START TIME ON MAKING ANY LAMPWORK BEAD ORDERS OR JEWELRY IS AROUND 6-8 BUSINESS DAYS. Once I have started, it usually takes a few days. It just depends on the order but I will keep you updated through out the process.

All Supplies, DVDs, and Kits orders will be packed and shipped within a couple of days.

Sept 1, 2010

Sigh...good bye summer. I will miss you. Hello September and you can stop right there. Do not go any further. Please don't turn into winter.

Well, I guess there are is still time to play and enjoy cooler rainy days. Both of the big boys got new next size up bicycles this week and we reached a turning point with Caiden as he decided he was ready to take off his training wheels on his bike last night. Which is a big deal considering you would have to force him to even ride his bike! I guess Mia down the street and Caiden were on the same wave lengths and they both did this within one day of each other. So they were out last night giving it a go. I'm too much of a mother and hoover just 1" away. Randy does great and just kind of holds him by the shoulder and grabs when necessary. He will learn much faster with him than me.

I made sure to tell Caiden the story of when I was learning how to ride a bike. I remember distinctly falling often and even running into a tree and being so mad at my dad for letting me hit it! But I survived the ordeal and to get back at him, I've had my bike stored in his garage for the last 14 years. I guess you figured out that I don't ride it anymore. Hmmmm... I guess it is almost an antique now.

And Keegan claims that he is too old to play with bubbles and was very upset when I told him I was going to take their picture with bubbles. BUT... who do you think took possession of the bubble machine and would not share with the other boys until forced to hand it over. Yep...you got it. But maybe that was only to torture his brothers. I'll have to ponder that thought.

August 30th: The bracelet below is sold but if you want a duplicate, just let me know. The cost is $115.

It's a rainy Monday and I can't believe that it is already 1:00 p.m. I feel like I've gotten nothing done. Sigh... it's amazing how fast the day goes by. Although... if you are a 6 year old in first grade then the "days take sooooo long." Yep, I heard that from my teary eyed darling son today. The school nurse called about an hour after school had been in session. Caiden was upset because he remembered that he didn't take his last does of medicine this morning. He told his teacher and the school nurse that he would die if he didn't take it.

Ummmmm... yea...that would be my fault for him saying those words. When driving home from the doctor's office last week Caiden was very upset that he had to take medicine and was giving me the "Mom, how could you do this to me?" and how mean I was to make him take medicine. My reponse was "How could I not do it to him. I love him so much and if he doesn't take his medicine then he could die from his strep throat and I certainly wasn't going to let him die because I couldn't live without him."

Apparently he took that conversation to heart and when the nurse put him on the phone with me this morning he was just sobbing and could barely speak. I hadn't forgotten his medicine but just decided I would give it to him once he got home since he only has to take it once a day. I didn't mention this to him and apparently I should have. So up I drove to school to give my sweetie pie his medicine, lots of hugs and kisses, and waved good bye to a very sad boy that is upset that school takes so long. Poor thing. Did I mention how much I love that little boy? He rocks my world.

Aug. 29th: Another sickie weekend. So Caiden was still sick over the weekend. Keegan woke up feeling crummy on Saturday and even missed his soccer game. He felt better today but I don't think he is out of the woods. I had some sort of lingering bug that didn't knock me out but made me function in the 70-90% range off and on for 4 days. So... now I'm thinking that we are done for the fall/winter season and we can just pack up the box of tissues and call it a year! (I know. Wishful thinking but a gal can dream)

I'll be listing this bracelet for sale on Etsy tomorrow. I'm too tired tonight.

August 26th: p.m. update. Well I certainly have some sort of small bug. Hoping it doesn't last long. In the mean time. I've hung out in bed all evening and just posted these beads on Etsy. Wish me luck that tomorrow I will be back on track again.

A few new earrings on Etsy. and a 1st grader that is home with strep throat. So hmmmmm.... let's see.... there have been 8 days of school and Caiden has missed 3 of them. Not a good start of the year! And I'm in denial but I don't feel 100% either.

Aug 25th: Kind of mind boggling....

So have any of you guys seen the movie Inception? I met a girlfriend for lunch and a movie yesterday and this is what we ended up seeing. I had zero idea what the movie was about. It was so hard to figure out what was going on in the very beginning of the movie (I had to pull out my phone and google what the movie was about about 15 min into it!) But then, it got really really good. Still strange. It's one of those that requires you to think, pay attention to the loads of great action, but in the end... it had me walking away shaking my head and pondering the entire experience. I give the movie a thumbs up for sure.

I have a few pairs of earrings to list on Etsy. Here is one of the pairs.

A pic of Caiden playing with the bubble machine that makes me smile. Sigh...summer is almost over. Keeping my fingers crossed for a trip to the pool this weekend. I sure am going to miss the fun and the sun.

Aug. 20th: 9:00 p.m. post....
Here is a photo of the beads I just listed on my Etsy store. or you can buy them on my boutique page here on Glassbeadle. If you are thinking these are really pretty but just not sure what to do with them, check out my gallery page of bracelets and necklaces. You will find a yummy sample of each that will make you very excited!

