In my mind this post is potentially long, we will see what happens in reality:) I am going to rant and rave a bit, and show some fun photos. I try to keep the blog a happy place, but some things just need to be written.

I think I will start with the ranting and end on happier thoughts.

Another reason I hate word press, is the endless amount of spam comments, I get about 60-100 a day. I have also accidentally marked real comments as spam as they were in the middle of the million spam comments with no way to get them back. SO annoying.

I sent out a custom order today, and did not photograph it before I mailed it . UGGG You will have to use your imagination. My client ordered two vintage quilt wreaths for her double front doors, and she requested red bows. They turned out really cute. You can click here to see the vintage quilt wreaths I have in the shoppe.

****

This is the part that may get long. About two weeks ago Gabby came home with a opt out permission slip for a survey they would be taking in Health class. The permission slip said there may be questions about sex, drug and alcohol use. So, we decided she did not need to be exposed to these types of questions and opted out. We have talked about sex and answered her questions, she is aware there are drugs out there and she is aware of alcohol as we partake.

Last Friday night she informed me that her teacher forced her to take the survey. WHATTTTT?? She said the teacher told her she turned in the permission slip to late. As far as I am concerned up to30 seconds before is not too late. She also raised her hand and said her parents did not want her to take it and the teacher stuck her hand out and basically said too bad.

To say the least, Chad and I are furious. On Monday Chad wrote a letter to the superintendent of schools MO GREEN. I am going to go off on a tanget for a moment. Mo Green is new as the superintendent this year, and he started a campaign “Mo wants to Know”. He asked to community to email and ask questions or state problems and he would address them. The beginning of October I wrote him an email because I found out that he thought he would cancel all holidays in the schools. The kids only get a spring and a winter party. NO HALLOWEEN, Christmas, VALENTINES day, St. Patricks you get the point. I am so upset, who doesn’t remember making/buying valentine cards and passing them out to your classmates. I guess I understand not celebrating Christmas since we have to be politically correct. The point being he never wrote me back and Chad never heard back from him.

Chad then wrote the principal of Gabs school an email. He has been emailing back and forth for most of the week. The principal talked to Gabby and the teacher. The principal has apologized numerous times, but this does not change the fact that our daughter was exposed to unnecessary information and the fact that we her parents we treated as if the teacher has more say then we the parents do. Chad got a copy of the survey sent home with Gabby.

Here are some of the questions my 11year old and other 6th graders were exposed to.

Have you ever seriously thought about killing yourself?

Have you ever made a plan about how you would kill yourself?

Have you ever tried to kill yourself?

Have you ever tried cigarette smoking, even one or two puffs?

Have you ever had a drink of alcohol?

Have you ever used marijuana?

How old were you when you tried marijuana for the first time?

Have you ever used any form of cocaine, including powder, crack, freebase? OMG-

Have you ever sniffed glue, or breathed the contents of spray cans, or inhaled any paints? Introducing a behavior she new nothing about.

Have you ever had sexual intercourse?

How old were you when you had sexual intercourse for the first time?

With how many people have you ever had sexual intercourse with? ( Making it seem ok to have multiple partners.)

Have you ever vomited or taken laxatives to lose weight or keep from gaining weight? ( Once again introducing behaviors she knows nothing about)

Here is one of the responses Chad received, Bureaucracy at its finest:

Mr. Smith,

Regarding the question about the Youth Risk Behavior Survey:

The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is administered approximately every two years by the State Department of Public Instruction in school districts across the state of North Carolina. This survey is also used in other states across the United States. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey was administered to all the middle and high schools in 2003. The School Health Advisory Council recommended to the Superintendent and Board of Education that the survey be administered again locally to all middle and high schools. The Moses Cone-Wesley Long Community Health Foundation provided funding for the survey via the Guilford Education Alliance which is overseeing the project. The data that is obtained from the administration of the survey is used by various community agencies/organizations and school system staff when developing and updating programs. Thanks.

