Get Ready Allentown, New Items, and an Arizona Tease . . .

After recovering from the 50-mile ribbon of winter that was the Indiana Snowstorm, we will be spending the next few days getting ready to head to our annual stop in Allentown, Pennsylvania – just got off the phone with my friend Dee Ruger (that’s not strong enough – Dee is family) and we are already drooling over the Farmers’ Market at the Allentown Fairgrounds (just across the parking lot from the show).  If you’re in the northeast, you really should join us – just remember to bring your appetite for good food and crafting supplies.

Remember that the show is Friday and Saturday, April 6 & 7 – 10:00-5:00 each day!

Just finished adding a whole new line to our website – Nuvo from Tonic Studios has been the hot item in our retail store for a couple of months, and I finally took the time to add most of what they offer.  If you have time this weekend, you might enjoy looking through it . . .

Here’s another new item that caught a lot of eyes at the Indiana show last weekend – Mirricard Holographic comes in seven different patterns and they will really add to pizzazz to your cards!

 

And this is just a tease – Blake and I have been back from Arizona for 3 1/2 weeks, but I have been way too busy to go through all of the pictures we took while visiting Mom and Dad.  I plan to get to it early next week – suffice to say that we had a great time and the sky was bluer than anything we ever see in Ohio (the wispy clouds in that pic at right were the only ones I saw in six days)  Stay tuned . . .

Lisa & Donna’s Excellent Adventure (and More Snowy Stories) . . .

We spent the weekend at the Hendricks County 4-H Fairgrounds in Danville, Indiana – this was a new location for a show that has been held since 2004 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.  My opinion?  Better location, better logistics, better food close by – but the weather left a little to be desired.  More about that later . . .

This post should be mostly about Donna Sheetz (foreground) and Lisa Nelson (background) from our retail store – they spent the weekend at our demo table just dazzling customers with Nuvo products. 

 

Donna has helped out at a couple of Akron shows in the past, but this was Lisa’s first experience on the road.  By the time we were finished, both were eager to do it again.

More things that I saw over the weekend – this is Sam & Deb’s new “Stamp on It” rig.  They spent a year on the Dark Side doing mostly scrapbook shows, with their booth on pods transported from show to show in a semi trailer.  But now they are back to hauling their own booth behind a motorhome that looks a lot like Rick & Kelley’s (Our Daily Bread Designs).

Underneath the Toomuchfun booth on Saturday afternoon – this brought back a lot of memories, because Noelle is almost 14 but I remember when she was sleeping underneath Steve and Michelle’s booth when she was a newborn.  Now she is an “I can sleep anywhere, anytime” teenager . . .

By contrast, Noelle’s constant-bundle-of-energy sister Alana turned eight on Friday.  I couldn’t stand the thought of her being on the road without a proper birthday celebration, so I picked up a cake for her on Thursday evening.  Alana was thrilled – she had told her parents that she wanted a white birthday cake.  I couldn’t decide, so picked the right one based on what I would enjoy most.

On our demo table on Saturday morning – and several others around the hall – compliments of Barb Boso and welcoming us to Danville.  Really nice . . .

 

New in the booth (and on our site) – Mirricard Holographic Cardstock – really cool and comes in seven patterns and an assortment . . .

Always love it when customers get into the spirit and come to the show dressed alike . . .

Seven weeks old – probably not the youngest we have ever had in our booth, but the youngest in a long time . . .

This one slept most of Saturday, but I finally did see her wide awake later in the day . . .

Ah yes – Saturday.  We had been watching the forecasts all week, predicting snow for Saturday with wildly fluctuating depths about every three hours.  By Thursday afternoon, the predictions were for 8-12” – then it dropped to 5-8” – then it dropped more to 1-3” – then back to 5-8” (you get the idea).  This was the view out the side door when we arrived on Saturday – the roads were already getting slippery.  But we had a lot more customers than I expected.

Steve Lindeman from Toomuchfun was our first hero of the day.  As the snow kept falling sideways, the food truck that was parked outside the building the day before decided it was too treacherous to venture out and bailed on us for Saturday.  So we were left starving – until Steve got the bright idea to poll the vendors and order Pizza Hut for everyone who wanted lunch.  When he was told it would take 2-3 hours for delivery, he drove over and picked up 16 pizzas.  I didn’t get my cell phone out in time to catch him carrying all of them into the building, but I did catch his delivery to Ron Justison at The Paper Cut.

 

By the time to tear down our booths, we had about 8” of snow on the ground and it was still blowing sideways.  The only vendor prepared enough to bring along a shovel was Hero #2 – Cayne from Heartfelt Creations – and this was his first show!  He went out and cleared off the driveways in front of both loading doors – and then that shovel got a workout during teardown as the snow continued to pile up.

