Lets RE-Decorate!

9 Days before Christmas and our BIGGEST Christmas gift EVER is on its way!

HOWEVER!...this particular gift is causing us (me) to have to rearrange our entire living room and move our fully decorated Christmas tree....

What was I thinking?????

I was thinking that after YEARS of working hard my husband deserved a BIG treat!! And since I can't get him drafted to the major leagues, I settled with the next best gift.... A HUGE TELEVISION!

65".....GINORMOUS TELEVISION.....

I hope that he loves it forever.

I must love him forever because I want to get rid of every television in our house and then I go and buy him the biggest mama jama I could.

OK...I must go back to redecorating. I have even gone a little crazy and decided that I would go ahead and put up another tree....I love glitter and sparkle!! I am trying to keep it simple, but seriously how can you keep it simple when it comes to glitter and sparkle??????

PS: Watching QVC at the end of a VERY long day can cause you to make decisions like the one I made....but loving your husband and being grateful for his return from work every day can also lead to such decisions...hahaaa

10 Days and Counting!!

Tonight was Jacobs Winter Concert. It was so sweet seeing the kids up there singing their little hearts out... I was only able to get one very distant picture and I blinded the man in front of me in the process so I wasn't about to continue trying for a better one! I asked him to wait 20 minutes before driving....

Jacob sang three songs - no solos thank goodness - and the evening was over!

Lily wanted to know why there was so much singing and no popcorn?? They had seats like the movie theater but no popcorn! Her world was shattered....

I have started wrapping gifts and feel good about getting that done. I love to wrap! I get a little carried away with making sure everything coordinates...it is one of my favorite parts!!

I have to say though...I would love to receive these little goodies in the mail as an early Christmas present! 4 Kennedys and a Dog is doing a lovely little giveaway and I sure would like to win!!

Under way...

Christmas shopping, decorating and activities are well under way!
I love to see my house decorated for Christmas...soft white lights, greens and sparkly lovely things to look at!

We decorated our tree on Sunday night and had delicious Chinese food...I think a new tradition has been formed...and I was so excited about getting our tree done that I couldn't stop! I told my husband that I "NEEDED" to put up two more of our trees!! He gladly obliged and went to the garage to start the process....I am a theme girl. I love having different trees in different rooms. We have 5 at our shop and I was really feeling festive...I blame it on the MSG.

....by morning I had changed my mind and decided that ONE tree was just perfect this year!

Simple is ALWAYS nice!

I hope that your holidays are shaping up to be exactly what you want them to be!!

Speaking of "shaping up"! I have completed 3 hats so far! Not quite getting as much done as I had hoped for my handmade holiday, but I can still buy handmade!!!

A little post valentines post

I am a few days late posting my Valentines craftiness...Not super special, but super cute cupid heiny's! Everyone was fluttering around "making" special cards for each other...one of my favorite parts of being a mom....

The kids loved them and I made them all "hangable" (I am not really sure that is a word...but you know what I mean by it, right?) so next year I can use them in a banner of some sorts.


I found the cupids online at a free clip-art site, attached them to a few layers of cardstock and embellished away. I added a little extra sparkle to their wings with some cheapy glitter glue from Joanne's - love that stuff!! I used a vintage postcard for Jerry's, I didn't get a picture of that one....


Books and a little chocolate heart were being passed out for the Love-y holiday! Truth is, those books were purchased before Christmas for Christmas and I hid them so well I didn't find them until January! OOPS!


And these cute little bum's could not be resisted! I just loved them...I did cover one, but couldn't do it for the second! These were for the girls, the boys were done in black and red.

EDIT...I forgot to show you another little creation...I made both of these, the cute girl and the cute shirt...well only the button and felt heart on the shirt.

Reflection brings Knowledge

Yesterday and today were wonderful days of Nothing-ness and Family togetherness. I welcomed a New Year today and realized that this past year even with all of it's struggles and challenges was still one of the best years yet.

