Back to School: First Day Photo Signs! {Free Printable}

If you're like me, you feel a twinge of regret when you see these sweet little signs.  

Oh, how I wish I had them to begin my children's school years.  

Austin will be heading off to 12th grade~ can't wait to print that one out!

As pathetic as it sounds, I wish there was a sign that said, "First day of college!"

Moms never stop wanting to be there... 

but my college students would definately shrug if I showed up on campus with my camera.

Pass these treasures along to all the moms you know. 

Especially those with little ones. 

They will love the time-line they create if they use them year after year!

Find them HERE!

Loving Mom: Donna and Sharon's Excellent Adventures #1 {Mother's Day Free Printable}

"A mother is the truest friend we have…”
~Washington Irving

Mom and me making Apple Crisp on Christmas Day

This is my precious mom.  She lives a short 20 minutes away, and we see each other at all the birthdays, holidays and basketball games, but have a hard time making time 
"just for us."  So I have decided to start a little event called,
"Donna and Sharon's Excellent Adventures!"
Once a month, we are going to explore the city of Dallas. 

Our April adventure was to journey south of downtown to the 
Bishop Arts District.

 Coppell, our "Leave it to Beaver" community, is a great place to raise kids,  but we definitely lack  visually stimulating architecture and unique culinary businesses.

Bishop Arts has it ALL! 



We started with lunch at Oddfellows, a modern day diner of sorts, but SOOO much more hip than the Local Diner in Coppell~ and you will swoon over the coffee!!!
We ate the most amazing spinach salad and fried green tomato sandwich~ YES!  Fried Green Tomatoes!!

 Check out the cool outdoor coffee bar~ A DREAM!
The piano is located right outside just in case you get the urge to run your fingers up and down the keys!

After a walk around this little area of precious shops, we stumbled upon this treasure....

The Soda Gallery is the most nostalgic collection of new "old" bottled sodas~ 
Mom and I found great "talking points" for story-telling as we looked around...

.

As we sipped on an Orange Crush, we relived Mom's days as a little girl hanging out with her daddy, J.L. Newsom, at his Cotton Gin.  She would hang out with the guys at the Gin, watch them play dominoes, get a nickel for the soda machine from her daddy and drink an Orange Crush. When I came along, I went to the gin to hang out, too, and drank Orange Crush out of a clear bottle just like the one we're drinking from in the picture.  
But Mom remembered drinking her Orange Crush out of a brown bottle.
Robert, the manager of the shop, heard Mom mention the brown bottle, led us to the back of the store and showed us this vintage Orange Crush in a brown bottle~
 just as mom remembered!  We were delighted!

They have a wonderful collection of vintage pieces throughout the place.  
Take the one you love to the Soda Shop for some terrific story telling and memory making!
You might even consider starting a little event called 
Excellent Adventures with your mom!


{Mother's Day is May 8th}
So here is a little printable from the TomKat Studio so you can get a head start making something special for your mom~  Next week I'm featuring more Mother's Day goodness!

Or if you are really industrious, you might make this by Just Something I Made:

New Life! Austin's Journey of Faith {Free Printable}

"I will sprinkle clean water on you and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you."

At four years old, Austin asked us what the little song playing on the cassette player meant as we sang along to the words, "Bullfrogs and Butterflies have both been born again..." 

He said he wanted to be born again, too~  

At 9 years old, he heard a man in Sunday School tell of Jesus death on the cross~ that Jesus had taken our punishment,

that Jesus died for us, that Jesus came back to life as proof that he was God.  Right there in Sunday school, Austin prayed that Jesus would forgive his sins and committed to trust in God alone.  The next morning while I was drinking my coffee, he came downstairs and climbed into my lap.

"I feel like a completely different person~ 
Jesus has changed me!" he said.

Through the next several years, God pursued Austin through His people in the context Bible studies with his dad, mission trips, summer camp and Young Life.

  And on Easter Sunday, Austin was Baptized.

And Mr. Wonderful captured it on his iphone....

{Note the voice at the end, "That's my boy!" 
coming from big brother Blake!}

As the family shared our Pa Nang Salmon and Pad Tai Chicken at Baan Thai {a Mankin family favortite} the night before, Austin told us that he was looking forward to his baptism.  "Now that I'm almost a senior in high school, 

I see my baptism as a time where I can declare my faith as my own."  
And declare it he did!

I think I'll download this free printable from Good Gravy and put it in Austin's room as a reminder of the courage it takes to make that journey to manhood.

Building a foundation of faith in your child takes the work of ALL the Saints!  We are humbled and grateful for the investment of so many in the life of our boy.  

It is by the authentic, unconditional demonstrations of faith he has witnessed in the body of Christ that he has come this far.  For THAT, we will be ETERNALLY grateful!

Want to be more adept at talking to your kids about faith? 

You might read "Leading Your Child to Christ" for some ideas.

Message for Women and Daughters: Love your body

 “Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty that depends on fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should be known for the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.” 

1 Peter 3:3-4

Ugh. It's nearly swimsuit season. 

So I have an assignment for us.  We must read the following "Note to Self."

Share it with your friends and your daughters.

Stop focusing on your body, and celebrate God's remarkable design!

Thank you, Carrie, from Rhubarb Sky, for taking us up to 30,000 feet for a dose of perspective~ 

You may have saved our summer pool-side JOY!

Carrie looked over a few decades, spoke honestly about what she was thinking about her body and the tragic result~ we miss so many blessings when we spend time thinking about ourselves!

1991
Dear 16 year old me: No. You are *definitely* not fat.

Read the rest of her visual story HERE.

Then print yourself a little reminder at Joy Ever After HERE

Print Posters with Sound Messages {Free Printable}

Today, I bring to your attention some wonderful graphic posters.  

They may be downloaded free and framed for your inspiration, or used as a 

gift for someone you love.  

Enjoy!

With the intention to usher in a new era of social action art, ReadyMade asked illustrators and designers Nick Dewar, Christopher Silas Neal, Christoph Niemann, Open, and Mike Perry  to conceive and draw out the iconic messages of our day. Find the article and download the prints here.

This one made me think of my Blake, who has taken up bike riding~ EVERYWHERE!  

What a sweet, simple way to get around!

This would be perfect for my tree hugging friends
Matt and Kelly Shook in Austin, Texas. 
They have a cool juice shop and love living "green" 
so the trees can grow.

Kelly Bataglia will LOVE this~ she's a gal who loves locally grown REAL food...

And, well... this one might just be for me {I LOVE to meet new people!},  

or my friend Delisa Yates who has never met a stanger. 

These posters are available for downloading and framing for your pleasure~ enjoy!

Children are a blessing: Free Download Printable

I returned late last night from the second of two adventures in a week~  

a whirlwind of fun that had me laughing, crying and delighting in some of my dear friends.  

These included an "Abundant Life" retreat that centered me and reconnected me 

with distant friends that I love.  

And a trip to Round Top, Texas for the biggest, baddest, flea market and antique show 

known to man~ really!  I drove in late last night, 

so I need to start my engine with a cup of coffee 

before I download my pictures and post about my adventures full of blessings. 

In the meantime, I couldn't wait to pass along this PRECIOUS blog post by Emily Jones.  A gifted artist and designer, she is a busy mother of four with a wonderful reminder for all of us today.  This is her beautiful family:  

 Please follow this link to the precious photos and insights about keeping perspective in mothering~ while you're there, you can also print the gift below that she has waiting for you.

  It is beautiful.