Free Happy Feelings

trust me, when you participate in this hat drive in ANY way, you WILL receive a free happy feeling!!

i just want to give you an update on our 2nd annual hat drive for the kids in China.  i received 2 packages of hats recently, 1 from south carolina and the other all the way from ireland!! and then an adorable little hat from a friend here in town.

this year the hats will be going to the kids at the Chengdu City Children's Welfare Center.

all (new) hats will be accepted, handmade or store bought- the kids don't care a bit and are sooooooo happy to have a nice warm hat of their very own!

Remember last years kiddo's?

 if you'd rather just donate some $$ feel free to do that at the top with the paypal button. even $1 helps!!

thank you so much to those that have already donated and for the rest of you...there is still time!!!!! i'm taking hats and donations until 10/31.  feel free to contact me at: chinamommy_04@yahoo.com if you have any questions.

Digital Scrapbooking and hats for kids.

It's Sunday and I have the whole house to myself until late this evening.  So far I have:

• torn out what was left of the landscaping on 1 side of the house and by "landscaping" I mean the 2 huge chunks of hostas that were left after we tore the rest of the crap out 2 summers ago.
• drug 1 huge hunk of hosta to the front of our drive-way and planted them along the edge of the tree line, left the other off to the side for the Mister to deal with tomorrow.
• replanted the side yard with a butterfly bush, black eyes Susans and this other pretty pinkish thing.
• showered
• put on a ridiculous outfit
• ribbon danced around my yard until the neighbors complained

source

Ok, enough of that craziness... What I really wanted to tell you about was:

1. The hat drive

AND

2. The Memories Suite 2 Giveaway that will be posted on Tuesday.

All information about the hat drive is located under the hat drive tab above.  There is also a donate button if you'd rather help that way.  Every single penny goes to the drive, whether to buy yarn or to ship.  This is the 2nd year I've done this and I'm really hoping this will be another great year for the kids!  Please let me know if you have ANY questions at all!!

The 2nd thing is something I am also REALLY EXCITED about and I'm going to give you a little teaser.  On Tuesday I'll be posting a give-away for someone to WIN: My Memories Suite 2 for FREE! (For everyone else I'll have a code that will allow you to try My Memories Suite 2 and additional embellishments for a special savings!!!!!!) I was given this software to try out and let me just tell you... I LOVE IT!  It's easy, it's quick, it's adorable AND (most importantly) even I can do it!!  This is perfect for someone that's REALLY into scrapbooking OR.... someone that wishes they had their pictures in a CUTE  album but find that scrapbooking really isn't their "thing".  If you've ever wanted to try digital scrapbooking but just didn't know where to start, this is really going to help you out!  I've already done several things and can't wait to show you!!!!!!!!!!!

So, come on back Tuesday and see what this is all about!!!!

Happy Birthday to the sweetest girl I know!

Today is my sweetie's 8th Birthday... where did the time go?

4

5

6

7

8

(FYI: she's holding "Sports Beans" in this picture. They are for runners, an energy blast, but she says they make her hyper and begs for them ALL the time...Ummm, NO! But for her birthday, I give her the kid-cat-nip beans.)

Feeling SOOOOO blessed that God picked me to raise this sweet, sweet girl and am so sad to see the years fly by...

Happy Birthday to my favorite girl EVER!!

I LOVE Political Ads... yeah, right!

Well, if you aren't ready to pull out EVERY hair on your body in frustration of the 9 billion political ads running every 2 seconds, then you are a stronger person than me (or you don't have a television in your home)!!   Regardless of how crazy the ads are making you... get your booty out there and

 VOTE

 and then when you get home, pour a glass of wine and celebrate the end of the ads... for a while anyway!

As you know, the deadline for my Baby/Kid Hat drive has arrived and...

Let me just say my ❤❤HEART❤❤ is overjoyed at the hats I've received for the little kiddo's in China!!  The generosity of people that don't even know me (and some that do), or these kids....it makes me a bit weepy with JOY!  I want to give a proper shout out to the contributors and take pictures...so stayed tuned tomorrow for that post!  AND, if you didn't get in on the hat drive this year... FEAR NOT!  I'm going to do it again, feel free to send hats ANYTIME!!!  My big push will be again next summer, but I have a special closet I keep them all in, so send away!

(handmade, store bought, gently used, baby, kid, teen...ALL are welcome!!)

Channeling Ms. Martha Stewart!

