My Daughter is a Rock Star

This weekend has been pretty low key.

On Thursday, Brooke and I went over to our friend Jenn's house. They just moved into on base housing and their new house is beautiful! It is practically brand new, only one other family has lived there before them. It's is GINORMOUS. I am jealous. So uberly jealous. Our friend Sarah came over with her daughter and son, so the girls had a great time playing. There is so much room for them to run around, it was nice. Jenn made us a chicken and vege dinner that was delish! I helped her unpack a little bit while Sarah watched the kids.

On Friday Jenn called me as she was coming back from clearing her old house. She was wondering what I was up to and I told her that I had just made a huge batch of taco soup and her and Jas were more than welcome to come over. So they did. And we had a fab dinner of taco soup and corn bread. Jenn brought a chocolate cake that hit the spot.

This is the recipe I used, I found it on allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 (15 ounce) can mild chili beans
• 1 (15.25 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
• 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
• 1 (1 ounce) package ranch salad dressing mix

DIRECTIONS

1. In a Dutch oven or large kettle, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Add taco seasoning and mix well. Stir in remaining ingredients. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

* I nixed the green chiles and put just regular diced tomatoes in. I didn't want it to be too spicy for Brooke.

Yesterday Brooke and I met Jenn and Jas at Old Navy because they were having their $3 graphic t-shirt sale. I thought it would be as big as their $1 flip-flop sale, so I told Jenn to meet me 15 minutes before the store opened. HA! There was no one there. I felt like an idiot. The bright side, we got to mull over the shirts and take our time instead of having to grab frantically for any shirt in our size. I also got a couple t-shirts for Eric, but their sizes were so picked over, there wasn't much variety. I also got Brooke a couple of items because their clearance was an additional 50% off. I got 7 t-shirts and 3 things for Brooke for $39. Ten pieces of clothing for under $40, that's pretty good! Then we all went to Target together because Jenn wanted to pick up some things for her new house and I had to get some things we were running out of. I love Target. Then we went to eat at the food court on base. Yummy!

Today Sarah took Jenn and I to iHop for lunch as thanks for helping her when Alistair was born. I stuffed myself silly. It was so good. I had a bacon, cheese, mushroom and avocado omelet, stuffed french toast with strawberries and hash browns. SOOO good. I love breakfast food.

Brooke was being pretty silly this afternoon. She found the neck warmer I made her and had me put it on. Then she found her daddy's play glasses and her princess crown and became a complete rock star! She is too cute. Her imagination is growing as well. At dinner she'll take pieces of her food and pretends it something else. This week she has made turtles, trees, and frogs. Can you guess what she has been eating?

I was pretty productive when Brooke went down for her nap. I finished up my homework and then went downstairs to finish an order and make up a few new bows. I think the new bows are super cute! What do you think? I have the first picture listed in my Etsy shop. They are priced VERY reasonable at $3 for the set. :) Perfect for summer! I think I'll list the other set in a couple of days. And I also think I'll make up some more color combinations. I found some cute ribbon at Joann's and this is just some of the ribbon in these sets. Too cute!

Well, it's back to school tomorrow! Hopefully it won't be too painful. My brain is starting to fry. Tonight I'm relaxing with The Hills finale, the MTV Movie Awards and SVU after Brooke goes down for bed. Yay for late classes!

26 May 2009

Do you ever wake up from a dream asking, "Whoa, where did that come from?" I had one of those last night. Every once in a while I'll have dreams that feature the mot random people ever. Last night it was a kid I went to high school with. I haven't kept in touch with them so it was so very random.

Brooke woke up on the wrong side of the crib this morning. She's very sensitive and wearing on my patience. This means an early nap. Phew. I don't know why she wakes up like this. She went to sleep at a decent time and woke up fairly late this morning. Is there such a thing as TOO much sleep? Man, I wish I could get a good 12 hours. That would be so nice. Speaking of, I still haven't had my coffee yet this morning...Hmm.

