Superpower?

This weekend Dan and I were at the outdoor mall, and passed a window display that had some fun baby and maternity items in it. This one really made us laugh though! And I kind of adopted it as my new mantra! LOL

Sometimes us moms with several kids feel like we are "less than", in the eyes of size -0 model trained society, or corporate women... etc.

And a few weeks ago, after reading Meg's post, and giving her a loud cheer (yes while sitting here at my desk! lol) she had put into words what many of us feel - but are not able to express as eloquently as she did. So when i saw this new mommy shirt of having this cool super power it struck a happy place in me!

As moms we know we are doing one of the most important jobs on earth - and one of the hardest! (Raise them up in the ways of the Lord, and when they are older they will not turn from it) And yet one of the least acknowledged! So I just wanted to pass this on to a few other moms that are doing their best to keep their family together, and centered, and full of LOVE! We DO have a superpower girls!!

And yes, i am trying very hard not to say "wonder twin powers - activate!" lololol

I know. Major dork.

But that's a given. :)

Me Tees shoutout

I just want to give a quick shout out to this awesome newish company!!

FROMMETEES.COM

I found these guys during the bloggy give away carnival... and fell in love!

A God founded and driven company, this gal and her husband wanted to find a way to promote good solid marriages, doing it biblically and giving the glory to God.

How awesome is that?!

They have a bunch of different designs to suit different tastes... here are just 2..

They also have them for men, that say my wife rocks. Or my bride rocks...
Just think of the HUMONGOUS SMILE (not to mention what's happening on the inside!!) your husband will get when you wear this in public! Do you think he will feel special? Respected? Loved? Absolutely on top of the world that his gorgeous bride is declaring her love for him so openly?
You better believe it!! LOL

I got the daisy design ( and will soon be getting the plain simple chocolate one - i'm just not a tie dye kinda girl! lol) and I wore it the other day...
ohhh my gosh!
Dan was smiling ear to ear all day! He said something to the effect of..
"I'm starting to feel like the village idiot, because I can't wipe the smile off my face everytime I see you in that shirt!"

LOLOLOL!

I am not affiliated with this company in any way - just a fan that thinks they deserve more publicity and traffic!
I hope you will go check them out!
http://www.frommetees.com/

Hope you have a very blessed day! :D

Kitchen Makeover Needed!!

Ok.. i can't believe i am posting my outdated, decorating disaster of a kitchen here for everyone to see! AND it's not even clean! Seesh. Please no one go running and tattling to the Nester, or anyone else for that matter, that have gorgemoso houses and perfect decorating skills! I know they would run screaming!! LOL

So here is my delimma! I LIKE the colors of my walls! Although they don't translate well in these photos - it is a terra cotta color, and one small red wall. That is the ONE thing i do like about my kitchen! lol And i want to redo the cupboards (paint, not replace) and i have no idea what color to pain tthem???
It's pretty small... old 70's paneling type cupboards, mismatched colored appliances (black dishwasher and fridge, white stove and microwave, white sink and faucet). And on the other side of this one counter is our kitchen table. It's a LONG table, 6 in our family and 8 eating here regularly (makes it a bit tight but is doable).
I tried to take a few shots all the way around the room, so you can see... and help me!

Dummy me didn't pull the shades down to take this pic!

This is just to the left of the window, so you can see the small red area, next to the terra cotta.

OK.........

now... don't shoot me!

LOL

remember i'ma mom of 4 kids - bunch of different age groups

my house is a KID house. NOT a grown up house! LOL

(and i am more of a kid than a grown up anyway! )

I like to try new things, and thought this would be a way kewl idea

and it kinda was....

except it looks out of place because the rest of the cabinets look like crap! And nothing matches

at all!

I painted the pantry door and two cupboard doors with blackboard paint - so we could have chalk boards in the kitchen. Pantry is for a running list of "need to buy" items...

And other doors (i couldn't decide if i was going to frame them like the other door, since i didn't know what i was going to to with the rest of the cabinets. ugh) is for a weekly scripture verse, and phone numbers, etc. Leaving the kids a note if i have to go out... well you get the point.

