Missing in Action....

I would like to apologize for being such a horrible blogger. After beginning my journey into blogging I was immediately hit with the Joys (and rush) of the holiday season. I finished all of my Halloween costume orders just in time for my customers to strut their stuff in them while out Trick-or-Treating. What a relief, I honestly didn't think I would make it in time. Next up, Thanksgiving. The hubby was working ALL THE TIME....which left me taking care of the kids, house, school activities, and of course Doodlebug Tutu's. When will I ever get a break. NOT TODAY! LOL Thanksgiving quickly approached us and the weekend following, Robbie's (my hubby) grandmother passed away. With all that was going on I made the decision to temporarily shut down Doodlebug Tutu's....Thinking I would get a break, and be able to spend some quality time with my family. No way was that going to work out. Just days before Christmas the dreaded stomach bug hit me....I know, Merry Christmas, right. Ugh. Needless to say, the bug spread like wild fire and before I knew it my hubby and 2 kids had the mess too. For 2 weeks that horrible bug made it's way through my family, and of course hit me again in the end. Guess it thought I needed extra punishment since I started it and my family suffered because of it. Well, January soon arrived and I was ready to get back in the swing of things with the business. No sooner than I let my customers know, "I'm back"....Robbie's uncle passed away causing me to postpone the reopening. My family needed me, what else could I do. We took some time, and spent it surrounded by family and friends.
Mid-January was the begin of Layla's first adventure in selling Girl Scout Cookies. Every weekend for about 2 months, we worked cookie booths, went door-to-door, and did all we could to sell sell sell. All that hard work paid off...Layla was recently acknowledged for being the top seller of cookies in our County. She sold a grand total of 1,450 boxes of cookies. Way to go baby girl.
Okay, so now you're thinking.....Everything is calmed down and she can get back to work....Not quite. First time I announced my second attempt to reopen....I got hit yet again with the stomach bug. I swear that evil bug is out to kill me. Luckily it wasn't as bad as the first time around. Now that I am feeling better, and although I am still VERY busy with end of the year school events, soccer (2 kids = 2 teams), girl scouts, and of course maintaining a happy home...I am FINALLY back to work on my business. I couldn't be happier with my life. The kids are well, the hubby is great and all in all I am thrilled with what I call...."My Crazy Busy Life"! Wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

I am back and hopefully I can keep up this time around. Wish me luck.....And happy reading. :o)

Mommy does it all....

Today my hubby had to work out of town, so I had the pleasure of waking up my 6 year old and getting her off to school. Needless to say, she didn't get all the sleep she required last night and was a VERY ill pill this morning. Once I was finally able to get her ready and out the door, my busy day got busier.
First things first...chase down and kill the HUGE spider that so graciously greeted me at my work station this morning. YIKES! After that was accomplished it was time to move on to all the other tasks on my to-do list.
Make and deliver bottle cap necklaces, wash and dry 3 loads of laundry (still more to go), cook breakfast for myself and my son. Well, there went the first half of my day. Now what...Oh yeah. Make a Cat Woman costume that has to be shipped out and hopefully delivered well before Halloween night :o] Hahahaha, guess what...I managed to complete the tutu only before realizing I had to hurry and get myself and Tegan ready for our Lunch date, and his Well-visit. So now we are rushing around getting dressed. We go to our families restaurant and have a bite to eat and visit with Aunt B and Uncle Tommy. Then we race off to the Doctors office, arrive 30 minutes early and still have to wait in a tiny waiting area packed like sardines because they like to over book. Ugh. After 1 hour and 20 minutes we are finally on our way home...with a VERY unhappy little boy I might add. Today was his 4 year old vaccinations :o( He didn't like those at all. Next on my list...pick up Layla from Grandma's, and fight her to get homework finished....Not fun at all. Afterward, I realize it was feeling rather nice outside so I agreed to take my babies on a nature walk. We picked up bowls full of acorn hats and brought them in with us. I have recently bought a few unfinished wooden frames, so I decided to let them decorate the frames with the acorn hats they had found. Tomorrow, I plan to let them make Apple prints to go in each frame. (Pics coming soon, I promise).
Well, at this point it is getting dark out and you'd think my day would be coming to an end, but nope...not even close. Hubby finally gets home from a long day at work and we headed out for a bite to eat, then back home for showers and to get the kids into bed. FINALLY finished Cat Woman...YAY, and topping off my night with a few Bows and a Blog. LOL

