we are in business!

We did it! We have so much other stuff going on that it took a little longer than we hoped. But, we finally got our little toy website up and ready! Right now it is more of a gallery than a place to actually make purchases, but that will be updated soon.

I did go ahead and set up both an Etsy store and an ArtFire store to help promote our goods and for people to buy stuff for now. And on our website you can request custom made items. Really the sky is the limit there. Don just keeps getting better and better and we have so many ideas rolling around in our brains that custom orders are what will have us keep expanding.

But, for now, I present to you.. Chubbas 'n Boop, the toy store!


We are officially "open" for business! So please stop by....tell your friends....spread the word! Oh, and buy stuff, yes please do that! :)

For those of you in Colorado Springs, we will have a booth at the 4th annual Healthy Pregnancy Fair tomorrow, March 14th from 11-2 at Baby Depot in Burlington Coat Factory- Citadel Mall. There are 36 registered vendors so it should be a great event. There will be lots of great information for all of us parenting folk, not just those of you who are expecting a wee one soon. Stop by and say hi!

in case you are like me...

and love to look at wedding pictures...

Here is a link to the wedding I planned and coordinated a few weeks ago.

I don't talk about it too much here on my blog, but I like to do a little wedding planning. Kind of for fun and as a little extra income for our family. It is pretty consuming, so I only do a few each year.

This one, in particular, was quite the event. It was in Vail and cost more than 3 times what we normally make in a year! Wow, all the bells and whistles! This event was much more extravagant than the weddings I usually do, but the bride really liked me and chose me to work with her.

So, if you like wedding pictures, go check out the blog of the lovely ladies who did her photography. They were awesome to work with and the pictures are fabulous!

I came away from this wedding with a really clear picture of where I want to take things with my little wedding planning business.

Though the bride and groom were so sweet and the the wedding was really fun and totally stunning, this wedding taught me a big lesson in sticking to things that are inside my own values. There were many, many times that I just couldn't believe the amount of excess and crazy amount of money spent on this thing! We live such a simple life and grand weddings in Vail do not really express who we are in the world. There were moments when I had to literally force myself to work on the planning details because it just felt weird and hypocritical to be spending my time planning such an over the top event.

So, from now on, I am going to stick with working with brides that are in line with my own personal values and beliefs. For example, a few months ago I was hired by a bride and groom that are committed to having an eco-friendly wedding (with a budget that is 1/10th the total amount spent on the Vail wedding). I say YES to that!! I have been having so much fun working with this couple and can chat with them about things like cloth diapers, organic food and living simple. I feel like working with this type of client is not really work, but just an extension of me making my own little difference in the world. Very, very cool!

And, though I'm knocking it a bit, it was a really amazing day for this super nice couple. I wish them many years of love and happiness!

some art

A bad thing that happens when we get too busy around here is that art starts to take a back burner. This really truly is bad in so many ways.. creativity just seems to help.. calm, center, inspire, prepare, relax, give joy. Making art for all of us just helps us to be more.. us!

So in a commitment to slow things back down, simplify our time some more, and enjoy this time when we are all home together, we have started making art again! This also means that we are going to be starting some art group stuff again in the coming weeks. YAY!

For this little art project, we went hunting around the yard for some cool nature things to make some simple collages...



There is a whole story in this one that Chubbas did, but I missed the telling of it.. Something about a house in the woods..


And here's Don's groovy creation!

I am so looking forward to getting back into the crafting/making/artist groove...

black and white

Here are some more of those black and white photos I took. I took all of these using the manual settings on my camera.. So many shots that day, but these are my favorites...

awe

We went swimming a few weeks ago and this is what Boop looked like the whole time...

Pure awe!

And then we have our resident goofball...

Happy times!

just some cute pics...

From the last few weeks..

Look at this gorgeous face!!


Enjoying the amazing weather we have been having...


E doing his "chores" aka helping clean out the fish tanks...

a "step" in the right direction

Ok, I've been hanging out with my husband too much! I couldn't help myself with that silly little pun... I'm hilarious!

But I did want to share with you A's progress on the walking front. She is officially walking, actually right as I speak (write?) I just watched her take 3 little unassisted/unprompted steps all on her own!! Yay!!!! And it all started with this one a couple of weeks ago...

The discovery of going from sitting to standing all on her own, with zero help from a nearby wall or Mommy or Daddy...





Tada!!! And seriously, just a few moments ago she took those couple of steps all on her own. I was getting a wee bit worried, would she ever walk? I guess now things are going to be getting interesting around these parts.. I have a TODDLER again!!! wow.... (now I am going to go cry!)