live, love, laugh, create

A picture and a quote

 

"God forbid that I should go to any heaven in which there are no horses" - R.B.Grahm

                                                    

Wordplay # 21 is up

Actually, it's been up for a while and I forgot to mention it twice. Here is Jill's latest challenge:

Wordplay Challenge #21: Commit It to Memory

This week's challenge is based on an assignment that my eighth graders are working on this week. Inspired by Langston Hughes's poem "Aunt Sue's Stories," they are retelling family stories that they would like to continue to pass down through the generations. Some students are writing stories, while others have chosen to compose narrative poems.

Each day this week, we have heard stories about births and adoptions, escapes from war-torn countries and immigration to new countries, arranged marriages and romantic elopements, and moments that tore families apart and pulled them together. I've been amazed and overwhelmed to discover which stories these young people have identified as truly valuable, stories that they will no doubt share with their own children someday.

As storytellers and memory keepers, we are responsible for finding ways to ensure that our family histories survive. The oral tradition is one way of doing this, but by recording these stories in our scrapbooks, we "commit" them to memory.

This time around, our challenge is to find a way to document a story that you hope each generation of your family will remember. It is chance for us to remember (and I know I've used this before) "what it would impoverish us to forget," as Frost once said

Even if you don't have a photo, tell the story. If you feel the need to include a photo, consider taking a photo of something symbolic -- something or someone that represents the story that you are documenting.

 

You can see all of Jill's previous challenges here. She offers fabulous prompts to spark your journaling creativity. Her blog is in my favorites! Jill is totally on target with this challenge. Isn't the reason we create scrapbooks a way to preserve our memories for our families? I have personally decided to increase the journaling in my projects. Sometimes I don't say enough and I really want my family to know as much as they can about all of us and about me and just how much all of the aspects in our lives means to me. There is a considerable amount of family history from my parents' era that is doomed to be lost if I don't start asking my aunts & uncles questions. I don't want that to slip away. I have some photos but that is not enough by any means! I have to have the stories too. I guess it's time to plan some Friday evening dinners with my aunts & uncles!

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Cool stuff under the sea and a leap of faith

Our friend Bruce borrowed his daughter's goggles and found this while swimming....it's a heck of a lot of real estate for one tiny hermit crab.....

 

and the girls got to show off some of their catches of the day after deep sea fishing on Monday...

 

The 4 of them got 10 fish between them, all bluefish. They had to throw the stripers back because they were too small to keep.

This bridge at State beach is where the kids jump off into the water. It's packed all day.

 

You can see Rene and Lindsey scoping out the situtation....

 

and they did it!

 

Crazy girls!!! At least they didn't try the flips the other kids were doing!!

We're having a good week and the weather is perfect. We haven't seen the Obamas but we saw the Prez was playing golf up the street from our house.We saw lots of police and crowds of people hoping to get a glimpse of him lined up at the end of the street that leads to the golf course.

Don't forget about the classes on Debbie Hodge's website! You can check them out here.

Thanks for stopping by!

ETA: Want to win some great adhesives from Tombo? Check it out here at Unkit's live stream on Monday August 31st at 9:30 PM. 2 lucky winners will receive $50 in Tombo adhesive products.

I'm on Sabatical.....I'm at a retreat.....I took a break.....

actually, it's none of the above! I'm on Vacation....again! It's wonderful! I have been extremely fortunate this summer, that's for sure! I'm on Martha's Vineyard for another week. We're having great weather and we are also on "Obama Watch".....

 

We knew he was coming and found out officially he and his family were here by seeing this on our way back from Minemsha via Chilmark. They are staying about 2 miles from where our house is.

We have friends with us this week who have never been to the Vineyard. They are in awe of its beauty and how quiet it is. We've been site seeing and enjoying some of the island activities.

We went here on Sunday

 

and saw lots of neat stuff like this...

 

and this....

and some demonstrations like this one....

 

and we ate a little....in fact a little too much....

 

and saw lots of animals.....

I couldn't even begin to tell you what breed of goat it was or if it was a goat at all...

And of course, The gals from Island Alpaca were there.....

funny looking critters......

And this young lady was not such a lady...don't let her good looks fool you!

 

She was very mouthy and a little nippy. But at least she stood still for photos. I like this one a lot....

 

kinda cool, eh?

There's a lot more to share but this post is already photo heavy!

When you get a chance check out Debbie Hodge's web site for some great upcoming classes on photography, scrapbooking not so perfect photos, scrapbooking with fabric and Photoshop techniques.There is something for everyone and it's all fun, informative and affordable!

I promise to let you know if I meet up with The Big O while we're both vacationing this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Out of the loop

It wasn't my intention to disappear, but I was feeling lousy-fever, muscle aches, fatigue.....sounds just like Lyme Disease, no? Makes sense that I would have picked it up with the running around in the fields with Lisa and her dogs. So 6 days after I got my blood drawn and started Doxycline I have a negative Lyme titer....pfffft....seriously? So the doc said I can stay on the Doxy.... along with all the yogurt and probiotics I can choke down too. They did not test for erlicchiosis, so they have to get back to me with the result. 

Check out writeclickscrapbook. com for a week long tutorial on mini albums. I love mini albums and you'll love this weeks tutorial. Stop over and check it out when you get a chance!

Thanks for stopping by!