Halloween!

Tonight will be the first time in 17 years

I haven't had my kids home with me on Halloween.

Em has basketball practice till 7:30

and Jacks is going out with friends.

Times sure do change...

I will be passing out Tootsie Rolls 

to all the little ghosties and goblins 

that come by tonight. 

Looking forward to that.

Oh and our 14th Annual Harvest Dinner

at Mom's is tonight...

8 o'clock sharp. 

On the menu?

pot roast

potatoes

carrots

fresh veggies with dip

pumpkin pie

apple pie

YUMMY!

Happy Halloween!

True Happiness

Today's post is brought to 

by the word

HAPPINESS....

Things are good.

Really, really good.

The past 2 days

{going on 3}

I have been sorting and organizing

every little thing in my craft space.

WOW! I sure do have a lot:)

Yesterday I took 3 gallon size bags 

to a family that has girls.

They went nuts!!:)

And that makes me happy....

My Mom brings more to happiness to others than anyone I know.

"The habit of being uniformly considerate

toward others will bring

increased happiness to you."

   -Grenville Kleiser

Royals game Fall 2011

"A multitude of small delights constitute happiness."

-Charles Baudelaire

Em in Wisconsin on the farm

"Happiness comes of the capacity to

 feel deeply, to enjoy simply,

to think freely, to risk life, to be needed."

-Storm Jameson

Dave and his 87 year old Grams

"Men are made for happiness, and 

anyone who is completely happy has

a right to say to himself, "I am 

doing God's will on earth."

-Anton Chekhov

One of my fave Brave Art pieces

I have a show coming up November 20th.

I am sooo excited!

I also have a chance to TEACH this winter!!:)

I am being true to my art.

I am being true to my heart.

I am staying the course.

"The mere sense of living is 

joy enough."

-Emily Dickinson

Linking up with Jennifer today...

What brings you happiness??

LOTS of Scrappy Goodness

Ever since I found mixed media art

I have put scrapbooking on the back burner.

Now I didn't do it intentionally...

it just sorta happened.

The more I painted and collaged and put words

with old images the more addicted I became!!! LOL!

However, as fun as mixed media is

I knew I needed to be keeping a record of my family, too.

Lately I have been thinking so much about the 

empty nest just 4 years away...I decided it was time

to take our memories and get them down for good!

So last weekend I packed my bags and headed to Kansas City

for a weekend of nothing but scrapping.

Here's a peek at a few of my favorite layouts.

I bought this paper nearly 3 years ago...it's Fancy Pants. Goes perfect with my Happy Emma don't you think?

Along with the retreat the Creating Keepsakes Convention happened to be in town. I have gone every year for the past 7 years...they are so fun! I found these darling papers and many of the embellishments I used throughout the weekend there.

I love this page of my Jacks and me. Where ever he is I feel home.

On this next page I used lots of flowers. Love them!

My friends teased me because the page is all about my sweet Dave and his Birthday celebration.

I think flowers go with everything. Don't you agree?

See the phrase "happy birthday to you"? Those are stamps I found at Wal-Mart for $1. I used them all weekend!

This next page just plain makes me smile!

From the photos to the embellishments.

Isn't this so cute? My favorite thing to add to my pages are words!

This is more of the Crate Paper Kit I bought at CKC. Kits make everything so easy. I am loving that banner!

The reason my girl and that sweet little munchkin on the right share a "unique friendship" is because they were both born on May 22nd:)

We take a photo of the two of them every year.

Here is another layout...

Em is 14 and Yvey is 5.

It has been fun to see the changes in both of them through the years.

Here's an 8 x 10 photo of Em playing soccer in her early days.

She has always had the sport in her blood.

My son Jackson has a passion for speech and debate.

This particular tournament he took first place in Poetry.

See these circles? They are stamps I used on white card stock then cut out and put on page. I found an entire set of these at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago for $1.49! I used them on so many layouts this weekend and just know they will had a touch of whimsy to my collages and cards.

There's another banner! Sooo cute.

I filled an entire album with plenty for another one...

If you haven't scrapped in awhile I encourage you to take some time in the next few weeks and just do it. Don't worry about making them fancy or perfect. Just pick up a kit or search through your own stash, grab a stack of photos and set aside 2 hours and get busy!  

One more thing before I go...

Jackson is now a licensed driver!!

Linking up with Julia at Stamping Ground and Rook 17. Two inspirational ladies for sure!! Thank you so much for stopping by:)

Good Stuff

What a wonderful weekend I had!! From Friday night through Sunday morning I scrapped 30 pages surrounded by a few friends, too  much sugar and lots of laughs. It was just what I needed to get by art groove back on.

