I Was Gone (Again), but Now I'm Back!

I was gone, but now I'm back.. that has so many meaning in my life.

1: I left the blog world, again, and I'm truely sorry. I'm back and not going anywhere. I didn't think anyone was reading my self centered blog, but, on the contrary, I have found there are a handful of you that actually do.

2: I am a Thirty-One consultant. I want to take this to the next level. I want to become a Senior Consultant and then move on up to director in the  next year. So, I had stepped away from trying to recruit, make relationships, and build women up, and now I'm back.

3: Finally, in the last 5 years, I have been so focused on being a good wife, mother, daughter, sister, and so on, that I have forgotten who April really is. Well, I'm out to find out who that is again. I am out to find out what makes me, not only a great mom and wife, but what makes me, me. I love to sew, I tried making it into a business, but selling my things just wasn't making me happy. I started making tile jewelry and selling that. I didn't mind selling it, but it just didn't do so well. It really didn't "click" with me until I was at the Spring reveal for Thirty-One that I realized, I LOVE WORKING FOR THIRTY-ONE! I love the relationships I'm making, I love that the company is based on Christian beliefs, I love that I get to stay home with my children during the day, I love that I am making money to help out, and I LOVE helping each and every person that I come in contact with. I was meant to do this job. I have prayed that something, anything, would come my way that God wanted me to do, and I believe, no, I know, this is it. Many times at meetings, they have asked us our "Why", why we joined the company. All I could come up with was, I loved the product, now I look back at what I just wrote, and THIS is my why! This is why I'm doing it, this is Why I'm going to continue doing it, and this is WHY I'm taking this business as far as I can!

Wow, I totally wasn't expecting all of that to come out like word vomit, but I guess I know what I need to do..

Let me go ahead and fill you in on some things that I have been doing...

I don't know if I told ya'll, but my mother inlaw is moving in with us on January 29th, so I have been frantically getting rooms moved and closets cleaned out. Braxton's bed and changing table are now in the play room. Stuff is being moved out of the play room closet and into the garage and his stuff moved into the closet. Busy Busy!

I have taken sometime for "girl time"... The other night Raquel called and asked if I would like to go to dinner, and, of course, I said yes. We had a great time talking about life and how, we as women, sometimes get too involved in being Mommies and wives that we forget to treat ourselves. It was nice!

Guess where we went:.......

 

As mentioned above, Thirty-One did something a little different this year. We had a spring reveal party at a movie theater. It was so much fun and I can't wait to share all the exciting new prints and products with you. While we were waiting for it all to start, they had a count down on the big screen.. I just couldn't help myself.. teehee...

So, we have started the Oh So Dreaded POTTY TRAINING!!!

Let's just say, we have our good days and we have our bad days. I still don't trust her out of the house in just panties. I got this E-Book a while back (blogged about it earlier) and tried that. Well, it didn't work. (they are supposed to be potty trained within 3 days!) Here are my reasons as to why I think it didn't work, all could apply or just some:

1: The author is a quack and wrote the book to pry on helpless moms, like me, that will do anything to get their kiddo potty trained just to make a buck.

2: I didn't follow the book to-a-tee.. Hello, I have 4 other children in this house with me at all times, by myself, how am I supposed to be at her side ALL DAY LONG!? And you want me to sleep on the floor in her room for 3 nights, I don't think so.

3: I have a VERY STUBBORN red head that loves to do EVERYTHING that I tell her NOT to do. (and this is why she tells me, "I pee my diaper!")

That is my observation. Pick and choose.. I think it's a little of all 3! :)

 **1st Day of Potty Training... 7 pairs of panties!!**

We were also invited to Maddie's 5th bday party at hell Chuck E Cheese. I REALLY need to talk with Megan about this whole Chuck E Cheese business. I think the past 10 birthdays (she's only 5!!) have been there.. AHHHH!!! Anyways, the kiddos had a blast. We got there a little early, so the girls decided they would entertain themselves by dancing infront of the tv.. Maddie had a GREAT party, and I'm sure we'll be back next year! :)

 

**Emma and Maddie with Chuck E Cheese**

Emma and I got to have a date night, last Friday. It was so much fun. We went and saw Beauty and the Beast 3D and then went to dinner. At first she said that she wanted Subway, I know, she's weird, but, as we were driving back to Subway in Lavon, she saw Culvers and yelled, "I WANT CHEESE CURDS!" I turned around and that's exactly what we had, chicken tenders and cheese curds! :)

**I don't know what's up with that smile, but, hey, it's the best I could get**

Back up to between the movie and dinner, Emma said she had to pee and couldn't hold it. I stopped at a gas station (I usually don't let her pee there, but she said it was an emergency) to let her to pee. When we got back out to the van, this car was parked beside us. A man got out and had Lotto tickets in his hand. It was kinda said because I think he was LIVING in there.

 

This scratched showed up on Braxton's back a few days ago. I didn't really pay it much attention until yesterday. I was giving him a bath and the place just didn't feel right. I got him out, dried him off, and then REALLY had a good look at it. It looked like a burn, but he hadn't been around anything that could have burnt him. I was so dumbfounded that I texted a picture of his back to my mom and asked her what she thought it could be. I knew my mom was a genius... not even 2 seconds later she said...... CARPET BURN! I got to thinking back and, Tuesday, Braxton was playing in Emma and Courtlynn's room with them and Emma didn't want him in there and drug him by his leg into the living room. I didn't think anything of it because Braxton was laughing. Well, looks like Emma has given Braxton his first carpet burn! 

Since Christmas, I haven't been doing that much crafting. I really don't know why. Maybe it was the business of the Christmas/Thanksgiving holiday that I took a step back, or maybe it was my mother inlaw that introduced me to Castleville and Cityville that did it.. teehee! Anyways, I'm back! I decided that the wreath that I made out of coffee filters was a: was going to be too hard to store and b: was too pretty to be stored, so I decided I would keep it up all year long and change it out every month/with the seasons/whenever I felt like it. I couldn't JUST change my wreath, so I changed the whole mantle and gave it a Valentine's look.

**Those are conversation hearts in there now instead of red hots**

***The 3 tiered votive holders in the middle are temporary, I'm getting a picture of Greg and me printed off this weekend and going to frame it and put it there!***

I was going to make a 3 wine bottle art piece for the middle, but 2 of my 3 pieces didn't turn out. Reasoning: I'm too impatient, and tried spray painting too many coats at once and it RAN! BLAH! So, only 1 turned out, but lucky for me, it was the one that I loved the most anyways. Now it sits on my front entry table. It's the only Valentine-y thing on there right now, so I guess I'll be crafting some more this next week... STAY TUNED!

 

That's all I have for today. I probably won't do a post this weekend unless it's something quick. I will leave you with a funny pic that I took of Braxton. I think it's time for a hair cut again.

**He's going to hate me when he's older!!**