We saw lots of big things on our vacation. It seemed to be a recurring theme. Here are some of them:
A Big grocery basket that is actually a race car! (St. Louis Children's Museum)
A Big truck. (St. Louis Children's Museum)
A Big dino. (Wisconsin Dells, WI)
Big dino bones (Field Museum, Chicago,IL)
Big Banana (Ella's Deli, Madison, WI)
Big Little O (St. Louis Children's Museum - Optical Illusions room)
Big Lumberjack food (Paul Bunyan's - Wisconsin Dells, WI)
and my favorites:
Big Pink Globe (Museum Campus- Chicago, IL)
Big Pink Flamingo Motel (Wisconsin Dells, WI)
Big stuff....good times.
Have a great weekend guys! I'm hoping to do some blog hopping this weekend so I will see you around!
God's Grace & Peace,
♥ Melissa~ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You're well-known as good and forgiving, bighearted to all who ask for help. Pay attention, God, to my prayer; bend down and listen to my cry for help. Every time I'm in trouble I call on you, confident that you'll answer." -Psalm 86:1
I have no time to blog today* so instead you get to see a snap of my new favorite mug.
Hubby bought it for me on our trip to Austin and I *love* *love* *love* it.
It is just the right size and heaviness and I adore the handmade shape with all the little crooked spots and dimples.
The pink flower and "inspire" sentiment make me smile every morning...
And it's pink inside!
What more could you ask for in a mug? Pink, flowers, inspiration, handmade...it's mug heaven!
Do you have a favorite mug? I would love to see it! Blog it and leave me a comment!
Hope that inspires you a little today. See you tomorrow!
God's Grace and Peace,
♥ Melissa~
*interpreted: I wasted my blogging time today looking at crafty stuff on the internet.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of Your wonders. From where the sun rises to where it sets, You inspire shouts of joy." -Psalm 65:8
(or wednesday...or...you know...whenever I can grab my laptop and hide in the closet for long enough to post something)
one
I've already told you about Red Lead, the wonderful paper art store in St. Louis owned by sisters Chris Schwartz and Sharon Wisely, but I wanted to show you more photos and say again how amazing this store is!
If you have a minute you must go take a peek at the online shop. They have a unique line of stamps that are all so charming.
Here are some more photos of their inspiring space (click on them to see a larger image).
I want to bring a sleeping bag and live here!
A tag skirt with silk ribbon ties! I really need this in my house!
Every display in the store is so clever and unique. I love the umbrellas hanging from the ceiling and do you see the ATC cards dangling in the back? There's a close up of these later.
Sharon and Chris hand pick all the old furniture and display items at antique shows and flea markets.
I am crazy about the collaged chair and the paint-chipped red table! The postcards are displayed in old drawers!
Aren't these frame shelves amazing? What a creative and crafty idea!
Art in glass jars. Breathtaking.
Oh, this round table and all its goodies just makes my heart sing!
Love these microscope slide necklaces. This one is made with their queen bee stamp.
Buttons! The texture and colors of all these make my eyes tingle! Don't you just love that big button frame full of buttons!!?
A display of rows and rows of beautiful ATC's pinned together and hanging from the ceiling... stunning!
In this corner of the store it's always Christmas! How lovely! (A red Christmas tree!)
For those of you lucky enough to live in St. Louis I hope you'll visit Red Lead soon and think of me here in Texas being super jealous of you!
two
In Madison, Wisconsin we stopped for lunch atElla's Deli. It is such a neat place full of creativity and craftiness (not to mention delicious food) so I just had to show you some pictures!
three
Outside of Ellas's is a restored Parker carousel from 1927. Little O wanted to ride, but only on the bench, not on the horses. Apparently they looked a little wild to him.
The wild carousel horse.
four
Inside Ellas' is even more whimsical and fun with all kinds of handmade animated characters, displays and dioramas created by local artists and the owners themselves!
Everyone's favorite elephant.
Teen O found the feet faces a little creepy.
