It's the Shake ~ Earthquake in Mineral, Va 08/23/2011

Well ~ knock that off the bucket list...today I have officially lived through my first Earthquake! I was a Navy brat growing up and we lived an hour north of Seattle, Washington for 2 years and did earthquake drills every month (and Volcano drills too), but never once did we experience either of those activities.

But behold today while in Central Virginia we get a 5.8 earthquake with the epicenter only 4 miles from our home! Talk about frightening! I didn't know what was going on at first. The beginning of it sounded and felt like a low flying jet (they fly around the North Anna Nuclear Power Plant less than 3 miles away from us), but as I went upstairs to check the kids the whole house started to shake and knocked my off balance and thus me faling down the last 6 steps of the stairs. The kitchen cabinets were flyiing open and cups were falling, items were falling off the bookshelf and the computer desk. The walls sounded like they were going to crack apart around me. After about 25 seconds or so it stopped.

I finally got upstairs and Madeline was still asleep (and snoring at that), my precious moments and items from our wedding had fallen off the shelves upstairs and David was awake. He didn't seemed to be bothered by it and was playing with our marriage certificate holder that my parents gave us the day we got married. He started helping me pick-up the items that fell and then the after shock came through and more stuff started to fall. So I grabbed the kids and ran outside. A second aftershock came through while outside and the ground moved under our feet. My oldest was at school (which has been cancelled for tomorrow as her school was deemed "unsafe") and it seemed like forever for her to get home.

She said "elephants ran through my school," and that they had them go into the bathroom and then once it stopped they evacuated outside. This was her second week in school and they are already out. They kept the kids outside until school was dismissed and the placed them on the buses and sent them home. She didn't seem too shook up about it, but was devastated that her "pack-pack" and lunch box were still at school.

I am just so thankful right now that no one was seriously hurt here and we didn't lose anything "valuable." Our house appears to be safe as well, which is even more of a blessing! God was definitely looking out for us today as neighbors of ours (well people a couple miles away) had major damage and one their home collapsed. So we will be helping them clean-up where and when we can. Keep our local families in your prayers that have suffered injuries and damage today. Pray that God will heal them and help them recover from this tragedy.


The Kidds
Baby-Bug Boutique 

Boxes of Fun and Love ~ what box did your Baby-Bug Boutique items come in?

Let's all have a little fun ~ back on Earth Day we wrote a note on our FB page talking about how we recycle in our home and business and what we do to help our environment (included below) and we asked what our fans did to help the environment as well.

" Here in our home (and with Baby-Bug Boutique) we recycle all of our plastic, glass and aluminum cans. I also take all of our boxes from food items and use them to ship our products in. I recycle shipping boxes we receive either as paper or to ship with or storage even. We have reusable bags we use when buying items in stores, and I use the plastic bags we do have at yardsales to give people their items in or turn them into Walmart's recycling box. I also print on both sides of the computer paper when printing shipping labels from home and well all of our paper we recycle goes to my stepmom's work where they take paper and turn it into roofing material (we especially do this at birthdays and christmas time too). I reuse all of our giftbags at my craft shows that I can and we donate our gently used item to Salvation Army or our local trailer home mission project that our church is doing with the resource council, that we no longer have room for or don't need anymore. This year we plan on purchasing from our local farmer's market for fruits and vegetables. We get our eggs right now from a family at our church and take the egg cartons for them to have and reuse as well.
     Product wise we make reusbale snack bags, baby wipes and nursing pads (which I personally used when nursing our youngest child) and can also make cloth diapers. I use pesticide free batting in our quilts and nursing pads and use just about every scrap of material I can to make something out of so it doesn't go to waste."

Now the fun part ~ what box did your items from Baby-Bug Boutique arrive in?

Who knows maybe one lucky person will receive a $5.00 gift certificate just for posting!

