I Can Color!

Finally!  40 years old and I learned how to color!

Thanks Jen for the FANTASTIC class!

Wish I could come to the next class,

but fortunately for me, my feet 

will be planted firmly on the Southern California 

sandy beach!  Laguna Beach, here we come!

In real life it looks like I painted it.  I am so happy with the results.

I cam home and looked at some other things I've colored...

hmmmmmmmm. . . let's just say. . . 

not so pretty.  Copics are worth it. . .

at least to a paper and ink enthusiast like myself.

Hopefully I can hone my skills from here!

Stardom Hits!

I should have posted this BEFORE we were famous. . .

or almost. . .

Last night Jessica was on America's Funniest Home Videos.

The clip was about 30 seconds in the section titled Young Love.

This is the full video from which the clip was taken.

We were sharing a Thanksgiving with my surrogate sister Dawn

and my surrogate nephew Bennett.

You will see that Bennett just LOVES Jessica. . .

It was such a treat to be with them again last night

as our young loves made their debut on prime time tv. . .

Shortly after this aired we were offered a multi-million kiss contract. . .

we obviously had to turn them down. . .

It's a Flower, It's a Handout, It's a Post!!!

Last night I stayed up WAY too late with a

friend and my daughter.

It was soooo late . . . er. . . I mean early. . .

she and her daughter crashed at my house!

Poola (as I fondly call Paula)

my daughter and I spent a few hours in Mesa at CKC,

but then had to come home and spend some craft time. . .

We made these paper flowers.

They were supposed to be Gardenias. . .

I'll say they are Roses. . .

I will admit that I wasn't sure they were going to turn out,

but I'm glad we stuck with it! Mikensee made the pink one.

Poola's bunch isn't here, but I know they will

remind her of night. . . I mean morning together.

Thanks Poola for making my life

sweeter and definitely more vibrant!

One of the reasons my posts these days are few is that

I spend most of my craft time each week making

handouts for my beehives.

We made a book especially for keeping them in.

(I guess I should show it to you!)

The girls love them and it brings me great joy to make

them for them.

Each one of these precious daughters of God has expressed

in some way to me, their gratitude. So much so that

I can't think of NOT making them something each week.

They are designed to remind them of the lesson,

and to show them that I love them and care for their well-being.

I make 14 cards each week. I've never posted them.

This is actually a handout for this week's lesson and next.

So I have a break.

It's a good thing because the next 2 Friday nights are

Cards for Connor

and I have to design 10 cards and prep for 40 guests!

This is actually a card that opens up,

but I'm not going to tell them that.

Next week, I'll show them the secret on the inside.

I don't know why I haven't shared any of them before, but I really

love how these turned out. I hope you like them too!

Maybe I'll share them a bit more often.

Please have a wonderful week and never, ever forget who you are

or of the divinity within you.

You mean the world to someone and to me. . .

Still At It

While it may appear that my creative gene has left the building

or that my blogging hat has been retired, I am still at it.

Wouldn't it be grand if we could truly spend each day as we desire

and not in the way that is sometimes pressed upon us.

I know we have choices and choices I do make,

but unfortunately for me, my choices these days have been limited to circumstances

that I can not control.

Control. . . there's a thought, an idea, a word I've long since had to let go of.

For those of us OCD types (yes, I am one), control is what we often seek, but never get

-- and rightfully so. Control is not what life is about -- choice is.

Which brings me right back to the beginning.

Choices.

Well, lets just say that I am making them, just not necessarily the ones I would like to.

Creativity is a necessity only second to choice in my world.

I live to create and thankfully, occasionally, I am blessed with the opportunity.

Thanks to my dedicated Scrap Gals

I once again eeked out some time and put together another class.

Loosely based on the Topstich CTMH Workshop on the Go,

I better get these posted so my gals can get their photos on them. Hope you enjoy.

Fun is Fundamental - We just love the zoo. Don't these show how much fun we have?

Determination Jessica - ;} Jessica's middle name should be Determination.

Behold Wonder - Walker was lost at the zoo for a time and when we found him this is where he was. Beholding Wonder. We spent a good 30 minutes just watching in wonder at this calf (only 2 days old) and her mother. I think they were just as curious as the boys were!

Remember you can click on each photo individually to see the image larger! Until next time!

Happy New Year, a thought and some Pancakes!

Happy New Year! I can't believe that it is 2010. 10 years since Y2K which some new we would never live through! I remember being a kid and thinking I'll never see the year 2000! I'd be 30!!! Well, I made it and this year I'll be 40!!! Holy Cow!

