Spoiled Sweet Couture

Welcome!

2009-05-25T14:37:00.000-07:00

If you stop by on a regular basis PLEASE ignore the following post! We had a request for pics of our home that should be on the market any day now and this was the easiest way for me to post them for the person. Thanx for your patience and stop on by and say hi to me over at my new blog From My Front Porch To Yours!

Welcome! You can not beat this curb appeal!

Landscaping added by us after we purchased the home. Notice the wrought iron details added to the shutters. You will find the same detail added to several of the side windows upon entering the backyard.

Double carport greats you as you drive up thru the gate as well as a boat port perfect for storage or a boat.

View into the home as you enter the large double front doors. Notice the beautiful handscraped wood floors that you will find through out the home in the foyer, dining room, living room and hallways.

Another view of the foyer with wonderful lighting and custom bamboo shades that will be staying with the home.

This spacious dining room has 14ft ceilings as well as the living room foyer.

You can not miss the extensive molding detail in this home! Triple crown molding found through out the entire home to include the laundry room. No detail left undone!

View of foyer/dining room from living room.

A wonderful place to prepare family dinners featuring a large built in island, custom cabinetry, slab granite counter tops, and four burner gas stove.

Built in oven and microwave. A cooks delight.

Spacious breakfast area.

View from Kitchen into living room.

View from living room into kitchen. Room for bar stools at the bar!

Living room makes a great gathering space and is so bright and airy with the 14 ft ceilings and triple crown moldings. Three windows present in living room with custom bamboo shades that will be staying with the home. Other features include a ventless gas log fireplace which you can enjoy by just a flick of a switch!

Up close of the wonderful attention to detail the builder put into this home!

Spacious Master suite awaits you with door leading to covered patio.

His and Her walk in closets.

View of door to patio.

'Her' vanity in master bath. Notice wall heater to keep you warm in the morning during those cold winter months. Cathedral ceilings in master as well as a large whirl pool tub.
'His' vanity area in master bath. Features include extended shower with custom tiling detail.
Bedroom 2 being used as nursery. Has spacious walk in closet and door leading to 2nd bathroom.
HUGE 3rd bedroom being used as Moms sewing/hobby room. Features include at least a 10 ft ceiling and huge walk in closet.

Another view of the spaciousness of the 3rd bedroom.

Bedroom 4 is another spacious room large enough for bunk beds, storage and more. All secondary bedrooms have custom wooden blinds that will stay with the home.

Bedroom 4 features a double door closet with ample room for storage.

Second Full bath with separate bathing room and built in linen closet with laundry hamper. Master bath also has built in linen closet and laundry hamper.

Half bath with window.

Large laundry with ample storage and a utility sink!

Notice the triple crown molding even in the laundry room!

This home also features a private office separate from the main living area.

This home sits on approx a 90x175 lot with NO back yard neighbors! This lot can not be beat!
Another view of backyard and you can see the master bath window with wonderful detail! Swing set will be staying.

View of covered patio and extended concrete patio. Plenty of room for entertaining.

We Moved...or at least I did.

2009-05-08T13:36:00.000-07:00

Starting today all posts will be made over at From My Front Porch To Yours! I am still working out the kinks in between the madness of moving but stop on over and say hi!

A Make Over

2009-03-03T13:53:00.000-08:00

I am thinking of making over the blog or maybe even starting a new one. Still up in the air over it. I take pics all the time of things but I just never get around to down loading them and actually making a post with them. I always find other blogs to read instead. We will be getting crazy busy soon though so I think I may just wait till we are settled in the new house and then I will have tons to chat abt that will not necessarily bore your socks off.
Today was an okay day. Oldest was not feeling too hot yesterday. He came home from school with tummy troubles and I just knew the curse of March was upon us. EVERY March the kids gets sick for a week and then again when we go on vacation. It is the wildest thing and NEVER fails. I was just thinking of how I needed to get prepared before the end of the month. My mom usually comes in for Oldest's birthday and then begins the cycle. It was kinda early but I figured maybe this year I would get to enjoy her visit. Thankfully it seems to have been just an afternoon bug of sorts. Only lasted a few hours and he has been fine ever since. Maybe it was something he ate.
Anyways, I was fearful all of last night and then this morning just waiting for more sickness and none came so we went out. Took the boys to McDonalds which we rarely do and now I know why. It was dirty. Littliest saw an ant and well you know how well I deal with ants!:) Then Oldest said his apples tasted funny. I said sure whatever. He said try one so I looked at the bag and saw that they expired two days ago!!! My kids had already eaten half of them!! I went up to the counter and told them what had happened and the manager was standing there and said NOTHING!!! I was soo irritated by then.
Today actually has been sorta like a Monday. We needed to go to the bank so I could get out my weekly grocery money and I forgot that the one by the house only has an ATM that you have to get out of the car for. Why they make those anymore I will never know. So unsafe if you ask me. Scraped that plan and had to drive all the way in the opposite direction to the other bank location. My irritation was on the rise by then. Stopped at McDonalds which by the way still has a broken sign since the hurricanes in September! You'd think they would have fixed it by now.
Anyways, then after my level of irritation rose even more at McDonalds we proceeded to Hobby Lobby since their Easter decor was on sale.
Would you not believe that the one isle I wanted to look on was the one that they had blocked off to work in!! Of course it was the isle of the sale decor. Then while I was sooo debating on whether or not to spend $28 on a beautiful egg tree the boys started up. "Can we have this? How much does this cost? Look at this mom." I was at my limit but we still needed to go to WalMart for groceries.
That is a bad idea in the base case. I was cautiously driving down the isle looking for a parking spit and a lady on her cell just whipped around through the parking spaces without looking and cut me off. If I was going any faster she would have hit us. If you drive and talk on your phone I beg you to PLEASE stop!! It is one of my biggest pet peeves especially since we have been hit several times because of it! Pull over for Pete's sake or use hands free. Of Course hands free is debatable as well.
WM actually was kinda pleasant. I tore my list in half and the boys both went thru their lists of groceries to get. Not enough lines open as usual and who in the world still writes checks??? They always end up ahead of me!
So that is my whine with cheese today. Still not a bad day. Oldest came home and was playing on the swing set while I put the groceries away and Littliest was asleep....and is still sleeping in the car. Oldest yelled for me to come look and he was swinging all by himself! you should have seen the smile on his face and how excited he was! I was so proud of him and all the irritations of the day faded away! Thank you God!

The Nursery Part 2

2009-03-01T21:46:00.001-08:00

Okay so I was so into trying to get these posts figured out that I just stayed up to do post number two because I know you all are just sitting on the edge of your seats to see what on earth I could have ever done with some Elmers glue and scrapbook paper!:)

First I started off with the letters to Littliest name. Super easy just remember to trace um backwards. I then used a little foam brush and spread some basic ol Elmers school glue on the front of each letter. It takes a few minutes for this stuff to even get close to drying so that leaves you a few minutes to make sure your cut out letters are lined up perfectly. Now if I was really going all out I would have then would have distressed the edges with some sandpaper and then sealed each letter with some Hodge Podge. I wanted to be bale to easily change the paper out though for when we do actually convert to a big boy room.

Next I tackled those 67 cent picture frames. I just took the backs off and the glass out and took them outside to spray um with some white spray paint we already had.

Spraying um only took a few minutes since I only had to spray the sides and the inside of the frames. Was slightly messy though and so glad I was not wearing my rings at the time. I left them on the paper plates to dry and that only took abt 30 minutes since it was 80 outside.

Next I brought them in and coated them with glue as well and placed the cut out frames on top. Super easy redo and next to no money involved. Why I never thought abt doing it before I will never know!

Here is Logan's finished name. I think the colors really match nicely with his bedding.

Here is a full length picture though the letters look a little crooked.

Next I got an idea to use the wall paper boarder I had had for well a year now. I wanted to do something with the front of the toy box but nothing that could not easily be taken off. I cut a piece of boarder the length of the toy box. I then just cut out the top and bottom borders and each letter and just glued them on the toy box with regular glue. I figured they would just peel right off that way instead of having to scrap and sand them off if I had wet them down and used the wall paper glue that they were already pre-pasted with. I was not sure I liked it at first and almost took it all off but decided to put the new frames up first before deciding.

Here is the finished toy box and the finished picture frames. I was thinking of hanging them on the wall but I think they look just as nice just set on the peg rack.

Here is a close up of the finished frames. I normally prefer black and white photos but I like the good ol colored ones for this project.

Well thanx for spending some time looking at my inexpensive redo f the nursery. Nothing major but sometimes all it takes is a little here and there to add some "pop" to a room.

Next post will be abt my mistreatments in the kitchen!

The Nursery Part 1

2009-02-27T15:20:00.000-08:00

I am so excited because I can finally say that the nursery is almost 100% completed! Now those of you who know me are probably saying "what?" and scratching your head in bewilderment. Yes, it has been awhile since my last post but not that long and NO we are not expecting!

Littliest received new nursery bedding for his first birthday....two years ago. Since then we moved and even though Littliest has camped out with Oldest every night since Oct 2007 he is still very adamant that the nursery is his room. We toyed with getting a big boy bed but with only three months left here we decided to just leave the nursery as a nursery. Chances are he would not sleep in there even if we did change the crib out to a big boy bed because "brother" would not be in there with him.

So that brings me to the here and now. I am working on each room of the house getting it ready to show when we list it on the market in three months. (Yippee we are headed back "home" to Tx!) I have been inspired very much so by The Nester and all her wonderful advice and her ideas as well as those from her followers. If you love to decorate you will love her site!
Back to the nursery.It was nice but it needed some "pop" added to it. I took quite a few pics so that is why this post will be in two parts. Never mind the fact that it has taken me two days to figure this post out thus far! I have had a heck of a time with the picture placement so I have been between our Mac and my laptop trying to get the post ready. On to the before pictures.

This is our nursery and please do ignore the two big bags by the window. They are stuffed full with clothes that the boys have outgrown. I have them set aside to take to a friend this weekend. The walls in this room are a neutral khaki color. Most of our home is painted in this color as well except the kitchen which is a shade darker. I wished I could have painted the room blue like in our old house but I did not want to mess with the flow of this home because in some rooms we have 14 ft ceilings! I could never in a million years paint a 14 ft ceiling so khaki it has been for almost two years. The valance is store bought but my mother-in-law and I made the drapes. She sewed the panels and I cut out and ironed on the polka dots. We actually added those to the nursery back at the old house before we listed it on the market. I just LOVE them.

This is another angel. We use to have a glider with blue cushions instead of a rocking chair but there are two little boys in this house that shall go unnamed who decided that it was fun to try and bounce off the back of it and broke it.

This is the changing table that we purchased at the Pottery Barn Outlet in San Marcus when I was prego with oldest. I soooo wanted this changing table but it was well over $500. Needless to say I was very excited when we found it at the Outlet. It has a small gash in the side near the bottom and was not white at the time but a dark stain but I was like whatever! It was a steal at just $275 and I painted it myself. You would never even know it has a gash unless I point it out and why would I do that. I believe PBK still carries this changing table even 5 years later. It is a true classic! The letters above the changing table I got at WalMart and actually I reused some letters from big brothers name for Littliest who I guess now everybody will know as Logan!!:)
I am such a bargain hunter and so we have many in the house. The coat rack is actually an old prop back from the days when I did windows for Baby Gap. My manager said I could take a few after the windows came down but keep hush hush since we were ALWAYS told to throw EVERYTHING out. The bear too is actually another old prop for my Gap days. Brennan I think looks right at home. The toy box was made by my father in law. I emailed him pictures of one I saw in the PBK catalog and he lovingly made it for me...well I mean his first grandson but you know really for me. This space lacks really any "pop" what so ever! Very boring.

That brings me to my mission! After wondering aimlessly around my home away from home...Hobby Lobby...and just $4 later I had a plan! Those picture frames literally were just 67 cents each!! All the V-day items were 90% off so I said what the heck I can do something with those and they came home with me along with some bright and colorful scrapbook papers.
Come back a visit tomorrow and I will have Part 2 posted with the big reveal!:)

So lame!

2009-02-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

Yes, I am lame. I know it! I have been such a slacker when it comes to blogging lately. There just has not been anything exciting or interesting going on. I do have some pics taken of home projects and mistreatments I have been working on. I will get those posted this weekend I promise! I have found so many wonderful ideas from fellow bloggers it is not funny! A great time since I am staging our home for hopefully a quick sale come the end of spring. Doubt seriously that will happen but I at least want to do all I can to help things move along quickly.

Okay, working on some custom orders while the boys are at school. Need to get back to work gals!

Happenings

2009-01-30T20:28:00.000-08:00

Well gosh, there has been alot going on these days. First and foremost thank you to all who have been praying for Harper Stamps! She is doing a 100 times better and is an angel truly!! Kelly looks to be be in heaven! Please continue to pray for this family. Prayer truly is a powerful thing!

Another note and cause for the haopy dance is that today the CPSIA granted a 1 YEAR stay on the lead testing law!!! That means I have at least one more year of LEGAL selling I can do!! I have already contacted most of my suplliers and they all have sent me their certifications so I have no doubt that my items are 100% safe for our babies but I just was not going to be able to pay for the testing. Here is the article with info!

