Livy Marie

The Sims Dancers

2009-10-02T23:34:00.003-04:00

This is a daily occurrence at our house... the girls dancing! Even Maria knows how to work the CD player. She will put on her favorite songs and just dance and sing. They often get together and make up dances to put on shows for the rest of us! What I love about it most is that they do it to Christian music, it is their favorite genre of music! Okay, sometime they dance to Rascal Flat or Taylor Swift or Barbie, but mostly to praise music! We listen to 104.9 in the car (Christian station) so they hear a lot of the same songs and you will often hear them singing! The best is that we sing those same songs at Church and I will often hear Olivia, Maria or Anna singing their hearts out! That is when I feel especially close to Christ!

Maria

2009-09-30T08:32:00.003-04:00

Maria loves horses... these are two of her favorite foals at the barn... Ariel and Penny.

She was the first one ever to sit on this 5 month old foal! How exciting!

ANGEL! I love her curls, they are ringlets! Her hair hangs down to the middle of her back, but you would never know because it shrinks up with all the ringlets!

Big Girl - Maria grew up fast in order to keep up with her siblings! She was very dependent at an early age and quickly had to do everything by herself! She is even starting kindergarten this year, although she is only 4. She is very shy until you get her to warm up to you. Then she can talk your ear off! I love how when I take her on our tag a long bike that she sits behind me and talks the whole ride! She stayed at my dad's once and when he returned her, he mentioned how she jabbers a lot! She will fill you in on every detail of her life! Too cute! Here are some snap shots of her at dinner and cleaning up. Teach them young to take care of themselves, it is much easier on the mom and teaches them responsibility!

Favorite place to be... the barn (well maybe Dairy Queen would be her answer!).
Favorite food... corn on the cob
Favorite color... hot pink
Favorite TV show... Phineas and Ferb
Favorite Barbie movie... Thumbelina
Favorite music... Rascal Flatts

Update!

2009-09-16T08:25:00.004-04:00

Sorry it has been so long since I posted... busy getting school back in session!

I will at least post some pictures to tie you over until I get a few minutes to start writing again! I do have a lot of great things happening with Uppercase Living... so stay tune!

Of course we have been busy riding Bubba.... soon I will post pictures of our new horse we will be leasing!!

These photos were taken at my cousin's little girl's birthday party. Check out their flowers in their hair! TOO CUTE!

Maria, Shazia, Olivia and birthday girl... McKenna! The party was at the cutest candy store in Dublin! They had shelves filled with glass canisters containing every type of candy you can imagine. They had a lot of older candy too, which brought back a lot of memories!

Loved the curtains at the candy shop! I am thinking of duplicating them in my girls room! Someday!!!!

This is Anna. Her and her sisters played "runway model" one day. Alex spent a lot of time designing all their outfits (out of our dress up box) then they showed them off to Curt and I. We had to rate them and vote for our favorite! I believe Anna's lace dress was made from a table cloth! Alex took the pictures so that is why they are blurry. Anna still looks gorgeous even when she is a "blur"!

2009-08-14T07:54:00.003-04:00

Like most moms I am rarely in the photos that are taken. I do not like to be photographed mainly because of my weight (a picture reminds me how much weight I should lose... guilt) and because I am usually taking the photo. But here is one a friend sent me. It was taken at the Canal Winchester Relay for Life 2008. This is one of the years I was the chairman of it, so I am surprised that she got me to stay still long enough to pose.

Another reason I post this photo is because my hubby is in it. I love him so much and I am so blessed to have him. He just left this morning for a week long vacation with Curtis to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. A 15 hour trip to no man's land! Every year he goes camping with a few members of his family and this year they decided to take an adventure. Bill is always looking for an outdoor adventure! Last year he and Curt camped in the Everglades. This year they are on the North side of the states in a cabin in the woods. From crocs to bears! (Actually when they were in the everglades, they never saw one crocodile! We saw more nature from my dad's patio than they did in the everglades!). Just one more thing off his "bucket list". We are planning a trip to Colorado for next summer so that will take care of the West side of the states. He also took Curt and Alex to DC last March so technically he did the East coast as well. Hmmm... what have I done??? Nothing, but take care of the kids left behind! Oh well. My time will come... I believe I have a 40th coming up and maybe I will just take off by myself!

Buy Two Get One Free!

2009-08-11T08:03:00.000-04:00

Who does not like something FREE? In addition to the special I have going on right now, remember that Uppercase Living is offering buy two get one free until Sept. 10! Get your orders to me to take advantage of all these promotions and start expressing yourself throughout your home!

Uppercase Living Give Away!

2009-08-10T20:11:00.002-04:00

For the LOVE of Uppercase Living!

I LOVE Uppercase Living and I know you will too! So to help you get started in decorating your home with words that express who you are, I am giving away $25 gift certificate!

Here’s what you have to do -

1. Visit http://kls.uppercaseliving.net

2. Create an account or Log in

3. Look through the new Fall/Winter Online Catalog (seriously, you will fall in love!)

4. Post in the Comments what your most favorite item is!

5. This will close on September 10, 2009. I will draw a name from everyone who leaves a comment.

You want some EXTRAS? I always LOVE incentives!

If you want to host a catalog party, I will be more than happy to help you do this! I will mail you catalogs that you can pass around to your friends, co-workers, neighbors. This is a great and easy way to earn free products! Collect $200 in sales and I will give you a $5 gift certificate towards your order.

An easier way to receive free Uppercase Living products is to hold an OPEN HOUSE and invite all your friends and family to see how to express themselves throughout their homes! Like above if you collect $200 in sales, you will receive the $5 gift certificate or if you collect more than $400 in sales I will up it to a $10 gift certificate. That is in addition to all the free expressions and half off items you will earn!

There is NO better time to check out Uppercase Living! I guarantee you will love it as much as I do! If you would like an exciting way to earn extra money and take advantage of wonderful incentives, just ask me how you can become a demonstrator for only $99!

Questions? You can email me at bksims@wowway.com or leave a comment!

Uppercase Living products can warm your heart and make you smile!

glass blocks = cute gifts

2009-08-10T07:43:00.004-04:00

Uppercase Living now sells these great clear blocks! They are easy to decorate with your favorite expression and they snap apart for easy filling. You can even fill it with a small string of Christmas lights to create a night light or holiday display! Just think of all the possibilities for gift giving! Here are some ideas that other customers have come up with!

NEW Uppercase Living Catalog

2009-08-05T09:22:00.006-04:00

Get EXCITED.... I just received the new Uppercase Living catalog and it is AWESOME! New fonts, new colors, new expressions and new accessories!

From now until Sept. 9 you can buy two expressions and get ONE FREE! Check out my website http://kls.uppercaseliving.net and review the catalog on line! Want a catalog... I will be happy to get you one for $3 (my cost) or book a party and you can have one FREE plus a $5 coupon to use on your order!

Here is a preview....

Expressions can go right on the glass of picture frames. Uppercase Living offers a rectangle frame and new this year a square frame. They also sell extra glass inserts so you can change it throughout the year!

My niece is getting married and we are hoping to do this to her dance floor... too cool!

New... Uppercase Living sells these great glass blocks with holes in them! You can fill them with anything, lights, candy and even crayons! For Halloween you can fill it with candy corn and have a cute embellishment on the front! Or for Christmas you can fill it with peppermints and add an embellishment on the front plus the word Believe! How cute would that be?!

This took my breath away! It is HUGE but what an impact it makes on a hard to decorate space!

What do your walls say?

the Hike!

2009-08-04T08:05:00.003-04:00

First let me say that it is another gloomy day in OHIO! A thunderstorm just went through and we should get more rain later. I love thunderstorms, but I really want that 90* day that I talked about in the last post. SO I am pouting over the weather!

Yesterday was it was 83* which would be okay normally to go to the POOL, but with the temps getting down to 63* at night - the water is FREEZING! Really no big deal for my older kids, but I have to get into the water with my younger ones and I do not like freezing water. However, I am usually the one in it trying to persuade Maria and Livy to get in! Because the weather was not warm enough to go to the pool I got creative and we went hiking at Slate Run Metro Park. It was nice and sunny and I really needed some God appreciation time. You know the times where you are just in awe at His beauty! Well, nothing goes as planned. Instead of a peaceful walk through the woods, I ended up with girls clinging to my body! It turns out that Alex, my 14 y.o. has a phobia to spiders. A few years ago we were up at Marblehead trying to find a letterbox (don't know what that is? I will explain in a future post) and she was leading the way. Of course she was leading the way, she always has to be the one to beat out her brother in things. Well, she walked right into a giant spider web in between some trees and the giant spider that made the web ended up in her hair. After she was done freaking out and we managed to get it off her, she was scard for life! She use to be quite the camper and loved being out doors, but in the last few years I have noticed that desire has vanished. I thought it was just her age. After yesterday's walk, I now know that it has nothing to do with her age and being a girl, but that she is petrified of the possibility of walking into another spider web! She clung to me the whole 1 1/2 miles. In the beginning we were joking about it, but after a while I told her to deal with her fears and let go of me. She then had tears forming in her eyes and asked if we were all most our of the woods. I finally told her she could not hold onto me for about 1/4 of the last mile, and she walked directly behind me with a whimper in her breathing! Pathetic! Bill of course thinks it is all nonsense and that she is just being silly, but we will see whenever he gets her out to go for the next hike!

Finally got my cousins handbag done! Went to her house on Saturday for a big party to wish a dear friend goodbye as he is leaving for Iraq this week for 8 months. So I hurried and made a proto type to make sure I would not make a mistake on hers (the one on the bottom). I put a zipper in the proto type and it came out okay! Will be making more bags with zippers in the future! Both bags are made with Amy Butler fabric and it was so nice to work with. I do not make to many things with her fabric, only because so many other people do. But she does produce a high quality fabrics for a decent price! I love the way Michelle's bag turned out! She loved it too!

If you would like a bag like Michelle's let me know! Or customize your own! I will only be sewing them for the next two months then I will be taking off November and Dec. for the holidays!

What to do on a Gloomy Day

2009-07-30T08:15:00.004-04:00

Another gloomy day here in Ohio! The weather this summer has been terrible. I am still waiting for that 90* day where you have to be in water in order to be outside. We have been to the pool only a handful of times and the water is freezing. My little ones do not even want to go in it.

So what to do on a gloomy day? Yesterday we cleaned the house... well we picked up the house. Pretty bad when it takes you all day to just pick up! So today I better actually clean. A little dusting, vacuuming, and scrubbing should do the trick. I hope to get through it this morning so I can do some sewing this afternoon! My cousin is still waiting on her purse. I am going to see her Saturday so my goal is to get it done by then! Still not sure how I am going to get it not to sag in the middle... I will try a stiffer interfacing and hope that it is not to rough feeling in the end. I hate to ruin good Amy Butler fabric with bad interfacing!This is the bag that we are modeling my cousin's bag after. It is from PacoLupe one of my favorite purse designers on Etsy.com. This is a cute hipster I hope to whip up for my cousin as well. We'll see!

Before the sewing though, I am determined to play a game with the kiddos. I use to have a neighbor that you would find often in her PJs sitting on the floor playing all sorts of games with her kids (and it would be noon)! She would let everything go whenever they asked to do something. Her house was not spotless and I am sure there were many things left undone, but her kids were happy and loved being with her! I took many lessons from her and learned to take time out for the kids. Lately with all that has happened this summer I feel like I have not done a good job just being with my kids. SO today is the day to do that! What about you.... is there someone you need to go and play cards with?

Have a good one!

more fair pictures

2009-07-29T08:10:00.002-04:00

Anna winning 5th place in "Egg in Spoon" contest.

Alex competing in flags - Bubba is not a contesting horse, but she had fun trying. It is always fun to try to go as fast as you can, scary but fun. I think she may of won a ribbon in this event because all the really fast horses dropped the flag (slow and steady wins the race!).

She looks so beautiful in her English riding attire and Bubba is just as beautiful! They make a good team! Should we buy him?

A long week at fair!!!!!!! Maria was actually only with us 2 days but it was very tiring sitting around all day waiting for them to show. I looked over and she was asleep! Maybe it was more boring than tiring for her. She actually loves horses and I think she will follow in the girls footsteps and become a rider.

So where do we go from here? Our lease on Bubba is about up. I might be able to renew it and continue on with the girls training on him. He is such a good horse. Everyone at fair loved him and wanted to ride him. I really trust my girls on him. He rarely gets spooked and has bonded a lot with Alex. His big advantage is his jumping... boy can he jump! Since this is Alex's thing, I think sticking with Bubba might be the best thing. The owner has offered for us to buy him for a VERY good price. But with that comes the vet bills, farrier bills, etc.. I do not think we are in a position to do any more than we are doing. We have also been offered a different horse. A friend has one that she is keeping at her barn and would like Alex to have it. She would help us out with the bills as long as we feed it. Sounds like a good deal, but that means leaving our trainer, and no indoor arena to train at. Plus the horse is a little "green" meaning he needs some work to be show quality. Alex is very intrigued to take on this horse and work with it, but I do not know if I trust her to jump him. So we will see where the world of horses take us. All I do know is that God has always provided opportunities within our budget for my girls to ride. I know he will continue to do so in the future... God is good!

Back to Business

2009-07-28T07:14:00.003-04:00

We are back from the county fair!

Let's make one thing clear.... I AM NOT A COUNTY GIRL! Never in a million years did I ever expect to be spending a week at the fair from sun up to sun down! I am a "city" girl or at least a suburban girl! Well, I did survive with only a few laughs from my fellow barn moms.

On July 17th we unloaded our "leased" horse into it's new home for the week. One thing was clear we did not have all the supplies needed to show for the week. Luckily we have great people in our 4H group who loaned us everything (wheel barrow, pitch fork, saddle rack, tack box, hooks, black hoof polish, spray paint (yes you paint the horses legs and polish it's hoofs black), riding gloves, etc.). But considering the horse is not really ours we did pretty good. It is amazing the STUFF you need to show a horse. Talk about some money tied up in a "recreational sport"! You can imagine the cost just to own the horse, but add all that other STUFF to it and it is quite the investment. Some of the mom's work one or two jobs just to pay for the horse! SAD. I am lucky to have a daughter who knows our limitations and respects what we can do. She is very appreciative to be given the chance to lease a horse and show it.

So Alex and Anna spent the rest of the week showing in all different classes, from your typical equitation classes to your fun "ride a buck" classes. Alex pretty much did all English classes she could, where Anna stuck to just the simple fun classes. They both came home with lots of ribbons to be proud of. Alex also participated in Musical Freestyle, which is where the rider puts together a routine to music. If you ever want to come watch a horse show this is the one! It is amazing the costumes these kids come up with and it is very entertaining. Alex put her routine to Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock'n Roll". It really got the crowd involved and singing! Got to love the oldie but goodie songs! She had a lot of skills packed into her routine including 3 jumps, which Bubba did great at! She competed against 3 others and one girls did the song "Mickey" (remember... "oh Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine, you blow my mind"). Who does not love that song. And her costume was Mickey mouse and her horse was dressed as Minnie! It was so adorable. I did not see her routine, but she did take first place and Alex took second. We were still very proud of her and a lot of people came up to her and told her she did great!

So we had a lot of fun and the girls made some new friends. But I am glad to be home and getting back to a normal routine. Now it is time to start planning for our school year!

Words of Encouragement

2009-07-28T07:11:00.001-04:00

Just loved my devotion for today so I thought I would share!

Take a Break!

Suggested Bible Reading

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you--you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today."