There is so much more to be said on this topic, but this post is way too long all ready! Chad is thinking about writing an editorial to the local paper. This incident will be notated in the teachers file. BIG DEAL!

*****

On to other happier topics.

Autumn is done here, there are only a few leaves left on the trees. We have officially moved on to winter with temps in the 20’s-30′W. we woke up this morning to snow. Not a lot, but enough to delay the start of school for two hours. I took a photo of the front yard before it all melted.

May not be too exciting to a lot of people who have lived or live where it snows. But for me the CA girl it is neeto. The girls were outside in it this am,they are hoping for a real snow so they can sled down our hill.

I made this quilt. It turned out fine, not exactly how I wanted. Last year I saw a quilt just like this but cuter on Sarah’s blog, I loved it and knew I needed to make one. I love the colors she used. I used what I had laying around.

I just added some vintage flinch cards to the shoppe. They are a bit different than the ones that are all ready there. You can find them in the emphemera category.

Another new item in the shoppe, vintage bingo cards- 10 pack. Check the ephemera category.

Off to knit and relax.

********************WARNING***************************** There are a lot of photos on this post!

Let’s start with things that are bugging me. 1: I decided not to pay for Premium shipping services for my Shoppe, it was an additional fee on top of my web hosting fees. I thought it was not worth it,now I am thinking it may have been. Every order I have received since I canceled this has had goofed up shipping. I thought I fixed the problem and apparently not. If anyone has wanted to place an order and the shipping stopped them, contact me and I will get it straightened out, plus you will get an extra goodie for your troubles. I hope to get the shipping under control in the next day or two.

2: I lost my cell phone:( On Halloween and keep hoping it is going to turn up. It has not, so I have been using Chad’s old cell since then. UGGGG So if you don’t have Chad’s old cell number, email me and I will give it to you! I hate using his phone, it has a dumb ring tone, it is not pink and it has a LA Dodgers screen saver:(

3: Still can’t get the Cache to clear, I found the tab at the top under tools, and I clicked on clear cache and Nothing happened. UGGG Still can’t upload photos on Flock.

I thought there was something else, Hmm.. can’t seem to remember though!

Ok, on to some fun stuff.

Thank you all for the crock pot recipes and the crock pot web site. I am excited to try them.

ATTENTION PINK CHRISTMAS SWAPPERS!!!- Just wanted to make sure everyone is taking the time to get to know their partners. The send by date is November 25th. If you have any questions please feel free to email me.

There was a garage sale in my neighborhood over the weekend, so I popped in. The lady who’s house it was at was a crafter and quilter, and a vintage quilt collector, it was heaven.

This is a terrible picture, but this is a whole shadow box full of vintage black glass buttons! Love them!!!!!!

1 skein of verigated eggplant wool yarn, and half of a vintage chenielle comforter. Since this one is all ready cut up I am actually going to use it for crafting and not as a pretty decoration.

One more vintage quilt for my collection! She had about 20 for sale and I would love to have had them all, but this one was cheap and the others were not!

I got this one also, it is a small lap size and was super cheap!

Is this not the cutest vintage rocking horse, I got it for 3$ it looks adorable in Grahams room:)

This is a swap I received for the Pay it forward swap. I love everything, I am so excited about the mica flakes!

I made this neck warmer for my swap partner for the Seceret Santa Fat Quarter Swap. I made myself one and I LOVE it!

Here are all he goodies I sent to my Fat Quarter swap!

This is Grahams idea of an outfit to go outside in! Mind you it was freezing out. The girls and I were cracking up!

Here is Gab jumping into the huge pile of leaves. She hates this picture, I love theat she is in mid air! My girls were a bit hesitant to go in the leaves at first, but they got over it.

Playing in the trees!

Leaf head!

Leaf piles are so much fun!

My three G’s in a pretty red tree.  They are in their grubby clothes, but I love this picture!

Miss Gwen jumping in the leaves. I love the look of joy on her face!

