Photo Shoot Pics!

I took Aiden over to Kelsey's yesterday for another photo shoot and I am WILDLY THRILLED with how my photos turned out!!! He was all over the place and I have no idea how she even caught him looking at the camera but I'm madly in love with every shot!





His blue eyes are my favorite. And how Kels always captures them as they exactly are - vibrant, glistening and clear as glass - is amazing to me!





Hehe, in the middle of my photo shoot, Aiden ran into my arms for some hugs and Kels got several precious shots and some darling candids. But no sneak peeks - you'll see the head shots from my personal shoot soon enough! ;)

Okay, back to all the planning and organizing for the craft day!

I Know, I'm so Granola...

My friend Angie e-mailed me this link and I liked how it explained the details of plastic bag consuption: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/MULTIMEDIA02/80505016

I have a couple of grocery bag totes and have been thinking of picking up a few more. I'm always worried that I'll forget the bags when I go to the store but I already keep my coupon organizer in the car (for just that reason - so I CAN'T leave home without it) and I can just tuck the bags in beside them. We have a couple of small trash cans (that were once sold as being "earth friendly") that are specifically designed to use a plastic grocery bag as a trash can liner. We use about 6 plastic bags per week for that, as opposed to buying the small 13 gallon trash bags, and another 1 or 2 grocery bags for picking up dog poo and landscape clippings. So I think 80% canvas bag, 20% plastic would work well for us.

I'd be willing to vote yes on a plastic bag tax but only if that money went straight into programs and services that benefit us locally. I'd prefer they not be banned but if we have to do without trash can liners I know we would live. I guess I'll be the one person to go green for the other five people who are rolling their eyes right now. LOL! Besides, I love fashion and it's just SO DARNED FASHIONABLE to be green right now!

Next question: How did a pair of right-wing, conservative parents raise such a moderate daughter?!! LOL!

We're Home & There's Lots To Do!

We're home from Oklahoma where we were visiting Brian's parents. It was fun and I got a ton of cute pictures. While I was away Miss Mint was busy putting out new products! I came home to three new kits (including the new freebie) waiting for me!

This layout uses the new "girl" kit Patchwork Princess. You can see it's got plenty for boy pages, too! Aiden & MaryAnn blowing bubbles in their front yard:



This page uses the Hey Dude boy kit. LOVE the moody, rockstar colors!



I'm still sorting through pictures and I have another designer who probably thinks I'm dead that I need to scrap for!

In Other News: I delayed my bead order a bit so I could add some new shell colors and a few other things. I learned how to do a double-chunky style but I'm afraid I won't have any time to take pictures and get the new earring colors & styles up online before the end of the month. Also coming are some fashionable professional jewelry displays that I am ordering for use as personal jewelry organizers. I have some of the larger displays but the new smaller sized displays are resonably priced and make a great gift for women in your family that are difficult to shop for. I'm anticipating they'll be a big seller at the craft shows. Of course my friends are welcome to stop by and take a peek. Seeing what friends have purchased is really helping me know what to send to the shows!

For The Grandmas: Aiden is suddenly a whole new kiddo. It's only happened in this last week or so. He's gotten so much more demanding and a lot more vocal. Two days before we left town Aiden FINALLY said "cow" and "moo". (You think the easy words would come before "outside", "Major" and "bad dog" but whatever.) When we got to Brian's parent's house, we got a big kick out of how he kept calling their cats "cows" and mooing at them. We should have enjoyed the humor because after only a few corrections he was saying "cat" and meowing when we asked what sound they made. Then it happened - he learned a new animal name and sound every single day we were there. On top of it, he would hear us say a word, like "excited", and then instantly repeat it. Is it possible that his vocabulary could increase so rapidly? I know I should be expecting that "language explosion" sometime around now and wow, explosion is a good word to use. I felt my jaw drop today when I decided to teach him "sheep" and "baa" while he was sitting in his high chair eating a snack. He listened and then looked straight at the Leap Frog fridge farm toy, with it's blue sheep, and I could see how much he understood but just couldn't say yet. Impressive connection. The human brain is amazing and seeing it acquiring language in action is really interesting to me!

