{ebay}

OK, folks, I need some help! I'm thinking of putting a bunch of stuff up on ebay to both declutter my home and to make some extra cash. I've purchased from ebay before, but I've never been a seller. Sooooo . . . if you've sold anything in the past and have some advice / tips, please share! I haven't the first clue as to how to even begin!

* Do I set up a new account or use my current one that I've used to make purchases?

* How do you price items?

* Do you tag your items a certain way?

* Are you able to choose how long an auction stays live?

* How do you feel about setting minimum sale prices?

* What else do I need to know???

Many thanks! :)

{Peep Invasion}

Last night forty of these peeps and their eggs decided to nest in my kitchen. Although they sure are cute, they thankfully made their way to Sasha and Clara's classrooms this morning so the kids could enjoy them. Bye bye birdies!

Cheep Cheep!

{Playing Catch Up}

I've really fallen behind on my blogging. I made a commitment to blog more frequently this year, and this month I've totally slacked. So to try to make up for my inactivity, I've decided to post some highlights of the past week or so.

1. In less than two weeks Tastefully Simple will unveil its Spring / Summer catalog. I'm SO excited about this new product line! I can hardly wait to share new bucket drinks, sauces, seasonings, and other goodies with my clients. A new season is always an exciting time!

2. Sasha lost her sixth tooth last night AND her top front teeth are finally growing in! She has been without her two front teeth since last summer and has grown very tired of the "toothless" look. Now she looks more like a jack-o-lantern, but at least she's headed in the right direction!

3. I've finally come to total peace with the decision NOT to send Clara to kindergarten next year. If you had asked me a year ago whether or not she would go to kindergarten in 2010 I wouldn't have thought twice about saying yes. But I've thought a LOT about it and I know in my heart that the best thing for Clara is to wait another year. And I feel good about this decision.

4. It's tax time. This is a crappy time of year for us as Cory does nothing but stress about paying Uncle Sam. I can't wait until this ordeal is over!

5. Cory and I enjoyed a wonderful meal at a fantastic German restaurant on Feb. 13th. We went with friends and really enjoyed ourselves. This was the first time we left all three kids with babysitters other than family!

6. Sadly, Dixon is sick again. He has a bad cold and an ear infection. He is just miserable and it's so hard to see him this way. On top of his sickness, he is also not growing. He has not gained any substantial weight since he was four months old, and he'll be ten months old on the 27th. I need to pack some weight on this boy!

7. This weekend Cory and I are packing up the family and heading south for my nephew's 8th birthday party. I can't wait for a fun couple of days with a bunch of family members!

8. I'm SO HAPPY to have achieved a goal of mine recently! I applied to be a creative team member at one of my favorite digital scrapping sites, Scrap Matters. There is SO much competition there because the site is perhaps the most popular digi site in cyberland. I was prepared for disappointment, but lo and behold I made it! If you don't digi scrap you probably don't understand what this means, so trust me when I tell you that it is super exciting. I can't wait to get started!

Those are the main "happenings" in our lives for now. We're still plugging away at dance classes (Sasha got her costumes for her recital tonight and they are SO adorable!), Daisy troop activities, numerous school events, and other things. I'm staying up too late watching the Olympics. We've been trying to enjoy all the snow even though at the same time we are hopeful that spring is right around the corner. Each day brings something new and exciting!

{Cookies!}

It's Girl Scout cookie time, folks! Who doesn't look forward to Thin Mints and Tagalongs each year? I know I do! But this year my sweet daughter Sasha is a Daisy and is selling them for the first time. So instead of waiting for the first neighborhood Girl Scout to knock on my door so I can purchase my boxes of heavenly goodness, I get to help Sasha raise money for her troop buy selling them with her. I'm going to try hard not to buy 18 cases of cookies for myself.

Here is the list of cookies available this year:

The height of lemon flavor!

Uniquely designed to feature Our Chalet, this delicious vanilla sandwich has a hint of cinnamon-ginger spice and a refreshing zesty lemon creme filling.
Approx. Count Per Pkg: 20 8 oz. (U)-D

Light and delicious!

Delicate-tasting shortbread that is delightfully simple and satisfying.
Approx. Count Per Pkg: 36 9 oz. (U)-D

Peanutty excitement!

"Naturally Good!" Crisp and crunchy oatmeal cookies with creamy peanut butter filling. No artificial color or flavor.
Approx. Count Per Pkg: 20 8 oz. (U)-D

Chewy and rich!

