new fabric charms!

I added some new fabric charms in my Etsy Shop:






as well as this Retro Bird necklace!

time for a winner!

This morning Tessa drew for the free custom earrings from the names of all of my wonderful subscribers!!!

and the winner is:

Congrats Linda aka Ribbon Rock Star!!!


The dress Tessa is wearing is her newest dress from alexus*carr*designs! I love the bird! Thanks Lexi!!!





Don't forget to sign up for my newsletter here for your chance to win next time!

the Silly Wagon is on the Celebrity Baby BLOG!!!

Check out The Silly Wagon's interview on the Celebrity Baby Blog!!! Come and support us and be sure and leave a comment!

little mokey or houdini?

Tessa's latest trick- she can climb in and out of her crib with ease. Last week I put her down for a nap in her crib. Within minutes I could hear her opening her door, and as I walked down the hall to get her I said "Tessa?" and she bolted back to her crib. I made it in her room just in time to see her scale it and jump back inside like it was a 2 inch wall. Today I took pics of her doing it (sorry for the blurry shots, my camera's not that great for action shots!) :










Needless to say, it's big girl bed time. I have very mixed feelings about this. She is the baby and we have had someone in a crib for 6 years. It saddens me and gives me a touch of baby fever to think it won't be used. Also, it's one more kid that can just pop in our bed in the middle of the night. It's not uncommon for me to wake up with Caleb on one side, and Jonah on the other side in the middle of Ryan and I. It's already cramped, where is Tessa going to fit? Maybe we just need to buy a king sized bed...

I am on the hunt for a cute twin sized comforter or quilt set and some curtains. I plan on painting her room to match, the blue was the color when we moved in a year ago, I think I'd like to go pink, but it all just depends on what I find for her bedding! If anyone sees a good deal somewhere (from Pottery Barn to Target) let me know!

"My wallet's gone! My wallet's gone!"

Does anyone watch Seinfeld still? We can quote just about every episode and still watch our favorite reruns at night. Have you seen the one where Jerry's father Morty is at the doctor, had changed into a gown for an x-ray, and when he comes back he checks his pants to find that his wallet is missing? He goes into the hall yelling "My wallet's gone! My wallet's gone!" Well that was Ryan this morning.

I wake up to him bustling around looking for his wallet so he can go to work, but to no avail, he can't find it. So he wakes me and asks me to look. I look high and low, no wallet. Last night we ate at Subway and then went to the park, so while I continue looking he heads for Subway. No wallet. At the park we had parked by the basketball couts that were empty, then walked to the pond and eventually up to playground and then back, and as we walked back to the filled up basketball courts, I remember thinking this young guy sure was watching us closely. Our family is wiggly and LOUD, so I'm pretty used to people looking at us, but it's usually mothers or grandparents with smiles on their faces.

No wallet has been found and Ryan's pretty sure it was taken from his truck- he had forgotten to lock it. It's such a creepy feeling to me to have something actually stolen. I can't imagine what people that have their houses ransacked and half their possessions taken must feel.

A few years ago we lived in a house back in the back of a long cul-de-sac with just a few houses. One morning Ryan went outside to go to work- and his Jeep was gone. We were like what????? Ryan's a pretty big jokester so the first thing we think is "is someone playing a joke on us?" So he calls a few friends, but none of them were in on it, the Jeep had been stolen. It's very creepy to think that while we were inside sleeping, someone was prowling around our house and taking our car. We're thankful that all they wanted was a car. We envisioned someone driving around listening to Ryan's Christian alternative cd's with a stack of his nice dress shirts that were waiting for the cleaners in the back. The Jeep was eventually found- over a year later Ryan found it in a guy's driveway that was trying to sell it! Ryan pulled up and looked at it closer and then tells the guy "this is my jeep, it was stolen from me!" The guy was like "Well I didn't steal it!" He had found it in a salvage yard, whoever stole it had torn it apart and probably sold the parts.

So today Ryan is calling the credit card companies and banks to freeze everything and get new cards issued- such a hassle. He just got a new driver's license yesturday, so he'll have to go do that again.

The moral of the story- lock your car!!!

kids make me giggle

This morning I asked Jonah what cereal he wanted. He answers "the kind just like Caleb had". "Which one did he have?" I asked. Jonah replies "the kind with snow on it". He was, of course, meaning:


On a different note, we were playing Trivial Pursuit last friday with some friends (boys vs. girls, of course) and we were asked what color were the whites of Tony the Tiger's eyes from the Frosted Flakes box. We were shocked to find out they are green! We got it wrong. But, never fear, us girls had a miraculous comeback and won the game :)

Today Ryan brought home the Tiger Woods golf Gamecube game to help the boys learn more about golf. We heard Caleb say "I got a boogey!" He was corrected.
Quickly.