I made these heart ornaments out of a vintage quilt.  I am taking them to the craft fair I am going to and if i make some more, I will put a few in the Shoppe.

I made these trees before Halloween, they are not done yet, I need to fancy them up. Sarah wrote a great tutorial on how to bleach and dye trees.

I made this bunting before Halloween, and I had it hung out front, but it would not stay up. So inside it came, I don’t love it here, so I may relocate it again.

These two were both made before Halloween, this picture doesn’t show how sparkley and glittery it is.

I made these ornaments for the craft show. There is a tutorial somewhere online and if I can remember where I found it I will let you know.

I made this ornament the other day, I am planning on selling it, even though I LOVEEEEEEEEEEEE it!  Below is the back, it is vintage wallpaper.

I knitted up this scarf the other night, I am not sure what I am doing with it, it will probably be a Christmas gift!

Sheesh that was a long post!  Making up for the lack of posting lately.  Off to bed! XOXO Jen

The day before Halloween I decided to make some play dough for the kids.  I mainly was making it for Graham thinking the girls would not want to play with it.  I was wrong.

Graham played with it for a long time, he did sample it a few times! Thank goodness it is edible.

Gwen also played with it for a long time, I think she enjoyed it more than Graham.

I got up Halloween morning and made the girls bat shaped sandwiches.  Later when I looked in the fridge this is what I found.  Gab had made it while she was eating her breakfast and snuck it into the fridge.

The girls each had a friend over after school.  We were trick or treating at their house later that evening.  I not only had to get my whole family ready, but the other girls wanted their makeup done and one needed a updo.  I managed to get us all out the door by 5pm. We had to trick or treat the 4 neighbors in our court. We were going to the other neighborhood because we have no street lights, no sidewalks and the houses are really far apart.  Our neighbors are all older people other than my neighbor Robin.  The neighbors were so excited to have trick or treaters, they said it had been 20 years since they had any.  This is the girls walking up our neighbors driveway.

My cute cowboy walking down the street after visiting the neighbors.  He did not want his picture taken, as you will see in the picture I tried to get of the three of them together.

I KNOW this picture is blurry, Chad would not stop walking.  I think it is cute anyway.  I made Chad’s faux boots at 2pm, I almost bought some at the party store, but they were 10$.  I knew I had enough of the fabric from Grahams costume leftover to make his boots.

I just wanted ONE picture of the three of them together.  This was the best one.   Graham wanted to run around since he was out side, not pose for pictures.  Maybe next year:)

Every year I think I am not going to dress up.  Every year on Halloween, I can’t stand not dressing up and I pull something together at the last minute. Chad had been a pirate last year for the girls father daughter dance for Girl Scouts, so I decided to be a pirate with him. It is not the best picture of either of us, but it is the ONLY one we got.

Trick or Treating

Leading the pack. He ran from house to house for much longer than I thought he would.

I decided I needed to take photos of the beautiful trees I am staring at out my windows.  Look at the trees behind my house.

I had to go to the party store on Halloween to get Graham some guns for his costume, and found these grave stones.  They were 75% off, so they were only $1.50 each. I will be super excited to put them out next year.

These are the trees I see out my family room french doors, they are sooooo pretty.

I see this one out my kitchen window.

It is really beautiful here right now, the trees are so amazing.

Have a great Sunday!

XOXO Jen

Welcome to this weeks addition of Pink Saturday. I knew on Monday what I was posting this week, which is a great feeling, because I am usually racking my brain all day Friday. On Monday I received a present from my parents. It is something I didn’t have but have been wanting for a while. Not only did they get me this present, they got it in pink! Yeah for me!!

A pink crock pot, aren’t my parents the best!

I have been married 12 years and have never used a crock pot! Crazy! I may have had a hand me down one before we got married, but never used it. I made pork tenderloin in it the other night and the fam LOVED it!! If any one has a really yummy crock pot recipe, I would love to have it!

Stop by Beverly’s to visit all the other fun Pink Posts!

