The buzz......

The past week I have been buzzing around non-stop. I don't know where the time goes. I get up at 7 and don't go to bed until 11 or so, but where is the time? Do you ever feel like this?


Let's see, my baby turned 1 last Friday. This was bittersweet. I love to see the next stage and watch her grow, but with each milestone passed it soon becomes a distant memory.
My sweet husband and I have decided that 5 is the lucky number. We don't have plans to have more children, so I am trying to relish every minute with my baby. The only problem is, the more I try to slow her down, the faster she goes. She walks... not just from couch to chair, she walks anywhere and everywhere, she jumps... I thought most kids didn't learn to jump, feet all the way off the floor, until they were 2 or 3 at least. I could go on and on, but your don't want to hear me sob anymore. I love watching my children grow and hopefully I will get a chance to post some pictures of here way cute birthday. I made her a cake of her very own and she LOVED it.

I've also been spending way too much time on the computer, not blogging obviously, but editing photos and working on my ver first e-book! I am so excited to release it. It's in the testing stages right now, but you will be the first to know when I release it.

My sewing machine has also been the focus of my time. I have been working on some fresh new customs. Stay tuned for a preview.

Speaking of sewing.............


My fantabulous group 7&Co is having this "black friday" launch the day after Thanksgiving and you would not believe the great things we are planning to offer! I can't wait to see what everyone lists and great prices too!


I plan to bring back a couple things one last time before I retire them from Ebay. I will also have some brand new customs that you are going to love!
So stop by on Friday and the whole next week to see what we have. We will be listing throughout the following week.

And then Thanksgiving....

We will be splitting the day with both families. We normally don't do this, but we want to be able share the day with both, so what else, but to split the day.

I will be taking lots of food.....Parsley Green Beens, Corn Casserole, Stuffed Mushrooms, and Crab Dip. Mmmmm, I better go get busy or we won't be taking anything.

I hope to find more time this weekend to update you on everything and show some pictures! I am going to join the mass of loonies Friday for some knock down dragout shoppin' so I won't be doing much blogging until the weekend.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and I will see you in a few days.

Mandy

EtsyBABY Kris-Mouse Holiday Hunt Promotion

There is a mouse in the house...that's right Santa's helper kris-mouse is making his way through the EtsyBABY shops listed below. When you purchase the item with Kris, you will recieve a free gift. Prizes vary from shop to shop, be sure to look at as many shops as possible. See shop for actual prize details.

Below are a few shops taking part of this promotion.

AbbyChaseDesigns
AlaynaCreations
AliV
AnnieJackDesigns
BabyAnneQuilts
BeadedSocks
BoogabooBabies
ChewChewsCloset
Citefuzz
DianasDarnings
EdibleBaby
ElectricDaisy
GoldtoneDesigns
KnitStyle
Kraftyladykreations
KuddleBugzThreadz
KunkleBaby
Luxrisa
MorgansCloset
MyMiniMocs
Newnewkitty
OurKidsBoutique
PaintedWithHeart
PogiBabies
Qt4baby
SpoiledBaby
Stitchntyme
TheBirchTree

The Pitter Patter

of little feet again. It seems like yesterday when my first child was learning to walk and here I am five kids later still brought to tears when I see my baby take her first steps.

It's actually been a couple months since she took her first step and it was so adorable in a bittersweet way. It's always cute to see them grow up, but the next stage is always harder than the previous. I don't push my children now, I just try to enjoy each moment, because tomorrow may be worse.

Which brings me to the reason, or shall I say reasons for my blog absence. Kids 1 and 2 have so much homework after school that I think most days I am back in school. Who's the student here? I distinctly remember doing my time in school and gladly left that behind, but now it haunts me through my children.

Kids 3 and 4 fight constantly and kid 4 uses a blood curling scream as her defense mechanism when kid 3 is bullying her for the pen or notebook, which is the constant battle here.

Then there is kid 5.... She went from taking her first step to running through the house like a tornado ripping things out of place, eating everything in sight, ripping papers to bits, and demanding I spend every waking moment focused on her.

I do know this too will pass and soon I will have so much time to blog, you will be sick of me. So until then, stick with me and I will try to post as often as I can.

