Hot Off The Hook: TEDDY BEARS

I have been working on a special project.

ISN'T HE ADORABLE??? I love him. He's going to a good home where a little girl was just born. She can grow up with him! Isn't that sweet? Soft wool make up his outer layer. It is felted for extra softness and duribility. He is filled with polyester surpreme fiberfill.

Teddy is made with safety eyes and nose so it is less likely that they will fall off and be a hazard for baby to choke on. This ribbon is not attached and recommended to take off prior to giving it too baby. In this case it matches the ribbon on the blanket that I'm also giving to the new little muffin. He is a smaller bear measuring 8.5 inches tall but little kiddos need a teddy they can really grip without tripping over themselves.

Because they are handmade with love and quality materials I'm going to have them in my store for $40 each. I should have the first one listed in a few days. They'll be made to order so you can expect a 2-3 week lead time after purchase.

The End!

Surprise!!!

There is little more in life (when it comes to physical things) that a woman will treasure more than her wedding ring. It is a symbol of finding the one man she believes is perfect for her. It symbolizes his love for her, and her alone. It shows the world that you are taken and belong to someone. I often thought about how mine would eventually go to a great grandaughter for her wedding day...

When I lost my wedding ring down the drain last Christmas Day I was beyond devistated. I cried for hours and hours. When it was certain I could never get it back, I cried some more. In the last year the mear mention of my wedding ring being lost would send me into a depression daze.

I've been wearing another ring Mike bought me for my birthday before Jacob was born. It's a beautiful Sapphire ring with three stones and two diamonds on each side. It's goregeous and I love it but it isn't the ring you'd really expect to see on the wedding finger. I decided I was lucky to have it and move on. Mike promised that some day he'd replaced the one I'd lost but we'd have to wait as there are bills to pay.

And bills there have been.

This weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving with his family. His parents live close and his sister and brother in law and our nephew Caleb all came in. It was a great Thanksgiving and since we're all together we celebrated Christmas together on Friday. Lots of fun. More pictures of all of that later.

I thought it would be great to have the kids go to the mall in the nearby town and see Santa. Take a picture with all three grandkids for the grandparents and great grandma since it is so rare they all get together. After the picture I asked Mike if we could go get my ring cleaned at the store we purchased it at. He agreed and while they cleaned my ring we took a look at the wedding sets.

I sighed as the sales person asked what I liked and started to take rings from the cases. Nearly Chrismtas, not the time we could afford something like this. We talked about different settings, stones, cuts, colors, clarity, and so on. I tried on a few and to be honest I was so excited that rings out of the case were fitting my finger I was happy to be playing with them all. One particulary caught my eye and when it slipped on my finger perfectly I started to get dazzled. I could feel that emotion start to rise so I put it back on the counter and started to walk away. That's when Mike asked the guy how much it would be with tax...

My mind started to swoon.

Really? Why is he asking this?

He then told the guy that we would take it.

Really? Did he just say that.

Uh oh...

Then came the tears. I hate crying in public but it could not be helped.

Isn't it GOREGEOUS???? I am so in love. I have to look at my finger every 20 minutes at least. I can't wait to see it in the sun. I am on cloud flippin' 9.

Yeah, he shocked the heck out of me for sure. And I found out all along he was planning to do this today.

I will not be wearing it in the shower. I will not be putting it near ANY drain of ANY sort. This is going to be handed down from generation to generation.

Blogging Help Needed

How do I change the color of my "Mommy's Time Out" Title??? I don't want it to be white and blend into the background. HELP!

Little Blankies

Nothing is more special to my little guys then their blankies. Honestly, Nathan loved his blankie till he was 4 and even now when he finds it he cuddles it as if it is a long lost friend. Jacob has a blankie too...there is nothing that can make him feel better like his blankie can. In fact, he finds in tough to fall asleep at night without it.

This is why when I make blankets for little ones I'm really careful to make them special because I know how special they could be! I was really excited when a friend of mine asked me to do a blanket for her a few months ago...and while it has taken me to the wire to get it done it is finally complete.

This blanket is in Vanilla,Chocolate, and Pistachio. How awesome is that name combination? It is very cute for both a boy or girl but this is going to a special little girl that is due very very soon. It measures 33" wide and about 30" long.

