26 August 2011

I woke up with a million things whirling through my mind this lovely Friday morning and I thought I'd share them here.

1} First, thank you all for your great advice and encouragement and information on yesterday's post. Wow, it's so great to hear from such a number of different people with different experiences. I'm totally going to order a potty chair and give it a whirl for Hazey. I'm thinking this one by Hoppop since it's small (for our tiny girl) and gets such great reviews. Anyone know anything about it?
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Also, suggestions for lovely, functional and appropriate undies for a 17-month old would be grand!

2} I have been sewing like a crazy lady these past two days - thanks to all y'all's wonderful support for the flat iron covers. You're keeping me busy and I'm thrilled!

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As you may know, Ry's running a marathon in Chicago at the beginning of October (just a few days after his birthday) and I really wanted to treat him to air travel (versus 16 hours of car travel) for his birthday weekend. Looks like that might be a real possibility - like my friend Keight said, "You're sewing your way across the skies!"

2.1} I did want to let y'all know that I had to raise the price of the covers to $12 after considering all the additional time of cutting, communicating, packing and shipping. I'll still do 2 for $20 and anything that communicated with me about them before today will still get the $10 price.

2.2} Glad y'all liked the kits too. I'll try to make those available for future tutorials as well, if you like. Any interest in kits for the camera strap covers?

3} Last night I went running with Ryan for the very first time ever. Audrey was at home with our sleeping babes, so we took off at around 9:30 and ran just over 6 miles. I wasn't sure I'd like running with a buddy, but it was like a fun date to run in the cool darkness from streetlight to streetlight, chatting and laughing and running through sprinklers like giddy children. He makes my heart skip every single day.

4} Speaking of running, we are now 9 days away from my very first race ever. We're running a 10K in the Franklin Classic on Labor Day to support Mercy Children's Clinic. Any of you locals going to be running?

5} Speaking of the Franklin Classic, we're signing Oliver up for the 1K (.62mi) race. I have been taking him out for his little runs and he's doing great - he can run the whole distance without stopping to take a break or tell a story (both issues at first). He's so excited!

5.1} Oliver's running buddy with be our good friend (and cousin-in-law) Olivia. She's on the FMF St. Jude team, but about 4 weeks ago she and her husband were involved in a terrible propane grill explosion. Their burns were mostly on their legs (praise the Lord!), but were pretty severe (2nd and 3rd degree) and she was unable to walk for a couple of weeks. Her doctor has given her the go ahead to start running very carefully beginning in September, so her race with Oliver will be her first run since the accident. Not only is O excited to have Miss Olivia run with him, but we're excited to celebrate God's faithfulness with Olivia as she recovers and hits the pavement again.

5.2} Speaking of the Franklin Classic (yes, one more), the Dukes' are coming up for the weekend to run with us! Totally preparing my ego to be smoked by Jesse, but that's okay. It's for a good cause. :)

6} Again, speaking of the Dukes': we made a quick trip to Atlanta a few weeks ago to visit them, eat good food, shop good shopping and generally have a lovely time. Here we are at brunch on Sunday:

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7} On an unrelated note, I ordered these cool red tag letters on sale for $.25/each from the Land of Nod earlier this month. 10 O's and 10 H's. I'm planning to tie them to our babes' Christmas gifts this year - it will be fun for them to spot their letters under the tree!

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8} Some very exciting news: I have found a wonderful programmer who has taken over my blog redesign (Ry was just way to busy to do it for me) and I'm so stinking excited! Want an itsy bitsy sneak peek?

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There. That's all you get right now. I'm in love with it and I hope y'all will be too! Planning (hoping) on a launch date of September 1st, barring any big hiccups. That's only six days away. Nobody panic!

9} Speaking of the ol' blog: with the redesign I have also revamped my sponsorship options to include a wide-range of choices. If you're interested in advertising with me, shoot me an email and I can send you more information!

10} I get to keep my sister's 3 oldest kids this afternoon while she holds auditions for her school's fall play. I love getting our kids together (especially when they're all healthy all at once!) and observing all the funny little dynamics they have. Hazel and Mosey are so surprisingly similar and they play well together.

