Homeschooling in Georgia

May. 6, 2009 - New Blog!

My business, Three Little Princesses, has a new blog! Check it out for all our newest information and products. I will announce giveaways and specials on this site as well as freebies from time to time. : )

It can be found at www.threelittleprincessesboutique.blogspot.com.

Blessings,

Nicole

May. 1, 2009 - Giveaway Time!!

Ok, I wanted to announce that I am hosting a hair bow giveaway! To enter, simply become a fan of Three Little Princesses on facebook. If you need a link to our facebook page visit www.threelittleprincesses.com. This giveaway will end on May 31st. How easy is that? : ) Also, www.momdot.com is having a blog party! Visit them to meet new bloggers and enter cool giveaways. Blessings, Nicole

Apr. 29, 2009 - Springtime is awesome

I have really been enjoying this weather! It finally feels like spring has finally arrived. The kids spent 5 HOURS outside playing on the new swingset yesterday. I cut our grass today with a migraine just because I wanted to be outdoors. I'm loving our clothing as well. I hate all of the layers of winter! I actually took the girls to gymnastics today wearing only their leotards. Ah, so easy. The only problem that we have been having with being outside is a pair of martins who have decided that they want to build a nest on our porch. They dive bomb us whenever we walk out the front door. They are persistent little things. This has been going on for a few days now, and my husband is going to move what they have built this far this afternoon. He wants me to be close by with a baseball bat in case they attack. : (. Not looking forward to this one bit. On a different note the girls just had their gymnastics state meet. My 7 year old placed 8th on floor and 9th on beam. My oldest scored a 8.7, 8.1, 8.0, and 7.75. My 7 year old scored a 9.15, 8.95, 8.7, and 8.55. These weren't their highest scores of the season and their were a few bobbled (and a fall) but overall they did well. And...the coach wants to move them both to level 5 USA. This will be so much easier on me. I hope there is not too many mistakes in this post. I'm sending it from my iPhone for the first time. : ) Blessings, Nicole

Apr. 23, 2009 - Random thoughts

This week has been relaxing thus far compared to our last one! I'm not sure what the problem around here was last week, but the children were completely wild! This week they have been well-behaved and things have been flowing smoothly. We are almost finished with school for this year! My oldest daughter is all but done, and my next daughter in line needs to finish up some LA and Reading and then she will be finished as well. I plan to work with my son a bit more through the spring and into June since he is a young kindergartener, and I have taken thing slowly with him.

I believe that we have finally fixed all of our computer problems!And...I am getting an iPhone today!! (I'm excited, can't you tell?) We wanted to purchase 2 refurbished ones online, but Apple doesn't allow that, so we purchased one for my husband, which came in yesterday, and now he is going to take it to AT&T today and purchase a new one for me. It will make business things for me SO much more convienent now. I might actually have some time with my family when we are home (just joking). But seriously, Three Little Princesses has begun to take up a lot of my time (and downstairs.) It hasn't totally taken off yet, but it's getting there, and I'm trying to promote it and make a lot of things for upcoming festivals. I need to take a picture of our dining room table. It is piled so high with supplies, I don't know how I find anything on it! I have also opened up one of my craft fair tables in a corner of the living room to use. I desperately need a workshop...and a play room, and a school room...

I have had a difficult time posting pictures lately because my blog space is completely full. I have been using photobucket, but it involves too many extra steps for me. I promise to post some updated pictures soon.

Blessings,

Nicole

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Apr. 15, 2009 - Our computer is crazy

Lately I have been EXTREMELY busy with Three Little Princesses stuff and it takes SO long because we have dial up on our computer. My husband was sweet enough to order DSL for us a few days ago. He attempted to install it last night and it is refusing to work on our computer. My husband called AT&T and was on the phone with them for about an hour while they instructed him on how to manually enter everything. He finally was told that Norton was not allowing him to do it. He took off Norton. This morning it still won't work! Well, I guess it is somewhat working because I am on here but it is in "safe mode" and most pictures aren't pulling up. The speed is much faster though...

Hopefully it will be fixed by tonight! I need my pictures!

I thought I would post an excerpt from my devotion since I haven't done that in a while.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path. Psalm 119:105

"I want to witness for God, but I just don't know what to do or say! Here's the antidote for those feelings: Let God guide your steps and your words. Ask Him to direct you to someone who needs to know about Him. Ask Him to give you the correct words to say. Spend time in His Word so you know it and can share from it the truth that every person is a sinner, Christ died for our sins and rose again. Know His Word so you can share the plan of salvation from it. Be able to share examples of how God has guided your footsteps through His Word."

Blessings,

Nicole

Apr. 10, 2009 - My baby turns 3 today!

