Hey everyone! I'm working on getting everything updated (this site, Facebook and Twitter). To see all of my latest projects please visit my Bizzy Bows Facebook Fan Page at . All of my designs are in specific albums there along with pricing.

Bizzy Bows and Jamberry Nails

I've been working every spare moment I get on two sets of this owl cap and matching booties (my cousin had adorable twin girls).  You see, I am a mother of three kids (11, 7 and 3) and I homeschool my two oldest, so spare time is rare for me.  I absolutely LOVE the way these owl caps turn out...they're not your average crochet owl cap.  The stitching I chose is very intricate and beautiful and in my mind is what an owl would actually look like if it turned into a crochet cap.  When I finally completed the sets, I noticed they perfectly matched Jamberry's (click here to check out Jamberry Nails) Owls & Aqua Pinstripe Jamberry Juniors nail wraps.  

Now I'm thinking I need to make an owl cap big enough for my 7 year old to wear to go along with these Jam Jrs!  What do you think?  

Jamberry Nails

So in addition to bow making, crocheting, knitting, and homeschooling, I've recently become a Jamberry consultant. Although I love the look of nail polish on my finger nails and toe nails, I have  always hated that the nail polish always chipped off within a day or two.  Being a busy mom of two kids...what? Did I really write that...I have three kids!  Sheesh...see I'm too busy to remember how many kids I have!  Anyhow, being a busy mom of THREE kids means I'm doing a million things at once.  From washing dishes to wiping faces, crocheting, planning crafts for my craft elective, cooking dinner, etc...my nails get thrashed and neglected.

I was introduced to Jamberry in November 2012.  I kind of brushed it off when I first read about it because I certainly did not want to waste any more money on nail polish.  Then one time I noticed the designs on the nails were way too detailed to be regular polish. So I began to dig and research about this company.  I dug for good news, old news and bad news.  I only found great news about Jamberry. I took a chance and purchased a set of Jamberry nail shields to try.  I bought a set called "String of Lights & Red Pinstripes" to try on my girls.  

We all fell in love instantly.  Jamberry nail shields are supposed to last up to 2 weeks on finger nails and up to 6 weeks on toe nails.  They lasted on my oldest daughter for over 3 weeks!  Since November, I've had many different sets on...not because they didn't last long enough, but because I was itching to try different styles.  The application is fairly simple

• First you prep your nails, I just make sure my nails are polish-free, cut, and filed to my desired length, push back my cuticles, then wipe each nail with rubbing alcohol.  
• Select the nail strip that fits your nail bed (only cutting off what you will use), and heat it with a blow dryer by holding the adhesive side facing the blow dryer for 10-15 seconds.  
• Apply the nail shield and smooth out with a lot of pressure.  Be sure that the nail shield is not touching any of your skin.  You can either press it down with your own fingers or use the cuticle pusher.  
• Reheat the nail again with a blow dryer, then smooth out again making sure no edges are popped up.
• File off excess with a downward motion only.

At one point, I had these on (Chalkboard Hearts and Black & White Stripes):

Today I put these bad boys on (Teal Sparkle and Lavender Sparkle):

I love sparkle nail polish, but I do not love removing sparkle nail polish.  I am so happy to be able to have some pretty sparkly nails, knowing it will be easy as pie to remove them when it's time.  

If you are interested in hosting a Jamberry party (either in your home or online), please feel free to contact me.  Jamberry just rolled out a new and very generous hostess program that you will love!  You can also drool over all the beautiful designs by visiting my Jamberry website at christinet.jamberrynails.net

Hello everyone!  It's been a busy season in my life, but I'm hoping to be able to blog more and show all of you the stuff I've been making!  I'm hoping to revamp the blog and be more active about blogging on here.  To see the latest stuff I've made, head on over to www.facebook.com/bizzybows1  Once there you can go through my photo albums and see the different things I've been working on.  If anything catches your eye, please feel free to contact me!

Review Blog

Hi everyone,

Since I buy a lot of stuff and have gone through a lot of stuff, I've decided to start a review blog on items that I've purchased. Hopefully, if you're looking into buying some of the same stuff, I'll be able to give you some insight on the product.

Check out my reviews at www.worthmy2pennies.blogspot.com!

