The new website is
"viewable." Is that a word? It is live, but there are still many
things that need to be done before it is an active website. Links are
still being connected and there are some things that you can't even get
to yet. So, please be patient with us. It will probably take a few
days to get it all going. Plus, it is about to be time to debut the
new kit so it is a crazy week to get all of this up and running. What
were we thinking!? In the meantime, should you need anything (contact
us, place orders, etc.), please email us here. I should have new kit news tomorrow or Wednesday. We will probably start mid-month billing and mid-month shipping this month too instead of the usual first of the month billing. I have a great kit lined up for May...it is yummy. Also, thanks for all of the emails about the April kit. Seems like you guys liked that one a lot!
In our house last week we had three out of four little ears with an ear infection and one case of pink eye. Lovely, huh? Plus, all of this happened two days before I was to leave for the state tennis tournament. It's always hard to leave two precious little boys for a few days anyway, much less when they are sick. We had a decent tournament. I won one and lost one (I hate to lose tennis matches!). However, the girl that I lost to was really good (that soothed my ego a little bit...ha) and hit really hard. I was winning in the beginning and then she came back and let me have it! ;) Oh, and I came home with a really bad dose of sun burn even after a ton of sunscreen...oh the joys of being pale! My teammates think that I had sun poisoning, but I'm in denial about that one!
We also had two graduations last week. Little bro and soon-to-be sis Brittany graduated from college. Aren't they cute together?
So, now we can concentrate on their upcoming wedding (June 14). It has just been crazy here lately!
Wow. Can you believe that it is already March??!!! I have a sweet March kit lined up for you all. Can you say new Scenic Route? Yep, you guys always seem to love Scenic Route so we've got an awesome kit with lot's of paper for you this month. Oh, and not to mention the brand spanking new and adorable tabbed chipboard albums, cute new chipboard shapes and the add-on this month includes some of the newly released Scenic Route medium acrylic stamps. So, you add all of that to some other great little embellies and that is the March kit. I will try to post some pics very soon. We are having to wait on one product to be restocked and then we'll be set to go. Thanks to all of you who have stuck with us during the business transition. We are still working to accommodate all of our orders in a timely manner. However, here lately it seems that we are shipping later in the month than earlier. Hopefully y'all aren't stalking the postman too terribly bad! LOL.
The weather here today was just perfect! A balmy 55 degrees and of course if you know me I enjoyed it by being out on the tennis court for my weekly league tennis match. It is getting serious now. My team is in the lead and hoping to make it to the state finals in May. We've only got three matches left so wish us luck!!!
On the kiddo front, Jack is having more conversations with us here lately. Enjoy...
In the car with Daddy this afternoon: Sean happens to look in the rear-view mirror and notices that Jack has his hands over his little ears. Sean says, "Jack, is the movie too loud? Jack's reply, "Yeah!" This is good for a kid that is a late talker so we are thrilled that he is finally letting us have it!
Another instance: While changing his diaper the other day I was trying to get the little wiggle worm to stay still on the changing table so I was asking him what sound all the animals made... "Jack, what sound does a cow make? "Moo"
"What sound does a horsey make?" "hehehe"
"What sound does a dog make?" "RUFF!"
"What sound does a frog make?" "Ribbet"
"What sound does a lion make?" "ROARRRRRRRRRR" (really loud!)
"What sound does little brother make?" "Waaaa Waaaa Waaaa"
Boy howdy. What a week. My sanity has been at a whopping negative ten the past few days or so. Poor Eli is teething and having a TERRIBLE time with it. And, Jack can only take so much screaming and crying from his little brother before HE decides that he needs to scream and cry. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow.
I got to get out and get some fresh air tonight as I played some tennis to work off all those darn Girl Scout cookies. Seems like I go through stages. One night I'm really loving the Tagalongs and then bam! the next night I need a Thin Mint fix. My theory is that if I eat them all up in a few days then they'll be gone and won't tempt me anymore. Hehe. How's that? Total solution to the problem.
I'm thinking of going to bed early tonight (shocker). My Barnes and Noble order came in with two new selections that I'm itching to read. I'm a bit on a Jane Austen kick right now. So, I've been trying to get my hands on many of her books that I've never read. So, I found this jam-packed book and knew that I had to have it. Such a cool idea to put that many books into one book until I realized that I might just have to hold the book on my nose to read the small print. :) So, then I came across this book: It looks like a good Southern tale and it actually takes place in a small little town by the name of Ringgold, GA which just so happens to be about 10-minutes North of where I live. So, that's now on the night stand and I can't wait to dig into it.