Tender vanilla cookies, covered with caramel, rolled in toasted coconut, and striped with a rich, chocolaty coating.
Approx. Count Per Pkg: 15 7.5 oz. (U)-D

As fun to say as they are to eat!

Inspired by the classic confections of Latin America, these sweet, bite-size cookies are rich with milk caramel chips.
Approx. Count Per Pkg: 22 6 oz. (U)-D

With gratitude and premium cranberries!

Real premium cranberries provide a delightful tartness in these hearty cookies sweetened with creamy, white fudge chips. Crispy rice delivers a satisfying crunch. Thank U for supporting Girl Scouts.
Approx. Count Per Pkg: 14 6 oz. (U)-D

Wildly popular!

Tasty cookies topped with creamy peanut butter and covered with a luscious chocolaty coating.
Approx. Count Per Pkg: 15 6.5 oz. (U)-D

Extra thin, extra minty!

A thin wafer covered with a smooth chocolaty coating. Made with natural peppermint.
Approx. Count Per Pkg: 28 9 oz. (U)-D

If you would like to purchase any cookies for yourself, your family, your friends, neighbors and countrymen . . . please let Sasha and me know! Sasha and Daisy Troop 855 sure would appreciate your support, and your tastebuds will be in cookie heaven!

{Back to Normal}

See those cars parked in front of the school? See the flag flying high? That means one thing . . . school is BACK in session! As much as I loved having all the kids home with me for the past couple of weeks, I think we are all ready to go back to normal. Although if you asked Sasha, she would tell you she wanted to stay home forever.

It's going to take some time to really feel "normal" again after the holidays. Our sleep schedules are wacky, our house is slowly becoming organized, and we're mentally transitioning back to a life of duties and responsibilities. And I know it's not just us who are taking our time regrouping. Sasha's bus, which originally was supposed to be at our stop at 8:26, still hadn't made it to our stop when I drove the girls to school at 8:52 this morning. I saw neighbor boys scrambling to walk to school (I did offer them a ride, and they declined) and there were LOTS of parents dropping their kids off due to the late bus. So it's just going to take everyone time to recover from this lovely break.

Thankfully, Cory and I managed to pack away almost all of the Christmas decorations this weekend. Everything is done except for a few things: the live tree is still up because it still looks beautiful and healthy, there is a wreath in the dining room that I plan to take down today, and our Dickens village needs to be packed away. Other than that, our home is de-Christmas-ified. And as much as I love the trees (we had five up this year) and the decorations, I love how clean and spacious our home looks when they are gone. The girls, however, are dismayed that Christmas is over. Clara expressed her concern this morning on the way to preschool. "When will it be Christmas again?" "In a year," I told her. "What if Santa dies?" Oh boy.

So now we go back to our daily routine. School drop-offs and pick-ups, cooking each evening, dance classes, Daisy troop meetings, and so on. And life is good.

Happy New Year! Here's to making every day count, no matter how "normal" it may be!

{Lots Going On}

I've been a bad blogger lately. This is mainly due to the fact that I'm still having problems with accessing my photos, and a story is much more interesting when there are pictures! Right now the main issue is that my camera won't load new photos onto my computer. I'm not sure why. Bad cord?

Anyway, I just wanted to update the blog and share some of the many activities that we've been enjoying lately. During the past two weeks we have:

* enjoyed a fabulous Thanksgiving with family
* found some amazing deals on Black Friday and throughout the past month
* donated close to $900 to the Greencastle-Antrim Tumani Ambassadors via a
wonderful Tastefully Simple fundraiser
* experimented with new recipes as I cook my way through an Italian cookbook
* cut down our Christmas tree and decorated the house
* gone to parties
* had a DATE! :)
* made gingerbread houses - such a fun activity!
* visited Hershey Sweet Lights, and the next day Candylane

We've been busy, busy people! I have LOTS of great pictures to illustrate these adventures, but until my camera and computer decide they like one another again, you'll have to just use your imagination. :)

I hope you are enjoying a wonderful holiday season!

{A Mighty Recap}

After my external hard drive (ehd) crashed and died a few weeks ago, I haven't been in much of a mood to blog. It turns out that I've lost a LOT of stuff: almost all of my photos from 2007 and everything from 2008; almost all of my digi scrapping kits; and many of my scrapbooking layouts. Thankfully, I have a lot of photos saved on memory cards, so I was able to reload those onto my computer. Almost all of 2009 is on cards and two or three months of 2008 is there, too. But I'm still missing a LOT. A LOT. The computer guru is running a different recovery program on my ehd as we speak, and I can only pray that it successfully recovers more data. This has been a very hard lesson: back up your files, people!