So I am totaly obsessed with decorating blogs now! I happened upon The Nester who I just would love to live next door to! Her site is wonderful and chaulked full of so many easy to do ideas! I must admit that at first it was hard for me to get use to the idea that everything indeed does not need to be perfect or even sewn to be beautiful! She is RIGHT! Now mind you even though I have not busted out my sewing machine for any of my past week mistreatments I did use my iron a bit!:) I will download some pics from my projects of the past week when I get a chance. I am really excited abt how well they turned out and am now super excited abt moving so I can just go crazy!

Funny Thing

2009-01-20T11:15:00.000-08:00

Okay so in between a few tummy troubles today for the mama I have been searching the net and came across a few blogs who have wonderful decorating ideas.Which was a life saver because I am stuck in the middle of a decorating crisis. Well not really crisis but a lack of what direction to go since I have such an eclectic taste. I am a little bit of shabby, a little bit of old world, a little bit of country,a little bit of traditional, and a little bit of Pottery Barn kinda gal. Now try fitting all of those styles into a home! It is a challenge to say the least. Now the country, old world, traditional can easily be combined into a French Country style of decor which could lend itself to a little of shabby as well. The main reasons I enjoy Pottery Barn is because it looks sooo nicely put together but yet liveable! You actually feel like you can sit and just be a family in it.
Well some of ladies whose blogs I fond have done just that! I am sooo inspired and can not wait till we move and I can decorate!
Anyways, to make a long and boring story short, one of the gals makes tassels and sells them on Etsy. I have been looking for a tassel to hang on the pantry door. Don't know why but I just want one. I never thought to look for tassels on Etsy so after visiting The Nesting Place on Etsy who has beautiful tassels but none on the color combo I am needing I punched in "tassels" in the search box and right smack there on the first page of results was this Shop. Needless to say still not quite what I was looking for but I did get a good chuckle and thought that you would too!:)
Have a wonderful day!

Praying for Harper

2009-01-17T15:35:00.000-08:00

I have a customer and wonderful friend named Amy over at Our Life By The Numbers had a post that touched me. It was requesting prayers for Kelly over at Kelly's Korner who gave birth to her first child last night, a beautiful baby girl named Harper. Harper was born with pneumonia and possibly other complications concerning her heart. Please stop by her blog and read more abt baby Harper and please be sure to also take a moment to pray for this family! I can not even imagine what this family is feeling! God bless!

Magazines

2009-01-14T11:59:00.000-08:00

Back in the day I use to buy magazines almost every week. I would buy Glamour all the time and take the quizzes and read abt the fashion trends. A natural progression occurred and those beauty magazines turned into Home & Garden magazines which then progress to Parents magazine. It was a wonderful past time. I remember the days when I could actually have my favorite Coastal Living issues laid out neatly on the coffee table. Oh how I miss those days.
The last time I spent money on magazines was a year and half ago when we first moved to our new home. I believe just three magazines cost me just under $20. Now mind you I occasionally would sneak in a Womans Day while checking out at the old WalMart but that was it. Just recently I got the magazine bug again and to my horror prices were even higher than I had remembered! Who would pay $6.50 for a freaking magazine I ask you!?? Not me. So now I pass the isle of magazines on the way to check out longing to just buy one or two but I don't dare. Now if a magazine appears in the house I am automatically found out and asked how much because he remembered me going on and on abt how much they cost these days! I should learn to not complain so much I guess!:)
While at home for Thanksgiving we were at my moms house and I have to say thanx to mom my love for magazines comes honest! She gets every magazine under the sun...well at least ones that deal with decorating and gardening. I was in heaven!! I actually took a stack with my to my mother in laws since that was where we were staying promising to bring them back.
You can guess maybe where this is heading....or where those magazines did not head. That's right they did not head back to my moms but right home with me! Not intentionally of course but out of being purely absent minded. Well maybe a little bit on purpose. Mom never said a word and I had a delightful time going thru them all.
That was almost two months ago. Last week while outside working in the yard the boys reminded me to check the mail and to what did my eyes appear but a Martha Stewart Magazine. I was so excited and giddy that I actually sat on the porch and read it while the boys played. Again delighted as I could be! I called my mom and sure enough she sent it to me as well as another magazine. So I get an entire year of not one but two magazines! Now mind you the subscriptions were free for her but it was the jester that meant the most to me! She could have easily sent them to my sister but no me! It was the best surprise so simple yet so sweet!
Thanx Mom you are the best!!

New Lower Price Points

2009-01-12T12:58:00.000-08:00

I figured it was time to due my part in helping to stimulate the economy! I know that we all are very aware of where we spend our money these days! Even for those of us lucky enough to have stable incomes we still worry just as much. I made a huge decision to start offering my baby items at my wholesale pricing! I have not offered my items at this incredibly low price in over two years but felt that it was a much needed measure to continue to grow clientele.
Stop by any time to my Etsy Shop or my Website to take advantage of the lower price points! You will be amazed and keep coming back for more!

Go and Vote Please!

2009-01-05T14:55:00.000-08:00

Please take a moment to vote in attempts to help save handmade children's items from the CPSIA!! It only takes a moment of your time and would be greatly appreciated by many many artisans and SAHM in business for themselves enabling them be at home with their kiddos!

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

From reading on posts andChange.org the top ten ideas are going to be presented to the Obama Administration on Inauguration Day and will be supported by a national lobbying campaign run by Change.org, MySpace, and more than a dozen leading nonprofits after the Inauguration.
Right now we are down to number 8!:( Please hep us not fall off the list!

Great article..

2009-01-04T18:29:00.000-08:00

Here is a great post to read on the handmade baby items ban.

New Orleans Zoo

2009-01-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

So I have not been able to post abt anything really since before the holidays. Hope that yours were as wonderfully filled with family and friends as ours was. One of our favorite things we did was visit the Audubon Zoo when the in laws were here. There were actual peacocks that would just walk around anywhere! Littliest went to chase one down to pet it and we had to stop him. My favorite thing abt it all was actually finding out that the zoo had been there since 1875 I think!! That was amazing to me! I love historical stuff like that and wanted a little book abt the zoo and its history. You would think that the gift shop would carry such a thing but no such luck. It would have been a nice Louisiana souvenir.
Today we started on our to do list for getting the house ready for sale in 6 months. Yes I said 6 months but it sounds bad that way. I like to say at the end of May beginning of June. It does not sound that far away when you say that. That and we may be told just maybe that we can go earlier. I am hoping so! I would love to get back to Houston and be settled before Kindergarten starts! Yikes! Tears coming to my eyes! My baby old enough for Kindergarten already!? Can't be so!
Anyways, we or I should say I started in April last time cleaning up everything and even though the house was not in bad shape things accumulate after 5 years. It took some time to clean out closets and get rid of the clutter. Our master bedroom closets are set here now. I just need to do the boys closets! Those are scary with all of the clothes they have out grown.
So enough boring stuff. Have a wonderful week! I have clearanced some items out on my website and will be updating new items this week. That is if it will ever stop raining! I hate taking my pics inside. The light is never right.

Attention to all of my cutomers!

2009-01-02T10:11:00.000-08:00

In August, President Bush imposed the world's strictest lead ban in products for children 12 and under, signing the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Come Feb 10, 2009 my items will become illegal to sell unless I can afford to have each item tested for lead by a third party though my fabric suppliers have assured me that the fabrics have already been tested. Each test cost anywhere from $60 all the up into the $1,000! If I have a fabric that contains say three different colors then each one of the colors will have to be tested as well the backing and the thread and the middle layer as well as the snap. I have added up the cost of just one of my bibs and just using a three way color story it would cost me well over $360 for just one bib! I would have to make two because the one that is tested would be destroyed! All of this for an $8.50 bib!!!!!

Most consumers are thinking this law only concerns toy makers but it far more wider than that! It concerns clothing, toys, diapers, strollers, car seats, baby wipes, baby bibs, burpies, shoes, hair bows and the list could go one and on! All items we have purchased for our children up to the Feb 10 date will become illegal to sell or even resell or even to donate to local charities! No more yard sales of children's items. This is how vague the law is written as of now!

Handmade items will become obsolete, and we will be paying more out of pocket for just he basics for our little ones. I am all for protecting our children from harmful lead quantities but this law is taking away our rights as Americans! It is not hurting CHINA who is responsible for this madness! They are the only ones who will be able to afford the testing and thus their products will be the only ones on shelves you will be able to buy!

So please take the tine out to contact your local governments and research more abt this law. Time is running out and we need to fight for our businesses,our jobs, our livelihoods!

I do not know what I will be doing come Feb 10, 2009. I keep reading hoping that exemptions will be made to this vague law. I love being able to stay at home with my children and love having my own business. I am trying to think of what to do with my fabric if I do choose to end the baby portion of my business. I truly am at a loss! There will be a fine of $100,000 for anybody found selling items that have not been tested. As of right now I believe I can sell up till August since I have inventory already made. Still not quite sure of that one though.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-31T21:11:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from our home to yours! It has been a wild year, really just going thru a hurricane was wild enough for us! We are thankful for all of our friends and family and of course I for all of my wonderful customers! It is hard to believe that 2009 is just 40 minutes away for us! We are looking forward to what this New Year will bring for us. Though we have enjoyed our stay here in Louisiana we are really looking forward to heading back to where we call home. We miss the area and we miss our good friends.
Okay so we just finished watching Robbie Maddison jump in Las Vegas and they said he has been riding since he was 4. I am sooo thankful that our oldest is sound asleep in bed. Actually thankful that both of my boys were asleep and did not see the jump! Oldest is obsessed with motorcycles and is insitent that he will one day get a green one when he grows up. Hubby and I said that Oldest would not jump but he would gladly hand the bike over to littliest who willingly would do it in a heartbeat! Littliest is fearless to a fault!
Anyways, again Happy New Year! We will be working on taking down the lights outside and inside tomorrow as well as laundry and a trip to the grocery store. All such fun things to kick off the new year doing! Hope your day is just as exciting!:)

3

2008-12-28T11:37:00.000-08:00

So it has now been officially three years since my youngest was born. Sniffle sniffle sniffle. I ask myself on a daily basis do I really still want a third or is it just the fact that hubby is so against it. I am so close to no more diapers and geez that is an extra $60 a month! Tiny little toes and fingers are oh so sweet though.

I really can not believe he is 3 already! It seems like it was just yesterday that he was born. I had a wonderful labor with him and it was like being on vacation in the hospital. I had never felt so at peace. He even stayed with me most nights. With my first they would take him away from me or fuss at me for letting him sleep in bed with me. I hated that whole experience and it was mainly due to the nurses on duty. So when the second one came along without any complications I was like wow I could do this again!

I love my little guy so very much. I admit at first I as upset to find out we were having another boy and then I was upset because I was upset and felt like the worst mommy ever! I just knew because the pregnancy was so different from the first that he was a girl. We had bought the bedding and everything and then the sonogram and bam it was a boy In the end though God soo knew what he was doing like he always does! My boys just love each other immensely and would be so lost without each other. I have no idea what oldest would have done with a little sister.

So here is to my "little bit" who I love more than the whole wide world forever and ever and ever! Mommy is so thankful to God that he sent you to us and I love watching you grown and learn each and every day! You are truly a miracle from above and no matter how old you get I will always be your mommy! Love you baby boy!

Merry Christmas Eve!

2008-12-24T21:15:00.000-08:00

Just sitting here tracking Santa and trying to decide when is a good time for bed. We would love to go to bed now but it is to risky of a move at this point. I tried explaining to the boys that they had to stay in bed till the sun comes out because if they get up and Santa has not been here then he will not come if they are awake. Not sure how much of that got thru. The boys have a tendency to get up in the middle of the night as it is and come in and sleep with us. I should have just let them start out there but the presents are in a closet in our room so it was impossible to get them out of there beforehand.
We celebrated the day with dinner and then home for pjs and a gift as well as a chat with the Nana & Papa in Ga. They usually are with us but Papa decided that this year he was staying home for a change. Not what the Nana wanted but what do ya do. Papa made a comment that it did not feel like Christmas and Nana said I wonder why! We sure have missed them thus far but such is life. We will see them yes the day after Christmas! The difference a day makes. My little guy will be 3 on Staurday so they are coming in for that. They have not missed one of his birthdays yet.
Well I think I will venture and place the gifts out now because I am dead tired!

Is it really!!??

2008-12-23T18:42:00.000-08:00

Is it really the eve before Christmas Eve?? Sooo hard to believe really! The boys are bouncing off the walls with excitement and just driving hubby and me CRAZY! We went to Houston for the day yesterday and stupidly told the boys the night before and they woke up at 3am ready to go!!! I so am hoping that we will not be opening gifts at 3 am on Thursday morning! I guess that is the fun of it all though.
Speaking of which I need to wrap presents tonight so I can ensure I will not run out of paper. Tomorrow I need to finish cleaning the house and then late afternoon the festivities begin! Every year we go to Outback for dinner and then come home to put on our pjs and look at Christmas lights. When we get back we make cookies for Santa and make sure the carrots are ready for the reindeer. Then one gift is allowed to be opened before bed. Our traditions are not much but we sure do love um!
Well I need to get the spaz boys to bed if I am ever to get anything done. If I do not get a chance to get back here before Thursday have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS from our home to yours!
Oh and by the way we will be wearing shorts on Christmas day! It is suppose to be 74!!! Did we not have 4 and half inches of snow not even a week and half a go!?

VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION

2008-12-18T09:17:00.001-08:00

Has anybody heard abt Feb 10,2009?? It is the day that all handmade goods for children will become illegal to sell or resell unless they have been tested for lead!! Please read up on this matter and do whatever you can find the time to do to help prevent this from happening! I am soo upset abt this that I could just cry! I have worked so hard at what I do and now what for!? A Credit Card debit that I will have to pay off by working outside the home that was created because of my business. I can not afford these tests.

