Summer Renovations

Big things are happening around here, renovations being one of them, along with the series that is associated with them. Be sure to follow along with us to see real life numbers and some pictures as well. Amanda has decided to venture out to life on her own, we are excited and praying for her as she starts new things. For the rest of us it means we are moving rooms, which means lots of work and changes.
Our goal for this project is to get everyone in their new spaces completely prior to school starting. A second goal is that we finish this entire project for under $1000. Matt and I have decided that we are only spending $1000, if this means that certain furniture can't be purchased then it will be put on hold. In regards to blogging about this renovation, I will provided at least a weekly update with numbers and pictures.
Breakdown of projects:

1. Haley's new room- Haley will be moving across the hall to the largest bedroom with a half bath attached. a) Scrap popcorn ceiling- completed, b) repaint ceiling-completed c) Remove wallpaper boarder-completed d) repaint walls e)Replace window- has been order. f)Complete floor in closet g) move window treatments. As you can see we are half way finished with this room. Hopefully Haley can move over the weekend. Furniture needed: 2 new dresser for clothing.
2. Lily and Kendall move into bigger room- a) Scrap popcorn ceiling, b) repaint ceiling c) Remove wallpaper boarder d) repair walls and door e) Paint walls f) Purchase and hang new window treatments. g) Matt is planning to make a new twin bed frame for Lily to use. h) change light fixture for new fan already purchased. Furniture needed: New closet divider, bins.
3. Zach gets his own room and closet- a) Scrap popcorn ceiling, b) repaint ceiling c) adapt currently color (yellow) to boys room probably pin-stripping and maybe stickers. Furniture needed: NONE
4. Matt's office- Matt will need furniture only for this including -desk, chair and shelves

We have already purchased and installed a ceiling fan in the playroom which has made a real difference in the temperature in this room.
Budget information:$1000
Spent $300 @ Lowes for new window and ceiling fans
Spent $120 @ Lowes on paint.
Total spent $420 with $580 remaining

Highlights

We managed to add to the calender this week to the point where Matt and I actually did not see each other, for longer than 5 minutes on 3 of the 5 nights. Matt is currently serving on the church governing board and the pool board, this month both of the meeting occurred during the same week. I have also been picking up extra hours at work, Lily continues to have 3 nights of cheerleading a week and Haley's birthday was Friday.
Things that I remember from this week:

1. Today (Saturday), church pictures and Haley's birthday lunch. The pictures were really dark and I looked HUGE in them so I was not tempted to purchase any!  We ate at Texas Roadhouse for lunch and managed to finish the leftovers for dinner. The meal was really good and Zach had the only meltdown which occured at the end of the meal, while we were waiting for a check. All 7 of us enjoyed several hours together with no major drama!

2. Zach asked to wear underwear today. He managed to stay dry ALL day long even with us being gone alot!   I actually caught him in the act so he even pooped on the potty as well!!! I am so excited. He did not want to wear a diaper tonight so I am hoping this is the beginning of something big!

3. We have finally gone through all the clothes for the little kids. I am very hopefully that everyone has enough to make it though the spring and summer. Lily will most likely need new clothes for school  next year but I am planning to buy those at the end of the season so they should be less expensive. We have been so blessed in this area with Kendall,  not only have I saved alot of Lily's clothes but we have been given bags and bags of clothes. I was able to totally change out her clothes to the next size today without purchasing anything.  On Thursday, we spent some time shopping for Zach, he needed shorts.  I did not realize he needed these, because several pair from last year are still way to big. I ended up spending around $80 but was able to purchase 4 complete outfits and 2 extra pair of shorts for him.

3. I actually only saw Haley the morning of her birthday! I had to work late, she and Matt have been waiting to see Hunger Games, since last August. They were able to get ticket to the 7:25 show. My parents watched the little kids till I got home from work and I was in bed before they arrived home from the movie.

4. Matt made Haley's birthday cake. I got pictures on my phone and on the camera, if I can get the other computer to work I will try and upload for Wednesday this week. It is actually one of the best cakes he has made and it is almost all gone today.

5. I have gone WAY over budget for groceries for this month. Harris Teeter had a triple coupon event and we have made 2 trips. In addition, we most likely will be purchasing chicken breast from Zaycon this week as well. My plan is to replace this overage in the month of April. I also plan only to purchase necessities we run out of and things on stock up. I would like to spend including the pay back less than 400 in April.  This would place us in an excellent position for the summer.

6. Ruger has settled in some, he is still peeing in the house but it is down to once a day.

7. I transplanted broccoli outside and it appears that 5 of 6 may survive. I am not so sure of my chills, because of hail, we got today I am afraid it may have killed several of the plants. I am planning to plant both cucumbers and squash this week.

8. Finally I am excited about the weather. We have been have alot of unseasonably warm days. In fact, the temperature has been above 80 on several days. Matt and I have really worked at reducing our electric bill so we have yet to turn on the air conditioning. However, tonight it is cooler, suppose to be in the 50s and rainy so I will be sleeping well!

Productive Free Weekend

We once again had a weekend with no major things to accomplish or events to attend. Haley left on Friday for Winter Retreat with her youth group, Amanda was at school and work and Lily did have a skating party on Saturday afternoon. Lily loved trying to skate and actually got around the rink a couple of times.

