Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Year's Eve

Hard to believe that 2012 is almost over. Dart even said last night that 2011 flew by. I don't remember time going this fast when I was a kid. 2011 was a rough year and I'm ready for a fresh start to 2012. I'm ready for new and exciting adventures and for good things to happen!


In our family at midnight we always go out and bang on pots and pans and watch for baby New Year to run by! However this year we won't be at my mom's to do it. I decided with the price of gas that we were staying home. I will miss being at my mom's for NYE and my birthday, but we will have fun still.

Here's wishing you and yours a Happy and Safe New Year's Eve and a Wonderful 2012!



Friday, December 30, 2011

December in an Instagram

Just a few things from December via Instagram. I downloaded the app earlier this month and have LOVED it. Don't know why I waited so long.

This one lost her first tooth! She was beginning to think she'd never lose one. And her best friend lost his first tooth just a few days before her.


Went to see Hugo. Dart's class had been reading it and his teacher was hoping to go as a class, however a freak snow hit and with it taking us over an hour and a half to get to school(normal trip is 13 minutes) she decided to cancel. School wasn't canceled, but his class only had 13 kids that day because of this freak storm.

The elves got a little naughty, toothpaste all over the sink and they wrote on the mirror with my makeup! Dart and Audrey thought this was HILARIOUS!

He decided to give all of us a heart attack. Got a call shortly after I tucked my kids into bed saying "I just talked to your brother, he's in the hospital. Seth found him passed out on his floor." After sitting at the ER for almost 3 hours we were told, "we can't find anything. follow up with your cardiologist over break." For those who don't know my brother, Jake had open heart surgery in Jan this year to reconstruct his coronary artery. He only has one and so they went in and did some changing to it. He and his friend were supposed to meet and when he didn't show up Seth went to find out why and found him passed out on his floor in his dorm. Thank GOD Seth knew his history and took him straight to the ER.

Modeling one of 2 new scarves I made her. She has the model tude down!

More crazy antics from the elves. That is MY ice cream!

Passing time on the longest day of the year for a kid, Christmas Eve! They spent time wrestling with Uncle and playing outside since it was so nice. No snow, lots of sun and temps in the upper 50's.

Christmas tree at my mom's. All ready for Christmas Day!

All set for her first trip to the American Girl Doll store. She fell in love, but is waiting to get the new doll of the year, which is going to be a gymnast, just like her.

My new Owl from Build a Bear. It was a birthday present from my mom. I got to open it early since we won't be at her house for my birthday.

I may have a few more to share from December, but this captures the majority of our month.

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Final 34 before 35 update

Updating a few days early because I don't anticipate much changing and I'm one of those strange people who when the week between Christmas and New Year's comes I'm ready to start the New Year(and not just because my birthday is New Year's Day!)

Here is my list of 34 Things I want to do before I turn 35!
1. Knit 3 scarves. My grandma taught me to knit and while I still am working on getting it all together I will make at least 3 scarves this year. Might do more, but that is my goal. I have given up knitting for now. I tried it and while I enjoyed it some, it's not something I'm all that interested in. Doesn't mean I will never come back to it, but just not something for me right now.
2. Learn calligraphy. I also want to do more with my handwriting this year. I was always the girl experimenting with my handwriting. Always doodling and changing. I have a few sites marked online and have played around with it some, but never really took the time to learn. I see this being on my next list!
3. Learn more about book binding. I would love to do some different binding with mini books and stuff. Holy cow there is far more to it then I am interested in. I have decided to keep things simple. I might learn some of the basics, but I can find that info online.
4. Have 100 sales in my Etsy shop. I've got 2 so far! As of now I have 65, however some orders have had multiple items in them. I'm happy with how I did. I am working on some new marketing ideas and other ideas for getting my name out there a little more.
5. Have 75 followers on my blog. Working on some fun things for the blog this year. HAHA! I'm not worrying about this anymore. I have no idea how many read in google reader or other rss feeds or just randomly check it so I'm not worrying about this anymore.
6. Maintain 50 items in my Etsy shop. I have so many things I want to make and hopefully it will be hard to have 50 items in my shop all the time because hopefully things will be selling! I had 50 at one point. I am really going to focus on this in the new year, so it will be on the new list. 
7. Do more sewing. I want to make doll clothes, clothes for Audrey and lots of stuff to put in the shop. I didn't do as much as I wanted, but I did more than I have in the past so it's an improvement. I really enjoy sewing so it will be something I do more of in the new year.
8. Read Understanding Exposure, 3rd Edition: How to Shoot Great Photographs with Any Camera I have had it forever and need to read it. Nope and actually I think I changed this in the middle of the year anyway.
9. Create digital cards. Think the cards you get at Christmas. Great for birth announcements, birthday invitations, Graduation open houses, wedding save the dates and more. I did some for my brother and a few others. I really want to do more with this as I really have fun with it.
10. Declutter. I am tired of all the junk we have. I have started with my scrapbook stuff and actually look forward to creating because I don't get caught up in the stuff. I did good for a few months. I'm working slowly on my craft stuff and the kids stuff.
11. Be proud of me. I have always had a hard time when someone tells me I create beautiful things and I'm talented. Need to learn to accept it. I did okay. Really did better towards the end of the year, so that's amazing. I am learning more everyday about why I struggle with this so much.
12. Do more reading of creative/business books. I have a massive list of them to read. I have several to read and have started a couple.
13. Learn to design elements in Photoshop Elements. I really want to learn to make digital elements for digital cards and stuff. I did a few things, in the process I discovered I really am a simple girl in even this area.
14. Drink 3 bottles of water daily. Mostly to drink less pop each day. I am a huge pop drinker and need to cut back. Had some good days and some bad days, will be trying harder in the new year with my weight getting rid of(you will understand this more when I post my new list).
15. Do more with photo editing. One thing is I want to go back and do some things with my older pics and also there is so much more fun stuff I can do with pictures. I did good for a bit, I still have my sisters wedding pics to finish. I did good when I needed pictures. I want to get good about doing it as soon as I download my pics or within a day or 2.
16. Have 10 custom orders. I would love to have more, but I really want to make more custom items for people. Be it banners, cards or scrapbooks, bring it on. I lost count after 18. YAY!!!!
17. Really learn the ins and outs of PSE. There is so many things I could do that I just haven't taken the time to learn yet. I'm learning by trial and error and that makes me happy. I learned quite a bit this year!
18. Procrastinate less. I have been working hard on this. I am horrible at procrastinating and then doing everything at the last minute. I may not have done as good as I wanted, but I learned a few things about myself when it came to why I procrastinate so much, so I'm happy with that.
19. Learn more about letterpress. I love the look and would love to learn a faux way to do it. Of course I'd love to own the letterpress by Quickutz, but that won't be happening soon. I discovered a few faux tricks. 
20. Menu Plan. I HATE going to the store constantly to get stuff for dinner. I also would love to see us eat a little better and know that will help us with that as well. Did great a few weeks, especially toward the end of the year. I HAVE to do better in the new year. Hoping my menu plan Monday post will force me to do better.
21. Read 2 classics. I have a list I want to read and while I'd love to read more, I'm being realistic and thinking 2 might be all I get to this year. Another that I decided just isn't something I'm as interested in as I thought I would be. I LOVE to read for pleasure and so I'm going to stick with what I enjoy. I might still read some of them, but I'm not going to put the pressure on myself.
22. Add photo editing to the business. This one may not happen until later in the year, but I want to figure out how to do this at some point. Didn't really advertise it, did do some editing a few times for people.
23. Clean up my external hard drive. It is a mess. So many things on there that are horrible pictures and on there multiple times. Makes me dread having to look for anything on it. I was doing so good and then hit a spot where I never went back to it. I WILL get it done in the new year.
24. Stay better caught up on pictures, editing and uploading. Upload to Shutterfly, Flickr and other spots. Also be better about backing up. Did great for about 4 months. So many places to try and upload too, so I'm going to really narrow that down. I have been good about backing up!
25. Do more with movie maker. I would love to create slideshows, etc. Other than my brothers slide show for graduation I haven't done anything. Still would love to do more.
26. Cross Stitch 3 projects. I have so many I want to do and also a few projects I need to finish. HAHA!
27. Read 1 fun book a month. I love to read, just have a hard time making time for it. Hopefully this will force me to read more. I have done great on this one. I need to check my good reads account to see how many I did read this year.
28. Scrapbook 4 layouts a month. I can't remember the last time I actually made a layout and want to get back to it. HAHA!
29. Bake more. I love to bake and although my kitchen is TINY!! I want to bake more. I don't think I baked anything more than the cakes for the kids birthdays. I wish I had a bigger kitchen.
30. Send more cards. I really want to do more with giving friends birthday cards and just send cards in general. Imagine how much happier we all would be if in the midst of bills and junk there was a card just to let you know someone is thinking about you. I really wish I could say I did good on this one.
31. Make Dart a Dakota book. He is still struggling a lot with losing his sister and I think a book of his own might help. Another reason to get my hard drive cleaned up. Haven't done it yet, but I'm thinking I'm going to do a digital book through Shutterfly for him.
32. Participate more at Flickr, Etsy groups and Etsyprenuer. HAH! I did a bit at the beginning of the year. Just too many social media spots.
33. Do "A Week in the Life" project. I have always wanted to do this inspired by Ali Edwards, just never taken the time. I may not do it when she does, but I will complete it. Never did this.
34. Do more to encourage Handmade Items!! I don't care if it's jewelry or cards or what, I just really want to do more to encourage buying handmade. One of the things on the list I'm really proud of! 

