Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Love, love, love these!!


Queen of Hearts and Alice in Wonderland Costume Set GIVEAWAY!!!!

Good Bye Summer 2009

As summer comes to an end, I'm sad that Ava wont be home as much, I can't believe that Ruby will be going to preschool!!!! It should be a fun exciting good year! See you later summer, hello fall........

Sweet Sweet Papa

I used to catch my dad outside playing hopscotch with Ava. I would get so mad at him because he was so sick and could barely walk. He would grin at me with his childlike grin and say "Im not hopping"and would continue to play. Today, I am so glad he never let my fears stop him. These memories bring me happiness. There's so much I have said and want to say about how I feel about him not being sick anymore and him not being here with us anymore. I just can find all the right words so I leave here, my father's eulogy. I love you dad, I miss you dad, I can't imagine living the rest of my life without you. Everyday I am trying to learn and trying to figure out how to survive because I know this is what you want. This is Joe:

In Memory of Joseph Luis Loya
My Father, a Loving Husband, Loving Dad and Pappa
June 22, 2009

For anyone who does not know me or has not seen me since I was a young child, I’m Edward, my dad’s only son and I would like to say a few words in memory of my father, Joseph Luis Loya, also known to the Loya family as Leone. I would like to start off by thanking everyone on behalf of my mom, my sisters, and myself for taking the time to celebrate the life of my hero, my father. Today is a very sad day for us, everyone’s tears are a symbol of how much we love my dad. I want to stress that I used the word “Love” in the present tense. Nobody here today will forget my father, he was an inspiration to us all. He was a Loving Husband, Father, Pappa, Brother, Cousin, and Friend.
My dad has two priorities in his life, his family and friends and most importantly his wife. My dad lived for my mom, he loved her so much. My dad went through a lot these last few years, he gave us more life than was expected. 95% of the fight my dad gave was for his one true love, his lovely wife, my beautiful mother.
Just out of high school, my dad had a talk with me about what adventures life would bring me. He told me that in time, God would bless me with the love of my life. He said from their first date he knew my mom was the one. He knew his life was about to change and that he had to do all he could to make her happy. He then told me how much he loved me and my sisters and wanted to explain that when we had disagreements with my mother, why he always took her side. He said, “Mijo, I love you and your sisters very much, you are a blessing from God. You’re a bonus, when I married your mother, I promised her to love her for the rest of my life and for all eternity. I will always choose your mom’s side, no matter what.” It was a big moment for me, it was the day I truly realized, “I want to be my dad.”
My dad loved his sports teams, everyone here has seen my dad at one time or another wearing either a USC, Rams, or Dodgers hat. My dad watched every Dodger game on TV from beginning to end. Of course that meant my mom had to do the same. He was able to compromise though, in between innings he would turn on American Idol, but change it back at the first chance he had. I have no doubt in my mind that when my Grandfather, Grandmother, Aunt Aurora, Uncle Sal, and Nino Sebio welcomed my dad home, the first thing he said was “Did the Dodgers win?”
My dad coached girls softball and girls soccer for several years. He was a very successful soccer coach, teams would accuse him of cheating because his teams always won. His Soccer Boppers were his pride and joy as they were his first team to complete the season as Undefeated Champions. My dad named all of his teams, the Soccer Boppers is the name he always liked most. My dad loved each and every girl he coached as if they were one of his daughters. His coaching career lasted just over 20 years, well over 100 girls played for him through that span. My dad gave every girl he coached a different nickname and never used the same nickname twice. He even had the famous “Thunder and Lightning” when he coached my sister Lisa. My dad liked to be like Pat Riley, the great Lakers coach. He always carried his clip board. If there was a bad call he would slam that clipboard down as hard as he could. I had the pleasure of coaching with my dad for 6 of those years. It was very hard for my dad to walk away from coaching, to him, his health didn’t matter it was about his girls.
My dad was the kindest man I’ve ever met. He had a glow about him, and an inviting smile, this is one of the reasons everyone is here today. He was very unselfish, if anyone came to visit while my dad was eating he would always offer half. The only thing my dad would not share were his donuts, they were precious to him. But he would gladly give you money to buy your own. As an accountant, who had his own business, my dad would work all hours of the day and night for his clients. He always made sure his clients felt like they were part of the family and not just business associates.
My dad also had a fun sense of humor. As children, my dad never woke us up by knocking on the door. He would sing to us, or make foghorn sounds until we got up. He loved to tease my mom about her age, although he was 6 years older. Whenever we had friends over while growing up, he would always be sure to say some sort of joke so that when our friends left they left our house with a smile on their face. At restaurants he would always have some sort of smart answer to the waiter or waitress. He tried to order a big mac at Chili’s once. He also liked to tell waitresses that I was single.
My dad said recently that he was not sure what his purpose in life was. His purpose was the loving man that he was. He was a patriarch to our family on my mom’s side, he was a surrogate father to many. My dad never saw things as black and white, and never judged anyone. He always tried to find the good in someone, and never bad mouthed anyone. Although this has been so hard for all of us, my dad does not want anyone to grieve for him. He wants us all to be happy and to celebrate. He wants someone to let him to know how his Rams and Trojans do every week, and of course the Dodgers scores.
Finally, I would like to end with a quote provided by my sister Monika. This is a quote from Joseph P. Kennedy (John F. Kennedy's father) who once said, "The measure of a man's success in life is not the money he's made, it's the kind of family he has raised." That said, my dad lived a life that we all hope and pray for, he touched the hearts of many friends and family, heaven is a better place today.
We love you dad, you will forever be in our hearts.

