Today is Free Museum Day across the country…and that’s what we’ll be doing. *smile* Ellis Island/the Statue of Liberty was an incredible experience. I’ll post photos tomorrow or the next day, depending upon how quickly I recover from all of our field trips. *smile*

The boys and I are off to New York today to visit Ellis Island.

to visit graveyards! Momma, the twins and I went on a graveyard jaunt that lasted almost all day yesterday and we actually had a great time. The boys got a chance to talk with people from the cemetery offices about the different types of genealogy records they have available (working toward their Genealogy Merit Badges) and I now know where to go to visit all of my (great) grandparents. Well, sort of! Some of those places are so big with winding hills up and down that I know I’m going to get lost which is why I wrote down directions to each in a notebook. I’ve promised Momma that I will continue to place flowers on all of the graves after she and Daddy are gone. Momma and Daddy are going to be cremated with my sister, Colleen, being the “keeper of the urns” so all I’ll have to do is visit Col to visit them.  *smile*

Cade actually had us all laughing at a couple of comments that he made on Momma’s ashes…after his Grammie explained to him that she wasn’t going to be buried but rather she was going to have her ashes placed in an urn he stated that it “would take a long time for her to turn to ashes,” not realizing that she would have to be cremated first. Later that day, while the twins and I were waiting in one of the offices for information, he asked me why Grammie wanted to be cremated and I told him that just because Grammie was gone there was no reason why Aunt Colleen couldn’t still take her shopping with her. He looked horrified. *smile*

We visited both paternal and maternal grandparents, Daddy’s paternal grandparents, (Oma and Opa) Chris and Sophia Foster, and Momma’s maternal grandparents, (Nae and Pap) Agnes and James Donnelly. (Quinn’s named after Pap, his middle name is Donnelly.) Momma had told me that there were more than Nae and Pap in the graves because Nae was good hearted and if someone in the family couldn’t afford to be buried she and Pap would pay for them to open the graves but even she was surprised at how many people were buried in the Donnelly family grave…Nine including Nae and Pap!!!! Pap’s mother Rusha Donnelly is buried there along with two of Pap’s brothers, Walter and William, Nae’s oldest son Tommy from her marriage to Thomas Diven and who died before Nae did, Nae and Pap’s daughter Gloria who died as a little baby and Nae’s oldest daughter Ruth, her daughter Colleen Vinyard, who died as a young child, is also there along with a “baby” Vinyard that Momma had no knowledge of.

I also want to visit Nae’s father, Thomas Ephraim Nash’s grave which is located in St. Mary’s Cemetery. Momma has his cemetery lot papers and after some exploring online I found mention of what I think is his grave though they have it listed as Lewis E. Nash. The wrong photo is attached to it so I can’t verify online. I’m hoping to be able to make it there either today or next week so I can talk with the people from the office and see and photograph the headstone. Tracing our family history has become an interesting challenge…and it’s definitely addicting! *smile*

and already I’ve walked for 30 minutes, swiftered and straightened the downstairs, shaken the kitchen rugs, wiped kitchen counters and did the dishes, started a load of laundry, put away toys, filled the dogs’ dishes, fed the fish, read half of a Good Housekeeping Magazine, read some blogs, drank a cup of coffee and started to work again on Quinn’s family history project…

Of course I get up at 3:00 a.m. and by 8:00 p.m. this evening I’ll be ready for my jammies and bed. *smile*

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The twins and I will be visiting Ellis Island on Friday with our homeschooling co-op. We’re really looking forward to it though I think the twins are mostly fascinated with the actual bus ride and being with their friends more so than seeing the place where their great grandparents arrived in America in the 1920’s.

On Saturday we’ll be taking my Daddy with us to visit the Baltimore Museum of Industry. A busy week for homeschooling field trips!

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I’ve noticed some of our trees are starting to turn colors…

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If you love a good love story (and I surely do) you should really check out Ree’s blog, Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. She’s been writing about her romance with her handsome and manly Marlboro Man (”Black Heels to Tractor Wheels“) and I have to admit that I’ve been reading each and every chapter with great relish.

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My friend Shelley is having a Fall Giveaway October 1st! Some really nice prizes for naming one of her ATC’s.

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Afternoon Comforts…Dawn’s posts are always a treat!

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Some blogs with gorgeous photos at Allsorts’ Scandinavian Blog Tour. Oh, if only my own house was so clean, bright and decorated so simply (and gorgeously)! h/t: Starry Sky Ranch

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Drops of Color

Author: Lynne Adams

Today it rained Leaves
Of Gold, Red and brown,
I thought I heard them laughing
As they swirled and spun around.

“Look up!” I cried, and see what I see
The Trees were dancing, in the gentle breeze,
I twirled, and jumped, as the leaves did fall
Drops of color, splashing, coloring the ground.

I’ve been working on Quinn’s contribution to our homeschooling co-op’s class next month on Family History. I’ve created a Family Tree for him with pictures of family members and him and I’ve also created Genealogy Cards with photos on the front and information on the back. I’ve punched holes in the top so I can tie them together or maybe put them on a keyring.

