One Busy Lady

   I have been so swamped lately with customs, setting up new websites and social media and getting ready for my next show. I have recently started doing shows with Mom M and Syrup, I was already doing shows with Country. We now needed a way to centralize things for customers since there were now 4 of us sharing our booth spaces. So we opened up Ali-Kat's and Friends Wonder Market  . I am still working on this website and one other one that is a client so I am not going to share that I am working on their website ( especially since it is not done).  The website still has a lot of kinks to work out of it, like the social media buttons not working. Oh,I also have started social media pages for us FB, Pinterest , and Google + page. So now I have 5 companies I am doing partial full Social Media for. That gets a bit overwhelming some days. I do love the work though.

   I also had a custom order come in last minute this week. I love custom orders but they do cause me to stress out a bit. Especially if I am trying to match colors to something I have not seen in person or have on me. Computer screens in the same home can large to slight variations in colors. Then you add in the crunch time of this order and I was a nervous wreck. I got it knocked out and the customer said she loved it so I am now a happy customer.

It was for a little one and the shirt it was to match had a lot of different colors in it, but I do like the way it all came together.

    Also I am getting ready for the 4th of July. I am doing a show that day. I have done this show for 3 years now and I love it. I am really excited that this year it is actually supposed to be a comfortable temperature. I just hope that the rain stays away.  Every year is so much fun. I stay all day with my booth and then my family comes up and watches fireworks with me from my booth. This year Syrup and Country will be with me. That will make it a ton of fun too. We have all been making our usual products but have been working on some new ones too. I don't have pictures of the new items yet but I do have pictures of some of the tutus I will have there.  If you are local you should come to the 4th of July Freedom Fest that I will be at. The address is on the Wonder Market front page.

  We also had family stuff this week. The normal things but also unexpected things like Sunny Bunny's eyes swelling shut. We flushed them and gave her benadryl, but they continued to swell so off to see the doctor we ran. They think her allergies have gotten worse and put her on a steroid for this reaction. She had a smaller but similar reaction about two weeks ago but the benadryl was able to control it. Now we are looking at having her allergies tested again and possibly a special cocktail shot made up for her. We have to control her allergies because they tend to set off her asthma and if they are getting worse then that could make both harder to control. I hope they are not worse and this just some kind of fluke. We will take care of it if they are though.
 So as you can see I have been a very busy lady and I see no signs of it slowing down, but I am feeling very blessed. Thank you for reading.
           

2013 Family Reunion

My weekend was full of fun laughter and family.  We had our family reunion this weekend. It was 3 branches of of one family. I am so glad I went. I hardly see my cousins and really didn't grow up knowing them so this weekend was a fun time to hang out and get to know them a little. It was help this year at Mom M's house but next year we are planning for holding it at the lake.

  We played all kinds of games.
                                         The little ones played  Musical Chairs.

 We played Volley Ball. I actually jumped in and played a little ball too. It is not my game but I still had fun. 

                     
 We also played a hula hoop game. The little kids joined in and that made it all the more interesting.

At the end of the game there was 2 kids left and at that point chaos broke free

Then we had a couple of bonked heads

     We played a water balloon game that was fun but difficult because the wind was making if near impossible to toss the balloons over the net.

   We played  a games that were less physical too. Like pictionary and charades.   Charades was a ton of fun and it only got funnier when Syrup and one of my cousins wives started writing the things to be acted out.

The Kids played with us

Syrup having to act out one something even more silly than the picture can tell you

Pic 1 and 2 only tells part of the story here but we were rolling by the end of it.

We ate a ton of yummy food. Mom M and Dad 2 made all of the food. Dad 2 broke out his smoker and made awesome ribs and other meat. Mom M made pancakes for breakfast. Plus the loads of water, pop, lemonade and other drinks constantly put out and served to keep everyone hydrated in the hot windy weather we had this weekend. 

Of course there was a lot of relaxing and visiting with each other. The kids also played with each other endlessly.

