Flaunt My Friend Fridays So Far...

My flaunt for today didn't work out. Bunch of stuff came up for my friend and she wasn't able to do it. I think you all would of loved it too... it involved her, her cute french bulldog, their living abroad and international travel tips and stories (she's one of the best story tellers I know, hopefully we'll see her later after another overseas move). So I thought I'd take a break today and summarize all the FMFF thus far! Enjoy!

First we had Elizabeth who shared about her way of tackling all the kids artwork and how she displays it at home and also archiving hard copies AND digital



Second was Ellie who showed us the fantastic dresser that her and her husband came up with for her little ones nursery.



Third was Shelley that gave us and inside peek at being a food blogger!



Fourth was Missy, and she schooled us in essential oils!



Fifth was Tara who gave us a peek into her home school world



Sixth was Kerstin who shared an original poem



Seventh was April who gave us some food for thought about being a photographer



Eighth was Kim, who shared with us her little girl nursery and who gave birth to her that day!



Ninth was Leslie, that shared with us information and awareness of gifted children.



Tenth was Kris, taught us a little about Roller Derby!



Eleventh was Susan, shared with us about being a wedding planner and her favorite wedding (beautiful!)



Twelfth was Megan, who so graciously shared some of her favorite things about the house they built themselves



Thirteenth was Megan H, my sister in law, who shared some neat things to do with your nails!



Fourteenth was Allie, that shared with us a great tutorial on a DIY bulletin board



I hope you checked them each out. Something to learn from each. I'm blessed to have so many interesting people to flaunt to you. I have up until July planned out, if you're interested let me know. I try to contact people with filling up the calendar, but I don't want to put people on the spot either. If it's something you're interested in and you have something to share, let me know :) Stay tuned for future posts... so far there's a gardener, some bakers, home decor projects, weight loss/fitness inspiration, and a camper!

Mother's Day 2013

Currently as I type Greg has taken the boys to the gym with him. Ahhhhh quiet. It's glorious.

This Mother's Day, I'm grateful for this woman who without her, there would not be Greg! She's not just my Mother in Law, she's also a mom to me! She's also a fantastic grandmother to the boys. I'm bummed I don't have a picture with just her and I... I guess since we're both mothers usually one of us is the one taking the picture ;)

Then feeling blessed that due to loving this guy... I became a Mother!

 

 

Then through the wonderful selfless love of another mother, I got to become a mother through adoption as well. Special thoughts go out today to our baby son Grant in Heaven. I hope I lived up to the promise I made to you that last day.

How blessed am I?

Pretty darn blessed. That's for sure. I'd do well to remember that when it's so loud I can't hear myself think and I worry that all I'm doing is messing them up.

 

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about" ~ Angela Schwindt

14th Flaunt my Friend Friday! Allie!

I'm so excited that Flaunt my Friend is on it's FOURTEENTH week. Did I not tell you I know a lot of amazing people? Continuing the amazing trend, I'm happy to introduce my friend Allie to you! She has talents that are multi-faceted and incredibly creative! Everyone wants any recipe that Allie uses or comes up with. Even her beautiful girls are foodies and share their moms hilarious sense of humor and big ole lovely heart. She's also one to discuss styles, clothes and fashion with as well. But she's not fussy, she also loves her football! Jack of all trades I tell ya and a great friend to have.

Hello Everyone!!  I'm Allie, wife to my best buddy, mama to two girls, and owner and operator of The Graceful Rose.  I live in Seattle, where yes - it rains A LOT!  Why do people live here?  Well, the days that are sunny, although they are few and far between, are absolutely stunning!  Plus, I like coffee so...it helps that there are 6 Starbucks within a half a mile ;-)

here's my little family at a recent wedding - don't worry, we are NOT this fancy every day!

I'm so honored that Tyson asked me to share a bit of my world with you!  I always loved arts and crafts as a kid, but I honestly didn't do a whole lot of it until I became a mom.  I learned to sew in middle school (thanks, Mrs. Thompson!), but never touched a sewing machine until my girls were about 4 and 2.  Since then, I've really enjoyed sewing, especially since there are so many great fabrics and patterns out there!  My hobby recently turned into a business, which has been great, but has left me needing to add a few organizational tools to my craft room.  So, I'm going to share a tutorial for turning any old frame into a customized memo/inspiration board.

First, let's chat about what you'll need:

 

• A frame - Mine was on clearance at IKEA
• foam board
• fabric - I used this cute print from the Nicey Jane line by Heather Bailey - love her!
• spray adhesive
• X-acto knife and self-healing cutting mat
• fabric marking pen and fabric scissors
• spray paint (optional)

 

 

First, take the cardboard and glass out of your frame.  Don't be like me and ruin your manicure pulling those little metal doo-dads up!  Use a screwdriver.

