Marching on

Here's our annual Memorial Day parade in town. We personally have had a part in this parade for 17 years, as scouts and scout leaders and marching band members. I always joke that if it's a beautiful, warm and sunny day, we must have the parade dates mixed up! We hate to have to wear a rain poncho over uniforms and we were blessed this year with a gorgeous day! Hurrah! It is the last year we will have a "marcher", so it was bittersweet....of course we have two more parades to go, so I'm not teary eyed yet! And aren't the band uniforms beautiful? As are the band members of course! :)

Also, here's a snapshot of our lilac tree blooming....so so pretty! I wonder at God's creations...most especially in the spring time!

Blessed Sunday!!

Keeping track :)

I told you we've been to some track meets lately. Kels has several events including a 100 meter race (lane 3 in the pic), a 4x100 meter relay, high jump and triple jump. These pictures were actually at a meet on a beautiful sunny day...one of the few meets where we were not drenched and freezing! All the kids did well, and Kelsey had her highest high jump EVER! (4' 8" I believe!)

Her triple jump at this meet was also the longest she's done this season...her personal best is 34 feet, but I think this meet was like 32 or 33 feet plus some inches, I can't remember the exact measurements....it just amazing me that they can hop, skip, jump and then land successfully! Way way beyond my skills let me tell YOU! BTW, she jumps 28 FEET before she even lands in the pit! Wow, right? Well, here we see her waiting while some kids cross the track and then she FLIES!! Her "landing" in this clip isn't quite that pretty, but the jump was GOOD!!

And finally, here is one of my recent creations sent as a thank you card to Dani dear who is coordinating a card swap this month with some ladies from the cruise I went on last fall. I had some "scraps" sitting around and I put them together to make this card. Love that Cornish Heritage Farms Vintage Butterfly Set...I used the images in quite a few of my CHA projects!

Always a project....

Hi all! I haven't been online much, but I have been very busy!! Along with the crazy life I lead, including lots of marching band parades and track sectionals and summer soccer for Kels, getting two girls ready to graduate, one girl packed to go around the world, paperwork done for all my school kids and missionary director and preschool ministry duties....I have also been creating stuff like a wild woman!!

I don't know if you all remember my trip last summer to Chicago with my friend Betty who owns a LSS, but we went to CHA, the biggest craft trade show in the USA! This year I am again going with Betty to the trade show as a "creative" consultant/assistant retailer to Betty THE Retailer; and THEN I am helping Betty by designing projects and coteaching workshops in a new and exciting CHA Supershow for CONSUMERS (read that as YOU AND ME!). It has been quite an experience so far in designing....we submitted my first 15 project designs, to have 4 of them accepted fully, 6 of them rejected completely and 5 of them accepted contingently. I reworked the projects, only to have the 5 contingent projects rejected after all, and a request for something new and different. Sigh. I designed new projects and all of those were accepted! Whew. So now comes the material gathering and prepping and "bagging" for each project. When we are done, assuming our classes of 50 people per class are filled, we will have completed 1, 050 projects!! OMGracious! It is an exciting enterprise and I am so happy to give Betty the exposure she needs to go BIG! I've included here a video clip advertising the show! Check it out! Wouldn't it be fun to come see me there? God gives me the BEST projects, don't you think??



I can't share my projects until after the show, but I promise to share some of the other things I've been crafting...soon!

I trust the good Lord is blessing your socks off this weekend! The sun is coming and so are more PARADES! I've have pix of those too! See you soon! Blessings!
Kim Marie

Just a few more prom pix:)

Some of the neat things about being royalty for a night is the extra special details that make you feel like you're extraordinary....like a fancy car to pose in front of..






....a really long limo ride...........


and a chance to meet a prince or two (these young men are actually close family friends and a few of the guys that both my daughters hang out with at school).
Oh the joys!





The benefit concert went well, too by the way, although the weather dampened attendance a bit...they sold some t shirts and raised some money and awareness for their cause "I AM THE DIFFERENCE"...an organization started locally here by some teens to raise awareness that you can change your world for the better. Isn't God good?
Blessings all!

