Wyatt Earp

Nathan got creative with his razor on Christmas eve.  So, Merry Belated Christmas from Wyatt Earp and me.  I am in serious need of some powder here.  Shine, shine, shine. 

We had a very nice Christmas.  On the 23rd, we took the kids to Leavenworth.  In the Black Swan store, Nathan bought this hat.  He's turning forty soon, so he thinks he can wear this.....

Now, if he would just start looking his age.  :)

Card Catastrophes

Five more days until Christmas.  My kids have been reminding me everyday.  For the first time, I bought each of them an advent calendar.  I saw them in Michael's and grabbed them as I was standing in the check-out line.  Then, to my utter embarrassment, I had to explain to my 11-year-old what they were and how to use them.  It's a pretty sad statement about the mother I've been.  I always loved advent calendars when I was a kid.  We had one every year.  I hardly see them in stores anymore.  I guess I don't really know where to look.  Now I know that Michael's carries them.

The advent calendars have been one small thing that has brightened our season.  I sneaked off to town one afternoon with the girls to buy a tree.  Beaver Bark had real reindeer in a pen in their parking lot, so the girls got to pet them.  That was pretty cool.  We bought a live tree again this year.  Last years made it until spring then died.  We are going to try it one more time.  My hope was to have the tree home and decorated before Nathan came home from work, but we were late, so I only beat him home by a few minutes.  The kids decorated the tree by themselves.  I sat by the box and handed out ornaments.  It took some self-control on my part, but I did not hang a single ornament.  Usually, I'm front and center telling everyone how to decorate the tree.  I decided that wasn't the best approach.  There is a drastic difference between my tree and the beautifully decorated ones in the stores.  Mostly that's because mine has lots of mismatched homemade ornaments, but I really like our little tree.  It's small enough to fit in our little house.

Now that I am enjoying the holidays again, I decided to send Christmas cards.  It has been a catastrophe.  My addresses are all out-of-date.  I bought a pile of cards with photo inserts at Michael's last year 90% off.  Now I know why they were on sale.  The frame is too small for a 4x6 photo, so it cuts off part of the kids' faces.  I never could get Nathan to sit down and do a family photo, so this year everyone is just getting a picture of the kids.  The cards are basically a disaster, but at least they are going out.  No letter, though.  Seriously, I couldn't think of enough happy things to say.  Maybe next year?

For Valine

I have had these photos on my computer, and I've been meaning to make copies for my sister-in-law, so I am just going to post them and let her copy them.  They are cute, so you'll excuse the fact that they aren't just my kiddos.  This is Rack-ree playing in the mud like any true boy.  His older brother broke his mamma's camera, so I captured this moment.

As Josie says, "I yike mud."  And, she means the taste of mud.  Yeah, gross.

Now, on to the three bouncing princesses.......

Have ball gown...

...will fly

Just one more.... put 'em up, mister.

The Bazaar Line-Up

I have three more bazaars this season.  Some are fun and others are frustrating, but I always look forward to the next one to see if it is any better.  I am starting to recognize other vendors who are making the rounds, too.  I decided to post some of the items I am selling to convince my hoards of readers that you should each come out and visit me at a bazaar. 

This is the Dream Cream.  It is a thick moisturizer handmade with Shea butter, cocoa butter and olive oil.  I use it head to toe and I love it.  It comes in Tahitian Vanilla, Citrus Twist, Ginger Lime, Cucumber Melon, Mountain Stream and Tall, Dark & Handsome (a man cream that smells DIVINE, especially on my own man.  Mmmmm!)

Next up is my handmade lotion.  I wasn't actually planning on selling lotion because I feel that the Dream Cream is a better product.  However, I had the bottles, so I filled them and they have sold very well.  I have sold out of Tahitian Vanilla lotion.  I have Huckleberry, Cucumber Melon & Green Apple. 

The larger 8 oz bottles are $8. 

The upside down tottles are 4 oz for $6.

This weekend every bottle of Green Apple lotion is $1 OFF!

Time to try out this great scent or give it as a Christmas gift.  It is the most subtle of the fruit scents in my opinion. 















And now for the jewelry.  Oh, how I love vintage inspired jewelry.  I really thought I would see other vendors with jewelry like this at bazaars, but so far all the jewelry I've seen other than mine has been beads.  So, if you are looking for a unique and stylish gift, I highly recommend something from this vintage inspired collection. 

I have these cabbage rose necklaces in assorted colors.  Some are with strung glass pearls, while others are with black Czech glass beads.

This is my newest necklace design.  I actually designed it with Janae in mind.  Isn't it gorgeous?

I also have bracelets....

... for only $10...

Rings...

... and earrings....

