I Need To Get My Groove Back...

Nope, I'm not Stella, and I don't need that kind of a groove back. I'm just feeling uninspired lately. What an awful feeling. I keep logging into my blog everyday thinking, "Ok, today I WILL write something!" I sit her looking at the blank screen hoping some words will pop into my mind, but nothing happens. Tonight, when I logged on and thought the same thing, I just decided to start writing about how I'm feeling. I try to be clever and crafty, witty and informative, but you know what, tonight I just want to type and have nothing in particular to say.
Things are fine. Kids are good. Husband is great. OnTray is heading in a great direction with it's first retail order on the horizon (more about that next week...keep your fingers crossed), and I am just fine...uninspired, but fine. Maybe it's the change in the weather. Maybe it's the fact that all day long I am trying to inspire my children to behave, listen, be nice to one another, get along, do their homework, put their shoes where they belong, put the toilet seat lid down, chew with their mouths closed, stop yelling, go to bed...and stay in bed! Oh just listing these items is making me realize all the more how blah I sound. Oh well, tomorrow's another day. I need to go to bed. Three young boys need to be inspired again tomorrow. I guess my inspiration will just have to wait another day!

Me on an Internet Radio Show?

Ok, so tomorrow morning (10:30 EST) I am going to be a guest on an Internet Radio Show. I'm so excited! The host, Kelly McCausey, is a hoot. She has a side kick, Tishia Lee, and the two of them make a perfect pair! Tomorrow is Work at Home Wednesday with Kelly & Tishia and other Mom's Radio Network Hosts and Callers. Call in with your work at home questions. Win a dozen free cookies from Bizzy Lizzy Bakery! Oh, and pray that I don't mess up too badly! Click on the link to be taken to the show and directions on how to listen. It should be fun!

Sitting At Target....

I was at Target tonight (ok, I'm there like every night) sitting in the Food Court area with all three of my boys while they were enjoying their Icee's. Sitting in that part of the store, I had a perfect view of all of the customers coming into the store. There was this young couple with a baby, probably 3 months old, standing by all of the carts. The man was holding the baby while the mom was attempting to put the cart seat cover on the Target cart. It was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time. She was struggling with this cover; at one point I thought she was just going to throw it on the ground. The man she was with, handed her the baby as if to say, "Give it to me...I'll put it on!". This went on for, no joke, 5 minutes. Finally the man handed the baby back to the women, and she figured it out! Ok, so I know there are people out there that use the cart covers. Probably some reading this post! I understand that carts are dirty and the whole reason behind this movement, but I just wanted to walk up to the couple and say, "Have you heard of OnTray? It EASILY fits onto the handle bar of shopping carts and your baby is safer from germs than with nothing there. The children stay busy and you get to shop!". I don't have the guts to approach people, maybe one day! Oh and by the way, you can use OnTray with the cart seat covers. A couple of friends I know use both. How about that, extra germ free!

I Wish I Had The Guts...

You may remember a while back I told you all about this great web-site, http://www.mom4life.com/ that is carrying OnTray. Heather (that's her in the picture), the owner of the site, has weekly giveaways and she puts the drawing of the winner on YouTube. She films herself doing some silly things while picking the name of the winner. She is a stitch! She even makes Chad laugh (for those of you who don't know Chad...God love him... he's a little hard to please in the humor department!). I wish I had the guts to video tape myself and splash it all over YouTube. Anyway, this week she is giving away an OnTray. Check out the link below to see her in action. Pretty funny!

http://mom4life.typepad.com/mom_4_life/

Stuck!

Ok, so I'm not sure what my problem is. Lately, I just feel stuck. Do you ever feel like that? I mean, there is a ton going on in my life. The kids are keeping me busy. Jack's in school and playing soccer, Luke's in school and playing soccer and Ty...well Ty keeps me busy just by yelling at me all of the time. Chad and I are doing great; trying to get out as much as possible. OnTray is what's really getting me down I think. There are so many things happening with OnTray, that nothings happening. Does that make sense? I'm just waiting on so many areas to be complete with the production end of OnTray, that I can't really move forward with anything. People keep asking me, "Have you sold OnTray to the big retail stores yet?" or my favorite, "You know you really need to be in all of the grocery stores!" Uh yeah, I know that! What people don't understand is that I have to wait on the packaging design, then we need to have a die cut made to make the packaging, then we need to produce the packaging and have it shipped to a warehouse. Then, blah, blah, blah! Ok, so I'm done venting. I feel badly even being down about all of this. I believe in this product, and I believe in all of the people that are helping me bring this to "life", but come on already. I NEED TO BE IN THE GROCERY STORES!

Ok, Are You Ready For This?

