Hi Everybody!

Well, pillow work is wrapping up! Rich has about 17 more pillows to finish sewing. I've got to bag about 60 more. Rich will be heading to Massachusetts with them tomorrow.

Please pray for good weather as he blazes his trail across the country from Wyoming to Massachusetts!!!!

I'm wrapping up my month in my other business. I'm almost to my goal. Anyone need some awesome all natural vitamins? Here's Bonnie's incredible story. It's about 5 minutes long. If you listen to it... I'd love your feedback!

Very busy day!!!

Oh, this morning I put the clothes from the washer into the dryer.... clink... clink...clink...
What the heck? Woody, you'll like this... one of my boys had found a special rock. Well it's all washed and dried now!

Check in later!

done sewing!!!

Yes, there was NO date night last night. Bummer.... There was just too much work that needed to get done....

Coach Steve was wondering about date night... Rich and I try to get out at least a couple time a month as couple... without kids... it's our date! We go to the movies or for dinner... or go shopping or whatever....

Got something fun planned for today? Woody... fixing your daughter's water heater doesn't sound like fun! But I bet it will be nice just to be over there to see her!

I taught Matthew how to make scrambled eggs this morning. My goal... have the boys each take a night for cooking supper.

Bummer... no date night...

Sniffle... sniffle...

Forgot to mention...

I'm down another 2 pounds!!!! I'm just melting away and enjoying every minute of it!

I've "kicked up" (yes I'm a Emeril fan!) my walk to a rotation of

walk...

fast power walk...

jog..

walk

I'm sure that I'm providing much entertainment for my whole community!

Yeah... Friday!!!

Good morning friends!

Today the boys are off from school today for a mini vacation. Now... here's what's very interesting... The past 2 days, it's been a struggle to get them out of bed before 7am. So, I told them last night to go ahead and sleep in as they didn't have school in the morning.

Well.... it must have been 6:30am when I hear the piddle paddle of feet walking about!

I'm happy to report that this is my last day to sew up pillows. I've got 32 in the final stages. I'm going to employ my boys to help me tag, strap, and bad the piles of pillows we've finished (you should see our living room... piles of pillows!!!!).

Tonight... if we can find a sitter...
Rich and I will go for dinner and a movie. It will be a well deserved break!

Good morning fellow blog readers!!

Aaron's off to school, but Matthew's home... doing much better though! The kids are out after lunch today... then have Friday off. Little mini vacation.

Last night Aaron was so sweet... after I disciplined him... got him into bed he said to me... Mommy, you're so beautiful, you have pretty eyes and shiney teeth and...

He can be so sweet sometimes....

Just back from a walk. It is simply lovely outside! Just a little nip in the air with bright warming sunshine.

Pillow work is going well. I'm going to get sewing in a minute. I hope to be finished sewing by tomorrow.

It's Matthew's turn to be sick. Aaron went back to school... but he shared his sickness with Matthew. As for me... I refuse to catch any of it!

I was out for my walk this afternoon. What a beautiful day! The birds were busily chirping their declaration of spring. The mountains are sporting only caps of snow. The leaf buds on the cottonwood trees are making ready... The pine trees are loaded with pine cones...

I really enjoyed my walk today!

Just back from Matthew's Blue & Gold banquet. The boys just downed ice cream sundeas. Is there any hope for their getting to sleep?

Tuesday... Tuesday...

Day 2 with Aaron home. Sick in the morning... but spirited and vibrant... in the afternoon. Hmmm....

Just put him to bed for a nap... we'll see how that goes!

The pillow push is on... Rich and I were outside last night at 9pm hauling stuffing (30 pound bags almost as tall as me!) out of the enclosed trailer into the house... then hauling bags of 20 pillows each into the trailer. My house was so full of pillows that I couldn't get into my fridge!

Needless to say... my weight loss program was put on hold for supper time (OK, I had some Dominoes Pizza!). That said... I'm back on track today!!!

I'm running my first EVER newspaper advertisement for my Shaklee business. Wish me luck! It will run for the next 4 weeks in the surrounding towns.

Back to bagging.... How are you today?

It's snowing!

The kittens just came in... they have snowflakes in their fur!

The sky is so gray. But the snow coming down is pretty!

OK, now I'm really... really... going to go get my pillows bagged!

Monday... Monday...

Hi Coach Steve! Welcome back to the kitchen table! I answered your question in the comment section of yesterday's post.