COME AND SEE!!!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Faith Assembly Christian Center

1800 North Road 72

Pasco, WA

9 a.m. to 3 p.m

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Marcus Whitman Elementary School

1704 Gray Street

Richland, WA 

9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Richland Alliance Church

1400 Sanford Ave.

Richland, WA

9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Here We Go Again

Valine wanted me to post a report of the last bazaar.  Okay, I'll give you the run down.  Friday, the Kennewick Senior Center, was mostly a bust.  The highlights of my day were that my dad came and bought me lunch, then later my mom came to say hello and I sent her home with a sample of my new face cream.  I sold very little, but I did sell a few bars of soap, a few jars of cream and one of my rose and pearl necklaces.  I was too tired to be bummed, because the next morning I was out of the house by 6 a.m. to make it to Ferris High School by 8:30. 

The Ferris bazaar was awesome!  First of all, they had senior boys waiting at the door to unload your car  in the rain.  The bazaar was supposed to start at ten, but by 9:30 there were already customers milling around.  Don't worry, thanks to that strong senior guy, I was all unloaded, set up and ready.  It was a steady flow of people ALL DAY LONG!  There were other soapers there, and I know at least one other company was selling skin care, but I did very well, especially for a newbie.  Best of all, I got to see Victoria and her lovely daughter Ella.  It was a fun day.  I love the bazaar scene. 

So, here I am, ready to do it all again.  This weekend I will be at:

Island View Worship Center

1520 Fowler

Richland, WA

Friday, November 5 and Saturday, November 6th

9 a.m to 3 p.m

The church is located at Columbia Center west.  Fowler is the road that leads down to Cash & Carry.  Instead of going east toward Cash & Carry, you turn west off Columbia Center Blvd.  There should be signs to guide you. 

Spread the word and enter to win an 8 oz cream.  Post the info about the bazaar, then leave me a comment.  (Eastern Washington bloggers only-- my apologies to all others.)  I will enter you into the drawing.  Come see me Friday or Saturday and receive a second entry.  Thanks!

Come and see me there!



This Crazy Idea

About three months ago I got this crazy idea to do the bazaar circuit this fall.  I saw myself with a cute little table full of soap, lotion, jewelry and more.  I signed up for bazaars, paid my money and started making stuff.  I must have been downright crazy.  I'm always caught in the middle on this.  You see, I like to make way more stuff than I can use.  And, I always buy way more supplies than I can use, but when you start making stuff to sell, you realize that all those supplies are somehow insufficient and you need more.

I put my foot down this week and said, "No more supplies!"  I filled every jar I own.  Made every last tube of lip balm and bottle of lotion.  It is actually a whole lot of stuff.  I really hope it sells.

Mostly the shows are in Tri-Cities, but there is one in Spokane this weekend.  I would love to see some friendly faces.  Friday I will be here. 

I guess it's hard to read the fine print.  It is at the Kennewick Senior Center, which is at 500 South Auburn in Kennewick. 

Saturday I will be at Ferris High School in Spokane.  The bazaar is a fund raiser for their all-night graduation party. 

Please spread the word.  I love bazaars.  They are such a fun environment, everyone sharing their talents with all those hand-made things.  I have vowed to take one child to each bazaar.  Mazie is joining me on Friday.  I don't know who will be with me on Saturday, maybe Dylan.  He will be the only one willing to get up at 5 a.m. to get to Spokane and set up on time. 

Hope to see you there!!!

Finally

I suppose I should have posted when it happened, but the biggest news right now is that our house in Big Timber, Montana finally sold.  This is one huge burden off our shoulders.  The week before we got the offer on the house, Nathan interviewed with Stillwater Mining.  We went back and forth.  Should we go back an try to recapture the life we had, or should we hang on a little longer with the faith that we are where we are supposed to be?  As it happened the offer on the house and the offer for the job came the same day.  We took the offer on the house and closed that chapter of our lives.  It was a bittersweet decision.  We miss Big Timber-- the people, not the weather.  The kids miss going to school and having friends.  I miss having a real house and having time to clean it.  Josie would be in Debbie's preschool this year.  I would have had whole mornings to myself.

However, I just couldn't go.  We love the long growing season here.  We love our families.  It's hard to be far away from them.  Nathan doesn't love his job, but it pays well.  I spend a lot of time with my mom.  I missed her those five years we were away.  My kids see their grandparents everyday and their cousins every week.  I just couldn't give those things up again. 

So, we move forward like we always do.  The kids are adapting to home school.  The boys both have one more football game and then there is wrestling and basketball to look forward to.  Dylan takes art lessons from his great-grandma, and now spends a lot of time drawing.  Our house is chaotic and loud.  We are closed into a very small space.  Everyone fights and yells and it often feels like there is no peace at all.  But, we harvested our garden and bottled about 50 quarts of grape juice.  I canned tomatoes and spaghetti sauce, pears and pickles.  I even made raisins for the first time with our table grapes.  This lifestyle on a little farm in a tiny house isn't glamorous, but it's okay.  For now, at least. 

I do hope that someday I will have a house again.