My friend Jenn moves into her on post house today. Brooke and I are going over there after Brooke wakes up from her nap. I think I may stop in the housing office before hand to let the people know when my husband is promotable and see if we are able to get switched to the E7-E9 list. Let's hope! If we do get switched, we're eligible for a two car garage. SCORE! No really, it would be wonderful. I know Eric probably doesn't want to move when he's home, but there's no way I can do this on my own. My back is just too bad to be lifting heavy boxes. I guess I could have people come in and do it for me, but then there's all the unpacking by myself... ::sigh:: Maybe it would just be easier to stay here. Ack. Decisions.

I'm really getting obsessed with these beanies. I finished a blue one and it turned out super cute. My model is really getting sick of mommy taking pictures of her, but I can't for the life of me find a toddler sized foam mannequin head. So irritating! I have a wire one, but these hats just don't sit on them right and show the full cuteness potential. So I guess my disgruntled model will have to do. I think it turned out super cute. I think I'm going to make a listing where you get to choose your color. I have been getting a lot of views, but no bites.



Have a good Tuesday!

Boohiss to Today

Dinner was a horrible disappointment tonight. I had gone to the grocery store earlier and picked up a filet of halibut and two ears of corn for dinner. I was really looking forward to dinner. When I started preparing dinner, I took the halibut out of the packaging to cut it up for fish nuggets. Man was I surprised to find that the skin was still attached! Rolling my eyes I went to work trying to cut off the skin the best I could. Don't get me wrong, I love seafood and meat, as long as I don't have any reminders that it was a living thing at one time. The skin on the fish gave me the heeby jeebiez. I was about half way through de-skinning the fish when I notice this little thing on the sruface of the fish. I took my knife and scrapped it off. When I transfered it from the knife to the cutting board, I took a closer look. It. Started. To. Move. Holy heck. The thing started curling up on its self and it literally looked like a baby worm. That was it. The fish was done for me. I scooped the whole thing up, threw it in a plastic bag, sealed it, and threw it in the garbage. But I kept an optimistic mind cause hey! We still had corn on the cob! So I whip out the trusty dusty turkey dogs and get the corn boiling. More dissapointment. The corn was not good. The kernals were tough and yuck. And don't question my corn making skills. Trust me. I have them. But the corn didn't seem to bother Brooke. She's grubbing away on her cob. ::Sigh::

Before I hit the grocery store today, I stopped at Old Navy because they were having their $1 flip flop sale. I went there around noon which was a gamble. I know how some people are and I was sure they would be horribly picked over. I was right. There were literally about 20 pairs left on the shelf. They were all size 5 and 6. There were two pairs of 7's left in this light tannish brown color. I grabbed them. Then I thought I would humor myself and see if size six would work. They did! But just barely. But the $1 price tag was worth it. I got a brown pair and hot pink pair. They aren't too small where my foot is hanging over the edge, my foot is right at the edge. Ha! Oh well. They were $1. I also got this really cute skirt in green. I thought it would look really cute paired with a black t-shirt. I'm excited for it!

Other than that, not a lot going on here. It's Memorial Day weekend so we're just staying low key. We'll probably go spend time with friends tomorrow and then on Tuesday I'm helping my friend move into her fabulous new house. I really hate moving, but I like her, so I can suck it up and be a friend. :) Plus I love her new house so it's a win win situation.

I've been reading a new vampire series. Nerd alert. That's me. It's The House of Night series written by P.C. Cast and her daughter Kristin Cast. It's considered young adult, but I enjoy them. They ready fairly fast, and I've been getting through one book in about a day and a half. I am on the last book right now. Apparently there are eight books in the series, but only 5 are published. I'll be waiting for the last three. The next one is due out this October. I hate being patient.

I made another toddler slouch beanie. This one is pink, more of a dark rose. It turned out REALLY cute. You'll have to excuse my disgruntled model. This was the about the 800th hat I had put on her in the last week. She had had about enough. But, I love it and wanted to share!


