Finally discovered ETSY.COM!!!

For anyone who makes anything homemade, you MUST visit Etsy.com. It's like Ebay but for the crafting community. You can buy or sell anything hand made or even supplies like yarn or fabric. They also have a lot of other things like chats, blogs, tools to help you promote your Etsy Store, etc. After visiting Etsy, it finally has given me the good kick in the butt I needed to finish all those projects I started but never quite finished. So, my New Year's resolution is to finish my projects BEFORE I start a new one. I currently have at least 3 unfinished projects in my storage cube in my living room. AND I will spend less time online searching for new patterns and yarn or supplies if I have unfinished projects. Remember one of my first blogs was the green and red placemats I was making with a loom? Well, I made one and never went back to make the other 3...lol.

After seeing what a huge hit my scarves were at Justin's Holiday Bazaar (they sold out in about 3 minutes as soon as it opened and I had Mom's telling me to start making them now for next year) I want to maybe start selling items on Etsy. Of course, I need to get busy and make a bunch of items for my stock.... BUT first I need to finish the forgotten projects that are half done.

I hope everyone has a Happy and Healthy New Year!!!

Sugar Cookie Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sugar Cookie Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

This is so adorable!!

Introducing Coco...

We found out a few weeks ago that our African Grey is a girl and after going thru countless names with the kids (I can't possibly have a bird named Hearts or Rainbow for the next 50+ years), we decided on Coco. Here are some pics of her from last week.

Everything works out in the end...

Just when you think things won't get better, you get a great opportunity thrown right in your lap. I have my real estate license and I've had it since Madison was only a few months old (so for about 4 years). I have been practicing real estate VERY part time. I wasn't happy with the office I was working at but didn't think any other office would want a part timer so I stayed. Plus, it's a small office that gets little to no traffic so you really need to find your own clients (by the way it doesn't help when certain family members say they will go through you and you find out they went through a random person to buy a place to live... but that's ANOTHER story...).

So, I was going to give up my license because it was getting too expensive to keep up with it and I wasn't really getting clients. Well, about a week ago my Mom told me the top agent in our area and county (plus she is in the top 100 agents nation wide) was looking for people to join her team. This agent/broker is very well known and her face is on billboards. I met with the agent and found out that a dream job for a part time realtor, like myself, was just thrown in my lap. I'll get clients, make money, and be part of a great team with lots of support.

So... isn't it funny how things work out? So by early next week I will officially be part of the Prudential Marie Ferraro Team.

Holiday Bazaar

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving!! I was going to go shopping on Black Friday, but decided I would rather sleep. Plus, I'm done shopping for the kids so there was nothing I really needed.

The Holiday Bazaar at Justin's school starts on Thursday and I made 4 scarves and 4 little placemats with a loom (I think this size can be either for hot plates or as a coaster). I wanted to make more items, but I just ran out of time. Plus, I don't get paid for these items... the money they make goes to the school.

Here are the pictures of the items:

The multi-color scarf is just like one I made for Madison and posted on here. The other is a thin scarf made with fun-fur.

Here are two ruffle scarves.

And this last picture I just took last night. I just put clean sheets on Madison's bed and the kids said they would put her dolls back on her bed for me (she normally keeps her Care Bears along the wall). Well, I went back to the room later and found that they had put EVERY doll back on her bed... lol. There wasn't any room for her sleep.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I just wanted to tell everyone to have a Great Thanksgiving!!! And for those going shopping on Black Friday, I hope you score some good bargains!!

Madison's Thanksgiving Feast

The preschool where Madison goes (and Justin went to last year) does a Thanksgiving Feast the week of Thanksgiving. The children make costumes and are either Pilgrims or Indians.... Madison's class were Indians. The children come in one at a time with their teacher and get to cut a piece of turkey (with the help of their teacher, of course) then they get to sit down and eat. Then they all sing songs once they are done eating. Here are two pics of Madison.

Our New Bird!!

Some of you may already know we pre-ordered a Congo African Grey bird back in September. The bird hadn't even been hatched yet and the bird store (actually the owner's son goes to school with Madison) would call us when they got birds in. Well, today we got the call that they got 4 African Grey birds in and to come pick ours out. We went to the bird store and picked out our bird and we find out Monday if it's a boy or a girl. Here's a picture of the bird. Its only 4 weeks old.

