Julia splashing in the ocean, sand and beach.

Do you dare to dream?

Some day I’d love to take the whole family on a vacation and see our kids splash in the ocean and play in the sand. Since my youngest was born we haven’t been. Do you have a dream board? Well I do. It hangs on our bathroom wall. I see it every day. This is one of my dreams. I also have other things on there. One in particular jumped at me a few months ago. It was “To give more” We had planned for our family vacation in October for our 10th anniversary but it seemed like it wasn’t […]

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First day of Kindergarten, Mom and son

First Day of Kindergarten – how I really feel.

I told a friend that I was emotional when my third child entered kindergarten a few days ago. He had this surprised look in his face as if to say… “Really?! Shouldn’t you be used to it by now” Maybe I should be, and maybe I could avoid feeling emotional. Truthfully, I don’t want to. I join the other mothers that want to feel, because I get to relive and remember the times my baby needed me. They all enter the big world with different readiness. And we are fearful how they will adjust to all the changes. I mean for […]

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first day of school chalkboard editable printable

First day of school – How to make it fun.

Oh I’m not gonna sit here and pretend that the first day of school is super fun! But there are ways that I have found over the years to help prepare us. When it was time to send our third child to kindergarten, we had him in pre-school activities to expose him to social settings and routine. I recommend doing that if you can. Making school a big deal — since it is — includes some creative and thoughtful planning. I’ve always admired those who post chalkboard signs. I love the answers children give, it changes over the years and […]

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You're loved sign held by my little girl

You Are Loved

“I don’t understand why you don’t want to try, you’re brilliant and amazing!” These words caused my daughter Camryn to cry as if she had no idea. I remember thinking how can she be doubting herself already, she’s so young. Am I failing her?⠀   Our self image is shaped by everything around us. We are so sensitive to the opinions of others and form our own conclusions, not always to the truth. ——– On my 40th birthday I received a gift. The gift of delivering a very important topic to young adults in our Christian community. I say it’s […]

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Baby keepsakes, how much should I do? Tangible vs. digital

It’s so much easier nowadays to snap a shot, document your daily activities right in the palm of your hands. Leaving you with a keepsake all the time. #Poweroftechnology But do you wonder if there’s still a point to printing things or is the cloud enough? When I first got pregnant we received albums and books about baby’s first year. Being a new expectant mother, I dreamt of filling it up, I was fortunate that I kept some thoughts in a journal. When my baby was born I printed a few photos and wrote in the book but any new […]

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Milestone Birthday Party Theme Ideas

Metallic Gold, Boho Chic or Black and White. How does one choose for a milestone birthday?! Planning for a milestone birthday celebrations is so fun when you’ve buckled down on a concept. I’ve been busy with themed party invitations, including my own, especially when I turned 40.  Yup, I’m a 1978 baby…go ahead… do the math. I’m cool with it. 🙂 A lot goes into party planning, my post titled, 5 Tips to Party Planning may help you with that, check it out by clicking here. In my observation, a well put together party can jump off from these basics: Season, […]

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Safari birthday theme ideas – Drawing for my children.

My youngest is the first to celebrate his birthday every year and I was doodling his favorite animals for a safari theme. He’s my little party animal so it was perfect. I illustrated a tiger at first and expanded to more jungle animals such as the zebra, giraffe, monkey, hippo, lion with monstera leaves. Check out the process video below. I’m pleased to offer my safari designs for you to purchase as part of a new collection from our shop. Customize jungle-themed party supplies, safari t-shirt (for the celebrant, mommy, daddy), banners, decor and more. These easy to use templates […]

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Ideas for a memorable wedding – Tell your story, add that personal touch.

Since we celebrated 10 years of marriage, friends and family have come up to say the usual “Wow, has it been that long?!” The next sentence that follows is what pleases me the most. It warms my heart when they also say, “Your wedding was one of the most memorable and loving events we’ve ever attended”. My husband and I couldn’t ask for more. We hoped that our guests felt the love..I mean, that’s why we were there in the first place. We hoped they also felt included and special to share in the day. We had a few special […]

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create, be and use your God given gifts.

“Boring” a word I wish to ban from our home.

I was in the middle of reading an email from @jennakutcher, somewhere in there she says “Are you wondering what really does set you apart? Or maybe you’re just feeling like you’re the most boring human on planet earth and everyone else has cracked the code on being different! How did she know 😳??!! I received another email. It was from a friend sharing that they saw I was the featured designer on a blog post. If that happened then someone finds me interesting afterall. We are so much more than we think. My fear of the word “boring” stems from […]

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