I blame the mailman for so many things!

At my house, it's totally the mailman's fault I haven't had pics uploaded anywhere in ages. Because I couldn't find that dang camera cord. And if my mailman hadn't brought so much junk mail it would have never happened! You see, all that junk kept getting stacked in the basket on the kitchen counter due to lack of time to rifle thru it all. Then the basket overflowed onto the counter and HID the camera cord - never mind the cord shouldn't have been left there. So, thank goodness, I found the camera cord yesterday, but the fact that it's been missing is all his fault. Totally his fault. Wouldn't you agree? I'm just sayin'. Maybe we'll get a dog now just to get back at him....the kids really want one ya know.

Anyway - now, to update with some eye candy....


Ella Grace worked so hard on this - her first time using a real needle on anything. And she LOVED IT! She had it done very quickly and moved on to another ornament for the tree. And begged for more after that!





E2's and my finished owls hanging proud.








Yes, and we had to forever mark them - for when we are senile and need a reminder of the who, what, and when's in life. It's coming people. Let this be your warning.






This would be the other felt ornament we made. Ella Grace is WAY more artsy than me, and chose a hot pink bird cage with a neon blue bird. Turned out fabulous! lol I mean, it really matches our crazy kid Christmas tree in so many ways. ;-) And Ehren is convinced that flipping them around turns them into Shrek heads.



Okay, and then I had to come up with a Christmas gift for my co-worker Judy. Cause the rest of the people around here are men and just aren't appreciative of anything that they can't either put in their mouths or their wallets. It's true! So, I'd had this blank wooden sign in my craft stash. For years. And I came across it recently knowing it was now or never. Use or purge. Some paint, scrapbook paper, mod podge, cut vinyl, and ribbon put on, and her present is finished in an hour. And the men you ask? Well, they each received a pan of handmade cinnamon rolls. I don't know if they took them home and shared or gorged in their pick-up trucks. Seriously, I do NOT want to know! But by the looks of their "kegs" they each carry around on the front of them, if I were a betting girl I think I'd win on my guess! lol




I know the lighting on all the Santa pics is horrible. I don't have photoshop on this computer to fix them and I guess my camera's white lighting wasn't set correctly for this setting. And, honestly, if I wait to add them here til I get to my computer that DOES have PS, then it might be Easter before I post them. Seriously. So, bad church gym lighting and all, here they are. I found it particularly funny how Ella Grace was sure that this wasn't the real Santa, only one of his representatives - and you can see that on her skeptical profile. And how Ethan totally considered not even stopping by, and let only about 20 other children go before him in line while he contemplated just turning around completely. But you see, his Webkinz account was expiring in 10 days. And if he didn't get a new Webkinz signed on before the 25th, he'd lose everything. So, as a last ditch effort, he stood within a pleasant proximity so that the "fake Santa" could report back to whomever and see if any magic would really happen. And in case you are wondering - it did. Timmy the Turtle came to Ethan from Santa. And the magic lasts yet another year. ;-)


Abby

My black index finger

Yes, that's right. The squishy pad of my right index finger is black. Has been for days really. Cause I can't go downstairs without grabbing a can of black spraypaint and adding yet another fresh layer onto whatever little project I have laying there today. On Sunday, I finally got to my little 3' shutter found at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store place. Here's a pic of Ella Grace when we saved it from sure demise.....it was, afterall, the only one without a companion. And for an item sold as a "pair", that's a death sentence waiting to happen right there.

And then, a couple coats of paint later, here's what that unwanted shutter turned into be for us. Love being a little bit crafty sometimes!

Craftiest month of my life

Okay, now, I have a friend that's probably laughing out loud already. Cause I simply can't keep up with her princess tulle skirt tying, chicken wire using projects this year. ;-) Love you, girlfriend! But I HAVE completed more crafts this year than any other month in the last 4 years - hands down! Quick rundown below (skip if you don't care...).

12 school days of Christmas. Yep, my cute 3 little nerdies did what their momma told them to & took a "present" to their teachers and anonymously put one on the teacher's desk each day to count down the 12 days to Christmas break. Tomorrow counts the 3rd day left, btw. Okay, okay, so Ethan got busted on day 1. Wanna know how? His teacher said "Anyone know who put this on my desk?".



that's it.



how scary that must have sounded. So he raised his hand.



