Thanksgiving Fun

This was the first time that I've really every hosted Thanksgiving. I was pretty nervous about it, but things really seemed to go quite smoothly and it turned out great!
I went to Hobby Lobby on Monday to see if I could find some fun decorations. (Thanks for the tip Hillari!) They had all the fall items marked down to 90% OFF! I was able to get a tray for the turkey plus lots of stuff to decorate with, and spent less than $14! I LOVE getting a good deal!





We had a pretty full house. In attendance were my brother, Brady, along with his wife and two kids, my inlaws, Floyd & Zona, and my sister-in-law, Jewlee, with her husband and two kids. We had to rearrange the furniture a little bit to have a place for everyone, but it worked out.




My brother and his family arrived on Wednesday afternoon. They helped with the rolls, potatoes, and especially the turkey! None of us had ever cooked a turkey before, so I got some instructions off the Internet. Of course, Brandon had to debate about whether or not they were right. (He thought I should use Rachael Ray's recipe!) But, in the end, it turned out perfectly!
We even made a yummy cherry pie! (The heart cutouts were my sister-in-law, Anna's idea. So cute!)


All in all, it was just slightly stressful, and for the most part went off perfectly!

We had lots of fun with Brady and Anna while they were here. They stayed with us until Saturday afternoon. We played pinochle every night, and sadly, Brandon and I lost the tournament. But, will get them next time!
Friday, we went to the temple to see the lights. It was the first night they were open, and the crowd was HUGE! But we still had fun.
The only sad part of the weekend was that little AJ got hurt. He jumped off Zander's bed - which is pretty high off the ground, and hurt his ankle. He wouldn't walk on it (understandably) so he spent the rest of the time trying to get around by crawling. I felt so bad for him. His mother took him to urgent care to make sure it wasn't broken. After several x-rays, they determined that it was just a bad sprain. No fun for a very active little boy.

Here is their cute family - Brady, Anna, AJ and Noble

Black Friday Sale

In case you've spent your entire life under a rock, you know that the Friday after Thanksgiving, known as "Black Friday" is the biggest shopping day of the year. (At least in the United States.) Also, the following Monday has been dubbed "Cyber Monday" because apparently it's the biggest day for online sales. So, in order to cover all the bases, I've decided to have a sale for the entire weekend!

My prices will be adjusted by early Friday morning, BUT if you are reading this - the sale starts NOW! Just include "Happy Thanksgiving" in the notes to seller when you are checking out, and I'll send you a revised invoice for 20% OFF (before shipping!)
offer ends Midnight Dec 1



And for MORE great deal on baby items - check out ALL the deals from the entire EtsyBaby Team!



Happy Shopping!

Warm Fuzzies

I just LOVE hearing back from my customers. Especially when it's good (of course!)
I had two such events happen recently. First, I was hanging out in Etsy chat, as I like to do occasionally. One of the other people there, who I had never talked to before, said "I think I got one of your Zadyballs as a gift." She then sent me this picture and asked if I remembered it.



YES - that was actually one of the first ones that I sold on Etsy. Over a year ago!!
The picture was taken because it was the first time that little Addison actually held on to a toy. Her mother went on to tell me how much she loves it! SO awesome! :D

Just a day or two later, I got the following email from ANOTHER customer, who as it turns out got the Zadyball as a gift:

Just wanted to let you know...
(You probably hear this all the time but) My mother purchased one of the owl zadyballs for my brand new baby girl in July. It has become her absolute favorite toy!! I think it really helped her learn to put her hands together to grasp something. And my husband, who has had a tough time of things with her, loves that she will immediately stop crying/screaming/thrashing as soon as he waves it in her face! It always turns her frown upside down :)

Just wanted to say thank you for making such a great toy!

I can't say how much I LOVE hearing stuff like that. It makes me feel like what I'm doing is really making a difference. I know - corny. But TRUE!
YAY ME! :)

Another Fair this Weekend

I thought that I had done my last craft fair for the year, but I was contacted about another one, and I just couldn't pass it up. Even though my husband is sick of me being gone every weekend. But, I figure that this is the best time of year to find people to buy stuff, and who knows what I'll be able to do after the baby is born. I have plenty of stock to get rid of, and this one doesn't cost me anything but time -- and gas to get there.

So - here's all the information. I'm hoping for the best, and I hope to see you all there!

Art, Music, Food, Kids Activities
Angel’s November Art Fair
Sponsored by
Angel’s Serenity
THIS SATURDAY
Nov. 22, 10:00am – 4:00pm

Bring your friends & family and join in the fun!

Art:
Artists presenting unique and one-of-a kind items; including:
• Paintings
• Jewelry
• Hand-crafted items
• Photography
• …and more.

Music:
There will be live music performed throughout the day!

Food:
There will be snack/lunch offerings in the courtyard.

Kids Activities:
Games and crafts for the kids!

More information: www.AngelsSerenity.com

My newest

At the craft fair this weekend, I had someone ask if I had a turkey. She had a baby coming to visit for Thanksgiving, and wanted to have a turkey toy to give him. I told her that I didn't have one, but I'd be happy to make one. Well, she wanted it right then, so I didn't get her name or anything, but I still thought that a turkey would be fun to make, even though it is getting pretty close to Thanksgiving.

So, here's my Tom Turkey. I think he turned out pretty cute!
Brandon suggested that I use different colors and make a peacock. I like that idea too! (That might be my next project!)

Another Pregnancy Update

I figure it is time to give another update.