An End of an Era

I don't even think anyone really reads these posts, but it's nice to put my feelings out there. Today was officially my last day as Coordinator for my church's MOPS group. It was a long year, but a very rewarding and blessed experience. I know I've made some lifetime friends this past year and am so thankful for the women God put in my path. It's funny because I was so against becoming the Coordinator for the group, even though I felt the Lord tugging at my heart to do it. I am so glad I did it and never gave up. I tend to give up on things after a while, so it's nice to know that I stuck it out from beginning to end. I think my weeks are going to have a sense of emptiness for a while now...at least until Maddie and I start homeschooling.

Speaking of homeschooling...only a little over a month of regular school left! Surprisingly, Maddie is ready for it to be over as well. I can't wait for summer to start and for us to do family fun things. We have a few camping trips we've planned and I'm hoping to get back on Sunday bonfires with my church fam. I look forward to making memories with everyone.

Everyday since we've been back in CA (from our move to TX), I thank God for being here. I just love it here so much. I feel so connected here...connected to my family, friends, church, and most importantly God. I know with all my heart, THIS is where we're supposed to be. I feel like TX was such a drain on me spiritually and emotionally and I am happy to be done with that trial in my life. I know there will be more trials ahead, but it's nice to know God is always there and will continue to guide me from one era to the next.

Thank you Lord for a new day!

So today has been the COMPLETE opposite of yesterday. All three kids have been pretty dern good (spoken with a TX accent...thanks Jenn)! Right now the girls are playing together very nicely while I'm making Chicken Tortilla Soup.

Cade has thrown less fits today and has been practicing walking unprompted by me. He still laughs the whole time he's walking, but I'm happy he's getting his confidence. I have mixed feelings about him achieving these milestones though...I mean he IS my last baby. Maybe I should trip him?

What a day!

The day started out with Caders slamming his face into a toy (during a fit throwing session) which caused him to have a nasty nose bleed...and if you know me, you know I don't do blood very well.

Then the repair guy came to check out what was wrong with my fridge...$370.13 later I have a perfect working condition fridge.

Later at dinner, Maddie decided she didn't want to obey our rules. We told her in order to live in our home she had to obey the rules. So what did she decide to do? She walked out. I followed her and explained to her how dangerous it is to be out on her own and told her we want her with us, but she has to obey our rules. She decided she was fine on her own. I went inside and watched her from her bedroom window...there was no way I was going to let her out of my sights. Finally, she came back inside to talk to us and after a long conversation she decided she still wanted to do her own thing and not obey us and left the house again. Talk about strong-willed! After a Jedi mind trick, I was able to talk her into rejoining the family and all was good, but boy what a trying day!

Can't wait for this day to be over and to start fresh tomorrow!

Black Pearl Necklace Giveaway!

Sugar Pop Ribbons has a review and giveaway for a Black Pearl Necklace valued at $845!!! Check out the blog at: Sugar Pop Ribbons Black Pearl Necklace Review and Giveaway . All you have to do is read the review and follow the instructions for a free entry. There are lots of other ways to get extra entries...so go NOW!!!

Cool Giveaways

A very nice lady I know from making bows runs a blog reviewing products and organizing giveaways. One of the products I want to really win is the Summer Infant Monitor. It's so cool! It comes with two cameras so you can monitor two rooms at the same time. You can buy more cameras and monitor up to 4 rooms. This would be so perfect for us. That way I can check on Cade in his room and check on the girls in their room.

To view this giveaway and tons of other cool giveaways, please visit:

Sugar Pop Ribbons Summer Infant Sleek & Secure Mulitview Handheld Color Video Monitor Review and Giveaway

There's a ton of really cool stuff you can try to win. Worth browsing!

New Website Coming Soon!

I had an actual website where you could purchase my bows and stuff online. It was costing me a lot of money and I didn't have the time to keep it up, so I cancelled the hosting, but kept the domain. Some of you have ended up here as a result of going to my domain name. Well soon that's gonna change. I'm working on building a new website through a free hosting site. It's pretty user friendly and you can customize it with html. I have very minimal knowledge of html, but my brother is a programmer. I'm hoping he'll be able to help me get it up and running soon since I already have all the html and images from my previous site.

So if you're interested in bows, be on the lookout for the new website. In the meantime, if you really need something, please feel free to email me at bizzybows@gmail.com

What a busy weekend!

