Our Weekend and ABC Swap Page

My parents drove up from Florida on Friday. On Saturday, we went to the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. It was neat, but there were way too many people for my comfort. :) I got to see my favorites...belugas. They have whale sharks and they were impressive. We all had a good time...especially the wee one....he loves sea creatures. My parents took the boys back to the hotel that night and they got to go to the pool.
I've been working on my ABC pages for Marian's swap. Here it is....the letter M page. Very simple.....just a mouse in a cup of mint tea. The "M" in the corner was stamped with metallic ink on part of a peppermint tea bag. I needed the string for the tea tag. The background is mint green dotted swiss. We were to add a virtue..mine is mirth and is on the tea tag. I still need to write my "M" words on the back. I know it is a miracle that I showed you a finished swap on my blog. :) Speaking of swaps....I am hosting the next round of the tag swaps and it is a Halloween theme. You would just need to make 20 tags (shipping tag size) and get them to me by the 1st of October. If you are interested just leave a comment or email me. I have 11 spots open right now.

Seven Hours A Day

That is what I have now that the wee one has started full-day Kindergarten. I am so happy, but the house is so quiet.

Here is just a little of what I have done since school started. I got 200 goody bags assembled for Silver Bella. I've worked on my ABC pages for a swap.....27 copies of multiple items to cut out...oy. I need to work on the backgrounds tomorrow. I got to volunteer with the FRG last week....something I haven't been able to do in forever. They were prepping beds for single soldiers....making beds and such with donations from the USO and Operation Homefront. I was bad and didn't make a single bed....I was downstairs the whole time. My organizational skills are way better than my bed making skills....I hate hospital corners with a passion. :) I started prepping things for the charm bracelet I'm making for a Silver Bella Swap. A lot of research on Etsy for neat things. :) I read a book. I just don't know what to do with myself most days. I am so used to 2 1/2 hours that 7 is unheard of for me. I'm happy...trust me...so happy. :)

Rest and Relaxation

The first week of R&R was eating fast food, lying around, playing the Wii, hitting a few stores, haircuts for the boys and just relaxing...letting him adjust to being back in the States. Clark and Jr did have a Father/Son outing to the National Infantry Museum and then they went to the movies. The second week is when we went out and about. We went to Callaway Gardens one day...it was a nice day trip. We went to Red Lobster afterwards and ate til we could eat no more (the leftovers were breakfast one morning for the two of them). We decided to go into Birmingham for the last weekend he was home. We drove in on Friday and hit the McWane Center, then to the Olive Branch for lunch (that is one reason the three hour drive is worth it), and then we went to the hotel. I met up with Susan (one of my Birmingham buddies) and we hit some thrift stores. I found a few things. Saturday, we got up for our free breakfast....it was nuts down there and some kid burnt his sausage patty sandwich which triggered the fire alarm. Billy did pretty good. We went to the Zoo that morning and then back to the hotel for a dip in the pool. Billy loved it....big shocker....it is water. We hit Wan's Chinese restaurant for dinner (another excellent reason for the three hour drive). We ordered so much food the waiter couldn't believe it....we only didn't finish two dishes....brought the leftovers back with us. I do believe we shocked him with how much we ate. It was so good. We decided to walk around The Summit afterward. I got to go to Anthropologie. It isn't a large one, but always fun. We drive home the next day. We did get hooked on the show "Cake Boss" in the hotel....if you haven't seen it...go watch it. The baked goods alone are worth watching for....the family is pretty funny as well. Clark left on Wednesday and we've been running around getting Jr registered for school. He starts on the 9th...poor Billy starts on the 6th. Poor babies...happy Mommy. On another happy note...I am going to be a vendor at Silver Bella again....I got my acceptance email while he was home. I've decided to stop hoarding and have bagged up many things. I really need to destash. We will be moving early next year. I did get a little thrifting in while he was home...not as much as I would've liked, but Kindergarten is full day and that opens up a 6 hour block every day....think of the places I can go. My table will be very much like it was the first year...very crowded and you might have to dig. I'm thinking I should've gone for two tables this year. Oh well.