Week 23 of Donna Downeys 48 Week Journaling Workshop and the End of Second Semester ~Positive Intentions~ with a lot of Tam

Hello I hope all has been going well with you and yours. We have been working hard here as usual. We have planted even more than usual....which in turns makes for more duties. Colten has had a new girlfriend and he hasn't had time to help out as much. So Bruce and I have been working extra hard. The boys have had a lot of school work and are getting spring fever to get out more and ride their skateboards. Mother's Day was nice Bruce put up a storm door on the second floor door to the front porch so we could have a screen to get a nice flow of air. I have asked for this door for more than 10 years...no joke. Now as Colby said "this door is amazing" it allows in such a nice few of air and a tremendous amount of beautiful cascading light. We have now had it almost a week, so we have certainly enjoyed it to the fullest. I can see all the hummingbirds we feed now without looking out the closed front door potentially scaring off the hummingbirds. I love seeing them!! Well this one took me approximately two weeks to complete. I did not have the stencils for the one Donna did nor did I feel for that one. This inspiration actually came from Tam's book  or you can view her wonderful community at Tamara Laporte Willowing.com she is full of beautiful sweet calming words and a passion for helping others to see the beauty in ones self and getting rid of that inner critic. ALL I CAN SAY TAM is AMAZING!!!! I started her first Life Book 2012 and one of what I call my best painting was on she taught me. Love ya Tam! Every since I saw her painting in the book I have wanted to paint it. She makes it so easy and it is nice to actually complete a project from a book and being able to use the inspiration. I enjoyed the process immensely. My aunt came out for Mother's Day and I fixed her a good meal and a cake. I didn't invite her for Easter (hello folks we are in a Pandemic) however she thinks I should have and was actually crossed with me. She works at a pharmacy and is a frontline cashier with no mask, no shield and no gloves. Anyhoo she came here and it was a very nice day. So this week which I can hardly believe it is Week 23 and almost the end of the second semester. I am feeling so accomplished!!! YES! Go check out Donna's 48 Weeks. She is fun and a great teacher! 

I love making these oh my do I ever! I actually learned this technique back in 2010 at a Donna Downey Inspired workshop I can't remember her name but she was actually a mural painter. This is what we made in class that day, but I had to finish it home....

this is what I made in 2010 

This is where it hangs in my room....going out to make back porch. 

the full spread of the two pages I just love it so much fun and whimsical 

if you would like to see the full last 22 posts see below on each of the weeks 

WEEK 1

WEEK 2

WEEK 3

WEEK 4

WEEK 5

WEEK 6 

Week 7

WEEK 8

Week 9 

WEEK 10 

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15 

Week 16

Week 17

Week 18 

Week 19

Week 20

Week 21 

Week 22

I can hardly believe I have made It this far....but so thankful and feeling so accomplished. 

Now on to week 24 and the end of the second semester 

YAY!!! 

Two more semesters to go

So basically I have almost completed half of the 48 weeks ~happy dance 

Dusty has been picking roses like crazy for our rose water we even have a new drying rack that hangs from the ceiling and is huge so now we have even extra room for drying roses and other herbs

I have been making bracelets again to add to my Etsy store GO HERE 

On the Etsy store 

So please if you would like to see Tamara Laporte go to her site Willowing dot com and you can find her book there and it was lesson 6 Looking Inward. 

I have been making more jams too getting ready for new fruits of the season to come 

Made raspberry again this is always a delicious jam 

its on my Etsy store too 

Love raspberry jam 

mango habanero 

Oh my delicious mango habanero 

I made a bunch more wintergreen salves these are excellent for my fibromyalgia pain and putting on your chest as a chest rub and for super dry hands and feet again on my Etsy store 

I already have beautiful tomatoes loving it!!! 

I have more than 300 tomato plants so we are hoping for an amazing year of tomatoes....it really helps our family out 

I planted a bunch in cloth bags this year a new thing we are trying just to see and easy on my back and my fibromyalgia pain I have fields of them too 

Go to see our pickle video on YouTube 

As you can see the fields are loaded 

Take care stay safe missing you all!!! 

Hugs to all and until to next time 

Love you guys!! 

Dawn Gallop 

Tweet

A Minecraft Birthday Party

This year for Dusty's Birthday Party he requested of course you guessed it...... A Minecraft Party. Which I thought great idea Dusty... I showed him many ideas from Pinterest. He suggested all the ideas to make or do.....however my summer has been extremely busy and completing all those wonderful ideas were way out of my realms. I know I know what?? Are you serious this so called super mom can't get it all done....no!! I can't and now that I am much older and have realized this the parties are much more exciting and fun!! I have done extreme parties and you know what....??? Whether I'm pulling out the balloons and streamers out of the bag five minutes before the party or go all out the kids have just as much fun and no one cares how much you put into the party it's the time you spend with friends and family that count. Most of all that mom is not stressed out!!! This years party was like pulling the balloons and the streamers out of the bag five minutes before the party. I tried to make it simple as a working mom time is very valuable so I couldn't put what I wanted to into the party, but it turned out super!!! The kids had fun, the adults had fun and we had good food too. The cute little stuffed Minecraft toys came from Toys R US.