I will be back in the next day or so to share my new list. I will be back today with some pictures from Christmas. 

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

I'm back

WOW, I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted last. Life got really crazy over the holidays and I just wasn't prepared. I feel like we went from Halloween straight to Christmas and there was no time in between.

We had a wonderful Christmas with my family. My mom's house is AMAZING at Christmas. Trees in every room, a table FULL of goodies and so many little things that make it amazing. I can't imagine going anywhere else for Christmas then my moms.

I am working on my list of 35 things to do before I turn 36. Need to also update on my 34 before 35 things. I am also working on changing a few things on the blog. Some have to do with little things and some are bigger. I will be changing the name to reflect the new me. I'm working on some big changes for my life, not just weight, but all areas, all inspired by the theme song from Biggest Loser. I've been listening to it everyday for the last 2 weeks or so. I LOVE it!!

There is no video to watch, so just sit back close your eyes and listen to the words.


I will be back tomorrow with an update on my list and some other fun stuff from the Holidays.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

10 on Tuesday!

1. I'm not fond of extra early, rainy mornings. Waking up is so much harder on Tuesdays since Dart has choir practice, but waking up on a rainy Tuesday morning is even worse.

2. All Christmas stuff in my shop is still on sale. Check out the cards, tags, and more.

3. Have you watched the new game show "You Deserve It"? We watched it for the first time last week and love it. Some of the questions last night were tough!

4. I'm excited for the Biggest Loser Finale tonight. I have 2 that I'd be okay with them winning and one I DO NOT want to win it. If you've been watching all season, I'm sure you know who I'm talking about!

5. Have someone on your list you still aren't sure what to get for Christmas? Or someone who struggles with arthritis? This Under the Cabinet Jar Opener is a great idea. Everyone in my family loves them.

6. I haven't even thought about Christmas cards, much less started them. Thinking of doing New Year's Cards instead.

7. If you were a fan of "The Voice" and love Christmas music you must check out winner Javier Colon's Christmas CD. OMG! It is amazing. It's only 5 songs, but they are 5 of my favorites and he does an amazing job on them.

8. I decided last night I would rather go through the "Terrible 2's" again than the what I'm calling "Terrifying 10's". Holy cow, my sweet Dart has developed an attitude. I know a good part of it is a mix between the age and all the wonderful(haha) changes they are getting ready to go through and the excitement of Christmas, but still. I do take comfort in knowing that all my friends are going through the same thing with their lovely 10 year olds. I don't know what it is about 10.

9. For those of you with kids, just in case you didn't know about this, this is a great little thing to help the kids in anticipation of Christmas. I have done a video each year for the last 3 years I think. The kids LOVE it. Portable North Pole is the site and you can really personalize the message.

10. My brother and all his friends are experiencing their first round of college finals. I am loving reading all their status' on facebook. He has a few who are done, while he just started yesterday. He is counting down the days until Thursday, when he's done. One of his best friends finished finals and then had surgery on her torn ACL. Not exactly a way to celebrate finals being done.

Monday, December 12, 2011

Blog feature

My Special Delivery tags are featured on the Peony and Pear Tree blog! My first blog feature!!

Check out what I am featured with and her other stuff.


To do this week!

With less than 2 weeks until Christmas it's going to get CRAZY!!

  • orders finished and out
  • card sets for gifts
  • print pictures for gifts
  • teachers gifts
  • sew clothes for Audrey's doll
  • new blog header???(not high on the list, but if I get a few minutes I might play around)
  • work on 35 before 36 list
  • pictures to mom
  • Christmas thank you cards
  • more card sets to list
  • New Year's Eve stuff(banners)
  • mini books
  • coffee cozies
  • Enjoy time with the Kids!!

Menu Plan Monday

After taking a couple weeks off from planning a menu, I realize how much nicer it is to have a plan.

Monday Grilled cheese. Dart requested this last night.
Tuesday Hot Dogs and mac and cheese. Not the healthiest of meals, but Audrey has gymnastics and it's something both kids love.
Wednesday Pork Chops, mashed potatoes, corn. YUM!!
Thursday Chicken Bake. Love this from the back of the stove top box.
Friday Pizza. Homemade again. Kids love helping.
Saturday Tacos. Can't go wrong with tacos.
Sunday Ham. I've never cooked a ham before, but I figure it can't be that hard.

Friday, December 9, 2011

Christmas Sale

Have been a horrible blogger lately! Sorry! Wanted to let everyone know that all the Christmas items in my Etsy store are on sale 20% off. All prices have been changed so there is no code to worry about. If you have any questions or anything please feel free to contact me.

Just a few items on sale:
Gift tags

One of my favorite cards

more tags.

Love this house!

more tags. Love the penguin one, think it will go on Dart's gifts this year since he's recently become penguin obsessed.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Sunday!

