playing catch up!

Oh my goodness, my blog has been neglected this week!  It has been very busy around here, all in a good way.  Because I'm feeling lazy, here's what I've been up to this week (in no particular order):

• Children sick with lingering stomach bug & out of school
• Board meeting (and all the accompanying preparation) at school
• Two days filled with volunteering at our church preschool holiday fundraiser
• A day trip to Gainesville with my MIL to go the the amazing Marketplace
• Painting my entire bedroom (just a wee task, of course!)
• Tiling roofs of birdhouses for classroom art project (trying to remove E-600 from my hands still)
• attending friends' championship football games

And of course, the usual:  carpool, laundry, house cleaning, cooking (sort of), homework, etc.

And, biggest of all, I hosted a Shutterfly House Party yesterday!!

If you know me in "real" life, you know I'm a Shutterfly nut.  Bordering on obsessed with photo books.  I make them for everything ~ everyday life, holidays, gifts, thank-you's, teacher's christmas, grandparents, calendars, etc.  

So a couple of months ago, I got an email from Shutterfly asking if I was interested in hosting a Shutterfly House Party.  Intrigued, I said yes, but also assumed that they had sent the email to all of their account holders.

Then I got a link to the application.  Ok, I thought, no big deal.  But it was a big deal!  It took me about 30 minutes to fill it out!  But I did it, and then heard back that I had been accepted to host.  Again, I assumed they accepted anyone who filled out the application.  Not so!

So I was thrilled about it.  Here is how it went, again in no particular order.

• I decorated with fall flowers, photo books & ribbon wreaths (which were the guest's party favors)
• Friends arrived with their laptops, having uploaded their photos to Shutterfly previously
• We gathered and I shared a sampling of the gazillion books I've done
• We got started making a book, as I walked everyone through the process step-by-step
• I even learned some things!!  And several friends finished books!
• We took a break for lunch, and dove into some Wright Gourmet goodness (if you've never been there, you are seriously missing out).  We finished with some of their lemonade cake, strawberry cupcakes & chocolate cupcakes.  Yum.  Wright's is family owned & operated by wonderful people, and they even deliver!  It has been a favorite of mine for my whole life.
• We got back to work and enjoyed every minute of it.
• I was tired :)
• **  If you'd like me to include the tutorial I did for photo books, let me know & I'll post it.  But it is kind of long, so I don't want to post it if no one wants to see it!

So, here are some photos from the day.  I didn't actually take any during the party, as I was busy teaching!

The highlight of the day for my boys was that one of my friends brought her sons, two of my boys oldest & dearest friends, with her!  These boys are much like brothers but since this family moved over the summer, we haven't seen them much.  When Dana's boys got out of the car, there was much hugging, jumping up & down, screaming and general rejoicing.  Happiness!

I would love to host another Shutterfly party again ~ if you would be interested in coming & learning how to make photo books, would you let me know?  This party was supported by Shutterfly, so all the guests got a free hardcover book that they design, discounts for additional orders & some free holiday cards.  However, I could do this again just for *fun* so let me know if you would be interested!  The only limitation on number of guests is space for laptops :)

Last but certainly not least...

We are 7 shy of 300 followers here at A Few Good Pieces!  I continue to be amazed by your support, encouragement, ideas, suggestions & the things you share with me through this blog.  I have made so many new friends here (no less than 12 of you who emailed me this week to make sure I was ok in my absence ~ thanks!), and it is just a happy place for me.  I want to celebrate 300 with another fun giveaway, so if you have any ideas let me know!!!

Love to you all!  Hope you are enjoying the gorgeous weekend as much as we are!

Kathie