Go me!

I just made my first sale on my etsy.com website! Funny enough to me, it was a watch band that SAM designed! She & Trav both said "Well I guess she gets the money." To which I replied "Who bought the supplies??" I think I'll give her some of the money anyway! Then I can still get her to help me! She was a bit bummed though because she didn't know that I had listed that one for sale & wanted it for herself! Oops! Good thing I have more of those beads!

Need a laugh?

I saw this on a friend's blog and it made me giggle, so I had to share!

Halloween

This year our Halloween was dad-less again. We thought he might be able to make it home for the weekend festivities, but at the last minute they switched him to day shift & sent him to Colorado & Vernal back to back (44 hours on the clock straight). Despite missing our dad, we still had quite the adventure.

Samantha was a princess in the dress Grandma Terri gave her for her birthday. Nash was Darth Vader but went light saber-less & mostly refused to wear his mask. And Caleb, well, he wore Nash's old Devil costume!
I took the kids into Logan on Saturday to trick or treat down main street. I was surprised at their mellowness. None of them wanted to venture down center or 1st, they were perfectly content staying on Main! It was nice enough to not rain on us during this trick or treating, but it was still chilly. Caleb was super cute even though he was super tired. He'd jump out of his stroller and hold Sam's hand to go in. In his quiet little voice he'd manage to get out "Tik Treat!". How could you not give a kid like that candy?
After Trick or Treating on Main, we came home for a bit so we could get ready to go out to Grandma Kris & Grandpa Scott's house. Grandma's birthday is on Halloween, so we always spend Halloween out there. All the cousins came out & we had lots & lots of fun - despite the on again off again torrential down pour. Sam being the only girl, I think she sticks out kinda like a sore thumb!
After all the Trick or Treating was done, we sang to Grandma & had cake.
This is the cake I made. I saw it in a picture from one of the recipe emails I get & thought it was super cute & I needed to copy it.
Nash was the super star trick or treater. He went out and around Grandma & Grandpa's neighborhood about 3 or 4 times and hit quite a bit of area. In fact, his bag is 3/4 of the way full. Since Caleb fell asleep on our way over, he only went out once while we were there, but he too managed to fill his bucket. Samantha went out once and when the down pour started, she was done! She was the door woman all night & was completely happy about it. At one point when I asked if she was sure she didn't want to go back out she replied, "Yep. I'm staying here. I know my brothers will share with me." A bit presumptuous for her to say about a 5 & 2 year old & their precious candy! She was however, correct!

Another book review

Yes people, I am insane. I started reading Devil's Food Cake yesterday afternoon. I finished it at 4:17 am today. I COULD NOT put that sucker down. I went into my bedroom at 11 thinking I'd just read 20 minutes. Then it turned into just one more chapter. Then just 1 more....Finally it was 30 more minutes. Around 2:30 I finally told myself "Oh forget it! You know you're going to just finish it so quit setting a time limit!"

If you've read Lemon Tart or English Trifle, you'll like this one too. I know I said I like English Trifle even better than Lemon Tart, but this one was THE BEST (so far). There's a new character introduced & I must say - I like him!

There was a line toward the end that had me laughing so hard I thought I'd pee my pants right there in my bed!

Today I shall venture to the library to see if they have Key Lime Pie on the shelf or if I must get on the waiting list for that too. I betting I get the waiting list!

A book review & other things

Last night I finished The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. It was 513 pages, which, if you ask me is too many for book 1 in a series. I did like it. However, if you've read the Percy Jackson books, you'll find it's essentially the same plot. The main difference is that Percy Jackson is Greek Mythology and The Red Pyramid is Ancient Egypt. I'm pretty sure the next book in the series isn't out yet. And to be completely honest, I'm not sure I would finish this series. If book 1 is this long, how long will the others be? Besides, since I read Percy Jackson, I feel like I've pretty much read this plot before.

I am still waiting for the library to call me & tell me that The Lost Hero is waiting for me. This is the first book in the follow up series to Percy Jackson. We'll see if Mr. Riordan disappoints or not.

I started Devil's Food Cake today. This is book 3 of Josie Kilpack in her "culinary murder mystery" stories. So far, so good. Once I finish this one (it's another library book I had to be on the waiting list for so I read it now or wait again), I will read The Mockingjay (which I got for my birthday - I was #28 on the waiting list at the library & they have 9 copies!).

I have managed to start on another round of Christmas stockings. I did get the one I embroidered sold (it was basically pre-ordered). I also managed to score a big sale on my hairbows last night! A girl I grew up next door to ordered a bunch from me. I must say, the ones she picked the ribbon for turned out absolutely adorable & now I think I must make more of those! One was a lime green zebra type print which would go perfect with Sam's LaShar's warm ups. So, I think that will be the next one she gets to keep. Tonight when I went to my mom's house I was looking at the ribbon in her sewing room and said, "Oh, I should get some of this to make some bows out of (white with cute red cherries on it)." Mom's mistake? She told me to take what I wanted and make what I wanted. A grocery bag later I've got some more ribbon to make bows out of! At least I didn't have to spend a bunch of money on this ribbon, right?

For those that are wondering what I'm charging on stuff...I want some feedback here. I was going to ask $25 on the stockings I don't embroider and $30 on the ones I do. Anyone think that's terribly overpriced? The bows I was going to ask 1 for $2.50 (the ribbon ones) or 2/$4. I was going to ask 1 for $3.00 on the flowers (they cost a bit more to make) or 2/$5. I'm trying to be a little cheaper than the ones I've bought for Sam because I have a hard time spending $5 for a single bow for her. Feedback on it would be great please! If you want something particular, let me know. I've got TONS of ribbon & fabric & would be more than willing to send you pix of either/both so you can see what choices you have.

Tomorrow is Sam's Halloween party at dance & Friday the kids are partying at school. Samantha is going to be a princess & dress in the amazing dress my mom made for her birthday last year. Nash is going as Darth Vader & I still need to hem up the sleeves & pant legs on his costume. Caleb is going as a devil (I made the costume for Nash when he was 2). And, just for some sick humor, I think I may borrow my mom's nun costume & go as a pregnant nun! Travis said he might be able to make it home for the weekend, but he still isn't sure. Either way, we will be out trick or treating & having a birthday party for Grandma Kris.

I went to Parent Teacher Conferences for both kids tonight. Samantha is at or above the class average in everything. I'm not surprised because her teacher sent home a report the other day so I could look over it before the conference. She redid her star test on Oct. 20th and went from 2.5 (in Sept.) to 2.9. Yeah, she reads like her mother & sleeps with books just as often! Her teacher even got to tell me she isn't a drama queen in class like she is at home, so I was happy! Nash is doing good as well. He has moved up a reading group in the last few weeks and only missed a couple of things on the assessment they did in September (which his teacher told me they hadn't really worked on a few of the things they were tested on. So once again, I was happy! She also told me he isn't too much of a goofball or a smart alec in class, so that was good to hear! I have noticed that Sam's strong points are mainly the language areas (like me), although she doesn't do terrible at math. Whereas Nash on the other hand really seems to do well with numbers (like his dad) but struggles a bit more with the language areas. Funny just how opposite they are! Both of them enjoy school and are doing well both socially & academically so that's about all I could ask for!

Well, I have a tired baby so I'd better go tuck him in! Happy haunting!