First Day Goodies!

I love to give little gifts. I enjoy surprising people with fun, yummy treats. I always try to pull a little something together to give to my daughters teachers the first week of school. My friends call this my "kiss-up" gift but the teachers seem to appreciate the gesture so I continue to do something small all throughout the year. It is never expensive and just takes a few minutes to put together.

I found these really cute tins at Michaels on clearance for $2.00. I then went to the dollar bin that was 40% off that day and found a few Crayola note pads and task clips. I already had the popcorn at home and found a candy bar with a little girl on the front for 2/$1.00.

I was making chocolate covered pretzels for my oldest daughters teachers so I put a few of them in to boot. Of course, the Juicy Fruit was a steal at .25. I just printed their names on card stock and glued the card to a popsicle stick and Voila.

How fun is that!

Hereditary Creativity!

I have always considered myself creative. I come from a very long line of creative women, who have more ideas and energy, than time. I love to think outside the box and come up with new ways of doing things. However, I think there may be a new Creative Diva in the house!


As many of you know me daughter, Rebekah, suffered a stroke in utero. She is a subsequent left Hemiparesis child and has many challenges with everyday living. She does not use her left hand and only minimally uses her arm as an assistive tool. It has become very important that she start lifting her arm up due to shoulder weakness. If she continues to ignore her left arm it could potentially fall out of socket at her shoulder. Therefore, we have been trying to come up with a solution for this all summer. I have discussed modifications that could be added to desks and tables with her father. During one of these lengthy and complicated discussions my brilliant, creative, brain-injured child suggested we Velcro her hand to the desk. I was blown away by her insight and quickly realized that simple solutions are sometimes the best solutions.

So, here she is with her new fancy Velcro strap working away on her homework! It has worked so well that she has one in both her classrooms at school and I can really tell the difference with her arm.

And here I thought God gave this miracle child to me so I could teach HER things!

I love Fall! I love the weather, the fall colors, the trip to the pumpkin patch, mums and the slight cool in the air in the morning. I took a trip to Michael's today and was so inspired by the fall displays that I knew I must create something for my front door.

I used a fun ribbon that I taped to the top of the door to hand this precious basket full of fall flowers!

I had seen a similar arrangement in a magazine and thought I coul pull it off okay!

My next fall purchase will be a camera! Then I will be a better blogger with great vibrant pics for all my friends to enjoy. Happy Fall Decorating!

First Day of School!

Is there anything more exciting than the first day of school? Don't answer that, we all know there is, but for children it is a monumental day. Rebekah was more than ready to go back to school after spending the summer with her 3 year old sister. Here she is wearing her new Justice bookbag. I looked and looked for a sling bag until I realized that a messenger bag would work out perfect for her special needs! It wasn't a hard sell, seeing as how it is bright pink and has alot of silver bling to boot!

The first morning she jumped out of bed like a bunny! Not so quick now that she has been back for a few days.

Now, Emma was not so excited about going back to school. She spent most of the summer complaining about a boy in her last year class that apparently terrorized her frequently. I was relieved to find out that he no longer goes to her school and will not be an issue this year. Luckily, Emma has several friends from her church that are in her class!


Emma is going to be my fashionista child. She wanted to pick out all her new school clothes and insisted that she wear a skirt for the first day. "Don't I look pretty mom?" was the morning song.


As a mom, I was so excited about the first day back. I planned to eat breakfast with some friends and then do a little light shopping for the first day back. I did not, however, plan on getting upset and crying. When I dropped Emma off at the entrance (as I was instructed to do by the teacher instead of walking her into her classroom) she didn't hesitate to get out of the car. She was excited to be carrying her big girl bookbag with her new mermaid blanket tucked safely inside. She started to walk off and then turned to me and said " Wait, I need to give you a hug mommy." Of course, I grabbed her and insisted that a hug would not do without a kiss and then she was GONE. I watched her take the hand of her assistant and walk right out of my grasp. I spent the next few minutes crying and wondering how 3 years could move so quickly. Children are such a wonderful gift to us. I wish I could hold them forever! I pray that God will give me the strength to let them go when they are ready to fly on their own!


For now, I will cherish each kiss, each hug, each laugh, each tear, each bedtime story, each bath, each dress up, and each first day of school!