Until net time my faithful followers!

School, toddlers and yarn oh my!

School started Monday. I have one class until the end of June, then I have two. Right now I have Technical Writing. The class load seems like a lot, so hopefully I do okay this session. It seems like an interesting class so I hope I enjoy it.

Brooke and I had such a good dinner the other night. I got us shrimp which I sauteed in butter, garlic and lemon juice, then we had rice and CORN ON THE COB! Brooke's favorite is corn on the cob. She has loved it since she was able to eat. Fred Meyers had gotten some in, so I went and bought a couple of ears. Brooke loved me for the rest of the day. ;-)

My daughter cracks me up sometimes. She also surprises me with her creativity. She got some Little People from her grandparents for her birthday and she LOVES playing with them. The other day she was lining up all of the Little People. First she lined them up in a line one behind the other...


And admired her work...


And then she lined them up in a line the long way all facing the same way. I'm impressed that they were all meticulously lined up. She took her time making sure they were all facing the right way. Her intelligence and creativity is so amazing.



I've been looking for a good slouch hat crochet pattern. I bought a couple off Etsy, but I didn't like the way they were working up... However, I did a search for free ones posted online (which I should have tried first) and found this one. I think they turned out so cute!

The first one I worked up was with Vanna's Choice. (BTW, these are worked up just as the pattern says, and they seems to look cute on toddlers as well!)


I wasn't quite enamored with the way the hat came out with the Vanna's Choice, so I went and bought some Cotton Ease instead. They turned out so much cuter!!! You have to love my model, she looks so thrilled to be getting her picture taken.

I love the way the slouch hats looks, and they are so very IN right now!!! I can't wait to go get more yarn (I got a coupon from Joann's for 10% my total purchase in the upcoming week or so) so I can make more. They didn't take very much time to work up. I think I may try and make a toddler sized ones, they may sell well on Etsy and Artfire!


**EDIT** I made up the beanie in a true toddler size! It turned out WAY cute and looks even better now that the size is especially made for a toddler! I can't wait to go get more colors!


And I had to post this picture as well of my little hat model. Sometimes the facial expressions are just too much. :) How did I end up with such an adorable daughter???

Things I Love About My Husband...

- That he loves me for me. He has never tried to change me and accepts me for who I am.
- That he loves my body just the way it is. I've never been a "skinny" girl, and especially since I've had my daughter, but he loves it even more knowing the journey it took.
- He supports me in everything.
- He's my personal cheerleader. He gets just as excited when I get a sale on Etsy, get good grades or just feel accomplished about something.
- He encourages me to chase my dreams. It's a little hard chasing your own dreams when you're married to the army.
- He never nags me on my spending habit. He says as long as there's a roof over our head, clothes on our back, food in our belly and all our bills are paid, he's okay with it. (Note: I am getting better. :) I've been saving a little out of each paycheck since he has been gone and I'm proud of it!)
- He talked me into having our daughter. Yes ladies and gentlemen, HE was the one who wanted to start our family!
- He thinks being a SAHM (stay at home mom) is a full time job and therefore doesn't expect the house the be clean when he gets home.
- He helps clean the house, although most the time, he ends up doing the majority of the cleaning, and for this I REALLY love him. :)
- He's a manly man. He can wield a wrench, hammer and drill with the best of them!
- He's mechanically inclined. My dad is a mechanic and I always said I wouldn't marry someone who didn't know their way around an engine.
- He does his own laundry.
- He does the dishes.
- He doesn't say no to me. Even when it comes to frivolous things I want to buy. He could say no to me and I would respect his wishes, but he never seems to say no.
- He supports my Coach obsession.
- He gives the best hugs and kisses in the world.
- He gave me the perfect family.
- He tells me everyday that I'm special and a good person. I need this reassurance since I tend to doubt myself a lot.
- He tells me I'm a wonderful mom. This is even more important than the one above this.
- He still looks at me like I'm the most special person on the face of the earth (although I share these looks with our daughter).
- He has random spurts of romance.
- He lets me run the household. I'm a bit of a control freak, and he puts up with my anal retentiveness.
- He tells me he loves me every time I talk to him and isn't afraid to tell me in front of all his friends.
- He thinks my boobs are still amazing even after they've been through a pregnancy and pumping. (TMI?)
- He makes me laugh with his sarcastic sense of humor and I only get sometimes.
- He thinks I'm beautiful without my makeup.
- He tells that it looks like I've lost some weight on the days when I feel like a fat cow.
- He loves me cooking.
- He thinks our daughter is the neatest thing since sliced bread.
- He supports my bipolar craft obsessions. First it was jewelry making, then scrap booking and now it's hair bows and crocheting.
- He wants me to get out of the house. He all but shoves me out the door to make sure that I get some time out of the house with a break from Brooke.
- He deals with my baggage. I came with a lot and he sits there and bitches right with me.
- I could go on and on, but the bottom line is, my husband loves me and for this I am grateful and blessed.