Once we find out the sex, we can start thinking of names. So far the kids have come up with: Princess, Cutie Pie, Thomas (Justin thought of this, but we already have a cockatiel named Thomas), and Chica.

Justin Lost His FIRST TOOTH!!!

Justin has had a 'wiggly' tooth since his last denist visit in September, but the past few days he's really been playing around with it and trying to loosen it so it would fall out. Today, during Karate, I kept seeing Justin with his hand in his mouth and at first I thought he was biting his nails.... later he told me his tooth was REALLY wiggly. I checked and it was literally hanging by a thread. When Bryan got home, I helped Justin get the tooth out. Justin was so happy that he was jumping up and down and clapping and he kept saying that he was a big boy now. So, I took a picture of him showing his new space in his mouth and of the tooth itself.

What have I been up to lately? Well, I volunteered to make some things for Justin's Holiday Bazaar. So far I have 3 scarves done and I'm on my 4th which is actually going to be a ruffle scarf. Speaking of which, I made a ruffle scarf for my Mom's Birthday (which is today). She saw a ruffle scarf in the Target flyer a few weeks ago and I was able to find a crochet pattern online. So, I made one in red (of course since it's her favorite color) and black. Here are pics of the scarf.

Once I get some more things done, I start posting pictures.

Oh and Justin had school today after being off for a week, and he got on the bus just fine. Actually, he ran to be the first one on the bus.

Halloween & Carving Pumpkins

I'm alittle behind on posting pics so here are the pictures of the kids pumpkins they carved a week ago and the pictures from yesterday.

Here's the pumpkin Bryan carved for Madison. We had patterns and each kid picked their own.

Here's the pumpkin I carved for Justin. It's suppose to be a wolf.

Here's a pumpkin that Justin did on his own. I had a kit that had pieces like a Mr. Potato head that you just stick in the pumpkin.

Here are all the pumpkins plus one that Madison painted.


Here are both kids in their costumes in front of Justin's school. Madison was a princess and Justin was Optimus Prime from the Transformers. Madison had a crown, but I think she wore it all of 10 minutes before she complained it was hurting her.

Here's Justin in his parade at school.

Here's Madison in her parade at school. It's hard to pick her out, but she's in a brown jacket and her costume (it was cold at 9:30am when they did her parade). It was a mad house because unlike Justin's parade where they all go around the school and they put up orange cones for the parents to stand behind... her parade is in the small parking lot of the preschool and they all stand in a circle. Not to mention parents were jumping of front of others trying to get pictures.

Here's the kids with their friends who live next door.

Bodily Function Noises??

I know you're curious about the title of this blog entry and I'll get to that after a quick update on Justin and the bus situation. Yesterday, Bryan went into work late to wait with Justin at the bus stop. He did get on the bus, but Bryan had to carry him on while he cried alittle. Then today, Justin actually walked onto the bus on his own!! Then he saw kids sitting in the first two rows (since he's been sitting in the front) and came right back off the bus. I picked him up and put him in the 3rd row and he didn't cry, although he did whine. I made him a chart earlier in the week and if he goes on the bus, he gets to put a sticker on for that day. Then if he goes on everyday for that week, he picks something to do on Friday.... this morning he already said Wendy's for lunch is his pick (although Madison keeps trying to change his mind to McDonalds since they have a play gym there).

Now onto the title. I had my parent/teacher conference with Justin's teacher last night. I was shocked to find out that not only is Justin outgoing in class, but you could say he's sorta a class clown. He has a group of boys that he plays with and sits with during the day and sometimes he gets too silly then when it's time to work, he has a hard time stopping the silliness. She also mentioned he likes to make 'bodily function noises' with his group of friends. So, we need to work with him on knowing when it's time to play and when it's not. She also said sometimes he rushes thru his work (like cutting or coloring) so he can be done and go sit with his friends. He does this with his homework too, so this is something we're already working on. She mentioned he calls out a lot rather than raising his hand, but she said that isn't a big issue because a lot of them do it and she's working with them on that. Oh and the funniest thing is that he is giving all his friends our home address to come over!!! I guess it's good he doesn't know our phone # yet, otherwise everyone would have that as well.. lol. I'm one of the class moms, so I have a list with everyone's # and address... so I told Justin if he wants to invite one of the kids over to let me know so I can call their parents.

