Crack of dawn

OK, so maybe not exactly the crack of dawn, but I do have to be up and out very early tomorrow morning. Tickets for our dance studio's May recital go on sale at 9am and folks will be lining up starting around 5AM to be at the front of the line to purchase the best choice of seats. Not that there is a bad seat in the house (the local High School auditorium, or that I particularly care exactly where my seats are)...but my girl friends all want to get there at 6:30AM with lawn chairs, do a coffee and donut run and hang out. So I'm game. Darn that it's been beautiful and in the upper 70's this past week, but a cold front blew in today dropping the temps by 40 degrees. The weatherman is calling for a lovely high of 35 degrees at 7AM tomorrow. Yikes! Early and cold- not a good mix for this always freezing night owl. Should be a fun time, and I will hopefully get an aisle seat.

(There are 4 performances- cast A and cast B each doing 2 shows Mother's Day weekend. Teagan( 2 numbers) and I ( 1 number) dance in cast A. Piper (3 numbers)dances in cast B. We get comped 2 seats because they couldn't get our entire family in 1 show. It's going to be a bit crazy, but I love recital time!!))

Another recap of weeks gone by

I've been trying to keep up with the blog, but I'm obviously just not so good at it.

Ahhh, at least there is intention. That means that there is a possibility of fruition? I'm holding onto that thought.

So the recap...

On March 10 we celebrated two special birthdays. The two little girls who we have had the honor of sponsoring share a birthday. Gracie turned 2 and Melody turned 1. We bought a cake, sang "Happy Birthday" and blew horns and said prayers for our special birthday girls half a world away.



Then, that weekend I went to my big expo event. It was a very big success! Traffic was decent and sales were slow but steady. Not my best show, but I cleared the income figure I had set for myself. I average $400 a show, and since this was a 2 day event I mentally wanted to walk away with $800. After the booth rental and the credit card fees, I just cleared that figure. God provides!! It was my first show accepting credit cards on site and that was a good decision as 2/3 of my sales were paid for in that manner. I had tweaked my set up this time too and was very pleased with my results. My two new banners had just come in as well. I love the more professional appearance they give. My next show is May 1 at a local church.











This past weekend Paul was gone Fri/Sat helping run a Men's ministry conference an hour north. It was a glorious first day of spring and managed to hit 70 degrees. The girlies and I ran a few errands and found new sneakers (that glitter!!) on sale at O!d N@vy and used my coupon for an additional 30% off making them $7 a pair!! We then were headed to Rit@'s for icees and saw a huge crowd. Yikes!! Decided to brave the masses and was so excited to find that it was FREE icee day in honor of the first day of spring. Can't beat that! I had mango and the girlies had a (strange) blend of mango and Peeps (yes, the marshmallow coated in sugar chick concoction made into a flavored ice). Turned their teeth bright yellow! Wish I had my camera on hand for that.

Yesterday after church we headed downtown to the 25th annual Irish Festival. Piper really wanted to see the Irish dancers.



We also liked the pipers.



It was crazy crowded and Paul had to drop us off and continue to drive around looking for a place to park. We saw some dancers (but not the fancy ones we saw last year that she was hoping for) and enjoyed walking around. What a cast of characters we saw!! I don't believe that the girlies had ever seen so many tattoos in their lives.




On the way home we went to McD's for ice cream.



The girlies rocked out in the car on the way home to some worship music. Here they are playing air drums to Michael W. Smith's Prepare Ye The Way.



Oh how I'm going to try to stay more on top of posting!!

Heading on the road...

I have a 2 day event in Williamsburg, VA Friday/Saturday. It's a consignment sale and baby/ kid expo. I have a booth to sell my creations. I have been working around the clock (or so it seems) for the past month to create inventory. I have more items than I have ever had for a show before (I have also not done a two day show before). I took the day off tomorrow, prepared the girlies stuff so Dad can handle them this weekend, and have sewed until my fingers are raw.

I'm getting ready to head out. Have to see if I can squeeze the last of my stuff in my car. Times like these I wish I had considered a minivan! I'll be staying with my parents and my mom will be able to help me a bit at the booth. That will be great! I'll take lots of pictures and post when I get back Sunday evening.