I love you Eric!

Ah husbands :)

You can't live with them, and you can't live without them! Well, I guess I can live with mine. :) I love my darling husband, don't get me wrong (sorry hunny, I know you're going to read this), but sometimes, I just want to throttle him! My husband and I have two completely different personalities, that's probably why we fit so well together. He is quiet, reserved, shy, and cautious when it comes to meeting new people. And me, well, if you know me, then you know I'm loud, outgoing, obnoxious at times, makes people laugh at the drop of a dime and comfortable with new people almost instantaneously. It takes me husband a while to warm up to new people, but once he does, he's a riot!

But that's not what this post is about.

I am a planner. A HUGE planner. Blame it on my anal retentiveness or my over analytical personality. I am not a patient person. I like to know what's going on, when it's going to happen and who is involved. That's just me. So when it comes to our household, I pretty much make sure each day is lived flawlessly (well, I try to at least). We have a common phrase in our household, "Kelsey is always right." My darling husband would like to argue that phrase, and I will say that he has proved me wrong on a few occasions, but usually I know what I'm talking about. Anyways, back to the idea at hand.

I went on post yesterday to see my friends new post housing. It was beautiful, I was jealous. So I followed her back to the housing office to see where we were on the list because I know want a beautiful new on post house. So I waited and spoke with a lovely man by the name of Jim. Turns out, we didn't even have an application filled out. That meant that we weren't in their system and we definitely was not on the waiting list for on post housing. And then it occurred to me, my darling husband was in charge of doing all of this. That was my "AH HA!" moment. (I love you darling!) It wasn't even showing up in the system that my daughter and I were command sponsored. (Alaska is considered an overseas base, so in order to get all of the overseas perks, the dependents have to be command sponsored.) So, I get everything straightened out, filled out an application and got us on the waiting list. #126. Yeah...

So my husband called me last night, after a week of not hearing from him. I know he's under a lot of stress over there, so I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. This is our conversation (edited to make it a little more humorous and entertaining).

Me: "So, when we first got here, did you put us on the waiting list for on post housing?"
Him: "I think so. I'm pretty sure I did. Maybe, maybe not." (Translation: "Nope")
Me: "You sure didn't. We didn't even have an application on file."
Him: "Oh. I thought I did. Really? Not even an application?"
Me: "Nope. No application. But don't worry. Your wife took care of everything."

Ah husbands. I love my husband to death, but some things you just can't leave in his hands.

Example. After Hurricane Katrina and Rita swept through Louisiana, I made both of us go through our closets and get rid clothes that we could donate. We had about three garbage bags full and I entrusted my husband to drop them off at the designated area. When he got home later that day, I asked if he dropped them off and he told me he had. No questions asked. So about three years later we're getting the house ready to be packed up to move here and what do I find in our storage area? The three bags of clothes I asked him to donate. When asked about the bags, he told me he had forgotten about them and by the time he remembered, it was too late to drop them off. Ha.