Friday alas and the first week of school is almost complete. Keegan is still in hog heaven and is loving middle school. It is so fun to watch him enjoying this new experience and the new freedoms that it brings. Even with getting up at 6:30 since school starts at 7:30 a.m.

Connor is the 5th grader in elementary school and should be enjoying being the big man on the totem pole but is not happy that school has started. He has been moping all week. Even with a great teacher and a great group of his best buddies in his class. I think it was hard being on vacation and having a great time and then coming home to school. And...listening to Keegan speak in animated tones and excitement about the greatness of his school is not helping Connor.

Then little first grade Caiden has messed 2 days of school to being sick! So he is home again today with me and hopefully we will be back on track on Monday.
We are getting ready to have a big storm move through. It is lightening and thundering. It just made the dog bark and Caiden say "that freaked me out".

I just spent some time listing some lampwork cab beads on my Etsy store. These are perfect for making the silver bezels like I make. Remember, you can find the directions on how I make my bezels on the latest issue of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist magazine.

Hubby knows that I love sunflowers and planted a handful in our garden. I took this photo about 15 min before it started raining. And now the poor thing is being flooded and blown to pieces. It is HUGE and at least 7 feet tall and just seemed to bloom over night. It even comes with a resident bee.

Stay tuned... I have a bead set with 4 flowers to get cleaned up and posted also.

Aug. 17th First Day of School

Wow...where did the summer go? Today the kids went back to school. Keegan started middle school this year and he was sooooo excited to go back to school. I must admit that I had dreaded the whole back to school thing but you know it is coming and you can't stop it and I did do a small happy dance after they were out of car. Then I drove myself to the local Panara's and met up with 9 other mom's to celebrate oops.. excuse me.. I mean to wallow in sadness that our babies are back in school.

Keegan survived being a middle schooler and I think he loved the entire experience. His first words were that it is chaotic. Because the hallways where all the lockers are located are loud, people are talking and you can walk where ever you want and don't have to stand in a line. Now this is a very big deal considering when coming from elementary school where you get a big trouble if you talk in the hallways, you have to walk single file in a line, and last year they even put up Stop Signs at the T crossings in the hallways where the kids have to stop before they can turn left or right (and oh yea... that is a big "oh brother" you are hearing in the tone of my voice.) So you can see why that felt like freedom to Keegan. I was pretty pumped for him.

So we took off to Disney World on vacation last week. We left a day early and met friends who have a large sail boat in the Pennsacola area and went sailing for the day. It was a great adventure. I think this is my favorite photo of Caiden. I snapped it when he was coming up the ladder from the cabin area. The boys loved hanging out at the front of the boat relaxing on the dingy boat.

Disney was awesome as always but we never go in the summer time so it was a new experience dealing with all of the crowds. But we've been there enough that we know how to work the system and got to do everything we wanted to do. The fast passes are the way to go and the early and late entry days are a must. When it is this crowded it is almost essential to get there about 20 min. before the parks open. Then you have about 2 good hours before the parks start to get crowded. By the time Friday night rolled around, we were exhausted. It was an incredible week though and I'm so glad we went. Lots of wonderful memories were created.

And check out these photos... that's my 12 year old Keegan surfing!!! Can you believe it? Hubby and Keegan took off one morning and drove to the beach while me and the other boys stayed behind. Then a few days later we were needing some rest time and we all drove over to Cocoa Beach for a few hours. Ron Jon's had a surfing day camp for kids that was being held right next to us and we were able to add Keegan into class for a few hours. He took to it like a fish in water. It was so incredible to watch. So then the next day, Randy took Keegan back to go surfing for a second day. He is so ready to move to CA or FL so he can surf.

So I'm playing catch up and getting organized for a few more days and then it is back to work on beady stuff and cranking out some goodies.

AUG 3: Head's up.... the Glass Beadle and Tickle Me Websites will be on summer break starting Thursday, August 5th - Monday August 15th. No shipping will be done during this time.

This is the last you will hear from me until Aug 16 give or take a day here or there. If you need anything shipped that does not need to be made, then tomorrow is the last shipping day till the 16th.

I'm sorry I keep throwing out pics of the kids and our daily amusings but I haven't been making any new designs lately. Just been filling orders and keeping the kids occupied which seems like a full time job. Speaking of occupied, we saw the Cats vs. Dogs Kitty Galore yesterday. The boys loved it and lets just say I was able to sit through and endure it while all the time thinking of 100 other things I could be doing with my time.

The cub scout pack had their annual Raingutter Regatta race and swim last night. It is kind of like the pinewood derby except with wooden boats that you fix up and decorate and then race in raingutters that are propped up on saw horses. Caiden will be joining cub scouts in a few weeks and was invited to participate. He was so cute. Caiden and Connor picked out their paint colors and came up with their design and got them all dolled up for the big event.

The race involves two raingutters that are set up side by side for a head on race of 2 people at a time. The contenders are only able to blow their boat to make it go. Whoever gets to the end first is the winner. There were a lot of cool looking boats.