What I don't understand is why the child I never ever EVER hit, smack or spank is hitting and smacking me! Seriously, I don't even allow myself to yell at him and spanking children is forbidden in our house. I've been really surprised by his frustrated aggression but I know it's normal and I'm thankful for well-written parenting books. Strangely enough, by the end of the day he's always extra cuddly and wants to be held after landing a few good kicks on the changing table or whatever other infliction I've patiently endured. I'm glad I keep my cool. It helps to know hugs are coming! I can't imagine how frustrating it is to be a toddler.

The best part of today were the Mardi Gras beads Michell brought over. Aiden loved playing with them at Nana's house (shiny & irresistible? pirate treasure?) and he was THRILLED with the two dozen strands he "found" today while playing. He turned his yellow plastic construction hat upside down, filled it with the beads, dumped them out and started again. He seemed agitated when I tried to wear them and removed them as fast as I could put them on. He had more fun flinging them around and trying to unknot the inevitable tangles. Our house looks like we hosted a madri gras parade in the hallway & playroom with the worst-aiming bead throwers ever! I'm anxious to find him a little treasure chest for all of his pirate loot! LOL!

When It Rains It Pours!

In a good way! The charity craft show I was making jewelry & boards for has turned in to three shows and I'm kind of excited about them! Even better, the shell coin earrings are becoming a fast favorite. I LOVE how they look and people seem to really like the price. Here is a picture I took of the jewelry I made for the show. I think it's so pretty all together, like candy!



I am just tickled that people keep wanting to look through all the goodies before they leave for the fair at the end of this month. There are lots of one-of-a-kind designs that I don't intend to make more of so if you want to come over and look you're welcome any time. (The holiday shelf sitters are a different story! LOL!) It warms my heart to see my friends in my jewelry.

The creative juices may have been flowing with the beads but lately my scrapping has been off. I haven't done a LO in a month so these two are my warm-ups! LOL! Hope you enjoy seeing pics of the kiddo:





That's Ruthie in the tub with him! They had a pretty good time splashing around!

Come And Get 'Em!

Alright, I'll be honest and tell you that even though we were all miserably sick last week I did find some time to slip online and order some new beads. It all started when a friend lost one earring and needed me to make a replacement. I didn't have the big swarovski crystals in stock any more so I needed to order them. While I was online I stumbled upon some STUNNING new shell beads!

The beads arrived today and I've already made several pairs of earrings. (If you pre-ordered yours are ready to be picked up!) The shell coins are flat, thin and have a lacquered finish. They're earth-friendly, too, because they're cut from mussel shells that are discarded after being cultivated and harvested for food. One side is the rough, outer shell and the other side, which faces out, is irridescent and flashy, giving these earrings a LOT of shimmer! Here's an example image:



These beauties are only $6 per pair and can be purchased directly from me (local friends only) or on my website with $1.50 shipping. I have the red, warm chocolate brown, vivid aqua and warm gold colors pictured in stock now. TONS of other colors are coming and I am accepting pre-orders for black, silver gray, purple, pink, hot pink, orange, lime green and dark blue OR any combination of 2-3 colors. Might I add that the photo above doesn't come close to capturing how gorgeous these earrings are. Trust me, you'll want more than one pair!

Special Note: The lacquer finish cannot be exposed to harsh chemicals such as tarnish remover, jewelry polish or swimming pool water. Earrings are approximately 1.75 inches long NOT including the ear wire, which I would classify as being a medium-long length. Single drop earrings can be purchased directly from me for $2.50 if you'd like something smaller.

P.S. We're leaving town early in the morning on August 6 and won't be back until August 11. Orders placed August 5 and later won't be filled until I'm back home. So TODAY would be a great time to order! LOL!

Screw You, TXU!

