Good Morning Ann

Good morning Ann,

Today is the day that you got a new body and were healed in heaven! We miss you desperately down here and think about you every day. I hope you get a glimpse every now and then of how incredible your son turned out. He is the best father anyone could ever ask for and he loves his girls so well. Thank you for raising him right. He misses you. You would just love Grace Ann and Harper. They are wildly adorable and I think Grace Ann takes after you in a lot of ways... she is passionate about life, laughs a lot and really loves people well. Harper is just so sweet and fears nothing. She would just snuggle on your shoulder all night long. Grace is asking a lot about you and we try to tell her everything we can. She has the picture of you and my mom in her room and looks at it almost every day.

I can't say enough how much you mean to us even now. Thank you for your prayers for Chris as he was growing up, thank you for the tears you shed for him. Thanks for loving him so well, thank you for loving me well too! We can't wait to see you one day. Happy Anniversary with Jesus!
~J

Zephaniah 3:15-17 (NLV)
"And the Lord himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over, and you will fear disaster no more. On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, Cheer up, Zion! Do not be afraid! For the Lord your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will rejoice over you with great gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will exult over you by singing a happy song."

It's Christmas Eve!

Matthew 2:23
"She will give birth to a son and he will be called Emmanuel, meaning God with us."

Luke 2:68-70
"Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has visited his people and redeemed them. He has sent us a mighty Savior from the royal line of his servant David, just as he promised."

Can't wait till tomorrow!!! Merry Christmas!

toot toot!

I am tooting my own horn here, but I am proud of myself... Here is my second attempt ever at a pin tuck dress. This one is for Grace and I am making another one for Harps with opposite colors... I mean, I think I love it. I even think it would be cute with the buttons in the front... Please notice the vintage sparkly button at the top. I love this!


And, here is a close up of the pin tucks, no one really cares about them but me... but they were so much work that I thought they should get their own picture.

I am thinking about making some of these for the store. (if I did, they wouldn't be that cheap because of all the work... but aren't they cute!???)

You won't believe it...

Grace actually tried ice skating! I almost didn't believe it myself when I heard her say... "Mom, I want to put some skates on!" Yahoo! And thanks to the efforts of Kat, a girl Chris works with... we have proof! (Thanks Kat!!!) Anyways, here she is, skating at the arena:

(See the kiddie cart thing??? Well, Chris doesn't want me to let the whole blogging world know, so just between you and me... he had to use it on a few laps around the rink....)
And there she goes......

....and that's about as far as she got on the first try, but hey, proof that she did get out there!!!

Later on in the evening, after Harper and I had gone home, she decided she wanted to try again. There wasn't enough time to put her skates back on, so she ran and slid around in her crocs... Those darn shoes are good for everything, right? So proud of her. She is scared of trying almost anything new, so this was a huge accomplishment!

First Date

Chris took Grace Ann to her first theater movie yesterday, The Princess and the Frog. Grace had been looking forward to this for days. It had been a rough week with Chris gone every night but one, so every night when I'd put her to bed, she'd say..."Mama, when daddy gets done workin, he will take me to the movie...right???"
She'd told me what she wanted to wear on Monday, of course, the twirliest dress she owns and her new striped sweater. She loved the movie and afterward they got some yogurt from Sweet CeCe's.
Here they are, all ready to go.... and Harper really wanted to get in the picture too:
This is Harper's newest camera face... it's the cheesiest grin in the world and she keeps doing it because we all crack up when we she pulls it out of her repertoire.

S is for....

Well, my Goodwill days may have just come to an end.

"WHAT" you say, "this is your favorite thing to do, it's an integral part of your new 'job' and a major stress reliever... what ever could have happened?"

I am so glad you asked... Here's the story:

So, yesterday after our play date, I took the girls to mom's house to take a nap while I went thrifting to restock my supplies. I had hit 3 stores and hadn't found hardly anything, so I went home to see what I had to work with.

I checked my email and found that the owner of the store had sent a message that a customer wanted a custom order for a wreath. Great! But I would have to run back out to the Goodwill (which is almost never a chore, I might add) and pick up a few sweaters. It was 99 cent Wednesday, so it couldn't wait.

