Polka Dot Island in Boutiques

Erica and Mom went to some shops in Oregon and sold a ton of bows for me! I am so happy and lucky to have willing salespeople who won’t get much in return for their efforts!

One boutique bought 22 bows in some of the popular fall colors (shown). The other boutique bought 70 bows in more traditional pinks! I didn’t get a picture of those before I sent them off, but they are very pretty too. Both shops sell for babies and toddlers so they wanted the smaller “ladybug” bows. I need to get out to the shops here now. I just hate trying to convince people to buy stuff– Not a salesperson at all. But that comes with the job, so I need to bite the bullet.

Thanks again for the sales ladies!

Tough Decisions

After our long and exhaustive search for a new job, we have finally found one. This whole process has been so exhausting for both Rob and me. We wanted to find another job in another building downtown so that there wouldn’t be much of a change for us. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. Rob sent out a lot of resumes and did many interviews and in the end our choice was between two firms. One in Northern California (DB) and one in Southern California (PH) far enough away from where we live now that it would also mean a new school, new ward, new friends, new doctors etc. This will be our family’s tenth move in the ten years we have been married. It’s starting to get old.

But a decision needed to be made. Without going into all of the gory details, “DB” was closer to family and so I really wanted that one to work out, and “PH” was in a department Rob would enjoy and offers global opportunities for him. (That is really condensed, but I’m at the point now where I’ve thought about the pros and cons so much that I’m sick of it.) We debated, and discussed, and thought and prayed, and finally decided that we need to take the offer at “PH.” There were several logical reasons why it was a safer choice, but mostly it came down to the fact that it just feels right. It feels like this is the next place we need to be. I’m going on faith with this one.

So sometime right after Christmas we will be packing up and moving…again. That will be eight months in this house, just as we had eight months in our last one. So for today I am very relieved that the decision has been made, but I am also mourning the loss of “DB,” especially the part about being closer to family. I’m also mourning leaving our fabulous friends and neighbors here. We haven’t told the kids of our decision yet, and I’m sure they will be mad at us for making them leave their school and friends, but I know eventually we will all be happy in our new home. If there is one thing I have learned from moving around a lot, it is that we can be happy anywhere when we have each other!

Halloween Kiddies

Shirley Temple     Devil

Witch    Snow White

Pickin Punkins

We went to the local pumpkin patch just before we dropped Hunter off for scouts. It is a lot on the main street that also sells Christmas trees in December. They had a nice little setup, and the kids had a blast picking just the right pumpkin for them. Hunter wanted one that was nice and round because he was doing a school project that involved turning a pumpkin into a globe. Emma wanted one with no dents or bumps on it, and Hannah wanted one that she could carry by herself and that had a yellowish orange skin. Sabrina got a little one just the right size for her, and mom and dad got a nice one to share. We are waiting to carve them until right before Halloween, because last year they rotted so fast! It has still been quite warm here, so that will be something we do this weekend! Take a look at all of their picks in the gallery.

The cake said, Happy Birthday ENNA!

Emma had her birthday party with her friends two weeks ago. Ok, so it was a month late, but she had a blast. The morning of a birthday party I am always stressed and nervous about keeping the kids occupied and happy, and having everything ready to go. One of the last things on the list was to get a cake from the nearby bakery, and as I was standing in the checkout line I realized it said, “Happy Birthday Enna!” I was a bit annoyed since I had even spelled it out for the girl after I said her name. It was in cursive, so I figured the girls wouldn’t notice, and they didn’t. They played charades, freeze dance to the music videos on the High School Musical dvd, memory, made bracelets, pinata, cake and ice cream. Wow, and we ended right on time so there wasn’t a whole lot of crazy running around. Rob and I were congratulating ourselves on a successful party and the girls were starting to leave with their parents. I was saying goodbye to the second girl to leave when I heard someone yelling a girls name over and over. I turned around to see the girl throwing up into her hands. She wasn’t sure where to go and was crying for her mom. I got her into the bathroom and got her cleaned up. Then her mom arrived. (Later her mom told me that she must have been over tired from her soccer game or something because she didn’t show any signs of sickness afterwards. That was great news for her and all of the other girls that had been playing with her too.) She helped me finish cleaning things up and Rob sent the rest of the girls outside. So, we almost made it without a hitch, but overall, Emma was happy and had fun with her friends. That’s all that matters right?

Welcome to Polka Dot Island

I am now ready to officially sell my bows! Rob has helped me out a lot by setting up this website for me. We decided to call it Polka Dot Island because I have always loved polka dots, especially for kids; And I also love the ocean and beach. We had the logo designed by gotlogos.com, and for just $25.00 I was really happy with how it turned out. I’m planning to try to get into some of the children’s boutiques close by and this website store would be a sideline. But who knows right? I have a lot of ribbon colors on the “Color Board” page and can make a bow on a clip or headband to match any outfit. I’m also working on an idea for boys. It’s harder to find fun accessories for boys, so I’m giving myself that challenge.

Go take a look and tell me what you think. It is still under construction, but I just couldn’t wait to share what we have so far.