Thursday, February 26, 2009

Just Say "NO!"......

My husband started it years ago. I thought I was not interested.
Until I took that FIRST bite.....
the month before I started dieting......
with a spoon....
straight out of the jar......

Heavenly, creamy goodness that makes your eyes roll into the back of your head!!!
Now I am tryin' to eat "right" and that darn Nutella is callin' my name. I heard it today at Walmart! I resisted the urge and moved on. I just hope I can continue to stay strong! Maybe if I can lose 5 more pounds, I can reward myself??? Yeah...motivation!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Rock Star...

I took Nevin and Taelyn into Convenient Care tonight because they had sore throats. Nolan wanted to come along for the ride and we also picked Daddy up from work since he needed to take a break!

We walked in and usually the waiting room that is EMPTY, had at least 15 people waiting! I was not planning on this, so I was NOT prepared! I usually pack a SUITCASE filled with books, crayons and paper, toys, snacks, drinks, etc...... just in case we end up waiting. Well, not this time!

So the boys horsed around for a while and then started getting really rambunctious! I asked the boys if they wanted to sit on my lap and sing a song! This will usually keep them sitting and quiet for at least 10 minutes or so! They look so sweet and angelic while doing so too! It's so sweet! We usually have a long list of songs we like to sing...generally it's Jesus Loves Me......Zachius......This Little Light of Mine.....Lord's Army.....Oh Be Careful.....Jesus Loves the Little Children....... mostly songs from Sunday School! So I sat Nevin up on my lap and said, "What do you want to sing first, Buddy?" (It's usually Jesus Loves Me or Zaccheus) Nevin blurts out in his wildness at the moment, "We Will Rock You!"

2 year olds...so unpredictable!

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Whassa Goin' Ooooon?!?!?!

I have been really wanting to post lately, but I am SO lost without MY computer! We are also so busy with the house, that we don't know which end is up! The busyness is all in a good way though. We enjoy working with the kids at the house and spending time hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa for sure! But mostly for my sake I wanted to jot down what exactly is going on.....



The House
We are sorta at a stand-still. We have worked on the roof some more to try to fix the leak. We have figured out that it is best to "test" the roof with a natural rain instead of the hose. We are suppose to have thunderstorms coming in on Wednesday, so that should be the day that we figure something out. Hopefully that something will be that the leak is fixed and we can go ahead and continue to hang the drywall and finish the kitchen!

We also have figured out that we have a second leak that is coming from the chimney. This is on the fireplace that we will not use...it is being covered up. So we have torn out the girls' wall upstairs, to expose the chimney. Hopefully on Wednesday, we will know more information about that leak too. We thought we were done with the "demolition chapter" of the house, but apparently not! That is fine though...we want to do things right the first time!

We have our new downstairs bathroom started. Walls are framed, plumbing and electrical is in! We had to wait for a while because our plumber was called out on another job. He came back yesterday and finished up what he needed to. Hopefully drywall will be going up in the bathroom this week! We have picked out our toliet, bathtub, vanity cabinet, and lighting. We plan on picking out our flooring and vanity sink tomorrow. Aaahhhh....decisions, decisions.

We have been blessed with some crazy good deals! Most people know that I am a MAJOR clearance/bargain shopper. It has been a hobby of mine since high school. Back then, I did it more for the thrill of a good bargain. Now, I do it out of necessity! Anyways, we got our vanity cabinet in Arthur, IL. I am totally in love with this cabinet warehouse over there! If anyone who lives nearby is looking for any type of cabinetry, let me know...I will give you the hook up! Anyways....our cabinet was originally almost $500, and it was marked down to $229. It was exactly what I was looking for! We also picked up some odds and ends on clearance, here are just a few....

  • Garbage disposal...regularly $179, on clearance for $59
  • Kitchen Faucets... regularly $169, on clearance for $90
  • Windows (we actually are getting them tomorrow)... regularly $129, on clearance for $65
  • Kenmore Elite Steam front loader washer and dryer!!!...regularly $1800 each, on clearance for $900 each! (They were marked down because Sears will no longer carry them in RED. They are the biggest front loaders that you can buy and I have drooled over them for the past couple months! We could have never afforded them at the regular price! Oh, the things that can thrill a Mama! =)

We generally have NOT bought anything for the house UNLESS it was on sale. There have been a few times that we HAD to and it about killed me! We have been blessed to get so many good sales!