  • banner orders Done and in the mail
  • tag orders Done and in the mail
  • paper bag albums to take to craft fair Never got it done
  • mini books to take to craft fair Got one made, but didn't take with me, forgot it.
  • couple more Christmas card sets to take to craft fair 2 more sets went with me
  • couple other card sets Never got them done.
  • do some sewing Got some new fabric, but no sewing


Hoping to get back on track this week. Being sick last Monday really through me off, especially after being gone for so long. Got all the Christmas stuff up and the house is clean, so that's a good start to the week. Working on my menu and grocery list now so that will be ready to go up tomorrow. Working on the to do list as well.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

To do this week

Shortened list this week since it's already Wednesday:
  • banner orders
  • tag orders
  • paper bag albums to take to craft fair
  • mini books to take to craft fair
  • couple more Christmas card sets to take to craft fair
  • couple other card sets
  • do some sewing
Hopefully I can get this done along with our normal December stuff this week. 

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

10 on Tuesday

1. I got hit with a NASTY stomach bug yesterday. It was bad. I think I was awake for a total of 3 hours yesterday. I feel much better today, but am going to be smart and take things slow still.

2. We had a great Thanksgiving. Got to spend time with family and laugh until we cried. I think on Thanksgiving we spent 6 hours playing Mexican Train Dominoes. It is so much fun to play. I love being with my family like that.

3. Catching up on work today. I have 2 banner orders to get out and a tag order. I am also doing a craft fair/open house this week so I need to get some things done for it.

4. I have some things weighing very heavy on my mind right now and would appreciate any prayers or good thoughts my way.

5. Does anyone know of a site you can paste a font in and it will tell you what font it is or one similar? I have a font I found that I know I have seen before or something very similar. I would love to have the font.

6. Being sick yesterday has thrown off my whole week. I will get my Weekly Menu up in the next day and also my weekly to do list.

7. If anyone knows where the month of November went can you please let me know? This whole year has flown by, but I swear November was a flash.

8. Did anyone else watch Elf on the Shelf Friday night? It was so cute. I hope they bring it out on dvd.

9. Tonight is my favorite episode of Biggest Loser!! I love the make-over episode. I won't get to watch it until tomorrow since Audrey has gymnastics tonight.

10. Working on some wish list posts! Can't wait to share them with you.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Shop update

I added 16 new items to the shop today. Have a few more things to add, but honestly I'm going cross eyed looking at the Etsy loading page. Lots of Christmas cards, some Christmas gift tags, and a couple new custom items, cupcake toppers and gift/favor bags.

To do this week, Menu Plan

No menu really to plan this week. Tonight we are having the roast we didn't have last week. Tomorrow the kids and I are heading to my mom's after Audrey is done with gymnastics. The rest of the week we are at my mom's. I CAN'T WAIT!!!

To do this week:
  • Shop update(in progress as I type)
  • Edit pictures for a gift
  • Edit sisters pictures
  • gift boxes
  • gift bags
  • PACK
I won't get all my sisters pictures done, but I can get some done for her.

I do have some posts planned for this week and will be updating from my mom's. I cannot wait to be with my family and hang out with my cousins. We always have so much fun and usually end up laughing until we cry and our sides hurt. I need this break, because then it will be crazy season for sure!

I'll be back later when I have my shop update for today done. Will do more tomorrow as well.



Friday, November 18, 2011

Happy Birthday

to my Mom!!! I am so thankful everyday that she was my mom. I wasn't always the easiest child(how many of us are), but she always had so much patience and was always there for me. I am so thankful everyday that my kids are lucky enough to have her as their "Moo Moo"!

 She does crazy things with the kids like jump off the fireplace!

She takes them all sorts of fun places like football games, baseball games, the zoo, and more!!

She decorates the house for every holiday, especially Christmas. Trees in every room, a huge set up of candy, cookies and more on the table. She has more patience than any person I know. She is a special ed teacher and loves all her kids like they are her own. She is AWESOME!! Hope you had the best birthday ever mom!!

In other news, the principal at the kids school announced she is retiring at the end of the year. I know when she told the PTSO board we all cried, I can only imagine how it was when she told the teachers. When I told Audrey she cried most of the way home. The kids, parents, and staff all love her and are going to miss her more greatly. She has been amazing!

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Mini-Goals Update

  • 10 orders at Shopapalooza. I'm really not sure how many people will be there, so I'm shooting for this. Would LOVE more, but will be very happy with 10.-Did not happen. Let me say though, I'm not disappointed. There were only 5 shoppers, hard to get 10 orders when 10 people did not walk through the door.
  • Get Elf plans made for December. The kids have elves who spend from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve with us and I want the plans made ahead of time this year. Tired of scrambling to figure out what I want to do.-I've got a good start. Working on some new fun things for the elves to do each day in order to deliver their notes. I'm excited!
  • List something new in the Etsy shop every week day. Will try for Sat and Sun as well, but week days will be awesome!!-I think I've missed a couple of days, but for the most part I'm doing well. I did miss a Friday, but listed 2 items on Saturday so that makes up for the Friday.
  • Start Christmas gifts. As I said in a previous post, most of the adults are getting all hand made gifts so I need to get started. Kids are getting a few handmade gifts as well. -The lists are started. I have lots of ideas marked so I'm ready to really get going on the stuff. Have a few other things on the to do list before I can really get started on these. 

I also want to put this out there. Yesterday our hot water heater was fixed by a small local business. I know I am always pushing buy handmade, buy small when it comes to gifts, but after yesterday I was reminded that we need to not only support handmade, but support other small, local businesses. Whether it be a repair to your home or car, getting your oil changed, yard service, and even eating out. Don't get me wrong, I know there are times it's just not possible, I know we all love our Applebee's or Chili's(believe me I know about Chili's I could live on their chips and salsa!). I know getting your oil changed at a chain is usually cheaper, but the service you will get from a small shop is going to beat the price any day. I know the economy is bad and so we need to cut costs wherever we can, but these people are your neighbors, their kids go to school with your kids, they are the ones who will be there when you need someone. Supporting local companies in anyway we can supports the cities we live in.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

10 on Tuesday

1. Chopped my hair today! I love it. Will try and take a picture later. It went from my shoulder blades to now being just below my chin. Actually has a style and body to it!

2. Dinner is in the crockpot and I can't wait to eat chicken tacos tonight. Love the crockpot on Tuesdays when Audrey has gymnastics.

3. Tonight we meet with the superintendent to discuss boundary changes and bond issues. Sounds like fun doesn't it!?

4. Does anyone know where I can buy transparencies? Seems no one uses them anymore now that most teachers have smartboards. I need some for scrapbooking!!

5. I went to bed early last night and while I didn't fall asleep for a while, I feel much better today. Spent probably an hour in bed reading. It was so nice.

6. Why oh why do toy makers not think little girls want advent calendars like the lego ones for boys? For a couple of years Audrey had a Littlest Pet Shop one and loved it. Now if you find one on Amazon they are like $70+. UGH!! She doesn't play with legos so buying the lego one is out.

7. You have to read this article about choosing your battles.

8. Got some fun new goodies to play with later. A new punch and some masks. Also got some adhesive, but that's not all that exciting.

9. My hot water heater is being fixed as I type this. In the last few days it went from working fine to having about 3 minutes worth of luke warm water if you were lucky! Not good when it's COLD outside.


