Good things to come!

Wow. What a weekend. We did a lot of running around but it was a lot of fun. We took Jeff out for his birthday on Saturday and then we came back and his mother arrived just in time for girl-movie-night since Nathaniel spent the night with his friends Grant and Sam (the boys he went to Missouri with this Summer...member?). He was gone so we took advantage and watched the Hannah Montana movie; it was a great movie!

After church on Sunday we went to iChing, the Asian-with-Attitude restaurant. It's great food and I'm sorry but you can't eat there since it's not a chain place. lol :) Then we ran around town and did some other stuff, bought some shoes, grabbed some stuff at Kohl's and then went home. Not a huge weekend but we weren't home AT ALL and it was fun!

Today Nathaniel and Natalie started swim team, Nat will actually begin tomorrow. They have to be there several days a week so I guess I'll be picking them up every day from now on. I don't mind but it will make my work-schedule a bit crazy. No biggie. I'll work it out.

I think they'll really enjoy it.

In just a couple months (NOVEMBER 21st!!!!!) we'll be heading to the movie theater to see NEW MOON. ::sigh:: I cannot wait!!!!!!! Other than Harry Potter movie coming out, this is the highlight of my year! lol (I don't get out much. Shut up.) All my girlfriends are so excited about the new Twilight Saga movie, that we talk about it almost every time we get together. I need a tshirt for it too, soon soon. Who knew that this Children's Literature four-book series would take the world by storm? I sure didn't! And I know that the picture is for Eclipse, but it's just making me all the more excited because this movie comes out NEXT YEAR!!! Good things to come!!!!

AND!!! another great thing to happen on SEPTEMBER 25th... Diana Gabaldon is coming to our bookstore for book signings. :) I'll be there for sure! (She's the author of the glorious Outlander series with Jamie and Claire) It's gonna be a great Fall and Winter!

Okay, I have to work. I'll be back tomorrow. :)

Happy Birthday Babe!

My husband of fifteen years turned forty-one today. He doesn't look it but I have to say that he has aged beautifully. The few gray hairs that he has when he grows facial hair, the several that are on the sides of his head (and when I say "several" I do mean "SEVERAL". like three. seriously. three. it's so not fair since yours truly is covered in them.)

It has been a great week, this week where he turns forty-one, leaving that middle-aged number "forty" behind him forever. He has good news to still share (Monday!) and it has made our new path a little more straight and a little less bumpy. Forty-one is a good number.

I remember when I met Jeff for the first time. He was a youth pastor and I was a camp counselor at our Bible Camp. I was young and silly and stupid. He was funny and nice and cute. I never knew then that he would be the one. I'm a pretty lucky gal I tell ya, to have this man all to myself. He's super hilarious, makes almost every day a wet-your-pants and spit-coke-from-your-nose kind of a day, yet he is so romantic. Who knew he loved candles so much? :) He's the best and I hope he has a great day.

We don't get to go out tonight as he has a wedding to perform (he does weddings, did you know?), but we will probably go out tomorrow night. Today however, we'll run around town and buy the girls some new tennis shoes, let Nicole spend some of her birthday money (because she ended up NOT liking the gift we bought her ::sigh:: that SHE picked out and said she HAD to get! ::again sigh::). We are going to watch Harry Potter Two (Chamber of Secrets) because Natalie has never seen it. Gasp! We rented that new Hannah Montana movie and will probably watch that while Jeff is at his wedding. I will make cupcakes that are not as good as my Mother's for his birthday. We'll enjoy our day and hope that it doesn't rain. It's a good day.

Honey, you're my favorite person ever and I adore you madly.

oh, this and that...

