Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!

Hurry up! Don't forget to sign up as a follower, the 1st give away ends tomorrow!

Go tell your friends! And, don't forget the next give away will be even BIGGER! WOW!

You can also earn multiple entries:
*Tweet about this give away.
*Send a message through email, myspace, facebook.
*Refer your friends- let me know who referred you, or who you referred

What are you waiting for????

Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!

Hurry up! Don't forget to sign up as a follower, the 1st give away ends tomorrow!

Go tell your friends! And, don't forget the next give away will be even BIGGER! WOW!

You can also earn multiple entries:
*Tweet about this give away.
*Send a message through email, myspace, facebook.
*Refer your friends- let me know who referred you, or who you referred

What are you waiting for????

Socks!

I bought Gretchen the most adorable pair of socks from etsy, last week. I was suprised to see that they had already arrived in the mail when I came home today! Talk about fast! I love them! I cannot wait for her to wear them to the next football game, sadly that's not until October, but I probably won't be able to wait until then! Even though this weekends game is away (at Army), I think she'll be sporting these socks!

Kelly at Giggle Baby Designs made them, check out her shop at http://www.gigglebabydesigns.etsy.com/. She also has the cutest halloween socks in her store!

WOW- thanks!

I logged onto my dashboard to find a link for someone, and boy was I suprised! 21 followers! I'm so excited!

Thank you all for following!

Don't forget the contest ends September 15th! Winner will be announced on the 16th and be contacted via email. You can earn multiple entries by referring friends, tweeting about this give away, by sending an email, or by posting about it on myspace and facebook! Don't forget to leave me a comment, if someone sent you my way!

And, don't stop following! Next months give away will be even bigger!!!!

Gretchen's 1st 2009 Football Game

Gretchen before we left the house. She wore her "Cardinals" pillowcase dress, made by Gran, with a white turtleneck (it usually gets cool once the sun goes down). I made her hair bow, though I still have to make her 2nd one for a pigtail set, and she had a Cardinal tatoo on her cheek.

Tailgating before the game.... The coaches wives set up a great little tailgating area for us with yummy food! Though, I felt bad for not bringing anything (I didn't have time to cook with us still unpacking and moving in), so I bought chicken nuggets and mandarin orange for Gretchen. I love football food, and aways look forward to getting it at the game, so I waited to get nachos in the game. Although, we did share a chocolate chip cookie. Meijer has the best cookies- I might be addicted to them! The picture above is Gretchen playing a volleyball. She tossed the ball around with one of the coaches daughter.

Gretchen cheering at the game. She did very well when we first got in the stands. Although, a friend and I thought it would be a great idea to bring a portable DVD player for the girls to watch a movie. It sounds like a great idea- right? Wrong, we didn't realize that the girls would fight over it. Gretchen wanted to push all the buttoms, and poor Macy couldn't see the movie. So, Gretchen and I went on a walk. Once we got back from our walk, we moved a bit away from Macy, so Gretchen would behave. Hopefully, Gretchen will do better in the future and the girls can play so the mommies can socialize!

Again, Gretchen cheering. Though this is in the 4th quarter of the game! Yes, we stayed through the whole game! Sadly, the Cardinals lost, but in my book, I won. I made it through a whole game with a toddler! I could probably write a book about how to survive a football game with kids (well, maybe at the end of the season- let's see how many I survive). Though, you have to give credit where credit is due- if it wasn't for all of the wonderful coaches wives and families sitting around us, I don't think we could have made it- so THANK YOU!

Okay guys,

Alright, we're up to 16 followers, but I would LOVE to have at least 20 before the contest ends. So, go tell your friends!

-Tweet about the contest, send me your tweet link and you'll get another entry!
-Send an email to your friends- don't forget to send a copy to me (elaineguenther@yahoo.com)
-Post about it on your facebook, and send me the link.
-Send a message on your myspace, and let me know about it!

Help, me get at least 20 followers and you'll earn multiple entries!!!!

What are you waiting for?! Go, go!

Moving Day!

Gretchen loved walking up and down the ramp. Of course, this made me a bit nervous, but thankfully Daddy is always there to help.

Gretchen loved dancing in the truck.

She did get a bit close to the edge- this scared me everytime!