Bonjour! Why the french welcome? Are you ready for this? OnTray is going to be available for sale in FRANCE! Yes, I said FRANCE! Limoges, France to be exact. An owner of an adorable site, http://www.petitspasdegeant.com/ , contacted me about a month ago and asked if she could sell OnTray on her site. Well, I shipped her 24 OnTray's as an initial order and they have arrived in France! Beside the fact that I'm excited about the opportunity to sell my product overseas, I am a self proclaimed Francophile (France/Paris freak). I visited Paris once with my father when I was younger and then Chad and I went there in '99. I just love it there. It is my happy place. Half of my house has some sort of Parisian touch! Well, check out her site in a week or so. It's in complete french, but I just do my best to navigate. If something looks interesting I use a translation site. Au revoir!

Luke's Off to School Too!

Today was Luke's first official day of pre-school. What a big boy! He walked right in, gave his teachers big hugs, found his bin to put his bag in and found a ton of Dinosaurs to play with. "I think they're real Dinosaurs Mom! This place is great!", he said to me. Again, no separation anxiety for my middle child...just mom!

OnTray and Baby Shower Favors

I put together some baby shower favors for a friend of mine who was obviously throwing a shower. I wasn't sure how I was going to do it, so I asked my friend Jennifer who used to do favors as a business for some ideas(she might do it still I'm not sure, the girl wears like 100 hats). She gave me some great thoughts and off to JoAnn's I went. I came home with some clear plastic bags, almond candies in different colors and tulle to wrap them in. I thought I'd take some pictures, because if I say so myself, these make excellent shower favors!

First, 1st Grade Experience!

Seriously, how cute are these kids? I know they're mine, but seriously, cute, huh? Jack started the 1st grade last Tuesday. I cried like a baby for three days leading up to school. The funny thing was, I didn't cry when he went to pre-school or when he went to Kindergarten last year. Nope, I guess it was all bottled up for this year. Chad said it best. He told me he thought maybe I felt like I was "splitting up my team". Yes...that's it....oh yeah and it's MY BABY GOING OFF TO SCHOOL ALL DAY! Really, though, I think I came to the realization that someone else would be helping him throughout the day. He didn't need my like he has for the past 6 1/2 years of his life. Nope, I had done my job. I guess that should be pretty rewarding, huh? I have done my job; not like I don't have the rest of my life to be his mom. I must have done a good enough job so far that he felt confident enough to hop on that school bus he had never ridden before, go to a classroom full of people he hardly knew and make new friends, eat in a cafeteria which was completely new to him and try food orther than PB&J's and be gone from his home and family all day when he is a self described home-body. Well it's a good thing he's so well adjusted because I'm the one at home crying like a baby!

Funny Cancer Cards

Ok, so who really wants to have to buy cards for women going through treatment for Breast Cancer? It's not your typical, "Hey, I need to go buy so and so a card for her cancer treatment", but reality is, you probably will have too, and you probably should. I met a woman who went through breast cancer treatment last year, and through it all, she came up with an excellent idea. Funny cancer cards. Yep, you heard (read) me correctly. Funny, humorous, uplifting cards for women going through surgery or treatment for breast cancer. Don't just take my word for it, check them out for yourself. Funny stuff, for a not so funny-horrible cancer. http://www.staypositivegreetings.com

Pokemon Is My Son's Obsession!

About 6 or 7 months ago, one of Jack's friends turned him onto Pokemon cards. Chad and I thought it was sort of cute. "Jack is learning to read", we thought. "Jack is learning to count", we said. Then we starting saying things like, "Jack won't stop talking about Pokemon". Or, "Jack is borderline OCD with this Pokemon card stuff". Well, we have spent way more money than I every would care to add up. I thought it was just a phase but it is lasting longer than the Power Ranger one. I thought that phase was going to push me over the edge! I got an e-mail today with a link attached, that anyone who feels my pain must check out. It made me laugh so hard my children thought I was crying. Click on the link below to see an actual Ebay item that sold. Absolutely hilarious! http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130144061675

Oh Did I Need This!

Ok, so I meet another mom inventor, Shelia, through www.themompack.com. She created a product called the Handy Burpee. It is a burp cloth that you slip your hand into, and then there is a generous amount of material that you drape in front of the baby. All three of my guys spit up like crazy. I would put them on my lap, sitting up, wad the burp cloth up in my hand and cup their chins. I didn't want anything to get on my hands, me or my furniture, so I figured if it went in front of them (on the tile floor) it would be easy clean up. Moms know my dilemma and Shelia is solving our issue. Check out www.loveprints.net to learn more.

This One Caught Me By Surprise....

My brother-in-law was married to a girl named Hilary. At first I wasn't sure if I liked her. I was pretty protective of him. She grew on me though. We ended up becoming great friends. They married and I was a big part of their wedding. She and he were big parts of our lives. When I had Luke, Hilary and Gregg came to the hospital and stayed longer than anyone. We had a little party. We laughed and drank (shh..no I wasn't breast feeding). I think they were actually asked to leave by a nurse. Anyway, we were together a lot over the year they were married (they were together a few years before becoming married). They divorced in February of this year. That had to have been one of the hardest things I've ever been through. She made a mistake, a big one and I think they tried to work it out. The didn't. They couldn't. I'm not sure I blame him, but I'm not sure I blame her either. What happened was between them. I'm just sorry I couldn't fix things for them.

