Rainbow Hair Bands

Sneak peak - these little cuties will be available in the Peed Family auction tomorrow! 

Join us and bid bid bid!! 

The Peed Family Auction

A few weeks ago a terrible thing happened to a dear friend. They were in a terrible car accident and the side of their van was struck.  John and Maddie were both airlifted. Grace and Carol made it out with bruises and scrapes. We all prayed and were amazed at their progress. Unfortunately when they woke John from his coma he had a stroke that night. It was severe enough that he was unable to recover. 

Now let me tell you how I know them. I met Carol through a due date group I belong to that originally consisted of moms due in October 2008. My son Ethan was about the same age as John. In fact Ethan came early, but John was actually born on Ethan's due date. Since that time over 6 years ago we have all become very close as a group. We laugh, cry, vent and just gab on a daily basis. I feel really connected to all of them. Friends that live in my computer. I got to meet a whole big group of them in Tennessee over the summer and it was a blast.  Back to John.  John grew his angel wings on September 24th after spending a night with his mommy and daddy snuggling in bed with all his lines out and in his regular pajamas. Sweet little John was called home that morning.  We are all devastated and crushed. Carol has amazing faith and I know she and her girls have many many loving friends and family around her.  We are hosting an auction from October 12th - October 19th with all proceeds to benefit the Peed family to pay for medical expenses or whatever else they may need. If you miss an opportunity to bid please consider donating to their Go-Fund Me account.  Link to the Auction Blessings to all and please give all your little ones an extra hug. 

Pumpkin Patch 2014

We hit the pumpkin patch yesterday. Lots of squinting into the sun, silly kid poses, little ones trying to pick up pumpkins too heavy for them and more. One of my favorite family traditions. 
 Mike and I - It's so nice to have a child almost as tall as we are so we can have a picture that is not looking up at our chins! 

The Munchkins. Extremely difficult to get them all looking in the same direction at one time! 

Squinting into the sun! We always get a picture next to the Mosby's sign. Liam was not pleased. 

Liam trying to pick up his pumpkin

All my loves

Halloween Freebie!

Happy Halloween friends! Well almost. It's October 10th. We have been in the spirit lately. Yesterday was our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. We actually had great weather and enjoyed NOT tromping through the rain and mud. Rare in October around here! In the spirit of Halloween I made up some very cute little Thank You notes to use.  The adorable clipart are straight from JW Illustrations. She does such lovely work.  Please follow me on pinterest if you use this file and send some love my way! 
FREEBIE 

A week of firsts

This week has been such a whirlwind! My babies are all starting school. Well - that's not true. My littlest baby is home. But my big babies are all school bound. Mackenzy made it through her first week of middle school intact. She was terrified. She made it. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger" I told her as she dashed out of the van and ran into the school with 3 minutes to spare! haha! Sorry kiddo. 
Ethan as always barely said goodbye to me as I dropped him off at Kindergarten. My social butterfly. 
Cadence will be starting Preschool this week. She was timid and shy at orientation today. However, lured in by puzzles and blocks I had to rip her away from the toys to leave. Hopefully drop off will go smoothly on Thursday! 

My little babies! 

Free Printable - First Day of School

A little gift to all the parents out there that are high-fiving as they send their kids off to school. Peace at last!  I will have 2 kids at home instead of 4 so I will share a virtual *high five* with anyone who wants to participate! The light at the end of the tunnel... I see it. It's out there.  The days of crisp fall weather (soon I hope), deep earth toned oranges and browns, pumpkin spice lattes (Mmmmmm), and homework are upon us. Yes. I said the "H" word. HOMEWORK. Send your little cutie out the door with a quick picture holding up one of these cute and FREE printable signs. I've included Pre-K, Pre-school, Kindergarten, and 1st - 8th grade. Hey if you can still get your 8th grader to hold up a sign on the first day you get major props! Enjoy! Go out, learn and be safe.  FREE PRINTABLE

6th Grade Eve

It's the night before my oldest baby girl starts 6th grade. Middle school. YUP. you heard me.  MIDDLE SCHOOL... the place where the big kids go. The place where kids go from babies to teens. How did this happen so fast? I remember the day she was born. Literally like it was yesterday! I still remember the shock when my doctor announced that I was in labor and "today was THE day".  And now... middle school. She is my first born.  This means that every milestone that is her first is also MY first. I cried that day I sent her to Kindergarten. I died inside when she told me that she was lonely on the playground and I wanted SO badly to go to school and be her friend. Yet, she found her way. She made some friends and blossomed. She always has. I still remember the day her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Park, called me at home to let me know that Mackenzy had lost her very first tooth on the playground and they couldn't find it. *sigh* We told her the tooth fairy would go find and that it was no big deal.  Her first day riding the bus - mommy died a little inside. Worried to death that she wouldn't make it home on the right bus. Yet she did. 