OK, now to recap some of the things going on in our lives lately.

First, Dixon has been growing and developing like crazy. He now sits on his own for long stretches of time. He has discovered that he controls his hands, and thus he reaches for things, picks things up, and of course, puts everything in his mouth.

He also hit the majoy 6 month milestone on October 27th. Wow! This is the only thing I hate about babydom: they don't stay little long enough! Several days after he turned 6 months old, I started feeding him rice cereal. He ate it like a champ!After two weeks of cereal and no problems, we introduced peas. He liked them, too. And after two weeks of peas we are now into sweet potatoes. Again, he is eating great! The change in diet has resulted in interesting diapers. It's been a few years since I've had to change baby diapers, so I had kind of forgotten how "things" change as diets change. Fun stuff. We've had some pretty days lately so the girls have had lots of fun playing in the leaves.

They love to make big piles, jump in them, and bury each other. What kid doesn't enjoy leaves?

They've also had plenty of dress-up moments, although their dress-up choices have gotten rather inventive. Cinderella dresses are no longer the go-to items in the Meyers house.

Could you say "no" to this face?

And sometimes we all decide to let loose and have fun together. On this particular night Cory and I let the girls paint our faces. I ended up with a painted face, arms, hands, legs, and feet. Sasha and Clara LOVED doing this and have asked several times since to do it again. They'll be getting some new face paint in their Christmas stockings!

Call me "Chief Mommy".

Sasha enjoyed a new experience recently: she got to walk in the Veteran's Day Parade with her Daisy Troop. All the girls had so much fun doing this together!

Get ready for cookies, folks. They'll be coming your way soon! :)

And while I'm thinking of food, I'll share this tidbit of my life. A friend of mine were talking about the book Julie & Julia recently. If you're not familiar with the book, it's about a gal who decides to cook every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year. We decided to pick a cookbook and do the same thing! We chose one of Giada De Laurentiis's Italian cookbooks, set up an online website to organize the project and share our reviews of the recipes, and got cookin'!

And this little gem is my personal favorite so far: Ricotta Capuccino.

Oh my stars, is this dish delish! Cory hates Ricotta cheese, and he LOVED this dessert! It is so creamy, so rich, so . . . so . . . heavenly perfect! I'm planning on making it again this week for my extended family. Really, it's just an excuse for me to eat it again. But I'm OK with that.

By the way, if you want to join our cooking project let me know. We haven't gotten that far into it yet so you can easily hop in and catch up.

That's it for now! I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends!

{So Sad.}

Oh, how I wish I were blogging about one of the many cute things the kids have done lately, or about Sasha's school adventures, or about my awesome business, or about the fantastic photos of Dixon a friend recently took for me. But, no. It is not meant to be.

Sadly, my external hard drive, the place where I store ALL of my photos, my digital scrapping "stuff", and my scrapbook layouts, has died. And the wonderful program I purchased a month ago in the event that this should happen that backs up all of my files? Yeah. It wasn't backing up the external hard drive.

So tonight I have a very selfish, trivial request. Please pray that the computer guy I sent my ehd to today will be able to retrieve my files. Because I think I'll cry myself to sleep until he does.

{I Thought It Was Allergies . . . }

but I'm sick. Ugh. Yesterday I started sneezing and had a terribly itchy, sore throat. I was certain it was allergies, as my allergies seem to get a little bit worse every year. I took Clara and Dixon through a corn maze and thought that the dust and pollens or whatever is in corn made my allergies worse, but I was wrong. I have a cold.

Last night I kept waking up feeling awful. Today I'm beat. I'm forcing myself to stay active because if I sit down too long or try to rest I know I won't want to get back up. So I've been cleaning the girls' room (what a mess!), doing laundry, and getting odd jobs done around the house.

I can't stand being sick. Especially when it's beautiful outside.

So do I blame "those germy Kindergarteners"? Or do I blame the runny-nosed kids I was around earlier this week? Or do I blame a dirty shopping cart? Regardless, it is what it is. I'm sick.

Whine.
Whine.
Whine.

Amen.

{Random Stuff}

There's no consistent theme to this post, just lots of random things that have been going on this week. Here goes!

Our backyard makeover continues! On Saturday Cory spent all day constructing a picket fence around what will become our garden. He dug the holes, leveled the ground, and even created a gate all on his own. This was really a trial run to see if he could tackle building the fence for the dogs, and we both agree that he did an awesome job. His muscles are screaming, but the workout was well worth the results.

