HELP! My life has been taken over by SHIRTS!

Hey friends!  I hope y'all have had a wonderful weekend (and Monday, too!)

Lately, my life has been just a random jumble of craziness!  Not only was last week the first week of school, I've also been slammed with t-shirt orders.  I'm not sure of the exact number, but I've made at least 90 shirts over the past week-and-a-half!  Talk about t-shirt overload!  Thankfully, my fabulous husband has been learning to master the heat press, so my back and shoulders have been spared.  I definitely would not be able to do it without him.  Maybe one day I'll be able to afford one of those "fancy" automatic presses that press and release on it's own, but I will have to sell a WHOLE LOT of t-shirts to be able to afford something like that. HAHA!

Here are some of my most recent designs:

These are the elementary school staff shirts. I've made 60 of these!

For was a gift for one of Jameson's friends!

My saving grace this week was actually getting to do what I love the most, making a frame!

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week, and if I go missing, just look under the nearest pile of t-shirts!

Creating Routines to Help My Son Succeed

 

Jameson started back to school this week.  While many parents can't wait for their kids to get out of their hair and head off to head off to school, I dread it.  A lot.  I love the lazy, unstructured schedule that summer allows.  Once school starts back, the super-strict and structured schedule starts once again.  Why such a difference between summer and the school year?  Jameson has ADHD.

 Jameson has always been a very active child, but we didn't know anything different.  Chelsea's childhood was anything but "typical," so we were like first-time parents with Jameson.  We just thought that all kids constantly ran around in circles, never slept, and talked/whistled/hummed/sang every waking second of every day.  It wasn't until he started school that we figured out that there may be problems.

 

 After some lengthy conversations with a few of his teachers, we decided to have him "officially" tested. We completed our forms and the teacher completed her forms. We gave them to his pediatrician and waited.  About three days later, we got a call from his pediatrician's nurse saying he did have ADHD.

 Jameson was able to sit still and be quiet during church, and any other places where that was required.  He was easily able to stay focused enough to put together huge Lego sets, and sit quietly and read several chapters in a book.  But we found that if we let him go play for a while once he got home, it would take ten times longer to get him to settle down enough to finish his homework.

 

 

So we came up with an after-school routine for him:

 

Once home, he goes from the car straight to the kitchen table, where we do his homework.

One of us always sits at the table with him while he's working.  He isn't allowed to leave the kitchen table (except to go to the bathroom) until his written homework is completed.  This has changed a little bit over the recent years. These days, by the time he gets home, he's usually hungry. Now we allow time for a snack break, while still sitting at the kitchen table.

If he completes his written homework quickly and without too much drama, he can do his required reading wherever he wants; whether curled up on the couch, on his bed, or outside in the sun.

 

One of our biggest stressors during the night time routine has always been getting clothes picked out for the next day and pajamas picked out to wear after shower time.  We would send Jameson into his room to get his clothes, only for him to come out 30 minutes later holding a toy instead of his clothes.  We solved this problem by moving all his clothes into the laundry room.  We have a small chest of drawers that holds his socks, underwear and pajamas, and a hanging rack for all his other clothes.  It takes up a huge amount of space in our tiny laundry room, but has stopped all the distractions while looking for clothes.

 

Until now, these methods have worked, but I can tell that the older he gets and the more involved the homework gets, he has a much harder time staying focused.  It's taking a little longer to get the work done and we are having to redirect his attention back to his homework twice as often as before. Depending on how he does in the classroom this year, we may consider other options.

 

Jameson started the 5th grade this year. This is his last year at the elementary school and I think he is enjoying the fact he will be "the big fish in a little pond."  He's not nervous at all, but definitely isn't looking forward to it.  He's a night owl and loves to stay up late and sleep in.  In years past, it's only taken him a couple of days to get into a new routine, but I'm afraid this year is going to be tough! 

 

He's never been a big sleeper.  He stopped napping at 1-year-old, and normally only slept around six hours at night.  However, this summer things have definitely changed.  It is not unusual for him to sleep 10-12 hours straight.  He's even been taking occasional naps, here-and-there.  Who is this child?  I don't know if this is puberty taking over, but I am really nervous how this will affect our "normal" school routine this year.

 

 The main thing we are doing to try to enforce earlier bedtimes is to make him turn off the computer/iPad earlier in the evening. If we left it up to him, he would stay on the iPad all night long.  We are trying to find a good balance between letting him have enough down time with the computer/iPad, that will still leave him enough time to wind down and get to sleep earlier.  We are already having a struggle in this area, so we may have to try several different things until we find something that works for all of us.

 

We don't know what this new school year will hold for Jameson, but we know we will do whatever it takes to help make this a successful and enjoyable year for him!

 

We all survived, despite being in denial.

Hey friends!  It's been a busy week for almost everyone around here.

It's the first week of school!

Jameson and I have been in complete denial about the entire thing.  This summer, we have been the two laziest people on this planet.  We stay up late watching movies, and sleep in late.  Jameson rarely saw the daylight before noon on most (non-work) days.  (I swear I didn't sleep in that late, but did sleep until 9:00 a time-or-two.)