Advice? So, do any of you have advice on SLR cameras? I'm in the market for a new one and have it narrowed down between the Canon Rebel or the Nikon (can't remember which one though). Do you have either and what do you like/dislike about them? Or, do you have one that isn't listed? I'd love to hear your reviews. By the way, Sean just came home the other day and said I've been looking at new cameras for you and I was surprised. However, turns out that he is wanting a new flat screen for the den and I guess he was trying to make me happy before he sprung that one on me. Ha. Thought that was funny. He feels bad for buying himself something so he'll feel better if he butters me up first. Isn't that how it works?
Well, this isn't much of a week in review, but it'll have to do. I'm worn and need to get some shut-eye. Happy Friday everyone! Oh, and don't forget to keep the DT applications coming my way! I'm enjoying them!
One more thing, thanks to my Mom and Dad for helping me out today with childcare. You two are the greatest and I appreciate your help so much! Oh, wait there's more...congrats to little bro on passing his Dual Engine Plane certification today! Way to go! I'm so proud of you. :)
First off, a cute pic that I caught of Sean walking Jack into Mother's Morning Out. Jack was looking back to see if I was still there. LOVE THAT! He's a total Mommy's boy. Sorry, Sean.
So, this has been a trying week. 1) Sean being sick left me with very, very little sleep so I'm hoping to get caught up a bit over the weekend and not worry about work for once. I so need a weekend to just relax and take it easy. However, that comes very hard for me as I am one of those types that has to be busy at all times.
2) Eli got very sick on Wednesday night. We had no idea what to do for him. He screamed with every little thing that I could possibly do to comfort him. He did laugh when I sang to him though...ha. Anyway, we thought that he might be having "pooping" problems and ran him quickly to the Doc on Thursday as he was absolutely MISERABLE. Turns out that he had an ear infection. I would have never of guessed that one. Anyway, glad to say that he is much, much better today with some antibiotics.
3) I got very hurt tonight on the tennis court (told you that when it rains it pours). I had a marathon two and a half hour singles match and went for a shot and felt my back pop out of alignment (at least that's what it felt like). I could barely walk and definitely couldn't bend at all. I still had most of the second set to play and almost retired, but I hate to lose so stupid me played through the pain. Boy, did I hear about that when I got home! Sean about killed me as I'm sure that I could have damaged something even further by continuing to play. Anyway, I have no idea how I ended up winning the match being so gimp, but somehow I managed to pull it out. I tried to not look injured to my opponent, but on the inside I was cringing! Shame on me. Hoping to get a Doc appt. very soon.
4) Jason (little bro) and Brittany's first wedding shower is on Saturday and I'm so excited for them. The wedding will be here before we know it!
5) Jack is addicted to Girl Scout cookies. He comes by it naturally though. Poor kid. Shame on my Mother for bringing all those cookies to our house! Sean had to hide the Trefoils from him tonight while I was at tennis and said that he pitched a huge fit for them!
6) Getting my hair cut and colored today! Enough said.
7) Geez, this is a really boring week in review, huh?
8)Well, I'm off to find an ice pack and hope for the best in the morning when I wake up. Happy Friday!
So, I've fallen off the blogging wagon again. I have a good reason though. I've finally got most of the site done. Just a few aesthetic things left to do and then I can take a much needed break. I've got a lot to update you guys on so let's start with the business stuff first and then we'll head on down to what all has happened over the past few weeks. :)
1) Kits are shipping as we speak. This is one cool kit. I have very few remaining if you are interested. We've also got just a few add-on kits remaining. I believe that the project kits are close to being sold out, too.
2) We have a new shop and cart setup. If you have any problems with it, please let us know.
3) Design Team: I am seriously looking for some very talented folks to represent ShelleyBelle (currently payment is through kits and could potentially lead to monetary payment once we enter the wholesale market). We will be keeping a few of our current DT members, too. These folks will eventually be designing with our own exclusive products as we hope to have the paper line and embellishment line up and running by the end of 2008. So, serious inquiries only. These folks will be hand picked. Here are a few of the guidelines:
Must be capable of creating projects in a timely manner (usually a week from receipt of kit goods)
Must have (or be willing to create) a personal blog in which to share projects, ShelleyBelle sneak peeks, etc.
Ability to scrapbook as well as journal on layouts
Capability of teaching others to create your projects
Still interested? Here's what we need from you:
Five scrapbook layouts showing your true style and that you can be versatile with layouts
An altered something
A short little bio about you
List of Design Team's that you are a part of currently
List of active online communities in which you take part
Ever been published? If so, when and where?
What makes you tick? What are your favorite products?