More tomorrow. This mama has to be up at 6 am to braid Mackenzy's hair and get us all out the door. 

An ounce of prevention

It's summertime. The temperatures have climbed into the triple digits in some parts of the country. Even here in the Seattle area our days are reaching 80-90 degrees. It is just HOT. HOT. HOT.  And the news is once again peppered with news of tragic loss. Parents who forget their kids in a hot car. It's so heartbreaking. As a mom to 4 lovely babies it tugs at my heart strings. I know every parent's worst nightmare is becoming one of those tragic stories. So if I can save even one child I'm going to try. Here is a freebie for all of you. Please print this out. Cut it out. Punch 2 holes in the top and tie a string or a ribbon through it. Hang it on your rear view mirror. You could also tape it to your steering wheel or driver side window. Attach it to your purse strap with a zip tie. Whatever you think would get your attention during a moment of distraction because it really only takes a moment. I plan on attaching one to my mirror and putting one on my key ring. Never be complacent. Ever. Please share this with a friend also if you like. Print out a bunch and hand them out.  Click here to download

Also a smaller version for your purse or key ring

Have a safe and healthy summer! 

Down the Rabbit Hole

I'm working on a project. It's requiring all natural products like real genuine carded wool... There is a little farm near my house with baby goats and big goats to see... And freshly shorn wool. Oh lord. My wallet. My sanity. I won't divulge what I'm up to until I achieve some small shred of success. Ha. It may be awhile. But gah. The world of natural fibers and felting is like entering another dimension. 

Thursday. It's drippy and rainy and a bit chilly. In other words a perfect Pacific Northwest afternoon. I love the way the pavement smells when it's damp from the morning drizzle. Ahhhhhh. Breathe in the freshness. I missed the smell of home the most when we were in Las Vegas. Although it was fun to be able to wear shorts and not freeze. 
Cozy days like today give me the bug. The craft bug. My little Cadence has recently become enamored with her dolls. Which has mommy (that's me) dreaming up all sorts of dolly crafts. Which led me down a rabbit hole of Waldorf style dolls. Oh I die a little as I search the web and find the most adorable hand crafted dolls. Thinking to myself "golly gee. I could make one of those". They have sweet rounded faces, tiny sculpted chins, the most exquisite little clothes. I may have found yet another obsession. 

I'm Cheap

There I said it! I am C H E A P. I have expensive taste but I'm on a Top Ramen budget. Being a mom of 4 and the only source of income right now is of course part of the budget part.  We live comfortably and I'm proud of that. However, there are certain things I want.  I could sit around and wait for Santa to deliver the things I want. Believe me... I've waited. I'm still waiting...  Hello? Santa? Anyone??? **tap tap tap** Is this thing on? 
So while I wait for Santa, I've learned to be resourceful and clever. I've stalked Craigslist. However, lately with the  invasion  popularity of the almighty Facebook, a new phenomenon has cropped up. The virtual local community buy, sell, trade sites. Oh my. Be still my heart! So many things. I want to buy ALL THE THINGS!!! It's a 24/7 yard sale directly on my computer or smart phone. It is HIGHLY addicting and sooooo tempting. Who wants brand new stuff when you can buy awesome used stuff for less than half the price! My kids are so well dressed thanks to our local rich neighbors hand me downs. Thankyouverymuch! hehe! 
So this brings me to my steal of the day. YES. Steal. I have been DYING to have a Phil and Teds stroller since the day I saw one at the zoo. I think it was about 4 years ago. My jaw dropped open and I'm pretty sure I had to pick it up off the ground. It's so smooth, so sleek, so amazingly light and agile with the footprint of a single stroller. It makes my Sit and Stand stroller look... so unsexy. Now don't get me wrong. The Sit and Stand is great. It's fine. Really. It's so heavy though and I have always felt like I'm driving a bus when I push it around (Of course being a large and in charge stroller comes in handy when fighting through a crowd of people at the fair). 
Last night I was laying in bed scrolling my favorite local yard sale site on Facebook. Like a beacon in the darkness (yes that's dramatic) I scrolled through the strollers and there she was! 
I think I heard angels singing.

I felt sad at first because I noticed it had been posted for sale a whole day ago. SURELY it's already been taken. :( However when I scrolled down I realized this was meant to be! No comments yet. My fingers scrambled to type "Interested" as fast as I could lest someone jump ahead of me in line. I quickly hit enter and refreshed to make sure. MINE! YES! 

