Joyful Voices Clearly Ringing

at my house this morning! I'm kidding, it was the exact opposite! Whew what a way to start the day!!

• My oldest two girls were fighting before 7:00 am, because one of the combed the other's hair too much and caused the "curl" from her french braid to disappear (it's picture day today, you know). I'm not sure why they were up so early but in the midst of it all they woke up the baby. Great.
• Our four year old decided to dig her heels in about almost everything, resulting in her being put back to bed for a re-start.
• Baby Doll keeps screeching at everyone because she wants a book read to her. That's great except we were all still eating breakfast.
• At least the boys woke up happy! The older one got the younger one his breakfast and now they're both plowing thru a huge stack of pancakes. I've lost count as to how many they've eaten. Have at 'em boys!

Now that I've locked myself in the office with a cup a coffee, trying to regroup, the house is quiet and no one "needs" Mom at this given moment. Things are looking up!

I've been working on packing up our basement. The moving truck leaves in 13 days. It seems as though everytime I get the able mabel stuff packed neatly away in a box, something else sells and I have to dig thru it all to ship out the sold item. Not complaining, just saying! I had to dig thru it on Saturday and didn't put it back. Maybe I should go down, pack it all back up and test my theory...

It's a bit hard having to put my "creative juices on hold" while we get packed up and moved. It'll be at least a few more weeks until I can start digging in again. Our stuff will be getting shipped out about a week ahead of us so maybe I can sneak over to JB's house at that point and work on something!

I'm in renewing mode

Instead of listing new items, I've been renewing what we already have listed twice a day. Our life has gotten so busy, I'm not really finding the time to take pictures and list. Hopefully once the packing is all done, I'll get to it. If not, then for sure after the big move!

At the top of my list today is a good workout! I've been slacking a bit lately (my left hip has been giving me issues this time around, but I got it adjusted yesterday). I could use a good sweat session!! Exercise is one of the best things for me when I'm pregnant! I'm less irritable, sore, cranky, you name it. As soon as I get pipsqueaks down for her nap...

I now have a red door.

As the mad scramble to get the house ready to put on the market continues, it's fun to watch the "visual" progress! Last night my husband decided to pull out the paint and attack the doors. He started with the door going from the house into the garage.

When we first built our house, I had picked out a color scheme for the outside. Not too long ago, I threw away those paint chips figuring that when it came time to paint, I'd just go to the paint store and pick the door color out then. I hadn't realized this whole moving bit would be happening and happening very quickly! My husband ended up stopped on his way home from work and picking out the color. The original one I had picked out was more of a plum color. I'm not complaining because the color he picked out is a very nice color and this house won't be ours for much longer anyway.

Pardon the horrible picture. You see, to take any pictures of him I have to do it on the sly! This is the best I could do under those "conditions".

I'm off to package up our able mabel sale from yesterday! Yippee!!

Here I sit

I act like I have nothing I should be doing today. My to-do list is miles long and here I sit. I've reached the stage in my pregnancy where some days it's hard to get motivated to do anything.

Yesterday I bustled from the moment I woke up until the moment my kids went to bed at night. I suppose that means today is my "recovery" day.

This morning I sat in the chair and read my kids books. They were in their glory! Then we went outside and puttered around the yard for a bit. This afternoon, after mowing the lawn, I've just been sitting around enjoying the peace and quiet. (As I type, I can hear my youngest calling for me from her bed.) I'm telling myself that after supper I'll start the overwhelming task of going thru stuff in the basement.

I think I'm going to pack the able mabel stuff last. I'd like to still have access to it to take pictures and list items. I should probably organize it according to what is already listed vs what needs to be listed. That way when something sells, I'll know exactly where it is.

So in the meantime...Here I sit!

I'm here, I'm here!

Wonder where I've been lately?

We've been considering a possible move to another state and life has been full of decisions, spur-of-the-moment trips, more decisions, whirling thoughts, etc. We should have our answers shortly and if we decide to move, it'll be an intense few weeks of getting the house ready to put on the market, packing and settling into our new place.

I'll try to keep this blog updated as much as possible, but just in case I don't, you'll know why!

You know school is back in session when

the kids come home with colds and pass them onto you! My head and sinuses are throbbing! I'm ready to crawl into the sheets!

Today I needed something "brainless" to do so I took the kids down to the basement and worked on a necklace. It required very little thinking. Just count to three and make sure it's the right color. I wasn't convinced it would even look semi-decent. I tried it on after I was done and I kind of like how it turned out. Granted it's mostly plastic beads, not exactly my favorite, but for this style, it worked.

Now I need the energy to face the bedtime choas. At least my husband is home to help. He's also willing to go grocery shopping since our cupboards look like Old Mother Hubbards! What a guy!

There isn't a whole lot

happening on the able mabel front today. Just trying to get re-organized after a busy weekend.