Please keep me in your prayers. We really need for this to be a financial success for me. I was hopeful that this would be a homestudy fundraising event when I signed on in January, but it is not yet God's prefect timing. I have a goal in my mind and I know that God is fully capable of meeting that amount.

Gotta run...the road is calling!

a request

for prayer

Friends, we have had a lot on our plates, yet again, struggling with the burdens of a 100% commission job in this economy. Circumstances are dark and Paul is quite down on himself. February came and went with way too many snowy days of lost work. I am trying my best to point him to scripture and encourage the leader of our family. I have faith in our Savior's ability to provide and know that He is using this, and all situations, to grow us and mold us more in His image. Would you please pray for His provision, for the right words to pass my lips to encourage my husband, and for him to grasp firmly to His truth and not allow Satan to have the foothold he currently has.

Thank you.

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

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(can you see where this is going)

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clunk!

Random ramblings

(I know this is worthless without pictures, but they will have to wait...)

A catch up post

In the last week I have...

1) Gone to work 2 full and 1 half days thanks to all this snow and ice.

2) Made over 600 bows and clips for upcoming craft shows and cut all the fabric for some headbands and belts. The house is a giant mess of ribbon and clips and fabric in way too many places.

3) Refereed about as many squabbles between sisters stuck inside way too long.

4) Watched (that's the key word) the girlies run 2 and 2.5 miles at running club after school. They still had way too much energy!

5) Made some way cool (if I do say so myself) girly baby gifts for my college little little sister who's having her first child (a girl!!) in April and baby shower tomorrow (hope she can be dug out of the 4.5 feet of show she received to make the trip back to our college town for the shower!).

6) Went to Piper's school for the 1st grade Valentine's concert and watched her sing and say that what she loved most was having friends that came over and played with her and snuggling with her mommy!

7) Received a lot of chocolate and cute, heartfelt Valentine's Day cards from my preschool kiddos.

8)Read what I could and searched for info on the new C2A2 policy of no longer having agency SN individual lists. Saw mention of it on CAdoptTalk last night and then got an email from the China coordinator of the agency we'll most likely use today confirming the new policy. Wondering what this will mean?

We're off to a pizza party nighttime play date in a few minutes. Then I hope to sew a tutu onto a onesie as one last gift tonight. I bought the organza and the onesie and I have a vision in my head, but no real sewing expertise in this area, so we'll see what happens.

I also can't wait for the opening ceremonies of the Olympics tonight. We have antenna TV reception and NBC is hit or miss, so I'm really hopeful that it will come in clear for the events I want to be able to watch. I'm an Olympics nut. In 1988 I was really sick for a few days and my mom moved the 7 inch TV into my room and I watched the Calgary games non-stop. I became so addicted I feigned continued illness so I could miss more school and keep watching. I also go to spend 8 glorious days at the 1996 games in Atlanta. It was amazing and I really hope to be able to take the kids to an Olympics one day. Truly was an uplifting international camaraderie experience.

Snow!

The backyard.

We were the bulls eye of the weekend storm. Official total for our area of the county was 13 inches. My parents only ended up with 7 inches about an hour south of us. The Beach got 9-13. We're all dug out thanks to Paul. I stayed inside. I'm so totally not a cold weather kind of girl.


Paul grilling hamburgers.


Making snow angels.


Sledding.

I enjoyed the beautiful snow from inside at first. I put the zoom lens on my camera and got a few pictures. Then we were home another day, and another and it warmed up a bit and I ventured outside with the grilies and got some better pictures.


Piper in the snow.


Teagan's ice pop.


Working on our snowman.


It's stacked with help from our neighbor.


Girlies don't make snowmen- has to be a snow princess!

We are home again today. Just too many back roads and sidewalks and schools to be plowed to get the county operational again. We had sleet last night and a good dose of black ice this morning. We have done tons of crafts, baked cookies played games, read books. They are starting to get on each other's nerves at this point. And it looks like another dose of measurable snow is headed our was Friday and Saturday. Whoo Hoo!!