Like most moms I am rarely in the photos that are taken. I do not like to be photographed mainly because of my weight (a picture reminds me how much weight I should lose... guilt) and because I am usually taking the photo. But here is one a friend sent me. It was taken at the Canal Winchester Relay for Life 2008. This is one of the years I was the chairman of it, so I am surprised that she got me to stay still long enough to pose.

Another reason I post this photo is because my hubby is in it. I love him so much and I am so blessed to have him. He just left this morning for a week long vacation with Curtis to the Boundary Waters of Minnesota. A 15 hour trip to no man's land! Every year he goes camping with a few members of his family and this year they decided to take an adventure. Bill is always looking for an outdoor adventure! Last year he and Curt camped in the Everglades. This year they are on the North side of the states in a cabin in the woods. From crocs to bears! (Actually when they were in the everglades, they never saw one crocodile! We saw more nature from my dad's patio than they did in the everglades!). Just one more thing off his "bucket list". We are planning a trip to Colorado for next summer so that will take care of the West side of the states. He also took Curt and Alex to DC last March so technically he did the East coast as well. Hmmm... what have I done??? Nothing, but take care of the kids left behind! Oh well. My time will come... I believe I have a 40th coming up and maybe I will just take off by myself!

Buy Two Get One Free!

Who does not like something FREE? In addition to the special I have going on right now, remember that Uppercase Living is offering buy two get one free until Sept. 10! Get your orders to me to take advantage of all these promotions and start expressing yourself throughout your home!

Uppercase Living Give Away!

For the LOVE of Uppercase Living!

I LOVE Uppercase Living and I know you will too! So to help you get started in decorating your home with words that express who you are, I am giving away $25 gift certificate!

Here’s what you have to do -

1. Visit http://kls.uppercaseliving.net

2. Create an account or Log in

3. Look through the new Fall/Winter Online Catalog (seriously, you will fall in love!)

4. Post in the Comments what your most favorite item is!

5. This will close on September 10, 2009. I will draw a name from everyone who leaves a comment.

You want some EXTRAS? I always LOVE incentives!

If you want to host a catalog party, I will be more than happy to help you do this! I will mail you catalogs that you can pass around to your friends, co-workers, neighbors. This is a great and easy way to earn free products! Collect $200 in sales and I will give you a $5 gift certificate towards your order.

An easier way to receive free Uppercase Living products is to hold an OPEN HOUSE and invite all your friends and family to see how to express themselves throughout their homes! Like above if you collect $200 in sales, you will receive the $5 gift certificate or if you collect more than $400 in sales I will up it to a $10 gift certificate. That is in addition to all the free expressions and half off items you will earn!

There is NO better time to check out Uppercase Living! I guarantee you will love it as much as I do! If you would like an exciting way to earn extra money and take advantage of wonderful incentives, just ask me how you can become a demonstrator for only $99!

Questions? You can email me at bksims@wowway.com or leave a comment!

Uppercase Living products can warm your heart and make you smile!

glass blocks = cute gifts

Uppercase Living now sells these great clear blocks! They are easy to decorate with your favorite expression and they snap apart for easy filling. You can even fill it with a small string of Christmas lights to create a night light or holiday display! Just think of all the possibilities for gift giving! Here are some ideas that other customers have come up with!

NEW Uppercase Living Catalog

Get EXCITED.... I just received the new Uppercase Living catalog and it is AWESOME! New fonts, new colors, new expressions and new accessories!

From now until Sept. 9 you can buy two expressions and get ONE FREE! Check out my website http://kls.uppercaseliving.net and review the catalog on line! Want a catalog... I will be happy to get you one for $3 (my cost) or book a party and you can have one FREE plus a $5 coupon to use on your order!

Here is a preview....

Expressions can go right on the glass of picture frames. Uppercase Living offers a rectangle frame and new this year a square frame. They also sell extra glass inserts so you can change it throughout the year!

My niece is getting married and we are hoping to do this to her dance floor... too cool!

New... Uppercase Living sells these great glass blocks with holes in them! You can fill them with anything, lights, candy and even crayons! For Halloween you can fill it with candy corn and have a cute embellishment on the front! Or for Christmas you can fill it with peppermints and add an embellishment on the front plus the word Believe! How cute would that be?!

This took my breath away! It is HUGE but what an impact it makes on a hard to decorate space!


What do your walls say?

the Hike!

First let me say that it is another gloomy day in OHIO! A thunderstorm just went through and we should get more rain later. I love thunderstorms, but I really want that 90* day that I talked about in the last post. SO I am pouting over the weather!

Yesterday was it was 83* which would be okay normally to go to the POOL, but with the temps getting down to 63* at night - the water is FREEZING! Really no big deal for my older kids, but I have to get into the water with my younger ones and I do not like freezing water. However, I am usually the one in it trying to persuade Maria and Livy to get in! Because the weather was not warm enough to go to the pool I got creative and we went hiking at Slate Run Metro Park. It was nice and sunny and I really needed some God appreciation time. You know the times where you are just in awe at His beauty! Well, nothing goes as planned. Instead of a peaceful walk through the woods, I ended up with girls clinging to my body! It turns out that Alex, my 14 y.o. has a phobia to spiders. A few years ago we were up at Marblehead trying to find a letterbox (don't know what that is? I will explain in a future post) and she was leading the way. Of course she was leading the way, she always has to be the one to beat out her brother in things. Well, she walked right into a giant spider web in between some trees and the giant spider that made the web ended up in her hair. After she was done freaking out and we managed to get it off her, she was scard for life! She use to be quite the camper and loved being out doors, but in the last few years I have noticed that desire has vanished. I thought it was just her age. After yesterday's walk, I now know that it has nothing to do with her age and being a girl, but that she is petrified of the possibility of walking into another spider web! She clung to me the whole 1 1/2 miles. In the beginning we were joking about it, but after a while I told her to deal with her fears and let go of me. She then had tears forming in her eyes and asked if we were all most our of the woods. I finally told her she could not hold onto me for about 1/4 of the last mile, and she walked directly behind me with a whimper in her breathing! Pathetic! Bill of course thinks it is all nonsense and that she is just being silly, but we will see whenever he gets her out to go for the next hike!

Finally got my cousins handbag done! Went to her house on Saturday for a big party to wish a dear friend goodbye as he is leaving for Iraq this week for 8 months. So I hurried and made a proto type to make sure I would not make a mistake on hers (the one on the bottom). I put a zipper in the proto type and it came out okay! Will be making more bags with zippers in the future! Both bags are made with Amy Butler fabric and it was so nice to work with. I do not make to many things with her fabric, only because so many other people do. But she does produce a high quality fabrics for a decent price! I love the way Michelle's bag turned out! She loved it too!

If you would like a bag like Michelle's let me know! Or customize your own! I will only be sewing them for the next two months then I will be taking off November and Dec. for the holidays!