Yet Another Snow Day.

Today, I am sharing a set of red vintage-style cannisters that we have on our kitchen counter. For some reason, these remind me of my grandparents, so they are an important part of my home. They are labeled flour, sugar, coffee and tea, though the contents right now go something like this: Flour (actually fruitsnacks), Sugar (actually Yo-Gos), Coffee (actually teabags) and tea (actually my stash of Cinnamon Dentyne gum). Maybe someday I'll be organized enough to actually match these canisters' contents to the words on the outside, but for now, I'll keep 'em guessing. To my little 3-year-old-boy, these cannisters are the "candy jars", regardless of what the letters say!

Well, we in Michigan are still working to dig out from this incredible amount of snow. Several of the schools are canceled again for tomorrow given the sub-zero temperatures, but we will see come morning whether my husband and kids will head back to school. Even my university canceled classes for today, which is unheard of. Of course, I don't teach on Mondays anyway, so it was technically not a true snowday for me. Nevertheless, we did get to sleep in a bit since I didn't have to be up to get my daughter ready for kindergarten....two days of getting to sleep in until 9:00, and I am feeling pretty rested. It's funny....I was feeling pretty burned out last week, and I almost feel that God sent this blizzard just for me to give me a chance to rest and refresh and just have some down time. Maybe my own little miracle of sorts. God answers prayers in some pretty unique ways sometimes!

Some of you have been after me to post some samples of my scrapbook work. Usually, I find that I don't have a lot of extra time to do the whole scan and post process, so I'll try to get better. Above, you will see a snapshot of a layout that I quickly completed today. I entitled the page "Snippets of Me" and it contains photos of things that I see as definitional of me at this point in time. I completed this page in response to an assignment for a new Play and Creativity scholarship group that I am leading at the university. This is a group of faculty and staff who are prioritizing play and creativity in their lives, and our inaugural meeting is tomorrow. On this page, I have photos of: my husband; my red vintage kitchen cannisters; my son creating a birdhouse; starbucks; Compass Church; scrapbooking; my son; my daughter; paint; my scrapbook studio; potterybarn; our pet bunny Daffodil; the entryway to our home; a dying sunflower that caught my photographic eye; a group of awesome CompassKIDS; our dining room; my extended family around the Thanksgiving table; my camera; books; a gorgeous sunset that really spoke to me one ordinary (yet extraordinary) morning and made me stop and thank God for his creativity; my computer; laundry, laundry and more laundry; scrapbook supplies; my initial "N"; target; "mom" in my daughter's handwriting in chalk; my homemade vegetable soup; my worn pair of red leather shoes; our new library room and my leather reading chair; and the "PLAY" space in our basement. Interestingly, I created this as a self-portrait yet there is no portrait of me, and that was quite intentional. I really like how the page turns out and it feels like it is a good representation of me and my life on February 5, 2007.