My very first official 31 Party!!!

I am so happy that tonight I will be having my very first official in-home 31 Gifts Party!! It's at my mom's, but it will still be a fun experience. And I am so excited to start spreading the word about my new business and how much fun it is.

I'm also hoping to get some more bookings because right now I don't have any parties planned after December 18th. But the funny part is that I have 7 in my first 43 days!! As part of their incentive program for new consultants, if you have so many parties in the first 30, 60, and 90 days you get free business cards, customized table cloths, display racks and of course free 31 Bags! So I am really excited that I'll be able to get both the 30 and 60 day rewards. I'm still working on the 90 days, just need at least 2 more parties by the end of January! :) So if anyone is interested in hosting a party and earning a lot of awesome free and discounted bags and organizing totes please let me know! Oh and I can do out of state parties. Just let me know and I'll send you a host on the go kit. Basically you can just do a catalog party but I'll send you a few items to show off! :)

Peeing on the Potty

Just for fun the other night I decided to put Andrew on the little potty before bath time. I always put Evan on the big potty and he pretty much always pees. Who ever would've thought that Andrew would actually pee on the potty?! I sure didn't! So to say that I was excited just isn't enough, I was shocked! And yes, I was one of those moms who had to photograph her sons first pee in the potty, I just couldn't help it! Andrew was so excited when he got a skittle! So now I put him on the potty every night before bath just like I've been doing with Evan. Sometimes he goes and sometimes he doesn't. But I figure if I can get both of the boys potty trained close together then I can finally get away from carrying a huge diaper bag everywhere!

Organization

It's probably pretty safe to say that I am kind of an organizational nut. I have OCD and tend to freak out if things aren't just the way I want them to be. I've been dying to get some new shelves for my scrapbooking area in the basement and was so excited when I saw the IKEA Expedit system. However, the nearest IKEA is in Minneapolis and I've been having problems convincing Josh to go up there to get them. So I found the next best thing. Target has their cubicals system which is similar to the Expedit shelves from IKEA. I ended up getting three different sets of shelves and putting them together to get the storage that I've been wanting. And here are a few pictures!

It's still not quite done, but I just can't wait for it to be completely finished so that I have a more functional space to do my scrapbooking!! I didn't take before pictures but just trust me when I say it wasn't pretty! All I had was one small bookshelf and a small cabinet with doors next to my tables where the cubicals are now. So this is definitely a huge improvement! The only problem with the cubicals is that my scrapbooking albums are too big to fit on the shelves so I've got to find a nice heavy duty book shelf to replace the cheap one so I have a nice place to put my finished albums. And it'll look even better when I have my new cricut out! ;-p Unfortunately that won't happen until after Christmas because technically it's my present from Sandy and Larry lol!

Black Friday

I've never ever before in my life been one of the crazies that went out to get the awesome Black Friday deals....until this year that is. Looking through the adds on Thanksgiving morning I found that a couple of places had the Cricut Expression super cheap! Wal-mart had special edition brightly-colored machines for $185, which normally retails for about $350. And Menards, of all places, had the normal white Expression for $140. I, of course, decided I really wanted a colored one-the Plum one to be exact! And figured if I couldn't get it at Wal-mart I'd try for it at Menards. But I went to Wal-mart at about 9:30pm Thanksgiving night to make sure I could get my machine...and I did! That was kind of fun. And now crazily enough I'm thinking that next year I may have to try to get some more of my Christmas shopping done on Black Friday!

So tired!

Have you ever had one of those mornings where you just can't seem to wake up? That's me this morning....I've been up for just over an hour and yet if I were to lay down right now I could without a doubt fall right back to sleep...I guess I should've gotten up fifteen minutes earlier so I could do my workout and shower before Jaxson got here. (I'm watching my friend Terri's son for a few weeks).