Here is Connor doing his thing. He won his first round but then lost the 2nd round. Keegan is in boy scouts now and had to be happy sitting on the side lines cheering for his brothers.

This is a picture of Caiden after he won the first round. Lets just say there were tears involved when he lost his second round! Trophies were involved and he wanted one sooo bad.

July 31st: A STEP BACK IN TIME

We had a fun little unexpected adventure on Saturday. Randy and Connor went for a bike ride and rode by a friend's house. They had an old Huffy Daisy two seater bicycle from the early 70's that they just put out for the trash. It was so cool and hubby had to bring it home to play with it. It reminds us of the old orange crate spider bikes and banana seats. The seats still have some faded glitter in them and the original nylon Firestone Town and County whitewalls and all.

It was pure bliss and we had a ball hopping on the bike and giving it a go. Nothing else mattered around us. Just the nostalgia of riding on this bike and admiring the coolness of it.

After snapping some pics and watching the glow of the boys faces while giving it a go. I decided that I needed a turn also. Hubby said that it rides different with 2 people on it so to try it out first by myself. Those tall handle bars sure are a bit strange and I don't think I would want to ride it up a big hill but the joy of having a vintage toy to check out and play with was blissful. Makes me wish we lived in an old sea side cottage where we would hop on the bike and take a ride down to the local 5 and dime.

It seems like Keegan lived up to being a 12 year old over night. I made a comment to hubby how strange it is. He needed new tennis shoes so we went shoe shopping on Saturday night. We also popped into Hollister and bought him some clothes for school. There were all these little young teeney bopper girls hanging out inside. We got him some "cool" clothes and Connor picked out a few green shirts (his favorite color) and called it a night. As soon as we had gotten home, Keegan was modeling his shirts. Even changing shorts to match each shirt perfectly!

Over the weekend, we saw him hanging out in his room way more than normal listening to music. Oh...while wearing his new clothes. I think I forgot to mention that one is a sweatshirt. Even though it it hot outside, he puts on it as soon as we walk in the door. It is really quite comical and entertaining.

July 30th: If you are curious about using a micro torch for silver fusing or metalsmithing, then you will want to check out the August 2010 issue of Lapidary Journal Jewelry Artist. There is a well written technique article by Sharon Elaine Thompson on using these small torches. She interviewed me for the article and you will find my 2 cents on using these great torches (which btw, my 2 cents says that these small torches rock and I use it 99% of the time for all of my metal smithing).

Then, if your interest is peeked, flip the page and read the article I wrote on making silver bezels with a lampwork cab bead. This is a step by step article that shows exactly how I make my bezels. I have a handful of lampwork cabs to list on Etsy to use for making the bezels. Just gotta slow down enough to get them listed.

I officially am the proud mother of a 12 year old! Yep, Keegan had a birthday yesterday. And I might add it was an action packed birthday.

Hmmmm....it started off with a day at the Nascar Speed Track about 40 min away from us that has lots of go cart tracks, bumper boats, putt putt golf etc. I bought the boys all day wrist bands. They had a blast playing while I had my handy dandy iPad in hand and surfed the internet and relaxed. Since Caiden is too small, he spent the day with my parents. I drug them away around 3:30 for part 2 of the birthday bash....

Then we picked up Caiden. Came home and cleaned up and then hopped back into the car to meet hubby and my parents at California Pizza Kitchen for dinner. Then it was back to my parents house for presents and teasing about gifts he may or may not get! Keegan was wanting "big boy toys" as he was calling them and wanted a Zippo lighter and a lock head knife for Boy Scouts. My mom did so good about having him guessing if he would get the Zippo. She kept claiming she didn't know what a Zippo lighter is. She claimed to think those were those pants with zippers on the knees that comes off. Then she let him open a early present of bic lighters. "No, Mimi" Keegan says. "These so won't work for Boy Scouts. I have to have a Zippo."

July 28, 2010

Dreamin Big

Um... like yea right! So not going to happen. Hubby and the 3 boys had been surfing the internet looking at hot rods. Crazy man was getting the kids all worked up. Even sent them my way saying, "Dad said he would sell his Harley if you will let him get a Viper." So of course I say no way. And Keegan's reply was "but Mom, he talked about it all the way home from piano lessons. I know he wants one really bad." How is that pulling on your heart strings? I guess it didn't tug much because I wan't biting. So then they get on the computer and start looking at cars and they stumble across these Lamborgini replica cars. And start bugging me about that. "But Mom..... they are soooo cool. Come look at these doors. They open up from the top." Yea, whatever. I don't like those doors I reply.

So off to bed they go. And in the morning when hubby is getting ready for work, he brings me in the following that was left on the computer table. How funny is that? This came from Connor our 10 year old.

So I just posted a few simple bead sets on my Etsy store.

And just eye candy of a custom made necklace in the ivory eleganza colors.