Don't get me wrong. I love my husband. These kinds of things are the types of things that make me smile (most of the time!).

But he is a very loving, doting, attentive husband. Since hes been deployed, I've gotten two vases of roses and a message in a bottle. I wouldn't trade my husband for anyone or anything.

So I guess the whole point of this post is, if you have a forgetful husband like mine, retrace his steps, but do it on the sly. :)

It kills me when...

I ask my husband what he wants for Father's Day, and he tells me that he wants to come home.

Suck you deployments!

To Vaccinate Or Not?

I'm sitting here watching an Law and Order: SVU episode and it has really gotten me thinking...What made me choose to get my daughter vaccinated? In all honesty, I didn't have to think twice about it. I never weighed the options between vaccinating or not vaccinating. I was vaccinated as a child, so when it came to my child, it was an automatic decision.

So what's the argument between the two? Should vaccinating be a personal choice or should all children be vaccinated to ensure that certain diseases don't spread?

Personally, when I sit here and think about my options, I would make the same decision to vaccinate. My daughter was born with strep b, which can cause sepsis, meningitis, and pneumonia, which can all be deadly diseases. I had tested negative during my pregnancy, but Brooke tested positive when she was born. She ended up spending 14 days in the NICU receiving antibiotics that saved her life.
So why shouldn't I make the choice to get her vaccinated against other deadly diseases?

But let's take a look at the other side. Why do people choose NOT to vaccinate? Some choose not to vaccinate for religious reasons, and some just don't agree with the practice. The recommendation is 20 vaccinations against 11 different diseases before the child reaches 18 months of age. Some parents choose not to vaccinate because they fear the side affects tat vaccines can cause. Some believe that vaccinations can lead to certain neurological disorders like autism and ADHD.

In 1990 there was a scare with the level of mercury in vaccinations, that same decade there was a spread of the measles. Coincidence? One will never know, we're all going to make our own assumptions.

Pediatricians highly recommend and urge parents to vaccinate their children because the benefits outweigh the potential complications. People today are living longer and longer, and that's not a coincidence. Health and medical care is getting better and better every day. This advancement contributes to growing elderly population. Take a look back in history and research what the average age of death was. You were lucky if you saw the age 50. And why do you think that was? Why do you think school require that children have all of their immunizations up to date by the time they enter a public daycare, preschool, or kindergarten?

This may be a controversial issue. And I am not saying that I think parents who don't vaccinate are negligent, I'm just saying that I would never take the risk of not vaccinating. I do believe that each parent has the right to choose, and I choose to vaccinate. If my child is around another child who has not been vaccinated and they are carrying a disease that could harm them, I can sleep well at night knowing that my child has the defense of the vaccination.

When It Rains, It Pours

So I'm sitting here stressing about something that I probably shouldn't even be stressing about.

My dad left last night and it broke my heart. I really didn't want him to go. How often do you hear a child say that their parent doesn't annoy them and that they wished their parent could stay indeffinately? Well, I am. My dad's three weeks here was such a breath of fresh air. For once I wasn't stressed about anything and I could just sit back and breathe. We had an amazing time and Brooke fell head over heels for him. They really were two peas in a pod. He left super early this morning, he conned my next door neighbor into driving him to the airport at 5 A.M. this morning. Don't ask me how he did it, my dad has some major charm. :) Anyways, we said our good-nights and good-byes last night and he started to get choked up. It always breaks my heart when my dad gets emotional. I kept it together until he went to bed, and then I just lost it. I felt like such a horrible daughter. I'm his only child and I can't spend the time I want to with him. He has such a limited time, and I want to be there for as much of it as possible. It's killing me.

So then this morning, I'm feeling down in the dumps. I check my email and see an update from a friend of mine on CafeMom. I go and check out what she's talking about only to find out that the area my husband is in, is getting rained down on. The Taliban is reaking havoc upon a nearby city, and I'm worried sick. Apparently there are three wounded and I don't know who those wounded are. I just want to know that my love is safe.

