Wordful Wednesday - Dandelion Delight

Wee girl loves to pick me backyard bouquets.  Whether they be flowers that grow like weeds or are actually weeds (dandelions here...she propagates them herself with many wishful deep breaths, spreading their seeds across our lawn), there are few things sweeter than her joy in carefully selecting exactly which blooms she wants to include in her pretty little bouquet and all for a smile from Mama.

And not only do her bouquets make me smile, so does her sweet spirit.

I'm playing along with Wordful Wednesday from Seven Clown Circus today, won't you come too?

                                              

What does Blog Frog and Apple have in common?

Good afternoon!  Have you figured it out?  What Apple (as in the company, not the fruit!) and the Frugal Living Community at Blog Frog have in common?

Cards with both their logos arrived in an envelope in my mailbox.  See??

The hand written note from Lori at Blog Frog made me smile.  And what was inside the Apple card also made me smile.  Wanna know why?!  Look!

A $25 gift card to the Apple Store!!  I was a lucky duck and won one of the giveaways in the Frugal Living Community that launched last month!

Tappin' my toes and doing a major Happy Dance here....even my wee girl is getting in on the groove!

Hope your day is grooving too!!  Tell me what you are up to...I'd love to hear! :>

{Sew} Small, {Sew} Strong

Do you remember the first fabby bag my best friend, Jenn, who works her magic with fabric & thread gave me?  I still use it for shopping, crafty playtime with friends, and even as an overnight bag when I turn in my Grown Up Card for a night.

Wee girl, my Princess, who loves all things creative & crafty (not to mention, anything that even resembles a purse!) mentioned that she would love a bag like Mama's to put her goldfish in when we head out for errands. 

And Auntie Jenn totally came through!  Princess' bags are significantly smaller, measuring (approx.) 9"x9"x4"...the perfect size for her to carry on her arm or shoulder.  And they are just as sturdy as Mama's bag, a la Jenn, with the straps wrapping all the way under the bags.

These bags aren't just for shopping!  Every week when Princess heads out to Grammie's for dance class, she packs her leotard & tights in there.  She's so proud to have her own bags, for her own 'stuff'.

I tried a few times, different locations, different lighting, but it was a challenge to pick up the subtly colored patterns...pale pink & white.  The first bag is a floral pattern, which shows up pretty well.  But, the second one is stars and moons, which I'm sorry that I was not able to capture the best.  (All pictures are clickable to enlarge.)

I must admit, I do love Saturdays!  Its my morning to sleep in....a pattern left over from the days of kidlets being babes and waking all hours of the night (a pattern that I have no intention of breaking anytime soon!).  I feel like Saturday mornings recharge me.  Its not just the bit of extra sleep, its waking to quiet, to no hungry tummies, no school lunch waiting to be made, no clock ticking, urging us out the door.  Its like a deep, fresh breath.

What recharges you?

Business in the Front, Party in the Back

Okay, so first some bloggy business to attend to, but hang in there, okay?  There's a fun share at the end of the post (couldn't bore you with all business, right?!)! :>

In the interest of honesty, disclosure, and complying with the FTC's rules for disclosure for bloggers, I am posting a disclosure policy for this blog, Time Crafted.  It will become a permanent fixture, setting up home just under the blog's header, for reference.

"This policy is valid from 03 September 2010

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact Karen at (timecrafted at gmail dot com).

This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog, but never the opinion of its author. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest."

I went in search for some help putting this policy together and found a non-profit site (to which I have no connection to....see? honesty!).  To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org/.

Hope you've hung around for the fun share! 

A couple of weeks ago, I played along with 504 Main's Tickled Pink blog hop.  The next Friday, Holly included my post, Mt. Everest {Hello} in her Spotlight.  It had been a crazy busy week and I missed seeing it.  But, I definitely wanted to share with you and give a shout out to Holly herself.  I recommend clicking your way over to 504 Main and saying 'hello'!

                                       

Her Tickled Pink Fridays are a heapload of fun and the creative variety of the posts being linked up is uber fantastic!  In fact, that's where I'm heading now....off for some blog hopping, some inspiration, and a chance to see new to me blogs & meet the peeps who write them!

What are your weekend plans?  If you're from the States, are you road tripping, camping, bbq'ing or any other Labor Day weekend fun in store for you?  You know, I'd love to hear all about it! :>

{Sweet} September

We're almost done with the second day of this month and I am pausing for a quick breath before launching into not only my favorite season, but the busiest. 

Why is it my favorite season, you ask?  (Okay, so maybe you're not wondering, but roll with me...) 

I could say because one kidlet has a birthday coming up...but as cute as he is, it means he's another year older and I wonder where the last few years have gone.

I could say because two cute kidlets get even cuter in their costumes of choice and head out into the night, grinning ear to ear or because there are yummy roasted pumpkin seeds to nibble on.....but, by the end of it, I'm dragging my tired you know what to bed from staying up most of the night before carving pumpkins.

I could say because November comes before I remember to blink and we're talking turkey that Hubby will later turn into the most delicious turkey, veggie & wild rice sit on the stove all day soup with the leftovers or because there are school vacation days, which mean I get to turn off my 5:40am alarm clocks (yes, that's plural....the alarm clock and I have a love/hate relationship) or because after the last bite of turkey is eaten, the kidlets start hitting us up for the Christmas tree.....but, I remember that I'm in the home stretch to the next major holiday and have to remind myself to breathe.

I could say because the family trip to get the Christmas tree is one of my favorite moments of the season or because the kidlets & I love to sing Christmas songs together or because Hubby will have an extra day off of work or because the Christmas season makes me smile...but, I remember that my wee girl will spend the next eleven months asking me "When's Christmas?"

So, do you still want to know why Autumn, or Fall (take your pick), is my favorite season? 

When I was a kidlet, I lived in upstate New York.  We returned to school after Labor Day (not the middle of August), the air grows cool and crisp (unlike the hundred degree weather today, here on the other side of the country), the leaves turn brilliant colors, I loved (and still do) stomping & crunching those wonderful Autumn leaves as they dance through the air and fall to the ground, we began bundling up with scarves, hats, and mittens, and if we were lucky, little white jewels fell from the sky, blanketing the ground, and treated us with a white Christmas.

I realize that this is all from the perspective of a kidlet and not an adult who has to drive through the snow or on black ice, someone who has to rake up fallen leaves, take kidlets trick or treating in much cooler temps than they would like, but for me as a kidlet, it was magical.  That's how I remember it and if it truly was different than that, I don't want to know. 

And even though I'm raising my family on the other side of the country, I do hope that I can help make it magical for my own kidlets, so that they may know the joy of Autumn.

What's your favorite season?