Now this is something you don't see every day: a steam tractor! While Cory was working on the fence he heard the tractor coming our way down Colorado St. He yelled for me to grab the camera and we stood along the road to watch the old Case tractor slooooowly make it's way past our house and down the street. I have no idea why a steam tractor came through Marion, but it was pretty cool!

Yesterday Sasha's class had another field trip. This time they went to Giant for a tour and lesson in nutrition. I wasn't sure what to expect, but let me tell you, those folks know how to give a tour! All the kids got hats to wear and they marched from section to section doing things like clapping, waving their arms like trees, and swimming. At each section they learned about different foods and healthy habits. They started in the toothbrush aisle because the first thing you should do in the morning is brush your teeth. They pretended to brush while singing the ABC song since that's how long you should brush. A few patrons stopped to watch - it was cute!

We made our way through cereals, fruits and veggies, seafood, poultry, dairy, and ended at the bakery for a cookie. The kids ate something at each stop, so they were full! At the fruit section Sasha actually answered a question that no one else was able to answer: Which fruit is grown in all 50 states? Strawberries!

Last night Sasha had dance class so Clara and I headed to Marshalls to look for dresses. I found a couple dresses for them, but I also found these adorable dance outfits. Check out the bling on the tutus! Well, it's kind of hard to see it in this pic, but the tutus are covered in crystals that sparkle like crazy. I'm afraid I may have to take Sasha's back, though, because it's a bit snug and the tutu stands straight up instead of going out. I'll have to find her a replacement or she'll be a sad girl.

This morning Sasha had a milestone moment: she registered for Kindergarten! While I did paperwork with her principal, Sasha took a "test" with one of the reading teachers in the district. Of course, she passed with flying colors! She met with a nurse and was told she didn't need any shots, which I already knew (whew!), and she also met with a librarian and got her own library card. But the highlight of the morning? She got to go on a SCHOOL BUS!!! This girl has been wanting to ride a bus for soooo long, and she was thrilled to actually sit inside of one. My little girl is growing up!

More to come later! Try to enjoy the rain if you're getting any - we seriously need it and more.

{The Lumberjack}

Half-dead trees aren't that pretty. They aren't very functional. They aren't very safe in a backyard where children play.

Ever since we bought this house seven years ago, we have had a half-dead tree in our backyard. It's actually the only tree on our property, so go figure that it had to be half-dead. Every summer about half of the branches would produce leaves and nuts and the other half would remain barren and ugly. Eventually the tree would drop its nuts and we'd have to clean them all up so they didn't damage the lawn mower and so we wouldn't turn an ankle if we stepped on one. Birds don't care so much if a tree is healthy or not, and they would perch there and poop on the girls' sandbox and on Cory's truck which is usually parked next to the tree in front of our shed. Overall, this tree has been a bigger pain in the rear than it has been a provider of shade, beauty, and home to animals. The tree simply had to go.

Yesterday evening my in-laws came over and my father-in-law transformed himself from a dairy farmer into a lumberjack. He came complete with a plaid flannel shirt, heavy-duty gloves, and a gas-powered chainsaw - what a man! Everyone gathered in the backyard to watch the half-dead tree make it's final transition to tree heaven. Here's what it looked like seconds before saying goodbye to this world: Ed fired up his chainsaw and began making the first cut, careful to cut the tree so it would fall in the correct direction. Apparantly this is important when cutting down a tree that is really tall and close to homes.
The second cut: making the watermelon wedge.

TIM - BERRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Man standing next to his kill. Doesn't he look proud of himself? I can hear the inner Tool-Man Tim "argh, argh, argh" wanting to explode from his chest.

Now it's time for clean-up. As Ed sawed off the skinnier branches and cut apart the tree, Cory gathered up the branches and loaded them into his truck. The plan was to put all the burn wood into Cory's truck and all the big pieces that will be good firewood into the in-law's truck. That didn't happen. There was WAY too much little stuff and it took both trucks to load it all up. We'll have to get the firewood over to the in-law's house another time.

Ed left a nice sized stump for us so we can do *something* with it. Will it become a seat? Will it hold a watering can full of flowers? Who knows. Cory always comes up with creative plans for things like this so I'll leave it up to him.

The girls helped gather up little sticks, too, and they thought the watermelon wedge was pretty cool. Watch out for splinters!
It's good to have family members who can help tackle these jobs around the house. Thanks, Ed! And goodbye, tree! Enjoy a leafy life in tree heaven.