Happy Birthday Dusty!! Tara bought these awesome goggles for Dusty at Target one night when we're in Florida for Amanda's wedding, which on that note I never even shared the weddings on the blog. Mmmm should that be a post or just leave it as it was shared on all the other socials medias.????? You tell me your thoughts. Maybe some of the ideas could help others in their future plannings. Going back to the goggles.... Tara sent the pic to me and I showed Dusty and in his innocent voice... He says yes Tara buy those for me. Of course who can resist Dusty's innocent voice???? Certainly not Tara or anyone else!!! LOL!!!

I bought the Twizzlers ® from BJ's in a nice size bulk container. Megan came over on Friday to help cut out the paper items. The kids played while we cut. I bought the TNT papers from WGPrintables on Etsy.

We had the party in our outdoor kitchen, I bought and printed the signs from PhorestDesign on etsy. At PhorestDesign they also have the scrapbook Minecraft papers and TNT wraps. It makes it nice to have all these great printables available to help you with parties. They look great too!!

  The tent cards and food labels I purchased from DigiPi on Etsy. 

  Again the food labels/tents came from DigiPi on Etsy. I bought the Swedish Fish (which are so good) from BJ's in a bulk bag. Of course the kids didn't mind. I really believe that the Swedish Fish are Colten's absolute favorite candy on the planet!! Lol! 

Thank goodness that everyone who came was able to help me with the party, because remember this was pull it out of the bag five minutes before the party kinda party. I have big plans but my time runs shorter than my ideas. One of the moms helped cut the strawberries and the watermelon which was a huge help and I am so thankful for their help!!!! Thank you! 

Again thank goodness most of the printables are instant downloads so you can have them within minutes after purchase.  

Note the straws they came from DimeStoreBuddy on Etsy. I bought the Lemonheads at Walmart in the boxes where the "movie candy" is located.

The cheese came from BJ's in the bulk bags. Bruce had to go buy the colorful toothpicks like twenty minutes before the party was to begin. I bought the invites from PhorestDesign which also is where the banner came from. We also did water bottle label's which I bought from Kitprintables.

Note the banner. Again from PhorestDesign. We found all the party stuff like cups, balloons, tablecloth, plastic wear, napkins, etc. from Party City. We bought black, dark green, and lime green accessories for the party. I Megan and I wrapped Hershey® candy bars with the labels I purchased from InvitesOnDemand on etsy. Since it's so hot here they were in the refrigerator so I didn't get a picture. I bought the Hershey® bars from BJ's too.

Of course I made the cake, which the lady who cuts the boys hair suggested getting one of the edible cake toppers which I did and boy did that make for a fast cake!!Thanks Virginia!!  I used the Wilton 11x15 x2 pan to bake the cake and I had the topper to fit that cake. However allow yourself space since the design reaches to the extreme edge nowhere for the frosting to be. So once I added the pipping on the edge it covered up the y on Dutsy and then once we took the cake out in the heat the pipping was so close to the edge that in the heat it fell off. Oh well! Dusty didn't care he was having too much fun!! The cake still tasted good too! Dusty loved the design of Steve and the Minecraft gang. It really made for a super easy cake! Yay! The design came from CakingImpressions on Etsy.

One little boy had to leave early and I wanted to make sure he left with a piece of cake so that's why the cake is already cut before we sang Dusty Happy Birthday. I make the frosting from scratch too. It is yummy! Look at his sweet smile.... Can you believe he is seven already??? I can't!

Hurry up mom cut my cake!! 

Now the fun begins "PRESENTS" 

He always gets really cool stuff and he enjoys it too, he always wants to wear his birthday shirts he gets!

Reading cards. Pam came too!! Yay! 

Everyone is looking on....

Use those muscles buddy!

Dusty certainly looks happy and surprised about this one, Coop looks like mmmm ok now I jealous! Lol!

The big Minecraft Lego set.

Everyone had fun! We had water balloons. Just good ole fashion fun!!

Pool time!!

We made homemade pizzas in the wood fired pizza oven. Which is always always fun!

There goes Dusty with a water balloon.

There goes Cooper! "SPLASH" 

It was so nice to have Skylar and Crystal here too!

Wonder what she is thinking??? 

Thanks to Tara for also sharing her pics with me as I miss so much getting things and helping others with pizzas, etc. Thank YOU Tara!!! Look at Skybear she is sooooo precious!! 

Our precious newest grandbaby also came to the party Miss Dakota Rose. 

It certainly was a good day!! I was so thankful my friends and family could come. Thank you everyone who came!

Matt was having a blast we did the Stanky leg, balloon tossing. This pic just makes me smile! EVERYONE loves the Stanky Leg! I think I will official call this summer of Stanky Leg! Wink!

Jump! Fun!!!!

When I see this pic it makes me think of the song with Cher if I could walk on water.... Love it!! That song was one the girls and I used to sing in the car together. Memories!

As you can see the Minecraft party was a great time had by all! Thank you for allowing me to share with you and I hope I may inspire someone who's little boy or girl is thinking of a Minecraft party too. Have a wonderful week. Happy 7th Birthday Dusty!! We love you!

Cyber Hugs, 

Dawn Gallop 

Tweet