It has not even been a week.

2008-12-17T11:38:00.000-08:00

I can not believe that it has not even been a week since we had over four inches of snow and today on the way home it was reading 83!!! Can you believe that! It is suppose to be 64 on Christmas day but I am hoping a cold front will come back thru by then.
Well oldest did not get up till abt 7:30 so he must have been tired. Littliest came into our room a little before 5am and stayed awake annoying everybody till after 6!!! Since I did not get to bed till almost 1 am I am just a tad bit tired and I think I may try to sneak a nap in this afternoon for us all!
Oh, I added a new item to the website! Just adorable and once I can find my boys plan tshirts I will make them one as well. More fabric choices coming soon. Take a peek! I also am waiting on Valentines Day fabric and have Easter as well that I am working on!

Early to bed....

2008-12-16T17:29:00.000-08:00

The early bird in this case does not get the worm just bed and luckily no spanking to go along with it. Yes, I spank! Back to the story at hand though. We have been having a time with our oldest who will be five in March. Over all he is a very well behaved child with manners that everybody compliments him on. His teachers love him and he has never had a bad report from school only questions on why can't all the kids sit, listen and follow directions. He loves his family and has this new thing where he will go all the way to the other side of the house and run with open arms to me and say "I am giving you the biggest hug in the whole wide world because you are the besttest mommy in the whole wide world!". Pulls at your heart strings uh!?
That is my son 98% of the time. See my children come from a long line of hard headed, adamant don't tell me what to do kind of folk and this is where the other 2% comes in to play. I get soooo tired of asking either of my children to do anything more than twice. My oldest has to be asked at least 10 times and then has to tell me when he will do what it is I am asking. He seems to think that this is a democracy of sorts and little does or did he know that this house is more of a dictatorship at least till they are old enough to make the right decisions which I might go ahead and add that the right decision is to follow moms rules and do as she asks. Just do what mom asks. Hint to hubbies that this is a good rule of thumb as well!;) When mom is happy everybody is happy!
The problem now has risen to the point that my son is developing his or displaying his anger more freely. Saturday he was mad at his father for turning off the tv and pitched a 15 minute on the couch abt it. It was escalating and so I stepped in to lead him to his room to sit on his bed so that his father would not explode into oblivion never to be seen again. Oldest proceeded to yell and scream and slammed his bedroom door in where I opened it and told him to sit on his bed. He grabbed the door handle and got the meanest most evil look in his eyes and I should have just walked away. My better judgement told me to just walk away but instead hard headed mom that I am I stood there and told him to let the door alone and go sit on his bed.
What happened next may be a common happening and not something new especially to moms with boys. For me it was a first in almost 5 years of life as a mom, my oldest deliberately kicked me!! I saw it coming and like I said should have just walked away so in a sense I guess it is my fault just as much as his.
I am not proud of and honestly was heart broken over my response. I spanked him not once but twice and yelled at him that he was never ever to do that to me again and then I closed his bedroom door and left him on his bed to stew. Crying for him lasted all of abt 1 minute. For me it lasted 30 minutes. Please understand that it is not the spanking that made me cry nor the fact that I yelled at him but the fact that it was the first time he had ever had that evil look in is eyes and actually set out to do harm. I felt as if I failed my son and myself. I felt that the past 4 and half years of rearing had gone terribly wrong and that this was just the beginning of the road to delinquency and that if he was kicking already imagine what he will do when he is a teenager!
Did I mention my children come from a long line of worriers and that I constantly go over in my mind different scenarios like such! Later on I snapped out of it and came back to the reality that I am not a bad mom and that my son is not on the road to being a delinquent minor. He in fact is just being 4 and half!
Well this evening oldest was behaving again like a 4 and half year old should, testing the limits. He had been asked for an hour to pick up his toys. I did not yell, I did not spank. In fact I let it go and when the hour was over I calmly said to him that he was to pick up or he was going to bed right after dinner. He began and then stopped. After a moment of thought he retorted that he would rather go to bed. Guess what my response was!!!???
There was no screaming, no spanking, and only a few tears. Oldest was in bed at 6:45 and fast asleep by 7:15! Now will I be sorry in the morning when he is up at 6am, yeah but it will be a lesson well worth it I do believe. Or at least I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Winter Wonderland

2008-12-11T14:58:00.000-08:00

A winter wonderland it was! The boys had a blast and we went out twice this morning. They are currently begging to go in again but I just do not have it in me. The snow is melting now. You can see the grass peeking thru and roof tops now. I am guessing there will be some icing tonight and then it will be gone lunchtime tomorrow. What a treat thats for sure. We may go for a walk after dinner to see the lights.

Well that is about all there is here today. Here is a pic of where we have been sitting all day!

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

2008-12-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

Well Happy Holidays from Baton Rouge, La!! We woke up at 6am to snow and not just any snow but HEAVY snow! It is now 8:30 and just now has slowed down. Radar shows more heavy snow on its way though. It is sooo pretty! I stayed up till abt 1 am gathering clothing and hats and mittens for the boys just in case. Hubby went to Houston for work and well it snowed there and we were sad we were missing out on it. Well it surely has made it this way!
I woke up at 3 and checked the radar and the storm was still in Beaumont so I went back to bed. Woke up at 6 and it was snowing like crazy! I just had to wake the boys up! We got dressed and played outside for abt an hour. Some of the neighbors came out but not for long because as you know we are not use to this kind of thing so nobody was really dressed for it.
Here are a few pics! It is suppose to snow till abt noonish and well most of the city is shut down to include the Interstates!
Now Saturday it is suppose to be 70!! Did I not say a few weeks past I though that we were going to have another crazy winter like the winter of 2004!? It is neat that it happened at Christmas time. I loved seeing it snowing with all the twinkling lights before daybreak.
Well have a wonderful day!

Wednesday...well almost

2008-12-09T21:38:00.000-08:00

For some it is and for some it is not Wed yet. It is 11:38 pm central time and I am sitting here listening to the rain outside and the wind. Bad storms will be coming thru tonight and I can never sleep easily when I know abt it. A cold front will be pushing thru and depending on what site you check on we may even get some snow flurries late tomorrow night into the wee morning hours. No accumulation at all but I will be that 4 yr old watching out the window till my eyes can not possibly stay open any longer just so if it does I can wake my boys up and show them! Littliest has never seen snow. We had a slight chance last year at one point but it was all north of us.
Been busy really with just life in general. It is hard to believe that Christmas is two and half weeks away already. Time is flying by so quickly. My oldest today said he will always love me and give me hugs but that one day he will be too big to sit in my lap! So true, so very true. Sometimes I wonder what people's lives are like who decide they just do not want children. They are missing out on soo many wonderful things and truly what life is all about at least in my opinion. What is it all abt if not to experience life thru a child's eyes! I love watching my kids grow and learn new things.
I guess that is why I am soo sad that hubby really does not want anymore. He made a comment the other day that having a third is not going to keep me young. First off I am not old, a mere 33 and yes older than him but come on 33 is not old by any means! Secondly I just have that desire still for everything baby. There is just nothing like watching them grow. They truly amaze me! Now I will not lie and say I would not wish that we could have a baby girl. I see sweet lil' baby girls everywhere and think that there is one waiting to come home to us. Then I think how selfish I am to want a third when I already have two perfect loving little boys. Why chance it right!?Though I have to say I would not care if it were a boy or girl. Just one more sibling so my kids will always have somebody.
Well it is yes now midnight and I think I will attempt to sleep. Have a wonderful Wed and remember to keep the holiday cheer alive!

Happy Monday!

2008-12-08T06:29:00.001-08:00

Hope your weekend was a good one! Ours was really great. Nothing special other than the Claus taking a moment to swing by. I think that was the highlight. The tree is decorated as well as most of outside. I still need to do the garland around the door but need to but a new string of lights first.. That is on today's list. A little things here and there inside the house and then a place for all the bins till it is time to take it all back down!

The boys have school this morning so I will be running off to do errands though I would be perfectly fine just staying put and sewing and piddling around the house. I need to go though. We found a few stockings stufffer gifts at Target last night and well the boys were with us so I need to go back today.

Littliest is wanting his big baby blankie so I need to go and get them both dressed for school. I will download the Santa pics and post them later!

1:45 am

2008-12-05T23:42:00.000-08:00

Nope, the boys are all fast asleep and have been for awhile now. So what is the reason for such late hours? My website! I started working on it some more while the boys were at school today. I think altogether I have logged abt 6 hrs and I am done for the day. I must say it is soo rewarding to see it all! I made a few changes for easier shopping and also made it to where you can click on the pic and it will pop up a larger pic of the item. I have almost all the pics updated to do that. I must say I am proud of myself because I have needed no help form the hubby thru it all today! I even figured out how to list my onesies without him! I am sure he is just as excited to not have to help me figure it out!:) Be sure to stop by the store and browse around! I am offering a 15% discount to friends and family right now just enter "f&f at checkout and it will automatically discount your purchase at. This offer is only good on my website and not thru my Etsy shop.

Made a trip to the post office today and then a long trip to Target across the way. What normally takes 15 minutes took almost an hour! URGH! I was able to find the Geo Trax Grand Central Station which has been hard to find anywhere around town or on the web. It was a chore to distract the kids and get a Target associate to get it and take it up to customer service so it could be hidden in bags. I was doubtful I could pull it off but I did! The oldest did not even notice I ad placed a large bag under the cart! Hubby and I are hesitant abt it though. Not really wanting another think with pieces and batteries! It is the ONE thing he has been asking for and has been rather adamant abt. He said he even tried telling Santa who came to visit school abt it and Santa did not understand what he was talking abt. Or so Santa says!:)

Speaking of Santa, I am tickled pink even though I was not there to see it, my two children both eagerly saw Santa when he visited school today! They even had their picture taken with him! Now I pulled hair last year to get them to take pictures at the mall and was sooo sad when they would not. It was the first year ever with no Santa picture and well to be honest I was not paying the $15 for one of the screaming their fool heads off. Santa was the key to littliest going straight into class this morning with no crying!! Thank you Santa!

Well geez, for it being so late, or early depending on how you look at it I sure can ramble on abt nothing! Have a good one! Santa will be coming by sometime tomorrow with the fire dpt that is just behind house. The boys LOVED it last year! They started sounding their sirens and everything. We were in the house and had no idea what was going on and thought that there was an accident at the entrance to the neighborhood. I even got out the ladder to try and peek over the fence to see. It was just Santa riding in his sleigh being pulled by the fire truck! So cool! they went all thru the neighborhood and he waved and threw candy! We were wondering if they were going to do it again this year and our lovely neighbor Ms. Beth called and they said yes but could not give a time. SO sometime tomorrow from 8am on Santa will be by! Gotta get some sleep! Again the rambling!

Friday

2008-12-05T06:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday y all! Just got a quick sec before I need to get the boys ready for school and out the door. They finally slept past 7 am! Yahoo! Now the thing is to readjust our schedule to accommodate that! They did not get up till 8:30 this morning!

Today I need to mail some orders and then off to maybe Target. I am on the hunt for some of the Nick&Nora pjs with the gingerbread men on them. Oldest needs some Christmas pjs for his program at school and well I buy them a new pair every year. The Target closest to us does not have them so the hunt is on.

I am hoping to get most of the decorating done today. There are plastic bins every where and it is driving me nuts! I can not stand clutter..that is unless I make it!:)

So have a wonderful Friday and enjoy the season!

Wednesday

2008-12-03T13:47:00.000-08:00

Geez, does it ever stop during the holidays? I just feel like I have been on the go actually since the beginning of November. Today the boys school pics came in so while they were at school I yet again this week ran to Hobby Lobby. That makes three trips so far this week. I may have actually gone twice in one day but not sure.

I was able to get some picture frames for gifts and then also was able to get the teachers and their helpers marked off my list! $56 is pretty good for 5 gifts with wrapping and all! I was pleased. Not what I really wanted to get but that is alright. They had some beautiful manager scene snow globes that I had been looking at. I had one for me and put it back. Then it dawned on me that they would make perfect teacher gifts. Went back for them and there are no more. So instead we have a candle set and ornament plus really pretty wrapping. I love wrapping! It is so much like decorating!

So back to non stop. I did that and ever since the boys came home I have been pooped! So ready for bed and it is just not even 4pm!:( I need a break and there is non in site. I need to sew finish the outside decorations which mostly all fell over this morning from the wind!:( Then we need to ...I need to do the tree which at least is inside and decorate it. Only three weeks till Christmas Eve. I feel rushed for the sheer fact that I love when it is all done.

Well off to sort thru the decorations. I will take a pic when I am done!:)

Real Quick

2008-12-03T07:14:00.000-08:00

Hope your week is going well! We have been busy getting ready for Christmas! Hard to believe only 21 days to go. The tree in in the house. The boys and I will decorate this afternoon after school. We also need to work some more on the outside decorations. I need to figure out gifts for the teachers at school. I need 5! Any good inexpensive ideas?

Oh, I got my first website sale today!:) Just a set of tinkle toppers but yahoo!

Monday

2008-12-01T06:56:00.001-08:00

Well it is Monday and the boys are sooo messed up on their time it is not funny! I am soooooooo NOT a morning person what so ever. My kiddos get up around 8-8:30 and sometimes even as late as 9:30. The entire week we were in Ga they were up at 7:30 which means it was really 6:30 for us. Yesterday and today they were up at 7 am. 7am! I so hope that they get back to normal soon! If not I will be a zombie before too long.