10. The weather is GORGEOUS right now. Nice and sunny with temps in the 70's. Tomorrow...Upper 40's for the high. God love Missouri weather!!

Monday, November 14, 2011

To do this week!

  • Finish editing pictures for a friend
  • Edit sister's wedding pictures.
  • Major shop update!
  • Make Thanksgiving subway art.
  • Make journals.
  • Christmas banners
  • finish a banner order
  • Cards for winners of a contest!!
I hope that's enough to keep me busy this week! The Thanksgiving Subway Art will be a printable item, so no shipping. I think it would make a neat thing to add to your table. I'm hoping to do more printable type items for the shop, even offering customizable subway art prints. They are so much fun to make. For those who aren't sure what a Subway Art Print is, here is a sample of one I did for the 4th of July:

The great thing about these is they can be done for any occasion or event. Coaches gifts with team name and words about the sport, teachers gifts with kids names, wedding with party names or info about the couple, if you can dream it it can be made!

Menu Plan Monday

Hoping this will force me to plan each week. It was so nice last week having a plan.

Monday-Tuna Casserole I think I pretty much have the recipe in my head, but here is the one I basically make. I add cheese to the top while it bakes. Can't wait to eat this!!
Tuesday-Slow Cooker Chicken Tacos Using this recipe. Busy night with Audrey's gymnastics and also the superintendent speaking at our PTSO meeting about school boundary changes with a new high school opening so I need something easy to do and my crock pot is great for those days.
Wednesday-Chili Dogs
Thursday-Veggie Soup Found the recipe in my Taste of Home Heartwarming Soups book.
Friday-Pizza making my own sauce again(will share later this week) hoping to attempt my own dough one of these times.
Saturday-Buffalo Chicken Nachos Using this recipe Not gonna lie, my mouth is watering already. Adding some other finger foods we already have in the freezer and green bean fries. Will do chicken nuggets for Audrey if she isn't a fan.
Sunday-Yankee Pot Roast Found the recipe I'm going to use in my Taste of Home Family Favorites book.

I will let you know next week what we think of our new recipes. I love knowing that we have a plan for dinner each night and that everything is in the house. I HATE going to the store everyday or pretty much everyday which is what we were doing. We also weren't eating very good.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Update to do list and other stuff

  • start handmade holiday shopping series on the blog, which means I get to spend some time "screen" shopping on Etsy for awesome gift ideas. If you have something you are looking for let me know and I will see what I can find.-got the ideas, just need to start posting
  • 3 banner orders-one last one needs a few things to finish it.
  • cupcake topper order
  • Christmas tree shadow box for a friend for her school Christmas party-got paper picked out
  • new banner for my blog-Haha!!
  • Thanksgiving cards-nope
  • edit a friends pictures I took-working on still
  • edit sisters wedding pictures-went through and deleted bad ones
  • pictures of new items
  • list something in the shop everyday!
  • work on more product-got a few ideas
This week ended up being really crazy due to book fair and some other stuff. Hoping to do better next week.

Spent 3 hours today CLEANING Audrey's room. I mean we sorted things back into the correct buckets. My goodness Barbie stuff is tedious to sort. Cleaned off the book shelf and it looks so pretty now. After it was done had a long talk with Audrey about keeping her stuff picked up. We'll see how long it lasts!

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is 2 weeks away. I'm looking forward to the food, the football, and hanging out laughing with my family. And of course shopping on Black Friday. I will get my lists made this week of who is getting what!!! Can't wait to share the stuff that I'm making this year.

To kick off the gift giving ideas, here is a great idea for the person who has everything, you never know what to get, or has arthritis. It's a jar opener my grandpa makes. It mounts under your cabinets freeing both hands to hold the jar you are attempting to open. My grandma has really bad arthritis in her hands and she uses this with no trouble. Opens everything from spaghetti jars to 2 liter bottles. It really is a great gift idea! If you are interested see my etsy store or email me.

Friday, November 11, 2011

11-11-11

11 things about our 11-11-11


1. I worked on some banners
2. A glimpse at the new bookmark the kids picked out for me while at Barnes and Noble with grandma.
3. Audrey watched Scooby Doo! We are big Scooby Doo lovers in this house.
4. A look out my living room window! Clear sky, bare trees, nice crisp fall day.
5. Audrey's box of crayons. She spent a little while sorting them all by color.
6. Dart playing Madden '11 on Wii.
7. My new favorite drink. Fuze Peach Mango! So yummy!
8. Pizza for dinner. Made the sauce from scratch(will share the recipe soon)
9. Watched Alf while we ate. We have season 1 on dvd.
10. Spent lots of time perusing Pinterest. Love that site.
11. Audrey and Dart played Wipeout on Wii for a while after dinner.

Nothing real amazing or out of the ordinary for our 11-11-11, but I want to remember this day even if it wasn't any different than most days. Kids were out of school because it was parent/teacher conferences. Their conferences were last night. Great reports on both kids. Audrey is "very social" as her teacher said. Ha, we all know that! Dart is a hard worker and able to seperate himself well when others are talking instead of working. I was a bit worried since 2 of his closest friends are in his class, how all of that would go. Proud of both of them.

Another quick story to share; Dart came to me today and told me he wanted to talk to me in private. We went on our room and he said "I want to go see a movie with Jenna in January. This gives you all of the rest of this month, all of December and part of January to meet her parents." I tried hard to keep from screaming "are you crazy????" I listened to him all the while thinking "why is my baby growing up so fast. I want my baby boy back!!!" I'm not ready for him to have any interest in girls and dating. Now obviously he won't be going on a date, he is only 10, but I know this is just the beginning. When I texted my brother to tell him about it his response was "That's my boy!" Yay, thanks a lot there brother. Wonder if he would feel the same way if it was Audrey wanting to go see a movie with a boy! Something in me says not only would his response be "He## NO!!!" but he'd be stalking her at school to make sure no boy came within 100 yards of her. I do have to give Dart credit for the fact of thinking it out so that we could meet her parents and he also said he would go see whatever movie she wanted to, even if it was a romance. I'm just not ready for this. I want my baby boy who loved Bob the Builder and Spiderman back. I want the boy who only wanted to go see a movie with his mommy back!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

At the Moment....

Listening to-CMA Awards. Complete with our choices for each award.  We are just a tad competitive in this house!
Eating-Nothing. Full from Baked Potato Soup
Drinking-Water
Wearing-Fleece jammie pants, CYFL/Mizzou Golf Tournament shirt, socks
Feeling-Stressed, lots to do and not a lot of time.
Weather-Cold!!!! Was FREEZING this morning on Walking School Bus
Wanting-more time, more sleep
Needing-to see Footloose(haha!), more sleep
Thinking-about all the things I need to get done, Christmas gifts
Enjoying-life!!! Crazy as it is, very thankful for it.
Wondering-how I can get everything done I need to.

Took lots of pictures today of projects that need to be uploaded in the store. Ready for a big update soon!
Tomorrow is parent/teacher conferences!!

 Just a glimpse at all that is to come! Pictures are distorted a bit, in real life everything looks normal!





Tuesday, November 8, 2011

10 on Tuesday

1. There was some crazy thunder last night. Seriously one clap that I could have sworn was a bomb going off in the house. Not something I want to experience at 1:35 in the morning.