That's the hardest part of a deployment. Not knowing. And I HATE not knowing. I always have to know what's going on. I'm impatient and nosey. I'm also over analytical and have an over active imagination. These qualities are NOT condusive to a deployment. My number one biggest fear is that something would happen to my daughter. My second biggest fear is that something would happend to Eric. Who knew that I would be in this position today. Not me! I had dreams of white picket fences, not being thrown into single motherhood with my husband half way around the world getting shot at. I am a very practical person, and this is not practical. I know, I sound like a whining ungrateful wife. And I'm sorry for that. But, aren't I allowed to be a little selfish when it comes to my husband? I barely talk to him. He calls maybe once every couple of weeks. They are working him to the bone over there and I sit here and worry that he's going to come back to me in one piece. Why can't we have deployments like the airforce? He'd be gone for six months. I can do six months. I'd be half way through right now. I love him. I love him with all of my being, and to know that he may not come back to me one day kills me. I know, I know. Think positive. But if you know me, you know that I'm a realist. I'm not one of those people who constantly think of puppies and kittens. I know that there's a chance (even if it's small) that he may not come back. And if I go through this whole deployment thinking nothing is going to happen to him, and then something does, my mental health would fail. So for me, I need to remember that something is possible, and pray to God I will never find out. So not only does the Army move you far away from your friends and family, they take your loved ones away and stick them in the most dangerous parts of the world. Where is our pay for this? Don't we get some sort of compensation? We're hold down the FT job of being a devoted spouse, single parent, and moral booster.

I guess I'm just asking that you not only keep our military in your prayers, but their families at home as well. They are going through their own emotional war, and let me tell you, it's not easy.

Three Weeks Go By Way Too Fast

My dad leaves early tomorrow morning. :( The three weeks he was here flew by way too fast. But maybe there's an upside because that means it's three weeks closer to Eric coming home for R&R. I loved snapping pictures of Brooke and "Gwampa" during his stay. They are so sweet together it melts my heart. She really loves her "Gwampa". But then again, she would love anyone who spent as much time with her as he did, like taking her to the park and getting down on the floor and playing kitchen, ball, and anything else her imaginative little mind came up with.

My dad wanted to go back down south to see the Bore Tides, so I humored him and we went. :) To tell you the truth, it was pretty neat and absolutely beautiful. The sun was shining, it was a little cooler than it had been, but not too cold, and the mountains were looking magnificent. Whoever thought that I would some day LIVE in Alaska?

Mother's Day was great. :) It was sad that Eric couldn't be here to celebrate with us, but I had a great time surrounded by family and friends. We went to brunch at the Millenium Hotel. It was super busy, but then again, we went at a really busy time. If we do it again next year, we'll go at a less crowded time. They had wonderful food and my dad and I stuffed ourselves silly. It was a little pricey, but it was Mother's Day so we splurged. Below are a couple of pictures of Brooke and her friend Teresa. How cute are they???


My friend Jen bought this adorable crochet book at Barnes and Noble. She make up a couple of crochet dresses and I fell in love with them instantly. You can see the ones she's selling here. Mine isn't finished yet. I'm not going to do mine exactly like hers, I don't have a sewing machine for the bodice ribbon. But, I will be replacing the yarn ties at the shoulders with ribbon ties, and the nice thing is, I'll be able to interchange the colors so I can change up the color combination. But I think it turned out pretty cute, especially if you factor in the fact that I've only been crocheting for 5 months. If I make this dress again, I may tweak the pattern a bit, and I may invest in a sewing machine. Eric said I could get one long ago, but I just haven't seen a need. Next time, I may make the skirt as wide as the bodice, so it has more of an A-Line look to it, not the bunched look at the bodice. It took a long time to make the skirt, so we'll see if I have the patience for it. Ha.I have to go get my textbook for my summer classes today or tomorrow. I'd rather not take Brooke on campus, so I may just go when "Gwampa" takes her to the park this afternoon. Yikes. School, school, school. Will it ever end?