 (waaaaaaah!)

If you want to spray paint your frame, now is the time to do it.  Use at least two coats to make sure the color is even!  While it's drying...

Trace the liner of your frame onto your foam board.

Using your self healing cutting mat as a base, carefully cut the shape out with your X-acto knife.

Place your foam board shape onto your fabric (right or wrong side - either is fine).  Trace the shape with your fabric marker and cut out.

Spray the foam board with adhesive and press your fabric on top.  You could cut the fabric a few inches bigger than your shape and just glue it to the back, but I find that can be bulky and not sit well in the frame, so spraying it with adhesive is my preferred method.  If you have any wrinkles, get out an old gift card and smooth them out.

Place the fabric covered board back into your frame and voila!  A custom bulletin board to use however you like. 

I chose to hang mine in my craft room and use it as an inspiration board, but of course, this would be cute anywhere you need a message center - landing area by the front door, a kid's bedroom, etc.  You could even go buy some T-pins at the fabric store and use them to hang up your jewelry.  The possibilities are endless :)

I hope you make a custom bulletin board for yourself!  Feel free to stop by The Graceful Rose Blog and say hi!  Thanks again, Tyson, for having me!

Yes, definitely go stop by her blog and shop, say hi and browse around! Especially if you have girls that love cute dresses and would love dresses to match with their dolls. She has a giveaway that ends today so go check it out! Don't forget to "like" her page on Facebook. Thanks so much for letting me flaunt you and for sharing your bulletin board Allie, it's fantastic! It will need to be pinned on Pinterest for sure. Gotta love projects that are DIY that can showcase your personal style and lots of bang for your buck. Helps you be organized, even better! Best wishes for continued success with your business!

Adding Features to my Blog

My blog is very very simple. I know it pales in comparison to many out there, hence why I'm still a tiny blog with a few followers and a couple google hits every now and then.

However, in many ways that's how I like it. Life sure has it's ups and downs and stressful times. I don't want my blog to ever be a source of stress. I honestly do not want that pressure. I don't use it to earn money, promote a business, or even have a real niche. I will never be invited to a blog conference. I just do it because I want to, like a hobby. One that makes me feel slightly productive and is a vehicle to get out a bit of that creative side. It's also a nice way to keep in touch since we move often and our family and friends are spread out all over.

Mid 2010-2011 I started to get more traffic and followers by participating in linky parties and started to get to meet other bloggers and follow each other. It was nice. My blog came to a screeching halt when we adopted the twins and then lost Grant. I was away from home for 8 weeks and did not blog except to deliver the news. Then when we got home it was hard to get back into that blogging groove. It's always kind of stung that since then I lost a lot of readers. But I know my facebook friends usually read and some posts even make it to 200 views!

I really get extremely peeved with I see these big bloggers posting "rules" for blogging. You must do this, you can't do that, blah blah blah. You have to promote this way and that way. Just like people that preach about the "rules" of facebook. Like only so many posts, and pictures, or the whole snarky "it's not your diary". I do a lot of eye rolling when I see these posts. I like the helpful ones, and ones that remind about manners (those make sense!). Who are they to dictate your spot on the web? It really rubs me the wrong way. While I'm sure if I followed all the "rules", I'd have more readers. But if I got too many readers, that might freak me out! I do wish I was a bit more tech savvy, I feel like I'm falling behind on the technology and programming behind it all at times.

So I'll just keep doing what I like. I have decided to try to add a search feature and pages with posts categorized (still not sure on those exactly but definitely one for the Flaunt my Friend Fridays, Projects, Kid stuff, and I want to do our sight-seeing & travels) so one can just click on those pages and see just those posts. I once tried to add the pin-it-button for Pinterest and yowza did I mess my blog UP. Luckily I had save the design & template and just reset it back to what it was before I started all that tomfoolery! So please stick around, be patient, and don't be alarmed if something looks wonky ;)

Gettysburg, PA - H Family Sight-Seeing Part 11

This Sunday we decided with the nice spring weather and being sorta-kinda (a technical term!) caught up with stuff around the house, it was time to sight-see!

Gettysburg National Military Park, PA has been on our "Must Do" List since we found out we were moving to the area!

It's about a hour and a half away, so perfect for a day trip!

We started out at the Gettysburg National Military Park Museum & Visitor Center.

I was thinking it'd be like when we visited the Bull Run Manassas Battlefield. A visitors center to visit, get a map, walk the battlefield where they have the cannons & signs set up to tell you about the battle.

Not for Gettysburg. It's really spread out. Which in retrospect makes since, it was a three day battle that moved to various locations.