This past year I turned 35, and if I am lucky I have lived only half my life. My birthday celebration was the best of simplicity and I think the best that I can remember. I have four beautiful children and even with the bad days I am luckier than some. They all drive me crazy and make me laugh hysterically in the same day. I learned to redefine my meaning of friendship, and I learned that there are many different definitions of perfect. I also learned to be who I am, not who other people and life want me to be. That is sometimes a hard thing to remember when you live in a small town.

My last lesson in 2008....which is one that I forgot somewhere in my adult life. But Thank You to The Princess for reminding me....

It isn't a Party without a Party Hat!!!

We spent the day yesterday hanging out, making different little craft projects, and deciding on our resolutions! We worked on our journals, and we made party hats for our New Year's Celebration. As promised here are some pictures of the finished product.....

Our party hats were on clearance at Michael's for .50 and I think were meant to be Elf hats during Christmas, but they served us well as Party Hats! A little glue, glitter, ribbon and pom-poms...Party Hats all around! The Princess asked everyone who called both yesterday and today if they had a party hat, and encouraged them to come over and see ours!

I also set the table Nice and FANCY, dressed up in our finest....and ate a Silly Non-Fancy dinner. This years choice....take-out Chinese!

I set the table with some Blue and Silver decorations, for some reason in my minds eye Blue, Silver and Black are New Years colors. I used a pair of beautiful blue candlesticks that I bought at an antique store...I love them! A huge hurricane filled with ornaments, and transferred all foods into pretty glass dishes. Food always tastes better when it is served on a pretty table and on pretty dishes!

The kids had a great time dancing around the living room, the ball dropped and New Years kisses all around!!

My resolutions for this year are pretty simple. No major changes...

1. Be more disciplined...menu's, life choices, housework...

2. Create one project per week....relieves stress for me

3. Scrapbook at least one page per week

4. Remember what is important to me

Ohhhh...I also learned that I should never make this face again!! I was told that I looked like a "Crazy" Whoo!!

A Project in Reflection

As we close out 2008 we are going to take some time together as a family to reflect on our year.... The Good, The Bad and the Ugly. We have had quite a bit of all three. We are going to start a few new traditions this year, one of which will be to make a list of our Top 10. Each person is going to write down their personal Top 10 and then we are going to put them in a family time capsule...basically our 2008 scrapbook...and then next year we can look back on it!

Mine are pretty simple:
The Good: Opening the Shop
The Bad: The Brawn's simple procedure that turned into a medical mistake
The Unbelievable: The boys and I all breaking a bone and being in casts one week apart!

And what holiday is complete around here without a project?? So, in an attempt to have my children remember their lives, I am going to have everyone write in a journal for 10-15 minutes before reading and going to bed at night. I don't care if they write a story, a poem, the weather forecast or really pour their hearts out. The Princess will draw a picture every night. She really loves to draw and color.

I took basic composition books, covered them in Kraft paper and am going to let the kids each personalize them tomorrow.

I will show you pictures of everyone when they are done.

I also picked up some foam hats the other day at Michael's that were left over from their Christmas stuff, I think they were supposed to be Elf hats but we are going to make them our New Years hats. We are a little late on decorating them...hopefully they will be dry!

Then we will pick out our outfits for our traditional New Year's Eve dinner. We stay in on N.Y.E and get dressed our finest threads, set the table super fancy and then eat a totally fun, non fancy dinner. Something like Tacos or Pizza....I am thinking Chinese this year. I have some awesome Chinese decorations I have been hanging on to. The kids and I will stay up and watch the ball drop while the hubby sleeps! He normally has to work on New Year's Eve and Day so he doesn't hang long with us. As with all our family dinners, I am sure that there will be many photo ops!

Wishing your family a Wonderful, SAFE and Healthy New Year!!

Love, Heather

Stressss Buster!!

With the hours slipping by before Jolly Ole' St. Nick makes his arrival my daily agenda is MAXXED out! Tonight's agenda includes more Crafting, Baking, more wrapping. Hopefully it doesn't include any more trips to the ER, The Princess has had the stomach flu for over 5 days now. We have made two trips to the ER, one to the Dr. and done a LOT of laundry! It has been awful...it has also put a slight damper in my nighttime crafting time! My poor little Princess!! She is so cute!!

