Funny things around my house

First of all, I hope all of you are having a great weekend.

Weston had a youth group party last night...I was the designated "parental unit." There is nothing like twenty-two 15/16 year olds having a party to make you VERY aware of one's advanced age. Did we really listen to music that loud, watch a movie while said music is playing AND play a game of "murder" (a card game) simultaneously? Am I getting alzheimers? I just don't remember doing this...of course, I was scared to death of my parents too!

Ok...

As long as we are on the subject of things that make me go hmmmmm.

1. I have found evidence that my dog is a picky eater. Guess she didn't like some of the "yummies" in her new dog food. Now if I had only seen this once, I might have ignored it...but she does this EVERYTIME I put her dog food down...I just keep letting her do it -- rather than dump the food out and pull out the parts she doesn't like. When she is done eating, I just throw these bits out.

2. Have you ever felt like you had a peeping Tom? I was feeling like something was watching me...and tonight, when I opened my front door here is what I found. yeeeeeeeeeeeech

Have a great weekend.

I've Been Busy

But I forget to put stuff on here~

Here are a few things I've been working on.

This first one is one I did about my favorite new shoes...CROCs. I created a watercolor background with wc pencils..."water" and some salt. I felt like it was my "ODE to Freestyle." *smile*

Here is another in my Hawaii series

And these two are of my nephew and niece...I am working on adding to my "Extended Family Album" and these were two current pics that my sister sent to me.

On Tyler's I used the new Fancy Pants "Dapper" line of product....love the whole line and all the colors.

Lindsey's is my nod to Doris Sanders....she does it well...I am learning.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I am hoping to get some "surprise" scrapbooking done on Saturday before I leave for Chicago on Monday. Once I get the surprise done I will let you in on it....but the person it is for might be "blog lurking" and it would ruin the surprise!

Love ya...

You Gotta Love A Man Who...

hurts when you hurt.

Boy am I blessed. As you could probably tell these last few days have been hard for me. I don't normally get so self-possessed for such an extended period of time. Mother's Day has been hard for me since my early 30's but this year was the worst yet...and I think it was probably because of having the hysterectomy at Christmas time...it was like this year was the final....FINAL. I just couldn't shake it.

I prayed. I confessed my self-centeredness. I went out and purposely did activities to get my mind off of ME...and still....deep inside my heart was just so sad....not mad.....sad.

Today I called my Mom and got to share with her what she has meant to me....for me, Mother's Day is about her.

But tonight -- my honey did something that melted my heart and took so much of my sadness away. He had kind of left me alone -- letting me deal with things in my way -- but this afternoon he called and asked if I would come over for dinner. When I did, he had a special evening planned for me. Roses at my table setting. A lovely glass of wine....and a dinner that was to die for...all laid out on a wooden plank. It was like we were in a fancy restaurant...but it was just us two. He got HUGE points for presentation.

Then he gave me a WONDERFUL card. In case you don't know this about me -- I LOVE to give and receive cards. Receiving them allows me to pull them back out and read them again and again...recalling the moment or the sentiment attached to them. Royce has learned this about me and is great at giving me cards....but this one had a special touch to it. Where Happy Mother's Day was...he had cut and pasted J - A - N- N from magazines and post-it notes....so he made it into a Happy Jann Day card. He touched my heart by the words in the card...but he made me laugh at his attempt to "scrapbook" that all the sadness just spilled out with my laughter and my heart became light again.

Ok...so I am not a Mom. I am Jann (and today I had a Happy Jann Day!)...and I am who God created me to be -- and if I keep moping around I am not fulfilling His calling for my life...so I am going to let my heart be light...and rejoice in ALL the blessings I do have. One of which is a wonderful man in my life willing to "scrap" me happy!

Happy Mother's Day to all my friends who are Moms. I don't want to take anything away from you...I rejoice with you that you have little ones...and some not so little ones in your care. And I know that being a Mom comes with a whole other set of trials....so I pray for you often.

Happy Mother's Day

To all my friends who are mothers.

To my friends who wish with all of their hearts that they were mothers, I give you the tightest, warmest, most compassionate hug I could possible give. You are loved. You are worthy. You are needed. You are complete...even though you feel a hole in you that would perfectly fit a child you could call your own.

