Motivational Monday, Week 44

Motivational Monday, Week 44



Think big thoughts but relish small pleasures.

-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

 

 

 

I just love watching him, wondering what he's thinking

as he plays so intently. I can see his wheels turning.

It's one of my many small pleasures in life.

 

Linking up to Rachael.



Motivational Monday, Week 40

Motivational Monday, Week 40

There is a great difference between knowing a thing and understanding it.

-Charles Kettering and T.A. Boyd

 

 

Thru the eyes of a child.

He knows rocks are a hoot to throw, but he doesn't understand why.

And that's ok.

Give him a pile of rocks and he's a happy camper (literally).

 

Linking up to Rachael.

Motivational Monday, Week 39

Motivational Monday, Week 39

There is no pillow so soft as clear conscience.

-French Proverb

 

(iPhone photo)

 

Linking up to Rachael.



Motivational Monday, Week 38

 

The older you get, the more important it is to not act your age.

-Asleigh Brilliant

 

 

I hopped on the swing at the park the other night.

Photo creds to my oldest daughter.

 

Linking up to Rachael.

 



Motivational Monday, Week 37

Motivational Monday, Week 37

 

Take the attititude of a student, never be too big to ask questions,

never know too much to learn something new.

-Og Mandino

 

This past weekend, I had the chance to travel to a photography convention with three friends.

 

 

We spent three days learning,

 

 

practicing,

 

 

and having a good time.

 

Linking up to Rachael.

 

Motivational Monday, Week 36

Motivational Monday, Week 36

You never know when you're making a memory.

-Rickie Lee Jones

 

Within the past month, I was asked thru Etsy if I'd be willing and able

 to make 350 blankets for the Maple Grove Hospital's Baby Ball Event.

(It's a small world. Maple Grove is near where I grew up.)

 

After consulting my husband, I agreed to do it.

Once I had ordered all the fabric I needed,

I only had two weeks to get them all done.

 

Once I thought I was ready to start, I ran into a few hiccups.

I forgot to order more able mabel tags to put on each blanket.

One whole bolt of fabric went thru the wash with an ink pen, ruining it, so I had to order more.

My wholesale supplier of green minky didn't have enough in stock

so I had to order it from a different source, adding a week to the ship time.

So realistically, once I really was ready to start,

I was down to a week before my deadline.

I put in several long days at my sewing machine.

Luckily, on the last day I had my oldest girls help me.

We got them all done in no time!

This picture didn't show up very well on the blog.

I took it from my instagram account.

Click here to see it more clearly.

 

 

The finished stack, all ready to box up and ship out!

The stacks went up past my knees when I stood next to them.

Oh, the things you learn when you take on a project

of this magnitude with such a short turnaround time!

But, I got it done and I'll always remember it!
 

Someone else is happy I'm done!

 

Linking up to Rachael.

Motivational Monday, Week 34

Motivational Monday, Week 34



When you finally go back to your old hometown,

 you find it wasn't the old home you missed but your childhood.
-Sam Ewing

 

 

And the things that bring back memories of your childhood.

Party Pizza = slumber party and all the awesome memories that go with it.

 

Linking up to Rachael.

Motivational Monday, Week 33

Motivational Monday, Week 33

Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.

-Leo Buscaglia

 

Some talents start young.

This little Loves is always singing.

I hope it's something she never stop doing.

 

Linking up to Rachael.

Motivational Monday, Week 32

Motivation Monday, Week 32

A friend hears the song in my heart and sings it to me when my memory fails.

-Pioneer Girls Leaders Handbook

 

 

 

Linking up to Rachael.

Motivational Monday, Week 31

Motivational Monday, Week 31

 



Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer.

-Ed Cunningham

 

 

 

Linking up to Rachael.

Motivational Monday, Week 30

Motivational Monday, Week 30

When I was a child, love to me was what the sea is to fish;

 something you swim in while you are going about the important affairs of life.

-P.L. Travers

 

 

 

Love doesn't just come from parents.

It comes from siblings and those all around you.

(You should see the amount of love this sweet baby boy is shown

and the amount of love he returns to each of us.)

 

Linking up to Maaret.

Motivational Monday, Week 29

Motivational Monday, Week 29

Love is a fruit in season at all times, and within the reach of every hand.

-Mother Teresa

 

 

Linking up to Maaret

Motivational Monday, Week 28

Motivational Monday, Week 28

Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.

-Thomas Jefferson

 

 

This quote is especially true when I get back from vacation to many orders

waiting in my shop for me. In order to get all caught up,

I need to keep moving so I can get them all done.

 

Linking up to Maaret.

Motivational Monday Week 24

Motivational Monday

Week 24

Speak the truth even if your voice shakes.