I don't know about for you, but for my family 2008 and 2009 were tough and because of that I know 2010 is going to be wonderful!!! We had a wonderful holiday. We moved and are hopefully in this new home to stay for awhile. My Walker man asked me this morning when we were going to move again (we've moved twice since August 31st!) and I told him I didn't plan on moving again for a long, long time and he said "good, because I like this house." Our last move was to our "rental-investment property" that we've owned since 2001, but never lived in. It was 1500 square feet and just a tad on the small side for us. Mostly it didn't afford any outside play and that was really hard for my very active kids to get used to. I was thankful for the place to land and wasn't that excited about moving (very hard, I don't recommend doing it any more than necessary and I'm a Realtor for heaven's sake!), but now that we are here and mostly settled I am thankful for the interim move because it has made this home much more enjoyable that I think it otherwise would have been. I'm very thankful indeed for this beautiful home.

I'll be updating my gratitude blog today and also posting my New Year's resolutions. . . I think I've finally figured out how to succeed at making (and keeping) them. . . we'll see!

Hopefully you have a New Year's Resolution or two. . . I think they are good for us. Even if we don't keep them it affords the opportunity to assess our lives and at least make a note on how we want to improve. We were, after all, created to become more than we are. Life is a process of growing and improving that should never stop. We can't be truly happy if we don't become more. It doesn't mean we have to strive for positions of supposed greatness or set goals to do feats worthy of world records, just to improve. How do you want to improve this year? I hope you'll share with me!

on to the PANCAKES! I have 2 small mama's boys that LOVE pancakes. I'm not a huge fan and don't find them to be entirely high on the health and nutrition scale. I have some whole wheat blender pancakes that score pretty well, but my kids don't LOVE them. I have a recipe from Rachel Ray called Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes that I do adore, but let's just say they qualify more for dessert than a healthy breakfast (or dinner!) My boys were good at church yesterday (if you don't count the belching contest at the drinking fountain as we were trying to leave *grin* *grit teeth* *grin*), so they wanted pancakes and pink chicken (left over ham) after church. I agreed to make it for them. I love to use sour cream in my pancakes (a tip from Rachel Ray), but I'm also on a much stricter budget than I used to be so I made sour milk for them and added oatmeal for the health factor. I have to say they turned out very well so here is my recipe for you. Budget friendly, food storage certified, and yummy to boot!

Rachele's Oatmeal Pancakes

(for a family of 6, cut in half to adjust accordingly!)

2 Cups Milk PLUS 2 T White Vinegar

2 Cups Flour

1 Cup Quick Oats

2 Eggs

3 T Oil

2 T Brown Sugar (white will work too!)

1 t Salt

1 t Baking Soda

1 t Baking Powder

1 t Vanilla (optional, but i put vanilla in everything!)

Add vinegar to milk and let sit. Mix all dry ingredients and then add soured milk, oil and eggs. Mix to combine well, but don't beat. Ladle onto medium hot griddle (I use non-stick so no extra fat, spray with Pam or use butter if your griddle is not non-stick.) Cook until bubbly in the middle and dry on the edges, then flip and cook for another minute or two. . . smear with butter and serve with syrup!

A little more "healthy" for a pancake and pretty yummy too!

I'll just call it INSPIRATION

If you have 20 minutes and a tissue click below and read about

Stephanie Nielson

You'll be glad you did.

Ho Ho Radio to Make you Merry!

Too nice to have playing in the background while I work!

Try it!

Ho Ho Radio

Hope you are decking the halls and enjoying the season! Artwork soon!

EDIT!

It didn't work that way, so you'll have to go HERE and then CLICK Ho, Ho Radio!

UP TIME!

UP TIME VIDEO {click}

Here is the text!