A Danish Princess :)

Here are a few snaps of Mejse and her date, Clay. Also, the group picture is of all the couples that rode in the limousine.
Isn't she darling? Every parent I spoke with said that she looked so adorable. Her dress is my favorite one, of course...but I could be a wee bit biased! :) How she stood in those shoes though, remains a mystery to me....ah to be a teenager again.....or not ;) Blessings, all!

Prom Day! And Benefit Concert Day!

Today is prom day! Today is Benefit Concert Day! Our girl from Denmark, Mejse, is going to prom and our girl Kelsey is part of organizing a benefit concert this afternoon! Pray for sunny and bright weather as right now....BIG STORMY RAIN! But things are brightening up to the north, so.....come back later and check for prom pictures and benefit concert updates!
Happy Saturday!

O Happy Moms Day!

Happy Mom's Day People!!!

Blessings to all the moms, aunts and grandmoms out there! Enjoy your children today, in person, by phone or satellite :)

And enjoy your day! God loves you, Moms, Aunts and Grandmoms!!

PS This is one of my two greatest creations...she took the pic herself!

Faith Hope Love

This was the other card that I made for the Papercrafts "stamped background" Category. These images are all Papertrey Ink. I love their acrylic stamps...they usually build on one another, making them extremely versatile. The ribbon is also PTI...chocolate :) yummy! Click on the pic to see it close up...you can see the two step process better!

My friends, we can't make it in this world without faith, hope and love....but remember, the most important of these is love :)

Blessings to you today, my friends!

Not quite royalty and something special to do

Hi all!

Here's a card I made months ago and I actually sent it in to a Stamping Royalty contest for PaperCrafts magazine. The time has passed for when they said they would have chosen the winners, and I haven't heard a thing, so I'm going to go out on a limb and figure it wasn't my time to be published :)

The entry was for a card that was to use stamps to make your own design/background paper. All the stamped images are Stampin' Up, but I used alcohol inks to make the background color. I love alcohol inks...they are BEAUTIFUL! And so easy to use. I made two cards actually, but I'll share the second card in a different post.

Tomorrow is one of my favorite things to be a part of....SPECIAL OLYMPICS! I go and cheer on all my friends, old and new! I get to see kids I've worked with over the years, many of whom are now in their late teens and early 20's {yes they were TWO when I first met them}! And also, the kids I work with now. I cannot tell you the pride in my heart when I see them win a wheelchair obstacle course, softball throw or bean bag drop. There is even a switch hitting competition that some of my girls have received a gold medal in! And some of my kids {3!} have even carried the torch! My daughter has volunteered since she was a wee thing, as I have always brought my kids. It is a wonderful morning!

Be well, friends! Have a good weekend!

Survivor

By: Rasna 69 Copyright ©2009

This is a tribute post to my friend, Gigi, who lost her battle with cancer this weekend. Gigi wasn't all sweetness and light...she was a survivor...she took on whatever came her way and went all the way with it. She was tough and courageous; a person who strives to thrive no matter how hard the ground is. She was a real survivor: courageous and down to earth. She was a wonderful, strong woman who loved her children fiercely and gave her laugh and her smile generously. She was a mom of a child with disabilities, but she never waivered in her desire for her child to do all she could do to grow up like everyone else. Her sense of humor was fantastic and she always made me smile.

Gigi, you will stay in our hearts and minds and someday, we'll see you again, beautiful friend, whole and healed. Please pray for her teenaged girls and her husband to find comfort in the memories of their dearly loved one.

Love ya, Girl!

Celebrate life!

In this world of super depressing news on every channel, TV and radio, disasters and violence all over the front pages of the newspaper and messages of doom and gloom coming from all quarters, we need to remind ourselves that this is not the worst time in our history and God is not bound by our choices, our mistakes, our little brains....He is all knowing, all powerful and very importantly, He wants to bless His children. This has been a tough week for me....a good friend has been told she has only days to live, I lost a beloved Great Uncle and several family and friends are being attacked in a battle with that insidious enemy, cancer.

