A sign....

...Of a true friend.

I've been under the weather. Then I came out of it.
Then something else hit HARD.
A friend called and said,
"I'll come over and pick up your 4 kids-under-the-age-of-9 for 2+ hours!"

Wow, what a wonderful break.

Then, this same friend, called and said,

"Don't worry, I'll take your 4 little ones (along with my own little ones) to 3 hours of church tomorrow. I'll cover your Young Women President responsibilities....oh yeah, and what do you want for dinner when we get home from church?"


Let's just say I OWE YOU BIG TIME!!!! Thank you Ali and Troy!!!


(yes, I'm posting this while my 4 kids are at church with them)

Project Friday

Due to circumstances this week....my project will be continued for one more week.
More to come on that!

Things are definitely looking up!

Thank you for all of your great (and not-so-great-lock-in-the-bedroom-but-sounds-nice) ideas!
I'm feeling much better,
The sun is out
the weather is nice
and my other half will be back soon!

A week at home

Well, plans have changed for our "vacation week at home."

*I'm sick, (and I'm not a wimp, this is more than just a stuffy nose)
*minor bank error - halt to fun $$$
*it's POURING rain for day #4
*it's ending up being "survival week at home".


So, because all of my creative juices have been blown into a thousand tissues with this sickness, I need your help.

***What do you do when you have severe CABIN FEVER?

200th POST!!!!

Let's celebrate!!!! let's have a party all week - no school - no responsibilities - parties - playing - and making delicious treats - all in celebration of my 200th POST!

Ok, not really, how 'bout
just because it's
"Presidents' Week"
at our school.
So, we'll be playing all week.
(with the exception of a few household chores and Project Friday chore).

Here's what's keeping everyone busy so far:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Even while he's gone for two weeks...Ryan manages to
make my Valentine's Day sweet!
Thank you Babe!
You are the LOVE OF MY LIFE!

Project Friday

Even though some of these projects COULD be done in a matter of hours (not a week), I have to remember that I only have a few minutes a day to work on these projects. So, I have to set my realistic goal of a week to accomplish them (if only my time could be divided into 2 hour chunks, instead of 15 minute snippets... between snacks to get, arguments to referee, spills to clean, meals to fix and every-day chores to do...15 minutes/day has to do for now. )
With that said, here's the results of my project this week.

This is Ezra'a closet before

This is his closet after (no major change to see)
Someday it'll have shelves and things...but it's not going to be HIS closet for long
( I cannot get this picture to turn)
After going through the bins, organizing the closet
and getting rid of the old stuff,
I feel great having organized the drawers and closet with all the "new".

NOW FOR NEXT WEEK:
talk about the EMBARRASSMENT of my life!
Ryan will dread that this is posted, sorry Hun.
But between Holidays, vacations, and being sick at the beginning of this pregnancy,
my room has gone to waste! (maybe a trait I inherited, hee hee)
So, I will spare you the pictures of the nightmare
and just show you two clips...that's enough to get the idea across!

Wish me LUCK!!!

just what I need

This little necklace is the perfect thing to make me feel pretty, and feminine...
on days when maybe I'm not feeling my best.
Something about it (the dainty, beautiful, unique-ness about it)
makes me feel so happy!
Thank you friend!

I can almost taste it...

Oh how I can't wait for THIS masterpiece BBQ to be finished!!!

Ryan is so handy...I just can't even comprehend how he sees this in his head, he does some research and then he just DOES it! He's been working so hard on getting our backyard done (and we've been saving, and saving to make it all happen). Now that the cement is poured, the BBQ is the next step and my mouth is already watering! YUMMMY!

I love that Ryan thinks about, and follows through with every little detail to make it JUST right!

So, stay tuned for pictures of the finished product soon!

Project Friday

Before: in the laundry room

After: in the laundry room (not PERFECT but, better!)

Before: under the snack bar

After: under the snack bar

Before: the worst one...in the kitchen


After: in the kitchen (I don't know WHY I can't get a clear picture of this!)
This one shows the biggest change.
I proceeded to scrub (and paint where needed) the rest of the baseboards in the house, and it's amazing what a difference it makes! I feel like my house is new again (at least the baseboards).



AND FOR NEXT WEEK!

I will go through the bins in Ezzy's closet and sort through all of it...
"Out with the old, in the new" (well, hand-me-downs)




Just an up-date...the kids LOVE their hide-out,
keep it tidy and can play to their hearts' content.

I love opening the door to the Hide Out and seeing things like THIS:

all better

This morning, while lying on the couch, weeping over the events of the morning (and letting my hormones and emotions get the best of me) this sweet little guy came over for some words of cheer:

"Mom, get happy!" he said, with a big smile, and head cocked to the left.

He wiped the tear away, then saw more..."uh oh, Mom, I'll get it." Then he went to the kitchen, got the dish towel and proceeded to wipe my eyes.

After tossing the towel over his shoulder, he got a smile out of me. "Mommy's happy again!" he shouted. Then he laid his head on my shoulder.

A Sunday Afternoon

I was testing my new camera for the first time. This is just for fun.