I need some ideas on what to get Eric for Father's Day. It's coming up soon and I need it to get to him half way around the world. I was thinking of a DSi, but I don't know. He said he isn't at his FOB too much, so I don't know how much he'd use it. So any ideas would be great. :)

Ok. I'm off to take a shower. I smell like a tanning bed.

Time is flying but dragging...

So I've been a busy bee! School is done and I've have had to finally BREATH. I got my grades back today, I got two A's and two B's so I retain my 3.50 GPA. I wish I had gotten an A in my Juvenile Delinquency class, but the class was so poorly organized, I am perfectly content with my B. I have about a week and a half until the summer session start so I'm taking advantage of my free time.

During my time off, I've been super busy creating things! Below you will see some new booties I've whipped up. I like them because they are super cute and super quick to make! There are so many possibilities with colors. I got the pattern from a book I picked up at Joann's but altered it to make them cuter! They are made out of 100% cotton and come in different sizes and colors. I am going to be listing them on my Etsy as a choose your own color and size. I haven't seen any other booties like them on Etsy, so hopefully they will sell. :)



I got Brooke's 2 year pictures done. We went to Sears because that's where we went for her 1 year pictures, and those turned out really cute. We also get 20% off for being military, so that's nice as well. The girl who was taking her pictures was really good and I was super impressed with how well she did with Brooke. I was worried Brooke wouldn't be smiling in any of her pictures, but she did!



My dad has been up here for about two weeks now. In a past post I had written about all the ways he has been keeping himself busy. He is still at it. Right now he is running around town looking for things to fix my Honda. He was at the junk yard and found a muffler and now he's running to Home Depot and the auto store to put it on. My dad is so handy to have around. :) I will miss him when he goes.

A couple of days ago we went out of town on some sight seeing. My dad had read about the Bore Tide and wanted to see it for himself. We only drove about 40 minutes outside of Anchorage, but it was amazing to see how the scenery changed so dramatically. All of a sudden we were surrounded by water and mountains. It was so beautiful it was breathtaking. When we got to our point of interest, the bore had already come and gone, so we're going to try and go back to see it. But while we were there, we drank in the scenery and took some great picture.


We also went to the Anchorage Zoo. It's a lot smaller than the Como Zoo and Minnesota Zoo in Minnesota, but it was just the right size for Brooke. She loved seeing all of the animals and talked about each one. Below is a picture of Grandpa and Brooke checking out the sea lions. She thought they were pretty neat.


My dad has this habit of making new friends where ever he goes. He met this Christian biker couple on the plane from Chicago to Anchorage and gave them my number. So when I was at school one day I get a call on my phone from a number I've never seen. I answer it out of curiosity and it turns out it was this couple my dad had met. The husband and wife wanted to meet Brooke and I and bring us some moose meat. They showed up on their motorcycles and Brooke thought they were the neatest thing.


Other than that, not a whole lot has been going on. The weather has been beautiful. It was really warm for a couple of days but it cooled down a couple of days ago. It's still sunny so it's pretty nice out.

I got a new cell phone. I got the Samsung Impression. I love it. I may have jumped the gun on the phone, but my iPhone has been irritating me so I thought a new phone was in the cards. So far I really like it. It has a full slide out Qwerty keyboard and it also has a touch screen keyboard as well. We'll see if I like the new update they're supposed to be releasing in the next couple months. Who knows, I may switch back to the iPhone and sell this one on Ebay. They're selling for quite a bit so we'll see. Isn't the new phone pretty though?
Alright. I should get going. :)

Want to win a $10 Gift Certificate for Artifre?

As I posted before, my guild on Artfire is having an open house to introduce the world to our handmade items made by MOMS! One of our promotions is a game where you can win one of THREE $10 gift certificates to use at any of our participating Artfire Cafemom Team shops. Below are the instructions on how to play and win!