 

A couple more views from atop my liftgate during teardown.  I was fortunate – I carry an old LL Bean bag filled with winter gear during the season, but almost pulled it out last week.  After all – Spring began last Tuesday.  Thankfully, I decided to leave it in place for one more show – too bad I didn’t get a picture of me in my coveralls, snow boots, and hoodie – topped with an old toboggan cap (complete with topknot) that I got when I was in junior high school 47 or so years ago.

They Grow Up (and Lose Teeth) So Fast . . .

We have been traveling and doing shows for a long time – and it seems even longer when the time is measured in “kid years” . . . the following pictures and narrative appeared on this blog in July 2011 after our annual summer visit to Grapevine, Texas . . .

I have seen Lucia and her family a lot since then – they live two or three miles from our mail center.  So when I go to Grapevine, Lucia and her brothers can’t wait for me to get back – because I almost always come back with boxes of goodies from their grandparents (Jane McLaughlin has helped us in Grapevine for more than 20 years).  But Grandma and Grandpa (Jane and Weldon) are visiting this week to help out while Natalie is on a mission trip – and that prompted a visit to the mail center this morning . . .

Where Zoe got to make a new friend – she has seen Lucia before, but not since she was little.  And Lucia is now seven – and missing her two front teeth.  I asked her how much front teeth are going for these days – and she told me she didn’t know, because she hasn’t put them under her pillow yet!  She also made sure that I understood that the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny weren’t real, and that her parents handle those duties.

I was crushed . . . I still believe.

Family Matters . . .

I am very close to being caught up now – I think the only thing left is to run through the highlights of what the family has been doing over the past few months . . .

 

This was at the end of October – Emily wanted to do a 5K (walk, not run).  She and I walked around my hometown (which is on the side of a hill so it’s good exercise) for weeks leading up to it.  And then the rains came – the entire trek was an absolute mudbath through fields of muck.  It was miserable while we did it – but I told Ryan and Emily halfway through that ten minutes after we finished, one of them would say it was fun.  And I was right . . .

My last driving lesson – my brother-in-law’s family always comes in for the holidays, and in three of the past four years one of his daughters has come in with a learner’s permit.  So we go for a drive to Jungle Jim’s – one of the most eclectic groceries I have ever seen.  It’s a place where you can find just about anything – has sections for items from lots of different countries – and it’s like an amusement park setting.  It’s also in an area where the apprentice driver can go on back roads one way, and on interstates the other – so it’s great to experience lots of different types of driving.  This year’s student was my niece, Natalie (right) – and Emily decided to come along for the ride.

 

The passage of time – the picture at left is from Christmas Eve Eve last year – seemed only fitting to recreate it this year with the guest of honor . . .

 
 

For an 11-month-old’s first Christmas, there is a lot of exploring to do . . .

And lots of waiting arms to climb into . . .

This was our first family Christmas picture with a baby in it since 1994 – and our first family Christmas picture with a girl baby in it ever.

  

My kids and their new toys – Ryan has a thing for vintage Star Wars lunch boxes, and Emily has become a fan of all things knitting . . .

 

And of course, there were cookies – lots and lots of Christmas cookies.  This is our oldest family tradition, dating back to the days when it was just Mom and Dad and me.  There was a time when we thought December was too hectic and we might have to discontinue this, but all three boys howled in unison that it was their favorite holiday event.  So it lives on.

 

My niece Jordan was extremely happy – this is the first time she has had a chance to eat the cookies she decorated.  Jordan is gluten and dairy-free – but I discovered this Sugar Cookie Mix on that trip to Jungle Jim’s.  I have looked for new ideas and recipes that work for her ever since she joined our family.

This was the first delicacy I discovered for her a few years ago – gluten-free dairy-free snickerdoodle cupcakes.  I hadn’t iced them yet when I took this pic to tantalize her.  They are so good, and you would never guess that they have no dangerous stuff in them.

  

More cookie decorating shots . . .

  

And more goodies that came from my kitchen over the holidays.

 

Finally, Amelia’s first birthday was in late January – and it brought together both sides of her family for a celebration.

  

Conner is a Star Wars person – Gina is a Harry Potter person.  So Amelia will likely be a hybrid kid – and I figured a collection of Star Wars children’s stories would be fitting.  I can tell that Emily sees Amelia a lot – they usually end up in each other’s arms quickly.

And with that, I think we are finally caught up.  I can now start watching for more current events to report . . .