Mandy

Wordless Wednesday.... Christmas Portraits

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Happy Halloween

We are off to the Trunk or Treat tonight. If you aren't familiar with a Trunk or Treat, it's a gathering of people from our church in a parking lot. Everyone decorates their trunks and gives candy. This is so much easier than trying to drag my 5 kids from house to house, not to mention, they are safe from traffic and we know everyone there.

I hope you are having a Happy and safe Halloween.

Just when I wasn't looking

I fell into love with photography all over again.

I stumbled onto this really cool style of photography. No, I didn't find a pause button for my kids or hire a maid, but I did find something new to love and another reason for people to look at me funny as I take pictures of random things. My kids love it too. They always ask when we can go out and find something cool to shoot.

All of a sudden completely boring things are brought into a completely different light.

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Thinking ahead....

I am already thinking Spring, but with the holidays quickly approaching, I have been thinking about the dreaded Christmas cards. Now don't get me wrong, I love to receive Christmas cards. In fact, the more the merrier, but when it comes time for me to send out our family Christmas card, this means gathering ALL 5 of my rambunxios little children together for photos.

Last week I took them out for some picture taking and the poor dolls really tried, but I only ended up with one that actually had all 5 looking in the same direction at the same time! And we took over 200 shots. Now they weren't posing in all of these shots, many were just pictures of them playing and just being kids, but the ones we tried to pose for turned out as I had expected.

Oh well, I did end up with some great outtakes and one good photo, but I can't show them yet. You will have to wait for Christmas:)

It did inspire me to create a set for a little girl with some very cute vintage fabrics that I aquired from a very sweet lady and some of my vintage trims that I told you about this summer.

It turned out so cute that I almost don't want to part with it. It's a size 24 month/2-3T or a small 4. I have all the details posted in the auction on ebay. This is one of a kind and will never be reproduced by me, so please bid accordingly.

It is ready to ship so you will have plenty of time for Christmas portraits of your precious angel.

Click on the photo to see the auction.

Wordless Wednesday

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Haute from the Oven...

I just listed these two adorable aprons for Mommy's little helper on Ebay with the awesome girls from Blossom Leigh Boutique.

She can wear this little apron for baking or for making a fashion statement. My girls love to wear their aprons for accessorizing an outfit.

Click the photo to see the auction.







For more fun "Haute from the Oven" listings click here.

Wordless Wednesday..... Fall Photos

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Fall Pictures

I love the colorful changes of fall so much. Yesterday, we took a drive in the mountains with the family and it was so beautiful, I took a ton of pictures. The colors are so vibrant that they are almost florescent. I have some pictures from yesterday to share, but will have to post them tomorrow. For now I will share the ones we took last week, which are beautiful too.

I jinxed the tooth fairy.....

The other day, I was reading a post on this blog. I laughed and even commented on how funny that was. I guess I must have jinxed it, because the next day my daughter lost a tooth. She was so excited and immediately placed her tooth under her pillow. I made a red flagged mental note, (they all seem to have red flags these days though) to remember to notify the tooth fairy.

The next morning, when I woke her up for school, she came out sobbing and telling me the tooth fairy had forgotten to come. My heart sank as I wracked my tired brain for an excuse that would sooth her broken heart.

I told her that maybe since it was so late last night when she lost it, the tooth fairy had to put her on the next night. This seemed to go over ok. I made another mental note with two red flags.

After school she ran straight to her room and looked under her pillow. Not only had the tooth fairy forgotten AGAIN, but the tooth was lost. All that remained was the empty bag that it had been in. By now I am screaming to myself, "What kind of mother forgets something like that TWICE!!!!"

I ran to my purse only to see my sweet husband already there. He grabbed the dollar bills and dashed to her room. We both knew if we could find the tooth before her, we could slip the money in and hide the tooth. Sheets flying, pillows being thrown, and there it was on the matress. He grabbed it and dropped the dollars on the bed just as she jumped on the bed and asked "Did you find my tooth?"

She saw the money and looked a little confused. After a little explaining that the Tooth Fairy must have come after she went to school and had taken the tooth, she accepted that answer and forgot that she had ever felt the painful ping of being forgotten.

Instantly she was dreaming up just what she would buy with her new dollars, but I was still feeling awful.

Wordless Wednesday...... Tent in a windstorm

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Update: After a few tireless rounds with the wind, the tent was victorious!

As the stakes were pounded back into the ground, the wind retreated.

Thanks for asking,

Mandy

So sorry for my absence....

