Decorating the Tree!

 ♫ It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... ♪






Photos courtesy of Sebastien! Thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Can you find Thom Turk... TELFORD?!

Our New Kitchen Floor

BEFORE PICS: Peel-n-stick tiles that quickly started UNsticking as the weather cooled... A belated thank you, however, to Ron and Dad, for surprising me with this NICE FLOOR (at the time) last October while I was helping Wegmans open a new store in Northborough, MA.

AFTER PICS: I don't have the AFTER-after pics, because we're still working on the molding, which has turned out to be the hardest part of this project... BUT - - you get the main idea of the IMPROVEMENT with the big picture. This is "Laminate Tile." I love the look, but best of all, i love the FEEL of the floor. So smooth and easy to clean. It also 'hides' dirt nicely, allowing me time to get to a wipe up or a mop session...



Samson Turns 7 ! ! !

Happy Birthday, our oldest Wonder!

Our Bead Adventure

Ever since Ron took a glass-making workshop at the Corning Museum of Glass a couple seasons ago, he got quite taken with the process of making lampwork beads. There wasn't too much he needed to fire up (pun intended) his own set up.

But it was more a matter of logistics. And... well... yeah... money.

But in true Ron style, he pulled it off. By knowing a guy who knows a guy, he got a torch with tanks (oxygen and propane) for a wicked good deal, and in the process found a buddy to go to a Dead Milkmen concert with, 4 hrs away. By chatting with some glass dudes down on Market Street, they set him up with glass rods, mandrels (the metal 'stick') and some bead release (the stuff you put on the mandrel) to begin!



After making several beads, getting progressively more beautiful (practice really does make perfect, boys and girls), he realized that he really did need to anneal them to prevent cracking ('cooking' them further, in a kiln, at a temp of ~1200°). We did not have a kiln. We priced kilns, even used ones, online, and kept coming up with $500 MINIMUM. We were just about to bite the bullet when I casually chatted with our ceramics artist buddy Colleen at Fellowship about Ron needing a kiln. Her eyes sparkled as she nonchalantly said, "I have a kiln the perfect size you guys can just have. I've had it for YEARS and don't use it anymore." Later her husband joked that the kiln has moved 7 times with them, from house to house. We actually talked her UP on her offer of $50. I mean, WHOA man. What. A. Deal. I definitely take note of stuff like this and constantly strive to Pay it Forward in Life, when i can. The people in our lives have helped us in this kinda way MANY MANY times.

So there you have it. A fully equipped bead-making setup. Ron is rocking it like a pro, and we decided to try and sell some of these puppies. For the heck of it.



I've had that mentality for a while now, especially when setting up our etsy shop. I took the pressure off SELLING and put the emphasis on CREATING. The point is to get off our butts more and MAKE stuff with the power of our crazy, fun brains.

For years, I've been playing with Sculpey clay and making beads myself. And for a decent amount of web-surfing, even on etsy, i have been unable to find someone else making beads quite like me, which is NICE. It's hard not to copy-cat once you've seen something. I had some beads sitting around, that i had already baked. I had a stash of beads i had made almost FIVE years ago (at night in the hotel when i worked my first Wegmans Grand Opening down in Harrisburg), not baked yet. And of course i have a TON of clay, just waiting to be played with.

So i started baking. And playing. And baking some more. Got a decent little stash together of my own beads. Started daydreaming of selling them in a local SHOP, not just etsy...

"His"

"Hers"

... and herein enters Ann, at Soulshine Studio, a bead shop on Market Street. Months ago, upon discovering her shop (i'm a total sucker for bead places!), i got to casually chatting with her. About opening her shop, how's biz, etc. Super friendly and laid back. That was that. Then Ron started making his beads and i mentioned Ann's shop, and he went down and chatted with her about consignment. He came back saying she was totally up for it, bring whatever he had down and she'd set him up. Local artists HELP local biz.

Soon i started thinking "Husband and Wife Artisans" and could see that totally flying in a local shop and went down and talked with her some MORE, this time for 40 min, just hanging out really. I promised her we'd be back within 30 days with a display, and she was as excited as I was!

Yesterday, we walked into her shop with a sweet little display - two "him and her" boards with a little blurb about the each of us at the top. Ann's eye lit up - i think she was psyched!

And so it begins...

This weekend is Holidazzle. Wish us luck!

T5 Cabin Camping

Last weekend, T5 went, what I've been calling, "cush" camping at Sampson State Park on Seneca Lake outside of Geneva, NY. Though I've come to realize that THESE DAYS, camping in a cabin on an established campground *IS* considered camping. I'm still of the mindset that camping, by definition, means ya hike deep into the woods somewhere, find a site conducive to setting up a tent, and you kind of 'rough it.' I've done this kind of camping "back in the day," mostly when i was a camp counselor. There's nothing like it. But these days, with three small kids, and really needing to pack a ton for even just the basic amenities, i'll take a sturdy little cabin with beds in it, just fine!

Day 1: Friday night. Arrived at 5:30ish. Windy as hell, dark skies, looming clouds. BUT HEY - WE GOTTA CABIN, so who cares! Thank goodness we did. The rain came pouring outta the sky, but we were dry, T5 and Beegsley. Between storms (it rained most of the night), the boys and i managed a walk down to the bathroom (~150 yrds away?), the Marina and Beach/Playground. A nice little walk. We did get rained on, but no big whoop. Of course i packed for just this kind of event!



The cabin had no heat and no electricity. But that was fine. The temp inside never got frigid (my biggest concern with bringing Henry, coming off of a cold) and we had a nice amount of glass-jarred candles to light the scene. The kids got a kick out of sleeping in sleeping bags and all went well.

3am: Got up to pee. Saw every single solitairy star. Smiled big, loving life.

Day 2: Morning. GORGEOUS! Blue sky, nice chill, totally refreshing. Kids woke up in a great mood. Everyone gathered wood for our morning fire. Henry's stroller served as a convenient carrying cart with him in it! Thomas was picking up tiny twigs, one at a time, and was so proud. The burdocks got the best of Ron's dad's sweater (still have to work on picking those off!).

The afternoon went similarly swimmingly (fun phrase!). Ron put together one of those golf lasso games that everyone loves and the kids had fun with that. Our neighbors' children were eyeballing the game and Ron invited them over to play. Two girls, 8 and 10. Needless to say, Sam and Thom now had immediate friends who hung out with them the rest of the day.

Ron lived up to his name by cooking the most delicious meals over the camp fire. We treated ourselves to a marinated pork tenderloin (sorry, all your veggie/vegan types) that was SO YUMMY! Burgers flipped by an Imperial Storm Trooper (thanks Hopey!) and roasted veggies. Yummola. We also had toasted bagels, dogs, corn on the cob and JIFFY POP! The kids thought that was fun!

Saturday night's fire was capped off with, of course, s'mores. I even managed to roast some marshmallows that DID NOT burn; I made Ron proud.

Sunday morning was just as crisp and clear, but it was time to pack up. That's never as fun as unpacking when you get there!

T5's camping has probably concluded for the 2012 season. Next year, Ron and i hope to fire up the pop-up camper our friends sold us 2 seasons ago for $150! It needs a tire, some patch work and to be DMV registered. Put that on another to-do list!....

(There's even more pics!... Check em out here!)

2 Smiley Love Bugs - I've Been BITTEN!