This video should relieve you of any stress...it made us laugh so hard that we were all crying!! Please enjoy!!!

Edit....my video didn't show up....how sad because it is so hysterical you'll cry!!! I am going to try again!

Tree Flashback

As promised here is another story about a Tree. I know that you have been waiting so patiently...lol.


First I want to show off a set of adorable Vintage brush trees that I picked up for The Princess's dollhouse. They are adorable if you ask me, but then again I bought them! They were even more adorable with there $2 price tag!! I plan to put them in the living room of her dollhouse. I must admit that I haven't even begun painting her dollhouse!! It might end up being a birthday present at the rate I am going now! I am almost done with the little house we are making for my cousin's son, but not so much for The Princess!



OK, Tree story.....This story is only funny if you think about that Christmas song where the people are all losing their cool. One guy is complaining about a hangover, another guy is losing it over tangled lights, etc. It is very tongue and cheek with plenty of Holiday frustration...I always laugh when I hear it or even think about it!

My parents divorced when I was VERY little so my mom was always trying to make it on her own. She tried really hard! How we ended up with particular tree I couldn't begin to tell you?!? To be honest with you I don't remember even having trees at our house, house, when I was really little because we always went out and got the one at my Grandparents house! So truly, I don't even know why we ended up in this situation?? But anyway...one year we had this tree...I don't know even know where the darn thing came from...? It was a pretty little tree. She had spent way too much money on these really beautiful ornaments and she was really working hard on the whole deal, know what I mean?

Everything started out really cute...a Mommy & Daughter moment if you will...but things quickly went downhill when she tried to get the tree to stand "straight" in that dag-on little tree stand. You know the ones...little red bowl with three green legs. They always seem ridiculously small compared to the overall size of the tree! It just wouldn't stay "straight"....she would get it in there and it would be fine for a few minutes and then when we turned our backs to get the ornaments ready....it would start leaning again. She would get it back in place and then...leaning again...

This went on for a few go-arounds....I could see that my poor mom was on the brink. I thought she might lose it! When everything seemed to be "straight", we set out again to decorate! Thank goodness...we needed a break in the tension that was taking over our little tree moment!

We finished that without the tree leaning to the left or right during the entire decorating process!! Success!!! It was quite beautiful. We had a moment....


Then, in the blink of an eye.....TIMBER!!!!


The entire tree came down with one big Crash!! The crash was followed by a scream, a few choice words, and a few tears! Maybe more than a few tears!!


My poor mother officially lost her cookies.... Now, you might think this isn't such a funny story, but it really is....because at this point my mother disappeared from the living room, glass ornaments crunchy beneath her feet, and set out to find "tools"!! I don't even know how long it took her to find the tools of her choice but before I knew it the tree had been NAILED to the wall. Yep, NAILED to the wall!! It happened so fast I couldn't believe it! I was stunned....I just remember thinking...."Uh-O..."

I remember sitting on our couch watching TV and only looking at the tree out of the corner of my eye, like I was afraid to make "eye contact" with the darn thing! Poor pathetic little tree with its random surviving ornaments....nailed to the wall!

At the time it wasn't so funny, but now....many years later we Laugh and Laugh about it. The most ironic part of it was the only "pretty" ornament that truly survived was a Clown, and we both hate clowns! I don't know why she bought those darn things!! She jinxed the tree....lol!


Nice try Mom....you definitely gave us a memory to last a lifetime!!

A True Tree Story....

This is one of those stories that has become a family legend....it is really funny...so if you can make it through the sap (no pun intended) in the beginning I promise that you will get a chuckle!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I am going to share some of my favorite Tree stories. Plus, later I am going to post a really cute Tree Christmas card that you can make. It takes a little bit of work but it is really cute!!

Tree story - legend - started in 1980, it was the first Christmas after my Grandfather died. He was the nucleus of our family....literally the glue that kept everyone together. He died in September, very suddenly and my Grandmother did not handle it well at all....who does??....So that Christmas it was even more important to my Mom and Uncles to continue with the family tradition of going out into the woods to cut it down the right tree as a family and bring it back to my Grandmother. Christmas was a spectacular time of year in our family....it was always the greatest!! Beautiful decorations everywhere...wreath making parties with our extended family, Christmas parties...it was just wonderful!

