Monogram Craft Challenge

About a week ago, I discovered a monthly craft challenge hosted by Heidi at Blue Eyed Blessings. How it works is Heidi issues  a challenge at the beginning of her month on the blog and her readers have all month to work on it and then they post a link to their project on the first Thursday of the next month. (She postponed  this month until the second Thursday of the month.)

One month she did a RIBBON challenge. (If you know me well you know I LOVE and "collect" ribbon.) I wish I'd known about that one! But the craft challenge for May was monograms. I decided it would be fun to participate and a way to possibly get new readers and find new craft blogs (like I need to read more! LOL) to read so I threw together two small projects. They are super simple since I have had zero craft time lately! (Thank you to summer and my ulcer for the lack of craft time!)

"N" Frame

I thought this would be a cute and easy way to dress up one of those cheap plastic magnetic frames. I just glued orange ribbon around the edges - I purposely left the ribbon hanging off the ends just because I thought it gave the frame more "personality." I then attached a chipboard N. I used orange because it is my Noah's favorite color of course! 

Lil Notebook

I love these lil' notebooks as they are perfect to throw in your purse for writing down miscellaneous things that may pop into my head while I'm out and about. I have previously shared a tutorial on how to make these so just check it out. I followed those directions and just added an "S" chipboard sticker for my last name. Easy peasy and cute! 

So go check out all the "Monogram Maddness" on Blue Eyed Blessings! 

Project 365: May 11 - May 17

Monday May 11 (day 131)Noah reading the newspaper

♥ Tuesday May 12 (day 132)

Sick boy! Just an ear infection, but Noah stayed home from school today. In this picture he is snuggled up on my bed watching a movie. 

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Wednesday May 13 (day 133)

Self explanatory ;)

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Thursday May 14 (day 134) Grandaddy helping Noah bat

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Friday May 15 (day 135)

The first tea cup I ever bought 

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Saturday May 16 (day 136)

Favors I made for church tea

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Sunday May 17 (day 137) centerpiece for “The Gift” tea

Noah and Landon

Last night and most of the day today we babysat our nephew, Landon. His Dad brought him over last night around 8 and then picked him up this afternoon around 4.

Landon will be 3 in July and is quite a hand full but a lot of fun! Noah got along with him very well and he was very patient and tolerable. Landon hasn't quite learned how to share yet and once when Noah was playing with a toy, Landon just walked over and took it and started playing with it. I said something to Landon about it and Noah looked at me and signed "baby" and I said, "Yes, he's little and hasn't learned to share yet." And Noah just gave me a look that said, "I know, Mom." If there was a toy that Landon was trying to play with and he wasn't sure how it worked, Noah showed him. I was proud that he was sweet and loving with Landon and not territorial. 

However, by the time Landon's Dad got to our house, Noah was ready for Landon to leave! He said he was tired of sharing his Momma!

Project 365:May 4 - 10

Monday May 4 (day 124) I’m probably too old to color but I like to do it occasionally! It relieves stress. 

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Tuesday May 5 (day 125) Reading the AP article

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Wednesday May 6 (day 126)

Book worm

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Thursday May 7 (day 127) Socks

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Friday May 8 (day 128)

Candle I made my Mom for Mother's Day

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Saturday May 9 (day 129) Sending a balloon to heaven for J's Mom

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Sunday May 10 (day 130) A Mother's Day toast

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