Also, I wore my 'Everyone Poops' shirt last night and Justin's teacher got a kick out of it and told me she loved it... lol. For those who are reading this saying, WHAT SHIRT??? lol... here's a picture from the website where I bought it. My shirt is pink, but it has the same picture on it.

I was going to wear it when I go vote, but decided to wear it last night because who forgets the Mom wearing the Poop shirt? lol.

Things are looking up....

I'm finding out that a lot more people than I realized are following the whole 'Justin not going on the bus' drama. What makes a 5 year old who LOVED going on the bus for the first month of school, suddenly run from the bus and cry? I'm not really sure, but I have a feeling it's not just the bus but just going to school in general. He mentioned that he gets a lot of work during the day and they don't have playtime or snacktime (like he did in preschool). With kindergarten only half a day, I am almost positive the teacher is trying to pack a lot work into the 2.5 hours she has them everyday. I have my parent/teacher conference with his teacher tomorrow night, so we'll see what she has to say.
As far as today and bus.... Justin did get on the bus again, but I had to carry him on. The good thing is, he didn't run from the bus when it pulled up. Oh, and yesterday he told me he cried all the way to school (our neighbor's daughter told me the same thing since she has been a big help with sitting with him on the bus), but today he said he only cried for alittle bit. So, we are slowly making progress.
I also started a chart for him to put a sticker on each day he goes on the bus. I told him that if he goes on the bus the rest of the week, he can pick where we go for lunch on Friday. He already told me he wants to go to Wendy's and we have to eat inside (since I always bring it home).

Now, if I can only get Madison to stop peeing in her pull up at night then all would be good in the Seich house. Oh well, one thing at a time.

SUCCESS... well... sorta...

Justin went on the bus today!!! Well, after me having to physically carry him onto the bus. Yesterday he told me flat out he wouldn't get on the bus, so we never even went to the bus stop. Today, I told him he needed to go on the bus. So, we walk to the bus stop (which is just two houses away) and he is playing around with the brother of one of the girls having a good time.... then the bus pulls up. Justin starting running around and laughing alittle, like it was a game and he wanted me to try to catch him. Well, I caught him and then he started yelling he didn't want to go on the bus. I carried him onto the bus, put him in the front seat next to a friend of his (who held his arm since he tried to get up), I jumped out the bus, and the bus driver shut the door fast and pulled away. I think the hardest part is getting him on the bus and once he's on the bus he'll be fine.

I also just talked to the Principal about him not getting on the bus and he is going to give my name/phone# to the school counselor. Maybe she has some tips that will make the bus a good experience for Justin, because I would hate to have to do what I did today everyday.

Another good thing is that the older kids at the bus stop were trying to get Justin on the bus too. He mentioned last week that one of the older kids on the bus says his name funny when he gets on the bus, but I think they are talking to a 4th grader that is at our bus stop who is also named Justin.

Hopefully he gets on the bus tomorrow. I think I may make up a chart and each day he gets on the bus he'll get a star. Then if he has stars for the whole week, we'll do something like go out for lunch (to where he picks) or go for ice cream or something.

Pumpkin Picking!!!

We actually wanted to do pumpkin and apple picking, but the farm we normally go to only had pumpkin picking today. Here are pics of the kids. I wish I had more pictures, but they wouldn't stand still long enough for me to take any. They were more concerned about running up and down the pumpkin patch, pointing out all the old broken up pumpkins, and kicking the dirt (which made me super happy to have dirt all over their shoes and pants).

Justin picking out the perfect pumpkin

Madison searching for her pumpkin

Daddy is fed up with telling the kids to stay out of the dirt, so it's time to go pay.

Here's their "We don't want our picture taken" pose.