Woody stumbled across my weight loss blog the other day. Thanks for your words of encouragment Woody! I've shed 15 pounds so far! It's incredible how with even just 15 pounds lost... how good I feel. Imagine carrying around 3-5# bags of potatoes around with you... everywhere... I honestly feel lighter and have so much more energy!

Monday...
This week is going to be all out pillow crunch time. Are you tired of hearing about pillows?
You should see my living room! It's got piles and piles of pillows. Today, we're going to strap, tag, and bag them and put them away in the trailer.

My little sickie just in...
He's feeling better today. Temp is gone. But he has a sore throat and is white as a ghost! He wants to get on the internet to check out a Goldfish site. It's amazing how a little 7 year old can just jump on the internet!

OK, got to get going! Pillows to sew... calls to make... Pillows to bag... AND pillows to sew!

I love your comments! Thanks for stopping by!!!

Sunday... Sunday... Gotta love that day...

Good afternoon friends!

My little guy's sick, running a temp. Poor thing! Rich and I traded off going to church meetings. It worked out OK.

I just got back from a nice walk around town. Oh the birds are just singing away. Sounds so pretty! I love going for walks about an hour before sun set. The sunlight is so pretty at that time casting a soft glow on everything.

The mountain tops are all covered in snow. We still have patches of snow on the ground. Mud season is upon us!!

Hey, I've discovered that I like asparagus! Did I already talk about that? I boil it with some crushed red pepper and garlic. My husband who doesn't like asparagus came into the kitchen wanting to know what smelled so good. Ha... Ha...

Well, I'm off to make my family tacos. Shall I save one for you? Crunchy or soft shell?

Only 109 pillows left to do!!!! Yeah!!! You should see my living room. It's wall to wall pillows in process.

My winter jacket is getting too big... My pants are getting baggy... this is so exciting!!!!

Time to go make supper for everybody. How's your Saturday going?

Good morning~The boys slept at grandma's last night. It was a little weird waking up and not hearing their voices. I'm sure they'll be back home soon, Grandpa's got to go do chores at the farm.

Pillow work is flying along. We plan to be done by Thursday. Whew...

Have you ever visited whatsfordinner.net? Jean has all kinds of yummy recipes for each day of the week. I was just salvating over Creamy Chicken Enchiladas. It's a fun place to go to get some new dinner ideas.

It looks like it could snow today. The sky has that look. Woody, I wonder what your wife's toe would say about the weather?

Friday is allowance day at my house. The boys get a couple dollars each. The goal is for them to learn money skills...

They also have the opportunity to earn more when I post extra chores on the fridge or when they help us in our pillow business.

Well, Aaron (who is in 1st grade) took on the job of turning 70 pillows at 5 cents each, the other day. So today he came into my office and I gave him his $2 for allowance. Well... he says to me... no Mom, I'm supposed to get $5.50.

His math skills are constantly amazing me!

Oh I went for a walk after lunch and then again before supper. It was about 45 minutes before dusk. Oh the sky was so beautiful... all pink. Everything had a wonderful pink glow. The mountains look incredible at this time of day... in a pink hue.

Happy Friday!

The kids are off from school today, but are off in a little bit for roller skating. They can't wait!

Guess what I'm doing today?

Note to self:
Get out for a nice long walk today... don't wait till supper time, then looking outside, see the black of night!

Pillows... then taxes...

Good morning. It's a beautiful sunny day here, but chilly.

I'm about ready to plunge back into pillow work.

As soon as I'm done with this pillow campaign, I'll be switching gears. As a small business owner, I've got to get all my business stuff together for taxes. You know, I love creating, speaking with clients... but the paperwork stuff is the challenging part for me. Luckily, I'm extremely blessed with an accountant husband who has great organization skills!

I bet that you already have your taxes done!

There's a little less of me...

Yeah!!!! I've shed an additional 2 pounds and 2 1/2 inches for week 2 in my team-15 program!!! In total, I'm down 13 pounds and 8 1/2 inches. I feel the difference! Lots more to go though!

The boys are off to school and ahhhh... yes... my house is nice and quiet again. Soon the sound of my industrial sewing machine will fill the air as I zoom thru piles of pillows.

I have the opportunity to work with people all over the US and Canada in my Shaklee business. Yesterday I got a call from a wonderful woman in Arkansas. She had lost her distributor. What a nice person! It's amazing how some people have that special gift of making you feel so at ease when you speak with them. It was such a joy to speak with her!

