Happy Anniversary to ME!
It has been three years since I joined Thirty-One gifts as a consultant. I had NO IDEA how my life would change as a result of that one decision.
I saw a Thirty-One booth at our county fair in the fall of 2008. I remember telling my husband that I would never “do” direct sales but if I did, those were the products I wanted to sell. It stayed on my mind for months and when I saw that a friend was selling, I asked her for a catalog and HAD TO HAVE the skirt purse (this was the OLD one with the ties which I never use anymore because I like the newer style better but I refuse to get rid of it!). I booked a party with her for April but couldn’t wait to get my purse so I ordered it for my birthday in March (easiest birthday present my husband ever got me!). At my party, I talked more than the hostess did and she said I should be a consultant. There was a special that month that allowed you to join for $25 and they took the balance out of your first commission check…what did I have to lose?
In the beginning my WHY was to earn enough money to be able to buy Thirty-One and other “fun” non-essential things without worrying about our budget or feeling guilty for spending money. When I realized that I could actually make pretty good money with Thirty-One, my WHY was expanded. I had always said that I wanted to be home with my girls in the afternoon by the time Hailey started middle school. It was a dream because I never thought it would actually be possible. I was able to go part-time at my job in the middle of Hailey’s third grade year (and I owe a lot to my boss for allowing me to do that!). Now my WHY is to continue to be able to spend more time with my family and continue on our path to being debt-free (happy to say we have NO credit cards!). My WHY is also to share this opportunity with other women to empower them to have control over their lives and their finances and to be able to achieve their dreams. I especially love helping those that are trying to find a way to stay at home with their babies. I remember sitting at my computer desk during my maternity leave searching online for a work-at-home opportunity that wasn’t a scam or a pyramid scheme. That was not in God’s plan for me at the time but His plan is always greater than our plan! As I look at my downline numbers now, I know without a doubt that I am exactly where He wants me to be and I thank Him for his many blessings!
Thirty-One is not MY business, it is my FAMILY’S business. My husband is a HOTtie (Husband of Thirty-One) and supports me 100% even when that means helping me put labels on catalogs in the middle of the night! My children of course carry Thirty-One wherever they go and my oldest especially loves to tell everyone about Thirty-One and will tell them what they need to buy! My girls help sort orders when they come in, they help stamp order forms, label catalogs, etc. It doesn’t hurt that they know that our upcoming trip to Disney is being paid for by Thirty-One Dream Rewards!
I can’t wait to see what the next 3 years have in store for me!
Leahisms
(She just wants to be close to us!)
It was raining pretty hard when we went to get in the car this morning. Leah was carrying her umbrella in one hand and her blanket in the other. I overheard her saying to her blanket, “It’s okay blankie, I’ve got you, just hold on to me!”
On the way to pick up Hailey, Leah was singing “Five Green and Speckled Frogs”. I was talking to Ed at the time and she was finished by the time I got off the phone so I asked her if she could sing it again. She told me she could not because “they are all in the pond now”.
Hailey had art this afternoon and a friend had asked me to pick up some cake truffles for her at Shops at Steele Street so it was easy to pop in and grab those for her…or it should have been. I had to wait 10 minutes to buy the truffles which was a loooong ten minutes for Leah to see lots of stuff she wanted. She really, really wanted a watch with a pink plastic armband. I told her she would not have a watch until she could tell time. She went over to the table, picked up the watch and said, “It is 5:18.” She waited a few seconds and then picked it up and said, “It is still 5:18.” She then told me that she could “tell time now” and so she could get the watch. (and NO, I did NOT let her get the watch)
We had a new teacher start last week and she told me that when she introduced herself to Leah, Leah said, “I Leah Page, my mom Emily Page.” 
Speaking of the little cutie, she has crept into the office and is sitting on the floor beside me so I better go get her back in bed!
PS I ended up doing 20 more minutes of Wii Fit last night and did over an hour tonight. Woo hoo!