A last stroll in the hot tub for a few weeks as there is a leak and the guy drained it this morning to find out that a part needs to be ordered and the dude is going on vacation. So another $Cha Ching$ as he will have to come out for a 4th time in what I'm praying will be the final time to get it fixed. They must think that I have a money tree in the backyard and can just grab $100 bills at my whim.

July 23, 2010

A FINE HOT DAY

A few weeks ago, we got a notice included in with Connor's Lego Club magazine that they are doing a 10 city tour to promote Lego's new board game series. They are setting up life size games of the board games for people to play. St. Louis happened to be one of the few locations. So being the good mother that I am, I promised Connor I would take him!

The event ended up being held in the downtown St.Louis area right next to the famous Soulard Farmer's Market. I hadn't been to this area for many many years. The heat index was about 104. It was HOT. But me and the 3 boys were on a mission. It ended up being an incredibly fun adventuresome day.

I had brought my good SLR camera and the boys were painfully subjected to posing for photos!

We got tired of waiting for Connor to stand in line for his turn to play a game so we walked across the street to some old brick buildings with beautiful doors and I made Keegan and Caiden do some posing for me.

After the lego games we walked a 100 feet over to the Farmer's Market. That was worth the trip all by itself. It is all open and was hot but the booths were loaded with fresh veggies, and fruit, and there were meat markets with the strangest cuts of meat. We loaded up on about 3 lemon lime slushies, 4 cokes, and 1 banana tootsie pop and walked the isles. The colors were incredible. The prices were devine. Fresh pinneapples for $1, red cherries for $2.50/lb, grapes for $1/lb. Carrot stalks that were about 12" long and 3" fat were only 10 cents each.

We live in the suburbs and it takes about 45 min. to drive downtown but it was worth every minute and I certainly have plans to go again.

One of the few pics where I happened upon chance to get all 3 boys with a pretty face!

Caiden has been into giving nose kisses and I got a lot at the Lego games. I let Keegan try his hand at photography. He is such a boy and went snap crazy taking about 20 photos with the shutter button pressed the entire time before I was able to stop him. I guess it is a good way to make sure I get a good photo!

Oh the joy, as soon as we walked inside the market, there was one of those industrial size fans. The boys had a ball sucking up the air and frolicking in it.

My sweet little baby Caiden who is now 6 years old and ready to hit 1st grade in a few weeks!

My beautiful big boy son Keegan who will be turning 12 in less than a week. Can you believe he had an indentical twin brother?

As I mentioned, Connor was busy playing a game so I didn't get any individual shots of him.

July 18th: A Day At the Pool

A perfect way to spend a sweltering hot day in St. Louis. I only grabbed the camera for a few photo opps. Caiden decided that he loved the slides. Which was a first for him and shaggy dog Connor was having fun playing with his hair making different silly hair arrangements.

July 17:

6 year old Caiden's testing for his green belt went great. The photo on the left is of him doing a hammer kick for his board break. I was so proud of him.

July 16th: It is a fine Friday. Hubby is back from being in California all week, the boys are done with camp, Connor is heading out on a cub scout camp out, Caiden is testing for his green belt in tae kwon do, Keegan is chillin, and I'm posting a new bracelet. Life is good and crazy as always! I even managed to sneak in trip to the movie theater to see Karate Kid. Loved it!

I just added the pink and black version of the memory wire bracelet over at Etsy. What do ya think?

July 15, 2010

Part II

I ran out of certain beads to keep replicating the new flower bracelet so here is part II which is basically the same except a few beads have been swapped out for other beads. You can find it over at my Etsy store for $40. I designed another one in pinks, black, and white. You will want to eat it up! I'll take pics tomorrow and get it ready to go.

July 13th: Hot tubs rock and old people drive slow (according to the mind of a 6 year old)

Kids are so funny and say the darndest things. The big boys are at the Behind the Scenes Six flags camp this week which leaves Caiden and I alone all day. He is such a crack up. I have no idea why but when we were in the car driving this morning, he was very interested in cars and how they work. So we talked about the breaks and the steering wheel and he wondered if he would be able to drive easy when he gets older. I told him that he would go to driving school to learn how to drive when he is old enough. He then proceeded to say that he doubted that he would need to do driving school because he could just look at it all and know what to do. And he wanted to know why old people drive slow. What? where did that one come from? Not that my mother is old. Just older but I guess he hasn't picked up on the fact that she has a lead foot and will put me to shame.

After being at camp all day, Keegan had to do track practice from 6-8 p.m. in this swealtering humid heat. Ilyse and I jogged and walked the track tonight while our kids did their thing. So by the time we got done. We were hot, sore, and tired. Keegan and I agreed that the hot tub was in order. I know it is hot and yes, the temp was 104 when we got in but it was a really good heat. Caiden asked to get in and he loved it. He was all excited when he said that this was the very first time he has gotten in the hot tub. I didn't realize that. He was sooo excited and loved it. He was the last one to get out. And now, he told me that I'm not allowed to get in the hot tub without telling him first so that he can say yes or no that he is going to get inside too!I just can't believe how big my baby is getting.