Well it is a school day. Little one is already protesting and has been since he woke up. They went to school maybe all of four days in November!:( I just can not send my kids to school sick or with runny noses that never seem to stop. That is why the kids are always sick. They just pass germs around.

While the kids are at school I need to run to Target and make a Hobby Lobby run! I am hoping that business will pick up soon because I need a few more decorations for the outside. It will drive me nuts not having everything done but this year is tight as I am sure it is for everybody. I guess not having all the decorations done but the presents for the boys is pretty good.

Speaking of decorations, after school we will be putting up the boys Christmas tree in their room!:) I may buy a few little decorations for them to put on it at Hobby Lobby. I need to see if they are on sale and print up a coupon. Have a great day!

Happy Holidays!

2008-11-29T18:15:00.000-08:00

We just got back from a long 11 hour drive from Ga! We went home to be with our families for Thanksgiving and surprisingly enough it was a pleasant visit over all! Very little drama to speak of which was soooo much of a relief! Those of you who live out of town and go home know the stress of having to visit all family members who are there and just the overall attempt of trying to please everybody is just exhausting!

The trip home today was a slow one but uneventful. It rained pretty much the entire time. We stopped off at Costco in Montgomery for lunch. We LOVE Costco and sadly enough only have Sams here in Baton Rouge. There were sooo many things we wanted but we behaved and just walked away. We spent two hours in there eating lunch and then looking around and then debating over everything we wanted. I think it is the first time we ever left Costco empty handed!:(

We came home to some of the neighbors having had decorated! It was nice to see that the holidays are officially here. They will be done and over with soo quickly that I live in every moment! I am such a kid at heart when it comes to Christmas! Tomorrow I will be busting out the decorations. I am behind this year due to us all being sick and the show.

I will be starting on a few custom orders tomorrow after the grocery store. I can not

wait to sew again. It has been almost three weeks since I have sewn if you can believe that!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T18:19:00.000-08:00

Hope your day has been a blessed one! Another year to be thankful for and another year to look forward to!

Spent the day with family and also have done some shopping. I could not believe that WM was open! We did birthday shopping for my little one. He will be three on Dec 27 so it gets kinda hard to figure out what to do for him. Glad we have it all done now though. Just a few thing left for Christmas for both boys and everything will be done except the out of state family.

Question to all, how have you delt with Santa Claus? I grew up believing in Santa Claus and so did my hubby. We have continued the spirit with our children. My oldest though who will be 5 in March mentioned once last year when he was not even four yet that Santa was not real!!! It passed and all was well. This year he is adamant that the jolly old man is not real and just somebody in a costume. He is not even 5 yet and well frankly I am not ready the magic of Christmas to disappear without a fight! Now before anybody sends me messages abt Christmas not being abt Santa I so KNOW that! We make that quite clear with the boys but Santa adds that special magic to the season. My biggest fear is that my little guy who does and says everything older brother does will start to say and think the same.

Any ideas on how we can get our guy to believe at least for a few more years?? I will admit that I believed thru all of elementary school. Kids just grow up way to fast these days.

Thanx in advance for any advice! Again have a wonderful Thanksgiving and if you are like me shop till ya drop!:)

Saturday

2008-11-22T20:08:00.000-08:00

Well the jolly old man himself finished up my boys today! I got a call that he located Spike for us so we would not have to worry abt getting him. Then I just researched Spike and saw that there have been quite a few complaints abt Spike not working after a day!! URGH!! It took Santa four stores to find him today so I pray that Spike stays working! My boys will be heart broken if he does not! They have been eye balling the fellow since August when he came out! Every trip to Target includes a trip down the Spike isle to push the button and then my littliest likes to tell everybody around how his brother wants Spike. Way tooo much money but it is the only thing they both have been wanting. Its a sure deal.

Santa was also able to get them the Polar Express wooden train set at Toys R Us. The boys are so into that movie right now! Did you know that you can actually go on the Polar Express and wear your pjs!!?? Okay it may not be the Polar Express but is the idea of it not just the coolest! We would have to drive 5 hours to ride so next year when we get back to Tx we will go! I will be just as excited as the boys! Tehy go around singing "Hot Chocolate"!:)

Well off to bed. Have a great Sunday!

A few pics..

2008-11-21T20:59:00.000-08:00

Christmas 2004 in Houston Tx! Our oldest was only 9 mths old so he will never remember but I will!

I could not wait....

2008-11-21T20:06:00.000-08:00

any longer! I just had to go ahead and put the Christmas Play list up! I know that I can not be the only one who just loves Christmas and can't wait for the season to actually begin!? It seems that this year will a much colder winter than years past. A child at heart I always wish for flurries at Christmas time and let me tell ya if it look as if there will be snow at the GPs house for the holidays we surely will be leaving Santa a note on where to find us!:) I can still remember the one year that it snowed on Christmas in Ga. It was fantastic and a memory I will always cherish! There is nothing like seeing all the houses lit up with lights and the snow glistening. Okay for those who have snow every year at Christmas I am sure it is no big deal but it will always be a big deal to me! I can remember my bed being by the window and I would keep looking out at the street light to see if I could see any flurries even when it was not suppose to snow. I hope that my kiddos have wonderful memories as well! My hubby on the other hand swears he was locked in a closet till he was 10 because he remembers nothing! So sad really!

Well good night and enjoy! When I get a chance I will be adding some more tunes!

Tada! Check out....

2008-11-21T11:24:00.000-08:00

the new website!!! I finally was able to resize pics and download um! Be sure to stop by and tell me what ya think! Any suggestions welcomed! I need to go back and add larger pictures to the pictures so when you click on the smaller pic it brings up a larger pic. Not sure how to do that yet but hubby said he would show me tonight!

Have a great day! Off to try and run errands. The nose has finally let up!! That is till we go out in the cold!

Happy Friday Y all!

2008-11-21T07:11:00.001-08:00

Feeling a little more like myself. I think I can manage getting ready for the day and getting the oil changed out in the mini for Thanksgiving travels. The boys are home yet again today but oh well. I really need to get started on holiday shopping. I am sooo far behind this year. I usually start in Oct. I guess the problem is that there really is not anything out that they just have to have. Spike the dinosaur has been a popular fellow every time we hit Target so he will probably come home to live with us though he is freaking huge and well $130! Then that would mean a raptor bot in green. Oldest was wanting one of those last year when they did not come in green.

I so do not know. We really do not need anything and with moving at the end of spring we really want to keep Christmas tamed this year. Does that ever happen!? No!

Well have a wonderful day! It is only suppose to be 50 here today and 30 tonight! A few of my friends in Va have snow!!! How fun! Wish we could get a few flurries!

Chat more later!

Mama has...

2008-11-20T11:35:00.000-08:00

it now!:( I am sooo wanting to get back and bed and sleep till tomorrow but what is a mama to do! I almost forgot to file my taxes so we need to go and put those in the mail and pick up the rest of the boys meds. So off to get half decent if that is possible. I am thinking dinner out tonight.....

It is official....

2008-11-19T14:31:00.000-08:00

the boys have more than just the funk. Both have ear infections and bronchitis!:( Thankfully though other than trouble with littliest sleeping at night they have been wonderful and you would never know they were sick!:( I did not even know they both had fevers of over 100 till we got to the dtrs. They were acting fine so I did not bother to check. That and my hands have been cold so the ol mommy hand check would not have been accurate. EVERY year at this time though one or both get sick. It is actually a little later than usual. We have our first bought mid Oct and then again around now. Nothing new and thankfully not as severe as it usually is.

Opps gotta go. Littliest just woke from a nap crying.....

First Frost

2008-11-19T02:01:00.000-08:00

Wow! It is 4 am and I just woke up to get my littliest one some more cough medicine and I looked out the window and saw the neighbors car has frost on it! Now most people would say yeah, so what but here in cajun country that is almost unheard of this early. We were wearing shorts last year at this time. The last time I remember it being this cold was when we lived in Tx and it snowed for my oldest ones first Christmas! Maybe there is a glimmer of hope for some flurries this year! The boys would love it!

Anyways, back to bed to deal with the funk that has invaded our home again! This time of year is always hard on us! Even oldest has a snotty nose again. I do not know why we even bothered to pay for tuition for November!

Until later in the morning!

The Show

2008-11-17T18:59:00.000-08:00

This pic I took right after set up. The show was held in an atrium so of course no natural light during set up.
My new Little Man Onesie went over big time as well as anything I had made in the argyle fabric. I need to make some more for the website this week.

Mistletoe Market was fun I have to say that I did not enjoy being on my feet for 9 hours straight! Geez it has been 5 years since my retail days and I have no idea how I ever did it especially prego but some how I did. Thank you to all who came out and shopped!

Now that it is over I can finally devote time to my website which I can not wait to do! I will be taking pics and actually making items available for purchase tomorrow! Yeah!

Well it is 9 and I am just beat! Early to bed for a change. I leave you with a few pics of my booth set up. I had soo much fun setting up! I hated to take it all back down.

The Funk

2008-11-12T11:47:00.000-08:00

Everybody is finally getting over the funk that has been floating around the house for two weeks now! Not really sick but not really well. Runny noses and chest congestion. Just not fun. It all has put me behind in production for the show so I will not have as much made extra that Iw anted to!:( I did get a call this morning from Nan and they wanted to come out today instead of tomorrow so they are on their way. I will not have polished floors but oh well. I have to let something go.

Gotta get back to work!

Rant

2008-11-10T20:24:00.000-08:00

Okay so I am taking a few moments out to rant a little. Not abt anything important at all and it may actually offend some people so I apologize in advance. I use to be a HUGE fan of J & K plus 8 ( not wanting to be accused of writing abt them to get people to come to my blog)! We would watch it every week to include the marathons. My boys just loved watching the "babies" as they call them. I thought that the family was just charming as can be. Well after watching it I began to realize something. How is it that this one family gets to do all that they do!? The AVG american family who has just two kids do not get to do even half what they do or even have half of what they have.

Now having two small children myself I can understand only a tiny bit of the stress Kate is under on a daily basis so yeah, it is nice to see that she gets to have her hair done ever now and then and enjoy a pedi with her friend. All of us gals deserve that every now and then! We all need stress relief. My relief is my sewing!

The problem I have is that this family NEVER seems to do without. How do they afford the lavish Pottery Barn Kids Valentines gifts and all of the wonderful Gap clothing that I can not even clothe my own children in and my husband makes a decent salary but it still seems there is not enough to go around for just even the basics of life. How is it they always manage to go on what most would consider lavish vacations?! I will probably never get to take my children skiing in Colorado or even to Hawaii.

I know most of these things are given to this family but I wonder if they ever wonder the consequences of receiving all of these luxuries? The children seem very well behaved and well mannered but I would be concerned that they will grow up thinking that these things are owed to them because they are on t.v. As nice as these things are such a pianos is there ever time when enough is enough. When you just say thanx but no thanx? Do their children know that most children do not have it nearly as nice as they do? It seems to me the kids think this is just the way things are for everybody!

Is it me or does anybody else get tired of watching this family live such a lavish life style and feel like we must feel sympathy for them because their life is so hectic and their house is so small!? I grew up next to a family who had before they moved 10 kids! They lived in a three bedroom house on one income. Everybody was fed, clothed, and for the most part happy. New clothes were almost unheard of as was getting to go on vacation unless it was cross country to grandmas house.

Don't get me wrong there are things that I do enjoy abt Kate. We both seem to have a case of OCD and we both have to have things in order and well done our way or it is not the right way otherwise else we go insane. She sooooooooooooo needed that tummy tuck and I am sooo glad that she was able to receive it out of the kindness of that dtrs heart. Shoot I would love for somebody to give me one to out of the kindness of their heart! You go girl! I just wonder though does she ever really think abt how she comes off sometimes? Nothing seems to ever be enough.

We are suppose to be seeing how a family with 8 kids survives in the real world. In the real world there are no helpers, there are no lavish vacations, and there really is hardly anytime to get your hair and nails done. Never mind that in this day and age there is no money for any of that any ways! I just think that the show has gone in a different direction from what it was originally intended. We are no longer watching them live their lives but we have created this life for them and they feed off of it. I wonder what they would do if they were ever cut off. How would they clothe their children or be able to drop $800 on beef. Just once I would love to see them say "NO THANK YOU we have enough and have been blessed many times over please bestow your generosity on other deserving families. We thank you for all the years of support but now we feel it is best for our family to live on our own." I really doubt that we will ever see that happen.

Like I Said it is not like I despise this family! I do still find the children charming and for the most part very well behaved. They bring enjoyment to my children and like I said Kate and I have several things in common. I would probably be friends with Kate if she was my neighbor. I love it when parents actually make their children behave! That is a lost concept these days! It is just that there is this nagging feeling I have abt it all. So I was just wondering am I the only one??? It has NOTHING to do with jealousy so please do not think that! We live what I consider a charmed life and well I wonder every day if I should say enough is enough with my boys! We are blessed in so many ways and I am sooo thankful that I get to stay at home with the boys! I know that that is not the norm. I so know things could be totally different for us in just a blink of an eye so I cherish every moment at home I have with the hellions. Yes I called my children hellions because that is what they have been for the past few weeks but I digress.