What a weekend we have ahead. I hope it will be fun. :)
Natalie wants to have a friend spend the night, Nathaniel's
been invited to a birthday/sleepover and Nicole wants to go to the Art Box and paint a cup and a plate. So, it's going to be busy. One thing I'm going to do this weekend; I will make cupcakes. The girls have been asking me. :)

So, remember yesterday's post about Nadine going over to Jeanne's house and wanting a tour of the inside? lol Well, I found out last night that Nadine and her tiny sidekick, Ellie (who is four), went to our other neighbor's house and asked the same thing. However, they walked out with two baby dolls! lol The kind Mrs. H. gave each of them one of her baby dolls. They were thrilled! They also got to take some "elephant ears" from her garden in the back. :) lol Now, for those of you who are wondering what kind of parent(s) allows their children to run around, knocking on doors and going inside without supervision, well let me put your minds to rest. While this was going on, I was vac'ing my car and sweeping my porch, moving things around in the garage and both of these neighbors are dear friends. Not to mention our street is SO small, that if they're talking on their porch, we can hear them on ours. Yeah. It's that small. My parents are always saying that we should never move. :) We probably never will despite my desire to have a new home (oh well), but our street and its neighbors are so kind, that we know this is a wonderful place to live out our life.

Speaking of neighbors...last night I get an email from Ms.Em (our street's budding photographer), asking for a stick of butter. Um? It was 9:30 at night. lol Crazy girl. She was baking at 9:30p. lol I don't know what she was making but it better not have been cupcakes cuz she didn't offer me any! lol Cracks me up!

I will eventually post Time Traveler but it won't be today. My tags still are not here and they should have arrived on Wednesday. I saw some packages on my porch, got overly excited and then realized that they were not my tags. ::sigh:: See? our mail is horrible. My tracking said that they would arrive on WEDNESDAY. Argh. I'll post it as soon as my tags arrive. :)

Have a wonderful weekend. :)

Hi. I'm Nadine. Can I come in?

My neighbor Jeanne comes over yesterday while my other neighbor Rhonda and I were chatting on my porch. Our street is small so it's easy to join in on chat-fun. Jeanne told me that Nadine came to her door yesterday, introduced herself and said, "I've never been in your house before, can I come in?" (lol) Cracked me up! So Jeanne says, absolutely and told Nadine (who was joined by her smaller and very-funny side-kick, Ellie--Rhonda's daughter) that she could come in and look around. lol Only Nadine would be so blunt as to just ask to come inside someones house and look around. lol Fortunately Jeanne didn't mind and found it quite funny. Thank goodness! :) (by the way, Emily, Jeanne's daughter, took this photo of Deanie...we love Em!! But not just cuz she takes great pictures of our kids and puppies, we love her cause she's just wonderful! And did I mention that she got to meet the Jonas brothers!!! Pretty cool huh! Isn't she cute!!!?)

I'm sorry I didn't get Time Traveler up yesterday. It was very sunny yesterday and all of my pictures were too bright, making the beads distorted so I decided not to post it. I'll take photos today and see what happens.

My jump rings didn't arrive yesterday. ::sigh:: We have such slow mail. I thought for sure they would be here since the tracking said estimated delivery was for the 26th. Well, poo. Not the case. Why do I have such dealings with the mail? It's our town. It's small. I think they just put things on the shelf when they can't get to them all. lol No joke. I do think that! lol There's just no other reason for it. Oh well. I'm not going to worry about it.

Most of the packages from the last three weeks have all been mailed. If you ordered a lot of things, they will go out this week, tomorrow in fact. All Edward's Lullaby bracelets are nearly finished but I need jump rings to add the charms....so they're waiting...

Well, I need to scat. Long day today. We have some sort of thing at Nathaniel's school (I don't really know what it is, I'll need to ask Missy cause she knows everything. no really. she does. When in doubt? Ask Missy. :)

You have a great day! I'll talk to you later. I'll do my best with photos and Time Traveler. I have one. And I'll give you a hint, there are two charms on it. :)

Thoughts.

It's one of those things I don't get to do very often, edit photos of custom work. That is unless, a customer wants to see their photos prior to my sending them, which is rarely the case believe it or not. I know how it is, you want to be surprised, elated with your package, yup, I totally get it. :) So, no worries from me. However, I did manage to get a new bracelet up and thought you'd like to see it. I love the toggle. The most beautiful thing. One of my favorites. If you want to see more photos, click the Custom Work linky on the right of the page. (you might need to scroll down)