Speaking of how big our babies get, I got a special request to make a toggle that is going to be used for a mother's bracelet. Her baby is turning sweet 16 tomorrow! Happy birthday Meghan. I truly hope it is indeed a Sweet Sixteen.

July 12: Home Safe...

We got Keegan home safely from Boy Scout Camp early Saturday morning. He was exhausted. We drove almost 2 hours on Thursday night for the family night where you basically hang out with your kiddo for a few hours before making the long trek home. We weren't going to do it but just couldn't handle the thought of Keegan being all alone when other parents are there with their kids. When we pulled up and saw the huge smile on his face and the gleam in his eyes, I knew we had done the right thing and I was soooo happy to see him. He looked like he was a few years older. He was having a blast and chattered constantly about all the fun things he had been doing and wouldn't stop for a second. Not even when he paused for a break and we blurted out that we are going to Disney World on vacation did it make him pause. He just nodded and said, "ok, can I finish telling you about the high ropes?"

So over the weekend, we fit in two movies and saw Despicable Me. It was great. I really enjoyed it!! Went to the pool a few times and now the big boys are at a Behind the Scenes Six Flags camp all week. I can't wait to hear what they think about it. They were pretty pumped.

So, here is a necklace that I made from an extra link from another necklace that I made (which is really cool) but I didn't take a good photo of it, before it left my hands. Grrrr...

Anyway... it is over at my Etsy store. along with a few other recently added items.

July 7: Oops.. it got grabbed up fast. I'm going to make a duplicate in the next few days and list it again. The cost is $40. If anyone once to do an advance order. Just let me know. Here is another pic.

I took the boys to go see The Last Airbender yesterday. I had very very low expectations because the reviews were so bad but Connor kept begging to go see it. I had to admit that it was actually pretty good. I enjoyed it. Whew...

All of a sudden my stomach as started growling so I'll make this fast so I can go have some sort of satisfying delightful breakfast:-)

I made a very cute bracelet the other day that is very tempting! Just listed it over at my Etsy store.

July 5: So I never mentioned that all 3 kids and hubby caught a stomach virus that has been going around. Keegan got it on Monday of last week, then it trickled down to Connor who had it really bad, Caiden had a mild case, hubby has it really bad, and I'm still scott free and keeping my fingers crossed! Ever since I started working out regularly and taking vitamins since last Fall, I have not been sick at all. Not even a winter cold and I usually get about 3 of those a season. I really should be knocking on wood right now as I'm totally jinxing myself!

Anyhoo... the 4th was great and the kids had a blast. Hubby was sick and felt crummy but he and my brother shot off loads of fireworks for the kiddes. My brother brought this hula girl firework that was so cute. She just had flames shooting out of her arms and hat but coming from a girl perspective, it was too darn cute!

July 4th:

Just popped in to say Happy 4th to everyone. I hope you have a splendid day.

I'm gonna be sportin some love. Tucking some inside Keegan's pockets as we ship him off to Boy Scout Camp for the week. And livin, lovin, laugin, and smilin. I hope you do the same!

July 2: I'm trying to clean up my news page and get all of the top heavy stuff off the top and moved over to the side. I know my website needs lots of new photos and updates but honestly, it is a right pain to do because it is all in html. I know enough to play a tad and by trial and error what needs to be done but it can be slow tedious work. I need hubby for the big guns but by the time he gets home and the kids zap all of our attention, the last thing I want to do, is huddle around the computer jostling on how I want hubby to change things on my site. So here and there, I'll figure it out.

I've added a few odds and ends goodies over at Etsy. Including some bead mixes that include lots of Czech beads, pearls, pressed glass, etc. These are the beads that I use in my dangle bracelets. There should be at least 5 of each style of bead in the mix. The one with the bright colors is one that I custom made just for this listing. I bought some pretty expensive very premium glass beads at the Bead and Button show a few years ago and I've been hoarding them. (I know I'm a sad case). So I dipped into my special collection, added a few more of my favorites to the batch and came up with some yummy collections.

If you do any bead stringing, weaving, or like lots of wire wrapped dangle beads, then these are right up your alley. There is only 1 of the purple/blk collection and one of the red/blue/brown collection. The other two sets I have a few duplicates of.

Yes indeed there was a trip to the fireworks stand yesterday but it had to be delayed as it has become a dad's tradition to take the Donlen boys on their eagerly awaited trip. So the boys raided their piggy banks to add money to the pot and they all came home floating on air digging through their loot in exultation.

My oldest son Keegan is going to a one week Boy Scout camp starting on Sunday. He is very excited but we are a tad frustrated as it messes up our annual tradition of good eats and fireworks viewing over at my parents house with my brother and his family. We have been doing this ever since keegan was born. I remember when Keegan was a few years old and terrified of the firework sounds. I stood with him in my parent's bathtub looking out their large window gazing into the sky to watch the show. My how time flies.

This year, Keegan will be at camp and not part of the family celebration which makes us really sad and frustrated that Boy Scouts (that centers around God and Family) is hosting a camp on a family holiday. Grrrrrrrr.... So hubby let the boys light off a few early fireworks tonight so that Keegan could at least participate in the fun.