So now that I have vented and shared my thoughts I am off to sew. Only 4 more days till the big day! I am getting nervous and sadly disinterested to some extent. Not motivated as much as I was but I know if I do not get on the ball I will be a mad woman come Thursday. Maybe I think deep down I have enough made....over 7 bins full...and have the set up all planned and purchased. Maybe that is it. I keep thinking I need to make this and this and this and then I think well shoot if I make it all they won't have anything to come back for! So really it is a toss up. I will make some more baby girl bibs, some birthday bibs and a few more Take Along blankies and call it a day for the show. One gal really can only do so much and I need to get the house ready for the GPs coming in from Ga on Thursday.

Night all!

96.1 The River

2008-11-09T07:23:00.000-08:00

Can you feel it? It is in the air and I am getting excited! Now let me tell you I am the first person to condemn the fact that places such as my favorite store Hobby Lobby begin putting out Christmas decorations in July! It goes against every fiber of my being and personally I think takes away from the magic of Christmas. It is no longer July though and Christmas is fast approaching! It will be here and gone before we know and i plan on enjoying every minute of it!

Next week I will begin to take down the fall decorations and replace them with the Christmas garlands and wreaths. The apple cinnamon candles will replace the pumpkin spice candles and when you walk into our home you will be greeted by the sounds of Christmas and of over joy and warmth of the holiday season! Yesterday I tuned the radios to 96.1 The River and that is where they will stay till January!

Then of course the holiday season is never complete without several showings of The Polar Express! We did not watch it last year because my oldest was not interested so it felt like there was a little something missing. Well yesterday we purchased the 3D version that just came out...save your money it does not work.... and had our first showing last night for family movie night! Since my youngest was still an infant when my oldest last went threw his non stop must watch The Polar Express over and over again phase it was like hew was watching it for the first time! Truly a delight to see his smiling face and hear his little giggles! I believe that you do not truly know the magic of Christmas unless you can experience it thru the eyes of a child!

So with only 45 days left till Christmas comes and goes please stop on over and pick your spot on the couch in front of the fire. I have a nice warm cup of Vanilla Cappuccino...I just LOVE these adorable little mugs I purchased the the other week... waiting for you and we can talk abt our favorite holiday memories and just enjoy the season! Many exciting additions coming as well! Stay tuned for my new holiday playlist!

Thursday

2008-11-06T18:46:00.000-08:00

Today was a day filled with sadness. One of closest friends mom passed away from gosh at least a two year fight with a rare cancer. It completley caught us off guard. The last update we got was that she was doing fine and they were just waiting for a bone marrow match. Her cancer had gone into remission. After receiving the transplant we were told things were looking up but then suddenly everything went down hill. They gave her a few days to two weeks to live. This was on Monday. She died the very next day. This was all told to me by a mutual friend who called this morning on their behalf.

This is very hard time for my friend. She has two wonderful babies. Her oldest is a little over 3 and her youngest just 5 months. She will be missing her mom very much especially this time of year. They were very close. So please take a moment and send prayers for strength for my friend and her family! They need all the prayers they can receive!

After I received the phone call this morning my mind started racing and remembering back when my mom was diagnosed with a rare cancer herself. My hubby and I had been married abt a year and half and it was the first spring in our new home. It was a shock and a blow. All I could think abt was how my mom would never get to see my babies and watch them grow like she did with my sisters boys. We already lived half way across the country and then that. It was and still is soo heart wrenching which is why my heart goes out to my friend even more. Our mutual friend's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was pregnant with her second child. So she knows all to well the thoughts that cross your mind at times like these. However we will never ever...hopefully... know the extreme sadness our friend feels. We can only imagine and that does not even come close.

Something my friend said this morning kept running thru my head. She was talking to Steph and telling her how she understood and it came out all wrong because Steph said yeah but your mom lived. That prompted me to call my mom and tell her sooo very much how much I love her! I am blessed that God has allowed my mom stay with us. I would be soo lost without her.

So I hope that Steph knows how much we love her and that we will always be here for her no matter what!

Happy Wednesday

2008-11-05T06:05:00.000-08:00

Busy day yesterday! Finally made my bib tree. I need to get 5 more hooks for it to be complete but that is easy peezy stuff. I think it is going to look awesome. I can not wait to see everything all displayed together! Hopefully I will not drive hubby too insane with the set up. I tend to be a little obsessive and a perfectionist but I think those two go and in hand!:)

Have to finish a custom order this morning and work on more show stuff. Nothing too exciting really so I will not bore ya!

Have a great day!

Tuesday

2008-11-04T07:12:00.000-08:00

After a hectic Monday it is Tuesday! Only 11 days till Mistletoe Market and I am getting stressed! There was a change in booths for the show and I was not happy person abt it but it all worked out in the end though I had to pay a little more for the new space. I now have prime real estate and nobody can miss me! That being said I feel the pressure even more so!

Today we will be hunting down white ribbon for my tags and tulle to tie up the burpies with. We also need to make a trip to the Post Office and then I need to come home and sew a custom order, make more bibs for the show and work on the website all while tending to my children with love!:) Can I do it? Can I be super woman for just 11 more days?? Well really 9 since the Gps will be arriving next Thursday to help out! Did I mention my hubby will be in training all of next week as well!!!??? I can do it though ...I think!

Have a great day!

Another week

2008-11-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

Happy Monday ya ll! We have come upon another week and it is hard to believe it is November. I know I already said that once but it is soo true! Been working late every night and it is wearing me out! Now with the time change the boys are up at 6:30! Makes for a cranky mommy that is for sure!

Today my template should be loaded onto my website. We will be working on it all week to try and get some item listed before my next next weekend! Is it really next weekend!? I will post a link in my Fave Spots To Visit once it is up and running! I am sure you will find it just delightful! I need to send my friends some bibs so I can get some pics of her baby girl in them for the site! Another thing to add to the to do list.

Running a few errands while the boys are at school. Then home to get some more prep work done fro the show.

Chat later!

November

2008-11-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

November is here already! It seems when you are older that time just flies by. The rest of the year is jammed packed with plenty to do and before we know it it will be 2009! Halloween was a sweet one. It was the first year hubby actually went with us. We just placed the candy on the porch with a note that said please take two. We were kinda not sure abt it but come to find out most everybody did that who had little ones. The kids had a blast and oldest was sad that Halloween was going to be over once he woke up.

This weekend we will just run a few errands and I will sew sew sew and sew some more. We may even make my bib tree. I bought all the pieces for it but the post. I will have to take a pic when it is done.

Well oldest is wanting something to drink. Littliest and hubby are still asleep! It would be nice t sleep past 8!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-30T23:12:00.000-07:00

It is 1 am and I just finished the boys Halloween shirts for school. Oldest woke up so I showed him " Sure doesn't look spooky to me mom"! Oh well! What can a mother do but love um! Off to bed.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN from our house to yours! Have safe one!

Halloween Is Here!

2008-10-30T10:58:00.001-07:00

The boys are sooo thrilled that Halloween is actually here...well okay tomorrow but who is counting. Oldest had his party today at school and had a blast. Tomorrow is littliest ones party. I must admit I was a bad mommy and did not take any pics today. I hate to say it but honestly how many school party pics does one mom need! I have 3 yrs worth already. Tomorrow will be a differ story as this will be the first school party for littliest. It should be super fun to see all of them dressed up.

While we were waiting to head back up to the school for the party littliest and I went to Target where I paid $12 for a bushel of sticks! Yes, $12 for sticks which I could have gotten from the large pile of Gustav debris that was in our front yard. They were really nice though and look great by the fireplace. I actually think I need one more set but I can not bring myself to spend $24 on sticks.

Still trying to get ready for Mistletoe Market on Nov 15. Had my first nightmare abt it last night! I was not finished sewing and I woke up right at the time it started! No really it was frightful and I woke right up! Hopefully that will be the last one.

Came home to a wonderful Twitter message from a lovely gal I met on Twitter named Emi! She has an awesome site Georgie Tees with really cute onesies and tshirts and even maternity tees. My fave is "Made it past third base"! Too cute! Go check um out! Anyways, she did a post on her blog abt me today. I was tickled pink! So unexpected! Thanx Emi!

Well I need to let the kiddos call the GPs in Georgia so they can video chat and then I can possibly get some sewing done. It is nice to have a virtual babysitter from time to time!:) Have a great rest of the day!

Happy Monday!

2008-10-27T06:10:00.000-07:00

Hope ya all had a fab weekend! Ours was nice! Alot of wonderful fam time and the boys had a blast! Worked on the new website some. Hubby has agreed to finally help me with no fussing because he looked at what all I needed to do to set stuff up and knew I would be clueless. So he thankfully will be setting my shop up so all I have to do is have him show me how to add items and what not. THNAK YOU HUBBY!

What else, remember a few weeks back when I was complaining that it was 87 out by 2 in the afternoon? Well fall has finally arrived and we are sooo thrilled. Unfortunately we are unprepared for it. I have no...okay one long sleeve shirt and the boys I think abt two each. That will do for this week since tonight and tomorrow night it will be getting down to 38!!!! I said 38! Craziness! It has not been that cold this early since hubby and I moved into our first home in Tx in 2002. I remember we did not have any children and there were no trick or treaters coming in the sac since there were still only a few houses built in there and no street lights yet. So we decided to bundle up and go find the treaters! We walked around the neighborhood for a few and handed out our candy!:) It was fun! I also remember I had to work an over nighter that night. Oh how I hated those!

Okay, gotta get the boys dressed for school and finish the hair!

OH MY GOSH!

2008-10-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Okay just have to share before I head off to bed. I finally was able to take the plunge on the website! I had an amazing lady on Etsy do my graphics and redesign my business card and hang tags. I worked with her before on my Tinkle Topper Bag Toppers. Well let me tell ya, Maree is awesome and I highly recommend her! I can not say enough abt how great she was! 100% ++++ customer service! If ya stop by her shop tell her Pamela sent you!:)

So I am in the midst of an overhaul once again. It is funny how business evolves over time. I just redesigned back in the spring to include the name change and here I am again. This time it is for good! I am soo excited abt it that I have to share a glimpse at what it will all look like! It is just perfect I think! The pic is of my new hang tag!

Off to bed so I can get up and sew!

Oh and I HATE to say it but PLEASE do not borrow or use any part of this graphic for your own personal use. They are protected under copyright laws. Thanx!

Friday Night Family Night

2008-10-24T19:39:00.000-07:00

What did you do tonight with your fam? Hubby came home and the boys requested we go out for "Puppy". The boys love eating "Puppy"! Everything has a code name around here. Chick Fil A is "Bak Bak" which came about from our friends little girl. She since has dropped it seeing as she is four now and well it still sticks in our house. Now "Puppy" is better known to those in some of the southern states as Canes whose mascot is a Labrador retriever. You should see the strange looks we get when the boys ask to eat "Puppy" when we are out and abt! It brings a smile and chuckle to us every time!

After that we stopped off at the local cinema and bought some popcorn for movie night. I kept wondering why there were sooooooooo many kids there and not just teens but little kids dressed in leotards and funny hair and then it dawned on me! Yes, today was the release of High School Musical 3! Silly me! We came home for a personal viewing of The Hulk thankfully which the boys have been wanting to watch since Tuesday when we purchased it! I guess I must get use to the testosterone in this house. I am fighting a battle i can not win.Oh how I would love some tutus and frilly things though.

Oldest take on it was that it was slow up till the end. He enjoyed that part as well as littlest! Of course littliest is now sleeping on the couch and well oldest needs to as well but here I sit!

So that was our family night and today has been a great day! Hope yours has been as well and that you have a terrific weekend! We will be on the hunt for long sleeve clothing and coats. Fall has finally arrived in Cajun Country! Yeah!!

Happy Friday!

2008-10-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

Not so happy for many with the current situation. I just herd they halted all trading on the market for the day and it is only 10:22 am! We are soo blessed that hubby has a secure job and is not planning on retiring anytime soon since his retirement is tied up in stock. That sucks but it will rebound sometime in the next 30 years so we will be good. Not going to worry too much abt it.

Boys are at school and getting ready to sew some. I just had an order from a boutique in Madrid Spain so I am excited that I have gone international! She ordered once before so I am excited she has come back in less than a month!

Other than that nothing much new here. Gearing up for show time. Getting nervous for sure. Hubby is thinking I will not make but$500 and that would be total failure for me! Like I said I am aiming for $3,000. That way I can pay down my CC and order some new fab as well.

Well have a great rest of the morning!

SAd DAy

2008-10-23T07:13:00.001-07:00

It was a sad morning for oldest this morning! I looked out on the porch and to save you the nasty details we had to throw our beloved pumpkin that we just carved on Sunday away!:( Really it was not nice. I had to rinse the porch off after we chunked it. Littliest chunked his little one as well so we are heading to Hobby Lobby after we drop oldest off at school and see if they still have any carveable ones left. Keeping fingers crossed! I so do not want to have to drive down to the other Hobby Lobby in town! I will though if need be! I guess that is what being a mommy is all about!

Have a good one ya all! I so can not wait to share some of my new stuff with you guys! Next week I will give ya a sneak peek at Market items!

Tuesday

2008-10-21T13:49:00.001-07:00

Started on another batch of bibs for the show. This time around holiday. I added up how much inventory I have already and it is well over $4,000 which is great seeing as I did not think I had that much. I am hoping to make $3,000 at the show. Keeping my fingers double crossed!

