Halloween/Birthday Invites

I hope I'm not posting this too soon. I think they should have arrived by today. *fingers crossed* Anyway, these are the invites that I made for Alexa, Bryan and Brandon's combined Halloween Birthday Party! This is just a sample. They are all slightly different. Meaning the main front parts are all identical and the accents are all slightly different. I hope they like them. We sure wish we could be there for the party!

So, I've been quite the busy creative bee ...

This is an example of the beautiful personalized wall art that I've begun making. This is one I did for Alexa and Bryan. I'm getting ready to sell them on eBay and hopefully on www.etsy.com. I'm also getting ready to launch my new blog (and hopefully future website) of all the other pretty personalized things that I make. I'm hopeful that this will turn into a nice little business for myself. I recently made invites for Alexa, Bryan and Brandon's upcoming Birthday/Halloween party. I will post a picture of those once Alexa has received them. I don't want to spoil the surprise! (I do hope she likes them.) I'm also working on special invites for Makayla for a Twilight themed birthday party that Darcy is planning for her.

A cool picture for the Marshalls

I recently ran across this very cool picture on the internet, so I printed it out and sent it down to Darcy and Michael. It is a picture of the Hotel Marshall. Not sure where that is, but loved the colors and the retro look and thought it would look especially cool in their loft (of course, I was thinking of their old house). Anyway, I took this picture of it framed to show Darcy how cool it will look once she finds the perfect frame for it.

Last weekend.

So, I'm just a tad late in posting this. Ha. Where, exactly did this week go? Crazy. Anyway, Bailey and I got on an antique kick last weekend. Lots of fun. We started on Saturday by going to a place called Antique Trove. Actually, we went there twice on Saturday. It's a big place, and we ran out of time before Austen's basketball game (where they all played quite miserably, darn it). After the game, we headed back to finish the aisles we missed. What did we get? I found a crystal cake plate (probably not an antique, but at $12, it was a good deal), and Bailey picked out a Ty Beanie Bear. I know. Also not an antique, but fun nonetheless. I also found a cool, "older" Wheaties box, black and silver, with Raiders information from 1995. I'm thinking I'll make something creative out of it to display/hold the few pictures we have of Shawn's Uncle Bob when he played for them way back in the 60's. On Sunday, Bailey and I went to Old Town Folsom. The boys were home doing chores and yardwork (boring!) And lucky for us ... they were having their annual Antique Boutique. What are the odds? There was tons to look at, but Bailey decided that she preferred the stores to the booths. Our new favorite store, Dorothea's, has all sorts of holiday stuff. Mainly Christmas, but Halloween and Thanksgiving, too. The adorable cupcake above? An ornament from there. It was tough to pick just one, but I settled on this beauty. Bailey picked out a cute ceramic dog, that reminded her of Roxy. We also picked up some Kettle Corn. Love that stuff. And then we headed home. Such a nice way to spend the day with Bailey.

Yep. Yep. They've got a show booked!

Can you believe it? It's quite cool. They are very excited (and probably a bit nervous). I know I would be, and definitely will be the night of. Lots to get ready for. Lots of practicing. It should be a good time.

Midnight Sun: Edward's version of Twilight

Hi Twilight Fans! Just ran across this information about the Twilight Series on Stephenie Meyer's blog. Thought I'd share, in case you didn't know/hadn't heard.

(Taken from Stephenie Meyer's blog)
As some of you may have heard, my partial draft of Midnight Sun was illegally posted on the Internet and has since been virally distributed without my knowledge or permission or the knowledge or permission of my publisher.

I have a good idea of how the leak happened as there were very few copies of Midnight Sun that left my possession and each was unique. Due to little changes I made to the manuscript at different times, I can tell when each left my possession and to whom it was given. The manuscript that was illegally distributed on the Internet was given to trusted individuals for a good purpose. I have no comment beyond that as I believe that there was no malicious intent with the initial distribution.