2. I have a 3 Packet Roast in the Crock Pot! Can't wait to eat dinner tonight. Found the recipe here.

3. Audrey is still loving gymnastics. I can see improvements in things already.

4. I will have Christmas cards in the shop this week!

5. This week is book fair at the kids school. They love book fair week. They know I'm a sucker when it comes to buying books.

6. This week is also Parent/Teacher Conference week at school. Shepard does an amazing job and getting pretty much every parent there. I look forward to conferences.

7. After my printer died a long and slow death, I got a new one this week. Mark's parents bought it for me. Well they gave me the money to go buy it. I was going to go with another HP printer, but decided instead on a Canon. I love having a wireless printer and so far it is working great.

8. With my new printer, I am looking forward to adding cupcake toppers to the store. I did some today for an order to match a banner for a baby shower and had a blast with them. The new printer prints so much better.

9. Already working on my 35 before 36 list. While most of the time I come no where near getting them all done, I do love the idea of having the list. I think this year, I'm going to approach it a little different. Still working on it though.

10. I've spent some more time this week on Google +. I haven't done much more than just post something and read what others have posted, but I am anxious to try out their business pages.


Custom cupcake toppers I made for a baby shower. I also made a banner to match them. I LOVE making these so look for lots more soon! Will be offering them to match banners of all kinds too.

Monday, November 7, 2011

Treasury Love

My "Lonely Tire Swing in Winter" isn't feeling so lonely these days. I think tonight it was featured in it's 3rd or 4th treasury this week.

Another great one tonight. Here it is.


To Do this week

On the to-do list this week:
  • start handmade holiday shopping series on the blog, which means I get to spend some time "screen" shopping on Etsy for awesome gift ideas. If you have something you are looking for let me know and I will see what I can find.
  • 3 banner orders
  • cupcake topper order
  • Christmas tree shadow box for a friend for her school Christmas party
  • new banner for my blog
  • Thanksgiving cards
  • edit a friends pictures I took 
  • edit sisters wedding pictures
  • pictures of new items
  • list something in the shop everyday!
  • work on more product
A friend is having a Holiday Open House on December 3rd and I will be taking my stuff. I'm hoping it will go better than this last one did. 


Sunday, November 6, 2011

Mizzou

after months and months of flirting....
it is official, the relationship status was officially changed from "it's complicated" to "in a relationship"

I am so glad this is finally over!!! Not sure what the future will bring us, I'm sure we will go through a rough period of change, but now at least we can get back to the things we love; the games, the athletes and the fun!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Random Musings

  • My "Lonely tire swing in Winter" was featured in an Etsy Treasury today. Please check it out here.
  • I spent my morning at a very disappointing Holiday Shopping event. I had a booth with cards, American Girl clothes and some other stuff. There were a total of 5 shoppers the entire time. Thankfully it did not cost us anything to do it, but still disappointing.
  • I'm interested in what your thoughts are on what makes something "handmade"? Does it have to be completely handmade from scratch type thing or does say a card where the maker has stamped an image, cut the image out and adhered it to the card count? What about stamping on a card and coloring the image in? Just something to think about. 
  • Who is the most difficult person to shop for on your list? What do you usually end up getting them?
  • One advantage to the bummer fair this morning is I have lots of stuff made now so the shop will be getting stocked over the next week or so! 
  • My craft table is buried in junk right now. It is scary! 
  • Watching "Finding Nemo" right now! Dart LOVED this movie when he was little.
  •  I found out today we are getting a "new" JoAnn's!!! I'm so excited. It won't be HUGE, but when you compare it to the one we have now anything will be an improvement. Ours now is awful. Fabric section isn't horrible, but compared to my mom's it is bad and the scrapbook section is PITIFUL!! I say "new" because we already have one and it's not going in a new building, which makes me happy because at least they are using some of the empty buildings in town. 
Update on my to-do list from this week:
  • Rag coasters(will post pics when I get a set done) still need to take pics
  • Christmas cards
  • headbands
  • American Girl clothes
  • Holiday Planners(if I can get them to come out the way I want) still trying to get them to work
  • mini books
  • Thanksgiving banners
  • Christmas tags
 Don't forget to "Fall back" tonight!!!!

Thursday, November 3, 2011

November Mini-Goals

I really hope I can do better this month than I did last month. I'm not even looking back at last months because I know it was bad. Moving forward!!!

Here are my goals for this month:
  • 10 orders at Shopapalooza. I'm really not sure how many people will be there, so I'm shooting for this. Would LOVE more, but will be very happy with 10.
  • Get Elf plans made for December. The kids have elves who spend from Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve with us and I want the plans made ahead of time this year. Tired of scrambling to figure out what I want to do.
  • List something new in the Etsy shop every week day. Will try for Sat and Sun as well, but week days will be awesome!!
  • Start Christmas gifts. As I said in a previous post, most of the adults are getting all hand made gifts so I need to get started. Kids are getting a few handmade gifts as well. 

In going with listing something new each week day here is what I listed today:

Great for Santa gifts. Available in red and green! I think they are adorable!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Update on my 34 before 35. Only 2 months to go and I know some of the things on my original list will NOT happen and I am okay with that. Some I've just lost interest in, some I don't have time to do and some I think if I'm really honest with myself I put on there because I thought it was something I should do. I think next years list will be done different.

4. Have 100 sales in my Etsy shop. I've got 2 so far! 40 so far. Not sure I will hit the 100 mark, but I'm going to work hard to get as close as possible.

6. Maintain 50 items in my Etsy shop. I have so many things I want to make and hopefully it will be hard to have 50 items in my shop all the time because hopefully things will be selling! Currently have 20, but have about 10 things I need to photograph to get up and also some that just need to be listed.
7. Do more sewing. I want to make doll clothes, clothes for Audrey and lots of stuff to put in the shop. Made lots of things this past month include 2 pillow case shirts for Audrey, 3 headbands for Audrey, 2 pillowcases for the kids, coasters and a few other things.
 
9. Create digital cards. Think the cards you get at Christmas. Great for birth announcements, birthday invitations, Graduation open houses, wedding save the dates and more. Working on a few designs right now.
 
10. Declutter. I am tired of all the junk we have. I have started with my scrapbook stuff and actually look forward to creating because I don't get caught up in the stuff. My room is so much cleaner than it has been in months. You can actually see the top of the dresser!!
 
11. Be proud of me. I have always had a hard time when someone tells me I create beautiful things and I'm talented. Need to learn to accept it. I made some big strides in October. Still a struggle, but I'm doing better than I was at the beginning of the year.
 
18. Procrastinate less. I have been working hard on this. I am horrible at procrastinating and then doing everything at the last minute. I decided to journal when I was procrastinating to see if I could figure out why it is such a big issue with me. I think the biggest reason I came up with was fear. Fear of putting myself out there. This was a big eye opener for me. 
 
27. Read 1 fun book a month. I love to read, just have a hard time making time for it. Hopefully this will force me to read more. I'm pretty sure I've read 12 this year already. I am currently forcing myself to go to bed a little earlier and read at least every week night. I try to read on the weekends before bed too, but it doesn't always happen. I look forward to that little bit of quiet time before going to sleep.
 
