This Year's Thankful Frame

Last year, I made a thankful frame but I didn't do such a hot job of packing it and it was cracked when I pulled it out this year so I decided to make a new one but went about it a smidge differently.

I decided not to paint or decorate the frame so that I could easily use it for other holidays and everyday. It was so simple it feels like I'm cheating by calling it a craft. I simply found a fall themed piece of scrapbooking paper that I liked, opened a Word Document and typed "Thankful for" in a font I liked and then printed it on to the scrapbook paper. I popped it in the frame and called her done!

I've got a dry erase marker sitting behind the frame and we will change what we are thankful for every day.

Simple, inexpensive, and meaningful!

(Linking to the craft parties listed in my sidebar)

Five Minute Friday: An Unexpected Life

It’s Friday – the day where I join other bloggers and take five short minutes to just write from the heart. Five Minute Friday is hosted by Gypsy Mama and this week’s prompt is unexpected. 

Sometimes I feel like Noah's whole life has been one unexpected circumstance after another. Becoming pregnant with him was unexpected. Pregnancy complications were unexpected. An early birth was unexpected. His Cerebral Palsy diagnosis was unexpected. 

There have also been so many unexpected blessings and life lessons along the way.

Yes our lives may be different than others and they may be harder, although that's debatable, everyone has their own obstacles but there are so many little unexpected blessings along the way. I've learned to take life slower. I've learned what true love is all about, not only my love for Noah but my family's love for me. It's brought me closer to God. I've learned what sacrifice is all about. I've learned that life is never what you expect it to be.

No matter how unexpected this journey has been, I know God made me for this and I am right where I am supposed to be. 

Thankful Thursdays # 2

I'm continuing to list the things I'm thankful for daily and them share them here with you each Thursday in November. 

(Continued from last week)

7. Fun socks
8. Pina colada slushies (my fave) soothing a sore throat
9. Random text messages from friends
10. Friendaversaries 
11. When he does the motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider
12. Date night
13. When he turns off the lights
14. Blogging & Bloggy Friends

Turn the Lights Off, Mom!

Every morning after Noah is dressed and in his wheelchair, we head to the living room to wait on the school bus. I purposely leave on the lights in my bedroom, the hallway, and Noah's room. Once I start to walk into the living room, Noah who is noticing I have left the lights on (and has recently learned about conserving energy) will say "Momma!" in this fussing like tone and then go turn the lights off.

Yes, I could just turn the lights off myself but this A. gives him something to do that kills a few minutes of time instead of just sitting there waiting on the bus, B. gives him a small task in which I can say "Good job, Noahie!" and C. it's just cute! There was a time he couldn't do this and it's nice to seem him have a bit of pride and  independence.

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and
5 Minutes for Moms

Beautiful Heartbreak

This song, Beautiful Heartbreak by Hilary Weeks, speaks to me on many different levels and facets of my life. The first time I heard it, it gave me chills.

Have a listen!

PS. You may recognize another blogger in the video, Stephanie Nielson (and family) of NieNie Dialogues.

10 Year Friendaversary

Ten years ago today, I turned on my computer praying I could find someone who could understand the turmoil in my heart......


You see, I was a new birthmother and although I knew I made the right decision for my baby, my heart was breaking at the same time. I knew there had to be someone out there who could relate. I began typing adoption related words into my search engine and finally found an "Is anyone out there?" post on adoption.com that was written by another birthmother named Lani. So excited to see another birthmother of a similar situation I quickly typed up the following message,

"Hi. I just read your post and I'm new birthmother too. I gave birth to my son on September 20, 2001, just 4 days after you gave birth to your daughter. Our adoption is also open. I bet we are feeling a lot of the same things and maybe could help each other through it. Hope to hear from you soon." 


(Yep, Lani saved the email.)

When I typed that email, I just wanted my heart to stop hurting. I wanted to breathe without hurting. I wanted to laugh again. I didn't realize what a big part of my life that person behind the other screen would become. Now she has truly become (as she so eloquently puts it) "the sister God let me choose." She's "my person." (If you watch Grey's Anatomy you know what I mean.) She's laughed with me during the happy times and cried with me during the sad. 


Happy 10 year Friendaversary, BFF! You've put up with me for a decade now! I'm so glad God gave me you!

Quote of the Week: Life is the Game

"Life is the game that must be played.

You will get no where sitting on the bench."

- Edwin Robinson

Weekend Wonders: The One with Turkeys

Thanksgiving is not very far away, folks! Want to add some cute little turkeys to your fall decor or perhaps to adorn your Thanksgiving table?
Below are some cute turkeys that I have seen on various blogs.

Turkey (Hershey) Nuggets

These little turkeys are made by The Afflicted Addicted Stamper and are actually a Hershey nugget. They'd be cute at place settings or the child's table for Thanksgiving dinner.

Embroidery Hoop Turkey

Gwenny Penny shares how to make this adorable turkey from fabric and two embroidery hoops.