We had such a busy weekend! Elisa came for the weekend because she had a wedding in Oceanside. So she hung out with us while we went to the beach on Saturday to hang out with Aaron's dad and his wife. It was such a beautiful day. Not hot and not cold, just perfect. I felt so blessed to be living in the beautiful state of California. Then we headed off to Gramma's to have a belated St. Patty's day dinner with some of Aaron's family. I always love when Gramma makes Corned Beef and Cabbage. She is so good to us.

On Sunday, I finally got to take a pic of my favorite little 7 month-old, baby girl Avagail with the latest hat I made for her (it's the same hat I put on Kynzie's head, but was meant for Ava). Her mommy even brought a coordinating cardigan to match the hat!

Isn't she a cutie!?! She absolutely lit up once her daddy showed up to love on her. She was entertaining us all with her extreme cuteness.

Then we headed off to our weekly brunch with my parents...mmmmm....bacon! As usual, I did my weekly Grocery Gaming and did quite well, but only went to one store because I was so wiped out from being in the sun the day before. I actually fell asleep and stayed asleep for most of the night then started to toss and turn dreaming that I forgot bits and pieces for the MOPS craft that we're doing this week. So on my task list for today (besides the usual) is to gather up all the craft stuff for this week and get it together and taken care of so I can sleep better until Thursday.

Oh great...the baby is awake, which means I will walk up there in a few minutes and find all his blankets and his fitted crib sheet on the floor. Gotta go!

Time to Catch Up!

So, what have I been up to? Everything. The girls and I moved back to Cali in August of '08. Aaron followed a month later to finish up his job in TX and start the old job he left behind in CA. Remember in my "I'm Alive" post I mentioned I was in Urgent Care...turns out I was pregnant and we welcomed our baby boy on March 1, 2009. Yeah...A LOT has happened! I've been heavily involved in my home church and have been loving every bit of it. My oldest is in 2nd grade, but we will be homeschooling her next year along with my 4 year old. Cade turned 1 recently and is just so much fun. He's still not walking though, which is kind of a blessing. Not sure I'm ready to chase after him yet.

I still make bows and stuff, but mostly to give away to my friends and family who don't have or make enough money to buy them and need them for their bald babies. I've done a few big orders (cheerbows and such), but have really been working on crochet hats. Here's a couple I've made lately:

I've been super busy mostly (besides with my kids) with being Coordinator of the MOPS group that meets at my church. It's a lot of work, but so worth it. I've met some really great women and have made some really great friends. God is so good!

I'm back!

Lot's of catching up to do. It's been almost 2 years! I've been busy. Had another kid (a baby boy this time) and have been working on crochet hats. I'll post pictures soon.

I'M ALIVE!!!

I have been so busy lately that I've neglected my blogging...shame on me! Let's see where do I begin. I was at Urgent Care on Father's Day due to severe vertigo. They thought I had an infection and put me on antibiotics, which did absolutely nothing for me. Come to find out my old eye doctor had prescribed me regular contacts for my astigmatism instead of contacts that correct an astigmatism. Having the wrong contacts was causing me to be off balance! It took me a few days to get used to the new contacts, but now I see everything clear and steady! Praise God!

Lately, I've been working so hard at keeping my house clean for showings, but we still haven't had any bites. Hopefully, it will sell soon. With Summer being here, I've had to keep the girls occupied, otherwise we'd all go nuts, so I've been going to the YMCA getting regular exercise and taking them to the pool. Our new Y here has a splash pad and a water park, so we've really been enjoying that. The girls are so tan now, they actually look like they have more Filipino in them!

Maddie has been enjoying her time off school and has been reading like a mad woman. She reads and reads and reads. There's no stopping her! Kynzie is learning new words and phrases. Her latest phrase is "Prolly later" (probably later). It's been quite a useful phrase! Everytime she wants to do something, if I say, "no", she'll say "prolly later" and I'll say "uh huh" and she's happy with that.

Hmmm, what else? Oh we had a little celebration here at my house on the 4th. It was a combo party, 3 birthdays in one (2 of my nephews and my niece) and a 4th of July party. We just played with the baby pool and the inflatable water slide outside, but the kids had a blast. Aaron and I have been going to a couples small group with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law and two other couples. We've been having a blast together and we look forward to our fellowship everytime. It's fun to talk with each other and learn from each other. We also went to a Marriage Seminar with Don and Jean McClure...the best seminar I've ever been too (not that I've been to a ton of them). Don is so funny and so engaging, I wanted the seminar to last forever. I highly recommend it to every couple that is offered the opportunity of attending his seminar. Worth every cent and every second.

