Dude! - The Studio

Happy Sunday! There's a new challenge up at The Studio today. It's our monthly sketch challenge, and I'm honored to have had a layout from August be the inspiration for the sketch :). Here's my take:

And here's the sketch alongside the original layout:

I usually have a hard time scraplifting myself, so I went with a photo of my son and a masculine theme so that  it felt "new". I'm pretty happy with the result!

I used a lot of Crate Paper, a little Basic Grey, Pinkfresh Studio, and Studio Calico stars (clear and wood veneer).

If I don't use flowers, stars are my next favorite :). I thought the mix tapes were a great trade-off for the flowers in the original layout, too.

If you'd like to play along, you can find the challenge post at The Studio here. Be sure to check out the design team's layouts, too. It's really fun to see all the different takes on my design ;).

Attitude of Gratitude....

I have a bit of catch-up to do! Let me explain.... Have you ever lost something, or it broke, and you didn't realize how much you depended on that thing until it was gone? Yeah, that was me this past week with my iPhone, which won't be fixed until Monday night. I was tracking all of my Attitude of Gratitude photos and thoughts on my phone, so until I can properly retrieve them and post them, I'm just going to move on.

Attitude of Gratitude Day 8: I am grateful for the service men and women who have proudly and honorably served in the military to secure and protect my freedoms. I am grateful for their families. I am grateful for their sacrifices.

For the past four years we've held a "Veterans Appreciation Night" for Cub Scouts. We invite the veterans from church, our families and our community. We prepare a program for them that includes patriotic songs, skits, and projects the boys have been working on about citizenship. The veterans share stories about their service. We present the veterans with a token of our appreciation. It's a really meaningful and fun pack meeting.

Last night, our gathering activity was "bootcamp" - an obstacle course with jumping jacks, army crawling and target practice. The Webelos incorporated Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance into our flag ceremony. The wolves sang a song and we all sang the Star Spangled Banner together. The bears shared posters about what makes America special and how to be a good citizen. We heard amazing stories about Christmas Eve in a foxhole and being chased by submarines while crossing the Equator. But my favorite moment of the night was when one veteran shared about the cost of service. He wanted the boys to understand that they could help veterans who had returned from war disabled. He talked about physical scars, but more importantly, he talked about mental scars. A lot of adults are squeamish about talking to young people about mental health, but I think, done in an age-appropriate way like this veteran did, it promotes understanding and compassion. He listed different organizations and encouraged the boys to find ways to serve these veterans. I am grateful for his perspective and that he shared those thoughts with the boys.

One of my goals for Attitude of Gratitude this year is to act on my gratitude more frequently. I'm taking that goal to den meeting this week. We will be writing thank you notes to the veterans who attended our pack meeting. We will also be putting together a care box for a young man from church who is currently serving in the Army. I hope the boys make the gratitude-service connection. They're great kids ;).

Hopefully I'll be able to catch up with Attitude of Gratitude on the next couple of days :). Thanks for stopping by! Tessa