And The Winner Is.....

AND THE WINNER OF THE NOVEMBER SALES DRAWING IS ........lucyandmo! Congratulations! lucyandmo just won a gift certificate to our shop!

YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MONTHLY DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the entire month of December any and all purchases no matter how big or small will get your name put into a drawing to win a $10.00 gift certificate to our shop! Buy one item, get your name in the drawing once! Buy two items, get your name in the drawing twice! And so on! One name from all the December sales will be drawn on January 1st!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Cup Of Tea

Got this in an e-mail and wanted to share with you all.

One day my mother was out, and my dad was in charge of me. I was maybe 2 1/2 years old. Someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a gift, and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought him a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my mom came home.
My dad made her wait in the living room to watch me bring him a cup of tea, because it was 'just the cutest thing!' Mom waited, and sure enough, here I came down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watched him drink it up.

Then she said, (as only a mother would know), "'Did it ever occur to you that the only place she can reach to get water is the toilet?"

Kentucky Ghost Story

This happened about a month ago just outside of Owensboro,
Kentucky, a small town on the banks of the Ohio River,
and while it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, it's indeed real.

An out-of-state traveler was walking along the side of the road
hitchhiking on a dark night in the middle of a thunderstorm.
Time passed slowly and no cars went by. It was raining so hard
he could barely see his hand in front of his face.

Suddenly he saw a car approaching, moving slowly and appearing
ghostlike in the rain. It slowly and silently crept toward him
and stopped. Wanting a ride very badly, the guy jumped into the
car and closed the door. Only then did he realize that there was
nobody behind the wheel and no sound of the engine to be
heard over the rain.

Again the car crept slowly forward. The guy was terrified but too
scared to think of jumping out and running. The guy saw that
the car was approaching a sharp curve and still too scared to
jump out. He started to pray and beg for his life. He was certain
the ghost car would go off the road and into the river and
he would surely drown! But just before the curve, a shadowy
figure appeared at the driver's window and a hand reached in and
turned the steering wheel, guiding the car safely around the bend.
Then, just as silently, the hand disappeared through the window
and the hitchhiker was alone again.

Paralyzed with fear, the guy watched the hand reappear every
time they reached a curve. Finally the guy, frightened nearly
to death, had all he could take and jumped out of the car and
ran through the storm to the nearby town.

Wet and in shock, he went into a lighted tavern and with voice
quavering, ordered two shots of whiskey, and then, shaken,
he told everybody about his supernatural experience.

A silence came over those listening and everybody got goose
bumps. They realized the guy was sober and was telling the truth.
And the sounds of the storm continued outside.

About half an hour later, two guys walked into the bar and one
says to the other, 'Look Billy Bob, there's that idiot that rode in our car
while we was pushin' it in the rain.'

And The Winner Is.....

AND THE WINNER OF THE OCTOBER SALES DRAWING IS ........LAHAMMER! Congratulations! LAHammer just won a gift certificate to our shop!

YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MONTHLY DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the entire month of November any and all purchases no matter how big or small will get your name put into a drawing to win a $10.00 gift certificate to our shop! Buy one item, get your name in the drawing once! Buy two items, get your name in the drawing twice! And so on! One name from all the November sales will be drawn on December 1st!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How Pumpkin Pie Is Made

Gold Fish Crackers

The other day my hubby fixed me a lunch to take along to the craft show I was participating in. He packed the lunch bag and sat it on the end table in the living room so I could grab it when heading out the door. Next thing I know I see my little boy standing there with the bag of gold fish crackers hubby had put in the lunch bag. He was eating right out of the bag and saying, "mmmmm" as he was eating them. Too cute!

And The Winner Is.....

AND THE WINNER OF THE SEPTEMBER SALES DRAWING IS ........mrsannasue! Congratulations! mrsannasue just won a gift certificate to our shop!

YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MONTHLY DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the entire month of October any and all purchases no matter how big or small will get your name put into a drawing to win a $10.00 gift certificate to our shop! Buy one item, get your name in the drawing once! Buy two items, get your name in the drawing twice! And so on! One name from all the October sales will be drawn on November 1st!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pedestrians Have The Right Away!

On many different occasions when walking my daughter to and from school cars and even school buses, yes school buses, have not stopped for us to walk across the crosswalk. I had thought about complaining to the school about getting a stop sign back at the crosswalk but decided I didn't want to cause any problems. There used to be a stop sign but we are unsure of what happened to it. Well, one morning, I decided that the school needs a stop sign back up at the cross walk!

My daughter and I were CLEARLY standing at the crosswalk a few weeks ago waiting to go across the street and I'll be darned if a car didn't swerve over to go around us instead of stopping for us to walk across. What part of pedestrians have the right away do people NOT understand? Here we are standing at the crosswalk that has pedestrian signs and the road marked with white lines across the street from a school, my daughter has her backpack on, and it is almost time for school to start. Wouldn't you think it would be OBVIOUS we are wanting to cross the street to go into the school? Apparently it isn't to some people! Some of the cars that do not stop for us have been parents coming out of the school parking lot from picking up or dropping off their own children! You can bet your bottom dollar that if it were them walking their kids to and from school and I didn't stop for them to walk across the street that they would not be happy either!

So I had had enough and on this particular morning I stopped the principal to ask about getting a stop sign put back up. I told him it is unbelievable to me how many cars do not stop when we are clearly waiting to cross the street. I told him it makes me not ever want to let my child walk to school by herself. He said they had a crossing guard in the afternoon but could see how that could be a problem in the mornings with no one out there and said he would check into it.

I really didn't think that the principal would do anything. I figured he was just telling me what I wanted to hear and that was all that would amount of it. I was wrong.

This morning when walking my daughter to school there was actually a crossing guard. I was surprised. She didn't seem to happy to be there but was there none the less.

She came in right behind us when we were walking in and a few other staff members who were greeting kids at the door asked her about having to be out there as a crossing guard in the mornings too. She told them that a parent had complained. Ummm.....little did they know that I was that parent. One of the other woman went onto to say that she didn't know why someone needed to be out there in the morning because none of the kids walk to school by themselves. They stood there and continued to talk but my daughter and I went on into the school. As I came back out two of the woman were still chatting and I heard one of them say something about she didn't know which mom it was and basically she said that because they have a lot of them who apparently complain.

Well, that just irks me to hear them say all this because in my opinion whether I'm with my daughter or not there should still be a crossing guard or a stop sign because pedestrians have the right away! They need to be doing something to make sure the cars are stopping for people to cross the road whether I'm with my kid or not! When I asked about getting a stop sign I assumed that the kids who walk home from school probably walk to school as well. I have no idea if they do or don't. I would have been just fine if they'd just got a stop sign again like before. They chose to have a person stand out there. And then to say that they have a lot of complaining moms? Well, I don't think this is an unjustifiable complaint? Do you?

Cookie Thief

So I was sitting at my desk eating cookies and milk tonight and the package of cookies was sitting open on my desk. Next thing I know I hear this little voice go, "Mmmmmm." I looked and my little guy had snatched himself a cookie and started walking off in the other direction before I really had the chance to catch him. I didn't really want him to have a cookie but ended up just letting him eat it. The moment was just too cute to end it with him crying over me taking the cookie away. While he was sitting there eating it, he kept making the "mmmmm" sound again. Awww....the cute little cookie thief!

And The Winner Is.....

AND THE WINNER OF THE AUGUST SALES DRAWING IS ........vampiton! Congratulations! vampiton just won a gift certificate to our shop!

YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MONTHLY DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the entire month of September any and all purchases no matter how big or small will get your name put into a drawing to win a $10.00 gift certificate to our shop! Buy one item, get your name in the drawing once! Buy two items, get your name in the drawing twice! And so on! One name from all the September sales will be drawn on October 1st!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Forgot Something

Today for lunch I made my son a hot dog. I had cut up his hot dog in bite sized pieces for him and gave him a fork. He LOVES to eat with a fork now instead of his fingers. Well, I forgot something on his plate. I had no longer got him "seat belted" in, with fork in hand, and he started fussing because he wanted something. He was gesturing and then literally pointed/touched his plate. Know what I forgot? Ketchup. Yep, he's going to be a dipper! So, off to the fridge I went and came back with the ketchup bottle. Squirted a little circle of ketchup on his plate and he was good to go. Ate every bite of hot dog and used basically all of the ketchup too!

