Young Master!

I am just so proud I can't stand it! Natalie was chosen as one of forty kids in her school that gets to present a work of art at the schools Young Masters Art Show! What they do is take one of her works of art, frame it up all nice, and then they host an art show in downtown Arlington. What's great is that people can "adopt" a work of art for $100, and they get to keep it for one year. Then next year we will get the framed art to keep!

I knew Nat loved art, and this is just so good for her. She couldn't be more proud of herself and I love that! I hope anyone local can come to The Coffee Haus in downtown Arlington, April 30th from 4-6:30 to check out all the kids works of art, and to see Nat's too! Woo hoo!!! I am one proud Mama!

no joke

1. Apparently last night my allergies were so bad, it made me snore like a..how did he say it? A racoon on a motorcycle, I think was what Keith said. Anywho, bad enough that poor Keith went out and slept on the couch, not before he got his cell phone and got some video of the snoring. Ha! Seriously, I have never had allergies like this, I cough and drip all night long, and today when I was trying to have a conversation with a friend I was so congested I could barely talk. Ugg.

2. Natalie has decided that being kind and speaking nicely is overrated. I know it's just a taste of my own medicine, but she is making it really hard to stay patient. Holy crud she is soooo sassy. She likes to end the last word of her statements with an extra syllable (ie. o-k-ay, or I'm go-ing-ga, or I know-o). It's trying to say the least, and there are lots of eye rolls from me, but so far I have held my own and not yelled at her. But she does need to watch it. Why is it that kids treat the ones that love them the most, the worst?

3. I made a big sale this week in my shop, sold a $40 play mat! But the excitement quickly evaporated when the buyer all but disappeared off the face of the planet and hasn't paid or responded to any emails. So I am gonna have to cancel the sale. Boo.

4. Babies, babies, babies. EVERYWHERE. At least 7 Moms I know with newborns that I can think of off the top of my head, and more to come. So hard not to be jealous. So. Hard.

5. Cooking for weight watchers is MUCH easier than I thought. We just eat lots of yummy veggies, and basically I cut out fast food. It's not nearly as hard as I thought it was gonna be, and I lost 4.4 lbs my first week. I would LOVE to be able to keep that kinda loss up, haha! I will be happy as long as I lose anything each week. Here's to finally making a change!

become a fan...

I finally decided to stop boring my facebook friends with posts about Bits or Bobbins, and I started a fan page! It's neat because I can post all I want there, and only people interested can see it. I am super excited for my shop, and I am really gung ho, because I have made a commitment to myself to see this through! I want to see great things come from all this sewing I do, and I love bringing smiles to peoples faces!

I have been working on some really great things, and trying hard to make everything more proffesional and yet still affordable! That is tough work, let me tell you, some "designer" fabric out there is PRICEY! But if I shop the sales, my customers get great stuff at great prices.

Here is a little sneak peak of a new item I will be listing. Gift sets of two coordinating, chenille backed burpie rags.

a few items of business

1. I joined Weight Watchers yesterday. Today was my first meeting and I am really pumped. I did a LOT of thinking about joining, because I really want to find something that will become a lifestyle for me. I know, after the meeting, that this was the right choice for me. I can eat whatever I want, they have SO MANY tools to help me find healthy foods that I like, that will help fill me up so I am not hungry. And the support system there, and with my friends, is going to be that extra boost I need. No way will I post my starting weight, but I will keep track here, maybe, of my loss!

2. It's getting warmer, I can't even say hotter, because hot here is 100+, but it's been in the low 80's and I. HATE. IT. Ugg. All I want to do is stay inside and lay. And sew. And watch TV. *sigh*

3. Speaking of Texas and it's ills, the allergens in the air are KEELING me. I cough all the time because of that unquenchable tickle in my throat. The nose is runny, the eyes are watery. Sheesh!

4. On a more positive note I am super excited about the fabrics I got for some new swaddlers for the shop. We are talking hedgehogs, mushrooms, pirates, rockabilly tattoos, modern zoo animals, purple paisley, and teddy bear toile (for a special order!)...such cute stuff! Keep an eye out!

5. And last, but sadly not least, the only thing that got me through the painful experience that was early evening, was the fact that I knew while Keith is at scouts I get to watch Glee and Parenthood and sew to my hearts content. It's the little things, sometimes, that get me through the rough days.

Behold

The Cuteness.

Natalie lost BOTH her top teeth this last week! I can't stop smiling at her toothless smile, and I want her to read War and Peace (or something equally as long) to me, so I can listen to her adorable new lisp.

Two days ago I told Brady he could have some gum if he cleaned his room, which actually worked! Then he went in there to play and I didn't think anything of the quiet until Nat came and told me he was asleep! He put himself down for a nap (probably so tired from keeping me awake all night...) and still had his gum in there. He also fell asleep listening to his old musical toothbrush. So sweet.

thinking about friendship

The other day a friend said to me that she liked me, because I am calm. After I laughed for a minute or ten, I asked what she meant. She said that I don't bring a lot of drama to the table. That got me to thinking. Is there ever a point in a woman's life when the drama stops? I highly doubt it! I attribute this to women having so many emotions inside our bodies. That's what women are good at, emoting! Wouldn't it be lovely if we could just tell how we are feeling, without fear of being ridiculed or laughed at. Sure, sometimes we can, but most often, if the feelings are negative, I know that my initial reaction is to keep it inside (until it bubbles out!).