Wow, what a boring blog this has been lately, huh? Well, with good reason and I do apologize. I have been in a whirlwind of sewing the past month and I thought I was going to be ahead of the game. I have 4 launches that started today.
It was a good thing I got most of my sewing done for those launches early, because last week I spent my days preparing and attending 2 funerals, and tending to my sweet husband who was in a motorcycle accident the previous weekend. He dislocated his shoulder, cracked a rib and torn muscles and ligament. So needless to say, I have had an extra child.
Anyway, enough about the negative, let's talk about the positive. As I mentioned above, I have 4 launches that I listed with today!

The first is a cute little 3 piece set that I listed with the Children of the World Traditional Holiday launch.

Second, I have two listed with the girls from 7&CO for their Holiday Memories launch. These two were especially fun to create as I added some touches that were inspired from precious childhood memories.

and finally, I have one of my favorite sets listed with The Boutique Rebels debut launch. This set was also so much fun to create, because I got to incorporate inspiration from a couple of my favorite fashion rebels;)

The holidays are quickly approaching and I am getting excited already. I love this season and I have a couple more things in the works, so stay tuned for some more holiday fun. For now, I've got to get back to the family and my sweet husband, the laundry and dishes too.
Have a great Tuesday evening.

Wordless Wednesday

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A season for dragonflies....

On the subject of dragonflies, the other day we were barbequing in the back yard, when my sweet husband noticed hundreds of dragonflies buzzing about in one section of our yard. The sun was peaking through the trees and it was warmer in that section, but there was no standing water and no mosquitos within the entire block. Then we started looking harder farther back in the yard and there were hundreds more buzzing through the whole back part of our yard. It was an amazing site, as we rarely see one dragonfly, let alone hundreds. They weren't in our neighbors' yards, just ours. It was quite a site. I still have no idea what drew them here.
The next day they were gone and I haven't seen any again since then.

To my surprise

I came home to get photo editing done and as I sat down at my desk I noticed I had a visitor. I have to admit, I was a little startled at first. My mischevious husband snickered in the background as he watched me jump at the site of this.................

This little guy found his way into the paint room of the shop, (this is where my normally "sweet husband" spends much of his time) and he must have over heated, because he was dead when "mischevious husband" found him. So what did he do with the poor dragonfly? Laquer him of course!! and then stick him on my desk for a little laugh.

It's really kind of cool that he's all laquered, but kind of wierd. I guess my son can add him to the bug collection.

Follow the Leader

I just listed the newest design in the Baby Britches line called "Follow the Leader"

in my Etsy Shop.

Click here to see the listing

Little Lovelies

Earlier this summer, I accidentally found a house whose owners were setting up for a yard sale the next day. I stopped of course, I couldn't resist a preview to the sale. I hit the jackpot this time!

First, we found those huge tractor tire tubes. (which is probably the main reason my sweet husband was so eager to stop too) Now if you're not an avid river floater, you wouldn't have an appreciation for the gigantic tubes (as I was told by my sweet husband). There were 2 and they were full of air, which means there are no holes and they are just begging for some guy to come along and take them out for a float. And best of all, we picked them up for $5. That's a savings of at least $150. Now for the task of getting them home, lol.

Then I found a tote (one of those 18 gallon totes) full of vintage goodies. Of course, I had to have it all. It is rare that I have found something like this, because I live in a town where "seamstress" is just another hat that most mothers wear and they hoard their goodies. 5 minutes later, I was trying to find a place, in our already packed car, to stick my huge tote full of lovelies that I just picked up for $15! Yes fifteen bucks. I couldn't wait to get home and sift through the pounds and pounds of vintage lace, and notions of all kinds. There were even some wonderful surprises in there.

My sweet husband stopped over there again the next day and scored some great tools for pennies.

I've come to the conclusion that there two kinds of yard sales in our area....

People who are selling junk to make money and people who selling stuff to get rid of it.

The second is my first choice of course.

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Fab Finds

Here are a couple pics of some of the treasures I have found this summer in my search for treasure.

This was deffiantely a Victorian day, which is something that I have always adored, but never actually incorporated into my decor. I am under the impression that it was deffinately time to add a little "Victorian" into my daily dose.

This beautiful lamp is in almost perfect condition $3 and the lampshades (still wrapped) FREE!