I jumped in the car, drove over there (in rush hour, rain included). What a joy when I saw a friend from church that I got to chat with for a few minutes... I found a couple of things I could work with and was headed for one last looky-lou through the sweater aisle.

Feeling great that I had my first custom order from the store and even more thrilled that Christmas music was playing over the loud speaker, I hummed along and searched through the neatly hung clothes for that last diamond in the rough.

"When, what to my wandering eyes should appear...?"** but a SNAKE... and I can't finish the rhyme because I just pooped my pants again... (just kidding) But SERIOUSLY, a SNAKE slithered out from between the sweaters I was perusing, over the top of the neatly hung clothes and over into an abandoned basket sitting next to mine.

Hold on, I need to breathe.... Ok, so I FREAKED. And promptly freaked a lady who was shopping next to me. She agreed to stand guard, armed with a plastic hanger aimed in the general direction of the beastly creature, while I ran to get someone to help.

After regaining my composure and when the dizzying 'I'm going to faint' feeling left, I ran to the front desk to tell the guy that the devil himself had almost just slithered onto my hand... His first reaction: "No, there's not a snake..." Um, really dude, do you see the color of my face??? I am a Caucasian woman, but not usually this shade of white!

When he realized I was serious, he ran over with the excitement of a little boy, picked the thing up and ran to the back with it. From that moment on, we would hear faint little screams of varying pitch and degree coming from the stock room at the Goodwill. He had a little fun with it.

So this brings me back to the first sentence.... There were about 3 or 4 hours after the terrifying event that I seriously thought my days of going to the Goodwill may be over. I've seen roaches bigger than my foot, and various and sundry other gross things, but this takes the cake. The one and only thing that I am deathly afraid of and the one thing that you would NEVER in a million years expect to see..... I saw. Now, the only reason I've come back around, is because the actual probability of this ever happening again are slim (at least that's what I've tried to convince myself).

I am just glad that the ole ticker continued to tick and I didn't fall dead of a heart attack right then and there!

**Of course these are the words to the beloved poem by Clement Clark Moore "Twas the night before Christmas" Gotta give credit where credit is due.

It's Here!

Well, Folks, it's here... tomorrow is the open house at Over the Moon. Let me tell you what the menu will be... Your mouth will water and you'll want to be there... I promise!

Turkey and Red Pepper Pesto on Focaccia
Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes
Cheese Spread and Crackers
Mini Chocolate Kahlua Cakes
Mini Butter Pecan Cakes
Mini Fruit Tartlets
Mini Chocolate Raspberry Tartlets
Fruit Tea
Egg Nog
Sparkling Water


I got the time wrong earlier... It is going to be from 11am-1pm. The displays and food/drinks will be out until close I think if you can't make it during that time... But the other artist and I will be there during the lunch hours... SO, come on by!

And just because it is cute, here is Grace trying to explain to Harper the ins and outs of all things Tinkerbell. You can tell that Harper is just happy to be included.

Hooray for the Christmas season! Grace exclaimed to me the other night while driving through our neighborhood looking at lights... "MOM, this is berry berry what I always wanted... I LOVE lights and these sparkly trees and the Santa clauses and the Tiggers...." She has definitely realized the wonder of Christmas this year....

Happy Thanksgiving!

Grace is so proud of the turkeys she made for several families this Thanksgiving.

Look what H is eating for Thanksgiving. Biter Biscuits... Yummy. It is the only thing she's decided she will feed herself. Doesn't it look delish?

Don't forget about the open house at Over the Moon on Dec 1 from 11a-2p! This is a shameless plug, but hey, it's my blog, isn't it???

43 days...

43 days till Christmas!!!! Here's a little preview of a few of the ornaments I am making for the store Over the Moon. On December 1st from 11-2, there will be an open house featuring ME and another artist! I don't have all the details yet, but if you would like to be included on the mailing list to receive info about it, please email me (jamie.burton@comcast.net) your address and I will get you on the list! Of course, you don't have to have an invite to come, so please do!!!! This is so far out of my comfort zone, it's not even funny, but I think it is a good opportunity although it scares me out of my mind! I just know that I am going to have nightmares about no one coming. Or this one... worse, maybe....showing up and forgetting to clothe myself, you know, reminiscent of those nightmares you used to have about showing up to the first day of school in your birthday suit... Hopefully I won't lose too much sleep over this! So, this is a shameless plug, but please tell your friends, and bring the kids and come on down to Over The Moon! In reality, they do have some beautiful things for sale, and with Christmas just 43 days away, Lord knows, we need to start our shopping, right????