Some people make the donuts... I make the pillows!

Busy day.... got to get a couple hundred more pillows sewn up.

It was nice to go out last night for dinner. How was your Valentines Day?

Well, all I can think about right now is the piles of fabric that need to be turned into breastfeeding pillows.... so I'd better get to it!!!!

Happy Valentines Day!

Greetings friends!
Happy Valentines Day to you. We're heading out for dinner at our local cafe. They're having a a special turkey & beef buffet with all the fixings.

It was so nice to have the kids back to school today. It was a really tough weekend. Too little sleep and too much company....

Pillow work is cruising along. There are now 80 pillows bagged and loaded into the trailer. Lots more are in process.

Have a nice day!!!

No more sleep overs!

Kids up too late...
Cranky, fighting, arguing... big brother hit little brother with a sling shot... little brother in near fist fight with best buddy...

Kids to bed EARLY tonight. Hoping for some sense of normalcy tomorrow.
Wish me luck! Better yet... please say a prayer.

Moral of the story. Kids need to be in bed on time! Good night!

Been wanting some of these for a while now. It's amazing how quiet the house is... when they are in use!

Popped into Radio Shack the other day and they were on sale for $20! I bought two sets!

Aaron packed a cold lunch...

On Thursday, Aaron (7 years old) decided that he was going to pack a cold lunch for school. I still don't understand why he didn't want to have turkey in gravy, with mashed potatoes, salad, roll, and rice crispy treat for desert!

So, here's what he... yes he.. himself packed:
1 gogurt
handful of pretzels
(As you read the next list remember...I'm eating a lot of veggies as part of my new me and team-15 program weight shedding pgm)
handful of sprouts (yes sprouts!)
a few slices of cucumber
some celery sticks
some mixed lettuce
some little grape tomatoes
a few blueberries
a couple slices of cheddar cheese

Whew. In my astonishment... I asked him if he was sure that THAT was what he wanted to take. YES.

In his bag came home, some lettuce, tomatoes, and blueberries... that's it!

Two eyes looking at me...

I passed by my (front loading) washer last night only to see the reflection of two eyes looking at me from the inside of my washer! After getting over being startled...

My mishevious, midnight black, kitten Cuddles had found his way into the open washer.

We're back...

I'm sneaking onto the computer quick before I have to run out to a meeting.

We're just back from the ski trip in Red Lodge Montana. It was a fantastic day, beautiful, sunny, warm.. must have been in the 50's. The kids had such a good time.

Matthew looked so good in his bright yellow LL Bean jacket and bright red hat. I could always spot him coming down the trail. There were many times I saw him down in the snow... trying to figure out how to get up.

Matthew just reported to me that he "felt as though he was doing 50mph down the trail." And the chair lift didn't have any seat belts. It looked scarey to me to up in those chairs!!!!

Got to run. Thanks for your visits and comments!!!!

Bound for Red Lodge Montana...

Hi guys! This is my early blog entry for Thursday.

Tomorrow is Matthew's ski trip with his 5th grade class. I'm going along to be the ski lodge mamma. (I haven't skiied since I was a kid!)

When I volunteered... I forgot that I had previously scheduled church meeting... so tomorrow will be non-stop for me.

I'm looking forward to seeing the kids ski and getting to know them better. I told Matthew that this will be a day he will probably remember his whole life.

The last time that I went skiing, I went as a youth with the church youth group. We went 2 years in a row. What a great time we had!!! A little mischieve... but mostly a great time!

I've been really enjoying all your comments. My blog is becoming more and more like "sitting around the kitchen table"... a relaxed place of sharing and fun. Sorry that I can't share anything yummy with you while we visit.

Good morning friends!

Team-15 report:
I'm excited to report that I've shed 11 pounds and 6 inches!!!! Today starts week 2.

Matthew's going on a ski trip to Red Lodge tomorrow with his class. It'll be his first time skiing! What a fun time.

I'll be making some chocolate chip cookies for him to take along and share. Shall I save you a couple?

We got some more snow last night. Everything is covered again. Looks so pretty!

Hey, did you see the photo of the spider web over on Woody's blog? What a neat photo.

Got 40 pillows done and another 20 more in process...

Supper time:
We're going to have this yummy chicken. I'm going to enlist Matthew's help as he asked for this dish for supper.

