Share the love Monday

  I love wooden things.  I don't know what it is.  I love the instant warmth and the life that I feel from the wood.  I'm not even a hippy or anything, lol.  I just feel it! In my current home, I have hard wood floor (from 1950), wooden furniture, wooden picture frames, wooden swing set.

  Another thing that I love is finding cute things for my kiddos. Enter, Birch Tree Kids.  This shop has a ton of super cute original art pieces that are perfect for any child's room.  Most are functional, too! Clothing racks, growth charts, murals, toy box, and more all hand painted (with love, no doubt) by shop owner Lori Beibel.  I want to show you some of my favorites, but really, you have to go check out the entire shop.

   

turtles

birds

growth chart

I think that this Barnum & Bailey peg rack and mural is my super favorite in the boy/gn category, lol.

 

And the Eiffel tower growth chart and peg rack are my fav in the female performance :)

Oh, but you have to check out the bookends!  So super cute and they are what originally brought me to Birch Tree Kids. My favorite:

 If you get the chance, definitely head over and check out Birch Tree Kids.  I ♥ Etsy for making it possible for me to easily access this type of hand made awesomeness.

A day in my life :)

Yesterday, I missed my alarm.  Not by much (I was startled awake 25 minutes later by that feeling I get when I know I've overslept), but enough to make the morning a scramble.  7:15am, the day is on!
-wake and ready the girls for school
-pack backpacks
-breakfast
-get myself dressed
-wake Owyn
-7:45 in the car for school
-Niya to preK, Cami to grade school
-8:15 Owyn eats breakfast, I have a pot of coffee

For the next 2.5 hours, I get as much stuff done as possible.  This includes any computer work that I have to do (my etsy shop, bills, emails, etc).  I wash diapers (this requires me to interact with the washer 3 separate times), wash dishes, fold laundry, sweep kitchen.  All this while also playing with Owyn constantly.  I make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and go pick up Niya.

-11a  pick up Niya
we run errands until 12:30 and eat Pb&j in the car.
-1p Owyn naps and Niya has rest time.  I sew for my shop
-3:10pm I go to pick up Cami (Niya and Owyn stay with their dad)
-3:30 I pick up the little girl I babysit. We go to her house (Cami came with me) to be there when her brother gets off the bus. I make them dinner, do the dishes, help with homework and I babysit until their Mother came home at 7:30p
-8pm  I get home just in time to put the two little ones to bed and Cami, too, after she gets ready for bed.
-8:30p I sew for my shop
-9:45p Cami comes downstairs because her leg hurts (this has been happening her entire life, but the dr. offers no explanation besides growing pains).
9:55p-Cami back to bed
10p- I go to bed with my ipad
11p- I turn off everything and go to bed
11:40p- Owyn wakes crying.  He had a really gross soiled diaper (which is  very rare for middle of the night).  I changed him, rocked him, put him down.  He screams.  I rock him, but he just wants to play.  I finally put him down again. He screams for about 10 minutes and falls asleep
12:50p- I rinse the gross dirty diaper. (my favorite thing to do in the middle of the night!)
1p-I sleep

It's a new day!
6:50a- i start all over again :)

 There are obviously tons of moment that I haven't included.  Conversations with Cami.  Painting with Niya, which lead to cleaning with Niya.  Car racing with Owyn.  All the fun stuff that happens while running errands.  But, this is a general representation of a rather uneventful day in my life.  There were no dance classes, appointments, sick kids or emergencies. 
  Owyn did not decide to get into the pantry, like he did once here:

Niya didn't draw all over herself, like she did here:

 Just a normal day with my lovies:

Treasury Tuesday

In the etsy world, one can put together a collection of items that suit ones fancy, called a treasury.  It's a great way to show some love to your fellow etsians and feature the items that you love.  I have been featured in a few, so I wanted to share them with you :)

Just today, one of my wallets was featured in, "I'm a true blue Aussie I am I am" :

And a tote in, Pink and green perfection:

I made a treasury, too, if you want to check it out :) Bright eyed   I was trying to escape winter with color.



My new monday :)

  I have a shop on etsy and I love it!  It has been such a great thing for me.  I spend time doing what I really love to do while also being productive (I have guilt issues with being a bum, lol). I have been allowed to think and create and, if only for an hour a day (if I'm lucky) not be the token 'grown up' (I have my own 3 kiddos, plus I babysit for two other kids in the evening. All kids, all the time).
 One problem with selling on etsy is getting exposure.  My shop swims among many other similar shops in a very crowded pond. So, I have decided that I am going to try and feature a fellow etsy seller on my blog every Monday.  I often graze through the fields of etsy and find fabulous things.  I want to share them with you! :)
 Today, I will start with a shop that I stumbled upon while creating a treasury, Patchwork Mill.  This shop is filled with so many beautiful and charming items.



 I am absolutely in love with the covered buttons.

      

and the fantastic journals!

   


 If you get a chance, check out the rest of Patchwork Mill.  I am sure you'll find something you love!