Project Life {Tuesday}

YAY ME!  For the first time in 3 whole weeks, I got my weekly layout done in time to post on Tuesday!  :)
Times, they are so busy.  And apparently, well documented, too, because my PL Album is busting at the seams.  I bought a second binder and plan on using it for July - December, but I may actually have to separate my yearly binder into thirds.
Anyway, enough yappin'.  On with the layouts.

Mother's Day was awesome!  We had lots of fun hanging out with my mom.  There's a picture of my mom, Marley, and I all dressed up.  :)  Then Marley and I literally became bow-heads after she helped me open presents.

I paid a visit to Marley's school last week to take a silly class picture for her 4th grade homeroom teacher, and let the kids sign the mat.

Marley went for another horseback riding lesson!  *Sidenote:  Santa brought her 3 1-hour lessons as a Christmas gift, and we just recently redeemed them.  She did so well, focusing and really working hard, that we decided to continue the lessons!  We are all very excited about this opportunity for her.  It's a great chance for her to prove that she can be responsible for something other than herself.

Here's the back of the horse page.  I printed one photo of Marley on the horse as a 5x7 and cut it to fit into 2 of the 4x6 pockets.

And finally, the second half of our week...  This past week was Marley's last week of 4th grade.  Her Honor's Assembly was last week, and she won an award for Citizenship and Honor Roll!  Friday, to celebrate Marley's awesome school year, we took her to dinner then to the movie theater to see The Avengers!  (Great movie, by the way!)  We wrapped up the week with a visit to my sister-in-law to get our hair done.

How was your week?  Kids out of school yet?

Feed the Lambs 6-Week Challenge

source

The most helpless feeling in the world, for a parent, is being unable to relieve the suffering of a child.  Fortunately, America is a country of vast resources.  True, even in our privileged society children go hungry and fall prey to terrible illnesses.  But these tragedies are magnified tenfold in countries that are overrun with poverty.

Not long ago stories and images flooded the news channels about parents in the Horn of Africa having to leave behind children who were too weak to walk as they made long voyages seeking food and aid after a famine.  I can't begin to fathom how difficult that decision must have been.  I'd like to think that this was an isolated incident due to unpredictable circumstances.   Unfortunately, that isn't the case.

According to Thinkquest*, 15 million children die each year from hunger.

Bread.org estimates that 925 million people suffer from hunger and malnutrition worldwide.

The World Food Project claims that hunger kills more people each year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined!

And the most tragic of all - Thinkquest claims that most of the world's hunger and sanitation problems could be solved for the cost of what people in developed countries spend on perfume in just one year.

But it isn't enough to think "oh, sure, I could give up this perfume bottle to feed a kid."  Someone has to match the willing donors to the need.  Someone has to inform people that there is a need in the first place.  I'm sure we're all aware of hunger.  But in a society where many of us are relatively well fed, it's hard to really comprehend the level of starvation occurring in the world.

I want to invite you to join me in the fight to bring food to children in need.  If we can ease the suffering of even a few children - if we can abate the heartache of a few parents - that is my goal.  So, I am officially participating in, and challenging you to participate in the

Operation Feed The Lambs 6 Week Challenge

How much money can we in the bloggerverse raise in 6 weeks to help end child starvation?  Will you join me in raising some funds?  Here are the details

1) Plan out a fundraiser.  It can be as simple as hitting up your friends for spare change, or as complicated as organizing a 5K.  Whatever you're good at, start there.

2) Start a Hunger Line.  Are you an etsy shop owner?  Consider starting a Hunger Line.  Choose one item (or type of item) and donate 100% of profits from that one item to fighting hunger.  Be sure to tag your item with Hunger Line - lets see if we can start an etsy trend!

3) Be a media maven! Tweet about the OFL challenge, post on your facebook page, write up a blog post...just get the word out!

4) Link up.  In 6 weeks we'll be having a linky-party.  Write up a little post about your fundraiser.  Share pictures, tell amazing stories about the people you met or the roadblocks you overcame. Tell us a little about where you held your event and what you did. Even if you just picked up spare change off the street, tell us about your project.  Or, show off some of the products from your new Hunger Line.  You don't have to share your total, but if you want to, I'll be keeping a tally to post a "grand total" at the end so we can see what kind of impact our bloggy community had.  Link up your post so we can all cheer each other on.

5) Donate.  Then take those dollars you've raised and donate them. Any charity that turns that money into food will do. Already have a favorite organization? Great! If not, you might want to consider some of these:

Feed The Children

Children's Hunger Relief Fund

Children's Hunger Fund

Heifer International

World Food Programme

World Vision

Do a little research, pick the one that's right for you, and help feed those babies!

Are you in?  Do you have any questions?  Have a project idea, charity, or story you really want to share?  Feel free to comment below, or email me at kthompson0412@gmail.com!

I am co-hosting this wonderful fundraising opportunity.  This challenge is the brain-child of Cat, who blogs over at Stuff I Love.  Go say "hi" and tell her how awesome she is!

