Holiday Photo Wrap-Up!

Just a few last holiday photos to close out this wonderful holiday season. I'm looking forward to a great, life-changing, prosperous, and fun New Year!

 Since Abby came into our lives, I put away my BIG Christmas Tree and use this "skinny" Primitive Tree. To better corral her energy and curiosity, we moved hubby's computer desk to the corner of the living room where the bigger tree always went. I use a smaller space on the opposite side of the room for my Primitive tree. I like it a lot though. Not only does the decorating go quicker now, but it seems to suit my 'simple life' that I'm trying achieve. The country/primitive quote "Live Simply" is something I want to do more of. You think more about the REAL important things in life. :)

 I love this little letter tube. The end comes off so you can put Letters to Santa in there with all of your Christmas Wishes. I won this about 3 years ago at an office Christmas party playing the Dirty Santa Ornament game. It was stolen a few times before I ended up with it.

Below is another close-up of the tree. It's not real clear but the clear glass ornament holds burgundy and cream berry garland pieces that go with some other primitive accents in the room.

I hung several rusty metal Snowman Stars in the berry garland over the cut-out window between the living room and kitchen. 

I love this tree skirt with the snowman family on it! It matches everything else perfectly and Blessings are just what I wish for all of my family. 

Before Santa showed up and left everyone's gifts (below) this was the daily scene beneath our tree.
My cat, Beanie watched the activity of the room from this spot, along with his buddy... a knitted snowman I received from a co-worker in a few years ago.

Our family began a new tradition last year with the Dirty Santa Ornament game, stealing our favorite ornaments from others around the room. My older sister, Bev decided to wear her winning ornament 'earrings'. 

Two Tony's... Two Crosses.
My dad (Tony Sr.) and older brother, Tony (Jr.) both ended up with matching ornaments in the game.

 Abby and I at mom's house for the family gathering on Sunday, December 26th.

Always the comedian. My son, Adam making a face for the camera. 

My nephew, Joey. 

My other older brother, Danny. He was sick for the family gathering but still managed to look good and pull off a great smile in spite of himself. :)

Two of my beautiful nieces (I have 4). Nicole and Samantha.

That wraps up my holiday photos. I have tons more but just chose few highlights to share. I'm trying to enjoy my school break and spend more time on fun things and family time, before school starts back in mid-January. I have been hopping around trying to catch up on my blog reading and see what is going on in blogland during my down time.

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Christmas! And I hope the New Year brings you many wonderful blessings and much happiness! :)

Thanksgiving Memories

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving Dinner at my mother's house on Saturday, two days after Thanksgiving. We spent Thanksgiving Day with my husband's sister and her family in Ohio then my family gathered at mom's the Saturday after. My sweet mother voluntarily gave up the "official" holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas years ago when we started acquiring in-laws. It was more important to her to have ALL her children and grandchildren together than empty seats because some were with another part of the family. And because my family is all close, we wouldn't have it any other way! I've been working today on some Christmas decorating around my house but before I share those photos with you in a couple of days, I wanted to share a photo slideshow of my family from Thanksgiving. The only one not present is my sister-in-law, Amber who was busy using my camera taking pictures of everyone there. 

Thank you, Amber for catching these memories for me. I love you!

Here is the rest of my family that I am very thankful for!

End of Summer, Reunions and Rehab

It has been a busy, busy week for me! I have had to family reunions in the last week, started outpatient physical therapy, had a Scentsy party and attended a 31 party. Oh... and school starts back in session tomorrow for me. I need a vacation!


Last weekend was our Lyons Family Reunion. It was a great turnout and a huge auction success! Here are a couple of photos of our "clan". 

A collection of my Granny Lyons (pictured here) children and their spouses.

I think a few got away from us but this was the most of the crowd at the reunion . It was great to see some faces that I hadn't got to see there for a few years!

I had another reunion yesterday in Chillicothe, Ohio. This was the Bell Family (my mother's side). I was running late and forgot my camera when I left the house but there were several people taking pictures and I'm waiting to get some of those in my inbox to share with you.

