So Much to Catch Up On

Ah, where were we?

Matt went back to school. I opened my Etsy shop. And lots of stuff happened in between and since.

Matt and I went on a date to a Grand Prairie Airhogs game. We had tickets that needed to be used before the season ended, and we ended up getting to sit right behind home plate in the second row. Not that we had competition for good seats; the stadium was empty (maybe because it was a Wednesday night?). It was a lot of fun, and we'll try to take the kids to some games next season!

Avery started gymnastics! She's taking a preschool class at a small local gym, and she loves it! (And shhh, I was so glad she chose gymnastics over ballet.) 1) Excuse the horrible quality of pictures. 2) Does anyone know of a good place to find leotards that aren't for dance?

They got to use the Peter Pan apparatus during free time!

AWANA started at our church, and Avery's a Cubbie this year! If you're not familiar with AWANA, it's a kids program where they memorize Bible verses, play games, and have counsel time (Bible stories, etc.). I was in it when I was a kid and still remember all the songs. :) It's super fun! Matt and I are both helping with it this year, so Landon gets to play with the other babies while we're there.

My mommy had a birthday! It was actually yesterday (happy birthday, Mom!), but we celebrated on Sunday night since that was when all the siblings could get together. Allison made a really ugly but delicious cake and we had a low key little get together to celebrate the best mom in the world! (Matt and I took her a gift and Blue Bell ice cream last night for her for real birthday.)

I feel like we've been running a kajillion errands since school started (post office, Costco, grocery shopping, and everything in between), but the kids actually really like being out of the house. And honestly, I do too. I get a little stir crazy if I'm indoors all day. But we've also been playing a lot around the house.

Mother's Day Out starts next week, and I think I'm also gonna try out MOPS on Wednesdays, so I'm glad to get into a for real weekly routine. And I'm so thankful for all of the Etsy orders I've gotten, but I still need to figure out how to get all that taken care of in addition to all my other responsibilities. I need a serious dose of self-discipline!

I'm super excited to hang out with some of my favorite friends this weekend, and I hope your holiday weekend is fantastic, too!

Open for Business!

Y'all, I have so many blog post drafts pending, but I haven't even taken the time to sit down and finish them because...

...my Etsy shop is OPEN!

I've been talking about doing this for well over a year, partially because I wanted to have all my ducks in a row (good-sized inventory, shipping supplies, logo/branding, good pictures of inventory, etc.) and partially because I was terrified of failing.

I know, I know. How could I fail if never even gave myself the chance to do so? We'll just say that I'm not always logical.

So after much "coaching" from a friend who has an amazingly successful Etsy shop (thanks, Rachel!), I finally bit the bullet.

Can I just say that I have the most supportive friends and family in the world? My super talented sister of Allison Jean Photography designed my Etsy banner, Facebook cover photo, and business cards. (Don't they look awesome?!? And I can say that because I had nothing to do with them, haha.)

And that fear of failure? I had mentally prepped myself to not make that first sale for weeks, but the morning after I initially listed my inventory, I got my email congratulating me on my first sale! To someone in California! Who I didn't know! And then the sales just kept coming. After my sale today to a customer in Florida, I can officially say that I'm coast to coast. :)

I am just so, so thankful. I know that it's rare to get those initial sales so quickly, and I seriously attribute it to the time that Rachel and Allison invested in me (cheesy?). 

So can you do me a favor? If you haven't already, can you "like" my Facebook page? You'll be the first to know about new listings and special discounts.

And here's a little peek at what I'm selling. Check out my Etsy shop for pictures of the individual items!

BURP CLOTHS (lightweight cotton or flannel)

KEY FOBS

TAG BLANKETS

By the way, I'm offering a 10% discount on the entire shop this week with the coupon code GRANDOPENING10, but it ends at the end of Saturday, September 1!

http://heatheraileen.etsy.com

Back to School

Well, back to school for Matt anyway. He had to report to in-service yesterday, and the kids and I have slowly started getting back in our groove. It's been nice to have Matt home for lunch still though!

We celebrated our last day of summer on Monday with a trip to the grocery store(s), a picnic lunch at the fountains, and froyo from Yummi Berry!

(yeah, those seats are just awkward for anyone over the age of 7)

Monday night we had some of our favorite people over for dinner, after which Avery entertained us all with her gymnastics. That girl is funny.

Speaking of gymnastics, I think she's going to take a class this year. She's gonna try it out on Friday to see how it goes. She's been saying forever that she wants to take ballet, so this is a switch. Honestly, I hope she picks gymnastics. It seems more, well, athletic. No offense, you pretty little dancers, but if this girl takes after her mama (she does), then graceful movement is something she is probably incapable of. And soccer starts next year, so this is temporary anyway. :)

This morning was gorgeous, so we took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent over an hour at the park. Avery made friends, Landon ate mulch. It was a good morning.

And according to the weather people, we're already done with 100+ temps, so hooray for that. Texas surprises me sometimes.

Happy Wednesday!

Friday Five

1. Last night I FINISHED my initial Etsy inventory! (Thanks for all the Facebook love, btw!) I'm starting off my listings with 10 tag blankets, 20 key fobs, and 20 burp cloths. I am loving these fabrics and can't wait to post them! Y'all. I've been talking about this dang shop for over a YEAR, and I'm just now getting ready to open it. Have I ever mentioned that I'm a perfectionist? I don't like to do things unless I can do them exactly right, which is kind of a curse because I live my life in a constant state of stress. I know, I need to work on that. Anyway, this week I'm taking pictures and posting items! And then I sit around and wait for that first sale, which I hear can be quite elusive. Sigh. I guess we'll see!