-Matthew 6:25-34 (NRSV)

Today's Scripture

The psalmist said to God, "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"

-Psalm 119:103 (NRSV)

THE honeybee is known for ceaseless labor. Its hive is a hotbed of activity. No wonder. A single worker bee makes 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime, and a good hive will produce 50 to 60 pounds of honey to survive the winter. The work never ends!

Still, it's a little known fact that even the hard-working honeybee will find a spot on the comb, cease all activity -- and do absolutely nothing for a while! Nothing productive as far as the world is concerned. But this time of refreshment and renewal is absolutely essential. Bees seem to require a little time away from the busyness of life, and it doesn't seem to hurt the hive at all.

Many of us discover that our levels of stress and anxiety rise because of the never-ending tasks that fill our days. We worry about whether we can keep up. During these moments I find it best to follow the example of the honeybee and just stop. After all, Jesus did the same thing. When he was very busy, he went up the mountain to pray -- to create a time and space for God to refresh his spirit. If Jesus needed such time, surely we do too.

Frank Ramirez (Pennsylvania, USA)

Prayer

Lord, we open our hearts to you. We stop to listen and learn from you. Amen.

Thought for the Day

I cannot make a moment of time, but I can give time back to God.

Shaving Cream - Keep out of reach of Children!

2009-07-10T07:51:00.003-04:00

this and that

2009-07-04T13:22:00.003-04:00

Lovin' the long weekend!

Started by having coffee at the local coffee house with my hubby! We finally were able to sit down for about an hour and just talk about this and that! Our lives have been so busy lately that it seems like we are strangers living in the same house. So we enjoyed out time together and got some much awaited business taken care of! Then we headed to our community garden to water our plot. I would take a picture of it, but it is pretty bad this year. With 3 kids in baseball Bill did not get it put in until late, then he did from seed (thought he would save us some money by not buying plants from a greenhouse) BIG MISTAKE! I told him it would take forever to grow the plants that way. He did start some inside out house in April, but did not care for them enough and they all died! So our garden is slowing growing, maybe in late September I will see some peppers and snap peas!

Then we had to run and get my van from the shop. In case I did not mention in an earlier post everything around me is breaking. When I got Alex home from the hospital the computer had a virus (turns out it had over 3000 viruses!) so it was at a friends getting fixed. Then that night my air conditioner stopped working. It was broke for about a week, of course it was the hottest week of the summer (that couldn't of happened when I was at the hospital?). Then my van started acting up! So we got that into the shop. Finally all 3 were fixed and life was getting back to normal.... or so I thought! The air conditioner acted up again and we had to get them back out here to check it out AGAIN. Then my van was not fixed after paying a TON of money for repairs. We decided the problem was bigger than originally thought so we took it to a Honda dealership and they got it working right... luckily it was all done under warranty! At least my computer has not had a problem since... so far! Oh ya, let's not forget my bodily injuries! Even I am broke!

I decided to take up jogging. Well this is something I have been wanting to do for a long time. On and off I have been trying to get in the habit of running. My goal is to run a 5K. So over labor day weekend Canal has a 5K that benefits the Relay For Life so this year I am determined to run it. The other night I headed out for an evening run. I expected to do a half mile jog then walk the other 2. Well I did not even make it to the end of my street when I felt my hip go. I had this injury in the spring and it took about a month to get rid of it. It is a pain in my upper pelvis/hip area. When I run it kills! It just hurts when I walk. So after doing research on it I learned that I have to take it easy for a few weeks and let it heal. Then try stretching more before I jog. I really wonder if I will ever be able to jog... I may have to stick to walking. Sorry Erika, my 5K jogging partner!

Well, I am off to enjoy some July 4th activities. We are getting together with another family with 4 kids to have a shaving creme fight and water wars. Then we will have a cookout and head up to our church to watch some fireworks. Sounds like a good day!

Here are some pics of Father's day at my brother's house. My sister in law was in town from Colorado with my niece and nephew. It was a wonderful day with my family! I am blessed!

My dad with his grandchildren and Mike and I. What a good looking group!

My dad holding his newest grandson, Tyson.

Sorry for the blurry pic but still a good one of Kathy and Ty!

Alex, Morgan and Ty

Zachary the baseball/football player! He is just a riot! This is what he wears to all of Kyles games. What is amazing is that he is only 2 and can throw the ball with tremedous accuracy!

Dip in the pond anyone?

2009-07-02T13:18:00.004-04:00

Mercedes fetching her ball in the pond! She loves to swim, except I think she gets water in her ears and has to constantly shake them! I always wanted a retriever that would swim!

Here is Olivia finally getting to fish with her Barbie fishing pole she got from daddy for her birthday in March.
I cannot think of a better way to spend a nice summer day than at a park with my family and dog!

New Livy Marie Bag

2009-07-01T08:53:00.003-04:00

For her birthday (in March) I told my cousin she could order a customized bag. We finally got around to picking some wonderful Amy Butler fabric and it is ready to go. Before creating it with that fabric, I thought I better do a sample first. Good thing because it needs some tweeking! Here is my sample. I love the look of it and the fabric combination is just right! What do you think Chelle?

I just do not like the way it sags when you carry it on your shoulder. The single strap purses tend to do this and because it is a wide short purse it is even worse. So if my dear sewing mentor who tends to read my blog (aka Trish) can give me some advise I would appreciate it! Do I need a stiffer interface? Do I need to put a hard bottom in it?

an eventful June

2009-06-30T08:03:00.004-04:00

It seems appropriate to post about June, since I last posted on the first day of June and I am now finally posting again on the last day of June. Of course we are always busy in June, but this year we had an unexpected event to rob us of 2 weeks of this wonderful month.

On June 6 my oldest daughter, Alex (14), ruptured her appendix and had to have it taken out. It is rather a long story and I am going to write it all down here, so that in the future I have a written account of it, which comes in handy when doing her scrapbook years from now! If you do not want to read the lengthy story then skip down to the bottom to see my June Uppercase Living creation.

On June 4 she complained of a cramp on the upper right side by her ribs. A few hours later she said she had a belly ache in addition to the cramp and that she just did not feel right. At that point I thought nothing of it, except she may have some sort of bug. It is easy to brush everything off on a "bug"! She had jumping lessons on her horse that night and when it was time for me to go to a meeting she said she did not want to go to her lessons. That sent red flags a flying! She had a few hours before the lesson, so I told her to come with me and we will see how she is doing. She did decide to go to the lesson, but called me after an hour or so to tell me to come and get her (mind you, I was in a middle of a Relay meeting that I was conducting so I did not go get her until 45 min. later!). By the time I got her home she started to throw up.

She was sick every hour until Friday, June 5 at noon. By this time I was concerned, especially about dehydration. She also said the cramp had moved from her chest to the lower right side below her belly button. But she would also sometimes say that it was all through her lower adomen. I got out the medical book that evening because the cramping had not gone away. Now at this point her pain was a 5 on a scale of 1-10. I asked her the pain level all the time and it never really got above a 6. So when we were looking at the medical books and I noticed she had all the symptoms of appendicitis, I ignored it based on the fact that she did not have high pain level nor did she have much of a fever. By this time I had figured it was the flu or some "bug" and possibly her period starting.

She slept with me that night and at 6am woke me up to tell me to call the doctor. After explaining to her that the doctor was not in until 9 so we would have to go to the emergency room, she said she would wait. The "cramp" was so bad that she could not get out of bed. I gave her two motrin and told her to rest some more. Within an hour she was up and said she felt much better. In fact she even had breakfast and sat downstairs watching TV. So I figured it was better and the rest of us went to Curt's ball game. She called me half way through the ball game and said that the pain was back and was worse than ever. OK I finally came to my senses and figured something major was wrong. I had a friend leave the ball game with me and come and check her out. He is an emergency nurse so he sees appendicidis cases all the time. After examining her, he said she had some of the signs my not all, but that we need to take her NOW to the ER. So I went and got Bill from the game (which of course was going into extra innings) and we headed to the ER. (Here is a GOD thing... our good friends who often watch our kids for us were at the ball fields so they could take Curt and the rest of them home and we did not have to worry about what to do with the other 4!).

So we got her right in at the ER. Well right into a room. There we waited and waited and waited. Now mind you, doctors and residents and students of all types came and checked her out, but none of them did anything for her or ordered any testing. Finally the surgeon came in and ordered her to get a ultrasound done. By now her pain level is a 6-7 (still not excrutiating like you would think). The ultrasound was terrible. Imagine having someone push on your belly so much when it is irritated. Alex said later that it did not hurt that much, but she cried through the whole thing... because of the anxiety of what was going to happen! After doing an adominal ultra sound, they were expecting to do a pelvic ultrasound. The technition told us to do this they had to "blow up her abdomen" with carbon dioxide (I think) in order to do it. She said if the first ultrasound hurt the next one would be even worse. Then she left the room. Ok, NOT the thing to tell a 14 y.o. who is already upset and crying. We sat there for at least 20-25 min. waiting on her to come back and tell us the results. It seemed like hours, Alex was so upset! She finally came back and said they did not have to do the pelvic ultrasound, because her appendix had ruptured. So back to the ER we were taken (after waiting another 20 min. for a transport - which never came so the technition finally took us).

Finally Alex was given morphine for her pain and she slept comfortably! It is so hard to watch your children suffer and not be able to do anything but hold their hand and try to reassure them. They said she would be going to the O.R. soon. So we waited and waited and waited. Finally a doc. came in and I said shouldn't this be an emergency and she said "we have to wait until a room opens up." Hmmm what do they do when a trauma comes in and it is an emergency wait until a room opens up? I guess since it had ruptured it was not an emergency? No big deal... just millions of bacteria swimming throughout her body!

So transport finally comes and gets us to take us to O.R. or at least that is where I thought we were going. We ended up in a regular hospital room. I questioned why we were not in the O.R. and they said they were told to bring her there. So we waited. Finally a nurse comes in and saids I was right that she was not suppose to be there. The nurse herself takes us to O.R. quite quickly I might add. The O.R. was waiting and were not happy about the mistake. So they explain the procedure to me then took her away. That was the worse feeling ever. In the waiting room I prayed over and over that she would be ok. Bill had went to our friends house to tell the kids and make sure they were all set for a while. I had called my dad to let him know what was going on and he decided to come to the hospital that night to make sure she was ok. How sweet!

She went into surgery at 11pm and about 1 hour later I got a call in the waiting room from the surgeon that it was going to take longer because of some minor complications. Not something you want to hear. They were done at 1am and everything went fine. We got her settled in a room (the same one we went to before!) and she slept throught the night on heavy medications. My dad and Lin arrived at 2am to check on her. I mentioned this because Children's hospital in Columbus is not in the best area, in fact it can be pretty scarey to go there. My dad actually had a security guard escort him to a parking place and then to the enterance!

Bill and I stayed with her through the night and in the morning she was doing quite well. In fact they said that she would probably go home the next day since she was feeling fine and eating some. OK, I am no medical genius but the surgeon told me that she would be there for at least 5 days, so why are people changing there minds based on one day? They took her IV out.... big mistake! After about a half day she went down hill quickly. I am sure it is because her meds from the surgery were wearing off and then not being hydrated enough. She started getting fevers and feeling quite misserible! So they hooked her back up to the IV and changed her pain meds. After the surgery they had started her on her antibiotics and gave them to her 3 times a day. Her belly started to look quite puffy. The docs were concerned with this, but said they had to wait 5 days to do a scan of it, but if she did not spike a fever for 24 hours then she could go home instead. Well on hour 23 she spiked a fever. So on Thursday, June 11 they did a CT scan of her abdomen. That was quite interesting... like going into a space ship! At least it did not hurt her.

The CT scan showed that she had 2 absesses. After taking out the appendix they try to wash out all the bacteria from her body, but of course cannot get it all. What remains they hope will be fought off with the antidibiotics. Sometimes the bacteria form absesses and grow. One of Alex's were small and was by her hip the other was HUGE and started at her pelvis and ended at the top of her abdomen. SO they put tubes in them with little balls at the end of the tubes to collect the puss. They reassured us that the procedure to put tubes in was painless. Well, they were wrong. They cannot put you under for this procedure (or they choose not too) so they give you large amounts of drugs to make you sleep through it?! Well, they gave her the highest amount of childrens drugs they could give her and she said she still felt everything. She mentioned that they had to hold down her arms while they did it. She told me all this at 2am in the morning when she woke up from a nightmare about it! I was just as upset as she was to think that she had to go through that. I searched out the doctors that next day and told them that they were wrong that it was a painful procedure. The doctor that did it said she was out for most of it, but when he had to put the tube in she woke up from the pain, but it was not the whole hour she was in there. Made me feel a little better. But needless to say that doctor was not a favorite of Alex's.

So for the next 4 days we waited for the tubes to drain. She was getting better every day. She was losing weight though and did not eat much. In the end she lost 11 lbs. She weighed 111 lbs when she went in and only 100 when she left. She is 5'7" so you can imagine how much of a skeleton she looked like. Her eyes were also sunken and very dark. But at least she was eating some and getting out of bed on her own. The home nurses came in on Tuesday and taught me how to do all her meds at home. They brought me this huge box full of stuff... I became nurse mom! I only had to do if for 2 days thankfully! We finally got the last tube pulled out on Tuesday, June 16 and were discharged!

For the last week or so she has been recovering. She spends a lot of time on the couch watching TV and even doing a little reading (because I make her!). She has been out to the barn to see her horse only a few times. I am not sure about how she feels about being out there when she cannot ride, but I do know that she just does not want to do anything. I would not say that she is depressed, just "blah" about doing anything! She is starting to come out of it now that the end is near. We go to her doctors tomorrow, July 2 to see if they will release her to do physical activity. We are hoping that they say you can start where you left off before the "surgery" but reality is that she will have to only do lite activity. I actually think that she preferrs this anyways. I am sure she will be anxious about doing anything right away. That is the way it should be! Our county fair is in 18 days so hopefully she we be good to go by then!

So that is what has been keeping me busy in the month of June. Not the best way to start the summer, but we still have 2 months left!

I now have to concentrate on getting my Uppercase Living business going! (among getting our school year planned!) So here is a photo of my latest UL creation! Let me know if you want to do a show or just order something

Great Shots!

2009-06-01T10:18:00.003-04:00

Mercedes LUVS to play ball in the backyard, especially soccer! She can actually catch it with her front paws. This ball is deflated somewhat so she can grab onto it with her mouth and run! Once she gets it, she usually takes it to a shady spot and rest, until we come after her, then she is off again!

This was taken in our backyard crabapple tree. We have watched these baby robins growing for the last few weeks. They are getting so big for the next that they are sitting on top of each other. It will not be long before the mother pushes them out of the nest. I hope we get to see them fly! We have been out in the backyard a lot in the last few weeks, so we are driving the mother robin crazy! I even had to plant flowers under this nest and I was afraid she would come after me, but she kept her distance and just watched me.

God's beauty

2009-05-30T07:47:00.002-04:00

This is the most beautiful flower in the world! Well, at least that is my opinion! It is a certain type of peony... not sure which type, so if you do, please let me know. It is planted on the side of our house and is struggling to stay alive. You see, it is being pushed out by the ugliest Yucca plant. Every year I say I am going to dig the Yucca up and hope that the Peony will thrive more. Maybe this year I will actually do it. I had a friend who dug up her yucca and she said it was impossible to get it all and that it came back the following year better than ever. If you have any ideas on how to get rid of one, leave me a comment!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-29T06:14:00.003-04:00

I had the best Memorial day weekend! It started with a ball game for Curt on Saturday then Bill and I headed to Wal-mart to purchase flowers to plant around the yard and toys for summer time fun (basically some squirt guns and waterballoons). We also picked up some yummy food for cooking out.. the weather was perfect!

