Tuesday, July 30, 2013

New fun stuff....Waiting, PL, Mandala

Hello, I'm excited to be linking up to some new things today. First up is a blog that my dear friend Shahrul is a part of, A Beautiful World. Each week they give you a prompt and you share a picture/story to go with that prompt and link up. I've been waiting to do this for weeks and finally made the time and the prompt is perfect for how I've been feeling the last 2 weeks. The prompt this week is "WAITING" I am in the middle on this, can wait patiently for some things and not for others. These two weeks were the later, waiting for my kids to come home from camp. Each were difficult in their own way, I didn't like sending Sam off when Summer just got back. It was too soon and my heart just wasn't into another week of  "waiting" and "worrying" about one of my kids. I try not to feel this way but sorry it is in my nature so strong nothing can stop it. This picture above isn't the cutest or even him smiling that cute smile of his but it's all I could get from my tired boy once home. This picture does say a lot though, he's back home, he's in his favorite spot, eating a popicle and watching tv with his ipod beside him. I missed seeing him in this spot and doing his "norm".
 
While waiting for you I prayed for you
While waiting for you I looked at your old pictures
While waiting for you I enjoyed chic flicks with your sisters
While waiting for you I worried you'd be too cold
While waiting for you I worried the other boys would pick on you
While waiting for you I worried you'd get hurt from the paintballs
While waiting for you I did some sketching
While waiting for you the house had no boy laughs in it
While waiting for you the girls took bike rides on their new bikes
While waiting for you I didn't have anyone to tuck in
While waiting for you we made you happy mail that you didn't get till the last day, sigh
While waiting for you my heart was sad and empty
While waiting for you Summer got contacts
While waiting for you dad and I had troubles sleeping, same as when Summer was gone
While waiting for you I was thankful the big storm didn't come
While waiting for you my arms missed hugging you
While waiting for you I was hoping you were having a fun time
While waiting for you I realized even more how much I love you and am soooo happy you are my SON. My BOY. The last link to this family and it wouldn't be the same without you in it.
Now it is YOU who is "waiting" to go back again next summer. (sigh)
 
Shahrul, I'm so happy that I finally got this chance to share at http://www.our--beautiful--world--365spot.com and look forward to doing more. Thank you also to the other wonderful hosts at this blog, I did poke around and love the stories and photos you've been sharing. Please go and visit them to see what they are 'waiting" for this week. The picture above was taken by my Sony Cyber Shot and no editing was done. Thanks ladies for letting me a part of your beautiful world.
Below is my Project Life pages that tell you more about my week while Sam was gone.
here is the full spread, his favorite color mixed with some blue. I did change the format from last weeks pages, kinda felt this was more fitted for Sam. He has read it and loved it. Click on the image to see/read it better. If you need close ups let me know and I will do that too, this post already got a little longer then planned. See the last picture on the bottom right side, that is what Sam looked like when I picked him up. Covered in dirt and happy with the great time he had at camp. I had to do all his laundry once home. It smelled soooo bad, he mixed wet things in with clean things so everything had to be washed. It's good to have him home and things back to normal now.
Next up is something new for me too, love that I find all these cool blogs and awesome people.
I'm sharing my first of hopefully many Mandala's with you. I stumbled upon this amazing blog belonging to Dawn and she creates these gorgeous and creative mandalas. I didn't realize till yesterday that she tries to use only dead/dying things from nature. This way you still find the beauty in them even longer. I have been drooling over hers for about a month now and finally it hit me yesterday while I was trimming the hedges. While making a pile of the clippings it dawned on me that these would be perfect for a mandala. So I told the little ones I was watching my idea and they didn't understand but they wanted to help. We gathered the clippings, leaves, petals, flowers, mulch chips, golf balls just because they are fun and got to work in the driveway. Well the wind kept blowing it and messing it up so we took our goodies inside and created this fun mandala. I couldn't remember the exact way, if there even is a right way to make one. The kids got to help put things where they thought they should go and I guided them a bit but wanted them to have the freedom to create it too. We left it up all day and shared it with others that came over and my hubby when he got home. I enjoyed this so much that I couldn't sleep well due to thinking of other ways to create my next mandala, might just need a nap today. You can find Dawn's blog at http://girlunwinding.wordpress.com please visit her and check out the amazing, gorgeous mandalas she makes. I am finding others doing this and sharing thru her blog too. It's amazing what everyone is coming up with and just using things you find in your own yard, park, garden. Thanks Dawn for sharing your wonderful talent with us.
We are having a cool down for the last week, feels like fall is sneaking it's way in a bit too early. So no summer swimming/beach for us this week. The kids are enjoying their bike rides though and we have been playing tennis and thanks to Renee's new obsession with the game of "LIFE" they are playing that all day too. Hope everyone is doing well this week. Thanks so much for your visits and comments that make my day. Have a great week and please visit these links and let me know what you think. HUGS!!

