Jessalyn's business.

A few months back Jessalyn and I were in McD's and we overheard the manager telling the employees how much they made during that hour (which to me was a surprisingly low number). Jessalyn was very impressed with the amount of money though and asked if they all get to split it.

I explained as best as I could to a 7 year old how businesses run and where all the money goes and all of that. With the info I gave to her she decided that she wants to own her own business one day. We talked about how she doesn't necessarily have to wait until she's older to do this and that she could start one whenever she wants.

With some suggestions from me she decided that she wanted to start a beading business. She understood that she had a certain amount of money in the bank and she wanted to use that money to start it all up...so we planned to do this.

Fortunately, Nana (my mom) decided that she would pay for the stuff to get Jessalyn started and we had fun at the craft store picking stuff out. She quickly started making necklaces and bracelets and started taking orders for them. She is keeping a journal of what she makes and what she spends and who she needs to make something for and her general inventory. She is enjoying this very much!

Its hard for her to not give them all away. As much as it is nice..and I'm glad that its her first instinct, if she wants this to be her business then she needs to try not to give away all of her profit. Again, I think this is a good exercise for her. She did give away one so far...as a birthday gift.

She sells them all for a different price..depending on the size and the stuff. (Actually, I'm not really sure how she determines the price..). I know that they are only a couple of dollars...so if you would like to put in a special order just let us know:)

Actually though...she really does do a good job. She does well choosing colors and picking patterns. Here are a few pictures of her finished products...







We leave the strings long until she fits them on the person..just in case it doesn't fit she can fix it. She didn't want pictures taken of them with the long strings...because "they look ugly like that". Funny girl.

Oh..and she has yet to come up with a name for her little business so if anyone has any creative suggestions we'll take 'em!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming...

..for this short commercial break.

JOSH IS COMING HOME TODAY!!!!!!!!

I have purposely neglected to mention here on my blog the fact that Josh has been away in Mexico since last Wednesday. (I figured I would leave that minor detail out here on the "World Wide Web") I've been dreading this week since last fall...and I am glad to say that its finally almost over! He's been over there with quite a large group of people working on an building and orphanage as well as having a nightly Vacation Bible School for the children.

I'm pretty sure that in the entire 17 years that we've been together that we have not gone more than 24 hours without talking to each other. Finally I got to talk to him on the phone last night just after they crossed the border back into the US...but before that it had been a full week. I'm sure it was easier for him because everything was different, but for me it was HARD!

Otherwise we've had a good week...the weather has been nice so that helped us stay busy while he was gone.

So yeah, he comes home today!!!!!!! YIPPEEEE

Mello Yello??

I remember very clearly the day that I was allowed to walk to the store all by myself. It was a big day. I was 6 years old and for whatever reason my mom told me I could go to the store and buy myself a soda. I remember that walk..with my mom and both of my brothers standing on the stone wall watching me the entire way. It wasn't a very long walk to get to the store, but I did have to cross one major street.

I was headed to "Gary's" a little convenience store down the road from my house. (For those of you familiar with Whitefield...this store was right across the street from Nellie's house. And for those of you not familiar with Whitefield you now probably get the idea of what kind of town it is by the fact that I can say "Nellies house" and expect that people will know what I'm talking about.) I remember bringing my 50 cents with me and purchasing a much desired "Mello Yellow". I remember loving those as a kid...I'm pretty sure they don't make them anymore though.



So what does this have to do with Jessalyn you might ask?? (Since it is still "Jessalyn Week" here on this blog!)

We live pretty much a stones throw (well..if you have a good arm) away from the Church. Right now I can see the building, although that will probably change as soon as the leaves start filling out the trees. Jessalyn had One Voice practice last night. I went ahead and called down to the church to give someone (DL) a heads up that she was on her way...and you know, let me know if she doesn't arrive in about 2 minutes. (I'm a little freaked out by letting her go that far without me!)

Anyway..she was very excited about this little trip. She had a nice little walk all by herself and turns out right now I could actually see her until she walked through the door of the church.

I wonder if she will remember he first solo walk as much as I remember mine??

"Jessalyn Week" (part 1)

Did the mailman come yet??



So today is the first official day of April vacation. As it turns out..its a nice sunny, 70 degree day. Jessalyn and I had fun today just relaxing outside blowing bubbles:) The whole time we were out there Jessalyn was being silly asking if the mailman had come yet...in case she missed it while her back was turned to the street:) She is always eager for the mailman because she is the one that gets to go out to the box and get the mail..which is hardly ever for her, but exciting just the same.