My niece Kristen and her boyfriend come over on Sunday and we had the best visit. She just graduated from Kent State and it was nice to catch up with what is going on in her life! We got out our HUGE water slide and the Sims water park was open! The kids had a ball! We ended the day with SMORES of course! Bill has this little fire pit he created in our back yard that is perfect for gathering the kids around and roasting those marshmallows. The kids were out til 9pm playing tag and making a ruckus! Just what Summer is all about!

Then on Monday I swore not to step foot in my van! I was not going anywhere! I spend all week taxiing everyone around and I needed a day off! We got the little girls bunkbeds set up in their room (which meant a lot of cleaning!), it was nice to cross that big job off my list! Then we spent the afternoon with my kids and Alex and her friends having a waterballoon fight! It was a lot of fun! Just what memorial day weekends should be like!

Happy 13th Birthday Curtis

2009-05-28T06:40:00.003-04:00

One day you turn around and your baby is all grown up... well sort of!

Still likes to goof around!

He is losing that boy look and turning into a young man. He is now 5'6" - almost as tall as me! (Alex still has an inch on him!)

This was last nights baseball game. He started pitching this season and is doing quite well. He struck out all 3 batters! Then he ended up sliding into home and scoring the winning run for his team!

Spring has Sprung!

2009-05-22T12:41:00.005-04:00

I cannot believe how long it has been since I posted last. Wow time really does fly by! I am actually having mega computer problems. So here is what has been happening in the glorious days of May. (spring is my favorite time - love it when God's beautiful creation comes alive!)

My precious baby, Maria. Her curls really start to SPRING when it gets hot!

Olivia at swim lessons. She improved so much! She actually dove off the diving board and swam to the edge all by herself! She even learned how to do free style and breath to the side. Maybe I will have a swimmer after all to follow in my footsteps.

Of course there were the horse shows. The last 3 pics were taken at the All American Youth Horse show at the Ohio State Fairgrounds. Alex showed in 4 classes in the very large coliseum. It was quite the experience for her and I was very proud of the way she road and jumped! Didn't place but still did well considering she has only ridden BUBBA for 4 months and was competing in the 14-18 age group!

This was taken at a fun show in Lancaster. Alex took home a few first places and had a lot of fun with all the girls at the barn!

This is typical of Mercedes. She loves to lay her head down on you. She is always coming up and placing her chin on my leg wanting affection. This time however, she was just resting on top of Olivia. I think they stayed like this for at least a half an hour!

The cutest bubble bee and butterfly ever! Maria, Olivia and Anna were in a play at church, called Noah Fluedde. All the kids at church were animals and the costumes were great. Anna was a horse of course! They did not have big parts in the play (adults played all the people) but the show was done exceptionally well and my girls had fun being a part of it!

I know no pictures of Curt. Well, it is baseball season so I will post some soon. Curt is doing great on his Indians rec. team. Bill is coaching Anna's softball team (quite the challenge since most have never played ball before). Both Curt and Anna pitch so it keeps me stressed! Olivia is playing Tball for the first time, that is always entertaining! She loves it though! Of course Alex spends 5 out of 7 days at the barn. So you can imagine what I do most of my days... drive kids around and watch them do all their activities. One day they will all be gone and I have no idea what we will do with all that spare time... except do it all over again with the grandkids!

Train up a child II....

2009-05-04T09:17:00.003-04:00

Ok, I have about had it will blogger.com!!!! I think it is time to switch to a new site! It posted my devotion without the devo!

I will try to post the devotion about training up a child again! The verse from Proverbs 22:6 (below) is one of my favorites, especially since I home school my 5 beautiful children! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! If you like this type of daily devotions sign up for it at Girlfriends in God !!

May 3-4, 2009
Being a Mom that Matters
Mary Southerland

Today's Truth
Proverbs 22:6 "Train children how to live right, and when they are old, they will not change" (NCV).

Friend To Friend

So much of who we are as women is rooted in the parent/child relationship. I believe that my role as a mother will greatly affect the kind of woman my daughter will become. I also believe that moms are the primary teachers in a child's life. Here are a few familiar and humorous truths taught by mothers:

Cleanliness: "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning!"

Religion: "You had better pray that will come out of the carpet."

Logic: "Because I said so, that's why."

Planning: "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

The circle of life: "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

Seriously, we live in a world that many times denies the importance of being a mom. I don't come to you as an expert. I simply want to be a successful mom. Well, actually, my credentials are impressive. I am the mother of two beautiful, brilliant children. We adopted our son, Jered, and our daughter, Danna, when they were only days old so I had nothing to do with their beauty or brilliance, but I do want to be the mom they need and deserve. The good news is that God wants the same thing. Being a parent is a holy calling from God and God never calls us to do a job without providing the power and the plan to do that job successfully. How can we be the moms that really matter?

Be a mom who loves God.

1 John 4:19 "We love, because God first loved us" (NCV).

We are incapable of loving our children like they were meant to be loved until we first love God! Motherhood at its best demands a thriving partnership with God! We cannot give unconditional love until we have experienced unconditional love! And God is the only source of that kind of love! We can do everything else right as a parent but if we don't begin with loving God - we will fail!

Be a mom who prays continually.

I Thessalonians 5:17 should every mother's commitment to her children. "Never stop praying" (ICB). It is never too late to start praying and it is always too early to stop.

Pray for God's plan -- not yours -- when praying for your children.
Pray that you will see your child like God sees your child.
Pray specifically for your child. For example, I often pray Proverbs 3:5-6 for our son, "Lord, I pray that Jered would trust in you with all his heart and will lean not unto his own understanding. I pray that in all his ways Jered will acknowledge you and that you will direct his paths." And for our daughter, I pray 1 Peter 5:7, "Lord, I pray that Danna would cast all her care upon you, because you care for her."

Prayer is an eternal gift we can give to our children, teaching them the importance of prayer and teaching them how to pray. I recently heard the story of a mother who had invited several people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," she answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

We began early to pray with our kids at bedtime. One night, out of the blue, our son, Jered, began to pray that his grandfather and his uncle would stop smoking. Since both had smoked for many years and neither was trying to quit, I didn't expect much. But our son did. Within the next year, both men suddenly quit smoking. I was totally amazed, but Jered acted like it was no big deal. When I questioned his response, he simply said, "Mom, you told me God answers prayer." I am convinced that if we pray for our children and with our children, it will change their lives and ours and give us insight that we can gain no other way.

Be a mom who gives time.

Proverbs 22:6 "Train children how to live right, and when they are old, they will not change" (NCV).

It takes time to be a mom, to know and to train your children. Every child comes with a set of characteristics already established by God. Our job is to identify those characteristics and then steer the child toward them. The original root word for "train" is the term for "the palate, the roof of the mouth, the gums". In the days of Solomon, a midwife would deliver the baby, dip her finger into the juice of crushed dates, reach into the mouth of the baby and massage the gums and palate to create a sense of taste and thirst. She would then give the child to the mother so the baby could nurse. Our job as mothers is to develop a thirst in our children for the right things. And that takes time.

There is a popular philosophy today that it doesn't matter the quantity of time that we spend with our kids as long as it is quality time. It does matter! Can a woman have it all - a home, a family, a career? I think she can. I'm just not sure she can have them all at the same time. There are seasons of life to which we must yield in order to be the mother God wants us to be. Time spent with children is never wasted! Every minute invested in your child is an eternal investment! Give your children the best of your time -- not the leftovers.

· Make weekly dates with your kids.

· Pull them out of school occasionally for a fun day.

· Have a meal together every day.

· Be involved in the things they enjoy.

In other words, be available! And just your physical presence is not enough. Our normal bedtime routine was to spend a few minutes with each child, talking about the day, praying together and then I would tuck them in for the night. When our daughter, Danna, was six-years-old, Dan was out of town and I was behind in studying for an upcoming retreat. I went in to Jered's room, completed the bedtime routine and he was asleep in minutes. However, when I went into Danna's room, and tried to speed things up, Danna refused to talk. When I asked her why, she cried out, "Mama, you're not here!" Confused and a little irritated, I responded, "Yes, I am! I am right here!" Her big brown eyes filled with tears as she drove the truth home, "But you're not really here on the inside." Be a mom who gives your children time.

Being a mom is the hardest job on earth and can bring out the best and the worst in you. I know being a mom requires great sacrifice and limitless energy, but to invest your time and best efforts into a child, to watch that child grow and develop, is to be part of the creative majesty of life itself. We're half the way there! Tomorrow, we will explore four more ways to be a mom that matters.

Let's Pray
Lord, thank You for giving me children. Help me to be the mom they deserve. I commit to constantly pray for each child and invest the best part of my time and life in them. Forgive me for allowing lesser things to take the place of my role as a mother and guide me to be a mom that really matters.

In Jesus' name,
Amen.

Now It's Your Turn
Are you growing in your life as a Christian? How?

Evaluate your schedule in light of the truth that the best part of your time goes to being a mom.
What changes do you need to make in your schedule?

What do you need to give up so you can spend more time with your children?

What specific needs are you praying for your children? Make a list and pray through that list daily.

Train up a child...

2009-05-04T09:13:00.002-04:00

This was my devotion from Girlfriends in God today. It really inspired me to be a better mom, who prays continually for her children and shows them God's love everyday! I hope you enjoy it too!

Alex & Bubba - Horse show 4/26/09

2009-04-28T08:56:00.003-04:00

Not just for the walls!

2009-04-27T08:13:00.002-04:00

Uppercase Living is not just for the walls... check out how others have used their expressions and designs!

The perfect way to jazz up a cute little bedside table!

This design gives this bathroom a little extra flair! Love it!

Imagine your name with the year you were married on your favorite mirror! You could even cluster it with your wedding pictures or pictures of your family!

Great inspirational message applied to one of our boards. You just have to paint it with craft paint, then apply your expression, add some ribbon and you have your own masterpiece that looks great in any room!

Okay, this one is on the walls, but I thought it was so beautiful! Remember you can create your own expressions by using the Uppercase Living My Expressions tool on line. You can actually create it in many different fonts and colors then see exactly what it looks like before you order it!

Now that I have inspired your creative side, let me know what you would like to create for your home using Uppercase Living vinyl expressions! Do these masterpieces excite you about the possibilities for your home decor? Would you like to earn lots of free expressions to display in your home? Then host an open house, just ask me how!

CROP 4 the CURE 2009

2009-04-25T12:59:00.003-04:00

We raised $2000 to help the American Cancer Society find a cure for cancer!
The 2009 Crop 4 the Cure was held on April 18 at the Canal Winchester High School. We had 54 ladies in attendance, who enjoyed 9 hours of scapbooking! It is always a lot of hard work to make this happen but it is always worth it when I see everyone having such a good time and so giving to a good cause!

This crop is to benefit the 4HOPE Relay For Life team (the national fundraiser for the American Cancer Society) and pictured above (the one not scrapping) is one of my team mates. She helped me in so many ways! I am very thankful to have such a wonderful person to help me during this chaotic day!

The raffle table! So many awesome prizes to give away every hour!

The FOOD! A free lunch is included with the registration fee. This year it was soup and salad, much of which was donated by Super Suppers of Canal Winchester! Thanks Connie!

This is the Scrapbookers Haven display. Carla does such cool lazer die cuts and it is always a popular place for the scrappers to shop!

This is Hillari Corey and myself in front of our Uppercase Living display. She is a wonderful "up line" and I look forward to working with her with my new business! Let me know if you want to book a party or become an awesome distributor like Hillari and me!

My friends who came all the way from North Canton (my home town). They had a great girls weekend away and I am glad they came to scrap!

Silent Auction items! This was a great year for the silent auction. I am really grateful to all the vendors who donated the merchandise for this auction. I think all the scrappers like to have some fun by bidding again and again. Plus knowing it all goes to the American Cancer Society makes everyone bid high! Do you see the big tote in the middle of the table (brown and pink)? It is a Livy Marie and is worth $42. Well, the bids kept going all the way to $72!!!!! I was in shock and very grateful to the winner for donating so much!

My two good friends that came all the way from Michigan to spend the day scrapping! They were a tremendous help in setting up and tearing down as well. Behind them is another terrific friend who lends a big hand! I am so grateful to all the wonderful friends God has blessed me with and I really appreciate their help in raising the much needed funds to find a cure!

It is not too late to help donate to this great cause! Remember every dollar helps us get one step closer to finding a cure! Go to www.relayforlife.org/canalwinchester to find out more information about the event and to join my team, 4HOPE. You can also make a donation from there as well!

Summer Inspiration

2009-04-23T11:36:00.002-04:00

Love this! If you do to, order your Uppercase Living Expression today and create this cute summer look!

Unusual Easter

2009-04-20T07:54:00.005-04:00

Glorious Easter! The day most Christians set aside to take time to reflect on our risen Savior. It is also the day that the secular society fills with Easter bunnies, candy and eggs. Both of which my family enjoys and have created many traditions around. The preparations for this wonderful holiday use to start weeks in advance. We would shop for the perfect Easter outfits to wear, including myself! Then I would pick up Easter treats making sure to include special gifts for each one of the kids. Sometimes we would have a neighborhood Easter egg hunt and include our resurrection eggs to help teach the Easter Story. Of course there is the coloring of eggs, which we do just for the fun of dipping eggs into dye, because only a few of us likes hard boiled eggs and none like egg salad! I know over the years we have developed these wonderful traditions that my kids will not forget and are made into family memories.

BUT this is how this year went....

We went to North Canton on Good Friday to celebrate not only Easter with my side of the family, but also my Grandmother's 99th birthday. What a great way to start the holiday! We took her to mass which was very special to her and I was surprised to see her keep up with all the kneeling and standing you had to do at this particular Catholic mass! She is amazing! We then went to my brothers house and spent the weekend together. It was very nice to relax with family!

We were just missing my brother Marc and his family. But my nephew Zach kept us all entertained as he threw every ball he could find and wrestled Olivia and Maria! HE IS ALL BOY... but oh so adorable!

So back in Columbus on Saturday I find myself scrambling around to make sure everyone has their Easter outfits ready! In the good ol' days I would of spent weeks before Easter, making sure everyone had something new and special to wear. I would even find matching hair bows and little hand bags or hats for the girls. Well, life with 5 kids does not go that way any more! We are so busy that the holidays kind of creep up on you! So luckily I had enough hand me down dresses for my little ones to choose from and tights to wear as well! The older kids just wore whatever they had. It makes me realize how silly it was that everything just had to be perfect when they were younger. I know I stressed over all those little details too! So although I long for those not so chaotic days, I am glad that I am too busy to worry over the little things!

So the Easter Bunny comes to our house on Sat. night and hides the kids baskets, like always. Early Sunday morning I get up and thought I would get breakfast cooking while the kids start to wake up. Well, after 15 minutes of the oven heating up, Bill comes down and discovers an Easter basket melting in our oven! Oooops! Luckily it was Curt's and he was a trooper about it! His chocolate bunny was mush and his plastic eggs were melted. But notice the candy dots where not even touched by the heat! Good ol' fashioned candy! There were sunglasses in the basket and they got warped. I felt terrible and after shedding a few tears, we laughed about it!

So off to church we went then we came home to the basic Easter dinner, ham, potatoes, corn, rolls, etc. After lunch was our traditional egg hunt outside, with Olivia finding all the money eggs! It was a nice family day. Towards the end of the day, it dawned on me we had not colored easter eggs, so we scrambled to get them done! No matter how old you are it is still fun to color eggs! Of course no one in my family like hard boiled eggs, so they still sit in my frig. Oh well, it is the fun tradition that counts!

I hope all of you had a blessed Easter holiday as well. If you have a funny story to share about it, leave me a comment!

