Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

I realize that it's past Christmas & New Years is just a few days away, but I've thought of many of my dear friends this holiday season and wanted to post a quick hello. I wish I were better about posting. I love to read what my friends are up to and really enjoy the darling pictures of your families and events. I enjoy reading about your everyday hum-drum. Maybe I worry that my kids aren't involved in enough things or that me working too much isn't worth mentioning. But here we are. We survived, and enjoyed, a busy Christmas season. I've recommitted myself to becoming closer to my Savior and loved reflecting on His birth these last few weeks.

Things at the store are keeping me very busy. We're working on lots of new products and I'm excited about some of the changes I've got planned. It's been a wonderful experience so far. My children seem to be surviving, although I think the people at Wendy's know us too well. I'm hoping to put some more pictures up. We'll see...

Larry & I are headed to Utah this week for my nephew's baby blessing. It will be a fun little get away to celebrate our 8th anniversary. I can't believe it's been 8 years!! I can't believe how blessed I am to have such a wonderful husband! It never ceases to amaze me how incredible he is. He is so patient with both me and the kids. He works so hard to take care of us. He does dishes, and laundry and cleans up puke. He brings flowers for no reason. He lets me use all the hot water in the shower. He gives me the last bite of cheese cake. He runs clear across town to get Pepsi slurpees when I'm grouchy. He is my best friend. It's hard to remember what life was like before we were married. It seems like just yesterday that we knelt across the alter in the sealing room and promised eternity. I love him more than words can say.

What's In a Name

What's in a name?
1.YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car):Toby Trailblazer

2. YOUR GANGSTA STAR NAME (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe):

Carmel Sutra Flip Flop

3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal):

Purple Butterfly

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): Danielle Collins

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (first three letters of your last name, first two letters of your first name): Cha Ab

6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink):

Pink Pepsi

7. NASCAR NAME (the names of your grandfathers): Billy Harold

8. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your 5th grade teacher's last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Knight Knoxville

9. SPY NAME (your favorite season/holiday, favorite flower):

Summer Rose

10. CARTOON NAME (favorite fruit, article of clothing you are wearing right now):

Pineapple Pajama

11. HIPPIE NAME (what you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Brownie Oak

Give it a try copy and paste it. Everyone needs a laugh once an a while. If you post this on your blog-let me know!!

Unitl next time!

Still alive...

Hey all!

I'm so excited because Isaac started kindergarten last week. He's in all-day which is great, except I have to set an alarm clock every day and get up at 6:30. I can count on one hand the number of times I've gotten up to an alarm clock since Isaac was born! Luckily I have a wonderful husband who drives Isaac to school every day so I don't have to get dressed that early. He was so funny on the first day! This little girl started to cry when her mom left and Isaac said, "I'm not scared to go to kindergarten! I'm sooooo excited! It's my first day of school! It's my first day of school! See ya mom!" I didn't cry until the teacher closed the door. He got busted during circle time for playing rock, paper, scissors. Oops! I taught him that on our road trip to Utah the week before. Sorry Mrs. Greco...

Lexi started preschool this week, too. She was the same as Isaac, "I'm excited to go to school! See ya, mom!" It'll be interesting to see how Mrs. Karen deals with Little Miss Attitude. I swear, if I could bottle her attitude I'd make a mint! I couldn't get her to stand normal for any pictures. "A princess has to pose."

So it's just me and the little terrorist two mornings a week. I'm not sure if we're both going to survive. I've never met a kid who just wanted to cause trouble. And it's not the little things, it's a whole gallon of kool-aid, the bbq grill, jumping off the stairs, trying to drive the car, my mascara... AAAAHHHHH!
But DANG he's cute.

I'm looking forward to having a regular schedule and watching the kids grow.

Short, Sweet and to the Point!

It's been an insane few weeks! I've literally been working at least 12 hours at the shop and then usually a few at home. And none of that time has been on dishes, laundry, vacuuming, etc. Poor Larry... We had a family reunion last week in southern Utah. It was awesome to see my brothers, sisters and "little" Will (my nephew). I also saw lots of family that I haven't seen in ages and it was fun to catch up with everyone.

