When it Rains, It Pours

Just a little break, I am trying to refrain from an all out breakdown!!!!  My son Josh and wife Julianna are building a new home.  Like she stated   "AM the roof is on  PM the roof is off"

A storm came through Cedar Rapids last night and this is part of the result. Their new home...
But they have a great attitude...no one was hurt and it is fixable. The home they sold and are still living in was not hit...just lots of trees in the area down.

I just took it pretty hard, as the stress I have with medical issues with Mom & Dad have been hard. And I guess it just took this to get me back to normal...A good cry always makes things better.
Monday will be a busy day...lots of decisions to be made and that will help some of the burden we are dealing with.

Thanks for stopping by,  Have a wonderful weekend...Taking a break from hospital visits today and with the humidity out...it will be Crafting time I hope.  

WOYWW #160

It's #160 at Julia's What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday...at the STAMPING GROUND,  New to this well hop on over, Julia  gives good details and over 100 people participate in visiting fun and creative work spaces.  It is ADDICTIVE

 Above is a newly created lace/trim area in my sewing area next to the entrance of my creative workdesk.
Little jars have buttons sorted by color, a few small bottles, I hope to decorate

My workdesk this week.  I was able to spend Monday evening working on these little houses. 1st step is gluing together, they were from a Melissa Frances kit.  Hoping to sparkle them up soon. Our forecast is for 4/5 days of high temps into the 90/100 range so it won't be this week.  I'm staying where it is cool!!!

Thanks so much to all of you who have been so kind to leave such comforting comments. I truly hope to visit each one this week even if it takes until next Tuesday...Dad was taken to ER again Tuesday AM and is spending 1 or 2 days there dealing with this compression fracture and dehydration.

Have a wonderful week, Happy WOYWW to all of you  if you've extra time I've a post 2 previous on a cute Western boot.

A 65th Anniversary...

My brother in laws parents are celebrating their 65th Wedding Anniversary.

I used a border punch for the one edge, an embossing folder, a paper lace doily, the #'s 65, on the reverse I added sentiments and a heart.   It's a Legacy alright...my mom and dad were married 67 yrs June 20th and I forgot a card, mom was in the hospital and Dad got her some pretty fresh flowers and was hoping she'd make it home that night.  She did so I guess they were both happy to be together once again.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week. Enjoying some time to rearrange and create.

HITCHED & CELEBRATING

Our young neighbors, were married sometime ago and are now hosting their reception.  We received an adorable invite with their picture enjoying their favorite pastime, spending time with their horses.  So the Celebration is a good ol' fashion, knee-slappin, boot stompin, good time, at the fairgrounds. "Drinks, Food, a DJ, Stagecoach rides, and Casual Attire.  I can hardly wait.

I made them a card fancied after a Western theme.  A small card in the shape of a boot, embossed with 2 embossing folders. Best Wishes inside.  The envelope I made, added 2 die cut hearts with
"Congratulations     Jason & Ivy         so I added some green Ivy and a Metal Boot with a twine bow and a Metal Heart.

Hoping you have had a wonderful weekend...It's Monday and the party's over!!! Stagecoach rides, awesome food and weather. It was a wonderful night to spend with lots of friends and forget the past week.

Thanks for stopping by, working on a 65th Anniversary card, and an Aunt's 100th Birthday card, plus it is a beautiful day outside, so going for a bike ride.  Enjoy and have a wonderful week ahead.

It's #159 at WOYWW

Oh it's here so fast once again  the  STAMPING GROUND  What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday?
Stop over to Julia's fun spot and get the skinny on all of us peeping crafters.

Hectic week so not a lot of creating, some rearranging between hospital trips,

 This is left of my desk took the wooden shelf from my main desk area (it was filled with wooden rubber stamps) and added my Martha Stewart punches to this table..I boxed up the stamps hoping to find a new solution for them, I really don't use them as much as I should.

This is my main desk, and where the wooden shelf sat I added my laptop and a new printer.  My batteries went dead so will have to show the next phase next week.