We knew we were going to be in trouble, so we started trying to change bedtimes about two weeks ago.  However, that was a complete and total failure.  No matter what time Jameson went to bed, he would still be wide awake at midnight (or later).  I kept thinking it would get better, but it didn't.  You just can't make someone go to sleep (without drugs, anyway!  HAHA!)

This weekend came way too soon, and Jameson and I were both in a funk.  We were not ready for school to start back and we continued on our way, just like we had months before we would be forced back into a daily routine.  We were in complete denial.

Of course, that led to panic mode Sunday afternoon when I didn't have any of his things labeled or organized.  I managed to get that done, and only half-way melted the straps on his backpack while trying to put his name on them. Mom of the year, here!

Jameson went to bed before 10:00, but was still WIDE AWAKE at midnight.  Bless his heart.  He was a nervous wreck.  Fortunately, because of a gas leak (followed by an evacuation) during orientation, the 5th graders didn't have to be at school until between 9:00 and 10:00, allowing him an extra hour of sleep.  But boy, that extra hour didn't help at all!

At 7:30, I put on my "sweet, cheerful mommy" mode on, and tried to wake him up.

Total fail.

At 7:45, I tried again.

Total fail.

By now, "sweet, cheerful mommy" was being replaced by "ill and grumpy mama".  I went to wake him up again, and there may have been some gnashing of teeth.

That's when all signs of "sweet, cheerful mommy" left and the MEAN MAMA came out.

Thankfully, he got up, but there may have been a few tears involved.

He finally got up, got dressed, and was in a surprisingly good mood!

Since we had a few extra minutes before he had to be at school, we decided to extend summer by a few more minutes, and went out for breakfast.

But our breakfast, and our wonderful, lazy, carefree summer, came to an end, and we headed off to school.   I was a bundle of nerves as I walked out of the school and drove into town, especially when I found half of his school supplies STILL in the back floor board when I was getting out to buy groceries.

**slapping head**  Still winning mother of the year!!

He had a great day, loved his teacher (she got "two thumbs up"), and was happy to have so many friends in his class.

We all survived, but still can't believe our summer is already over!

I'm officially bona fide!

Photo from HERE

Who doesn't love this movie?  LOL

Well, as Penny (Holly Hunter) said to Everette (George Clooney) in the movie about her new man, I am officially BONA FIDE!

I'm an official business owner in my hometown!

Things for my business Blueberry Hill Handmade have exploded over the past few weeks!  I am a little overwhelmed, but I know I can do it!  I would have never thought a year ago I would be getting to do what I love the most (except for being a mom)  and getting paid for it!  Maybe by next year I'll actually make a profit! HAHA!

Thanks to all of you who have supported my new business! I appreciate you more than you could ever know!

Who's crazy idea was this?

Hey friends!  I hope you all have had a wonderful week and weekend! Even though it was hot and humid, the weather at my house (between the showers) was gorgeous!  The skies were so blue, I could swear it was Fall already. A girl can hope, right?

Thanks to all of you who wished Marty and I a happy 25th wedding anniversary last week.  Even though we would have loved to take an exotic vacation or had a big party, right now other things are more important, like work, family, school, and home.  We may eventually celebrate big, but for now, low key was just fine with us. Marty did surprise me at work with these, however:

Gorgeous!  Marty chose a more practical gift....a garden tiller. We are so romantic!  HAHA!

Not only was it our anniversary last week, the short summer is rapidly coming to an end.  We wanted to do some fun things with Jameson before he heads off to school next week.  On Thursday, we decided to start finish-up school clothes/supply shopping, and I let him pick where he wanted to eat.  Since his daddy wasn't with us (he's allergic to seafood), he chose Red Lobster.  Let me tell you, this boy can EAT some crab legs!

This is a pound-and-a-half!

Five minutes later:

Fully cracked and ready to eat.  The waiter was impressed with my cracking skills.  HAHA!

Then ten minutes later:

He was so full, he didn't eat anything the rest of the day!

During our trip, I also picked up a little something for myself:

I'm telling you, I am obsessed with this movie!  This will forever be known as "the Summer of Pitch Perfect".

Then Friday, we decided to surprise Jameson with a quick trip to Legoland in Atlanta:

Most things were a little young for him, but he said he had a great time.

After Legoland, my boss, who is also one of my best friends, took us out to eat at this fantastic Brazilian steakhouse in Buckhead:

They have an incredible salad bar and then the waiters walk around with skewers of assorted meats. When you flip the card to green, that means you want more meat. When you have enough, you flip the card to red.  Everything was amazing!

The best part of the meal for me was dessert...of course:

Oh yeah, did I mention my birthday was also this weekend?  Who's crazy idea was it to get married a few days before my birthday? Obviously I didn't think that through very well.

Saturday we didn't leave the house, but we had a full day Sunday.  First we had church, then off to my favorite restaurant Fuji, where I had a green river roll:

Then, at the last minute, we decided to see Elysium.

Photo from HERE

It was pretty gory in a few parts, but it was an excellent movie. 