-Maggie Kuhn

 

For the past two years, our daughter has taken part in the

Girls on the Run program thru her school.

This quote fits quite well with the concept behind the program.

It teaches the girls confidence, the power of telling the truth,

courage, speaking up for themselves and others,

kindness, friendship, etc.

They would get together after school and go over these concepts

and then they'd run with the goal of training for a 5k at the end of the school year.

 

Linking up to Gloria.

Motivational Monday, Week 23

Motivational Monday, Week 23

 

Don't put off for tomorrow what you can do today,

because if you enjoy it today you can do it again tomorrow.

-James A. Michener

 

This past Monday, I went on a morning hike with some friends.

It was so much fun, I took some of my kids the next day on a different hike.

We met friends at the trail head and had an enjoyable morning together!

 

Linking up to Gloria this month.

 

Motivational Monday, Week 22

Motivational Monday, Week 22

 

There are a thousand tiny things from which one can weave a bright necklace of little pleasures of one's life.

-Hermann Hesse

Nature and sunsets are definitely part of that necklace.

 

I'm linking up to Gloria this month.

Oops, I never published this one. It was sitting in my draft folder.



Motivational Monday, Week 21

Motivational Monday, Week 21

Opportunities are often things you haven't noticed the first time around.

-Catherine Deneuve

 

 

When you go on the same hike more than once,

and at different times of the day,

it's gives you an opportunity to see things you may not have seen all the times before.

 

Linking up to Rachael

Motivational Monday Week 20

Motivational Monday Week 20

I don't know what the big deal is about old age.

Old people who shine from the inside look 10 to 20 years younger.

-Dolly Parton

 

As I was out and about this past week,

 

 

I came across this group of sweet old ladies.

They agreed to let me take some pictures of them.

 

 

I had to pause for a bit because they each had a spasm in their back but,

 

 

it all ended well and boy, did they shine from the inside!

 

Linking up to Rachael.

Motivational Monday, Week 19

Motivational Monday, Week 19

Most of all the other beautiful things in life come by twos and threes, by dozens and hundreds.

Plenty of roses, stars, sunsets, rainbows, brothers and sisters, aunts and cousins, but only one mother in the whole world.

-Kate Douglas Wiggin

 

 (another iPhone picture)
 

For some, the mothering instinct comes so naturally to them

and it comes early in their life.

 

Linking up to Rachael.

Motivation Monday, Week 18

Motivational Monday, Week 18

The glory is not in never failing, but in rising every time you fail.

-Chinese Proverb

 

(I seem to have gotten really good a failing to get a blog post done on time.

I should have used that for my pictures this week. :) )

 

 

At the skate park last week, the kids were sliding down the half pipe.

Baby Girl couldn't quite bring herself to sliding down by herself,

 

 

but someone was always willing to go back up

 

 

and help her down.

 

(These quotes are proving to be quite difficult to work into a photograph.

Maybe that's why I'm procrastinating so horribly this year.

I'm not always so certain my pictures fit the quote correctly

but at least I got one more post done.)

 

Linking up to Rachael this month.

Motivational Monday Week 17

When you have nothing to laugh about, laugh anyway.

Soon you'll feel the healing power of joy and laughter

 bringing new energy and life to your weary, frustrating day.

-Thelma Wells

 

 

This girl has been getting into so much mischief lately,

it's hard not to get irritated at her.

This quote is perfect for those days when she is going non-stop.

All I can do is throw my hands up and laugh,

(because it's either laugh or cry.)

and grab my camera so I have later proof of what she was up to.

 

Linking up to Maaret.

Motivational Monday, Week 16

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up.

The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.

-Thomas A. Edison

 

 

This quote is so true for me when it comes to

 mountain biking on technical trails.

When I get to a hard spot, I am so quick to put my foot down

or get off my bike and walk.

If I would just try one more time or try a little harder,

I could ride a more of the trails.

 

(Picture taken with my phone when I brought my daughter

out for an evening bike ride this past week.)

 

Linking up to Maaret.

Motivational Monday, Week 15

Motivational Monday, Week 15

When someone cares

It is easier to speak

It is easier to listen

It is easier to play

It is easier to work

When someone cares it is easier to laugh

-Susan Polis Schutz

 



(Picture taken last summer with my daughter's camera.)

This post is a week late.

We have been busy the last two weeks with a move to a new house

so I didn't get around to blogging.

 

When I saw this quote, I immediately thought about my husband.

But after giving it some more thought,

I realized it could easily fit for a sibling or a friend.

 

Linking up to Maaret.

 

Motivational Monday, Week 14

Motivational Monday

Week 14

Always do your best. What you plant now, you will harvest later.