34. Do more to encourage Handmade Items!! I don't care if it's jewelry or cards or what, I just really want to do more to encourage buying handmade. I'm probably going to drive people crazy with this one the closer to the Holidays we get. I challenge you to try and buy or even make more for the Holidays this year than you have in the past. Most of the adults in my family will be getting nothing but handmade stuff for Christmas. The few that might not be will be pictures of the kids and I'm pretty sure I will do something with them to add that handmade spin to it, whether it be doing something to a frame I pick up at a thrift store or making a little scrapbook with them. 

I'm participating in a Shopapalooza this weekend and I can't wait. I was killing myself trying to get a ton of things made, when I realized I should take orders of things instead. I don't know how many Christmas cards people are going to want in a set, so instead of killing myself to try and have that many pre-made I am taking orders. I'm hoping next week at this time I'm up to my eyes in orders. If you could cross your fingers that this weekend goes well I would appreciate it. I'm really nervous and excited. The last craft fair type thing I did was HORRIBLE!!!! It was at a grocery store, which would have been great, but they put us upstairs, hello who is going to go upstairs!?! And the spot I got placed was just as bad. Not really in the flow of the room. This one is free, we just have to donate a door prize. I'm hoping to put together a little "gratitude" basket: a Thanksgiving banner, a little gratitude book that they could fill out on Thanksgiving with family and possibly a little minibook!

Off to work and watch Cars 2 with the family. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Cars so I can't wait to see Cars 2.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

10 on Tuesday

1. One of my dearest friends celebrated her 40th Birthday on Saturday. We had a "TOWANDA" party! You know the scene in "Fried Green Tomatoes" where Kathy Bates teaches two young things a lesson. After eating amazing food at her house we headed out for a little fun on the town. She even had shirts made for us that say "TOWANDA" on the front. We have since started our own little sorority!


2. Hard to believe there are only 2 months left in this year!

3. I have decided Halloween should be the last Saturday of October and that should also be the night we set our clocks back an hour. So hard getting up this morning.

4. There is something to be said for spending a little extra on quality products. Working on some projects today and I can tell the difference and those quality products make life so much easier.

5. I'm looking for some new or even just new to me Christmas music, any suggestions? I can't wait to get Michael Buble's new Christmas cd.

6. For all my paper crafting friends this will make sense, I LOVE the new Tim Holtz Seasonal Distress Inks. You can go here to see them.

7. Book Fair is next week at school!! My kids can't wait. They love book fair week. Wonder how many books end up on their wish list this year? Dart will have a ton I'm sure, Audrey who knows with that girl!

8. Is it just me or did the trees seem to lose their leaves really fast this year? I can't believe how many trees around us are now bare!

9. I love the new look of Google Reader. I will say people who have their blog set so you can't read it in google reader frustrate me. I usually don't end up reading their blog because of that.

10. With it being the month of Thanksgiving now, I am posting at least 1 thing I am thankful for each day. Today I am thankful for the amazing friends I have. I can't imagine my life without some of these people!!

Monday, October 31, 2011

Happy Halloween from Smurf and Smurfette!!

Not the best picture, but you get the idea. Next year I'm pretty sure we go make up free costumes. Dart's arms are still a little blue!!

Sunday, October 30, 2011

To do this week:

I have a craft fair this weekend so I'm putting my list here so I don't forget anything.

  • Rag coasters(will post pics when I get a set done)
  • Christmas cards
  • headbands
  • American Girl clothes
  • Holiday Planners(if I can get them to come out the way I want)
  • mini books
  • Thanksgiving banners
  • Christmas tags
I hope I can get all this done. On top of Halloween tomorrow night and gymnastics Tuesday night. I'm going to take the rag coasters to gymnastics and snip the edges there. Figure I need something to do for an hour and that will be a good time to get them done.

Made this little pillowcase tunic length shirt for Audrey today. So easy to make and she loves wearing them.

Hopefully I can snap a pic of her in it tomorrow before school. Gotta get the rest of the stuff for their costumes tomorrow. Audrey changed her mind and is going to be Smurfette, a little fancier though. She isn't going to wear all blue leggings, she is wearing striped leggings. Leave it to my girl to make it fancy!!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

A Stressed out 10 year old

And it's not just because of the Rangers game. Yesterday I took Dart to the doctor to find out what is wrong with his neck. He says it's been bugging him since the start of school. He has a VERY high pain tolerance so it's just taken a while for it to really be bad enough that he wanted something done.

After meeting the resident, because we go through University of Missouri very rarely do we see our actual doctor we usually get students of some sort and I love it. I know if it is serious we will see our doctor and have before, but the students have to learn some how and what better way. They always tell me what they think and then bring in either our doctor or another doctor to make sure what they think is the case. We met the resident and she checked him out and said she thought it was stress related. His neck and half way down his back is VERY tight. She could hardly touch his neck and upper back without him grimacing. He tried acting like it didn't hurt, but she told him it was okay if it hurt that would help her diagnose the problems. from the base of his skull(so right around the hairline area, maybe up a little) to the middle of his back is basically one giant knot. When she told me where to touch I could feel it. I know I am that way as well, but he's 10 and shouldn't be like this. After she told me what she thought she went and got the doctor and he walked in and barely touched his neck and said "this poor kid is one giant knot." We were told to give him tylonel and advil for pain, heat in the form of hot shower or heating pad to help relax the muscle and massages. Darn wish I would be prescribed massages. I will be the one doing them, but still, to be told you need them!!

A lot of his stress he does to himself. He is very much my focus, goal driven, type A, wear his heart on his sleeve child. He is constantly setting goals in everything he does. From how many minutes he's going to read each week, to the levels he wants to achieve in his video games, to the number of times he's going to catch the ball without dropping it, he is ALWAYS setting goals and then working his butt off to achieve them. I don't want to discourage that at all! I love that he does that. He is always pushing himself to be faster, stronger, smarter, etc, but I do want him to relax and enjoy being a kid, so know I have to figure out a way to balance that. He also gets so attached to whatever he is doing that he puts his heart, soul, and head into it and so if it doesn't go his way he is crushed. And then there is the stress he puts himself through on things he has NO control over. After the Rangers lost to the Cardinals in game 7 he started talking about the free agents and who the Rangers would try and keep and who they would trade and what they would do next season and whether or not they would make the World Series next year. I mean seriously I could see the muscles in his neck tightening up! I love his passion and sports isn't the only area he gets that way with, it was just the most recent.

Any ideas on how to help him or books that might help? I'm open to anything. I don't want to discourage him from setting goals at all! He is a very focused kid who I honestly believe knows right now what he wants to do when he grows up. I want him to keep that focus, even if he does change his mind, but I also want him to be a kid still. He is VERY competitive and while I want him to keep that I also want to teach him to settle down some. It is so hard to be a parent when your child is hurting and you don't know how to fix it.




Thursday, October 27, 2011

Stuff

Taking the boy to the doctor tomorrow to get his neck looked at. It's been bothering him for a while now.

Watching the Rangers right now is stressing me out. A little better after the 2 homeruns, but this is still stressful! And Napoli, is a STUD after staying in the game after twisting his ankle at 2nd. OUCH!! Okay VERY STRESSFUL! Extra innings is killing me. AMAZING game though!

