Sugar Shop

This is why Jumpy Kid has never been....

...on a field trip with out me.

Today all four kindergarten classes at our school went on a field trip to the zoo. All 80 kids road on one bus while the parents that were chaperoning carpooled together in cars. On the way back that big yellow Mac truck in the photo swerved to miss something on the freeway and side swiped the bus with our babies. I'm really glad he missed that piece of tire tread in the road, whew. Hmmm tire tread or bus full of kids?

Everyone was fine, it just scraped the paint along side the bus and completely broke the big mirror on the truck. What was even worse was that it was 100 degress here in Northern Cali and there was no AC on the bus and the bus couldn't leave until the CHP got there to make a report which took them I think about 25 min to half an hour. You would think that with a bus full of 80 kindergartners they would have been there immediately.

Then our babies had to sit on the bus on the busy freeway and let me just say that the parents were getting upset that the wouldn't let them get these kids to safely off the highway. Finally the sergeant came and had the bus get back on the highway, take the next exit and pull in to the mall parking lot where they had to get each of the 80 kids names and birth-dates. I was so thankful that they drove them to a safer spot to do the report and I have to say the teachers , who were they only adults on the bus were amazing. They sang and played games with the kids to keep them from going crazy. It could have been UGLY! 80 5 and 6 year olds that are already worn out from a day at the zoo in a 100 degrees on a bus with no AC, having to sit down and not get up. They were troopers and the teachers were angels.

I have watched one to many of those highway crash shows and was not liking those babies sitting on the edge of that busy highway! Ugh. But my sweet Jumpy kid is now snuggled safely in to his bed and I will be for sure going on every field trips for the rest of his life. Would it be wrong for me to chaperone his honey moon? Ok just kidding about that last part... I think.

Senior Portraits

Funny, I never intended this site to be about photography, but since it's my busy season and I have had no time for sewing lately, it's all I have to show you. But the sewing and new bag designs and shop opening are coming I promise you.

This is my neighbor. His mom asked if I would do his senior portraits and of course I said sure. We headed out to the ranch to get the shots. I was kinda surprised when the shirt came off. I have never shot shirtless senior portraits before but hey, his mom was there and he wants to model I think so I had fun with it.

Thanks for hang'in with me while I seem to post about everything other than sewing or bags!

I'd like to set up some polls on here for people to vote on. Does anyone know how to do that? I know there has got to be a widget out there somewhere but I can't seem to find one. I'd appreciate any help, you guys are the best!

Oh and this week I'll be getting to all my emails!! Sorry if it's been a while and I haven't gotten back to you, I will get to each and everyone I promise. Every single request or question means soooo much to me.

Well, I'm off to enjoy Mothers Day! My boys are out cleaning the pool, getting it ready. This week is supposed to get to 98 degrees here in the bay (Northern California). So we'll be needing it.
Happy Mothers Day to all of you!

Prom Season

Do you see that beautiful strawberry-blonde on the right? That's my niece. I have 3 nephews and her...so I get to say she's my favorite niece. Somehow I can't help but think that even if I had more than one she would still be my favorite. Her name is Andrea but we call her Andy which has also evoled to Andy-Pandy or Pandy-Pie or just Pandy. Anyway it was her Junior Prom last week and I ran over to my sisters house take a few pix before the kids were whisked away in Limos.

I feel like every time I post I'm apologizing for not posting sooner or not opening my shop. So here is my last sorry, you see this is also Prom Season for me at work. We have several contracts with High schools in the bay area and it's prom and little league season for us which means I work ALOT more than normal. So I am pushing the store opening to the beginning of summer. I need the breathing room to do it right. I have so many designs I want to make and just no time at the moment. So, If you have been waiting on a bag from me I want to thank you for being so patient and hopefully you'll still want me when I'm ready!

I can't believe she's seventeen. I was just nineteen when she was born, and I loved her instantly. In a family full of dark haired Irish she's like a bright star with her beautiful strawberry hair.