{Birthdays, Leprechauns, and Fairies - Oh My!}

I've been meaning to blog for a few days now, but I wanted to wait until I had all of my pics from the weekend. THANK YOU to Liz and Katy for helping me out with that! :)

Anyway, this weekend was a birthday weekend, and it was fun! Sasha's friend Riley turned 5 this month. Her family recently went to Disney World and she wanted to recreate her Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique experience with her friends. So all the girls were told to come dressed as their favorite princess for Riley's Princess Tea Party. They decorated crowns, had their hair, makeup, and nails done, drank "tea" from real teacups, and played games. From what I hear, they had a ball! (No pun intended!) The birthday girl is the third from the left - so pretty!
Sasha is 110% girl, so this party was right up her alley. I can only imagine how regal she felt as she had her hair pulled up into a princess bun and had glitter sprayed all over it. When we got home from the party, she went straight to the bathroom and spent several minutes just staring at herself. She really did look beautiful with her hair up and makeup on - but at the same time she looked older. Sigh. I knew Cory and I were in trouble when she went through her goody bag and pulled out all kinds of makeup; she and Clara have been putting it on every day since, sometimes multiple times each day. This is what we have to look forward to!On Sunday evening we celebrated my mil's birthday (I won't tell her age out of respect for the old). We had a really nice meal at my sil Megan's home. Non-farming people probably won't "get" this, but we had steaks from a cow on their farm that Megan's husband, Jason, and Cory had to put down recently. Yes, you can eat dairy cows! It was quite tasty and very tender meat. But I'm rambling about the cow instead of my mil.

Diana was the princess this night and she wore her crown well. Need I say more?
Now on to the Leprechauns. When I picked Sasha up from school on Monday I quickly noticed little green feet throughout the halls. I wasn't sure what they were for, but I soon figured it out. All the parents line up in one hallway to pick up our kids. Once we were all there, we heard the entire class come marching around the corner wearing shamrock hats and chanting something (I can't remember what). They had been on a Leprechaun hunt, and the footprints were leading the way! Apparantly they found a pot of gold. The gold was actually vanilla wafers, and each kid got a bag full of them. It was so cute! Her teachers are the sweetest, most creative people! I was kicking myself, though, because I had JUST taken my camera out of my purse before I left to charge the batteries. Ugh! The following is the best shot I could get once we were home.Not to exclude Clara, here's a shot of my little Leprechaun yesterday on St. Paddy's Day. She's too darn adorable!Finally, let's talk fairies! Sasha lost her second tooth on Monday night while eating dinner! She took a big bite of her cheeseburger and out it fell, right onto the kitchen table. She was super excited and keeps asking us if we're proud of her. Of course we are! She's just getting to be such a big girl - losing teeth and getting makeovers are sure signs of her transition from little girl to school-aged girl. To make this event even more cool, Perdy the puppy also lost her second tooth. She dropped it on the floor for me when I noticed she was chewing something odd. I have no idea if Jasmine has lost any yet, but she probably is swallowing them like a normal dog if she is. I guess Perdy likes us to know that she's getting older, too.

So we put Sasha's tooth and Perdy's tooth together for the tooth fairy. Sure enough, the good fairy visited Sasha's room to collect the teeth, leave a little note, and give Sasha two dollars and Perdy two biscuits. Perdy was nice and shared one with Jasmine. What a good girl.

To end on a REALLY good note, we're finally getting a fence! We had the consult and estimate done yesterday and we're ready to roll. So in two or three weeks the pups will FINALLY be able to stay outside all day if they want to, and I will no longer have to take them out umpteen times a day. Yay! Good things are coming!

{I'm FINALLY on Blogger!}

My goodness has the creation of this blog been a headache! I've been trying to get my new blog up and running for about two months - literally. The problem? My header kept showing up with a funky color cast on it. It looked like someone threw a blue-tinged bucket of mud all over it - ew! And because I'm a perfectionist when it comes to certain things, I refused to start posting until the header met with my satisfaction.



Thankfully, my friend Tina had an epiphany this weekend and told me a little trick about rgb color versus web color in PhotoShop. I'll spare you the details, but that trick worked! All these weeks of pulling my hair out over this header and it all boiled down to clicking a different color option. Thanks, Tina! I never, ever would have figured it out myself!



Because I've put off posting anything for quite some time, I'll try to do a February in review post later tonight. Lots happened last month, so it might be a doozy!



Oh . . . and welcome to my NEW blog!