Audrey is a creating fool right now. Last night she made a picture for her teacher and tonight she has made something for her brother and is now making I don't know what, but she has been stamping and die cutting like crazy.

I found out about a possibility of something BIG for Pink Owl. Not saying much more right now, but if you could cross your fingers I would appreciate it!!


Tuesday, October 25, 2011

10 on Tuesday

1. This is a MUST SEE video. Emmanuel Kelly on Australia X-Factor  Saw this on Karen Russell's blog first and it is amazing. Grab your kleenex first.

2. RANGERS!!!! One more win!!!

3. I'm looking for some new soup/stew ideas. If you have a favorite let me know. We love soup and stew in the winter and would love some new ones to try.

4. There is something nasty going around. Audrey was home yesterday and when I saw her teacher today she said there were 2 out yesterday and 2 that went home in her class. The secretary said she sent 6 or 7 home yesterday. Hope all of you stay well!!

5. Is anyone else freaking out that next week is November?!? Seriously!

6. One good thing about November(there are lots, except for the fact I'm not ready) is that Michael Buble's new Christmas CD will be ready for me to listen to! YUMMY!! Love him!

7. Cross you fingers it doesn't rain tomorrow morning. It is International Walk to School Day and we are going to have a Councilwoman walking with us in the morning.

8. Dart and Audrey have decided on Halloween costumes. I can't wait to see how they turn out. If I can find the wig and shoes for Audrey's. She wants to be Rapunzel. Dart is going to be a Smurf!!

9. Anyone else watching Project Runway? While I won't give anything away just in case you haven't seen the most recent episode can I just say WTH???? Seriously!! I would honestly love to see them have a challenge where they make clothes for a "real" woman. I get that it's supposed to be Runway, but if they can make clothes out of stuff in a pet store, why not do one for real women who shop. I'm sure it's mostly "real" women watching the show.

10. If anyone has seen my motivation and focus running around will you please send it home. I am having a very very hard time focusing on what I need to right now. Actually it's been that way for a couple of weeks. It is making me crazier!

Monday, October 24, 2011

Happiness Highlights!!

For so many of us Monday is not a day we look forward to. I have decided to make Monday a little brighter for me and while I may not do this every week I am hoping to do it a few Mondays!

Gorgeous few days ahead of us! Looking forward to it before it gets cold again!

Had a great weekend. It was a very busy one, but still great.


I had a friend who had extra tickets to the MU/OK ST game so the kids and I went. While the score wasn't what we wanted, we still had a blast.

I am also so happy to have got these:
Dart in front of the J-School! His future school.
Miss Sassy Pants! No need to give her posing directions she does them on her own. She also got her picture taken by the Art Museum. She says she wants to be an artist and an art teacher when she grows up, but we didn't make it over to the education building.

And this one, that as a friend of mine put it "shows their personalities!" Miss Sassy Pants and Mr. Sweet and Focused. It amazes me daily the difference in their personalities and at the same time the few similarities they have.

My biggest happiness is those 2 crazy kids. My sassy daughter and my sweet son!!


Friday, October 21, 2011

Quick Post

Working hard on new designs and old stuff, but I wanted to share that my "Here Comes the Bride" Banner is featured in an Etsy Treasury today. If you have a moment to check out all the amazing things in the treasury I would love that!!  Treasury!


Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Around Here....

We are gearing up for the World Series. Cardinals vs Rangers and you would think living in Missouri we would be all Cardinals! WRONG!!! Go RANGERS!!! Ian is Dart's favorite player and Josh is one of my favorite players. I'm excited for the World Series. Hot Dogs for dinner tonight!

I am still sorting a lot of junk out in my head. Depression is a NASTY NASTY thing and it seems to strike me at unexpected times. I'm really trying hard to get through it and feel like I am slowing coming out of this dip in it. I am working on a post about my battle, but still not quite ready to share it. If you have never battled this horrible problem PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not judge those who do. Also understand there is a HUGE difference between being sad for a few days and Depression. Depression is something you don't think will end, sadness you can see the end of the tunnel. Be there for them, be a support, even if you don't know what to say, don't tell them "Oh just get over it." It is real and believe me more than you want them too, they want to get over it and if it were that easy, they would in a heart beat. If you have no clue how to help, simply just listen and don't try to help. Tell them you don't know what to say or do to help them, believe me we will understand. Just being their for them will be a huge help. Support is one of the best things you can offer. And chocolate is always good. Haha!

Working on restocking my etsy store. I had a HUGE card order so I'm working hard to get those cards restocked and some new stuff as well. We are getting close to the holidays so I am working hard on Christmas card designs and lots of fun gift products. I am participating in a Craft Bazaar on November 5th that a friend is hosting. I'm so excited. Any ideas for a good door prize? There is no cost to us for participating, but we have to provide a door prize. I really want to do something fun and different.

It is so stinking cold out. Seriously we went from weeks of gorgeous weather to COLD!! It was cold and drizzly this morning when we were walking to school.

Speaking of cold, Dart has 3 pairs of pants that still fit him and no winter coat. UGH! The boy has gotten so tall that all his pants while still fitting in the waist were way to short. Audrey however is good on clothes. Her winter coat will fit for the 3rd year. She did outgrow some things, but still has a ton of clothes. And will still get new clothes because I have several things I want to sew for her. Makes her brother mad! but oh well!

Audrey is still loving gymnastics. Last night she was a little nervous going in, but was fine once they got going. Such a silly girl!

 

 




Sunday, October 16, 2011

Me A-Z

Saw this on another blog and thought it would be a fun, quick and easy post.

A. Age: 34
B. Bed size: Queen
C. Chore that you hate: Sweeping and moping floors. I really have no idea why I hate that chore!
D. Dogs: None. I miss our puppies we had.
E. Essential start to your day: Brushing my teeth!
F. Favorite color: Pink
G. Gold or Silver: Silver
H. Height: 5’1" on a good day
I. Instruments you play: None. I love music and took piano lessons when I was younger, but couldn't play a thing now.
J. Job title: Mom, Walking School Bus Liaison, Pink Owl owner
K. Kids: 2 and an angel. Dart, 10 Audrey 6 going on 16 and Dakota our sweet angel!
L. Live: Columbia Missouri MIZZOU!
M. Mother’s name: Gail
N. Nicknames: Mom, Meggy, Maynard
O. Overnight hospital stays: broken arm in 3rd grade(required 2 separate stays), and having babies.
P. Pet peeves: Close minded people, bad drivers
Q. Quote from a movie:There's a TON of quotes I love. However this one is one that I have always loved. Terence Mann: Ray, people will come Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. Of course, we won't mind if you look around, you'll say. It's only $20 per person. They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come. Can you name the movie? 
R. Right or left handed: Right handed.
S. Siblings: 2 sisters and 1 brother
U. Underwear: Yes.
V. Vegetable you hate: Only really strange things and beets.
W. What makes you run late: Kids not moving in the morning.
X. X-Rays you’ve had: Dental, 2 broken arms
Y. Yummy food that you make: My kids would say taco bowls, roast, meatloaf and pumpkin roll cake.

Z. Zoo animal: Monkeys!!!

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

10 on Tuesday

Okay, so it's really Wednesday.

