A Valentine Gift idea

I made this last year with my 7 year old and 6 month old boys.

First, I found paper that would fit my husband's shoe and then I traced his shoe onto the paper.

Next, I put my older son's painted foot print in the inside of the traced shoe.

Then, I put my youngest son's footprint with a different color paint.

Last, my oldest son wrote these words: Dad, thanks for giving us such big shoes to fill.

I matted and framed it and it was a perfect gift of LOVE!

This year - my husband and I are writing a journal for our oldest answering questions like: I first knew I loved you when....  and  You are so funny when.....      and  My favorite thing to do with you is....
It has been fun to make and I hope it's something he will cherish forever.

Happy Valentine's Week Everyone - may you find love in whatever you do, see, say and experience.

Eyes of a Camera

I spent the weekend in Fergus Falls for the Frostbite Festival and the town was absolutely gorgeous! The frost covered ALL the beautiful trees in town and it hung on to each branch the entire weekend.

My dad was talking about how cool the scenery was while he was out delivering mail and he mentioned how a woman walked out of her apartment and declared how beautiful the trees were and that she would love to take a picture if she had a camera.

If she had a camera.

My dad and I reflected on that for a moment. How sad it must be to not have a camera. More importantly, to not have anything to have a camera for...as we guessed this lady did not.

I am grateful to snap these pictures...

When I throw my hands in the air because I can't deal with the 20th temper tantrum of the day...SNAP!

When my older son entertains his little brother so he will stop screaming for one second in the car...SNAP!

When I am cleaning up the mess of a healthy, abundant meal...SNAP!

When I have 20 loads of laundry to do...SNAP!

When the living room is covered with toys, crackers, cereal, books and 3 boys wrestling amongst it all...SNAP!

Without a to-do list, I would have nothing to do - and no one to do it for. I am forever grateful that I have a list 10 miles long, and will vow to do them all cheerfully and with extreme gratitude.

Some other honorable mentions this weekend captured with a camera:

My beautiful sister with her awesome date at Snowball.
My husband enjoying the company of a dozen other guys at a fishing weekend.

My mom having a "party" at the RedBox movie center.
Me helping my lovely sister getting ready for her big night.
The group of Snowball ready girls and handful of guys as they posed for 2,000 photos.
My dad playing Cootie's with my boys.
Me having a great conversation with a girlfriend I don't get to see often enough.

Kid Clothes Hangers

My 8 year old outgrew his kid clothes hangers. It was actually his older cousins hand-me-downs' fault but regardless, I shed a little tear as the shirt I hung on a hanger slid right off.

They say kids grow up in a blink of an eye - but I think I have just been choosing not to watch!

I turned the other way when his dad referred to him as a "tween" after an emotional dispute.

I chose not to listen when I am pretty sure Ethan was requesting to stay at a friends house instead of hang with us on a Saturday night.

I waived the white flag and told him to "go ask dad" when he came home with homework that looked like this: With a die, you can roll a number from 1 to 6. Predict the number of times you would roll the number 3 if you rolled the die 24 times. Explain your answer.

I am so thankful he still kisses me good-night - and for pictures!

Connecting

Wow! 2012 is here! My mission this year - to meet as many interesting people as possible! So far, so good! I just came from a coffee date with a brand new friend. Someone I had never met before but a trusted mutual friend suggested we meet - and so we did.  On the way there, I didn't know what to expect. If we didn't connect well, what escape route could I take? But I was hopeful and prayed for maybe one good hour of joyful conversation. 

But 2 hours later,  I walked away with so much more!

New books to read! New friends to meet! New ideas on how to achieve personal goals!

I couldn't feel more blessed to have spent 2 hours this morning with this person and it made me take stock of my current circle of friends and family.  Are they "filling my bucket" as my son, Ethan, would say. So thankfully, I am happy to say YES! my circle is unique and wonderful and full of inspiring, up-beat individuals and they paint my world with  the brightest of colors.  However, there is always room for more and my personal mission this year add fabulous people to my circle.

As you - dear friends and family reading this - relfect on your own "circle" may I please offer this challenge to you - connect with someone new this year! You will be amazed at the possible insights, blessings and encouragement they will bring into your life!

Happy 2012 everyone!