I started outpatient physical therapy last week for my back. I have issues just gradually getting worse over time and I need to try to improve things and avoid surgery later down the road. I had a fall on icy steps in 2003 that left some parting gifts of damage for me. Combine that with Degenerative Disc Disease and a little bit of arthritis setting in and I have some rough days sometimes. So 3 visits a week for 6 weeks and they say they can have me moving and bending in ways I can't now. Can't wait to see the pull that off. I have a great friend who is a wonderful physical therapist but I can't work it out to see him. :( John is the best! His office is about a 30 minute drive away but since I have to leave from work and get straight to therapy, I can't get to John's that many days a week with at least a 45 minute drive from my office. :( Stinks having to "settle" for second best (but still good therapy though).

I can tell it's the end of summer. My college classes resume tomorrow. This semester is Business Math and Psychology. I'm excited to get started again but I'm sure in a few short weeks I'll be counting the days for my short fall break again, as usual. :)

Happy Birthday Adam!

Today is my son's 19th birthday. WHERE did the time go?

I just seems like yesterday he was a tiny little thing, getting into all kinds of things.

Like this funny story here, that I shared in a previous post a while back.

Click on that and read the story of the curious, fun-loving 2-year-old and see if you can picture this face doing such a thing.

Happy Birthday Adam!

I love you so much and I couldn't be more proud of you.

(okay maybe a tad more if you picked up that bedroom a little more and finished your laundry)

A Little of This - A Little of That and TOO Much of Another!

Just a little randomness today of the last couple of days around here...

Remember the great veggies I came home from my parents' house with on Saturday? I cut up and cooked some of the summer squash. It turned out great, as always. Yes, I know that isn't the healthiest of choices, batter-fried squash - don't judge me... this only happens 2 or 3 times a year. =)

Yummy looking huh? Know what's funny? Hubby is picking up on my blogging thing (though he never reads it) and asked before he touched these, "Did you get your pictures?" HaHa!

I also made some great  homemade blueberry muffins with those yummy blueberries too. I wasn't able to get a photo to show you. They dove in too quick and they were gone in no time! A good sign huh?

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So today I went to the hospital early with my parents. Mom had to have another procedure for a stent. They were scheduled to do but ended up doing just one. She is staying overnight but is doing great and will be coming home tomorrow.

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The very pregnant, stray cat from last week's Post-It-Note Tuesday (pink notes) is no longer pregnant. Good news and sad. She hasn't blessed us with new babies to care for (good news) but we're pretty sure it was her first litter because she's so young and maybe premature, we woke up a few days ago to 2 not-completely formed, stillborn kittens... right on the front porch (sad news). I felt so sorry for her, she seemed lost? confused? But still very protective of what she had and was NOT happy when Abby darted out the door between our legs to check out things with us. I got some bloody & bruised knees protecting MY baby from the cat who was going after Abby while trying to protect her babies. It was quite a site. And you know... you really DO fall in slow motion, just like on the cartoons! LOL

We do have a BIGGER problem now though. We are now the neighborhood "Cat House"... Literally! I don't know what to do! But now every cat (males no doubt, typical!) are hanging around my house now and I'm so afraid that we'll be expecting babies again someday (way too soon) from this cute little mama. 

I have started calling her "little girl". I have to refer to her as something. She (and she alone!) has started to grow on me. She's so loving and adorable. But I still want to find her a home... any (good) home but mine! Because here are the new "friends" that have started hanging around... at least 2 at all times plus her... (names below made up by me as references only to my hubby when we look out the living room window)

1. "Fat Head" - the big, very well fed calico cat that looks like he's mixed with something wild, and has so many scars on his face and around his ears, he's obviously fought many times for his meal.

2. "Smokey" - the dark grey smooth, shiny coat cat who is obviously someones pet that sneaked out or maybe was let out for a little fresh sunshine... and smelled his way to the cute little thing above on our porch.

3. "Jersey" - the white-as-snow. with big black spots all over, who obviously enjoys Little Girl's company but is still skittish of us & runs with a step or two in his/her direction.

And tonight when I pulled in the driveway, coming home from the hospital & spending time with mom I began laughing from sheer madness at the sight of a NEW CAT!!...

4. "Yellow" - another sleek, shiny coat, not a speck of dirt on him cat that followed his nose from his clean indoor home somewhere in the neighborhood to Little Girl on my porch.

I don't have it in me to be mean, and can't stand the thought of Little Girl being hungry if we just cut off the food from our house completely. But I have to get them to stop hanging around here somehow. I called the local Animal Shelter and they wouldn't take her, saying they were "over capacity" now and were sorry.  The local pound would be a death sentence for her and that breaks my heart. I'm at the  point now of PAYING someone to take her in. Then I could bring myself to just "Shoo" off the boys hanging around. 