1. I have been going through a bumpy spot. Nothing major, just a bit of a funk. Things are looking better and I feel like I am slowly coming out of it. Not real sure what sparked it, which made it very frustrating in trying to work through it.

2. On last nights Biggest Loser, Dolvett, one of the new trainers told one of his team members "If someone is standing in your way go around them!" He was referring to in a basketball game, but it got me to thinking. I know some of what is causing my problem is people I feel are standing in my way. They may not really be standing in my way, however I don't feel they are supporting me the way I want them too. So instead of trying to convince them to support me I will be going around them. My new screen saver says "If someone is standing in your way, move around them! Quit wasting energy trying to convince them to move, move yourself!"

3. Audrey started gymnastics last night and to say she LOVED it would be an understatement. When I asked her about it at bedtime her response was "I was good at everything, I mean REALLY good! And it was only my first time." No lacking confidence coming from her.

4. Hoping for a Rangers vs Brewers World Series. Dart is a HUGE Rangers fan, especially Ian Kinsler, who is a former Mizzou Tiger. As for the Brewers, especially since we live in Missouri, Shaun Marcum is an Excelsior boy. I graduated with his brother Chris.

5. I need a new printer. Not want, need. I am so sick of my printer not working half the time and the other half taking forever to print one page. I very rarely print pictures at home so I don't need a photo printer. I want a good reliable basic printer. Doesn't even have to scan or copy, just print. Any ideas????

6. Any new tv shows you are loving? Me, New Girl with Zooey Deschanel. I LOVE her.

7. I got some of the new Martha Stewart acrylic craft paint this week. LOVE IT!! I bought white, called Wedding Cake to make Audrey a ghost shirt for Halloween. The stuff is amazing. Goes on smooth, washes off easy, and is made for a variety of surfaces so no need(at least for the project I was buying it for) add anything to make it work. I know many people are not a fan of Martha, but I have loved every craft tool of hers I've bought.

8. I made my first headband this week. I will do another post about them soon. I will be making lots more. I used a few different elements from a couple different sites, so I will link to those in the post about the headbands.

9. Starting to think Christmas. I think Dart might get a Kindle. The new price is awesome! Audrey, no idea, I'm sure her list will change a million times. 

10. This weekend is Homecoming for MU. It will be HUGE, since it is the 100th Homecoming. I'm sure the craziness will slowly start tomorrow with lots of people coming to town!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

...

I will be back next week with my weekly favorites.

This was the first weekend in I don't know how long we did not have something going on. YAY!!! I spent the morning CLEANING!! I mean deep getting rid of stuff cleaning. It felt so good and now I love looking at those areas that got cleaned like that. Now to just keep them that way.

When I reach 100 followers on my Pink Owl Facebook Page I will hold a drawing for a set of cards, either mixed greeting cards, Holiday cards or a sentiment of winners choice! I'm sitting at 96 right now. Would love to reach 100 by Monday morning.

Back tomorrow and hopefully back on a good routine next week!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

34 before 35 Update

A few days late, but better than never.


4. Have 100 sales in my Etsy shop. I've got 2 so far!-39 orders!!
5. Have 75 followers on my blog. Working on some fun things for the blog this year.-16 followers on the blog, need to figure out how many are reading in readers.
6. Maintain 50 items in my Etsy shop. I have so many things I want to make and hopefully it will be hard to have 50 items in my shop all the time because hopefully things will be selling!-only at 17 right now, was doing good, and then I got a major order, which makes me super happy. Working hard to get it restocked this weekend.
11. Be proud of me. I have always had a hard time when someone tells me I create beautiful things and I'm talented. Need to learn to accept it. -Working really hard at this. Doing good and am proud of how well I am doing.
18. Procrastinate less. I have been working hard on this. I am horrible at procrastinating and then doing everything at the last minute. still really struggling with this. Some days I do really good and others I tank. I'm hoping now that life is slowing down a bit it might be better.
27. Read 1 fun book a month. I love to read, just have a hard time making time for it. Hopefully this will force me to read more. Read O is for Outlaw. Went to the library yesterday to stock back up on books!
34. Do more to encourage Handmade Items!! I don't care if it's jewelry or cards or what, I just really want to do more to encourage buying handmade. Working hard on some ideas for the holidays!

Even though I still have a few months left before the end of this I'm already starting my list for next time. 

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

10 on Tuesday

1. So this is a little late, but it will still be Tuesday when I finish it.

2. Decided I needed a day off. Life has been CRAZY lately and so today I decided I wasn't going to get upset with myself if I didn't do all the things I thought needed to be done. It felt good and I'm actually really ready to tackle the list tomorrow.

3. Instead today I watched Audrey hula hoop with her new hula hoop. She is crazy good on it. Cracks me up when she gets her butt moving so fast and then her whole body gets going and somehow her butt stops.

4. Played football with Dart this evening. He bought himself a new football with a gift card he got for his birthday. He is so much fun to play catch with.

5. Speaking of birthday money, I need to get on him to get thank you's done. I'm telling you life has been so crazy I haven't even thought of that.

6. We rented Spooky Buddies tonight from Red Box. My kids love the buddies movies and I have to admit I do too. I think my favorite movie is Santa Paws. And my favorite buddy...Butterball.

7. Kids have an early release day tomorrow. Someone remind me on twitter or facebook tomorrow. I always stress over remembering that. I think we are going to hit the library after school!

8. Hoping to get the kids out one evening this week to do pictures. Need to do Audrey's 6 year pictures, Dart's 10 year pictures and want some for Christmas cards and gifts as well.

9. Dart's baseball season is over FINALLY! I swear we have been playing since January. Last night was the last game and they played AWESOME! Dart had a great diving stop and threw to the first baseman sitting down and should have had the guy out, but the ump called him safe! All the boys and coaches wore bright pink sweat bands in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. They all knew why they were wearing them too and NOT ONE even blinked when the mom was handing them out. They all took them and wore them with pride. Love all those boys.

10. Wow, this was a lot easier to write this week than last week. Maybe I should start doing this post in the evening.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Breathing again and October Mini-Goals

I think(whispering that) life might be slowing down for us. Wedding done, school carnival done, and after tonight baseball will be done!! I'm looking forward to having evenings at home again. I think we've been playing baseball since January.

I will update how I did on my Sept mini goals later this week, but I wanted to get my October mini goals posted. I sense Holiday stuff will be on my list from now until the end of the year.

October Mini Goals
  • Have a Fall Frenzy Sale-looking at Oct 17th-19th. 
  • 4 sets of Holiday Cards Designed
  • Holiday Mini Album Designed-also trying to decide how/if I want to do December Daily this year. I think I will end up doing something, just thinking I want to do something special and different. I will be including the kids in on it. 
  • Design Thanksgiving stuff. I want to do some banners, cards and a mini book. I have a couple mini book ideas running in my head. One for the entire month and one that would be perfect for Thanksgiving Day and recording those memories.
  • Blog 5 times a week. This will show up until I can make it a habit. 
  • Run/Workout 4 times a week. Still struggling here so if it's on here I HAVE to do it.
  • Start Christmas planning. Yes, I know it's early and I'm not talking just gift ideas, but things we are going to do. The kids each have elves that come stay with us during Christmas and I want to be ready this year, especially since I'm not sure how much longer Dart is going to believe. I don't even want to think about that part of it all. 



Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...