The Mother of Teenager

I am officially the mother of a teenager now.  It's hard to believe, and when I think back to when he was born, I've overwhelmed that God entrusted him to me 13 years ago when I was only 22.  I'm so thankful, because he made me grow up, and he and his sister have made me better.  

We just got back from Panama City Beach, FL, where we seem to spend his birthday every year now.  He certainly doesn't seem to mind, and neither does the rest of the family.  We spent a lot of time at Shell Island, we played family games, and ate some wonderful sea food.  Next year we will be moving to the Midwest, so we are soaking in as much beach time as we possibly can.

The new teen had only one request for his card (yes, they put in requests for special cards to be made).  He wanted a minotaur card.  I don't know about you, but I don't have any minotaur stamps, so I had to improvise.  I used several sets on this special card.  The background was made with You're my Hero by Taylored Expressions.  My minotaur was made using the moose from Chubby Chum Pals by Paper Smooches.  The rest was done with a hodgepodge of stamps from Paper Smooches:  Birthday Buddies, Hang Ups, Word Salad, & Squeaky Clean.  I drew the little shield.

The shield and axe have special meaning, because my son simply wanted a bunch of supplies to make his own duct tape weapons.  He's such a creative kid.  He was pretty thrilled with both his card, and his loot of pvc piping, pvc insulation, and lots of duct tape!

Here he is after one of his creations last night. . .happy kid.  He's planning to have a few friends over so they can make some too, and then they can battle.  That's my boy!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Trasks!  I pray you all enjoy the blessings of the season, and have a chance to reflect on the birth of our Savior!

Take Your Blogger to Work Day

The awesome and oh-so-sweet Gina, over at Hiya Luv is hosting an event called

Take Your Blogger to Work Day

What a fun way to get to know a few people and how they came to be doing what they are doing.  Gina provided a few questions for us to think about to get us started so here we go!

1. When you were growing up, what did you hope to become? What was your dream career?

I always wanted to go to Harvard and become a lawyer.   

2. Through the years in elementary school, high school, college, etc. did your dream career evolve? What influenced you?

The law always has fascinated me.  In high school I was always voted the Public Defender or District Attorney for Government Day.  When I realized how expensive a school like Harvard was I had to rethink that, haha.  Accounting was always another thing that fit my fancy, and I seemed to excel at it so I made it my major in college. 

3. What is your career today? Is it your dream job? How did you get there? What do you hope for your career in the future?

I married my awesome husband in college and 2 months after we married I found out I was 5 weeks pregnant.  I knew that I was not going to be able to get my masters at that point, so I changed my major to Business Management.  I ended up graduating with an almost 1 year old and being 7 months pregnant with the second.  Do you think I was determined?

I am now a SAHM who home schools her kids and spends any free time I have making cards.  I sometimes sell them too, hehe :D

4. What is your day like? What are your typical tasks? 
Well, I home school my kids, so school starts around 8:30 a.m. every morning and lasts until mid afternoon.  In between I'm doing laundry, making a few cards, taking care of cleaning, planning dinner. . .

5. What do you love about your job? What is challenging?
I love it all!  I love that I married a man that is okay with and encourages this life.  Sure, we may have to do without a few extras, but we are blessed by our decision.  I am certainly not a teacher by trade, but I do believe that God has given me what I need on a daily basis to be able to teach. . .proof that this is God and not me.  It is challenging to teach, but the 'ah ha' moments make it all worth it.

6. Do you hope to stay in this job forever? Where do you see your career self in the future?
We take each year as it comes, and to be honest I don't plan too far ahead.  I'm constantly in prayer about making sure we are in His will.  Who knows where I'll end up.  For now, I'm just loving the day-to-day.

7. How does your blog/shop/creativity contribute from your career? Or does it distract? 
My blog is my 'out' if you will.  I make cards, because it's something I feel blessed to do, and I think it makes me a better mom and teacher for my kids.  It also shows them that there is more to me, even though being a mom is enough.  It shows them that it's important to take time to recharge the batteries :)

Thank you for stopping by to learn about my 'career', and thank you sweet, Gina, for putting this on!  I'm looking forward to learning more about more of you :D

Happy Valentine's Day

He's the guy who can make me smile in almost all situations.  He gets my humor, and after almost 13 years he still makes my heart flutter and gives me butterflies.  I could look for a million years and never find someone who loves me the way he does.  He lets me get away with almost anything, and he loves me so much more than I deserve on most days.  I truly do thank God for this man every day.

 My hottie in his Stetson.

 Here he had gotten back from deployment #2, so we went to Monterey.  I had him stand in front of the Crabby Jim's sign. . .because my Jim is truly never crabby.  He couldn't even make a crabby face.  The second take was a bit better of an attempt at 'crabby', haha.

We used to say that we may not be perfect for each other, but we aren't good enough for anyone else, lol.  But that's not true, because we really are perfect for each other.

Jim, I love you.  

A DIY Headboard

I know I usually only post about cards, but I just had to post this to show how easy it was. I am not much of a do-it-yourselfer, because time is never on my side. However, it was my daughter's 9th birthday the other day, and she really wanted a new bed with her room redone. We couldn't afford the 'new bed' she wanted, so I explained the alternative. She thought it sounded nice. Don't read on if you don't want, and be aware that this post is long with 11 pictures.