Also, I'm doing my best to pay into the bank of childcare with my big Sissy so we can leave O&H with her when we go to Chicago. :) She takes good care of me.

11} One final exciting thing, then I'll set y'all loose for your Fridays! I've been working on putting together Audrey's new bedroom upstairs in our house and it's so much fun. It doesn't have to be an adult room but it doesn't have to be a kid's room either. I get to make a room for an 18-year-old with all kinds of interesting details and quirks and colors. Audrey has been very gracious to move into an unfinished room, set me loose in there, and move furniture out of the way as necessary. 2 weeks from now we should be all set and ready for the reveal. In the meantime, I'm headed to the lumber store!

I will leave you with a little peek at one of the projects I just finished for the room:

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I know I told you a thousand things and asked you a hundred questions in this post. 10 points if you hung with me to the end!

Happy Friday, friends!

15 comments:

Kristen516 said...

You are so busy and so darn CUTE!!! I'm trying to use you as my inspiration to get out and start the Couch to 5K but getting up and out of bed in the morning (5:30) is proving to be very difficult.

I think I'm going to order one of your flat iron covers for a friend. Let me mosey to your etsy shop now.

keight dukes said...

i couldnt decide if the O's and H's were for ho, ho ho or hazel and oliver. i have decided: BOTH!

love a good hodge podgery list.

Unknown said...

My 2 cents- I loved Imse Vimse training pants. Yes, they are expensive, but fit and are made well. I also used BabyBjorn Little Potty. Love the simplicity. Good Luck!

Tracy said...

When we PT'd O, we had a horrible time finding panties that fit. We finally got the smallest they made (I think they were disney) and tried to shrink them.

Bailey King said...

I'd love to buy a camera strap from you, already made! I'm an accountant, so there's not a creative bone in my body! Even though I can't be cool and creative, I like to live vicariously through your blog!

Sarah Robbins said...

Yes please for the camera strap kits! I really wanted to try making one, but was nervous to do it from start to finish. This would make it an easier transition! AND I could get a few to make for friends for Christmas.

I also recommend a cloth diaper style underwear for the potty training. That way, she will still feel wet, but it won't make such a big mess if she does have accidents.

Oliver will LOVE the race! They make them so fun for kids. They usually get a little medal and when I was teaching the kids got SO excited to bring them in to show everyone.

Oh I love the blog sneak peak. Those were the colors I voted for. :)

I love a hodge podge list, too. They're such a fun glimpse into what people are thinking and doing.

The Tranthams said...

Pretty please on the camera strap kits!!! :)

Natalie Whisler said...

Yes please on the camera strap kit. I love to sew, but HATE to cut out fabric. Kits are perfect! And if we're taking color votes... I would be sure to purchase a kit in some yummy teal fabric.

Sarah-Anne said...

yay I get 10 points; i read all of it, haha! ;)

Christine said...

I like Keight's suggestion of "ho"--perhaps Ryan will take that suggestion for your presents this year??

If you need anyone to pick you up from the airport, we're happy to help. Though I'm not sure what your plans are for transportation once in the city. Hurrah for hard-earned flight money! I did that this spring when I went to Virginia.

Also: That potty is so teeny. Is it wrong that it makes me think of a tart burner?

much love and crusc.

Kimberley said...

I only have boys, but one of my friends with 2 little girls swears by the BabyBjorn potty (there is also a similar style sold at Walmart). Apparently her little girl got rather good at tilting her hips back, and (apparently) could shoot across the room. =) She loved the BabyBjorn because it came up high enough in the front that everything stayed where it should. Something to think about....
Good luck!

Amy Snow said...

YES! I would be very interested in a camera strap from you!!!!

Marcella said...

Raechel,

Can do the same for camera strap covers? offer to make them at an additional cost?? I would have you sew me one in a heartbeat. I have a sewing machind but don't even know how to turn it on!
thanks!
Marcella
MrsTim6_3_00@hotmail.com

Marcella said...

oh, potty training my 2 1/2 year old...lots of running around nude & no potty. we just use the toilet, i do have a seat we put on top of the regular toilet but are not using it. she's almost got the hang of it!

Kelli Hooyer said...

Oh yes, please do the camera strap kits. I'd love that!