About this time my son and family are in flight 7hrs to make their new home in Germany for 3 years. We had a wonderful weekend and ended with a picnic in the park on Sunday our Father's Day.
My dad ended up in the ER room at 3 am and today I spent with Mother in ER. both with compression fractures.  In the morning we will attend the funeral of our friend who struggled with cancer and also a homecare gal will start helping my father in law so we can avoid the nursing home scene.
 And hopefully things will return to normal

I am exhausted, but have a great photo of  Summer Rose  (9 mos) with her mother Helen

 Sky Lynn (2yrs)with her dad ready to leave for their big trip

Thanks to all of you for your good wishes last week and thanks for stopping by this week. I really enjoy all your comments, and I will try to get in a lot more visits this week.

WOYWW #158

The following is the ATC I received from Rosa from Australia .

 I tried 3x to put this a the bottom of the post but it will not  go there...so continue on for the WOYWW info... ????? sometimes wonder if I am losing it!~!

 Very unique as it is a fold out

Some great pictures of Australia too.  Thanks so much Rosa...

Here it is once again...Stamping Ground's WOYWW created by Julia, to keep so many of us busy peeping about other bloggers workspaces..
I have not moved  or added 1 thing from my desk, since last week's post...been gone, dealing with elderly peoples problems, visitors coming the weekend, all  that info in a previous post.
So this is my sewing area...so much in need of some attention

I can only hope I get 1 day with a surge of energy to go like mad and get things in order.
Thanks for stopping by, will no doubt put in some late time visiting , but truly have a wonderful week

ATC's Sent Off

The previous post showed the ATC's I received in our May swap "SEW MANY FLOWERS"

These are the 3 I sent off to share.

A little better picture
Then the back side .

I love the challenge of creating in "small" form!!!

Has been a truly busy week...we traveled to Kansas Thursday for my son's Graduation from US ARMY Command and General Staff College on Friday. We had a great time. The two little granddaughters are so precious, some wonderful food cooked by both he and his wife. And a grand tour of the Army Base. We traveled back home on Saturday as they had lots to do to prepare for the movers to come in today.

My dad (89)fell and has a compressed fracture and is now home from the hospital with a few weeks of healing, he can barely sit.  My father in law (95)has developed some dementia and anxiety problems and doesn't want to be alone anymore. The lady we rent farm land from has been put into hospice for care. So we are dealing with quite a few elderly problems.

I am trying to get things in order as this weekend, we are having a family picnic here, with Son and family visiting for the last time before they leave for 3 years of active duty in Germany.

Wish me luck,  thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely week.

ATC Exchange..SEW MANY FLOWERS

Kimberly at ArtJOYstuff has an ATC swap each month. And I have so enjoyed them. May't theme was
Sew Many Flowers. There is some loveliness in all of these.

 This ATC is from Lululiz

 This ATC is from Amy Bauer

 This ATC  is from Donnalee

They are all so pretty, lovely colors, pretty flowers and unique designs.  THANK YOU ALL for the
fun. I will treasure them and keep in touch.  The swaps are always so fun.

This is a Thank You tag from Kimberly and she added some pretty lace for me to use.  THANKS Kimberly not only for the tag and lace but also for the great Swaps we always have.

Wishing you all a lovely week, thanks for stopping by.

It's #157 at WOYWW..excitement still lingers.

Oh what fun created by Julia's STAMPING GROUND...last week was the 3rd Anniversary and our ATC exchange...
This is my desk this week.  I cleaned up a bit,

Off to the left some stamps to clean and put away.  Was busy rearranging and cleaning up..my whole downstairs has to be in order as in 2 wks my son, his wife and 2 daughters are coming to see everyone before they leave for their 3 year Germany assignment.

These are 2 of the ATC's I received from

 Sandra De  in Australia

Twiglet in the UK   aren't they just adorable.  Thanks ladies so much for doing the "extra" exchange". Your mail came in 4 days...I think that is pretty great service.

