Handmade Hat Giveaway

This is my first contest! I want to get the word out about the hats I've been making!


I crochet them all by hand out of 100% cotton or a 50% cotton, 50% acrylic blend.


I started a blog to sell them called Daisy Chains Crochet. Click to check out what I've made.


The pictures on this post are just some samples of hats I've been able to make so far. I have lots of other ideas for you to choose from. (They just aren't made and photographed, yet.)


If you win this contest, you get a customized, handmade hat for your child (or you). You choose the size, style and colors!


To WIN just leave a comment on this post, blog about this contest with links to this post and Daisy Chains Crochet. AND, if you don't win, you are welcome to email me to order one...hint, hint ;)

The contest closes on August 24th at noon. I'll do a drawing for the winner!!



All I ask is that you send me a picture of the wearer in the hat, so that I can use it on my blog. The hats look so much cuter when they are on a person and you can really see what they look like!

Luke is Getting Too Old!

I think Luke is adequately ready and excited to go to kindergarten. The problem is, he is my first and I don't think I am ready to let him out in the world. Does he know enough? Will he be bold enough? (He tends to be shy in new situations.) Will he make friends? Will he like his teacher? Will he do well?

My brain tells me he'll do well, but my heart isn't sure. I just want to be there.

He is a very creative and smart boy. I hope that comes out to his teacher and that he doesn't get picked on.

I just hope I don't cry when he goes that first day!

What did you do to cope with letting go?

Happy Birthday, Belle!

Today is my sweet little girl's second birthday! She is such a gift in my life! She is loving & kind. She is usually mellow and willing to please. It is so refreshing to deal with her. And then there is her Ms. Hyde. If she is tired or hungry, she can wear out several adults and cause a big raucous! She definitely wants to get her way.

She is a genius with facial expressions! She can show you exactly how she feels with her face as has especially expressive eyes!

Belle is also very smart. I know, most people say that about there children, but it is true. Since it is her birthday, I'm going to brag a little. She is learning her colors and can spell her name out loud if you write it (and she knows what it says). She recognizes some other letters as well. She tries to count, but only says 2, 3, 2, 3...It is fun to see her learning all the time.

She loves babies and LOVES to take care of her baby dolls. She also loves to play with hand held dolls and other toys. Belle loves music. She loves to dance, sing and play on the piano. Her favorite song is "Twinkle, twinkle, little star."

Belle loves to wear shoes. She almost always insists that she have some on and if she doesn't, she'll usually find some to wear. She also loves to wear her Tinkerbell shirt.

Anyway, I just wanted to write some of the things about Belle on this day. She is amazing and I love having her in our family!

Are you a digital packrat?

Just when I thought I was beginning to recover from pack rat syndrome, I found this article highlighted on Dumb Little Man.

I have always been a pack rat and now, I think I am doing a little better. I kept everything that I "might" need someday, somehow and everything with any random sentimental value! It was nuts.

I am doing a lot better and our real house has become a lot less cluttered! But, I have way too much digital clutter! I do pretty well with my email because I tend to delete an email once I have replied to it. I save tons of things to my favorites because I want to read or blog about them later. I want to start simplifying that! There is no reason to keep all of those file to clutter up my brain. (Except that I might need them someday!)

Crying

Am I a bad mom for taking this picture?

Or maybe for thinking it's funny??

It's hard not to laugh at tantrums sometimes!

SMART Habit Saturday

Last week, I made my cleaning schedule and although I didn't follow it everyday, I did follow it for about 4 days. It is a good start and I want to continue that for this week. It feels nice to have things cleaner and more orderly. We have also been purging our paper clutter from most of our marriage!! We are definitely in recovery from our pack rat tendencies!! If we can just get it all out of here and on to better homes (or the garbage...).

Here is my schedule:

Su-maintenance
M- weekend recovery
T-vacuum & mop
W-bathroom
R-major organization
F-vacuum & mop
Sa-sheets & dusting

Every day-toys away, clutter removal, laundry & dishes

If you aren't doing it already, go over and see the Lazy Organizer!

Pooping is a Happy Time!!

The title is something I overheard Aaron saying on the phone to his sister. She is working on house training her puppy. Apparently, you have to make a big deal about a dog "going" outside and not show them that you are angry when they "go" inside.

Aaron has really gotten into dog training and learning all he can about it. He has been reading lots of books about it. He even started a blog about it. It's called The Alpha Dog.

In just a few weeks, Freckles is already learning to sit and heel. She is a really well-mannered dog, except when she sees people other than our immediate family. She loves people so much that she gets really excited and hyper! So, now we are working on training her properly and getting her to behave when we tell her.

Toy Recall

We heard about the Fisher Price/Mattel toy recall and so I thought I'd pass the information on to all of you!

Go to this website to see if you have any of them! Lead paint was used to paint some toys...scary!

I have the BEST Husband, EVER!

Aaron got me a newer and better camera for my birthday!! He let me have it a month early, too!! I am so excited, I just had to share!

(Do you think I need more exclamation points???!!!???)

