Chelsea turns 2!!

Oh what a day!

I'm not going to begin to get into the whole cake fiasco because this post is all about Chelsea.
Our little miss had a great day.
Her cousins came over and helped her celebrate turning 2. We kept everything low key this year and I very much enjoyed myself.
What can I say about Chelsea now that she is 2... She can count to five, she loves to take baths or showers, wants to be a candy addict. Chelsea will  sort of eat apples, she chews them up and spits them out but she enjoys eating broccoli and green beans.
Is saying some sentences, like where are we going? Come sit down, me have juice box.
Chelsea enjoys Elmo, Barney and Calliou (the last two are not my faves)
Chelsea enjoys playing with the Zhu Zhu pets and Littlest Pet shop. She loves stuffed animals.
Chels likes to open the door to the dish washer and stand on it to reach items on the counter. Chelsea also enjoys coloring, yep all over my walls, her bedding and herself. I'm now going to be doing some repainting soon. She is definitely a pistol but she keeps life interesting. Plus being so darn cute helps.

Here is her cake. Now I know what everyone says, that it's not important how it looks, but how it tastes, but if you know me, I care about the whole package.  I used the cricut cake to cut out Elmo and the machine cut it out great. My problem stemmed from the fact that I have a swamp cooler and not a/c so even putting the fondant in the freezer didn't help me with getting Elmo off the mat.

Once we began singing Happy Birthday, Chelsea just lit up. She kept looking at everyone while they sang and got such a kick out of all the attention.  She even blew out all her candles with no help from us! She is growing so fast and is becoming such a little girl. My baby has certainly disappeared, well except at bedtime when she snuggles up to us.

Look the the concentration on her face as she contemplates the yumminess of her cake and ice cream. And the cake was a cherry chip with vanilla frosting. All the kids, big and little enjoyed it.

The cousins all played outside for a little bit but it was too darn hot to stay outside for long. They all came back in to open presents and get their goodie bags.

Miss C received an Elmo computer, stuffed Elmo with a talking book, Cookie Monster that sings Ol' MacDonald, a princess piano and other assorted toys.

After everyone went home Rob and I crashed on the couch while the kids played on the floor in front of us. I guess this little party took a lot more out of us than it did the kids!

Now that Chelsea is two we are pretty much guaranteed that the blue eyes are here to stay and I'm praying hard that her gorgeous curls will stay also.

Happy Birthday Chelsea, we love you!

Brught to you by the letter...

C!  C is for Chelsea, cute, cuddly, cake, cookies.
This Saturday my midget will be having her 2nd birthday party. We are primarily going with an Elmo theme but who could resist having the crew from Sesame Street stop by?

This past week Miss C has been in rare form.
On Sunday she grabbed my can of coke and spilled it on the keyboard. Unfortunately my attempts to save the keyboard failed and I've been using a mini keyboard which I'm getting used to for the interim. Mom gave us a ergonomic keyboard but I haven't hooked it up yet.

So lets back track shall we?
Friday night at the local ball park is fireworks Friday. I dragged the whole family out there thinking that the fireworks would go off about 9pm. Umm, yeah, they go off at 10 pm. I normally don't let me kids stay up that late.

 During our wait a random firework went off and scared the daylights out of little Chelsea. Picture hysterical crying and running across the park toward the van. Poor sweetheart. We got her comforted and explained it was okay and what was coming. When the real display went off she was ensconced in Daddy's lap, wrapped snug in his arms. Chelsea enjoyed the lights but not the booms. The older kids were thrilled with the show. Me, I got to practice taking photos. I really wished I had a wide angle lens. The fireworks were right there and I couldn't get back far enough to always fit them in the shot. But good news...this Friday is again Fireworks Friday and I might go out again, this time sans family, maybe :)
Yesterday was also a no nap day for Chelsea, yep that fun, actually it was okay until later in the evening when the fits and crying started. Guess what?
It's naptime right now! Little dear couldn't keep her eyes open this mid morning. Sad new is that I have to wake her in 45 mintues to go have lunch at Grandmom's.
So I spent Tuesday night and most of Wednesday cutting most of the Sesame street characters. Later today I will get them all laminated. Even with the layers they are flopsy and after time the glue starts to unstick.
I've been trying to pack up my scrap room but hit a small snag, my hubby's drum set. The problem is about to be solved, the drums are moving to his mom's house. Then I can finish up the little stuff that that is left.
I actually excited that Chelsea is going to have her own room. I don't know when I will be able to paint the walls but all her toys and her bed, plus I get to decorate. I love to decorate for little girls.
Tomorrow I will bake Chelsea's cake and prepare the fondant to cut out Elmo for the cake. I'm very nervous. It's the perfectionist in me.
I want it to be special, I just need to remember that it's already special because it was home made and with lots of love.
Believe me I will take plenty of pictures.
*Carrie*

