Flower Pens and Pot Pen Holder

I made these adorable flower pens with pots to hold them as end of the year teacher gifts for Noah’s teachers. They were pretty easy to make and they make a fun gift or party favor. You can customize them by using different colors of flowers and fabric. I think they’d be cool set out at a baby shower or bridal shower to use as pens for games. Your guests wouldn’t even know they were pens until you started handing them out!

Ok, so on to how to make them…………

You will need:  Pens Green Floral Tape Flowers Wire cutter

Now that you have your materials gathered, let's make one, shall we? 

1. Snip the flower off the stem. You’ll want to leave as little as possible but you’ll need enough to start wrapping.

2. Getting started is the trickiest part of this project! Hold the flower and shortened stem at the end of the pen. Using the floral tape, start to wrap it around the pen and stem of your flower. 

3. Once you have it there securely just continue wrapping it all the way down the pen. Then I wrap it all the way back up the pen and snip it off. 

It’s that easy!! 

As for the pots, I just covered these in fabric as it was quick and easy but you could do anything really.

Happy crafting!

Project 365: April 27-May 3

Monday April 27 (day 117) Angel figurine that currently sits on a little shelf above my desk. 

♥ Tuesday April 28 (day 118)

Although Noah doesn’t have Down Syndrome, I still LOVE this bumper sticker. I t put a smile on my face when I saw it.

♥ Wednesday April 29 (day 119)

Noah’s Smiley Face Socks

♥ Thursday April 30 (day 120) Noah and Granddad having a serious talk in the dugout

♥ Friday May 1 (day 121)

Birthmother’s Day Decor

♥ Saturday May 2 (day 122) Birthmother’s Day 2009

♥ Sunday May 3 (day 123) The big Peach in Gaffney

Communication Frustrations

Today was one of those long, hard days. By the end of the day, after several meltdowns, Noah and I were both frustrated. 

My Mom is still in the hospital and he is so worried about her but with limited signs, words, and options on his communication device I’m sure he has unanswered questions. 

It’s hard, probably more so on him than me. Think about it – you’re a smart twelve year old. You're very social, observant, and aware of everything going on around you. But you are trapped. You can only ask certain questions, you can only say certain things. It has to be so frustrating for him. As his Mom it's difficult because I just want to fix it all and make it all better for him but I can't do that if I don't know exactly what the problem is or what his questions are. I'm hesitant to ask him too many probing questions to try and figure out what he's thinking because I don't want to put ideas in his head that might not be there. 

But finally at the end of the day, he seemed calmer and less worried. Hopefully Nana will be going home tomorrow and I can take him over to her house and he can see that she is ok for himself. 

The lyrics below are from a song by Rachel Coleman who started Signing Time. (If you don't what Signing Time is check it out. Maybe I should write a post about it. Yeah, I will soon.) The lyrics pretty much sum up how I feel a lot of the time. 

Show me a Sign by Rachel Coleman How are you doing little one? I’d like to know what’s on your mind Our days together, time together You and me, our one on one These are the times that make me smile You make me smile. Tell me that you love me, Tell me that you’re thinking of me Tell me all about the things you’re thinking Tell me that you’re happy And you love it when we’re laughing Tell me more, oh, tell me more, show me a sign Show me a sign

Every day you grow up more And teach me more about what I’m here for And every day I love you more I love you more. I love you!

Tell me that you love me Tell me that you’re thinking of me Tell me all about the things you’re thinking Day and night, both day and night Tell me that you’re happy And you love it when we’re laughing Tell me more, oh, tell me more show me a sign.

School's Out for Summer

As I've previously mentioned Wednesday was the last day of school for Noah. It was also his last day as an elementary school student! He will transition into the middle school program at his school in August. Since his school is a school exclusively for children with special needs and houses all grades, he won't be actually changing schools. He'll just be in a different part of the school and have different teachers. I'm a little nervous about the transition because he doesn't like change but hopefully he’ll adjust quickly. This past year of school has (in my humble opinion) been one of his best. He has grown so much and come so far in the past year. His behavior is just a total 180 of what it was at the start of the year. Don't get me wrong, he's not perfect - he still has bad days but they are a lot less frequent now.  So, what do we have planned for the summer? Well, each summer Noah attends a day camp through his school. It only lasts a month and is Mondays - Thursdays from 8:30 - 12:30. He gets all his summer therapy there. He always enjoys it.  During the time before camp starts and after camp ends we do "Momma school." It's something we started a few years back and Noah loves it. We spend about an hour a day doing "Momma school" and we read books, learn new things, review old things, work on his IEP goals, do art projects, etc...