We bundled up, it was snowing, we all got on the trailer and my Uncle Breen drove the tractor into the far corner of one of the front fields where we always found the most "beautiful" trees. It was truly a BEAUTIFUL moment....at least in my little 7 year old mind....

We found a tree, a tree that was literally a tree within a tree. The part of the tree that we wanted was at the top of this one particular tree...does that make any sense?? I loved it, it looked like it was the "perfect" tree. A BIG, FULL bushy Christmas Tree!

Here is where the fun begins....

My uncles set out at this point to cut down the top portion of the tree without cutting down the entire tree. Why they did it this way I don't know??? Maybe they didn't want to be wasteful??? I just don't know, but it sure was funny.....There was a lot of cursing, a teeny bit of name calling (I never said we were the Waltons), but in the end a lot of laughing!

They get the tree down, get it on the trailer and then we head back to the house. It was really one of those picture perfect moments....bringing the tree back to The Big House for my Grandmothers approval....what we were to do with it if she didn't approve? I don't know? But anyway...it was picturesque!

Now, I am not sure if this has ever happened to you, but those darn trees never seem to look so big out there in the fields! (Mistake #1)

I was only 7 at the time so I was doing a lot of "over seeing" of the following events. Soaking it all in....
Once we got the tree off the trailer my Uncles thought it was too tall, so they cut a chunk off the bottom (Mistake #2).... Up to the house we go only to realize that it wouldn't fit through the door. Now, we didn't have "small" doors, we had big huge 200 year old plantation doors....that tree wouldn't fit for anything! So, they decided to cut off some of the branches...from the inside of the tree of course! (Mistake #3). A few branches come off....back for a second attempt through the door....no luck....a few more branches, more cursing....some whispering, etc. Do you see where I am going with this??? (These become the mistakes where I start to lose count....) It just got worse from there....

Once the tree is finally in the house, they put it in the stand which sat in between the double doors of the living room and dining room, only to realize that the tree is "too short"!! So, out of the stand it comes and my Uncles NAIL a piece of the chunk back onto the bottom of the tree!!!

We now switch from mistakes to secrets - secrets that I am supposed to keep FOR-EV-ER at the risk of upsetting my Grandmother! LOL!

The tree goes back into the stand and of course it doesn't stand straight, how can it? We have to tie the tree between the doors to stabilize it. This just about puts my Grandmother right on her ear...if she only knew what else was going on while she was in the kitchen! After the tree is up and stabilized, some rather bare spots in the tree become very apparent.

The stress of said bare spots became very intense....never fear...there are still plenty of branches laying on the ground outside!!! So, you guessed it....my Uncles, who are literally like Frick and Frack at this point, retrieved the branches and started putting that tree back together like a puzzle. You know, a puzzle that requires hammer and nails! More whispering, more cursing...I can remember thinking...this is not good, this is not good at all!!! They mightaswell have just busted out the duct tape!

After the tree was all nailed back together and the lights were on and I was SWORN to secrecy, the decorating process started. That was always so much fun, beautiful BIG ornaments and tinsel! I was (so were my Uncles and Mother) sweating bullets the entire time worrying that my Grandmother would notice the branches that were NAILED back into the tree! Luckily the tree was such a puff ball that decorating went off without a hitch...shhheeew! I am sure that my eyes were as big as saucers through this whole thing. I have NO POKER FACE!!!

As the Christmas season progressed, that poor tree tried to stay green, but as you can imagine some "parts" of the tree just didn't seem to drink as much water as others! There were dead branches in the middle and top of the tree mixed in with the beautiful green ones that were drinking water to their little hearts contentment!! It was a rough site by the time New Years came. It was a site, truly a site...just not quite as picturesque!!!