Deep Thoughts with Emily
When you haven’t blogged for a while, you want to come up with a really awesome post that will blow your readers away and remind them why they kept checking your blog even though you hadn’t posted anything in days. Sadly, I just don’t have it in me. I do have lots of random thoughts, though.
Some day (probably late July after our big fundraiser is over), I am going to go back in time so that I can post pictures of Hailey’s dance recital, both girls’ birthday parties, and our beach trip.
It is tradition in our house that we watch the video of the birthday girl’s “birth day”. As we were watching Hailey’s (she turned 6 on Friday), she said that that was the best time of her life because everyone was looking at her and no one else. How in the world do we teach this child that she does NOT have to be the center of attention all the time??
Wal-Mart is starting to stock school supplies. They have a whole wall of lunch boxes. Is it weird that I can’t wait to take Hailey to pick a new lunch box?
I made fun of Webkinz when they first came out. Hailey now owns two. I have a feeling this is the beginning of a pattern.
Hailey purchased her second Webkinz with money she got from her Aunt Jo Ellen and Uncle Scott. We found it at Limited Too because they are only one of 3 retailers in Crabtree that sell Webkinz. I had a glimpse of the clothes my child will want to wear very, very soon…it scared me.
Hailey has just started her second week of Camp Voyager through the YMCA. She loves it because she says all she has to do is play and eat!
The Lee County Schools Superintendent resigned today before a closed door School Board session regarding alleged immoral conduct…am I the only one who is really curious about that conduct?
The house I remember in little Washington had a banister halfway up the stairs followed by a wall. I used to sneak halfway down the stairs so that I could feel like I was closer to my parents but they couldn’t see me. I even have a picture of me sitting on the steps with my head back. I am wearing pajamas and an orange plastic bracelet and I am fast asleep. Ed just had me go in the hallway (at 9:44)…Leah was sitting on the floor with her legs crossed and her back against the wall. She might have been hidden by the laundry basket if it wasn’t for the holes! When she heard me, she covered her face with her hands. I guess she thought if she couldn’t see me, I couldn’t see her. too cute.
I just heard a new/old McDonald’s commercial with the twoallbeefpattiesspecialsaucelettucecheesepicklesonionsonasesameseedbun…it made me remember that I was SOOO proud when I was in middle school that I had that memorized and could say it super fast. What a dork.
Speaking of McDonald’s commercials…do you remember the one where the teacher was leading her class through the rain and they were all wearing yellow slickers and saying “quack, quack, waddle, waddle”? We had to cross the street to get to the beach on our vacation and we would walk single file and chant this. Apparently I am still a dork.
Cops and Robbers 2008
Conversation Lindsay had with one of our preschoolers who was pretending to rob a bank:
L: You know what happens when you rob a bank don’t you?
Child: Yeah, you get rich!!
L: You can’t spend the money or you’ll get caught and you will have to spend a long time in jail
Child: Not if you do it right!!
Wow.
Weekend Movie Picks
It is going to be a gorgeous weekend, but just in case you are looking for a movie to watch at night after you are exhausted from playing in the sunshine, here are some suggestions. I have planned to write more about some of these, but that would require time and energy I don’t seem to have at the moment.
For Adults:
Juno
Elizabethtown (probably one of my all-time favorites)
3:10 to Yuma
For families with kids:
Mr. Magorium’s Magic Emporium (my favorite in this list)
Enchanted
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Bee Movie
** If your kids get easily frightened, skip “Water Horse” – it is a lot scarier than it looks from the previews and the DVD case!
Why is it that I have seen all these movies??? We only get a few channels (and none clearly) with rabbit ears and I love movies.