Remember, Christ loves us so much he died for us! Praise be to GOD!

Uppercase Living

2009-04-12T14:24:00.009-04:00

Imagine having the ability to transform YOUR HOME with the POWER of words!

Imagine being able to EXPRESS what INSPIRES you on your walls!

Words can change our attitudes, influence our behavior, and ultimately inspire us to reach a little higher. Uppercase Living can help you embrace the power of words as well as add beauty to your home decor! We sell professional quality vinyl lettering in hundreds of ready to order expressions or you can design your own. They come in many colors and sizes and you can even get some for less than ten dollars! They are simple to apply to almost any surface.

My first design I ordered was one that Anna had picked out. It says to BE AN ORIGINAL. I purchased a bulletin board and applied some beautiful green scrapbook paper on it. I then applied my two colored design and jazzed it up with some gems I had ordered. The black frame makes a classy piece of art. All 5 of my kids are definitely ORIGINALS and I cannot wait to showcase some "original" photos of them on this beautiful board!

I loved making that project and cannot wait to "write all over my walls" with more great expressions. Bill and I cannot determine what we want where because there are so many great sayings that we would love to showcase in our home. It is so hard to choose from our favorite Bible verses, famous quotes, motivational words, and just some fun expressions!

Because I have such a love for this product I am excited to be selling it! I want to help others to be inspired and express themselves on their walls. Just this weekend I was at my sister in laws' and we walked around her home and discussed all the possibilities. It was endless! A saying to go above her family photos, one in her kitchen above her pantry, something fun in her laundry room, her son's name on his bedroom wall, a surfing expression for her kids bathroom, etc. It is so much fun to see how you can add a few words to a room and feel like you have added new decor without spending a lot!

If you too would like to transform your home with the power of words, book an open house today! I would be glad to help you and your friends discover the perfect expression for you! Check out my website and explore the possibilities for you http://kls.uppercaseliving.net

As I continue to create more projects I will post photos of them here. The following are from the catalog and can give you some ideas of what Uppercase Living has to offer you!

Update to add INSPIRATION!

2009-04-08T08:39:00.002-04:00

Be patient while I try to update this blog! I am trying a new template that blogspot offers, but it is not doing anything for me. IT IS NOT INSPIRING ME. So I am on the hunt for a new template to use. Since I have limited time to work on this, it could be a few days before I post again. Until then we will live with the green.

My next blog post will introduce to you my new inspiration! I told you before I go through hobbies like ...hmmm... my children go through cereal! This new inspiration is not a hobby however, but a business! I needed some way to help with the cost of a horse and I love this new product I am selling! SO stay tuned to find out how you too can be inspired everyday!

Friday Highlights

2009-04-03T08:24:00.002-04:00

Happy 99th Birthday lil' Gram!

My grandmother is the most fascinating and wonderful woman I have ever known. She has been through so much in almost a 100 years! She was born in 1910, lived through the depression and many wars. She lost her husband and her father in law in the same year, after taking care of them while they suffered from cancer. She then had to fight her own battle with cancer and she did it all very quietly, not letting to many people even know. Finally she had to see her daughter, my mom, lose her battle with cancer. No one wants to outlive their children. I know that pain still hurts her heart everyday.

She is a very independent woman. She is a woman of service, always giving of her time to others. In fact up into her late 80's she still continued to volunteer at Bingo night, helping count the money! She sewed at a nursing facility for many years, and we would joke that she was much older than most of the residents there! Yet she would drive a group of ladies down to the home and do her part even after her hands could only sew a button on. Is it no wonder that a woman who is so independent and giving still lives by herself?! That is right, at the age of 99 she is still living in her home alone! Yes, the years have caught up with her and her eye sight is not as good as it once was and she walks with a cane, but she still gets out now and then and lives her life. She still manages to get to church every week and out to dinner now and then.

When I ask her about her life and how lucky she is to live so long she said, "It has it's advantages and disadvantages. On one hand it is wonderful to see her children (2), grandchildren (4), and great grandchildren (11) grow up and experience life, but on the other hand, she has seen all her friends and some family pass on to heaven before her." I would imagine it is pretty lonely when all those people are gone and you only have a few loved ones left. One day she will be in heaven and there will be the biggest welcoming committee there to greet her! Until then I am glad she is still here being a part of my life. Love you lil'gram!

PRECIOUS

2009-03-31T08:58:00.002-04:00

Ok, I know you probably are getting sick of the post about horses, and I promise to do one about purses real soon, but I could not pass up this precious miracle of life!

A mare named Honey gave birth yesterday to an adorable baby foal named Ariel. Alex was in tears that she could not go out and see it last night (Mondays are a non-barn day) so we finally gave in and made it a family outing! It was worth the trip to see my little ones watching the foal in awe. How small it was compared to the mother, yet big for a baby animal! How long it's legs are and how miraculously could already walk around.

I asked Vicky why she had the halter on the foal already and she said that it is to get her use to having it on and being handled. Makes sense, she said she only leaves it on for a little while.

She looks just like her mommy!

Wiped out after all that nursing!

God's beauty!

Going for a RIDE!

2009-03-27T07:26:00.002-04:00

It is so hard to take pictures at the barn, but I did manage to snap a few of Maria and Anna on Big Ol' Bubba!

Maria loves horses! She has been anxiously waiting to ride Bubba for a few months. We finally had the opportunity to get her up on him. Alex actually had her trot him... she bounced so much that she almost fell off! She loved it of course!

It has been awhile since Anna has had any interest in riding. I was excited that she wanted to go out and ride a little. She is use to riding little Shelby, so I knew she would love to be high up on Bubba. What a difference ... she loved it! She is planning on showing Bubba a little at the county fair so she will start lessons soon. In the mean time Alex will help her out (I do not believe Anna likes her big sister telling her what to do, so we have to be careful with that!).

Bubba is such a great horse. He is not your typical show horse but is beautiful in his own way. I am excited for the girls to show him this show season! Alex is already starting to plan out what horse we can BUY for next year. She better get baby sitting and saving her pennies!

Oldies but Goodies!

2009-03-26T08:11:00.006-04:00

Just flipping back through some of my old pictures - these are some of my favorites!

My 5 little (ok, some are not so little) blessings!

NEW: Grab N Go

2009-03-24T17:32:00.002-04:00

Livy Marie Handbags introduces a new bag, the Grab N Go!

I have seen these types of bags everywhere... in the stores and in catalogs. So I figured I would add one to my line of bags. It is a very simple, no frills bag.

But it is REVERSIBLE!

How FUN is that?

This is the large Grab N Go and it can hold anything from your flip flops and towel to your gym shoes and water bottle!

This bag can also be used for a market bag! Take it to the store and use it for those couple of items you have to pick up! Go GREEN with the GRAB N GO!

This is a smaller size of the Grab N Go.

It is perfect for those little outings out to the park or to run to brunch with some friends!

Spring is here so order yourself a great spring bag!

The large is just $25 and the small is $20!

They are meant to hold just a few items for when you are one the run.

They are not interfaced like my other bags but are still very durable and OH SO CUTE!

Tyson Michael Braucher

2009-03-19T09:33:00.002-04:00

February 13, 2009 this beautiful baby boy was born to a wonderful mother. A mother who knew she could not take care of her new baby in the situation she was in. God gave her the courage and strength to make the decision to let someone else raise her beloved little boy. That someone else is my brother and his wife. They flew from Colorado to Ohio to adopt this little angel. They already have a 2 y.o. little girl named Maya that they adopted as well. Now they are blessed again with this wonderful gift of a baby boy! Adoption is an amazing thing! I am in awe at how woman find the strength to give up their babies to the care of some complete stranger. I also admire those who take the gifts and love them like their own! I am happy with my family of five children but if God ever decides that we should add to our family, I pray it is through adoption!

The Aunts admiring their new nephew!

There is no sweeter picture than this one! My 98 y.o. (soon to be 99) grandmother holding her new great grand baby! I just wish my mom was around to share in the JOY!

This got Bill's heart aching for another baby! He is such a baby lover! Of course Maria is all for having a baby in the house! If only she could change the diapers!

Kathy trying to juggle it all! Feeding the baby and balancing Maya on her lap! I wish we lived closer so I could help her out! It is hard to be a new mom when you are so far away from family. Kathy had to stay in Ohio for 3 weeks until all the papers cleared, so at least she had some family around to help out in the beginning. However, Marc had to go back to Colorado and leave his little ones behind. It was a hard time for the whole family, but now they are all together and adjusting well to their family of 4!

Praise God for this little blessing!

Happy 2nd birthday Mercedes!

2009-03-18T07:47:00.002-04:00

The Bubble Catching Dog! One of those moments of joy... discovering our dog loves to catch bubbles! I know it is not something that is profound, but it did have my kids and I laughing together! Sometimes that is worth the delay in our schooling! I treasure our times of pure laughter, even when it is at the expense of our DOG!

Check out those DUMBO ears! I love them! They are so velvety soft. They even flap when she is riding in the car and the wind from the window is blowing on her!

Great Bag for SPRING! I made this set for a customer... I hope she loves it!

2009-03-16T09:11:00.002-04:00

I have just gotten back from my Walk to Emmaus weekend! Words cannot express what I experienced the last 72 hours, it was truly a wonderful and awe inspiring event. I can say however, that I am a NEW PERSON! I am not surprised, after spending 72 hours with the Lord and wonderful Christian woman, it is no wonder that a person comes out of it renewed!

In future posts, I am sure that I may talk more about the experiences I had, but for today I am basking in God's glory and enjoying my 4th day.

May God bless anyone who is reading this and may you bless Him back by thanking Him for all He has done for you! I encourage you to find out more about the Walk to Emmaus and feel free to ask me about my experience and how you too can deepen your walk with Christ!

De Colores!

Lil Cupcake Party - part 4

2009-03-12T07:34:00.005-04:00

CUPCAKES!

YUM!

Everyone got their own bowl of icing - this is why! You cannot resist licking your fingers when there is icing on them!

McKenna concentrating so hard on icing her cupcake!

Drew, icing his cupcakes - notice Livy still licking her fingers!

After the icing we then gave them cupcake wrappers filled with different candies! Some where so precise on where all their candy went, others just piled it on! Some didn't even use half of their candy...what is wrong with them?! We ended up dumping a lot of candy in the trash can. Same goes for the icing. I thought they would use all the icing in their bowls, but they barely put a thin layer on their cupcake! It was the best icing too! It is Wilton's Butter creme icing from a box! We get it at Walmart in their wedding section. Bill usually makes his own icing, which is to die for, but this comes in a close second and is much easier!

Each one of them got to eat one cupcake and take the other two home. Notice Delaney's cupcake in the lower corner. She put dots of icing on it and them stuck sprinkles on them, she is a minimalist! Keeping it nice and tidy, just like her mom!

Rachel knew how to do it! She pretty much used every piece of candy we gave her! I really doubt her mom let her eat them!

Make a WISH!

I had been planning this party for weeks, so in my mind I knew exactly what to do and when to do it! Well, I missed one little detail... singing happy birthday and blowing out the candle! They were all off playing and it dawned on me! So I had them all come back to the table in order to do it! You cannot have a birthday without blowing out your candle and making a wish!

Lil Cupcake Party - part 3

2009-03-11T07:29:00.003-04:00

Games and Gifts

Pin the candle on the cupcake! Thanks to Alex for making this cute little cupcake for me! I added the sprinkles and hideous markers colors. She was quite mad that I ruined her masterpiece! I said it was for a bunch of 6 year olds and they would not care that they had "poop green" and "purply black" sprinkles on top of their cupcake!

"Hot Candle!" my version of Hot Potato, but we passed Livy's #6 birthday candle instead. The the kids were very concerned that I would lite it while they pass it!? The parents had a good time with that one and what I am teaching them!

Sprinkle Relay - we divided up into 2 teams and they had to carry "sprinkles" (aka - Mike and Ikes) from one bowl to another one by the spoonfuls! This was quite the challenge for those who thought they could pile up the "sprinkles" and hurry to the other end. Many ended up on the floor! Still was a lot of fun!

Marshmallow toss! The object is to get your marshmallow into the muffin tin. They got 3 marshmallows and the cups where numbered. We totaled up their scores and the highest score won the prize. Who knew marshmallows would bounce so much?! Most ended up on the floor. I lucked out and found pink marshmallows at Target, part of their Easter candy!

Livy wanted to open her gifts first, but I did manage to hold her off until after the games. She was very thankful to everyone who gave her such nice things! Notice the Livy Marie handbag - I will put it picture up on another blog. Also notice the barbie fishing pole and tackle box that her dad got her! She was so excited to have her own!

Love this picture of Maria! Her hair is getting so long and is keeping it's curls! She did well during her sister's birthday party, even though all the "hoop-la" was not for her. Although she is already making out her birthday list - which is not until December!

Lil Cupcake Party part 2

2009-03-10T13:03:00.005-04:00

Ok, I have no idea what happened to yesterday's blog... it really got butchered! It angers me that when I preview my post it looks great, but when you actually push the post button, something happens in cyber space and it gets all messed up. This blog is going to go through a major overhaul real soon... so stay tune!

Lil' Cupcake Party - part 2

The birthday girl modeling her new outfit that Nana and Grandpa sent from Florida!

The mantle decorated with streamers, tissue paper flowers and a birthday sign (made from my cricut too!).

The party table! Simple decorations but it looked so cute! The center pieces where tissue paper flowers that Anna had fun making. I use to make them as a kid and loved it as much as she did! You just fold two layers of tissue back in forth, like making a fan. Then twist a pipe cleaner around the center and gently pull apart the layers. I tried to keep the table clutter free, because when it was time to decorate the cupcakes it became full of candy!

I added die cut cupcakes to the pastel goodie bags (made from my cricut machine - I told Bill I would make it worth it's money! I use it more for things like this than for my scrapbooking!). The bags contain their aprons with cookbooks and wooden spoons, cupcake book markers, and a cupcake cup!
The centerpiece was simple tissue paper flowers! I use to love to make these when I was a kid, so I showed my ten year old, Anna, how to do and she loved making them too! You take two layers of tissue paper and fold them back and forth like making a fan. Then twist a pipe cleaner around the middle and gently pull apart the layers to create the flowers!

Lil Cupcake Party - part 1

2009-03-09T07:58:00.007-04:00

Sorry for the long delay in my blogging! I was busy getting ready for Olivia's 6th birthday! I have thrown some pretty elaborate birthday parties in the past for my older 3, so I thought it time for Olivia to have her own special party! Over the next few days I will post highlights of her "lil' cupcake" party!

THE INVITES

I made these cute little invites using my scrapbook papers and my cricut machine! The inside read:

Our "little" cupcake is turning 6!

Olivia is excited to celebrate her day,

Won't you come for games and play?

The icing is on all the cupcakes,

And they are here for you to decorate!

Please join us for some birthday fun,

the party is March 7 and starts at 1!

THE

APRONS

If you are going to be working in the kitchen decorating cupcakes, then you need an apron! I custom made 8 little aprons for all the party guest. I added a pocket to hold a spoon and small dessert cookbook. Then I personalized them with their initial on the pocket! They turned out so adorable! They are reversible too! I think we will be seeing these aprons worn outside the kitchen!

The six aprons that cordinated together! I think I may have to put these on etsy and see if I sell any!

We had one little boy coming to the party so we created this bbq apron for him! Actually this apron was made by my sister in law for Curt when he was much smaller! I just took off the pocket and added the initial! Nice and quick!

The guest modeling their aprons!