I didn't have any lamps that were a good fit for these little shades, so I grabbed a couple vases out of the cupboard and stuck them in the hole. I plan to fill them with some type of goodies, I just haven't decide what yet. Any ideas?

Public Restrooms

My sister sent me this in an email and I had to share it with everyone. Have a great day.

When you have to visit a public bathroom, you usually find a line of women, so you smile politely and take your place. Once it's your turn, you check for feet under the stall doors Every stall is occupied.

Finally, a door opens and you dash in, nearly knocking down the woman leaving the stall. You get in to find the door won't latch. It doesn't matter, however, because the wait has been so long you are about to wet your pants! The dispenser for the modern 'seat covers' (invented by someone's Mom, no doubt) is handy, but empty. You would hang your purse on the door hook, if there was one, but there isn't - so you carefully, but quickly, drape it around your neck because Mom would turn over in her grave if you put it on the FLOOR!

Finally, you yank down your pants, and assume ' The Stance.' In this position your aging, toneless thigh muscles begin to shake. You'd love to sit down, but you certainly hadn't taken time to wipe the seat or lay toilet paper on it, so you hold The Stance.'

To take your mind off your trembling thighs, you reach for what you discover to be the empty toilet paper dispenser. In your mind, you can hear your mother's voice saying, 'Honey, if you had tried to clean the seat, you would have KNOWN there was no toilet paper!' Your thighs shake more. You remember the tiny tissue that you blew your nose on yesterday - the one that's still in your purse. (Oh yeah, the purse around your neck). That will have to do. You crumple it in the puffiest way possible. It's still smaller than the palm of your hand.

Someone pushes your door open because the latch doesn't work. The door hits your purse, which is hanging around your neck in front of your chest, and you and your purse topple backward against the tank of the toilet. 'Occupied!' you scream, as you reach for the door, dropping your precious, tiny, crumpled tissue in a puddle on the floor. Now you lose your footing altogether, and slide down directly onto the TOILET SEAT. It is wet, of course. You bolt up, knowing all too well that it's too late. Your bare bottom has made contact with every imaginable germ and life form on the uncovered seat because YOU never laid down toilet paper, not that there was any. You know that your mother would be utterly appalled if she knew. You're certain that her bare bottom never touched a public toilet seat because, frankly, dear, you just don't KNOW what kind of diseases you could get.'

By this time, the automatic sensor on the back of the toilet is so confused that it flushes, propelling a stream of water like a fire hose against the inside of the bowl. Of course, that sprays a fine mist of water on your butt, which then runs down your legs and into your shoes. The flush somehow sucks everything down with such force that you grab onto the empty toilet paper dispenser for fear of being dragged in, too.

At this point, you give up. You're soaked by the spewing water and the wet toilet seat. You're exhausted. You try to wipe with a gum wrapper you find in your pocket and then slink out inconspicuously to the sinks. You can't figure out how to operate the faucets with the automatic sensors, so you wipe your hands with spit and a dry paper towel and walk past the line of women still waiting. You are no longer able to smile politely to them.

A kind soul at the very end of the line points out a piece of toilet paper trailing from your shoe. (Where was that when you NEEDED it??) You yank the paper from your shoe, plunk it in the woman's hand and tell her warmly, 'Here, you just might need this.'

As you exit, you spot your hubby, who has long since entered, used, and left the men's restroom. Annoyed, he asks, 'What took you so long, and why is your purse hanging around your neck?'

This is dedicated to women everywhere who deal with a public restroom (rest??? you've GOT to be kidding!!)

It finally explains to the men what really does take us so long. It also answers their other commonly asked questions about why women go to the restroom in pairs. It's so the other gal can hold the door, hang onto your purse and hand you Kleenex under the door!

A change of pace......

Well, the fair went well. It was busy busy, but I did get a chance to check out some of the items entered. It was exciting to see how many talented locals there are around here. Even the children are spewing talent.

There were some spectacular photos and art exhibits, as well as veggie art and the quilting exhibits were tdf! Lots of wood works and even a skate park made out of Legos.

I took home one first place and on second place ribbon on my photos. I was excited and reassured. Thanks to all of the kinds words and support in my steps toward growth.

