Lesson...

So, one thing this brought to the front of my mind is that I need a child ID kit for each one of my children, with a current photo and fingerprints. It makes me sick to think that I need this, but even more sick to think that I may have needed it yesterday and I don't have it. Our church is hosting a Emergency Preparedness Fair on March 10 from 9-12. Among lots of other great information, we are offering free Child ID kits with fingerprinting and photo taking. Please feel free to come! Get your family ready for whatever may come! Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just north of Deer Valley on 83rd avenue.

SERIOUS Bus Incident

Yesterday morning the two morning kindergarten bus routes were combined due to the southern route driver being absent. I wasn't too worried about my daughter getting home late. These things happen.  However, after waiting at the bus stop for about 40 minutes Abby's grandmother called me and told me that Abby was at her house. She lives a mile north of us and none of my kids have ever ridden the bus to her house before. As the bus passed by her house Abby happened to say "that's where my grandma lives" and the bus driver stopped and told her to get off there. There wasn't a car in the driveway. There obviously wasn't anyone waiting for her, which is district policy for kindergarteners, or hey are to be taken back to the school. No other kids got off at that stop. And the bus driver didn't even wait to see if there was anyone home. This could have had a horrific ending! What on earth would she have done if her grandparents weren't home?!? Or what if abby had the wrong house altogether and someone scary answered the door?!? When I called the school and asked to schedule a meeting with The school principle I was rudely told "I know what he is going to say. He is going to tell you to talk to transportation." First of all, a little more kindness and understanding would have been great. Secondly, it's not the secretary's place to brush me off when their school district almost lost one of my children!  FOR THE SECOND TIME THIS YEAR!!! (i will post that story soon) This is my five year old child!! From now on Abby will be parent pick up only. Absolutely no exceptions. I will be contacting transportation and speaking with the head of that department. I know this was the responsibility of the driver.  However, when the safety of a student is put in serious jeopardy, I would think the principle, as well as everyone else at the school, should be very concerned. Protect your children! As parents, if we don't protect them, there may not be anyone else that cares enough to. Even those that SHOULD care can't always be counted on.

Super Cute Step Stools

My husband's grandpa made these super sturdy solid oak step stools.  I made them even better by engraving this cute saying on them.  It's engraven into the wood so it won't rub off or wear out.  These are the only three I have left from a craft sale earlier this fall.  Let me know if you want to purchase one. 

$13 each.

One More Thing...

I am not very blog savy, and I don't want to email everyone every time I update my blog. But if you would like to get updates, please let me know and I will send them to you via email... unless there's a better way to do this and I am clueless? 

My New (To Me) Table

A year ago or so my husband and I were talking about putting a small bar in our kitchen where the laptop could sit and the kids could play computer games. There was some discussion about what we wanted it to look like and, long story short, we decided on metal. Tin, to be more precise. I wanted something really rustic with nail heads and scratches and dents showing and adding character. Well, we also needed a new table. The one we had we bought 12 years ago when we got married. At a garage sale. For 20 dollars. It was pretty sad. But I didn't want a big formal table. That just isn't me. So, we decided to take the same idea we had for the bar and do a table to match.

So, with a free table from Dave's grandma's house and some tin from a roofing supplier, Dave made me this amazing piece of art. I LOVE IT!!! He painted the legs and even picked out the paint himself. He did awesome. I love that he will just take my crazy ideas and bring them to life.

BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD!!! Up next - a built in bench on the two sides where the wall are. I can't wait!!

Family Proclamation Plaque

All of my married life I have searched for a unique way to display the Family Proclamation in my home. The document itself is so long that in the past, I have been limited as to what I can do with it. BUT now I have this super fun laser engraving table. I can engrave super fine detail. This plaque is a great example of that.

I can't be the only wife/mother/daughter of God that's looking for a unique and beautiful way to display this Proclamation in my home. If you are interested in purchasing one, I have them available with a couple different options. The plaque pictured above measures 12inches x 13inches and is an inch thick. It comes in black, dark brown, white, and cream. If you prefer another color, please contact me. I am charging $24 for the one pictured here. Another option available is to add 3 extra inches onto the bottom of the plaque and print a family name. For example -

Baker Family

est. 1999

The price of a 12 x 16 plaque with a family name on the bottom would be $30.

If you have other ideas, please contact me. I love to see the kinds of things others come up with!

Please feel free to email me (find my email in my profile) or leave me a message here.

Thanks for stopping in! Come back soon!

Water Bottle Update

One of my friends, Sandy, asked me to do some water bottles for her missionary son, his companion and another friend. I realized that should have been in my first description! Missionaries are riding around on their bikes all day and they totally need water bottles. And what a fun piece of memorabilia! I used fonts that mimic the missionary badge on these ones and I think they turned out great. This would be a great Christmas gift for those missionaries in your lives!

Custom Laser Engraved Water Bottles

So, first things first. I am not a photographer. I apologize for blurry, poorly arranged photos. But this isn't about photography, so it's all good!!

I found these water bottles at the Dollar Tree in the summer. I was looking for a cool handout for our Ward Youth Conference. The losing of the water bottles at Youth Conferences past has us leaders ANNOYED! So, I thought if I made water bottles that were a little cooler than plastic disposable ones, maybe the youth would keep track of them. And they did!!! Not one water bottle lost.

I have a laser engraving table that I can do lots of cool things with (this example is only the beginning) and so I designed this C2B logo, patterned after the CTR logo. And then put names on all of them. SUPER COOL! They were a big hit.

Then, just a couple weeks later, the company my husband works for was looking for a "party favor" for a golf tournament and so I did a couple hundred with their company logo on them. They turned out great.

I currently have more that I would love to custom laser engrave for anyone who wants them. I am charging 4 dollars per water bottle. You just need to tell me what you want on it... your son or daughter's soccer team, company logo and contact information, birthday party favors....

The water bottles come in green, red, blue, and silver.

Please contact me by leaving a comment here and I will get back to you soon!

Thanks for stopping in!

More Baby Steps...

I am finally going to do this blog thing!

So, my baby boy has horrible eczema on his feet and ankles. If left exposed, he scratches until they bleed. Now he has secondary infections and is on antibiotics. The doctor wants me to keep vaseline and socks on him at all times. To prevent dirt and bacteria from building up, I need to change his socks three or four times per day. I bought a package of 10 pair of cotton socks for 6 dollars or so, put a pair on him and the poor little guy promptly slipped on the wood floor and fell on his little diapered tushey! Socks with the little gripper stuff on the bottom can be fairly pricey, especially if I am changing his socks several times a day. I remembered this trick I saw several years ago and I thought I would try it and share! Put puffy paint on the bottom of socks! Brilliant! And it totally worked! I just did dots on the first few pair, but I think I'll get a little crazy with the next few pair I do. When I say crazy, I am talking squiggly lines or something. I'm not all that crazy. Anyway, here in Arizona we have lots of tile and hard floors, and winter is coming so I thought SOMEONE may find this helpful.

I am excited to get started on this blog thing. Thanks for popping in!

Baby Steps

I started this blogsite with the hope that I could advertise and market my laser engraved signs, wall hangings, etc... It has taken me much longer than I ever thought it would to even have a desire to follow through on this. But I am feeling it finally. It probably helps that the kids are getting a little bigger. Seems like there's always a baby around here.