If you see injustice, STAND UP
If something needs to be said, SPEAK UP
If you make an appointment, SHOW UP
If you make a mistake, FESS UP
If you’re overstepping, BACK UP
If you get behind, CATCH UP
If they knock you down, GET UP
If you’re out of line, STRAIGHTEN UP
When your boss instructs, KEEP UP
When your elders speak, LISTEN UP
When your teachers teach, SIT UP
When your preachers preach, WAKE UP
When your country calls, MAN UP
Ladies too... WOMAN UP
When the fight is over, MAKE UP
If you’re being hard, EASE UP
If your heart is closed, OPEN UP
If you want to buy something, SAVE UP--
It’s not an entitlement, so SHUT UP!
If you make a mess, CLEAN IT UP
If you drop trash, PICK IT UP
If a car is waiting for you to
walk across the street, SPEED IT UP
If you’re cold busted, GIVE IT UP
If people fall down, HELP THEM UP--
Not the government, YOU STEP UP
If idiots start fighting, BREAK IT UP
If the music is wholesome, TURN IT UP
If the message is poisonous, THROW IT UP
If your words are vulgar, CLAM IT UP
If your words encourage, KEEP IT UP
If your pants are baggy, PULL THEM UP
If the belt’s too loose, CINCH IT UP
If your fly is down, ZIP IT UP
If you’re dressed half naked, COVER IT UP
If you can’t afford stuff, PASS IT UP--
No “bailouts” folks, PONY UP
If you made a promise, you BACK IT UP
And you can take your whining and PACK IT UP
It’s called personal responsibility, so TAKE IT UP
This country was founded on it, you can LOOK IT UP
It’s the American way people, so TURN IT UP
Because when life gets boring, you SHAKE IT UP
When life is good, you SOAK IT UP
When life’s unfair, you SUCK IT UP
When life is funny, you can YUCK IT UP
When life is sad, just LOOK STRAIGHT UP
And life’s too short people, so LIVE IT UP!

A Thought For the Day

Everything is always okay in the end;

if it's not okay,

it's not the end.

A Note About My Dad

In Loving Memory
Garis Buttars
Husband, Father, Brother, Friend
July 4, 1948 _ March 12, 2009

Garis was born to Cleo and Lillian Buttars in Rupert, Idaho on July 4, 1948. Garis was the third born of five children. His mother always said he was the most affectionate of her sons. He couldn’t pass her in the kitchen without giving her a hug. He loved to eat; especially his mom’s mashed potatoes and gravy, but got very tired of chicken. He had a soft spot for animals, both big and small.

Growing up on a farm taught him the value of hard work. Cleo agreed to buy each son a car with the agreement they would work the farm with him for a year. Even though Garis didn’t want to work on the farm Cleo still signed with Garis to buy a 1962 T-Bird. He graduated working at the gas station, but still helped out on the farm when his parents were out of town.

Garis worked hard starting out in factories working long and hard to better the life of his family. He worked for Simplot’s, the Sugar Factory and Del Monte. He eventually learned enough on his own about electrical work that he left Del Monte after 10 years and went to work as an electrician. He self studied to pass the boards for his Journeyman's license in ID. The test for UT was much harder and he knew if he didn’t pass they would require 18 months of school for the license. He passed. When work wasn’t good he would travel and live in man camps always making sure to provide for his family. While away and his evenings free he took up pipe welding. His desire to have is own business grew and he built a shop in the backyard and built beautiful custom horse trailers.

After following his kids to Arizona, he continued his work in the electrical trades. He took business and bookkeeping courses and gained his Arizona contractor’s license. His dream and G.B.’s Electrical Services, Inc., were born. There wasn’t anything Garis couldn’t build or fix. Anything he set his mind to he was able to accomplish. Hard work and dedication were his trademarks.

While he would never admit it, Garis was an artist. He made beautiful belt buckles and gun handles out of steel and carved intricate nature scenes in ivory with tiny chisels and hammers utilizing a powerful magnifying glass. They were popular in gift shops throughout Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Sun Valley, Idaho. He was especially good at pencil sketches. He taught himself to play the guitar during the late 70’s and was quite good. After an injury to his left hand, he was unable to play for many years. After a recent surgery he discovered E-bay, bought himself a Dobro slide guitar and once again started to play. He loved camping, hunting, fishing, motorcycles, water-skiing, wine, cooking and photography. He enjoyed hobbies throughout his life. He was an avid reader and taught himself virtually every skill or hobby that interested him.

His life was blessed with 5 children: Christopher “Shane” Buttars, Kalispell, MT, Rachele Lee Funk, Goodyear, AZ, Krista Jean King, James “Mason” Buttars, and Lyndsee Marie Buttars, Avondale, AZ. He has 7 grandchildren. He is survived by his children, grandchildren, wife—Paula Buttars, brothers—Dennis and Jeff Buttars and sister—CleAnne Dunn.

We are thankful to have known such a wonderful man. The family wishes to thank you for your support and friendship. He would have wished us to continue to make our dreams a reality and discover our talents and interests.