After school we went to walk around Target. Got the boys the new Hulk movie. Oldest loves anything green so the HUlk is his favorite now! Also bought them both little Lego sets that were $5 and you can make them into three differ things. Oldest loves to build so I knew he would love um! Sure enough he is already making his own version of trains. I got two new pair of flip flops! I was in heaven! ILOVE flip flops and you will catch me in them anytime of the year even if it is 30 outside. That or bare feet. What you will never ever catch me in are high heels! I wore them only once and that was for the thrity minutes I married my man and then right after some sassy flops went on!

Need to get back to sewing and the kiddos want to show off their new creations to the GPs in Ga. Outta here....

Good Morning Ya All!

2008-10-20T06:08:00.000-07:00

Hope your morning is starting off well! It us actually 47 out here this morning! Yahoo! Good thing we bought oldest his coat over the weekend. Well not really a coat but a Gap profleece jacket. That is all you really need around these parts and if it is really cold a couple of shirts underneath.

We got our yearly pumpkin patch pics yesterday! Not the best but oh well. I am just glad we got some! Then we cam home and carved all of our pumpkins. The boys played while hubby and I worked on them. Still fun non the less. Afterwards we roasted the seeds and it is the first time I did not burn them! If you have never carved a little pumpkin you should and roast those seeds! They are the best. The puff up to little air crisp and are sooo yummy!

Gotta finish getting the munchkins ready for school. I also need to round up what I need to mail out and what I need at the grocery store. We were having too much fun yesterday for a normal Sunday run to market.

Happy Sunday

2008-10-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

Hope the weekend is treating you all well. We have had a pleasant one this far. Yesterday we traveled down to Oak Alley Plantation for their fall arts and craft show. It was super busy but nice. We had been in the springtime and I knew I wanted to go back for this one. I looked into the fees associated with it and I just may add it to my line up for next year. It is a beautiful place! True Louisiana with large oak trees lining the walk way up to the plantation house. We have yet to tour the house itself but the grounds are magnificent.

Today on the line up is a quick trip to a local church who has a pumpkin patch. We have to get our yearly pumpkin patch picks in. Then off to the grocery and then home to sew. Only 4 more weeks till the big show and I am feeling the pressure. I was kinda worried with the economy and all but yesterday there were people buying right and left so I feel my philosophy is right-if you are going you are buying something otherwise why go!

Have a wonderful afternoon! It is suppose to be a gorgeous one here...finally!

What the???

2008-10-16T12:17:00.001-07:00

Okay I have had it! I am totally over the weather we are having right now! It was pleasant out the last part of September but now it is like summer time here! Well it is like summer starting around 1:30-2:00. That is the magical time that it jumps from 71 all the way to 89. No joke! It has been this way for abt two weeks now. I am having to water the grass because it is dying. Craziness I tell ya! What happened to the Farmers Almanac saying it was suppose to be one of the coldest winters in years??? Well yeah, it is not winter but close enough!:)

Not much up here. I made some take along blankies for my show with minky snail on the back!:) Ohhhh so nice! I just love um! I bought just a half yard not knowing how well it does but I just love it! I will definitely be making more for the show and making them a regular item on my up and coming website!:)

Well the kiddos want to ichat with the GPs in Ga. TTFN

Is it...

2008-10-13T21:28:00.000-07:00

Halloween yet Mama? How many naps till Halloween? Um lets see....18 as of today.
That is the daily conversation in my home these days!:) Oh and it is not fall here because we have no leaves left to fall off the trees because of the hurricane so how can it be fall!? Excited because Baby bird came back tonight. He had been gone for a few weeks. We knew he was around because we could here him sing which he does before he goes to sleep.
So thats life here. Back to sewing or maybe sleep. Ummm sleep would be good!

I did it!

2008-10-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

I finally closed up shop on Ebay! What a relief to not be paying all of those outrageous fees anymore! It was crazy! I will b e saving the money I spent keeping my Ebay shop open to opening my own website soon! I am so excited and can not wait but it will probably not be till after my show in November though. Too much going on until then. So thank you to all who purchased from me thru the years on Ebay! It is because of you I have come this far!

SALE SALE SALE

2008-10-11T19:10:00.001-07:00

Hope the weekend is going well for you all thus far! Ours has been thankfully quiet and uneventful...knocking on wood! We are three weeks out till Halloween and as a special treat I placed my Halloween bibs on sale. Be sure to stop by the shop and grab ya one or two for those adorable little trick or treaters you know!

Drum Roll Please.....

2008-10-10T16:04:00.000-07:00

Here it is my very first Boy Birthday Cupcake Bib! I am soo excited abt how cute it turned out and so different even from my first one I made just to see how I wanted to make it. It is funny how things evolve midstream! I was going to make several at one time but when I realized just how darn cute it was turning out I had to finish up one and list it in my shop! Hope you like it as much as me! More to come soon!

Coming soon....

2008-10-10T06:58:00.000-07:00

So I made a pattern a few months back and then that was it. I attempted to be inspired further but again that was it. Well yesterday was the day! I will be introducing soon some exciting new bibs! Be sure to check back in within the next few days!

Wish I could get some sewing in this morning but as luck would have it littliest one has to go in for a follow up on a bite he received on his foot while we were outside yesterday! We were so excited that the debris was finally picked up from Gustav so we went outside and finished cleaning up what was left behind. Sometime in the hour we were out there something bit his little foot. We are normally a shoeless family but he had on his sandals and it appears whatever it was got trapped under the strap and just went to town. I Within 30 minutes of coming inside his foot was twice the size and he had two blisters on the top of it.

After an hour and half at the after hours care and $30 later we really were no further than before we left home. So today we are going to our regular peds dtr. Hopefully he will be able to tell what bit my babies foot!:( As a worry wart I have visions of a flash eating bite and amputation. Yeah, extreme but that is what I think abt! Not likely since he is wobbling around the house just fine this morning and still has all 5 toes a wiggling!

Well got make lunch for oldest. Today is his first 5 day week at school. He begged me to send him 5 days instead of having a mommy day!:( More sewing though!:)

Later...

Special Promotion

2008-10-08T21:24:00.000-07:00

Good evening ya all! I just wanted to let you know abt a special promotion I have going on in my shop right now that is only available for a limited time. It is called "Pick 3". You choose any three basic and or spittle bibs or heck even mix um up for just $25! That is a savings of a little over 20%! This offer is only available at my shows and only when this listing is present in my shop. So start that holiday shopping now!

New Goodies Added

2008-10-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

So I decided to list some of my stash I have for my show. I just could not resist! I made some super cute diaper caddies and some beautiful bibs with a new decorative topstitch. If only I had a little girl to wear them!

I also have been doing research and hopefully will be re-opening my own website before years end! I have everything picked out and now just need to see how well I do at my show in November. I am also trying to find an adorable baby girl baby that I can take pics of for my home page. I do not know many people around here yet and the one baby girl I do know is not old enough to sit up yet. I m ay just have to come up with some super display of my bibs.

Well of to sew some more! Hope you day is going well and be sure to stop by the shop and look at all the new goodies!

Saturday

2008-10-04T20:57:00.000-07:00

Nothing much up around here. Working on getting rid of a nasty cold that hubby brought home from work. That canceled out our trip to Tx for the weekend. I was in bed most of the morning but felt better after a nice long nap! Yesterday I worked on a few new diaper caddies. I made enough to be able to list just one of each in my store hopefully sometime next week. I also decided I will only play my Halloween playlist on Halloween. I got tired of it so I know you did too. I just created an all new playlist and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Perfect for the kiddos ears as well! The boys favorite is the Cuppy Cake Song!

Neat...

2008-10-01T20:27:00.001-07:00

Okay so I have been working really hard to prepare for my first what I would call big show. Not sure I will ever think I am ready and now after seeing what I just saw I doubt I will be ready. One of the advertising venues for the market will be at the local movie theater. They made an ad and you can view it from this link. Check it out! I am one of the first ones listed!:) Thought it was kinda cool! If I do well then I will be coming back next year even though we will most likely be in Tx at that time.

Mistletoe Market- Baton Rouge La - November 15, 2008

Dah!

2008-10-01T11:43:00.000-07:00

I was on the way home from picking the boys up from school today and I had the sunroof opened on the mini...van that is. I thought to myself what a beautiful day it was at only 73 with low humidity. Then I smelled it. Its was a rush of burning leaves! As I enjoyed the smell and thought of falls past while growing up it dawned on me today was the first day of OCTOBER!! It is funny how sometimes you get so wrapped up in life and you know what day it is but then you realize what day it really is. Does that make any sense what so ever?! Hopefully to somebody it does.

Anyways, so happy October and as a festive addition to my blog I have made a new play list for you to enjoy while visiting. My kids love it! They are the only songs I could find or remember for that matter from back in the days when I use to count down to Halloween!:)

Oh and oldest is adamant that Halloween is TODAY because they put up the new calendar at school and it has a pumpkin on it! It has been a debate for the last hour.

New Items Listed!

2008-10-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

Happy Wednesday all! Hope your week is going well thus far. We have been keeping fairly busy and have a trip to Tx planned for the weekend so I am trying to keep up. I have been sewing like crazy and well just have not listed anything new in awhile. Well today that changed! I have 10 new additions to my Etsy Shop as well as some new fabric finds! Be sure to stop by and take a peek!

Another Monday!

2008-09-29T12:56:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday ya all! Hope your weekend was a good one! Sorry I have not posted in an entire week but truthfully not much up around here. I am working on a few custom orders and then sewing for Mistletoe Market in November. I was having issues with finding my lining for my bibs but thankfully I was able to score an entire bolt today! What a relief!

This past weekend I was browsing some other blogs and Etsy shops and came across some really pretty birthday banners. I was looking for someone to design and print a banner for my craft tent. Then it dawned on me, I could just make my own! It might not be as large as I need it but for now $20 in supplies is a lot better than $100 for one. I stayed up till 3 am Saturday night to finish making it!:) Once I start on something new I have to finish it so I can just see how it turned out. Let me know what ya think!?

I still need to find ribbon for it and redo two of the circles. The 'p' I thought was a 'd' so I punched it upside down and then I messed up my color flow on one at the end. I LOVED making it though and after the show madness I may start making some to sell. I want to do baby name banners. My hubby thinks I am crazy. What do you think?? Worth my wild???

Well off to sew some. Chat more later if I have anything interesting come up.

Getting back to normal....for now...

2008-09-15T09:25:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday everybody! Hope your weekend was a good one! Just talked with some friends who are on their way back to Houston. The old homestead fared welled though no power still and a few downed trees. One of which we fought to save on the first house we built but gave back. At least it fell in the street though and not into the house.

Boys went back to school today! I went to WalMart which was enjoyable. Not many people there at all which was nice!!! I bought some rocking shoes that I will have to share in my next post. I do not normally buy shoes from WM but these were super sweet!

Now I am just trying to pack up orders and get them mailed before heading to get my boys.

Nothing exciting but just wanted to check in. Back in a few I am sure!

Saturday

2008-09-13T06:27:00.000-07:00

We have been following Ike thru out the night and continue to pray for those affected by it! Though some of our friends evacuated others chose to stay. It is still too early to see how they fared. Ike remains in the Houston area but thankfully moving a bit faster than it was over night.

Last night we were watching live coverage on the laptop from local Houston tv stations and we were seeing shots of areas we know so well and it was just a "Wow" moment. I guess God knew what he was doing when he moved us here last year. There is a reason for everything and we just need to learn to trust him. The eye has moved right over the area where we lived and hope to be going back to live next year. We certainly would not have hung out for Ike if we were still there. Not quite sure why some of our friends did but I pray they all are okay!

Today we need to tear ourselves away from the coverage and run to Sams. It is time to restock some things. I was holding off to see just where Ike was going before filling the fridge and freezer back up. That and there is still a short supply on cold goods right now. I was able to get a few the other day which was nice along with some fruit for the boys. I had to go to three different places before we could find hot dog buns.

Not sure when we will actually get to head out and run our errands. The winds are still pretty fierce around here. I think it is suppose to continue through out the afternoon as well. We keep watching the tall trees across the street literally bend at the tops and amazed they have not snapped yet.

Well hope you have a wonderful Saturday! Off to wipe down the bathrooms and fold some laundry in case our friends who did evacuate stop by out of boredom! Chat more later!

Joy...well not really....

2008-09-12T06:44:00.001-07:00

Good morning! Hope yours is going well. Ours started a little before 5am when a band from Ike hit us. Have you seen Ike???? It is HUGE to say the least and well for once I am glad that we do not live in Houston at this time. Thankfully our friends who were thinking of staying headed out this morning at 3am and arrived here in Baton Rouge around 7 on the way to the grandparents a little ways down the road. Oldest was worried abt his best friend McKinley and the hurricane so it will be nice to tell him she is safe here in Louisiana with us! Well not with us but you know what I mean.

Keeping littliest home from school today. The winds are down right awful. Oldest looked out the window and said the hurricane was here again. No, just the tropical winds that go along with it!:( We will be sleeping up front in his room tonight like we did with Gustav till the winds die down. This will be truly a test of the old oak tree in the back yard that's for sure! We have tornado watches and woke to a tornado warning this morning. Not fun! I can not wait till this hurricane season is over!!! Its been almost three weeks of madness really!

Sadly enough they are currently reporting power outages again because of downed trees! Joy!

Flash Back Friday

2008-09-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

Flash Back Friday is back and I could not be happier! This flash back will not be a flashback really fro anybody but me and well hubby but I love the memory but I thought that I would share just the same.

