I Have Seen It All!

Yesterday, in my mailbox, I got the weirdest catalog. It is a really expensive Barbie catalog called Barbie Blonde. My daughter was sitting on my lap looking at it and exclaimed, "That is really weird!" This is an actual item for sale and it's priced at a whopping $9,000!  It is made of Barbie hair!  I think it's creepy!



And there's more! There is an actual house decorated like Barbie's dream house that is life size....Note the beautiful chandelier!

It seems like someone has too much money and is looking for anywhere to spend it! As my friend Teri would say,"Sheesh!" I am curious as to how I, of all people, became their target audience. I won't pay more than $10 for a Barbie!

And The Winner Is.....

This is the Christmas card we chose for the Shutterfly promotion. That was so much fun, and 50 free cards turns out to be a fabulous deal! If you are a blogger, I say you take them up on it. Here is the link, one more time! This was my favorite card hands down, and I can't tell you why I didn't include it in my favorites! Thanks, Deanna, for taking the picture! We liked how the green ribbon ties in the trees in the background.
Janice

Christmas Card Season!

EVERYONE knows that Christmas card season starts before Thanksgiving if you are going to do it right! It takes time to get the right picture, weather, and all of your family gathered together. The good news is that's the hard part! Picking your Christmas cards through Shutterfly is so easy! I'm going to tell you my favorites! I tend to be a fan of the Folded Greeting Card. I think they feel more substantial and I like to put them on display!
I thought this one was pretty! I like traditional elegance!



It is also important to choose a card that is appropriate for your particular picture. My picture this year is casual so I liked this one! I liked the bright colors!


If I had multiple pictures I would have used this one!


I prefer the sentiment "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings", but you can find many choices in every style on how you choose to say it! There are Holiday Cards, Christmas Photo Cards , and even Birthday Cards to choose from!

I also like the idea of being able to order a Personalized Mug of my child's mug, or even a Calendar to look at all year long!

If you are a blogger and would like to share your favorites and get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, click here!

Happy Christmas Card Shopping!
Janice

Disclosure-Shutterfly is not paying me for my opinion about their cards. They are giving me 50 free cards for posting my favorites! All opinions are completely my own!

Our Halloween Bunco Party!

Spinning In A Million Directions

Do you ever have so many projects going at once that you forget how many you have altogether? That's me right now. I am room Mom for both of my girl's classes and that has come with many fun jobs, first of which is our Fall Harvest Festival. For one class we are doing a pie walk...the other a fishing game where they throw their fishing pole behind a tarp of water and see what they get. I've been making notes to parents, fishing poles, signs...and I still have to work the event on October 22. Then on top of that I wanted to make some crafts to donate to our holiday shop at school so I am also painting some picture frames, gluing on some ribbon and jingle bells. A week after that my niece and I are having a Halloween Bunco Party so there are unfinished decorations and supplies sitting around for that. Ugh! It looks like my house threw up Halloween and Christmas! But to be honest, even with all this clutter I'm having great fun doing it! I love to be busy and I certainly am! Next on my list is thinking up something creative for our Christmas picture that we are taking on Sunday...any ideas to make our picture unique?
Love ya,
Janice

Melancholy

After a LONG break, I decided to post something. I'm feeling sort of melancholy today, and I thought I'd try my hand at an acrostic of some of my thoughts. Here is an acrostic poem for you:

Monday was a long day and I'm still suffering the effects today.
Exercise is elusive in 100+ degree heat.
Love should be a decision and not a feeling.
A good friend doesn't make you feel bad for not seeing them in a while.
Never give advice without all the facts.
Chores are a necessary part of life.
Happy moments are unplanned.
Old folks don't feel so old in their mind.
Love can be shown through gentleness.
You'll never know how much your kindness may mean to someone.

I've just observed these lessons in the last two days. Life is full of wisdom!
Love you all!
Janice

Changes for the Sheppies!

We are planning some big changes in the Shepard house. First, we put our house for sale (and already got 3 offers) which proves all the HGTV home staging shows have paid off! Second, we are contemplating moving back to WA sometime soon. Andrew can do his job from anywhere he has online access, which is anywhere! We love and miss our town and friends of Anacortes so much! I still have some medical stuff to take care of and if I move I'll have to come back every three months for a while.

Another change in the works is that Noah is going back to public school next year....can't take another year...enough said! My hat goes off to you homeschoolers! I am just NOT cut out for it!

We would appreciate all your prayers on these issues because they are major stressors right now! We are just waiting for God to give us the green light!

We pray God's blessings on all of you!
Love,
Janice