We do not know what lies ahead or what the coming days will bring. We live in a world of uncertainty. For some there will be great accomplishments, for some disappointment. For some, much gladness, health and good living and for others perhaps sorrow and sickness. We do not know. Whatever the future holds the Redeemer of the world stands as the anchor of our lives, the rock of our salvation, our strength, and our comfort. Let Him always be the focus of our faith and hope and forever our joy will be.

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

and for my card class a little bit easier to relax and enjoy knowing they have at least some of their Christmas cards ready to go! I thoroughly enjoyed coming up with the 6 cards they made Friday night, but it was hard too. This may be one of the last 2 classes I am able to hold for a while. The economy has hit my family hard and like many we are in a huge position of uncertainty. I'm hopeful, but let all of my nearly 30 regular class members know that I may not be able to continue our scheduled classes. This for me, is one of the hardest parts of the trials my family is currently facing. I love to create, to teach and to be surrounded by friends regularly in my home; I'm sure that without it a very important part of my life will be missing. So here they are, I am hoping you find something here that inspires you!

My personal favorite. I love how this came out! A nice rustic look! So many possibilities with this idea!


The glassine envelope holds snowman parts. . . a snowman for you!

This cheerful card is easy to replicate and holds a warm sentiment framed on the inside.

I tried to get a photo that shows the reflection of the snowflakes on the snowmen. Love the clear card look!


This is a recreation of a card I made many years back. Just love to mimick Santa's belt on a card with his image. This card sparkles inside and out!

It's fun to stretch a "Christmas Card" to the point where you're not quite sure if it is one. I borrowed this idea from Yvette West. She's amazing!


May this truly be the most wonderful time of the year for you and your family. I think I'll go roast some marshmallows now!

If God Brings You To It . . .

He will bring you through it. Gratitude. Naturally in November our thoughts to thankfulness. It's easy to be thankful for the blessing we see, but not always so easy when they don't appear in things that seem to be trials.



I keep a gratitude journal and when I get around to it I add to my gratitude blog. (If you click you'll see it is woefully behind.) I've seen several worthy bloggers posting 27 days of Thanksgiving and other equally named thankfulness posts, but the reason for my post can be found here. Erin is an amazing gal. She and I are "virtual friends" and if you spend a minute at her blog you'll know why I think so much of her. Please take the next 15 minutes and read her post, view the videos and then join me in looking for the blessings in your life; even if the blessings are disguised in things as difficult as missing all of your arms and legs.

May this be the month where our hearts and attitudes are turned in great ways to ones that Heavenly Father can use for His good.

What The World Needs Now

is more love. I know this is my 2nd video in 2 days, and I promise this won't be a daily thing, but I did have to share this. I woke up this morning to this in my email from a good friend who knows that I have a deep testimony of Jesus Christ, but also need a bit of strength at this time in my life. This was a wonderful way to start my day and I hope it brings something to yours too.



This video is titled Reflections of Christ. It is a photography slide show of the life of Jesus Christ constructed by a local photographer and most of the staging and scenery is local as well. Hope you love it!

I'm adding this as a side note.

A fetter is a shackle, or binding.

The phrase I raise by Ebeneezer comes from this;
Samuel took a large stone and placed it between the towns of Mizpah and Jeshanah. He named it Ebenezer—"the stone of help"—for he said, "Up to this point the Lord has helped us!" —1 Samuel 7:12, NLT

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;
hither by thy help I'm come;
and I hope, by thy good pleasure,
safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God;
he, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his precious blood. —Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

For more reading on this topic you can click HERE.

Just 5 Things

This is my 2nd post for today, so if you want to see the other, please scroll down. :)

For a long time I've been concerned about what posterity might know of me if I didn't leave anything behind for them. I love to scrapbook, but scrapbook pages can often be superficial in natural. By this I mean that we don't often tell about our real self -- our true thoughts and feelings. They usually cover life events of our children and families and I know that the pictures I haven't scrapped by far out weigh the ones I have. I know I also tend to scrapbook the joyous times in life of which there are many, but life isn't always joyous. Sometimes life is painful and hard. What have I learned? What do I wish I'd done? For this though I felt photographs were secondary. I wanted to show a picture of myself from the inside out. Where is my heart? What do I value? What hurts? To this end I began working on a list for myself titled Just 5Things. There are 50 topics on my list. This is some of them;

