Rented! Sold? Moving!

Let me first acknowledge...I am a terrible blogger!  While I have been checking in with all my bloggy friends, I have been completely absent from my blog for over a month!  Life seems to be moving exceptionally fast around here and I just haven't been able to carve time out to sit down and get my thoughts into any kind of organized/readable format. Keeping that in mind...read along at your own risk!

So what has been keeping us so busy over here?  We have had about a billion (minor overstatement!) showings and cleaning a house top to bottom really eats up a day!  In the end, though, we rented out our house to a young family.  They move in on December 1st and have an 18 month lease with an option to purchase at the end of their lease.  So, is the house sold?  We don't know and ultimately don't really care. The good Lord brought us a great family who will take care of our home and pay us rent that will cover our mortgage.  

So, where are we going to live?  We found a rental home less than 2 miles away from our church and less than 10 minutes away from Todd's office....BINGO!  We move on November 22nd and really need to get our butts in gear and start packing....if only we weren't right in the middle of "crafting" season.  We are busily preparing for the Regional Hearts at Home conference in Rochester, MN, in less than 2 weeks.  I always think that we'll do a better job of planning and working ahead, but it always comes down to frantically sewing into the wee hours in the weeks before the show.

And of course there is this home schooling thing that we do all day.  The younger children recently took their "standardized test" and we found out what we already knew.  They are all progressing well and learning their stuff.  The further along I get in our educational journey, the more strongly I feel against testing for testing's sake...but that is a blog for another time.

That's the ultra quick update on the family.  I gotta sign off and go sew another hour or so before I can hit the hay for the night.  Hope that you are all doing well and am going to try and be a better poster in the upcoming weeks!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Hearts at Home Rochester 2011

We made it!  My mom and I got my booth all set up, finished our first evening, and have retired to the motel for a few hours of sleep before we start again in the morning.  This is such a wonderful experience.  Being surrounded by so many other happy moms is utterly refreshing.  This is my fourth year being a vendor at this conference.  It is so much fun to have ladies return and purchase additional items from me.  That is the ultimate compliment!

I saw a lot of smiling faces and heard tons of laughing today, so I know that everyone is having a good time!  I look forward to another wonderful day tomorrow.

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Two Down - One to Go!

The whole Craft Show world is unusual.  It is such a short season, that we feel we really need to take advantage of good opportunities to sell our wares.  This has gotten progressively more difficult as our family has grown larger over the years.  Additionally, there is a massive crunch trying to get more of something made that sold well last year at any particular sale.  And of course, I've always got new ideas for things! 

This month has been a blur (is it really Thanksgiving next week?!?) and our family was starting to feel it.  Even though we've got one last craft show this weekend, I've decided to back off and just have a "normal" week with schooling and activities without mommy stressing about getting more blankets done.  I've been sewing after the kids go to bed, and that's it.  They are my priority - and I need to remember that. 

We had many small successes today.  School was done by noon.  The kids played in the snow - for 2 hours!  There were minimal melt-downs (from both me and the kids!).  We had a family meal before daddy has to travel again tomorrow (chicken noodle soup and fresh bread...yum!).   I had an online bible study with some fellow Catholic, home schooling moms tonight (refreshed my spirit for the rest of the week).  Today was a good day - praise God for that!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Ready for Business!

On the drive here, the rain turned to a slushy snow (what we Minnesotans call a "wintry mix") but we arrived in Rochester safely.  We unloaded and got set up. 

Esther was so good - and when she got antsy grandma took her out for some exercise.

All set up and ready for business!

The weather is wintry.  I'm hoping that doesn't deter the ladies from coming.  They were anticipating about 1.500 women to attend...we'll see!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Hearts at Home - Here I Come!

Todd got Big Blue loaded - and I mean loaded - and I'm off to spend the next two days with the wonderful ladies at the Hearts at Home Regional Conference in Rochester, MN.  I'm bringing Esther along and grandma volunteered to come along and watch the baby for me - you've gotta love grandmas!  It is supposed to snow on the drive home, so please pray for safe travels.

There's still some room for us - I LOVE this vehicle!

hmmm...think there's room for a couple of suitcases in there still?

Hope to see you there!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Big Success at The Big One!

I am so far behind in my blogging...I've been busy sewing and preparing for another craft show this week.  Last week we all drove to Minot, ND to visit family and attend The Big One Arts and Crafts Show.  The visit went great - I don't even think we wore out our welcome!  The craft show was one of our best there ever, so all is good.

Here's our booth set-up

There's Grandma Pam, Madeline and Haley helping out.

Here's all the grand kids on my side with grandma and grandpa.

Then, of course, there was the long drive home (500 miles to be exact, but who's counting!?).  The kids are always troopers and I only had to pull over to the side of the road once to deal with a behavior issue - not bad!

Esther and Joseph

Eleanor and Haley

Madeline and Lillian

Esther started walking and she is so proud of herself!  I love watching babies learn how to walk.  And of course she has a whole bunch of siblings cheering her on along the way!

Here she comes!

There she goes!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Nickle Dickle 2010

This weekend we had our first craft show of the season - Nickle Dickle Day in Waconia, MN.  This one is close to our home, so it's always enjoyable to visit with friends and repeat customers.  The weather was cooperative which was a huge answer to prayer.  It's such a gamble doing outdoor shows - the rain and wind can be real crowd killers!  All in all, it was a good day.  Not our best show ever, but not the worst either.  Grandma Pam came to visit and was a huge help watching the children so that I could be gone all day and Todd could help with the set-up and tear-down.  Grandmas rock!

  

Here's a few pictures of our "stuff" on display.

Here I am, trying to stay warm.  It was pretty chilly, especially in the shade!

Now we've got about a month off  before we get busy with craft shows again.  The first week in November we'll be at The Big One in Minot, ND.  That's the town Todd and I grew up in, so we get to visit relatives and do a craft show all in one trip!  The second weekend of November we'll be in Rochester, MN for the Hearts at Home Regional Conference.  If you're within a days drive, it's worth checking out.  It's a wonderful "shot in the arm" for your mom spirit!  And the third weekend of November we have a one day show at a local high school.  That show is fun - only 6 hours and it's crazy busy so the day flies by!

Now, I'm off to bed.  We've got school in the morning and I'll have 6 kiddos ready to go - even if I'm not! :-)

God Bless!

Heather :-)