Sounds like a lot, but it's really not. ;)
OK, so now that we've got all that out of the way now let's chat about what's been going on around here. The kiddos are feeling much better. Sean on the other hand, not so good. Doesn't it ALWAYS seem like one of our family members is sick? It is becoming a bit ridiculous, actually. I'm SICK of being SICK. It's getting old. So, I packed up camp last night and am staying at Casa de Cochran for a few days (my Mom and Dad's). Do you know how hard it is to pack for a 2-year old, a 7-month old and a 35-year old? But, I don't want the little dude's to get whatever funk that Sean has as he doesn't look so pretty. I've been going home to check on him about twice per day and I am TIRED, TIRED, TIRED. There are so many viruses and strains of the flu floating around here.
Uh-oh, one of the little dude's just woke up so I'll finish this post tomorrow. I'll post the winner for the contest then, too. Nite nite.
I haven't forgotten to update the blog! I've been slammed! I am THIS close to having the ShelleyBelle website done. I almost can't believe it. Laugh. I've gotten a new shopping cart that is going to make things soooo much easier on the site, on you the customer and on me! This new system will also allow us to get shipments out the door much quicker, too, I hope. With all of that said, I've been working some really long hours and into the wee hours of the morning once all the boy's are snoring around here. I think that I've almost fallen asleep with the laptop for the past two nights in bed. I've replaced Sean with a laptop...LOL. Things have also been crazy around here. Thank goodness I feel like we are all on the mend and feeling so much better. However, poor little Eli is cutting teeth and that just can't be pleasant; especially when it comes to what it does to his diapers (if you know what I mean!). Jack never had the "Big D" with teething, but Eli keeps me busy about four times a day with really, really bad situations (read: ruined clothing, etc.). It has not been fun. I told Sean today that he would just not make it being a stay-at-home Dad during situations such as this. And, yes, he totally agreed. Needless to say, the word "uh-oh" gets said a lot here lately since there is no warning that said diaper will take place until you look at Eli and notice that his clothing isn't just right. :) So, Jack's new word this week has been "uh-oh." Guess he got that from me. I think that Sean has been feeling sorry for me as he left me some cash this morning for a Starbuck's today. Ha. Silly boy, does he not know that I get one EVERY day?
On the other front, I've updated the site with the contents of the February kit, but the picture is not there yet. Our last shipment for this kit arrives tomorrow so I hope to have the pic up by Wednesday evening at the latest. Hang in there with me. I'm still trying to adjust to getting everything transferred over to a new site and such. Plus, I'll be revisiting ship dates for each month and such once I get the kit up. I've also had several folks wanting to subscribe to the project kits and add-on kits. I hope to make that possible with this new system that I mentioned above.
Oh, and I have a winner for the contest that was posted last week. I'll try to get a post together for that tomorrow. Trust me, it will be a long post. And, this time I've got video! I'm starting to like adding videos to the blog. Does it make it more interesting for you? Anyway, we had a great time doing our family Valentine thing yesterday and I think that we were all exhausted after it was over. More tomorrow on that!
One other thing, is the blog looking any better at all? I'm trying to jazz it up when I have some *free* time.
Well, off to bed. It's almost 2am and I'm supposed to be at the gym at 10 in the morning to meet my friend Ryann for BOSU class...we shall see. :)
The scene on Friday: 9:30am- Dropped Jack-a-poo off for Mother's Morning Out 9:45am- Drove through SBuck's where I was recognized like a celebrity and had drink waiting at window (no, I'm not famous. just a very loyal customer) 9:46am- Decide to head to Chattanooga, TN (20 minute drive) to do my Target shopping with Eli while Jack is at school 10:30am- Get the phone call from Jack's teacher, Ms. Anne. Phone call goes something like this: Me: "Hello" Ms. Anne: "Is this Michelle?" Me: "yes" Ms. Anne: "We think that you need to come and get Jack. He's acting strange. He's moaning and groaning and won't let anyone hold him." Me: "What?!" Ms. Anne: "He's just not acting like Jack." Me: (mind already wondering if he had gotten into the cleaning lady's supplies before we took off to school since she was cleaning before we left the house) "Should we call the ER?" (mind is now thinking that stomach will have to be pumped, etc., etc., etc.) Ms. Anne: "No, we think he just might have the flu or something."
Hello! Please don't just call me and tell me that my child is acting strange. Don't you know that I will totally overreact and freak out and drive like a bat out of a hell storm to get home to my child?! Holy cow. That was enough to add about fifteen years to my age. Poor Eli had never seen Target faster than we did that day after abandoning shopping cart and running for the car. :) Poor kid. He was in the midst of a bottle, too. So, fast forward and you'll know that Jack and I spent ALL day Friday glued to each other on the couch fighting a really high fever. Turns out to be either a touch of the flu or this terrible fever type virus that a lot of the kid's have around here (Doc also thought that it might be a touch of strep after having the test). Lucky us. We always seem to be the lucky "winners" of these great little giveaways. Why can't it be the lottery or something? Thank you Mom and Dad for keeping Eli Friday night! Anyway, come Saturday Jack was back to being Jack and back to being a typical two-year old. So, let's fast forward again to today.