I am grateful for my friends that understand why going to church on Mother's Day Sunday has become an unbearable activity for me. I am grateful that God continues to assure me of His love and His plan for my life. I am grateful for a sister that has shared her children with me from the moment of their birth (actually letting me be there when they were born). I am grateful for Weston who is as much a son to me as any that I could have picked for myself. I am grateful that on so many occasions I have had the opportunity to talk with orphans about what that experience was like for me...and that God doesn't "over-look" them -- but loves them deeply and sees all of their dreams and their hopes. He has a plan for them. It may not look like the blueprint they have for themselves...but it is a perfect plan...and He will see them through it.

He does that for me...every day. He loves me...whether I am a mother or not...He gives me opportunity to nurture...to love...to hug....to protect....to model for others how we are to live -- He gives me opportunity to use the character traits he placed within me...and it is my choice to either use them...or refuse to because i don't get to use them they way I WANTED to. The choice is mine...and I think most days, I make the right one. On mothers' Day...I am not so good at it. Why is THAT day so hard...? Oh well...when I make it through the next 24 hours...I have another year to figure it out....perhaps the joy will be next year that I don't struggle as hard with it. Lovely thought.

Thanks to my friends for letting me be a bit instrospective...ok...a LOT instrospective.

Masks...I love 'em

Have I mentioned that I love masks? Not the kind you wear at Halloween or during Mardi Gras -- the kind that Heidi Swapp makes and let's you paint, chalk, color or ink everywhere but where the mask is.

I borrowed this one from KelliDarrSuperStar -- have I mentioned that she is awesome? And I borrowed the paint from Jeanettee -- have I mentioned that I think she rocks? I borrowed the girl in the picture from my friend Carole (it is her daughter, Beth) and I borrowed the Bible verse from Ephesians 2:10 "We are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

I think I should have titled this "Masks and Borrowing" ... I Love 'Em!

So I did a lot of borrowing...but I put it all together myself! So there!

Hope you all have a great day.

Freestyle

Great book by the way.
I read it.
No DEVOURED it.
Gotta give KelliCrowe her props.
I don't know her.
I do lurk on her blog.
But I now know KelliDarrSuperStar
And she knows KelliCrow...
That's closer than Kevin Bacon.
Who also seems to have a "free style"
But I lose my way and my point.

Freestlye.
I looked at my pages
They don't look like KelliCrowe's
That's good...because I would be
a copycat....that would be bad.
They don't look like Doris Sanders'
or Stacie Julians, or Heidi Swapp's or
Jeanette Herdman's (my new friend by the way).
They look like ME....my style...whatever that
may be...on any given day. Some of my pages
don't even look like each other. (perhaps I have several
designn personalities).

My point...and I do have one is that as long
as I am FREE to put down on paper the things
that are in my heart...I am FREE...and not ....

well...

"designed constipated." Perhaps too gross
of a metaphor. But appropriate...I think.

Probably nobody wants to write that book....

"Dulcolax for the Designer" If I could
come up with a better title, I think
I would write it. "How to be YOU and
love it."

This was a great weekend at SCRAPIT! We had
a wonderful retreat. Lots of fun ladies.
Too much wonderful food. Lots of styles and each
perfect for the person doing the designing.

I learned from each of them. Added to my
arsenol of techniques and ideas...added to my
FREEDOM. That's cool.

Affirmation gives me freedom too. When
someone looks at my work and says, "Wow, I
can totally see you in that...or Hmmm....how did
you make that happen?" I store away that technique
as something I want to try again.

I will read the book again...and if I ever come
within 100 yards of KelliCrow...and can do so
without appearing to be a stalker or a
raving lunatic I am going to rush up and

and

and

Affirm the Heck Out of Her.

How about you all...what gives you
freedom to create with freedom.

Yipee Skipee

I am
so very
excited...

Not only
is
this
National
Scrapbooking
Weekend
I
am
going to
a retreat
and I get
to SCRAP
ALL
WEEKEND
LONG!

Oh my...
I am
channelling
Stacey Kingman!
Oh that
I would
channel
her
creativity!

Stacey, I
know you
are recovering
from elbow
surgery --
know that I
will be praying
for you and
a quick recovery.
And thanks
for your inspiration.
I hope you can
enjoy the weekend
too!

I am giddy! Can
you believe it?
Three whole
days of
working
on scrapbooking
projects.

May all my
fellow
scrapbookers
have a lovely
holiday!