Have a great weekend!

xoxo Jen

Artsy Mama is hosting an Autumn Gathering party today! You can click on the button below and on the right side of her site is a list of all the participants. I can’t wait to see everyones amazing decorations.

For the Autumn Gathering Party I am going to show some of my decorations and some fun photos of Graham at the pumpkin patch at his preschool.

I actually exist in a photo, it is a miracle. Graham goes to preschool at the Jamestown Methodist, they have a pumpkin patch and hayride on the premises. On Monday it was his classes turn to visit the patch. Here we are on the hayride. The kids loved it.

He looks all sweet and innocent, HA. Two seconds after I took this picture he decided the pumpkins needed to be kicked like soccer balls!

Having fun walking through all the pumpkins.

One of the many pumpkins he sat on.

More pumpkin photos!

Look at my pumpkin!!

I may have posted this before, but I made it and I LOVE IT!!!

This is my vintage printers drawer, I decorate it for every holiday.

Trick or treat sign! Look at the black spider web, I made it and have them in a few windows.  They were really easy to make.

Here is a close up.  All you have to do is take some black puff paint and put it on a no stick cookie sheet in a spider web shape. Let it dry for 24hrs, peel off carefully and stick where ever! I saw this in a magazine, can’t remember which one though!

Here is one view of my foyer!  Not that anyone ever comes to the front door. Everyone comes through the kitchen, NICE!

Both of these were from Martha Stewart Living last year.  This year you can buy the bats all ready made.  I love the thing above the door, it took me forever to cut out! This is the door way into the living room off of the foyer.

These mice were also from Living magazine last year.  This is the stairway off the foyer.  I think you can buy these now too.

These are also in the foyer. They are on top of my hall tree.  These were from Country Living last year or the year before??  Super easy to make, not as easy to store.

One last corner of the Foyer.  I got this shelve a few years ago at a yard sale for 5$.  Usually it is full of girly pink things.  I made the black flowers a few years ago out of tissue paper.

I love this wreath, I got it a few years ago at good old Target. This is on my front door!

Built ins in my family room.

Close up!  These will stay out until thanksgiving.  After Halloween I will take down all the Halloween decor and put up more fall goodies!

My Grandma framed this picture of Gabby and I. I have been putting it out for the last 10 years, I love it, she was so cute!!!

This is in the family room also.  I made the cross stitch at the top.  Gwen drew the witch when she was really little. I think it is the cutest witch ever!  She critiques it because it is not perfect, now that she is older!

Gwen also drew the owl in the foyer next to the shelf!

PHEW, this is the last one.  This is my dining room table.  I will be adding more after Halloween. There are  quite a few more decorations in my house, but this post is long enough.  Plus I was suppose to have it up this am, it is almost 1pmEST! YIKES!

Happy Fall!

XOXO Jen

For pink Saturday this week, I thought I would show one of my favorite rose pictures. I got it fairly recently at an estate sale. I only paid a couple of dollars for it. I love it. It is in my powder room:) I didn’t get around to taking other pictures once again, so this is the main event. I love the pink frame too. You can pop over to Beverly’s too see all the other pink goodness.

For some reason I thought the deadline for sign ups for my “Vintage Pink Christmas” swap was today. I just looked at the details and the deadline is the 15th, so there are a few more days left to sign up. So, partners will be assigned next week. If you want to sign up click here for the details or to sign up.

Have a pretty &pink Saturday.

XOXO Jen

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I am participating in my second show and tell Sunday. You can see all the other participants at Junque Art. This weeks theme is Vintage Aprons.  I have a ton of vintage aprons, however I decided to show you three of my favorites.

I think I got all three of these at Estate Sales, can’s remember.

The girls were playing restaurant or something to that effect and they were wearing a couple of other vintage aprons.  We also wear them when we bake.

Sorry this is so short and boring, but I have a cold:(  I will be posting a bunch of fun things in the next couple of days!