Turning Your Blog into a Book

I found a site called Blurb (if it was on your blog, I am sorry, it has been so long that I don't remember where I saw it first) and thought it was a great idea. There is also lulu.com. I just found it. It is a site that prints any book you want.

I used to be really good about writing in my journal, but it hasn't been a priority lately! I wish it was, but my blog has mostly taken its place. The problem is, I want my children to have access to the stories and pictures. Who knows how long Blogger will be around or if my kids will be able to find what I have done. I haven't published any of it, yet, but I want to try to do it yearly, so it is all in my possession!

Prices at Blurb start at $12.95! It goes up from there and I'm sure it would take a ton of pages to print my whole blog. You download their program for free and you can edit your book as much as you want, so I don't have to include all of the idiocy! ;)

Oh, and looking a little closer at the website, you can make LOTS of different kinds of books. You can do cookbooks, photo books (I'm thinking Grandma and Grandpa needs one of these.) Wedding books...it goes on! I'm really excited to do one. I'll let you know when I do one how it goes.

I haven't done a thankful post in a while, so I thought I'd post about a few of my favorite things!

--Several months ago, we bought a Kitchen Kettle Multi-Cooker. It is wonderful! You can stew, roast, steam, cook rice and deep fry in it! We love it and use it all the time! It is dishwashable, except of course for the plug, so that makes it all the more wonderful in my book! It is so nice when I am making a soup (mmmm...soup) that needs a little more space.

--I have already mentioned how nice my Palm Pilot is for getting me to exercise. I also just learned, yesterday that I can make my own category for menu planning!! It is so nice, after I put all the meals in, I just have to click to choose one. I love it!!

--I love purses and totes! I usually go back and forth between what is the perfect bag for me! At the moment, I am using a large tote with pictures of the kids on it and an Eagle Creek purse inside it for my keys, etc. Eagle Creek bags are designed for travel, but I love that they are also not so "girly". Sometimes I like to have a purse that is more rugged looking. Mine is kind of like this one. I don't think they sell it anymore. It is so nice, though. It has little pockets to hide whatever I need all over it and yet it is still really small! Sometimes I like to carry the kitchen sink, but sometimes I want almost nothing with me!

5 Minutes for Mom's HDTV Contest

I just HAD to enter this one!!! Best Buy and 5 Minutes for Mom are giving away an HDTV!!! I am excited!! I usually don't win this kind of thing, but hey, why not try??? You can go try if you want, but I'd rather you didn't!! ;)

SMART Habit Sunday

I haven't been doing very well with exercise! I have GOT to find some way to get and keep myself to be more active!!!

Okay, for this week, I have decided to do something different from what I have been doing lately! I want to work on getting my house clean and keeping it that way. So, first I am going to work out a schedule of what to do each day, and then I am going to start doing it! Aaron is going to help, too. I bet I can even get the kids involved. Luke is old enough and Belle loves to do most things, at least for a while.

So, what are you waiting for? Go over to The Lazy Organizer and start getting SMARTer!!

I think I found a template that I really like!!

What do you think? I've been playing around with the generic templates for a long time and then, I realized that I could still do all the things I wanted with this one!! I think I really like this one, at least for now... Who knows what I'll think in a month.

Aquarium Visit!

While we were nearby (though it took us another 1/2 hour to find it) we went to the aquarium!

The first area we walked through was all about the fish and other aquatic animals of Utah and how to help keep them alive. There was a lot about conservation of the water.

They had a really cool boat video set up. The kids could feel like they were driving a boat and learn all about several different parts of the Great Salt Lake! Luke thought it was really neat!


Then, we went through the ocean area. It started with jelly fish. (I know this pic is blurry, but it makes them look kind of ghostly and I thought it was a neat effect.)


There were also jelly fish that were mostly clear, and turned different colors when a light was shined on them. It was weird!

There was also an octopus, but that was when I saw the sign about no flash photography and my camera wasn't doing well without it.

Toward the end of the ocean exhibit, there was an area where you could touch stingrays, sea cucumbers, horseshoe crabs and various other creatures. It was really neat, although stingrays feel really gross!! They are soft, spongy and slimy! Ewww! We even got Belle to touch it, but she didn't like it. It was really neat the way the stingrays would come right up to the edge and kind of wave their fins. They seemed to want to be touched!





There were lots of rocks and fake coral for the kids to play in! They had a blast. The rocks had aquariums in them, so it was like the kids were playing under the ocean!


There was also a "ship wreck" that had games and puzzles and a large aquarium.


Belle especially loved that tank.


There was also a shark tank, and one of them would come right past us over and over again!

It was a blast!! And, it was nicer than being out in the sun at the zoo!!

Guess Who I Met, Yesterday!!!

I finally got to meet some of you blogging gals out there!! It was fun!! I was late and had to track them down, but we got together and had a lot of laughs! I didn't know many of them at all, but it was really fun!

Here I am with Kim!



And Lara!

I wish I had the group pictures to show you, but those will have to wait!

So, go see who I met:

Kim came down to visit and initiated all of the shenanigans! She is hilarious!

Lara came to visit is and is wonderful. I may have to take her up on her offer to visit at her house some time!

