I'm Back!!!!

Yes, it's true I'm back to blogging and hopefully on a regular basis from now on. So I guess an update is in order since the last post.

Day 14 - No showing and we were ready to lower our asking price by $5000 but was going to wait till the weekend was over.
Day 17 - We got a showing!! We got a showing!! About an hour after the showing we heard they were going to make an offer on the house. They loved our house, gave us full asking price and wanted our Refrigerator, brand new cherry red washer and dryer. Well we really didn't want to give up our new washer and dryer but we knew we were pretty lucky to get this offer. In the end we kept the washer and dryer and they got $1500 to go and buy their own washer and dryer. Pretty sweet deal for them, wish we had hired an realtor that would actually work for us. It was a major ordeal to get her to help us keep our washer and dryer.
Day 25 - Hubby leaves for a 4 day drive to GA. They started packing up our house. After getting a quote of $2500 to move our Toyota Sequoia to GA we are starting to rethink the whole idea of the boys and I flying to GA.
Day 26 - My mom and I decide that we will go on a roadtrip with 4 kids and 3 dogs (2 of which are puppies).
Day 28 - Were declared crazy and start our 2500 mile journey, 2 adults, 2 boys and 3 dogs.

Day 34 - We arrive in GA, dropped my mom off at my grandpa's house and head to Columbus.
Day 35 - We close on our house in WA and Sign on our house in GA

So now we are in GA and hubby is gone in Savannah, which leaves me to unpacking and moving into the house with help from my mom. Man, what the heck would I do without my mom??? She was a lifesaver and it was so hard to say goodbye to her.

2 months later - We are settled and adapting to the South. I love my house and having the time of my life decorating it and just loving it:) The boys have all met friends and are adapting to the new rules of school. Yeah, I about passed out when they told my 6th grader rocker son that he has to tuck his concert t-shirt in. Are you FREAKIN kiddin me?????? Who the hell tucks a t-shirt in and why the hell are you making my son tuck his shirt in??? Please don't tell me that you are going to start making him say "Yes, mam" and "No, mam". Sure enough one day his teacher said to him, "I know you don't say this in Washington but could you answer me with, Yes, mam or no mam?" What I thought was the end of world ..... 2 months later it's no big deal and we even find out southern boys hate tucking their shirt in as much as we do.

So I've been dying to tell you'all about the difference between the West coast and the South:

1. The only time you see inmates on the west coast or even in the middle of the US is when you are actually in Prison. In Georgia you see inmates everyday because they are working on the road, in the state offices and collecting your garbage. Imagine my surprise when I see they even put Prison's next to the High School, thank golly it's 30 miles from us.

2. Everyone drinks Sweet Tea, eats chicken, wings and barbeque. Who thought that their would be so many fast food joints that serve Chicken? At my son's school you don't even have to ask what is for lunch because it's always going to be some form of chicken. I just wonder when my son is going to start flapping his wings and start clucking?

3. Real men where pink.....well lets just say I've seen more men and boys wear pink shirts here in 2 months than I have seen in my whole life living on the west coast. Even living 40 minutes from San Fran I can still say this.

4. People are just more friendlier here in the South. Sometimes almost too friendly. One night we went out to dinner and the damn waiter wouldn't leave us alone, I thought he was going to come home with us. The waiter was from the restaurant that my son declared was dirty when he walked in and saw peanut shells all over the floor.

5. People in the South actually eat and have an appetite after walking into a mustard yellow decorated restaurant. I mean how does a person not lose their appetite walking into a mustard yellow restaurant or even walking into a restaurant with a big pig on it? We won't even talk about buffets here.

6. Kids here in the South still get whipped with a belt from their dad. Shoot we would get arrested if we wooped our kids with a belt on the West coast.

I know there are some more differences but it's getting late and I need to head to bed. Really even with the minor differences I'm enjoying living in the south and my oldest that says he hates the south has given up his Dr. Pepper and replaced it with Sweet Tea.

Day 2

It's day 2 of our house on the market and I'm already dissapointed for a number of reasons:

1. My realtor is unreliable.
2. I expected at least one showing already.
3. Keeping the house clean with 4+ boys is driving me to drink.

