlier in the day. The UT Fans could be heading home by late afternoon and clogging the highway.

Heading down Farm to Market Road 1123 through Sommmer's Mill, we saw this house by the damn. It would be a wonderful place to live. The trees were beginning to change color making a peaceful setting to stop and enjoy the view for a couple of minutes.

It was nearing suppertime, so we decided to head towards Walburg and see if we could find something to eat. We got to the Walburg Restraunt just before 5 so we were able to get a table without a reservation. Mike had chicken friend steak, which he said was very good, but I had to have some real German food. My family heritage is German. My grandparents were 1st generation Americans. Their parents were all German immigrants.

In honor of my German Heritage, I chose
Schweinebraten.

Heading back home after a good meal, Nature entertained us with a beautiful Sunset.

Thus ends our Saturday Adventure.

November 14, 2009