The Graduate

The day after Ava's kindergarten graduation, we lost Papa, my father. Obviously many things have gone a little crazy but mostly, I need to give all of her accomplishments their proper attention. She finished kindergarten and did awesome! Ava is growing up in so many ways every day. We are so proud of her, her adorable accent, her new friends, the fact that she learned everything in two languages this year and mostly for the beautiful gentle person she is. Before beginning first grade, Ava will do many things this summer. She is signed up for several art camps, fairy tale ballet, tons of play dates, lots of mini trips and each night, she's been reading one book to her sister in Spanish. I've seen so much growth in Ava. She's a beautiful enlightened being and I learn from her everyday. I love you baby!

My Bubble Ring

That's my jewelry in the center picture.

Bubble Blowing Skirt and Top GIVEAWAY!!!!

Bubble Blowing Skirt and Top GIVEAWAY!!!!

The Girls

I realized yesterday I haven't written about my girls in a while. Ava is now 5 and a half and Ruby is two.
Ava is finishing up her first year of school and it went amazingly well. We couldn't have asked for better teachers and staff. Ava did really well, made lots of new friends. She continues to dance and create all she can.
Ruby has transitioned from baby to toddler, she loves to pretend she's a dog and play fetch, there's random imaginary lady bugs all over the house. She dresses herself everyday in her sisters clothes and she still loves her babies! Ruby talks so much and uses big works, I'm really amazed when she can say three syllable words clearly.
Together, they are so sweet! Ava is very gentle and Ruby does all she can to get a rise out of her sister. For the most part, they get along really well.
They both have a love for fashion and creating. I try and let them do their thing, unless its a major holiday with lots of photos taken, then I step in.
Although I am not a fan of hipster fashion, I am when I see my girls looking like them. I am convinced the hipster society is scamming the local kindergarten play ground for fashion sense combined with lack of showering.
Here are a few photos of the girls playing in their daddy's hats and then Ava "modeling" my Baby Ice Necklace. She is convinced "fashion girls" only make mean faces in pictures. Maybe she's right??

Art Nest Pincushion RingGIVEAWAY!!!!

Art Nest Pincushion RingGIVEAWAY!!!!

I've been selected in a new treasury today!!

First piece, second row. That's my metal work. I love this bracelet! It's like wearing a corsage!

Grosgrain

I got a very nice write up in a blog today!

http://www.grosgrainfabulous.blogspot.com/

Please check it out!

Etsy Front Page 4/30/09 Admin

Etsy Front Page 4/30/09 Admin
Originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers

Im very excited that my jewelry is getting such warm recognition!! That's my necklace in the third row!!