I have sooo much to share from the past week...

things I've learned
random acts of kindness
and a Brave Act that resulted in me doing a show in November!

I will share all of this goodness tomorrow.

Today is the day I Bless our Home with clean floors, shiny bathrooms and good thoughts.

If you have time today be sure and stop by my darling and very BRAVE friend Leanne's blog. Her Etsy shopped opened today and she has a very cool deal to celebrate.

Life will pass you by....

Woke up feeling really, really good. Like I am right where I'm supposed to be in my life.
I am spending my days cleaning and organizing...if you read yesterday's post then you KNOW I've got lots of that to do;)

I am also thinking about the holidays, listening to Christmas tunes already. Love them so much...I can't help it! Dreaming of cooler weather, a little snow and Thanksgiving break.

You see my kids are getting older.

Yes, these kids right here...they are barely kids anymore. Before I know it Jackson will be on his Mission and Em will be in college.

Time seems to be passing me by and I am more aware of it than I've ever been in my entire life. Every trip, holiday, event that takes place I keep finding myself going..."Only 2 more before Jackson leaves on his mission." I just want to enjoy every single second of my family...all together. I know that so very soon this time will pass and it will just be Dave and Em and I.



Then just Dave and I.


We finally realize how precious our time is with our children just as they are getting ready to leave our nest. Why is that? Why is it that when their little we can't wait for them to get bigger so they aren't as much work? Then when they do get bigger all we do is wish for them to sit on our laps again or give us a big hug.

*sigh*


I know I'm not the first Mom to go through this and I won't be the last. And while my heart aches at times for memories past when my sweet little Jackson Boy and Emma Girl thought I was the center of their universe and we spent most days playing "Big Rah-Rahs" {dinosaurs} or "Tea Party"...I want to enjoy the here and now.

"Life is all memory except for the one
present moment that goes by so
quick you can hardly catch it going."
      -Tennesse Williams

These precious moments are almost gone. When all my kids will be home with me. When our home is noisy and crazy and messy. All these crazy days that make up my life is what makes my house a home.


"He is blessed over all mortals who 
loses no moment of the passing life."
          -Henry David Thoreau

            
Life is good right now.
I am enjoying my kids.
I am spending time with my Mom.
I am going on dates with Dave.

I am making an effort to "lose no moment of my passing life".

I admit it...I need help!

What I'm about to show is soooo embarrassing. I mean really, really....

This is the floor of my hall closet.
Can you say....GROSS?!

This is the top shelf of the hall closet. See that orange ball? It's no ball...it's an old balloon! There's also a volleyball, a dog bed, hangers and at least a dozen scarves, mittens and hats!

Then the COATS!

See how they are just crammed in there. Ridiculous!


Thank goodness I found this marvelous woman...

Kelly at Imperfect Home Making.  She is currently featuring a 31 Days Organizing Extravaganza on her blog...it's just what I needed!

Yesterday was Day 2 for me. She had us clean and organize our hall closet. Thank goodness because mine was a disaster!!:)

Can you believe all the shoes? Good grief! This closet had become the dumping ground for all our shoes, sports stuff and anything else we could cram in there!

It was literally spilling out all over my floor.

So here's what I did...

I cleared out everything! At one point my husband came in the hall and just shook his head. He couldn't believe all the stuff either.

Coats....

Winter wear...

Chalk and other oddball items... {chalk, really?!}

And SHOES...oh the SHOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oreo couldn't believe all the shoes either...

Gizmo was just plain disgusted by the whole thing...

After sorting through everything I had 1/2 bag of trash and a 1/2 bag of give away. The rest of it went in my teens' rooms, our room and the garage. Only a fraction of what was in there went back.

I had this pretty blue bin for scarves and hats.

A few shoes went back...our winter boots, Em's cowgirl boots and Dave's everyday shoes.

We have soooo many different coats but usually use the same ones over and over again. I put those back. Now we have space for guests coats. Hooray!

See stuff isn't spilling out anymore.

I took a few minutes and weeded out the coat stand, too. This whole corner is so much more inviting.

Ahhhh, it felt so good to clean that up! 
All in all it took about 1 hour from start to finish.

Are you ready to get started on your own Organizing Challenge? Stop by here for Kelly's ideas.

Are you an organized person or do you need help like me?? What is one thing that is a necessity in your hall closet? Please share!

Linking up with Kelly today!!