Spell it out

About two years ago, my friend Melissa took me to a neat art gallery/frame store in NorthShore Chattanooga. We saw these cool pictures using letters to spell out words. Since then, I've seen these all over the place. I wanted to do it myself but I didn't realize it would take me an entire year to do my son's name. After all, Ben is a small name! We travel all over the place and hike a lot, so I expected to find the letters fairly easily. 
The E in his name came first. This was a part of an outdoor grill by Foster Falls. It's the side where you can let down or put up the grill depending on how close you want your food to be to the fire. 
I found the B at Cumberland Mountain State Park. It's their famous bridge. 
The N took me the longest. Really. I thought I could find branches on a trail or some sidewalk lines in the shape, but I came up with nothing time and time again. I really hoped for something that came naturally, but I finally gave in when I saw this N. It was on a vintage railcar at Coke Ovens Park in Dunlap. 
The frame, I believe that is from WallyWorld (WalMart) or Target. 
I've seen the letters in color pictures. But I prefer the black and white. I think it makes the letters pop. And for some people, that's important, because these are kind of like the Magic Eye pictures to some people. 
Try it yourself. It's fun to see what you can come up with!

Mama Mia

I want to be a neat mom, a fun mom. And I hope one day our home will be the one that the kids like to hangout at. I know this will mean that kids will be at our home wanting to eat, sleep, etc. But that's the kind of home I grew up in. My parents were the cool parents. Don't get me wrong, I did have rules to live by and I was respectful. But my friends were always over. 
Ben is just 2, and yet, I am always thinking of what we can do for fun. Today, we built a tent in our living room. I'm trying to pull from my own childhood memories of what neat things my parents and grandparents did with me. 
I have a book called "101 Things Every Kid Should Do Growing Up" by Alecia T. Devantier that helps. It has a bunch of wonderful ideas in there. Inside, she lists how to bake a cake from scratch (recipe included), how to grow a vegetable garden, how to enjoy a lazy summer day (I liked, "Run through the sprinkler or lie around in a shallow wading pool.")
I'm going to go now so Ben and I can "Lie on a blanket in the cool grass, looking for shapes in the clouds."

Super cute and easy Easter craft

I think this could be used for a baby shower, tea, etc. And later, for other holidays depending on how you paint the pot. 

Recently, a lady at church taught my women's group how to make these. She and her daughter made them for a senior luncheon. She changed it up a bit for Easter. Her pot featured Easter bunny suckers in the middle. So the ideas of what to put in the center are endless. Just chose a theme and go with it. I'm sure you could find all kinds of nifty things at the dollar store. The items we used were found at Hobby Lobby and Michael's.

You will need:

Newspaper to protect your surface

A hot glue gun

A small pot 

Piece of floral foam that will fit into the pot

Crafting paint for your pot

A sponge brush

Spanish moss

A stick 

A small clothespin

Embellishments like a little chick, little plastic eggs, etc. 

Paint your pot whatever color you would like. Paint your stick and clothespin. Let all dry.  

Place the foam into the pot. You may need to hot glue it down. Glue the moss on top of the foam and work it around the sides to hide the foam. 

Glue the clothespin to the top of the stick (we used tongue depressors). 

Now is the fun part....

Push your stick through the foam and then embellish the rest. 

Like I said in the beginning, you can use this for all kinds of occasions, not just Easter.  I can see this being used as name plates at Thanksgiving by painting the pot black and using silver paint to make it look like a buckle on the top. This could be a Pilgrim hat. 

It could be used for sorority functions, bridal showers, teas....the list goes on and on. Just use your creativity! Have fun!

God is so amazingly good. The story of Ben

Next week, on Easter Sunday, we will celebrate Ben's 2nd birthday. Not a day goes by when I don't stop to think about how God had blessed me in so many ways. Sometimes, it brings me to tears. I am often overwhelmed by His blessings.
I was entering my last year in college, when I felt a pinching pain on my right side. It kept getting stronger and stronger till I could barely walk myself to the Student Health Center. A nurse set up an appointment for me and expected it to be an ovarian cyst. Several tests and weeks later, I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. 
I was so excited about getting to graduation, that it pained me to take a medical leave. But, with the help of my friends, the encouragement of my church, and the prayers of many, the cancer turned out to be stage 1. An operation that December and God's healing touch fixed me right up. 
Skip ahead years later. 
Gerald and I were in our early 30's, married for 5 years, and decide that if we are going to do the kid thing, then we need to start trying. We expected with my history that it would take us awhile. But we put it all in God's hands. If it was meant to be, it would happen. If it didn't happen, we were okay with that too. 
We got pregnant on our second try. I still remember weeping in the doctor's office when the nurse told me. She asked if it was what I wanted. It was, but I was just in shock. 
Today, I look at my silly, sweet little boy and I am amazed at how God not only saved my life, but he also created this other one. I knew in college when I came through my surgery that God had a plan for my life. A greater plan than I would know. And each day, I see it being revealed to me. 
So next Sunday, as we all celebrate Jesus. And as our family and friends celebrate Ben's birthday. I know I will be swelling inside, filled with the love of our Heavenly Father and for all He has given me.