So tomorrow, after I get mom home from the hospital, I get to shoo them all off the front porch, hose it down and clean off any cat scents that are on it and try to think of a game plan. Any ideas?

Family Update - The Fat Lady is humming!

It's been a whirlwind of emotions in our family. My last post on Thursday last week was about my mother and brother both being hospitalized... same time/days but at different hospitals... 30 minutes apart. Talk about revolving doors. I thought for a few days there I had taken a new job at a hospital.

Thankfully they have both been discharged home! They were both supposed to be hospitalized until Sunday.

But to my surprise, when I showed up Saturday morning around 10am to check on mom, she was sitting up in the chair in her room (and wasn't even allowed to sit up in bed the day before) said they were talking about letting her go if she could get up and walk around okay. I had my doubts but watched her get up and take a short walk down the hallway with her nurse. Thank God for answered prayers! And this is even more miraculous to us because we got a little worse news after her heart cath than what I knew and had posted last week. Instead of the 'light heart attack' the nurse told me about upon arrival to the hospital, her cardiologist talked us immediately after the heart cath and said it was actually a 'pretty big one'. My heart sank at those words, not knowing what he would say next.

Dr Gill told us that she had 3 blockages. The worst was 90% blocked and he'd inserted a stent during the heart cath. He told us the other two were a little less and since her heart muscle was weak at that time (operating at 40%) he was going to have her come back in a couple of weeks to have the other two stents put in. Here is a visual if you haven't experienced anything like this in your family... we certainly hadn't.

So I got to surprise the whole family and bring her home on Saturday afternoon!.

Meanwhile, my brother was still receiving his steroid treatments via IV for 3 days (along with fluids and pain medication) in order to reduce swelling inside and keep down liquids and soft foods. He was able to do this for the first time (since he procedure last Tuesday) on Saturday, mid-morning. He texted me that he was going to be released to go home, just as I was going over mom's discharge instructions/meds at her hospital.

Through many prayers (thank you!) our family can rest a little easier.

"Cast all your cares upon Him, for he cares for you." ~ I Peter 5:7... we certainly had to do that and trust everything would be fine. And my favorite verse!...


For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~Jeremiah 29:11


Thank you all for your thoughts, well wishes, and prayers for them both! My mother will return to the hospital on July 12th for two more stents in the lower risk blockages. I would appreciate your prayers for strength regain and successful recovery from the next procedure and beyond. =)

Waiting for the Fat Lady to start singing

Sorry I've been away. It's been a crazy busy week for me so far, and it ain't over yet. That fat lady can start singing anytime now! Just a recap...


My brother, Dan had Lap Band surgery on Tuesday. I didn't know it in advance, but they also decided to do a hiatal hernia repair at the same time. He came home Tuesday night and all day Wednesday he was unable to keep down anything, including water. Therefore, no pain meds were staying down. You see where this is going, right? His wife had to drive herself 2 hours east for a follow-up with her surgeon from a procedure she had done a week or so ago. So my brother text be about an hour before I was off work yesterday, seeking a ride back to the hospital fore re-admittance last night. His doctor prescribed a series of steroid injections to reduce the swelling blocking anything from getting down where it needs to go. They were also hydrating him with IV fluids since nothing was staying down. Oh! And they got his pain under control with morphine via IV too. So he was feeling much better by the time I left him around 10pm last night (stayed until his wife got back into town and at hospital with him) and headed home to my WONDERFUL bed!


Today's update: tests show he is getting a little liquid through but still requiring steroids and pain meds and staying until he can keep something down. So more room service for him there tonight.

My sweet (though starving lol) brother and his wife, Amber.

My dad called me today at work to tell me my mother was admitted to the hospital today (different hospital than where my brother is). She was feeling "bad" last night and still this morning with chest pain and heaviness, and  in her arm too. NOT GOOD! He took her to the emergency room and they admitted her. Tests showed she had a light heart attack. :(


In addition they are treating high blood sugar (324 and she'd not eaten all day) and a UTI. They are rechecking her enzymes to see the level of damage. She has a heart cath scheduled for tomorrow morning so I'm taking the morning off of work to be there for that. She has a round of new meds (Plavix, Lipitor and can't remember the BP med). Of course she's concerned about being able to pay for all those new meds. If anyone has info on any medication assistance programs, please let me know. 