Yesterday was a great selling day!
the whole store atmosphere was happy, chipper, and fresh. It was almost as exciting as my very first week.
This little stack right here is part of the reason why. I had a local cake decorator and store owner come by just to see my demo and ask some questions.
See, she purchased her machine about a month ago but hasn't had the time to use it yet!
She was thinking it was a bit more complicated than it really is and she just needed a boost in her confidence.
After giving her the cake machine demo I showed her the gypsy and explained all the cool features and design things she could do on it. I wasn't pushy and just wanted to give her food for thought. Pun intended.
A while latter she came by with a stack of carts and asked about a good font cartridge. After I saw what was in her cart (gypsy and sleeve) I politely asked if after her purchase could she come back to me so that I could take a picture to send to corporate.
So lets see, price break down: Gypsy 299.99, sleeve 24.99, two carts at 19.99 one at 29.99, one at 39.99, one at 69.99 and 5 at 89.99. She would have purchased 3 more at full price (89.99) but they were out of stock (sucks). The customer total before tax (which I don't think she has to pay) $954!!! Just amazing
A great selling day... Priceless
With this sale and if I sold anything else that I don't know about, I could be up for a $200 bonus for sales, $50 for a compliment from the management and $75 for my photo I sent in with my report. Lots of opportunity. It might be a week or so before I hear though. Bummer.

In other news.. I just got word that a friend of ours, who has been trying to find a job before her disability benefits run out in July, was just informally offered a position in the border patrol! God is Great! We have been praying for her for over a year for a good job in the federal field and man in God's time has he provided! Let go and let God!
After talking to Rob after I heard the good news, he said that today he changed the way he prayed for this situation and asked God to provide her the job she wants today. A couple hours later they call. Awesome!
Dear Father, I want to win the lottery, big money. I want to win this Wednesday. In Jesus name, Amen.
:) Hey, I can ask for anything, it's all in God's time. ;p

*Carrie*

Thanks to the assistant manager at Michael's I have some photos from my very first demo!
I was super excited that day. Not that I'm not super excited each time I go in but there were people waiting for me to see the cake machine in action.

Last Sunday I got to demo my beloved E, well Michael's pink E. Oh the fun I have, I received the 4 new cartridges Cindy Loo, Mini Monsters, Freshly Picked and Wall Decor and More late Friday afternoon so I didn't have to much time to play before demo time Sat and Sun.
On Saturday I was given the  privilege of training the new demonstrator in Tucson. Lisa and I had a really good time together and time flies when your having fun. Let's hope that this gig continues on for a little while longer, because I'm enjoying it.
This week I have begun the daunting task of organizing and packing up my scrap room. I've made a dent but when I went back to Wally world for more plastic tubs, the tubs were sold out. Bummer!
I was also at walmart for another reason. The new Cricut Lite carts. Crazy Provo Craft decided to give Walmart the exclusive to carry 24 new cartridges that sell for $39 each.
I'm sorry PC but I don't pay $39 for a full cart why would I pay that for a step-up solutions type cartridge?? hmm??
**crickets chirping**
So will I succumb to the peer cricut pressure? My addiction to cricut cartridges?? We shall see. There are some awfully cute images on some of these carts and cool fonts too.

