Timeless Treasures

As a mom, I have many blessings flow in and out of my life that represent my daughter and I know (she is my number one focus:)

Today is no different because the blessing is her homeschool program.  My daughter attends an online public school.  Now when most people hear about an only child attending Homeschool, their first worry is in the quality of education and their second worry is that of socialization.  So today, I'm sharing a blessing of a homeschool program.  

You see, I too, worried about these topics until yesterday.  Though rather than the program itself I worried about being able to supplement her education as any teacher or program tries to do with meaningful lessons outside the school book - my answer yesterday was yes. 

During her social studies lesson, we were learning about medicine and the improvements that have been made throughout history.  We studied penicillin and its many uses, we studied pasteurization of milk products, and we studied about the most wonderful Helen Keller.  

Now while the book covered the very basic of Ms. Keller's triumph's, I felt it was lacking in teaching the heart of her story and the lesson that "those with disabilities can overcome and succeed triumphantly" and I remembered that when I was a child our class was taught not only through a book but through the 1962 movie "The Miracle Worker".  But being a last minute learning coach, I worried how will I find the movie?  

Ahhhh thank you dear YouTube.  There on youtube for a mother that wants to do her best by her child was the very movie she hoped for in its entirety.   I was so pleased!  

Together with snacks in the middle of a school day, my daughter and I sat watching Patty Duke give an awesome performance of Helen Keller.  It touched my heart again as I watched it touch my daughter's heart for the first time.  

So today my blessing is three fold - one for the Homeschool opportunity and the other for YouTube and Helen Keller, I've named it Timeless Treasures in honor of the story of Helen Keller.  I am very grateful for the blessing of being able to share in this way the lessons of my youth and my knowledge through homeschooling my daughter.  

Blessings to All, 

GigiCharm

  

Blessings Blog Day 17 - St. Valentines Day

Ahhh the blessing of Valentines Day - Whether you are newly in love or celebrating an old, time-tested love, or simply saying you are a special friend, we all enjoy the meaning of this special day.  

For our house, we celebrate with funny e-cards, candy, and usually a very special meal.  Besides painting our nails a brilliant shiny red and dressing up, something special I chose to do is make a special holiday page for my most special Valentine gift from Heaven.  My Kennedy!  

So whether you are making a special phone call or sending flowers to someone you love, I wish you the most special day ever, create something beautiful with your entire being on your Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines from Snaps and Buttons Galore.com!!!

10 Reasons to Love FaceBook

Blessings are sometimes hard to see - we can miss the obvious ones when they're staring us in the face and sometimes we find a blessing in something that seems unlikely.  

Today's blessing - FaceBook- perhaps for many will seem to fall into the "unlikely" category, but for me it is one of the many I missed and it was definitely something obvious.

Facebook is my go to - I can't be everywhere I want to be; with my friends; with my loved ones; at all the parties; at the bedside of a sick friend or family member; but I can be on Facebook - letting each and everyone of those mentioned know that I care and that I want to be with them even in the smallest of ways.  

To me this makes Facebook one of the best blessings from GOD I know in 2012 - Mark Zuckerberg may have created it(with help) and perhaps the last thing he intended was that Facebook would be used in such a way but there it is nonetheless.  Facebook serves those that serve GOD - We love eachother through Facebook, we embrace eachother in times of need through Facebook, and we pray for one another through Facebook.  

So today I decided to dedicate my creative energy to making a Scrapbook page about Facebook and Mark Z.  Thanks again Mark - Your Creative Genius has been an instrument for GOD's Goodness!

Blessings, 

GigiCharm

Creative Sparks - Blessing Blog Day 15

Creative Sparks

Today's blessing is one I should have probably wrote about on my first blog but sometimes the most evident is the thing we see last or at least a little down the road.  

This is the case with today's blessing.  Creative sparks are actually few and far between when it comes to Digital Scrapbooking - what hasn't already been done?  So when a new idea or pic inspires a creative spark - I let it burn.  

