Life at the Widemarks

Where I do I begin? Life for the past four months has been busy - with the birth of Taylor, opening of Crop Girls, everyday happenings and such.

The birth of Taylor on December 2nd was a joyous occasion. Alexis had a pretty easy labor especially after her epidural. Four pushes and Taylor was born. She is a beautiful and easy going baby. Michael missed the birth, he had gone deer hunting with his dad and grandpa.

December 8th - Crop Girls sign our lease with Arrowhead Properties and started our remodel. Donna's husband, David, did the majority of our build-out. He removed a wall, built us a small office, painted, hung slate wall and fixed the carpet. Did I say we were doing this on very little budget? Of course, John and Erich helped with computer stuff, and Sue (MIL) helped with the POS (point of Sale) decision.

The next few weeks were spent preparing our store, purchasing fixtures, decorating and purchasing product. We went to Anaheim for the largest trade show for the crafting industry, CHA, we purchased product for the store and saw the latest new products. A great girls week end. We had our grand opening just a couple of days after our return from CHA on January 30th and 31st.

The grand opening was fabulous! We had so many ladies come in to check us out, the store was packed for hours at a time. Sales since the grand opening have been better than expected. We thank every one for your support!

The family....
Zach decided after Christmas break he was not going back to high school. He finished his management training class with McDonald's and is working full-time. He is studying for his GED and is talking of starting at Glendale community college in the Fall. He and his friend, Ben, started an acoustic band and have played many concerts, they write their own music, have had their picture in the newspaper and have a CD. To hear their music go to: www.myspace.com/stencils2

Alexis went back to school and work after Christmas break. She is taking three classes at school - auto shop, human anatomy and physiology and an internship with a veternary clinic. Along with two online classes. Her grades have remained A's and B's. She has recently been promoted to cashier at Sprout's Farmers Market. She is doing a great job at juggling motherhood, school and work. We help out were we can and Michael helps when we can't. She bought herself a new truck (new to her) a 1997 Ford F150 with an extended cab, she gave Erich he little red Ford Ranger.

Kassidy turned 13 in February. She is turning into a beautiful young woman. She has her friends and hangs out with them every chance she gets. She loves her neice and babysits when is asked. She does well in school and becasue of that she was asked to help with Field Day for the lower grades.

Samantha is adjusting to not being the baby in the house any longer. She loves to help at the store whenever I let her. She can ring up a customer, puts away stock and bags purchases. She takes something to work on when we are slow like a scrapbook or cards for hospice patients. She has started scrapbooking pictures from our Cedar Point trip last summer.

Erich is still working a West Valley Pain Management and the University of Phoenix.

I am enjoying owning a store and am very happy to have three other partners to share some of the work load. We each work about four days a week in the store or 30 hours a week. Trying to keep up on ordering product, creating samples and classes has proven to be challenging. We enjoy our afternoons at the store when they are slow so we can catch up on some of those things.

Little Miss Taylor is a hit at the store (she goes to work with me for a couple of hours when Alexis is in school). Customers always ask where she is when she's not there. She is growing quickly, she's trying to roll over, has started giggling and talks up a storm.

Welcome, Taylor Christina!

October's Update

Since we have found out Alexis is expecting a baby girl, life has been busy. Alexis has OB appointments every other week, has had her official ultrasound, lab work and birthing classes. I accompany her to all of her appointments and classes. We bought a secondhand crib, then this week I was reading on www.parenting.com that it has been recalled. Luckily, I was able to file a claim on online and we are in the process of getting a voucher for a new crib.

Saturday the 18th, Sky View's Volleyball team played in the district tournament. Kassidy and her team did very well. They won the first game but lost the second game with a very good fight to the end.

Alexis and Michael lost their puppy, Deegan, to Parvo this past weekend. Michael had gone hunting and we were caring for Deegan. He started showing signs of being sick on Monday, on Tuesday Alexis picked him up from Michael and we took him to the vet. He was diagnosed and we decided to care for him at home. The vet sent us home with an IV fluids and other medications. Deegan had his ups and his downs for the next couple of days but on Saturday his body just gave in to this horrible virus. I was the only one home with him, and comforted him as much as I could before he just gave up.

One good thing came from taking Deegan to the vet - We took him to a new office and met Dr. Sink at Grand Paws. He welcomed Alexis to do her internship with him. She has worked two days so far this week and is enjoying the time she is spending there. She has gotten to watch an emergency surgery, inject fluids into a cat, feed a three week old puppy and shadow the tech's and Dr. regular office visits.

I had a Close To My Heart gathering on Saturday evening. The first in quite a while. Alexis went with me and we had fun showing a small group of ladies that it's easy to stamp and create scrapbook pages with just a few tools.

