Resolutions for the New Year and Old

These pictures really have nothing to do with the post I'm writing but I know that there are some folks who check-in to this blog just for the pictures, so here are some recent ones from our Christmas shopping this year. (I have a stupid tight gift buying budget so I really don't "shop" like most people do, we just toured around to see the hub-bub)
Eric relaxing while Lily got her glitter "tattoo" at a craft show
Lily making a craft at Bass pro shops

Eric picked out what he wanted for Christmas at the Disney store and so Lily told Santa about it in her letter. He read that letter too! because now that little Buzz is in Eric's crib.
Now on to the post I wanted to write.....
Happy New Year! or should I say Happy Old Year (new year starts tomorrow). It is resolution time. I treat resolutions as year long goals. Each year I'm pretty good about keeping my resolutions. 2010 resolutions were:

• Get a tattoo
• run 100 miles
• double the pool fund

I didn't get the tattoo but I did accomplish the other two. I'm really sad about the tattoo one too because I'd been wanting it for ages. I have the design picked out, the money waiting but just haven't found a time when someone can go with me. I am too chicken to go solo.

2011 resolutions:

• get that tattoo!
• run 300 miles
• double the pool fund
• make 50 aprons
• make 50 softies
• finish writing my 40x40 list
• get dressed daily
• blog 1 x per week
  

running 100 miles this past year was really really easy so I figured I needed to up my goal. 300 miles is under 6 miles a week and since my regular workout includes at least a 2 mile run (usually 3 but when I'm feeling lazy... I do 2) and I typically work out at least 3 times a week, I even think that 300 will be easy. I just have to be consistent. When it comes to fitness, I believe that consistency is the key, so I'm happy with that goal.
Doubling the pool fund again this year is going to be hard, but at the rate that I've been saving, we'll pay off the house before getting a pool and by that time we'll be too old to swim in it! So, it must be done.
The sewing part is to keep me sane. I get all crazy right before a show trying to whip up the merchandise needed but this year, I'm gonna have inventory all year long. Both of the items I make are the kind of thing that really is seasonal and next holiday season, I plan to have the inventory to actually make a decent profit. or, that is the hope at least.
My 40 by 40 list is on facebook if you haven't already seen it, it is here. I only have 20 something things on it. Obviously I still have almost 5 years to actually DO the things on the list, but I'd like to at least have 40 things listed.
Being a work-at-home-mom has a tendency to allow you to slack a little on your own appearance if you are lazy. I do shower everyday though, I've talked to some moms that even let that slide! I find myself going from pajamas to workout clothes back to pajamas. No more. I actually started this one three days ago and feel more productive because of it. Everyday I have to get dressed. Maybe not shoes, but real clothes.
I write several blogs for the various things I do. This one is the family blog, but I have one for the Aprons, one for the Kids Creatures, one for the general sewing, one for Addicted to Rockabilly and also contribute to the Hollywood Craft Mafia blog. That is a LOT of blogs! My goal is to post on each one at least once a week.

fun pics from the park today

I love my new phone :)
pretty cool pics huh?

Busy busy, trying my best to get caught up

No time for a post, but finally uploaded a couple of videos today.
This one is of Lily's Harvest Show. It is the first performance she's ever had, of any kind. Ross and I are very proud parents. Proud of Eric too for behaving so well that we were able to watch it.
This video is of Eric enjoying his first lollipop. It was a couple of weeks ago and is pretty funny how he can't make up his mind if he wants to eat the lollipop or the carrot.

How was the Race?

Survivor recognition (pre-race)
Brendan & Shari & Me (above) Me & Nichole (below)

This awesome banner unfortunately is not for our team, but pretty cool none the less. You have to raise alot more money than our team does to get a tent, so there must be another Betty that is dearly missed as well.

This year's Race for the Cure was as meaningful and as powerful for me as any of the other years that I've done it. This year my team wasn't as active as last year and we didn't raise as much money as years past either. But, that didn't stop me... I still managed to get our team to the $1,000.00 goal. I've noticed that this age/stage of life is the busiest one for me and all my friends. Everyone is so busy with careers, kids and caring for their families and everything that it is hard for people to find the time for the extra stuff. So, most of my team did the "sleep-in" for the cure instead of the actual race.
Nichole came down from Saint Pete and refused to run so I walked with her instead of running solo. Of course, all of the survivors (they wear pink shirts & hats so that you know who they are) and the messages on everyone's backs always bring up powerful emotions but this year we witnessed something that brought Nichole and I both to tears instantly. Here is what we saw...
About half-way through the course there is a place where you turn around and go back the way you came, but on the other side of the street. This is a fun spot because as you are coming up you can see the people who are really racing and you can cheer them on, and as you are passing back, you can see how many thousands and thousands of folks really participate in this thing! Well, Nichole and I were on the second part and I noticed a group of people in the median of this road holding big handmade signs and banners. The signs said things like "we are supporting you mom" and "you can do this, we are so proud of you". There was a man, maybe 40s, an older couple and four young children, two in strollers, the older ones were holding the 'mom' signs. Then, as I was looking at them, a woman with a completely bald head in a pink shirt comes running up arms outstretched and into the group for big hugs. It was obvious that this woman was the one they were supporting.
What a powerful thing to witness.
There is usually something or someone that really stands out to me each time I do these races and each time it encourages me to keep this up. This was the 15th year of this race and my 9th time participating.
I can't wait until next year!
Oh, in case you were wondering... our time was 1 hour 30 seconds.

