Where have I been?

I have not posted or updated our blog in months. I am such a slacker! So much has gone on and I have not put pictures on my computer in so long. Big Sister turned 10 and I have some fun pictures from her birthday party. I also need to do Halloween, the beginning of school and summer fun pics. I will try to work on it during the Thanksgiving holidays.

Myrtle Beach 2009

We went to Myrtle Beach to spend some time with friends, here are some pictures of the girls.

New Product / Clog Toppers

This is my newest product. These are cute Clog Toppers that fit just like a jibbetz into your crocs or other holey shoes. I don't have them listed on my website yet, but I will put them up in about a week. They are so cute and can be custom made with your initial in the colors that will match your crocs.

The Coffer Family in Edisto, June 2009

We went to Edisto Beach, SC for our annual Coffer Family Beach Vacation. We all had a great time and it was so nice to spend time with our extended family. The girls loved hanging out with their cousins.

American Girl Video

So you know both of my girls love their American Girl Dolls. They have watched the videos on youtube over and over. They decided to make their own video and they wrote the script and rehearsed it all by themselves. The only thing I did was to record it for them. Hope you enjoy the first ever Coffer Girls AG Production. (Don't forget to turn off the playlist on the left hand navigaiton bar.)

Katie's Piano Recital

Katie has been taking piano lessons for about a year. She played 2 songs and did very well with both of them. This was her 2nd song.
Don't forget to turn off the playlist, in the lower left.

Sparkleberry Fair

Well, I have fully recovered from Sparkleberry Country Fair!!! I sold a lot of bottle cap necklaces and a few sets of croc bows. Billie Jean and I started our day by arriving at Clemson Extention at 7 am, by 9 am it was really starting to get hot. By 1pm it was HOT!!!! We were miserable, we were both sick and not geeling very good and then you add that heat and it was a hard day. It was so nice to get home and take a shower, not even a hot shower, but just to get clean. You would not believe how dirty and dusty that place is, all of our stuff had a coat of dirt on it. We had to try and clean everything off while we were packing up and then got the blow dryer our to blow the dust off when we got home.
I did see some friends out there and got to chat a little. I met a new friend named Christy, she sells really cute handmade clothes, here's her link www.boutiquelulubelle.com I am ordering a few outfits for the girls from her, I will post a picture when I get them.
Billie Jean and I will be at Blythefest in May, I'll post some details later. Hopefully that won't be as miserable, at least we will be inside for that one.
Have a great week!!

Happy 7th Birthday Allie

Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

A Birthday weekend

In the Coffer Family, 4 of the 5 grandkids have birthdays within 4 days of each other, so this past weekend was the birthday weekend. It started with Andy and Gracies 4th birthday party at Monkey Business Saturday morning and then Addie had her 2nd birthday party at a local park that afternoon. Allie had her 7th birthday party at our house with her friends that evening. Here are some pictures of the festivities.

Heart Walk

A picture from the Heart Walk, March 21, 2009

Washington DC Slide Show

Our Spring Break Trip to Washington DC

Spring Break 2009 was spent in Washington DC. We left early Saturday morning and came back on Thursday. We had a great trip and met up with the Harrell family a few times. Sunday was the most beautiful day, it was sunny and about 67 degrees. We did the monuments and The Mall on that day. Monday was a very cold and rainy. It rained just about all day and the high was about 47 degrees. We went to the museums that day, along with everyone else in DC. They were very crowded. Tuesday was a little warmer, but still chilly and we had our US Capitol Tour, that was very cool and we really enjoyed seeing Union Station and the rest of Capitol Hill. On Wednesday we sailed down the River on a boat and took a trip to Mt. Vernon. We had a fun time there as well. The girls loved the baby lambs, they were just too cute. We met up with the Harrell's for dinner at Hard Rock and Allie got a special treat, she had the whole restaurant wish her Happy Birthday. The girls also loved riding on the subway. I have to tell you that the Metro in Washington is a little confusing at first, but by Wednesday, we had it all figured out. The Metro in Paris is easier to figure out than that one. We had a great time in DC!

Heart Walk 2009

It’s that time again!! Time for the 2009 American Heart Association’s Midlands Heart Walk. This year’s walk will be held on March 28th. Katie has walked in the Heart Walk for the last 8 out of 9 years. S he loves to collect the pins each year and put them on her red "survivors" hat. In 2008, “Team Katie” had 25 walkers, this year we would love to add more to that number. Last year she raised over $800 and had 25 friends and family walking with her. This year her goal is $1000 and even more friends and family. This is a big soccer season, wo we have a lot of friends who will be on the soccer field instead, but I know they are still with us in prayer.

As most of you know, Katie was diagnosed with a heart condition shortly after birth. She is followed by her cardiologist in Columbia regularly to monitor her heart health. Last July Katie had a heart cath at the Children’s Heart Center at MUSC where a balloon was inserted in her aortic valve to open it up a little. The results from this procedure have been good and hopefully she can avoid any more procedures for a few more years! However, there will eventually come a day when she will need to have major surgery to have her valve repaired or replaced. The American Heart Association uses the Heart Walk to raise funds for research and to educate people on heart health. This research has specifically benefited our family as we have researched possible surgical techniques that were not available a few short years ago.