I was already drinking by 3pm on the second day. I don't know if I can do this for days, weeks or months for that matter. I felt if I made a mess in my house then maybe someone would call for a showing so I got the material out and cut. Well it's all cut and still no call. It's 7pm and I think we can write day 2 off. I hope day 3 is better.

I'm not sure how you can end up paying a realtor $6000 and she still can't manage to show up on time or even call you to tell you that she is going to be late. It took her till day 2 to get the lock box and flyer box up. I don't think she gets it. I mean we have to sell this house ASAP so we can buy our DREAM HOUSE. Every minute I feel like it's slipping through our fingers and we are going to lose out on it. I've checked out all the other houses on the market and not 1 freakin house compares to our DREAM house. (In my most spoiled child voice...)I WANT THAT HOUSE!!! I WANT IT!! I WANT IT! I WANT IT NOW!!!

I'm So Excited and I Just Can't Hide It!!

Yep, I'm so Excited hubby will be here tomorrow morning and I just can't wait!! My day has went wonderfully! I found a small business to analyze for one of my classes, I got back to 152 pounds (I had gained 5 pounds over Christmas) and Cadester was good at Costco (thank you Costco for getting rid of all the toys)!

And you thought I was just excited because I finished this quilt top! I did finish it but I really didn't spend the time to match up the seams which leaves allot to be desired but luckily it's harldy noticeable to the discerning eye. The quilt is done in Amy Butler Belle material and the pattern was from The Quilter Magazine January 2007 edition. The pattern was pretty easy but it was time consuming to cut out because you had to fussy cut 60+ pieces. I actually enjoy the cutting out part though. I really wish though I had spent the time to match up the seams better. I guess that is what you get when you rush. Oh well you live and learn. Now I must get off and get back to hand sewing the binding on.

A Screw Up.....Maybe Not?

Why is it whenever you are in a hurry, things always screw up? That is what happened to me. I've been trying to get everything in order before my hubby comes home and I wanted to have all my orders done tonight so I could play Thursday and Friday before my hubby came home. Well I might be working tomorrow to fix my mistake. A customer ordered the paris poodle burp cloth and a pillow. Well on my website it doesn't give the customer a choice of what pillow they want. When I get my orders I read the order form and I usually go back and double check it again before I do anything. Which I did this time but I didn't read over the paypal receipt and of course that is where the customer stated which pillow she wanted. Darn! Darn! Darnit! I'm praying the customer will be happy with the Eiffel Tower pillow, since it matches the Paris Poodle Burp Cloth. Now we have to wait and see!

****Guess what she loved the pillow!!!

Cooking In Style

I thought I would share with you all an apron I made my sister this Christmas. Well actually I made it after Christmas. I didn't use a pattern but really it wasn't hard to come up with your own apron pattern. The eiffle tower print is from Michael Miller and the dots are from various other companies. I also used some velvet ric rac and ribbon from May Arts to embellish it.

I just finished a quilt top but I will share that in a couple of days. I probably won't be sewing for the next couple of weeks though because my hubby is coming home on Saturday for 2 weeks, I can't wait!! So I better get off and start working on a couple store orders so I can spend all my time with my hubby!

Happy New Year

It's not even New Years here and I already got one goal done, I quilted my hubby's quilt and now all I have to do handsew the binding on and I'm done. Which I plan on doing while I'm watching Chuck and Larry, that is if I can stop laughing!!

In order to get myself motivated to quilt my hubby's quilt I had to do some fun sewing. So I sewed my sister some PJ pants. I used a pattern out of the Amy Butler In Stitches book and also Amy Butler material to make them. I trimmed the bottom with some ribbon from May Arts. I also made her an apron but I will save that for another day!

So I guess better get off the computer and start sewing so I can get it done before my hubby gets home on the 12th!

Looks Like I Suck

At blog posting, that is!! Hopefully I will get better at this blog posting after the Holidays. I really do have good intentions but just not enough time in the day to devote to blog posting.