E1 is such a pushover sometime. E2 was absolutely angry with him when he told this story on the drive home that afternoon. She said, couldn't you just respond with "someone who likes you obviously!". (sarcastic voice in my head screamed "Like THAT wouldn't have been a dead give a way". lol)

Anyway, Eris was found out on approx day 8, but her teacher has kept her anonimity (sp?) from the rest of the class and they've had a ball with it and has sent me 2 emails thanking me for the fun treats & poems each day. And, you guessed it, Ella Grace is still the secret gift giver. Yes, she moves in stealth mode every day, like the butler in Mr. Deeds I can only presume. Very very sneaky indeed.

"For the 3rd school day of Christmas I give 3 binder clips. I'm sure it could be tempting to use these on my lips." lol Good times right there. lol

Other crafts of this month have included hand sewing felt ornaments with E2. We've completed an owl and a bird in a cage. Now she wants more. I don't know I have the patience for more! But the ones we made WERE fun and turned out darling!!

I made a 'Let's Celebrate' family chalkboard for the dining room wall - just to announce cool things the children have done that we'll recognize and celebrate each week. Like good test scores, clean rooms, super service noticed...things like that. Literally waiting for paint to dry right now to apply the vinyl and be done with it. I think Santa might actually leave it under the tree as a family gift actually.

Some Christmas presents that I can't show because they might see them, but we'll call them wedding blocks and leave it at that. I don't know if I have any family that reads this and doesn't comment or not!

Oh, and some seasonal word blocks, 3 sets of these babies made by painting 4" blocks and cutting and applying vinyl. Technically I painted these in Nov, so they may not count in this post. But I plan on giving the other 2 sets away for Christmas gifts, so I think they should count. Still have to create the word potential tag and package them properly, so I think they should count if that matters to ya.

By the way, I have pics of all this - and even steps of some. But until I run across my missing camera cord, I can't connect and upload. If someone offers to come help me search, I ACCEPT!! And I pay in baked goods!!

Lots of love,
Ab

I'm going to blog.

Today or tomorrow. I can totally feel it coming on. A post that is, nothing tacky or pertaining to a bathroom visit. Don't want you to think I'm being gross here. (My dad would appreciate that comment if he could read this. lol) But pictures are being taken for the occassion even. So be ready! ;-)

Thank you Pam!

For sitting on a cold concrete floor with me the other night and pointing out my blogging flaws. lol I mean, at least it wasn't a flaw that made my eyes well up with tears of shame! I'm grateful for the reminder that this thing existed - although I imagine there's barely a reader. Anyway, it's only been 6 months, I think it's time for a post! ;-)

Eris' birthday is tomorrow! My girly-girl, gymnast, cuddle-bug is turning 6 tomorrow and she won't let any of us forget it. She's asked for an American Girl doll (her first) and a gift card to Claire's. This kid can NOT have enough accessories!! seriously!

Ethan's loving 4th grade and having a super cool guy teacher who calls him Kincaid because there's 2 Ethan's in the class. Things like that do wonders for a 9 yr old ego. lol Right now he's attempting to get me to agree to let him bring home two hissing cockroaches for pets. Ummmm, no. Not happening.

Ella Grace is learning that revenge just gets her in trouble. This kid is smart. She's calculating. My crystal ball says she'll be writing mystery novels as a profession.......or sucessfully robbing banks. lol Hey, maybe the latter is the reason she wants to continue cross country. Dude, I'm in trouble here!

Ehren is just a ball of energy from sun-up to sundown. And he literally calculates his bedtime by that sun-up to sundown measurement. No sleeping in on Saturdays people!

And as for me, I'm just struggling with keeping this family on the path. Much like every other mom on the planet I imagine. Choosing the right each day, trying to not look back as past errors in judgement, and attempting to think ahead a little to ensure security for our future.

My lia sophia business is still going strong! I have a team now of 8 ladies, and plans to grow it bigger yet. I love the feeling of helping someone get started knowing that they can completely change their financial woes, pay for school tuition, cash for Christmas, remodel, that new car, travel, whatever!

Now, off to find a good soup recipe for dinner. I love soup. Warm and hearty. With artisan bread. mmmmmmm. This will totally torture the family ya know - as they don't view soup as a meal. No, no, they only like it when it's closely followed by a big slab of meat. Wishful thinking on their parts, huh? ;-)

Til next time!