Tired of moving- let's sit and rest mommy!

It's time for a give away!!!!!

We all love FREE items, and I'm willing to give away some of my items to followers of my blog! New and old- if you follow me, you'll be entered into a drawing to win FREE products! Here are the rules:

* You have to sign up to follow my blog. Don't worry, if you're already a follower, you are automatically entered!
* If you get other people to sign up and follow, you will be entered again! All the person has to do, is leave a comment saying who told them about the blog/contest. When they leave a comment with your name, your entered again! If you get 10 people to follow, then you have 10 more entries!
* Deadline to follow is September 15th.
* Winner will be notified via email, and will be announced on the blog on September 16th.
* Winner will receive $10.00 in FREE products!
*Winner does not have to pay shipping.
*Winner can choose from clippies, hair bows, clearance bows, paci clips, bib clips, a bling shirt, or 2 burpies.
*The following items cannot be customized for the contest: hair bows, clippies, clearance bows

So, what are you waiting for! Go follow!

Our New House!

Yes, we did it! We bought a house!

When DJ and I lived in Louisiana, we bought our first home. Subsequently, we owned it for all of 6 months. We bought more out of "want" than "necessity", and we probably shouldn't have bought the house, especially with DJ's job field. Anyway, so that was our first house.

We moved to Indiana 2 1/2 years ago. While in the process of moving, we researched the area, and discovered that the market here was slow. I told DJ that I would never buy a house here; we'd never be able to sell it. Well, 2 1/2 years later, I'm eating my words.

The market appears to have improved here. Don't get me wrong- some houses still sit on the market for a year. But, it was time for us to dive in and buy our 2nd home. Gretchen is getting older and needing more space. I'm actually shocked to think that we'll live here long enough to have to consider preschools, let alone school districts. DJ's loving his job; the team has done so well the past two years, and we are excited about our new coaching staff and highly anticipate the upcoming season(s). So, we made the decision, that it was time.

We used a wonderful real estate agent, Laura. Her husband works for the athletic team and she is from the area, so we trusted her completly. She led us around from house to house, and convinced us to drive by and look at neighborhoods before we even looked at a house. She helped us as we agonized over DJ's first house choice. I had to remind him to wait patiently, as I was sure the right house would come along- and even though DJ thought the 1st house we saw was "the one", I knew that it wasn't.

Then, one day- we found it! I was looking online (again), and a new house popped up in the search engine. It was perfect (or so it appeared). It was in the school district we wanted, it was in our price range, it had 3 bedrooms, plenty of square feet- perfect. So, we promptly made an appointment and looked at it 3 days later. We knew that this house would go fast, so we made an offer. After a few counter-offers it was final. The house would be ours, pending all of the paperwork.

We signed the contract in the beginning of July, but our closing date wasn't scheduled until September 20th. Finally, after a few more times of going back and forth about moving up the closing date, we decided that we would close September 1, and as of the 5th, we would be able to take possession.

So, after 2 days, I'm so glad to announce, that we are in! We aren't fully settled, we aren't even finished moving, but it's beginning to feel like home. My mother and grandmother are coming up in 2 weeks. DJ said last night that he can't wait for them to come and make the house really feel like home. I owe all of my decorating to them; they do it all and I am so glad! It is nearly impossible with a 19 month old running around.

I'll update about the house as we get settled. But, we're in! Finally! It seems to have taken forever!

Dear Michael,

Yesterday I had a forms response from my website from Michael Swan. His telephone # registered immediately b/c it's a 501 area code- which means, he's from Arkansas. However, when I replied, the email did not go through. Something about an invalid e-mail address. So, Michael, if you read this- I did try to respond, I just didn't try to call. For one, because I was, and my husband was, a little paranoid. It's not that often that a man completes a form response on hair bows. But, in answer to your question:

I can use an alligator clip. Actually, I use those most. Alligator clips hold fine hair and work best for younger girls. I can also add a non-slip gripper at no extra charge. Grippers help the clip hold the hair mor firmly in place.

So, if you read this- get back with me! Your e-mail address just wasn't valid. Oh, and I attempted to find you on facebook- but there are many Michael/Mike Swan's. Someone did tell me that we went to the same high school? Forgive me for not remembering if that is true! It's been 10 years!