To help celebrate our Open House, we are having a Hide and Seek. All this week our members will have hidden letters in their shops. The hidden letters will be in one of the photos in our guild member's shops. Here is a list of our member roaster to help you search.

As you find the letters, write each one down. After you are done searching, you will find that if you unscramble the letters you will have a phrase that reflects our guild members.

When you think you have the correct phrase, please email this phrase to the guild master. You must include your name and email address in the email. Contact us at jazzyjemz@hotmail.com.

*********** WINNERS**************

If you guess the phrase correctly, you will be randomly entered to win one of 3, $10 gift certificates for use in any of the participating hide and seek shops. Gift certificate will be emailed to the winners and must be used by the expiration date. Gift Certificates are for product only and do not go towards shipping and handling costs.

Correct answers will be assigned a number and randomly choosen through a computerized generator.

Best of luck to you all and remember to check out our list of shops on sale this week by clicking here!!!

To replace my iPhone or not....

To replace my iPhone or not....

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ACT (Artfire Cafemom Team) SALE!!!

My guild on Artfire is having it's official introduction into the Artfire world! To celebrate this we are having several things happening during the next week. The first is a scavenger hunt. Several members of our guild have certain letters hidden within their listings. The contest will be to see who can put the secret phrase together the fastest! There will be three winners and each winner gets a $10 gift certificate to spend in whatever shop is participating in the contest. More details wil follow!

We will also be having a HUGE basket giveaway! Several shops have donated items (including myself) for this, so there will be a large variety of great handmade items! Keep an eye out on our ACT Blog as we will be posting about these events.

And to top off this great week, below you will find a list of all the shops participating in the ACT Sale! You will find the name of the shop, what their sale is and a link to their shop. All items will be automatically marked down, so the great price you see listed is the price you pay! Can't beat that! Some shops are offering free shipping over a certain dollar amount ordered, those shops will send you an updated invoice with the shipping deducted. Feel free to contact those shops if you are confused on how it works.

Jemz: 20% off , free shipping on orders over $30
www.jazzyjemz.artfire.com

Bows for Baby: 15% off items in store, not on custom orders. Free shipping on orders over $20 before shipping.
www.bowsforbaby.artfire.com

Stitch’N Love : 10% off all orders
www.stitchNlove.artfire.com

Spirit Essence Art: 20% off all items, Free shipping on orders over $30
www.spiritessenceart.artfire.com

Creations with Heart: 15% off all items
www.creationswithheart.artfire.com

JewelrybyJanzia: 15% off all items
www.jewelrybyjanzia.artfire.com

Chantilly Lace: 15% off all items
www.chantillylace.artfire.com

Totally Tyra: 15% off all items
www.totallytyra.artfire.com

Diecutz: 50% off all items
www.diecutz.artfire.com

Bittersweet Design Studio: Free Shipping
www.bittersweetdesignstudio.artfire.com

Francisbel Boutique: Free Shipping
www.francisbelboutique.artfire.com

Waters Girls Crafts: 15% off all items
www.watersgirls.artfire.com

By Coco: 15% off all items
www.bycoco.artfire.com

SW Designs: 20% off all items
www.swdesigns.artfire.com

Eddy’s Pressies: Free shipping on all goods over $25 to UK, US and worldwide
www.eddyspressies.artfire.com

Soft Shell Body Shop: 15% off all items, free shipping on orders over $30.00, after discount
www.softshellbodyshop.artfire.com

DJ Storeroom: Free international shipping, international airmail, delivery confirmation and insurance for all items.
www.djstoreroom.artfire.com

Vestque Creations: 50% off all items
www.vestque.artfire.com

SubEarthan Cottage: 10% off all items
www.subearthancottage.artfire.com

Handmade with Love: 20% off items in her store
www.handmadewithlove.artfire.com

That's it for now! But check back later for more details and other blogging excitement!