And yet....I've seen so many new babies, more and more of our friend's kids as well as some of our good friends are getting married, kids are graduating high school and college and we have a roof over our heads and food on the table. Today my family attended an Eagle Scout ceremony for a young man that my DH and I are blessed to have lead in Boy scouts when he was just a kid...and today he received the highest award in Scouting. God is so good! And no matter what, have to look BEYOND the latest depressing news and negative circumstances and look for the GOOD in life. AND CELEBRATE IT!

Today's card was based on a challenge sketch from Clear Artistic Stamp's Cottage Studio Blog.

The card uses several of Belinda's sets including Moments of Lace and Whispers in the Woods. It also uses her new shimmer paper, although you can't truly see the shimmery-ness of it here...trust me, it's so beautiful! (click on the pic for a better view) I used my copics to make the design on the cake an a Sakura glitter pen on the bride's dress. The butterfly on the cake is my favorite part...once I started using the Shimmer paper, I couldn't stop! Belinda is having a special in her store for all May orders...you may win some FREE STAMPS, or some other bling....go check it out!

Good news!! God is alive and he seeks to bless YOU! We are already VICTORIOUS! Happy Blessed Sunday!!

So Kind :)

Thank you for the birthday well wishes and for the cards I received....your kindness goes above and beyond and I appreciate you all so much! This card is for my DH to give to a sweet and generous customer on his mail route who gives him a card and a little gift for every holiday.

These are some more pictures from Easter weekend. We went down to the lake in Charlotte, NY (Lake Ontario) and walked down a pier on Good Friday. It was a REALLY chilly afternoon, even more so on the lake, but the girls braved the elements to walk all the way to the watch tower and here are some pix my girl M snapped of my girl, Kelsey. Isn't she GROWING up so fast?! LOL! I guess these are considered trick pictures, as this tower is about 12' tall!

And here's a close up of both of them in front of the tower...did you notice the little elephant at M's feet? Cute, huh? {I meant the girls, of course! ;)}

My birthday has been full of sunshine and blue skies, so it's been a nice day. I've had a chance to do some stamping and some stuff for a summer project I'll be working on with my friend Betty. Friends like you make special days really wonderful. Thanks for stopping by :)

Love ya!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! Blessed Day! Praise God for His life, His Sacrifice and His Glory!

He is Risen!

We had a wonderful Easter day here...every Easter Sunday, our church has a big breakfast buffet at the beginning of the service, along with special programming and Pastor preaching while we sit and enjoy the good foods of God's provision! Easter is a celebration Jesus' resurrection, which we know is the "whole ball of wax" when it comes to our Christian faith! How tremendous is the love of Christ in our hearts on this day, knowing all that God has sacrificed that we might become children of Heaven! Praise God!

We were blessed to have all our children here for the celebration! And my in-laws as well! My son and his long time girlfriend were here, along with my girls of course. 'M', our daughter from Denmark, had her first Easter experience here in the US when we sat and dyed hard boiled eggs the night before Easter. It was fun to see the two 'sisters' coloring eggs...and nostalgic for me, because my daughter will be at college next Easter, making it a bit trickier to find time for such family traditions! {sigh!}

This morning we went to church all dressed up for service, and ate yummy stuff. We then came home for a little egg hunt (in the living room) and then Easter basket yumminess and fun, and hanging out. In the afternoon, we had a great dinner cooked by my amazing hubby :) And after dinner, some of us went for a walk near here where there is a bit of waterfall. All in all it was fun and blessed day! :)
Here is my dear hubby cooking his butt off :)

Here are some more camera shots of our fun!

Kal lounging, M doing sodoku

Geoff and M learning to yoyo again since they've grown up :) My daughter K was on the computer and not too much into the mom photographing :)

And our little falls near our house

Here's a pic with me at the bottom and the girls and my DH at the top :)


Hope your holiday was fun as well! :)
Have a blessed week!

Good morning! A friend of mine sent me a link to this Pantene commercial...given all the awful, offensive and ridiculous commercials out there, this one is refreshing and wonderful and worth a minute of your time.

Amazing Commercial

We have a bit of snow...ewww....but not a lot. Yay! Enjoy your day!

Wishin' a sunny day to you!

I'm on vacation (staycation anyway) for two weeks with lots of errands to run, but I hope for time for stamping in the midst of it all! I'll be sure to post! Have a wonderful day!