Pre-K or Bust

This past Monday was a very busy day in our house ~ our oldest (Aubrey) started her first day of Pre-K at Thomas Jefferson Elementary. She is officially a "Proud Patriot."

She was such a "Big" girl despite her size, she got on the bus all on her own and rode it to school and back without any worries. However, you can bet I had the phone on me at all times. She has a little over an hour bus ride each way, but even after the first week, she is still doing great.

Aubrey is loving her school, teachers and all the new things she is able to do and learn. However, she has had to "slip her card" once already because she didn't want to sit on the carpet when she was suppose to. So this is something for us to work with her at home, as well as, letting her feel rewarded for doing a good job at school and at home.

She is more than excited every morning to go to school, which makes this mommy very happy to send her, despite the early mornings.This is a new adventure for all of us. David and Madeline still haven't quite figured out "sissy leaving for school," but luckily all but 1 day this week they were still asleep when I walked her down the driveway to catch the bus.

We are so proud of Aubrey and just had to share the picture above of her on her first day of school. I asked her if she was happy to go to school and she said yes. I said, show me smile that says you are happy to go to school and this was the smile I got ~ she was beyond nervous. She has done amazing though! Now if only the other two will follow suit when it is there turn.

The Kidds

Baby-Bug Boutique  

The Marriage You've Always Wanted

Friday night and yesterday morning was probably the longest Brian and I have spent together (about 3 hours each day) in the past month, if not more. He started working 7 days a week earlier in the month and was working 6 days a week for about 4 months before that. But even when we wanted to be "alone" we never could because of the three little ones always being around.

Anyway, this marriage seminar we went to titled "The Marriage You've Always Wanted" was hosted by the West End Assembly of God in Richmond, VA (onyl an hour from our house) and the speaker was none other than Dr. Gary Chapman himself. This seminar sold out within the first couple of weeks, if not sooner. And 1,300 people came together with one person ~ to save their marriage and strengthen the bond between husband and wife, parents and children.

Dr. Gary Chapman is a world famous author for his book titled "The Five Love Languages," which both my husband and I have read in addition to his book "Desperate Marriages." I will be very honest in saying, our marriage is not perfect, we've had a lot of issues to deal with and circumstance to attend to in the 5 years we have been married, but after this weekend...there is hope, we both have a renewed sense of courage and strength and the will to make sure we give our children the BEST example of what a marriage can and should be.

I was more than impressed not only with the content of the seminar, but how it was presented. There was a down-to-earth approach to explaining these topics so that even the most basic of person could understand how they can benefit from practicing the principles of loving your spouse the way God intended us to. Dr. Chapman was just an awesome speaker and even made it fun for us to be there too. We've listened to dozens of his podcasts and I read his articles online and, to meet him in person, and listen to him speak was just amazing in itself.

Everyone could benefit from a marriage seminar ~ even a basic one such as this where it is 7 hours total between the two days, the topics that concern and create conflict in most marriages and the best ways to handle those issues. All backed by years and years of research, case studies, just plain common sense and the words in the Bible. I gained new insight on so many areas and we can't wait to start reading and working through "The Marriage You've Always Wanted."

If you can't attend a seminar or conference I HIGHLY suggest picking up this book and sharing it with your spouse. Even if you think your marriage is "perfect/secure" it will definitely help develop a deeper closeness and oneness between you both. The seminar we went too, was the highlights of this book. So I really can't wait to get more in depth with it. I desire to be close to my husband and make the rest of our lives wonderful together! You can find this book almost anywhere, but here is a great place to start ~ 5 Love Languages.

May God Bless Each of You and Your Families!

The Kidds
Baby-Bug Boutique

Oh my Cupcakes ~ A Quilting Adventure

I met Jennifer at Small Country Campground for Que and Cruz ~ she was set-up there with her it Works display and I ofcourse with our craft display. She was looking for a unique baby quilt for a little girl. I had brought a bunch of fabric with me to cut and pin together (making use of the time without children) and showed her the cupcakes fabric I had. Jennifer was looking for something pink and brown and this was what I had.
She wanted it to be designed similar to another panel quilt I had put together (purchased the panel, but I quilted it and backed it) so I sketched up a little something and we decided to put big cupcakes on the front of it with cherries and sprinkles. Here is the sketch.

