800 Sales Giveaway!

Zak and I had a little bet going when I hit 700 sales. He thought I'd reach 800 sales mid summer and I guessed May. Well, we were both wrong (though I was more right and that's really all that matters in one of these kind of situations)--I got to the 800 mark today!

Because I love my customers and everyone who has been instrumental in making the shop a success (even if you've never bought anything, you read and comment here, which helps with my overall sanity and hence have an effect on the shop), I've decided to host a giveaway each time I hit a 100 sale milestone!!800 Sale Giveaway: A number shirt or onesie in the winner's choice of size, fabrics from the shop, and number (in word form).AND...If Love, September reaches 400 Facebook Fans by the time the contest is over, I'll give away TWO shirts/onesies to two winners!Rules for entering:

Head over to the Love, September Celebration Supplies section and take a look around.

Come back here and leave a comment on THIS POST or on the Facebook Fan page with your choice of shirt fabric (this can be changed later should you win)

You MUST leave me your email address or another way to contact you. Comments with no email address or blog link will be deleted. If I cannot contact you, I will choose another winner. If you win, you have 48 hours to respond.

You have until Wednesday, May 5th, at 12 midnight MST to enter. Check back next Thursday to find out if you are the lucky winner!!

Remember 400 fans and your chances increase because I'll be giving away TWO shirts!!
Plus, if you become a fan, you get an extra entry into the giveaway!

To earn more entries blog, Twitter or Facebook about this giveaway, then come back and let me know where you posted.
YOU MUST LEAVE A SEPARATE COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY!

C is for Cookie, L is for Lame

This week has been crazy--lots of family, lots of Utah sight-seeing, lots of fun--well fun, until I caught an awful cold. Then it was more like lots of tissues.

Completely unrelated:
Do you ever feel like your husband is the highlight of your long day? Every day when Zak walks in the door, I think "finally."

I know that I'm not cut out to be a military wife, or a med-school "widow", though I have friends who are both and have great respect for their sacrifices and strength. Maybe it's because I'm too uptight or get frazzled too easily (did I mention that I have many negative qualities?).

I hate to say it, but one of the perks of unemployment was that Zak was around A. LOT. Not that I would wish that trial upon our family again, but it was definitely the silver lining. Speaking of which, this week marks the one year anniversary of our layoff, but instead of being here to toast (with Martinelli's of course) that we have survived 365 whirlwind days, Zak's on a quick trip to Houston. This is ridiculously pathetic, but he's only been gone for a few hours and I miss him already.

I'm totally blaming my lameness on the Nyquil.
Yeah, that's it, the Nyquil.

Celebration Week

Jakson didn't just have one day of celebrating his birthday, he had a whole week! If only we all could be so lucky....

Tuesday: He took dinosaur cupcakes to school for sharing. And mommy kept a couple at home for eating. Yum.

Wednesday: Jakson has been having a hard time going to preschool and primary (Sunday School for little ones) lately. Once again resorting to bribes, we set up a sticker chart and he finally earned a Woody doll! So, we pretended that was his birthday present and gave it to him (beautifully wrapped in a Target bag). Then because it was his actual birthday, he also got to wear his new "four" shirt, get a dozen free Krispy Kreme donuts, and party at HeHaws, a seasonal petting farm/outdoor playland with Grandma and Grandpa V. Nothing extravagant, but he's four and didn't care.

My favorite part of the day? Storey's sunglasses.
Or maybe it was Grandpa coming down the slide.The trip wasn't complete without a bumpy, back wrenching barrel ride,sliding, pig watching, more sliding, swinging, pony riding, even more sliding, and hugging.A couple more pictures for good measure.

Thursday: My parents arrived from Houston. What a great birthday present!

Friday: We normally throw a friend party for the kids every other year--making this Jakson's "friend party" year. Only he doesn't really have any friends (well he has one, so he came over to play on Jakson's birthday). Is that awful to say about your own kid? Since the move, he really hasn't bonded with any kids-I guess you could say he left his heart in Arizona. Instead, we threw a family party-with grandparents from both sides, aunts and uncles, presents, cake--again, he's four and really didn't care.

Sitting in front of the birthday banner (sorry about the quality of these pictures-terrible lighting)Opening presentsDespite our singing efforts, Jakson's hatred of the birthday song continues.He recovered in time to blow out the candlesHappy 4th Birthday Jak!! We love you and are so so glad that you are a part of our family!