School started today and we always try to get away before school starts, so we took the the camper out for a few days of quiet time. We waited for the weekend to end and most of the campers had to go back to work. So we had the place all to ourselves for 3 whole days! The kids played in the creek until they couldn't stand it any longer, we lounged enjoying the cool breeze as it renewed our tired souls. I can't tell you how nice it was to get out of this heat and enjoy some cool refreshing air. We even had to turn on the heater one night, because it got chilly.

And my little one has officially joined the terrible two's, although, I think she joined them several months ago. We just had a birthday to make it official. We are still on our journey down the potty training road, but making progress. She speaks in sentences. She actually talks so fast, it makes it very hard to understand her and then you add her accent into the mix and she has her own language. She gets so frustrated when we don't know what the heck she is talking about.

I've also been slowly adding to my Etsy store again and I am working on some new things for fall and winter. Now that school is in, I have so many more hours in a day, my creative juices are flowing again and my state of mind is on the rise again! Yay!

Growing Pains

My palms were sweating and my heart was racing as I approached the fair ground buildings. I had my photos ready to submit, but were they good enough? Would people look at them and think to themselves, or worse, whisper to a friend, "What was she thinking? Does she actually think these are good?"

I pushed forward and entered the building against the will of my mind and body. After entering the building I see many others who are also entering their photos. They seem confident. Oh their photos are absolutely beautiful. "What am I doing here," I think to myself forcing my feet to take another step. "I am putting myself out there for judgement and against others who are obviously so much more experienced than me.

I take another step up to the table and begin the registration of my photos. My hands are shaking and I seem to have forgotten which category to list.

"Why am I so scared!" I scream to myself. I continue to fill out my stuff, as another participant approaches me. "Your photos are amazing" she tells me. At this point I am shocked, because she has what I would call an "amazing" photo.

Once again, I ask myself, "Why am I so scared?"

I proceed to enter the other photo and move on to enter my last photo into the agriculture contest. More compliments received.

By the time I left the building, I was exhilerated and yes still shaking.

I have come to the conclusion that I am nuts. My sweet husband assures me that I am not crazy, just a "sissy". Well, call me what you will, it was just crazy that I would be so afraid of something so simple.

However, I have trimphed. Whether I win or not, is not important. The important thing is that I conquered my fear. Well maybe not "conquered", but deffinately faced and

persevered! And second, I shared my fear with all of you. (which was not easy either)

From this I shall grow:)

Sincerely,

Mandy

Here are some snapshots of the three photos that I submitted. It was a painful process choosing only a couple, but at $8.00 a piece for printing, matting and such, I could only choose a few.

I'm stepping out...

......of my comfort zone that is. Tomorrow is the local County Fair and I have committed to enter two photographs and one into a local contest. This is scary, because I normally don't like to put myself out there asking for judgement, but hey I'll give it a try. I don't expect to win anything. I'm mainly trying to baby step my way out on a limb and stop being such a chicken;)

I will post the results after the fair next week, if you promise not to laugh.

I also decided to give Amelia's "Fashion Forward Friday" challenge a try.

The challenge was getting a photo of myself that I was willing to share with you.

With five kids, I need quick on the go lips. I almost always choose a shade of pink (of course).

For the days I feel like an updo, I use lip liner to line and lightly color in my lips and top them off with my favorite lip gloss .

Most days, my choice is my favorite Burt's Bees Pomegranate chapstick. It has a light shade of pink and is absolutely a must for scrumptious lips.

Poppers anyone?

I know it's summer, but these are still irresistable. When we make these, my sweet husband eats so many of them, it amazes me that he still likes them at all.

They are jalepeno peppers filled with cream cheese and wrapped in bacon.

First wash and slice your peppers lengthwise.

Clean the seeds out and fill with cream cheese.

*Use gloves because the pepper juice will get into your skin and burn. It will also get into your eyes or mouth even if you have washed your hands.*

Then wrap them in bacon. One slice per pepper half.

Place them on a microwave and oven safe dish and microwave on high for 13 minutes. This is the blanching process and very important or the peppers will be too hot to eat.

The bacon will cook slightly while in the microwave.

Preheat oven to 350. Remove poppers from microwave and pour off grease carefully.

Then cook them in the oven for 15 minutes or until bacon is crispy, but not burned.

Remove from oven and place on paper towel to absorb excess grease. Please allow them to cool a little, because they will burn your mouth. (believe me, I have tried them too soon)



Let me know how you like them.