Now I had never piece quilted like this, nor appliqued on this level either. The appliques were going to be made of felt and by hand for that matter. Thus, they would have to be satin stitched, with the machine, but with my guidance. The piece quilting part was fairly easy and everything lined up so nicely! We did two borders, two layers of batting and then quilted it all together to make a nice thick blanket. I was confident once the panel was together that this was going to be an easy project and fairly simple.

I was wrong...it was more complicated that I had bargained for ~ but I was loving the challenge. A lot of hours went into shaping the cupcakes and placing them in the right place, securing them to the panel and then finally sating stitching them for a permanent hold. That was the tricky part because my thread kept breaking do to the adhesive used to secure the appliques to the quilt, but it was something new and I caught on quickly how to fix that issue.

So the cupcakes and their red cherries were complete ~ thank God! Now the detailing was next. The sprinkles and the cherry stems were stitched on and it was a little trickier than I was thinking because I had to shape them the right way and ran into the same problem with the stickiness of the adhesive so it altered the sprinkles some, but the finished project is lovely!

Then I was left with an open space at the bottom and just didn't like looking at it, so we talked about embroidering the little girl's name on the quilt and well, thanks to my mmachine that was easy enough once I got the placing where I like it and we added her name to make this truly a keepsake quilt.

Lastly was to finish the backing and then top-stitch the two layers together...probably the easiest part of the whole thing. But it was great watching to piece together step-by-step and then seeing the project completed!

Little Miss. Leeanne ~ I hope you love your new blankie. I did love making it!

The Kidds
Baby-Bug Boutique

Wanted ~ Car Trash Bag Product Testers x2 (Name that Product Contest Too)

In honor of our new item (and as I have a bias sometimes to my own creations ~ which by the way I am in LOVE with this one) we are looking for TWO product testers for our car trash bag holders. Will also be running a  Name That Product Contest at the same time.

To be eligible for the product tester you will be responsible for shipping expenses ($3.00) paid through paypal. If selected and after payment is received item will be mailed to you (address provided through paypal) and then you will have the product to test (yours to keep forever). Once you've tried it out and had fun with our item then you will need to write a review on our reviews tab on Facebook and post a picture of the item in your vehicle (with or without trash...just nothing gross...LOL).


If there are more than two people wanting to be product testers ~ we will choose using http://www.random.org based on the number of entries and the number post you are will be how we select our product testers.

For the Name That Product Contest you will submit below the name(s) that you think would be neat to name our car trash bags. We will choose the name we like best and the winner will receive the car trash bag of their choice for only the shipping expenses ($3.00) paid through paypal.


Multiple ideas will be credited to the first person who suggests it, unless they have suggested more than one name and then those with the same suggestion will be chosen through http://www.random.org based on the number of submissions for the same name.

All postings should be submitted here to our blog ~ those chosen for the product tester will be announced here and on Facebook, but they will be contacted by e-mail so please include e-mail address here on our blog or through our Contact Tab.

Thank you in advance to all participating in one or both of these activities!

Product tester requests will be received until Saturday evening and Name The Product Contest Submissions will be accepted until Next Wednesday evening.


Product Tester Winners: Candace and Kristi!!!!

Name that Product Winner: Kayla with Trash Stash Bag!!!


The Kidds
Baby-Bug Boutique

The Worker Bees of Baby-Bug Boutique

Plenty of times we have been asked sewing what machine do you have? So I thought this next blog would be a a little about what machines I have and my thoughts about them.
I started out with a Shark and while it was great and it got me started and I did and can do a lot with it, after it broke down on me once and cost me half the price I bought it for to fix, I knew we were going to need to get something better. I still have my Shark and probably always will and pass it down to one of my girls when they are older. It is a great little machine, noisy, but worth every penny I paid for it (even the repair) and help me start this business from the very working of only make ribbon lovies and cushy tushy cases.

