Lucius Aurelius Commodus

Check out what Santa brought me:) He has to be the sweetest puddy ever! I named him Lucius Aurelius Commodus or Lu for short. You are probably wondering where the name came from. It is based on a character played by my secret super dream hubs, Joaquin Phoenix, from the movie Gladiator, lol.
Anyway, Lu is only 2 months old and already a BIG BOY. He is like a cat vacuum! Seriously! Has a darling personality too! Me loves Lu!

~There's Someone in the Chimney~

Hi everybody! Yea, I know it has been a long time since my last blog but what's new, things are crazy all of the time:) Amy and I are all caught up on orders for our Loves Me Not etsy store and are gearing up for Spring! Yea, I can't believe Spring clothes already, I am freezing my booty off every day here, maybe a vacation to somewhere WARM will inspire:)
Have most of my shopping done for Christmas, everything is wrapped except for the presents from You Know Who. The kids are really jazzed as usual.
Had to post this video, this is my super adorable little guy Jack, he is going to be 9 on the 28th of December and he got to be Santa in the school program! Right on! Turn up your speakers!

Maybe Next Year :)

My little guy wanted to give mowing a shot so we let him give it a go. Oh lawdy, look at the struggle in the bottom pic. Me thinks he is not quite ready for the job, maybe next year!

~Halloween~

What perfect weather to hit the neighborhood! It was freezing at the beginning of the week and all of the sudden it is almost 70 degrees!
As you can see, Jack was "V" from the movie V for Vendetta and Isabel was a kitty of course:)
Tons of candy, treat bags, face painting and games with the school parties too!
The kids had a great Halloween and are already trying to figure out their costumes for next year:)

Thing 1 and Thing 2

Finally a little bit of time for my personal blog! Things are just crazy! School, school activities, homework, swimming lessons twice a week, not to mention that we just sanded and refinished the floors in the entire back of the house, ha. AND are painting the entire house! Jack's room is pretty much finished and looking very cool. We decided to go with a cranberry color for Isabel's room and well lets just say that IT IS DARK! I am not sure if we are going to keep it or not. If not, you know what that means, 2 coats of primer at least and then a different color. lol. Did I mention that we are NOT hiring this out, just me and the hubs doing it all :)
So lets see, that leaves our bedroom, the hall, the kitchen, dining and living room to prime, paint the walls and trim and the ceilings too! OMG, that is stressing me out, lol.
Did I also mention that before starting on this project, I had spent 3 days cleaning the house like a crazed lunatic!! I was not really aware of the house renovation until it was already going on. I am not good with surprises like this, lol. I am trying to be positive and think of the end result though, love me some freshly painted walls and lovely floors!! Ok, enough about that!

Business in our LOVES ME NOT etsy shop, is FABULOUS!! Amy and I couldn't be happier!! We have all kinds of new ideas rolling around in our brains too!! :) If you haven't checked us out, come on over!!
www.boutiquelovesmenot.etsy.com

Now for a few pics!! These were taken a couple of weeks ago with the new Nikon D90. Here are Thing 1 and Thing 2 (lol), goofing around down by the river. Notice the changes in Isabel on these pics, from posing, to having a good time, to OK enough is enough. lol.

Beauty of a Child

Couldn't resist posting a few shots of my girl that truly inspire me!
The sweetness in her eyes, the innocence in her expressions. The depth of her personality, melts me every time:)
The photographs..... I can only hope to convey the measure of beauty that exists in all children.

I also found this poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson that is so true!
" The sun illuminates only the eye of the man, but shines into the eye and the heart of the child"


AND, THE ~LOVES ME NOT~ ETSY SHOP IS OPEN!!!
COME AND CHECK US OUT :)

Loves Me Not Preview

My last preview before the actual opening of our Loves Me Not etsy store!!
Aside from the occasional whine, lol, Isabel and I had a ball doing pics! We celebrated with a Happy Meal of course:)
Don't forget to check out the Loves Me Not blog too for more previews!
Did I mention that I LOVE this fabric! Anna Maria Horner really nailed it with this collection, the colors are so rich and scream fall weather!
Too bad I don't make clothes for myself, I would definitely be sporting something with this line! Ya, don't make the big girls clothes. LOL
Maybe someday....... or NOT :)

Sneak Peek!