Every time I would see my Grandmother coming in with a pitcher of water for the tree I had to leave the room. I was worried that I would crack under pressure....I think the most commonly used and heard phrase that year was "....that damn tree......" I wish we had video of the event, that would have been worth some money. We all kept the "secret" for YEARS....and I mean YEARS!!! It wasn't until I was an adult that we finally told my Grandmother what had happened to that tree. She was a little angry at first...I think because of the amount of effort she put into the "watering process"...but then she laughed right along with the rest of us.

That was the most memorable Tree story of my entire childhood. Now there are other memories in there....but that one is to never be topped!

Just a thought...

In this world of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle..." I am AMAZED by the amount of catalogs that come in the mail! Thursday my husband thought the Library had been delivered right to our mailbox....it was ridiculous. One of the catalogs was the infamous Victoria's Secret catalog. I started flipping through it to see if there was anything cute....after a few minutes it became EXTREMELY clear that this catalog is designed and shot by Men!! One picture in particular stands out to me.....the model with her long flowing hair is standing there with her chest thrust out, shirt unbuttoned down to her navel looking super sultry. Now...REALLY???

I am sure that there are oodles of women without children who buy VS clothes and pretties - and even though I have four kids I still like pretty panties. But....as a woman with four children all I can think is that maybe they should have some pictures that are a little more Mom Friendly. ...realistic if you will.....

For instance...if they want me to buy that shirt, the woman should have at least one kid hanging off of her hip while trying to balance one of those trendy new bags on the other side. Hair slightly disheveled, maybe even with some smudge in her hair - and if her shirt is going to be unbuttoned it should at least have a small child's hand inside of it, we all know that that is really what it looks like when our shirt is unbuttoned - if we even realize that it is unbuttoned! They should actually be trying to promote how well the shirt will STAY buttoned!! And all bra's should be tested by woman bending over - from the waist - to make sure that your boobies are NOT going to pop out! Because that is just the worst..you bend over to tie a shoe and your bust has busted out of the bra!!! You stand up and things are facing the wrong direction and all askew! They should all be road tested.....I'd buy those!

OK, I just made my own self chuckle....Stupid catalog....

I had to throw it away before my husband got any crazy ideas!

Merry Christmas!

Spell check is NOT working right now, so if there is anything spelled incorrectly....ooops!

Turkey Day & Such

Hope everyone had a GREAT Turkey Day, we had a full house and a full weekend. Just a few pic's to recap!

The Turkey....isn't it pretty!
The Kids table, I somehow forgot that there were going to be 6 kids?? This table was great for four, a little tight with five....forget the sixth!



One of my favorite views of Downtown Annapolis...

The first of many failed attempts to get all 6 kids to look at the camera, smile and look normal all at the same time!!

I would love to have a PINK house! The hubby and I..

One of my favorites....

How does a Pumpkin turn into a Carrot?? A Halloween Word Problem..

The Beauty made Pumpkin Cupcakes for us!!! Aren't they cute!

I am thinking this was done because we didn't ever get around to carving pumpkins...

How does a Pumpkin turn into a Carrot??? It's a word problem so try your best...I was always terrible at these in school!! Remember to read carefully!

What do you get when you add 1 Green squiggly bow as the stem + 1 pair Orange leggings + one orange shirt + Orange fluffy tutu + Brown boots for the dirt??

Give up??

A Cute Little Pumpkin!!!

Now...when you subtract- the Orange Fluffy Tutu but + a little extra dirt on the shirt and leggings....what do you get????

A Scraggly little Carrot!!!!!

After her daddy thought he had won this battle...she escaped and ripped the tutu off! Turning herself into a Carrot!!!

Halloween was so laid back this year....I LOVED IT!!!! I was originally feeling really bad about my lack of Halloween decoration and prep work...but at the end of the night - not so much.....

Our version of Halloween included a day together....no school for anyone (mom's choice....we were originally supposed to head to Philadelphia for a Dr. appt.)....then we went to the Park for a Costume Parade - where we had a Winner among us!!! "The Brains" took Judges Choice!!! Look below and you will see why!!

The Brains was dressed as a girl and was hysterical.....took Judges Choice!! Whoo-hoo!! You go babe!!

