"I Made It"

Well of course I did!! I have been crazy busy with all sorts of things going on here...we'll get to those later but for now I wanted to take a minute to show off sometime I have been working on.

I follow a blog called Everything Etsy which shows great stuff that people have made, not mine yet I haven't made the move to Etsy. Don't know Etsy, well you should. It is a site of all things handmade! Great place, LOVE it!! Anyway she is hosting a "I Made It!" blog party and I decided to join the fun so here you go!

These are both Scrabble tile necklaces that I will be offering on my blog! I think these are so great! They are fun to make and have such design potential! I hope you enjoy them, and be sure to check out my other blog with all my other goodies. (www.bloemandgrow.blogspot.com)

spring is in the air

Spring is definitely in the air around here...we have had 4 days of sunshine and we are loving every minute of it!! I wanted to take a moment to appreciate the small things...you know those things that you have that you don't realize are special til you go to use them?

Well, I had one of those moments last night. As I was growing up I remember baking a lot of things, my mom being a home economics teacher might have something to do with that, but who knows! When making a cake, brownies, bread, muffins, or anything cakey really I remember using this cake tester. It's small, green, and old, it's a fancier version of a toothpick to check if a cake is fully baked in the middle. But it has always been there. Although I don't use it as often as I wish I would, time and ability get in the way of that, I do use it. Last night as I was making muffins for the teachers, I started looking for it to check if they were done...but I couldn't find it. In a panic I dug through all the drawers and cupboards and still couldn't find it. As a tear rolled down my cheek, I wondered to myself...Why was this so important? I had toothpicks...well because it reminded me of my mom. It brought back those wonderful memories of baking with her and the lessons she taught me, not that all of them stuck, but what can I say!

Like that cake tester, my mom was always there to check on me and let me know if I needed to spend more time on something. Not being overbearing, but useful and helpful. Sometimes it's the little things that mean the most, the small comments, the hugs and kisses, the "I love you" and the time.

what I love...

With Valentines day here I thought it would be fun to make a list of what I love and see what the kids love too!!

Kate

• Toby-My loving and supportive husband
• My kids-they may test me sometimes, but I love them more than anything
• Friend- I have great friends who are there for me always
• Famiy-Have you met them? If so you would understand why, if not you should!
• Coffee-I probably shouldn't have this on the list, but it's true!

Emmah

• Soft and cozy blankets
• Fairy chapter books
• My family

Jake

• Grandma and Grandpa
• Mommy and Daddy
• Family-including cousin Ross
• McDonalds
• Emmah
• Matchbox cars

What do you love?

memory

When Tomorrow Starts Without Me

Author: Rev. Russ Chamberlain

When tomorrow starts without me, and I'm not there to see; If the sun should rise and find your eyes filled with tears for me.

I know how much you love me, as much as I love you, And each time that you think of me, I know you'll miss me too.

But when tomorrow starts without me, please try to understand, That an angel came and called my name, and took me by the hand, And said my place was ready, in heaven far above, And that I'd have to leave behind all those I dearly love.

I thought of all the yesterdays, the Good ones and the bad, I thought of all the times we shared, and all the good times we had When I walked through heaven's gates, I felt so much at home.

When God looked down and smiled at me, From His great golden throne, He said, "This is eternity, and all I've promised you." Today for life on earth is past, but Here it starts anew. I promise no tomorrow, but today will always last, and since each day's the same day, there's no longing for the past. But you have been so faithful, so trusting and so true. Though there were times you did some things, you knew you shouldn't do. But you have been forgiven and now at last you're free. So won't you take my hand and share my life with me?

I have a room that is ready for you to call your own. Family members and friends are just waiting to say welcome home and see you once again.

So when tomorrow starts without me, don't think we're far apart, for every time you think of me, I'm right here, in your heart.

published author

I would like to introduce you to a new author I have recently found. Her stories are short, but delightful, and she does her own illustrations and they are AMAZING!

Introducing.....

Emmah Bloemers!!

Here she is reading her first published book:

moving on

We are moving on and moving up. We are working to get things cleaned up and out of our house. There will be a dumpster arriving on Friday and we have some people coming in to fix a couple things as well. We surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, have things still there, but we figured that if we haven't missed it yet we don't need it!

In a way I am a little sad to be saying goodbye to the house, this was our first house. Where we had our first Christmas, the house we made a home together, the house where we brought our babies home to, and the place of so many GREAT and wonderful memories. How do you say goodbye to such an important part of your past....it will always live on in our memories and in pictures, but we have new memories to make.

The new memories will be wonderful and will be GREAT too! Our new house already comes with memories and first as well so we will build on those.

*wordless wednesday*

Flowers I receieved from a friend who shared a birthday with my mom.