Hubby And I As Kids

My daughter LOVES to draw pictures and do artsy type things all the time. Tonight she brought me the picture below and said it was a picture of her daddy and I when we were kids. Hubby is on the left side and I am on the right side. I'm wearing tights. Ummm.....really glad we didn't REALLY look like this back then!

Cartoons

Last night we went over to one of my brother's to visit for a little while. I was sitting on the couch and my daughter was across the room. The tv was on the side of the living room that my daughter was on and the football game was what was on the tv. My son was going back and forth between my daughter and myself. My daughter came over to me and whispered basically, "if cartoons were on the tv then my son would stay on the other side of the room with her and not bother me anymore." It was pretty funny! Of course, my sister-in-law found it cute too and eventually someone changed the channel from football to cartoons for the kids. They sure can be clever at times, can't they?

Spend Time With Family

This one might bring tears to your eyes when you read it as I have tears in my eyes as I'm writing it. I just want to make sure to remind ALL of you to spend time with your family members whenever you get the chance! No matter how busy you THINK you are!

My phone rang not too long ago. At first glance of the caller ID I thought it was my daughter's school, because it just said SCHOOLS and had the phone number so of course the first thing that went through my mind was something had happened to my daughter. After answering, I realized it was my aunt (who works at a school as a teacher) and was relieved to know nothing had happened to my little girl although I was immediately saddened at the news she was calling to give me. She was calling to let me know that they had just found her dad, my grandpa, in his home a few hours before. He had past away from what they think was a heart attack but they aren't sure yet.

Growing up I knew this grandpa quite well and saw him VERY frequently. This was my step-dad's father. By the time my mom and step-dad (whom I called dad) got married, grandpa wasn't married to my dad's mom anymore but had a second wife. While he was married to the second wife there were SO many big family dinners and gatherings. Seems like the family was ALWAYS together for some reason or another. Sometimes just because with no particular holiday or anything needed. When grandpa got divorced and remarried for a third time there were still family get togethers but not nearly as many. It definitely wasn't the same. Then when my parents divorced about 8 or 9 years ago, that was when we really never saw much of that side of the family hardly at all. Really sad how divorces split up families isn't it?

A few months ago, one of my uncles from that side of the family put together a big family barbeque at a park and his reasoning behind it was to get everyone together at least one last time before some of the elderly in the family past on. I'm sure he never dreamed it would happen so soon!

I am SO glad my uncle put together that family barbeque. It made it possible for me to see my grandpa one last time. Before the barbeque a few months ago, I can't remember the last time I had seen or talked to this grandpa. I'm not sure how many times he had seen my daughter but I think the barbeque was the one and only time he met my little boy and it was the one and only time he got to meet my aunt's new baby too. Because of divorces and remarriages, my aunts and uncles on this side of the family are actually my age so grandbabies and great grandbabies are close in age too. All three of my brothers were able to be at the barbeque too so they got to see grandpa one more time as well.

So at the time of his death, I didn't see or even know this grandpa too well but it is still so very sad to think he is no longer with us. Please be sure to always go to every one of those family gatherings whether you really want to or not. To be honest, we weren't really sure we wanted to go to the barbeque a few months ago but I'm glad we did. If we hadn't we wouldn't have gotten to see my grandpa again before he past on and he wouldn't have gotten the joy of seeing all of us one more time either. You could tell grandpa was just THRILLED to have everyone together again at the barbeque my uncle organized. He was SO giddy and happy. I think he had a smile on his face nearly the WHOLE entire time.

It is just so unbelievable that he is gone now. He seemed so alive and FULL of energy just a few months back. You just never know how long you truly have with anyone! So go hug all your loved ones and tell them you love them! Then plan a family gathering of your own! Sad to say but unfortunately it may be the last time you may see someone. Our most recent family gathering is proof it can happen. I don't think ANY of us probably thought we would never see grandpa again.

Lemonade Pie

Hubby found this recipe and it sounds like it might be good. Haven't tried it yet but think we might sometime. Thought I'd share it with you all too in case you wanted to try it!

Lemonade Pie

2 graham cracker pie crusts
2 cans eagle brand milk
1 11 1/2oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate
2 tubs cool-whip

Allow lemonade to thaw at room temperature. Mix together eagle brand milk, lemonade and cool whip. Pour into pie crusts and allow to chill before serving. Fast and easy for anyone.

Don't Wanna Get Up Yet

Ever wake up in the morning on your own without the help of an alarm clock and feel wide awake but then look at the clock and see that it is still pretty early? You lie there and think, "I don't wanna get up THIS early especially on a day that I am suppose to be able to sleep in." So you stay in bed and end up dozing back off to sleep for a bit only to wake up just 45 minutes later or so feeling more tired than you did. I did this today. I should have just got up when I woke up the first time! Probably could have gotten more accomplished. Oh well! Off to accomplish some things now!

Ducks In Heaven

Three women die together in an accident and go to heaven.

When they get there, St. Peter says, 'We only have one rule here in heaven: Don't step on the ducks!'

So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on one.

Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest man she ever saw. St. Peter chains them together and says, 'Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend eternity chained to this ugly man!' The next day, the second woman accidentally steps on a duck and along comes St. Peter, who doesn't miss a thing. With him is another extremely ugly man. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first woman.

The third woman has observed all this and, not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly man, is very, VERY careful where she steps.

She manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St.Peter comes up to her with the most handsome man she has ever laid eyes on.... very tall, long eyelashes, muscular.

St. Peter chains them together without saying a word. The happy woman says, 'I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?'

The guy says, 'I don't know about you, but I stepped on a duck.'

First Day Of First Grade

Today was the first day back to school for my daughter. She is a first grader this year! I can't believe how fast she is growing up! She'll be 7 on her next birthday! My little guy is growing up too fast too! He'll be 2 on his next birthday!

I walked my daughter to and from school today which is how she gets to school when the weather permits. SO much easier than trying to deal with all the traffic of cars lining up all down the road! When I got her from school I asked her how her first day was. She told me it was great! I was so glad to hear that because when I left her this morning she looked a bit uneasy like she wasn't really sure about it. I think it was just because it was a whole new room, new teacher, and almost all new classmates. There were about three or four familiar names from her Kindergarten class and she said she knew some of the other kids too. I know she will adjust just fine! No worries there at all!

When I asked her about if she got all her school supplies put away she told me she did. I am a bit annoyed about what she said they did with the school supplies though so I am going to be asking the teacher about it in the morning. My daughter said that the only school supplies that she kept in her school box for herself to use was her pair of scissors and her large pink erasers.

Now scissors and erasers are not the only school supplies we had to take. We had to take a package of markers, a package of white construction paper, a package of colored construction paper, two boxes of crayons, a bottle of glue, twelve pencils, and two boxes of kleenex. We also took a few bottles of hand sanitizer that were not required but appreciated by the teacher.

So according to my daughter ALL of her school supplies are shared except for her scissors, pink erasers, and her school box. Now maybe it's just me and I'm being selfish here but this kind of bothers me. We got our daughter "good" school supplies not any store brand things. Not that store brand is bad. Don't get me wrong! We are usually ALL about buying the store brand items to save on money but if I'm going to be spending the extra to buy the "good" stuff for my daughter for school then I want to be sure SHE is getting to use them, you know? Not having to use a store brand. Obviously, they would all work basically the same although there is a pretty big difference between Crayola crayons and the "cheap" ones, but that isn't the point here. The point is we bought them for our daughter, not for her whole class.

Plus, if they are all going to share EVERYTHING then technically there could be some kids that don't even bring anything but yet still have school supplies. How fair is that to the parent's of the kids who spend money to get their kids what they need? I don't know, maybe the teacher makes sure they ALL bring what they are suppose to? I have no way of knowing that.

My hubby brought up a good point too. What if one kid breaks his pencil tip a lot and sharpens his pencil over and over again thus using all twelve of the pencils he brought before the school year is over. In all actuality, it should be his parent's responsibility to purchase more pencils for him but if the whole class is sharing everything then I'm thinking he would not furnish anymore but use the other pencils that the other kids had brought. So in a sense, someone else could be paying for another kid's school supplies if this sort of scenario happened.