Me (as a child) vs. My Kids
Me: Tang at breakfast, Kool-Aid at lunch, Sweet Tea at dinner
My Kids: Milk at breakfast and dinner, Gatorade at lunch
Me: Nesquik out of a can with a lid you had to pry open
My Kids: Nesquik out of a boring plastic box
Me: Metal Sesame Street Lunch Box
My Kids: Pink camouflage -insulated lunch bag
Me: Awesome home-cooked meal from scratch every night
My (poor) Kids: Awesome home-cooked meal sometimes
Me: Smurfs
My Kids: Harry Potter
Me: Fisher Price Little People and Matchbox Cars
My Kids: Dolls, dolls, and more dolls
Me: Dolls that talk when you pull a string
My Kids: Dolls that talk when you install batteries
Me: Summers and “preschool” at Grandmama’s
My Kids: Child Care and YMCA
Me: A mom who can do anything
My Kids: A mom who still takes her sewing to HER mom
Me: Free rein to ride my bike and play outside
My Kids: Not allowed to play out of my sight outside
Me: Intellevision 
My Kids: Hopefully PS3 someday!
Me: TV with no remote and an antenna on the roof
My kids: HD TV with an antenna on the floor (someday maybe we will have satellite again!)
Me: Superman and Follow that Bird in movie theaters
My Kids: A large collection of Disney movies
Me: A toy poodle naked Trixie and a cat named Fluffy (and lots of her offpsring)
My Kids: Two beagles named Copper and Daisy and a cat named Buster
Me: A manual typewriter
My Kids: A computer
Me: 9 1st cousins, 5 Aunts, 6 Uncles
My Kids: 4 1st cousins, 4 Aunts, 5 Uncles
Me: Learned to ski at 22
My Kids: Hailey learned to ski at 3
Me: Kindergarten where you play in centers
My Kids: Kindergarten where you learn to read and do math
Me: Raised as a Wolfpacker
My Kids: Raised as TAR HEELS!!
The little green monster
We are having serious issues with jealousy in our house. I spent the last 10 days with Hailey and Leah and had to be very careful with dividing my affections and my attention. Here are some questions I got from Hailey this week:
“How come when you look at Leah you smile and when you look at me you make a face like this (she frowned)?” (ok, I probably do frown at her more than I do Leah but she WHINES and I HATE whining!)
(at a restaurant) “Why does Leah get to sit by you and I have to sit across from you?”
“Why do you love Leah more than you love me?” (too bad there is no way to prove you love both your kids the same)
“Why does Leah get all the hugs?” (and if you believe that, you are crazy)
“Did you do that with me when I was Leah’s age?” (Yes, only more because we just had you!)
“Why does Leah get a purple egg and I have a pink one?” (yeah, you just have to roll your eyes at that one)
Not to mention all the times she dissolved in tears because Leah had come to snuggle beside me first. Hailey would not think to do something until she saw Leah do it and then she would be offended at ME that she had not thought of it first.
I wanted to minimize the fighting and whining on Easter morning so I was very careful to buy duplicates of everything for their baskets. I bought two small dolls but they had different outfits – one was dressed as a duck and one as a bunny. I did this to minimize fighting over whose was whose. I asked Ed who should get what and he made a good point that the bunny would probably be the more popular one and Leah would not care if Hailey got it but Hailey would care if Leah got it. sigh. If only it was that easy. The bunny outfit had feet and the duck outfit did not. Hailey’s question? “How come you can see the toes on Leah’s doll but you can’t see them on mine?” argh!!! We can’t win!
We have talked to Hailey until we are blue in the face (Carolina blue, to be exact) but this is just something she is going to have to get over and grow out of.
Things I learned from my sister, Julie
Because of our age difference (I won’t say how many years so that I don’t get in trouble), I didn’t always have my oldest sister, Julie, around. When she was around, I was either pestering her (I would hide behind the furniture in the living room when she had dates over and annoy her) or she was mean to me (sorry, Julie…you were…you played hide and go seek with Jo Ellen and I and you did not seek…that is just plain mean).