The Beauty = Penny from "Hairspray"

The Brawn = a Giant with his Fairy Friend

I had to share this picture of The Brawn's girl friend - that is "girl" "friend"...two words.... not "girlfriend" in case anyone was confused....I was asked to make that very clear.....she was a fish tank! LOVED IT!! Too Cute....and HOME MADE! She is a cutey to begin with!

Because we no longer Trick-or-Treat and the kids all "made" their costumes out of previous year costume pieces and things we had on hand, we promised them a special TREAT! A Family Date if you will.... We went to dinner at the Japanese Steak house where we all had a great time....except The Princess who COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT after the guy set the grill on fire at the beginning of our meal!

At that moment she requested in her quietest two year old voice ...that "we go home RIGHT NOW!!!!" It was a little funny....it was even funnier when the guy put food on her plate and she told him...."I eat none-a-dis" as she waved her hands over it like she was making a potion!

Look at the smiles and BIG eyes!!!

Fun was had by all....except maybe The Princess....

Check out her face....I'm thinkin' she's thinkin'.... "Seriously?????"

Much of the evening was spent like this....standing up holding The Princess.....AWAY from the table!! But it was still a very good time!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween!!!

This weekend was absolutely BEAUTIFUL around here!! Perfect weather for a Fall Festival...little face painting, hair painting..hay ride and lets just throw in a corn maze to top it off. We were down one kid due to the opening of the NEW Target. It is HUGE and definitely had The Brains attention! He had made a date with my mother about two months ago when they announced the Opening date. So any-who....after my morning of serving Hot Beverages we headed off to the Fall Festival at our local and FAVORITE nursery. It was a lot of fun....except for the Princess who says that she "..no like Hay-o-ween, yit scare me". This being one of her few poses for the day......This pose being the reason why I won't have any cute pictures of her finding an adorable little pumpkin or riding on the Hayride...I think I am going to try and photoshop her in...as soon as I figure out how to do that! LOL!

Mind you there was NOTHING scary going on at this fun little festival - although she did find her daddy getting his hair painted Hot Pink totally terrifying! The poor girl doing the spraying found his look terrifying!! He forgot to ask how long the paint stays in the hair before she started spraying...."Couple of Days Sir?!?!"

THIS....was Hysterical in her opinion!!! A BIG Daddy trying to get into a LITTLE Cow car named "Bubba"...

He Made it.....

Good day - Beautiful Sunshine - Happy Family!!

Hey there stranger!

Oh...My....Goodness!!! It is now the 12th of September and I just realized that my last post was in April...exactly 2 days before we opened the doors to our very own Coffee Shop & "store"....it has been a complete roller coaster and seems like years since May 1st! Let me give you a brief re-cap!!
1. I haven't done one complete "craft" project since April!!
2. My daughter has 6 unfinished "spring" outfits....good thing that Fall is just beginning, guess I have a jump start on next spring!!
3. 3 - yes 3 members of my family have broken bones! All one week apart we have broken two left wrists, and one left foot. Thank you very much, I will be seeking damages from the moo-cows!
4. Our shop is super cute and growing every single day! We started off with the notion of having an antique consignment and vintage boutique "store" and have since decided to have a retail gift/home decor & accessories store. It is so much more fun!! We have several lines that are made right here in the U.S.A - Love that!!

5. The list goes on and on!! But, I am going to make sure that I keep up with my blog and my crafts. I hate that some days I am so tired my poor little brain can't be creative!!

I have once again discovered that the only form of sanity in a family with kids/school/jobs, etc is ORGANIZATION and PLANNING!! There is going to be time spent this weekend planning dinners & lunches for the next two weeks. The farmers market only has a few more weeks left so I need to stock up on all our fresh homegrown produce. The squash is starting to become more plentiful, apples are ready to be made into applesauce, and the potatoes are HUGE this year!! Because working 80+ hours a week is just not enough to keep me busy, I have it set in my mind to make applesauce and sweet potatoes to be canned and saved for Thanksgiving and other dinners this fall/winter.

OK, off to try and get some sleep - that darn coffee doesn't make itself!!

