Are you a member of the GMC?

Mothering

Are you a member of the GMC (Guilty Moms Club)?  Just about every mother I know is.  For some reason guilt comes with motherhood.  If your child has an ear infection, "What if I laid him down too soon after drinking his bottle and the fluid backed up in his ear canal?"  If your child falls down and scrapes his knee, "What if I had been watching him closer?"  We tend to blame ourselves (guilt) for things that we cannot control.

Another common emotion (for lack of better term) for mothers is failure.  If your child brings home a bad grade, "I didn't stress enough the importance of school and grades."  If your child gets caught in a lie, "I wasn't teaching him enough about honesty."  When our children fail, we feel that we fail.  Failure is a part of growing up, learning, etc.  Our children need to fail sometimes (they will learn from that quicker than the lessons that we teach them).  Our children's failures do NOT reflect upon us.

At our MOPS Steering Team Retreat a few weeks ago, our very wise coordinator said (and I am paraphrasing), "God is The Perfect Parent and look at how often His children fail."  Tamara, thanks so much for your words of wisdom.  That brings me comfort.

Our children are not puppets.  We cannot (and should not) control everything our children do.  We (and I am including myself in this) should relax a little and enjoy our children more (even their mistakes - it's a process).

Morgan Freeman

"First thing that always pops into my head regarding our president is that all of the people who are setting up this barrier for him … they just conveniently forget that Barack had a mama, and she was white — very white American, Kansas, middle of America. There was no argument about who he is or what he is. America’s first black president hasn’t arisen yet. He’s not America’s first black president — he’s America’s first mixed-race president."   Morgan Freeman

Ultimate Trust

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct your paths.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

Marriage is...

" A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers."

~Ruth Bell Graham

Lovely Quote

"That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful." ~Ninon de L'Enclos

Wall Art

I am so excited. I got a Cricut Expression for Mother's Day (I ordered it before MD, but just before, so it didn't arrive until like 10 days after MD, but I got it and that's what counts).

I scrapbook (some - I am really behind, haven't scrapbooked much in a couple of years), but I don't really consider my self a scrapbooker (see the above parenthesis and you will understand why).

Really I consider myself a crafter, I like so many different crafting mediums. And I am willing to try just about any crafting medium at least once. So I have put off getting this machine. I have wanted one for years, but it is primarily marketed to scrapbookers. I finally broke down and purchased one (for crafting) and I am loving it.

This was one of my first projects (not the first, I gave them away as gifts and forgot to take a picture - but I like it so well, I am going to make myself one and I will take a picture of that).



I used the brown vinyl (my walls are a light tan, with dark stained trim) and cut out a saying/quote that I liked and put it on the wall. I used the Plantin Schoolbook Font that came with the machine. I cut the letters out in 3 inches, except for small and big. I cut small out in 2 inches and I italicized it. I cut big out in 4 inches, all caps and italicized it also.

Yes, the "o" in one is crooked. Guess what, I took it off and fixed it (after the picture was taken). I have also added a fleur de lis to the bottom of it. Will have to take a new picture of it soon. I am debating on whether to add quote marks to the beginning and end? Not sure, I kind of want to, but hubby liked it the way it was. What do you think?

Hey, I saw that the Cricut has a cartridge for cupcake wrappers. That would go great with this project. Can't wait to get my hands on that cartridge!

How's your driving?

Seen on a church marquee...

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"

Success

"The only certain means of success is to render more and better service than is expected of you, no matter what that task may be. This is a habit followed by all successful people since the beginning of time. Therefore I saith the surest way to doom yourself to mediocrity is to perform only the work for which you are paid."
Og Mandino in "The Greatest Miracle in the World"

Something to think about...

"Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." Benjamin Franklin

I'm Back (for a little while any way)

Sorry that I've been MIA lately, but I'm here now (today anyway - not sure how long). Things have just gotten crazy around here lately. I'm having trouble managing my time and I keep getting side-tracked.

I have been working on things and taking pictures, I just haven't been able to blog about them. But, I'm going to start now.

I love the Sock Monkey! I had one when I was a child (I actually still have it) and it is just a little bit nostalgic. I saw this cute fabric and had to get it (got it here). Now what to do with it? Well, I held on to it for a long time before I did anything with it. It was just too cute to even cut up (almost). ;o)

Well my first project were these burp cloths (check them out here) as a baby gift. Then I made this outfit...






I used a colorful sock monkey print and then the sock monkey 'knit' print. It is a pillowcase dress/top and ruffled pants. I think it would be cute as is or you can put a red long sleeve shirt under the dress/top if it is cool. You could also pair the pants with a solid color top (choose any color in the print). Would look great with a very colorful hair bow.

Now, what to do with it? I just don't think any of my boys would wear it (and if they did Frank would get us all).

"Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." Robert Brault