Deutschland, here we come!!

Some of you may already know my husband hails from Germany. I visited once with Ben (sans kids) back in 2006 and it was amazing...although I'm not a fan of air travel. We won an all-expense paid trip...no, kidding, I'm not that lucky. Actually, Ben's father bought us all tickets to come and visit.

He met Zoe once during her first Easter (she was just a baby) and has yet to meet Jaida. I would rather him fly to the States but he also wants his mom to meet her great-grand kids as well as the rest of his family. I can't complain. We desperately need a vacation and not only is the destination awesome but it's free which is perfect because, well, we're broke! Ft. Meyers, Florida straight through to Düsseldorf, Germany...still freaking out about the long plane ride.

My last shipping day in the shop will be June 25th so be on the lookout for new stuff as I scramble to make a little extra spending cash for our trip! I love Germany...it is a breathtaking country and we were this close (holds tip of thumb and pointer finger 2cm apart) to moving there.

This time we're going when the weather will be nice and warm....last time I brought sandals like an idiot and had to go shopping for clothes that I never wore again...well, some of them. Here are some pics of our last trip there:

All of our poses are the same...we need to be more creative this time. See that castle? It was so amazing and what a workout to make it down there (they drove us back though, whew)! We got another workout sprinting up the (500?) dizzying, spiraling steps to the top of the Cathedral ( Kölner Dom )...I could stare at that architectural work of art for hours studying the beautiful details of it. Speaking of spiraling, look how that tree grew in spiral-formation (Ben's pretending to twist it).

The cute baby in striped stockings is Emma, Ben's niece and the cute baby in blue is Anskar (love his name), his cousin Nicole's baby boy. Can't wait to see how they've grown and meet the new kids! Oh, and yes, nothing special about Walmart but that one sold beer in an outside tent...so funny! We also got to take a quick 24 hour visit to Paris. When the bus dropped us off for an hour to do whatever we wanted I was actually afraid for my life.....long story. Anyway, that's it! So excited!! Just need a tranquilizer for the plane ride there and back and I'll be set!

One Lovely Blog Award

I would like to thank Fran of http://www.auntifranni.blogspot.com/ for nominating me for this award! I really don't blog as often as I'd like to so it's very sweet of her to think of me! Oh, and check her shop out here or here!

I'd also like to thank Sarah of Diaries of An Obsessive Compulsive

for her sweet feature on my shop! Check out her adorable Etsy shop, EssHaych here!

Thank you both! :)

Yay! Front Page!

I know, the front page changes every 10 minutes it seems but I still get excited to know I've even been there especially when it's a hand-picked front page. I know it's silly but I get super happy when I imagine an Etsy employee thinking anything that I make is worthy of the Front Page.....yay!

In family news: Zoe lost her second tooth...and she didn't get overemotional this time when it came out, just excited! I stole her box after she fell asleep, but before I could put it back under her pillow, she woke up and drunkenly waddled into my room half-asleep. When she realized she had forgotten her box and ran for her room I had a mini-panic in my head and quickly ran after her explaining to my distraught five year old (poor thing couldn't find her box), " The toothfairy probably woke you up"....."ya, she can't take the toothfairy box to Pixie Hollow, it's not allowed so she probably got scared off! Go back to sleep and she'll come back". And she did....went back to sleep, and I, the toothfairy put a dollar and some coins in her box and slid it under her pillow. She woke up early the next morning and squealed with delight and happiness! Oh, then the patting-tears-from the eyes thing she does was back. :)

Monochromatikinder and her Mom

Just listed this little duo in the shop. I've been wanting to remake my original Monochromatikinder Doll series for a long time...I just haven't found the time. But last night I couldn't sleep...and so these were born.

I started the Monochromatikinder Dolls awhile back one day when I was trying to explain to my daughter what the word Monochromatic meant. These dolls have slightly different shades of blue and brown with a contrast of black and white.

Art is healthy, I want to teach kids while they're young and support them as they grow...into the next little da Vincis!
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Oh, and I'm so excited that heart-o-matic is back and better than ever thanks to Julian (the originator) and Karena (of Magic Jelly)! Together they made an awesome site I will be on most likely every day. Etsy wrote a great article on it on their blog...read all about it (click) ! Yay, CraftCult!!

"Mommy, my heart's beeping fast"!

That's what she said, my little Zoe, after losing her first tooth last night! She did the overemotional patting her teary-eyes thing she does when she's excited or happy (so sensitive, she is!) and now she's anxiously awaiting the wriggly tooth next to the hole to fall out. We celebrated by drinking a glass of "coffee" now that she's reached a new milestone. It's actually Teeccino but they think it's coffee and it tastes great....except now I'm addicted to French Vanilla Coffee Mate and Stevia. You brew it like regular coffee, and it's made by the Republic of Tea peaple . Hazelnut and Almond Amaretto are my favorite flavors...oh, and if they'll give you a free sample here, and even better you get to pick the flavor!

I personalized her little tooth fairy box (I know, it's sloppy but I was rushing!) and this morning she was so excited to get a gift from the tooth fairy....a Velcro dartboard, fun for all! I can't believe in a few months she starts school. Uh-oh, now my heart's "beeping" fast! Thank God my little sister is pregnant so I can remind myself how much work they are! I miss my "babies" but I'm so proud of my girls, even though they are becoming more and more independent....they'll always be my babies.

Okay, I'm going to go cry now!

Kidding!

Maybe.

A New Baker!

I'm so sorry about my few and far between postings. Our lives are very stressful right now. To make a long story short we are trying to cover two mortgages and well, I will NEVER landlord again....I'm a big softie when I shouldn't be and a big meanie when I shouldn't be. I can never get that right!

We're going to be moving soon back to Panama City, FL (when I was younger my friends and I referred to this city as a black hole and here I am being sucked right back)....but the bright side is my daughter, Zoe, starts school this year and although the four of us (and 3 pets) will be cramped into a 900 square foot townhouse that I loathe, she will be attending one of the best elementary schools in the city...and that's so important to me! Plus, my poor husband, Ben, won't have to travel 1.5 hours to work every day...he'll be home more and that makes me really happy. :)

We spent the weekend with some very welcome guests (Ben's family) and they brought a wet saw and skills to tile our master bathroom! It looks awesome! We're hoping to have the cabinets finished this week so we can call a realtor in and get this house sold! Ben's mom made it look WAY to easy...I swear, this woman knows how to do everything!
Oh, I restocked some little Granny smith zakka apple boxes! I hope to have a Spool Doll update soon and I promise: next time I won't be waiting so long to update my blog! I have so much to say.....just no pause button for my hectic life! :)

Update Tomorrow!

It's going to be smaller than I'd hoped for but there are a ton of things going on in our lives currently that include evicting tenants, moving to another state, registering our firstborn in school, and a collection of small annoyances that = out to huge time-eaters! Can't wait to get settled!

I have a little surprise if you are one of my sweet blog-readers. There will be six spool dolls in the update (which is at 5pm Central) and if you see one that you absolutely love I'm allowing one "reserved" doll per person! Feel free to call dibs through comment or convo, I'm fair so I promise first commeth first getteth!

Here they are, the spool dolls for tomorrow! Rikuyo (with the pink hair) is the first doll sporting the low-side buns, and the Lucky Kokeshi is also the first to have a new hairstyle! There is one more spool doll for the update, Hitomi ....but with pigtails. There will also be a Toothfairy box restock as promised as well as Twine Bakers including a new baker girl! Hope to see you at the update!

* Thanks so much to my super-sweet blog readers for putting your claim on your favorite doll before todays update! They are all promised to happy homes! *