Things Heard Around Here

"Mommy, I'm a beautiful pop star."

She already has the sparkly pink boots, the funky fashion statements, the headphones, the ability to eat on the road, a little midriff showing, and a ukelele.  If you had all of that, watched Barbie The Princess & The Popstar ad nauseum, and knew the words to the songs you would probably be convinced you were a beautiful popstar, too.

Ohio

We spent the last three weeks of November in Ohio.  Ryan had to go there for work.  Since it was over Thanksgiving and there was no reason not to, the kids and I came along.  We had fun, we went a little crazy (who wouldn't trapped in a hotel room for three weeks with two preschoolers), and I'm glad we decided to go.

I brought my camera, but never once used it.  I used my phone the entire time to take pictures.  The quality might not be the best, but it certainly captures our life.

 

 

This is Real Life

It's that time of year when pretty Christmas cards fill the mailbox.  The photos are glossy, the children are smiling and everything looks perfect.  I wonder how that is even possible.  Are they photoshopped?  How can everyone else get their kids to look at the camera at the same time?  IF I decide to send out a card this year you can bet my photos won't be glossy, with everyone smiling and photoshopped perfect.  This is real life or at least my real life:

And Merry Christmas to you!

Interior Projects

This past spring/summer we tackled quite a few projects.  I wore my husband out.  He was in and out all summer long on different business trips.  Every time he returned I had something new for him to do.  He finally told me he was tired of going away, because when he returned there was too much for him to do.

One of my favorite projects was this table for our entry way:

I found the plans for it on Pinterest and loved the idea of having somewhere for everyone to store their mittens, hats, and whatever else in a somewhat organized fashion.  It has been finished for awhile.  I was waiting to take photos until we had baskets for it.  Those were harder to find.  The size was a bit odd and baskets aren't cheap.  I ended up ordering the baskets used by the person who made the plans.  They were finally on sale and had free shipping.  I snatched them up!

The runner on top is actually a Christmas runner made by one of my friends.  If you need quilts, home goods, kitchen towels, or other wonderful Christmas gifts stop by her shop.  She is always coming up with the cutest things.

Our other big project was downstairs.  Ryan needed more shelving for his ever expanding collection of glasses.  He made more floating shelves to match the other ones.

As you can see, his man cave is overtaken with toys and my Sweat Shoppe.  It makes me feel bad sometimes.  Maybe that's why I recently bought him more pictures for his man cave.

I thought they added a little something to the wall.  It's still a work in progress.  We know the wall needs more things, but we are taking our time with it.

That concludes our projects inside the house.  The outside is a whole other post.  I'm hoping sometime this winter to tackle this last part of our basement: 

 
It's kind of bare and neglected.  Maybe more shelves, pictures, and who knows what else.

A Lesson in Humility and Trust

Almost a month ago I had a booth at a local craft show.  It was a two day affair and it did not go well at all.  I went in with the mind set that I would sell most if not all of my bags, and make lots of money.  God had other plans.  The first day of the show was cold, rainy and hardly anyone showed up.  It was miserable, and I didn't sell one thing.

That night I came home and cried.  I was discouraged.  The week before I received an e-mail from someone on Facebook asking if I would be interested in selling my items in her seasonal holiday store.  I sent her a nice e-mail and declined because I didn't have the time or the stock.  I knew I was going to work the upcoming craft show and I was sure I would sell most of my stock.  When discussing with Ryan why I was crying, he mentioned the woman with the store.  I told him I couldn't go crawling back to her, begging her to let me sell my things in her store.

Late that night, I checked my phone and saw this on Facebook:

Another long day getting the store ready! When I'm done, I'll post before and after's but the before's are kinda scary so I want to AMAZE you :) Listen guys, I reallly, really, REALLY want Regan's Sweat Shoppe to be a vendor in the Manhattan store! I found her on etsy and she's in Kansas so head over to her page and check out her super FAB items and while you're there....tell her to BRING IT to Manhattan :)

I couldn't sleep.  I spent the rest of the night thinking and praying and realizing a few things.  When I started my Etsy shop I asked God to allow it to be fruitful.  I really like to sew, and I would love to do it full time someday when the kids are in school.  I would like it to help provide for our family.  I went to the craft fair without God.  I never once prayed and gave it to him.  I was so sure that I could do it on my own.  He used a very hard lesson to show me that it wasn't about me.

I decided two things overnight (well, beyond the huge lesson that God was teaching me).  #1- I wasn't going back to day two of the craft fair.  The weather was supposed to be bad, I really needed to help my husband prepare for Kellyn's birthday party that night, and God didn't support my participation in that particular craft show.  #2- I was going to contact the woman from Facebook and ask her to meet with me.  I had questions and I wanted to see the place where the store would be located.

I met with her the next day.  Ryan and I had made a list of some specific requirements that we were looking for if I were to agree to be a vendor.  When I met with her, she mentioned everything on my list without me having to tell her what we would like as our terms.  I came home, prayed about it and really felt a peace about the whole endeavor.  It's not easy to trust that everything will be alright, but I truly believe that God put this plan into motion.

Last Saturday was the open house for Fab Finishes.  The store is cute, still a bit of a work in progress, but that's okay.  I was told that I sold a little over half of what I needed to, to break even this month.  I'm okay with that.  I believe God is in control of this.

My Etsy shop is currently pretty bare, but that's okay.  I plan on putting it in vacation mode soon after I finish a few custom orders.  After the holidays I plan to revamp it and offer some new items.  I'd like to do more made to order items like these:

For now I'm adding a few new items to take over to Fab Finishes, working on custom orders, Christmas gifts, and trying to keep photos updated on my Facebook page of the items that I have and can make for people.  Beyond that I'm just trusting God that he has all of this in control.

Pants

 I saw this the other day and immediately thought of Kellyn.

No matter what the temperature is she seems to lose her pants at some point during the day.  I'm not sure why but she's more comfortable with no pants and no socks.

Maybe someday she'll decide she likes them.  Until then I might need to invest in more dresses to cover her up.

Team Umizoomi

This year for Halloween the kids wanted to be Geo and Millie from Team Umizoomi:

 

I searched for costumes, but there aren't many options for Geo and Millie.  I got creative.  With the help of Old Navy, felt, pipe cleaners and a hot glue gun, Aric and Kellyn were transformed into Team Umizoomi:

They decided I needed to be doormouse.

The general consensus around the neighborhood was that Aric and Kellyn made very cute bugs.  We had a good time anyway.