Creative sparks come from many different sources; perhaps they come from a movie we watched; a song we hear; taking a walk in a park; many things can lead to a creative spark, but what do we do with them?  Do we let them die out and remain on a shelf in our minds or do we add more logs on the fire and really get to cooking?  I think perhaps there is balance in the answer.  Balance in that sometimes an idea is just an idea but other times that spark can be turned into a true fire burning into our souls encouraging us onward in our dreams.  

Well, today's is just a playful spark I created yesterday, my new DigiTrims called County Fair were sparked as I began to create a summer calendar for my daughter and her best friend.  I think the end result was one of fun and whimsy, just like I hope my daughter's summers always remain. 

Enjoy those creative sparks in your life, you never know where the fire will take you!

SneakPeek at County Fair DigiTrims!

Until Tomorrow Blessings,

GigiCharm

Love Letters - Blessings Blog Day 14

Love Letters

Have you ever wrote a love letter? One to your honey, your boyfriend, or your partner?  If you are trying to be romantic and really set a mood with your love letter, it can be tough.  When it comes to putting emotions down in a letter to my special someone, the words don't flow as naturally for me as when I try to create something from art.  

Now my husband, he can always write me a love note that touches my heart and usually in 5 words or less.  That's a special talent. :) 

With today's blog, I am giving back to the blessings I have received over the last 11 years of love notes from my husband.  I have created a love note page, (I know forgive the mushy) and with Valentines Day just around the corner this is a project that you too can create for your someone special.  

Below are the Kuler.adobe colors chosen for my project and the page.  

Please Enjoy!

Until Tomorrow Blessings, 

GigiCharm

Blessing Blog 13 - Cowboy UP

CowBoy UP!

My family is a long line of cowboys. No they weren't infamous or notorious western hero's like the Lone Ranger but they loved anything and everything Western.  From horses and cattle wrangling to shoot'em up spaghetti westerns, if cowboy was in the air they were and are still participating.  

I love these men in our family history - these Cowboys.  They have taught me the true meaning of Cowboy UP!  Cowboy UP defined simply means when you get knocked off your horse, you brush the dirt off and climb back on.  That is courage in my world and alot of the men I love have this kind of courage and teach this kind of lifestyle to their children.  

In a world, where coddling our children has become synonymous with lawsuits against teachers or principals for discipline, I miss this kind of lesson.  Lessons where you do something wrong, you apologize or you don't make the team in your first try, you try try again.  This is Cowboy UP in my world - not western per say but straight forward and to the point - no dillydallying!  

I'm thankful that I grew up with men who were plain spoken - who said what they meant every time and if they apologized you knew it was sincere.  My daughter's Uncle Travis is one of these special men and I love him for being true to who he was born to be - A True Cowboy that knows the meaning of Cowboy UP. 

As a great cowboy, Wil Anderson said "It's not how your buried, it's how your remembered." Now that's true Cowboy UP!

Well here is my tribute to all the cowboys out there in Texas and the world over! 

Until Tomorrow Blessings, 

GigiCharm

Blessings Blog - Day 12

Most Wonderful Sunday Everyone!

Time!   Today's blessing is time.  Time is so little to enjoy or reflect on the moments we ought to be enjoying.  Time with loved ones both near and far, time with friends we miss from years gone by, and time for oneself is possibly for us mother's the most fleeting.  

This weekend while my daughter and husband were having a weekend adventure, I got that time to reflect and be joyful.  I chose to spend the time scrapping and ended up reflecting on pics of my beautiful daughter and her first birthday party.  

It's not unusual that another day of scrapping has given a reflection on blessing as I held each pic in my hand - looking at the faces of loved ones that we hadn't seen in years.  A dearly loved ex-colleague, my husband's childhood pals, and a grandmother who is now in Heaven with her Lord.  Those pics made me yearn for the clock to rewind both for me and for my daughter who won't fully know all the blessed gifts each of these dear friends gave to our lives or how deeply they adored her from her arrival in this lovely world.  

So today I am so thankful for time; time to reflect, times to enjoy, and of course time to scrapbook!  I hope you take a moment to enjoy those you love dearly both near and far.  

Until Tomorrow Blessings, 

GigiCharm