I thought I'd be able to sneak downstairs for a bit while my kids were napping but it's already pretty late into the afternoon. Maybe I should lounge on the chair with a bead catalog I got in the mail. I saw someone at church yesterday with a really neat necklace on. I'd like to see if I can make something similar to it.

I almost forgot! I have a bag that I haven't listed yet. It's been wait to be photographed since late spring! I finally got to it last week and now I need to list it. I guess I'll work on that...

We now have so many other fun patterns for different styles of purses, this will probably be the last one we make in this style for a while. (unless of course, someone wants one ;)!)

Coming to you this morning from an oatmeal splattered kitchen!

It's been one of those mornings...15 month old screaming for breakfast, 2 year old needing a "re-start" on the day, three school kids in slow-mo needing help with their lunches. The solution? Give the baby her oatmeal so she can feed herself (I know better than to do this with oatmeal but what choice did I have?), throw the 2 year old back in bed (this kid is the most stubborned kid around, love him to death though!) and help get the school kids out the door (narrowly avoiding a meltdown by the kindergartner).


Now I'm paying for it...the self-feeding-oatmeal-flinging-machine made a huge mess. (this is exactly why oatmeal is not my most favorite breakfast to give the kids) Oh well! The joys of motherhood! Take the messy with the good!


I think I'm sunk....Take for example this wedding I went to last night. Someone was sitting a few benches up and had this very colorful dress on. My first thought? That would make an awesome apron! Sick, huh? You see, JB just bought a very delicious apron book with some very cool ideas in there. I can't help it!!


Next I was talking to my mom and noticed her necklace. She "cheated" and bought it instead of making it. (I'm kidding mom!) As I was laying last night I was trying to decide if I had the right "ingredients" to make a similar one today. Took me forever to fall asleep! I sometimes wonder why I bother making jewelry because it's so over-saturated on Etsy. Yet it's so much fun and I'm really learning a lot, so it's hard to stop. I guess I just have to find another outlet to sell the jewelry. Or else try to make ours so unique, they're hard to pass up!


After I get this bag listed, I'm going to gather these ducklings and head downstairs to see if I can get some able mabel work done today. I have a few light switch covers waiting to be finished and then maybe dive into the beads!

I'm feeling a little bit chatty

but am getting a taste of my own medicine...hubby has his nose buried in a book (he's at the end, very riveting!) and doesn't want to listen to me. Hate when that happens (the taste of my own medicine, that is).

I took our 4 year old to a wedding tonight. She was full of questions...

• Why does that guy (the usher) have to help those people in (to the church)? Will they cry if he doesn't help them?
• Now who's going to sing?
• Why is that lady walking so fast? Because her baby is crying?
• Why does he (the usher again) have to help us out? Can't we help ourselves?
• Are we going to get to eat cake now?
• Do I have to give that lady (the bride) a hug?

and on and on. I felt like I was shushing her the whole time. Overall she did good and it was fun to have her there with me.

On the able mabel front...

JB and I worked on getting a smaller version of this bag done today. Someone had requested it over the weekend and today was the first day we had time to work on it. I'll have to get it photographed and listed tomorrow.

While she was finishing up the purse, I started on a pouch. I got part of it sewed but not all. The time to wrap things up came all too soon. "Real life" obligations, you know. It'll probably be next week before I can get back over there and do some more sewing. Really, I have to get my own machine. Someday, someday...

Just heard the book clunk to the floor (that's my sign to wrap things up here. Short and sweet, I guess). Good night! See you in the morning!

Creative thinking required

on my part when it comes to photographing mirrors. We've had these mirrors that we did a while back. I've had a hard time trying to figure out how to photograph them because, obviously, something will always be reflected in the mirror. The same goes for the artwork that is protected by glass. Finally today, I think I was able to get a "good enough" picture of them.

For the mirrors, I laid them down on the ground and shot from above, at just enough of an angle so my camera wasn't reflected in the mirror. I then got down on my knees and shot from the side, basically trying to get the detail on the mirror. I may try this again with a different colored background, now that I know it's going to work.

For the glass framed artwork, I hung a see thru sheet across the dining room window, sat slightly off to the side of the sign and snapped from that angle. They're not perfect, but they just might have to do for now.

There was much rejoicing

this morning on this household! Today is the first day of school! I'm still not sure who was more excited...me or the kids! My oldest two girls chattered excitedly all morning long, watching the clock. As they shut the door with a bang, I breathed a sigh of relief. I'll definitely miss their help during the day, but realized this summer how much they/we need the routine, challenge and structure of school. Our son will start kindergarten tomorrow. He's still upstairs sawing logs, so he missed out on all the excitement.

I can't really sit back and enjoy my morning though. I have to get two packages ready to go (able mabel had an excellent sales day on Saturday, so I'm not complaining about getting the packages ready) and then race off to the oral surgeon. Our son has an extra tooth bud on the roof of his mouth that needs to be removed. Crazy!

I'm looking forward to getting back into the swing of the school year. Getting on somewhat of a schedule! It almost feels like a new beginning!