If you can join us Saturday morning, we would love to see you. We will all be in the red Team Katie shirts.

My new favorite song

I love this song, don't forget to turn off my playlist before you listen to it. My playlist is all the way down on the bottom right.

Welcome to Holland

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
byEmily Perl Kingsley c1987 All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.

""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy.

"But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills... .and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

New Items in my Shop

I am carrying some super cute new items in my online store. These floral pattern market totes are just like the other ones I have, but in a sassy new pattern. Being a pink lover, I know I will get this one, it's just too cute!!

Here is the link to my store, www.shoponawhimsy.com/

I am Mom of the week!!

I just found out today that I am the Featured Mom of the Week at Buy by Mom. I was so excited to see that, I just had to share. Here is the link to the write up.
www.buybymom.com/ablog/?p=277

She has a lot of stuff about me and On A Whimsy, she even has some pictures of the bottle cap necklaces and croc bows.

Angie, the owner of Buy by Mom, did a product review awhile back, here is the link to that
www.buybymom.com/ablog/?p=137

Valentine's Day Freebies and Sales

Julianne from Unique Scrapbooking is going to show us how to make a Love Coupon Matchbook, visit her site here for the directions to this super cute idea for Valentine's Day.
www.uniquescrapbooking.blogspot.com/


Also ~ here are some sites that are having Valentine's Day Sales

Melissa with Shoppe our Attic has 15% off at www.shoppeourattic.com/

Susan has 15% off at her 2 online stores www.sweet-pea-creations.com/ and www.alleyandcompany.com/ She has some realy cute Valentine's Day Cards~

I am having a 15% off sale on my Photo Bottle Cap Necklaces, originally priced at $24 on sale for $20.40, still free shipping too. While they won't be ready before Valentine's Day, they still make a super cute gift. visit my website~ On A Whimsy~ for more gift ideas.

Tiffany at Charmies Online is having a 15% off sale on any of her items that have red or pink in them. Use the coupon code HEART during check out for the discount. If you want something that is purple, green or gold use her Mardi Gras sale for those items, the coupon code for that is FLOAT . http://www.charmiesonline.com/

Remember this guy....

Picture of Chris Sligh courtesy of Fox

Chris Sligh from American Idol season 6. He's from Greenville, SC. I remember watching it when he was a contestant and I thought her had a really good voice. I have been hearing his new song "Empty Me" on the radio for awhile and I love it. It's my favorite song right now. The words are so powerful and self reflective. Here is a video from YouTube:
Don't forget to turn off my Favorite Tunes music.

My New Blog Layout

Look what I just found.... I new website that has FREE Blog Layouts. I just changed mine today and I think it looks very cute. Go to www.thatblogplace.com and search the 100's and I mean 100's of free blog layouts. There is something for everyone there. She is also having a sale for $5 off a custom header , here is the code for that, FAB5. Enter that coupon code during checkout to get $5 off. On her blog, www.that-blog-place.blogspot.com/ , she is having a contest ~ she's giving away a custom header to 10 lucky winners, just make a comment and you will be entered, hurry though, the contest ends on Feb. 1st.

Valentine's Day Mini Chocolate Bar Wrappers

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY - Chocolate makes a special treat for those you care about most. This is a fun way to show your classmates, coworkers or friends that they are extraordinary!

These Valentine's Day miniature wrappers fit over the Hershey's Miniatures

Just click on the image & right click to save. Pull into any graphics/word program to print!




These cute wrappers and made by Sharlee at Sweet Memories & More. You can visit her website at:

http://www.customcandybarwrappers4u.com/

She has some of the most adorable custom candy wrappers , unique party favors and chocolate birthday favors.

~The Sweetest Things in Life start here~

It's Snowing!!!

We woke up to the beautiful sight of snow this morning. Last night the School District called off school for today because of the weather. I was really hoping it would snow. Here in Columbia, we rarely get any snow, so to get this much really shuts down the city. We just don't have the equipment that is necessary to keep the roads safe, so we stay home. It was fine with me today, but after 4 days of being out of school, I was a little worried that they would drive me crazy. We went outside and I snapped a few pictures of them having fun in the white stuff. Allie even made a snowman. We put him in the freezer to show daddy when he gets home tonight.

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all of my friends and family, We have had a great year filled with exciting and scary times. I don't make resolutions anymore, so here are a few of my goals for this year:
* Be a better wife
* Be nicer to my kids
* Teach Katie more things instead of expecting her to just pick up on them
* Take a trip with just my mom and my girls
* Have each girl spend the night with a set of grandparents at least once a month
* Sub at school at least 5 times a month
* Get more excercise to make my heart healthier

I'm sure I will think of more and as I do, I will add them to the list.
Have a great new year!