I think the card template would be great for a number of things including prayer cards with religious images on the front and a prayer on the back…I’ll have to see if I can find some time to make a sheet of those too. *smile*

You can download the template I created to make your own cards HERE. It’s in PNG format on a transparent background. Using your magic wand tool, select each card by clicking in the white portion. Add a new layer and fill with your choice of color or pattern. Large patterns work best. If you print the information on the back, make sure you switch the information on the left and right sides so the info is printed on the correct card. Print on heavy cardstock or Presentation Paper. Use a hole punch to punch the hole in the top.

Some hints and tips for creating digital ATC’s.

• Print on good quality cardstock or photo paper
• Give your printed image enough time to dry
• Embellish your ATC with laces, ribbons, buttons, etc. if you like
• A good quality cutter will give you straight, crisp edges - replace your blades as needed

I made a template for 9 cards on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. It’s in PNG format on a transparent background. Download it HERE. Drag your ATC’s onto the page, changing orientation (horizontal/vertical) as needed.

I’ve been creating pretty little matching envelopes to send my traded ATC’s off in. To create them, I downloaded the ATC envelope template from Mirkwood Designs (a wonderful treasure trove full of printables) and opened it up in Photoshop. Since the image is in GIF format you’ll need to change the Image Mode to RGB color. I then took out the writing and dotted lines with my square selection tool by making sure my background color was set to white and just enclosing the writing in the selection box and hitting the delete key. I placed my finished ATC card over the template and resized it for the card. I then selected the envelope shape, making sure my layer was on the ATC card layer, inverted the selection and hit the delete key to remove the extra parts of the image so my ATC was now in the shape of the envelope. To get rid of the black line around the envelope, just add another layer below the ATC card layer and fill that with white. Print it out on heavy white cardstock. Now I don’t know if it was just my printer but Mirkwood’s template was too large for my cards so I just reduced the scale to 75% before printing. You may have to play around with the settings on your printer to see what works for you.

To make the actual envelope folds, I used a heavy ruler and my little Cutter Bee scorer and scored where the folds should be. I then folded over the ends and using my bone folder and an extra piece of cardstock to protect the envelope, I smoothed the folds. Following the directions on the original Mirkwood template, I glued the folds and smoothed it again using a piece of cardstock. The finished envelope is decorative and works quite nicely at protecting your ATC’s.

Whilst browsing this weekend (I love the old-fashioned sound to the word whilst), I ran across a couple of websites offering good quality printables.

HS Unlimited offers 4 pages of useful, quality printables. Ones that caught my eye, “Daily Mini Unit Study-Headline of the Day,” “Vocabulary Journal,” and “Nature Study Pages.” They are offered in either PDF or DOC format.

Family Education’s Printable Center offers a great selection and options (to narrow your search) for age and category.

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Two new Nature Journal pages…Click to view and download PNG…Print on heavy cardstock. To view all of the Nature Journal pages that I offer, and there are getting to be quite a few, just click on the NJ Print link at the top of this post.

Time to Play

I was so busy through the day, I didn’t take the time to play.
When you brought your games to me, I told you, “Not now,” and quietly,
I cleaned the house, I’d iron and cook, but when you’d bring your story book,
And ask me to sit and read to you, I’d say, “I have too much to do.”
I’d tuck you in your bed at night, you’d say your prayers, I’d dim the light.
Too quickly I’d pass through the door, I should have stayed a minute more.
Life’s much too short, each year flies past, my little boy grew up so fast.
No longer playing by my side, for me to nurture and to guide.
The books and toys are packed away, no longer are there games to play.
No precious bedtime prayers to hear, that all belongs to yester-year.
My days once busy now are calm, the hours empty and too long.
I wish I could go back and do, all the things you asked me to.

~unknown~

Autumn is finally here…according to Dawn at “By Sun and Candlelight,” it arrived at 5:51 a.m. EST.

I put together a pretty little collage to celebrate my favorite time of the year…my beautiful wreath was created by my friend, Dana, the stamp and banner by me.   We’ll have a Harvest Moon on September 26th to gaze at if the sky cooperates.  Now if only the weather would humor us by providing a bit of chill and crisp to the air instead of heat and humidity…everything would be perfect.

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We’ve been working on the boys’ genealogy project for their upcoming homeschooling co-op class in October.  Michael bought some dowels to create a family tree and I’ve been working on creating a simple family tree for Quinn on the computer.  As soon as it’s finished I’ll share the images/photos.

Recently inspired by all the gorgeous Halloween ATC’s created by my dear friend, Shelley, I finally got a chance to finish up and print out my Autumn ATC’s. They look nice! They’re posted on my Flickr account and anyone wanting one please drop me an email and I’ll be happy to trade (if they are still available).

Today, sixty-seven years ago, my Momma was born…

You’ve always been a part of me
right from the very start,
creating treasured memories
tucked deep within my heart.
You taught me what love truly means,
I’ve watched your caring ways,
unselfishly guiding me through any stormy days.
I’m thankful for the times we’ve shared
and look forward to the rest.
When it comes to Moms,
there is no doubt
I know I have the best.

I love you, Momma, with all of my heart.

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A busy day…have to bake Momma’s birthday cake, do school with the boys, take Momma out shopping early this morning, go out to lunch with family members to celebrate Momma’s birthday, party when everyone gets home from work, and if I have enough energy, tonight is our homeschool co-op’s Mom’s Night Out and I’m going to try to at least go and stay an hour and visit with my friends.