This morning I'm running around town with Moon. I have no more jewelry tags as I used my very last one yesterday but thankfully, my next shipment arrives today. Also, I have no jumprings. A staple in my line of work, and I use very thick jumps and pricey ones at that! An order of jumprings can run more than a hundred bucks I tell ya, crazy! But, like I said, I like the thick ones and I use 14 and 16 gauge, so yup, they're pretty thick. :) Basically what I'm saying is that by being out of both jumps and tags, I get a break from work this morning or at least until the mailman comes with my goodies. :) I think we're going fabric shopping and I am going to search for a gift for my hubby's birthday and a card. Although, he'll squawk about the card. I can hear him now, "do not buy cards". In the olden days, sans kids, we would stand in the isle at Hallmark and he would show me a card he liked and say, "this is how I feel, read it." I would read it and then say, "that was lovely! and now we've just saved ourselves 4.59 by not buying this lovely card." lol We're not big on cards. For kids birthdays we usually buy a book and sign the inside because a book lasts much longer and serves as a reminder of the event. I like that better, don't you? :) Plus, you can find really cute books at the dollar store. Good luck finding a nice birthday card for a buck.

Okay. I need to scram. I will be back tonight with the Time Traveler's bracelet. :) I have one. Just one. :)

Enjoy your day. It looks like rain here. :(

Little Bits of Fall Earrings

Little Bits of Fall... coming your way.
To purchase, click HERE.

Scarlet's Jeans Bracelet & Earrings SET

Click here for more pictures, and they come with a bracelet too!

I have enough to make three sets, after that they'll have to be ordered.

I get more done with the kids are gone.

My day has been simply loverly. I've gotten a lot done. It just goes to show how much I DON'T get done ON TIME when my kids are home. ::sigh:: There's just so many of them, you know? lol One of my readers wrote and said that she would wait for her jewelry because she too has four kids and one due next month. Bless her heart. I would have gone for five or even six kids but hubs said "no" and said "four is plenty." It's true. lol For us, we did feel complete with four. I remember being pregnant with Natalie and Jeff making the comment, "now we're all complete! We have a BOY and a GIRL! What could be better?" Hmmm... two more? :) I told him that I still "needed more". I know he thought I was crazy. Really. lol (but I'm all about crazy these days, ya know?)

When Nicole came into our lives I still felt like we could have one more but I really did NOT think it was going to happen. I had to do a lot of fertility to get pregnant (I didn't just "get" pregnant and that was that. nope. it didn't work that way for me. I had to get pregnant and then KEEP the pregnancy. That was the tricky part. My body doesn't make all the hormones needed so I had to have some help after I was pregnant. :). Anyway, it was after we lost our job that I got pregnant with Deanie. I remember Jeff walking into the house and being excited about something and I said, "Well I'm glad you had a great day! WE ARE PREGNANT." "Um? What?" It actually took him a little bit to get over the shock because we were really, super, dooper poor at the time and didn't know how we were going to make it. Looking back, we were rich. Really. lol Little kids are so cheap. It's when they get older that they get expensive. lol Anyway, when I delivered Nadine I remember having this feeling that I'd never had before. A feeling like, "this is it. SHE is enough." I was so glad and Jeff was more glad than me. lol!

I hope that my girls will always stick together. I always wanted a sister, someone to complain to, someone to hang on the phone with and go on vacations. Oh well. I can hope that for my girls. Nathaniel will be there to keep them all from killing each other. :)

We have such a nice little family. I am blessed. They make me laugh all the time, hysterically, to the point of wetting myself. ::sigh:: Not my finest moment, I'll agree, but ya know, I have had FOUR children and it DOES take a beating on the ol' area. ::wink wink:: This is exactly why I don't get on trampolines. I like to watch now. :)

Well. I need to go. We're taking our peeps out for supper (should I say SUPPER or DINNER? I've always been confused by that).

I still need to photograph the pictures. I'll post them up tomorrow. Check back. They're uber cool. Oh, and I'll be showing you a new bracelet I made, "Time Traveler" (and of course it has to do with the book... duh.)

A crazy weekend! New earrings coming!

