enjoying disney.

After 2 days of turkey and pie, we jumped on a plane for Florida and have been park hopping since!(Typing this from Space Mountain!)

Follow me on Twitter to follow our trip!

Be back soon with pics!

what are you thankful for?

Caleb, age 8: "for having a family that loves me and a God that is true."

Jonah, age 6: "my family, my uncles and my baby sister."

Tessa, age 4: "for God and all of the blessings He gives us. And my pets."



Hope you all have a fabulous Thanksgiving!!!

turkey treats!

Some turkey inspired treats to try, aren't they cute?


The perfect dessert on Thanksgiving! (besides pumpkin pie, of course!)


This one is my favorite... (and so yummy!)



Let me know if you try one and how it comes out! (sure to be the talk of the day!)

gobble gobble! (have a great day!)

Christmas ordering and a winner.

We have been blessed with so many orders that we had to cutoff Christmas orders earlier than planned! I am just in awe of how much this business has grown, thank you to everyone that has helped us flourish!

We hope to offer some ready to ship stuff that may be partial custom after Thanksgiving and we have some fun upcoming giveaways also :)

You can still order now and receive in perfect time for Valentine's Day! (for those of you that like to plan ahead!)

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The winner of the camera strap cover from Shey B is Sarah who said:

"Aaaahhh!! I love the triple ruffle one, it is SO adorable!!

I said Hi to Shey too. :)"

Email me Sarah!

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Today I have 2 Thanksgiving "feasts" to go to for Tessa and Caleb at school. I'm signed up to bring green beans and chocolate pie :) Eden and I are off to Target!

playing at sunset.

Daylight is so short now,
we find ourselves playing past sunset
until it's too dark to see :)

(taken by Ryan on his BlackBerry, isn't technology amazing?)

I love ruffles on my neck {a giveaway!}

It's been a busy week! Besides working on Christmas orders we launched our new database and working out a few kinks. And we got a call from Rachel Ray magazine! More about that later ;)

So let's have some fun!

My friend Shey put her own new twist on camera strap covers... she added ruffles to them!



Oh how I love the ruffles!!! The one above is my FAVE!!!

I want ruffles on my neck.

Maybe I'll get some ruffles for Christmas? (hint hint)



Shey is giving away a ruffled camera strap slipcover to one of you!

Just go check out her shop here and then come back and tell us your fave!

Blog it and tweet it for more entries.

Go say hi to Shey at her blog here for another entry! (save her as a fave while you are there, she's a fun read!)

Happy friday!

it's monday.

Today it's back to work!



After this surprise feature and this surpise feature we have LOTS to do! (Thanks PW and nie nie!!!)

...and while I work I will be dreaming of our vacation, we leave the day after Thanksgiving to visit:



So. hard. to wait!



What's your favorite thing to do at Disney World?

the water well.

After reading Meg's blog and Julie's blog this morning I was inspired to help.



Right now, 1.1 billion people on the planet don't have access to safe, clean drinking water.

That's one in six of us.

I can't imagine feeding my baby with a bottle filled with muddy water... full of parasites and disease.



Or burrying my baby because she got sick from the water I gave her to drink.

We can make a difference!

I am raising money to build a well.

For $5,000 a well can be built that gives fresh, clean water to 250 people for life.



$5,000 is ALOT of money.

But if everyone that reads this blog gave just $10, we would go well over $5,000!

If you are like me, $10 won't be missed. That's like 2 starbucks coffees.

And together we could change the lives of those 250 people!

charity:water is a non profit organization.
All donations are tax deductible.
100% of the profit goes directly to clean water solutions in west africa.

Will you help me?

Click here.

a winner! and randomness.

wow. over 500 comments? You guys sure do love The Pioneer Woman!

The randomly picked winner is... Candice who said:

Sounds like you had a great adventure! I've heard wonderful raves about her new book and would love to test it out! I also love the necklace- so cute and festive! Thank you for this opportunity!!!

email me Candice!

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I saw this cute little thanksgiving day table setting for the kids from Cindy on Alpha Mom...



Just had to share, my kids will love this!

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Jonah gave Tessa a babydoll with a stroller for her birthday... but Eden has taken it over! It's so sweet watching her "take care of" her baby!



Eden is careful to keep the baby's paci in her mouth, I think she knows how important that is :)

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Tonight is date night, yay!!!