5 people important to me
5 friends I have known
5 things I would do if I had no limitations
5 things I live for
5 things I don't want to forget
5 things I don't want to live without
5 pieces of advice I wish I could have given myself at 18
5 things I'm passionate about
5 things I wish I could change
5 things I do every day
5 challenges that have changed me
5 things I wish I didn't care about
5 days I'll never forget
5 things I spend too much time on
5 reasons I cry
5 things that might surprise you

The list goes on and on. Like I said, I've worked on this list since last March. I also teach a Pictures In Art Class and this is what my list has become:









There are 6 dividers (shown on my class blog) and the 2nd class will be the pages. The class has been instructed to choose 10 things and I've provided worksheets with questions so that they can journal their true thoughts and feelings. This is to be about them. Even if they choose to tell about 5 people they love, it must be what this has done for them, not just a tribute to the someone else. We will be making scrapbook pages (5X7) for the main 5 things x 5 items (which I've instructed them on how to choose) and then the last divider will hold 5 pages bullet style of the remaining 5 things x 5 items. They have photo instructions to help illustrate the first 5 things. My hope is that the class (me included) will continue to complete the list of 50 things and stuff our boxes so that once we are no longer here to tell our stories our posterity will know us. They won't just have our memories, but our thoughts and feelings in a way I know without this I would never explore. I've told them that I hope they won't even share the boxes with their families now. I think it will be of much more value as a treasure later.

Here's my question for you. What 5 things would you want your posterity to know about you and how are you going to tell them?

The QUICKEST EVER Fudge Frosting

Tonight I was making a recipe acquired at my most recent class (the recipe club class. . . what fun!) The recipe calls for a can of fudge frosting, but I have to tell you that I absolutely can not stand store bought frosting. That type of frosting along with a few other things just taste fake and not at all like food to me. I decided I could just make some so I did a quick online search for fudge frosting and low and behold there were several. . . mostly the same variety. I have a secret cake recipe for the Most Incredible, BEST EVER, Chocolate, Chocolate Overload Cake (just ask those I've made it for and they will quickly concur) and for that recipe I make the following Quickest Ever Fudge Frosting. I figured since I was looking, someone else out there might be too!

Here goes:

Chocolate Chips (I prefer Toll House Semi-Sweet or Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet)
Butter (no substitute)
Cream, half and half or Milk (whatever you have)

Melt butter in a saucepan. I stick should do a cake. Add chocolate chips. . . I just pour them in. . . probably about 3-4 cups, add a splash of cream (I usually have half and half on hand) and stir. . . That's it.

Now isn't that the easiest fudge frosting recipe you've ever heard of???!!??

If you watch carefully, my secret Chocolate Cake recipe may just appear on this blog sometime before April of next year when this year's recipe club is over!

P.S. I also found this. . . The Chocolate Blog! Wish I'd have thought of it!

Have a fudge filled day!

Tag, I'm It. . . Again!

I was tagged twice! by Elaine and Stacey.......so this is what I'm supposed to do:

Share 7 facts about myself on my blog, some random, some weird. THEN tag 7 people at the end of my post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs and let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So-here goes:

7 - I like to exercise but I hate to sweat.
6 - I am a quilting dropout. I tried and would love to do it, but my patience level is not high enough for the hobby. That is how I became a paper crafter.
5 - My favorite stores when I was a kid were stationary stores. I used to spend my money on stationary, markers pens and such. . . not much has changed!
4 - My favorite foods are Potatoes and Ice-Cream and yes, I like them together. I especially love french fry's with Milk-Shakes. My favorite flavor is Vanilla; so many possibilites.
3 - If I had unlimited resources I would adopt 10 more children. I would also pay almost any amount of money for the privilege of giving birth to another child.
2 - I frequently wish I didn't have to sleep, just so I would have time to do more.
1 - I moarn the fact that kids today don't have an innocent childhood and that nothing is as good as it used to be. (Some may find that a bit negative, but if you think about it, its pretty true.)

I'm tagging these friends because I'd like to know MORE about them!

Tamara
Tara
Atalie
Lisa
Kari
Tori
Deb

A Mother's Work

Thank you for wondering where I have been. Your emails and thoughts are appreciated and heard!