Going....Going... Gone.

Harper thought she was the bees knees when she made her way over to the tupperware cabinet the other day(...in about 30 seconds, I might add.) I came back from the laundry room and feasted my eyes upon this:

"Mom, do you see what I just did... all by MYSELF???? Why have you not previously introduced me to this baby heaven?"

Going.....
Going.....
Gone.

A good hour of entertainment was had by all. I got to cook dinner, and she got to crawl in and out of the cabinet, launching plastic with each and every whim. What more could a baby want?

Switching gears now to Grace...She is a smart girl... a little too smart for her own good maybe... Yesterday I caught her in her first lie. (Well, I am sure she's told a white lie or two in the past, but this time, she was really trying to work in a story. What? Lying? She's only 3... should I be worried? Do we need to seek counseling now?

I'll try to be brief (ahem.)
As I was fixing Grace's lunch yesterday, she was in charge of helping Harper eat her little puff snacks. I wasn't paying attention, just trying to get the mac and cheese cooked without burning it, when I hear Grace say: "Mama, look, Harper ate her vitamins! Yay!" I whirled around with a look on my face that made Grace uncomfortable, and I said, "What? Harper doesn't have vitamins honey, what did she just eat?" About that time, I noticed the little bottle of teething tablets in Grace's hand. I ask her: "Grace, are you talking about the teething tablets?" "Uh-huh" she replied. "Grace, did you give some to Harper?"
"Nope, I didn't"
"Are you sure you didn't give some to her?"
"No, I didn't do nuthin"
By this time, she is squirming in her pants and can't stand still.... and I notice some spilled on the floor, and she knows good and well, I've got her number. So, what does she do? Confess??? Tell the truth? Oh, no... she blames her sister!
"Mom, Harper did it, she opened it and ate some. Harper did it."
So, this goes on for a few more minutes, and I just said: "Grace, you will not be punished if you tell mama the truth, but if you do not tell me the truth, you WILL be in trouble." So she tip toes around and with her head down, she looks up at me and says... "yes, I gave her some... and I 'filled' (spilled) 'em too."
So, she did not get punished and we talked about lying and telling the truth.....But when we got home later that night, and Chris asked her about it, she lied AGAIN! Going through the whole story just like she had before... and I was sitting in the room! Dude, seriously???? Please tell me that there are other 3 year olds who have lied and have tried to talk their way out of it!!! I guess now's the time to teach her, when the things she can lie about are so small in comparison, but geesh... is this a sign of bad parenting already???? Noted: my fault for having the teething tablets somewhere she could reach them in the first place....

advice? encouragement?

"Price Match Please..."

Grace earned all the money she would need to buy her Tinkerbell Movie! Above is a picture of all the leaves she help me rake in the yard... $1 for each bag. To say that she was eager to do 'chores' is an understatement. She asked me 100 times a day if she could clean my room! This morning, I printed out 2 ads, one from Best Buy and one from Walmart. Best Buy's price was listed at $19.99, Walmart (store) was $19.99, but online it was on sale for $15.86, so I printed out that add. Since Best Buy price matches plus 10%, I showed her how much money she'd have left over if she bought from Best Buy and took in the ad from Walmart (which was her 'coupon.' She is really into coupons these days) or if she bought it at Walmart without the 'coupon'. Well, I am proud to say, she chose wisely and picked Best Buy. I am not sure if it was because she'd have more money left over, or if it was because she got to give a 'coupon,' but whatever it was, it made me happy!

It took about 10 minutes for us to count all her money, give the coupon and get all the price match stuff worked out, but it was a crack up to hear her give the lady the ad and say "price match please!" (Personally, I think the cashier was impressed too! I bed she'd never had a 3 year old price match a DVD before...!)

So, here is the happy girl with her new DVD and money left over. What a smartie she is.


And, so as not to leave out Harper, she turned 10 months old on Nov 2!
She tipps the scales at right under 20 pounds, not sure how tall she is now, and has popped through 4 teeth. She isn't crawling per say, but can find a way to get wherever she wants to go. She says 'Mama' 'Dada' 'All Done' 'UhOh' 'Papa' and has said 'Izze' once or twice.