July 1: Happy July. Bring it on!! I love July. It is in the thick of summer break, 4th of July family gatherings, Keegan's birthday (whom will be turning 12 this month), loads of time at the swimming pool, summer movies, well you get the picture.

I got a fun treat in the mail a few days ago. It is the new Bead and Button's book called "Creative Beading Volume 5 The Best Projects from a year of Bead and Button Magazine" My Bloomin Flower Rings are in the book. Yippee.... So if you have a hankering to go make the rings, go grab the book. There are some incredible projects inside.

Now off to maybe go for a quick run and figure out what to do today while also trying to do beady stuff and entertaining the kids. I'm thinking a trip to the Fireworks Stand just might be in order!

June 28th: Wow, I can't believe the kids have been out of school for 1 month today. The days are just flying by. Last week was such a crazy busy week. Hubby went to Honk Kong and China for work all last week. He was a busy busy bee but I think it was a really good trip for him and a lot of wonderful new experiences. There is a 13 hour time difference from where we live and it was strange when we would be going to bed, he would be waking up. We didn't get to speak much because it is pretty expensive but I did get great stories when he got home Saturday night around 11:30 p.m. He brought lots of fun little treats for everyone. I'm so happy to have him back. Life isn't the same without him but I knew he was in good hands and that he was having a grand experience.

I think the vertical photo is in Hong Kong and the photo of him is at the harbor in Hong Kong. The other nighttime foggy photo is in Shanghi. I think he really really liked Shanghi. He traveled somewhere else in China but now I don't remember the name.

This was one of his meals. Look closely... do you see what is on the plate?

He said everyone hangs out laundry to dry outside.

He has loads of probably better pics but these were taken with his phone and were just emailed to us throughout his trip. So I thought I would just share some of the pics that I already had on my computer.

June 24th: Did I ever mention that I have the best grandmother? She is now 85 years old and spry as ever. She is one of those grandmothers that fits along your childhood imagination of what a grandma should be like. I have some of the warmest and most fuzzy memories of spending time with her, my grandfather, and my great grandparents "in the county". Which is about 1 hour and 45 min away from our house. And... it is way down in the county with rock roads, loads of creeks, and cows everywhere.

I think it is important for my kids to have some of the same experiences that I was so blessed to have at their age. So I packed them up and adventured down to grandma's for a few days. We stopped and bought some fire works, chose to drive the rock roads that zip around to get to my grandmother's house. Along the way we always drive by my grandfather's old school house that he attended when he was a small child. This is the photo at the bottom of the collection below. The old building never ceases to amaze me as I imagine my grandfather as a young zippy boy walking in 6 feet of snow (as he always told us!) to get to school. Sadly, he passed away only a few weeks after Keegan was born.

So we came home tonight with 2 more HUGE tadpoles and 2 teeny tiny oh so cute catfish. One tadpole has all 4 legs and the other tadpole has 2 legs. I'm hoping they will teach the other tadpole that we brought home last August to grow legs as we have had that crazy thing for 10 months and there isn't even an inkling of any legs forming. It is just crazy!

My cousin Angie packed up her 4 kids and drove down this morning to spend the day with us also. The kids had soooo much fun playing together. It was a beautiful day and wonderful memories were created and the boys will sleep well with many happy thoughts and memories to inspire them throughout the night.

June 20th: So have you guys seen Toy Story 3 yet? Hubby took the day off on Friday and we went in the morning to see it. Oh the anticipation as we sat in our chairs, munching on popcorn, sipping our Cokes, and being bombared with commercials that we are now forced to watch while waiting for the show to begin (actually I took my iPad in the theater and tuned it all out while doing emails before the show began. There is never enough minutes in the day to do e-mails. They tend to pile up at the blink of an eye). The lights dimmed, we settled in our chairs, and with a gleeful look dived into the movie with our full attention.

Without being a spoiler, all I want to say is that the movie did not disappoint. The story line was fresh and very entertaining with all of the anticipated adult humor spattered throughout the movie. What I was not expecting was to get teary eyed in the end. I could not believe it but my eyes were welling up with tears. You know that feeling you get when you feel like a dork for crying in the movie theater so you try your best to blink fast, look up in the air, anything to avoid dabbing your eyes and making it obvious that you are all teary eyed. I glanced at Keegan next to me and was so happy to see that he had pools of tears in his eyes too! Whew, that made me feel better and while Keegan and I are trying not to cry, hubby and Connor are poking at us and giggling.

So Keegan had another track meet this past Saturday morning. It was a hot sunny day and the golf umbrellas well appreciated shade made it comfortable to sit and watch the action.

June 19th: Wow, I had no idea that these toggles would be so popular. It's very exciting and they are still in the begging stages of development and I really want to play some more on the design ideas. Here is another style of toggle I've made. I'll try to get them available this coming week. I did list a few more toggles and have a few more new ones to still list over at my Etsy store.

