The Snigglefritz collection - pumping out inventory!!!

Ok, This is the beginning of a new chapter for Snigglefritz... shows, shows and more shows! Very exciting... and very nerve racking at the same time... so much I want to get done, but so little time!!! I have 8 shows lined up between now and the holidays... a couple more in the works but not confirmed yet... here's the schedule so far:

Market Square - Saturday, Sept.12

Market Square - Wednesday, Sept.23

Market Square - Saturday, Oct.10

Market Square - Wednesday, Oct.28

KCHST Holiday Show - West Town Mall - Saturday, Nov.7

Market Square - Saturday, Nov.14

Picky Chic Boutique Show- Fountain City Lions Club - November (TBA)

So, with that said, not much time to blog... time to sew, sew, sew!!!!! So many designs sworming in my head, yet so little time!!!! Fun, Fun, Fun!!!!! Ok, back to work! Have an awesome day everyone!!!! :)

Grandpa Carter

This is a picture of our "unofficial" god child, beautiful little Alyssa (ahhhh.. the Catholic church and their "rules")... this was taken during one of our days visiting Grandpa Carter at the hospital.

So its been a bit of a rough couple of weeks in the Carter family... Grandpa Carter has been in the hospital with congestive heart failure... there was a stretch of 5-6 days where we thought we were going to lose him. The family, especially all the grandkids and great grandkids, came in from allover... close and far... it was a moving thing to watch as a married-into member of the family. The spirit that was lifted when they were all there was unbelievable... and the spirit that seemed to drain away when they told him they had to leave for a couple days was overwhelmingly saddening. But prayers came from all over and the grandchildren figured out how to visit in shifts and never let a day go by without cheerful faces coming into his room... we received a text picture yesturday of him sitting and eating in his recliner and have been told that he was moved out of ICU and into a regular room.... unbelievable!!! God is good!!! You could see it in his eyes... he just wasnt ready... and I think the good Lord knew it. His time may still be around the corner, but for now, we feel like we have atleast secured "tomorrow" and feel like there is some sort of hope that he will be with us for just a little while longer. So for all of you who have been sending prayers his way, Thank you! They truelly do mean so much... I know, without a doubt, he hears our calls. We love you Grandpa!!

The Everett Theatre - To Be or Not To Be... A Pirate

Ok, so this is one of those things where we were waaaaaaaaaay hesitant to send our daughter to her Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop's house, over 600 miles away in Delaware, to attend a 3 week theater camp over the summer.

Well, to our pleasant surprise, I think it may have been one of the greatest highlights of her childhood that she will remember the rest of her life. The Everett Theatre is in Middletown, Delaware... the teeny, tiny town that I grew up in (well, I suppose its not so teeny tiny anymore). This is a beautiful old historical theatre that has been kept afloat by dedicated volunteers over years and years and year... some of those volunteers being my brother, mom and dad. They do everything from heading up the volunteer organization (brother), to planning and organizing (mom & brother), to working the candy counter during shows (mom and dad). The children's theatre workshop has been going on forever (atleast since my childhood anyway)... it seems to be a tradition kind of thing... I, personally, was never involved... although my brother popped in and out of it... but many of the ones that attended, continue attending, getting better, getting bigger parts, helping with sets, lighting, production, etc... to eventually come back and volunteer in directing or production or costumes... it is a wonderful life cycle that goes on at this beautiful place. I found myself taken back and the new "family" that my daughter was adopted into over those 3 weeks... so much so... that on the day of the final production... the first thing she said was "I can't wait to come back next year!" What a wonderful bunch of people... very professional... very dedicated... very welcoming! She absolutely loved it... so here we go... making plans for 3 more weeks next summer... ahhhhh... when will the summer running ever stop! I guess when it becomes not-so-much fun! ;)

The volleyball family

This is a picture of my husband's awesome volleyball team that he coached this past Spring/Summer. This picture was taken at the big tournament down at Disney in Orlando, Florida this past June. What fun it was! They played their hearts out! What talented and sweet young ladies these girls are! Our family was truelly blessed with a wonderful extended family this year... the girls and their parents are as sweet as they come! We love you guys!! Go SMJVC!!! :)

Coming out of the summer break whirlwind!

WooooooooWeeeeee! This picture is a pretty close representation of how I felt at the beginning of this week. I have been in a daze, wondering where the summer went, and wondering where in the world shall I pick back up?!

Actually, this is our sweet new stray puppy... her name is "Allie". She is part dachshund, part beagle. She is just the absolute sweetest, most lovable, most stubborn pup ever! I was about at my witts end with trying to house train her when a lovely friend of mine from church (Thank you Kristin!) offered a wonderful book to me called "How to housebreak your dog in 7 days". Well, its been a little more than 7 days, but she's still here... so I think there is hope! ;)