On the way home, we saw a beautiful rainbow...so we stopped to take pictures!

What? Doesn't everybody do that?

Once we made it home, Marty and Jameson gave me the very best gift of all...

They cleaned up the kitchen for me!

I've been trying to decrease the amount of sugar I eat, but I couldn't go to bed before trying a small slice of my birthday cake:

Doesn't it look fabulous?

Even though it's been an extremely busy week, we've had a blast spending a ton of time together!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Haven

Hey friends!  I'm finally getting around to my actual Haven post! Thanks for your patience!

After the Southern Blogger's Conference in October last year, I knew I really wanted to try to attend Haven.  Many of the same bloggers that I love and adore would be there AND it would be in Atlanta!  Just a short 2 hour trip from home (or a 25 minute trip from work).  I wasn't able to purchase the tickets when they first went on sale, but was fortunate enough to get a ticket and a hotel room a couple of months before Haven thanks to one of my best and oldest (in time, not in age) blogger friends, Barb of The Everyday Home.

Well, as the date came closer, I seriously doubted even going. I am definitely not a social butterfly, and being in a strange place with hundreds of people I don't know sends my anxiety level through the roof. As the days got closer, I became more anxious.  But, just as I would make the decision not to go, Barb would send me a message about how much fun we were going to have.  She just wouldn't let me say no!  I am so glad she wouldn't!

The week prior to Haven ended up being extremely busy for Blueberry Hill Handmade. Most nights leading up to Thursday, I would be up until at least 1 am working on orders.  I had planned on getting a hair cut and pedicure, shopping for some awesome new clothes, and making a bunch of cute little things to hand out, but I ended up doing none of these things.  I literally didn't even have my suitcase packed at 10:00 Thursday morning!  Somehow I managed to get myself together, load up the car, and hit the road around 12:30...only 30 minutes later than I had planned to.

Atlanta, here I come!

I know this is probably dorky to all you travelers out there, but this is what greeted me when I walked into my hotel room.  I thought it was pretty cool!

SWAG!

As soon as I checked in, dug through my swag bag, and freshened up a bit (after being stuck in ROAD CONSTRUCTION for an hour!), we were treated to an awesome party thrown by Homes.com and Rent.com.

Photo by Karen from Dogs Don't Eat Pizza.

This is Barb (she is SO going to kill me for posting this!).  She said she was only in the chair to "look for a friend", but I KNOW I saw a little arm slinging and bootie shaking going on up there!  And this was DAY 1 FOLKS!

OK, OK, here is a much better picture of Barb, with the cup I managed to finish, that has her blog logo on it.

Thursday night, a few of us decided to go and have some great Italian food.

The steak was really fabulous, but difficult to get a good photo of in the darkness.  The most interesting thing about that night was the lady sitting next to me who decided she liked the way my food looked, and decided to help herself to my potatoes and mushrooms.  

Sunrise on Friday morning.

I know these photos are horrible, but Ana White was the keynote speaker on Friday.  She was awesome!

Y'all, there is SO much going on in this photo. Let's just say, all the Haven attendees now know an awesome social media dance!

 Fabulous lunch on Friday!

  

Here is a picture of Suzy (in the pink in the back) from Worthington Court, Amy from Atta Girl Says, and Barb from The Everyday Home.  These ladies took me under their wings and let me hang with them the whole time.  I thank them SO MUCH for doing so. I know they have no idea how much that meant to me!

After lunch, I went to a presentation sponsored by Cottonelle, and let me tell you, they had me the second I walked in the door.  They had scrapbook paper, Modge Podge, scissors, and paint!  MY KIND OF PRESENTATION!  After one not-so-appealing fail, here is my finished product:

The tray is simple, but it will match my bathroom perfectly!

I thought this was an awesome idea.  They had a huge chalk board and encouraged everyone to sign it or "Leave your mark"!  It was really beautiful, especially the more signatures that were on it.

I left my mark....TWICE

And these next two pictures are the highlight of my Friday (other than my friends and CRAFTS!).  I sat in on the Basic Blogging class taught by Heather from At the Picket Fence

KariAnne from Thistlewood Farms

and Tauni, the developer of the SNAP conference!

Even though I've been blogging for a long time, I still learned a lot!  I met both of these awesome ladies at the Southern Blogger's Conference last year and love both of their blogs.  If you ever get the chance to listen to either of these ladies talk, jump at the chance!

Well, after my 1 1/2 full, hysterical, entertaining, and fun days with my blogging pals, I headed back home.  I missed Saturday's events, which by the looks of it, was AMAZING, but am still glad I got to spend the rest of the weekend with the family (and finish up about 18 Blueberry Hill orders).

Even though I was filled with tons of anxiety, I really enjoyed this trip!  This was the first time I've ever traveled and stayed in a hotel alone.  I managed to have a wonderful time without a haircut, a pedicure, or new clothes.  And the best part, I wore my CROCS the whole time and even got a few compliments on how cute they were.

Thank you Barb for encouraging me to go and thanks most of all for letting me follow you around like a puppy!  You are THE BEST!  I can't wait to do it again next year!