It was a crazy weekend. I never even made a post, that's how CRAY-ZEE it was. Going here. Going there. Picking up this. Dropping them off. Taking this to her. Showing that to him. Making sure they weren't out of these. And so on. It was crazy, I tell ya, just crazy. (but in a good way)

For the last several months our life has been in serious ups and downs, not knowing what we're doing from one minute to the next.
Thankfully this week we've had some things happen and we feel like we're a little bit more stable. For a long time I have been carrying the weight of the house, and let me tell you, it's a lot of stress for one gal. It made me stay up many nights, worrying about the bills and keeping it all straight. Not to mention making sure that my work was on schedule and did I order that charm for her and who wanted Aquamarine instead of Tanzanite? ::sigh:: It was these sorts of things added to my load that caused me to have chicken-with-your-head-cut-off-syndrome. Yup. I had that. It's a horrible plite, I tell ya. Horrible. Walking around without a head. Phew. Messy stuff folks.

I'll let you in on all the news in the coming days but for now I just want to say that I'm feeling much better about life and where we are. You know what I'm saying? Have you ever felt lost in the middle of it all? I have. Not a fun place to be. While my work is sooo enjoyable and my customers (you) are delightful, I still have this whole other life that has to be tended to.... family, friends, house, laundry... I'm glad things are looking up.

This Saturday is Jeff's birthday. He turns 41. I am not sure how he feels about this, but he wasn't so happy about it last year, turning the big 4-0. lol He was feeling old but I think that this year hasn't been too bad. :) After all, he's not old, and I think he's more handsome now than the day I married him.

He needs a cupcake! That will make him feel younger, because only young people eat cupcakes.

You all have a great day. I have some more earrings coming up and they're just beauties.

They're UP!

A little bit of Edward... (giggles)

A lovely black and white piece...

My faves...

* * *

Hello Everyone! They're all up! :) Enjoy looking around.

To see the rest of them... go here!

Sale page almost ready!

Hey, I've posted the photos but they are not yet connected to their pages. :) I'll have them linked in about an hour. :)

Oodles of goodness.

Okay folkies,

I'm working on editing and tomorrow morning, bright and early, I will get my children up for school, pack their lunches, feed my puppies (and Sallie and Kitty) change the loads of laundry, clean up the very messy-at-the-moment play room, send whatever dirty clothes I find in the bedrooms down the shoot (I love the shoot!) and then, THEN!! then I will finish editing the photos and list the items.

It is not my favorite thing to be "rushed" or "in a hurry". When I do I ALWAYS (!!!) make mistakes. Once, I tried to see how many earrings I could make in an hour and well, it wasn't as many as I'd have liked since I was trying to work too too quickly and ended up taking them apart and starting over. And, I'm realllly anal picky about my work so that kinda drives me bonkers. So, I can't be rushed.

Well, I'm going to bed now. Tired. It's 1a. Yikes. Sometimes in the very late hours like these, I'll hear a ding on my computer, my little messenger box telling me that someone is awake. It's always Moon since I don't have anyone else on my messenger box. We're very random. Cracks me up. There were two things we briefly discussed tonight and one was this and the other was this. Except the last one, the fabric? It's no longer available because I bought it. She knew I was looking for good birdy fabric to make some pillows with, and that birdy fabric is exactly my style. Oodles of goodness can be found on Etsy.

Have a good night...a nice morning...and I'll see you soon with bunches of earrings and a few bracelets.

Blowout Sale!

Okay people!

I've been working on some new bracelets and earrings, and will be posting them tomorrow (not sure what time). I still need to build the pages... but I will let you know via email and blog post as to when they'll be UP!

For all of you newbies, this will be your chance to get something at a great price. So definitely check back!

The boys in my house {are hilarious)

There are four boys in my house. They are making a lot of noise. All while playing a game. I thought it was SO funny, listening to them, that I decided to type (very quickly) their conversation. All of the sentences were flying from four different mouths, so it was tricky but funny nonetheless. It went like this...

dude, so not cool

you're using a machine gun!!

there's the chopper!!!

where are the controls??

I'M NOT TELLING YOU!!!

I am NOT playing.

I just want to WATCH!!!! I don't know HOW!!!

someone tell me how to use the controls, PLEASE!

that is SO not fair. go to the marines.

i never win this game! ARGH.

you weren't even going to play!!!

next time you play, i'm going to change the math.

flashback. change the position.

oh man. i think i'm dead.

man.

B is the crouch. use B.

that's sprinting. you don't want that.

who helps you when you're in a fight?

Santa Clause!!!!

PRESS B!!!!

nathaniel. press B!!!!!!!!!

oh man. dude. B. change class.

