I need something to do!!!

Ok, California is great so far.  The Monkey and The Bear went back to school so it's just me and Hubby and The Baby - and The Dog - during the day.  But neither one of us has a job yet and it's 30 miles to town (the one with stuff to do anyway) and we are running low on gas and money.  I got rid of most of my crafting supplies before we moved and the rooms we occupy are clean-ish.  I AM SO BORED!!  I need something to do.  I take a walk around the yard almost every day but even that becomes old...I'm just not used to being so far away from everything...I can't even use my phone!!  Ugh...

And now I want chickens.  In a coop in the yard with a rooster and clucking and scratching and egg laying. 

Long time...

Wow, August - really?!  I can't believe it was that long ago.  And so much is different now.  No store, not in Colorado anyway.  We hit the road last week and moved the whole family - most of the family - to California.  We had to leave the Big One behind but he's, hopefully, moving to Kansas in December to be with his dad, which is a much better place for him.  And, to top it all off, the Bear and the Monkey are doing online school at home.  My life is full of math and language arts and laundry and unpacking.  Fun times, but worth every minute. 

There are lots of great places to go around here, especially since neither of us has a job and we can do school whenever we want, so there's no reason not to blog about our crazy house...

I am getting my butt handed to me by the business plan I have to write for the store.  I've looked at several examples, read about each section on the SBA website, written out the mission and vision statements and even took and online course on how to write a business plan.  I started out using the SBA's online template and that only lasted until my computer froze twice and I lost it...twice.  After that I downloaded a free template that is in word and I am currently working on finishing the plan (as you can plainly see).  I haven't had to do this for over ten years and then it was for a grade - not money - so it's even more nerve wracking this time (can you tell?  I'm blogging and FBing instead of planning)!  So, here I go.  And I'm hoping to take my butt with me!!

Dream Big

As if my life wasn't crazy enough, I decided that I'm done working for someone else all the time.  I hate cheesy safety videos and dry, boring orientations.  I'm tired of aprons, and cranky managers, and smelly fertilizer, and corporate everything. 

So I talked it over with The Hubby and decided to start my own store, with his help of course - he's a retail genius.  I'm starting with research now and then deciding on what to sell and where is best to sell it and then I have to ask for money...I'm hoping to be able to open before the year ends.  Since this is all new to me I'd appreciate any advice that any one has to offer.  I know it won't be easy and that it may not work at all, but I think you can never know if you don't try, so I'm gonna give it my best shot...

P.S.  If your only advice is to quote Yoda, "there is no try...blah, blah, blah" or however it goes, I'm not a nerd - ok, I am, but not a Star Wars nerd - so I won't understand you...

Wow!!

I can't believe it's been over 3 months since I posted here.  I guess I don't have too much to say lately and I haven't actually finished any projects either so there's not anything to show...I'm hoping to get back to crafting and away from Facebook, Netflix and Mopeyville soon though and then I will be back with pictures and LOTS to say!!

The Monkey-Bear Show

Today I have 2 "guest bloggers":  The Monkey and The Bear.  This is going to be soooooooo much fun!!

The Monkey:  So I have a poem for a thingy at school!! it's called When Pigs Fly. my mom just Googled H.
my sister's game is loud. OK, a little. this is funny; normally I'm playing Animal Jam,on the laptop. Now my mom thinks she's got dog food in her shoe.ewey, my sister is chewing with her mouth open in my ear.Yuck!  well  I'm done.

The Bear:  Hi I`m the bear.  I want  a cookie.  I`M BORED!  I`m done bye.

And there you have it.  The very first Monkey-Bear Show.

It's Potty Time!! Wu-Woo!!

So, The Baby is 3+ now and hasn't really been very interested in going to the bathroom anywhere other than his diaper.  I've had enough, even if he hasn't.  You would think that by the 4th kid this potty thing would be old hat but I just couldn't figure out how to get him into it, so I read some articles online and took what I liked from each one.  The first thing I had to do was get all the supplies. 

 Here we have a timer, a big bag of candy, a basket of toys and a big stack of "wunnerwear".  I started setting the timer at 30 minutes and when it beeps he knows "It's Potty Time!  Wu-Woo!!" and he goes to the bathroom (I forgot the most important part, the dollar store cheerios he gets to pee on!).  If he didn't go I set it for 15 minutes and we went all over again.  Now he's staying dry longer - naptime and overnight - and he's had 3 days in a row now with only one accident (that's where the toys come in - if he has no accidents he gets to "pick one", or if he poops, but that's a whole 'nother issue). 

We are still in process but he's making good progress and I think he'll have it all down soon.  YAY!!!

Randomness

Here are some of the things we've been doing over the last 2 weeks or so: Self Inflicted Bangs: This is actually round 2, round 1 was in September. I was bored with my hair and couldn't get to the salon (and I was inspired by samstermommy) so I cut my own bangs and then trimmed them again recently. They actually look decent, when I can get them to cooperate! My Crafty Daughter: This was a pair of jeans that The Monkey used to have; we cut off the legs, sewed them together and added a strap, a snap and a monkey patch (go figure!). Monkey did most of the sewing and picked out the strap fabric and patch. She reallly enjoyed it, and did a good job for 8 years old! Birthday Cupcakes:

The Bear had a birthday and wanted these Daisy cupcakes she saw in a cook book I had. I cut marshmallows in 4ths for the petals and put an M&M in the middle. They may not be the Martha Stewart cupcakes my mom makes for birthdays but they are still cute!

New Park:There is a new park near our house so while the girls were in school I took The Baby (I have a REALLY big Baby!!) to check it out. There are lots of things to climb - which he loved - as well as a large sandplay area and a few swings.

So, that's our story...

Doggy First Aid

My poor Bear, he has cracks in his paw pads and he wasn't walking very well, so I busted out the Neosporin, gauze and tape and fixed him right up.

Too bad it didn't last very long...but he's doing better now so it was worth it.

Weekend Craftiness

I spent last weekend with yarn and fabric. House Cleaning? Nah. Facebook? Not so much. It was too cold for doing anything outside so I just put on some Netflix and crocheted my little heart out on Friday. This is the result:

It was originally fleece lined - you can see a little bit sticking out on the bottom right - but that made it not very stretchy and only suitable for little heads like this one:

Saturday there was some laundry done, I really didn't have much of a choice on that one (no one could get dressed!). But I spent some time making burp cloths with matching baby bibs (out of some cute flannel and repurposed salon towels) for my MIL's friend. Those came out really great and were a big hit at the shower:

I found this baby Donald Duck on sale at WalMart (last minute thread trip) and I like using the tub instead of a gift bag because the Mama can use it for baby things later:

I would love to spend this weekend the same way but, unfortunately, my house has been neglected for too long!

New Year

Ok, first let ma say that I am a total blog slacker. There hasn't been a post since halloween! But the Holidays had me so busy, and slightly frazzled, that I didn't even think about it.

2010 ended with me falling down the stairs 3 times, getting a temporary job, The Big One having more legal issues and moving in with his paternal grandmother, and a very merry Christmas. So now we're ready for 2011 and all the adventures that will be coming our way. My job will be ending soon, The Big One is close to getting through his stuff which will bring us all together again and the probability of moving to another state when the summer ends. Not to mention all the unplanned things that come up along the way!

I'm not one for resolutions but I thought I could at least TRY to do some things differently this year. I've started making some changes and now I just need the motivation to keep them going all year. It won't be easy but I have hope that this year will finally be good.