My beautiful mother, Barbara

My week isn't over. Today and tomorrow are payroll days at work. Needless to day I left work early after my dad's phone call about my mom and didn't get anything done today. I'm not planning on more than half day tomorrow (not that if anything comes up after the Heart Cath tomorrow morning). So looks like I'll be working this weekend doing payroll. 

If you pray, please say one for my brother and mother please. Thank you!

Excuse me now while I go in search of the Fat Lady and hold her at gun point until she starts singing, we've had enough here this week. =)

Creative Thursday & Expanding My Reach!

This is Day 6 of my 9-day vacation stretch. It's going WAY too fast!

I just thought I'd share a little bit of my activities the last two days.

I have been spending a lot of time the last couple of days finishing a Christmas gift project for some family members. I know it's not the time of year people think of Christmas shopping, or in my case, Christmas creating. But I received and email reminder on Monday from Shutterfly that June 2nd was the deadline to receive 75 FREE photo prints. So I was trying to think how I could use them. I try (these days) not to print photos just to be printing them. I have tons to scrapbook and they are safely stored digitally until I'm ready to print them.

So then I found this FREEBIE download and the light bulb went off! I'd make Flip Calendars with family photos and print multiple copies (since I could get 75 free, right?) and make these calendars as Christmas gifts!

The pre-made calendar templates were perfect and would make it easy to plug in my family's photos and be done! WRONG! I completed this one of my mother with the June template...

Then realized... these are 2010 Calendars! Grrr... Hubby got a chuckle out of my frustration. But I did realize that this creation was perfect as my June Desktop Wallpaper! So I will still use all of these templates for that. I'll have a calendar on my desktop each month now as well as family members highlighted for a whole month.

But I still had to come up with something printable that I could complete, get uploaded and ordered by midnight last night for my free 75 photos. SO... I decided I'd create my own 2011 Calendar Template with one of my digi kits I already had. I had two days to get them done. I worked and worked. I completed Jan - July on Tuesday. Then sit down last night to complete the rest of the month. I got them finished, uploaded to Shutterfly and my order placed at 11:57pm.... three minutes to spare! I can't wait to get them!

I'll show you a sample of what I made but Shhhh, don't tell my family. There are 6 females (mother, myself, 2 sisters, 2 sisters-in-law) 6 X 12 months = 72 prints. I only had to pay shipping and spent less than $5.00 for these. The calendar frames can be found at Ikea online (since I don't have one near me) for about $10. So for each gift I'll spend around $11 or $12 per person for a great gift they can use all year long! I know mine will sit on my desk at work. =)

This is July 2011 and my son, Adam. I chose photos for anyone with a birthday or anniversary in the month. Since Adam is the only celebration in July I used more than one photo to showcase him. =)

March has 3 celebrations, ALL on the same day! My niece, Samantha has a birthday and the other two photos are my brothers and their wives, who all celebrate their wedding anniversary on the 21st.

And it doesn't matter if you have a month without a special family celebration.

February is the only month of the year we don't have birthdays and anniversaries in.

I just chose a quote suitable for Valentines Day from Quote Garden. (You can find a quote for ANYTHING there!) This turned out a good as any other month with the digi papers/elements in the photo space.

So just a sampling of the project. And as you can tell, each month carries the same basic layout and colors. I only changed the name of each month, inserted new photos and then moved around the days of the month to the appropriate position, which turned out to be the most time consuming part. Just a hint though. - Be sure you have ALL the photos you plan to use in a folder and ready to plug in. I thought I had them all and was scrambling through my external hard drive LATE last night to find the last 2 or 3 I needed. =)

On a side note... I corresponded with Kristy @ Learning As They Grow a bit yesterday via email. Okay so I kinda stalked her getting info and having her help me test out some things with a NEW My Lifesong Twitter page (the background I made with a photoshop template turned out great huh?) I have a lot of my favorite bloggers following my personal twitter page but I'd love to have you click on my new blog's link and follow me there... pretty please! And I'll be sure to follow you back if I'm not already. =) Kristy really had to help me (a LOT - TY Kristy!) working on that Facebook page. I wanted to have it completely independent and in no way connected to my personal Facebook page. I still haven't figured out that part. I had to connect the Blog's page to my profile, then my full name was showing up on there. So if anyone has any ideas on separating the two completely, I'd love to hear from you! I did think I'd delete the page and could maybe create a whole new profile with a different email address but I'd still have to give a first and last name that way too. Any other ideas out there?