GOSH.

talk about assertive!!! sheesh.

i think you just died.

too bad.

let's start over.

* * *

LOL this is common at my house. :) I love it.

I do have earrings ready to put up, I'll keep you posted. :) Have a nice afternoon.

Giveaway Winner!!

Good morning! I'm putting the winner up a little early so I can get them mailed out with the rest of today's packages. :)

The winner is comment #10, Huguette E. !!!

Huguette E. said...
Beautiful earrings!! I'm looking forward to spending weekends in the country and the color of the leaves.

Thanks to all those who participated, I'll be putting my next giveaway up this Saturday. Definitely check back! :)

School's been great!

Our first day of school photo, above, is great! They were all so excited! And believe it or not, their schools are somewhat chilly with the air conditioning on (thank goodness!--growing up my school had window units and not all of them worked, so I'm glad my kids have central air!) so they like to have jackets to slip on.

Nathaniel is headed to middle school (shudder the thought) and so far, now that they've been in school a full week, he says, "it is awesome." I'm thrilled, but he's pretty easy, my boy. Hes in all the advanced classes and this is a good thing because he can help the girls with their homework. Yay!

Natalie is in fourth grade and so far she really enjoys it. Her teacher is a man this year (shocking! LOL!!). I remember when I was in the sixth grade and I had Mr. McNeel as my teacher (another man, lol) and it was a super year. The other kids had some woman who was really mean and they couldn't stand her, so I was happy to have Mr. McNeel. Anyway, Natalie says that her teacher is really funny and makes jokes a lot during the day (just like Jeff).

Nicole is in class with all her little girlfriends and she's looking forward to the third grade. She's pretty easy and makes friends quickly so I know she'll do just fine. I hope she enjoys her teacher, Nat had her last year and made some comments that she wasn't 'very nice' so let's hope she's nicer than last year. lol!

Nadine is our big first grader now and has grown by leaps and bounds this Summer. I haven't met her teacher yet, but she's a champion boxer and will possibly be in the 2012 Olympics. How cool is that?

Have a great day!

A Giveaway!

My giveaway for today!

All followers can play and you only need to leave me a message,
telling me what you're looking forward to this Fall?
By the way, you have until this evening to make a comment,
I will have a winner tomorrow morning.

If you are not yet a follower, sign up easily by clicking the "follow" box underneath my photo.

Comments Closed.
A winner will be announced at 9a. Good luck girls!

Parent Homework

On Monday, Nathaniel came home with a "Parent Assignment". At the top of the sheet it read, "in a million words or less, please tell me about your child." My homework was to write an essay about our son and turn it in on Friday. I finished early. I hope you like it.

He was almost two years old when I took him to the big park in Silver Spring, Maryland, twenty minutes outside of Washington, D.C. Me, with my very pregnant belly, awaiting his little sister Natalie to arrive, and making an addition to our small, but extremely happy family. My little boy holding my hand and giggling about all the things we would do at the park. I asked him if he wanted to play in the sandbox, "ohhh yes!!" he exclaimed in his tiny but strong voice. "I will dig with the shovel!" he says. As I managed my ever-growing body out of the van to get my little fella out of his car seat, he says that we "need to hurry Mommy!"

I lift him out of the car and he grabs a hold of my hand. We walk to the gate of the playground, looking to the sea of unknown faces and he breaks away, turns and looks and says to me, "Mommy! Look at all my friends."


Our Nathaniel, first born and only son. Or, as we like to call him, The Boy.

Nathaniel is generous with his time, caring of his friends, laughs easily, frightens little, has a willing spirit, can tell a great story, has a wonderful sense of humor, swims like a fish, is a roller-coaster fiend, an avid book reader, finds joy in the simple things, can make the best of any situation, gives his attention to a younger sister in need but most of all... he is kind beyond measure.

That little boy, with shovel in hand and covered in dirt, slipped through our fingers so quickly, but how he has grown into such a wonderful young man. Even with the disability of having three younger sisters to contend with, he still manages to be kind to them--most of the time (and let me tell you, those girls can push buttons). He has friends galore and is a social animal, having friends over to spend the night nearly every weekend or being invited to their homes. Nathaniel has discovered Facebook and Gmail chat, but he would much rather be outside with the sun on his face. We are proud that he enjoys so many things in life and is willing to try anything new.