Well thanks so all who stopped by last week, I so much enjoy your comments. Have a wonderful week ahead and next week I'll post more on the ATC's I  have yet to receive and the ones I sent out.  AND
maybe a surprise!~~

It's #156 at WOYWW and the Sharing of ATC's

Julia at the STAMPING GROUND  is having an ATC exchange with those who want to participate with this weeks WOYWW celebrating the 3rd Year of WOYWW. Mine is ready to be mailed upon receiving the address of the one posting after me.

My desk is about the only thing  I can take a photo of in this area

Mostly items I found at a barn sale on Saturday. We had a busy weekend here with the 3 day Memorial Holiday. I love the 7 pc doily above, and the 6 pc on below, I plan to cut each on out separately and use on a fabric project for our fall "Crafty Affair".

I've quite a mess in my crafting room..seems my DH planned to have a friend come to replace our furnace and didn't give me much notice to prepare the area for his visit.  So I have been stashing stuff...in my work area to make it look tidy and give him room to work...I was none too happy about it all.  I had cleaned the upstairs all day so I could spend lots of time creating today, now I have a mess and no doubt the area I cleaned will have to be tidied up again after they haul out all the old stuff.
But life's too short to sweat the small stuff.....da da da da da.. It's just my old body gets tired of lifting and relocating STUFF..

Thanks for stopping by, and thanks to all who left such great comments last week. I was glad to have some time to respond this week.

A Memorial Day THANK YOU

THANKS TO THE VETERANS FOR THE SACRIFICES YOU HAVE MADE

THANKS TO THEIR FAMILIES FOR ALL THE SACRIFICES ENDURED

                                                              GOD BLESS AMERICA

THIS COULD BE MY SON...OR ANY MOTHERS SON WHO SERVES
 SAYING A PRAYER OF THANKS,  ASKING FOR BLESSINGS,
THANKING GOD FOR LIFE,  AND PRAYING FOR THOSE HE SAW DIE,

AS A MOTHER I PRAY EVERYDAY FOR THOSE WHO SERVE, THAT THEIR LIFE CAN BE NORMAL, THAT  THEY CAN ENDURE, THAT THEIR PRAYER FOR PEACE CAN BE ANSWERED.   DO NOT FORGET THAT FREEDOM ISN'T FREE.  

ENJOYING FREEDOM

I saw this on Pinterest and it truly touched my heart:

We raise her up every morning and we bring her down slow every night We don't let her touch the ground, and we fold her up right. On second thought I do like to brag cause I'm might proud of the Ragged Old Flag--Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash had some great music and when he got his life back on the straight and narrow really did so much for so many.


Tomorrow is Memorial Day here in the US...a website to visit http://www.usmemorialday.org/backgrnd.html
this has a great overview of it and another spot to visit which is the story of  the poppy
http://www.vfw.org/Community/Buddy-Poppy/  and the Poem   IN FLANDER'S FIELD

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.


I truly hope you all fly your flag, bow your head in thanks, and be true to our RED, WHITE and BLUE.

Special Sympathy

Last week a close classmate of mine lost her sister  in an automobile accident. I wanted to spend sometime with her but I had to be gone and was unable to attend  the viewing and the funeral so I made a card for her.

Accepting a loved ones death is never easy. But we have to accept the fact that it is God's

will and that our loved one is going home. This lady brought, laughter and joy to so many. 

She lived her life to the fullest, always had a smile and some happy joy to spread.

Now those memories are a treasure, for all of us to cherish.

And I'm sure she's a shining star above looking down upon us still smiling.

Some Black & White

Sometime ago I made my sister a small gift and a card for her birthday.  Thought I'd share them with you today.

"A Classy Cat"

She Loves cats, real and otherwise. Her bathroom has a great "Collection" of a variety of cats. This one is a pincushion. She has little pins for her whiskers, topped upon a spool, which is wrapped in pearls and feathery thread.  I am hoping to make a variety resembling this  for   " A Crafty Affair" , we are having in October.

Thanks for stopping by, hoping your day is fun filled. I'm off to clean my closet, it's a rainy, gloomy day here.
So have to use up some energy before night falls.