This past Sunday, we helped Christa with the Stamp & Scrap show in Glendale, AZ. We had fun helping and chatting with others who love paper crafting! I can't wait for the June show - it will be larger and I'm planning to have a booth with Rhonda for our paper crafts.

Crop Girls only had one crop this month, early in October. November we have two scheduled, Friday, November 7th and Saturday, November 22nd. We always enjoy our time at the crops and look forward to the next.

The children all received their first quarter report cards. Alexis and Kassidy had mostly A's and B's. Samantha had an A, with the rest being B's and C's. Zach's grades were a little of everything - he either likes the class and gets an A or hates the class and fails.

Erich has been at his new job for a month now. He is liking it more and more. The hours are good, he leave the house at 8:15ish and is home by 5:30ish Monday thru Thursday, Friday's he normally teaches at U of P.

That pretty much sums up October for us.

Wow, it's been a while...

Life is so crazy sometimes. September has been particularly busy and crazy.

The beginning of the month brought some news that is now finally sinking in for the whole family. Alexis is pregnant - she's known since May but didn't know how to tell us, so waited until we noticed. She is healthy and baby appears to be also. We had a 3D ultrasound done over the week end. She's having a Girl!

Kassidy made the volleyball team at Sky View. She has practice everyday after school until 5:00. She is improving each week. Her games are every Wednesday at 4:15 pm. We missed the first game when we were in Franklin, MA. Samantha made Baby Hawk which is sixth grade girls who are interested in trying out for volleyball - she practices with the team on Fridays.

Zach turned 18 on the 3rd. The 5th & 6th we went to Tucson and helped Christa with her booth at the Paper Gatherings convention. The girls and I had a good time. Erich and John went to the Missile Silo and Pima Air Park and saw retired airplanes.

The 9th - 16th Erich and I went to visit my sister and her family. Mom went with us. Erich and I did some sightseeing on our own, we went to Salem. We took the train to Boston twice (once with Mom & Tam), lot of walking both days. Erich and I found a little Italian bakerey the one day - great pizza and calzones. Too bad we didn't have room for dessert thay had some great looking ones. We toured the Casin Young battle ship and took a Duck Tour while in Boston.

The 19th & 20th was Crop Girls. We had classes and crops. Busy week end!

Erich started a new job on the 22nd with West Valley Pain Management. Same type of job he left except better hours, air conditioning in his exam room/office, full benefits starting his first day of work, no barking dog in the owner/office manager's office and about the same pay.

Alexis and I started redecorating her room, getting ready for baby. We painted, ripped out the carpet, and bought laminate wood flooring. Alexis and I started laying the flooring but Erich and Michael finished it for us. The room is looking very nice (a little cramped but functional). I'll post pictures when we are completely finished.

So that was our September. October starts out pretty busy with Alexis' OB/GYN appointment on the first, Kassidy's volleyball game and then Alexis & I will be going to her frist birthing class in the evening.

Hazel at just over three months. She's growing quickly! Greets everyone at the door. Sleeps through the night with Alexis most nights (last night she slept in our room next on my side of the bed). Just occasional accidents, usually she will push the door open so she can go outside. We still miss Shadow but she's just as cute and lovable.

Where does the time go?

The kids have been back in school for almost two weeks. Last night was Back to School Night for parents. I am once again an officer for PTSO, this year Treasurer. Looks like another busy year.

Kassidy made the volleyball team at Sky View! She went in with the attitude to give it her best but wasn't sure if she would make the team. She was so excited when her friend called to congratulate her. (Kassidy didn't know when they were posting the list.) Her first game is September 10th at Santa Fe Elementary.

The Crop Girls second crop is this Satuday, we are SOLD OUT! We had so much fun at the first one and are looking forward to this weeks. Rhonda and I will debute are classes for September and October. Mine are on the CropGirls.com website and photos posted here, too. Rhonda will have hers finished on Saturday so I can post them on Sunday.

Time flies when you're having fun!

WOW! Summer is almost over, the kids go back to school a week from today. I don't know if I'm happy or excited, it's nice having the lazy days with the kids at home but I really need to get back to work on my projects, Close To My Heart business and promoting Crop Girls.

It's only five days till the first Crop Girls crop! We are all looking forward to seeing familiar faces and meeting new friends. Donna and Christa will be bringing some great products. I will have the brand new Close To My Heart Fall/Winter catalog (I am currently waiting for the UPS man to deliver them!) along with retired paper and stamps and I don't know exactly what Rhonda is bringing but I'm sure the kits she has available will be great.

Hazel is growing, she enjoys playing with Deegan when Michael brings him over. She's doing pretty good with her potty training. She sleeps with Alexis and wakes her up around 5:30 AM to go outside to potty.