We had set up a spot in the shade to watch the volley ball games

It was a popular spot to hang out

The sandbox was filled the day before the reunion and was a huge hit. I was surprised there was any sand left at the end.

Brother Bear with my sweet nephew watching silly youtube videos together

Brother Bear got a work out pulling the little kids around the property

My cousins wife was awesome. Next year will have a new member to coo over.

Coyote had such a good time.

Country's new puppy was better than any toy

My little Sunny Bunny with her cousin. Displaying their nick names for the volley ball games.

We did have an impromptu bit of fun. There is a very small pond down the street from Mom M's place. The kids all kept calling it the lake and wanted to keep going down there to catch crawdads. Which turned into Crawdad races.It was all catch and release.

meat on a stick and you are set to catch crawdads

and cup number one is the winner.

Brother Bear with one his catches

The daddies spent a lot of time keep watch over the kiddos at the pond.

and helping the kids get their sticks ready

of course the joined in on the fun too

We set up cups for each kid near the pond and then let them out to crawl back into the pond. Of course some crawled out on their own.

We are working on next years already. I can't wait. I am sure each year will get better and more comfortable as we get to know each other. Well I think I have shared my fun weekend enough. Do you and your family have yearly get together? I would love to hear some of your stories or ideas. Thank you for reading.

CraftShow Fun

This past week was super stressful getting ready for a huge show here. I did the Junk Hippy Road Show this past weekend with my sisters and my mom. I of course had my tutus there but I also had some new items like decoupaged pots,flip flops, t-shirt headbands and flower halos. I of course stressed making sure everything was just so. All of my tutus were steamed, fluffed and scented and everything else as sweet and as neat as possible. Also trying to plan out our booth set up. Syrup had furniture that she had built,pictures, lanterns and playmats, Mom M had Macrame pot holders with handmade beads and Country had her hairbows,flip flops and metal bracelets.

My tutus and Country's hairbows

Syrup's Nursery Room Picture

Country's Hair Bow

Mom M's Pot holder

  Making all of those different types of go together in the same booth took a little work, but I think we did a great job.You can't see everything in booth below and some things got shuffled before the show opened but this gives you an idea of how awesome our booth looked.

Our Junk Hippy Road Show Booth

We set up the night before. It took us a few hours to get everything up and in place enough that we felt we could go home and finish in the morning. Then we all split off in our different directions to do some final touches at home. Country took Lizard with her because she was going to babysit her niece and nephew during the show. Syrup took her hour long trek back home and I grabbed some burgers and went home to Bos. 

   The day of the show was super exciting. County had grabbed some CupCakes the night before so we could surprise Mom M. The day of the show was her birthday. We all got her different little gifts that we gave her at the show. I got her handmade soap from Dallas Soap Company. (I love their soap). Then later in the afternoon we sang happy birthday and ate cupcakes with her. It was really pretty cool. There were a ton of awesome vendors there. A lot of my vendor friends and acquaintances where in the show which made it fun to stop by them and say hi.
 
The day of  show always seems to fly by and before I knew it was time to break down and pack up. That is always the not so fun part, but it still had it's interesting parts thanks to my sisters. We broke everything down and hauled everything out to our vehicles. As we were loading things into my vehicle and  I was pouring sweat, my sisters found a sweet little surprise in the parking lot. They found what they thought was baby mouse and after much ado decided that one of them would take it home and try to save it. I took a closer look and it was a baby rat. Still cute but a lot of work. You have to feed them a lot with tiny eye dropper. Syrup took the little thing home and is still taking care of it.  We finished up quickly and all went home. When I got home I realized that my feet hurt and that I had been on them almost all day long, but it was so worth it. It took me a few days to recover but I have now I am off and running working on my next show.
                         This is me,Mom M, Syrup and Country. If you would like you can follow us on Facebook our group page is Ali-Kat and Friends Wonder Market. You will be able to keep with our individual shops and our group efforts there.

