So, what else is new?

What's been happening with our family since the last time I actually blogged....a lot!  Phoebe joined us last September 29, the last of our shenanigans.  She has brought even more joy, and noise to our home.  She's as sweet as can be.  Her first birthday is rapidly approaching, and I just can't believe she's already going to be one.  It seems like just yesterday....

Amelia started Kindergarten this year, and Camden is in second grade.  We did the homeschooling thing last year, but it proved to be a little bit of a challenge for me.  Amelia LOVES being in Kindergarten!  She is excited every morning, and is sad when the weekend is here and she can't go to school.  Camden is doing well in second grade, and likes it so far!

The kids and I (and a teenager brought along to help with kids!) took a vacation to California for three weeks.  I'll post some pictures below.  It was great weather, and we loved spending time with our family out there.  Monica (the teenager) and I took Camden and Amelia to Disneyland.  Of course we had some beach days...with four kids that was a challenge!  Phoebe ate LOTS of sand. 

Some more new things...

I've been working hard to create some new items for Boomershenanigans. Did you know that our motto is "Hand-made, on-the-go style for mommies and their little mischief makers"?

My goal is to be able to grow my business enough that I can help bring in some income to ease the burden on our family. Being a family of 6 with one income is tough! I hope that through Boomershenanigans, I can help make mommies and babies happy, and in the process bring a little income to our household.

Here are the latest creations to be added to the list!

This is Phoebe, the littlest of my shenanigans, sporting her new pacifier clip. Clips are $5, and can be made in any color or pattern you like. New ribbon is on order right now, and I'll have some new choices up very soon!



This is the crinkly stuffed owl. It has open ribbons of different sizes, lengths, and colors that baby can pull on. Phoebe loves the crinkly noise it makes when she squeezes it. Below are some (in my opinion) darling pictures of Phoebe with her new crinkly owl. Comes in all different colors/patterns, and also available in initials! $8 for an owl or an initial.


 
 

Chew it!

Hug it!

Cuddle it!








Another new item is the stuffed owl (can you tell I love owls?!)...these come in two sizes, small $13 (12"x9.5") or large $15 (13.5"x9.5").  No two are the same (unless of course you order them to be the same), you can specify whether you'd like a boy owl or a girl owl, and I'll come up with something just for you!

This is Ava, she was the very first owl made by Boomershenanigans, and she was also our very first giveaway!  For every 100 "likes" the Boomershenanigans Facebook page gets, we'll do a giveaway.  my little shenanigans were sad when I mailed Ava off, they all wanted to keep her!  They are asking me to make them their own.  I see a Christmas present possibility here....


Of course, there are still the Ta-ta Tarps (nursing covers for discreet moms), onesies that come in anything you can dream up (initials, cupcakes, dinosaurs, anything!!), tote bags with the same endless possibilities as onesies (some new Halloween totes will be underway soon, perfect for trick-or-treating!), and I'm always working on new ideas.  You can contact me at boomershenanigans@gmail.com, or on my Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/boomershenanigans!

Boomershenanigans-the business side

My company is called Boomershenanigans, and my "motto" is "Hand-made, on the go style for mommies and their little mischief makers." So here is a pic of the reusable snack bags I've been making. They seem to be quite popular lately, and I've sold quite a few. One lady even ordered 16 of them and used them as party favors for her daughter's birthday! They come in three sizes.

You can order them by emailing me at boomershenanigans@gmail.com, or visit my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/boomershenanigans.

Amelia is 4!

It is so hard to believe that she's 4 already. For some reason, going from 3 to 4 feels to me like going from baby to big kid.

We had her family birthday party last Saturday, and then her "friend" party today. Abby spent the night with her last night, and then this morning Amelia, Abby, Anna, and Brennah all went to Build a Bear, where they picked out animals and outfits. Then we came home for lunch, cupcakes, ice cream, and presents. The girls had tons of fun.

Attached is a slideshow of the last year, Amelia from age 3 to age 4. She's gotten so big!

Happy 4th birthday, Princess Amelia!

Less

K-LOVE did a segment a couple weeks ago about choosing one word to focus on for this year, 2010. The idea was to pick a word that you wanted to be like, make yourself into, etc., and then go through the Bible and find verses that relate to that word that you could focus on and learn in order to reach your goal. So I chose the word "less". I thought it was the perfect word. My goal was to focus more on God than on myself, so "less" of me, more of Him. To have "less" stuff in my house cluttering it up. To have "less" weight on my body.

It turns out that my "less", in at least a couple areas, will be turning into "more". This week we found out we're expecting one more baby. So there goes the less weight part! This baby was not planned. I should clarify that he/she wasn't planned by me, but WAS planned by Someone higher than me. Psalm 139:13-16 says "For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; and in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them."

I'm amazed to think that the Lord knew about this baby before it was ever a thought in my mind. Before I knew it was there, He knew, and He planned for it. He has planned all of his/her days already! I can say that when I first found out, I wasn't too awfully excited. It was unexpected, and not something I had planned for. But Psalm 127:3-5 says "Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them..."

So there you go. Children are a gift the Lord gives us. I'm thankful for the three gifts I've already got, and for the one that's on it's way here in October.

A New Year

I would say that my New Year's resolution is to be a better blogger, but let's face the facts here...my real resolution is to lose some weight. Like 50 pounds worth. Actually about 46.5 since I've already lost 3.5 this week.

Ok, so it appears that my last post was on October 13. Only 3 months ago.

What's been going on the last three months....
October:
The kids dressed for Halloween as The Lion, Dorothy, and Toto. I made the girls' costumes and they turned out pretty cute. The lion was too much for me to take on, so we bought that one.

November:
Umm, all I remember is Thanksgiving.

December:
Amelia had her first dance recital. Pictures are included in the slide show below.
We spent a lot of time driving around looking at Christmas lights. We had a great Christmas, even though we missed having Kristen here. When we pulled into the driveway at mom and dad's on Christmas afternoon, Camden wanted to know if Auntie was there. I said no, and he said, "But she's always here on Christmas!" It was sad. We do get to talk to her on Skype though, and Matilda points at the computer a lot and says, "Auntie!" (which actually comes out more like, "Teetee!")
We had a very snowy Christmas, and we weren't sure if we'd be able to even make it out of our neighborhood that day. We did, and the kids were very relieved. It hasn't stopped snowing since. At least it feels that way. We have a record amount of snow and school was supposed to start back Tuesday, but has been canceled all week because it is so snowy and cold. Oh, and also because our mayor didn't fund enough for snow removal, so all the side streets are completely snow and ice covered. Nice. We can barely get down our street, and there were kids actually ice skating on our street the other day.

The kids and I combined our Christmas money and bought a Wii and they each got to pick out some games. It has been nice to have it this week with no school and not being able to get out much.

So...that should pretty much bring you up to date. I'm putting in another slide show of the last 3 months so you can see what we've been up to...somehow they got out of order, but anyway...

"Picnik Show"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!

I know

I'm a sucky blogger. I can't seem to find the time to update. I'm going to aim for once a week from now on. Like maybe on Sundays. I have to find one day a week where I make myself set aside some time and do it!

I'm not even going to try and update since the last post, but I'll add a slide show of pictures from the pumpkin patch yesterday. We had tons of fun. It's our tradition to go to Dairy Queen after the patch. (Hence the ice cream pictures) If you click on "picnik show" you'll get a larger version of it.

"Picnik Show"

Create a free slideshow with Picnik!