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!