Exactly one year ago today...

We were coming home from PARADISE aka Maui.



That week we drove around in a black Mustang convertible.



Boogey boarded and snorkeled til we were prunes.



And we even had friends go with us to play cards and lounge with.



It was bliss.



When can we go back?



hmmm...can you tell I've had 3 kids? I guess they're worth it. *wink*

We take a big vacation every year. It's usually just Ryan and I, but this year...we're taking the kids on a trip to Disney World--- in 2 weeks! But SHHHHHHHH! The kids don't know yet! We're just going to surprise them one morning as we board the plane!!!

spc~ STREET week # 5

Me and my kids relaxin' on the curb...you can count 4 pairs of shoes here!

This is another one I took of us in the truck, I like how you can barely see us in the mirror.


Find more spc's here.

gettin' a little HAIR-y!

This is the first time any of our kids have cut their hair. And, of course, it was JONAH. Not a big surprise. He got ahold of Caleb's school scissors from his pencil box while we were driving around in the truck. Ryan and I were both in the front seat and I here Jonah say something like "Look Caleb, I can cut my hair with your scissors." I said "no!" but too late. Already done. I know this is VERY minor compared to what alot of kids have done to their hair, and the pics just make me chuckle.



Daddy had way too much fun at bathtime tonight!

Going Solo with Mermaids

I have decided to depart from my design group WisteriaLane and go solo on eBay. It's all on happy terms and I'm still friends with them all- they are truly talented ladies!

Here's my first "solo" listing- a Mermaid fabric bracelet made to match the ADORABLE Mermaid fabric that is oh-so-popular right now! Starting at .99!!!




I hadn't planned on making a Mermaid bracelet, in fact I had decided to skip the Mermaid craze all together... then my sister in law, aka bella*tessa designs, showed me her Mermaid set and it was SO cute that I HAD to make SOMETHING! Here's her set:


Don't you just adore the scalloped pants? They are lined with blue sequins and shimmer!

She was gracious enough to let me pick through her Mermaid fabric and get just what I needed to make the bracelet- thanks Jennifer!

I have to admit I am a bit nervous being totally on my own, but my fingers and toes are crossed!

So after this week my new eBay search term is "tvp boutique." Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter for sneak peeks and special deals!

The Silly Wagon---almost open!

Just 4 days are left before the GRAND OPENING of The Silly Wagon!!! The Silly Wagon is an upscale, modern general store carrying children's boutique clothing, unique gifts, hand-painted furniture, personalized jewelry and gorgeous artwork for kids. This place is HOT and TRENDY--- they are selling stuff BEFORE officially opening!

They are graciously selling some of my jewelry on there! Some things will be familiar favorites from eBay, but there will also be one of a kind pieces made JUST for The Silly Wagon!

They have several boutique designers that you all love like my sis-in-law bella*tessa designs, pumkinlittle and boutiquegenmarie as well as many others!

Hurry, go sign up for their newsletter before they open on June 1st so you can get your $10 off coupon!!! And don't forget to visit their blog and say hello. Tell them Erin sent you!

Fresh Cut and Mahalo Surf

Just listed, .99 NO RESERVE! Find it here!






Mahalo Surf for boys...find it here.

my little Rembrants & something free

I decided it was time for some artwork for the bare walls in our gameroom. So last week we went to Hobby Lobby and bought these:



I took my kids to the garage and said "paint!"



Here are their final masterpieces hanging in the gameroom-- Jonah's has the blue J:





p.s. this was my garage sale bookshelf I found a few weeks ago- they wanted $25 for it and I got it for $10--- yes I'm THAT lady at the garage sales! *snicker*



Can you guess what he's watching? It's FUN FRIDAY!!! Free pair of earrings goes to the first person that guesses it!!!

Caleb's bracelets and eBay listing!!!