The other day I was trying to teach Tessa that she should match her shoes to her clothes (she will put on her pink Dora tennis shoes- I can't stand those shoes, by the way and of course they are her favorite- with her yellow summer dress). Right after that conversation, I threw on a pair of green flip flops with my pink shirt and jean skirt. She quickly caught this and informed me "Mommy, pink (points to my shirt) and green (points to my flip flops)-- they don't match, Mommy." My 2 year old is giving me fashion tips. Thanks Tessa.

Etsy store is stocked

Remember Girly Gus??? (if not just click the link and you'll see him!) He's back in much simpler form in my Etsy store! I have been super busy stocking the store with new jewels (like the earrings over there----> ) as well as some familiar favorites. With the incredibly low listing fees, Etsy may be my new "store front". I'll be adding new items almost daily, so tell me what you think- what should I add? Make more of? Make less of? Give me your thoughts!?

Oh, and all blogging friends get free shipping!!!

amazing liberty

Ryan took this picture with his cell phone while in NYC on business and then emailed it to me from his phone...crazy amazing technology!

Be HOT in the KITCHEN!

and I don't mean as in "temperature."


A bunch of us are guesting with Persnickety and the "indies" are using the Chocolate Lollipop fabrics for our creations. I had so much fun making this fun little necklace for Mom to stylishly wear while slaving away in the kitchen!





My inspiration was Megan's cute apron that she also made for the Persnickety launch- isn't is fun? It almost makes me want to cook just so I can wear it! (I'm not much of a fan of cooking, just not my thing.)

Accessories for cooking...gives a whole new meaning to "hot Mom"!

natural butterfly set

just be natural, click here.

sticky note learning fun

The kids had so much fun making letters and rearranging into different words! This kept us occupied for almost an hour.

a little contest for fun

So I'm having a little contest for all of the wonderful people who like my designs enough to subscribe to my newsletter. Some of them email me from time to time to encourage me or tell me they like something new I've come out with, and I so appreciate these emails. A few times the email came during a frustrating period where I was just about to pack away everything and call it quits (we've all been there a time or two)- a little pick me up to keep me going.

I've emailed all of my subscribers to let them know how they can get their chances to win a pair of custom sterling silver wire wrap earrings this week. If you would like to sign up for my newsletter and join in the contest fun, you can subscribe here. I'll email you after you sign up how to win the earrings.

Thanks again to my subscribers, I appreciate all of your support!

my last 24 hours...

...were pretty hairy. We came home from vacation elated to see Tessa, and everyone went to bed late but pretty normal. Everyone woke up fine, Ryan was home for a couple of hours in the morning before leaving for a business trip to New Jersey for a few days. Sometime after he left my beautiful princess turned into this:

and pretty much stayed that way for the rest of the day. If one of us looked at her the wrong way she burst into tears. The more I played with her or tried to read with her the more upset she got. I decided it's what I get for leaving her home for 5 days while the rest of us went to DisneyWorld.

I was trying to come out of the "on vacation" high, and the boys, who were incredibly good on the trip, were back to being brothers.

With Ryan aka "the fun parent" gone, I had to entertain the ruly crew past dinnertime (normally my whistle blows about 7 pm when Daddy takes over). Tessa was begging for the "sipin' side", or Slippin' Slide, and I agreed before looking at our practically knee high grass- Ryan didn't have a chance to mow before leaving and our usually well maicured backyard was a jungle. I had never mowed in my life- I grew up the youngest with 3 older brothers, why would I mow?



So I dragged out the mower---WHY we have a push mower with an acre just in the backyard, I am not sure, but all I needed was a patch for the "sipin' side"- after a day of tears I would do just about anything to make that girl happy. I followed the directions on the lawn mower, nothing. I tinkered around a bit, got it started (with some cheers from the kids on the porch), mowed one strip and it died. After a few more attempts I call Jennifer who gives some advice but no help. Finally I break down and call Ryan- I hate being the girl that can't figure it out on my own. BUT, after talking to him I find that there IS a weird trick to our mower- it wasn't just me.

So I got my patch mowed, and Tessa got to Sipin' Side, although she cried a few times over nothing. Then was bathtime and storytime, the boys zonked out, Tessa cried. Lord, help me.

Today I awoke to this:

My princess is back to normal and my sanity is saved. And we have a really weird mowed patch in our backyard.

Ending SOON!

Moda "Summer in the City" fabric bracelet, ends Wednesday night:


"Summer Bird" collaboration with my sister in law Jennifer aka bella*tessa, also ends Wednesday night. See the jewels HERE and the outfit HERE!!!


And this custom oval name necklace ends Thursday night:

Disney World Pictures!!!

To see pics from our trip click HERE!!!!