Andrew errrr...Mike Tyson :)

Andrew got the nickname Mike Tyson for about a week at the beginning of the month. He was in the rocking chair sitting backwards on his knees, rocking of course, when big brother decided to come over and help. Andrew ended up tipping forward, pushing the chair onto its back, and smacked his face on the frame of the ottoman. I felt so bad for him because it was close to nap time anyways, so he was crying and rubbing his eyes then crying even more because it hurt to rub his left eye! But after nap he was better even though he looked like this!

Can you tell that he wasn't that bothered by the shiner?!

Nap Time

Yup, your really getting two posts in one day! Lol!

For some reason my boys are really fighting nap time today. It's almost 3pm-the time when the boys normally get up-and Evan just fell asleep ten minutes ago after being laid down at 1:20...ugh! Andrew went down at 12:50 and woke up 45 minutes later and has been crying in his room ever since. I refuse to go get him until he sleeps more. The one downside to this is that he is going to be a grouch later, but he'd be a grouch either way. At least now I won't have to have him follow me around whining, he's just doing it by himself in his crib. And if that makes me a mean mom, I'm sorry. But I've learned that if you give in once and get them up from nap early one day it takes weeks to get back on schedule! So once every few months my boys get to cry for an hour or more at nap time, but it saves mom's sanity!

And who fights nap time anyways?! I would totally nap right now if I didn't have a million things to do!

Parties, parties, and more parties!

I have been so busy the last week studying up on product information for 31 Gifts that I completely forgot about the blog! Ooops, sorry! But I am happy to report that I now have three parties booked which will hopefully help me get part of my Start Swell rewards! If I can get three more parties booked by December 30th I'll get some more free totes and bags to add to my consultant kit and even money to buy any of the other 31 products that I'd like! So hint, hint...Please contact me to book a party! :D

But of course since I have three events already booked, I have also been busy getting ready for those as well. I've got more catalogs and information sheets that should be delivered by our wonderful UPS guy tomorrow! (He likes stopping at my house because I usually have a yummy snack for him lol! I've been meaning to make some pumpkin bars anyways, I may have to surprise him tomorrow! :D)

I know I've said it before, but please, please, PLEASE check out my site and see all of the fun and useful bags and totes that 31 Gifts has to offer. I am an organizational freak so I can't wait to use the commissions from my first few parties to make use of these wonderful storage totes!

Mike Miller Day

I was worried that today would be a sad and somber day, especially with the awesome Iowa weather. But instead despite the cold overcast day, everyone seemed to genuinely be having a fabulous time, myself included.

I packed up Andrew at about 10:30 this morning and we headed "downtown" to see what kind of shenanigans we could get into. I ran into some former co-workers and great friends at the dodgeball tournament, kind of made me wish that I still worked at the jail...well almost anyways! :p Then we moved on to Harrington Motors to see how the silent auction was going. I put a few bids in on some items, including some tin beer signs-none of which I won. But I did win the most important item...to me anyways! I won a $100 gift certificate to a wonderful salon and day spa in Altoona, and I fully intend on taking advantage of this wonderful prize in the next month or so!

After socializing at Harrington's for a while we moved on to the Community Center to see how the Chili feed was going, which of course was busy. I sat with a former co-worker and her son Liam who is just a few weeks younger than Andrew. We had fun reminiscing and gabbing. And of course we ate lots of chili and crackers! And Liam and Andrew really seemed to start to like each other, we may have to do a play date sometime soon! :)

Unfortunately we had to head back home as it was getting close to nap time. But we did head back down later. However with the larger crowds and two grumpy kids who just wanted to run around, we weren't able to stay very long. But we ate some yummy pork sandwiches at the hog roast and took a look around Harrington's again at all of the larger items that were going up for the live auction-wish we could've stayed for that!

Today made me realize that while we all miss Mike so very much, we can celebrate his wonderful life and remember what a great man he was. So while today could've been full of tears and sadness, it was full of happiness and celebration. The whole community, and surrounding communities, came together to support the Miller family and that says a lot about who Mike was. He touched everyone he met, and we're all that much greater just by knowing him. Although we all would much rather still have him here on Earth with us, we can be comforted knowing that he is watching over us still as he always did. We all love and miss you Mike. And I know that one day we'll all get to see you again.