16 comments:

  1. Sorry the link for Beautiful World in my post isn't working. Try this one and hope it works, I'm not always the best at getting these right.
    http://wwwour--beautiful--world--365.blogspot.com
    thanks and sorry again

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  2. Thanks heavens, Sam's home :). I know it's not fun to wait (& to worry) about our love one's safety when they are away. Btw, he looks tanned :). Must be all the games at camp. Thank you for sharing your 'waiting' story with us at Our Beautiful World!.

    OMG, I LOVE LOVE your mandala!. This looks like a very fun project in the summer and fall. I'll check out her blog soon and possibly I'll try do it too :).

    I must smile @ the welcoming of the royal baby in your PL!. How cute. HUGS.

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    1. Shahrul, thanks so much for visiting and enjoying my mandala. I know you will have fun for sure if you do this also!!

      So happy to link up with you this week, wishing I had a better picture though.

      I knew you'd like the new royal baby news in my PL, so exciting!
      Have a good week my friend!

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  3. Thank you so much for your kind words about my blog and my mandalas, I appreciate that so much! Your mandala is lovely and I am so thrilled to see those golf balls! I, too have used golf balls in the past in my mandalas:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/dawnsrays/5545958851/in/set-72157621950531643
    Keep dreaming of new ones and enjoy your SUMMER!!
    Peace~
    Dawn

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    1. Dawn, I'm so glad you could visit and thanks so much for the comment. So cool that you used golf balls before too. I'm sure they will appear in mine again, we have tons of them. Will go check this one out from you.
      So happy to have found your beautiful blog!

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  4. Hello Dawn ~ your mandala is wonderful...the rocks and pieces of wood add so much to it as do the golf balls!

    I certainly enjoy playing with flowers each week and joining in with Dawn (Girl Unwinding) for her Mandala Mondays...

    Hope you get to play again
    Wishing you and yours happy summer days
    oxo

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    1. Patty, thanks so much for the visit and comment. I'm happy we can share our mandala's together now. I don't have many flowers in my yard but will add them when I can. Happy Summer!!

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  5. What an awesome post Dawn! So many fun things to see! Your waiting story reads like poetry - just beautiful! And I LOVE that mandala! It looks to me like it is glowing! All that beautiful green is the perfect accent to your photos and memorabilia on your project life spread - just so much beauty here!

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  6. I enjoyed reading about your pages to Sam about Sam. It was a fun way to show how much you care for him, even though you were worried while he was gone. I know you're happy they are both home now.

    I adore that gorgeous mandala. You put my mandala to shame. Seriously, this is fantastic. I love the idea of the golf balls. I got the impression you might live on a golf course (grin).

    I'm glad we can stay in touch. And to think it started with a bit of color theory (tee hee).

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  7. Dawn this is a beautiful post for your son ... I only have one child ... my son is now 30 (and still here with me!) But he once went away for a week with the school and I - like you - missed every moment he was away ...
    Thank you for sharing this with us at Our Beautiful World - I hope you continue to join us ... Have a lovely day!

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  8. That 'Waiting' part is so touching. Anyways now you must be very happy to have all of them home. I sometimes get mad at my kids when they fight with each other or sit and whine about something. I feel like I need a break but by any chance if they both go out and I'm alone at home even for a few hours, I miss them like crazy. So I can understand how you must have felt when they were gone for a whole week.
    Your PL page colors are beautiful. That green is one of my favorites. I'm happy to see that now PL is easier for you and this way is working much better for you.
    Love your mandala design. Hope you get better weather. Wishing you a wonderful Wednesday
    SusaN

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  9. I ma so happy for you that Sam is back and the waiting is over. you made me cry with your waiting moments. Thanks ever so much for sharing with us at our beautifl world♥

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  10. Your family seems to be enjoying their summer. I remember those days of summer camps and the worry that goes with them! I also remember the dirty laundry!! I love your mandala! They intrigue me, but I've never tried one. I should do that. It was so good to hear from you! Enjoy the rest of your summer!

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  11. Thanks so much ladies for your comments, warms my heart and makes me smile!! Looking forward to doing more of these new posts already. HUGS!

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  12. Hi Dawn, I have a 6 year old son called Sam too! He's eating his lunch now next to me and I can totally relate to your story. It isn't easy for a mom to see her children get out into the world on their own, is it. Thank you for sharing your story and photos with us at OBW. And LOVE the mandala! I recently came across another great artist who does similar things with things from nature. May be you like it too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildgoosechase/

    Hugs and happy weekend, Wendy

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  13. Hi Dawn nice to meet you, yes it isn't easy for a mom to see the children leave home, even for a short time.
    Anni

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