As parents we are pretty laid back and try to take it all in stride, this might have something to do with the fact we have four kids. We have tried to instill this in our children too, that it's not the end of the world if you forget your homework from time to time. After all, you're young and while we want you to be responsible, we know that you are human and all humans make mistakes. However, Nathaniel tends to be much harder on himself than we ever could be when it comes to school work, and that's probably why we rarely say anything or reprimand about a lower grade or missed assignment. While he loves to learn, we do not push him to be an Ivy Leaguer. He enjoys sports but it isn't our goal as parents for him to win scholarships and achieve Olympic medals. We want him to be happy and find the joy that life can bring, and if that means Ivy League and Olympic medals...then fine, but it's up to him, we do not push.

When we came back from the park that day so long ago, after being with all his "friends", friends he had never met before... I asked him what he liked best about the afternoon. He was as sweet as can be and said he liked being with me the most. I am thankful that he still likes to hang with his Mom and Dad, and I hope it always stays that way. Our boy is one of the best things about our family and we adore him endlessly...long hair and all.

Earrings giveaway!

Hello! How are you? I'm doing great! :) Busy.

I just wanted to let you know that I would be doing my earrings giveaway tomorrow. I'll post a photo of what you're going to win later. They're green, that's all I will tell you.

Also, I know there are emails I need to return! I will get to it as soon as I can, but I have some errands I need to run and then wash/clean/string the rest of my day and tonight I have a Girl Scouts meeting. Busy! Today!

Last night's torching time was fantastic and none of my beads cracked (which can happen sometimes with the various frits I use) so I was thrilled about that. :)

You all have a great day and I'll yack atcha later!

(don't you love cupcakes?!)

10% off Custom Orders

Hello everyone!

It is SO hot. I cannot stand it. YUCK!!! I ran some errands today and nearly melted. ick. I am in the mood for a cuppie but alas, I've started Weight Watchers so they're OUT for me for a while. Wha!!!

In the last month, I have become increasingly busy and have decided that after September 15th I will no longer take custom work. I will however, repeat work on my site, but I will no longer take on custom pieces for clients. It's just getting more difficult to meet the time-constraints as it usually takes me three to five weeks to complete a project.

So, if you're someone who wants a custom piece, you're going to want to get on the list before September 15th. I will take them one-at-a-time and once they're finished, that's it. It's something I have been thinking of for quite some time. I miss just making things that I want to make, or make a bracelet because I read a book or just because I am in the mood to make a certain color.

Last year around Christmastime, I was feverishly working right up until Christmas Eve and I vowed this year to not do that. I didn't get my Christmas tree up until two weeks before Christmas and in years past I put it up on Halloween! lol Not that I want to go back to THAT, but I would love to have it up by Thanksgiving.

Also, by not doing custom work, I'll be filling my shoppe with more things and they'll either be one-of-a-kinds or orders-available, and that will make a lot of you happy. Especially those of you who write me often to say that my shoppe is empty! lol (I am sorry! I'm working on it!)

So that's what's been on my mind. If you want to place a custom order I will do 10% off after we finalize all the details, etc. Thank you for being so patient with me and I look forward to a new phase for Laurie Gale Designs.

Have a great night! :)

Keeping up...

Hello!

This won't be long, because I'm in the middle of packing up boxes and waiting for my kiln to ramp up so I can complete the remaining bead orders. Trying to keep up has been FUN! :)

My weekend was quiet and nice, the kids had a great time at Grandma's. I will probably have photos this weekend. :)

What's new on the bead-front? Lots of things! I will soon have some new things for the shoppe, and I lots of earrings! So sign up for the mailing list if you want notified first. Also, I'm a little late for a Saturday giveaway, so I will do that on Wednesday. A lovely pair of dangly green earrings. All you need to do is sign up. :)

Have a great day!

Premio Meme Blog Award! For me!?

Oh my! Another blog award! I'm thrilled! Thank you, thank you Lanyardlady! I truly appreciate it! I will add some more of my favorite blogs soon. :)

Happy Sunday!