And yes.. they are smudged pretty regularly... but not normally this bad! LOL I actually used the red eye adjuster on my photo adjuster to blot out all the phone numbers, so i am not spamming them across the internet! LOL! So.. alot of those blotches were ME! :P

And i'm not even (EVER) going to show you the counter that's below these! LOL Until I get this all figured out and cleaned up! That is THE catch all counter in the family. Bills, magazines, bread and bread box, bowls, miscellaneous polly pockets... no need to show the picture now that you have your own visual!

So.. if you're observant, you noticed all the junk on TOP of the cabinets.

(Sssshhhhhh.... this is what i am hoping to tackle this coming week! Don't tell my husband that most of it's going in the trash, k?)

I am 5'5. Danny is 6'2.

He thinks it's just hilarious that he can put stuff up there, and i will NEVER be able to get it down! So guess where his favorite place to put anything and everything is???!! Bingo! Wow you're smart!!!

Seriously. He really does put tons of stuff up there! I can't stand it!! It drives me absolutely BONKERS. And of course that just cracks him up! (this is me rolling my eyes)

So i'm on a mission this week to clean out cabinets, and the TOPS of the cabinets, and get rid of a bunch of stuff we have accumulated but never use, and don't really have room for!

I would love to have crown molding on the top of the cabinets.. maybe some plants up there.. or ooohhh how bout NOTHING up there?!?!? Now there's an idea! LOL

So here is my plea... this is actually me BEGGING... for help!

What can i do to change the look of this kitchen and make it all come together?

What color would you paint the cupboards?

Two things to maybe keep in mind... We're hoping one day to put hardwood floors in on the main floor of the house. (light oak)... AND right next to the dining room table it is an open tri level floor plan - and we have a wooden banister (yes.. also 70's yuck look) that keeps the kids from falling into the family room. That same wood is also the handrails going upstairs and downstairs. (both staircases right off the kitchen and obvious) so.. i was thinking that whatever i paint the cupboards, i would also paint these rails. Then again.. if you give me a better idea, i WILL LISTEN! Because as you can see i am just not good at this! I start to take all those things into consideration and then am immobilized because i get overwhelmed and can't put all the pieces together!

ok.. quit laughing! That's not nice! :P

We have lived here 3 years now. (granted 2 of those years i wasn't able to do anything about it) but now i can! And i'm ready and motivated!

Gayle left a comment for me yesterday that got my mind whirling in some really kewl different directions!! Thank you soo much Gayle!!

This person literally TRANSFORMED her cabinets! Don't they look awesome?

And i LOVE LOVE LOVE the way the beadboard looks! I am actually thinking since i don't have many "sides" of the cabinets, it might be doable on the base of that main counter also? So you would see it on the table side?

Geez it would take 30 years at least off the look of the kitchen... don't you think?

Ok.. so ideas!

Thoughts?

PLEEEAASSEEE???

PRETTY PLEASE?!?

Bring any and all! :D

blessings, bren

ok.. i'm having a realllllllllllyyyyyy hard time hitting publish on this post!! Yikes!!

It's a Monday :)

Well I sure haven't been blogging much lately! Kind of boring for you guys when I am just chasing my tail doing daily chores and errands!

I have been busy kitting up rugs, and dying for customers...

Busy getting my new platform up and running hereIt's a wonderful, clean and simple selling platform. Check it out!

If you want to look at all the rug hooking associated items, (or anything else for that matter!) either click on the picture above, or type www.ecrater.com into your url. Then type Rug Hooking into the search bar on their site. We have lots of great hooking vendors setting up stores there!

My personal ecrater store site is now: www.HeyDiddleWoolies.ecrater.com

I have been trying to get a few wools listed each day!

Dying for customers, and color planning rugs....


Sam's club shopping, stocking up the pantry and fridge - we were out of everything!

Busily hooking on my big honkin rug that i can't show you :( - making SUCH A MESS!! I am definitely NOT a clean and tidy hooker!! LOL! This was my mess just from last night!

But that's only cuz I need so many different wools to paint what I see in my mind!

Lil miss oreo is not so little anymore! She is such a LOVE, and such a talker! She loves to follow me around telling me her life story all day! LOL! What a goof ball. Like my 5 year old daughter ever stops talking either??!!!!! They are a match made in heaven!