So, my store is officially open! We opened on July 1st and it's been a fairly uneventful week. I've had a few sales, a vinyl order, and lots of browsers. It seems like lots of people saw the article in last week's paper and are interested in what I'm up to. Here's the link to the article http://www.reporterherald.com/businessRh/business-story.asp?ID=17586
I was really impressed with the write-up. The "Grand Opening" for the shop is Saturday July 12th. We're having a bounce house, cotton candy, popcorn and lots of fun stuff for the kids. You're all invited!

Harder than I thought...

So I swore I'd be more faithful about posting...but I failed to take into consideration the timing of my promise. At the moment I'm finishing out a 15 hour work day. I left my house at 8:30 this morning and haven't stopped working since. I had a 7-eleven hot dog for lunch sitting at my computer and totally skipped dinner. I woke the kids up at 8 so I could feed them breakfast before the babysitter got here. And they were sound asleep when I got home from the shop. I missed them so much that I actually crawled in bed with each of them for a few minutes. Lexi & Christian were out cold and didn't even notice me. Isaac was pretty cute, though. It went a little something like this:

"Mom, Hi!"

"Hey buddy, how was you day?"

"Great!"

"Did you like the babysitter? Did she do a good job? What did you do? Did you play in the sprinklers?"

"yep, and Daddy let us take a bath!!!"

I don't think I'd ever been upset about missing bath time before. I had no idea how hard it would be to be away from them all day. I know it's only temporary but it's difficult. I'll have to remember this next week when Larry's in Atlanta for 4 days and I have to bathe and put them to bed by myself every day.

Speaking of Larry, I feel the need to express how wonderful he is!!! This project with the shop is keeping me away more hours than we realized it would and he has picked up the slack without flinching. It's not easy to take care of our 3 kids after they've spent the day with a sitter and he's done a wonderful job. I love him more than words can express!

Okay, I'm headed to bed (it's midnight! and I have to be at the shop at 8). For those of you reading, thanks for letting me vent.

Getting Serious

Okay, I've tried the blog thing before (I posted once!!) but I'm really serious this time! I've been so busy lately I never talk to anyone... but I read everyone's blogs late at night when things are winding down. And I love hearing about what everyone is up to. I figure this is a good way to keep everyone up on what we're doing.

For those of you who don't know, I've been running a vinyl lettering business out of our home for 2+ years and it has grown, a lot! We are currently in the process of opening a retail store and moving the vinyl business out of our basement and into the store. It is an awesome adventure!!! It is keeping me very busy. We got keys to our building last week and started moving inventory in last weekend. We're expecting all of our display furniture to be delivered this week so we'll spend the long weekend rearranging the furniture to get the store the way we want it. I have 2 employees that will start next week doing inventory and helping assemble the store. Our goal is to open July 1st and have a big Grand Opening party on Saturday July 12th. We'll see...

Other than that we don't have a whole lot going on. Isaac is finishing Preschool this week and I'm actually excited. As much as I love having him gone for a few hours, it's kind of a pain to have to pick him up at 11:30 and leave whatever I'm in the middle of doing. Lexi is pretty funny these days... she only wears dresses. In fact, when she's being naughty or rude she has to wear pants! It's hysterical! She hangs her head and hides and worries that no one will think she's beautiful. I worry sometime that I'll traumatize her and make her a cross-dresser or something. Luckily, she is on her best behavior most of the time so I only have to threaten the pants thing. And Christian...where do I start!?!?!? We call him our "resident terrorist." He has no interest in toys. Here's a list of what Christian likes to play with: knives, cell phones, lighters, razors, tweezers, permanent markers, windows, toilets, remote controls, light switches, outlets, vacuums, the dishwasher... you get the picture. He's electrocuted himself twice, that I know of. I'm not sure what to do with him and the quote I got to have our walls covered in rubber was outrageous! But darn it all he's cute! Darling dimples and cute curly hair. He's gonna be a lady's man.

I'm really hoping I can keep up with the blog thing. Don't get frustrated if you don't hear from me for weeks at a time, just keep checking. I'll get back! Lots of Love to all of you!