Digital Creations

I posted pics in a previous post of the recipe album and mini photo/journal album with some of my favorite females. I used photos I took that day as we worked and made a digital scrapbook page of our fun & creative day. I always have a great time when I get together with the women in our family and do something crafty.

In the top photo is my SIL, Amber and my wonderful niece, Nicole.

The bottom photo is my mother, working on one of her projects.

The sidebar showcases two of the projects we made that day.

Video of the Week - Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! I hope you are all enjoying a
relaxing holiday with family and friends.

This is a time for reflection and thanks.

It doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with the war.

It doesn't matter if you like or dislike the Commander in Chief's decisions.

All that matters is that those away from home, serving our country are doing so with much sacrifice for our freedoms.

I love this video and the reminder that we are fortunate, blessed!

to be living in the United States.

Thank you to all of my family that made the choice to serve our country. I love you.

Getting to Know You Sunday

I love playing along with Keely and her "Getting To Know You Sunday" Meme.

I love to learn more about the people I follow and you get a chance to learn a little more about me.

To play..copy the questions..post them on your blog..than link up at Keely's blog!

1.  Have you ever snooped around someone else's house?

2. Can guys and girls be friends? ( thanks Jen!)

3. Can you curl your tongue?

4. Have you ever stolen anything?

5. Would you rather talk on the phone or text?

6. Memorial Day plans?

7. What do you do to relax?

8. Do you do anything to honor those that have died fighting for our freedom?
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1. Have you ever snooped around someone else's house?

Snooped? Like going into non-company areas and go through things? No. But I have scanned around a room to take in everything making mental notes. But I do it to try and get ideas myself of something I might want to do at my house as well.

2. Can guys and girls be friends?

If they are truly good moral people then yes. Confused by that answer? Well... I think that it IS possible. If neither are married or committed to a relationship then whatever sparks may occur naturally is no harm and my even be "meant to be". But if either (or both) ARE married or committed to someone else then you have to be careful of a CLOSE friendship with someone of the opposite sex. These are the people that you go to when you need to talk or need advice and sometimes those things involve your significant other and it could cause unnecessary feelings of jealousy (or worse) if you're sharing information, gripes about your hubby with another man (or vice versa).


3. Can you curl your tongue?

Okay I checked in the mirror. I knew that I could do this years ago but it's been so long since I tried, I wasn't sure if I still could. Yes... I can still curl my tongue. :)


4. Have you ever stolen anything?

I have a confession. I have a pen fetish. I have taken pens from the doctor's office... on occasion. Not just every pen I use. But the pharmaceutical sales reps bring loads of some of the coolest pens. I know that we even have some marketers from various places come to our office (Home Health Care & Hospice agency) and leave handfuls of pens as advertisement. It wasn't something we paid for and if they disappear, no big deal. They were free. So I know that those cutesy or unusual pens... and those that just feel good in your hand and write perfectly... were just freebies passed out as advertisement anyway. And after all, that Viagra pen (one of my favorites) is one I might someday in the future want to remember to tell someone about... Right? :)

5. Would you rather talk on the phone or text?

Depends on the person, the subject, what else I'm doing. Normally a text is easier, quicker to just deliver a quick message. The recipient can view and/or reply at their convenience. DH texts me grocery items and I'd prefer that over a call. Sometimes it's just not really the best. You don't catch up with an old friend via text. That is a phone call I enjoy! Sometimes a text can be entertaining. For instance. My mother (love ya mom!) wanted to learn how to text. So I was giving her (by phone) a few quick steps. She was trying it out and I got a couple of completely blank texts. At least she figured out how to send one right? Baby steps :) Then, sitting at my desk at work I get this text that I STILL have in my phone for a chuckle from time to time...

"Lolcantfigureouthowtoseparatethewords" 

Gotta love my mother's willingness to embrace the newer technology. My dad on the other hand still drives (half mile) to my house when he gets an AT&T push message, so I can "get that notice off my screen". I've showed him how to delete it, more than once but hey... I guess I can say he needs me. :)


6. Memorial Day plans?

No real plans made. I am on vacation ALL week this week so I have a lot of stuff I want to do around the house. I think we might cook out here at home just our small little family. May have my nephews over. But no real big plans made. I want to enjoy a relaxing day before doing some "Summer cleaning" (because Spring was way to  hectic with work and school both).

