It's Magic

Something magical is happening in my house. Right this minute. As I type this post. My kids are playing together in Aidan's room. Alone. Nicely. Quietly.

OK, so maybe I exaggerate a little when I say this never happens, but it has not happened much in the past. The last few days have been great. It is like a switch was turned on and they realized that they can actually have fun together without me there to referee.

This is not to say I don't love playing with my kids. We still have plenty of time together. But 30 minutes to myself? WOW!!!

I am not quite sure what to do with this new-found freedom. It seems a shame to waste it on something mundane like laundry. And yeah, I really should sneak in that workout. But I have not done that yet. Yesterday I read a chapter. Today I am blogging. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.

What do you do with your precious stolen moments?

Saturday's Show

I had a great time at the Tee for the Soul sale! We had a good turnout and I got to meet a lot of great people. This is why I love doing shows. I am pretty chatty by nature, so it is tons of fun for me. My husband says I would talk to a wall if I thought it would talk back.

This show was unique in that my husband came along to help. He had a great time, too, or so he says. But seriously, it was nice to just spend the day with him. My sweet mom kept the kids entertained all day long. I know they had a blast!

I did not snap any photos this time. My booth was set up a little differently than before, but it seems I just posted pics. I will post more next show.

I have been working on some new things, and I am very anxious to get pics posted. The rest of the week is insanely busy, but I promise new things soon. I will be updating my website this week as well. If only there were a few more hours in the day...

Green Eyes

Emma and Aidan were playing so nicely together the other day. I was catching up on a bit of work and then I heard it. The ear-piercing scream. You know the one I mean. I ran into his room, where they were building towers for the Incredible Hulk to smash.

Apparently Hulk had ended up smashing Emma instead of the tower. After comforting her and calming her down, and after Aidan's stint in time-out was up, I had my little "toys are not weapons" talk with him. Again. He appeared to be listening so intently to what I was saying. Then he said to me "Mommy, I love your beautiful green eyes. Your eyes are so beautiful and green."

Well, what's a mom to do? I tried to keep it in, but I just burst out laughing. Then an intense feeling of dread washed over me. If this kid is this good at 2 1/2, what will I face in the years to come? I think we are all in a lot of trouble.

Craft Night

Saturday's craft night was a huge success! We had so much fun. Eve, who had just had surgery the day before, even joined us! She was not up to crafting, but we were so happy to have her there for conversation.

Thanks so much to Lucy for hosting and making a great dinner. Here are a few pictures of the event. One note: of course I forgot my camera, so these were taken with my phone. Not the best, but good enough.

Jennifer concentrates on stretching her fabric over her canvas.

Here Jennifer carefully places her hand-drawn stencil design. So cute!

Lucy stretches her High School Musical fabric over her canvas. Her project is a gift for her niece.

Jennifer's final project. So cute! I love the color combinations here.

Lucy's final project. So fun! Her niece is sure to love this one!

My final project. I realize I look as though I am about to fall asleep. I was really tired. We had a garage sale earlier in the day.

A little about our projects:

We stretched fabric over canvas and stapled it in place. We then covered the fabric with Mod Podge and allowed it to dry. Once dry, we lightly traced our patterns onto the fabric. We then either blocked out or filled in the stencil. So easy, so fast and so fun!

I cannot wait for the next craft night!

It's Already Friday?

Okay, so clearly no video to post. But that does not mean it was not a productive day. Sure, there are still a million things on my "to do list," but I am happy to say several items have been crossed off!

The most pressing order is complete and will be delivered today. I set up a table for the garage sale. And most importantly, The Pink Ladybugs now have bows to match their uniforms. I think the bows turned out so precious! Thanks to my mom (again) for all of the help. If not for her, I would still be staring at piles of cut ribbon.

Back to the list. Aidan will be up from his nap soon. Wishing you all a happy, productive and FUN Friday!

Getting It Back and Getting It Together

Today was tedious. And long. And a bit frustrating.

I feel as though I spent the entire day on the phone with one institution or another getting the identity theft situation under control. What a mess. I have been assured that everything will be back to normal in a couple of days. Whew. What a relief.

Even though I had to deal with that all day, I still had time to have some fun with the kiddos. We cleaned up Aidan's room and weeded through a bunch of clothes and toys. We are planning a garage sale for this weekend. I am very excited because it means my actual garage will be cleaned out and restored to its former glory. For this I cannot wait.

Tomorrow I will attempt to finish up an order, finally make the Pink Ladybugs their long- awaited bows, and hopefully, if all goes well, go through the bins of toys that have mysteriously found a home in our living room. If I actually accomplish all of this I will video tape myself doing a little victory dance and post it here for all to see. And I promise I am not being pessimistic -- I just know my limitations. I always think I can get more done than is actually possible.

I am very much looking forward to the garage sale, though. It is always such a huge relief to get rid of stuff. And we have way too much stuff. Some days I feel like emptying entire rooms and starting over. I would say my two biggest problem areas are paper and photos. I have elaborate dreams in which I have organized all of my photos so well that I know when each was taken. In my dream they are ready to fall into scrapbook layouts, which I will of course hand journal. Unlikely, I know, but a girl can always dream.

WAREHOUSE SALE!!!

Yippee! I love doing the Tee for the Soul Warehouse Sale! It is a great group of designers, many of which are stay-at-home moms like me. If you are not familiar with it, Tee for the Soul is a great little shop in downtown Edmond. It is owned by a local moms. Every month they put together this event and it is always such fun! The vendors and designers change month to month, so there is always something new and exciting to see.

I hope you will join us Saturday, October 4th. The sale runs from 9-4 and will be held at Expressions Church, 711 South Kelly Avenue in Edmond. This is the perfect time to get a jump on your holiday shopping!

Print out the flyer and bring it to my booth (or just mention that you read about it on my blog) for 20% off one item of your choice! Hope to see you all there!