Soggy Cheerios is a funny lady, who's blog I will start reading now, since this was our first real exposure to each other.

Twas Brillig's blog looks really neat, but I only just barely started reading it recently. I can't wait to get to know her more.

DeDee was really fun! I haven't really read her blog much, either...but I'm sure it'll be fun!

K was really funny and I can't wait to start reading her blog as well!! She is awesome and gave my kids and I a ride from one place to another, since I don't know the city well. Archer freaked out and had to be forced into her van! I for one and glad she didn't kidnap him!!

Now that I have met you in person, I can't wait to have new blogs to read!!

I finished Harry Potter...Still safe to read...

I finished Harry Potter just a little while ago and let me just say...Whoa!!

I cried twice and nearly three times. I also laughed a lot and really enjoyed the book. It answered my questions and I had a great time reading it.

Now, I need to clean my house! HA!

In case you are about to start suffering from withdrawals...go see what Rowling has planned NEXT!

It is so nice to think about what Harry Potter has done for literacy! It has really gotten children, teens and adults reading!

I think that many people don't (or didn't) realize there were books out there that could hold their interest. There are tons.

I've also realized that there are other young adult authors that I like as well. Aaron started reading them to find books his students would like. I have read several by David Lubar...they are funny and interesting. I have also read Everlost by Neal Shusterman. It was excellent!! I recommend you all go read it...it is really interesting.

I love to read and am really lucky to have married a guy who loves reading more than I do.

Anyway, I better get to cleaning....Harry Potter was more fun...

EDITED to add: Link to part of an interview.

Bear Lake Adventure

We got back, yesterday from a family reunion at Bear Lake. It was a lot of fun and really nice to just slow down and relax. It is nice to not have to do so much and to not feel guilty for the things you aren't doing at home!


A member of Aaron's extended family owns some property on Bear Lake. It isn't improved much--there is a toilet, shower (cold), sink and electricity. There are a few picnic tables, but you pretty much have to bring everything yourself.

We spent most of the time sitting and talking to family, reading, crocheting, playing and swimming. It was nice and we didn't get horrible sunburns. I do have a weirdly shaped sunburn on my back. It looks like a big "X". I guess the sunscreen didn't get right next to my swim suit.

Luke got to go on his first boat ride!!



Aaron and Luke built me my own, private island!! They dug a channel so that the water would surround a part of the sand. It was pretty cool. Now all I need is a cabin on it and some servants!

Here is Luke walking through the channel.



Aaron went for a bike ride a couple of times and when he did, Freckles sat and looked for him to come back and whined.



Freckles also learned how to swim this trip! She was scared at first, but once she did it, she was fine and loved it!

Belle had a blast putting mud and water into a bucket. She did that for a long time!



Belle also spent a lot of her time at the water spigot. It was so funny--most times that I lost sight of her, we'd find her over there, playing with the water. This was a very watery vacation for her!



Luke got his training wheels off at Bear Lake!! He was really excited. He still needs a lot of help riding, but we thought a place with lots of open space that was softer than pavement would be a great place to start!



Now we just have to clean up from the mess it all caused! It was worth it, though!

Waiting for Harry! (Safe to read, since I haven't read the book, yet)

We got the 7th Harry Potter book in the mail, yesterday...thank you Amazon.com. The problem is I have to wait to read it. We decided that Aaron got to read it first, since he is the faster reader. With book 5 we read it out loud to each other. That didn't go very well, because my voice got sore and I needed to stop. He is now on page 596!! So, I don't have too long to wait, but he keeps making noises about what is going on and it just makes me want to read it more! He just ran upstairs because he has to react to something that is going on! Grrr.... I'll get my chance, probably later tonight.

Enjoy Harry!!

I felt like a bag-lady, today...

So, we took our van in to get a recalled part replaced on it and to get an oil change, at 8:30 this morning. We were told that it would only take about 15-20 minutes for the part and we guessed about the same for the oil. So, we stayed. We called my SIL to see if she was in town, but she wasn't. My MIL was willing to drive the 45 minutes to come get us, but we didn't think it was worth it to have her drive up, only to be done before she got there.

Well, it was worth the time. It was 11:40 am, when they called to say our van was ready!! In the meantime, we walked across the street to the only store close by. They only sold socks, so that didn't hold our interests for long. By this time, we were just going to wait for my SIL to come and we were going to go get something to eat...at the gas station. We hadn't eaten breakfast before we left and were planning to run to Wal-Mart for the eggs and milk we were lacking at home.

So, while we were walking the 4 blocks to the gas station, my MIL decided she was going to come help. We got some snacks (Skittles are a healthy breakfast, right??) and waited outside for our ride. I felt like a homeless person with my kids and I eating "breakfast" out by the sign.

We got home, we got exercise and we learned that we can't trust a repair shop to be timely...

On the up side, they seemed really honest! Our van has started to skip and she said we should test to see if the problem is the quality of gas, first. (The other things she said it could be are cheap as well...) We did learn that eventually we need to have about $550 worth of work done, but that is for the future...

I was so glad to have my mei tai with me!! Belle was SO much easier to carry and contain, that way!