When Ed passed the bar exam and was looking for a job, he decided to call the DA for the 11th district just to see if they had any openings because we loved Sanford, knew Julie and her family loved it, wanted to live in a small town, and wanted to be able to see Julie, Jimmy, and our nephew, Jay, often. We were thrilled to learn that there was in fact an opening in the Lee County DAs office and Ed got the job. I feel very fortunate to have lived in the same town as Julie for the past seven years. I have been able to watch her parenting style with her two boys and much of how Ed and I parent is based on what we learned from Julie and Jimmy. Here are some of my favorite things I have learned from Julie:
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Laugh – no matter what is broken, ruined, stained, or lost…find a way to laugh about it because in the grand scheme of life, it really doesn’t matter.
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You are never going to have enough money to have children…money isn’t important, family is.
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Don’t scrimp and buy cheap cat food or you will pay for it later.
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Pay attention when filling out your address on work-related orders or you might just come home to find huge boxes of prom stuff on your front porch.
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If your kids want to just eat Cheerios and milk for every meal…let them. They won’t do it forever.
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If your kids want to sleep in your bed now and then…let them. They are only little once.
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Don’t stress about potty training. They’ll get it on their own time.
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Every child is different and you have to relate to them differently because of their differences.
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If someone offers to buy something for you…let them.
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Help your children discover their passion and listen when they tell you they aren’t interested in an activity.
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Finding a good deal on a great purse is reason to celebrate.
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You should buy yourself a birthday present.
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Let your children make their own mistakes…they’ll learn.
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The adventures you have with your children are more important than the “stuff” you give them.
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Kids heal…don’t stress.
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Petri dishes are a cool way to keep your matching jewelry together.
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Instant mashed potatoes can taste better than the real thing – and they are a heck of a lot easier.
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You can never have too many earrings.
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When you are pregnant, no one, and I mean, no one, will take care of you like Wesley Tyler, CNM.
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If you aren’t the best cook…marry someone who is.
Haileyism
Hailey has two nasty bruises on her arm. I asked her if she knew where she got them. She looked at me very seriously and then said, “I have things written in my head and that might be written in the back.” She punctuated this remark by grabbing her head in both of her hands and twisting her head. Once she had successfully dislodged the memory from the back of her head, she gave me a 5 minute discourse on how she got one of the bruises. It involved sliding on the floor, a box, a somersault, and various other crazy things…but to be honest, I tuned out after the second minute.
During Hailey’s first week of kindergarten, she was having a hard time remembering her classmates names (actually, it was only the female names she had a problem with. Hailey never forgets a boys name!) I gave her several tips that I hoped would help her. The next day, I asked her if she remembered any of the girls names that she played with. She told me she could not remember. She even “taped it to her brain, but it fell off.”
Next time she should try duct tape.
All I hear is blah, blah, blah
Being a parent means a lot of different things. In our house, it means trying really hard not to laugh at our children a good percentage of the time. I think my kids are pretty darn funny…unfortunately, sometimes they say or do things that make me want to laugh…but I would prefer they not repeat the behavior in public or at school so I try hard not to laugh so as not to encourage the behavior.
The title of my blog comes from Hailey. There was a time not so long ago that if you were saying something she did not want to hear, she would say, “All I hear is blah, blah, blah.” I have no idea where she got this from but you have to admit that objectively, it is pretty funny. Not how you want your child to talk to you, but funny nonetheless. She quickly learned NOT to say that to us, but now I find myself saying it in my head when I am listening to something (or someone) I really don’t want to listen to.
Valentine’s Day
34 treat bags stuffed for Valentine’s Day - check
34 pixie stix stuck through Valentines to look like Cupid’s arrow – check
34 Valentines fastened to treat bags with twist ties – check
22 Valentines decided on and signed by Hailey – check
12 Valentines signed by me for Leah – check
24 cupcakes iced and decorated – check
43 Valentines for the kids at Stepping Stones – check (well…I still have to put some names on in the morning, but they are in my bag and that is good enough for tonight!)
one exhausted mom going to bed – check