Time...

Ever since I officially became a stay at home mom I thought for sure that it'd be so much easier to get things done around the house and keep the house looking nice. Man was I wrong! I've actually found it harder! Once I get one room done I move on to the next and by the time I finish the second room, the first room needs to be done again! :( But I love the days that I have daycare kids because I'm able to get more done. It doesn't seem to make very much sense, but when there's more kids here for the boys to play with they spend much less time getting into trouble!

Speaking of time...I started this blog post a month ago! You'd think I'd have the time to finish these things right?! These two boys keep me so busy I barely have time to shower most days! Although part of that is also because I'm definitely not a morning person, I'd much rather stay up late doing housework than getting up early. But I'm trying to change that. I've been trying to get up about 45 minutes before the boys so I can get a quick workout and a shower in before they get up.

But even as life gets more and more hectic as the boys get older, I'm loving every minute of it!

Anna's 31 Gifts

So, I just wanted to share with everyone that I've decided to start selling 31 Gifts. If anyone hasn't heard of their stuff or would like to check out my site, just click here!

They have some really cute purses, totes, weekend bags, utility storage totes and so much more! I love their stuff because it reminds me of Vera Bradley which has been my purse/bag of choice for years now. But 31 purses are so much cheaper!

If anyone is interested in it I'm having an open house in my home on Sunday the 21st from 4-7. There will be snacks and refreshments. And I encourage you to bring a friend or two! Anyone who books a party will get a surprise incentive/gift. And if you bring a friend and they book a party, you'll both get a gift! :D So please come and check it out. I'll have some of the purses and totes on display for everyone to check out.

Better yet, sign up to be a consultant and you can enjoy the wonderful free and discounted products just like me! :)

So much for blogging regularly! ;p

I'm sorry followers, I've been trying to be a more consistent blogger. But it just seems like the time flies by every day! I have a list of things I need to do every day, some get crossed off and some get moved to tomorrows list. And then the next day comes and there's even more things on my list than the day before!

But I did get a few projects done this week. One being my donation for the silent auction for Mike Miller Day. I made a baby's first year scrapbook, which I stupidly forgot to take pictures of...oh well I guess. I turned it in today. I can't wait to see who gets it and how much it goes for! :) It'll probably go for less than what I spend on supplies but I really don't care because it's for such a good cause!

The two other projects I finished were a couple of scarves I made for a schoolmate of mine. I'm not going to divulge a lot right now because I just mailed them yesterday, but I made her and her daughter matching Pink scarves. And I forgot to take pictures of those too...you'd think I'd know better than that by now right?!

The only other ongoing project I have right now is my counted cross-stitching which I am tantalizingly close to finishing. Now that the other three projects are done I'll be able to work on it more again.

So I set a goal for myself to get Evan's first year album done by Christmas. I am trying really, really hard to stick to that goal. So I've been scrapping whenever I can find the time. So far I'm to Evan's first day at home...yeah, I've got a ways to go! Good thing I'm in a scrapbooking club right?!

My Frankenstein and Three-eyed Monster!

Day 30-A Dream for the Future

So...better late than never right?! I'm only about five or six days late on doing this post lol!

I have a lot of dreams for the future!

I dream of the day when I have a vehicle that we all fit into but that hopefully doesn't get 5 mpg.

I dream almost every night about how awesome it's going to be to get the kitchen done! It will be the first major project/renovation on our house and I can't wait to start it and get it finished!

I dream about expanding our family. We're thinking we'll probably start trying for Jacobson #3 in a year or two.

I dream about building a bedroom in the basement...we just don't know where that'll be yet lol!

I dream about the day that Evan is potty trained! :p

Finally, I dream about my boys growing into handsome, independent, responsible, and hard-working human beings!