I have been bitten by the spring cleaning bug, and am attacking every room, every nook and cranny with a vengance! Yesterday after getting back from sam's club, I emptied three of the kitchen cabinets and threw just about everything away. Yeeehaw! If I hadn't used it in a year, in the trash it went! And NOW I actually have room in my cupboards! Gotta love it!

I still have several more kitchen cupboards to go through and clean and organize, and windows to wash... trying to do a little each day. I want to pain my kitchen cupboards - they are the old 70's gross wood - i think they are actually press board, covered in a thin oak panel? Yuck!

Well.. we just don't have the budget to replace them right now.

BUT

I CAN paint them and rejuvinate my kitchen a bit!

Question is...

WHAT COLOR????

I am stumped actually.

I would LOVE some help, thoughts, input of any kind on this one - since i am a decorating retard when it comes to my own home!

I will post some pics of the kitchen tomorrow - begging for help!

Until then, i have to get back to the dye pots! I have approx 17 yards that need dying for some custom kits, and I got NO dying done this weekend!

Hope you have a very blessed day! (now pleaaase tune in tomorrow and help me with my painting delimma??!)

xo

Bren :)

Ebay Strike Video - you tube

Ebay Strike

Well... I need to post about this.
I don't want to come off like I have climbed up on my soap box and am preaching the right/wrong way to go - which i have a tendancy sound like, when i am passionate about something! But I really don't mean it that way!
So please do not take it that way!
Without going into totally breaking down what all the changes have included on ebay.. suffice it to say the greed is coming out loud and clear - without regard for the sellers who have stood by them over the long haul and MADE ebay what it is. I am just what you would call a "puny seller". And even then the fees that i generate and give to ebay every month are considerable in my puny category! After hearing what some power sellers pay every month (before the new fee hike) i am just blown away! But... that also means they are doing HUGE amounts of sales! Corporate ebay is definitely NOT starving! And generating a 3.75% AND UP fee hike, is only the beginning of the new greedwar. :(

I acheived power seller and held on to it for over 8 months... and after realizing that there was absolutely no benefit to busting my butt to keep enough listings on ebay, to keep the sales above that certain amount, all to have a little power seller icon next to my name - held no luster for me, in comparison to spending quality time with my kids and being a good mom and wife! I continued to run my business without the added pressure of that little icon! LOL It was a good decision - the right one for me! It also allowed me to focus on my customer's needs better, and not feel like i was running 800mph in ten directions allll the time!
And because I chose to have a quality oriented business, versus a quantity oriented business - acheiving success in my opinion as a great customer oriented seller - I am now being penalized - along with the masses! Does that seem right?

And I confess - I AM AN EBAY NERD! I LOVE(d) EBAY!
I am just sad, angry, frustrated and dissapointed in them right now. A company that has always been about keeping things on an fair playing ground - is now under new management, and making many many different changes to fees, feedback, controlling your hard earned funds, and tying our hands as sellers in many different circumstances. Not to mention putting the puny guy out of business - at least through their platform!
It has now gotten too expensive to do business there on a regular basis. Occasionally.. if i have something larger to list, or a rug to sell.. i will probably use ebay. But for day to day business, selling items that cost $6.50 - 9.00 each - and paying 18% + in ebay and paypal fees - it's just bad business!

Many are up in arms over the majority of the changes. None of us are seeing them "for the good of ebay" or "for the good of the whole" - more like ebay is cutting off it's nose to spite it's face!

And it's time for our voices to be heard.

They have decided to neglect the sellers that have taken good care of them - and are putting a lot of people's sole income on the line - never a good thing! LOL! Thousands are joining together to stand united and make a statement - that we don't agree, and that it's NOT ok to put sellers in this position - and are striking a boycott for the next week. Those who are striking will be removing their items for sale - either by putting their store on vactation, fully shutting down their store, and or just removing their auctions. We are also asking ebay BUYERS to not participate this week also - showing support for all your sellers that are taking a stand. The goal being that ebay will chose not to lose 1/2 of their awesome sellers - therefore having less choices of great stuff available - therefore not as great of a place for the shoppers!
Please help our voices to be heard!!
It may not even put a small dent in ebay's large pockets. But I can guarantee it will be hurting the sellers that are taking the stand - giving up their (sometimes sole) income for a full week - perhaps longer - to make a point and be heard and get some interactive discussion going with the powers that be on feebay!