Here's the scene: Yep, Eli is now the lucky recipient of something, too. Although he doesn't have what Jack had. He has the same symptoms as Jack's little friend Counsel who now has pneumonia. Isn't this grand!? Poor little Eli and Counsel. (get well soon C and watch all the tv that you want b/c your Mommy said it was ok!) We'll be taking Eli to the Doctor tomorrow just to be sure that he doesn't have anything more than a cold (fingers crossed everyone!). Anyway, Eli feels pretty crummy and can't understand what all that goo is coming out of his nose continuously.
On a happier note, I am proud to officially announce that Eli can now sit all by himself. :) Oh, and he doesn't want it any other way either. Oh, and did I mention that Jack fell out of his crib again today because he was trying to fly? Actually, he was just mad that I made him take a nap. And, oh yeah, did I tell you that the score at our house is: Little Natives 1, Mommy 0 No naps for EITHER of them today!
So, for those of you that made it through my entire life history there, here is some February kit news. Boy, oh, boy have I got some goodness for the February kit! I am stoked about this one! We've got some great items from Etsy in this one! I will try to post some pics tomorrow. And, the paper is just super cool and brand spankin' new from CHA!
So, I was thinking that every Friday that maybe I could do a week in review type post. I need to do this to try to keep you guys up to date with everything on the kit front AND to document what is going on in our crazy lives as I often go back to my blog archives to remember dates for journaling on layouts or keeping track of milestones for the little dudes in my life. :) So, without further ado, week one:
*Hope to have the ShelleyBelle kit up soon. Still waiting to see what new products will be arriving in time for this month's kit. Also hoping to have the site completely done in a week or so. Little Brother was down with the flu and we are running a bit behind. Get well, Bro!
*ShelleyBelle will be taking applications for new design team members very soon.
*First tennis match of the season tonight (thanks for babysitting, Mom!) and I have to admit that I was a bit nervous when I found out that I was playing singles against a VERY TALL girl who is also an athletic director at a high school (I mean she had to be fit, right?). Glad to say that I got my act together and won. Also glad to say that my entire team kicked booty and won. So proud of everyone. Man, I love this game. Told myself that if I won that I would treat myself to an early bedtime. Well, obviously that's not happening since I'm sitting here having a conversation with you all at 2am, huh?
*Super Tuesday was CRAZY! This election is definitely proving to be interesting. I ran across this cool site to help make our voting decisions a bit more educated. Check it out here. The nerd in me could sit and watch all of this election stuff for days on end.
*Jack has started a new tumbling class (a Mommy and Me type class). His best buddy Counsel is also in the class so that always makes for a hoot of a good time. The highlight of the class is the stamp on the hand that they receive at the end of class for being *good*. Sometimes good is an understatement if you know what I mean. Oh, and my sweetie of a Dad has offered to babysit Eli each week so that this can be some Jack and Mommy time. Thanks, Dad! Not sure if he volunteered or if he was persuaded by my Mom. Hehe.
*Jack is a cup-drinking machine! He has totally mastered drinking out of a cup thanks to my Mother. He thinks that it is so cool and now insists on having a cup at dinner instead of a sippy cup. :) Growing up! Also doing better smiling when I say "smile" for pictures, huh? Go, Jack!
*Little pooh Eli has officially sprouted his first tooth. And, trust me, he has definitely let it be known that there are teeth coming! Poor guy. Official tooth count: one showing and one on the way.
*And, here's a little Friday funny. Just ignore my Southern accent...hehe. Don't you just always hate hearing yourself on recordings?? Oh, and I've got the Mommy voice going on too (you know how you kinda sing everything?) Anyway, here's the setup before you watch the video...Eli was in his jumpy contraption today, Jack was in the same room watching tv and I had just stepped into the kitchen to make Eli a bottle and finish the newspaper before putting everyone down for a nap. So, all of a sudden the room got "too quite." I didn't hear Eli's jumpy going wild like it normally does when he is in it. So, I rush back from the kitchen and peek into the den to find Eli slumped over on the jumpy. FREAKS ME OUT! First thing that I think is that Jack has played a little too rough with him and hurt him (he's actually really gentle with him though). Next thought is that he is dead. So, I rush over and grab him only to find that he just jumped himself silly and pooped out mid jump. So, here's the video. And, if you listen closely you can hear Jack say, "Eli." Oh, and yes, Jack did tackle me while filming so sorry for the wobbliness. :) You'll also see Jack hugging Eli quite often. I think that he thought that he was hurt, too. Enjoy!