2. I scored majorly at a garage sale today! I actually drove by it at first, but on a whim turned around before I got home (it was in my neighborhood). Wanna hear the awesomeness that is Landon's fall/winter wardrobe? 21 shirts (sweaters, long-sleeved Ts, button-ups), 2 pairs of pants, and 3 sets of PJs for FIFTEEN DOLLARS! And everything was Children's Place, Gap, Carters, and Osh Kosh. SO CUTE and in amazing shape. Seriously, who says that shopping for boys isn't fun? And let's just say that it pays to chat up the sellers because I think they cut my price in half. You know, because I'm so lovable (haha!).

3. I'm a little obsessed with our library lately. It's not the biggest library in the whole world, but they have a great selection of movies, a really nice kids' section room, and the librarians love me and order books upon request! It also helps that they used to be my coworkers because our public library is also the high school library. Yes, we live in a very small town. And okay, I'm sure they order books for anybody who requests them. Anyway, I've got a FREE stack of books that I'm ready to dig into. Don't judge my literary taste. I'm no longer an English teacher. And hey, at least I'm reading, right?

4. The year was 1991. I was 7 years old. The only thing I wanted for Christmas was Felicity, the newest American Girl doll. I would spend hours just soaking in every page of the American Girl catalog, circling all of the items that I just couldn't live without (because $80 for a doll was totally reasonable, right?) and hinting to my parents not-so-subtly that I would probably die if I didn't get a Felicity doll. Okay, so I wasn't that dramatic, but you get it. I cried that Christmas morning when Felicity greeted me in front of our tree. Y'all, American Girl was a BIG DEAL. I read all of the books. Multiple times. My friends and I talked about and played with them all the time. I subscribed to the magazine. It's safe to say that American Girl shaped my childhood. Yes, I am aware that I'm a dork.

So of course they wait to expand their empire by opening American Girl Place locations across the country AFTER I was much too cool old for such things. But today, with Avery as our "cover," my mom took Allison and me to American Girl Place for lunch, where we reverted back to the 90s and loved every minute of it. The food was pretty dang good, too!

I still can't believe they've retired Felicity, but I'm guessing that means that mine is worth more now. :)

5. Matt and I are doing another Whole30 next month. You know, because I hate myself. In all fairness though, I think it'll be much easier this time around because we know what to expect. Plus, my love handles came back with a vengeance, and I'd like for them to go away. This is all that works for me. So yay.

And if you see me in September and I look a little cranky, it's just because I want some chocolate.

Why I Haven't Been Blogging

I've been away from the bloggy for far too long because I have been sewing like a MADWOMAN. Seriously, where did this motivation come from?!?

Oh yeah, my self-imposed Etsy shop opening deadline of September 1. That's two weeks away.

Yikes.

I've been increasing my opening inventory of burp cloths, tag blankets, and key fobs so I actually have something to sell when I start listing. I almost have an entire drawer full of super cute items just begging to be posted to the interwebs. Want a sneak peek?

Pardon the craptastic lighting/photography.

Since I am what some might call a perfectionist, I still need to finish a few things before I start listing:

• Make business cards
• Take pictures of items
• Order packaging supplies
• Update Facebook fan page (cover photo)
• Finish last 2 burp cloths and make 5 more tag blankets (in girly prints)

Also, I am in a major funk. More accurately, I am in my pre-back-to-school depression. Okay, maybe "depression" is unfair (or too dramatic) considering there are people suffering from ACTUAL depression, but I always get in this mopey, grumpy, mean stage right before Matt goes back to school. I know that once the kids and I get back into our normal routine, things will be just fine, but right now I'm still pouting. And grouchy.

So once I get back to my normal competent self, I'll be posting on a (more) regular basis. Landon's due for a blog update, I have a drafted post of our favorite kid books, I'm in desperate need of some hangout time with my friends (if I still have any after basically neglecting every friendship all summer long!), and our camera has been collecting dust. This paragraph doesn't even make sense, but I'm too tired to fix it.

Bloys Campmeeting 2012

Now that I'm halfway through our laundry piles, I'm going to allow myself to take a break. (Oh, and thanks for all the love on my breastfeeding post! The Facebook and blog comments and messages were so encouraging!)

We survived a 10 hour road trip, 6 nights in a tent, and a week in the dirt with two young children, so I feel like I should document campmeeting 2012.

For a more detailed description of what campmeeting is, you can check out my posts from last year and the year before. (I've gone every year since I was born.)

We left on Friday morning to caravan with Nick and Brittany. We stopped 5 times. It was a long trip.

Campmeeting was a little weird this year. I'm not gonna go into details, but Matt and I had lots of fun with the kids anyway. Avery even made it up to the top of the mountain for the first time! She was a little trooper and we were SO proud of her! I don't really feel like writing today, so here are some pictures.

I can't accurately describe just how much Landon loved being in the dirt ALL THE TIME. He was in heaven.

See? He wore himself out. We could hardly keep him awake during lunch.

Hey, look who we ran into.

S'mores night!

First hike of the year!

Booty shot! But seriously, this girl can climb.

Made it to the top!

Coming back down was a little harder.

Canasta

{I just really liked this sign in a shop in Alpine}

Girls outing to Reata for dinner to celebrate August birthdays

Avery was awesome at the restaurant, so we stopped at the Ft. Davis Drugstore for ice cream on our way back to camp.

Super baby!

Second hike!

Somebody about gave me a heart attack...

See all those tin roofs? Those are cabins. That's not even half of the camp.

See what I mean? Heaven.

Avery and Riley (their grandpas are first cousins)

Bubble time!

Mmmm, corn on the cob

About half of our crew at dinner

After spending a week in much cooler temperatures, we were bummed to come home to 100+ temps, but we're glad to be back (and we only stopped once on the trip home)!