And yes, I do believe that if we put our voices together - we CAN be heard!



Unless things change for the better, I won't be doing everyday business on ebay any longer. I have decided to spread my wings a bit and take a 33-33-33 approach. Meaning I am hoping to generate 33% of my business from one location, 33 from another, and 33 from my site. I am currently focusing on making ecrater and etsy my selling platforms along with my website.
I have started a store over on ecrater, if you would like to check it out.
www.HeyDiddleWoolies.ecrater.com
It's a very nice... clean... simple set up - I like it! :D
I will be putting all my new as is wools there... all my new hand dyeds will be going there and stocking it up. The goal is to start getting the word out about ecrater - a wonderful new FREE platform!!
Then I will focus on starting an etsy shop. And I will probably be closing my ebay store at the end of the month. Currently it will be put on vacation status for the strike.
As a small business woman, with a lot invested in my business... I have given this a lot of time dedicated to research and a lot of thought and believe this to be the best avenue. For me at least :)
Please keep the strike in mind this week!
blessings,
Brenis

I have been working on stuff!

First off...Peace and harmony in our home. A little kitty love goes a long way! :)

Treasure maps and clues


Little treasure chests holding the maps, and hiding them around the neighborhood for the birthday party treasure hunt.

A couple penny rug pillows - all wool of course ;)

And hooking on a big honkin rug. 5' x 6' - as part of a challenge.

And i'm not allowed to show you pictures of it :(

such a bummer!!

But i'm really having a good time hooking this rug. Shoot. Just hooking at all! LOL!

It continues to change and morph a little here and there as I change

my mind while hooking.

that alone is a challenge. as is hooking something this size!

so you may not see a whole lot of things being produced.. since this baby

will have my attention for some time!

But in the interim I will be dying gobs of wool, and trying to get my etsy store up and running. Good ole' ebay has decided to raise their prices so high that the little guy just can't survive anymore on there. So stay tuned for the new location of my "wool headquarters" !

Of course you can always go to my website and shoot me an email from there!

But my goal is to have a place that has a shopping cart where when something is purchased and GONE, the item disappears - so there will be no confusion on what is available and what's not.

Unfortunately my website does not give me that ability, unless I want to pay another $600 a year. Snot gonna happen!

Can you say FRUGAL?

Can you say "Dave Ramsey would kick my butt if i did??!!"

LOL

So stay tuned!

lots of goodies to come!

Hope you have a blessed day! :D

Quiz Answers

Well, I only got 2 whoppin comments on the 80's quiz. :( I'm thinking no one reads my blog, or ya'll are older or younger and that didn't apply to you. hmm... sadly it 's probably the first reason! Ah well. Then these answers are for you TWO PEOPLE that actually participated! LOL!

1. Gotchya
2. Gremlins
3. 16 Candles
4. Top Gun
5. Better Off Dead
6. Golden Child
7. Risky Business
8. Raiders of the Lost Ark
9. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
10. Officer & A Gentleman
11. Golden Child
12. Breakfast Club
13. Indiana Jones #3 (temple of doom?)
14. Beverly Hills Cop
15. Dirty Dancing
16. Karate Kid
17. Ghost
18. Roadhouse
19. Grease
20. Caddyshack
21. Fletch
22. & 23. Christmas Vacation
23. ..
24. & 25 Back to The Future
25. ..
26. Lethal Weapon
27. Ghostbusters
28. Private Benjamin
29. Poltergiest
30. Revenge of The Nerds
31. Romancing The Stone
32. Wargames
33. Weird Science
34. Ferris Beuller's Day Off
35. Princess Bride
36. A Fish Called Wanda

How many did you get?

Thankfully we made headway yesterday and got the FR cleaned and emptied! Hallelujah! Mattress is still there tho. lol Still .. a better day today ! Praise God!! :)

It's about time! Are ya sure you want to know?