She loves to stand and is pretty much obsessed with anything Grace does. She gets so excited that her body shakes when we go into Grace's room to wake her up in the mornings. So cute. Grace is pretty fond of her as well. I can't believe that she will be 1 in 8 weeks! It doesn't seem right!

Halloween, an excuse to look like a......

Ummm, maybe I won't go there to start the blog, OK, so maybe I will...


Have you ever seen what the tweens and teens (well, any female for that matter) wear on Halloween???? Did you know you could turn a referee outfit into a sexy little nighty...? Don't worry, you can, we saw it at the Preds game. Oh, and butterflies? Did you know that they usually wear corsets and push up bras? The same goes for angels... I didn't know until last night that we'd all get big fake boobs when we got to heaven, did you know that???? Cats are most definitley sexy creatures that wear black tights torn in very seductive places, bunnies too. Witches...? No more big black capes, their new wardrobe consists of very tight, very small black shorts, teeny tiny black shirt and a pointy hat. Who knew??? Seriously people, I'm just here to present the facts...

Ok, transition to the cute little kids we spent Halloween with:

We've got a purple tinkerbell, the cutest chicken you ever saw, a little ladybug and a shark, aren't they adorable?
Harper and Bennett enjoyed themselves in the stroller together, and carried on their own little conversation.

Grace and Corbin loved every minute of the preds game. I think the favorite activity was dancing....
I heard Harper whisper to Grace: "Let's get outta here, Izze will let us eat more candy!"

Tinkerbell update

Here' s the plan: Grace has to do chores around the house and she gets paid... when she has enough money to buy the movie for herself, we will go to the store and she can use her own money to buy it. I know, I know it's an allowance, but we haven't started that with her yet, so I thought this would be a good introduction! What I am really excited to see is if she will understand the concept of finding the lowest price so that she can keep more of her money! I can't wait to get all the ads printed out and show her the different prices... Maybe that's a little above her head, but maybe not! We'll see. (I am a D-O-R-K, that's OK)

So, if any of you have any chores around your house that you'd like for Grace to do, she is available.... well, that is, when she finishes the chores at my house!

Confessions and Advice

Ok... I have a confession... I caved. I caved and did something I said I would NEVER do. I bought Grace some Tinkerbell PJ's. {GASP} I know, I know.... it's not Disney Princess, but it's close enough. If you'd seen her face when she realized they were hers, you would have melted too. Don't worry, I only paid .50 cents for the stupid things... (I am making myself feel better by including this statement)

She is totally obsessed with Tinkerbell. Those brilliant people at Disney have done it again. They have sucked my child in right along with every other 3 year old girl in the world. I mean, seriously, a 30 second commercial, and she now wants to be freakin' Tinkerbell when she grows up. Unless she is learning about it from her friends at school, I am at a loss.

Here's where I need the advice: Should her I let her watch the new Tinkerbell movie that is coming out this week????? She is well aware, from all the darn commercials that it's coming... And I know that it would make her so happy... but it goes against anything I thought I'd EVER do with my daughter..... I always said I would not have one of those girls that had every Disney princess, Tinkerbell, sparkly thing ever invented.

She now owns a Tinkerbell phone (potty present this summer) and the PJ's. {CRINGE} How does every 3 year old girl get sucked into Disney's spell???? It's uncanny. Mom says I'm encouraging the obsession, but I seriously don't think I am.

I think the reason I was against all the princess stuff in the first place is that I didn't want to encourage a 'sickie-sweet girly girl' if you know what I mean. But somehow Grace is the perfect balance of tomboy and girly girl. If you ask anyone that knows her, they will tell you the same. Everything she wears these days is required to twirl, and all things sparkly are her favorite... but somehow she holds this incredible balance. And to be honest, I like that.

So, what to do... make my child so happy by letting her watch "her" movie.... or be stubborn and just say no?

tooth fairy

She has the tooth....

She is the fairy....

Still not holding my breath on Harper crawling, although these past few weeks she's given it a go. She'd rather stand up.

