Stampin' Up! Regional Seminar

This past Friday I was finally able to attend my first Stampin' Up! event! I had so much fun, and now that I have had a taste, I want more! I was also able to meet and chat with Shelli Gardner, the co-founder & CEO of Stampin' Up! (my pic with her was on Meg's camera and her memory card was accidentally cleared!) Very cool to meet THE original Stampin' Up! lady in person! The Leadership Seminar is in Orlando in January, and Convention (The BIG one of the entire SU! year!) is in August in Salt Lake City! I really hope I am able to make it to both! Oh, and can't forget about the FREE cruise to the Southern Caribbean! Definitely want to achieve that goal! 

We stayed at a really cute Clarion Hotel that was tucked away on the River Walk. We almost drove right past it, because it was so small! We had dinner, mexican food of course, and walked the River Walk for a while. Later we were laughing at ourselves, because 3 moms with no kids & no husbands were back in the room & in our pajamas by 7:30 pm!!! We did have to make a late night run to Wal-Mart because Meg forgot to pack her pants! 

Meg was one of 2 of the demonstrators asked to speak on business building tips! They picked the 2 demonstrators with the highest sales in attendance! Very cool that I have such an awesome upline! She also achieved the FREE trip to Hawaii this past July! Very cool! I was able to see my good friend Kristi Richards, and I was finally able to meet some of the other ladies in my upline. It's nice to have a face with the names now. 

I also made a new friend! Rene, another girl in Meg's downline. She has a son the same age as James. She too fell in love with stamping the first time she ever went to a stamping party, and shortly after became a demonstrator too!  I liked her right away! I was also amazed at her strength and her positive attitude. She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, and despite her chemo treatment the Monday before, she still made the trip from Austin to SA with us. I was very glad she did, like I said, I like her right away!

Me & Kristi

Me & Meg 

Meg, Rene, Me, Kristi, Phyllis, Diana, Lisa (All in Meg's downline)

First Hair Cut

We took James to Southfield Barber Shop today for his first hair cut. This is the same barber shop where JJ got his first hair cut, and most others throughout his childhood.

He was very excited to see Daddy (met JJ there on his lunch break) and to be in a new place. 

And even more excited when the barber gave him a comb. 

But, the excitement didn't last long.

He did not like the clippers at all!

Giving him my cell phone helped distract him a little bit, but not much. (If you received a strange call from me around 3pm today, this is why). 

As soon as he turned off the clippers, he was completely fine. 

And now he looks all grown up!

Shhhh! I'm Hunting House Flies!

There was a fly buzzing around the window that he kept trying to catch! This is the second time I have seen him do this, and this time I was able to get the camera in time. 

Cookie Monster

JJ had to go to Dallas on Wednesday for a training thing for Honda. As much as we missed him, we also enjoyed our special time together. We shared a special treat of milk and Oreos. And we now have the first stain on our new sofa (new to us), smudged Oreos! 

Sorry they're blurry. My son is a ham, and tries to get right up to the camera, so you have to be quick!

Daddy's Helper

James has really enjoyed helping JJ around the house the past couple of weeks. If Daddy has a drill, hammer, or screw driver in his hand, he is there to assist, and eventually take over the project. (He likes to run away with Daddy's hammer). Tried showing him how to use his own tool set to help Daddy, but he wants the real deal!

Our Little Chef

Just a little side note...He is 15 months old and still only has 2 teeth!

Exploring the House

James has had a lot of fun this week. He is not only getting to explore new places, but he also has new toys and books (new to him) that he had never seen because they were packed away. He is not used to having his own room though. Well, he kind of is, his crib was in Mimi's craft room. But he could not go play in his room, all of toys were in the den. So, he is also not used to playing by himself. We have been playing in his room a lot this week to try and get him used to it. (Thanks for the new t-shirts Aunt Moozer & Uncle Cord!)

This is a lego fire truck that is new to James. He loves the blocks, and loves the big ladder handle. 

He has also really loved all the open floor space and hard wood floors. They are great for flying his Mickey Mouse airplane!

He and Daddy took a walk yesterday morning. I know it looks like he is in the street, but he's not. We live on a corner that is a circle, kind of a culdasac, so he is actually right in front of our driveway. 

Helping Mommy sweep the front porch. 

Busy Week

Ok...sorry it has been a while since my last post. This move has been....drawn out, yep, that's a good way to put it. We were trying to do it in the most cost effective way, so we only rented a small uhaul trailer for one day, but JJ also had to work part of that day. We also have had to work around not only his schedule, but the schedules of those who have been helping him do all the heavy lifting. Besides the fact that moving with a 1 year old is almost impossible in itself, we have had another major setback during this whole process. MICE! Our storage unit was surrounded by a wooded area, and they decided to use our unit for their nesting area. So, everything had to be unpacked on the back patio to prevent critters from coming in the house (none did though), and then had to ALL be cleaned or washed. We only had 2 major casualties though. Our big red chair that matched the big red sofa (not a major loss, we hate that furniture, but it was a free hand-me-down) was so full of mouse droppings that I did not even want to try to clean it. Our guest room mattress set also had to go to the dump. The mice had used the stuffing from the box springs as their nesting materials. It too was a free hand-me-down, so there was no question, it had to go. We had a few other small things that were damaged, a lamp, some curtain rods, a very comfortable quilt that I got as a hs graduation gift from the Neals. We can only thank God though that it was not worse, and that our major piece of furniture, our king size bed, was not damaged, not a stain on it! You would not believe the amount of dust that came out of the two sofas, and our mattress though! Wow! I have listed some links for pictures of the house. As soon as we get things a little more settle around here I can post more. Front of House. Back of House.  Kitchen/Living/Dining.  Dining/Kitchen.  But, despite all the 'tests' as Cindy would say, we are very happy in our new home.