A Father's Day Giveaway!

Hello Lovelies,

My wonderful friend Holly is hosting my giveaway on her blog. Holly has such a wonderful heart and a lovely family. She shares stories of motherhood, crafts, recipes and much more. She is amazing!! 

So please head on over and check out her blog, while you are there enter my giveaway. 

Here is a picture Holly took of the custom order I made for her. 

                                         

                             

Sad

This is my journal, a way to document our journey. That means even the sad times.
This isn't a magazine it is ME....US.
I've attempted to write this post many times,
not for you but for me.
I'm hoping that it could help with the healing process.
Right now my heart is hurting, my eyes are filled with tears, my mind is filled with thoughts of what ifs, if only, I should have done this, or said this....Oh how I wish I can turn back time.

You see my grandma is very ill and she soon will be with the Lord.
I know that when she is with Him she will feel no pain and be happy in the presence
of our Lord and Savior.
She has been sick for a several months and I have got to tell you it has been a roller coaster of emotions. Not just for me but for the whole family!
The grieving/healing process is a long one and everyone handles it differently.
Some feel mad, sad, depressed, confused and angry.
At different times or all at once.
Asking why? Why did this happen? Playing back the situation in our minds to see if we could of changed the situation at hand. If we only did this? Or perhaps caught it earlier. Just maybe.
I have.
I wish I would've visited her more often.
Honestly I have seen her more now that she is sick than I did when she was well. This truth I write has been eating at me.
It hurts!
I feel like I failed!
Every year I told myself that I would visit more but life always got busy and I never made a big effort.
Sure I saw them on holidays, their birthdays and some special occasions.
But I should have seen them more.
So while I was crying I started to think of how I wished I did this or that.
My husband grabbed my hand and said you are here for her now, go visit her.
He is right, she is still with us.
So that is what I've been doing.
I go see her and sometimes she's asleep but I sit and hold her hand.
I tell her I love her and sometimes we chat a little about what the kids are doing.
And other times I am just there to listen to her.
I will cherish these moments I have with her and keep them in my heart forever.

Life Lately {April}

 Life is always moving, and I'm just trying to keep up, or at least survive. Things are busy around here but aren't they always? Being a mom, a wife and trying to keep up with my jewelry business, is definitely a challenge at times. Mother's Day orders and Teacher Appreciation week, which kept me busy in April. So it's busy here but a good busyness.

Here is a peek at April.

April was filled with birthday celebrations, skee ball fun, Disneyland adventures, Preschool at home for Gabriel,

Open house at the school, Boys brought me roses from their walk,  Dad got a new hat, Daniel's Speech Therapy, Kids State testings, trying to eat healthy, Dad had Jury duty, worked on new designs for the shop, a red rose from my hubby.

That's about it, a quick peek at our April. 

Wordless Wednesday: Grandpa's Birthday!!

Last weekend we celebrated my Grandpa's birthday! He turned 94!! Can you believe it? I think he looks pretty good. He is always moving around and trying to stay busy. I think he is pretty hip he even wears converse shoes! I told him I liked his shoes and he said "thank you, they were only $4.00 from my favorite store" (the Goodwill). He's a great bargain shopper :)

Check out the converse shoes ^^

I love this photo of him and I.

Here are some pictures of him and Daniel. I couldn't believe Daniel went and hopped on his lap.  So I quickly grabbed my camera to take these shots. Melt my heart!!

Daniel soon spotted me and gave me a little smile.

                                 I love you Grandpa and hope you had a Happy Birthday!!

I know that these moments we have with him I will keep in my heart forever.

Shop Update

So little by little I've been working on new designs.
I'm really excited to share them with you.
I still have to photograph some and add them all to the shop.
I have shared some on my Facebook fan page
but wanted to share on my blog as well.

So here is a sneak peek at some of the new designs.
I have been wanting to add these for sometime now
especially since both my boys have started guitar lessons.

These are great gifts for the musician in your life. 

These can be turned into a necklace, 

keychain or you can use them to play.

You can even add a leather keychain case for your pick.

I actually listed a few to test it out to see if 

there was any interest and within two days we sold out! 

The guitar picks will be offered in nickel silver, copper or aluminum.

This is a memorial piece that I made awhile back. It features a hand wrapped freshwater pearl that dangles in the center of the cut out heart washer with an angel wing charm.  I gave it a rustic finish by slightly texturizing it and a brushed satin finish.

You can find these in my shop.  I have lots of new things coming and I'll be trying to get prepared for Mother's day!!

Have a great weekend!!!

Easter 2013

 Here is a look at our Easter weekend.

We started off with egg dyeing.  This year Daniel was more interested in helping out.

Many people dye hard boiled eggs, but we dye eggs that have an empty shell then fill them up with confetti. 

Why you ask? You'll see.

We also made our resurrection rolls again this year. 

I really enjoy making these with the kids because it helps refocus on what the true meaning of Easter actually is. We read the story and talk about Jesus while we make them. 

We started this tradition a few years ago and I believe every year they turn out better and better. 

They are not perfect but they tasted very good!

After church we headed to my parent's house to celebrate with them. we had lots of yummy food and visited with cousins.  