We bought a Singer Futura ce150 this past April ~ many of times we were asked if we could personalize or embroider and I hated saying "No," but we simply couldn't because I didn't have a way to do so except by hand. So a mutual decision was made to start looking into sewing/embroidery machines in case the Shark did die on me again I would have something to use until we could get it repaired, but also so I could embroider as well. I absolutely LOVE this machine and right now it is strictly used for embroidery so I can preserve the sewing part for when I actually need it. We hooked up an old laptop to it so the software can run on that (it isn't one with a computer in it ~ I was worried about losing the whole machine should the hard drive go in one like that). I love it, love it, love it! We couldn't have made a better choice in purchasing this machine. All I need to do now is purchase the AutoPunch Software and the Font Software and then we can embroider almost any picture and use any font in Microsoft Word ~ looks like Christmas time that will be my present!

Then in May the Shark started acting funky here and there and I was starting into piecec quilting and more delicate and specialty items that the Shark just couldn't keep up with or was really making life difficult for me to do. SO we started looking into sewing machines again and checking sale prices and things like that to "get the best deal" and the wonderful ladies at my local JoAnn's helped us pick out the Singer Confidence Quilter and it has made the world of difference in my quilts ~ it has a long quilting arm, so I don't have to fight with the fabric anymore to keep it in line. There are many decorative stitched I can use for edging and I can even applique with it, which is a joy in itself too because I have had to make my own appliques and then try to zig-zag stitch them, but this machine actually has a satin stitch foot, so makes my life incredibly easy to do those now.



I was also recently (2 weeks ago) given my mother's sewing machine which is well over 20 years old...actually trying to figure out how old it really is and find a manual for it. But it is a MOntgomery Ward UHT J 1934. It is being serviced right now to makes sure nothing is "wrong" with it and if there is to have it fixed. This will be the machine I teach my girls how to sew on and right now each of "the grandkids" will have a quilt made on this machine and then in a corner embroidered "In loving memory of Grandma Diana." My mother made all kinds of things for my sister and I and I am sure if she was still here today that she would be making things for her grandkids. However, since she is not I am going to make something on her machine for them in her honor and memory. But this machine will not be used for anything "business related."

I am very honored to have such quality equipment and in turn have been able to produce some great quality items! Thank you to my hubby who was the one to get me in gear for looking into better machines instead of "just making do."


The Kidds
Baby-Bug Boutique

P.S. my "dream" machine for later on ~ Singer Futura XL-400

Scentsy Buddies ~ 10% off the Month of August

Donna has set-up another fundraiser for us with these cute and cuddly Scentsy Buddies. They are available to be purchased directly for our diaper bag project (can order online - link below, cash or check by mail).

For the Month of August the Scentsy Buddies are 10% off making them $22.50 ~ we have been fortunate enough to have had 2 donated to our diaper bag project and would love to have some more as we are making 20 bags total.

Please share this with your family and friends who might be interested in donating one to the diaper bag project, even if you are unable to do so yourself. We'd love to add a little something extra to the diaper bags to help these children feel like there is some hope left in this world to hold on to.
The Scentsy Buddies Are:

Ribbert the Frog
Lenny the Lamb
Penny the Pig
Ollie the Elephant
Molly the Monkey
Roarbert the Lion

Please specify when ordering that they are for Diaper Bags for Joplin, MO so that the Scentsy Buddies can be shipped directly to us or to Donna and I can pick them up from her.

You can order them online from Donna through this link: https://donnaatkinson.scentsy.​us/Buy?partyId=39471470


Thank you very much,

The Kidds
Baby-Bug Boutique