7. What do you do to relax?

I don't get to nearly as often as I'd like but I LOVE to soak in a Hot, Hot, Hot bubble bath with a good book. It's relaxing and totally ME time. I have been known to drain out a little water and add more HOT water for a longer soak if I'm not quite ready to get out. :o)

8. Do you do anything to honor those that have died fighting for our freedom?


Not really, I'm ashamed to say. I do think about the soldiers and their sacrifice. I have family who have served our country and can appreciate what they gave. And I have been thinking a lot lately that I'd like to join a group that adopts soldiers to send things to or correspond with, to show my appreciation for what they are doing. There are a couple of places I checked in with before but they never followed through with the plan. Do you or anyone you know participate in something like this?

Pet Pic Contest with ToothSoap!

Pet Pic Contest Starts Today!

If you want to enter your pet, go visit Shell @ Things I Can't Say and add your pic & post to the Linky!

This isn't the first post about her but in case you are really new here and haven't had the please yet, meet my Abby!

Abigail Catelyn Turner aka Abby (my daddy calls me Katie though)

We were a long time finding her. I wasn't quite so picky but DH had a mental pic of EXACTLY the pet he wanted us to have. He gave me this description and I searched for at least 2 years in pet stores and newpapers, making calls for details from information I'd get from friends. I even searched the internet on breeder websites for this...

"She" had to be female, fawn colored with a black mask. Oh! and she had to be purebred. Seems easy enough right? WRONG!!

That exact make-up was hard to come by. But at the end of January last year (2009) I was in the pet store locally (yet again) and there she was! I took her pic and sent it to DH and said she was perfect and met every description on his list and said he just HAD to come see her.

I drove back home and got him and we went back. It was love at first sight. She was a "pretty penny" but we were determined to have her. We paid a deposit and they agreed to hold her til the end of the week. We already considered her ours and went to the pet store every evening after work to visit her. They would get her out of the cage and let us hold her and play with her in the visiting area.

Her daddy was smitten from the start!

It was a LONG week waiting to bring her home. I took half a day off when we went to get her and bring her home. We were waiting outside when they opened the doors. And on Feb 6th 2009 we brought Abby home!

Leaving the pet store. She was exactly 4 months old when we brought her home. She turned a year old in October 2009. 

She has us all wrapped around her heart and we can't imagine life without her now. 

She is probably  the smartest dog I've ever known and has learned so many words! One of our favorite's is "kiss". When she hears the word she immediately rolls over, belly up for you to kiss HER belly. Regardless if you've asked her for a kiss, or if you're offering her one. The word KISS is her cue to roll over and enjoy the attention.

Abby's Belly Kisses :)

Perfect End to a Challenging Week

It's just been one of those weeks. Monday... ALL week long! It's not a good sign when you have to give the Wal-Mart check-out girl some tips/hints on bagging your things. This proved to really test my patience. It was already a long day at the office. And I'd already put off grocery shopping too long "No hun, bagging the 8 gallon trash can isn't necessary, and you can just put some of those paper products down inside the trash can too." :o)

All in all it wasn't a horrible week! Everyday just felt like Monday to  me. But the week ended on a great note. I spent a few hours at my mom's house with my two sisters and my sister-in-law and my niece making some paper craft things from some kits I had purchased. I wanted to have this get-together on May 9th, National Scrapbook Day, but just couldn't get it scheduled. However, the whole month of May is considered National Scrapbook Month, so we just celebrated a little later than most.

The kits I'd previously done and posted here were made by everyone else. I was able to guide them through the steps quicker. We added extra pages to the Recipe Ring so that everyone had twice as many recipes pages. They turned out even better than before with some extra embellishments to the front covers.

We made a new kit too that I hadn't made before. It was an  adorable mini album. I can't wait to put some more of these together with the supplies I have to use as gifts, give-aways, or donations to a great cause. :o) Here are a few shots of some of my favorite pages from the mini album.

This album has the prettiest shades of pink, blue, green, teal, beige. It is perfect for small photos or memorabilia. Or just wrote your notes of love or appreciation on the blank pages.

My sisters got away before the camera came out. I think they had flash-backs from being forced into photos last week on Mother's Day. :o)  I did get a couple pictures though of my mother and my sister-in-law, Amber and niece, Nicole as they worked on their projects.

.  I hope you all had as great a weekend as I did and are ready for another great week ahead!