My oldest son Caleb has seen me on eBay everyday and has asked me numerous times if he can make something. So today I gave him full reign over my beads and some memory wire and here's what he came up with:



I was surprised at how he actually made patterns with the beads, I had expected him to just throw a bunch on there in no particular order, I didn't help him at all (except to bend in the wire at the ends so the beads wouldn't fall off). After he made them he wanted to take pictures and LIST THEM! I started to say no way jose, but then I thought "why not?" It is .20 listing day after all! So he helped me take the pics, pick out the pics, picked the template border, the whole process he helped with.


Grandma D, don't you think Sydney will love these?

It was so cute watching him go through the whole eBay process and making the decisions, he really thought hard about them! You can see his auction here.

Sterling Trinity

Just listed on eBay...a unique way to show your Faith instead of the same cross everyone else wears.

Find it here.

serious bed head

I was running late to pick up the kids from school and had to wake Tessa early from a nap. After I put her in her carseat I took my first real look at her---and cracked up!

spc~ STREET~ week 4

Our reflections in a puddle on the street, me with my camera and my little ones in tow.

For more SPC's click here.

Girly Gus

Remember Gus? I promised to show you Gus all accessorized, and here he is! He matches up with Amelia's outfit for the BonBijou "Girly" launch that starts today. To find this necklace and bracelet set and the adorable outfit from Amelia click here.

monkey business

Today we went to the Zoo- it was the PERFECT day for it! The weather was gorgeous and all of the animals were out saying hello! We packed some sandwiches and chips and ate lunch by the pond...before long we had some visitors- even the babies would eat out of our hands:




Ryan put a chip on the bench behind me and I had this goose pecking at my butt trying to eat it! Thanks babe!





After we fully nourished the goose family with our bread and Cheddar Lays chips we moved on to the turtles--I had no idea that turtles loved cheddar chips so much:





Then we took pictures of some monkeys- the cutest monkeys I have ever seen!














Such a fun day!!!

such sweet redemption...not

So after the heated soccer game (see post below) they had their end of the year soccer party- cake, trophies, pinata, fun- and then I had exactly 45 minutes to take the boys to Wal-Mart to buy a birthday present and then drive to Coweta (far away town) for Jonah's friend's from school birthday party. I am ashamed to admit that I am really bad about their friends' birthday parties- we hardly ever go and 90% of the time I forget to RSVP to say that we're not coming. But as the boys have gotten older I've seen how much having their friends come really means to them and how important it is for me planning the party to know who's coming, and decided to be better. So today was my first redemption party. Before leaving for Caleb's game this morning I grabbed the invite and threw it in my purse, and I called to RSVP on the way to the game- I know, late notice, I said I'm getting better- not perfect. The lady that answered wasn't the Mom, Mom wasn't home, so I asked (whom I'm pretty certain was Grandma) if it was okay for us to still come- she seemed puzzled but said of course, so I said tell Mom that Jonah will be there, see you later, bye, and hung up.

Soccer party ends, I throw the boys in the van, race to the nearest Wal-Mart, fly threw the store grabbing a toy, proper wrapping materials and a new outfit and flip flops for Caleb (I had forgotten a change of clothes and shoes for him- actually I hadn't planned on him coming, but just how the day worked out) then sprinting back for the batteries for the toy that I had forgotten, jumped back into the van, then raced onward to Coweta to the party.

An hour or so later as we arrive (late) I notice there aren't any cars parked in the driveway and I thought wow, not many kids are coming, I'm glad we came. Then I jokingly thought 'what if it's not today? ha ha'. Then I really thought "what if it's not today?????? CRAP!" I drove down the road and frantically looked at the invitation- all it said was the 20th. I'm a stay at home Mom, I don't know what the date is- ever. So I called Ryan to ask him, no answer. I dug out my Wal-Mart receipt- it's the 19th. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I just sat there stunned. Stinkin' redemption party. I seriously contemplated taking the gift to the door saying I didn't plan on coming all of the way back out here tomorrow, but thought that would be in poor taste- and it was totally my fault for not checking my calendar. EVERY party my kids have ever been invited to have been on SATURDAY, NEVER on Sunday, so when I saw the invite I just assumed that the 20th was a Saturday. Oy. So we will be heading back out to Coweta tomorrow afternoon :) On the drive home I reminded myself "this is why we don't go to parties." I give up...til next Saturday-- Jonah has another party :)

the undefeated DeFeeters...