Well thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed it.

The Sweet 16 Birthday Party

This past weekend was Lizards Birthday Party. I was a so nervous for her. I wanted it to be a big deal for her. We had the party at MiMi's house. We went with a Paris City theme because Lizard currently studying French and planning a trip to France with MiMi next year. Both of them are very excited about it. I sent out the invites and information 2 weeks before the party and at that time we got a lot of maybes and nos.  A lot of her friends are her age and older so many of them had work. I felt bad for Lizard that her friends were not able to come, but then we got a lot of last minute of people calling to tell us they were coming. Whew.... what an awesome relief. We also of course had a lot of family there. So many of them were there the night she was born which made it all the more special that they were there. Lizard's youth leader came with his wife and baby and brought some of the youth. Lizard was so excited about that. Also her friend and drama leader came to the party as well. I felt bad for one of Lizard's friends. She had lost Lizard's number and tried to get a hold of her on Facebook an hour before the party but of course none of us were near the computer or the internet. Poor thing kept messaging over and over again.
  The cake was chocolate and very yummy, but the big hit was the Eclair's. Many thought they were doughnuts until we explained that they were a popular french pastry. They are filled kind of like some doughnuts but not as soft as doughnuts, so I could see why they thought they were doughnuts. They did seem a little big for a typical French Eclair but still so very good. **I found some in a nice little french cafe/market around the corner from me as we were looking for items for the party. I will be going to visit them very soon. Plus They carried my all time favorite French drink Orangina. I think thy may have carry it now in some states but not here not yet. I tastes a little like fresh orange juice with sprite but better I think. ***
 I made a pink punch recipe I found from Pinterest that I will be sharing on my Pinterest I tried It post later this month. It was super simple and very good. We also had the typical meat and cheese tray,fruit tray and veggie tray.  I feel like you should always offer non sweet things for your guests because not everyone wants or can have sugar.
 The weather was great. Warm and sunny. There was a bit of wind but this is Oklahoma and almost every other day here is windy. Especially out of the city ,where we were, with out a lot of trees or buildings to break the wind. Lizard's youth leader led a soccer game. The kids loved it. Especially the boys at the party. The girls gathered outside and did what teen girls do. Giggled and chatted. The younger kiddos soaked up the weather too. Exploring all the space at MiMi's and the time together. All of the cousins get along and love each other very much. So when they get together they instantly run off to play. Coyote played so hard she passed smooth out before we got home and for an hour after the party. I was amused by this because she never wants to sleep,EVER.
 All in All it was a great day and a great party. The only problem was our van yet again decided to break down. So that was not so fun to deal with but we did not let it dampen the mood of the day. I know someday down the road when Lizard is grown and gone I will be so glad that we had such a good party for her 16th birthday. I hope Lizard looks back on it and she smiles at the memory.
  Here are some pictures from the party. Thank you for reading. I promise I will get back to other blog topics in my next posts. I have some new projects I am very excited to share.