Oh my, how time flies! I cannot believe that my baby turns 3 today. I actually cried last night as we were decorating for her birthday. She has grown up so quickly. She is also so funny. The "theme" that she picked was Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. We have been extremely busy with so many activities lately that we had a small cake for her at Babyland General, and we are having a small celebration for her at home today.

Yesterday we went to the store and she picked out a Kung Fu Panda cake. My oldest daughter was horrified because she said it was a boy cake. I thought it was funny and we purchased it because that was her choice. After we give her a few small presents we are going to take her to Build A Bear. We were planning on visiting Six Flags, but severe storms are predicted for the entire day so that is out of the question.

Last weekend we went to Toys R Us and purchased a huge swing set which is to be counted towards all of the kids birthday's this year. It was $400 off, plus we received another $100 for opening a credit card. I then put several hundred of my bow money towards it and the rest is coming from the kid's birthday $. The instructions state that it takes about 14 hours with 2 people to assemble, so wish us luck!

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

Blessings,

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Apr. 10, 2009 - Young and Stylish

Three Little Princesses products can now be found at Young and Stylish in Los Angeles, CA.

www.youngandstylish.com

Blessings,

Apr. 7, 2009 - Magical Easter Eggstravaganza

This weekend Three Little Princesses was a vendor at the Magical Easter Eggstravaganza at Babyland General Hospital. It was so much fun! I actually was a little hesitant about participating in craft festivals because I wasn't sure how my children would behave and I am shy. The children behaved beautifully and I didn't have a problem at all interacting with people. (I didn't really initiate conversation though...I usually just let people shop in peace, and answered any questions that they might have. I ended up selling about 25 hair bows, 2 large hair bow holders, a purse, and some flip flops. Overall I was really happy with the day.

Here is my set-up:

The kids had a good day except for the Easter Egg Hunt. There were 18,000 eggs and they arrived at the hunt 3 minutes late and they were all gone. My friend and her kids were there as well, and she said that her daughter only managed to get 8 eggs before they were gone. That was a big disappointment. It was so funny watching huge Cabbage Patch Kids walking around. There was a dance floor where they would dance and it was hilarious.

Also...

I have partnered with Style Cafe Moms to send products to Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Mira Sorvino, and Nicole Richie in "Mommy You're A Star" Gift Baskets. Yeah, I'm so excited! I shipped Elizabeth Hasselbeck's items yesterday.

Blessings,

Mar. 29, 2009 - A very LONG picture day

Yesterday was crazy busy as always. After the girls meet, we went home and I got my daughter ready for dance pictures. (The meet went well by the way...and they converted the preschool gym into a babysitting room so my son and youngest daughter were entertained the entire time!) When we arrived at dance pictures we discovered that the picture order was changed from what it was online...so I had to change hair for ONE picture and then change it right back to the original hair style. We were also there for three hours. We finally left at around 8:30 at which time we treated our daughter to dinner at Applebee's. The photographs turned out good except for the lyrical group (from my standpoint because they were told to look like they were praying and my daughter actually looked down so you mostly see the top of her head.) They were also way overpriced in my opinion...we could only afford to have one individual shot taken of my daughter. My mil suggested that I take her to Portrait Innovations in her costumes so that I can have individual shots of her, and I just might do that.

I think it would work out better if a photographer just set up in the studio for the week and the pictures were just taken during normal class time for the entire week. (This is how we have done it before.) That way there is no rushing and it is so much more convenient for parents. A local photographer would be less expensive as well, and I could have had more pictures made for the price I paid. They might not be quite as good of a quality, but I think the trade off would be worth it.

After clearing a few things up with the dance studio, I am much more happy with it. I can't believe how nice and professional they have been about a few issues! I am a very happy dance mommy right now.

I also can't believe that it is almost *APRIL*! Springtime is the best! Our baby will turn three in less than two weeks and we still have not purchased a single present for her. What do you get the child who has everything? Seriously, she has all the handed down toys from the other 3 kids plus Christmas wasn't that long ago. I'm really clueless as to what to get her.

Blessings to you and your family this Sunday morning!

Mar. 28, 2009 - Stormy Weather & Random

Today is the girl's last gymnastic meet before State and the weather is supposed to be horrible. I hate weather like this, especially while we are out. It is a home meet so we are excited that we will be close to home. (Hate the 2 hour drives to most events!) The weather was miserable yesterday as well, but we went out to buy soft drinks, chips and dip for the judges table. Once we arrived at the gym myself and one other mom stuffed about 90 goody bags for the competing gymnasts. When we were half way through we realized that we would not have enough candy for all the bags, but we just finished them with what we had. Somebody raided a coach's office and found 2 more bags of candy and several boxes of granola bars so we were able to fill them adequately.