Now don't get me wrong. I am all for teaching my kids to share but when money is tight and times are tough I just don't like the idea of my daughter not using her "own" things that when we purchased them we thought SHE would be the only one using them.

I'm going to inquire more about this in the morning when I take my daughter to school. Just because I am really curious. This morning when I took her I mentioned to the teacher that I had written my daughter's name on everything and that I wasn't sure we were suppose to or not? She said that was great because otherwise she would have had to do so. If they are all going to share then why would they need their name on it all? Maybe my daughter misunderstood? I have no clue but will definitely be finding out!

Cooling Off The Noodles

The other day we had some noodles for lunch. When my son and I sat down to eat some they were still a bit too hot so I had to blow on them to cool them off. That same night we had noodles again. When we sat down to eat those my son remembered me blowing on them at lunch and the first thing he did was start to blow on them to cool them off. It was really cute!

New Stick Deodorant

I got a new stick deodorant today. The instructions said: Remove cap and push up bottom. I can barely walk, but whenever I fart the room smells lovely.

Smile Or Laugh Or Both

A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown ostrich behind him. The waitress asks them for their orders.

The man says, 'A hamburger, fries, and a coke,' and turns to the ostrich, 'What's yours?'

'I'll have the same,' says the ostrich.

A short time later the waitress returns with the order. 'That will be $9.40 please.' The man reaches into his pocket and pulls out the exact change for payment.

The next day, the man and the ostrich come again and the man says, 'A hamburger, fries, and a coke.'

The ostrich says, 'I'll have the same.'

Again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.

This becomes routine until the two enter again. 'The usual?' asks the waitress.

'No, this is Friday night, so I will have a steak, baked potato, and a salad,' says the man.

'Same,' says the ostrich.

Shortly later the waitress brings the order and says, 'That will be $32.62.'

Once again the man pulls the exact change out of his pocket and places it on the table.

The waitress cannot hold back her curiosity any longer. 'Excuse me, sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change in your pocket every time?'

'Well,' says the man, 'several years ago I was cleaning the attic and found an old lamp. When I rubbed it, a Genie appeared and offered me two wishes. My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I would just put my hand in my pocket and the right amount of money would always be there.'

'That's brilliant!' says the waitress. 'Most people would ask for a million dollars or something, but you'll always be as rich as you want for as long as you live!'

'That's right. Whether it's a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there,' says the man.

The waitress asks, 'What's with the ostrich?'

The man sighs, pauses, and answers, 'My second wish was for a tall chick with a big ass and long legs who agrees with everything I say.'

And The Winner Is.....

AND THE WINNER OF THE JULY SALES DRAWING IS ........thecuriouscupcake! Congratulations! thecuriouscupcake just won a gift certificate to our shop!

YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MONTHLY DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the entire month of August any and all purchases no matter how big or small will get your name put into a drawing to win a $10.00 gift certificate to our shop! Buy one item, get your name in the drawing once! Buy two items, get your name in the drawing twice! And so on! One name from all the August sales will be drawn on September 1st!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God Will Do The Rest

I asked the Lord to bless you
As I prayed for you today
To guide you and protect you
As you go along your way

His love is always with you
His promises are true
And when we give Him all our cares
You know He will see us through

So when the road you're traveling on
Seems difficult at best
Just remember I'm here praying
And God will do the rest.

Size 7 Shoes

With both of our children, we have always tried to have the next size up in clothes and shoes stored away so that when they are ready for that size we don't have to worry about going out shopping to get anything. We are already prepared.

Well, today was the day that our son went from wearing a size 6 shoe to wearing a size 7 shoe. I went and took out two new pair of size 7 shoes that we had been saving for him in a tote with the next size up of clothes. I put the first pair on and he took off running around the house in them. Then he came back to me and wanted them off. I had no longer took them off and he wanted the second pair on. He then took off running around the house in them too. It's like he's trying them out. It is too cute!

In Our Driving Path

Last night we were coming back from my mom's house and hubby was driving. All of a sudden, he said something like, "Whoa." I was like, "What?" He said something had run across the road. I figured it might have been a squirrel and he said maybe a rabbit. Didn't think much more of it.

Well, this morning hubby went to leave for work. Next thing I know he is coming back in the house. I asked him what he forgot. He said something like, "Remember last night when I thought something ran across the road. It was a bat." When he went to get in his truck this morning he saw a little bat stuck on the front of his truck. How crazy is that? I feel bad that the bat was killed but we couldn't help it. It just flew out of no where in the dark while we were driving. Hubby said all he saw was a little blur come across in front of us. We had no idea it was going to turn out to be a bat!

Life Is Too Short

Life is too short so be sure to live it to the fullest each and EVERY day without any worries, regrets, or guilt! Spend as much time as you can with your loved ones! You never truly know how much time you have with them!

Horse Play

Picture Day

Today my little boy is 21 months old. I have always had pictures of my kids taken very often so today was picture day. We went to Sears Portrait Studio to have them done. From the time my daughter was 4 weeks old until she turned 5 we have taken her to Sears for pictures. On her 6th birthday we started taking her to Wal-mart for her pictures. I hope to do the same for my little boy but we'll see.

Although the girl did a good job getting my son to smile today and the pictures turned out well, I am a bit annoyed with how Sears lets you use the coupons they give you. Here's a little history on how I acquired one of the coupons I wanted to use at my visit today.

Back in the fall we did family pictures with them and I was NOT happy with the overall experience. I'm usually a pretty quiet person but I flat out told the people working the day we were there how I felt. My hubby wasn't even too pleased with this visit and it takes quite a bit for him to be annoyed with something. He's pretty laid back. After our pictures were taken, I had told the people working that out of all the years I'd been coming there (since 2003) that this time was by far my WORST experience ever. When asked what they could have done to make it better I told them they needed to have people working there that knew what they were doing. So then the girl was all apologetic and gave me some free coupons for free portrait sheets that I could use at future visits. I had actually thought about never going back to Sears for pictures but decided to try again since the ones working the night I wasn't happy were just seasonal helpers.

Well, today at my visit I wanted to use one of those coupons and also a 20% off my total purchase coupon which the girl said would be fine. Now Sears Portrait Studio also has a Smile Savers plan that you purchase to be a part of that gives you a free 8x10 when you have pictures taken. Since I wanted to use my coupon for a free portrait that I was given for not being pleased back in the fall, the girl told me I could not get the free 8x10 with the Smile Savers plan. It was either one or the other.

I personally am annoyed with this because what is the point in being in the plan if you don't get one of the perks of it if you use any other coupons? Why mail me coupons if I can't use them if I am in the plan? And I definitely don't see why they bother to give me a coupon for a free portrait if they won't let me use it the way I want! I basically told the girl that I thought it was kind of stupid to give me a coupon for not being happy and then not let me take advantage of it. So today I basically lost the perk of a free 8x10 for being a Smile Savers plan member in order to use the coupon I was given for being unhappy in the fall. I feel I should have been able to receive both but hey, guess that is just my opinion! Oh well! We'll see if I keep using Sears Portrait Studio in the future or not! Only time will tell!

Ain't

He was just a little boy, on a week's first day.

Wandering home from Bible school and dawdling on the way.

He scuffed his shoes into the grass.

He even found a caterpillar.

He found a fluffy milkweed pod and blew out all the 'filler'.

A bird's nest in a tree overhead, so wisely placed up so high.

Was just another wonder, that caught his eager eye.

A neighbor watched his zigzag course and hailed him from the lawn.

Asked him where he'd been that day and what was going on.

'I've been to Bible School', he said and turned a piece of sod.

He picked up a wiggly worm replying, 'I've learned a lot about God.'

'M'm, very fine way,' the neighbor said, 'for a boy to spend his time.'

'If you'll tell me where God is, I'll give you a brand new dime.'

Quick as a flash the answer came!

Nor were his accents faint.

'I'll give you a dollar, Mister, if you can tell me where God ain't.'

No, I Have Not

No, I have not seen your lipstick. Why would you even ask me that? I'm insulted! Every time something goes missing around here, everybody looks at me! For your information, I don't even wear that shade. It doesn't flatter my complexion and it tastes terrible. Oops.