Anyways I've been working on making a quilt for my hubby for awhile now and I finally got the top done. I would get started on it and then have to put it aside so I could do store orders or sew for the craft fairs. Now I just need to find time to do the quilting part of it. Actually I've had time to quilt it but I just haven't felt like sewing the last week or so. I had hoped to have it to him before Christmas but that just isn't going to happen, I might just have to hand it to him in person when he comes home in January for 2 weeks.

Happy Halloween

Remind me to never do a Craft fair so close to Halloween because I have been so freakin busy sewing that I never really got to enjoy my favorite holiday, Halloween. I didn't have time to sew any costumes this year either so its a good thing I have a supply of Halloween costumes from past years. I did however end up buying costumes for the oldest two; The Grim Reaper and Clone Trooper. My mom made the other two, I think Chastin was the first one to wear the frog and Buzz Lightyear. Buzz Lightyear was made by my very talented mom 7 years ago and it's been worn by 4 different kids on at least 5 different times. The frog has been worn at least 3 times.

Is Halloween a hectic day for anyone else? Today I had an appt with my dermatologist, remind me never to see Dr. Troy Davis again, what an ass. Then I took my 1 year old to the doctor for a rash, that was a waste of time because he was fine. Then to Preschool to drop my 3 year old off and I met my friend for lunch. Came home, went to pick my 3 year old up. Came home and decided that we didn't have enough Trick or Treat bags so I cut out 2 bags, while cooking dinner. I managed to get one bag done before it was time to eat and get the costumes on. It's always fun getting costumes on 4 kids by yourself, then you got the neighborhood kid calling probably wanting to go trick or treating with us. Like I dont have my hands already full!! Mind you I did all this feeling like I'm coming down with a cold and with a fussy 1 year old. So I'm ready to head to bed and do nothing for an hour, something that is unheard of for me in this house.

15 Years Ago

I met my husband at a club in Seattle. He approached me with the famous pick up line, "Do you come here often?". How original huh? I was standing, leaning on the rail watching everyone dance and was pretty surprised to figure out he was actually talking to me. I thought he was H...O...T!! I ended up spending the rest of the night talking to him and meeting a couple of his friends. When I went to give him my number we couldn't find anything to write on or to write with. All we had was some lipstick and a business card but it worked because the next day he called and we went back to that club. 15 years later my hubby still has that business card with my number on it.

Today he called me from Iraq to see if I remembered what today is. Of course I did...well..after he left me a message saying, "Do you know what today is?". To be honest my husband is way more sentimental than I am. It took me along time to get my anniversary date right. I've been known to get my anniversary mixed up in the past but after 13 years of marriage I think I finally have it down. Kendall has been gone since April and I find myself being reminded of him several times a day. Some days I barely miss him because I'm so busy and overwhelmed but some days I can't help but thinking about him constantly and missing him tons. Today was one of those days. Love ya Baby!!

Halloween Skirts

It's October and it's time for a month long celebration of my favorite holiday Halloween!! What better way to start it off than make my friends daughters some Halloween skirts. The skirts are made with Alexander Henry and Marcus Brothers Halloween prints. They all loved their skirts and boy is it fun to sew for girls!!

Where does time go? Tomorrow my little baby turns 1 and I might actually cry about it because he's my last and he's so damn cute. If I didn't already have 4 I would definately have another one but I think that it's best to stop at 4. If I hit the lottery though I might change my mind. Anyways it's late and I can't think of thing to say so I'm heading to bed but check back soon because I have another completed project to show.

My Favorite Holiday Is Coming

Ok, so I'm still in love with Halloween. Even more so than my own kids. I love candy corn, pumpkin carving, dressing up, costumes and the fact that the whole holiday involves my favorite food; CANDY!! Now, I just wish my boys liked it as much as I do. Every year I think how exciting it's going to be to make there costumes or even have my mom make there costumes and every year I'm disappointed. No matter how early I start or how many times I ask them what they are going to be for Halloween, I get the same ole answer. I don't know!!! Why can't they love the holiday as much as I do and why can't they get excited about dressing up and going trick or treating??? Why oh Why!!