It is strange but I had a huge weight lifted off on my shoulders on Thursday morning. I couldn't believe how relived and happy I felt when our contractor decided to bail and not complete the job. We had the "come to Jesus" talk with him and basically said that we weren't happy that he painted all of the walls before the dry wall mud and tape part was finished properly. We gave him the option of fixing all of the mistakes before anymore payment was made or to just walk away. He chose to walk away. Silly me, I was thinking that I would have the basement done and ready to set all up in a few weeks. I should have known better.

Not sure what our next steps will be but at this point I don't care! It is summer and I was going crazy not being able to go places and do things with the kids because I had to be stuck at home. The happy dance is what I did after they walked out the door. I'M FREE!

June 16th: I just posted more toggles on Etsy. These are just duplicates of the ones that already sold. I do have other fun beads to use in other designs. So I will work on those shortly.

This entire basement thing is just driving me INSANE. I thought we were getting closer but sadly tonight we realized this is not the case. I looked in shock and disbelief at what a crappy job he had done with not finishing up the mud properly on the dry wall and the horrid paint job that he slapped on the walls. This was supposed to be a 1 week job but it is coming up on 3 weeks and our summer is being wasted because I'm grounded at home every bloomin day not knowing when he is coming or leaving. I'm pulling my hair out. So tomorrow is one of those "come to Jesus days" where there is going to be a confrontation. I want my workshop back, I want a clean house again, I want the lazy river again, I want, I want, I want....

Tuesday night Keegan had a track meet. Earlier in the day, we wondered if there would be a meet as we had two thunderstorms race through the area. But around 4:00 the sun came out and started to dry up all the rain. Leave it to boys though, my other 2 kiddos and their buddy Kyle found a large rain puddle that captivated their attention for the two full hours of the meet. They had a ball. I had to give kudos to my good friend Ilyse as Kyle had just gotten new shoes the week before and she didn't yell at him for getting them saturated in the water puddle. She is a better woman than I am.

June 15th: Qtlry tax day and I'm in procrationation mode as sitting here in front of me for 2 long days is the statement and envelope. I guess I better write out the check now before I forget and miss the 15th deadline. The government frowns upon tardiness.

We've got a nice strong rain shower going on and I wonder if Keegan will get to participate in his track meet tonight. I'm still grounded at home waiting for the contractor to finish the basement. He beats to his own drum and I never know when he is coming (like at 10:30 this morning) or leaving like at 1:00 p.m. yesterday. I just want the basement done. It is a mess and there is so much white dust from all the sanding that you walk down there and come up looking like a snowman. My workbenches and tools are covered in a white dust regardless that they are protected by plastic sheeting.

We saw Ronald McDonald today and Caiden just asked how he takes his shoes off.

So... I'm getting ready to post toggles on Etsy. There are two choices of the round part of the toggle. Choose one with swirls or just dots.

June 13th:

I'm back from Bead and Button. There are more photos that I uploaded on Face Book if you want to see more. Another fantastic year of shopping and hanging out with one of my best buds. I was supposed to arrive in Chicago from St. Louis around 12:30 but there were storms and O'hare closed the airport to incoming flights and our plane had to go land in Peoria, IL for a while. Sigh... so I didn't end up getting into Chicago until about 3:30. So by the time we drove to the show, it was 6:00 and we only got 2 hours of shopping time in on Friday before they closed.

We had a plan and went to the few booths that were the most important to us right away. We did shop all day on Saturday and felt like we covered everything for the most part. I always feel like you need a few days break to play with what you bought because I always say to myself that I wish I would have bought this or a lot more of that. And then I always seem to buy stuff that I never use. I keep everything I buy at Bead and Button in one of those plastic bins. I have loads of stuff from the last 2 years each in their own bin that I have never touched. So I tried to be more conservative this year and just buy things that I for sure think I will use.

It is funny how your taste changes over the years. I did end up buying a few seed bead kits this year. I never really play with seed beads and the most I've really done is taken a class with Kate McKinnon on making one of her square stitch bracelets but I have never ever finished it and did not pick it up again to even work on after taking her class. So I'm hoping to work on these kits.

I often feel like I'm just a collector of beads. I bought about $30 worth of sequins from Gail Grossman Moore. Why? I don't know. I guess to add to the $25 worth that I bought last year from her. They are just sooooo cool. And when you see them, you can't help but want to hoard them. So I've made a challenge to myself to do something with them.

A lot of the booths this year were doing demos to lure you in. Those were pretty cool and I must admit worked on us for we ended up buying a stringing tool that we would have never bought otherwise.

And a fun unexpected treat was meeting a customer of mine, Kathy, from England. We had spoken by email before she left for the show and just left it up in the air if we would see each other. I was to keep my eyes open for 2 girls with English accents and she was to look for me and Joan with black hair. Within 30 min of being at the show, Kathy found us. I couldn't belive it. She was having a ball and did a lot of buying. I think she mentioned about 200 pounds of pearls will be going home with her. Then we ran into her and her sister at dinner. Their photo is in the pics above. That was a nice surprise.