Happy 4th Of July

My little guy decided he wanted to get up today BEFORE 8am. Yep, it's gonna be a long day and he's probably going to be a bit cranky. I bet daddy will be too since he got up with him before I got up. I didn't stay in bed too much later though because I could hear them in the other room.

I'm looking at it all in a positive way though. Hoping that by getting up earlier we will get more things accomplished. We'll see how that goes. So far so good though. I've added a few new listings to my Etsy shop already and I'm also blogging right now. Hubby is out working on his old car he's restoring. He's been doing some body work to it here lately.

Well, I'm off to try and get some more things done before we head over to a friend's house for her daughter's 10th birthday. Yep, she was born ON the 4th of July so they are celebrating big today. I think her first birthday party was on the actual holiday and now so is the 10th one. I think all the other ones have just been done on a weekend before or after the holiday. With 10 being kind of like a milestone birthday they decided to do the whole red, white, and blue theme like they did for the 1st birthday. I'm sure it will be a whole lot of fun!

Hope everyone has a happy and safe day today! Happy 4th of July to all of you celebrating it!

Pointing Finger

I was working on the computer just a little while ago when my little boy came over to me kind of whiny and pointing his index finger out. Of course, my first thought was he some how got an owie and was wanting me to kiss it to make it all better.

I took hold of his hand and realized he was not whining because it hurt but was whining because there was a big ol' booger on it! Ewwww! Good thing I looked at it and didn't just decide to kiss it! Also a good thing that he brought it to me instead of wiping it on something or eating it! Oh, the joys of having children! Boogers and all! Some of you reading this can probably relate to this story can't ya?

And The Winner Is.....

AND THE WINNER OF THE JUNE SALES DRAWING IS ........dcwood60! Congratulations! dcwood60 just won a gift certificate to our shop!

YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MONTHLY DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the entire month of July any and all purchases no matter how big or small will get your name put into a drawing to win a $10.00 gift certificate to our shop! Buy one item, get your name in the drawing once! Buy two items, get your name in the drawing twice! And so on! One name from all the July sales will be drawn on August 1st!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crunchy Underwear

Tonight my hubby was telling me that someone we know was talking about how their dryer isn't working properly. Guess they have a gas dryer that works but doesn't get hot so it just air dries their clothes. Apparently that makes for "crunchy underwear" so the person he was talking to said they have gone commando a few times because they didn't feel like wearing "crunchy underwear". It was just kind of funny when my hubby was telling me about this so I decided it could be my blog post topic for tonight. Not sure if you'll even find it funny or if reading it is quite as funny as being told it but hopefully it made ya smile at least a little bit!

Trash Goes Here

Whenever my hubby or I collect the trash my little boy will sometimes try to help. We go get the small trash cans from the bathroom and our room to dump them into the big trash can in the kitchen. My son will walk in front of us like he is leading us where we need to go. When we reach the kitchen he will stand there and point to the big trash can as if telling us, "Hey, it goes in here." It's just so cute to watch him try to be so helpful at just one and a half years old. If only they stayed this helpful forever!

Tomatoes

Isn't it crazy how your taste buds can change as you grow older? When I was a kid my grandpa and I would go out to my grandparent's garden, pick a tomato, and sit down with a salt shaker to eat the tomato. As I got older I thought tomatoes were gross!

I also remember my mom would make egg noodles and stewed tomatoes to eat when I was growing up. I remember pushing the tomatoes to the side and just eating the noodles with salt on them.

Now as an adult I have grown to like tomatoes again. I love them on a BLT sandwich and will also eat them on a Subway sandwich or a fast food burger. When I make egg noodles and stewed tomatoes I'll now eat all of it, not just the noodles. I also LOVE fresh made salsa with tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos. Add some salt, pepper, garlic, and grab a bag of tortilla chips for dipping then ta da, you have a tasty little snack! Mmmm mmmm good! Yummy to the tummy!

I still am not overly fond of them too much in a salad or fresh with salt over them but do eat more tomatoes now than I use to. Makes me wonder how my kids taste buds will change as they grow older? Only time will tell!

When It Was Too Cold

I remember back when it was cold and snowy! These pictures were taken back on March 21, 2010. I took them with all intentions of blogging about the snowstorm that moved through at that time but never got it posted.

I'm pretty sure that when all this snow was falling I was hoping for warmer weather. I can't stand the cold! I freeze in wintertime so I look forward to spring and summer.

Now that it is ninety degrees and smothering hot, I am not loving it quite so much! If it is super duper hot in your region right now, maybe looking at these pictures will help cool ya off!

Covering Up

My son is going through a phase right now where he wants to be covered up with a blanket when he is curling up on my lap on the couch or when I am rocking him for his nap or bedtime.

Now, you're probably thinking, what is wrong with that? Well, nothing really except for the fact that it is pretty warm in our house right now because we don't currently have our air conditioning on yet. Not quite ready for the electric bill that comes with the cold air conditioner air!

Soooo.....when it is eighty some degrees outside and my little guy wants to curl up on the couch on me with a quilt or thick blanket, it can get very warm!

Monopoly

Last night we played Monopoly with our six and a half year old daughter. It was her first time ever playing. We just played a timed game since we also have our one and half year old son. He wanted to grab all the pieces.

First we picked our playing pieces and passed out the money. After that I shuffled all the properties and gave each player two of them. Each of us then paid for the properties we were given and the game began. This was how the rules said to do it for a timed game.

We decided to just play for one hour and at the end of that hour who ever was the "richest" was the winner. All through the game we made sure to note who owned which property so that no one missed out on any "rent" payments. My daughter had a blast playing!

Only thing that upset her was that she didn't ever get to buy any houses for her properties like mommy and daddy did because she never was able to land on and purchase all of the same color of properties. We told her next time maybe she would be able to do so.

In the end, daddy ended up being the big winner! I think it helped that he owned Boardwalk AND Park Place. Any of you who know anything about the game of Monopoly know that these are usually the two properties people want to buy right away because they bring in the most money when landed on especially with houses and hotels on them.

We'll probably be playing another game of Monopoly next week. It was a fun family game night!

16 Baby Teeth

So not long ago my son seemed to be drooling a lot so we thought maybe he might be trying to cut his two year molars early since those are the only teeth he doesn't have yet. Tonight I checked to see if he was and he is not. Guess he was just drooling to be drooling!

Well, that got me thinking. Hmmmm....did i write down when he got all his other teeth? I couldn't remember. When my daughter was born and through the first few years of her life I wrote down nearly EVERYTHING! Now I've heard people talk about how the second child doesn't get nearly as much written down or saved as that first child does so I am doing my utmost best to make sure that both of my children have just as many of their milestones written down as the other does.

Since I couldn't remember if I had written when all my son's teeth had come in I dug out the box I have been keeping notes in. I'll admit, most of what I have written down for him are on little scraps of paper and a lot of little post it notes, but hey, at least I have it written down right? Some day I'll get it all organized and written in the actual baby book. One of these days!

Sooooo.....after digging through all my notes I could only find where I had written down 11 dates and my son has 16 teeth. I was feeling kind of sad and like such a bad mom for not keeping track better when I happen to think, maybe I already wrote some down in the baby book? I got out the baby book and yay, there were some more little post its in there plus one that was actually already written in the book.

Woo- hoo! I'm not a bad mommy after all! I had written down all 16 dates for all 16 teeth! I felt SO much better after that! Now to all those reading this, I by NO means think that woman are bad mommies if they do not write down every single date that every single one of their child's teeth came in on. When I said I'm not a bad mommy after all, that comment was just in reference to me and how I felt when I thought I hadn't written down all the dates for my son knowing I had written them all down for my daughter.

I think I am so insistent on keeping track and saving so much because my mom didn't. I'm just a super sentimental person too so that makes me want to do it that much more! I look forward to being old and gray, sitting around with my hubby, children, and hopefully some grand and great-grand children looking through all the things I've been writing down. That's obviously years and years down the road so in the meantime I'll just keep on keepin' track!

Our Family's Age

We were driving back home from having supper out last night and my daughter was talking about the ages of those in our family. Her run down of our ages went something like this:

daddy is the oldest
mommy is almost as old as daddy
she is kind of young
and her brother is the youngest

Sometimes it is so cute to listen to the little people talk!