This Visitors Center & Museum is HUGE... and it does cost to go into the museum $11.50 per adult and $8.50 per kid 6-12 years old. The ticket into museum also includes a short film in the cyclorama. The boys had just been in the car for an hour and a half, no way they were going to sit through the half hour film. Plus, I wasn't exactly sure what was going to be shown. I'm sure it's G-rated, but some of those pics of bodies piled up doesn't need to be shown yet to the boys. We talk about the war and that brave soldiers lost their lives, but I think visiting the cemetery is better for that.

Anyway, before the Museum there is a lobby sort of area that does show some interesting items. There's also a film showing how they worked the rifles they used and also for the cannon. The boys really liked that, after that Jake was always the guy that actually pulled for the shot.

Jake reenacting after seeing cannon video

The museum has a TON of interesting stuff, set up with a twisty-turvy way that leads you from the beginning of the war, to the aftermath with a few small film areas that ran little 5 minute films. These were also good spots for the boys to sit down for a bit during all the walking. We did a lot of walking.

We stopped in the Museum Bookstore on the way out to buy our traditional Christmas Ornament that we try to get at each place we visit (which is a tradition I highly recommend!). Then also to bought the boys a souvenir (mini-cannons!) and souvenir coins for their treasure boxes that we got from Galveston, TX to hold their little travel treasures.

These boys LOVE Abraham Lincoln! They were so excited to sit next to him... even if the sun was right in their eyes ;)

The parking lot has picnic tables scattered here & there around the sides, so we stopped and the boys had a morning snack. Hungry kids lead to grumpy uncooperative kids, so gotta keep them fed! ;)

Lots of huge rocks & boulders in this area

We proceed to check out some of the self-guided auto tour and see the Soldiers National Cemetery.

First stop across from the cemetery took us to what was one of the Union lines. Now the area holds various monuments for the Union regiments.

Union view of the Confederate line

H Family Artillery Crew

Then you can cross the street to the cemetery. When you walk in you immediately see a memorial for the Gettysburg Address

that was held here:

This is where the Gettysburg Address was given during the dedication of the cemetery

If you ever visit, there's a nice little bathroom building in the far northwest corner. The rest of the restrooms on the auto-tour are porta-potties FYI

Very serene place. I love how when we visit these kinds of places the boys, as crazy as they are, get it.

Evan just randomly pausing to see the gravestones

There was only one instant of hitting each other then we saw a neat hole in a tree

From there we went to lunch. Lots of neat little places in the downtown. Lots more museums too! We had lunch at the Sweney's Tavern located inside the Farnsworth Inn. One of the oldest in town (haunted too!), there's even 100 bullet holes that pock the walls from the battle. When we dine out while checking places out, I try to avoid chains and get as much of the local flavor that we can, yet still have a kids menu. This certainly fit the bill...

 

 

One of the neatest things I've ever seen.
In the courtyard between barn & tavern, the barn wall was covered in ivy and birdhouses!!

I would love to sit here and read a book for hours. Birds flying in and out, chirping.

Koi fish pond

Lunch! "slippery noddle pot pie"

After lunch we did a bigger part of the self-guided auto tour that took as by the Confederate line and even where Pickett's Charge took place.

Left the kids in the car for this stop while we just walked across the street

They thought it was funny

Me at Gettysburg, seems weird to smile on a battlefield where so many lost husbands, fathers, sons and brothers.
So just think of this as my "I love history!" smile.

Requisite standing next to cannon shot for Greg

Love this series of shots... oh yah lets get together

Wait, no, DO NOT touch me

Whatevs!



General Lee on his horse Traveler monument
Also the site of "Pickett's Charge"

Confederate view of the Union line (see previous pics taken above from Union view)

Then you curve back around and the last thing we saw on our drive was Little Round Top. If you ever go to Gettysburg, you MUST stop here too. Do not leave with out checking this out. A very very overtired Luke was asleep in the car by this point, so Greg and I took turns checking it out separately. Wish the big boys could of seen it too, almost feel like we did them an injustice. I don't know if they would of walked anymore, pretty proud of all the walking they did... pretty darn good for their ages!

Walking up to it... ok... this is nice

Wow some big rocks...

 

Some HUGE rocks

Whoa. What a view!

Pictures cannot capture it, you get a view of the whole area.
Can only imagine what it looked like for those three bloody days

Various monument are up here on Little Round Top

 

Then we left about 2:30pm, the boys all feel asleep on the way home. As we got closer to home we decided to stop in Potomac, MD (since we hadn't been through there yet) for an afternoon treat at a place called Sprinkles. Everyone got something different. Greg and I got milkshakes, the big boys got ice cream, and Luke got a cupcake!

Made it home by 5pm where the boys were content to watch a movie after walking all day. Greg mowed the lawn and I did some cleaning up/moving stuff around in the garage. Light dinner, then we all crashed that night!

It was a really nice day trip! We all enjoyed it. We are really loving taking advantage of our time here in this area of the country!