Wow, Feb to May. I stink at this BLOG thing! lol

Tons has happened! We put our house on the market. We've shown it over 30 times. It's a huge buyers market and the first-timers are out like flies on fresh 'you know what'. Eventually, it will sell, right?? Yesterday we showed it again, and I went thru the house and tagged all the little projects that Brad's yet to finish with post it notes....letting the prospectives know that YES, we know that quarter-round is missing in the room and YES will intend to finish installing it before closing on any dealio. Brad didn't like having little posties all over the walls, but I figured it's acceptance and honesty is worth a shot! lol

My lia sophia business is doing FABULOUS!! In fact, if it wasn't going so well, we wouldn't be looking for a bigger home! THAT's how awesome this is all been! I'm just a tiny bit away from earning my Cancun trip for me for FREE, and will then be immediately on the way to earning Brad's FREE ride! Isn't that awesome!! I'm sooo glad I started this biz!

And all my crafty friends will appreciate this....a SU demonstrator giving away some major blog candy! Here's a pic of the prize:

And here's her blog in case you'd like to read the details on how to enter to maybe win for yourself. although I don't see any reason for you to do that, cause I'm going to totally win it myself! :-P http://thescrapmaster.blogspot.com/

The HOUSE

2 things:

1. I just walked in and started a sentence that Brad finished. It went like this - "you know, I just realized something about this house. With the 2 little kids not here this week" and Brad finished my thought saying "it stayed clean?". Yes! Exactly what I was going to say! You see, my Mom took the 2 youngest on a 4 day roadtrip to visit family in AL this week....and I'm not kidding - with VERY LITTLE EFFORT, the house stayed clean! You know what this means?? Well, by the way I figure it, when Ehren is 7 (cause Ella Grace is now 7), my house should stay clean practically by itself. Right? Hey, we tested it and proved it already! Don't ruin this for me!!

2. The 'for sale' sign in our yard has been there longer than I thought already.....and it's only been 3 weeks. When this house went up for sale 10 years ago, I put in an offer about 24 hours after it going on the market. There was a follow up contract that was filed about a day after that in case mine fell thru! ( I know, cause I'm very good friends with her now! lol) So, it's much cleaner and much more up to date and we've shown it 8 times still not an offer! This is a very different market and going to feel like an eternity for me!

lia sophia - WHAT an awesome cool thing!

Okay, so I haven't posted anything about this before, because I didn't want any friend or family reading my blog to think I was trying to make them buy anything or feel obligated to book a party. Seriously, I think you're a nut if you don't book a show, but whatever! lol I mean, who doesn't want free jewelry?? (And I'm telling you that I work my tail off to get you as much as I can for free!!)

Anyway, in my email today, I just got another gift certificate for $100 in free jewelry from the company for an incentive they were doing in January for us advisors. That makes $1000 in free jewelry that I've earned since starting in November! ON TOP of the $$ that I've earned for our family doing the 14 shows that I've held to date.

AND I won a free round trip plane ticket to lia sophia's conference in June from a contest my awesome upline was doing for sales in January....I came in FIRST PLACE in our whole division for January to win this!

AND I'm working diligently to win that trip to CANCUN that lia sophia is offering to every advisor this year!! Wanna win? There's plenty of time for you to do it too!

AND I've personally sponsored 3 awesome ladies into this business! Teaching them, coaching them, and cheering for them has been fun. They are quickly becoming my best friends!! I have 2 more cool chicas interested in starting in the next couple of weeks, and with those starting, I'll soon be promoting to Unit Manager where I'll make more $$ off my own sales and begin receiving a weekly override off my unit sales as well! Brad was so hesitant to stand behind me in this, but knowing that I have an awesome upline who makes over almost $400,000 a year and has been in this business for under 5 years has really helped him see the light!

lia sophia has quickly turned into such a blessing in our lives. It won't be long now before I can say goodbye to my full-time bookkeeping job, and will be able to just work my part-time job with lia sophia and make WAY MORE $$$! There was a major God intervention as to how I found this company (since I'd never heard of it before fall 08) and why I didn't just sign back up with Premier Designs as I was prepared to do and had already made the phone call to my old upline!! But I'll tell you about that some other day if you ask.

Till next time! http://www.liasophia.com/sites/abbykincaid