Hoping to experience many fun and adventurous things with my day tomorrow, but you can never tell when you are a busy mom like me. Life is full of the best surprises and you never know what will happen next. Until then, it's off to dreamland for me...NIGHT!

Big Crumbs....Get money back when you shop online!

Okay, so my brother has recently introduced me to the world of BigCrumbs. By simply visiting BigCrumbs.com prior to making an online purchase I receive a percentage of my purchases back in FREE Money. How cool is that. All you have to do is, visit BigCrumbs.com and register an account. Each time you are planning to make an online purchase log into your big crumbs account and link to the site you wish to shop from. Your purchases will earn you cash back.
For example I made an ebay purchase the other day and I received a percentage back based on the cost of the sellers listing fees for that item. Every month they send the money to your paypal account and the cash is yours to spend however you want. I'm so excited that I will probably start doing even more of my shopping Online.

And don't forget, you can use this site in conjunction with swagbucks for even more ways to earn free stuff. Just visit Swagbucks.com to search BigCrumbs for a chance to earn Swag Bucks and then link to your shopping destination through BigCrumbs to earn cash back. It's that simple! So, what are you waiting for...start earning cash now! :o)

Swagbucks....

As a mom of 2 small children I know how hard it can be to come up with that extra, much needed cash at Christmas time and even for Birthdays.  Now there is a way to earn gift cards and all sorts of goodies simply doing something most of us do on a daily basis....Searching the web.  Register today at Swagbucks.com and start searching the web.  You will be rewarded Swag Bucks that can be redeemed in the Swag Store for gift cards at places such as Amazon.com, Target, and others.  What are you waiting for, check it out today and get started earning FREE gifts.

Juggling it All...Why I started a Blog!

I have given much thought to starting a blog. I am a stay at home mother of 2 beautiful/handsome children.  Layla, age 6 and Tegan, age 4.  As if they don't keep me on my toes each day, I am also a crafter.  I enjoy spending my days with my children, and my hubby; however I needed to do more.  One day I had purchased a tutu costume for my daughter, and paid "DEARLY" for it.  I received it and said to myself, "I can do that, why should any mother have to pay such outrageous prices for such a simple creation".  And, Doodlebug Tutu's was born.  I started out  making tutu's with the goal in mind to create beautiful handcrafted, custom creations for each individual little princess. These creations weren't only meant to make each little girl happy or to make her feel special, but they were also made of the best quality possible, and at a price parents like my hubby and I (ones who lived paycheck to paycheck), could afford.  I don't understand why parents like myself should be forced to give our children the bare minimum, just because mom decides to stay home with the kids and dad has to work a minimum wage job because of a poor economy and lack of jobs in the area.  It just wasn't fair. Not to me or my babies.  So, I wanted to not only start creating things for my kids myself, but wanted to offer parents in the same situation, a chance to afford some of the "Finer" things for their babies as well.  Once I took the leap into making tutu's, things just continued to grow and blossom.  I went from making simple tutu's, to adding in Bows, Jewelry, Dresses, and so much more.  My creative mind went wild.  I am extremely busy these days.  Being a wife and mommy first and for most, but also spending my days crafting and creating new and interesting things for my friends and family.  Staying home with my children, but also being able to "work" as well has provided my family with so much.  My kids are learning that you can have the best of everything.  I say it's having my cake and eating it too.  I never would have dreamed that I would have gotten to be a stay-at-home mom and have a business doing something I loved at the same time.  I hope that the readers of my blog will continue to check back often as I hope to post updates throughout each week, and allow you a peek into my busy world of work and motherhood.  Occasionally I might offer tutorials for a few of my creations :o)