This ketchup bottle jumps over the hot dog and vice versa. Pure genius. heh-heh
This robot has a camera in his face and a monitor on his belly so when you walk up to him you can see yourself on the belly monitor. Little O *loved* it.
five
Even the tables get in on the act at Ella's. Each table has a glass top with a themed-shadow box underneath. We sat at the origami table.
This table was filled with mini instruments.
six
The other fun and crafty thing I did on the trip was to go to a small town "Strawberry Festival" art fair. It was really neat.
I met lots of
talented crafters and artists. I wish I could just tour around the
country going to these types of shows.
seven
The first was a gentleman who owns American Forging. He crafts beautiful pieces from recycled aluminum cans! You really won't believe they used to be cans when you see them.
eight
Next I met Jody Avery and Tammy Mueller of Squiggles and Squares. They make super cute collaged scrabble tiles and dominoes.
I just loved them and bought a scrabble tile necklace with a little piece of the Bible collaged on the front! Go check out their etsy shop to see their jewelry & key chains.
nine
Finally I met Gisela Magdalena Moyer. A paper artist that creates the most amazing paper sculptures.
Her work is bright and beautiful and full of life. The pictures don't do it justice at all. I just couldn't stop looking at each piece. She also has a fascinating life story (don't all wonderful artists?) that you can read about onher website.
I'm saving up for one of her tree pieces, they just make me smile.
ten
That's it for today, I am out of computer time! Hope you enjoy some of those websites and maybe buy some art!
More photos tomorrow!
God's Grace & Peace,
♥ Melissa~ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Hallelujah! I give thanks to God with everything I've got...God's works are so great, worth a lifetime of study—endless enjoyment! Splendor and beauty mark His craft; His generosity never gives out. His miracles are His memorial— This God of Grace, this God of Love." -Psalm 111:1
And learned lots about dolphins and penguins and whales and lizards!
In fact we arrived at the lizard exhibit at feeding time much to my boys delight (and my horror!).
Lizards eat some pretty gross stuff...I'm just sayin'.
Yes, that is a big, fat, green caterpillar-wormy thing in his mouth...and he swallowed it whole (while it was still squirming!) right after I took this shot..*eww*...
After Shedd we hopped on the train to Chinatown for lunch at the Three Happiness Cafe and some shopping (sorry to mention lunch so soon after the whole caterpillar/lizard thing).
Some students had a haiku exhibit in the station and it was fabulous!
I also enjoyed this warning sign in the station (affixed with duct tape):
And just in case you weren't sure *how* to hold on to your children the diagram shows you with a little highlighted circle for emphasis...I guess so you don't try to hold on to them by their hair or something which would be much less effective I'm sure...
I really fell in love with Chinatown. It just had so much charm and character.
I loved the dragon lamp posts!
And this was my favorite sign in all of Chicago:
Okay lots more to show you tomorrow including a tuesday ten of crafty things I saw on my trip with more photos of the fabulousRed Lead Paperworks!
Hope you're all having a fabulous summer!
Grace and Peace,
♥ M~ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.You know everything I do." -Psalm 139:3
And I discovered a new one! It's for Mommies and I think you're gonna have a lot of fun. There are prizes and special speakers and all kinds of neat stuff!
So right in the middle of our 31 Crafty Flowers in 31 Days we're gonna join in the Mommyfest party! Yee-haw! (pretend I didn't just say yee-haw, would ya?)
One of the first opportunities to win a prize is the "High Five Photo Contest". You can win a 1lb box of chocolates!!
For a chance to win just head over to the Mommyfest blog on Monday, May 12th and vote for your favorite photo(mine *cough*) or enter a photo of your own (the deadline is tomorrow though so hurry)! Edited to add:Go vote here now!
For the photo part of the contest you have to post a picture of "5 somethings" to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Mommyfest.
I thought about somehow taking a picture of the 5 lbs I would probably gain if I won that 1 lb box of chocolate, but then that didn't seem too appetizing, or practical...and plus there would be the whole "taking a picture of *5 lbs of me*" (ewwww) and....yeah...that idea went out the window.
Fortunately (for all concerned) I thought of a better idea.
I decided a photo of five mommies would be appropriate for the Mommyfest 5th anniversary and also since it's almost Mother's Day, I thought it would be a nice tribute to some of the Mamas in my life.