Fun Dip

So my daughter came in and asked me a little bit ago if she could get each of us a piece of candy. I told her yes. She comes back in with a fun dip for each of us. You know the little white candy sticks that you dip in the flavored powder sugar stuff?

I told her I didn't think I wanted one of those. Her response to me was something like, "Trust me. It's really good."

I thought it was funny. I know it's good. I've had them before. I just didn't really want one right this moment.

Big Black Spider

So I was over on the Shopper's Paradise thread here, which is a great thread to be a part of by the way, and I had just literally hit the post button posting this:

Hubby went to the grocery store and took my son with him. My daughter is in the other room playing. Oh, it is so nice and quiet right now. Do you hear that? Neither do I!

When all of a sudden my daughter comes running in yelling that there is a big black spider in the bathroom next to the trash can. I get to the bathroom door and see this black spot on the floor by the trash can. I am thinking that is one big spider. Wondering how I'm going to kill it. I'm scared of spiders!

As I get closer I realized it is NOT a spider! Earlier I had cut my hubby's hair. When he threw away the hair I cut off, a little of it missed the trash can and had fallen on the floor right beside it. It was so funny! She was so scared of hair that she ran out of the room and for a brief second I was a bit scared too until I realized what it was! Oh the joys of parenthood!

Becoming A First Grader

On the way to walk my daughter to her classroom for her last day of Kindergarten this morning, one of the little girls from the class across the hall was talking to us.

She said that when she told her dad she was going to be a first grader after today he said, "I'm going to have to pull my hair out. Oh wait! I don't have any hair."

It was so cute and funny to see this little girl tell this story. You could tell she was happy to share it! It made me smile. Hope you reading about it made you smile too!

And The Winner Is.....

AND THE WINNER OF THE MAY SALES DRAWING IS ........wintercrochet! Congratulations! wintercrochet just won a gift certificate to our shop!

YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MONTHLY DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the entire month of June any and all purchases no matter how big or small will get your name put into a drawing to win a $10.00 gift certificate to our shop! Buy one item, get your name in the drawing once! Buy two items, get your name in the drawing twice! And so on! One name from all the June sales will be drawn on July 1st!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Night Night Kisses

My little guy, who if you don't already know is just one and a half, did the cutest sweetest thing tonight! Hubby had just got done changing my son's diaper. He put him down and my son walked right over towards my daughter's room.

Didn't want him going in there so I said something like, "No, no. Can't go in there. She went night night."

Here is where the cute sweet thing came in. He stopped right at her doorway and instead of going in just started making kissing noises. It was like he was giving her kisses good night. It was SO adorable!

Memorial Day

Human Versus Snake

Today while my hubby and daughter were in the back yard getting ready to get the patio cleared off and our little kiddie pool cleaned up they came across a pretty large snake. I was out with my mom and her boyfriend but when I got back my daughter told me about the snake. She said she called it human versus snake. I thought it was cute to hear her tell me about it!

Just A Little Laugh For You

An elderly couple are attending church services.

About halfway through, she writes a note and hands it to her husband.

It says, "I just let out a silent fart. What do you think I should do?"

He scribbles back, "Put a new battery in your hearing aid."

Character Trait

Each month this past school year at my daughter's school, some of the teacher's nominated a child from their class for a character trait. My daughter was nominated for the trait of perseverance in the month of April.

The school had sent home a note asking for parent volunteers to help with the party/picnic for the nominated kids. My daughter basically begged me to do this so I had hubby take a vacation day so I could go. I had to when my daughter was saying, "Please please please mommy!" How could I not?

They were also asking for donations of popsicles too. The plan was to let the nominated kids eat their lunch outside on the playground and have a popsicle while out there.

Well, the day before I got a call from the school saying they had had a lot of parent volunteers and they didn't need me to help after all and I didn't need to get popsicles either as they had enough donations for that too.

I told the woman on the phone that my daughter REALLY wanted me there and had begged me to help. She said I could still come and eat lunch with my daughter so it was all good. I was a bit annoyed though at first but not mad. I was thinking, "Hmmmm....how do they decide which parents they want to help and which they don't?" I mean, here I was willing to take the time to come up there and buy popsicles only to be told nevermind. I'm thinking maybe they made this decision based on when you got your note returned? I did send ours back a bit late but I had to wait to make sure hubby could get the day off. Luckily I hadn't bought the popsicles yet because they would have probably gone to waste at our house since we probably wouldn't have ever eaten them. We're an ice cream family!

In the end I was glad they decided they didn't need my help after all because I found out that my daughter wouldn't have been at the party/picnic the whole time anyway. She was only going to be there for her 30 minute lunch period and they were wanting volunteers for a 2 hour window. I thought all the kids got to go for the full 2 hours but I was mistaken.

Soooo......yesterday hubby took the day off and I stayed with my daughter at school when I walked her up there about 9am. I did some things in the classroom to help out the teacher. I cut out some things she had had laminated. Got some other things ready to be laminated. Reorganized a rack of books that a few of the kids had TOTALLY mixed up and I also separated a bucket of crayons between broken ones and ones that were still bigger.

By the time I finished all this, it was lunchtime. I went with my daughter who for the first time at school was getting a school lunch. The only other time she had eaten a school lunch was on one of her field trips. She usually takes her lunch so a school lunch was something she was excited for! We figured it was a special day and we knew she'd eat at least the main part of what was on the menu so we let her get one. She had already told me that she would share it with me. How cute! Since it was raining outside the party/picnic ended up being held in the gym. They had set up tables with chairs and also had some blankets on the floor to sit on.

Good thing I was there because my daughter would have wasted MOST of her lunch. This is a prime example of why she takes a lunch from home every other day. All she ate was the pizza, a few bites of carrots, and a sip or two of the chocolate milk then she went and got her popsicle. I ate the salad, the peaches, the rest of the carrots, and drank the remainder of the milk.

After lunch I went with her and her class to music where they had a substitute so they were just watching a movie. I stayed for a little bit then headed home for about an hour and a half. Then hubby, my son, and I went back to the school for the Character Trait Awards Assembly. I took some pictures of her standing on stage and videotaped her walking back to her seat. I was so proud of her for getting this award!

Life

Life can be summarized in 4 bottles.....




DAMN! We're on #3!

Itchy Girl

So this morning I walked my daughter to school. We had no longer walked into the classroom when my daughter's teacher asked her to hang up her backpack and walk another girl from her class up to the nurse's office because the girl was all itchy. This girl was standing there scratching and scratching all over her face.

Now I'm all for the teacher's having the more responsible kids help out with things, which walking other kids to places in the building is one of them, and I'm proud of my daughter for being one of the more responsible kids, but I did not really like the idea of the teacher asking my child to walk this girl to the nurse. I mean, no one even knew what was making her itch like that? It's bad enough my child was exposed to whatever it was because the girl came to school to begin with but to have her have to walk her to the nurse too thus exposing her THAT much longer to whatever it was didn't sit right with me at all.

I just told my daughter NOT to touch her and I actually walked down the hall with them to make sure she didn't touch her or get too close. Oh the joys of all the illnesses that kids bring to school with them!

Happy Mother's Day

I had a happy Mother's Day today. It started out with breakfast in bed and lots of wonderful creations that my 6 year old made me.

My daughter had been telling me the night before that I had to stay in bed on Mother's Day morning because I was going to be getting breakfast in bed. Of course I woke up a bit early but I didn't get up. I just stayed put and waited.

Next thing I know my daughter, wearing a pretty dress, and hubby brought me my breakfast in bed tray. They had made scrambled eggs, gravy, hash browns, sausage links, and toast. Oh, and a big glass of milk! It was all very VERY yummy!

Hubby told me that my daughter had helped make part of it. I guess she had to change her clothes because she cracked one of the eggs ALL over her. He said it was pretty funny! I bet it was. He also said she helped butter my toast but he redid it for me because otherwise I would have had toast with my butter. Apparently there was A LOT of butter on the toast when she got through buttering it.

While I was still eating my breakfast, my daughter brought me in all my gifts. There were a few things of candy and lots of things she had made at school plus a card she and daddy had bought from the store. She had signed it with her name, my son's name, and the word me which was for daddy.