These toofers have given us a run for our money... things are calming down this week, but I am not convinced that our sleepless nights are over. If' she's had this much trouble with the teeth she has, and they have only just eeked through the gums... Molars are going to push the child over the edge.

Grace wore these wings to a wedding on Saturday. In the family pictures and everything. Awesome. She is going to be purple Tinkerbell for Halloween. Is anyone surprised???

What is your destiny?

I am a little nervous about posting this, but I was encouraged by my sweet friend earlier today that this is GOD's story, not my own...So true, so true...

Earlier this summer, I was reading one of the Williamson County newspapers. There was an article about a new store that had opened in the Grassland area. Their mission was three-fold: Carry only goods made locally; Sell items made out of recycled materials; and re-sell antiques and other vintage items. Of course, it immediately tickled my fancy. I knew in my heart after reading that article that I needed to contact the owner of the store and show her some of the things I'd been making. Pride and fear of rejection got the best of me and for over 3 months I did nothing about it, but I couldn't get the thought out of my head.

Last week, I decided to take Harper and just go walk through the store. Immediately after walking through the door, I got a sense that this was something I was supposed to do. I mentioned to the guy working that I may be interested in selling some of my items there, he told me to email the owner, tell her my story, send pictures etc. and she would contact me back.

So, I'd gotten up enough courage to actually walk in the store, now I had to muster the guts to pitch this to the owner. I stewed over it for a while, and just felt it was something I had to try. I am the type of person that would rather prepare myself for the worst possible outcome, than hope for the best and be disappointed.

I waited for the reply email nervously, and almost didn't open it when it came. I finally opened the email and the owner seemed really excited about what I was doing and wanted to meet with me. Ahhhh! What???

I made several things over the next few days, created labels and tags, and again, prepared myself to be rejected....

When the time came, the owner took one look and said "This is exactly what I've wanted to carry in my store!"

This could only be a God thing. I signed the contract, left her with my items and walked away in shock that this had actually happened. I know this really isn't that big of deal, but for me, I finally felt like I had taken a step that God wanted me to take. The items are not out yet, and obviously, nothing has yet sold, but I feel like I've taken a step in the right direction.

What a perfect fit??? Maybe this is part of my destiny, maybe this is what God has created me to do? I will never know if I don't try, and I am thankful that God gave me the courage to put myself out there. We'll see what happens! Whatever it is, good or bad, I know that it is God's story, and He will be glorified.

So, go check out this awesome store: Over The Moon The owner is exceptionally nice, the collection is unique and you can find some exquisite one of a kind items!

Bonfires and Marshmallows

Grace spent the night with Izze and Papa last Saturday night. She got to experience her first bonfire and marshmallow roasting! Needless to say, she was thrilled. Here are some cute pictures:

Notice that half the bag of marshmallows have mysteriously relocated into Grace's cheeks... ????

At the end of the night, Iz wondered why she couldn't calm down and go to sleep.... Ummmm, how many marshmallows did she actually eat??? (Almost a whole bag.) Maybe that's why...
They also went to Disney on Ice, but nothing could be better than the campfire and playing hide n go seek with glow sticks in the yard. Doesn't that seem like a kid's dream?

3 little devils...

So, 3 little devils have found their way into our home over the past 9 weeks (NO, that's not a typo...I said NINE weeks.) Very sneaky little devils... sometimes they show up with a vengeance, sometimes they are quiet, but when they are here, boy oh boy, you better watch out. I had no idea that something so small could cause so much ruckus, or so little sleep. They are so elusive that I haven't even been able to get a picture yet...

What are they, you say??? Harper's first 3 teeth. Barely there, but somehow so incredibly present. Until last week, when they finally revealed their identity, I wasn't sure what had come over my sweet little innocent, perfectly behaved baby. I'd taken her to the doctor, sure she had some kind of serious internal bleeding or a terribly awful disease.

Grace had no problem with teeth. I didn't even know she getting teeth until one day she bit my finger and drew blood. She wasn't bothered at all. Harper has turned into a monster. I am thankful that there may be an end in sight....but the prospect of getting Lord knows how many more teeth is enough to make me a little nauseous.

The little devils laugh in the face of Tylenol and Motrin, cold rags do nothing because she won't gnaw on them, I've purchased the homeopathic teething tablets (I know, I know, they are not FDA regulated.... but people, we need HELP....) Oragel....HA, it numbs her whole mouth but apparently doesn't help the pain...because she still screams.