We had a bad experience with TXU, our electric company, this week. Here's what happened:

In March I got an electricity bill showing we were paying an average price of 17.68¢ per kilowatt hour. I called in to TXU to request we be put on a price protection plan. I selected a 12 month contract that gave us an average price per kilowatt hour of 13.9¢. The customer service rep asked my permission to record our conversation as I agreed to be signed up for the plan. We did the recording, finished the call and our next bill showed the lower plan rate. All was good.

This weekend we get a bill for $368 showing we used 2600 kilowatt hours this last month. Previously our highest bill had been $210 and we ALWAYS use around 1100 kWh. I called in to see what had gone wrong. Turns out they estimated our reading for June based on May's usage and we were using about 1300 kWh during these hot months so our $152 bill last month was too low and we're making up for it this month. This was fine, we'll pay for what we use of course, but I asked the gentleman why our contract price had increased to 14.2¢ on this bill when we were locked in for 12 months at the 13.9¢ rate.

He tells me that we're not under any contract. I tell him the month I signed us up and request he go listen to the voice recording of me agreeing to the contract so they can correct the error. He searches for the recording and it's not there. In fact, TXU claims I have not called in to customer service since January - they have no record of a March phone conversation at all. I ask the gentleman to view my bills, showing where the March 17.68¢ rate dropped to 13.42¢ in April and has continued somewhat steadily through the summer. He says he can see I have a better price than everyone else is paying but there's nothing he can do about correctly showing that my account is under a price protection plan. I ask to speak to a supervisor and am told the supervisor can't correct the problem either. So my lovely rate that I thought I had locked in is no more. Worse, I can't lock in the 14.2¢ rate from this month, either, because they are only offering one plan: 24 months at 17.5¢. That's the ONLY plan they can offer me. PERIOD.

Next, I tell the gentleman supervisor that I got a letter in the mail stating rates will increase to 18¢ for our area at the end of August and that I will be billed at that rate because TXU says I'm not under a price protection plan. Again, he offers to lock me in at the 17.5¢ rate, but I insist I want the 13.9¢ I originally signed up for. He swears there is nothing he can do so I get his employee number for the Public Utilities Commission complaint I'm going to file, tell him I know it's not personally his fault, thank him and get off the phone.

Call me a conspiracy theorist but I refuse to believe that the customer service rep I talked with in March had the power to lower my price without signing me up for a contract when the supervisor I talked with today said he can't change ANYTHING, nor can he alter the product code to correctly show my account as being on a 12 month protected plan. So call in and make sure your account still shows you're under the correct plan. I'd be willing to bet I'm not the only one who has mysteriously been released from my awesome-priced contract and all the evidence destroyed! ;)

While I'm certain the fine print somewhere states that TXU can cancel their end of the deal at any time, I would have appreciated it if they had sent me a letter, instead of changing my account and deleting the proof. I was calm and polite the entire time I was on the phone but that doesn't mean this is over for TXU.


To File A Complaint with the Public Utility Commission visit: http://www.puc.state.tx.us/

Address to write a letter to the TXU CEO (cite PUC complaint number):

John Wilder
TXU Corp.
Energy Plaza
1601 Bryan Street
Dallas, TX 75201

Edited to Add: Thanks for the many e-mails with links to http://www.powertochoose.org/ - it's how I figured out what the lowest rate was for our area and then got TXU to match it under the price protection plan that never really existed that I never called in March about and that I never was recorded as signing up for. Gotta love deregulation!

On The Mend

I don't really want to think about this last week but there's too much funny stuff to not mention so let's catch you up!

First, I'm sure you'll want to hear about the stool collections. I know I can be a tad dramatic sometimes but the pure honest truth is that when I said Aiden had liquid poo I meant it. It was the consistency of orange juice and soaked into his diaper before I could ever hope of collecting it. One stool test required I fill a urine sample cup half way. With what, I don't know, since it's all liquid and either leaking out and soaking his clothes or absorbing into his diaper faster than I can move. I am left scraping tiny poo fragments out of his diaper into this cup in the hopes that I'll somehow get enough. Aiden sees me doing this a couple times and each time he watches with an odd look on his face and offers several "uh-ohs" and "nah-nah-nahs" to tell me I shouldn't be playing with dirty diapers.

