Happy Mother's Day!!

What a great day! I got to sleep in, a coveted privilege as many of you mommies out there know, was brought breakfast in bed, went to the mall and bought some new undies (one of my guilty pleasures), and got some great gifts from Klint and the girls.
Here is what I got:

clipped from www.bathandbodyworks.com

clipped from www.bathandbodyworks.com

clipped from www.bathandbodyworks.com

and my personal favorite (that Klint found is being discontinued)

clipped from www.bathandbodyworks.com

Seriously, if you like bubble baths (another guilty pleasure) then give this stuff a try. The bubbles last forever and smell divine!!


Along with these wonderful smell goods I also got a wonderful Strawberry cookie jar from a great consignment shop in Bedford. It is our tradition to give me something with strawberries for every holiday.
(If you aren't allergic to cats and like antique shopping, go to The Purrfect Place . Run by an ancient little old lady, all proceeds go to feline rescue)

Simply Sublime Stiching!

clipped from www.sublimestitching.com

Ready-to-Stitch ECO TOTE
"FLORAL FANTASY" by Jenny Hart
Limited Edition

This is the tote that I bought from Sublime Stitching last week! When I saw the design at first I was sort of intimidated, but once I started going with it I just got caught up in choosing colors and deciding what I wanted to fill in and such.
And this is my "finished" tote! (I say "finished because I may all stuff onto it and fill in some more of the leaves and flowers.) I had so much fun with it that I may do another for a friend!! Best thing is that it was majorly cheap and even Eco-friendly!! What do you think??

Another cool Firefox Extention

Oh Stumbleupon, you are both a cursing and a blessing! I have discovered soooo many cool blogs, funny videos, and simply interesting sites. And from Stumble came another cool add on- Clipmarks.

What is Clipmarks you ask? Well, it is this genius extention that allows me to just clip out the parts of pages that I see and share them with everyone instead of having to bookmark the entire page and have people sift through all the other content. Like this:

I am sure that there are other cool add ons, but I have a feeling that between these two I am going to be wasting a lot of time on here!!

clipped from www.etsy.com

Desktop Wallpapers for May 2009!

Here are the first two for May, more to come of course!!

The first wallpaper is inspired by all mothers out there, especially those with grief in their hearts and those with babies waiting to come. The other wallpaper is a tribute to my favorite hobby- reading. There is no greater gift than the gift of books and reading.

Please let me know what you think, other sizes are here!

A New Chapter

Well we are moved in! We have been back and forth and still may have a car trip or two to get some stray boxes, but all in all...we are officially home! I can't wait to get decorating and planting, I already have strawberry plants in the ground and seeds waiting to go in!

Aside from moving there is another little bit of exciting news to share (no I am not pregnant you sickos! =P Since there may be some changes with the kids that I care for I was trying to come up with a replacement for the income that I would possibly be losing. I thought about what was important to me- staying at home with my girls, being my own boss, NO CUBES, something that is more people oriented, and it had to be a cause or purpose that is important to me. So I am going to try my hand at being a consultant for Usborne Books.


I love meeting new people, I am definitely not shy, love public speaking, and have a strong belief in the power of books and reading. We go to three different libraries each week, give books as gifts, and both my girls have extensive libraries of their own. (I even dream of new bookplates for all of our books!) So this is the perfect job for me. =)

Here are some cool things about this company and why I chose it for my endeavor:

1. There are no minimums to maintain. You do well, you are rewarded but if you are casual about it you are not punished in the least. Love that!
2. It is all about kids and their education. Books about pirates, books with cool crafts, books that make you look hard.... we already own a lot of Usborne books and adore them.
3. I get to go out and meet new people all the time. Every stay at mom needs that.
4. There is no heavy investment to make. There are a couple kits to choose from and none of them are over $100, so there is nothing to lose.

There are other perks as well, but those are my main reasons for going with this fantastic company. I can't wait to have my first book party and see where this new chapter takes me. Yay!

(So who wants to get some free books for their kids?! lol!)

Useless Humor- Everyone needs some!!

Sitting here after a long bath in a kick ass bathtub, a bottle of Arbor Mist (yes, I am a weinie and drink cheap wine), and the house livably unpacked... life is pretty good.
So I am back to surfing through Stumble and have uncovered another hidden treasure trove of useless, funny stuff. Drunk off wine, this stuff is even funnier! Here are some gems from UselessHumor.blogspot:

Idiot: "Honey, this is a win-win.
Either we get free power,
or we can sue the power company for any (unlikely) injuries I might get."