Supplies: Plywood

computer paper

drill

saw

quilt batting

stretching fabric

light weight cardboard

hole punch

thread buttons

staple gun

We started off with a 45" x 39" piece of 1 1/2" plywood that we had them cut at the local DIY store.
I taped some computer paper together to get the width of the plywood, and then folded it in half and cut my design.
I then traced the design with a Sharpie, so that my DH could cut it out.
Isn't he cute with a drill. . .
. . .and a saw, hehe?!
After the design was cut, I drew diagonal lines and where they crossed I drew my circles. This is where my husband would drill holes for the buttons.
Our dog, Lolli, wanted to be involved too ;)
At this point I had already stapled the batting down and was now stapling the fabric.
To make the buttons, I punched 1 1/4" circles out of light weight cardboard 5 times. The next step was to cover them in batting and fabric and sew that together. I cut off the excess, and then sewed them through the pre-drilled holes with some DMC floss. I ended up knotting them off on the back with button to make sure the floss didn't go right back through the fabric on the front.
After that I stapled the edges again to give it a more finished look on the back.
Here is her headboard in her newly painted room. Previously, her paint colors were more of an offwhite on the top and Peptobismol pink on the bottom. It was perfect for a little girl, but my little girl is 9 and wanted a more mature feeling room. So for only $60 she got a custom headboard. That was a far cry different than the $250 bed she had originally wanted, and she ended up being much happier with this.
Thanks for reading on and checking out my DIY project. Hopefully, I'll have a little time in my 'craft cave' today, so I'll have some more stamped goodies to share with you.

Wattlebird Hats

I just had to share these that came in the mail today from Annie, who has a wonderful little Etsy shop called Wattlebird. My kids are serious Pokemon lovers, so when I saw these, I had to ask Annie to make me some. They are so wonderful, and my kids have not taken them off (even though it's over 100 degrees outside, haha). I just had to share these wonderful creations that Annie made. They are so well put together, and don't my kiddos look cute in them?!

A New Camera!!

THIS is what my husband bought me for my birthday! No, my birthday is not today, but next week. He just couldn't keep the secret any longer! I have been so excited, and just couldn't wait to share the news! Here is one of the pictures I took of my son at his practice tonight. He couldn't stand still, so I got him running off. I can honestly say that I am THOROUGHLY impressed with this camera! Look at that handsome boy!

Some Daddy Doll Pics

It's finally starting to feel a bit like Fall around here, and our tree out front is turning a lovely shade of dark red. I love the time of year when the leaves change. Most other places have already had this change, but here in southern GA we are starting to really see it and feel it. A while back, my bff Christi, sent me the most adorable photo album for adventures with the Daddy Doll. It came about because we had discussed how are kids could take these dolls with them anywhere they wanted to act like Dad was a part of things. My kids do some crazy things with theirs. Every night my daughter asks hers if it would like to snuggle her. Last night she made me laugh so hard when she had a staring contest with it. She was giggling like crazy at the idea! My son is forever wrestling his and doing flying elbows on it. Oh how different they are.

Yesterday we took 'Daddy' out to see the pretty leaves on the tree. Here are the results and the first pics for our 'Adventures with Daddy Doll' book.

As you can tell, my son was having a hard time containing his laughter.

Clear Dollar Stamps Weekend Color Challenge

I'm sitting in my hotel room waiting for the rest of the family to wake up and get ready for breakfast. We had such a wonderful time at the Yankees / Braves game last night. I'll even share a quick picture of our fun from last night.

All right, now onto the real fun ;) Woohoo, it's the end of the month and that means I get the priveledge of hostessing the Clear Dollar Stamps Weekend Color Challenge over at Papercraft Planet! I chose the colors Riding Hood Red, Summer Sun, Kiwi Kiss, White, and an optional Chocolate Chip. I wanted my card to be a fairly simple yet elegant looking card so there isn't much detail. I really like how it turned out.

Stamps: Pretty Perches (Clear Dollar Stamps)

Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red, Summer Sun

Paper: Whisper White

Accessories: SU dimensionals, hodgepodge hardware, Riding Hood Red ribbon

Grab your Clear Dollar Stamps and let's see what you can come up with. We would LOVE if you would join us over at Papercraft Planet!

Matti's Piano Solo

I know this isn't my traditional post, but I am one proud Mama!  This is my daughter's piano solo at church.  One of the main reasons for posting it here, was so that family and friends could check out her solo.  She accepted Christ as her Savior a few years ago, but last week asked to be baptized.  

I hope that you are all having a very blessed weekend, and thanks for checking it out!  

My Hubby in the Field

This picture was taken a couple of weeks back when we got to go out to the field for a family day.   I had mentioned before that I was so excited to see my husband that I totally walked out the door without my camera or my phone!  Thankfully, one of the other wives was not as brain dead as I was that morning and she remembered her camera.  Here is the pic she sent of me and the kids with my man out doing what it is he does.