Just for you....

Have a very blessed Easter!!

party on!
Connie

April is......

So, maybe you've noticed a cause that is near and dear to my heart.  It's over on the right side of my blog.  April is Autism Awareness month. As a momma who lives with this every day,  I am taking a minute of your time to stand on my soap box make you just a little bit more aware.

Autism affects every 1 in 150 children. It is one of the most confusing conditions. It varies so much from person to person.  Even with 2 of my boys having the same diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome, they are so different.  

Shane

Heath

I didn't have some of the problems that other mother's have had to deal with. My heart aches for the families of the children who can't seem to be reached, and exist in their own world. Please remember, when their child is in full melt down and they can't be controlled, they are not spoiled children throwing a fit!  Please offer to help and don't judge them. You have no idea how hard it is for that mother to make a trip to the grocery store, or anywhere else for that matter.  They live in fear that they are being judged by people who just don't understand.

I don't post this for sympathy, I don't need any.  This is just life as we know it in our house. We have been very blessed to have these boys in our home. I will admit that there were a lot of tears when the diagnosis was first made. But now I see just how precious this gift is. Chances are that you know someone who is facing this challenge right now. Please educate yourself and don't be afraid of these wonderful individuals!

All of us!

In honor of these precious souls, I am posting this on both the family and the craft blog. 

Party on peeps!
Connie

Girl's weekend

Guess I've been busy....didn't mean to ignore the blog this long.  But I've been busy!  I did take this last weekend off though.  I've been looking forward to this since the first of the year! 

Where did I go? Why I spent the weekend with some of the girls in the family!  I seriously needed an estrogen fix....  So I went with the mama, an auntie, a cousin and a sister-in-law to Scrapbook USA!

Connie and my Mom, Lorrilie

Mindy and Connie

Shelly

I didn't take oodles of pictures, but I did get 22 pages completed for the scrapbook!! It was totally worth it  and spending time with some of the women I love was even better. 

ME!!

What did you accomplish this weekend?

party on!

Connie

Remeniscinig...

30 years ago today, I started dating my forever love!  Today I love him more than I thought was possible...  
We keep our Valentine's celebration pretty small, usually including the boys.  Tonight, we'll have a family dinner (lasagna) and then deliver our valentine's to family and friends.  Hope we don't get caught!! 

Image from Graphics Fairy

Do you still leave your Valentines on the porch and then knock and run???

Have a fabulous Valentine's Day!!

party on peeps!
Connie

Sneek Peek

Just in time for Valentine's Day, the fabulous Bonnie at Photography By Bon is having a special. I just couldn't resist! The last time that the hubs and I had just our pictures, (not the whole fam) were our engagement pics back in '81.  
We had over 500 shots to choose from!! Yea, it was hard to narrow it down......so, here's just a few of our favorites......enjoy!

Lovin' that Man of Mine

You can see Cedar Breaks over my shoulder

I love these hands!

Yea, we've changed a bit. We have kind of lost that whole innocent, totally in love, we can take on the world look. We have matured over time and I do believe that I love him more today than I did back then. 


Hop on over to Photography by Bon and check out her fabulous work. Then if you live in Southern Utah, you can book a session with her! I promise you won't be disappointed!
(p.s. All of the images are copyrighted by Bon.)


Party on!
Connie

Can't Quit Smiling!!

Holy Cow!! My cheeks are hurting from the smiling!! I was featured on another blog!!! I am squealing with delight!! Gail at My Repurposed Life my puzzle piece valentine on her blog.  Check it out here!! I'm not excited at all...... Thanks so much Gail! 

 

Valentine's surprise

Ok, so I'm finally ready to share my Valentine's project.  I still have my 'winter' decor up until this weekend, but I can't wait to share this with you. Brace yourselves, and if anybody else has made this in the past.....please don't tell me. (Just kidding) 

I found my inspiration in a magazine article that has NOTHING to do with the upcoming holiday.  It was the January edition of First for Women magazine. The article was on achieving happiness. When I saw the picture, I could hardly contain my excitement! Here is a blogworthy project!!

See that cute little heart and the subtitle under it? 

So I headed to the dark recesses of the storage room to find my supplies.  I knew that I needed a puzzle and a frame minus the glass. Pack rat that I am, they were both waiting for me. I had my DH and son pick up a can of Pink Krylon for me.....I think that they did rather well on the color choice!  
Step one: paint your puzzle pieces. Note: start with the backs so that you don't have to learn the hard way like I did.  They dry fairly quick.

Ooo, Aahh

While they are drying, cut a heart out of card stock. (Having scrapbooking supplies on hand helps with this part.)

Lurve Creating Memories  Tools

 I also chose a piece of patterned paper to print the saying on.  I played around with different fonts until I found one that I liked.

Font name- Fiolex Girls

Place the heart at the top or the bottom, depending on how you want yours, and glue in place. 

My fav glue after E6000

Use a stronger glue and start adding the puzzle pieces. Mine were still a little tacky, so I sprinkled a little glitter on top. Let it dry for a couple of hours. 

Lookin' good

After I got it all put together, I decided that the brown frame was a little, or a lot, wrong. So back to the Krylon....

Looks much better don't ya think?!  

Giddy, Seriously....

Any who, this is what it looks like now and I'm totally loving that I actually had something turn out the way I pictured it!! What do you think? 

Party On!! 
Connie
 Parties that I'm joining.....check them out!! 
  

 
              
  
     

Welcome January

Welcome to one of my busier months.....I'm have more to do in January than I do in December. So projects are kept to a minimum.  But I did fall in love with a great piece of Subway art here! Janet at Today's Fabulous Finds has this free print out! 

Aren't they fab!

I have been looking for something like this! (And I'm not knowledgeable  computer savy enough to make one of my own.)  After printing this on some scrapbook paper I headed out to the thrift store to find the perfect frame. 

Upon finding said frame, I decided that it needed to feel the season a little more. Sorry, no pictures of the process.  But I know that you all have fabulous imaginations and can see what happened in your mind's eye.  I covered the frame with mod podge and added white glitter. Hmm, not sparkly enough. What to do but add some turquoise??!!   

Still not enough. So I added some snowflake looking thingies and some gems from the scrapbook stash.  Looks lots better now!

The leaf is a 75% off from Walmart the placemat from the dollar store.

I added it to the hurricane lamp and sweater pumpkin on the table in the entry way,

hung the wreath on the door, and called it a night.  













The only other thing I've had time to add since then is the sign on the other side of the door.......

Some people think we are kidding. ..sadly, we are not.

Yep, hasn't been a good week at the Button box. Most of the button's are crawling with a contagious disease that we don't wish on ANYBODY!!  We are finally starting to feel somewhat normal.  All of you remember to wash your hands, the grocery cart, and take your vitamins......this stuff is wicked!!  

I have a fun Valentine project that I will be sharing later, but I need to get it finished of course.  I'm very excited because I haven't seen it on the blogesphere yet. 

Party on without me peeps!
Connie