We pick the kids up today. Yesterday I was busy with this and that, more news later. :)

I hope you all have a lovely Sunday, it's really hot here so I will not be enjoying it that much. lol

We're off to church! See you later!

The Time Traveler's Wife - two thumbs up!

Today was a fun day! I went to see the Time Traveler's Wife with Missy and we both LOVED it. Then I drove to Dry Ridge and met my folks so they could have my kids for the weekend..so i could get some work finished. :) Yay!

The Time Traveler's Wife was really awesome. All of the changes they made to the movie were nicely done and even though I wasn't thrilled that they changed anything at all, I was glad that they kept with the spirit of the movie. Eric Bana sure is a cutie and I lurve Rachel McAdams. :) I'll be buying it, I think.

On our way to the movies, we passed a yard sale with two rockers. I quickly called Jeff and asked if he would mind to go look at them for me, which he did and called to say they were pretty good lookin' chairs. He bought both for $15 bucks. Score! I was thrilled and couldn't wait to get home so I could try them out. In the next week or two, I'll be painting them (red I think) and of course there will be photos!

Just wanted to drop in and say hello. :) I'll be back tomorrow with a giveaway for a follower, so be sure to sign up if you want to be included.

Have a great night.

Nicole turns eight! Say it isn't so...

Our Nicole turned eight today. I can hardly believe it. Out of all my children, she was the happiest baby. :) She rarely cried and was always happy to go anywhere. She hasn't really changed at all, she's still the "half is half full" and always looks on the bright side of things.

I have this picture of the girls when we were in Cumberland Falls last month, Nicole is throwing her arms back and just so happy to be there. I was thrilled to catch it on film (or should I say, "digital" ? lol). It's one of my favorite candid shots of the three of them.

She has lots of friends and is fun to be around. I love that about her. She doesn't know how to ride a bike (shocking, I know) because she's your every day Princess and is afraid that the bike will go too fast for her. She's not really afraid of falling, it's more about the speed. lol She likes tea sets, coloring pages, PET SOCIETY (on Facebook) and anything pink (smart girl!). She's our sweet Nicole. I have the pleasure of hearing that she looks a lot like me. :)

Tonight we went to her favorite place to eat (me too!), Chili's, and met up with Rich & Moon and the girls. We had a great time. :) Tomorrow the kids are all heading back to my folks' house so I can get some MUCH-NEEDED work accomplished. Yowza! So I know I said that I wouldn't work on weekends, but well, this is a must. I'm kinda stressin' out people and it's keeping me up at night. lol So... to catch up... I's a workin! :)

You all have a great day tomorrow and I'll see ya later.

Happy Birthday to my Sweet Nicole. I love you bunches!

Oh, a little of this and a little of that...

Hullo gals (although, if you've noticed my growing number of followers, you'll notice there's a cartoony face that says, "Laurie's Lover".... that's my honey being "funny". lol It IS funny, isn't it?! lol I love his humor...),

Okay... so on to the day. I'm so excited about it because my silver order is all sorted and I can begin mailing out all the Pandora-style beadies along with your other beauties that you ordered. Yay! I'm SO excited for all the packages to be delivered to your little fingers, that I can barely stand it. It's one of my great pleasures in life, to receive the emails after a box has been opened and to hear the squeals and giggles from afar. :) So, I will sit here patiently waiting for you, who've been so patiently waiting for your package to receive it! And for those of you who said you weren't in a rush and to "put me last"... many hugs thrown right back atcha! It's been a bit hairy around here and I LOVE IT!!!! NO COMPLAINTS from this plumpish gal!!! (wait. did i just say i was plumpish? oh, and in case you're wondering, yes indeedy, plumpish IS a word. ha! it is! i know you were thinking i totally made that up. nope. i did not.)

So... on my agenda for tomorrow? Well, it's kinda up in the air for some people, but for me, it's not. I'm rearranging my schedule and going to the movies at NOON to see The Time Traveler's Wife. Jeff has an engagement in the evening so I'll work then and the kids will probably want to rent a movie, have popcorn, all that jazz. Anyway, back to ME. I'm going with some friends to see the TTW and I'm just so excited about it! I'll certainly let you know how it goes. And, I think we'll be going to Panera beforehand...ahhhhh the joys of Panera. I can just taste it now. Yummers.