Nothing really happening today, except Justin still won't get on the school bus. He told me nothing happened on the bus, as well as the neighbor's daughter who sits right next to him. For the past week, I have had to drive him to school. He flat out refuses to get on the bus and besides me physically putting him on the bus (then have to worry about him trying to run off), I am running out of things to get him on the bus. The thing is, when we get to his school, he gives me a hard time about even going to school (one of the aides had to carry him into school last week while he kicked and screamed). So, today and yesterday I brought him to where his class lines up, said my good-byes, and left. The days before that, I would hang around until the bell rang, but I think that made his 'seperation anxiety' worse. I spoke to his teacher who had no idea about Justin's antics because he is fine once he gets to his classroom, but she did mention that his work in class isn't where it should be (a whole other issue because he gets frustrated very easily and will give up rather than try). She said we could talk deeper about it at conferences next week, but I think his seperation anxiety and his school work are connected.

Back to the bus issue, I am at the end of my rope with this, so I brought up the only thing that Justin would be upset about losing... his Thomas the Train collection. Today, I took away two trains with the option for him to earn them back if he goes on the bus the rest of the week. If he won't go on the bus tomorrow, then he loses two more trains. If at the end of the week, he didn't try to go on the bus even once then he will lose the trains with no option to earn those back. I think he won't go on the bus because he feels like if he won't go on that I'll be mad about having to drive him (because it really is a pain since then I have to rush to get Madison to preschool on time) and let him stay home. He would much rather stay home.... he even told me yesterday that his teacher gives him a lot of work.... which I'm sure he gets frustrated at school with the work, then wants to give up, and would rather stay home.

So, for now I am concentrated on getting him on the bus. I have also been practicing things with him at home and trying to make it fun with lots of positive reinforcement. Oh and I got him two books that I will start reading to him and have him help pick out letters and eventually words.... Captain Underpants books. He's a boy so of course he laughs at anything having to do with underpants, burping, poop, or any bodily function for that matter... lol. So, I'm hoping the books will keep him interested enough to want to learn to read them on his own... or at least pick out words on his own.

I know kindergarten is a big step from preschool. He went from getting an afternoon snack and lots of playtime to all business from 9am to 11:42am each day. And kindergarten in our town is only half a day. So, the teacher really is trying to jam a lot of things into each day to prepare them for 1st grade. If anyone has any suggestions, please share them. I'm willing to try anything!!

Hat & Scarf

I got this yarn really cheap from smileys.com, but I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to make with it. It's bright and lofty yarn in the color Sorbet. I decided to make Madison a scarf and hat with it. I made the scarf last week and used a loom to make the hat. Well.... the problem is the loom I used was too small, but I didn't realize it until I was half way done with the hat. So, this hat will be for one of Madison's dolls and I'll make a matching one (in the correct size) for Madison.

By the way, the doll is a My Generation Doll from Target. They are 'American Girl' knock offs and are great if you don't want to spend over $100 for a doll only to have your daughter destroy it (somehow all Madison's dolls end up naked, but that doesn't stop her from proudly pushing them around in front of the house in her doll stroller).

Walking with Dinosaurs

So, yesterday we went to see the show "Walking with Dinosaurs" at the Izod Center at the Meadowlands. We wanted to go last year when it was in town, but were unable to go. The kids loved it and I think their favorite part was when T-Rex came out. Here's the website, for those who never heard of this show http://www.dinosaurlive.com/. The best part is the dinosaurs really 'walk' around and some even roar at the audience (the T-Rex was the loudest).

New Project

I've been busy lately crocheting, but I decided to take a break to make some holiday placemats. My mom gave me a looming kit that she used when I was younger (to give you an idea how old the kit is, the instructions are dated from 1979!). I'm going to make a total of 4, two in green with red details and two in red with green details. Here's the first one that I just finished last night while watching Grey's Anatomy (love that show!!).

My first blog...

So, I decided to start a blog because I feel like I'm one of the very few who doesn't have one and it allows me to update friends/family on the happenings of the Seich Family.

Where did I get the blog name from? Good question... it's part of one of my favorite quotes. "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll still land among the stars." (some of you may have gotten a card from me in the past with this quote stamped on the back of the envelope)

Here are pics of the kids from their first day of school.