I almost forgot, I GOT AN iPHONE!!!! I waited in line on Friday and got my iPhone. It's so cool and I just love it. I get to take the internet everywhere I go. The connection speed is pretty fast and I love the GPS function. Every day, I've been able to play with it a little bit more and find out it's coolness grows each time.

Well, there's my life in a nutshell. Pretty boring huh? We'll be driving back to Cali on August 9th hoping to arrive by August 12th so we can be back home to celebrate my dad's birthday with him. I'm so excited to be going home and being with my family. All of us are. Please keep the sale of our house in your prayers. Also, please pray that VBS this week goes smoothly. I'm in charge of the pre-schoolers (what was I thinking?). I'm quite nervous because I don't believe I'm that great with kids, so it will be interesting to see how the Lord handles this one.

Anywho, hopefully next time I blog it won't be 3 weeks from now! Thank you to all who e-mailed me to check on me...I AM ALIVE!!!

Kynzie's words

When Maddie was a baby she talked so soon. Her first word was "daddy" at 6 months old...clear as a bell and we have it on video. She moved on to full sentences by a year and a half and could hold a conversation with you. You didn't have to guess at what she was saying and everyone we met were always surprised.

Now we have Kynzie. She didn't say anything for about the first year and a half of her life. She used to just grunt. Now she's talking and talking and between my two girls I rarely get a moment of peace unless they're sleeping. Kynzie doesn't talk nearly as clear as Maddie did and I find myself having to translate for her all the time. I love that she doesn't talk too clearly because her words are so cute! Here are some examples:

sumpim = something
oars = yours
googrr = good girl
goomers = bloomers
et = yet
ogret = yogurt
ahden = again
sow = school
baby soup = bathing suit

I'm really going to have to keep a record of all these things becuase before I know it...they'll be clear as a bell too...just like Maddie's words.

And the winners are...

In a very scientific and random drawing, conducted by my 2.5 yo, the winners are Kari George and Kisha Johnson! Congrats ladies! Thanks for playing!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yay! Today is my 31st Birthday! It's been a great day so far and I've only been awake for about an hour. I've been wanting an iPhone for sometime now and this morning my hubby gave me a picture of an iPhone. I thought he was playing a joke on me because he has been completely against me getting one since I first mentioned wanting one. He then tells me that I am getting an iPhone and that I could either get one today or wait until July 11th to get the new one coming out. I'm definitely waiting for the new one to come out since it's got way more features and is less expensive! I'm so excited.

Normally, Aaron gives the girls cereal for breakfast. Since it's now Summer, they don't get up in time to see him before he leaves for work. When Kynzie got up, she asked if her daddy was still here and I told her no. Then she was all worried that she wasn't going to get any cereal for breakfast. I assured her that I could get her cereal and she was fine with that. We get downstairs and she sees a bag of Cheetos from yesterday and asks if she could have Cheetos. I told her, "No you may not have Cheetos for breakfast." She paused and looked at me and said, "May I please have lunch?". I was laughing so hard. I had to call Aaron and share the funny story with him...he quite enjoyed it.

It's been so busy and hectic for the past couple of weeks. Maddie had her Kindergarten graduation last Thursday (I'll post pics later) and then we had some parties to attend. We got her SAT scores and she did unbelievably well. The test says that she has the listening skills of a 6th grader...so now I have proof that she does hear me, it's just a matter of her obeying!

We signed up for the local YMCA yesterday. It's literally around the corner from our house and it's brand new. It has a splash pad, family pool and a waterpark! Since gas is so expensive, we decided to go ahead an sign up since it's so close by. We went yesterday for the first time and had a blast. The girls can't wait to go back today.

Lastly, since it's my birthday I 'd like to give out some blog candy. I'm going to give to two random people one of these two prizes: a scrapbook embellishment goodie bag or a custom hair bow. You'll be given one entry for every post you put on my blog and another entry for mentioning my blog or bizzybows.com on your blog. Happy posting!

