If You Have 7 Minutes...

If interested . . . Copy and paste this to your blog and bold the ones that you HAVE done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea (on a lake actually)
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie/commercial
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (I stood outside the gate . . . does that count?)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous (Harry Connick Jr.)
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

edward cullen anyone?

Yes, Twilight mania is in full swing and I am right in the middle of it.  Thanks to Theresa (a mom in my mom's group) for loaning the book to me.  I started it last night and already can't get enough.  I'm like an obsessed teenager!!  I should be done with it in a few short days and then will hopefully be seeing the movie this weekend.  This book is amazing!!

Emma's First Halloween Party

Emma attended her first Halloween party at Katrina and Isabelle's house.  Katrina always hosts great playdates for the kids and this one was fabulous as always!  Unfortunately we weren't able to stay very long since we had such a busy Halloween night planned, but Emma had lots of fun!  

Layers Winter Collection

Introducing

Layers Clothing Winter Collection 2008

I am so ecstatic about this collection!  It is definitely my favorite so far.  The entire collection is 40's inspired and each piece is unique.  I really hope to have great sales with this line because I just can't get enough of it!!

And now for my typical sales pitch...

Interested in hosting a catalog party?  Receive all the benefits of a trunk show, without the hassle of getting all your busy girlfriends together.  Simply hand out a catalog and order form to all your friends, give them a few days to pick their favorites, then return the order forms to me.  You'll receive a FREE classic tee just for hosting and, if total party sales are $200 or more you'll get 10% off your Layers order!!

Want to order online?  Visit LayersClothing.com, place your order and don't forget to enter partner code 454 at checkout!

There's so much more on the site, check it out here.

Eleanor $35

Black, Burgundy, Natural

Penelope $34

Cream, Amethyst 

Florence $38

Chocolate, Brick, Amethyst, Mustard

Greta $65

Black

Fiona $52

Cream,Charcoal,Maple Sugar

Jillian $38

Burgundy,Black

Louise $65

Cream & Black

Carmen $28

Pewter & Red Floral

Ruthie $33

Black, Plum

Kids For Obama

Katrina and Izzy

Emma was a little grumpy towards the end and wasn't happy about being in the stroller.

Izzy showing Emma the rock she found

Looking up in the sky for all the balloons that got away

Pumpkin Patch Day

Emma was a little overwhelmed by all the pumpkins!

Relaxing in the wagon with all the pumpkins and a much needed popsicle!

There's a good one over there!!

This weekend we headed east to Carnation for a visit to the pumpkin patch.  It was a perfect fall day for some pumpkin picking.  My mom and Bill were also able to join us which was an added bonus, extra pumpkin carriers!  Eric packed us a great lunch and by the time we got out to the farm we were starving so we quickly set up our picnic.  We enjoyed sandwiches and pasta salad under a big tree on the grass.  After lunch we hopped on one of the wagon's that takes you out to the field of pumpkins.  We were able to get on the one wagon that is horse drawn and Emma thought that was the coolest!  We found a few great pumpkins before hopping on a tractor pulled wagon to head back in and hunt for some baby pumpkins in another field.  Emma loved picking out the baby pumpkins!  She calls pumpkins "Pumpkin Pie" and of course a baby pumpkin was "Baby Pumpkin Pie". So cute!!  We all had so much fun and came home exhausted from all the pumpkin patch action!!

new website

Check out my new site: http://web.me.com/alexpayne/The_Paynes/Welcome.html

the mac is back

Last October we purchased a new MacBook. It was an early Christmas present to ourselves since our first Mac had up and died...well, more like a slow, torturous death before finally crapping out. The excitement over the new Mac was simply euphoric. Built in webcam?! Photobooth?! iMovie?! The accessories to this new computer were overwhelming! Soon I was making movies of Emma, taking funny pictures on Photobooth, and just enjoying the new addition to the Payne house. It was wonderful. We sailed through the holidays, uploading all our Christmas photos to the new computer, not to mention all the pictures we took with our new camera. Then January hit. The new year was brought in with tears and sadness as one day we watched, almost in slow motion, as our sweet little MacBook succomb to a spilled domestic beer, courtesy of Emma- our beer swigging 2 year old, and sadly myself as I was the one who left the domestic next to the computer. A mistake never to be made again. We rushed our lifeless MacBook to the Genius Bar but unfortunately it could not be saved, and our warranty clearly stated that beer spillage was just not covered. Despite our sadness, we atleast had the use of Eric's work laptop. But it wasn't the same.
Fast forward 9 or so months. Eric has been told by his boss that they'll be needing the work laptop back soon. So I scrambled and finally my dad agreed to bring back my old computer that he had been using. An emachines desktop- I know, I cringe-but it would do. We would have to move some furniture around so as to have a place to put the huge desktop. As we're cleaning out drawers to move the furniture Eric comes across our departed Mac. Just out of curiosity he plugs it in...it whirs to life. Hooray!!!!!!!! After nearly a year of being comatose, it's alive again!!! All our files, pictures, music and videos fully intact. It was a miracle! An unbelieveable miracle. So now, I blog, happy again from the Mac. Welcome back Mac :)

goldilocks

After blow drying Emma's hair the other day (yes, I said blow drying) I decided I needed to document how sweet she looked. Don't get me wrong, she always looks sweet. But her hair continues to get longer and curlier and it can be hard to keep it looking anything but nest'like! She has the most beautiful hair and I just couldn't get over how adorable she was looking. I'm so obsessed with this kid!!!

virginCamping

This weekend we ventured over to Eastern Washington for some CAMPING!! We headed to Sun Lakes Resort, which is just a few miles from Coulee City (i.e. Grand Coulee Dam). As far as camping goes (from the very little that I know), the campsites were all so nice and the resort perfectly outfitted for us virgin campers. They had a great beach and a nice pool area, as well as RV sites and small cabins to rent. This was my first time camping, as well as Emma's and I have to say, we had a blast!! Eric of course has been camping many times so this was old hat for him but we all really enjoyed ourselves. We were invited by awesome new friends, Chris & Cheryl, as well as a few of their friends and our other awesome new friends Steve & Sherry. Steve & Sherry have Stephanie who is Emma's age and they seem to get along pretty well which is nice. They roamed around the campsite as mom's and dad's enjoyed cheap beer and fold up lawn chairs! I of course am so awesome that I managed to take absolutely no pictures!! How ridiculous is that?! We had so much fun though and hope to go back next year and stay a few days. It was great to get to know our new friends a little better and have some relaxing time in the sun. Thanks Haney's for the invite!!