Zoology 101

2009-02-25T08:46:00.000-05:00

One of the joys of home schooling is knowing exactly what your kids are studying and learning it all right along with them. Well, sometimes that entails doing some not so nice experiments in science. My youngest 3 are doing a zoology study for science. Their current chapter was on rodents and what a better way to study rodents than to look at their skeletons! How can you do that at home.... well you dissect owl pellets of course! Now, let me clarify that owl pellets are not the owls poop, they are the owl's vomit! The owl swallows their prey and after the stomach acid takes what it needs it turns the bones and fur into a nice pellet and the owl spits it up! Us wacky home schoolers then buy these pellets to dissect and check out what was eaten! YUCK! That is all I have to say (actually I said throughout the whole process).

When I unwrapped the pellet we all just about gagged, it really looks like a big ol' turd! We then started to pick it apart (we had 3 of them to dig through) with tweezers and tooth picks. At first no one wanted to touch it with their fingers, but it is just about impossible to dig out the bones without doing so.

As long as you did not think about what you were actually tearing apart it was not so bad, but the minute I tore some fur (and it actually is still soft and furry) it is hard not to think of the creature before it was in this state! For about 30 minutes all the kids dug in, even my 4 year old!

After a while they lost interest and went to play (after washing their hands in bleach!), but my 10 y.o. stayed until she could lay out all the bones and reconstruct the creature. My son eventually came back and made his too. There was even teeth still in the skull bones!

We discovered our owls ate rodents, and a shrew. There was even a baby rodent in one. The bones were so small! The most disgusting thing we found was a tail! It was a great way to end our study of rodents. We really got a good laugh over it all and was quite the experience.

Yes, I still make BAGS!

2009-02-24T08:14:00.000-05:00

This bag was for my niece Kristen (we have the same name...Kristen Sims!). She wanted fabric that had the same colors as the Vera Bradley's Java Blue, so after a long search and coming up with nothing, I cheated! I ordered a Vera napkin off of ebay! Then found a coordinating fabric at Hobby Lobby for the inside! She needed the bag to hold a certain text book for one of her college classes... it is 5" thick! So this BIG bag works great! I made it with very strong handles and bottom so it will hold lots of college books! She loved it! Happy 22nd birthday Kristen!

My other niece, Katie, saw this bag on my portfolio and asked me to make her one for her birthday (okay, it was really for Christmas, but I did not have the time to get it done). It is a fun bag that any college student would love! Happy 19th birthday Katie!

This bag was for an order I took in November for a friend and I finally got it done. It turned out so cute, I especially love the little pink dots! It has an adorable pink zipper in the back too! It will be heading out in the mail soon!

So if you are in need of a BAG put your order in... I am still in business!

February Funnies!

2009-02-22T10:25:00.000-05:00

Mercedes laying under my sewing machine and all my scraps falling on her! She ended up with thread all over her. Then she shifted positions and actually tried to lay on my pedal... not going to work!
Mercedes favorite thing to do is carry around socks trying to get your attention! I already have a huge problem with trying to find matches for socks, so now when I do find a match they have holes in them!
Mercedes lying in whatever sun she can find!

She really is bored these days! She needs some good weather so we can take her to the park and on more walks!

Livy's valentines gift to me! She loves to give gifts to people, so at times she will go to her room and find trinkets to wrap! She gave me this beautiful bracelet and sea shell (which matches the shell she gave me for my birthday) then wrapped them in a JC Penney flyer we got in the mail! She finished off the wonderful gift by creating a wonderful card and writing it all out herself! She is so cute!

The CRUD has entered the Sims house! Just when Bill was feeling better after his heart procedure, he came down with this nasty flu/cold bug! I have talked to so many people who have it! Two days later my little girls have it! I hate it when they are sick! So in the last few days I have made countless trips to the store to buy different medicines! Some of them are not even pictured! I would go get one then another symptom would emerge and I would have to get something else. Besides the socks... buying medicine is another pet peeve I have! I never know just what to buy to cure it all.

SO off I go to cuddle with Maria and Livy and try to get them feeling better. 3 down and 4 more to go.... when will it be my turn?

Happy HEART Day!

2009-02-14T22:28:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone reading this had a great Valentines day with all those they love. It is easy to remember your significant other on this day, but I try to always remember my kids too, for they are the loves of my life as well. I actually got to take my littlest one out for a donut this morning. She does not get to much one on one time with mom or dad, so this was a special treat! After dinner we gave the kids a goodie bag full of sweets for the sweeties! Then we ended the day watching a movie together and pigging out on candy! It wasn't much, but I know my kids loved the planned time together.

Here is a story about my love of my life and his broken heart

It has been a while since I have gotten to write on this blog. A lot has happened in the last week that pretty much put a stop in our lives. I will give the story, although most know what has happened, but it is good to write it down. I had to call the squad on my husband late Feb. 6. He has been suffering from episodes of a very fast heart beat for about 2 years. That particular night it raced on for 2 hours. Finally I got enough nerve up to call paramedics. It was the hardest thing to do. I do not know why, I think it has to do with the fear that the episode would of been over by the time they got there or the fact that I had to admit something was seriously wrong with my husband. Needless to say they monitored his heart and it was above 250 beats per minute! Now that is fast! They get him stable by stopping his heart! Then it kicks back to it's normal rhythm. So off they take him to the hospital. I started calling my neighbor to come over and watch the kids. It took 4 times to finally get a hold of her and she was over in 2 seconds, bedhead and all! She is my first angel to help me through this whole ordeal!

I find him in a typical emergency room with a bed, a lot of monitors and a very hard chair. In that chair I sat while they ran test on him for the next 5 hours. He dozed on and off and I tried to catch some zzzzs while leaning up against a wall. At one point we had a doctor come in and tell us that his blood work showed his enzymes were slightly high. This is an indication of a heart attack, but he reassured us that he thought the test was wrong and wanted to run it again to check. He had never heard of anyone who had tachycardia (rhythm problem with the heart) having a heart attack from it. So it took another 3 hours to get the blood and test it. He came back looking rather shocked and told us the enzymes were indeed elevated, meaning Bill had a heart attack. Boy were we in shock as well not to mention scared! He then told us that Bill would have to stay at the hospital and that a cardiologist would be in to talk to us. That doctor told us that technically Bill did have a heart attack by definition only (meaning that if your enzymes in your blood are high that you had a heart attack). He believed that the enzymes were high just because his heart was racing for so long and that damaged could of occurred as a result. That doctor also informed Bill that the congestion he was experiencing in his heart was technically from congestive heart failure, but he told us not to be concern with that! Ha! Why do they even tell you those things if we are not to be concerned with it! So there we were with the terms heart attack and congestive heart failure spinning around in our heads! By this time it was 6am and I had to make a call to my neighbor to let her know I would not be home for a few hours because my husband had a "heart attack". Those were the hardest words to say, I was so scared, but knew Bill was even more frightened.

They then admitted him to the Cardiac Care Unit where they hooked him up to all sorts of monitors, IV's, etc. He really looked a mess and I could tell he was exhausted. His cardiologist came by and while he was still out in the hall, Bill's heart speed up to 187. They all rushed in and once again stopped his heart and got it back to a normal. That was a blessing, in that his doctor was right there to see one of his "episodes". His doctor then told us that Bill had SVT (Supra Ventricle Tachycardia) and that he would need an procedure called an ablation. You can click on those links to find out more about what those are. So they wanted to keep him at the hospital over the weekend and then do the procedure on Monday. We were fine with that because we knew he was safe there. After getting my kids to my cousin's house where they would spend the night (my second angel) I quickly went back to his room where we would "camp" out for the next 3 days. Of course I had to make a dozen phone calls to family and friends (I actually used up almost 400 minutes on my phone in one week... which is funny because I have a pay as you go phone that requires me to buy minutes every 60 days and what you do not use just rolls over. I had a TON of minutes to use and always joke around that I will never use them all.... well I am now down to 100!). I also went to the waiting room and slept on a couch for an hour, because once again his room only had a straight back chair?! They moved him to a regular room on the heart floor ... which had a fold out cushy chair that I planted my butt in for 2 days. My dad and Lin flew up from Florida to stay with my kids the rest of weekend. I was so overwhelmed that they would do that! They are my 3rd angles! This was truly a blessing because it got my kids minds off of all that was going on. Nothing like spoiling grandparents to keep you occupied!

The 4th angel was our pastor. He came in on Friday when Bill and I were still pretty shaken up about the whole thing. He said the most comforting words and his prayer really gave peace to the both of us. He also came again to pray will us before Bill was taken into do the ablation... at 6:30am! Once again it gave us peace in a difficult time. I went home on Friday night because I really needed the sleep and to let my dad in the house. Bill said during the night the patients on both sides of him went code blue. One did not make it, the other they were able to stabilize! He was amazed that the nurses could go deal with that then come into his room and with a smile care for him. We have a new appreciation for nurses and all they do - they were definitely angels.

On Saturday Bill's room was full of visitors! For about 6 hours we had family and friends come and see how he was doing. They were all angels too for taking the time to come to the hospital. It really made Bill and I see how important that is to get the love and support from people during difficult times. The kids came early that day and I could tell it upset them to see their dad in a hospital bed. After awhile though they were more at ease and we reassured them he was going to be ok after they fixed his broken heart! Sunday was a day of quiet and rest. I even went home for a few hours to clean my house and do some laundry. I did spend each night at home. I knew I would get better sleep there and that Bill was in good hands.

On Monday morning just as I was about to leave my house Bill called to informed me that they could NOT get him in that day to do the ablation and that it was pushed out until Wed., Feb. 11. They were releasing him to spend the next few days at home. So we rearranged all our plans. My dad unfortunately had to go back to Florida on Tuesday, I reassured him we would be fine, but I could tell he was upset he could not be here for my family during the procedure. I made arrangements for my friends to keep my kids Tuesday night and all day Wed. until we got home from the procedure. They have 4 kids and 3 are home schooled so I knew they would have no problems adjusting to 5 more! It is really hard to find a place for all my kids to go. There are only a few people I would feel totally comfortable with leaving all my kids. I know they are great kids and are not much trouble, but it is such a imposition for people. That is a lot of mouths to feed! So the Kotwis family are my angles too!

Off to the hospital to have the ablation done. It is only to be an outpatient procedure that would take 1 hour or so and then about 4 hours down time to have the wounds heal. They go in through the groin area and up a vein to find the bad circuit and then burn it. Angel #? comes into the picture. We have a friend at church that is a nurse at this hospital. She stops in Bill's room on Monday morning before he is discharged and informs us that she is a surgical nurse who does ablations! She scheduled herself to be Bill's nurse! That was the biggest blessing we could of ever asked for! She prayed with us before the procedure. She talked to Bill throughout it and she often came out to notify me of what was going on! I was sitting in the heart center's waiting room by myself.... BIG MISTAKE! Never go sit in a waiting room by yourself while your loved one is having anything done... no matter how simple the procedure is! I really did not want to trouble anyone, I thought I was strong enough to wait it out. I was even looking forward to being by myself. Well after the hour and a half went by and then two hours, I started to get worried. Our wonderful nurse, Mariann came out and told me that Bill had WPW syndrome, Wolf Parkinson White syndrome. Meaning that they had to go around to the back of his heart to find the "bad spot" and then fix it. This would require them to go up through an artery, which has a higher risk of stroke and is more difficult. She reassured me that it was fine, just not what they expected. She said it would take about another hour then he should be done. Well, that time came and went and she emerged saying the the Heparin they were trying to give him was not working. It usually only takes 2 minutes to get in the blood, it was taking over an hour. So off I go to wait some more.

This whole time I have befriended another family that was in the waiting room (I was the only one in there by myself... I think they felt sorry for me). It was a dear older woman whose husband had been taken back when Bill was. He was to have heart surgery to put a stint in. She was so worried, so I prayed for her a lot. I won't get into all the details but her husband was to need triple bypass heart surgery. It was not what they were expecting to hear and they all took it really hard. It just reminded me how much worse it could be, that Bill was going in for a simple procedure that would fix his heart. Many others had big surgeries ahead of them and the odds did not look too good. Bill and I both said we would start eating heart healthy so we did not end up in the hospital when we were 80 facing a failing heart!

Finally Mariann came out and said it was all over and they fixed the problem. It took a total of 4 hours. The doctor, Dr. Lee, sat down with me and explained it all... he even used a model of the heart that opened up to show me exactly what they did. He said he was 98% sure it was fixed! He is another angel! It is amazing what they can do in our bodies! I thank God for giving him the knowledge to know what to do, especially when he got in there and discovered it was something else. He told me that Bill's condition is rare that only 2% of his cases have been this WPW. He also said Bill was born with it and that he always sees it flare up in men in their 40s. He does not know why!

Since Bill had so much heparin in him and because the procedure took so long he had to spend another night in the hospital! So my kids stayed put at their friends and I stayed until I knew he was going to sleep then headed home to get some much needed rest. He came home on Thursday, Feb. 12 and had to take it easy for 2 days. He is up and around fine now. He is a little sore and very bruised in the incision areas.

So for all those angels I am so thankful that they were there in our time of need. There are countless others too. All those who prayed for us, people even had it announced at their churches and added it to their prayer list. I am thankful to all those who have provided brunch and dinners! My dear friend Trish helped to coordinate it all and help to rearrange it all when we had to stay at the hospital longer! To my neighbors who came to let Mercedes out and spend time with her, I am thankful for their caring hearts! It was those little things that made this journey so much easier! God sent his angels when we needed them!!

Sorry that was so long. It was more for me to get it all down in writing than to inform others. BUT please take care of your heart! Eat right, exercise, do not smoke, do not drink a lot, cut out caffeine, etc. You will be thankful you did!

Meet the New Addition..

2009-02-05T19:57:00.000-05:00

Introducing Bubba!

He is a Percheron / Thoroughbred and is HUGE! Well, he is only 16.2 hands, but he has a big butt (kind of a like a draft horse). Considering we were leasing a 14.3 hands (alomost pony size) arabian, this horse seems like a MAC truck! Alex loves him. She will be showing all this season and that includes jumping! She loves to jump, the higher the better! It makes me hold my breath every time she goes flying over the rails. She has never fallen off.......yet!

This is Alex on Bubba and her friend Jenna on Suzy. Jenna is another homeschooler who we met at the barn and her and Alex ride together a lot! God has blessed Alex with a great buddy to ride with!

The End of January

2009-02-04T07:56:00.000-05:00

Our friend, Jade, had her 11th birthday party at a local ice skating rink. It turned out to be a great family outing! Olivia is starting to be quite good on her skates and can go all by herself! By the end Maria was trying it by herself as well... my little ice princess! Of course Alex, Curt and Anna could and did skate circles around Bill and I. I managed to stay on my feet (skates!) but Bill took a few HARD falls while he was chasing Curt! Serves him right!

Lots of snow in January 2009!

Alex taking a break from one of her many times shoveling!

The snow makes for a LUNATIC DOG!

Snow Bunny!

Just what I asked for - Bill did good! Another birthday... they just keep on coming!

Next year will be a big one:(

Maria trying to hula hoop! You GO GIRL!

Winter Days

2009-01-28T08:03:00.000-05:00

Here in Columbus, we got about 6 inches of snow in the last few days. The kids have been busy shoveling drive ways for people and having fun playing in the snow. They cannot stay out too long because it is quite chilly as well. Last night, just as I was leaving to take Alex to her horse lessons, the snow turned to an icy mixture. Bill told me not to go and he headed out to help the village plow the streets (he loves driving the snow plow trucks!). But I went anyways and cut her lesson short and we made it there and back safely. This morning I woke to an icy wonderland! It brings me back to the days of being at Bowling Green State University. There were many days that we had ice storms and the whole campus would be frozen over! My friend and I would bundle up and walk around just looking at all the beautiful ice hanging off of the trees. Of course I have some bad memories of ice storms too. Living in Michigan we definitely had our share of ice! Our little house was surrounded by some BIG old trees and whenever we had an ice storm we would hold our breath and hope that none of the branches would come down and crush our house! Once we had one come down and land on our small unattached garage and Bill's car that was parked next to it. My car was in the garage and amazingly came out ok. So living here in Canal Winchester it is nice to be away from those BIG ice storms and just have these "freeze overs" now and then!