After collecting bits from eleven or so diapers I decide the lab staff is just going to have to make do with the bottom of the cup being covered. Aiden is down for a nap when I finish the last collection and decide my entire kitchen needs to be completely sanitized. I'm scrubbing it down with my new favorite cleaner, OdoBan, when I flip the spray bottle over to see if I can use it to wipe down my porous wooden knife block. It's the first time I see "for use on nonfood surfaces only" and "do not use around children or animals" printed on the two sided peel-back label. I freeze, my stomach drops and I wonder if I have been accidentally poisoning my baby. I call the 800 number and talk to an OdoBan customer service rep. I get the web address for the material safety data sheet, print it out, wake up Aiden and take him, the sheet and the stool samples to the pediatrician's. I beg the lab to test the stool samples for the chemicals in the cleaner but since this isn't CSI they don't know how. They tell me to go home and call poison control. (Where the heck is Greg and the CSI Crime Lab with that cool chemical-goes-in-results-come-out printer thing when you need it?)

Back home we go and I am happy that the poison control magnet taking up space on the side of my fridge has been put to use. On the line I get one of the most disgruntled, sarcastic males working the call center that day. In a calm, normal conversational voice I tell him I need some information about a chemical my son has come in to contact with. He sounds mildly scripted as he replies "Okay, mom, take a deeeeeep breath and tell me the name of the chemical." I tell him it's the ready-to-use OdoBan spray and he asks how much of the bottle Aiden has drank. I stiffle a laugh and explain he hasn't drunk the chemical but he has had hand-to-mouth contact with surfaces cleaned with it. The gentleman on the line sounds as if he's speaking to a third grader when he says "There's nothing in this cleaner but isopropyl alcohol and detergents. It's no more dangerous than baby bubble bath and wouldn't cause the symptoms you described." I tell him the label says it will kill every germ, pet and small child in your house so how can it possibly be that mild? He swears I've bought expensive scented rubbing alcohol and there's nothing to worry about. We speculate that making it sound dangerous makes people believe it works well. And a little CYA never hurts a company these days, either. Our conversation ends with the poison control center dude assuring me other children have drank the stuff and been fine, aside from possibly having highly fragranced dirty diapers. (Could have used some of those earlier....) So that's out. Thank goodness I haven't made Aiden sick. Well, with my cleaning any ways. At that point the jury is still out on my cooking.

I talk with Brian later that afternoon and find out he's come down with the same thing Aiden has so now we're sure it's a stomach bug. (Sounds like my cooking isn't to blame, either.) So both my boys are sick and it's going to be a long weekend!

Here are some pics from last week that I just got around to downloading from the camera:



July 17: Aiden playing the part of a dashing villan with a chocolate pudding goatee.



July 21: A little goofing off at lunch time



See the banana chip he stuck in his hair? I bought these low sugar dried banana chips thinking "yay, organic whole foods!" and they taste like garbage. Actually, if you close your eyes, they taste like a slightly stale, under-salted baked lays potato chip. Not at all what I was expecting from dried bananas that looked like they were lightly glazed in caramel....



July 21: A little bubble beard action in the tub (after washing dried, salty banana out of his hair)



July 22: This was Aiden's first time to play with the bucket of sidewalk chalk he got for his birthday. I drew most of that, showing him how chalk worked. The blue blob is a tracing of his croc. The very faint, light scribbles around the edges are his work. (Not shown: the scribbles on the house, the garage, attempting to draw on the plants & the dirt in the pots and the slightly snacked-on yellow piece of chalk.) This was a couple hours before my kidney stone attack and I haven't taken any pictures since then. I've been too busy changing poopy diapers every 30 minutes. Let's hope next week is better. Oh, did I mention on top of all of this week's events, our ice maker broke? I'll be stuck at home on Monday morning waiting for the repair man to come fix it when all I really want is a day at the pool with no more poo!!!!