I have been taking care of Wyatt, dealing with a little personal illness and tooth ache issue, feeding, bathing, cleaning up after and teaching my 4 little darlings, finishing Dawn's baby shower ensemble (pictured below), doing a little yard work, washing piles of laundry, cleaning house (my never ending nemesis), caring for new baby bunnies (also pictured below), helping the girls prepare for their piano recital, getting further behind, looking forward to summer, taking care of church and my callings and responsibilities that go along with them, and handling my real estate business with one closing and another listing going into escrow this month along with keeping the other sellers happy in this market. (Mikensee who has been doing sentence diagramming for the past 2 years would kill me if she read the previous sentence and I told her to diagram it!) I've been living in a bit of a funk and trying to work out some personal life goals (not there yet, but still working!) I've decided that I don't bounce like I used to and that twins are still a lot of work, even if they are 4 and getting ready for kindergarten. I've also decided that motherhood, although filled with fleeting rewards, is hard and not all that fulfilling in the short term! I know motherhood is wonderful; a true gift and I love it! I wouldn't trade it for anything (not even the NYC single professional living in a pristine penthouse, childhood dream I once lived for) but I'm just being real. There is nothing rewarding or glamorous about 4 year old temper-tantrums or 6 year old stubbornness or preteen drama - and yes I'm living all of these realities! I gained some much needed perspective from my friend Tamara this week who is the mother of my other favorite set of twins. It is so easy to get caught up in the daily drudgery that sometimes it seems like mountains of laundry and fingerprint smudges on every touchable surface are all that I can see. So I did what I tell my kids to do when they are upset and I took a deep breath. Tonight I baked some cookies just because I wanted some and I'm taking a minute to blog a bit, because I want to. I might still take a bubble bath and paint my toenails! Tomorrow will still be tough, but school will be out soon and I'm going to try and just have some fun. I'm going to enjoy my kids and work on some projects I really want to do, but don't usually allow myself to. I'm going to try not to wait to have fun until after all the work is done, because lets face it, a mother's work is never done.

Here is the finished Baby Shower Ensemble:




Here are Pork Chop and Petunia (the calico):



They are already (in less than a week) 3 times this size and Petunia has outgrown Pork Chop. They have no ears (we'll call it natural causes, but they were eaten) so they look like guinea pigs more than bunnies, but they sure are cute. We had 4, but lost two due to other "natural" accidents in the night. Mooey was my favorite because he looked just like a little holstein cow.

Please say a little prayer for Copper. We haven't seen him since this morning and it just isn't like him to be separated from Penny for too long.

This is my two up and coming concert pianists (their performances will be featured in a day or two on The Funk Family Blog.)




I hope you aren't drowning in drudgery at your house. If you are, please take a moment and think about it. Life happens only once. I hope to live it and not just clean it!

I did it!

I made my blog signature!

Taking a Trip . . .

Tonight I was looking at some stamps. . . Particularly this one:

Don't you just love her?

I was trying to explain to Mikensee why I like this stamp so much (and actually all the stamps by this artist) and it hit me. . . Vintage Holly Hobby! So I started to try and show her who Holly Hobby was and the paper piecing pop art of Holly Hobby I made for my room (oh these were the coolest!). I so desperately wanted a Holly Hobby Bedroom complete with bed canopy! While I was showing her Holly Hobby I somehow turned to telling her about Strawberry Shortcake! Remember her? This is what I was lucky enough to own:





I actually had the very first issue Strawberry Shortcake doll and Blueberry Muffin (with the hard plastic hat!) Telling her about this I could actually smell them. I can still feel the plastic smooth hair and how I felt making those little strawberry shortcakes in my very own Strawberry Bake Shop! There was so much that came later but as I told her, I was 9 in '79 and by 1984 when she hit her prime I was 14 and on to bigger and better things! (Probably Punky Brewster!) So funny actually how something so simple could bring back such a flood of memories! We went from Strawberry Shortcake to Care Bears and then on to Rainbow Brite. I gave her Rainbow Brite PJ's for Christmas and she adores them, but it was fun to hunt the story of Rainbow Brite down and read it with her! (Remember Twink and Starlite?) I'm probably actually really dating myself, but I was amazed to discover that I was the first generation to actually have these really cool icons and the flood of what has come since. So, I'm going to encourage you today to spend a little time on a trip down memory lane and dig up some of your childhood joys to share with someone special in you life. I am going to bed with a smile on my face and the smell of semi-yummy plastic strawberries and blueberries wafting in the air.

You Are My SuNsHINnE

I have no idea why anyone would make a headband that looks like a sunshine or a flower (especially when it's the size of a basketball), but apparently someone, somewhere, thought there might be a market for these lovely items of apparel. . . I'd just like to say "THANK YOU" to whomever, wherever it was because they really brightened my shopping trip today!










Did you catch the price tag? $6.99 Yeah, Right!