...are no longer undefeated :( I am so sad to report that after a seemingly perfect season Caleb's team was finally beaten today- the LAST game of the season. The other team was also undefeated...and they were BIG and they were AGGRESSIVE almost to the point of being mean. Yes mean, at age 6! They were talking smack before the first kick off and Caleb talked it right back...couldn't tell exactly what was being said, but involved their no loss season and Caleb fired back with "Oh yeah, neither have we", then held up his hands like "bring it". The other team kicked at our players on purpose, slide tackled (which isn't allowed yet since they're so young, and sent our toughest girl crying to daddy saying the other team was calling her names. The game was pretty heated as both teams really wanted that win. They were good, I will even say they were better, and they had some moves. Their coach motivated them to play quick and caught us flat footed a few times and snuck behind the defense. Then came the "moment"---when the stakes were raised and winning became even more important: their giant (whose birth certificate showing he's really 6 and not 10 I would like to see) kicked so high trying to get the ball that his foot was at our kids eye level, so our coach blew the whistle for a "high kick"- it's a dangerous play that would give us a free kick. The other coach was like "what? He can kick that high." So one of our parents argued with him to which their coach replied "if you're not a coach then shut up and sit down!" He had a few more choice words that made him look like an idiot, then he resumed the game- I guess we were playing by his rules today, not the same rules millions of players have been playing by for YEARS. So unneccesary at any sporting event, but especially in front of 6 year olds. In the end we lost 3-2.

Caleb did score a goal- his BEST goal of all. He was pretty far out and kicked it in the air and it soared into the top right corner of the net- absolutely perfect! I actually jumped up and down and screamed--- I am NOT the type of girl that normally acts like that, but I couldn't help it- I mean, come on, he scored on the mean kids. I always cheer for the kids and yell for Caleb, clap, etc. But this went beyond and just couldn't be held in- one of those "proud moments" you remember forever. His goal gave us 2 points, and they already had their 3---we were crossing our fingers for a tie, and almost got it. Caleb had at least one goal if not 2 in every game this season!!! I already signed him up for this same team for the fall--- and have been asked to help COACH. I'm very excited!

Say What?

We're bored today. No good garage sales and that's usually how we spend our Friday mornings. I might have to actually clean something today. I have a mountain of clean laundry that has been beckoning me to come fold it for a few days now. And the office is a mess...beads everywhere that need to be put back in there proper spots. Ryan took the kids to the book store last night and came home with a bead magazine for me- isn't he sweet? I've already devoured it. He also brought me home 2 other magazines a few nights ago after making a late night run to Wal-Mart after discovering we were out of milk and he couldn't eat his nightly cereal snack. I love a good magazine- and that he was thinking of me even though I was fast asleep on the couch by 9:30 (I was so tired) and had forgotten the milk, jelly and peanut butter when I was out earlier that evening.

So I'm really bored today. I'm just not in the mood to do anything. Maybe we'll go for a walk after my hair dries from my shower. *sigh*

Here's a funny story from a couple of years ago:
My kids love to act out Bible stories. For awhile my boys would take turns being David and Goliath and knock Goliath down with a pebble over and over and over. One day in the car they were acting out a story and Caleb told me "I'm Jesus and Jonah is John the Baptist". I said "oh, really? Who do I get to be?" totally expecting him to say Mary since she's Jesus's mother or Queen Esther as we had been watching the VeggieTales version alot lately. Instead he replies "you can be my donkey."

newly listed!!!

A custom made Yoga, Knitting, Diaper bag that I bought online- I love it, but it's too big for me! Silly me didn't pay attention to the measurements!


















Chain, crystals, pearls and more chain in this "One of a Kind" necklace for girls:


Wrapped in Faith for older girls and Women--- starting at .99 NO RESERVE!!!


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