Some pics for ya

Big sister, big helper

Lily has always loved being a big helper, and she really has embraced the role of big sister. Sometimes she helps a little too much. The flash on this photo actually made the sunscreen mess not look so bad, but she had him COVERED in sunscreen. The funny part was that he was being such a good boy sitting still while she did it. She was saying "hold still Eric, I have to make sure you are covered"

Eric and his birthday cake

I finally started to upload some of the videos from my camcorder. It takes awhile to upload them to youtube and the quality comes out very poor. I really don't know what I am doing wrong. These videos look great on my hard drive but terrible on youtube. This really bothers me because no one is going to want to stand around in my hot studio in order to see these videos on my computer, I need them to look good online!
Anyway, I've uploaded the one from our second attempt at getting Eric to eat his birthday cake back in July... it is HERE

Race for the Cure

It is that time of year again! I've been training very hard this year and am already race ready. But, my donation page is far from ready for this event. I have a check from my aunt on my fridge waiting to be delivered on race day, but my webpage hasn't gotten a single donation yet! Help me out folks ------->>>>>>>
The link is over there ---------->>>>>>
or, if you want to join my team and race with me http://bit.ly/bettysteam

Football season!

Lily said that she doesn't like when the noles get a touchdown. She said it gives her a fright.
Guess I need to control myself better if I want her to be a fan.

Lily sewing

Remember back when I wrote this post about how Lily made a plush creature for Grandad? Well, I told you that I had a video but I never got around to uploading it. So, here it is:


It is kinda poor quality because I didn't use my fancy new camcorder (batteries were dead) but used my regular point-n-shoot and it doesn't have a flash.

Dummy

Eric has the cutest little smile with the best little gap in his front teeth. You'd never know it though because all we ever see is this dummy.

First trip to the ER

Eric had his first trip to the ER today. He is fine. It was just me, overreacting.
He fell and hit his face on Lily's metal bed and busted his lip. There was alot of blood and I got scared. I thought that he had opened up the roof of his mouth too, but apparently it was just that there was alot of blood and I'm a wuss.
He is fine, they told me to give him some tylenol for the pain and that is it.
I feel kinda dumb and now that we are home, I'm worried for the bill.
I hate that money is so much the factor in things.
Last month we had to spend my entire month's salary on a diagnostic mammogram because I found a lump. Turns out it was nothing, but given my family history, I didn't want to take a chance. When they told me how much it was going to cost, if I didn't have the family history that I do, I wouldn't have gotten it done!
I am totally thankful that both mine and Eric's trips to the hospital weren't necessary, just sucks that it is going to be yet another year without a vacation because of it.

First day of School

I just dropped Lily off at her first day of Pre-K.
I'm a sobbing mess.
I worry so much about her because she is so shy. I remember how painful it is to be shy and in a new place. I wish I could better prepare her so that she doesn't feel that.
She is so cute because she was so excited for school that she woke up extra extra early and got herself dressed right away (even her shoes & socks!) and was eating breakfast by the time I woke up at 7:15. This is the same kids that will sleep past 9 if we let her.
The morning went all good, she was still excited and happy for school until we were ready to walk out the door. I gave her her bag and told her I wanted to take a picture and she started to cry. I asked her why and she said she was missing me. It was so hard for me not to burst into tears too but I knew I needed to calm her down and my tears wouldn't have helped.
In the car we listened to music real loud and sang along so she would cheer up. I went over some last minute things with her, (like making sure that she knew to ask to go to the bathroom if she needed to rather than trying to hold it) and asked her if she remembered her teacher's names. She responded with this meek little whisper. I'm absolutely positive that she will not utter a word to anyone today.
She was really tough when we got to the classroom. She didn't cry but she was wringing her hands and holding her head down. After I signed her in, I peeked back in the room and she wasn't crying, but she was just standing around all alone in the middle, not playing or anything. I know that this is going to help her with her shyness, but watching it, knowing how hard it is for her is just so painful.
I'm excited to hear all about her day this afternoon.
So right now the house is quiet with just me and Eric, I'm gonna go try and teach him to talk to fix that problem.