It was a sweet start to my day! My son was still sleeping through all of this but I bet he will be in there helping out next year! Hope all of you moms out there reading this had a wonderful Mother's Day too!

Childbirth At 65

Just a fun read for today!

With all the new technology regarding fertility recently, a 65-year-old friend of mine was able to give birth.

When she was discharged from the hospital and went home, I went to visit.

'May I see the new baby?' I asked.

'Not yet,' She said. 'I'll make coffee and we can visit for a while first.'

Thirty minutes had passed, and I asked, 'May I see the new baby now?'

'No, not yet,' She said.

After another few minutes had elapsed, I asked again, 'May I see the baby now?'

'No, not yet,' replied my friend.

Growing very impatient, I asked, 'Well, when CAN I see the baby?'

'WHEN HE CRIES!' she told me.

'WHEN HE CRIES?' I demanded. 'Why do I have to wait until he CRIES?'

'BECAUSE I FORGOT WHERE I PUT HIM O.K.?!!'

Cereal And Milk

My hubby was out of town last night. I got both of the kids in bed, enjoyed some quiet time crocheting until about midnight, then I headed to bed myself.

My son woke up about 2:30am and I rocked him back to sleep. I fell back asleep and before I knew it my alarm was going off at 8:20am. I had to get up but I sure didn't want to. I waited a few more minutes and then climbed out of bed to get ready.

Got my daughter up and she got dressed. I think by this time my son was awake too so I went and got him from his crib.

Now you are probably wondering why this post is titled cereal and milk aren't you? Well, here is where that comes in.

I gave both kids a cup of milk and some dry cereal while I made my daughter's lunch for school. Got the lunch fixed to find that my son had dumped his bowl of cereal on the floor. Thankfully it was just dry cereal with no milk on it! As I was cleaning that up, he dropped his sippy cup of milk which then rolled across the floor spilling drops of milk along the way.

We were rushing around trying to get everything done so my daughter wouldn't be late for school so I really didn't have any extra time to be having to clean up cereal and milk. Got it all cleaned up and both kids ready. Out the door we went to walk my daughter to school.

Well, my cereal and milk clean ups were not all done. We had no longer got back from the school and my son's sippy cup leaked milk ALL over him, the floor, and the end table. It was just pouring out! Apparently when he had dropped it and it rolled across the floor, the lid came loose and I didn't realize it. When he tipped it up to drink from it, it just poured out. Of course, being one and a half he didn't stop trying to drink out of it because it was leaking so I had a big mess to clean up.

I myself, made a small mess of cereal and milk that I had to clean up too. I was walking out of the kitchen with my cereal and it spilled over the edge dropping a bit of it on the floor. Not even sure how I managed to spill it as my bowl wasn't really any more full than usual but I guess it just went along with the morning I was having!

Story doesn't end here with the cereal and milk either. My son was on the couch with me and had his bowl of cereal. He was climbing around and kicked the bowl, spilling the cereal all over the couch. Oh yay! Another mess to clean up! Of course, it was cereal, crumbs and all since it was towards the last of the box.

So now all the cereal and milk has been cleaned up at my house. Here's hoping the rest of my day will run more smoothly!

And The Winner Is.....

AND THE WINNER OF THE APRIL SALES DRAWING IS ........RhisBitsAndBeads! Congratulations! RhisBitsAndBeads just won a gift certificate to our shop!

YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MONTHLY DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the entire month of May any and all purchases no matter how big or small will get your name put into a drawing to win a $10.00 gift certificate to our shop! Buy one item, get your name in the drawing once! Buy two items, get your name in the drawing twice! And so on! One name from all the May sales will be drawn on June 1st!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Friend

A friend is someone who thinks you're a good egg even though you're slightly cracked!

Snapdragons

I just wanted you to know that I have entered the snapdragon part of my life.

Part of me has snapped, and the rest of me is draggin'!

What Did You Eat?

So tonight I was changing my son's dirty diaper. Talking out loud I said to him, "Whew, what did you eat?" From behind me I hear my daughter say, "Mommy, you know what he ate." I thought it was kind of a cute and funny moment worth writing about.

Into and Onto EVERYTHING

So I just realized that it has been nearly a week, yes I said a week, since I last posted a blog post for you all to read! Shame on me! Wasn't really sure what to write about tonight so I decided to write about my son. Aren't kids always doing SOMETHING that gives us parents something to talk about? Sometimes that something is cute and sometimes it is not.

Well, my little guy has been getting into EVERYTHING here lately. It seems more so than usual too! It's like he bounces from one thing he isn't suppose to have to another. Whether it be from playing with the tv, to getting into the cabinet with the movies, playing in my craft stuff, or his all time favorite- bothering the computers. He LOVES to play with the mouse at both my computer and my hubby's computer.

One of his other favorite things to do is get a hold of the phone whether it be the house phone or one of our cell phones. He tries to push buttons then hold it to his ear. At the young age of one and a half he apparently has already started to grasp the concept of a phone! Boy, they sure do start out young don't they?

When he isn't getting into anything, my son is climbing on everything from the couch, to the end tables, and even hubby's computer chair. We really have to keep a close eye on him. The little booger is quick too! Definitely keeps us on our toes! Sure do love the little guy though! Wouldn't trade him for anything!

More Interrupted Sleep

So yesterday I posted about how my son and I didn't get a whole lot of sleep on Monday night. Well, our Tuesday night was not much better! Here's how our night went:

10:15pm-Time I rocked him night night.

11:10pm-Time I went to bed. I heard him moving around and knew he'd be waking up.

11:20pm-Sure enough he woke up! He'd only been in bed about an hour.

1:40am-He woke up once again. Yes, it had only been a little over two hours since the last time!

4:10am-Why yes, how'd you know? He woke up AGAIN!

8:20am-My alarm went off and I had to get up to get my daughter ready for school.

8:45am-He woke up on his own but I seriously thought I was going to have to wake him up again like I had to yesterday morning. I was getting things to fix my daughter's hair and then I was planning to get him up. He woke up before I got her hair fixed so it worked out fine. I really didn't want to have to wake him. I don't like it when I have to wake him!

If you read my other blog post about not getting much sleep you would know that he basically held the same schedule two, yes TWO nights in a row! Thankfully he rocked right back to sleep each and every time he woke up Tuesday night though unlike Monday night when one of the times he kept me up for an hour and a half. That was NO fun!

Hopefully he'll start sleeping better at night REALLY soon! Not sure what is waking him up but hope whatever it is will not continue to do so!

Taste Better Elsewhere

I had my son sitting in his high chair this morning with some dry cereal. Apple Jacks to be specific. Well, when he was sitting in the high chair all he was doing was playing with the cereal. Trying to crush it on the tray and sticking a lot of it down in the seat. He wasn't really eating any of it.

As soon as I took him out of the high chair, apparently he got hungry. He started taking pieces of the cereal off the tray and ate it. Go figure! Guess it tasted better from outside of the high chair!

Up A Lot Last Night

Last night was not so good for sleep for my son and myself. Here's how our night went:

10:30pm-Time I rocked him night night.

11:30pm-He woke up and I rocked him back to sleep. Yes, he had only been in bed about an hour!

1am-He woke up again and I rocked him back to sleep. Yep, he'd only been in bed about an hour and a half this time!

4am-You guessed it! He woke up AGAIN! This time he didn't rock right back to sleep though like the other two times. I was up with him for nearly an hour and a half this time.

8:20am-The alarm went off and I had to get up to get my daughter ready for school. I did NOT want to get up!

8:45am-Woke him up. Yes, you read that right. I had to wake him up in order to take my daughter to school this morning. I REALLY did not want to have to do that either after him not sleeping well all night long but I had no choice. It was SO hard to go in there and wake him once I finally got him sleeping good!

Here's hoping tonight will be better! Only time will tell!

Late Night

This past weekend we had a friend come into town who hadn't been here in awhile. We'd seen him recently though as he lives where my hubby's parents live but he hadn't been to our house for quite some time.

Well, with him in town, we decided to plan a get together with some family and friends. Saturday evening I made crab alfredo and garlic toast. My hubby also grilled some salmon and sausages. We had some other sides as well like lettuce salad, macaroni salad, and cottage cheese. Overall, a nice little meal. I think everyone was full!