After the meet we are probably just going to stay in town because my 7-year-old has dance pictures. Hopefully we will have a good dinner!

I received my oldest daughter's third grade standardized test in the mail yesterday. We plan to start on Monday and probably work on it for about 3 days. She is looking forward to getting this finished...we are also getting close to finishing up our regular work this school year!

I'm sorry that my posts have been more sporadic lately. Besides homeschooling I have been more busy with my business. Besides filling orders I have several craft fairs coming up that I need to prepare for. I love to blog, but lately have not found much time to do it. I thought about applying to be a reviewer on the Schoolhouse Crew, but I don't think I would have the time for that right now either. I need to become more ORGANIZED, that's for sure, and then maybe I could get more accomplished.

I also wanted to post a picture of a blue tutu dress that I created two days ago. I think it turned out very nice.

Blue, Cream and Mint Tutu Dress-tutu
dress

Blessings,

Mar. 24, 2009 - Response to Anonymous Dance Comment

I received this comment on my blog this evening...

My daughter loves ________. hearing this breaks my heart and i know will break her's. I am not sure why you would not want your daughter dancing with our girls? I think if you were on our side you would see what we are saying and thinking. Our girls are "babies" they are just 6,7,and 8!! They have not been dancing as long as ________. If they were not good enough to be in company, Heather would not have asked them. I am really shocked and frustrated to see all your comments about our tap group and our dance academy. I think as a mom you should be supporting all our girls no matter what your private opinions are. Typing these opinions are not supporting our girls. Letting ________ quit is not teaching her anything. It is teaching her she can give up and that my daughter and others are not as good as she is and that helping others is not a part of life. __________ is an amazing girl and an awesome dancer. I want them to be together. We want them to dance together. having ________makes them better...have you ever thought about that.

OK, since I have no clue who posted this I guess I will just have to respond to you through my blog and hope that you read it. I'm sorry that you are upset that my daughter chose not to continue with the tap group. She has disliked the dance (NOT the girls...she LOVES every one of them) from the beginning of the year. By the middle of the year she still had not learned a single thing, so I requested that Heather begin solo tap class with her once a week. She has loved this class and is flourishing but had continued to really dislike the group. This has bothered me because as a parent I am having to pay for a group that she really dislikes, but I have told her that she had to stick with it. Heather knew that she didn't like it, but she read my blog and I guess figured out the extent to which she disliked it. I guess Heather passed on this information to Terri, and last week Terri told the girls in the tap class that she knew the dance was easy for some and difficult for some. She then told the girls that if any of them wanted to quit, that was fine. They had an understudy and an extra costume so go ahead. My daughter came home and told me this and said that if it was really alright, she wanted to quit. I contacted Heather and she told me that she had told Terri that it was OK to say this. They didn't want anybody to dance unless they loved it. I made sure that this wouldn't affect my daughter if she came back to this dance school next year, and she said it wouldn't. I asked if it would be OK with the understudies parent. I was then told that this parent actually had come to Heather earlier in the year because her daughter had decided that she wanted to tap once she saw the group dance and Heather said she couldn't just come into the group at that time. She said that they had accidentally ordered an extra costume and that everything would be great and everybody would be happy.

My daughter loves all of the other girls and is 7 as well. As a parent, I wasn't happy about her being in a group with girls with such a varying ability level because I wanted to see growth in her this year, but I was still going to make her stay with it. When a teacher directly tells her class that it is OK to quit, what can I say? I do support the dance school where she attends but I try not to get to close and involved because of past bad experiences with dance schools. My main focus is my daughter and what is best for her. I'm sorry if anybody has hurt feelings. Believe me, it is nothing personal and my daughter loves you all!

Blessings to all, no hurt feelings please!

Mar. 24, 2009 - Tutus from Three Little Princesses

Today I made my first tutu dress ever! My daughter loves it and it was so much fun to make.

This is a tutu that I made. You can view options and pricing at www.threelittleprincesses.com.

Custom Designed Tutu-tutu

Blessings,

Mar. 23, 2009 - Busy, busy, busy

I feel like I have been MIA from this blog! : ) We have been so busy at this house lately. Besides homeschooling, orders on my web site have picked up this month. I spent my day Friday doing schoolwork with the kids in the morning. During the afternoon we headed to the mall to look for flip flops at Old Navy. (of course they did not have the color I needed in the correct size!) We also looked at Babies R Us for spring clothes for our youngest. We then headed to the town where my daughters take gymnastics because it would have been foolish to go home given the time. Before their class we went to Hobby Lobby, TJ Maxx and Payless. I found AWESOME jean shorts and shirts for my oldest girls at TJ Maxx. You really never know with that store, I think we hit it at just the right time. After I dropped the girls off at gymnastics I finally headed home with the littlest ones.