When I picked it up today I was expecting it to have some sort of fault for the price, surely this must be a mistake. Nope. It's perfect and she even took off $25, threw in a rain cover and threw in an extended sun shade.  Have you ever had that kind of service at Babies R Us? I haven't! Then she showed me all the little tricks and helped me fold it down. I nearly skipped with glee to my van  mommy-mobile. Huzzah! 

The Hubster, of course, freaked when he saw my gold mine. Men. They don't get it. How could they? Rarely are they the ones toting 2 screaming babies through a crowded mall and trying to navigate the teeny tiny spaces between clothing racks in Ann Taylor. Honestly. SMH. This is why I purchase first and explain later. 

"But you already have 3 strollers?!" He exclaimed in a confused voice. 

"Yes but this is different", I calmly explained. "This is a Phil and Teds. You can't just miss an opportunity like this. It's epic. I NEED THIS STROLLER." 

Long pause.... "Let me see it" he says as he heads out to the car saying to my 5 year old "your mom won't stop buying junk". Ha! Junk! Ha. Hahahahahahaha!!! Oh no. 

Don't you worry. He is impressed. The Sit and Stand stroller is now for sale on the local yard sale site. Hopefully someone will find it as sexy and enticing as I found the P&T stroller. 

Obsession: Blog Designs

I'm a very intense person. Most people may not guess because I'm an introvert and quiet. But the intensity... Once I latch on to something I enjoy this wild monster takes over. I get obsessive. Crafts in particular have this effect on me.  Also digital design. I have a love for everything related to digital design. It consumes my thoughts. I'm always drawing inspiration from my surroundings and imagining new creations. 
So lately I've become a bit obsessed with blog design. I've been working for days on some new designs in my shop. It's been sort of all consuming. I'm here to share this with you all. 
Also, If you haven't already please sign up for my NEW quarterly newsletters ----> 

See what I mean? I've been toying with the best way to display these in my shop. I am thinking I like the plain image vs. the backgrounds. 
Click here to see the blog designs in my shop

New! Adorable baby announcements in shop today!

Look at this adorable baby girl! This is my niece. My sister in law has the most adorable twin girls. I'm inspired by the pictures I took of them and have created a new baby announcement - new in the shop today. Can be customized for either a boy or a girl. 

4th of July Freebie

4th of July is quickly approaching and in the spirit of summer I am offering up this free 8x10 inch printable. Enjoy! 

Click here to download

As always please re-share on pinterest or facebook if you use my free printables! Share the love! 

Best. Dad. Ever. Free printable Father's Day Card

Happy Father's Day! (Well almost!) Have you waited until the last minute? If so you are in luck! Here is a free printable you may use to make your own cards at home. Enjoy!!

Click here to download

Princess Party Printables

Princesses have entered the Dazzling Darling Shop. Head on over to check out the oh so cute Cinderella inspired printables. More to come!
Birthday Invitations

Princess Welcome Sign

To Do List - Freebie Printable

This is a very busy week for us. Father's Day, the hubster's birthday and our wedding anniversary. And now we've thrown a trip to Vegas in the mix. Chaos I tell ya! I recently ran out of my Dollar Store cheapie pad that I keep on the fridge to jot down things that we need and chores on my long never ending list of things to do. I'm lost without it. So why not make my own! Here is a "To Do" list freebie that I'd like to share with all you busy moms (or dads) out there. Enjoy! As always if you use this please share the love and re-pin on pinterest. Karma is a good thing. 

Download this to do list here

So close I can TASTE it

VEGAS. Yes. In exactly 2 days [48 hrs, 2880 minutes, or 172,800 seconds] I will be getting on an airplane. Alone. With NO kids. Well not totally alone. My husband is coming too. My 2 best friends also. Yuuuuuuup. Yup yup yup. We are leaving the 4 heathens  kids home with grandma. I might actually giggle out loud. My excitement for 5 solid days of not being responsible for 4 tiny humans and 2 needy baby kittens is overshadowing my complete guilt for taking a vacation somewhere other than Disney.  Mackenzy shed some tears last night and pulled on my mommy heart strings. Sigh. But you know what? Mommy. Needs. A. Break. 
And she will be fine. Grandma will be doing all kinds of fun things with them.  There will be cookies and treats. I know this. They will be great.
VEGAS!!!!

Father's Day Brunch

Father's Day Printables are now in the shop. Make a special father's day by downloading and printing these items for a brunch for dad.  Menu: 

Banner: 

Cupcake or Muffin Toppers and Wrappers

Door Sign and Tent Card