Ok, so the recording of Summer events will have to be done in stages... I'll do a brief summary of them all here, but then try to pick out the highlights in stages as we play catch-up. First, school ended.. 1 week later, we left for New York for our church youth mission trip at St.Anne's Episcopal Church in the South Bronx to work on church repairs and to work with elementary kids that attend an inner-city after-school program that they have year round. Then we were back home for a 4 days and left for a big volleball tournament in Orlando, Florida for my husband's volleyball team that he coaches (Go SMJVC!!) for 5 days. Then we were back home for another 4 days and hopped back in the car to Raleigh Durham, North Carolina to visit and stay the night with our friend & Alex's godmother, Meg... along with meeting my mom there to hand off our child to go back to Delaware with her wonderful Mom-Mom for a 3 week Theatre Camp. Then we came home for 1 full week (woohoo!!) and my husband and I enjoyed a majorly rare opporunity of spending a week together without children in the house... yeehaaaaa!!! ;) Then once we enjoyed one full week (and started to miss our baby dearly), I hopped back in the car and drove to Delaware for the last 2 weeks of theatre camp.... a week later, my husband flew up and joined us for the last week and final performance of "To be or not to be... a pirate".... our daughter's permiere stage performance... loved it, loved it, loved it!!!!... our return from that was July 13th. So then, our last part of the summer (AT HOME finally) was spent having mini birthday sleepovers, karate classes, Vacation Bible School planning and preperations, Vacation Bible School week, friend's birthday parties, playing with friends, speratic hours here and there for mommy to design and sew, training (or attempting to train) a new pup, endless hours at the pool, and most recently, preperations for another wonderful school year. (taking a long deep breathe here!)

And that would be were we pick back up... the start of school this week... Alex is in heaven... she loves school, she loves her teacher and she loves her classmates... and Mommy and Daddy love that she loves it so much! Meanwhile, Mommy, back at the homestead/office, has been chasing her tail trying to get back into some sort of work routine all week... mostly all Ive really done this week is clean.... something that just isnt possible with family members and little friends constantly running in and out. So cleaning is all Ive seemed to be able to concentrate on this week... until today. Today is my day to kick myself in the rear and begin to "really" work again. I think last night's bible study helped give me that one last nudge over the fence... it was a wonderfully motivating bible study... I call it "fuel for the soul"!

So I will close for now and try to get back on track with seperate postings of whats going on... life and work both... but please bare with me... it will probably include stuff from the present, and then occasional flashbacks with fun pictures of summer events, and then pictures of new design projects. So I bid you'all a wonderful close to a joyful 1st week of school (or 2nd, or 3rd) and I hope everyone has an awesome weekend!!! Peace!

Crazy Chic on Field Day & Horse Farm Dream

Ok, so here's my crazy little chic on Field Day. She was so excited about field day, that she woke up around 5:30am the morning of Field Day and was ready by 6am... she doesnt even have to leave for school until 7:20am! She had a blast! For me, I was a little run down and tired (from all of the end-of-year events) so I didnt have quite the enthusiasm that she had, but it was awesome to watch all of them have such a great time! Mr. Israel does such a great job planning out all of the events and the kids love every second of it!

So Friday was our last day.... yeaaaaaaaah!!!! I don't know about any of you guys, but boy was I ready for summer!! Im ready to chill out a bit... do a little R&R... well, and maybe play with some new skirt & dress designs!! :) Just finished my first dress... along with 2 more skirts... I havent taken pictures of them yet... but Ill post them as soon as I can to see what you think.

On a whole other note... my husband and I have been looking at purchasing some acreage or finding a small horse farm to buy lately... I think we are ready to branch out of the subdivision world... needing a little more space, a little more quiet, need to simplify our living a little bit, be more appreciative and enjoy the beauty that already surounds us, help our daughter nurture her own individuality... scale back from having so much "stuff"... find some time to sit in the rockers on the front porch... are you laughing at me yet? I sound like an old grandma, dont I? Why dont we do that anymore? Why dont any of us take time each day to just relax and take some deep breathes? Everyone always seems to be on the go... including us! We are just trying to rediscover some balance in our lives... to appreciate the blessings we have been given... so we'll see how that all goes... the real estate market is not at its best so I know now is not the optimal time to sell... but we'll see what happens... if its meant to be, the right deal will come along, and if its not meant to be, than it wont... atleast we are fortunate enough not to be in the position where we HAVE to sell... like so many others right now... tough times right now... but tought times may help us get back to the basics... maybe it will help us refocus on the right things... shave off the excess, so to speak.

Well, enough of my rambling... one thing I seem to do quite well!! :) I hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day weekend... and for all of you who are traveling... be safe!!!

Introducing SAVANNAH...

This is SAVANNAH. She's our triple S gal.... sweet, sophisticated, with a little dash of sas! :)

SAVANNAH is my new baby... she is a much "sweeter" look from my usual... but Ive been pleasantly surprised with the reaction.... several orders already, so I think it might be something I need to nurture a little more... the "sweet" side of things, that is.

Sorry it's been a while since my last post... have gotten a little busier with orders lately, while PTO is still going strong with end-of-year events... 1 1/2 more weeks until school is out though... YEAH!!!!!!!! We have a busy summer planned... but it begins with 1 week of down-time after school lets out, so Im just going to take it one week at a time!!! :)

Let me know what you think about this one... feedback (good or bad) is what helps me grow in the right direction. I hope all of our mommies had a wonderful Mother's Day... mine was a wonderful gift from above... spent with my family.. being super sweet to me all day long, completely relaxed with absolutely no rushing around!! :) Does it get any better than that?!!!