Wife: "Here just sign this........
termLifeInsuranceForm.....
I mean, birthday card, before you go up there."

Yet another reason why I am a Target-girl!

There is an unemployed editor somewhere responsible for this.

Strippers and children's birthday parties... a little something for everyone!

Well, here I am!

After a grueling couple of days I am finally back online, in a somewhat put together new house. Yay! This has definitely been an experience for us all, there is nothing easy about moving two kids, cats, and a dog to a new house! Here are some things I have learned:

1. Professional Movers- Get them! They are sooooo worth the money!
2. Even moving just 5 streets away is a huge adventure, calling for over 100 boxes and lots of alcohol.
3. Leave the cats in an empty room until everything else is moved and there is a substantial amount of furniture assembled for hiding places. Your chances of getting your pillow pooped on is a lot lower this way. =)
4. Test the gate latch BEFORE you leave your dog in the "fenced in" backyard. Also make sure there are nothing nasty back there for the dog to roll in.
5. Do not try to unpack everything the same day or weekend you move in- you cannot do it, accept that fact.
6. Send the kids off for a day of fun with a relative or friend... let her spoil your kids rotten and return them to you tired and happy. It makes that first night a whole lot easier.

I am sure there are more things, but for now that is the important stuff. =) Pictures to come soon enough, till then have a great weekend!!

Just Checking In...

Packing, packing, and more packing...with a dash of scrubbing and cleaning on the side. I have remembered to take some time to myself though. Since my sewing gear has been packed away I have taken up embroidery and LOVE it!!!

I bought a really cool kit called the Stitch-It Kit. What I love so much about it is that it isn't foo-foo embroidery like what your grandmother has on her pillows. This is rock n roll, sassy kitten, hula girl, punked out kitchen fun. Aside from the book teaching you the cool stitches the kit also comes with reusable iron-on patterns that ink your material, not leave a gooey pattern for you to follow. It also comes with lots of thread, a needle, and the hoop, pretty much everything you need to get started, even two tea towels to practice your awesome stitching on!!!


I highly recommend this kit to anyone who wants to hand embroider but doesn't know how and doesn't want some lame designs!!! Pics of my new apron that I just tiki-ed out as soon as my house is moved and I can find the darn camera!!

Filth Wizardry

I really am getting a kick out of Stumble! Today I decided to go blog surfing and with the first click found a blog that I was so impressed with that I thought I would share it will you all.
Introducing Filth Wizardry!

What caught my eye right away was the clean look of this wonderful read. No ads, no flashing buttons, not even a list of her favorite sites...just a clean lined blog. A very nice change from the normal blogs I read that can get too messy for my eyes!

The main focus of the blog is preschool crafts and messy fun. Just scrolling around I found cute ways to make tea towels into shorts and skirts for the kids, a new use for sticky googly eyes, and definitely a unique thing to do with preschool panties that are not worn out but don't fit. LOVE that idea!!

I think my favorite thing is that it is totally focused on kids, nothing but crafts, mess, and fun. Go check it out and tell me what you think!!!

I am bawling my eyes out right now

I was sitting here a second ago, surfing blogs as usual, when I checked on a blog I just learned about last week- Remember Maddie. My heart is breaking for this mother. I know that the whole family is in pain but it is for this woman that I am bawling my eyes out. One mother to another, I can't imagine the pain and sorrow she must be in.

A wonderful, bright little girl who struggled from birth to live and died so suddenly, too young. What started as a cough and congestion here ended so tragically.

There are wonderful videos of this precious girl, pictures galore, and I know that every mother who has read this story has sent her love to this family. There is so much I want to say, but nothing seems enough. So I will wrap my arms around my daughters tight and treasure every moment I have with them.

*On a side note, when Gabby saw me crying she came over and asked what was wrong. I explained about Maddie and her mommy. Of course I started crying harder. Gabby, very straight faced said, "Well Mommy, it looks like we will have to send AJ to her so she can have a baby girl again. We can just get another baby at the hospital!" Smiling through my wet face, I just hugged her tight and laughed.