No ! You can't grow up!

In 5 minutes my youngest daughter will turn 24 !  No !  Where did my little girl go?  Where is my little girl who loved to play dress-up? Who loved to sing? Who would disappear and we'd find her sitting in the dirt beside our dog petting her and singing to her?
I guess it has to  happen.
She's become a lovely young lady, working, out on her own, miles away (I still insist she contacts me in some way everyday so I know she's alive and well), making decisions on her own, showing courage that I never had, and whose older sisters go to for fashion advice.
We're proud of you sweetie !  We miss you ! Feel our hugs across the miles. 
Happy Birthday - xoxoxoxoxo

Call your mother.

My baby!

My baby turned 22 today.  Naturally, he'll hate me calling him that, but none the less, he's my baby.  I remember very clearly the day he was born.  We had called our dear friends to come stay with our 4 older daughters. The drive to the hospital took about 15 minutes. 45 minutes after we left the house, he arrived !  My apologies to all you girls who were not as fortunate as me.  I remember my husband yelling "Open your eyes, see what we got!"  In my mind, I was thinking, "I know what we got, another girl."  The odds were slanted that way.  When I had finally collected myself enough to open my eyes, There he was!  My daughters were thrilled to finally have a brother even though I had tried to prepare them for another sister..."You don't want a brother, he'll just pull the heads off your Barbie dolls!"  Oops!  Thankfully, most of the Barbie dolls survived.  So today we had the traditional cheesecake birthday cake (he doesn't like cake so he hasn't had one since he was about 10, a Ninja Turtle cake).  Sadly, his sisters are all living on their own now so there was no big ta-do.  Tomorrow he and his Dad are traveling to a big Cabela's store for his birthday.  So Dad and son are getting a "gift".  Here's my question - what does the Mom get?  Why don't mom's get presents on their kids birthdays? After all, what did the kid do? The mom does ALL the work!  I think mom's should get gifts too.  Oh wait, I did...... I got him.  Thank you God for my precious gift!!!!!!!  (although a bottle of Ici perfume would be nice too.  Just saying.)           Happy Birthday Bud!!

Did I mention my baby is engaged? 

Handmade may be a thing of the past!

There is a ruling (CPSIA) from the CPSC (Consumer Products Safety Commision) that would, in effect, make it cost prohibitive for crafters, such as me, to continue to sell handmade items for children.  I know of well established handmade craft websites that have already removed ALL their children's products. While the intent of the ruling is admirable, I feel it is a knee-jerk reaction to the influx of lead laden toys imported from China and other countries.  As a mother of 5 and grandmother of 3, I too am deeply concerned about the lead content of anything that is sold for children's use.  However, rather than penalize and effectively put millions of small business owners and entrepenuers out of buisiness, it seems that the more practical and efficient way to handle this is to require testing and certification of products and components at the factory and import stage. For instance, why should I have to spend hundreds of dollars to have a sweater tested because I use 3 buttons to close it?  Why not require the button manufacturer to certify the lead content?  Why should a wood toy maker need to spend hundreds of dollars to have his painted toys tested instead of requiring the paint manufacturer to certify the lead content.  We need more testing at the import level, not the garage or dining room table level.  This ruling will also effect thousands of libraries across the country because of the ink that was used years ago in printing the children's books.  They will need to either destroy these books ot clasify them as collectible, as I understand it.  Most of these books are classics that have gone out of print and may be lost to our children and future generations forever.  I hope I have that wrong, but from what I've read, that's what is going to happen.
You can help by visiting the Handmade Toy Alliance website at   http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

You can also go here  http://www.etsy.com/storque/craftivism/cpsia-updates-and-calls-to-action-3157/

Besides requiring expensive testing, the CPSC will also require expensive labeling and record keeping.  That means that the crafter who makes baby sweaters, like me, will not only have to pay for expensive testing but also will have to receive certificates from whoever she gets her supplies from certifying them lead free and keep a record of where each button, skein of yarn, spool of thread, etc. comes from. Again, I hope I've misunderstood this, but I don't think so.

Comment and let me know what you think!

Superbowl!

Just in time for the superbowl! Cute football hats in what ever size you want!  Go to my etsy site http://www.atouchofheaven.etsy.com/  

If you can't find it look in my sold items then just convo me.

  

Happy New Year!