All the little PEEP's...

are tucked in and waiting for the morning egg hunt! Who doesn't love a big scavenger hunt first thing in the morning to get your day started off with a kick!! However....there might be a mist of disappointment in the air, cause Mama forgot to get "filler" candy! OOOOPS!!!! With the Sugar-ban in full effect, I forgot about filling the eggs! So with minimal coins lying around and a small bag of sugar free chocolate eggs and a few left over gold coins from the Lucky Leprechaun...we made do :)

My last post was a little "deep" compared to my normal posts, it must have been the full moon that made me so inclined to share.....

Today the house was FILLED with activities; egg dying, garden building, Babka bread making and furniture moving, and more cupcake experimenting!! It was busy and tons of fun!! + add one extra to the mix and we had a house full of "crazy" going on!! Here is a quick run-down of how "it" all worked out for us today!!

• Garden building....need more dirt, the girl shovels more than the boys...
• Furniture moving....went really well, and I am almost GIDDY about working in my new space!!
• Babka Bread...not so good, that was the husbands mission to bring his Ukrainian heritage to the table.....it was not a success! I am going to try and sneak a picture in when he isn't looking!
• Egg dying....was hysterical...we have never had so many smashed dyed eggs!! Miss L had a unique style, I will be posting on this soon - Quote of the evening; "MOMMMMMMM - there is an egg in the toilet!!!!"
• Cupcakes....success! Sugar-less to boot!!

And I signed up for this very cool "swap"...I love this concept, and I totally love the inspiration for the project from one of my favorites... Amy Karol!!

OK, that is it for tonight! Have a beautiful EASTER!!! ~ Heather

Good Friday!

This is my Happy Apple....I cut this apple for a cranky baby and there was a smile waiting for me inside!! At the time, I thought it was cute, but I didn't realize how it would coordinate with this post!!
Alright....I might ramble a little, but it is what is on my mind!! Today is Good Friday, and I think that we can all safely say that Good Friday was not such a great day for Jesus. He was betrayed, tried unfairly, and killed.....not a good day in anyone's book! After stalking/reading some of my favorite blogs tonight I found the notion of "Good Friday" very thought provoking. I also realized that Easter is in two days and while Easter is actually one of my favorite "holidays", I have hardly participated in any Easter traditions. While I pray, actually beg God everyday to keep my kids safe & healthy, to keep my husband safe at work and to make my little superman "better". I didn't actually give anything up for Lent, I usually give up Shopping, and I am sure that we have eaten meat on multiple Fridays during Lent! I know that God still loves me, but I do feel a little bad about it!

And I find myself totally bothered by the commercialism of the holiday now! We saw a commercial from one of our major retail chains where they talk about the favorite/best part of Easter being CANDY!! What??? Have we lost total sight of what Easter is??? After seeing it one time with my kids, I looked at them and promptly said..."you do realize that Easter isn't about Candy, right???"...they responded correctly and said "Yes!"....

Sometimes - most times we need to be reminded of all the good things we have going for us in life. Life has a tendency to take over and cloud our "visions" and cause us to miss what what is good and going well in life! And even though Jesus died on this so called "good" Friday, his death actually did bring us all Good. Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit.” So, for me Good Friday brought me an opportunity to reflect on the good in my life that is sometimes shoved under all the "stuff".


For me, today I had a little "clearer" vision of what is "good". You know nothing spectacular happened to me today, it was an average day...in fact I made a trip to the Doctor's with one of the little darlings because of an ear infection, but it still was a "GOOD" day. . It was one of those days where things just flowed really well. No, I didn't get my house scrubbed sparkling clean, I am sure that there is a dirty toilet somewhere, but I did get "stuff" done. I even got to talk to one of my favorite/best girlfriends of all time - for hours tonight, and I mean hours! It was great!! We realized that we hadn't actually "talked" in almost a year! We have had a few emails here and there, but not really talked!! Crazy!!! But, you know what....it added to the "GOOD" in my day! She is one of my FAVORITES, and has always been a very good thing in my life, you know the kind of girlfriend that you don't have to talk to every day but when you do, it is like you talked yesterday! We were laughing about how bad our memories are now that we are getting old, and I was telling her about having to go to the little local grocery three times today!! Now, normally that would irritate the daylights out of me, but today it just went with the flow.