Lets go back to March 22, 2004. It was a Monday and hubby was to go into work later that morning due to the fact that he was accompanying me to my OB appointment. My appointment was for 9:30. We both got up and was getting ready. Hot topic that morning was weather or not I was going to be sent over to the hospital for an induction. The first song that came on the radio was "Up" by Shania Twain. Not one of my favorites but non the less I remember it because as all of us who have ever been prego know that the last month is the worse and you feel like a beached whale and then some. It made me smile and so we continued to get ready.

We arrived at the appointment still guesstimating who would be right abt the induction. Hubby thinking not since my original due date really was not till April 3. It was later bumped to March 27 I believe. I could be wrong n that that later fact but all the same I KNEW I was going in that morning!

The lady docs at the practice were having a photo shoot in the waiting room for their website and brochures. It was a little after nine. Nine thirty rolled around and we were called back and my stats were taken as for as blood pressure and peeing in a cup. We did not even go into the exam room before I was asked if we wanted to go and have a baby today!! I WON I WON!! So hubby is not always right but I digress.

My midwife said that all three ladies at the practice watched me the entire time in the waiting room and I guess I was just down right miserable because they all agreed it was time to send me over!

Now before anybody freaks and goes on a rant abt having babies come when they are suppose to my baby was measuring well ahead of the game! Large head and thought to be a nine pounder. If I had to have waited till the original due date I would have popped literally!

back to the story, So hubby and I went to the truck and we called the the Nana and Papa who I said all during the pregnancy were not going to be in the room when I gave birth. I was very adamant abt it and finally gave in on the call and said come on! This was their first grand baby and just over joyed! They made the 14 hr trek from Ga to Tx in I think just under 11 hrs! Non stop!!

After we called them we turned on the radio and Travis Tritt was playing,"Its A Great Day". I already enjoyed the song and now forever it will be a part of my life as I look back fondly on the birth of my first born baby who by the way if was not my first would have been my last! The labor was HORRIBLE!!!! Mostly due to the fact that the nurse I had was HORRIBLE , it took three tries for the epidural, and a total of 15hours before our son graced us with his presence! Again due to the nurse who did I mention was HORRIBLE!! I will share the details in another post some time. I am just glad that the beginning of the ride was better than the outcome though we did end up with a happy healthy baby boy who was not a 9 lb but still the same had a big head!!!

Oh, and if God had shown me the light back then the GPS would have been more than welcome to be present at their grandsons birth. I did not know at the time just how wonderful they are and how much more wonderful it would have made things. I just kept thinking of how my mom could not be there and she was all I really wanted! She was recovering from cancer and seeing as baby boy was not due till a week later she had scheduled a flight three days after he actually arrived. So in the end I still got my mama and she was on the cell phone the entire delivery! Another fond memory!

Wednesday

2008-09-10T12:04:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can not believe it is Wednesday already! We were going to head to Tx this weekend to visit our good friends but plans had to change due to their kiddos being sick and well Ike! I guess now we will just stick around here and put the patio furniture back and get the power wheels out of the half bath. Yes, we put power wheels in the bathroom!:) We do not have a full size garage so that was the only place we could think of to get them out of the way since we were hanging around for Gustav. We already had the front porch furniture in the dining room which we use as a playroom.

Today the boys started back school. We were a tad bit late due to the fact that they woke up three times last night and drove me insane! If they were babies it would not bother me but geez! Speaking of which I had a realization the other day!:( I do not have a baby anymore!:( I keep thinking of my littliest guy as my baby and he will be three in December! Less than three months and he will be 3!!! I do not know why 2 and half sounds better to me than 3 but it just does! I am not ready to have my boys grow up and I am soo not ready to not have any babies anymore in the house. Laugh at me if you must but we still have the crib up and littliest has not slept in it in almost a year!

Anyways, back to school which was a nightmare of sorts to get the boys up and out the door in 10 minutes but I did it! Woke up a tad bit late but thats cool. Well I woke up but went back to sleep. Not a good thing. Littliest woke up protesting school top the utmost extent. I had to pick him up and put him in the car with tears rolling down his cheeks. It broke my heart but he was going to school! We got there and Ms. Dot had to peel him from my arms. Sad sight it was. So sad. After I dropped oldest off in his class I went back to check on littliest and guess what!? He had stopped crying and was playing all in the matter of 3 minutes! So I guess I am not the meanest mommy in the world though oldest did agree to that statement the other night! Hubby took great joy in it.

I went to Hobby Lobby all by myself and enjoyed. Still no money but I did spend $20. I am trying to finish m y fall tree in the foyer but at the same time not spend any money. Kinda hard to do! After that I came home and started cleaning the floors and vacuuming up every nook and cranny that had dead love bugs! It is love bug season and seeing as we were without power we let the front door open from time to time and well big mistake on the bug factor. Just when I think I have gotten them all more appear but I think it is because they sneak in when we go in and out.

So that has been my pretty boring day. Listed a few more bibs today. Go check um out if ya get a chance! Have great day!

Thankful Tuesday

2008-09-09T11:50:00.000-07:00

Hey ya all! It is thankful Tuesday and I certainly do not need to soul search for this one!! Last week at this time we were without power and HOT! So I am sooooo thankful we made it thru and are living it up with the air conditioner! I am also thankful that the boys get to start back school tomorrow! It was not suppose to be till next week but since the church got power back and there was no damage and all the teachers could make it in they said come on back. I said Yippee!

Today I have done a little sewing. Later after we run some errands I will be listing new items in my Etsy Store. As for my Ebay store I believe I am getting ready to shut it down. It is on vacation setting right now so I need to decide.

Other than that nothing much going on around here. Have a wonderful day and I will chat more soon!

Sneak Peek

2008-09-07T17:29:00.001-07:00

Okay so I felt a little creative today!:) Here is a sneak peek at a Christmas Onesie I will be listing soon!:) It took awhile to cut out each of the snowflakes but I think it turned out soo cute. I love the snowflake on the behind as well!:)

More pictures of Gustav

2008-09-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

Hope today is turning out to be a good one for ya all! Little on the tired side for me but other than that and the HUGE pile of laundry waiting to be folded I am good!:) Ike projections seem to b e shifting towards Tx now. We are suppose to go to Tx to visit friends this weekend but maybe they will be here sooner.

Just a few more pics of around here and then that will be that. I will try and start chatting abt something different I promise.

Gustav National News??

2008-09-07T01:09:00.000-07:00

Okay so here it is after 3 am and I am still up! I was surfing the web trying to find pics of other areas in Baton Rouge that people have submitted on their blogs knowing there would probably be few since power is still mostly out. Here is my question to my gals, how much national coverage was there abt how hard Gustav hit Baton Rouge and other areas in Louisiana other than New Orleans? I am not even finding anything on CNN abt how bad it is here!! Definitely could be worse! I would think though that we would be news worthy but I guess with only abt 27 deaths from the storm we are not news worthy enough. I had a fellow blogger who had no clue why we were out of power!! This just floored me really! Now I know why because there is really no coverage on it except from our local stations. Not enough to sensationalize I guess. Trust me though when I say people have it bad here and with Ike possibly on its way things will only get worse. I believe most of the state of Louisiana is already declared a natural disaster area but yet no reporting on CNN?? Oh except on the day of when we got calls before the phone lines went dead asking us where we were evacuating to. Apparently CNN did report that Jindal our Governor was evacuating Baton Rouge in the midst of the storm. So not true! Some areas sure but that was the extent of it.

Ike looming too close for comfort!

2008-09-06T23:51:00.000-07:00

Pic of our backyard and surprisingly the swing set made it!
A breath of fresh air! This is baby bird who is not a baby anymore but we still call him that. When we purchased our home last year we were surprised to see that he had already claimed it as home. He sleeps every night in the corners of our carport and we really thought that we had seen the last of him but here he is just hours after the storm! It brought a smile to us all!
A pic of the military chopper surveying the damage the morning after. He flew right over my head but I was in such shock I did not take a pic till seconds later.
This is a house on the other side of our neighborhood where an oak tree split the house right in half! Thank the Lord that nobody was hurt! They had already purchased a lot in a new neighborhood and was getting ready to build there and sell this home. They made a for sale sign and stuck it in the yard that said just needs a little TLC! I believe they said they will just bulldoze it down and sell the lot.
Another pic of their home.

This is a pic or our neighbors house across the street during the storm.
This is our next door neighbors who had a pine tree fall on their house and into their living room before the storm even got bad!
Next door neighbors trees and debris in our yard.
Another pic of the damage between the houses.
Next door neighbors front yard the day after.
Neighbors house two doors down.

Well we are now keeping a watchful eye on Ike! If by Tuesday it seems it is headed anywhere near here we are indeed leaving for Ga! Today we were able to venture out and made it to Sams which to our surprise was open! The boys were tickled pink since they enjoy having hot dogs and cheese pizza there for lunch! In the next parking lot down the National Guard was still handing out tarps and MREs. Again it is all too sureal around here!

We have tons of volunteers in from all over the country and my hats go off to them for coming to help us out! Most are forced to sleep in their trucks or in tents set up in parking lots! We saw a lot of that this evening when we went out.

I am not sure how to post pics yet with wording at the bottom of each pic but I will post a few pics of the damage....nevermind, figured it out!:) It is 2 am so time to get back to bed..... I will post more later in the morning! Have good one!

Oh how sweet life is!

2008-09-06T12:14:00.000-07:00

Today I resumed mailing orders out! What a nice feeling that was! It may take a little bit longer for them to get where they are going but at least they are out and on their way! Our mail lady was delivering mail the very next day after Gustav hit.

Gustav. How I wish that was a word we could forget but it will be sometime before any of us forget. We were the lucky few in all of the mess. Several of our neighbors lost trees and even one neighbor had a tree fall right on his house. There is a house on the other side of the neighborhood where a huge oak tree split the house right in half and yet another house in a near by neighborhood which did almost the same.

You drive down the streets and there are piles upon piles of debris stacked as high as they can be stacked. Generators are still going and neighbors still cleaning up after the storm and hoping that Ike stays away!

It was surreal when I was outside the morning after just after dawn. It was sooo quiet and still. Just looking around it seemed unreal. Large military choppers flew over head to survey the damage. They still do. Every night we watch two of them go back to their command posts.

We were the fortunate ones even though we endured four long hot days without power. Our large Oak tree still stands in our backyard. Why, who knows other than maybe our guardian angels were with us! When the storm started I took the angel from our bedroom and placed her on the mantel. She is actually from our nativity set but since she is soo pretty I let her stay out all year.

I can no express how fortunate we are and at times feel guilty that we are. People wait in lines to get gas and MREs. People even just around the corner are still without power. Some areas expected to be out for up to 6 weeks. God is watching over us. The past two days it was suppose to be 95 out and yesterday it reached 77 and today only 82 with low humidity. Makes things a little more bearable and brings on the longing of fall and normalcy even more.

We will not be staying around for another Cat2 hurricane. This was the most we want to ever experience. Depending on Ike's projected path we will be heading to Ga by mid week. Sadly though we may have to leave the daddy bear behind for work.

Well I have tons of laundry to do and a floor that is in dire need of cleaning as well and some sewing to catch up on. Hope your week was less eventful than ours and that your weekend is as wonderful!

PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!!!!

2008-09-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

As of 10:30 pm we officially have power!!!! We have been sooo very blessed and I will post more on the events of this last week tomorrow! Thank you to all you sent prayers our way! Please continue to pray for all of Louisiana as most of the state is still without power and it maybe 4-6 weeks before many areas are restored!

Gustav Update

2008-09-01T08:11:00.001-07:00

It is now 10:11. As of 8:30 this morning Gustav made its presence known by snapping our neighbors pine tree in half which then fell on their home. Hubby ran over and they were all fine. Thankfully we have a fire dpt right behind us and they came over and helped remove it!
We lost power at 9:30 and are on backup generator for now. They are predicting up to a week for no power.We have enough gas for that week if we run it even 24 hrs straight.
If I can get a chance I will download some pics I took thus far in a few. Trying to keep the kiddos up here in the front bedroom of the house away from the trees in the back. We have a huge oak tree that could go anywhere to the back half of the house. Lets pray not. I brought out my angel from the bedroom and sat her on the fireplace mantel to help watch over us. She is actually from my nativity scene but sooo beautiful I left her out.
Hope everybody else is enjoying their holiday ! Today is hubby's 31st birhday! Happy Birthday honey!!

1:45 am....

2008-08-31T23:43:00.000-07:00

Woke up for a potty break. We all are in my oldest son's room sleeping tonight. One of the only rooms in the house that So far only a few rain showers. Reports of landfall between 5am and 8 am. Tornado sightings earlier in the evening. We are back in he red rang for now.

Oldest is up looking for me. Update in later this morning if I can.

And waiting....

2008-08-31T15:24:00.000-07:00

Today has been a pretty quiet day. Had to run to Walgreens for some more cold medicine for the boys. They both have snotty noses and chest congestion. Usually means bronchitis is to come but hoping not. They both are actually napping right now and quietly unlike when we were sleeping last night. No coughing either so maybe it is running its course without the chest congestion taking totally over.

We have played Playdoo and attempted puzzles and just watched tv waiting. Lets see it is now almost 5:30 and I see out my sewing room window the first of the dark clouds and I got up to peek and a few drops have started to fall. Now we just play the waiting game some more. Thankfully thus far Gustav has not formed back to a Cat4! It is being predicted more to the west again so that is good! We are no longer falling in the red zone!