Tonight our home church is getting together to hang out. Rob is smoking some ribs and there will be salads and such. Just time for us to chill out and relax. Hopefully I will get some pictures of tonight.
Can I confess?
I haven't taken ANY photos this month. Yes, I know the month is like 8-9 days old but usually I have taken something. Geesh! I plan to rectify this tonight.
Plus...Monsoon season is coming!! YEAH!!!! I have mapped out my favorite and prime viewing locations...aka, no electrical wires in the way. The season technically starts next week but we usually don't get our first storm until July 4th. soon, soon, soon.
Speaking of July 4th, Rob has promised me this year to get us closer to the fireworks so that I can get some good pictures. I'm also keeping my ear to the radio for activities around Tucson that have fireworks at the end of their programs. I need to practice and heck maybe get better pictures there.
I must crack the whip and get the house straightened up before tonight. Sad thing to say is that most of the stuff is mine. I have once again covered the kitchen table with craft stuff, which I will bring back out tomorrow morning so that I can create some new things to demo and show off this Sunday.
*Carrie*
added a website hit counter today

What does the weekend hold??

Today...okay at least this morning, I'm charged and ready to go!

Last night I had Rob purchase a plastic storage bin to motivate me to start clearing out the craft room. I've begun making lists about what is a necessity and what can be put in storage, and I must say this is HARD!!
With summer here I'm using all those odd craft items that I generally don't use during the year and these are the items that I should pack away.

Today, I'm eagerly awaiting my next demo kit which I know contains the 4 newest cricut cartridges!! YEAH!!! I can't wait to play!
On Sunday I am happy, thrilled, super excited, ecstatic, you get the idea, to be demonstrating the cricut expression!! My big boy!
I'm a paper crafter and I'm so happy to have people join this addiction with me! I'm hoping for a super charged Sunday where I can really show off all the great things you can do with your cricut machine. It's not a hobby, it's a lifestyle. I am one who has drank the kool-aid and loves it!
The above picture is taken from my Joanns demo last Saturday and is geared for the Memorial/ flag day/4th holidays.
My kitchen table is ready for the paper to start flying and the adhesives to be sticking to everything. My poor gypsy girl is going to be humming along as I design and cut out.
I can now add the fact that over the last two weeks I have purchased 10 new cricut carts. I will also proudly stated that I didn't pay more than $22 for any of them. GONGA!! most were in the 13-15-19 dollar range. Sooo, mom and I now have 71 cartridges and this is not including the 4 new ones because I don't know if I get to keep them yet.
Enough scrappy talk.
The kids are doing well with their summer vacation and we are trying to stay busy. Now that the temps are hitting in the 100's (major yuck) they are staying in the house and watching a movie in the afternoons.
I haven't gotten a picture yet but Kelly has cut off most of her beautiful long hair. This is something that Kelly has wanted to do for a while and on Sunday my mom took her to get it cut.
I must say I like her new cut. It's very simple and easy to take care of.
I just checked the Fed Ex tracker and my demo kit is out for delivery!!
I must go and be productive now, so that when my kit gets here I can play.
Laundry and more laundry to finish up.
*Carrie*

At first I thought about showing all my favorite photos from the concert but unless I hear from the gallery (you) I stay with this one photo.
I know it has been a week since the concert but time seems to get away from me now that the kids are constantly underfoot.
Let me tell you about my experience. We walked into this room that is filled with Star Wars memorabilia. Scattered throughout are some people in character that you can take pictures with. The lines for the characters were very long and I must say Darth Vader was not nearly tall enough to suit me but it was cool all the same.
Upon entering the TCC there were signs stating no cameras allowed. I assumed this was geared toward people with their point and shoots and flash photography. Not a problem for me because I don't need to use a flash. So the concert begins, and I'm getting some great shots, I'm shaking in my excitement and the orchestra is amazing, I'm getting all pumped up. Anthony Daniels aka C3PO does a short narration between segments. Very cool. The concert then takes a 20 minute intermission. During this time I'm standing and holding my camera down beside me. In plain view. the show starts back up and this time it's geared more to the original three movies. Yeehaw! I'm snapping away. Probably the last 15 minutes a lady comes up to us and says that I need to turn off the camera or have it checked in. So I put down the camera and try to enjoy the remainder of the show. Occasionally I look up and they are watching me. This makes me twitchy. I aim my camera down and turn off the review screen.
Really this is probably how they caught me.
When I knew there were just a few more minutes left I said "screw it" and took some more pictures.
It was an amazing experience and even taking pictures didn't take away from it. I caught so many of my favorite moments that I can't wait to have the pictures printed out. The company that brought this concert to Tucson did a phenomenal job and I would go again in a heartbeat.
So if you want to see more pictures leave a comment.
*Carrie*