(If you want a copy of either of these pictures, just email me for a copy rather than copying them from here, I blacked out the name of her school from her shirt to be web-safe)

For Sale: Sold to Grandad

Lately I've been making these stuffed animals called Bed Fellows. I sell them online and have been getting them into some local shops and have a show next month. So, basically, I've been cranking these out.
I make them by embroidering the faces first. Lily watches and pays very close attention. She made one the other day and sold it to me for $4.50. My dad heard about this and commissioned her to make one for him. I use a disappearing ink marker to draw out the face before I stitch it. Lily did the exact same thing. I stitched one of the eyes for her because she refused to go to bed until it was finished and I can sew faster than her.
The next step is to stitch the faces onto either fur or fleece. I've got a video of this too.. just haven't charged the camera enough to upload it (oops). She is a fabulous stitcher. She totally flew solo on this.
I used to make her only stitch using the handwheel because I was afraid that she would sew her fingers. She has been obsessed with sewing for so long that I gave up and let her use the foot pedal. She isn't tall enough to sit in the chair and reach the pedal, so we have to use a box for an extension.


The next steps I didn't get pictures. I take the fabric that has a face on it and draw a shape with legs on the backside then sandwich it to another piece of fabric and sew it up. Lily did this herself also. My bed fellows don't have arms but Lily drew arms on hers. But, when she was sewing, she forgot to go on the outside and sewed over her armholes.
She turned it out herself. I had to help with getting the feet completely out.

She stuffed it and stitched up the hole by hand. Even tied the knot! This is the finished product.
Lily watches everything... she insisted on taking the photos of her creature herself. I took the one above, she took the one below.

The one she made for me, she set the price herself at $4.50, so I asked her how much Grandad was going to have to pay for this one and she casually said 20. I asked "20 what?"
"20 dollars" she said.
I laughed and asked her what she would say if Grandad thought that was too much and she said "well, he is just gonna have to save up"

I'm so proud.

oops...

I just logged in here to put up a post about the project Lily and I have been working on and realized that I never posted about Eric's birthday!

I'm a terrible mom.

no, I don't really believe that, I'm just too much of a busy body.

We had a great BBQ and everyone had a great time. Everyone but Eric that is.

Eric was annoyed with all the people in the house and spent the entire time in his highchair. I've discovered that he feels safe there and unless I was holding him or he was in his chair, he screamed. He didn't even eat his cake!

I have pictures and even video but they are on the other computer and I haven't edited them so I'll have to post later. Hopefully sometime before Christmas. ;)

Lily's Birthday Party

Lily's birthday is only a few days before one of my good friend's daughter's birthday so we usually have to coordinate not to have our kid's parties on the same day. This year we decided to just combine the parties. This turned out so well for me. I never could have thrown such an awesome party on my own. Christine and I threw a tea party for the girls. We searched thrift stores for real tea pots and tea cups and surprisingly only broke one!
We had over 70 people attend the party and it was such good fun.
We used Lily's old curtains for table coverings, Christine's camp canopy for shade, and borrowed small table from all the neighbors & friends.
Lucky for us, Christine and her husband are almost finished with their new masters suite addition to their house so they had a big empty room that we could use as our costume closet. We collected up costumes and dress up stuff from friends and neighbors and set up a wonderland of dress up stuff.
We also borrowed a friend's teenage neighbor to run our nailpolish and makeup station (This the is the other Birthday girl, Freya getting her nails painted)
We also roped Christine's 19 year old nephew to do character face painting
There was a pinata too but I didn't get pics of that, only videos that all turned out poorly.
We had two separate cakes for the girls. I made Lily's Barbie cake and Christine made Freya's birthday present cake.
The costumes were so funny, some kids got into it way more than others. Lily was excited about the costumes the day before while we were setting up and the day after when we were cleaning up, but maybe it was just too much for her because most of the day she didn't put on costumes at all. She put on the bug suit for a little bit at the end because you know... pirates always wear bug suits.

Lily's 4th Birthday

Lily picks out her own clothes, I guess she wanted to wear something extra special for her birthday. Unlike her brother who does not enjoy wearing clothes

We decided to have a picnic lunch at the beach so on the way, we stopped at the convenience store for her first ever pack of gum. My mom didn't allow us to chew gum until we were 4, so I just used that as the timeline for my kids too. It was really funny because I think I stressed the 'don't swallow it' a little too much because she was even afraid to swallow her saliva. I had to re-describe it to her telling her it was ok to swallow the sweet taste, but not to swallow the actual gum. She will chew it for a minute, maybe two then spit it out and get another piece. She went through this whole pack in a day & a half.
Grandad got her the whole collection of toys from Toy Story so I let her write her name on the feet like Andy did in the movie.
These toys were the hit of the day for sure. She has slept with Andy and Jesse every night. For some reason, Bullseye has become the designated bathtub toy and poor Buzz Lightyear... she won't sleep with him because she says he makes too much noise for bed.