Hi everyone! Here is a little sample of what is coming for The Loves Me Not debut!
We had a little bit of a late start, the labels came from Hong Kong and took a little longer than we wanted. AND the fabric, talk about slow, took about 6 weeks. We finally had to order from a different person just to get it quicker.
But we got it and will be opening the etsy shop sometime towards the end of the week!
How exciting!!

Isabel's Shirt : " I don't let school interfere with my social life", HA

7:30a.m. OMG, it is way too early!
Jack is definitely NOT looking excited! Poor babe!
OMG, he is so tired!
Bus 17 with Ms. Edie!

Wow, what an easy morning for Isabel!! Which means an easy morning for ME! Last year was not pleasant with the two of us. LOL. Jack is soooo easy in the morning but Isabel likes to take her time and change her mind about clothes and of course, NOT GET OUT OF BED!
Jack has been fighting a cold and looks drugged for his pics. He also was not too crazy that his 4 best friends are not in his class:(
But all in all, they both had a good morning and liked their teachers! YEAH!
3rd grade for Jack, gosh he is getting so big and it is happening too fast!!
1st grade for Isabel, I can't believe it!

Oh, had to post this shot of my favorite flower, Lazy Susan :)
Shot with my NEW 85mm lens!

~Believe~

Hi everyone! I just listed this darling piece for the Boutique Eden launch. You can check it out here. I have a bunch of items on order for new pieces, cool chains, gorgeous briolettes. Can't wait to get my hands on them!!
First day of school is tomorrow! They only go for a couple of hours which in my opinion is a waste, lol. Must be an exercise to get the mom's up and moving, HA.
Thursday will be the first full day. Hopefully everyone will go to bed EARLY tonight:)

~Loves Me Not~

Only one week left and back to school! Yipee! LOL.
There is a part of me that is still sad though, being home without my babies, they grow up so fast. I am sure on the first day of school I will be a huge baby as usual. And then I will remember the fighting and screaming and running around constantly.... Then I am back to being excited! :)

AND now for some awesome news!
You are probably wondering about the very cool logo above?? What the heck is "Loves Me Not"?
My great friend, Amy and myself are working on a line of clothing for girls! The debut Winter '08 line will be called "Ice Bouquet". Gorgeous fabrics with lots of rich colors and pops of ice blue. We will be featuring our designs on etsy. Vintage simplicity at its best!
Will keep you posted! :)

Hedgehog Fairytale

Lets pick all of the berries off of the bayberry bush and throw them high into the sky! Isabel had a blast, it was the highlight of the photo shoot:) Here is my latest for the VendeMia Fairytale launch. You can check it out here.

Bear Cub Set AND First Handstamped Creation!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to share my listing for the PoppySt Back to School Launch. I have had this cub fabric since last summer and am glad I saved it for this:) Darling little whimsical bugs and birds scattered around, too sweet! You can check it out here.

And for some really exciting news! My first handstamped creation! I was really happy with how this one turned out:) I am listing one with my set above and will be listing handstamped necklaces in my etsy store. More on that soon to come:)

Wild and Free

How cool is this?? We went to my parents out in the country this weekend and this is what we found. I looked it up and it is a Polyphemus Moth. Of course we had to bring it home and put it in the butterfly pavillion, overnight it made a silk cocoon. Not sure if it will turn into a moth before fall or if we will have to wait until next spring. Can't wait to get my eyes on this gorgeous creature!!

Two more cuties :) My dad raises English Setters and here are 2 puppies from the bunch. I was shocked to get this photo of them, they are wild and full of it, HA.
Going to the country is such a blast the kids love it! Running wild without a care in the world:)

Daydreaming, baseball and other stuff

My little guy, not so little anymore:) I don't get too many opportunities to snap a shot of Jack so I had to share. Very serious, posing for my photography class, what a handsome guy! I am so proud of him, he is so amazing:)
Baseball is over for the season, he is getting so tall, I can't believe it, time is flying so fast!


And here is Isabel:) Daydreaming about something, probably wondering if the ice cream truck will be by anytime soon. Or maybe studying the clouds, trying to figure out what she sees in the sky. Looking for that stray dog that showed up last week and stayed for hours. She soo wanted to keep him. I think he was in heaven, she showed him so much attention. After making sure he had plenty of water, she gave him green grapes and cat food. HMMMM, not sure if that was quite what he wanted, ha, but she thought so.