So it's about time I actually posted something - donchya think? :P

Life has been INSANE for the last two weeks, and I just don't have any energy left - time to catch up on my sleep me thinks!

The winner for the bloggy giveaway WAS pulled on Sunday - just much later than I had anticipated! Congratulations to BREE!! Your package is on it's way, I hope you like your goodies!! :D

We have had a week or two of insanity, and it just doesn't seem to be ending anytime soon?! Why is it that these kinds of things go in waves?? Where you are riding the wave, trying to stay above water, and trying to keep your sense of humor...and it just keeps going and going until you think you are going to lose any and all remaining shreds of sanity and patience!?

Our normal life is crazy busy all the time anyway. Well duh. LOL 4 kids, a rockin husband, and me.. there is never a quiet minute, and the house never stays clean for longer than half an hour! (grr) Runnin the kids here there and everywhere, bible study, youth group, grama's, meetings with their friends, school things, friends, you get the picture. Both Dan and I run our own businesses, so we are both pretty much on high drive constantly. So when something extra comes up it adds a little strain to the mostly working machine we have going right now. LOL Well when 20 extra things come up... i go crying to my room and want to run away! LOL

The last two weeks have been at the "run away" point!

Calgon? Won't even touch the stress on these days!

God's got my back, and that's the ONLY reason i haven't run screaming into the streets like a crazy lady!

Too long of a story to go into here, and I'm sure you really don't want to hear it!

Suffice it to say we have had a knee surgery, and the care needs that come with it, a broken thumb, a fundraiser, an 11 year old (boy) birthday party that included alot of nerf guns, a scavenger hunt, AND a treasure hunt with bountiful loot at the end, a foul husband that wasn't sleeping well that required an immediate bed purchase, (and the reason i now have a king size bed laying on the floor in my living room), a flat tire, husbands truck breaking down, a broken hot water heater that created a flood downstairs that required our only storage spot in the house to be emptied into my family room so it could be replaced (all carted up by the kids and you know how wonderfully organized they are), and quite trivially an overflowing toilet and stopped up sink, and a 17 year old son that works 20 minutes away and doesn't get off until around 11pm each night and needs to be picked up in snowy and icy conditions to top it off - all in the last week. With a continuing migraine.

Yesterday was the first relatively "quiet" day after this tsunami of insanity. Granted we got another 3 inches of snow the night before, and grama needed to be down in Denver at 9am for a doctor's appointment, and then physical therapy - all during rush hour traffic on the ice and snow - there was no "rush" involved in that 2 hour creep along! i am praising God that my husband was able to do that, as I had misplaced my sense of humor somewhere along Monday night!

So... yah.

I was good... hangin in there... until my family room was filled to overflowing with crap, and my living room floor had a mattress deposited in it. Not one room in the house to escape to, and me being one of those people that feels very "edgy" when things aren't in some semblance of order. Nooo not OCD. LOL Not even close! But i have seen a definite connection to the order of my house and my mood range! We're women. Our home and family being our job - when it's disrupted severely it affects our psyche!

How would you be feeling if this was your house right now??

And i'm not even showing you pictures of the kitchen and garage! Seriously. Hell week.
Mattress is just waiting for Dan to have an extra hour to take it down to the factory and get our money back - thus the reason it's in our living room - and not at the dump! Family room will be tackled today by me and three of the four kids (17 year old seems to not be home much these days) . Too bad I can't borrow one of the neighbor kids to help too! lol since calli is so little she's not much help with the large items up and down the stairs - so it's more like me and two kids!
Oh and have I mentioned i have been in spring cleaning mode? Cleaning out and trying to simplify each room - got a wild hair last week to totally redo Calli's room, and the master bedroom, and then Emily wanted the same treatment. Bailey's room was next on the list, but it's now been dumped in his court to handle! This momma's too tired!
Praise God that his grace and mercy is fresh and new each day!!!! Cuz if it weren't, i'd be a sunk duck!

Hope your day and your superbowl weekend was much more enjoyable!! I promise to come back, after tackling all the elephants here, in a much better mood! LOL
blessings, bren :)