More Than One Way to Skin a Cat

I have always heard that there is more than one way to skin a cat. I guess there is also more than one way to get fruit from a tree! I suppose my husband is either quite trusting or just plain dumb but either way he survived this pear picking expedition. Earlier today, Daddy drove the tractor while Bob picked the pears and apples. Boys and their toys!!!

Bob wasn't going to pick the apples because he didn't think I would do anything with them. He is now glad that he did. Within a few hours of picking the apples, I had turned them into apple juice and then turned the juice into jelly. I made Candy Apple Jelly. It is quite good if I do say so myself. Bob liked it so well that he is going to pick more apples but I think he is going to use a ladder this time.

We didn't have time or energy to do anything with the pears this evening. I guess I will be making either pear jelly or pear butter tomorrow evening and more apple jelly later this week.

I know the pics aren't the most flattering of the boys, but their way of picking the fruit is one that has to be seen to truly believe.

First Day of School

Shelby started kindergarten this year. She was so excited her first day and thankfully still is! She was nervous her first day and asked what to do if she got scared. I told her to pray and ask God to help her be brave. I also told her she had to "pull up her big girl panties and just do it." After school the first day, Shelby announced, "I don't have to pray to God anymore!" She said that she got a little scared and said a prayer and it worked. The next morning on the way to school, I saw her saying a little prayer. She said that she wasn't praying to be brave but that she wanted God to help her make a friend because she didn't the first day. That prayer was answered maybe a little too well. Shelby has already been getting in trouble for talking too much in class.

I had such big plans for a first day of school outfit for her. I even had the fabric washed, ironed and hanging near the sewing machine. I put off making it a little too long. Less than a week before school started, I got a call to go to work. Thankfully, it was at the school where I had decided to send Shelby.

I am teaching third grade there this year. I spent everyday including long hours on the weekend getting the room ready. I didn't have time to make the outfit and still haven't. I will eventually get it done.

The pictures are of Shelby on her first day at the end of the school day. She was still excited but very tired.

Family Vacation

Shelby had her first experience with sand art while at the resort in Nashville last week. She was careful not to spill any of the sand. She started her creation with her favorite colors of pink and purple. She then decided to do blue and gold for WVU and a little green and white for Marshall - GO HERD!
She was very proud of her masterpiece!

She always loves the crafts available at the resorts we visit. We stayed in Nashville for 5 nights last week. We wanted lots of R&R. We didn't venture to any shows or tours of stars homes. We just hung out and enjoyed the pools and crafts. The Opry Mills Mall was nice. We went twice. Each time we started at opposite ends of the mall but never did see it all! Bob and I wanted to take her to see the atrium at the Opryland Hotel but were astonished when we found that there was a $16 charge to park the car. Needless to say we were not going to pay that much. We could have walked there from the mall but it was much too hot - 98 and humid.

After our stay in Nashville, we went back to Kentucky to Bob's brother's house for 2 more nights. We had spent one night there on our way to Tennessee. We took a detour on the way back there via Route 127. It was the weekend of the World's Longest Yard Sale. We traveled only a small portion of the length the sale. There were lots of great finds but we couldn't take advatage of them due to the fact that the car was LOADED with our suit cases and travel bags. After visiting with Joe and Debbie in Kentucky, we headed north to Columbus to see Bob's sister Karen and her family. We spent 2 nights there and had fun watching movies, playing Apples to Apples and just visiting.

We planned to go to Mississippi after Nashville but James had forgotten about his car insurance being due and we had to be home today, Tuesday. That is why we just headed to KY and OH to visit family instead of MS to see family.

It's a Wrap

This is another wrap set I made for Shelby. This skirt is acutally reversible. The Jungle Babies print reverses to a pink and green stripe. She has obviously just finished her kids meal from Burger King at the Opry Mills Mall.

The shirt has a layered applique. The bottom layer is the Jungle Babies print, the middle layer is the striped fabric from the reverse of the skirt and the top layer is an elephant from a coordinating Jungle Baby print. This picture was taken at the Bass Pro Shop in the mall.

Oz Inspired Wrap Skirt

I have had so much fun making wrap skirts for Shelby. She just loves wearing them. With The Wizard of Oz being one of her favorite movies, I couldn't resist making this set. The wrap skirt is made from blue gingham fabric and is fully lined. I appliqued the white shirt with a "ruby slipper" made from red satin and red sequin style fabric.
These pictures were taken at the Stingray Reef in the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville. Shelby loved the rays but would not touch one. There was a huge pool full of them. We enjoyed watching them come out of the water to be fed.
Shelby also loved the shark bench outside of the Aquarium Restaurant. She is a bit shark crazy!

Uncle John Rocks

I just ran across this photo of Shelby with her cousin Eli and Uncle John taken a few weeks ago when the family came to visit. Shelby and Eli, as well as all the Bayless kids, just love Uncle John. I don't know who has more fun - John or the kids!