School
The kids started their new schools this week. They had stayed at Northeast in order for Ashton to finish his Scholastic Bowl meets. Ashton goes down to Ridgefarm, which is just 4th and 5th grade. My mom works there, so she gave Ash the tour and hooked him up with the sweetest teacher ever! He is doing awesome! The teacher said that he fits right in and is very social with everyone! He generally has a tendency to like familiar things, but he seemed really laidback about this change! The girls go to a separate school here in town. They did great also! Mariya teared up the day that I dropped her off, but 2 of the kids in her class reassured her right away that they would help to show her around. The girls are in the same class now, so I really think that will work out better! I ran into their teacher yesterday and she said "They are such good girls! I wish I had a whole class of kids' that do as well as your two." The girls have already brought home little drawings from other girls in the class that say "BFF". They are so funny!


I will try to update more often! Hopefully soon I can post some more "before and after" photos!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Top 10 Reasons That Your House May NOT Be Ready to Move Into Yet...

#10. You have 2 toilets. Neither are in the bathroom.

#9. You randomly drive by and wonder "Hmm....I wonder whose work truck that is?"

#8. You have to open the basement door with a crowbar and AT LEAST 2 other people.

#7. You have a 3-foot-high pile of garbage (including everything from a recliner to old heat ducts) waiting in front of the garage for the NEXT dumpster.

#6. Your husband was just on the roof with the 6th tube of silicone caulk this week.

#5. The holes in the windows are temporarily covered...with duct tape.

#4. You are using wood scraps and brooms to layout what you think the bathroom layout should look like when it's finished.

#3. Your kids run through the house with extremely muddy boots and you don't even try to stop them!

#2. When your mom walks in, she happily comments, "You know...I don't think that the smell is as bad as it used to be!"

#1. To get into your house, you have to go up a set of "dead end" steps, step across the "gap" and balance on the slippery plywood...just to get to the door!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

FYI....

Just so you guys know...I have NOT fallen off the face of the earth! It has been a week since I have posted! I have some posts that I am anxious to get up, but I don't have my computer hooked up yet!

We have moved into my Mom and Dad's house while we are finishing our house! It is absolutely wonderful! I mean, spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa 24/7...what is there to complain about??? They have a beautiful home and we feel 100% comfortable here. Even if we are cramming the 8 of us into 2 bedrooms at night! The rest of their house is very spacious, so there is LOTS of room for the kiddos to run around! They also have a full basement, so that has been a great place to set up the boys' train tracks! I am sure we will be ready to have our OWN house back, but in the meantime, we are definitely NOT suffering!

I am dying to get back to blogging, but for now, here a just a few things that I am thanking God for:

  • A Smooth Move.... Albeit TONS of hard work, everyone stayed safe and worked so well together. I had NO idea how much a family of 8 could actually have tucked into every nook and cranny!
  • A Non-Eventful House Closing... Everything went as planned. Loan stuff was threatening to get in the way, but in the end, we were able to keep our original closing date! We signed papers on Friday, the 30th. We were in and out of the office in 30 minutes!
  • Our Families... Both of our families have really stepped up to the plate and helped out! Dave's Dad let us use his big race car trailer for moving. He came over and helped us take a couple loads down! Dave's Mom helped with hauling boxes too! She is a tough little lady! She also generously babysat the boys ALL day on Friday. That was a HUGE help! My Mom has watched the kids and did a HUGE amount of work... packing up my entire kitchen! My Grandma Betty helped her out with that too! They were a great team! My Dad has played a MAJOR hand in helping with the remodel at the new house. Whether it was demolition (his favorite job) or meeting the plumber at the house, he has stepped right up and helped in more ways than I could have ever imagined! I don't think we could have done ANY of this without him! And of course, the blessing of my parents inviting us into their "once" peaceful abode...what a sweet sacrifice!
  • Our Church Family.... We were offered a place to live by at least 3 different families at our church. All for free and most of them furnished! We also had 2 very sweet guys give us their entire Friday to help us move! We were thankful for their muscles! It's funny, because any given Sunday, you can find Dave and I chatting up house stuff with everyone after church. It's nice to have our Christ-loving friends take interest in our little lives!
  • Our Health... As of right now, everyone is healthy! Praise the Lord! With a big family, the flu can set us back weeks! We are praying that we can stay healthy and strong so that we can remain mentally and physically active in preparing our house! There are a ton of decisions that need to be made and even more work that needs to be done over the next couple weeks!