Last week, I think I got about 10 hours of sleep the entire week... granted, the puke virus plus a little touch of the flu went through our house, but Harper wasn't the one who was sick, yet she screamed for 7 of the 9 hours at night...Lovely. By the end of the week, I couldn't compose a coherent sentence, my body was sore, my eyes were blurry and driving was probably not the safest thing I could have done.

Thankfully, last night I heard silence for the first time in a while. Silence.......... I slept. It was like a little piece of heaven. To be quite honest, I don't know if she woke up or did not. I was so tired that I very well may have completely slept through the yelling, I don't know. Those 3 little teeth are through the gums, so maybe we are in for a little respite from the storm. Anyone have a secret remedy they want to share??? If I had a million dollars, I'd give it to whomever can find the magic cure for the screaming.

Anyways, as soon as I can catch a shot of the little culprits themselves, you better believe I will post it.

neglect

Mom says I am neglecting my blog. That I used to write at least twice a week, and now it's down to once every 7-10 days... Sorry Mom, I will try to do better.

Don't have really a whole heck of a lot to say today... Actually, I haven't had a whole lot to say lately... maybe it's due to lack of sleep. Harper was on a 7 week run of not sleeping at night, hardly at all... We've had about a 2 week respite where she decided sleep was a good thing again, and we are going on the 2nd night of no sleep again... so maybe my mind is just tired and has no capacity left for writing... ? I'll go with that. So here are some pictures...

Trying to get a cute sister shot, and this was the best we could do.

I think it has rained for 10 days straight... I love it. I love rain, and cloudy skies and the calm, peaceful feeling it leaves with me. I love rain...Grace had a little fun playing in it on several occasions. Harper didn't like it so much... and I thought it cruel to sit her in the middle of a puddle to get a cute picture of both girls in the rain (although I considered it)... So I just got a couple of Grace.
And here's Harps in all her glory. This is her "I am a baby model and I work the camera face..."
.
And these are the faces the girls made after talking to aunt Amy the other night...wahoo!
(thank you Ann Haley.)

Am I 4 now???

We had Grace's 3rd and final birthday party yesterday. And folks, it was magical.... seriously, it was. If any reader, should have the need for a birthday party, this is the place to have one. (young or old... the duo of Chris and Chris were brainstorming on ways to have their own parties there, I think) Harpeth School of Gymnastics (ahem. Josh Webster. ahem.) does the most magnificent parties for kids. Grace has not stopped talking about it, nor ceased to ask if we can go back "tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow..." since we left.
For some reason these pictures set up in backwards order here, but we'll go with it. I want you to notice the "real nastics shirt" that Grace has on in the first picture. She hasn't taken the thing off since yesterday. I am fairly certain that she will lobby to wear it to school on Tuesday. Too bad we opened it at the end of the party. Until then, she was very staunchly opposed to wearing ANYTHING but her birthday dress to the party, and any suggestions to the contrary were just silly. So, she did flips, swung on the rope swing, did the bars etc. all while trying to maneuver around the long hem of the dress... Hey, but that's what she wanted.
Pure Joy...
"Yes, I am the most awesome birthday girl, with the most awesome bottom in the world."
Here are most of the little kiddo's waiting for instruction on the first obstacle course. I think they all had a great time. I overheard sweet little Elizabeth say to her dad: "This is the best burfday party I've ever been too." But, everything she says melts my heart because of her cute little way of saying the 'r' sounds in her words and her sweet tiny little voice. But seriously, I agree. It was so much fun, I think I had as much fun as the kids did.
Grace didn't really understand the concept of: sit on the parachute so the air doesn't rush out, hence the gaping hole... or maybe she was too excited about the tent and just let go, whatever the case, she loved it.
Grace calls this long street of trampoline goodness the 'jumpy jump' and wishes for one at her own house.
Thank you to all our friends for coming... It wouldn't have been the same without you! And thank you to the Websters, who have such a gift in working with children, it's incredible.

Oh, and to explain the title of the post: Since it had been a week and a half since her actual birthday, she was convinced that this party meant that she was 4. "No sister, thankfully a year doesn't go by that fast! You are still 3."