The Relatives Came

Our house of seven had seven extras the past few days. Bob's mom (aka Grandma), sister Cindy(aka Aunt DeeDee), Cindy's son Rick (no known alias), brother John (aka Uncle John or Captain Video), John's wife Eleanor (aka Aunt El), their daughter Jane (aka Potato Head) and nephew Eli (aka Pink Panties) came from Mississippi for a visit. Everyone had a good time. Many of them decided to take advantage of the dry weather and cool nights and camp in the back yard. Shelby and Eli loved it. I think most of the big folks had fun as well. I, on the other hand, chose to sleep in the house in my bed!

Jane associates coming to WV with doing crafts. Being as absentminded as I am, I didn't plan much crafty stuff. She did like making key fobs. We went to a few stores for her to find ribbon she liked. Jane made some for herself, her mom, grandma and for me. She actually made the two that are posted on Etsy right now.

We had a fire one night and cooked hotdogs and made smores. During our little cookout, two fawns and their momma came down to investigate the fun. Eli said that it was Bambi. He could tell because he saw the "white polka dots." The kids played in Shelby's playhouse and Eli got to help Uncle Bob mow the lawn.

Shelby was very upset when they left this morning. Hopefully we will make it to Mississippi soon to see them and the rest of the family. I need to find my copy of Cynthia Rylant's book The Relatives Came and read it to her. I think she would really like it. Yes, they did look like the cover of the book. The seven of them were packed into the Expedition and had to do the redneck thing by strapping the luggage on top!

I Am a Winner

I won the cutest miniature tea set on Linda's blog contest! You should check out her site and be sure to follow the link to her items on Etsy.
http://lindasgoodies.blogspot.com/

Thanks Linda for the contest.

I Want to Win

I happened upon a blog that has some great giveaways. Check out the link below to the site. There are several things being given away. I signed up to win the gift certificate. I am going to go back and see what else they have listed to win. It is free and easy and someone is going to win... Why can't it be me?????

http://babylyonstreasuries.blogspot.com/2008/07/8th-mommy-giveaway.html


I just went and checked out the rest of the site. I signed up for all the giveaways. I added the link to the blog with the other blog links to the left so it will be easy for you to check out and for me to go back and see what else she adds!

It Sold on Etsy

I was so excited to see that I sold the first item I had listed on Etsy as Expressions Studio. I was just playing around a couple days ago and wanted to go ahead and list something so that I could set up my shipping preferences and payment information. I listed a Diego pillowcase that I had handy and it already has sold. That got me excited enough to grab a few more of the pillowcases that I have made and get them listed. I still have plenty more to go.

I sold some jackets on Etsy a while back before I changed my account name. Of course, I have sold quite a bit on ebay. I am hoping to clear out what I have made and make some more creations to sell.

I need to update my website to direct customers to Etsy instead of ebay to shop. For some strange reason, my computer won't open the website design program that I use. Just my luck. I hope I don't have to start over from scratch! As Scarlett O'Hara would say...I won't think about that today...

A Day at the Capitol

Shelby loves it when we drive past the beautiful gold dome of the capitol building. It wasn't until recently she had the opportunity to see the capitol up close. One Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago, we took her to see it. She loved it but was a bit disappointed that she couldn't go up into the rotunda. Of course she was wearing one of the sets I made for her. The location was great for some pictures. As you can tell from the pictures, I only got a C in my photography class at Marshall University! I still like taking pictures, especially of my little girl!

Keeping Them Cool

The kids love to play in the sprinkler on hot days! Shelby, my daughter, just turned 5 in May. The other two are my step-daughter's children. Joshua will be 3 in a couple weeks. Delainy is 19 months.

And the Blogging Begins

I set up this blog months ago but never did get around to "blogging." I am hoping to keep it up to date with family happenings and pictures of items I make. I have quite a few jackets, pillowcases, dresses, aprons, etc. that I have finished. I just need to get them listed somewhere to sell. I am pretty much burned out on the whole ebay thing. I think I will work on doing a mass listing on etsy over the next couple weeks.

I can't believe that Shelby will start kindergarten this fall. She has grown up so fast. Over the past week or so her reading has really started to take off. Not only is she sounding and blending simple short vowel words, she now has quite a few sight/high-frequency words she can recognize. She is so excited about that.

I am still applying for full-time positions. I was offered one as a Technology Integration Specialist. When I applied for the job, the listing didn't say that it was split between two schools which were in a rough part of town and both follow the year round school schedule. I considered the facts that I would have to miss the family vacation this August, I would be on a different school schedule than Shelby and the fact of where the schools were located. With all that in mind, I decided to take the job since it could be the only one I am offered...As I was calling the lady back to tell her that I would take it, I realized that the first week of work (mandatory state department of education training) was when Shelby had surgery scheduled. I knew I couldn't take off and there was no way I was going to not be there for her during the surgery and the days after. So, I turned the job down.

Once I find a job (or know I won't have a permanent position) I can decide where to send Shelby to school. There are 2 great schools I would like for her to attend but it just depends on where I am working as to which one would fit into the time schedule and route I would be driving to work.

Shelby is so "into" dinosaurs. We went to the Parent-Teacher Store the a couple days ago. She found "dinosaur egg fossils" in a kit with hammer, chisel and safety glasses. She had a blast chiseling away at one of the eggs. It took her most of the afternoon and early evening to get to the dinosaur inside. Well, she did take a few breaks. She still has two more eggs to go. Here is a pic of her working. She is my little nerdy palentologist!