Customer Sweetie

How adorable is this little cutie! I was really excited to get a picture of Miss Grace wearing her Flea Market Fancy apron dress :) Thank you so much for the photo Jessica, you are the best!

Mississippi River

Here are some pics that I took last night of the Mississippi River. We live close to St. Louis, these were taken in a town, Grafton that is right on the river. This is what it looks like already and the river isn't expected to crest until Tuesday!
If you look at the second pic, where the telephone poles are is usually where we park our truck and put our boat in.
Feeling sad for the flood victims:-(

Butterflies

My girl has fallen in love with moths and butterflies. For her birthday we got her one of those butterfly pavillions and mailed in their coupon for 5 caterpillars. They arrived in a clear jar full of food. It took about 4 days for them to be in chrysalis form. A few days later on Saturday morning we woke up to BUTTERFLIES fluttering around. It was a good day:)
We found flowers to put in there and dipped them in sugar water. Also we gave them orange slices. They really seemed to love their treats!
Tonight was the night to let them venture out on their own.
It was sad for my girl but she was very proud that she had cared for her butterflies. After playing in the yard and pool all day, she was ready to let them fly away. Such a sweet site as they flew off, one by one and she called their names, telling them that she would miss them and to be careful. She did an amazing job at caring for them and I am so proud of her:)

~VendeMia Market~ Simply Chic & No Reserve!

Come and check out the Market! VendeMia is having a Simply Chic & No Reserve Market! All clothing items start at $35.00, isn't that awesome!!
I just listed this jumper style apron dress. Of course Isabel gets to keep this one, I can't seem to part with any of the originals for some reason, lol. BUT, I will recreate this one more time!!
The turquoise floral fabric is out of production and near to impossible to find! This is one of my all time favorite fabric collections, glad I stashed some back:)
You can check out my listing here.
And check out the rest of the girls too, click here for these awesome deals!

Gilligan's Island Launch!

Talk about a fun launch theme! Based on one of my all time favorite shows as a kid,
GILLIGAN'S ISLAND! and of course Mary Ann was my inspiration for this set. Super girly, lots of gingham and polka dots! The Hilco strawberry fabric was a dream to work with:)
VendeMia welcomes our newest members or as we call them "castaways" for this launch!
You can check my auction out here.
Click here to check out all of VendeMia's listings!

Oh my gosh, look who is 6 years old!!

I can't believe it! My baby girl is 6 years old today! Happy and proud of course but missing those baby days:)
Here is a shot of her at school. The class had just returned from recess, can you tell by the hair? LOL. Isabel wanted to take cupcakes on her birthday. I have a love/hate relationship with cupcakes, lol.
I am determined to master this thing, even if it makes me crazy!
I made them for my son's birthday and followed a completely homemade recipe from Martha Stewart, well they tasted awesome but looked like he!!.
My bug decorated cupcakes looked nothing like hers. I was so mad.
So this time, for Isabel's birthday I decided to make a recipe for iciing and use those fancy decorating tips, well that would have been great if the iciing would have actually been thick.
It almost drained right through the decorating bag, lol. Not the thickness that I had hoped for at all but at least it stayed on the cupcake.
So I will be making alot of cupcakes, trying to get the consistency of the iciing right. Crazed and determined, lol. I mean come on, these tiny things can't be that difficult, right?? :)
We will be going somewhere super fun this weekend to celebrate her birthday more. She is not sure where she wants to go yet so I will let you know soon:)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ISABEL!

~Tramonto dell annata~

Finally, outdoor pictures! It was a LONG winter, ha! I just listed this darling Southern Vintage set for the VendeMia *Mille Fiore* launch. You can check out my listing by clicking here. I absolutely LOVE how this turned out, so sweet and southern vintage.
Isabel desperately wants a fun picture of her in the set for my blog, so I am posting this one for my girl! :)

Tagged!

I have been tagged by Angel of TaDa Creations!

Here are the rules:
1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Oh boy, I don't know if I can think of 7 interesting things about me. lol. I will give it a shot though!

