happy things for me.

some happy things.
i need to remind myself very often of the things that are good.
sharing the good things make me feel even better!

it's the little things that make me smile.

1. I won 2 drawings on blogs!

here and here.
i won an AWESOME card magazine (its a book really!) and a necklace!!

ill have a drawing soon, when i know ill have time to get something together and send something out :) who knows when that will be, not this week since we are getting ready for our garage sale.

2. i love going to garage sales :) here are some of my recent finds...

-this owl.


i acutally drove all the way back across town to get him, since i passed him up the 1st time. but when i got home and told the kids about him, i really wanted him, and said if he was still there when i went back he was meant for me :) he was there. he was marked for $2.00 and i bargained him for $1.00. because i am. that cheap.

-over $100 worth of stride rite shoes for $1.50.

you heard it. 50 cents each. and proud of it.
-every little girl needs some 50 cent dorothy shoes that are 3 sizes too big.

-listening to her 25 cent lion king cassette tape in her 50 cent peter pan pjs.

3. a zoo pass and 2 trips there in 2 weeks.

4. more orders! and a big long list of things in the works...

5. this is how i shop :)

i spent $149.48

i saved $90.05 in coupons, in-store deals, and promotions.

my shopping is usually proportioned this way... where i save about a third of the regularly priced bill, though i am usually not spending $150 a trip!!

6. just some random pictures :)

these two crack me up.

teacher gifts. the stamps are found here... lots of fun ones still available!

fun summer cups filled with good yummy chocolates.

when lilly came home from school, i asked her if her teachers liked their gifts, and she said... "guess what mrs. h said.... she said she's allergic to calories!" hilarious!!

the little man had roseola last week. hes fine now though :)

grass that lilly grew at school. it has now been planted into a bald spot in our front yard :)

i am not planning to re-read this over a billion times , like normal, so please forgive the errors! ok, so i lied, ive already gone back 3 times to make changes.

have a great week :)

appreciation.

it feels nice to be appreciated.
i love to make people feel appreciated.
i hope that i've succeeded a few times in that.


Cool wrapping paper.
Like the stamps??
You can get them cheap... right here!!
(actually the alpha is already sold out... but there are still a lot of fun ones left!)

for mother's day, lilly made me a cute little gift at school, paper flowers.
i told her that they were the BEST kind for me, because they don't make me sneeze :)

Her card makes me giggle.
Partially because we are such a foodie family.
Partially because half the stuff I make she doesn't even like :)

Last week was teacher appreciation week.

I sent letters out to all the kids' parents asking for a small contribution, and we were able to fill up a tote bag full of goodies and gift cards for Lilly's teacher. I was amazed with how much we were able to get for her! Lilly's teacher is truly the best, she has set the bar very very high.

I had an embroidery order last week and was able to find these adorable little pea pod designs!!

a cool find at hobby lobby, makes for a fun mother's day gift. lilly choose pink of course.

ants from aunt melissa.

im sad to say i think most of them are not alive anymore :(

and the little man walking. such a goof.

and i appreciate blogger for letting me upload more than one picture at once now! maybe that feature has been there forever? i could have easily looked that one over.

have a great weekend everyone :)

busy.

so... i've been stitching. a lot.
makes me smile.


i've also been sending out a lot of stamp orders.
if you haven't already heard...

I have decided to close down Mandarin Pixie.

And I am ok :)

Actually, I am hoping to wean out the stamp store and keep going strong with the embroidery! Thank you to all of you who have, and continue to, support me and my hobbies :)

Have a great week!!

the little man.

the little man...

...is walking.

...is teething (2 molars and one bottom tooth).

...is cheesy.

...is 20 little peanut pounds.

...is really adorable.

...is ONE!!

we celebrated Cohen's 1st birthday last friday.

sometimes a year goes by so fast, doesn't it??

the last of the chair pictures!

i had to share a cheesy one too:)

and here are 2 of the 'formal' ones we took in the living room.

some presents made by mommy :)

And finally, some pictures from his big bday bash!

it was a martha inspired party.

inspired being the key word :)

martha's monkey cake would not be confused for a bear.

nor would it have a mullet :)

(there was a bit of a mudslide on the cake!)

either way, it was a fun day!!

have a wonderful weekend.