We were up until like 3am. It was a very late night but we all had a lot of fun. I'm way too old to be staying up THAT late very often. That is for sure!

Calmness In Our Lives

Got this in an e-mail today and thought I would share it with you!

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works and we could all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice heard on the Oprah show, you too can find inner peace.

Dr. Oz proclaimed, 'The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things you have started and have never finished.'

So, I looked around my house to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of Merlot, a bottle of Tequila, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and a box of chocolates.

You have no idea how freaking good I feel right now!

Pass this on if you know anyone you think might be in need of inner peace!

Thought For The Day

Have you ever wondered if the one dollar bills in your wallet were ever in a stripper's butt crack?

If not, you're wondering now!

So folks, always remember to wash your hands after handling money!

That's my public service announcement for the day. Thank you very much! Have a nice day!

Eating Spiders While Sleeping

So you have probably heard the line about how everyone will eat a certain number of spiders in their lifetime while they are sleeping right? Do you believe it?

According to snopes.com this is not true. We do not eat spiders while sleeping! Thank goodness!

Laughing SO Hard Continued

So the other day I posted about something that made us all laugh SO hard I had tears in my eyes! It involved my one and a half year old little boy and grass. For some reason he did not, and I mean did NOT want to touch the grass the other day when we were outside.

If he was walking around and fell in the grass he absolutely refused to touch the ground to help him stand back up. He stayed on his knees and just tried to stand without any help. If he couldn't get back up on his own WITHOUT touching the grass he would cry for someone to help him.

The next day he was still not wanting to touch the grass. As you can see in the picture below when his hands got close to the grass he would make a fist so as not to have to touch it. Obviously this was probably WAY funnier if you were actually there to see it in person but I still thought you might enjoy reading about it! He eventually started touching the grass a little bit but still didn't seem too fond of it. I don't know what he'll do next time. We'll just have to wait and see.

T-shirt Saying

I'm always saying to my little boy, "You're lucky you're cute." Most of the time it is when he is doing something he isn't suppose to be doing but yet it is just a cute moment that you can't help but smile. Know what I mean?

Well, the other day we were talking about getting a shirt made with a saying like that on it for my son. My daughter decided to share her idea for a shirt as well. I think she said the shirt should say something like, "I love my big sister and I'm cute."

One of these days I'm going to have to get a shirt made for him!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone! Hope all of you had a wonderful Easter Day filled with family and friends! We went to my grandparent's house today for a big meal and an egg hunt for all the great grandchildren.

It was a really nice family gathering because for the first time in I don't know how long, the WHOLE family was there. This included my grandparents, their three daughters, all eight grandchildren, and all eight great grandchildren plus the spouses/other halves to the couples along with two whom were not family for a grand total of twenty-eight people! Yes, it was a FULL house! Luckily the weather was extremely beautiful so we could all be inside and outside making it a bit less crowded.

I can't remember how long it has been since EVERYONE came to a family get together like this so it made for an even more special day. Seems like there is usually SOMEONE not present for some reason or another. Hopefully we'll be able to have the ENTIRE family at our next get together as well! Only time will tell!

Laughing SO Hard

I have the best topic to post about but can't yet! Let's just say it involves my one and a half year old little boy and grass. We were laughing SO hard earlier that I nearly had tears in my eyes! I'm hoping to get pictures to post when I fill you in on the details. Guess you'll have to keep checking back to see what happened!

I know, I know! I gave you popcorn and now you want the butter for it right! How dare I post only tidbits and leave you hanging? Is that what you are thinking? I'm sorry! I wanted to post something today to give you SOMETHING to read! Now you can all use your imagination to try and think of what happened. Then when I do post the full story you can see if you were right!

Knock Knock

So you know how when you go to knock on someone's door you ball up your fingers into a fist? Well, picture an adorable one and a half year old doing his fingers like this and then "knocking" on your arm. Instead of just using one finger to tap/poke us, this is what my little guy does to get our attention. "Knocks" on us. He just started doing this the past few days and it is just way TOO cute!

And The Winner Is.....

AND THE WINNER OF THE MARCH SALES DRAWING IS ........Bethnde1! Congratulations! Bethnde1 just won a gift certificate to our shop!

YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MONTHLY DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the entire month of April any and all purchases no matter how big or small will get your name put into a drawing to win a $10.00 gift certificate to our shop! Buy one item, get your name in the drawing once! Buy two items, get your name in the drawing twice! And so on! One name from all the April sales will be drawn on May 1st!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Fourth Featured Etsian!

Today I am featuring a fellow Etsian who has not only been a wonderful repeat buyer to my Etsy shop but also has an Etsy shop of her own filled with beautiful jewelry that you just HAVE to go see!


The spotlight today is shining on EmBound.etsy.com The owner of this shop is also holding a giveaway that you should check out too! Please visit her blog here for details on how to get yourself entered! She has included items from many other fellow Etsians in her giveaway including one of my face scrubbies. Go get yourself entered! You just may win!

Now don't just look at her beautiful work shown in the pictures I have posted with this blog. Go to her shop and see all the other wonderful items she has for sale! I don't think you'll be disappointed in what you find there!

Gorgeous Weather

I am LOVING the weather we are having! Right now it is 78 degrees outside and just gorgeous! We've been having pretty nice weather since last week so I had already been able to walk to get my daughter from school in the afternoons but had still been driving her in the mornings. Well, yesterday and today the weather has been beautiful enough that we have walked TO school as well! I am really beginning to think spring might have really sprung now! Hip! Hip! Hooray!

What Others Think

So how do you teach a 6 year old not to worry about what others think? What do you say to them? Here's the story behind what caused me to write this blog post.

A few days ago while cleaning up around in the basement I found a bag of clothes one of my friends had given to us for our daughter awhile back. In the bag was a very nice pair of jean overalls. After we washed them I showed my daughter and we planned for her to wear them today since we would be going to my grandparents house.

Now if you know my grandpa, you would know that he is known for wearing jean overalls nearly everyday. About the only time he is not in overalls is when we are having a family gathering or he and grandma are going out to eat.

Well, this morning I nearly forgot our plan to have my daughter wear her overalls. I had actually told her she could wear a pair of her capris since the weather is going to be fantastic here again today. She remembered the overalls and wanted to wear them and also wanted her little brother to wear his too. She was wanting to show great grandpa that she and her brother had overalls just like him!

All decked out in overalls we walked to school. When we got there she wanted to leave her jacket on because she was worried what the other kids would think of her overalls. She had already commented about what if some of the kids were to laugh at her when we were still at home. When she wouldn't take her jacket off at school I reminded her of what we had talked about at home.

I had told her that it didn't matter what others thought. If she liked the overalls that was all that mattered. I told her that if someone laughed to just tell them that she liked them. I told her to tell them that if they didn't like them then they didn't need to look at them. Not sure if that was really the right thing to tell her or not?

I think it is just sad how mean children can be. I know that this is just how it is but it seems like way back when I was in school the kids would tease and be mean but it seems like it didn't start quite this early. Seems like it was more middle school age when this sort of thing began, not kindergarten for goodness sakes!

It's pretty bad when a 6 year old kindergarten is already so worried about what others will think and that they will laugh at her. Obviously some of the kids in my daughter's class must not be very nice.

Before leaving her at school today, I did get her to take off her jacket. One of her friends walked in the class and we showed her the overalls. We asked if she liked them and she said yes. That sure put a little smile on my daughter's face and helped reassure her of what I had already been telling her, that it would be fine and that she looked cute and nice.

I almost feel bad leaving her there wearing them knowing she felt that way though. I made sure I asked her if SHE liked them and she told me yes so it isn't like I MADE her wear them. I just hope she will have a good day at school and her worries are for nothing. I hope none of the other kids will laugh or make fun of her. I'll probably be worried about it all day. The end of the school day sure won't come soon enough for me today!

Hugs

A hug is a great gift.....one size fits all! It can be given for any occasion and it's easy to exchange.

Cologne Conversation

So last night I was sitting on the couch and I overheard a conversation that my hubby and daughter were having in the other room. It went something like this:

Daughter: "Daddy, why do you wear cologne?"

Hubby: "Because."

Daughter: "Because you want to always smell pretty?"