16 years and counting

I can't believe it 16 years and counting. I look at a group of pictures like this and I become stunned with a flood of memories from the past 16 years. I thought I would share a few of them.
1.When lizard was an infant  her fave toy's was a soft pink flamingo and a squeaky tiger (from Winnie the pooh). She loved to chew/suck on their noses.
2.As a toddler she refused to potty train and being a a mom who had never gone through the process before I had no idea what to do. Till I found the reward /sit with mommie system. 
 3. One of her first words was Coke! To this day she prefers pop over anything else
 4. Lizard crawled into my bed at night up to 5 years old just to snuggle up with mom and even now on a rare occasion if she is not feeling well she will lay down next to me.....that is until I become to cramped and help her move to the couch where she can rest and I can sleep on the recliner.
5. One day in preschool Lizard had a runny nose from allergies and I had sent tissues with her to class for her to wipe her nose with.I told her to tell her teacher.  She kept telling her teacher she had issues. Finally the teacher asked if she wanted to tell the teacher about her issues. Lizard said well they are in my bag and I need to wipe my nose with one.  They teacher got a good laugh from it.
6. Lizard told her preschool teacher her grandma had shot a man. That was fun to explain that it had never happened and that we had no idea where that even came from.
7. Lizard would sit her Kindergarten class down in the morning and tell them a story or about something they were learning before class got started. Her teacher thought she was to cute and a natural leader.
8. One year Lizard got lice so bad from a kid at school I was afraid I was going to have to cut her hair off. It was awful. I felt so bad
9. From when Lizard was about 6 months to about 3 years, she would get terrible bladder infections. It took awhile to realize it was bladder infections since kids that small can't really tell you what is going on. Once we figured out the problem and went through a series of tests, that were just as scary for mom if not more as they were for her. We found out she had an over sized bladder and that she just wasn't getting it emptied. So to solve the problem it meant sitting on the potty a little longer and going back after about 5 min to make sure it was empty. Not fun but it fixed the problem
10. In second grade she saved her allowance during the month of November and December so she could go the schools Santa shop and buy "everyone" a present. She was so proud of her choices. I cried.
11. In school she struggled with tests,reading, spelling and math to the point of tears and frustration. Finally in 3rd grade it was figured out that she wasn't a bad student and we weren't bad parents who were not helping her do her homework, she has dyslexia. We found this out just in time for the reading lab to not be available for her. We brought her home to homeschool her. We worked with her slowly and now she loves to read even if she has to slow down and read out loud sometimes in order to get it right.
12. Before Sunny Bunny was born I had a 2nd trimester miscarriage. Lizard was aware mommie was pregnant and she would have another baby brother or sister soon. When I came home from the hospital after the miscarriage we told her that we lost the baby. Years later when Sunny Bunny was born she threw a fit when she had to go saying they were going to lose the baby in the hospital. As in actually misplace the baby. To this day I feel so bad that she went for so long wondering where the baby could be. It was explained to her that the hospital would not lose the baby. Since she could not go into the NICU with Sunny Bunny the Nurses took a Polaroid picture of Sunny Bunny for her to keep so she knew Sunny Bunny was ok. I still have the picture.
13. Her Aunt Country used to come over and baby sit her and her brother when they were little. She would run and get a brush for Aunt Country to brush her hair. She would fall asleep to her brushing her hair.
14.  Lizard has never been the kid who went to sleep easily. There was always something. One night when she was about out 9 she came out of her room and said she couldn't sleep because she had restless leg syndrome. She had seen the commercial earlier in the evening with us. We sent her back to bed. To which she grumbled that it just wasn't fair that we got to stay up.
15. I have a recording from when Lizard was about 4 of her crying to be spanked because we had sent her to her room for not obeying."Just give me a spanking"
16. Lizard used to have bad dreams. One night when I was particularly tired I went in and told her I had a special magic kiss to make her bad dreams go away. I licked her forehead kissed the palm of my hand and smacked it into the place I had licked. Then rubbed it in.  She looked at me so dumbfounded at first and then she smiled and went to sleep. For months she would ask for the  special kiss at bedtime. I know this sounds awful but guess what no more bad dreams. To this day she remembers it and has even suggested it to her younger siblings with an smirk on her face.
17. Last year she was going with her youth group to volunteer at one of our cities shelters. Every time she came home with in a day she would get a stomach flu. She loved going so much that despite knowing she would probably get sick she still wanted to go. She was usually with the little kids there and really looked forward to seeing them. I was so proud of her.
18. Lizard went with us to Falls Creek as a Pastor's kid but couldn't take part in the actvities meant for the teens. She wanted to so bad but was very content with going to get icies with us, the teens or other adults once or twice a day and getting to go swimming. Now that she is old enough she loves going to all the teen camps she can. I was nervous to let her go the first time but I do love letting her go and make such fun memories. I think they will be something she will look back on often as an adult.
19.  Bos used to tell Lizard and Brother Bear silly stories. Lizard would believe her daddies stories sometimes and even repeat them. One day her told her that when his mom was young that the world was black and white and that there was no sound. That bubbles would come out of their mouths and you had to read what people said. She went to her grandmas house soon after and asked her about the world when it was black and white. After a minute of trying to figure out what she was talking about her grandma laughed and told Lizard that her daddy was just joking with her and that she wasn't that old.
20. Lizard hit an age where she felt she was told old to trick or treat and so from then on she has gone camping with her dad on that weekend. She loves it and now so does her brother, but sometimes I miss them being with me. It was one of our mom with the kid traditions. They would go out with me to pick out their costumes and then the night of trick or treating I would take them around to collect their candy and be the hero at those houses that thought they wanted to have a guy jump and scare the little kiddies.