We took the kids to Six Flags on Saturday morning. After spending about 2 HOURS in line purchasing tickets and making our season pass pictures we got into the park. It was very crowded for March and the roller coasters only had one train running on each track so the lines were horrendous. There were not many little kids there so our 2-year-old had a blast on her rides but the older kids were a bit disappointed with the day. We ended up not going to the wedding we planned on attending, and instead went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner and purchased an over the stove microwave for our kitchen. (I'm loving our tax return. )

Yesterday we went to a dance competition in downtown Atlanta. The competition was really tough, but my daughter still walked away with 1st place overall with her highest score of the season! She also won $100 for her solo which will be sent to the studio. While bringing lunch back to the venue my oldest daughter and husband were followed by a homeless man which harrassed them for money. I was worried that this would happen since they just walked to purchase it...my daughter didn't quite know what to think about it. We ended up arriving home last night at about 8 o'clock.

I'm not loading as many pictures as usual because my picture album on the blog is full and it won't allow me to load any more pictures. I have been using photobucket, but it is tedious and takes FOREVER on our slow computer.

I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Blessings,

Mar. 19, 2009 - Today is our anniversary.

Today my husband and I have been married for four years. Unfortunately, we are unable to do anything special today, but we had a great time in Asheville. We were married at a site with a waterfall and it was such a wonderful day. Here are a few pictures:

Blessings,

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Mar. 18, 2009 - Dance Pictures

These are a few pictures of my daughter at her last competition.

This is one of the best pictures of a leap that I have seen her do. Love it!

Here she is in the middle of an aerial.

...and here she is in the middle of a backhandspring.

This Sunday we are heading to another dance competition called Starbound in downtown Atlanta.

Today is my husband's day off. We are taking our oldest daughter to the orthodontist this morning, and then I'm not sure what we are doing. We finally received our federal income tax back, so I would like to get a few things that we have needed. For example, our youngest daughter does not have a dresser, and I keep her clothes in a plastic container in the hallway. I also would like to get an over the oven microwave to free up some counter space in my kitchen. (We need all the space we can get in our house.) Today is supposed to be beautiful weather-wise, so I'm excited!

Blessings,

Mar. 16, 2009 - Another rainy day

Today has been a rainy, rainy day. I spent this morning homeschooling and making hair bows. I hope to be entering a few craft fairs soon so I am trying to build up my inventory. Before gymnastics we stopped by Hobby Lobby to pick up a few supplies for a bracelet order I received today. The kids were perfect angels, despite the miserable weather. I also picked up flip flops and bright pink, bright green and zebra printed handkerchiefs to make flip flops for my girls. I also hope to make bows to match. These are the bows I made today.

Hannah Montana Triple Layered Bow-Hannah Montana

Sleeping Beauty Triple Layered Bow-sleeping beauty

UGA Football Triple Layered Bow-uga

I also made a Cinderella bow in this style but it is not listed on my web site yet. I was so busy this today I forgot to feed myself lunch until around 3:00! I fed the kids at normal time, and then I was sidetracked again. I didn't even realize that I hadn't eaten until I felt a little bit hungry so I looked at the clock.

Blessings,

Mar. 15, 2009 - Sunday Afternoon

Yesterday's gymnastics meet went well, but was L-O-N-G. I will be adding pictures when I get the chance.

This afternoon we decided that we wanted to take the children to Six Flags.

It had been raining all day, but the forecast said that it should stop by early afternoon. The rain had stopped at our house when we left, but it was still raining at Six Flags when we arrived. We decided to drive to a nearby town where I purchased ribbon and we browsed through Pet Co, Office Depot, and Kid to Kid. I have never been in a Kid to Kid before and it was very interesting. Most of the shirts were too worn for my taste, but I found good deals on pants/shorts. I also looked at their bow selection. I would love to get my bows in more retail locations. This store's bows were not as high of quality as mine and were more expensive than I would have charged. It can be disheartening to see products in stores that I don't think are very high quality. I sent an advertisement to this very store before so I didn't say anything about my business...most businesses that I have encountered already have a bow vendor and they say that in their contract it states that they will only carry one brand of bows at once to prevent competition. I did just add a sample wholesale pack to my website, so maybe more boutiques will purchase this as a trial of my products.

At this point the rain had stopped completely so we headed back to Six Flags. When we arrived we were told that they had closed because of the earlier rain. The kids were SO disappointed! We have now promised to take them on Saturday morning, although we have an evening wedding to attend that night. We are excited, because our oldest if finally tall enough to ride everything! Below is Goliath...I've never riden it before because it is fairly new, and my daughter wants to try it.

Overall, we had a good weekend. I hope that everyone elses was great!!

Blessings,