Ribbon Gobbler

I love this little ribbon turkey from She's Kinda Crafty.

Scalloped Turkeys

Love these adorable scalloped turkeys from Craftaholics Anonymous.

Turkey Napkin Fold

Check out this adorable turkey napkin from Holiday Haven.

Shabby Apple Give Away

Recently I was contacted by a representative from ShabbyApple about doing a give away here at Coley’s Corner! This marks my first give away! How exciting!

First, let me tell you a bit about Shabby Apple and then I’ll show you the awesome piece of jewelry that one of you is going to own shortly and how you can win it!

Shabby Apple is an online website that sells vintage inspired women’s dresses, children’s dresses, jewelry, and even has a maternity line called Mama Apple. 

I think by far my favorite section of the Shabby Apple website is the accessories section. There you will find gorgeous vintage jewelry with fun names, beautiful hair accessories, bracelets, necklaces, cute shoes, and more.  

Here’s a few of my favorites from the accessories section: 

Cute Shoes

Love these vintage inspired bobby pins! 

Beautiful Tahitian Waters Ring

Shabby Apple is offering any Coley’s Corner readers 10 % off their order. Simply use the code “Coleys10off” when you checkout. It expires in 30 days.

Ok, on to the give away!!

The lovely piece of jewelry I’ll be giving away to one lucky reader is this beautiful necklace called Lost in Wonderland. It's valued at $52!

Isn’t it fab?

So, here’s how you can enter and win this necklace. Each counts as one entry. Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

1. Become a follower of Coley’s Corner and leave me a comment letting me know that you are following. 

2. Check out the Shabby Apple website and let me know what your favorite item is.

3. Go “like” the Shabby Apple Facebook page and leave me a comment here letting me know that you did. 

4. Go “like” the Coley’s Corner Facebook page and leave me a comment telling me you did.
5. Tweet, Facebook, or blog about the give away. Leave me a comment here letting me know you did and where. 

The Fine Print: 

 You must have a US shipping address to win. There will be no exchanges for the winning piece of jewelry. 

Contest ends at midnight Eastern on Sunday, November 13, 2011!
Winner will be drawn via Random.Org.

Thankful Thursdays

Each Thursday during the month of November I will post things I am thankful for. My goal is to have at least 30 things by the end of the month, which equals out to one a day. 

I also want to try and step outside the box and think of some of the little things I'm thankful for that we often may take for granted so you may see those reflected in these posts as well. 

I'm thankful for.......

1. God
2. My very supportive family
3. Amazing friends
4. Hot soup at the end of a long, chilly day
5. House guests
6. His innocence


PS. Be sure and check back tomorrow. I've got something fun going on! 

Noah the Artist

Over the years I have tried to get Noah to do artsy/craftsy type projects with me but he has never really enjoyed them or shown much interest.

Recently, he came home from school excited because he had painted in art class that day. So I decided to buy a cheap set of watercolors and see if he would like to paint with them at home. He loved it!

If he enjoys painting, I really want to do all I can to facilitate that and encourage Noah. I feel like he is so limited in ways to express himself and this could be a great form of therapy for him. But I felt like he was pretty limited after awhile because we only had 5 colors in the watercolors I had bought. My Mom wanted to get him some art supplies for his birthday so she and I hit Michael's and went a tad crazy buying several different paint sets, a variety of brushes, and some pads of paper to paint on.

The other night, he wanted to paint but it was getting close to bedtime and he'd already had a bath and was in his jammies. He had not had a chance to try out any of his new paints yet though so I decided to let him paint for a few minutes with one of the new paint sets that are actually "paint markers." You don't need a brush with them and you just simply hold the bottle pointed down on your paper and gently squeeze and the paint comes out. He loved doing this and was so happy. I was able to snap a few pictures while he was hard at work painting his (abstract) masterpiece.

Check out that huge smile - it melts my heart to see him happy and doing something he enjoys!

Recently I have been looking for adaptive art blogs and websites for ideas for painting projects that could be adapted to Noah's ability. We have completed one such project so far that I will be sharing soon. If you know of any sites or blogs with adaptive art ideas for special needs childre, I'd love to know about them! I'll also be adding a new category to the side bar titled "special needs art" so if others are looking for adaptive art ideas here, they can easily be found. 

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and
5 Minutes for Moms

Goodbye October, Hello November!

October was a busy month that seemed to fly by. Like I did last year, I decided to make a collage of photos from the month of October. (Note to self: Do this for other months too and not just October!) 

And now it’s November. Holy Smokes! How did we get to November already? That means Christmas is in the near distance. But Thanksgiving comes first! And Thanksgiving is at our house for the second year in a row – holla!

I’m going to attempt to post every day in November as a part of NaBloPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) but we’ll see how that goes. I do have some posts in mind but there are some great writing prompts at Blog Her if I get stuck so maybe that will help me if I get writer’s block.

The start of a new month always means I change my desktop background. This month I used a lovely autumn background from Shabby Princess.

Happy November First! What do YOU have going on this month?