 I have so many more memories but this already starting to get to long.  I look forward to watching her to continue to grow and mature. I look forward to the memories to come.  Thank You for reading.

My baby is turning 16

My baby is turning 16 this week. I can't believe it has gone by so fast. In celebration and for my little Lizard I am going to have my next few blogs be all about her. This one is all about her very first Birthday and a little bit leading up to it.
   At the time DH and I were living together but not married. We were young and naive  about life. We had an apartment together. My brother stayed with us most of the time and some of our friends lived in the same complex at the time. We spent to much time being young and dumb and wild.  Then Bos  decided it was time to move forward and he was going to join the military. A few days after he finds out he is accepted I took my very first pregnancy test.  I cried because this was not apart of the plan but Bos just hugged me and told me everything was going to be ok. That we would be great parents. That I would be a great mommie. A few weeks later Bos proposed to me and the rush was on. We now had to plan a wedding and a baby on the way. Oh and Bos was about to leave for boot camp.  During that time we had our very first ultra sound. I had to pee so bad and had no idea that they would be pushing on my belly so much. The thrill of seeing our little peanut was more than worth the discomfort.  We didn't get to know the sex because it was to early.  Bos was sure it was a boy and my sister Country was sure it was a girl. We called the baby Michael ( our chosen boy name) because the baby needed to be called by a name. Not just It, peanut, or the baby.

We married in January and took our honeymoon to where Bos had spent most of his childhood before moving to the street behind mine. We had a ton of fun even with my ever growing belly and a snow storm. On the drive home I felt the first little flutter of my little one moving. I tried to show Bos but he couldn't feeling in anything yet.  It didn't take long before she was moving around so much there was no missing her.
  Bos left for boot camp but came home quickly the first signs of his RA had shown its ugly head we just didn't know it yet. Which was perfect for me. I was nervous about delivering the baby with out him there. I had moved back in with my mom so when he came home we had to stay with her for awhile while we tried to find some place to stay. All the while I was growing like a balloon.We still thought of the baby as Michael a boy and not picked out a girl name. We had thought about  Isabelle but my grandma told me she would be very upset with me if I chose that name. She knew a woman who had that name and could not stand her. So we changed it but we still had no middle name. That is till we were sitting in target registering for the baby and there was an adorable little girl playing and twirling around in front of us. Her name was Sierra. That was it. We had out beautiful middle name. Time kept going and so was my belly.

 As you can see I looked like I swallowed a ball but by then she had discovered her body parts fit in my ribs. I gained 50 pounds before it was all done. I was getting so uncomfortable. All of the birthing questions were coming up. Natural or Meds? Breastfeeding or Bottle? I was making those weekly visits with my doctor who was Eastern Indian and had the a very thick accent that I could barely understand, but I loved him.  He actually delivered 3 out of 4.  Then one visit I am complaining that my back is killing me. To which he gives my two pieces of advice first being where short heels to help balance me out and second I am 9 months pregnant it was bound to get uncomfortable. Then during the exam he discovers I have moved to a 1. I am on my way to labor. So we schedule to go ahead and induce me the next day. So that night I packed and repacked and of course all of our family is told the good news. We made plans for who would be there and when. My dad and stepmom was out of town on vacation with my younger sisters. I was a little bummed they were going to not be there, but I was to excited to dwell on it.
   The next morning we got up and Bos drove me to the hospital. We were lead to our room and they had me change in to one of those oh so pretty hospital gowns. Then they hooked up all the tubes and we got the ball rolling.