Started Weight Watchers AGAIN. I feel like such a loser! I WILL SUCCEED. My mother called me the "three week wonder" and I'm guessing (and hoping) she's only referring to my ability to not lose weight and can only stick to a diet for three weeks. Well, I will have you know that last Fall when I did Weight Watchers I was on it for three months so she should, if anything, call me the three-MONTH wonder because I lost 23 pounds in three months. So there. However, I'm going on vacation in October (to Florida) and I do NOT want my big ol' rump showing up on facebook photos that friends decided to just "post for giggles". Yeah. Um. No. We won't be havin' none of that nonsense. lol So, Laurie is officially on Weight Watchers for three months however long it takes her to lose weight or three months.

Oh, before I forget, today is the last day for the Summer Splash price on Summer Goodness (normally $164.99 to $139.99 and free shipping). If you want one, better grab her up, because the price will go to it's regularly schedule programming tomorrow. I've never had her on sale before but thought it would be a nice way to end the Summer. :)

Enjoy your day! I will!

An Award? For me!?!!

A blog award? For me?! Really? Really really? Excellent!
Thank you Kristen!

I'm supposed to write five things I LOVE and link to ten others.
So, here goes.

1. I love my husband. He makes me laugh.
2. I love my children. They brighten my day.
3. I love my friends. They keep me sane.
4. I love audio books. They help me create.
5. I love cupcakes. Especially my Mother's.

Ten blogs that I adore.
1. Moon Ko Photography (i love her style)
2. Thrifty Decor Chick (i love her thriftiness)
3. A Soft Place To Land (i love her decor)
4. Twice Remembered (i love her kitchen)
5. Bakerella (i love her cuppies)
6. The Thrifty Chicks (i love their stuff!)
7. Today's Creative Blog (i love all of it)
8. Bits & Pieces (i love her pics)
9. A Daily Dose of Davis (i love her posts)

and last but not least... my big fave...
10. Bead Goodies (she always makes me laugh!!)

Okay, that's it. :) Enjoy your day!

FREEDOM.

Well poo. My dryer broke. Why!!? Why did my dryer break? Ugh. It's a known fact that I don't do well with appliances, especially dryers and washers. lol Maybe I don't buy the really expensive ones. lol UGH!! So, instead of buying another brand new one, Jeff has been scouring Craig's List for something used. I've never done this before, wish me luck. I hope to find something on the cheap side, that I can use for a while until I can afford to get something PINK GREAT. We did find one on CL that Jeff had planned to go get around 9a (because the woman told us not to call before that) and then when we call, at exactly 9a, she says that someone else is coming to look at it. Wha?? People. Very annoying. So, I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, Laurie won't be doing any laundry for a while. lol Bummers!

I'm still boxing today. Oh wow, so much stuff to load and get outa here. :) It's a good thing! I've been featured on some blogs of late, and it has been a wonderfully overwhelming response. :) Thank you to all my newbies!

So, on our way home from Cinci yesterday, Jack-Jack threw up all over me. Like really threw up all over me. My legs. My arms. On my neck. On my feet. All of it. ::sigh:: He doesn't do so well in the car. Boooo. Poor thing. I think I will be getting him some motion sickness pills for our next trip cuz I don't want to go through that again. It was gross. lol Claire on the other hand, did fine. lol She's a pistol, by the way, a real pistol! I'll see if Emily can take some pictures of them soon. Claire is getting so big. Jack-Jack hasn't grown in a couple months so I think he's done. He's pretty tiny and scrawny. I love him.

Okay. So. Can we all say FREEDOM? lol Say it with me. F R E E D O M. Ahhhh. Doesn't that sound nice? I know, it does to me too. Just hearing it fly off my tongue makes my mouth water in delight. :) Why? Because......my children are back in school!!!! lol YAY!!! The freedom is bliss. Sheer bliss. Lunches with friends. Maybe a movie. Grocery shopping in peace. Finishing an entire bracelet project in ONE sitting. Packing for the mailman and getting it ALL done. The joy is covering me all over now with warm fuzzies for children who are NOT making noise in my home or messes or fighting over stupid stuff or, or, or. It's FREEDOM baby!

Peace out and I'll catch up with ya's later!