I think I have every piece of clothing washed now. I need to fold um all and put um away but we shall see. Maybe this evening when everything starts up and I need my mind on something else. Well I need to clean up the Playdoo mess in the kitchen and attempt to start dinner. I will keep you posted when I can. Thank you again for all the prayers! Oh and as you can tell we decided to stay after all.

Too tired...

2008-08-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

to continue the previous past right now. We will decide at 4am if we will be leaving or not. You can soo tell how we do not want to! I will leave you with some pics though from our journey of madness today! Have a wonderful night and please send many prayers for all in Louisiana! We sooo need them right now!

last pic of the national guard setting up porta pots in the parking lot fo the outlet mall off of 1-10 out of New Orleans.

The quiet before the storm.

2008-08-30T19:34:00.000-07:00

Howdy gals! So I am sitting here waiting for the 10 p.m. update on Gustav. The Gps headed out after dinner for Ga. We decided not to follow. We felt that it was best we stay here and if needed evacuate to Houston. It is better to be four hours away from home then 10 and that is during normal traffic. We want to be able to get back here ASAP to see the damage if there is any. We will not make the decision to go until after the 10 update though. I think we are gong to ride it out with all the neighbors. I went around and talked to a few today and feel fairly confident that we will be safe and if we need help we all will be around to help.

So what did we do today during the quiet before the storm?? This morning I mailed out orders. Then we went to a new little whole in the wall down the road for lunch called Tiger Bait Cafe or something of the sort. Please be reminded we live in LSU territory thus the name of the restraunt. After that we headed to the outlets to find teh boys some school clothes. Did I say the outlets in the midst of a hurricane?? I sure did and boy was it a fun ride!:)

A little ways down the road in lower country we saw people making sand bags which freaked the Nana out but we assured her it was because they were in the flood zone which we are not. She was not convinced and honestly if she had it her way we all would be in Ga as of yesterday. Anyways, further down the road hubby decided to take a different route that ended up adding 30 minutes to our time. During the ride there we saw a CVS that bordered up and then an Office Depot as well. Again reassuring the Nana we were fine.

When we finally got to the outlets in Gonzales it was like a ghost town but still open...mostly!:) A shoppers dream come true! Outlet shopping pretty much by yourself! We pulled up and the Nike Outlet was bordered up as well as a few other shops. We commenced forward and started our shopping marathon. We had two hours before stores were closing at 4. Went to Gap and then headed to Carters and saw that they were already closed. As we were commenting on that another mother ....gotta go and see the update....maybe back...maybe not.....to be continued.....

Looking better...

2008-08-30T06:18:00.000-07:00

for now at least. It seems Gustav has shifted yet again to the west and we should only be getting around 65 mph winds! I am not worried abt it all because this morning I saw that the neighbors kids came up from Meterie and if Susan is sticking around then it should all be fine! They lived in New Orleans with the last round of storms so they know when to go.

Today we will prepare for high winds though by taking the bistro set off the front porch and bringing the fern urns into the foyer. Lets hope there are no spiders in um! I should take the wreaths down as well which is fine seeing as I was wanting to put the fall ones up anyways.

I may still try and talk the Nana into going to the outlets in Gonzales!:) We need to school shop for the boys. I mentioned it last night and she looked at me like I was crazy!

I guess that is it for now. Remember to go one over to Its Almost Naptime and enter to win!

Its Almost Naptime Giveaway!

2008-08-29T19:57:00.000-07:00

about a month ago I stumbled upon a wonderful blog abt a family of a wonderful fellow blogging gal, Missy. Her blog caught my eye because for one she has kiddos. Not just one but four all in four years! She is sooo very funny and VERY faithful!!! She also lives near our old homestead in Houston. So I visited often and left comments from time to time and Missy responded and said "hey lets do a giveaway"! I said sure, how fun would that be!:)

So this evening after she puts her kiddos down she will be posting our giveaway! I know I must be crazy doing a giveaway during the mayhem that will soon be upon us but like I said I will be bringing my stuff with me if we decided to leave!:)

Take a moment and head on over and say hi to Missy and see the details of the giveaway! I am really excited and hope you are too! This is the first of many exciting things to come!:)

Oh, and thanx a bunch Missy! You rock!

Again No Flashing Back

2008-08-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry gals, but we have been busy getting ready for the impending arrival of Hurricane Gustav. We are still trying to decided wether to stay or go. I-10 out of New Orleans was bumper to bumper here at 10 am when were heading to the mall to make a return and shop a little. A girl has to get her shopping in storm or no storm!:) As of right now Hurricane Gustav is pretty much heading straight for us with the eye on the left of us which means we are in the worse spot to be in but we may be securing the ol' homestead and staying put. The truth of the matter is I do not really want to go anywhere but if it seems the family will be at risk we will be heading out into the madness. I guess we will know a little bit more tomorrow morning or afternoon.

I have closed my Ebay shop for the time being but will leave my Etsy shop open. All of my bibs and stuff will be coming with me but my fabric sadly will stay here. We are hoping for the best but expecting the worse. I will keep you updated when I can.

Thanx for all your prayers in advance! I have received many emails already with well wishes.

Gustav has me beat!

2008-08-27T10:09:00.000-07:00

Gustav has me beat before it even gets in the gulf! We spent all last evening trying to hunt down a generator which we had no luck in doing. We thought that we had one from Sams but when I called to confirm my pick up order I was put on hold for 30 minutes to be told no! URGH! Papa and & Nana are bringing us one from Ga though. We have decided that if it looks bad enough we will be heading to Ga with the Gps!:) I guess that is one way to get us to visit!:(

After I dropped the boys off at school I took the car in for an oil change and inspection. I am a freak and so when I realized we would be possibly on the road I had to make sure the ol' mini was ready! She is nice and shiny as well though that will not last for long! Next on the agenda was a trip to WalMart. EVERYBODY and there mother was there stocking up but thankfully I was able to get four fans and some more water and canned goods. I know it seems that we all are CRAZY but we have been thru this before and it is not a pretty site to wait and see! I would rather be prepared than be rushing around finding nothing.

So now I am resting for a brief moment and then it will be time for the boys pickup. Pretty boring day I must say! I sooo want to sew but no time today. I need to finish cleaning and make sure the laundry is all done just in case. Chat more later if things liven up here!

Gustav

2008-08-26T17:40:00.000-07:00

Okay well hurricane season has arrived and it seems that Gustav has everybody on edge around here! Last year we were pretty fortunate seeing as we just moved to the area. Nothing major happened and so all was quiet and well. Fay just brought us a lot of rain and wind. Nothing major but a few areas did flood but due to poor drainage more than anything.

Hubby comes home from work all worked up abt Gustav and so we decided to that he would go out and possibly get a back up generator. We have been discussing one for years seeing as we live near the Gulf Coast so now we just decided to bite the bullet! If we had stayed for Rita or whoever it was a few years back...yes I know bad that I do not remember the name but I have had another child since then so the brain cells are not all there....we would have needed one. Thankfully though we evacuated in the nick of time traffic wise fro Houston to our friends parents home in Slidell which of course had just felt eh effects of the previous hurricane that hit just a week or so before.

Anyways, t make a long story short we are not the only ones freaking cause hubby called and said that all the generators just sold out at Lowes and that there literally was a line for them!:( Now hubby is running around town at 7:46pm trying to hit as many places as possible before they close in hopes of finding one.

Hey at least the fun part is that the in-laws will be visiting if Gustav does make it here!:) I say it is always best to be with others when stuff like that happens and since we have no family or friends really to speak of here I say come on in Nana and Papa and ride out the hurricane with us!:) Papa is a handy fella so if the hurricane does come at least he can help tend to stuff for us! We love that Papa!:: and of course the Nana too rocks!

O and yes I normally would be freAKing out but I made a vow to relax and worry only when I absolutely need to! We shall see how long that last! I had every pictures off the wall packed and all important papers ready to go the last time as well as a suitcase just in case!

Sooooo cool!

2008-08-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

Kiddos survived school! Yeah!!! Littliest talking abt going back. He talks the talk but lets see if he actually walks the walk on Wed!

I only have a quick second before I need to start a load of bibs and dinner but I justhave to share something cool with you all! As some of you may have read I joined the Lollieshops Guild and well there are SOOOOOOO many talented gals there and I can not wait to start selling with them. Here is the site for just one of those gals! She has the most awesome light bulbs and even candy cane scented ones and sooo reasonable too! Check her site out and her blog! I just love her graphics for her branding/logo as well!

Gotta go.....have fun browsing!!

Sad Puppy

2008-08-25T09:46:00.000-07:00

Okay dropped the boys off at school. Things went well. Littliest went right in and started playing. I was able to get out the door to take oldest upstairs. Of course no trouble with him at all! He was ready to go as was littliest. They both put on their new kicks and had their book bags. To cute really. I was so proud of them both. Well before I left I walked past to peek thru the window to see how Littliest was doing. He did not see me but man mommy should have just left it alone and headed out the door without looking back!

There he was on the floor flat on his belly crying up a storm!:( I say him go to get up so I quickly stepped away from the door. He came to the door bawling his head off and crying "Mommy Mommy"! Just literally broke my heart!!! I really should have just left cause now I am counting the minutes till 12:30 rolls around so I can go and get him. School is not over till 1!

I have been a lost puppy myself! You would think that I would be overjoyed to roam aimlessly thru the isles of Hobby Lobby without having to say hold on to the cart, don't touch that it breaks, no you do not need to smell another candle and yes that is very pretty. I was not. I tried. I tried really hard to enjoy myself but I just keep thinking of my little guy all sad. I guess if I had had actual money to spend it would have helped...helped a lot but I did not so it was just a trip to kill time. I did find a fantastic mirror for over the fireplace though. Actually two. One was on clearance for $70 though and the other was only $34. With this new budget thing though they both were out of the question.

After Hobby Lobby I decided I would wonder again aimlessly thru the isles of Target! No fun either. I did though treat myself to a salad from Chick Fil La for lunch and it was divine to eat all by myself without sharing! Now I sit and continue to count down the minutes. Continue to wonder if he is still crying. Continue to wonder if they allowed him his "baby" blankie that I put in his book bag without him seeing.

We will make it thru and he will learn to enjoy his time away from me as well as my time away from both of my kiddos. It is just a hard adjustment.

Hope your day is going well! Again crossing my fingers that Fay will not act up and send some ore rain till after I get the boys from school!Oh and no that is not our dog. We are not a dog family. Just an adorable pic that I highjacked from the internet!

Crossing My Fingers

2008-08-25T04:50:00.001-07:00

Happy Monday Morning! Yeah, I know not really but but we have one every week. I am crossing my fingers on two counts this morning. First that both of my boys snotty noses have died down and will not prevent them going to school. I am such a huge germ freak so sending them school with snot noses is soo against every bone in my body but I will do it this morning if the nose is all that is going on.

My second finger crossing is that school will go well for both boys! Littliest one did not last in school last year but he seems really into it this year. He had fun when he met his teacher Ms Jane and has been talking abt going to school so hopefully this will be the year for him!

Well off to start the day. Need to make lunches and get everybody up, dressed, and fed though fed before dressed so we do not have to change for some reason. I already have heir outfits picked out with o backups!

Bad Blogger!:(

2008-08-23T14:44:00.001-07:00

Okay so I was going strong for awhile there and well I kinda took an impromtu break last week from posts!:( Sorry! I needed it and spent the time with oldest and littliest and sewing. And honestly NOTHING exciting was happening in my life that I cared to bore others with! I did get a new do which is my first in oh.......15 years! REALLY! I started cutting my own hair shortly after high school graduation! I may post a pic but you will have to excuse the messy sewing room behind me!:) It can't be just me can it?;)

So I have sewn some items for MistleToe Market in November and also some items for a giveaway that is suppose to start on Tuesday. I am waiting top hear back for confirmation to see if it is still on. I also listed some new bibs today as well in the shop!

Oh, which brings me to another new adventure! Do you like Shabby Chic things??? I sooo do and well I saw a posting abt a new Guild called LooliShops and it is pure Shabby Chic!! Well I applied and got in and the gals there have SUPER DUPPER cool things! I only have tid bits of info on it right now but I believe that we all will start selling at the end of Oct in our new LolliShops! I think I am going to make just special items for it though. Let my truly girly girl side out!

While glancing thru the Flicker Pics the gals already have up I spotted the most divine wreaths ever!! You MUST go and check them out! My favorite is the birthday party one! Check out the price! GULP! Still oh sooo wonderful and if I was like rich then I would be buying one!

P.s MY SEWING ROOM DOES NOT ALWAYS LOOK THAT WAY!!! Those bolts were out for orders I had just finished cutting. My hubby gave me a hard time abt the pic so Just wanted to clarify that I do store my fabric away from the elements of everyday life!:)

Sorry!

2008-08-17T07:54:00.001-07:00

Good morning ya all! Hope your week is going well. Ours has ben quiet for the most part. We took the boys to the local air show over the weekend and well they were less than amused. There were vintage airplanes and military planes as well as choppers some of which the kids were allowed to sit in. My boys wanted nothing to do with t!:( So we lasted there for abt an hour and came home.

I just finished up my items for a giveaway that I am teaming up with Missy from It's Almost Naptime. I believe we will be doing it on the 26th!:) September 19th I will also be featured on a well known blog Baby Luxe! Can't wait to see that one!:) So other than shameless self promotion I have been pretty much up to nothing. SORRY!:( I just needed a little break but we are headed out this morning to get supplies and I will be back to sewing this afternoon!:)Actually I have been sewing but just keeping everything to myself for MistleToe Market in November!

Chat more later!

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