1. DH and I lived in a motorhome/travel trailer for several years in our early 20's before kiddos. We mainly worked on the beach in Seaside and Grayton Beach, Florida, waiting tables. We would work from Memorial Day to Labor Day and then vacation the rest of the year. It was so free and such a blast:)
2. Waited to start attempting to have kids until I was 30.
3. Am a reality show junkie! Big Brother, Survivor, Project Runway, Flavor Flav (lol), Amazing Race, Rock of Love, you name it, I most of the time am recording it for late evening viewing. :)
4. Chocoholic! Anything chocolate, must have chocolate something at least once a day!
5. Was a medical transcriptionist until I had Jack, who is now 8 years old.
6. Grew up in the country in Illinois, my dad raised English setters and still does, we had horses and pigeons, the town was a population of 500 at the time! My high school was in the middle of a cornfield! Made for easy escapes when bored! lol.
7. Secret crushes include: Joaquin Phoenix, wildman Dave Navarro and my doctor! LOL.

OK, enough about me! I am going to tag:

Amy (Funky Monkey Boutique)
Brooke (Willow Tree Boutique)
Shelley (Giraffikiki Kids)
Monica (Dominga Luna)
Laurie (Blowin Bubbles Boutique)
Nikki (Ragazza Bella Couture)
Christi (Moppets Closets)
Lynda (Butterfly Kisses)


Thanks for the tag Angel, it was very cool reading about you! Can't wait to read the others!
:)

Fiore del Giglio

Hope everyone had a great Easter! It was like a madhouse here, way too much candy and I think we will be eating colored easter eggs nonstop for the rest of the week! HA!
The weather cooperated somewhat today and I was able to snap a few pics outdoors for this awesome launch that just started! The fabric is by Sandi Henderson, called Ginger Blossom. Darling prints! You can check out my listing here.
There are some amazing designers doing this one, be sure to check them all out here.

Journey's new frontman

I was cleaning up around the house the other day, watching Ellen and what?
I heard her mention the band Journey! I had to stop and focus on the tube. lol.
They found this guy from the Philippines and he is awesome! He sounds more like Steve Perry than Steve Perry does. lol. Awesome voice and a hottie too:)
Check it out!

~Pesci da Acqua~

Hi Everyone! I just listed this darling fishie set and wanted to share. This fabric is so darling and great to work with. Tons of ruffles and layers, so fun and girly:)
You can check out my listing here. Also, I am still running my customer giveaway promotion, follow the links on my auction that lead to my blog for more details.

~Bluebird dell'annata~ LISTING & PROMOTION

Hi all! I wanted to share my latest for the VendeMia "27 Dresses" launch and give you the info on my "Summer in the City" promotion!! This fabric is so awesome, the colors are amazing! You can click here to see my auction. We have some awesome designers, you can check out all of the VendeMia auctions here.
Now for the promotion! Starting with this listing, until the end of March. The prize, a surprise custom set using a combination of the Moda Summer in the City fabrics. Sizes 24mos.-5T.
Each bidder will be entered into the drawing once for each bid. The winning bidder will be entered twice. Also, everyone who signs up for my mailing list, just below, will not only get free shipping but will be entered once too. At the end of the promotion, Isabel will pick a name from all of the entries and the winner will get an awesome surprise!!! Good luck and thanks for checking us out!

PINWHEEL QUILT

Check out this amazing handmade quilt on eBay by clicking here. My friend's mother made this to help benefit a man, Mac McCormick, who is suffering from cancer and has no family. Such a sweet lady:) If you know anyone that LOVES quilts, please pass this along!
Thanks so much!

Lunar Eclipse February 20, 2008

WOW! I wish that I could say I photographed these, but my pictures didn't even resemble a moon. LOL. What an amazing site it was. There is a really cool story about Christopher Columbus and a lunar eclipse, you can check it out here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !

Mmmmmm, cake! And red velvet, yummo! That's right, today is my birthday and I am the luckiest person in the world! I love my two kiddos, Jack and Isabel, and am so grateful to have them:) I couldn't ask for a better day than spending it with them. I also adore my favorite friends, you are the best girls:) This is my last year being in my 30's, that's right I am 39 today! It just seems like yesterday, living in a motorhome with my hubby, waiting tables down in Florida on the beach, celebrating my 25th birthday and feeling really bummed because I was 1/4 of a century old. LOL. WOW, how the vision of what old "is" changes. Cheers everyone!