bee and rose

See that big pink sign up there?  That's my daily mantra.  Well, it was until life around here went seriously in the dumper over the last several months...Where should I begin?  With the loss of health insurance for my terminally ill husband?  Hmm...oh! How about the very long delay of multiple paychecks for said terminally ill husband which still haven't been paid in full (umm, yeah, my children would like for their father to live for a bit longer so being able to purchase his medications would be lovely..just sayin')...or how about the time our tires (all flippin' four of them) went bad on the car...yep, good times.  Oh! Oh! Even better!  The gas leak that kept us without heat for the two coldest weeks in the winter!  Then came the pneumonia, the sinus infections that would not leave and so much more fun.  Yeah baby, those were the days!  But even in the darkest of days, I would still awake to those encouraging words " Keep Calm and Carry...

I'll te ll ya' what's new....there's tainted love at my house. ... My Precious (nickname for my laptop) has contracted an STD...(Stupid Technical Disease.) Some Jerkity McJerk Jerk infected my laptop with a virus.  I am not a happy bee...This virus actually reconfigured my anti-virus software to pretend like it was still working...ugh...It also possibly infected my flash drives too....fabulous (insert sarcasm)..... I will be taking Miss Precious and her flash drives to the Computer Guru tomorrow...these guys know their STD's....I hope there is a cure! I do realize the holidays are over and I really need to change out my header!  I haven't completely lost my mind...yet.....I will be sporting a new look as soon as my computer disease is healed:) Oh, and here's the icing on the cupcake of my day....a huge mountain lion decided to come hang out in my yard this evening!  Yep, it completely freaked me out!  I haven't seen it in the last half h...

(I know I'm a day early for Dear So and So...oopsy!) Dear Blog, Happy 1st Birthday! You are growing up so fast! It seems like only yesterday I was changing around your headers and sidebars...feeding you with lots of words and pictures to help you grow.  I realize I have been sort of a latch~key Momma lately.  I promise going forward into the new year that I will take better care of you!  I will spend more time nurturing you and a new makeover is coming!   I also promise more play~dates with old bloggy pals and we'll make some new ones too! With Much Love, Momma Bee Dear New Toothbrush Holder , You are simply freakin' cool. I know my family thinks you are weird, but I love you.  I know you are for holding toothbrushes and toothpaste, but I think I'll hang some jewelry on you instead. Thanks for the giggles, Dear Teen Caveboy, Thank you for giving me your old iPod when Santa brought your new one. I loved that you wrapped ...

Greetings, my friends! It's a happy day here at the Bee and Rose! I have been blessed by Kristen over at La Dolce Vita as a Featured Reader this week! Many of you are familiar with Kristen, her blog and her FABULOUS Etsy shop ! She is the amazing creator and designer of the most amazing hand-stamped jewelry! I'm always skulking around over there drooling all over the goodies....cyber drooling...no worries! Here are a few of my favorite pieces.... I went crazy silly when I saw her "I love you more" necklace! My kids and I have a sweet ritual where we say this to each other all day long. And the "Good Witch" necklace is absolutely perfect to wear to all of my Black Crow Boutique events! I purchased one of her "dog tags" for my son who wears it all the time! Very cool! Because Kristen is a very generous soul, she is giving me an opportunity to win one of her amazing necklaces! Every time one of you, my sweet bloggy friends, visits the Featu...

All righty then! I've finally released all of my frustration and negativity toward blogger and feel like I can do some blogging without wanting to pitch my coffee cup at my monitor. I was so irritated by the recent blog disappearance and Google Friends Connect problem, that I couldn't even look at my laptop without growling or thinking mean thoughts about blogger. Chilly suggested since I've been in a magical mood after seeing "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" that I shoot a spell at Blogger. He thinks I should use his personal favorite, "Wingardium Idiosa" ....(It means "Fly Away, Idiots!"...yeah, he made that up all by himself....clever, isn't he?) I grabbed my cyber backpack last Friday and traveled the interwebs for days in search of answers as to why: A) My blog disappeared without warning last week ....and B) Why Google Friend Connect is being such a loser. Here's what I discovered during my travels.... *There is NO ea...

As you may know, I am experiencing some problems with Blogger...more specifically Google Friend Connect. Yesterday, my blog was removed by Blogger, and every blog that I follow lost me as a follower ! I still have NO clue why this happened. Fortunately, I was alerted by the FaBuLoUs blueviolet that something was amiss... Shortly after the heads up from blueviolet, I started receiving tons of worried emails from bloggy friends and family. Many were concerned that something (like death!) had happened to poor Chilly. Rest assured, Chilly is alive and well...(if he doesn't start behaving, I don't know how long that will last, but for now he has a pulse!) Shame on you, Google Friend Connect (close family relative to Blogger!) for causing such a panic for my loved ones! The most amusing part of this nightmare is that once I realized what happened, I immediately tried to reconstruct my "blogilicious" list (blog roll). I'm still missing some, but am trying har...

This was me a little while ago... Apparently, earlier this afternoon, my blog and profile disappeared! I have not shut down, stopped blogging or anything like that! I have no idea what happened! I would like to send a huge bloggy hug to blueviolet who alerted me to this nightmare! I would also like to apologize if I follow your blog and it appears that I stopped. I DID NOT stop following any blogs! Blogger has removed me from tons of blogs and I'm trying to go back in to re-join. If I follow your blog, and I went missing from your followers list, please email so I can re-join. I follow over 300 blogs and I've found 285 of them. I'm still missing several. Please know that once I follow, I stick with ya! I would love it if you would email me to let me know! Anyone else having blogger issues? I know it took me FOREVER to get my post to load this morning...and photos weren't loading for me at all on Sunday....ARRGGGHH! Thanks for understanding!! xoxo! Dawn

My husband and his father have a charming “phone” ritual that always makes me smile. Every call they share begins with “What’s the story?” I am a lover of stories. I love reading them, listening to them and writing them. Whether it’s a group of preschoolers gathered at the library for storytime, friends regaling each other with their vacation adventures, or reading a bedtime story to a child…stories are what connect us to each other. I love that stories come in many shapes and sizes….shared through the written word, woven in song, and played out in films. Stories are created with works of art. Beautiful stories are shared through dance. Some of my favorite stories are in photographs…a picture really is worth thousands of words. My kids love our photo albums…they are our family story. I began to read a fairytale to my daughter the other day that began with the classic “ Once upon a time” …just after I spoke those magical words, Catherine si...