I visit a site “The Color Room” often and drool over all the gorgeous layouts. I am so inspired by these ladies. This week I finally decided to jump in and participate in the color palette challenge.  I love these colors and had the perfect paper by Simple Stories.
 

 This is the layout I came up with. Jacob actually took this photo of his mother and Sam . . . quit the photographer isn’t he!

Whenever we go on a vacation I do a mileage guessing game. You know . . . how many miles do you think we will go round trip. This time I did it over at My Sketch World and Lisa M. won this RAK.  Congrats Lisa!

We have been home from our week vacation in FL (where did that week go?) for 5 days and I don’t feel like I’ve accomplished much on my to do list (maybe the list is too long)? I feel guilty when I’m not doing something (cooking, cleaning, and organizing). It must be that hardworking work ethic kind of stuff my parents instilled in me.

I have two more weeks off and I keep promising myself . . . I will take time for me (we’ll see how that goes).

I’m trying to play catch-up with the June challenges at My Sketch World (in-between working on my to do list and getting ready for Jessica, Aaron and the boys to come home).

I did this layout for Ann's a Stitch In Time challenge.

I completed this layout for Sherri's Cooking Up A Layout Challenge.

A vacation is a specific trip or journey, usually for the purpose of recreation or tourism. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances, or for specific festivals or celebrations. Vacations are often spent with friends or family. 
 . . . and so this week we have celebrated a birthday, Joshua turned 5,

went to a baseball game and the highlight for the boys was getting their picture taken with the tiger,

spent some time everyday at the pool,

and today we went to the Tampa Lowry Park Zoo.

Even though it was 102 (who goes to the zoo when it's that hot out!?) we enjoyed seeing the 1,700 animals and covering 56 acres (and I really think we covered it ALL!).  There were so many unique opportunities if you were interested . . . feeding a giraffe, taking a ride on a camel, holding a lorikeet, feeling a stingray . . . and many more!  There were water-play areas for the kids and zoo rides (which the kids loved).

. . . and the winner of the seam binding ribbon is Scrappyjo! Send me your addy and I’ll get the ribbon out to you.

I can’t tell you how glad I am that I’m finished with school! I took my last two finals this week and now I can relax a little and maybe get some sewing and some paper crafting projects done. I have so many projects I would like to work on.  I am lucky enough to posses some valued family heirloom . . .  my grandmother's handmade linens (I would love to make curtains out of them), all those old photos (that need scrapped), and even my father's football sweater.  These items have been handed down from generation to generation and are cherished by each new recipient.  Family treasures come in all shapes and sizes.  The simplest object can hold the memories of generations past.  Each old photograph that I have acts like a window into my family's past.  That's why I'm an advid scrapbooker, working to capture those precious memories.  I'm really preserving the present for the future and the past for the present.

I have managed to squeeze in a little scrappy time this week and completed the layout sketch and the card sketch challenge at My Sketch World.

Letter to my grandson

Colton,


I just can’t believe you have graduated! As you start this new journey in your life I know you will continue to be kind, funny, wise, sensitive and interesting.
I want to wish you many wonderful happy days. Keep in mind you are going to have some rough ones too . . . they are important so you can appreciate the good ones. You will have disappointments; I know you will be able to handle them. You know life is 10% of what happens and 90% is how you handle it.
I pray you will be successful. Successful does not mean owning a mansion on a hill, being able to buy the latest and greatest or being famous. The definition of successful is; coming about, taking place, or turning out to be as hoped for. I think successful is the opposite of failure. It means never compromising your integrity while living the life you want.
Be assertive in a positive way. Know what you want and go after it. Doing a hard days work will always make you feel better. Working is more than doing something to make money. Your work is an important part of who you are. It’s where you will invest a great deal of your time. Your work should call to you. It should be something you want to do. Your work should allow you to make a statement about who you are and what you want to say. Love what you do and do what you love.
Always let an outsider feel inside, and always be kind. Many people will forget your name but few people will forget your kindness.
Life is one big learning experience where you are constantly making and remaking yourself with every decision you make.
Please learn about the “God Stuff”, it really does work, trust me.

Love,

Grandma