Happy 4th of July!

Happy Independence Day!

I am so blessed to live in America. To be a military wife and daughter and to have served in the military myself. I am proud to be raising 2 children to respect their country and those who have served and are serving. To show respect for the flag and the symbols of this great country. They may not understand the whys right now, but they will appreciate it (just as I did) when they get older. I love seeing my hubby leave for work in his uniform every morning...not only because I love a man in uniform (and my hubby looks darn good in his) but because I am so proud of the fact that he is going to work to do what he does for our country, our children and our Freedom. I love the sound of jet noise...we live right near the base and I loved sitting outside this morning with my coffee listening to the sounds of the F-15s taking off to perform flyovers for various celebrations in the area. I stop and pause every time I hear one overhead...almost everyday...that is the sweet sound of Freedom...the beauty of America.

We will be heading over to a friends house for a BBQ this afternoon. We enjoyed our local fireworks display last evening. Despite a passing shower towards the end, they were awe inspiring. I packed a picnic and we enjoyed the evening with some friends. Bob and I even got in an exhausting game of monkey in the middle with the kids! It was fun and reminded me that I need to let go and live a little more often.

I hope you all enjoy your day. I thank each and every military member for their service and each and every military family for your service and support. By the way...my personal hero is the one in the pic above on the right....got to love that guy.

God Bless America,

One Hero's Son

Last night I had the absolute pleasure of meeting a 9 year old boy whose father is deployed to Iraq. As many of you may know military families are near and dear to my heart (growing up in one and raising one right now) - and as far as I am concerned every man or woman serving in our military is a hero in my eyes. It goes without saying that it takes a little something special to be a military family, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

This amazing young man walked into a house full of almost 40 people that he had never met in his life and fit right in like he was one of the gang. My daughter's Brownie Troop finished their Quest Badge by "adopting" a military family with a deployed parent. Her leader invited the young man and his mother to her home to meet the girls and some friends. The girls and their families embraced this "adoption" and showered him with gifts including movie passes, gift certificates to local restaurants and movie stores, a beautiful quilt, a stuffed lion appropriately named Hero, and many other fun items. The girls even drew a larger picture which was laminated and cut into puzzle pieces, which were put into envelopes to be sent over to Dad with a note each week.

Last night just happened to be this father's birthday so we had a birthday cake to celebrate and wouldn't you know...he called! Yep, it was some insane hour overseas, but he called and we all sang Happy Birthday...now that is some treat! I feel so proud to have taken part in this man's celebration and this little boy's life!

I had the pleasure of creating some cards for him to send to his Dad as our contribution to the pile of goodies. This is one of the ones that I made up. Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a pic of the other design before I packaged them all up! {All the deets are listed below my signature.}

I made a bunch of these - alternating different ribbons! They were quick and easy but I love how they came out.

On another note (but related because I got a chance to create) - I have finally finished the office/craft room and had the pleasure of spending the afternoon there on Friday! I think my mojo was lost under the mountains of crud and chaos that piled up when I was stuffed in the dining room corner. Now that I am painted, moved and organized, my mojo has reappeared and ready to take control. I am now free to create in a space dedicated to me and off limits to the kids...they have their own table now so there is no reason to be messing with mine. I can't wait to spend late nights creating...I have so many cards to make and so many pages to fill.

Have a great day!

Tracy

Here are the deets on the card:
The ribbon is American Crafts...everything else is CTMH.
Stamps - Moments in Time (Jan '09 Stamp of the Month), Say it in Style
Paper - Dessert Sand, Vanilla Cream, Cranberry
Ink - Chocolate, Cranberry