I was so uncomfortable. They didn't not tell me that you don't get the drugs right away. Also all that prodding and poking they do during labor was not helpful. In the above pic Bos is watching the machine that was showing my contractions while I was trying to focus through one. He was huge help. The other people you can kind of see is my sisters Syrup ( there pretty much there the whole time) and Country ( who got of high school to come). My mom was there ( I know think nervously)helping me keep my focus on different spots in the room.  * A little funny story at this point. The monitor had slipped off my belly and to my side with out my knowledge. I was having a mother of a contraction. Bos was looking at me worriedly and then says " the machine says it is not that bad of a contraction." To which I sternly replied " Well then it is lying" *We had a ton of family up there waiting with us including Bos's parents, his brother and 1st wife, my brother,my MiMi, and my stepdad. It was a full room and waiting room.  Everyone was ready for the little one to make their big appearance.
   The guy with the good stuff finally showed up and gave me my first epidural. That is an interesting procedure. You have to lean over a pillow as far as you ( which was not far with my belly) and then hold very still ( never mind you are having contractions and would rather not) while they put the stuff into your back. Oh but it was so worth it. I felt so much better and the then creeping labor started to speed up.
    Then the big moment came.  Everyone but Bos and my mom had to leave.  The was a flurry of movement as the set up the room and changed the bed for the delivery. The very sweet nurses had me do some practice pushes. That ended up as a funny story. I was bearing down and using these very fine handles they had attached to the bed just for that. The next thing I know my hand is flying up in the air and I hear metal clinking on the floor. I had broke the handle off. The nurses were surprised but handled it like pros. With ooh that's all right .....daddy why don't you give her your hand. While we fix this. My mom was was being supportive and took a few pictures of me getting ready for the big show. Then the doctor came in and it was time. No more pictures and all business.  He pulled up a mirror so I could see. It only took a few pushes then the doc had her head. He stopped and washed the top of her little head quickly and then she was out. We finally new she was an Lizard girl and not a Michael at all.

     She was so beautiful despite being covered in white stuff. It was love at first site. She was so tiny and quiet. She stole her daddies heart in the flash of a moment. We were finally a family. The room was changed back. The family was let back in and the cooing began as well as the pictures.Everyone had a turn holding the sweet little bundle of joy. The 7lb 1 ounce , 21 1/4 inches long bundle of joy. She had dark hair and blue eyes.

    We spent two days in the hospital. Where we learned about breastfeeding , swaddling, and diaper changing more. Bos got that first yucky tar poo. That was such an unexpected mess. He handled it so well and sweetly. I had changed diapers before but he had never really had to do it before. He was so very gentle with her like she was almost not even real. I sang to her a song that meant so much to us. You are my Sunshine and started a tradition.  My dad and step mom called in to congratulate us and to promise  to see the baby as soon as they got home. 
  The day it was time to take her home was an exciting and nerve wrecking day. Bos installed the seat while I dressed her in the to big newborn dress we had chosen for the trip home. Then I rode home with Lizard in the back seat while BOs drove home the slowest I had ever seen him drive. We went into the hospital a childless couple and came out a family. This all happened 16 years ago and yet it is all still so fresh as it happened a few months ago.  Well that is Lizard's Birthday story. I have some stories coming up of her as she grew with pictures to go with them. Thank you so much for reading and joining in on the celebration with me.

                                              Happy 16th Birthday My Sweet Lizard.