Bill came home from his spiritual retreat a new man! One of the things he was ready to face was the fact that he/we spend to much time in front of the television! So to help us break that habit I quickly declared a no TV week! The TV can only be turned on in the wee hours of the morning when the little ones get up too early for me to function yet. I have to get my first cup of coffee, check emails and try to get a devotion in! Other than that we are not to turn it on! I have wanted to do this for some time, but never had the support of my family, especially Bill. So far we have started to read a book out loud, "The Hittite Warrior," about the times of the judges in 1200BC. If you have never read Judges 3-4 you should, it is quite a interesting story, if not funny. Curtis said it was his favorite Bible story. When he told his dad his favorite story was of Ehud, Bill said, "Who?" When you read the story you will know why he likes it so much! Last night we played "Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader." Only Alex was, figures! I lost my $500,000 question - "Where was the first battle of the civil war?" Yes, I should of known this, especially since I just taught it to my kids last year! I knew it was in South Carolina and I can remember the details of the war, but could not remember the name of it! If you do not know then you will have to look it up! What is really sad is that Alex could not save me! She should of known the answer - did her teacher not teach her anything? Curt knew it, of course, anything having to do with fighting he can remember! SO goes the nights without TV! Tonight we will continue to read our book and probably play a few more games. Great quality family time!

Loose ends!

2009-01-27T08:10:00.001-05:00

My sister in law, Jennifer, ordered a bag for her granddaughter, Lilly. She said she is all about Princesses and wanted something girly. Well that was 2 months ago and I finally got it done. It is a nice big bag, especially for a 4 y.o., but she wanted it for a over night bag. Maria really liked it, especially the way it "sparkles." So this bag is off to the post office today and on it way to Lilly!

Got the hooks up in the laundry room - the black accessories really make the color pop! I love the look and it is just what I wanted! Of course I did this all when Bill was away. So when he got home and saw my paint job and how I hung the hooks I could tell he was not impressed. BUT he did not say anything except, "It looks great!" Later he asked me if I screwed the hooks into studs..."no" or if I used anchors for them..."no." I knew I should of done either of those two things, but I knew I would never find the anchors and the studs were too far apart for the hooks. So I just chanced it! I warned the kids not to hang on the hooks ... just their coats. Bill laughed at that and said he would be surprised if they lasted. Oh well. It is done! That is a pretty good example of how I do things.. just get it done. Next I need to find some sort of message board (I am thinking of making one out of fabric to bring some more color into the room) and of course I am still on the hunt for a shoe rack to hold at least 15 pairs of shoes!

Work in Progress

2009-01-25T07:51:00.000-05:00

Bill was gone for the weekend so I tackled the laundry room make over! Simple project... what could go wrong??? Well nothing is ever easy and with every step of this project I hit a road block. I persisted though and finally got the room painted!

Bill put this board with hooks up a week ago. I told him not to because I was planning on painting. Do they ever listen...? Well it would NOT come down. He screwed it into the wall and it would not budge! I had the kids pulling on it. I was twisting it around, but would not come down. NOT a good start to the project! I even took a hammer to the screw and it broke off in the board! Finally my twisting it paid off and I could yank it off the wall!

Then it was time to prep the walls. The spackling I found (let me just say that Bill is not the most organized person and it takes a while to find where he puts all the supplies) was dried up a little, but I decided to use it anyways. I was not looking for that perfect smooth wall, just wanted to fill the holes! It worked but it was a MESS!

Finally get it painted after 3 cut ins and 2 coats on the walls. The paint color was one I had picked out when we bought the house 3 years ago. It was in the same color family as my family room and kitchen color. Well, it was a little more orange than I expected. "It looks like pumpkin pie," Livy exclaimed! Notice she is doing the laundry! I actually like it. It goes with the Tuscan feel I am trying to capture in my house. Once I add the black gadgets and maybe some saying or pictures on the wall, I think I will have the look I was going after.

So now I have to accessorize the room. I will be putting hooks on the walls today - we require a lot of hooks for 7 peoples coats! I am still on the search for a shoe rack... I found one at IKEA so I may have to travel down there to get it, DARN! I am also searching for a message center of some sort. I am thinking black framed cork board - I will have to get out my Pottery Barn catalog and see what they have to offer. I am putting black handles on my cabinets and I am thinking of painting my cabinets! What color do you think I should go with? Bill will not be for it, but it is only 2 cabinets - how bad can it look? Leave me a comment and let me know what color I should go with! Maybe I should change that ugly florescent light too??? What do you think? This project could last forever!

SO STAY TUNE FOR THE FINISHING LOOK!

Friday Highlights - belated

2009-01-24T07:27:00.001-05:00

All day yesterday I meant to post my "Friday Highlights" but never got around to it. So here is a belated post!

This Friday I wanted to Highlight one of my favorite blogs that I recently discovered thanks to my friend Tonya. This is a blog written by a wonderful Christian woman named Melissa Lester. I heard her speak a few years ago and she inspired me then just as much as she inspires me now through her blog! When you first read her blog you might think she is "over the top" or "can she be real?" but trust me she does everything with a lot of love behind it and the more you continue to read, the more that comes shining through. I say..."move over Martha Stewart, Melissa Lester is taking over!" (with a lot more class!) Enjoy!

Feathered Friends

2009-01-21T13:30:00.000-05:00

Olivia asked for a bird feeder for Christmas. We hung it on our front tree right outside our picture window. We have had some beautiful birds come and enjoy a meal at it!
In this cold snowy weather there is not a seed left after a few days!

Long Snowy Weekend

2009-01-20T07:22:00.000-05:00

The kids can't seem to get enough of the snow! Curt buried Anna in it on Friday and they were trying to build a mound of snow to sled down (no hills close by). All weekend I wanted to take them sledding, but it never happened. Maybe later this week when it gets warmer. I am tempted to take them over to the high school for a mid day break from schooling, but I am sure authorities would show up and wonder why they are not in school!

The little ones have been waiting to build a snowman, but the snow is not cooperating!

This was a weekend to get some projects done around the house. Bill has been working hard to finish the basement, a project that we started before we moved into this house 3 1/2 years ago! I wish I had taken a before picture of our steps. They were just a plain junky wood with dry-wall walls. It was lit by a bathroom lighting fixture?! So he spent the weekend finishing the half wall, installing a shelf, laying the carpet on the stairs, putting up all the trim, and finally putting another coat of paint on. It looks great! Some finishing touches need to be done, but I love it, especially the mix of wood and white trim. I am still looking for a light to replace the bathroom fixture one - actually we just have a light bulb hanging there. Anyone got any ideas, it is an odd place for a light!

This is the next project - for me. The laundry room make over! With 7 people in this family there is a lot of stuff to be put in this little space! I have a plan that I have had hanging on the wall for over a year now, just have not gotten to it! Bill will be gone this weekend so I am hoping to clear it out and at least get it painted! Then it will be off to the stores to find the hooks, shoe racks, cork board, etc.. Stay tuned to see the finishing picture (it may not be until next year!).

SNOW FUN!

2009-01-15T06:55:00.000-05:00

Anna being the horse that pulls Maria around!

Olivia makes a snow angel!

Mercedes catching snowballs!

The snow makes Mercedes WILD!

This is the best picture! She will shove her nose down into the snow and come up eating it! She is so funny!

Mama's got the hot cocoa ready for the snowbunnies to warm up with!
They stayed outside for hours!

They even went out after dinner to shovel all the neighbors driveways!

Don't think we will play in the snow today... the temperature is suppose to stay in the single digits!

The Best Job In the World...

2009-01-13T15:14:00.000-05:00

Know someone who is unemployed?

Know someone who loves the island life?

Know someone who is charismatic?

Know someone who likes to blog?

Then this job is just for them! I came across this when checking out the recent salmonella deaths on Fox News. If I did not have 5 kids to take care of and school, you bet I would be interviewing for this job! Hey I already have the blogging down!

SYDNEY — Position: Island caretaker. Duties: Lazing around Australia's Great Barrier Reef for six months. Salary: $105,000.

UPDATE: As of 11 a.m. EST, the Web site for job-seekers is down.
Unemployed, take heart — the aforementioned job ad is for real. Billing it the "Best Job in the World," the tourism department in Australia's Queensland state on Tuesday said it was seeking one lucky person to spend half a year relaxing on Hamilton Island, part of the country's Whitsunday Islands, while promoting the island on a blog.
The "island caretaker" will be expected to stroll the white sands, soak up the sun, snorkel the reef, "maybe clean the pool" — and report to a global audience via weekly blogs, photo diaries and video updates.
The winner, who will stay rent-free in a multimillion-dollar three-bedroom beach home complete with pool and golf cart, must be an excellent communicator and be able to speak and write in English.

You can check out the rest of the article at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,479747,00.html

(I know this is where I should say that I have the best job in the world, being the mother and teacher of the most wonderful kids. But I must say it is tempting!!!!!)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

2009-01-12T08:11:00.000-05:00

Finally we got some snow. Only a few inches of the powdery type, but I'll take it! In celebration of this occasion I made snowman pancakes for my kid's breakfast. I stole this idea from Melissa Lester http://www.alittleloveliness.blogspot.com/ . Check out her blog for many creative ideas - she is the "hostess with the mostess"! I looked at her blog and thought "move over Martha Stewart!" Everything she does seems to scream LOVE! I have heard her speak and she has such a love of the Lord and it shows in everything she does! So my snowman were not an original idea, but that is what Melissa wants to accomplish, inspiring others. My snowman were original in one way... they were pumpkin flavored! Try making some yourself - I am sure your family will think they are fun and delicious as much as mine did.

I have to run and shovel snow with my son then get on with schooling. I will post my recipe for pumpkin pancakes tomorrow.

Sweet Victory

2009-01-09T08:24:00.000-05:00

Friday's Highlights!

For those of you who do not follow football, Tim Tebow is the quarterback for the Florida Gators for two years. He won the Hiesman Trophy last year and just beat the Oklahoma Sooners to win the National Championship last night.

But more importantly he loves the Lord and takes every opportunity to express that love. Read this article to learn more: http://64.246.64.33/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot/news/news.aspx?id=4202308

A little known fact that I find amuzing: he was homeschooled! Ok that part is not amuzing but admirable. The part that is amuzing is the fact that he lived in Oklahoma and according to their laws he could not play high school sports in the public schools because he was not a full time student. (much like Ohio law) Therefore he ended up playing high school sports in Jacksonville Floriday because Florida law excepts homeschoolers into their extra curricular activities (24 states in all have this policy). So I bet Oklahoma is kicking themselves for not allowing him to play HS ball for their state and being able to recruit him! (although their quarterback won the Hiesman this year - but lost the BIG game!).

If you get some time read about Tim Tebow and his conviction to God. He was the youngest of 5 to be homeschooled and his father said that he would never put him in public schools just to play ball. Luckily for the Gators, they found away to do both.

Down Fall!

2009-01-08T07:01:00.000-05:00

The Story of My "Down Fall" -

My oldest daughter, Alex, is obsessed with horses since as long as I can remember! This obsession has taken us on a journey into the "horse world". First it was just horse camps, then a FREE horse club where she got to ride 3 times a week, then there were lessons from a friend, which eventually led to us leasing that friends horse and of course there is our venture into 4H. We leased the horse for about 6 months and in that time I was in charge of "mucking" the stall! We recently ended the lease and signed up with our barn's trainer for Alex to get some lessons from her. This trainer will take her to shows and lease us a horse for her to show at fair.

SO on Tuesday night was to be her first lesson. I cannot express in words how excited she was. She started talking about it a week ahead and that morning she was bouncing off the walls waiting for us to go... at 4:30! Finally the time arrives for us to get ready to leave. I start the van (because it was frozen over!) then go to retrieve my muck boots in the garage. Normally this would be no big deal, except I stepped on the first step wrong and went air born. My hand broke my fall and my wrist took the weight of my body! If you know me you know that is a lot of weight! I screamed and yelled for help, knowing it was broke!

This is funny - Curt is the first to find me. He sees me on the ground crying and panics! He runs around the kitchen trying to find the phone, "where's the phone" is all I could hear over and over! (I had taken it upstairs earlier - he would never of found it) I yelled to him that I did not need the phone. There was no need to call 911!

Bill came home and accessed the damage and we knew we had to go to the urgent care to get it x-rayed. I was so upset for Alex. I think I cried more for her - that she had to miss her lesson. She of course was more concerned for me and understood.

So the outcome of my downfall was a sprained wrist - not broken. The doctor even looked at the x-rays twice because I told him he had to be wrong! I am glad it is not broken, especially since it is my right hand! I am surprised I an even typing today! My fingers are finally working!

Pictures of the day: My sisters in law modeling there reversible aprons I made for them as Christmas gifts! They put them on and started singing "I can bring home the bacon... fried up in a pan!" Quite comical! I also made an apron for Lin in Christmas colors and it was so cute! She does a lot of Christmas baking every year (no one makes better cookies) so I know she will get a lot of use out of it!

I'm back and ready to tackle 2009!

2009-01-06T13:33:00.000-05:00

Hello all! Finally a minute to get back to my blog! I have so many pics I want to share since I last posted but it would become the world's biggest blog post! So I have narrowed it down to try to fill you in on what has been going on with Livy Marie, my family and myself. Warning this post will be long... so grab a cup of coffee, tea, cocoa or whatever your favorite beverage is and bare with me!

First, Livy Marie: I took a few orders before Christmas so that I could concentrate on sewing something for my girls. They always seem to get jipped because I sew so much for others that I never have time to make them something special. About a week before Christmas, I started on their projects. Anna's was already done, I knew she loved the disco dot purse that I had hanging on my display rack so that took care of her. Alex loved the swirled black and white fabric so I quickly made her a nice medium size tote (complete with her first pieces of make up on the inside! A little blush, mascara, foundation, and of course... zit cream!). Time was running out and I had to get Livy and Ria some jeans made. Maria loves the flare on her jeans and I knew Livy loved the red and black fabric, so I was frantically sewing ruffles on jeans a few days before Christmas. Just jeans? No way, I had to include a matching head band! No problem! That would only take a few minutes to hot glue them together... WRONG! For some reason I ran into all sorts of problems and they took forever! I ended up putting the final touches on their gifts with them standing right in the room. So much for surprises, but they were happy with them! With all that being said... Livy's jeans did not fit. Too tight in the butt. I might make her squeeze into them or wait until Maria gets to be her size and hope that she is skinnier (if that is even possible!).

I also finished up a weekender bag for a customer in the black damask that I love! I was suppose to get it out to her before she took off for the holidays, but time got away from me and I just missed her! I feel so bad, but with the holidays fast approaching and 5 kids to school and prep for Christmas my brain became MUSH! So her bag is going out in the mail and I hope she loves it as much as I do! Love the black fru-fru she added to the top! Another touch of flare!

