My Birthday Breakfast.

Candice and her friends took me out for breakfast on my birthday. We had yummy french toast from Magleby's Fresh. It is unlimited french toast but we couldn't even eat what they gave us in the first round. We also had bowls of fruit. Thanks Chloe, Sarah, Candice, Emily, Grant, and Cole. (You can tell Candice is the photographer and not me. You will only be getting snap shots from me.)

Doesn't it look good? Good thing we don't eat like this every day.

Although I don't have pictures, Marissa took me to get a pedicure and then they (Candice and the boys and Mike and Marissa) took me out for dinner at Los Hermanos. What a nice birthday. Thanks everyone. (Brett was in training in Las Vegas with his ASCE students.)

Organization...You Have to Love It!

I have quite a bit of jewelry with a mother-in-law and sister-in-law who make jewelry for a living, I've acquired quite a bit. I also go to the wholesale bead shows with my mother-in-law so have made a lot of my own.

Here is an organization idea for your jewelry. I purchased a plate rack and converted it to a jewelry holder. I can see everything so it is easy to pick out jewelry for the day.
I added extra wire across the bars to hang my earrings. I added wire hooks to hang my bracelets and hung my necklaces where you set the plates. I like how it looks on my bathroom wall too. (Just make sure you keep your polishing cloth handy. The steam from the shower will oxidize the sterling silver quickly.)

I can even hang my watches.

What are your organization ideas? I'd love to see them. I will share more of mine with you soon.

Ali the Princess

Ali is one of my brother's children I babysat last week. She loves all things princess. At age 2 she can sing the theme to Sleeping Beauty, Ariel's song, and many more. She would like to watch any movie about any princess all day long and she wants to dress in one of her princess dresses everyday. She is so sweet and so cute. I got to have her as my little princess for three whole days.

The Return of the House Fairy

Sorry I haven't posted; I was off babysitting. It has been a week full of babysitting. By the time I took care of my grandchildren while Candice was at CHA and then babysat my four nieces and nephews, I've had my hands full. Whew! We had lots of fun but I'm tired and it is back to work tomorrow.

What saved me...treasure hunts for kids who behaved and the return of the house fairy. What...you've never heard of the house fairy? She comes at random times. You never know when she will drop in. If the house is clean, she leaves treats and a miniature letter (1" x 3/4" It is a trick to write that small but fairies are small). Sometimes she comes and the house is not clean. All she leaves then is a miniature letter saying how sad she is that the house isn't clean so there are no treats. She usually draws a picture of her magic wand at the bottom of the letter too. It is amazing how much fun this is and how well it works.

Maybe this is why Stephanie is still working with faeries. She started when she was young. She is working in faerie real estate buying and selling faerie doors. Here is a sample of one of the doors.

Technical Difficulties

I'm still learning. I used my husband's Nikon to take pictures of a project I wanted to share with you. I should have just used my cheapy digital because I accidentally took them in a NEF file instead of JPG and I need photoshop to convert it. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow with the little digital. Sorry.

It's Still Winter

Snow, Snow, Snow. Here is our house. Can you see the stained glass stars hanging on Shepherd's hooks? My husband made them for Christmas and they light up at night.

The forecast tonight is more snow. Fun, fun, fun. There will be more shoveling again tomorrow. At least it is good exercise and maybe we won't be in a drought this year.

OK, I still haven't gotten the hang of this. This is our front door and winter decor. Most the decorations are from Marissa's wedding reception. The icicles I bought for her receptions but she said no and I couldn't take them back. I like them anyway.
Here is one of the stars close up. My husband made up the patterns and idea. Isn't he talented? Here is another star. There are also different colors but I seem to have managed to only take pictures of the red ones. Thanks to everyone who posted. I was surprised to have comments from the world at large. I thought I'd only hear from my children. I have some posts I want to do on organization so stick with me. (Ironic isn't it that is post is not organized at all? I'll have to consult with my blogspot expert, Stephanie.)

The World of Blogging

Thanks to my daughter, Stephanie, I'm starting my own blog. I don't know how great it will be especially when compared to all of yours, but I thought I'd give it a try. It might take me awhile to get the hang of things so be patient children. Candice I'm hoping you'll help create a great french country style heading.

It was all I could do to think of a title for my blog. I thought of "Small and Simple Things," (You know...from small and simple things are great things brought to pass.), "All Things Unique," (Because I only like unique things...). I thought of calling it "Heartland Manor" because that was the name of my retail store. I settled on "Charmed I'm Sure." Why? Hmmm, it is unique, remember I like unique, and it will look great as a header, and I like how it sounds. So babies, your mom will try to keep you updated on all the exciting things in my life. I will share my advice, ideas, woes, loves, and dreams. I'm just not sure how often I'll be able to post but I'll try. I'm spreading my wings thanks to your examples. Love you!

P.S. First one to respond to my first post gets a Valentine's package in the mail.