Yesterday after my daily bike ride I spent some time with the neighbor girls browsing my Halloween costume catalog and the stupid American Girl catalog that I get for the sole purpose of torturing myself. I want one of those damn American Girl dolls and I have absolutely no excuse to get one. My boys would rather die that even get within 15 feet of a doll. I thought that if I grew my son's hair out that I might actually get to pretend he's my doll long enough to play with is hair but boy was I mistaken. If I get anywhere near him with a comb he jerks his head about like I have a knife instead of a comb. I just can't win let me tell you.

Anyways (I think this is one of my favorite words) I have no idea where I was going with this. I would love to make costumes for all the little girls in my life but who am I kidding I have no time to sew for them. I can't even find time to finish there Halloween skirts that I started. I did however manage to make some Halloween blankets, now I just have to add them to my website.

Schools in Session

Today was the first day of school for my boys. Chastin started 5th grade and Cole started 3rd grade. They went off to school in style and with there custom made book bags from there mommy. I made them both out of black canvas and lined them with Alexander Henry Skulls and Bones using Amy Butler's High Street Messenger bag and using an Anita Goodesign embroidery design. Now I just hope they hold up through the school year. The bags were pretty easy to make but they took me over a week because I was having problems with my sewing machine. Thankfully I turned the machine in to be serviced before I threw it out the window. It would had been hard to explain to my husband why I threw a $5000 machine out the window. Well this just going to be short and sweet, I'm beat and heading to bed.

Neglected Blog

I know I have neglected my blog lately but I really plan to change that very soon. Very soon there will be new changes around my blog and on my website. I'm having my website redesigned and I plan on launching some new products with my debut of my new website. Crazy thing is that I'm not quite sure what I'm going to come up for my new products. I have lots of ideas but some of them are way to involved to be making them one after another. Like my friend Mandi does, I ask myself would I want to make 50 of these? Allot of the times, it's no way!! Then I have to take into consideration how much it would cost me to make each item. I'm also always searching around trying to find new ideas or inspiration or thinking how I can improve on the product I already have. So with that said stay tuned.......

Tag! Your it!

I've been tagged by Nicole!
Here are the Rules:

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

8 Random Things about Me!

1. I'm a Gemini and get easily bored so that leads me to #2.
2. I a total Martha Stewart. I love to cook, garden, decorate, sew, crochet and knit. You name a craft or hobby and I've probably tried it at least once.
3. I have more compassion for animals than I do humans.
4. I'm a total food addict. I love most all foods and I often dream about food!
5. I love to laugh and hate to be in a bad mood.
6. I can be totally girly one minute and the next I could be wrestling with my boys.
7. I often think I can do anything to find out that I'm not quite as talented as I thought I was.
8. I'm mechanically and writing challenged!!

Who am I going to tag???? I have no freakin idea, Nicole tagged most of my online bloggers already. I will have to revisit this one.

Baseball and Old Projects

I haven't got much sewing done the last couple of days. I have a dress in progress but the good weather and baseball season has kept me from working on it. So here's a picture of an outfit I made my girlfriend's daughter a couple weeks ago. I made it using Amy Butler's Lotus line and I didn't use a pattern for the skirt but really it's not like it's hard to make a skirt without a pattern for a little girl. What makes it hard is not having the girl to measure. So in the end it fit her sister better. I just appliqued embroidered on a plain white t-shirt to go with the skirt, using a embroidery design from Farbenmix.