I think for me, the hardest part of human interaction is that I am always afraid of insulting or offending someone. Wouldn't it be nice if people could say, "Hey, you really pissed me off when you..." or "Wow, that was seriously offensive when you..." without the recipient getting their feelings hurt? Ha! In a perfect world, right? There is such a fine line between letting your feelings hide and blow over or letting your feelings hide and fester and turn into a broken friendship or worse!

I know that with a mouth like mine I often say things that come out wrong or are easily twisted. I am constantly asking Keith after we have any sort of group interaction, "Ok, what stupid thing did I do/say this time?" And luckily we are married and he knows I have to love him, so he has no qualms about telling me, and then I feel foolish for the rest of the day/week/month.

I have had so many friends in my life (a side effect of moving around a lot) and I have learned how to be adaptable, at least I think so. I love having good friends, ones that you can call up and they want to spend time with you, it makes life so much more enjoyable! I have lost too many friends along the way, so that now the friends I have are precious, and I try very hard to keep the bonds that I have made in my adult life strong. As you get older it seems that good friends are harder to find!

All pretty pictures found via weheartit.com

I guess this is a super random post, but it's just something I have been thinking about. I have been truly blessed my whole life to always have close friends, and I am really grateful for that. Without friends life could get pretty lonely! So to all of my friends, thank you for loving me, even though I have a big mouth and say dumb things! And to all that I may have offended, I am sorry, I probably didn't even realize I did it (side effect of big mouth and short memory), and in that case, tell me! So I can appoligize and life can go on as normal.

Easter fun!

Ok, first let me point out that I am actually posting about a holiday when it actually happened! Instead of waiting weeks or months to do it! We had quite a busy weekend, two easter egg hunts yesterday, and lots of church. This week was General Conference for us Mormons and it's a great week to really feel motivated again to be living the way we should be living! Hard not to feel inspired when you are listening to the Prophet and the Apostles talk all weekend.

Anywho. I snapped some pictures of the kids at our first hunt, but my setting button got switched so they are all grainy, which is super irritating, because otherwise I know they would have been so perfect! I was so glad we were invited to share in this family's hunt (thank you Grimmetts!), since we have no real family around. I am learning that we have many friends that I can consider family, and that makes holidays much sweeter.

Natalie with both front teeth! The top left one fell out later that night after MUCH wiggling and twisting and one last tug from Mama!

I hate you grain!

Poor kid got about 2 hops into the sack race and toppled over. That's ok! Maybe next time!

Best. Kids. Ever. (at least best kids I have ever had! ha!)

Brady chompin' on his black sprinkle covered easter cookie. This kid was in sugar HEAVEN!

Pretty and Sassy!

Here is a pic of their loot. I really wanted to get them more meaningful, useful stuff this year instead of a bunch of junk. So they got books (thrifted of course), something to color/draw with, goldfish, cookies, and one package of candy bugs each. Oh, and a slinky for B and some chapstick for Nat.

Later that night we went to another friends house for a hunt, and of course I forgot my camera. It was nice to go now that the kids are old enough to really play on their own. Brady had so much fun running around with some big boys, and I hardly saw him except when he needed something! Natalie sat with me outside and wiggled and jiggled her tooth to the point that it was barely hanging on! Sweet pea couldn't even talk right because that tooth was a dangling.

After we got Brady in bed she let me check it out and this was the result! Of course I couldn't get a non cheesy pic from her, but those aren't any fun anyways. Enjoy! And I hope you all had a Happy Easter too!

Oh, and this is my 700th post! WOOT! I am actually gonna do a giveaway, very soon, of course it will be stuff from my shop, so keep your eyes peeled!

what I have been working on

A friend of mine had a baby recently and she is the kind of person that is just deserving of so much! I bought some cute fabric for her and planned on making her a swaddler and an activity mat, but then I couldn't stop sewing and threw together as many things as I could with the leftover fabric. The result was a pretty spectacular layette! At least in my opinion!

Some chenille backed, personalized burpy rags. I am definitely gonna add some burpy rags to the shop. They are so practical!

A bow tie bib, of course!

A summer swaddler (and she sent me a picture of baby in it, and it's so cute, and they work!). I just got a bunch of new fabric, and will be adding more to the shop next week. I am so excited about these blankets!

And of course, my go to baby shower gift, and activity mat. I really love this jungle animal fabric, and the brown hides so many stains. I just made 2 more mats for my Monday update and I am really excited about them, really bold and bright colors as opposed to pastels. Very different!

These last things are for Natalie's school fundraiser. They host an auction every year which brings in most of the extra money needed to make up for a small budget. I had some extra minky and whipped together a super soft cuddle blanket and some matching ruffle burpy rags. I had a hard time parting with these, but I hope they bring in a lot at the auction! I really have to make some of these girly burpy rags for the shop (and all of my friends with baby girls!) they are just too cute! (sorry the pictures are sideways!)

P.S. Sorry for all the shameless linkage, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

Also linking up to everything etsy! And V&Co's linky party :)