I am excited to have been a part of this project and it might actually get out in the mail tomorrow!

Next on the list: 3 little girl hats for a friend of mine to give to her nieces at Christmas. All will be similar but different girly colors. Having 2 boys, it's nice to do some girly stuff! I also have another baby project to get done and should probably make myself a winter hat!

Time to get hookin'!

Etsy Treasury and 5K Update

I created an awesome new Etsy treasury called Ready to Run . It's an ode to all the awesome running stuff I want right now off Etsy. I'm actually really getting into this running thing...

That being said, I've had a really off week. I weighed in at weight watchers after working really really hard and gained a total of 3 pounds. GAINED?!? Yes. It was pretty mind blowing. Sure. I could explain it because muscle weighs more than fat...blah blah blah. It didn't matter to my head. I needed a mental break. The last 4 days I haven't tracked one calorie. I did manage to complete my run on Saturday which was good. I then didn't run for the next 3 days because I was feeling "off". I was sickish. Just feeling crappy.

I caught a break today. My friend has a membership at the local Y and I got to run indoors. Something is just so much easier about running on a treadmill than outside. I ran 13 minute miles (better than my previous 15 to 16 minute) and felt pretty darn good. One more week of couch to 5K which is good because my 5K is in just 10 days!

Already thinking about finding the next 5K to do. Even thinking about doing a 10K next year. I am crazy but it feels pretty awesome.

Halloween Review (Lots of Photos)

Catching up on some blogging. Been going full speed these days and it is time to catch up on what has gone on.

Halloween was awesome this year! We normally have grandma and grandpa at our house to hand out candy and then take the littles around our block. Since grandpa was working and grandma was nursing her sprained ancle we decided to join our daycare family for some trick or treating!

Before that got started, Nathan came to my work dressed in his costume to do some trick or treating! I was shocked he wanted to be a Mario Brother for Halloween. Seriously, how awesome is that? Also, how old is my kid already? We looked everywhere for Mario but Luigi had to do. Lucky for us another kid in his class was Mario so it worked for the both of them.

Nathan in my mess of an office

Nathan got some Vampire teeth and couldn't wait to try them out.

While Nathan was playing at Mommy's work, Jacob was having a great day at daycare with all the kids! He was dressed as a the skunk.

His little tail bobbed when he walked :)

Then we got together and went out trick or treating with our friends!

This is Nathan and his best friend Miles. They met at daycare and when they get together it is like they never spent time apart. I love watching and listening to these two together...even if Mile's is a Vikings fan :)

Jacob spent most of the time in the cart as we walked around but it was lots of fun. We had an awesome time and look forward to doing it agian next year. We also got more candy than we can even think to eat! In fact, we had to toss the leftovers from last year to make room for this year!

Hope everyone else had a great Halloween too! I can't beleive it's time to get ready for Thanksgiving already!

And I Thought I'd Have Time!

When I graduated last month I thought for sure I'd have more time to do all the things I felt like I was missing out on...like crocheting, dishes, spending time with my kiddos. However, I'm finding that I don't have anymore time then I had before. I'm not exactly sure how I did school work!

I got a rush of orders recently and that took away from a few projects I was doing for some friends. Glad to have the business though and I'm so thankful for the people who find my little shop without me doing much advertising right now. I really am blessed with those that come to my shop and chose to purchase from me as there are a zillion other shops on Etsy.

Now that those projects are over I'm working on a blanket for a friend of mine. I posted a picture of it last time I blogged but I've changed my mind 50 times since then...here is the pattern I ended up going with.

The colors are a little washed out with my phone camera but they really work well together and they match the color scheme the momma has all planned out for their little girl. My friend is purchasing this for her boyfriend's sister. I can't wait to get it all done and then put an adorable bow around it! In fact, I want to make another one like it for another friend of mine who is having a baby this month.

This is another new pattern I've been working on. I made hats for my boys for the fall and they turned out pretty cute. While getting Jacob to stay in one place is difficult, here are some more pictures of the hats on the boys.

My shop is closed right now while I'm taking care of some of the out of store orders I've been getting. I have a few hat orders from work people to get done before the end of this month too. I'm also working on some new inventory for the shop as well! Stay tuned for pictures of more projects and sneak peeks to store additions once I'm ready to reopen!

Happy November!