New House

We are moving! We'll be in our new home by the end of August (just in time for school). It's on 2.5 acres and has 5 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. Now if we can just get our house sold!

The New Big Girl Hair Cut & Updates

When did my baby turn into a big girl! I'm not ready for this! She got a haircut like a REAL BIG GIRL haircut...not just trimming of the baby hair. She loves visiting my cousin Lindsey who cuts our hair. After her cut, I got mine cut - matching of course. Although I haven't been that blond since college. She walked around singing "You're beautiful, it's true!" and saying "Do you like my new hair?"

We got our house projects done. (I can't find my camera cord that uploads to the computer.) The house looks great and then we promptly decided to put it on the market. Neal is ready to move out of an HOA community and onto land - anything bigger than 1 acre and smaller than 10. We have our eyes on something...let's pray this house sells! I mean it looks fabulous so it should sell pretty quick!

Summer has been great so far. Swimming, swim lessons, movies, spend the nights, farmers market, helping grandma and grandpa, whatever comes up that day is fine with us. It's great to have lazy summer days.

Vacation time is coming soon. We are going on a Disney cruise at the end of July. We will be on the boat for Eli and Morgan's birthday. Everyone is excited about it!

The picture tells the story

This pictures sums up the weekend. But I have to tell you the whole story which started in January!

We decided (you know when I say we - I mean I told Neal what I decided and he went along with it)...so WE decided it was time to update our flooring. Our house is 12 years old and we've lived in it for 6 years. $$$$ Income Tax Money getting spent $$$$

Needless to say the carpet has seen better days. But in order to get new carpet we have to remove the current boring brown tile and put in some fabulous green/gray tile (that we bought 5 years ago). So at the end of February we rented a hammer drill and ripped out the tile from the kitchen and entry way. Then we waited. We are busy people you know! My feet got so dry from the concrete I had to wear slippers. Two Saturdays into March Neal starts laying tile. Of course you have to move the stove and refrigerator out to tile....note big hole in kitchen. The fridge is currently sitting in my dining room.

This weekend we were determined to finish cutting and laying tile so we could grout during the week. (Did I tell you that I went ahead and ordered the carpet so that I could gently push my husband along?) So mid-afternoon he finished cutting all the tile. BUT I wanted to kids bathroom done also and I persuade Neal to get started on that area as well. He and Eli head in there to start tearing out baseboard and the toilet. Next thing I see is Eli running like mad and Neal screaming for me. The baseboard jerked up and hit the pipe which broke off in the wall and was spewing everywhere. Neal tells me to go turn off the water at the road. Apparently I spun around in circles. I have no clue what to do and I'm trying to decide....do I pretend and go away for a minute or do I tell him I have not idea what he is talking about.

The water was pouring out for well over 3 minutes! It was EVERYWHERE. Down the hall and into all the rooms that share a wall with the bathroom. AMAZING! I have never seen a pipe break or water get everywhere. So our attention went from tiling to cutting out carpet, soaking up water, and moving stuff so it wouldn't get wet or ruined. My house is a crazy, CRAZY mess! Bare floors, unglued tile, dirty carpet, and stuff everywhere from rooms and closets that got soaked.

And we broke several things in the process including the lamp at the beginning of the post.

Oh the JOYS of owning a home!

Happy 5th Birthday, Dylan!

Today - cupcakes during lunch at school; pick dinner; open presents; eat a yummy dessert

Saturday - Monster Jam! This is our 3rd year going. The boys absolutely love it and look forward to it every year.

Sunday - dinner at Grandma Pam and Grandpa Rick's house; more presents; more cake & ice cream

We love Dylan! He's happy, fun, and super smart. He loves Lego's, video games, and Monster Jam. Happy Birthday!

OH NO SHE DIDN'T!!!!!

I'm not sure if this is suppose to be the joys of motherhood or the pains of motherhood!

Morgan is, by far, my most mischievous child. Yesterday she was in rare form with her non-stop craziness.

But the piece DE resistance - she decided to drop her paints and do #2 on the back porch. I have no idea why! And to top it off it was right when I had to leave to get Dylan from Pre-K so I had to leave the mess for later. I quickly wiped her down and ran out the door.

I asked her why and she said "boys" - I promise the boys have never done this AND she know to blame them (but both were at school.)

Are you sad that there are no pictures?

Arnold Sandwich Thins PARTY

My couponing and crazy blog hopping is paying off. Not only do I get GREAT deals on groceries and household items, but I get to find out about great offers online.

I signed up for a online party group at www.houseparty.com which invites you to participate in sampling food products or household items for free by hosting a party. There's always something good to sign up for! And I was accepted for the Arnold Sandwich Thins Party. So this coming weekend for Dylan's birthday we will be enjoying these yummy sandwich thins.

I've had them before because they are only 1 weight watchers point. They are delicious!

So if you get to come to the party - your tummy's will be happy and full! If you don't get to come sign up for other parties at house party and go try some Arnold Sandwich Thins -they really are yummy!

Keeping the spirit alive!

It's never to late for Christmas photos! I'm amazed sometimes at how slow and fast life moves. There are certainly days that seem like they will never end. There are days (and sometimes weeks) that go by so fast that it was a blur. Certainly once you look back it always went way to fast!

I am most thankful that my dad's health as improved. The week of Christmas was a touch and go situation. He was at the doctor/hospital everyday. On Christmas Eve he got a plasma donation which saved his life! (I'm not exaggerating here - the doctor's said if he did not get that plasma before Christmas he might not make it through the weekend) Scary stuff! But he sat in the hospital most of Christmas Eve and thankfully came home in enough time to enjoy the festivities!

IF YOU HAVE NOT DONATED BLOOD OR PLASMA BEFORE PLEASE GO AND DO IT. BLOOD IS LIFE AND YOU CAN HELP SAVE LIVES!

Christmas was great this year. The kids are old enough to enjoy finding gifts for each other and appreciate them once they are opened. We did our traditional Christmas Eve breakfast with the Alder's. Christmas Eve night at Grandma & Grandpa J.C. house. Christmas breakfast with the Steinhour's. And Christmas evening at Grandpa Rick and Grandma Pam's house. It's a busy 2 days, but completely enjoyable and filled with love.

Eli was thoughtful and looked forward to the surprise!

Dylan can't keep a secret yet.

Morgan was into opening and playing with her new presents.

During the break we took the kids to ICE in Orlando. It's ice sculptures and slide experience that they keep at 9 degrees. Thankfully they provide parka's because no one in Florida has anything that would keep them warm enough. We thought the kids would really enjoy it, but instead it was too cold. They wanted to leave within the first 5 minutes. We made them stick it out though. I liked it!

I didn't get my Christmas news letter out this year. Sorry for that but you all know where to contact me!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!