-Og Mandino

 

I messed a bit on this week's quote.

I read it once at the beginning of the week

and then didn't double check it to make sure I had it correctly.

I missed the Always do your best part of it,

and just did the rest of it.

 

 

When we first moved into our house almost 5 years ago,

this tree was a dead stick with a few tiny green branches

 coming out of the base of it.

We started watering it to see if it would come back to life.

It did.

Several times a year, my husband prunes and shapes the tree.

It is now a tree the kids can climb in,

have a picnic under,

it's starting to provide shade to our house,

we can wrap one end of the slack line around it.

All it took was a little bit of TLC.

 

Linking up to Maaret.

 



Motivational Monday, Week 13

Motivational Monday, Week 13

Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward.

-Victor Kiam

 

 

 Have you ever watched a baby learn how to crawl?

Especially when they try get up on their knees?

Time after time, they fall on their face,

 

 

but as long as they are still moving forward,

they are happy.

(and fast when they're trying to get Mom's camera.)

 

Linking up to Maaret this week.

Motivational Monday, Week 12

Motivational Monday

Week 12

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!"

-Robin Williams

 

 

One of our favorite spring activites is mountain biking.

It's a party to get out on the trail,

feel the breeze on your face and

admire the gorgeous scenery all around.

It's something we can do as a family

or as a date for just the two of us.

 

Linking up to Amber.



Motivational Monday, Week 11

Motivational Monday

Week 11

Just because it hasn't been done before doesn't mean you shouldn't try it.

-Howard Schultz

 

I interpreted this quote along the lines of "doing your own thing"

or "pushing the limits".

 

 

This child does her own thing when it comes to her clothes and fashion.

I never know what kind of outfit she is going to come up with each day.

She layers up with as many layer as she possibly can,

not caring what goes with what and what matches.

If she feels like wearing it, it goes on.

(like a sleeveless dress backwards over a long sleeve shirt)

Gotta love a girl who knows her own mind!

 

Linking up to Amber.

 



Motivational Monday Week 10

Motivational Monday

Week 10

 

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.

-C.S. Lewis

 

 

You are never too old to get down on the floor

and play with your granddaughter.

 

Linking up with Amber.

Motivational Monday Week 9

Motivational Monday Week 9

"Promise me you'll always remember. You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

Christopher Robin to Pooh

 

 

This girl is our "I can't" child.

She is the one who needs a little boost of encouragement,

the reassurance that perfection is not requirement of life,

and just because you can't do something on the first try doesn't mean you should give up.

 

 

(This was the 2nd Grade class snake we "babysat" over Winter Break.)

 

I am linking to Amber this month.



Motivational Monday Week 8

Motivational Monday Week 8

We cannot solve problems with the same thinking that created the problem.

We must change the way we think.

-Mary Marx ... adaptation from Einstein



 

Sometimes changing the way you think is asking someone else for help.

Together you can figure out the right answer to the math problem.

 

Linking up to Marcy.

Motivational Monday Week 7

Motivational Monday, Week 7

Whatever comes from the heart carries the heat and color of its birthplace.

-Oliver Wendall Holmes Sr.

 

I'm not entirely sure what this quote was intended to mean.

I even Googled it but didn't come up with anything.

I kept coming back to the thought

that is was a symbol of something coming from the heart.

 



Our wedding rings are a constant reminder our pledge of love

and vows we made on our wedding day.

 

Linking up to Marcy.

 



Project 52, Motivational Monday, Week 6

After a storm comes a calm.

-Matthew Henry

 

We had got a fresh layer of snow last week.

I went out in the morning to take a few pictures of the calm...

 



 

 

before the 2nd "storm".

 

 

I love when the kids will go outside and play in the snow.

 

 

As much as I love the look of a fresh snow fall,

the peacefulness of it,

the feeling of the calm it brings,

I'd way rather have a yard torn up by the kids enjoying the snow.

 

Linking up to Marcy.



Motivational Monday, Week 5

Project 52, Motivational Monday, Week 5

 

Probably he who never made a mistake, never made a discovery.

-Samuel Smiles

 

I kept mulling over this quote in my mind and always came back to

this precious little boy as I watch him discover new things.

 

 

I suppose the argument could be made that as he learns new things,

such as rolling over,

it's more of an instinct, not a mistake.

But as I watch him accidently roll over, I can see his little mind working 

as he figures out how he got there and he tries to do it again.

(Maybe I'm just looking for an excuse to post a picture of this perfect little face!)

 

I'm linking up to Marcy this month. 

Project 52, Week 4

Project 52, Week 4

Motivational Monday

Never, never, never give up.

-Winston Churchill

 

 

Because the end result is usually worth the effort!

 

Linking up to Anita.