Clouds

Early yesterday morning, I found out my dad had a seizure. I was surprised and felt really bad for him. I reacted in my seemingly new "normal" reactions and said....."Breyne my dad had a seizure, lets go out to breakfast." Sad, I know. I call that "new" because over the last year or two, instead of instantly reacting, I don't feel it at all until later, which is rare and scary for me. So we went out to breakfast and it was a nice one, we played with girls, joked, you never would have guessed I got that call and I hadn't thought about it since.
Then we got home and I quickly asked a friend to watch our girls and starting making a pile of all this sewing stuff I was going to take with me because I was going to sew. I don't know what but I am going to sew and Breyne is watching me pack all my stuff up and I'm telling him, I need my needles I can't find them and he's going along. Sweet, sweet man. So we get in the car and my heart is racing and I am saying to myself, what is happening, you don't even know yourself any more when it comes to your dad. Im asking myself, what was all that gathering of sewing supplies stuff about? I then put on my big dark sunglasses and say to myself........now figure out a quite way to have a melt down because you need to have one. I'm in the passengers seat and Im biting my finger and I'm crying.
As I look up into the sky, I see bright white clouds and I remind myself how I always found things in the clouds when I was a kid, so I start looking again. I see a crocodile and the little girl in me hears my dad say "After A While Crocodile". He used to tell me that every morning when he dropped me off at school. Then the crocodile turns into a dragon spitting firing and blows away and that made me cry more, watching the cloud blow away.
The entire time, Breyne is trying to hold my hand, look at me, drive and be calm himself.
When we got there, my dad looked ok, his emotions were high and he was very scared. My dad cried a lot and said he's afraid to die. He looks like a young child in desperate need for reassurance. Its very hard for me to understand why he is so worried. I would think his fight and torture of his illness would make him want to give up, but it never has. Maybe thats what the dragon spitting fire was telling me?
Since my dad moved, I don't visit him often enough. It's really hard for me to see him. I wish it wasn't but it is. I am working on it and I am aware. I feel terrible about it and I understand it to. He is stable for now and I'm working on not trying to keep my experiences with this so bottled up. The beauty of blogging...........

Etsy Front Page 4/15/09 theshadesofgreen

Etsy Front Page 4/15/09 theshadesofgreen
Originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers

My jewelry made the front page of Etsy. It feels so good! :D

Summer of 69 Thrift Store Refashion Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Summer of 69 Thrift Store Refashion Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Their First Recital Together

The girls had their first recital together with Ms Claire. A few weeks before Ruby turned two, she started to take a dance class. Ava took these same classes and began the day she turned two. Although Ava takes, hip hop and ballet at the dance academy, she wanted to take tap too. I can't blame her but we didn't want to pay the academy prices for another class. So I signed them both up with Ms Claire through the city of South Pasadena. Ruby on Monday's and Ava on Thursdays. They are both loving it!! Ruby loves the dancing, running, dressing up and the shoes. Ava, she loves the dancing and tapping and her new friends. She has a "tap best friend" her name is Jayden and they got nuts when they see each other for that hour each week.
They had a western theme recital and it was very cute! I think I will post the video and the pictures up. enjoy!

Words to live by

Paper Crane Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Paper Crane Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Happy Cakey Day Ruby Lu

Ruby is two and loved her birthday! I think at first she couldn't figure out what was happening and then when she realized it was her day. She was screaming with excitement! For days she was telling me, "more cake mama". She would come up to me while pressing her belly button (thats what she does for comfort) and would say "present mama" or "canny pease" She hasn't stopped asking for candy but I think the other two are done, for now.
Its so fun being with Ruby. She is so funny! She has a great imagination and loves to make people laugh. Ruby has to do everything for herself. Everything......."my do it" as she gets dressed every morning.
Her favorite person, her big sister Ava. "Eeva, Sissy" Thats what we hear all the time. She also gets frustrated pretty quickly and sadly for Ava, that can come down on her. Ruby loves, animals, princesses, dresses, heals, kick boxing, SUGAR, Madagascar and music! She loves to dance and started her first ballet class, she is doing well and she likes all the pictures I take of her.
We are excited for this new year. We know we will hear even more words, she will potty train and her family of imaginary friends will grow. Right now we have bebug thats a lady bug. She lives in her diaper and flies out the window sometimes to play with kids and there is also Maggie that is a baby and she gets all of Rubys clothes she's out grown.
Ruby has a love for babies. She has about 10, they are all naked and she sleeps with all of them. They are called "my stuff" and every morning at five in the morning, Breyne and I take turns carrying each one of those naked dolls into our bed. Its a sweet life we share with Ruby Lu. Happy Birthday Beautiful!