Second, family: We had an extra special holiday this year. I think because it fell on a Thursday that it seemed extra long which was very nice! Bill's family came in for the traditional Christmas Eve celebration. This was my niece's first year with her new hubby so it was nice to have him join our festivities. We always have a wonderful dinner then sit around the table (all 15 of us) and play the question game/dinner conversations to go! We always learn so much about each other and have quite a few laughs in the process! We then enjoyed a great Christmas day as a family. My son has a habit of waking up extra early and getting us all out of bed - this year it was 5:30am! He said he was up since 4:30am! Yes, he is 12 and still gets extra excited on Christmas morning! The big gifts this year was a saddle for Alex (my biggest bargain of the shopping season!), wii games and a skate board for Curt, Anna got her poetry "published" in a photobook, and Olivia and Maria got all sorts of girl stuff (barbies, games, make up kit, etc). Bill and I both decided we would not exchange gifts this year, but we both got each other stockings full of small gifts! We think a like! With all that being said the best part of my Christmas was having my Aunt and my grandmother come and spend the night with us. My grandmother is 98 and I do not know how many more Christmas' we will get to spend with her, so it was extra special being with her. She is so cute, especially when she is sitting on my couch wrapped up in Maria's princess blanket watching the kids play Guitar Hero. I sure if she could see the screne she would not of approved and I am sure she turned down her hearing aide to block out the loud music!

Next, friends: What a better way to ring in the new year than by being with good friends. We took a trip up to Michigan and stayed two nights with our old friends, the Careys! I met my good friend Trish, when we both worked for Merillat in Adrian Michigan. It just so happened that we were getting married within a week of each other so we had a lot to talk about and our friendship blossomed from there! To strengthen it even more, we had our first babies within a few months of each other and practically lived at each others houses trying to figure out the "mom" thing! We only lived in Michigan for 5 years, but those were some of the best days of my life! It was nice to go back and visit and get caught up! Our kids all got a long so well - they instantly became a rock band and spent their time performing on Guitar Hero World Tour. I have it all on tape so we can laugh at it for years to come - musicians they are not! Us adults sat around and played games and had our own fun - just like old times! Trish and I always manage to escape the madhouse and get away for lunch, this time with my good friend Lisa! We had a nice time even though we discussed medical issues most of the time! Boy we are getting old! The Lord has blessed with some wonderful people in my life and the Carey's and Lisa are definitely part of that group!

Lastly, tackling 2009: (I told you this was going to be long!) I am not one to make New Years Resolutions, but this year I did. They are not written down, but they have been going around in my head for the last week, so hopefully they stick! I think overall we as humans should just start out every year with high expectations and every intention of meeting them! Who cares if we fail as long as we try to be better people to those around us! I just need to get my priorities straight, God, husband, kids, family, friends, others, myself! Then everything else will fall into it's place. So I will not ramble on about the details.

I will continue with Livy Marie, but I do not have any set goals for it. I will most likely make bags as people wish for them and as birthday gifts, but will not seek any large quantities of orders. This is somewhat discouraging because I really had every intention of creating a business and sticking with it - with the goal of making money. But God had told me in many ways that my family was suffering and my relationship with Him was also suffering! So I will narrow down the business, get back on track and see where He leads me! With that being said, if you would like a bag, put your order in anytime, I will still make one for you! (that is right after I finish up the 5 orders I have in the works!)

Keep checking back and feel free to leave a comment in the box! God bless you all!

Not Forgotten

2008-12-22T09:07:00.000-05:00

Just in case anyone checks on my blog to get updated on what is happening with Livy Marie and the Sims family.... I have NOT forgotten it!

It has almost been a month since I have posted, mainly because of camera difficulties! Between dead batteries and then upload problems I have not been able to access any pictures to post. However, I believe we have the problem fixed (just in time to capture our family Christmas) and I will post soon - as soon as I get a minute to do so!

So hang in there and keep checking back!

What I am Thankful for...

2008-11-25T09:28:00.000-05:00

My Wonderful Family!

14 y.o. Alexandra - the horse lover, the responsible older sister and my friend!

12 y.o. Curtis - my handsome son who is tough yet sensitive and is just like me! 10 y.o. Anna - who has a love of poetry, music, art and my snuggler!

5 y.o. Olivia - the one to make me smile & laugh everyday, who gives love to all!

3 y.o. Maria (soon to be 4!) - my baby, my animal lover & the one who is loved by all!

Thank you God for such precious gifts! I am truly blessed!

Laugh then laugh some more!

2008-11-24T08:07:00.000-05:00

You have all heard the saying, "Laughing adds years to your life!" well if this is true, then I am going to live way over 100! Last night my friend, JoAnn and I went to see Anita Renfroe at the Grove City Church of the Nazarene. I wish I would have taken all my girlfriends! She was hilarious! I laughed the whole 2 hours we were there! If you have never heard of her, she is a christian comedian and you MUST check out some of the YouTube videos of her. She is known for the "Mom's William Tell Overture" (what a mom says in a 24 hour period in a 2 minute song!) but she has other music spoofs that are just as funny. I loved the Carrie Underwood impression video, "Think Before I Eat". Anyways if you ever get the opportunity to see her, it is a must! She performs at the Woman of Faith conferences and is often on the ABC Good Morning America show. I just read an article on her and it said that she has 3 kids (grown) and one is a girl. Funny, she never mentioned her, just her two boys. It also said she home schooled them some. I will have to dig into that further and see what "some" means. This surprises me since the lyrics of the overture has to do with getting your kids on the bus to go to school. One of my favorite topics she covered last night where that her husband could never have an affair, except to the GPS's woman's voice. That voice is always so calm and polite, even when her husband makes a wrong turn or misses an exit! She said she is in the passenger seat yelling at her husband that he missed the turn, and "the voice" is just going on calmly saying "recalculating"! If you have a GPS unit, I know you are laughing right now! Anyways that is just an example of Anita's humor that produced tears from laughter! We all need that good laugh and she delivered last night! Loved it!

Other happenings over the weekend.... I started to decorate for Christmas! I know it is not even Thanksgiving, but I figured I would get done what I could before and concentrate on shopping afterwards. I did purchase a few gifts this weekend, but a few does not even begin to make a dent in my list! Bill and I have a shopping date planned for tonight hopefully we will get more done! You cannot even imagine what is like to buy for 5 kids plus other family members (well I guess if you have 5 kids or more, you can imagine, but you know what I mean!). BUT I am determined not to let the stress get to me this year! I will stay Merry all through the holiday! I will not get overwhelmed and let scrooge into my head! I will make this a memorable Christmas! I am DETERMINED! We'll see!

Idea for Thanksgiving... get a jar and some slips of paper and just lay them out on your kitchen table. Have the family write down everything they think of that they are thankful for, for the next few days. Then you can spend some time reading them on Thanksgiving. I think the kids will get into the challenge of who can come up with the most. I know we will fill a jar! I will share what they come up with at the end of the week! This idea came from the Family Man, a home school dad who has a weekly newsletter. He is such a "sensitive" dad that Bill think his wife writes it all for him. Regardless, the words of wisdom of how to lead your family in a Godly way are very valuable and we have gotten some great ideas from him! He sells a game called "To Bethlehem" that my kids love to play - it is quite quirky, but cute!

Sorry there are no pictures to this post. I promise some for tomorrow!

That is why we RELAY!

2008-11-20T07:24:00.000-05:00

From the mouth of a "babe" as the saying goes: here is the dialog I had with my nephew, Mitchell, who is 8. (Remember I am watching my cousin's kids because her father in law just passed away from cancer - see last post. A year ago they loss my cousin's mother in law to the same type of bladder cancer. So they have been through a lot!

Upon the mention of a doctor in a totally unrelated subject Mitch pipe up and saids: "I am going to be a doctor or surgeon, so that I can cure cancer. I HATE cancer! So I will be a doctor that fights it!" To which I reply, "I hate cancer too. That is why we participate in Relay so we can raise money to find a cure!" Mitch pipes up, "I want to go to every Relay and raise a lot of money." So we all brainstorm on ways we can raise money, "We can sell cookie dough, candy bars, etc." the conversation dies off as he gets back to playing his DS!

Cancer has effected us all. For those who might be reading this and do not know my background, I loss my mother to cancer in 1995. I do everything I can to help raise funds for the American Cancer Society so they can do research to find a cure. I am determined not to hear the words "you have cancer" nor have any of my children hear them either. One of the ways we do our part is participating in the Canal Winchester Relay For Life, actually Bill and I have chaired it for the first 3 years. Last year our little town of 5000 people raised $118,ooo! Our goal was only $35,000 because we raised $33,ooo the year before. WOW! This town really cares and came together for a common cause. If you do not know about Relay For Life please find one in your area and go experience it in 2009! I promise you will not be disappointed! Also if you know of anyone who is suffering from cancer or you would like more info on cancer please check out their website: http://www.cancer.org/. There is a wealth of valueable information on that site!

Last year at our Relay, I celebrated my 98 y.o. grandmother who is a survivor of breast cancer for 30+ years. My aunt accompanied her and she too is a survivor! It was a wonderful evening and I was glad I got to share it with them! Here are some photos of our event! Now, GO GET INVOLVED and DO YOUR PART!

In Memory of Mr. Vicchiarelli

2008-11-18T06:41:00.000-05:00

Just a short blog today to honor the memory of my cousin's father-in-law. He was suffering from bladder cancer and after being treated for months, things were not looking good. He decided he did would beat the cancer before it beat him. Cancer is a terrible thing and some just cannot cope and put up the fight. More reason to find a CURE now! My cousin's family has been through so much with the passing of her mother-in-law right before Christmas last year. She too passed away from bladder cancer. I am watching their 3 kids for a few days and they seem to be doing ok, too busy playing with their cousins to mourn right now, but it will hit them soon. So if you could say a prayer for the whole Vicchiarelli family that God gives them strength to face the hard days ahead.

One of my memories of Mr. Vicchiarelli took place at my cousin's house during a cook out a few years ago. We were having a political discussion and I mentioned that I did not think a woman would make a good president. "They are too emotional." (thinking of myself once a month and how I can fly off the handle - not a presidential quality). He quickly put me in my place and let me know that he knew of a lot of women that he worked with in the past that could do the job. "If they can run a company they can run our country!" Of course he was right!

So may he rest in peace and no longer suffer!

New addition!

2008-11-15T06:37:00.000-05:00

I am off to a holiday open house today at my friend Tonya's. She is having a few people set up their merchandise and invited over 100 people to come and do some early Christmas shopping! Hopefully this show goes better than the last, but I do not have my hopes up. Here is a new bag that I designed. It is very much like the small tote, but it is wider. In fact I had planned on making it even wider than it is (like a long clutch) but changed it at the last second. It is so cute in this Groovy fabric that I called it the Pixie! The inside is done in a olive green corduroy and is supper soft. It can be yours for $38! I also finished the bag I did my first zipper on. It is a small messenger bag done in that same green corduroy with a creme quilted material for the inside. It is a great sturdy bag and just the right size. It sells for $45. I quickly sewed up a few other things for the show as well. I love the daytimer purse done in the blue and kahki paisley. That is also my first wristlet complete with zipper! My girls love the headbands, so if I do not sell them they already have dibs on them!

Last night we watched our friend's kids overnight. Total we had 9 kids. Sounds like a lot but it is quite easy since they all get a long so well and just go off and play. I would recommend to everyone to find another family that you can swap babysitting with. Alex is old enough to babysit, but it is nice to be able to leave them with someone overnight and Bill and I get some peace and quite for a few hours in our own house. Speaking of kids, yesterday at lunch my children had a funny discussion on how many kids each of them were going to have when they grow up. Anna said she would like a lot, Olivia said two, Alex said she is going to adopt because she does not want to go through childbirth. To that comment Curt piped in "What's the big deal, you should want a lot of kids!" Just like his dad he was trying to lay a guilt trip on her! Bill laughed and then agreed with him. I said it was a typical male response to which Bill always replies, "I would have them if I could." NO HE WOULDN'T!!! He is a baby when it comes to pain! I told them I hope they all have a lot of kids so I can have a lot of grandbabies!

I conquered the ZIPPER!

2008-11-12T06:27:00.000-05:00

I am making a bag for my friend Trish's business and it requires a zipper. I have always heard horror stories on zippers so I have stayed away from them. Many people request them in their custom bags, but I did not feel talented enough to venture there. Well, I did it! I started with this little accessory bag and I will admit I had to rip a seam or two out until I got it right. But in the end it worked! Then I moved onto a exterior pocket zipper. I was amazed, it really did not take me all that long to do and I did not have to rip any seams out! It looks good! (Sorry the picture is not that good, I will post another one when the bag is done) Next, I have to put that same exterior pocket into the one I am making for Trish. Wish me luck!

Now comes the story of why I am making a bag for someone else's business. In another post I mentioned my good friend Trish who is creator of Two Peas In A Pod Homegrown Designs and my mentor. She has been designing bags for about 2 years now and is a very talented seamstress. Check out her website :http://twopeasinapoddesigns.shutterfly.com/ and see some of her work. Anyways, she sells some of her product at Canal Winchester's local coffee house, Harvest Moon and offered to sell my bags their as well. Basically her company now has a division called Livy Marie. On Monday I hung 12 bags at the shop and now I wait to see if they sell! In return for letting me do this, I agreed to make one of her customer's custom design bags. I feel honored that she thinks my sewing is good enough to do a bag with her name on it. However, there was the issue of the zipper, but now I think I can do it. I will try to get up to the coffee shop and snap a picture of all my bags on display. Until then, if you are in Canal please stop by the shop and see my display!

Puppy Love

2008-11-07T06:25:00.000-05:00

Mercedes loves the warm weather too! She is getting to go on a lot of walks and runs everyday! She is so precious! Alex has taken to her the most. She really has command over her - most of the time. That should not be surprising, if she can control a horse, she should be able to control a dog. Plus she has watch enough dog whisper episodes to get the jist of what she should be doing to train her. The only problem we have with her is her barking at people, whether they are visiting us or just walking by. How do you train a dog to bark at a robber, but not everyone else in the world?! Her bark is LOUD too! She wants me to go play right now, so I am off to play tug of war and fetch!

It is that time of the year!

2008-11-06T06:15:00.000-05:00

God has blessed us with a beautiful week of Indian Summer! The temperature has been in the 70's and the sun has been shining every day! The leaves have all changed colors and a lot of them are still on the trees. It is just breath taking at times how pretty it is in central Ohio. With all that being said Fall is NOT my favorite time of the year. That honor goes to Spring when everything is coming alive and we get an extra hour of day light. I just hate that it gets dark so early and that WINTER is right around the corner, literally. This is suppose to be the last day of nice weather and the cold is coming this weekend, maybe even snow.

Ok, I cannot believe I just blogged about the weather, but here is some snap shots of my kids playing in the leaves yesterday.

At a loss for words!

2008-11-05T06:31:00.000-05:00

I will not write a post about the election results. It saddens me too much to think that our country chose to elect a man with no experience leading anything to now lead our country.

So if I look at the postitive... the election in 2012 will result in a republican president for sure (after Obama messes everything up), our school levy failed and I will not be taxed a huge amount in the coming years and the gambling casino failed. Yea!

Look at this picture of Alex SEWING! I have rubbed off on her and now she cannot stay away from the machine! She is sewing PJ pants for her siblings. Curt was in desperate need of some and I have been wanting to make them. I bought a bunch of flannel when it was on sale. She has now whipped out 4 pairs of them in a few days. Next step is to teach her to cut and interface my fabric for purses! Speaking of purses you may have noticed I have not posted any pics of recent productions.. that is because I have taken a break from making them. After not selling them at that show, I did not feel a rush to make any more. I hopefully will be selling them soon at CW's local coffee shop and will make some new bags. Until then, if you want one for a Christmas gift let me know!

Happy Voting Day!