You know that "one Mom" at school... the one with the perfect hair (that you know cost $180), the perfect outfit EVERY time, She's drives the best SUV, carries the best purses, and ALWAYS has the cutest shoes?  PLUS: she plans the perfect birthday parties, brings in the cutest treats and has a 

fabulously dressed genius kid?  Well, that would be ME!... 

In my DREAMS (just kidding)! 

 Ok, the fabulously dressed genius kid I have, but the rest... that's just too exhausting to even think about.  I have no desire for that.  I'm the mom with the '93 Volvo wagon, the SuperCuts haircut for $7.99, cute TJ Maxx outfits and an ok purse that I've probably left somewhere... but that's OK!  Cause I can make a MEAN poster for my fabulously dressed genius kids class!!  

Ok, I have to say, I did NOT cut these by hand...I used my cricut!

Ahhh, the wonders of this machine!!!  I think EVERYONE should have one!! I'd love to say provocraft has given me one to give-away... but they haven't :( Boo!

This can do so MANY things and even if you think you're aren't real "crafty" or "artsy", this thing makes you look GENIUS!!

Love that Mummy!!

Ok, I'm done bragging!

and please don't forget... The Baby/Kid Hat Drive

IF IF IF I should expect 1 (or more) hats from you would you kindly drop me a note at:

chinamommy_04@yahoo.com and let me know, I would really appreciate it!  I'm thinking of making this an annual event, so if you miss this year, don't sweat it!

and here's the info 

a little plug about my BABY/KID HAT DRIVE

As most of you know, my daughter was adopted from China and I left a little piece of my heart there.  I'm collecting hats to keep the children and babies warm in the winter.  Many live in orphanages that are without heat.

1. make a baby hat, toddler hat, or kid sized hat 

(you can take the non-crafty way out and buy one if you must)

2. Send to:

David Shellenbarger

c/o chinamommy

146 E Main

Caledonia, MI 49316

3. I need them in my hot little hands BY Oct 31, 2010.

4. I'll take care of shipping them to CHINA this fall.

any questions- please feel free to email me!!

chinamommy_04@yahoo.com ...

Ok, duh.. just realized I didn't have the correct email before, now it IS correct!!

chinamommy_04@yahoo.com

10 things to be HAPPY about!!

Is it just me or has this week been a little bit "ugh" for anyone else?  I started this blog post by bitching about everything that is sucking the life out of me this week (photoshop, computers, technology), but then thought WHY in the world would ANYONE want to read that, I mean, seriously, I have WAY too much to be happy about!!!

Here's a list of 10 things I'm happy about today!!

1. Twinkie Chan's crochet pattern book is coming MY way once it's released next month!

CAN'T wait!!

2. Body wash that smells like vanilla cupcakes for $3.99!

I grabbed the body wash, the body creme, AND the body mist... when I walked into Darlings school last week a little boy kept yelling "I smell marshmallows, I smell marshmallows", so I buried his face into my armpit and yelled "it's vanilla cupcake you DORK!"

3. I'm running again and I feel GREAT!  I know it sucks to get going but when it's over I am ALWAYS glad i did it!!

4. I have this GREAT little girl in my life!

I can't imagine my life without my daughter, it's amazing how you don't know what you're missing till you have it!

5. I just (Oct 10th) celebrated 2 wonderful years with my Mr.

(picture from his surprise 50th, 2 years ago!)

6. This store, does anyone else ❤LOVE❤ this place?

7. need I say more...

GLITTER!

8. MY FRIENDS

too many to list, you know who you are!

real life friends, online friends, bloggy friends, facebook friends....

9. etsy and all the WONDERFUL artists out there.  Eye candy galore!!

10.  The fact I don't have to work in a mine!

Congratulations to everyone coming back to the top safely!!

What is making you happy today?

and let's not forget...

a little plug about my BABY/KID HAT DRIVE

As most of you know, my daughter was adopted from China and I left a little piece of my heart there.  I'm collecting hats to keep the children and babies warm in the winter.  Many live in orphanages that are without heat.

1. make a baby hat, toddler hat, or kid sized hat 

(you can take the non-crafty way out and buy one if you must)

2. Send to:

David Shellenbarger

c/o chinamommy

146 E Main

Caledonia, MI 49316

3. I need them in my hot little hands BY Oct 31, 2010.

4. I'll take care of shipping them to CHINA this fall.

any questions- please feel free to email me!!

chinamommy@yahoo.com