The top center frame holds an enlarged photobooth photo of my mom and me.
On the second row, from left to right is a photo of my paternal grandmother (granny) holding my cousin, my maternal great-grandmother (nannie) holding *my* mama and her brother, me with my little-O and finally my maternal grandmother (nannie dusty) with me.
It's kind of neat seeing those all together like that. (I had to move them from various places to put them together.)
And it's strange to think how fast time passes.
How quickly you go from being a little girl, to a mama, to a grandma, to a great-grandma and then to a treasured memory.
Makes me want to go hug my boys.
And you know....eat some chocolate.....heh-heh.
Hope your Mother's Day weekend gets off to a great start!
Grace & Peace,
♥Melissa~ ------------------------------------------------------- "I worship you, LORD, just as my mother did, and you have rescued me from the chains of death." -Psalm 116:16 (contemporary english version)
The boys had a blast cutting up giant cereal boxes (we have to buy cereal by the cubic ton) and making helmets out of them the other day.
One of the millions of reasons that I am so appreciative of the ability to homeschool (no matter how I spell homeschool spell check doesn't like it??) our boys.
They would never get the opportunity to be so close if they were both in an institution all day. One would be in kindergarten and one would be in high school and they probably would never even see each other, never mind enjoy each other's company.
Teen-O is so sweet with his little brother and Little-O just adores him. It blesses me so much that the main role models in my little guy's life are his brother and dad, kind, loving, men of God.
I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the life God has given me on a day like this, watching them laugh and play and learn together. And I am humbled that God trusts me with this. deeply humbled and grateful.
Who knew cereal boxes could elicit such introspection?
♥ M~ ---------------------------------------------------- "I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength to do His work. He considered me trustworthy and appointed me to serve Him...Oh, how generous and gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come from Christ Jesus." -1 Timothy 1:12 & 14
My new favorite thing to play with is Mixwit. So fun!
This is my new favorite song!
Loved, loved, loved The Clark Brothers on American Idol the other night. Weren't they fabulous?
This is the same song, but a little different version. If you want to get happy listen to this:
Or if you missed the AI performance and want to see it click play:
A photo from the Chuck E. Cheese photobooth:
We are one happy family. I am blessed.
Hope you're having a terrific weekend!
♥ M~ -------------------------------------------------------- Jesus said,
"You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept...Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." -Matthew 5:14 (the message)
ten random thoughts on tuesday (on wednesday night again - maybe I should rename it "ten on wen"... you know that would rhyme if you said it with a Texas accent...really...try it...."tin on win"...see?)
one
It's cupcake week on Martha Stewart! Have you been watching? So much yummy fun. I think we should have cupcake week around here. Then I can make more of these.
two
My little guy is turning five tomorrow. This hurts. And also makes me feel a little crazy, because *yesterday* I was changing his diaper...yesterday people!
And I don't really want him to stop calling me mama and kissing me every time he walks through the room and saying "I yuv you" instead of "I love you".
But it will happen. I know.
So I'll just treasure every moment and take a million pictures and blog every cute thing he says and does (even if you guys get sick of it...heh-heh)...and then I'll remember...and then I'll start it all over again with grand-children! yippee!
Since his birthday always falls right around Easter we tend to combine the two and he actually *loves* having an egg hunt at his birthday party. He calls it his "easterbirthday". So sweet. So here's some snaps from the party we had on Sunday:
Little O and his great uncle (my uncle). So funny.
Chocolate cheesecake, yum (his request)! I'll post the recipe this week.
Little O attacking the pinata.
I *love* this one. My nephew's little feet as he runs for the pinata candy.
Nephew and Little O grabbing that pinata candy!
Egg hunting at the "easterbirthday"
Squirt gun fight broke out after present opening.
three
Remember the yummy salsa I told you about? The unusual ingredient is watermelon! I know it sounds gross, but I'm telling you it is soooooo good. You have to try it! The watermelon replaces the usual tomatoes. Most people don't even realize this until they taste it. Here is the recipe:
Watermelon Salsa
Ingredients:
3 cups chopped watermelon 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper 3-5 cloves garlic, finely minced 2 tablespoons lime juice 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 1 tablespoon chopped green onion 2 tablespoons chopped jalapeño pepper (this is spicy, cut it to one if you are chicken) 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a large glass bowl and chill for at least an hour. The longer you let it sit in the fridge the yummier flavors taste together.