I am now 30 weeks pregnant. I think that this pregnancy is going by much faster that either of my other two. Probably because I'm so busy!
So far, so good.
I'm finally starting to really show. I guess when strangers aren't afraid to ask "when is the baby due", you know that you actually look pregnant, and not just fat. ;)



Just a few complaints this time. A week ago I woke up with pain in my knee so bad that I could barely walk! I visited the chiropractor to see what he could tell me. I was told that the cartridge in my knee has deteriorated, possibly due to the pregnancy and changes in weight distribution and such. So now my knee-cap is out of alignment and it is bone on bone. NOT fun. He said that there is something that I can take to rebuild the cartridge, but he wouldn't recommend it while I'm pregnant. Great. He did show me how to properly wrap it with an ace bandage to provide support - and that helps a bit. He also showed me some exercises to try to strengthen the muscle and move the knee-cap back into place. But, otherwise I'll just have to deal with it until after the baby comes.
It has gotten a bit better. At least I can walk without limping, most of the time. But it's still pretty painful.
In addition to that, my ankles are starting to get swollen. They aren't as huge (yet) as they were when I was expecting Zander, but it's still no fun.

The baby is still very active and likes to make her presence known. I'm looking forward to the day when I get to meet this new little person face to face!

The Craft Fair Report

The last two days I spent at a craft fair. This was by far the biggest one that I have done. There were 83 vendors, and all of them had very unique items. It was fun to see what everyone had!
I had really high expectations for this one, and maybe I built it up too much in my mind. I was hoping to sell more than I did, but I did pretty well, so I really can't complain.

This is the fair display that I came up with. Brandon helped, of course!


The best part was getting to met lots of new and interesting people. Especially the other vendors. The ladies that I sat next to the whole time became really good friends! And they had a great product too. They created a daily prayer calendar to help remind you to pray every day, and to inspire you about what to pray for. What a fabulous idea! Check them out here.

Busy Week and Exciting News!

This is shaping up to be a very busy week!
On Saturday, I got to be a Featured Guest Seller and my good friend Heidi West's Holiday Boutique. It is always so much fun and I was honored to be invited. Plus, I got to meet lots of people, and was able to sell quite a bit. Thank you Heidi!!

This coming weekend, Friday and Saturday, I will be at the Arizona Women's Experience Holiday Shoppe at the Arizona Community Church in Tempe. I am REALLY looking forward to this one. They are expecting a HUGE turn out. They have 85 vendors, ALL with handmade items. They are VERY well organized and have done this for several years. They said that last year they had close to 2000 shoppers, and are hoping to have at least that or MORE this year! So, I've been sewing my fingers off trying to get ready.



Also, today I was featured on the Real World Martha Blog. You can enter to win a FREE Hoots the Owl (my best seller). She is having daily giveaways, so be sure to check back every day to see what you can win! (but most of all today, so you can win good ole Hoots!)



Last, but certainly not least, I got a call today from my patent lawyer! My patent has officially been approved!!! Within the next 2 weeks I should have the official patent certificate in my hands and have the actual patent number and everything! I am THRILLED with this news! It's been a LONG and rather expensive process, but I believe it is totally worth it!! YAHOO!

And the winner is...

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in my Bloggy Giveaway! I was amazed with the response!
Unfortunately, I am only able to have one winner. I actually selected FOUR different numbers, but the first three did not leave an email address, and there wasn't one in their blog profile. So, I had to disqualify them. :( I felt so sad doing it, but what am I supposed to do??

And the lucky winner is...
Janae Madsen!!

For her prize, she selected Robbie the Robot Monster

She also has an Etsy shop full of adorable items! Be sure to check it out!


For those of you who didn't win, I'd still like to offer you something special to say THANK YOU!

20% off EVERYTHING in the Zadyball shop (before shipping)

To take advantage of this offer, just include “Bloggy Giveaway” in notes to seller when checking out, and wait for a revised invoice.
This offer is only good through November 30th!

Thanks again to everyone who participated!!

Trick-or-Treat!!

The kids have been SO excited for Halloween! The big day finally arrived!
We went to our ward's "Trunk-or-Treat". It was SO much fun!

I made our family's costumes this year. Zander has been obsessed with the Backyardigans lately, so that's who we went as. Zander was Pablo the Penguin(of course), Ady was Uniqua (PINK!), Brandon went as Tyrone the Moose, and I got to be Tasha the Hippo. Even Zander's imagninary friend, Ted got in on the action. He was Austin the kangaroo. ("Ted got his costume at Target", Zander told me).


Here are some pictures of the fun! You'll notice that there is no picture of me, as I was behind the camera. But, there were other people taking pictures too, so, maybe I'll have one someday. I was a cute hippo - if I do say so myself.

Daddy as Tyrone - I bought the shirt and the pants, but was told that the blue stripes on the shirt were not thick enough, so I painted them. I also attached the antlers and ears to the hat.

The kiddos! I tried to get Zander to let me paint his eyes, but he wouldn't let me. I think it would have made a difference. With his costume, I bought a long sleeved blue shirt and sewed the belly on to it. I also made and attached the bow tie, and I made the pants. I was lucky enough to find a spinner hat online!
For Ady's, I made the little overalls. She was excited to have her hair and face painted PINK!
I also made the dog costume for Ashlee - I used a pattern of course. The closest thing I could find was a pattern for the lion from Wizard of Oz. So, I modified that to make it work!
Drake is the cute pumpkin in the picture!


Here's Ady after she won the cake-walk


All in all, we had a fun Halloween!