I got to meet Laurie of *blowin*bubbles*boutique* and her beautiful model daughter Kylie!!! She works at Disney and got us in for FREE!!! Thanks so much Laurie!!!!!!!!

I didn't forget Father's Day, I had purchased in town and packed this book for Ryan with a card signed by the kids inside:



Off to unpack and take the kids to the pool!

Home Sweet Home

We're home, which is bittersweet...ready to come home and see Tessa but we had so much fun it was sad to leave.

We spent Saturday at Cocoa Beach, which was beautiful and had some great waves. The waves were a bit daunting for the boys and they hated the saltiness of the water, but had a blast playing in the sand and jumping the waves with us. I lathered the boys up in sunscreen, but Ryan and I were waiting until we got a little sun first before applying any- now we are lobsters. We weren't able to swim all day Sunday- we sat in the shade with our swimsuits on and watched the boys swim their hearts out in the resort pool. We are still pretty sore, Ryan definately got it worse than me- he's purple, poor guy!

We shopped, swam, and played all day Sunday with a late night run for ice cream since it was our last night.

We are already planning to go back in 2 years...this time Tessa will come with us!!!

Pics coming tomorrow.

Disney World Day 2

We conquered Magic Kingdom.

A few highlights:

Pirates of the Carribean ride
Buzz Lightyear Spin Ride
Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor
Splash Mountain

Boys are zonked out.

We are exhausted and looking forward to footrubs tonight (after 2 days of walking our feet are so sore!), sleeping in tomorrow morning and then the beach.

Disney ---Take 1

Trying to leave Tulsa was quite the ordeal. First of all, at the carry on baggage check we discovered that my driver's license has expired---oops. My heart was pounding and I pictured them leaving without me. After digging through my wallet for a few minutes I was able to come up with my Social Security card and my voter's registration card, and they decided that would suffice. Phew!

Then onto the metal detectors. 4 year old Jonah goes through and BEEEEEEP! So he comes back and we search through all of his pockets, and in one of his cargo pockets we find a metal golf divet replacer, which looks like a great weopon! Double oops. Ryan throws it away, then as Jonah goes back through he touches the side and BEEEEEEEP! The security guy says "if it goes off twice we gotta search him." So they take Jonah and Ryan aside and search them both. For a second I felt bad for Jonah, that he ight get scared, but then I see the big cheesy grin on his face- he thinks it's pretty cool that this big policeman is messing with him. I started to grab my camera but decided they may not like it if I'm snapping pics while Jonah's been caught with his metal weopon.

On the airplane the boys were so good- Jonah actually slept alot and the guy next to Caleb played Star Wars on his laptop and gave Caleb the headphones- I didn't hear a peep from him for a couple of hours.

This morning we went to MGM Studios, and the boys had a BLAST! They saw Indiana Jones, a Stunt Car Show, Star Wars simulator, Playhouse Disney's show with Bear, JoJo, Stanley and Pooh, went to Narnia, they met Buzz, Woody, JoJo, Mater, Lightning McQueen, Quiny (Little Einsteins) ate pizza at "Pizza Planet" (from Toy Story)...tons more---Jonah was asleep in my arms before we reached our car!

Then we found our resort- it's like paradise! We have a 2 bedroom condo with a kitchen and laundry and anything you can imagine including a pool on an island! The boys just think it's so cool that they have a TV in their room.

We are about 10 minutes from Disney and 5 minutes from a HUGE outlet mall- I spied a GAP there...uh-oh.

I need a VACATION...

...from getting everything ready for our vacation!!! We leave tomorrow, so the last few days have been full of packing and finishing up all orders and scheduling auctions for while I'm gone! But we'll be on the plane tomorrow- the boys still don't know anything! They won't know until Grandma E. drops us off at the airport and we take the bags out of the trunk! I bought them each their own rolling suitcase (Cars and Buzz Lightyear) and their own little beach backpack filled with games, crayons, a notebook, their own pack of gum, their gameboys, snacks...anything to keep them occupied on the flight.

I am still packing, so if anyone has any tips PLEASE POST THEM!!! I will appreciate any help!

So tomorrow we are off to:

To visit:

Then we'll go to:

And Sunday we'll be at:

We come home late Monday, have a great weekend!

new Etsy banner!!!

Check out my new Etsy logo that was created for me by Jessie of missMia! She was so friendly and easy to work with and I love what she came up with! I am loving birds right now, and she even made me a set of different patterned birds that I can use wherever! I'm sure they'll be popping up on eBay also. If you need a new logo or banner, she's your girl!



See my new Etsy store here!

Ryan's first TRIATHLON!!!

First he swam a mile in Lake Skiatook.


Then he biked 26 miles.



Then he ran 6 miles.

He finished within his goal time---great job babe!

Now I want to do one...but let's start with something a little shorter for the first one!