I did not want my readers to experience Midnight Sun before it was completed, edited and published. I think it is important for everybody to understand that what happened was a huge violation of my rights as an author, not to mention me as a human being. As the author of the Twilight Saga, I control the copyright and it is up to the owner of the copyright to decide when the books should be made public; this is the same for musicians and filmmakers. Just because someone buys a book or movie or song, or gets a download off the Internet, doesn't mean that they own the right to reproduce and distribute it. Unfortunately, with the Internet, it is easy for people to obtain and share items that do not legally belong to them. No matter how this is done, it is still dishonest. This has been a very upsetting experience for me, but I hope it will at least leave my fans with a better understanding of copyright and the importance of artistic control.
So where does this leave Midnight Sun? My first feeling was that there was no way to continue. Writing isn't like math; in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything. If I tried to write Midnight Sun now, in my current frame of mind, James would probably win and all the Cullens would die, which wouldn't dovetail too well with the original story. In any case, I feel too sad about what has happened to continue working on Midnight Sun, and so it is on hold indefinitely.
I'd rather my fans not read this version of Midnight Sun. It was only an incomplete draft; the writing is messy and flawed and full of mistakes. But how do I comment on this violation without driving more people to look for the illegal posting? It has taken me a while to decide how and if I could respond. But to end the confusion, I've decided to make the draft available here (at the end of this post). This way, my readers don't have to feel they have to make a sacrifice to stay honest. I hope this fragment gives you further insight into Edward's head and adds a new dimension to the Twilight story. That's what inspired me to write it in the first place.
I do want to take a moment and thank the wonderful fans who have been so supportive of me over the past three years. I cannot begin to tell you how much each of you means to me. I only hope this note will stop all the confusion and online speculation so that the Twilight universe can once again become the happy escape it used to be. After this incredibly busy year, I am now focusing on spending more time with my family and working on some other writing projects.
--Stephenie
Midnight Sun Partial Draft (if you are having problems viewing it, please click here.) This material is copyrighted by Stephenie Meyer. Any retranscription or reproduction is illegal.

Miss Bailey's Blog

Be sure to check out Bailey's new blog at: http://missbaileysblog.blogspot.com/ . She's pretty excited and is already thinking about things to blog about. She'd love to see comments from you!

P.S. You gotta love The Dollar Tree ... $1 buys you a floating dolphin, which provides hours and hours of fun in our $25 pool! (Pics were taken earlier this month).

fighting colds.

It seems that just as the kids get back in school, someone gets sick almost right away. Bailey was the lucky one this time. She started with her cold early last week (still kind of has it). Austen then started on Wednesday. He decided to go ahead and do basketball practice that night and I think he pretty much regreted it after. He's been hacking ever since. Daycare and Nyquil are his new best friends. Then Shawn started on Friday. He slept most of yesterday and a good part of today. He still isn't 100%, but is on the mend. Thankfully, Kale and I are both doing okay so far. So this weekend was pretty low-key. The boys are still grounded (loooong story ... maybe a different post?). They have been for a week now and I'm just cracking up at how entirely bored out of their minds they are. Shawn and I love it. I spent all of today going through my office. I'm clearing out all my candles that have just been collecting dust and putting them on eBay. We'll see what happens with that. I sold old Hot Wheels and really just a bunch of stuff and it's always so interesting to see what sells. Some things really surprise me. Like some random farming toys of Kale's. They're at $40! I darn near just threw it all away, thinking who the heck would buy this? Anyway, sure glad I didn't. So, that got me on a rampage finding stuff to sell. Kind of fun. I guess that's it for now.

Farewell to football.

Kale decided this week that he would not be doing football afterall. We are a bit disappointed, of course, but it's more about being disappointed for him, as opposed to with him. I don't know if that makes sense, but we really felt that this would be something he'd be so good at. We just hope he doesn't regret it later. Although, knowing Kale ... he'll be just fine with his decision.

So, where the heck did this week go? I think with the kids back at school, I feel busier than ever. Constantly on the go, or working on something creative. I've been planning lots more meals at home. It's so much cheaper, and really once I'm in the groove, I almost can't stomach eating out. Austen really, really wanted something last night, so we had El Azteca and I was completely disappointed. What a waste of $38!

I will try to get back to posting more regularly. I really do enjoy it! Hope all is well with you and yours!