Sure enough, as we were entertaining ourselves blowing bubbles and taking pictures of them, the mailman arrived. I had my camera in hand so I started taking pictures as she retrieved the mail. It turned out perfectly because the mail that was in the box was actually for her!

This is what it looks like when a 7 year old gets a letter in the mail...









(It was a sticker exchange chain letter from her friends Rachel and Abby!)

Here are some pictures of the bubble blowing..



..oops. Bubble in the eye.



"Everybody at the same time...1, 2, 3...blow!"



The perfect bubble..

Fun in the sun...

I don't have a specific story to share today. We've been busy enjoying the sunshine this week. Its funny because I can be a bit of a neat freak about my house...but absolutely LOVE the look of kids who have been playing outside in the summer! I love their dirty feet, dirty faces, dirty clothes. I love how tired they get after playing outside all day..and then having a nice bath in the evening and having them crash in their beds from exhaustion. Of course, bath time during the summer involves lots of the "Don't wash my boo-boo"...but we work that out:)

Yesterday felt like one of those days for all of us. I was busy raking and making the front yard at least a little bit better looking. There is still tons of work to do..but I try to take it one chunk of property at a time and hopefully then won't get overwhelmed. I'm almost done raking the front..and then will move onto the side...and then hopefully by then all the snow will be gone in the back.

Of course, the kids enjoy the time that I'm outside because then they are outside too. Ethan and Luke run around pretending they are super heroes or Transformers or something. They love the stone wall between our property and the neighbors...its proving for quite a few bumps and bruises, but they're boys so its just par for the course I suppose. Owen still hasn't figured out that he can move outside..which is quite nice for me right now. It won't be long and I will be chasing him all over trying to save his life before he jumps off the wall into the driveway or heads down the concrete steps. Until then I will get as much work done as possible..and then will have to save the work for his naps.



Trying to decide which "Mini-Con" to "pew" (for some reason instead of saying "shoot" my boys say "pew")



Its getting there..


The rocks are hard to clean up..there is SO much leaves and gunk in there.


Then we had a nice little "Pipmic" (as Luke calls it) for lunch..


So next week is school vacation. I think I'm gonna have "Jessalyn Week" on my blog...you know, like "Shark Week" on Discovery Channel. I think by reading this blog it might appear like I only have three kids. Poor Jessalyn is at school all day and often misses out on all these little "daily life" stories. Starting on Monday its going to be "Jessalyn Week" so look forward to entries specifically about her each day!

Its a miracle!

We were headed out the door to go meet my mom for lunch. I happened to grab my camera on the way out. The big boys were playing outside so I sat Owen down on the front step to take a picture and then suggested that Ethan and Luke come over and take a picture with Owen. I snapped two pictures real quick and was so pleased to get one that looks like this...



I look at this picture and just can't get over the fact that they are all not only looking at the camera, but all of their eyes are open, they have happy looks on their faces...there aren't any dirty faces or boogery noses. Its a miracle.

Its a good thing for pictures like these though. I can always go back and look at that picture during times like these....

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

As this whole cereal fiasco was happening I was literally laughing. Both boys are crying over the spilled milk and although I was not thrilled with the idea of cleaning it all up I couldn't stop laughing at the situation. Of course, this led to an impromptu mopping of both the kitchen and dining room floor because I couldn't get out the mop and bucket and only do a portion of the room. If you include the mopping, that mess took atleast 45 minutes to clean up. Crazy boys.

My mom found a gem...

She was going through some old stuff when she found a poster that I made when I was in third grade. It was poison prevention week at school and we had to enter a poster indicating some ideas for poison prevention into a contest. I remember this quite clearly and I specifically remember winning the competition. I got to go with my mom to a banquet at the local hospital and it was quite a big deal.

We had a real good laugh while looking at the poster that I won with.

I took pictures of each part of the poster. I hope that this will do it justice..


(Bathroom: "Keep cabinet doors locked")


(Living Room: "Do not leave cigarets out on a table" with pictures labeled "cigarats" and "ashtray")


(Kitchen: "Do not leave detergent out" with a pictured labeled "ALL")


(Bedroom: "Don't leave purfume or lipstick out on a desk" With pictures labeled "purfume" and a mirror with drawings labeled "pictures" on the corners.)

And I save the BEST for last.


(Kitchen: "Do not leave boose or things on the table")

Funny how times have changed. I actually WON with this poster!