My Momma's Surgery

Yesterday was a crazy day! It was Noah's last day of school and they only had a half day so he got home around noon. Just a few minutes after he got home, the phone rang and it was my Dad. When my Mom woke up yesterday morning she felt very dizzy and was having a hard time walking because she was so dizzy so my Dad took her to the doctor. Her blood pressure was super low and as you know she had some problems with chest pain last week (although they found out then it was not her heart!) so her Doctor sent her to the Emergency Room.  After some tests and IV fluids, they determined that she would need to have gall bladder surgery. So yesterday around 5 PM, she had her gall bladder removed.  She's doing better today but still in the hospital as her blood pressure is still very low and they need to figure out why it's so low. If you could continue to keep my Momma in your thoughts and prayers I'd appreciate it.  Noah's having a hard time with all this.He was shuffled around a little bit yesterday. Holly (my niece) watched him for awhile then J picked him up. He and J brought food to the hospital for me, my Dad, and my brother and Noah got very upset because I didn't leave with him. He's been super clingy today and I know he's just worried about my Momma and have promised him that as soon as she goes home he can see her! 

From Mrs. Allison

Tomorrow is the last day of school for Noah and today he brought home a personalized, laminated copy of the poem below signed by his teacher, Mrs. Allison. So sweet!!  You are a very special person And you should know How I loved being your teacher  How the fast the year did go! Please come back to visit me As through the grades you grow Try hard to learn all that you can There is so much to know! The one thing I tried to teach you To last your whole life through Is to know that you are special Just because, Noah, you are you! 

Mrs. Allison has been such a great teacher for Noah! He's come so far in the past year in her class and I'm really sad she won't be his teacher next year!

Summer Makeover

To kick off the beginning of June and summer vacation (last day of school for Noah on Wednesday!) I decided to give the blog a little makeover. Originally I was looking for something with flip flops because flip flops just scream summer to me but I ended up falling in love with this background on Shabby Blogs. I then designed the header myself using a digi scrapbooking kit called "Think Spring" from Here a Scrap, There a Scrap. So, I'm loving it - whatcha think?

Project 365: April 20 - 26

I'm still behind in posting!

Monday April 20 (day 110)

Favors from yesterday's "Royal Tea" at church

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Tuesday April 21 (day 111)

My Noah bracelet  Each charm in the bracelet represents something Noah likes or is involved in. My Mom made the bracelet and Noah helped picked the charms. ♥

Wednesday April 22 (day 112)

Holly at AC Moore sporting some huge funky sunglasses and holding a bag that we both deemed big enough to hold Noah, Landon – well really a whole family!

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Thursday Apirl 23 (day 113)

And they're off - Noah and Granddad dashing off to first base!

♥ Friday April 24 (day 114)

AP Photo Shoot

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Saturday April 25 (day 115)I love this shirt!

♥ Sunday April 26 (day 116)Talking on his toy phone

Happy Anniversary to my ‘Rents!

Today my parents celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary! Thank you Mom and Dad for being an example of what it means to stick together through rich & poor, in sickness & health, and for better or worse. ♥ Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad! ♥

Thanks for the Prayers!

Thank you for all the prayers yesterday! I think they were definitely heard. I’m happy to report that my Mom is now at home resting (or she is supposed to be resting!) and doing well. The heart catherizations showed that there was not any damage to her heart. There was no plaque and the heart was clear! We still don’t know what is causing her chest pain but at least it isn’t the heart or life threatening so they’ll be working to figure out the cause of the chest pain next week.

Prayers for my Momma Please

Please take a minute and say a prayer for my Momma. She went to the ER yesterday having chest pains. Her heart rate was fast and her blood pressure and oxygen levels were low.

They decided to admit her and started an 18 hour EKG. This morning they did a stress test. The test showed that there may be a problem with the front part of her heart. They are going to do a heart catherization tomorrow. The hospital that she was at doesn't do heart catherizations so they transported her to another hospital earlier tonight. 

We're not sure when the heart catherization will be. The doctor at the second hospital stopped by once my Momma was settled and said his schedule for tomorrow was crazy so she could go ahead and have breakfast and they'd do it sometime in the afternoon or evening depending on how crazy things got.  I'm taking an overnight bag in case I want to stay at my parents' house tomorrow night but I will update you all when I can. 

Oh, and while your saying prayers, say a quick one for me. My ulcer has been flaring up - I imagine it's just stress but it sure is painful and uncomfortable!

Photo is my Momma with her kitties taken in Feb.

Wordless Wednesday: My Hero

J and I just love this shirt - especially because J often refers to Noah as "little Hero."