*Facts as of 1997

My {Future} Home Inspiration

A lot of you know that my family and I are moving soon.  I'm decorating and re-decorating and re-re-decorating in my head, and in my notebook, and on Pinterest....over and over again.

I'm so excited!!!

We have been renting a home for 3 years now - which translates to ME being crazy about decorating living in a home I CAN'T DECORATE!!!  Not the way I want to, anyway.  Can't paint the walls, can't hang pictures (not too many), change light fixtures, etc.

Finally, in about 4 short weeks, I will be in our new house and can do anything I want to make it ours!

Here's the color palette I'm considering for the main level of the house (minus the pink, though):

We're planning on the beige color for the main wall areas.  The terra cotta orange will be the accent wall surrounding the fireplace in the living room.  The softer blue will be my craft room, and the dining room will be painted navy blue.  I can add touches of green and more of the terra cotta in pillows, curtains, etc.  

The dining room in our new house already has the bead board so it'll look a bit like this:

(Not quite so big, though, unfortunately, but we'll manage!)

We have this exact table set, which will work perfectly in our dining room:

Because our table is square, I'm kinda diggin' this square rug from IKEA to go under the table:

And for the curtains, picture these to the floor with the terra cotta color in a wide ribbon as tie-backs:

Maybe even a double ribbon, using the terra cotta orange and the soft green???  Hmmmm....

Anyway, I'm hoping to do some pallet art for one wall.  I want something like this, but in my colors - see the "EAT" sign on the left:

I saw this on Lolly Jane Boutique's blog :)

Funny thing is, I constantly have to tell my daughter to EAT!!!  So now, I can just point to the sign!  Tee hee hee...

Oh, by the way, we have already ordered our new living room furniture from Rooms to Go - check it:

Seriously, June 9th cannot get here quick enough!!!

DIY Teacher Gift Ideas

I love this time of year!  Kids are so excited because the end of the school year is near, which means summer break is right around the corner!  Sunshine, smiles, parties, pool time...I love it all!

And I love spoiling Marley's teachers for all the hard work they do all year long.  Teachers are so under-appreciated!

Let me show you what we're doing for her teachers this year.

We are getting her teachers ready for some beach or pool time!

Between Target, Dollar Tree, and Charming Charlie's, I got everything I needed for 5 teacher gifts and still stayed on a budget.  (Yes, FIVE!)

Dollar Tree had some cute and colorful sunglasses - can't beat it for a buck a piece.

I got mini-sunscreens for $0.88 at Target.

Also from Target, I got pencils and crossword puzzle books.

Target's dollar bin had these great plastic buckets in bright colors.  I'm using these for her TAG (Talented And Gifted) teachers.

Charming Charlie's, one of my favorite stores EVER, had these cute totes for $6.99!  These were perfect for her 2 main teachers.  I also got 2 beach towels at Wal-mart for $5.99 each.

I raided Marley's candy stash to make little snack bags for each teacher, too.

Here are the cute little snack bags.  :)

Here are the 2 big bags put together.

And the buckets!

I also have a yearly ritual.  Each year, I visit the homeroom class and boot out the teacher for a few minutes. We take a silly class picture and I have all the kids sign their names on the mat.  It turns out something like this:

Here's a close-up of the group of goofballs Marley had in her 4th grade class this year:

LOVE this project!  And I love that I've done it each year since Kindergarten, so I have one of these for every year of elementary school so far.  :)  Some of these kids knew exactly why I was there that day because they have participated in this project in prior years.  They were really excited to do it again!  And I know her homeroom teacher will really appreciate this - after all, this is more like the kids she sees everyday!  :)

Project Life {Tuesday}

I did it again.

I took too long to get last week's layout for my Project Life album completed and posted.

Oh well - better late than never, right?  :)

I tell ya what, the end of the school year is so busy.  It's insane.  Tack onto that a move, horseback riding lessons, 12 on the 12th, Mother's Day....yea.  Busy.

So, as you can see in some of my images from the week, we've been packing.  The house is a wreck, and for those of you who know me at all, you know I can't stand it.  :)  I'm trying to deal...  (breathe in, breathe out - walk away)

Marley had another horseback riding lesson, so I used a Design E page protector for these images.

And here's the back of Design E.

And I have to share this awesome picture with you because it's just so freakin' cute!

This is Lucian.  He's the puppy that lives at the equestrian center where Marley takes her lessons, and I heart him.  :)

Marley was inducted into the National Honor Society (YAY!) so I used a Design G page protector for these pictures.

And on the back of Design G, I started my 12 on the 12th layout.

I numbered my images, then made a list describing each image.

That's it!  May 6-12, in the books!

And even though it's late, I'm still linking up here:

Spring Break SMASH* Album {Video}

The family and I went to Daytona Beach, Florida, last month for Spring Break, and I finally finished my SMASH* Album showcasing our week!

This was my first attempt at SMASH-ing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  I'm seriously excited with how this album turned out, and I wanted to share all of it with you, but I have 41 pictures of the completed album!  Yes, forty-one pictures.

So, I did the next best thing, and made a video!  It's only appropriate to have my very first video to show my very first SMASH album, right?  :)

Enjoy!