CHILD of the pure unclouded brow And dreaming eyes of wonder! Though time be fleet, and I and thou Are half a life asunder, Thy loving smile will surely hail The love-gift of a fairy-tale.   I have not seen thy sunny face, Nor heard thy silver laughter; No thought of me shall find a place In thy young life's hereafter — Enough that now thou wilt not fail To listen to my fairy-tale.   A tale begun in other days, When summer suns were glowing — A simple chime, that served to time The rhythm of our rowing — Whose echoes live in memory yet, Though envious years would say 'forget'   Come, hearken then, ere voice of dread, With bitter tidings laden, Shall summon to unwelcome bed A melancholy maiden! We are but older children, dear, Who fret to find our bedtime near.   Without, the frost, the blinding snow, The storm-wind's moody madness — Within, the firelight's ruddy glow And childhood's nest of gladness. The magic words shall hold thee fast: Thou shalt not heed the raving blast.   And though the shadow of a sigh May tremble through the story, For 'happy summer days' gone by, And vanish'd summer glory — It shall not touch with breath of bale The pleasance of our fairy-tale.   Lewis Carroll Aren't the illustrations fabulous?  I love all things

 It's all about the application…so here's a card for my flower.*  I think I'll make another one a little later.  The boys are off white-water rafting, so I'm not cooking dinner!  If anyone is interested and has a Pei Wei near you, today, July 26th, 2010, they are having their customer appreciation day and you can get two entrees for $10…maybe we will see you there!  Go here to find your coupon.  Sorry…the coupon is expired! *I would like to say that this can be sent through the mail, but not in an envelope.  Try delivering this in person or in a small box.  It is definitely a dimensional project!&#

My life seems to be measured by weeks these days…a list of what happens from Sunday to Sunday.  Sometimes I like to think that I get a lot done and I have tangible proof.  Scott and Tom have been gone at Cherry Valley Scout camp for the past seven days and I have tried in the past to get something major accomplished, like cleaning the carpets or organizing my workroom, something that they could walk in and say, "Wow! You got a lot done while we were gone!"  Not this time.  I didn't even get totally rested up or play a lot.  But I won't say that the time was wasted, at least not all of it.  It was definitely both a "Mary" and a "Martha" week. Sunday was busy getting the boys off to camp.  We were supposed to have our Super Saturday (day of crafts) TODAY, so I was also trying to gather the samples and get sign-up sheets ready.  After a not so enthusiastic reception, we ended up postponing it.  The projects, IMO were good, but it's summer and you never know when vacations will get in the way and we have had a lot of new babies in the ward.  It's okay…we will do it later!  Today was kind of a "Martha" day.  Monday was busy getting some layouts done for Pinecone…or maybe I should say scanning

 So I got the chance to play with the Graphic 45 Hallowe'en in Wonderland paper a little more.  It is so much fun!  And as I said before, it screams to be dimensionalized!  There are just not enough hours in the day!  Isn't DJ a cutie?  I mentioned that I wanted to do some cards, so here are a couple of those as well.  Here's the first… and here's another.  I love the Manly Boys graphics! I will definitely be doing more with this paper.  It is too fun to put away for very long!  &#

I’ve never actually gone to confession, not being Catholic and not having done anything serious enough to go to my Bishop about…in recent years, at least…but I’ve seen it enough on television to know that this is what I feel like I am doing right now.  I feel the need to do penance! It has been surprisingly busy since that last post.  I’ve had visitors and I’ve been trying to get certain things done before I blog again, but I can only see this dragging on for many more days unless I get back into the habit again.  I’ve had some specific projects to do and now they are completed, I can get on with the fun stuff. A few weeks ago…not sure exactly how long – I loose track of time these days and I’m sure that my daughter will read this and tell me exactly how long ago it was.  Anyway, a while ago, Megan sent me a message regarding this cool new paper line from Graphic 45…Hallowe’en in Wonderland, which I promptly looked up on their website and oh my goodness!  It is so to die for cute!  I promptly passed the message onto Deb, who ordered it for an upcoming kit.  I, of course, couldn’t wait until her order came in, so I called Cool Scrapbook Stuff to see if Gena had ordered it – of course she