It was a great trip and my one time a year to spend the weekend with Joan. We laugh and giggle and catch up on everything. She loaded me up with the cutest belt buckles and 3 awesome belts she makes. I felt so guilty taking them all.

I'll try to take pics of my buys to share with you. Right now, I'm hanging out of the bed with 6 year old Caiden and hubby and watching Toy Story 2 on ABC Family and getting excited for Toy Story 3 to come out on Friday!

June 10th: I'm hopping on a plane tomorrow morning to head out to Bead and Button. My friend Joan is picking me up at the Chicago airport and we are driving straight onto shopping. I can't believe it has been an entire year since I've seen Joan. Way too long and we are going to have a grand time together. I'm like a little girl brimming with excitement.

I plan to post photos on the Glassbeadle Facebook page so stay tuned over there. And... if you saw those really cool toggles that I posted on Facebook then I have 6 of them ready to sell. I just need to take photos. I'm hoping to get that going in the next 30 min but I'm busy doing laundry, cleaning, and taking care of a six year old that apparently has strep throat as of this morning. Thank goodness it was that and not the flu like I was worried about. The thought of getting this close to Bead and Button and then coming down with the Flu right before it starts does not sound like fun.

June 5th: What a lovely time I've been having sitting in the gazebo on our front porch. I don't spend enough time here. It is warm and humid with a delightful breeze. Exactly the way I love it. I wonder if I should mention that sitting a foot from me in a red bucket is a small ring snake that Keegan found and wanted to observe before letting it back into the wild or the fact that my hubby informed me that the other stack of chairs that we haven't taken apart but I've been sitting on top of even a few hours ago has 3 wasps nests right under the bum area. Good thing I didn't get stung earlier!

But I did just see that are huge hydanga bushes are loaded with blooms and they are starting to turn colors. This is the first year that we have half of them in various shades of lilac to a deeper purple. As your eye follows down the line, they end up gradually going from purple to pink. We haven't done anything different with the soil so not sure why the color change but I'm not complaining. It is quite a pretty sight.

While sitting here, I did add a few pairs of earrings on Etsy. I guess not having a torch for a week is letting me get a few things added but I still keep finding myself getting distracted. We are getting ready to meet some friends that we haven't seen in a year for a late afternoon and evening at Six Flags. Can't wait.

Oh btw... these earrings are so cool. The beads on the silver hoops are removable so you can shake things up and wear all the beads or just one of the beads. Once my torch is back up, I plan to make lots more!

June 4th: I've been stuck at home all week while the contractor is finishing up the basement. I keep wondering why we didn't do this while the kids were still in school as being home all week with kids off school is no fun.

I'm guessing most of next week work will consist of being home for the contractor too. Sigh.. It is worth it to get the basement done so I'm trying not to whine loudly but I also cannot work as my station is all taken down.

Kerry had asked to see a pic of it in progress so this is what it looks like now. The bench is usually against the wall and you can see my ventilation unit. Kind of makes for an eye sore:-).

My kiln and oxy concentrators and all of my glass is stuck in this room. This is a tiny little room that hubby keeps calling his workshop but I keep trying to steal it. Actually, I've been trying to convince him to just set up my vent unit in here and let me make this my little workshop and then my old work area won't be an eye sore and it can just become part of the finished basement. Then we don't have to worry about flooring and all the glass and burn marks that I'm sure to drop and destroy. A concrete floor makes you careless:-)

I listed these on Etsy today. Just another somethin somethin I have been playing with. The silver disc is actually quite cool in person. I really like the tiny lampwork beads on it. Just click on the photo to go Etsy. And... I'm getting ready to list a few bags (on etsy) of reject stainless steel head pins. There are probably about 1,000 in each bag but most of them are bent. 85 -90% are still usable. I just don't like putting them in with the regular stainless steel bags that I sell. I've been colleting them for awhile and thought someone would like to have these at a reduced price!

June 1: Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend. It was a fun busy weekend. Had a garage sale on Saturday (and am thinking this morning that we still have way too much stuff and more needs to go!) and I finally got my time at the pool and the lazy river. It felt devine and I was in heaven. As a matter of fact, we spent 2 days at the pool this weekend. I would be there again today but we have a guy finishing up the drywall for the basement. So I will be grounded at home all of this week. I am so ready for the basement to be done so I'm trying not to whine about being home all week.

We had to take down my torch and kiln and move my workbench away from the wall so it could be finished up. I'm not sure how many days I will be without a torch. I'm hoping just a few days but it could be all week.

This will give me a chance I'm hoping to get things updated on Tickle Me. I have new items that have never gotten listed and I do have a few small bead sets that I plan to post on Etsy this afternoon. So make sure to check out my etsy store in a few hours.

So...my other thing that I wanted to share and see if you guys are interested in voting is for Bead Star 2010. The finalist have been chosen and my bracelet made it into the "hearts" category. Please go vote for me if ya don't mind:-). My bracelet is located on the "hearts" page at the very top column the 3rd on the right hand side. It is a dangle bracelet (Jack's Magic Beans) in the lavender, purples, greens, and blue colors.