2008-11-04T08:08:00.000-05:00

Go VOTE! As Bill and I waited in line this morning at 6:30am I was overwhelmed with a patriotic feeling! What a privilege we have in America to be able to choose who will lead our country. So many people were waiting to do just that so early in the morning! Do you all remember the last presidential election and the long lines (and problems) to vote? I waited until the evening to vote then and we had to wait for almost 2 hours. Well I guess voting first thing is not any better. Maybe if we went in the middle of the day it would be better? I hope NOT. I love seeing all the people voting and taking part in such a critical decision. Don't get me wrong I would rather not stand in line, but instead of complaining, I looked at the postitive side... WOW that is something new for me! So reguardless of who you are voting for feel proud that you are living in a free country where we can choose who leads us. (depending on who wins, we may not be the smartest country - but at least we are free). Then go say a prayer thanking GOD for living in this country and all the service men and women who fight for our freedom! By the way, it took us only a half an hour to vote. When we pulled up to the polling place the line was super long - outside the building. After standing in it for 10 minutes, we realized that we were not in our precint line. We live in a small precint, so after finding the right line, we were able to vote and be done in no time! It pays to live in a small town!

Alexandra

2008-11-03T05:56:00.000-05:00

My baby is 14! WOW! Alex's birthday was Saturday and I am the one feeling quite old. My dad, Lin, Aunt Jo and my grandmother (isn't she the cutest!) came down to visit and take Alex out to dinner! We went to Smokey Bones so Alex could have a pulled pork sandwich - her favorite!

Another year and she will be able to get her drivers permit. In another 4 years she will be graduating and going to college. 4 YEARS! That is not very long at all. God gives you these precious gifts and you get to mold them into young adults, then you have to let them go. That has to be the hardest thing to do. Just think, I have homeschooled her for 8 years and she has been with me everyday - all day most of that time. I am one lucky mom. I have witnessed her growing up (she still has a long way to go) and have not missed much. She is just about as tall as me (another 1/2 inch to go) and almost wears the same size shoe! Her spiritual side is just as big. She has been through a lot switching churches when she was 12, but she understands more about faith and religion than most kids her age. She has a big heart and a willing attitude to serve others. As you can tell I am very PROUD of her.

This is her love of her life, Shelby. She has been obsessed with horses for as long as I can remember. Over time we have just gotten more and more into the "horse" thing, going from 1/2 day horse camps to full day horse camps to joining a horse club to joining 4H and spending a week at fair watching horses and now to leasing a horse from a friend. You know what is next... owning our own horse. I must admitt I love being with horses too, just not having to go out to the barn every other day, but for Alex we do it. It is amazing how she is with horses. She has no fear and shows her dominance over them with no problem. She would rather be with a horse than anything. What a blessing. While other 14 y.o. girls are off on the emotional roller coaster of boyfriends and getting caught up in how they look, Alex is consumed with her horse. She could care less about boys and her looks (we are working on that however - off to get her hair styled today!). I hope it continues... at least through high school. Horses are expensive, but in many ways it is worth it. It has built up her self esteem and taught her responsibility. It is just one of the things that has helped her developed in to the beautiful young lady she is!

Ok on to Trick or Treating! What a beautiful night to be out. Everyone sat outside to hand out candy. It was the first time I saw many of our neighbors! Alex was a bratty toddler, Curt was some masked man, Anna was a horse rider, Olivia was a ghost and Maria was a barbie cheerleader! I am all about not spending any money for costumes, so besides Livy's $4 muslin and Curt's $10 mask we succeeded. They look mighty cute too! Our neighbor always makes his kids some cool costumes. This year his son was an alien. He made this huge head out of foam! It was the best costume on the streets!

Want to buy a BAG?

2008-10-27T21:17:00.000-04:00

That is the question... Saturday every one's answer was NO. At the open house I only sold one bag... and that was to my good friend Malinda! Thanks for the generosity Malinda - she felt bad for me. We split a table together at the show. She sells Avon (if anyone needs a catalog, let me know and I will get one for you!). She said she did not need all her space and I could have half... well in the end I got a little corner of the table, she just about pushed me off! Luckily I did not need much space and I am just teasing her! The turn out was slow in the beginning but it picked up as the afternoon went on. Thanks to Trish for stopping by to see my display (see her comment in the post below!). I still had fun hanging out with the girls and meeting new people - a BIG thanks to Melissa Weller for putting it together.

Here are some medium totes I stayed up late on Friday finishing for the show. The black swirl one is the one Malinda bought for her sister. That was definitely a popular one. Alexandra also likes it, so I suppose I should WHIP one up for her birthday this Saturday. My oldest baby is going to be 14! WOW!

OK, on to a more humorous topic. Whenever there is an entertaining story to tell, it usually comes from Olivia! She is such a funny 5 y.o.! I came home from my walk tonight and was immediately greeted at the door by her. She was demanding I come and sit at the table for a family meeting! She even had water poured for me in a little tea cup. It appears that someone ate the candy corn off her brownie that she won at Trunk Or Treat last night. She gathered the family around and wrote our names down on paper. She proceeded to question each of us to determined who ate the candy corn. She would put an X through their name if she did not think they did it. This discussion went on for a while. We could not agree on how many candy corn there was on top, but did come to the conclusion that Curt and Anna each had one, but there should of been some left over. Olivia commented on how all this is very "sub-spicious"! She even put on her "inspection goggles" and investigated the brownie. It was also found out the Alex ate a corner off the brownie, but no candy corn. They also all pointed the finger at me, but I reassured them that although tempted, I did NOT eat them! It ended with everyone apologizing for nibbling on her brownie, including her dad who ate her first brownie the night before without asking! Then she gave what was left to Maria and she had a piece of pumpkin pie! Too funny!

M & M - Mercedes and Maria

A Little bit of This and That!

2008-10-23T22:39:00.000-04:00

It is 10:40 on Thursday and I am up trying to get a few more bags done for this weekend. I thought I would take a break and write my blog tonight. I know I will not have time tomorrow, for Friday is a busy one!

Can anyone figure out the message my 12 y.o. son wrote on or frig with magnets? I love it! He was very proud of himself for being so creative with all the different letters.

Check out these adorable jeans I have jazzed up! I got this idea from my good friend, and mentor, Trish Preston! Although I do not have the fancy sewing machine that does all this gathering for you, I still managed to get the ruffles done! Trish, has offered use of her machine to make these, but I think her machine is not free for a moment (she also has a thriving handbag business... you can check it out her blot at http://twopeasinapoddesigns.wordpress.com/). So, thanks Trish for letting me steal your jean idea. I made the animal print one for my cute little niece, Maya, who is 2 and a half years old. Unfortunately they are quite long, so I will try to sell them, if not she will have jeans to grow into. Kathy, I will get her a new pair soon and get them in the mail! The other two, my girls picked out the fabric. I figured if they like it other 3 and 5 year olds would too. These are both up for sale and will be at the open house this Saturday in Canal. If they do not sell, my girls get some new jeans - win/win situation!

Mercedes' Picture of the Day:

Mercedes Shining Glow

2008-10-23T07:16:00.000-04:00

Meet Mercedes Sims! Ever since Sidney died, we have had a void in our house. It was nice not to have to think about taking care of a dog, but it was also lonely. You could often find Alex, Bill or I on Petfinder or Craigslist looking for a puppy. We would find the cutest ones, but I always said not now. It just seemed like so much work! Our friends recently purchased a yellow lab puppy and I watched as they put so many hours into training her. The energy from them is enough to wear anyone out! So I started talking to the troops about getting an older dog that already has some of the training done. They agreed as long as I would promise we would get a puppy at a later date. We were thinking about adopting a "cell" dog from a humane society. Those are the dogs that are shipped to prisons and the inmates obedience train them, then they are sent back and put up for adoption. However, we never did go and see any, because Bill came across an ad for Mercedes on Craigslist. It was hard not to get a dog from the pound or rescue, but in a way we rescued the family we got her from. She came from a family that had 3 small kids (3, 2, 1 y.o.) and one child had a heart condition. The kids were taken care of by the dad as the mom works and he even admitted he was not a dog person. So Mercedes added a lot to his plate! On Monday night Bill and I made the hour trip down to Chillicothe to "check" her out, knowing quite well that once we saw her we would bring her home. That we did! I had visions of when we first went to pick out Sidney at the pound, how she jumped 4 feet into the workers harms. That should of told us what we were in for... a dog that can jump to great heights! When we got out of the car Mercedes was barking and running around ... I did not think that was a good sign. But once I approached her and she started to love on me, I was hooked! So home she came!

She is such a wonderful dog and addition to our family. She is a 1 1/2 y.o. Weimeraner. She is full of energy, which is a good match for my 5 kids! She knows her basic commands and listends quite well. There are a few things we have to train her on, not to bark at every little thing and to drop the ball if she wants us to throw it again! The kids are busy taking her for walks and playing in the backyard with her. They even strap on their roller blades and run with her! (we got that from the "Dog Whisperer") Bill has taken her to a field every night and played catch with her. I am sure she is not use to all this exercise and by the evening she is very tired. She is crate trained and we have had no problems with her at night. I bring her downstairs in the morning to let her out and play with her. When I stop playing with her, she goes upstairs and sniffs Bill's face until he gets up! He has actually been to work on time the last few days! Alex shows her the most attention and is really on top of the training! It is nice to have another set of "hands" to help us out with her. Mercedes has settled in well with all of us and has already become PART OF THE FAMILY!

Fall camping in NY

2008-10-20T06:36:00.000-04:00

Only God can create something so beautiful! I said that I would write about their camping trip so here is the scoop. They could not of asked for better weather! It was in the 60's during the day and not too cold at night (well too cold for me to go!) The timing was perfect to catch the leaves changing color. This camping trip is done every year. Bill arranges to go with his brother - in - law and a group of his friends. They are all die hard campers - some only take a sleeping bag and a tarp to sleep under (at least that's the legend!) Bill will usually take as many kids that want to go with him. Curt and Anna love it so they always go and it appears that Olivia is now a lil' camper too. Alex does not like it anymore (after the near death boat ride back to their car one year) so she opts to stay home. This year I was making plans to do some shopping and visiting some parks with Maria and Alex, so it totally surprised me when a few days before departure Maria announces she wants to go. She wavered quite a bit, thinking that Alex and I were going to make cookies and not leave her any, but we assured her we would. So Bill sets off with 4 out of the 5 kids. The kids are great for the 5 - 6 hour car trip. They pack a few play things and they always listen to audio books. This trip they listen to Ramona and Her Father, The Egypt Game and Rabbit Hill. You get so involved in the stories that time flies!

Every year Bill comes back from camping with some big story to tell. Like the boat ride I mentioned above (sometimes they canoe to their sites and on the way back a storm picked up quickly and about tipped them over) or some encounter with an animal (raccoons getting in the tent or a bear rolling the camping kitchen box down a hill). One year the story was about it snowing on them (that was the year Bill sucked it up and slept in his brother's camper!). This is the first time they came back with out any big story. The kids still talked my ear off about every little detail and I LOVED IT! I love hearing them get so excited over the rocks they found or about the talk around the camp fire. Everyone that goes just loves the kids being their. They always tell Bill what good kids we have, in fact Bill said someone from another camp site down the road stopped and told him what good kids they were. I think Curt and Anna collected some fire wood for them or something like that. They are all right... I do have fantastic kids!

The kids love going to the Bear Caves while they are there. I do not know if they are called that because bears occupy them at some time (I do not want to know), but they are huge rocks that the kids can climb on. Of course Curt and Anna spent hours exploring the forest by the camp site and finding all sorts of things. They took hikes by the creek as well. It is nice to hear that they spent 4 days in nature and not hooked to some game system. Although I did notice one picture with Anna sitting around the campfire playing DS. I was told that was banned from there on out! I think in this world our technology has taken over kid's lives and they forget how to just go outside and create their own adventures.

So I am thankful for my dear husband for taking them on these wonderful camping trips and letting them just be kids!

Fall Fun & another bag done!

2008-10-17T07:22:00.000-04:00

I have to admit fall is not my favorite time of the year! Yes, I love the colors and getting to wear my good ol' sweatshirts, but it also means winter is right around the corner! As time goes by we never seem to get all the "fall activities" done that we use to do. No time for apple picking, pumpkin patches, and our annual Halloween party. How sad! My poor little ones are getting jipped out of fall fun. Luckily a coworker of Bill's has some apple trees and gave us this large laundry basket full!

So we are pulling out the apple recipes. Curt has become "Curt the applesauce man". He is in charge of making applesauce! Got to love it! He is really getting into helping out in the kitchen - he will make a great husband one of these days. Of course to make our sauce all you do is feed the apples through the "apple peeler, corer, slicer" and then cook them for 5 hours in the crock pot with a little water and sugar. The first batch he made was with 12 apples and filled half the crock pot... to his surprise it only made enough for one serving each at dinner. So this time he filled our extra large crock pot using 20 apples and it made a nice batch. We served it over our ginger honey pork chops last night and it was soooo good! If anyone else has a QUICK and EASY apple recipe post it in the comments!

I do manage to do some fun things with Livy and Ria. I got a great idea for a fall game from Amy Anderson's great web site for preschool activities. A few minutes to cut felt into a scarecrow and to make a spinner and you have game that will keep them busy for at least a few minutes! Love it!

The day ended with me finishing up a bag! This is one of my favorites and definitely is popular with my daughters! Too cute and up for sale! I am hoping for a bag a day from now until next Saturday's show. I really do not think that will happen, but I can dream! I have some larger hobo bags to produce and some large weekender bags and those take me much longer to produce. I will be lucky to get two of them done by then. It is about time I teach Alex how to sew - she is just about 14 so does that count for child labor? Ha!

Welcome to the Livy Marie Blog!

2008-10-14T07:23:00.000-04:00

I love blogs! Every morning I sit down with my coffee and read a few of the dozen that I have marked. I do not even know these people but I am intriqued by their lives. I guess you can call them my internet friends - a friendship that is one sided, since they do not know that I read about their lives everyday! Actually I love their creativity and photographs! I will share some of the neat things I find on other people's blogs another day. There are some real innovative people out there!

Another reason to start my blog is to update those Livy Marie customers with what is new! I am on a sewing frenzy and I am starting to produce lots of bags. It is time to get them sold! So check out the slide show in the side bar and it will show you all the bags I have created in the past and present. You can also go to my portfolio at http://www.flickr.com/photos/31265463@N06/. Check out the selection and let me know if you see a bag you must have. I can also customize your bag - so pick a style and a fabric and in no time you will have your one of a kind bag! For those of you living in the Canal Winchester area, I will be selling Livy Marie product at an open house on Oct. 25 at the community center from 11-3. There will be lots of direct sales companies there for you to get some early Christmas shopping done! Speaking of Christmas, a Livy Marie bag makes a great gift! Get your orders in soon - I will quit sewing by December so I can enjoy the holidays with my family!

Here is a sneak peak at some of the bags that I have to offer and will be selling at the open house. I should have a lot more done considering Bill took 4 of the 5 kiddos camping for 4 days. I expected to sew the whole time and have a least 20 bags done when he got back. Things did not work out that way! Between me trying to get some much needed cleaning done and taxiing Alex around to her horse events, not much got done. I also checked out 4 movies from the library and I had a hard time trying to watch the movie and sew at the same time. It is also hard to hear the movie over the loud hum of my OLD machine! So when they pulled in our driveway at 6pm I only had about 7 bags done, two of which were orders needing to be filled! So I have a long road ahead of me in the next week! With all that being said, I had a fantastic 4 days! It was wonderful to be here with no little ones to look after. I love my children but the break was much needed. One thing was missing - the NOISE! Ok, two things - the MESS! My kitchen actually stayed clean the whole four days! Of course when they got home they begged me to go next time... I don't think so! I will blog about their camping trip another day!