Somehow Megan talked me into going back to the fair…and this is a little of what we saw – There are rides that look like bugs … and all sorts of animals.  I'm not sure if the below is an alpaca or a llama, but it's being groomed to be some sort of mutant poodle! There are wonderful animal creations that don't breathe or smell bad either! There are games with prizes… can you tell why Megan liked the prizes here?  There are friends at Home and Hobby…  …and fun memories of Mike and Tom's first official job.  There are lots of bright, shiny things!  I'm not sure, but I think there are more food vendors here than anything else!  Hmmm…what to try first? I think someone in the planning office of the fairgrounds has shares in an oil company…and not the kind that you drill for…because everything seems to be deep fried! We had to take the bait…or should I say chocolate covered bacon – it was actually pretty good, although not something I would try at home! We HAD to try the fried butter…what says heart attack better than fried butter? You have to sort of lean forward while eating the butter…it is melted and drips right out! I think that our favorite was the Australian Potatoes…smothered in ranch and cheese sauce.  I will try and get a picture of that next

So…it was a day late in March.  The family had all gathered for a nephew's wedding at the San Diego Temple.  We were waiting for the stream of weddings to make room for our bride and groom to come out.  There was sunshine, as we so frequently have in March in beautiful San Diego, so we were standing in the shade.  Three brothers…Scott, Mark and Terry…were there together, when with my observant eye, I noticed how similar their hands looked…surprise, surprise!  It dawned on me that here were three brothers, all with physically active, outdoor kind of jobs that had weathered, calloused hands.  There was no question but what these men used their hands in their daily labor…no softness there, no manicured nails.  If you were just to observe their hands you could assume that they were perhaps farmers, ranchers, ditch-diggers or mechanics.  These were definitely manly hands.  But even that doesn't tell the whole story.  These are wonderful, kind men…fathers, husbands, brothers and sons, tender-hearted and with a gentle touch.  They do honorable work and it is that work that makes them rough.  There are more brothers, all with wonderful hands that look amazingly similar, but a less familiar eye might not be able to tell these three hands apart. It was just a little over a year ago that Scott almost lost not only his hand, but his arm, maybe even his life…all

I almost go through withdrawals when ever I am away from my workspace for very long.  I know that sometimes my abilities are best put to other endeavors and uses, like with invitations, cards, personal visits and such.  But there are times when having the freedom to be unrestricted to the day's goal is also nice.  School is out…for the summer, of course.  The boys are both working, albeit different times, so I have some sort of occasional quiet, but nothing that I can count on.  Gone are the girl's weekends, when all the "boys" would be gone, off on Scouting adventures and camp-outs.  Having a job eliminates that.  Thank goodness they can fend for themselves, but I still seem to be required for some basic household order, as much of it as I can demand.  I know that someday I will be a mere afterthought, with a once in a while triggered reminder to "check in on old mom" to see how she's doing.  But for now, at least for some of my children, I'm a necessary figure at their house.  It's all good. So with me, one thought always leads to another, and another, and another…right before I am distracted by yet another shiny, random thought.  My Mom and daughter, Christie, came down from Utah to join in the festivities of this past weekend.  There was graduation and an Eagle Court

On one of our recent trips to Disneyland, a couple of times ago, Megan found a memo pad that looked like the old tickets that you used to get on the individual rides…I can't decide which I like better since the  passes have gotten so expensive.  I remember when you could get in at a minimal charge and not go on the rides if you didn't want to.  But for now, an annual pass is still the way for me to go…for now!  Anyway, I thought it would be a perfect embellishment for a layout about myself, which I don't do very often. I have really enjoyed going to Disneyland over the years - as a child, as a teenager, on my honeymoon, with my children and I look forward to someday going with my grandchildren…when I get some! I remember being absolutely shocked, but excited the first time I didn't need a stroller at Disneyland.  No having to park it, find it when you got off the ride and hoping that no one stole it while you were gone.  (That happened once at Sea World.)  Things change.  Before long, the kids won't even need me to drive them there!  The kids are funny.  They keep offering to get a wheelchair and push me around Disneyland…someday I might take them up on it!  After all the years I pushed them around, I think it only fair…except