Have a fab friday!

the pioneer woman {and a giveaway!}

Last night Jill, Jessica and I drove an hour up to Bartlesville to meet The Pioneer Woman...



We sampled some of her recipes she brought (yum!), snagged a pic of Marlboro Man, went to eat at Chili's while we were waiting for our turn, came back and still sat and talked and laughed for hours (we can get pretty silly!) while waiting our turn and were the very last ones in line to meet her... then we got pulled over by a police man on the way home- what an adventure!

Her cookbook is AMAZING and she is a DELIGHT!

I bought an EXTRA cookbook and asked her to sign it and we are giving it away, along with a sweet "kiss the cook" necklace to match!

How cute is that little fork and spoon?

To enter to win BOTH the book and the necklace just leave us a comment!

happy wednesday :)

a winner and a very important letter.

The winner of the $35 store credit to Gussy's shop is Alysha Gray who said:

OMG!!! So excited for this giveaway!!! I have always been a fan of black and pink so I would have to say my all time fav is Ruffle Gus - Black Houndstooth Wallet with Pink Ruffle, However I think I wouldn't mind one of each!!!

email me Alysha!

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Remeber what Caleb wants to be when he grows up?



Well he is starting his campaign early with this letter that he wants to mail to congress...



It says:

"I, Caleb, think that there shall not be anymore

TAXES!

So, I ask that you will talk to the other reprezenitives and mail me a letter and tell me if it is a law."

And then he drew a puppy dog.

I'd vote for him, wouldn't you?

:)

smile!

it's the weekend!

We have 2 soccer games, 2 football games, a birthday party and lots of playing to do :)

Have a great weekend!

meet Gussy { a giveaway! }

I mega heart bags and wallets... it's a weakness.

Gussy wallets are a.dor.a.ble!!!

I think this one is my favorite!!! I am really into the black and white lately :)


Meet Gussy:

Hello, my name is Gussy, but if you call me Maggie I'll turn my head to that, too! I'm married to a super-supportive man named Zack. We moved to Minneapolis, MN from Detroit, MI about two months ago. Since then my life has been crazy busy. I work full-time at a large advertising agency and sew/work on Gussy in the evening and on weekends.


Almost one year ago today I borrowed my parent's sewing machine; I wanted to learn how to sew. With the help of many, many books from the public library, and online video tutorials, I did. Learning to sew has been an incredible transformation. I had zero-experience when I started {is that OK to admit out loud?!}, but I had a determined spirit and a big heart for the trade.


In March I decided Gussy would be the name of my products and purchased a handful of embroidered twill tags to sew into the seam. My awesome mom nicknamed me after Gussy the Goose from Charlotte's Web (2006). The character, as stated on a TY Beanie Baby tag, "always, always, always has a lot to say, say, say."

Man, is that ever me :) Give me your ears and I'll talk for hours!

And so, Gussy was born.


I love to sew; it makes my heart so happy. I love to sew a colorful ruffle on pretty much everything I make: zipped pouches, accessory cases, clutches, wallets, coin purses -- I've even made a few diaper bags and laptop bags. It is truly an evening passion that I'd love to do full-time. For now I'm praying God will show me what He has planned for Gussy.


To advertise my products I sell on etsy: www.maggiewhitley.etsy.com. I also have a blog, Gussy has a lot to say: www.maggiewhitley.com

Please visit my shop, and good luck :)


Gussy is giving away a $35 gift certificate to her shop!!!

Go visit her shop and then come back and tell us what your favorite item is and you are entered!

Blog it, tweet it, facebook it for extra entries!

Good luck!

mama bird winner!

The randomly picked winner is Robynn who said:

the fun comment that came to mind is this....while going to the washroom one of my 5 children came in and asked me," Mama, when I get older will I have a big bum like you so I don't fall in the toilet?"

(yes, thank-you, awesome honey, thank-you for noticing)

Asked by my 4 year old girl:)

Thanks!



Email me Robynn!

Check back later for more fUn!!!

mama bird is back! win one!

We had such a great response to the mama birds that we ran out!



You add a pearl "egg" for each child or grandchild! Makes a fabulous gift!

We are finally all stocked back up, you can find them here!

I'm so excited to finally be able to relist these, let's give one away! Leave us a FUN comment, we will randomly pick a winner TOMORROW!

Have a great night!

leaves.

Sunday afternoon was spent rakin' up the leaves.

Today's task is to tackle the closets- out with the summer, in with the winter!