***I forgot to mention that this contest will end on until Friday, June 13th at noon (CST).***

Our Memorial Day Weekend

We had a lot to do for Memorial Day weekend. Kynzie spent the night at gramma's on Friday night. Maddie was supposed to go, but she was being disobedient and disrespectful so she lost that privelage for the day. We went to my friend Kat's baby shower on Saturday. It was a lot of fun to meet her parents, who flew in from Puerto Rico. Maddie had fun because Kat has a doggie named Mya that Maddie played with for most of the time. We had to leave a tad bit early because we go to Saturday night service.

On Sunday we just hung out at the house then we went to a neighborhood block party a few houses down the street. It was fun to see some neighbors and meet new neighbors. They had a kiddie pool out for the little kiddies and the big kiddies went next door because one of the neighbors has a pool. They also brought out a ping pong table and most of the guys played on that. There were so many kids and it was fun getting to know each other better and having all the kids play together. Maddie and Kynzie took off with their grammy again that night, so Aaron and I decided to watch Indiana Jones. It wasn't the greatest movie, but I did enjoy it. I just love Harrison Ford. We got home a little late, but we got to sleep in the next day so it was great!

On Monday we had to do a lot of shopping and cleaning because people were coming to see the house on Wednesday and I have an all day crop here at the house on Saturday. So we had to do some grocery shopping and what not to get prepared. When the girls came home Monday evening from a day with Grammy, Kynzie looked as though she got into a boxing match with someone. So after her shower, we got this picture of her:

Do you see how her right eye is almost shut? She had an allergic reaction to a mosquito bite. She got 5 big bites on her face. I felt so bad. Everywhere I went people would ask her if she got an owie on her eye and I'd tell them she got bitten on her eye. I should've said...if you think that's bad, you should see the other kid! LOL!

I ended up having to take her to the doctor's on Tuesday because Maddie was rough-housing Kynzie on Friday and popped Kynzie's elbow out of socket and then it was reinjured two more times. It's nothing serious, it's called Nursemaid's Elbow. We just have to try to make sure not to pull on that arm or hand to hard because now that it's been popped out once, it's very easy to pop it out. The doctor said it would take about 3 weeks to heal.

Ok, well this has gone on long enough, but one last great thing. Maddie had Awards Chapel on Wednesday and she got the Top Phonics Award and All Year All 'A's Honor Roll. We are so proud of her!

I'm a mess!

If you listen to Christian radio, you probably heard the news of the death of Maria, Steven Curtis Chapman's 5 year old daughter. He wrote this beautiful song, "Cinderella"...here are the lyrics:

She spins and she sways

To whatever song plays

Without a care in the world

And I’m sitting here wearing

The weight of the world on my shoulders

It’s been a long dayAnd there’s still work to do

She’s pulling at me saying, “Dad I need you

There’s a ball at the castle and I’ve been invited

And I need to practice my dancin’

Oh please, Daddy please”

So I will dance with Cinderella

While she is here in my arms

‘Cause I know something the prince never knew

Oh, I will dance with Cinderella

I don’t want to miss even one song

‘Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight

And she’ll be gone …

She says he’s a nice guy

And I’d be impressed

She wants to know if I approve of the dress

She says, “Dad the prom is just one week away

And I need to practice my dancin’Oh please, Daddy please”

So I will dance with Cinderella

While she is here in my arms

‘Cause I know something the prince never knew

Oh, I will dance with Cinderella

I don’t want to miss even one song

‘Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight

And she’ll be gone, she will be gone…

Well, she came home today

With a ring on her hand

Just glowing and telling us

All they had planned

She says, “Dad the wedding’s still six months away

But I need to practice my dancin’

Oh please, Daddy please”

So I will dance with Cinderella

While she is here in my arms

‘Cause I know something the prince never knew

Oh, I will dance with Cinderella

I don’t want to miss even one song

‘Cause all too soon the clock will strike midnight

And she’ll be gone

I just downloaded the song to my iPod and I can't stop crying. It's so tragic and so sad. If you don't know what happened. Their family was celebrating the engagement of their eldest daughter and the high school graduation of their oldest son. Maria, who turned 5 just 10 days ago, was struck by one of her older brothers in their driveway. He didn't see the little girl. So now amongst all the celebration they must now bury their 5 year old angel.

Please take a moment to pray for their family. This tragic story really makes you take a step back and appreciate what you have. To read a little bit more about this family, please visit www.stevencurtischapman.com I'm going to go hug my little Cinderellas.