2. Serve in the hollowed shell of the watermelon to delight and confuse your guests!
A couple of hints:
-DO NOT rub your eyes after chopping up the jalepeno...you will be sorry if you do.
-You may want to put the chopped watermelon in a colander over a bowl for a half hour or so to let it drain a little bit because otherwise your salsa can be a little too "juicy".
four
I really don't like junk mail. It's like people mailing trash to my house that I have to then sort and make decisions about. Like I don't have enough to do. Junk mail...yuck. I am going to have to think of some crafty things to do with junk mail. Here are some ideas to start: Junk Mail Gems
five
We made a fun craft with our leftover easter egg shells today. Super easy too! Pictures & a tutorial in the next post. (right after this one or maybe before by the time you read this...heh-heh) EDITED: It's here!
six
I'm teaching myself embroidery! It's so fun and it seems to go along with my new love for fabric. I found a really fun link that has lots of free vintage embroidery patterns! So cool!
seven
Another fun link I wanted to share with you is this one-Free printables at Wondertime. Fantastic fun for homeschoolers or even just preschool moms or scrapbookers or babysitters...you get the idea.
eight
Did you see my new button about subscribing to my RSS feed (over there on the right)? I completely made that up. Just thought I should tell you.
I *do* think you'll feel more crafty after hanging out here though. And the best way to hang out here of course is to subscribe to my feed.
I know I've told you about bloglines before (so cool). But just in case some of you still aren't gettin' the whole RSS feed thing, I found a great video to help explain it. It's by the same guys who did the Twitter video I showed you earlier, Common Craft (they're geniuses).
nine
My friend Janice at Everyday Education, wrote a really wonderful article a couple of days ago. It's geared towards homeschooling parents, but really I think if you're a parent at all you will be blessed by this article.
The two lines that spoke to me the most were these:
"Remember that children don’t remember what you do; they remember how you made them feel."
"Understand that this season of life will be over before you know it. Don’t put off doing the fun things!"
Those two lines really speak to what I want this blog to be all about. I'm always striving to have fun with my kids, to soak up every minute of my time with them and make sweet memories with them that they can carry into adulthood and their own parenthood. I want to teach them how good God is and I want to share with you all the ways I figure out how to do this.
I'm actually working on a pretty big project related to this and in the mean time I hope that when you come and visit here you are inspired in some way to create things and have fun and celebrate with your children or even as a child yourself .
Erin at Fully Alive...Ready To Smile (Actually she hasn't done it yet, but said she would so I'm linking her in anticipation...heh-heh...)
Ok, now time to go put up the egg shell craft. Hope ya'll are havin' a great week.
♥ M~
------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Come, children, listen closely; I'll give you a lesson in God worship." -Psalm 34:10
What a lovely, happy Easter we had. And we are still having...on our way to grandma's today. Here's a few snaps 'til tomorrow....Hope yours was lovely and happy too...
More tomorrow....
♥ M~ ------------------------------------------------------ "How blessed is God! And what a blessing He is! He's the Father of our
Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in Him.
Long before He laid down earth's foundations, He had us in mind,
had settled on us as the focus of His love, to be made whole and holy
by His love.
Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family
through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure He took in planning this!) He
wanted us to enter into the celebration of His lavish gift-giving by
the hand of His beloved Son." -Ephesians 1:3 (the message)
Okay, I really don't have time to post, but I didn't want my whiney housework post to still be up here at the top all day *tomorrow* too....so...
Here are some random fun shots taken in the last few weeks:
I have memes to do and questions to answer and more stuff from the quilt show to show you so a real post tomorrow!
*random title is a quote from one of my favorite shows ever. anyone know what show?
{heart}you, M~ ------------------------------------------------------------------- "If
you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has
made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit
means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. " Phil 2:1 (the message)
Recent Comments