When she told me they were divorcing, it seriously took the wind out of me. I instantly asked her what I could do. How could I fix things? I needed her to be in my life; in my children's lives. She was my sister. I know that sounds corny, but wow was it true. I cried the whole way home from that dinner. I came home and took down all of her pictures. "Hoe could I have pictures of her in my house?", I thought. "What if Gregg sees these?", I said to Chad. It was as if she died. The pictures, and the memories just gone. I swore I would stay friends with her. That didn't need to change, right? Wrong. My in-laws weren't to keen on me talking with her. They didn't say I couldn't, but I knew I'd let them down if I did (as if I don't let them down enough). We haven't talked in about a year.

I saw Hilary last night at a wedding. She didn't expect to see me. I certainly didn't expect to see her. We looked at each other in absolute shock. We hugged each other and cried. Really cried. I'm sure everyone in the room was like, "Wow! Have they had too much to drink already?". I was just telling my friend how much I missed Hilary about a week ago. Seeing her last night, at a wedding about two hours away from where we both live, I realized something. Love, friendship and sisterhood are three things we are lucky enough to ever have in our lifetime. I had all three with one person. I miss my sister.

Kathy Rocks!

Back in November when I was looking for someone to help me with all of my design work, I asked my father-in-law if he knew of anyone (he's a designer by trade). He put me in touch with someone he used to work with named Kathy Thomas. We met and instantly hit it off. She has been the one who has brought the brand 42 kids, OnTray and my web site to life. She truly is one of the most creative people I've ever met. It's amazing that I can say, "Hey Kathy, I'd like to have a page where all of the sites that have reviewed OnTray are featured...can you put something together?". An hour later, voila! I have a page on my site that lists the sites that have reviewed OnTray, written about OnTray or carry OnTray. She is just awesome! She has done so much for me over the 10 months we've been working together and she continues to amaze me.

I've said this before, I truly feel that all the right people are in my life to help me along this journey. Kathy is someone I thank my lucky stars for. She has helped my dream come true! If you want to see her other work, visit www.katdesignweb.com today!

OnTray available on the web!

A while back I discovered this site, www.mom4life.com. I had e-mailed the owner, Heather, and she was kind enough to e-mail me right back. She answered all of my questions about how to deal with online companies who might like to carry my product, wholesale pricing and quantities to offer. She was just fabulous. Well, she now is carrying OnTray! I'm so excited. Of course I felt very official with my own web site, but with someone like Heather and www.mom4life.com, I just feel even more validated! Check them out today!

100hats.com

I was interviewed last month by a freelance writer for Business First (a local newspaper). It didn't work out for that publication, but the writer said she was working on another piece for a Web site called www.100hatts.com. It is such a need site. Full of articles, advice and inspiration for women trying to do it all. My article published yesterday. Here's a link if you would like to read it! http://www.100hats.com/subscribehats/archives/LetterView.aspx?id=506

OnTray is Available in a Store!

How exciting! There is a local children's clothing and gift store here in Westerville called Hey Diddle Diddle. I used to frequent it quite often when the boys were smaller and it was cool for them to wear adorable outfits. Now, not so much. I do always go there for the most adorable gifts and outfits for friends and family. Anyway, I went to visit Stacy, the owner, a couple of weeks ago and show her OnTray. She said she thought the space in her store was an issue, and she wasn't sure how she'd display them. Well, I was a little disappointed to say the least. I brainstormed and came up with a clever way for her to display the products. I took her a miniature shopping cart and placed four OnTray's (one of every color) in it. She placed it on the counter and I told her if she sells them great, pay me then. No risk to her. That was Monday at 4:30. She called me this morning to tell me she had sold all four of the OnTray's and needed more! I can't believe it. OnTray is available in a store! Yippie! Can you tell I'm excited? If you're in Westerville and in need of an OnTray, head to Hey Diddle Diddle (or visit my web-site, www.ontray2go.com :) )

Summer Guide 2007

I found this great site that has a wonderful list of fabulous products and coupon codes (if you know me you know I love coupons). Anyway, I thought I would share the information with you. Visit www.mommieswithstyle.com and check out all the great stuff!

If You're Pregnant....

I saw this T-shirt on a web-site that is going to be carrying OnTray. I had to post a message about it, because I think it's hilarious. I'm actually disappointed I'm not pregnant, because I would love to have this T-shirt. What a fun way to "talk" about pregnancy!

http://www.mom4life.com/catalog.php?item=1038&new=yes&ret=catalog.php%3Fnew%3Dyes

Time Management

Ok, so I need to do a better job at managing my time. Starting and running a business from home is consuming me! I am constantly thinking about how I'm going to drum up more business, get more press, reach more people, blah, blah, blah! I think Chad is getting tired of me talking about this. He's grocery shopping right now. Does that tell you something? I need to get back to my old life a little bit more. The laundry is piling up, the closets are a MESS, my children are bored and I am just irritable. Does anyone have some free advice on HOW TO DO IT ALL???