Now I'm not for sure what his response was after that but I'm thinking he probably told her no, he doesn't wear it to smell pretty!

St. Patrick's Day Decorations

This is a bit past the holiday but still cute enough to share! At least I think so! Hope you will too! Last week for St. Patrick's Day my daughter made a lot of green decorations to tape up in our house. The picture shows just two of them. She made many! I think there were ten total. The three leaf clover was something she made and colored at school. The leprechaun next to it she drew at home. She taped them both on the wall next to each other so it looked like the leprechaun was picking the clover. Her theory to making them and taping them up was so the house would not get pinched!

Life Is Like

Life is like a roll of toilet paper.
The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.

Third Day Of Spring Break

Well, yesterday was the third and final day of my daughter's spring break from school. I didn't get to get any extra sleep on any of the three days she was out of school. Thursday night we went to bed a bit later than normal and my son woke me up not once, but twice during the night. I think he was trying to get his last one year molar in. I felt his gums today and yay! That last one year molar has FINALLY broke through so hopefully that will help him. At least for now, he still has more teeth to come in at some point but maybe he'll get a small break between them.

To top off my Thursday night's sleep, hubby had to get up early on Friday to leave early for work so his alarm woke me at about 6:30am. I think I had just dozed back off when he woke me again at about 7am to let me know he was leaving. I didn't mind him waking me again. We always do that so we can say I love you. I think I fell back asleep after that only to be woke up again around 8am by the dog barking. Darn dog! Then about 9:05am my son was ready to be up for the day.

I was a bit tired on Friday so we had a lazy day around our house. Stayed in our pj's and just lounged around the house all day. The kids and I didn't go anywhere until my hubby got home. He wanted to go get a car part so I showered and got dressed. I was tired! While hubby was getting his car part I nearly fell asleep in the truck waiting on him!

Luckily last night my son slept nearly all night. He woke up once but went back to sleep on his own without needing to be rocked. That makes it so much easier for me to fall back asleep! Here's hoping he'll sleep all night long tonight! Only time will tell!

Second Day Of Spring Break

So today was the second day of spring break for my daughter from school. Did I get to sleep in today? Nope! The fact that I had a mid-morning doctor appointment and hubby was not going to work until I got back from the doctor (which means his alarm did not need to be set this morning) would make one think that everyone in my house would have got to sleep in this morning but that was NOT the case.

Well, even though hubby didn't NEED an alarm set this morning, he had one. At 7:55am his alarm went off. He forgot to disable it last night before going to bed. So much for sleeping in! I won't get to sleep in tomorrow either because hubby has to leave kind of early for work so when he gets up to get ready that will no doubt wake me up. Now, depending on if the kids wake up when he gets up will determine whether I actually have to get up or if I will get the chance to try and catch a bit more sleep. I won't know until in the morning. Here's hoping!

First Day Of Spring Break

Wouldn't you know it? Today was the first day of spring break for my daughter from school and of course, not one but BOTH of my kids decided to get up earlier than they normally do on a regular school day. Go figure! So obviously I didn't get to sleep in as I had hoped. Guess that's how it goes huh? Oh the joys of parenthood!

Grocery Prices

I've blogged about this topic before but today I am annoyed with it once again so I'm going to share yet ANOTHER experience we had at the grocery with items NOT ringing up for the correct price!

Today we went to Hyvee to do some shopping. We seriously spend TOO much money at Hyvee and Wal-mart. Anyway, today we went to Hyvee because they had 2 liter bottles of pop on sale for $.39 each. Yes, we shouldn't drink pop but umm....we do.

Well, obviously we didn't just get the pop did we? Nope! We got a whole cart full! As if we needed it! My daughter LOVES Trix yogurt so I let her pick out a package of it today while we were shopping. When checking out, I noticed that it hadn't rung up correctly. It was suppose to be $2.50 but it rang up for the regular price of $2.88.

Now I know this is only a $.38 difference but keep in mind that nearly EVERY time we shop at Hyvee SOMETHING doesn't ring up right. All these little $.38 differences add up to a larger amount over time.

I brought the wrong price to the attention of the cashier and she had the boy sacking our groceries go check on the price. He came back and told her that the price I said it should be was what the sign said, $2.50 each so she turned on her register light for a manager to come over. A manager came and she told him what was going on. He then took the yogurt off and we got it for free. Obviously that worked for me but if they would just make sure their pricing signs are correct they wouldn't have to worry about this sort of thing.

So, my hubby paid for our groceries and we went to our truck. Got everything in and started to drive home. I had hubby give me the receipt so I could look to make sure everything else rang up correctly. Wouldn't you know it! Something else rang up wrong!

We needed a loaf of bread to make sandwiches for my daughter's lunches next week for school. When looking at all the bread we decided on the Iron Kids kind. It was a bit more than the store brand but the date was further out so we decided to pay a bit more based on the date. Well, we didn't want to pay as much more as it rang up for!

The loaf of bread was suppose to be $1.98 and it rang up for $3.19. Difference being $1.21. That's quite a difference don't ya think? Well, we did so hubby turned around and headed back to the store. I took the bread back in.

The girl checked on the price and came back with a different loaf of bread along with the one I had purchased and a pricing sign. Apparently the sign had been put under the wrong bread. She said I could substitute the one that was supposed to be $1.98 or get a refund.

By this time I was pretty annoyed so I just had her give me my money back. We'll go to the bread store this time for our bread. I find it ridiculous that we have to literally watch as EVERY single item is rung up to make sure the price is correct. Unfortunately this particular Hyvee does seem to have the best prices out of all the grocery stores around, when items ring up right, so shopping somewhere else isn't really an option. Guess we'll just have to continue to keep an eagle eye on the screen as our groceries are being scanned!

Beautiful Day

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day out! At about 3:45pm, I got the stroller out, got my son seated in it, and walked up to get my daughter from school. I think the temperature was about 64 degrees. Completely beautiful! Made for a very nice little walk.

I am SO glad the weather is becoming nicer and warmer. I miss being able to walk up to get my daughter from school. Not only did I miss the better weather but it is also SO much easier to walk than it is to drive. The lines of cars can be VERY long if you don't get to the school at the perfect time.

Hooray! I really think spring is truly right around the corner! Can you tell I'm ready for it? I've been waiting and waiting and waiting!

Who Needs Toys

Yesterday while at Wal-mart I purchased some cards of buttons for my hand towels I sell in my Etsy shop. Today while I was sitting on the couch sewing on buttons, my little guy climbed up next to me. He sat there for the longest time putting the cards of buttons in the bag I was keeping them in. After he would get them in the bag he would take them back out only to put them back in again. I don't know how long he did this for but it was quite awhile. Who needs toys when you can play with mommy's craft things!

The Biggest Loser

On Tuesday nights at our house we usually watch the tv show called The Biggest Loser. If we happen to have to be out and about on a Tuesday night, we try to remember to set the timer on the VCR to record it so we can watch it when we get the chance. Yes, I said VCR. We do not live in the wonderful world of Tivo or DVR's or whatever the "new" technology is today. We still have the good old fashioned VCR for recording our favorite shows.

Well, last night we were home to watch it and had been waiting for it to be on since it had been a few weeks due to the Olympics being on. Most of the time on Tuesday nights, for some strange reason, we usually eat the most unhealthiest meal. Go figure!

Well, last night we actually didn't eat too badly compared to normal anyway. My hubby apparently felt guilty that we had eaten healthier. He came and sat down beside me on the couch. He then said something like, "I feel bad. Want one?" In his hand was a package of chocolate ho-ho's. So much for our semi-healthy supper, huh?

Beautiful Message

A beautiful message about growing old:
















Crap.....
I forgot what it was.....

And The Winner Is.....

AND THE WINNER OF THE FEBRUARY SALES DRAWING IS ........UxCritter! Congratulations! UxCritter just won a gift certificate to our shop!

YOU COULD BE NEXT!!!


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MONTHLY DRAWING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For the entire month of March any and all purchases no matter how big or small will get your name put into a drawing to win a $10.00 gift certificate to our shop! Buy one item, get your name in the drawing once! Buy two items, get your name in the drawing twice! And so on! One name from all the March sales will be drawn on April 1st!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Good luck to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!