Have a great Sunday!

XOXO Jen

I have been busy all week with my in laws, so I have not had a lot of time to photograph things. So there will only be one pink item this week for Pink Saturday. This is one of my favorite pink items, not that I don’t LOVE all my pink goodies.

Yes, we actually use this phone. Mostly just to answer calls, unless we can not find one of the three cordless phones we have. The girls will have friends over and they will ask about the phone because they apparently have not seen one before:) I got it on Ebay seven years ago.

Only a few more days to sign up for the Vintage Pink Christmas Swap. You can go here to sign up.

Beverly at How Sweet the Sound is the Hostess of Pink Saturdays, if you want to join.

Have a great weekend:)

XOXO Jenpi

Yesterday was my first Pink Saturday and today is my first Show and Tell Sunday. Show and tell Sunday has a different theme each time. It is hosted by Cerri at Little Pink Studio, it will be every other week. This weeks theme is figurines, which I have a few of. Chad does not love them, actually he really dislikes them a lot. So they reside in the living room because I love them and we don’t spend much time in that room. Chad is a very good hubby who puts up with all of my girlie decorating, he actually likes a lot of it. He even painted my kitchen pink, so without getting rid of the things he hates, I try to put them where he doesn’t have to look at them.

This is my favorite one. It is a vintage Joseph Original. I love the colors and I love her dress and the pretty roses. I love the image of the mother holding her baby so lovingly. I got her at a flea market in CA.

I got this pretty lady at an estate sale not to long ago. I love her vintage dress, it is so prettty

Apparently I like vintage ladies:) I got this one at an estate sale for 2$. She is chalkware and about 10″ tall.

These two ladies reside in my part of the bathroom, so Chad actually really hates these. Not sure if it is because he has to look at them everyday or if he just hates these particular ladies.

I have a few more, but am going to save them for another time.

Back to cutting out black mice for Halloween decorations.

XOXO Jen

This is my first time participating in Pink Saturday. Beverly at How Sweet The Sound is the hostess for Pink Saturday. If you are interested in participating, you can visit her blog and join in the fun.

For my first post I am going to share a few of my favorite Pink items. I should have no problem coming up with Pink things for many months to come, since it is my favorite color:)

Not sure what the deal is with this picture, this is what happens when you are with out Photo Shop:(

Anyway, this is one of my very favorite pink items, I bought it from my friends Granny.  She loves pink also and once she heard I love pink she would save things aside for me. I got cups somewhere else, which eludes me at the moment, it may have been Ebay.

This is my very small pink milk glass collection.  I would love to have more of it, however it is not in abundance like the white milk glass is.  I also Love the vintage pink pottery dog, I got him at an estate sale a while back.

That is all the pink goodies I am showing for now, I guess the items below fall into the pink category also:)

The winner of my one year anniversary giveaway is………………………………………. #11Beeb Ashcroft - Congrats, I have sent you an email to notify you. Thanks to everyone who entered, wish I could give you all a prize:)

Here are your random numbers:

11

Timestamp: 2008-09-19 15:04:16 UTC

Here are some new items I have made, and will be adding to the store this weekend.  I would love to do it tonight however it is quarter to 12 and I finally figured out how to get my photos to do what I want them to do on Chad’s laptop.

Vintage Rose

This necklace is so hard to give up, I love it.  The rose in the charm is vintage wall paper sealed with a clear finish to protect it.  Added to it is this darling part of a lonely vintage earring.  The pink bead is also from a vintage necklace.

Pretty In Pink

I love this one too.  A vintage skeleton key topped with vintage beads and the other charm is a vintage rose that use to be an earring.

I’ve been tagged by Michelle at Country Vintage .

If you have been tagged, here is what is requested:

Martha Stewart is hosting a Blog contest and will be featuring bloggers. You can click here to enter your blog. I entered on knowing that there is a slim chance of getting picked, but it never hurts to try.

I have some really fun posts planned, so stay tuned.

XOXO Jen