And the dress! Prom has come a long way from the late eighties when every dress I had was some shade of
metallic Lame (pronounced La May all though lame totally fits)

I had the prom night from hell once. It wasn't my prom but my friend really wanted to go to the prom with a Junior (we were sophomores) and I agreed to go with her guys friend but I made it VERY clear that this was a very platonic friends only kinda date. I knew him from school and although he was very tall and geeky, what little I knew he seemed nice enough and as long as he understood, there would be no hand holding or kissing or anything remotely close we would be fine. So off I went with my friends to pick out dresses. I loved my dress. It was all white satin, strapless and the skirt had a layer of shimmer tulle over the top. It was actually my least "eighties" dress to look back on.

The night started of badly when I was picked up in my dates (Tommy) parents carpeted van which stunk like cigarettes. There were four couples riding in the van to our dinner destination of Beni Hana's, the Japanese restaurant were you sit around the grill and the chef chops and tosses food in the air. We parked at the restaurant I sat in my seat waiting for Tommy to come around and open my door. Instead I watched as he just stood in front of the van lighting a cigarette while all the other guys helped their dates out of the van. Ewww, he smokes?... I got out on my own and we walked through the parking lot.I had to keep telling him not to walk so close to me because the way he kept swing his cigarette I was going to be set on fire. I was starting to realize my fate, this was going to be a long night. Tommy was not the sweet shy geek that I thought. Just because he didn't say much at school apparently doesn't mean he wasn't a jerk.

See all these cuties above. They had fun on their prom night.

So... just before we reached the door to the restaurant I smelled something funny. OMG! Tommy had hit my dress with his cigarette. Have you seen what happens when flame meets tulle? It melts and spreads like wild fire. I had a hole with a black ring in the top layer of my dress. Thank god this wasn't my prom and I prayed the night would get better.

We sat down for dinner enjoying the banging of spatulas and flipping of food until a miscalculated flip sent a greasy shrimp flying in the air only to land on my lap. Have you seen what happens when a buttery shrimp meets tulle? A greasy shrimp print which by the way perfectly accented the cigarette burn just nicely thank you very much.

We made it through dinner and got to the high school parking lot. We all wanted to get inside but Tommy pulled from the back of the van the beer he had stashed. Now I won't pretend I didn't drink in high school because, well, that would be silly. But...my dad was not yet retired and was always the photographer at my school dances so I couldn't drink until after the dance and I had no desire to drink with Tommy. As we started to walk to the gym in began to rain. I'm not kidding, pouring. Not that I had to worry about my dress at this point and actually it was a bit safer since Tommy had lit another cigarette in the parking lot. Just as we were about to round the corner to enter the gym Tommy literally yanks my arm to spin me around and plants a big sloppy smelly drunk-ass kiss on me. Did I mention he had a mullet and acne?

Well after an hour of being inside the dance and realizing all my attemps to avoid and ignore Tommy were failing miserably I made my way to where the pictures were being taken and told my dad I was going to go call a friend to come pick me up and take me home.

I made my way to the front of the school to use the pay phone to call my friend Scott. Scott came and picked me up in his VW bug with stinger pipes that were so loud you could here him coming 2 minutes before he arrived. Thank god I was about to be home. We were going along in the pouring rain when suddenly the VW went quiet...and we were coasting...and we were Out Of Gas.So I sat on the side of the road in a VW Bug, in the rain for about an hour while Scott walked to get and bring back some gas.

Finally I reached home. Scott dropped me off and I just couldn't wait to take of my soaked, burned and greased dress when I stood there at the door realizing I didn't have my key. I was locked out at 11pm at night in the rain in my prom dress. So I headed into the backyard praying that there was just one window open that I could get through. Now even though we had lived in this house my entire seventeen years the side yard was yet un-lanscaped. Just dirt, actually mud. But there was a window open and I crawled through catching the big hole in my tulle on the lock of the window tearing it to shreds as I fell in the house. And I sat there on the floor beneath the window with half my skirt still stuck to the window and laughed my ass off.

The End.

Hey do you have a good prom story? Tell me, I must know. Make me feel better. Either tell it here or leave a comment with a link to your site telling your story. C'mon it's Prom Season!