Boys

Well I usually post pictures of my projects but these boys of mine are my proudest work!! They are the joy of my life and at times the biggest headache of my life!! I've been a lazy mom and just started giving Callin solids at 7 months and even though he acts like he is so interested in what we are eating he's not too keen on actually eating it himself. He does dig fries and bread at restaurants though!! It's crazy, Callin is my 4th child and you would think I would know everything about raising kids. But I find myself wondering (or should I say reasurring myself) if it's perfectly fine for a baby to live off of breastmilk for the first year. I have problems remembering exactly what I did for Cade but I do remember making all of Cades baby food. I also remember giving Cade table foods and not being very careful about introducing foods one at a time. Even though none of us have any food allergies I worry about doing that with Callin because he seems to always have some sort of rash going on. I guess for now I will just keep on giving him foods hoping that one day he will actually try it:)

Getting Back in the Groove

My blog has been neglected the last month or so. So today is a new day and I'm getting back in the groove of posting or least I'm hoping too!! So from now I hope to post at least once a week. Now that goal isn't going to be easy with summer coming and the fact that I will be going back to school part time on Monday. Which I'm dreading by the way but with only 6 more classes to go I have to get it done!

I've made a couple things the last month besides my store orders. I made this bag last night with some of the new Michael Miller prints and May Arts ribbon. The next bag I want to make wider and put the eyelets a little farther over. I also plan on adding a small embellishment to the front of the bag to hide the seam of the ribbon. Of course I couldn't just finish off the bag but I had to set aside so I could start making a dress. So the bag goes in the unfinished pile along with a couple dozen other things ... well that's a slight exageration. Now, if I only had enough time to do all the projects that float in my brain. It was a week of thoughts and anticipation before I was actually able to work on the bag. Now, I have all these creative ideas for girl outfits and not enough time to make them reality. Well I do have the dress started and hopefully tomorrow I can make some more progress on them.

Medieval Torture Treatment

Callin is teething really bad lately and because his gums are so sore he has turned into my personal medieval torturer. He loves to take his head while he is firmly clamped on to me and move back and forth and pull as far as he can. I can't wait for those teeth to break through but then I will have to worry about him biting me. Least I know what to do when they start biting and hopefully I will be able to nip that right in the butt. Nursing is suppose to be the greatest thing on earth for your baby and so you just expect it to be the best thing for mommie too. Well I like nursing, I don't think I can say I love it though. It means no wreckless drinking, the first month is full of teeth crenching pain, it makes the big O harder to attain than usual and then their is the biting. I at least walk away knowing that all my sacrifices were for a great cause and a sense of achievement to make it through all the ups and downs.

Another Good Bye

Well it's almost time again to say good bye to my hubby as he goes off to Iraq for another year. I dread the good bye as always but I'm going to try and stay strong this time and not be a crying mess in front of my kids. I'm also focusing on the fact that he did apply for a job within the company he works for and just maybe he will get that and be able to come back home. But enough of the sadness...

Here's a picture (not a very good one) of a couple embroideries I've done a couple weeks ago. I'm trying to come up with a new design to replace my pacifier blankets. I have a winner I think but I need to work on it first. Though right now I'm taking a small hiatus from my business and just enjoying sewing for myself, friends and family. I made my sister a skirt and then ended up making myself and my friend one too. They are just plain linen skirts that come just past the knee and have a drawstring waist. I'm hoping to work on some aprons tomorrow if I can bare to cut my Amy Butler material that I just got on Friday. So stay tuned and hopefully I will get better with posting on my blog....right now I have to go and wrestle with the boys.

The Dog Doesn't Use it But Somebody Does

And that would be Cade. This is where I found him this afternoon sound asleep. We have a dog bed upstairs and downstairs but do you think any of the dogs use them? No, they would rather sleep on Callin's blankets, couch cushions or pillows. The last places I want them to sleep on. Oh well, what can you do.

The last couple of days have been incredibly busy with trying to do store orders. It seems that I can't get one order every day I have to get a bunch of orders in all at the same time. I've spent the last couple of days making 8 pacifier blankets and I still have 3 bibs and a pillow to make. To make matters worse I broke my sewing machine and had to go buy a new one. Well I didn't have to buy a new one, but shoot it's a great excuse to get the sewing machine of my dreams. Although right now I don't know if you would call it the sewing machine of my dreams. Learning a new machine wasn't as easy as I thought it was going to be. This machine is so damn fancy that it's almost too fancy. Like everything it's got a mind of it's own and so far I haven't quite figured out it's mind but it's coming along. It's going to save me lots of time with my business once I figure out all the bells and whistles though.