One Proud Parent

The dinosaur cupcakes that Jakson took to preschool today to celebrate his birthday.

Jakson's dream cake has changed shape daily for the past two weeks. First it was a dinosaur cake, then the more specific triceratops, velociraptor, t-rex, ankylosaurus, or spinosaurus---next he changed gears completely and went through every single Pixar movie.

Indecisive to say the least.

Today, we were listening to the radio and I mentioned that the music was Dash (Dashboard Confessional). Jakson suddenly yelled, "I want Dash cake!" I'm sure that he meant this Dash

and not this one but I still consider it one of my proudest parent moments.

Right behind that time he slipped off the toilet and yelled, "Oh, crap."

Noodles and Milk Pattern Testing

***Thanks to all who have volunteered to test for Sabrina.
We have ten testers, but will hopefully have another pattern to test very soon!!
If you have been chosen to test, Sabrina will be contacting you in the next couple of days!**

My friend Sabrina runs the incredibly popular Noodles & Milk and has decided to start selling patterns for her adorable products.
Can you see where this is going yet?
That's right, she needs testers.
Interested?

There are two different patterns to test-we will need ten testers for each.
You're welcome to sign up to test both, but please make sure that you have the time to get the testing done-she would like all feedback one week from the day that the pattern is sent to you.

The first pattern is the Noodles and Milk Nursing Cover Pillow Pattern. and the second is the Kinley Lounge Pants Pattern.

Both patterns are easy enough for a beginner to make and include photos for each step.

Plus, she will have quite a few more patterns to test in the coming months and if you give great feedback, it's likely you'll be chosen as a tester again!!
Free patterns, cute kid stuff, what more could you want?

If you're interested, hurry, hurry-pattern tester slots fill up quickly!!
Leave a comment on this post with the name of the pattern or patterns that you want to test OR email Sabrina directly at noodlesandmilk(AT)gmail(DOT)com.

Need some fabric to go with that pattern?
Sabrina is also clearing out her fabric stash and selling fabric at slashed prices!
Check it out here.

POOR NEGLECTED BLOG

Every day I think, I should sit down and write a post, but never actually find the time. Right now the kids are napping, I have a pile of banners to stitch up, and I haven't eaten anything all day, yet here I am.

A couple of this week's highlights:

Zak's parents got their mission call!

They requested an "at home" mission, so knew they wouldn't be going far, but were excited to find out what their exact service assignment would be. For the next 12 months, they will be serving in the Church Administration building as family and church history administrators. Jakson and Storey will be sad to not be able to see their grandparents as often, but we are so happy that they are able to serve!

Another highlight-Storey's outfit today.

Lately, she has gotten extremely particular about what she wears. A couple of days ago she insisted on wearing her footie pajamas all day long--to the grocery store, to play outside, everywhere. We all have those days, right?
Today it was this:

The perfect April in Utah outfit-where in the morning it is 75 degrees outside and that night it snows.

Eggs, Baskets, and Hunts.

Saturday morning the kids woke up to brimming Easter baskets.They each got a Toy Story action figure (both are obsessed-Storey mainly because her brother is), a new book, a kite, and a minimal amount of candy.
These kids have enough energy without a sugar high.
Unfortunately, I didn't think about how annoying talking toys can be. Especially if you have a son who presses the button incessantly for over an hour.
Time out for Zurg.
Though it's blurry, this is probably my favorite picture taken this weekend.During Storey's naptime, Jakson and Zak got out the eggs and dye.I had him use a wire whisk instead of the flimsy little holders that the dye kits come with.
Made the whole process so much easier/less messy!
After Storey's morning nap, we headed over to Zak's parents house to spend time with family.

Uncle Jake (a SkyWest pilot) had a hard time getting the kite to fly.
Consequently he ended up the brunt of many jokes. The Vermillions think they are very funny.Success!Everyone got into the kite flying fun. Then on to the hunt.
At first Storey was scrambling to find eggs-she seemed determined to collect more than Jak. That is, until she realized that there was candy inside. Once she figured that out, she stopped looking for eggs and started eating. Not surprising.Jakson remembered the candy secret from Easter egg hunts last year, so he gathered eggs until his basket couldn't hold any more.We finished up all of the "commercial" Easter activities yesterday so that we could focus on Christ's sacrifice and Resurrection today--a tradition I had growing up as well.
What a wonderful Sabbath.
Happy Easter!!