Luckily there are enough of them that it is ok for Eric to play too. They have now gotten to the age of fighting over toys.
I'm thoroughly disappointed in the toy that Ross & I got for her. We bought her a sewing machine. She has been talking about getting a sewing machine for months and months and Singer makes a child version with a safety cage over the needle so that is what we got her. It turned out terrible. This sewing machine is complete garbage. It won't even work enough for Lily to sew one seam! She was so happy and we got her her own little pink sewing kit with all the tools and everything. She measured and cut out her own fabric and the damn machine would break. I'd get out the screwdriver, spend 20 minutes fixing it. She would sew again, and it would break again before finishing the line. It is pathetic. I am an experienced sewing, standing over her, watching everything ... she did everything right but the stupid piece of garbage machine just doesn't work. So, of course, now she has completely lost interest in sewing.
I truly wasn't trying to push my love of sewing on her, she wanted to do it. But the thing that makes me so angry, is that any kid who has any interest in sewing and gets this machine, will no longer have an interest in sewing. It is sad really. Singer should be ashamed to put their name on this hunk of junk.
sorry, back to the good stuff...
For dinner, Lily chose to go to Chick-Fil-A. The Round-up gang got to go too. We didn't do cake on her birthday because she was having a party a few days later. We just had ice cream with Dinner.
Next post.... the PARTY!

Fun with Balloons

Last night was the Etsy Craft party and I brought home a couple of balloons. Entertainment for the whole morning. This video may make you a little dizzy watching crazy Lily but Eric at the end is really worth it.

Our child won't eat

I distinctly remember sitting alone at the kitchen table in Corpus Christi Texas with a plate of cold spaghetti and a cup of warm milk while the rest of the family was off watching my favorite show Magnum P.I. in the living room.
Now, I am doing the same torture to my child.
Lily won't eat. Won't eat breakfast. Won't eat lunch. Won't eat dinner.
It is now a common occurrence around here for Ross, Eric and I to be playing in the yard or in the back rooms while Lily sits at the dinner table with a plate of cold food.
I really don't know what else to do other than giving her a diet that consists completely of cheez-its and apple juice.

Eric Walking video

First Steps

Although he has been trying for a few days now, We are claiming today the day Eric has taken his first steps. I was in the kitchen, and Eric & Lily were just around the corner in the pool room. Lily starts saying "look Mommy... Eric is trying to walk!" and I peeked around the corner and there he was standing with the cutest grin on his face. It was like he was saying 'Look at me! I can do this!'
I watched him take 6 steps.
Lily and I spent the rest of the day counting his steps. Most times he would do between 3 and 5 before sitting down or just lunging into something.
We tried and tried to get a video, but it is pretty hard to do because we don't have a video camera, just the point-n-shoot camera with a video option, so this is the best we got...

I thought this one was cute too, even though he isn't walking, it does show how balanced he is in pushing things.

Aunt Linda came to visit

Tuesday Aunt Linda came down to visit for a couple of days. We really enjoyed the visit and hated to see her go. She showed up on Tuesday around lunch time and took me & the kids out to eat at our favorite restaurant Shenanigans.
Aunt Linda read books to Lily during quiet time. I peeked in to check on them and Aunt Linda was napping (and snoring) and Lily was laying down on the other side of the couch going "haw.... shhhhh... haw.... shhhhh" pretending to nap with her. Then, after nap time we totally forgot that Lily was supposed to be at Soccer practice and went to the park downtown.
Since Eric was so good on the playground, Aunt Linda treated us to fancy chocolates at Kilwin's. They gave Lily a taste of their ice cream and asked if Eric wanted some too. I'm not sure if he had ever tasted ice cream before, but we said "Why not?" and he LOVED it. Got angry that we didn't have more for him.
Ross had rugby practice so we let Aunt Linda in our our special dinner that we do when Ross isn't home.... SCALLOPS! Ross is super allergic, and Lily and I love them, so that is what we do when he isn't home for dinner.
Tuesday we had a packed day. We took a picnic lunch to the beach and played in the sprinkler park. After the afternoon nap we went to Ikea. Aunt Linda bought me new curtain rods and a towel rack for the patio.
After Ikea we went back to the beach where we met Ross for dinner. We went to a new restaurant Vedu's that we had been wanting to try. It was a good choice because we had a great view of the water and the food was fantastic. Even the kids enjoyed it because Lily got a free Spongebob icecream treat after and Eric got to crawl around all over the broadwalk.
She left this morning and Lily said that she wanted to go with her :(