Then it was time for the egg hunt to begin! 

Daniel was really interested in the Easter egg hunt as long as Dad was helping him. 

The older kids were off looking for the eggs. 

See, here is what happens after the egg hunt is over with the confetti filled eggs. They are used to be cracked on each other's heads. Why? You ask. Well I'm not sure, it is just something we've always done since I was a child. I know my husband had never heard of this. His family only hunts for plastic eggs filled with candy. We do both! It took sometime for my hubby to get used to it.

The kids really enjoy chasing each other around and cracking them on each others heads. 

I hope you had a wonderful Easter!

Life Lately: Spring Break

Well, hello there!! I know it's been awhile since I've posted on the poor blog. I really need to get the hang of this.
Life is so busy and I always feel like I need to catch up! The days are just flying by and I can't catch my breath. As I'm sure that many of you can relate. Anyways, I thought I'd share a little bit of what has been going on over here.

Des had spring break a few weeks ago but the boys will start there break today. I really wished they had it at the same time then we could plan our days better. So we've tried to do some fun things after school since we can't go anywhere really far.

After school on Wednesday, we took the kids to Disneyland. It was nice to just relax and hang out with the kids.  Love Disneyland!

I saw them holding hands and I turned quickly to snap this picture before they let go but I cut off there hands......oops.  Never too old to ride the carousel!!

My sister and I took Michael to the mountains for the Junior high Winter Retreat with the church. Des went last month but this was a first for Michael. This was the longest time he's been away from home. So I was a little nervous, but he did just fine.

It was so beautiful seeing the white snow, it was like a thick white blanket.
We took some pictures ( I love this picture!!! ) and prayed for his weekend to be blessed and that we got home safely.
Driving in the snow made me a little nervous.

After church on Sunday we drove up to pick him up from camp. Since we were going up we decide to make a day out of it.

We grabbed some lunch and went on a hunt to find a nice area to play in the snow.

 Des went to take her permit driving test. And she passed!! I have mixed feelings about this. I'm happy but oh SO nervous for her to be driving. Did you notice I said I was nervous three times already....make it four. 

We went to the movies and saw OZ, it was really good!  A lot better than I thought it would be.

We had family movie night and watched Wreck it Ralph. I really like this movie and so did Daniel!!
He is just relaxin while eating his ice cream cone.



We went to a birthday party and the kids got to ride horses. Gabriel rode on a horse for the first time.

I tried to get Daniel on it, at least for a picture but he just kept shaking his head no!  Des took him to pet some animals instead. He seemed to be happier there.

My sweet gentle James liked petting the animals too!

 Enjoying these everyday moments with the kids.
(Did you notice Daniel got a haircut?) :)

I hope you are enjoying your spring break!

Daniel is 18 months!

My little sweet Daniel turned 18 months in January,
I can't believe how fast time has flown by.
I know it's late for this post but
I really wanted to document his milestone.
Some mom's can't wait for their baby/toddler to reach their next milestone
but for me it is kinda of bittersweet.
Maybe because I know we are ending this stage and
I possibly won't be in this stage of parenting again.
I want to SAVOR the moments I have with him in this stage.
I know that in a blink of an eye he will be such a big boy.

So I wanted to share what you have been up to lately. You are a very curious little guy, always thinking and exploring. You don't say many words, actually about 4 that we could understand. Dada, hola, bye and Gaaa, which we think Gaaa is for Gabriel or Grandma. 

You love to eat, you will run and sit on Dad's lap at the table even if you have already eaten. 

You like to sit with him and eat again. You don't like to sit in your high chair anymore, I think it is because you a want to eat on the go. 

Some of your favorite foods right now are: spaghetti, yogurt, pizza, eggs, rice, beans, green beans apples, bananas & toast. 

You love your sister and brothers. You try to copy what they are doing. I'd have to say Gabriel is your best friend and I hope you two will always be very close. It melts my heart when I watch you two play together. He is very protective over you. 

 You can be so sweet and gentle at times, but can definitely let us know when you want to be heard.

The temper tantrums have begun. I'm not sure if it's more because you are frustrated and don't know how to talk to us to get our attention or perhaps it is just the age.......maybe both.

We still haven't gotten you a professional haircut yet. We tried but you screamed before we were even tried to start. Grandma has trimmed a little bit of your hair but that is about it.

You know some of your body parts such as nose, eyes, ears, head, hands, hair, feet, mouth, teeth and tummy. When we ask you where is _______? You will point.

You love to go outside and play. You love to explore, run and climb.
You love your Dad a lot, there are many times that you will chose him over me.

You love to snuggle and give hugs. Your hugs are so sweet and I love when I see you run up to give your sister or brothers a hug. It truly melts my heart. I hope that you will continue to snuggle because 

they are truly the best. 

 Each day you are changing and learning something new. I'm so happy to see all your new discoveries with you. I love how you run to look for me when your frightened. I am honored to be the one to protect you and make you feel safe. I love your smile and hearing you laugh. Your eyes light up when you've seen something for the first time or made a new sound. It is just so precious to see your excitement in your face.  I am blessed by God that He chose me to be your mama.
I love you so much, Daniel!

Love, Mama