As Martha would say.... a very good thing....the only way to have made today better was to have actually had some "Martha" moments and crafted some goodness!!

On another GOOD note!! I was working more on the craft studio-redo...yes, I am redoing it AGAIN! Remember we are calling it a Studio now because it sounds prettier than room! But, I am so excited about getting in there and actually working, creating! Always brings a big smile to my face - and relieves my brain of stress!!! It is almost done!! I am waiting for the cable guy to come tomorrow and move the cable lines....note to self, really look at where "lines" are before deciding to move computers! LOL!!



I will post pictures when it is done!

Happy Valentines Day

Oh, how sweet it is....no, not a box of candy or chocolates, but the sweet little Kiss from my little guy! I only have one close to me right now...darn hospital...but all my other's will get GREAT BIG LOVE from mommy when I get home!!!

We/I made some cute little construction paper Valentines today! I wish I could show them to you...but since you can't see my primitive/childish valentines, check out this beautiful Vintage valentine from a Blog I like to visit. You just have to scroll down a bit to see them. Very pretty!!! And look at these adorable CUPCAKES I found....these are right up our alley....they aren't edible, but they sure are pretty!!!!! I need to find some for Valentines...although the baby will more than likely try to eat them!

I have found some really cute things on some of my favorite blogs today....like this one, I love this challenge of "Scrap your Crap". I love it...especially since I am a total hoarder with paper, fabric, stickers......you name it...I am always drooling over my stash and not wanting to use it!!!

And of course I got a few chuckles - no more than a few chuckles from one of my new favorite blogs...check it out. Even the name will make you chuckle...."Boobs, Injuries, & Dr. Pepper" .

I mean seriously, she cracks me up!!!

I LOVE this particular blog....I feel like a bit of a stalker I love her blog so much....and again...the name...gotta love it..."Angry Chicken" oooh, and check out her friends AWESOME apron pattern, here...

You might be wondering why so many links and no "real" pictures???? Because this crazy server won't let me pull up any pictures!!!!

Enjoy!! And go create something in your crazy life! Heather

Another day in Paradise...

We are still sitting in the hospital, things are looking up but still not 100%. I am idlely cutting and pasting old fashioned Valentines Cards for my loved ones!! Construction paper, scissors and crayons....who needs all the fancy smanshy tools & cardstock!! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my cardstock...almost as much as I love my fabric!! But when you have only the primitives to work with - you make do!!

AND...If I may stand on my ever so small "soap box" for a minute...why can't SOMEONE make a cute little Valentine treat for kids that isn't attached to some empty calorie, crappy piece of candy or chocolate??? NOW I do realize that Candy goes with the season....but give me a break!! There are tons of kids in this world who can't eat "candy & treats". Why are there so many holidays that revolve around 5 pound bags of chocolate & sugar filled whatevers??? I am sorry...the sleep deprivation and stress caught up to me...maybe none of this makes sense, but after hustling my heiny two blocks down the street in a city I really don't know to find some sort of little "pick me up" for my beautiful boy - because this awesome Childrens Hospital doesn't have a gift shop????? - I couldn't find one thing to bring him back that wasn't related to candy or food!! It was really irritating!! Ok....sorry...I am done now.

I would love to show you my accordian style heart card with all the different reasons I love my little guy listed on each heart...but who brings all their technical gadgets along for the ride when your going for a little "procedure"??? Oh...wait!!! I just rememberd that my "guy" brought a camera with him to document this trip to the hospital and all the cool stuff in the City he sees on our way here!! Yeah...I will take pictures and post them later!!

I am hoping that he will feel up to doing Art Therapy tomorrow. Maybe with some convincing he will make a keepsake for his scrapbook.

Look what I found....a little "Blog Party" Yeah...sounds like fun!!
I would love to find some fun new blogs...and make some new blogger friends!! Maybe I will get some visitors too!?!?

PS: Sorry for any spelling errors....server won't let me spellcheck????