I'm finishing week one on the Team-15 weight shedding program. Weigh-in will be tomorrow.
So far... so good! :)

Thanks to all of you who so kindly sent us shivering Wyoming country folk a few warm degrees. It is greatly appreciated!

Burrr... morning...

Greetings from the deep freeze here in cowboy country.... burrrrr....

I was really too generous last week when I sent off some of our warm degrees. Please be so kind as to some warmth... if you can spare some.

I'd like to be a cat in my next life. Laying on the floor next to me is our black kitty, we call Cuddles. He snuggled on the rug, in the warmest spot in the house... all warm and cozy. Hey, maybe that's why I'm cold! My kitten is absorbing all the heat!

OK, back to pillows.

Whew... I'm dizzy from sewing so many pillows! I must have another 60 or so in-process.

Got to go make supper.

Tonight...
Watch 7nth Heaven & Everwood.... while pinning pillows!

Shute, I didn't even make it to the post office today. Busy... busy...

It's snowing...

We woke up to snow this morning. Everything's covered again. And it sure is cold today... down to the teens.

It is so pretty outside. Little flakes blowing around. The trees are doing their share of snow collection. The pasture is already covered.

The Pats won! See, it took us leaving New England for the Sox to finally win and the Pats...
Congratulations Patriots!

I'm on day 6 of Team-15 weight mgt program. I am feeling so much better! I have more energy. I'm not tired after I eat anymore. And... my junk food cravings are gone!!!

You can even see my weight loss in my face. The first thing that I noticed was that the puffiness under my eyes dissappeared.... for which I'm so grateful! I was looking "older then my years." Or at least older than I feel in my heart!!!!

Well, back to pillows!

a Restful Sunday...

It's Sunday. We've been to church. Visited Grandma. Took a brief nap... Ah, Sundays are good!

I've got beef stew simmering in the crock pot. Going to go make some bread to go with it.

I'm preparing myself mentally for the upcoming week. I'll be spending a lot of time at the sewing machine... making lots of pillows. Rich will be heading back east with them on 2/25 (we're hoping for good weather!)

Come on by and say "hello!"

It's Saturday...

The boys are watching cartoons, Yugioh and Pokemon. It's a Saturday tradition.

Hey, where did the sun go? We're back to winter looks like... might even get some snow.

I seem to be at a loss for words this morning...

I'm enjoying reading this book for personal development. Never really thought about having a personal brand... and using it to help move my businesses forward... but it sure makes a lot of sense.

Last week, I read this book for fun. I love the Beverly Lewis books about the Amish community.

Pillow count: 140...

What's on your agenda today? I might take the boys to a movie..

Went to see Aviator tonight. I really enjoyed it.

My little guy has taken up tree climbing... he and his buddy. I remember climbing a big tree in a friends yard... only to find myself sliding back down with the bark getting the better of me.

Well, my poor little guy came in crying. He had just slid down the tree. Ouch!

Pillow count is 110.

Veggies & Fruit

It's a beautiful sunny day here in this little cowboy town. I find the sun so cheery, don't you?

I'm off to the grocery for some more veggies. I started a "weight mgt" plan yesterday, called Team-15. First week is all fruits and veggies. Whew...

Best be off... 65mph to the grocery store next town over... past open farm land with grazing black angus... giant rolls of yellow hay stacks... stacked sugar beets waiting to be processed into sugar... surrounded by snow topped mountains.

No, I didn't get lost!

Where did the day go to? I got right to business this morning and forgot all about my blog entry.

Rich and I had an enjoyable day in the "big" city of Billings, MT. (Don't forget... I'm from Boston!) We had lunch at the Red Lobster, they had the shrimp special on.... oh, so good!

Woody, I'm sorry about your ticket in Buffalo, WY. The town police are very strict about the speed limit. Our town police officer sits at the entry to our little town (where you can go NO faster than 30mph) just waiting to catch unsuspecting out-of-towners. Or in-towners for that matter... who forget...momentarily... where they are!

It's been a productive day here in cowboy town. I'm making my way through sewing up 500+ nursing pillows. Still have lots of sewing to do! We have a large order that is heading back east the end of the month...

Off to the big city...

Good morning! A quick blog entry....

Rich and I are off to the big city for the day. I'm really looking forward to going for lunch.
Got to stop by JoAnn's Fabric for some flannel to back my quilts...

Check in later. Hope you have a nice one!