On Saturday, I was able to get FREE toilet bowl cleaners at Walmart. I had read about this deal on several website, and decided to try it. I asked to "price match" a sale at Family Dollar for $4 and then had a $4 off coupon. We actually got 2 of these and they are really working great. I was disappointed to find that they were out of the 3 other free items on my list. Also on Saturday,I cooked the 10lbs of chicken I purchased earlier in the week. I was able to freeze 10 cups of shredded chicken as well as 22 bags of chicken broth.

Sunday in North Carolina was rainy and COLD. The temperature was around 35 all day. So to get things warm, I decided to start planning for my "Square Foot Garden."  We have been debating on how big or small to make it this year. I also wanted to stick to items I know we will use. I had purchased several packs of seeds 2 years ago and want to try to start from starch again this year. The good news is that I actually got myself organized enough that this should be possible and if not then I can always purchased at the right time for growing. I did order broccoli seeds to start right away as well as some green chili seeds to try my hand at. I will also be raising some tomatoes this year as well. Otherwise, I hope to purchase enough corn to freeze as well as we will be participating in the Food Coop again. I am excited that I actually am ahead of the game this year instead of waiting to the last minute to start. I also hope this means it works and produces enough for freezing.

Finally on Sunday, Matt and I got all the tax papers together. I am currently waiting on 1 more W-2 then I can spend 3-4 hours filing online.

Sounds relaxing right?

Family Pictures

The Highlights so to speak!

Disney On ICE WORDLESS WEDNESDAY



With Birthday Cotton Candy Crown



Done with the pictures already!

Watching Tiana

Lily's Birthday Celebrated

 

Birthday's are a big deal around here even if we get to celebrate one at least every other month! This year instead of a big or small party we decided to take Lily, the whole family and her best friend to see Disney on Ice. Our biggest tradition is that the celebrator gets to pick the dinner restaurant. So Lily chose Olive Garden. We were meet at the restaurant by our friends the Pierces. Then of course the plans changed and Nancy, the mom, went to Disney on Ice  with us while Haley went home with Andrea and of course to youth group. The pictures above are from the restaurant and I will post more from Disney on Ice     Just for the record, I was able to get awesome seats at a discounted rate simply by ordering in a group of 8!

Thankful-November 4th

Once again this year I am going to try an post an item each day I am thankful for but I will only be posting these once a week so that I can keep up and all that stuff.
November 1st- I am thankful for my husband, who supports me and loves me even when I know I am not being loveable
November 2nd- My church family.
November 3rd- My children, I know I could cheat and list each one for a day but I love each one the same. They teach me patience and more about love than even imaginable.
November 4th- A job that I am secure in..


Next week will be a bit longer and harder to come up with but at least I can add to my posting!

How I Spent My Halloween

I was actually able to make it home early from work today! So we headed to Sonic and used some of our slush fund to buy the 0.50 corn dogs that were on special, we even took drinks for the kids. Amanda decided she would like to join us tonight; so Matt stayed home to answer the door. We ventured out to 2 Trunk or Treat and Paw Paws & Granny's of course. The first Trunk or Treat was at a church and it was AWESOME! The second at the local Fire Station.  We actually spent about 2 hours out, we hit the neighbors on both sides when we returned  home.  I actually can say it was fun! 
Here are the kids....

More Pictures to follow on Wednesday hopefully!

Thoughts to Share

Yesterday was Amanda's 20th birthday! WOW..we made it..yes it was a joint effort. So in honor of that I thought I would share some things that I wished I had learned 20 years ago aka things I wish she as well as some of her friends would listen and learn.

DISCLAIMER.. I am going to be blunt and might offend so please click the close button if you think I am talking to you.

1. Sex is sex...love and sex are not relate unless you and he both want them to be.
2. Just because you have sex with him does not mean you have to love or marry him.
3. Only bring home guys to meet the family after dating for at least a month and only bring home the ones you want my honest opinion of as well.
4. You can't change a person or their bad habits..if they do it while you are dating then it will be 10 x worse if and when you get married
5. Don't waste time on dating someone that fits any of the following statements
a. does not own his own car or form of transportation
b. is in a different stage of life then you
c. does not have a "real" job that has a steady paycheck
d. has different or no religious beliefs.


Okay I am finished being a mom back to regularly scheduled updates

Staying Busy

I was so excited to exceed my blogging goal in September, that I honestly thought it would continue over in October. Well today is October the 8th and this is my first post. So I seriously have my doubts now.

The biggest item on the calender for this week has been a Bible Quiz meet. Matt and I spent about 2 hours last Sunday and another 2-3 hours on Tuesday working on questions. Haley and I attended the quiz today in Winston for half the day. The last remaining part will be an hour of tabulating score on Sunday. I always say I am not going to wait till the last minute to start working on this each month but I am going to definitely add it to my goals for next year. Finding a scheduled time each week to work on quizzing so it doesn't ended up consuming a week.

Lily is currently on a cheerleading squad that is starting to practice 2 nights a week. So with Kid's club this a a total of 3 nights a week she has something going on.

Kendall is going to a Tumble class on Tuesdays which is great for her as well as Zach who gets some "Daddy time." Both Kendall and Zach have a school readiness person who is coming out 2x a month to make sure they stay on track. Kendall completed her annual testing this past Friday and to our surprise she is scoring on the high end! YAY Kendall. Zach will be tested next week and I hope to post the results as well.

Haley is enjoying school and doing well. Amanda is currently splitting her time between school and work with as much social life as she can squeeze in.

To add to the schedule this week, both Kendall and Lily had eye appointment in Charlotte. Both have increased their vision. Kendall is only patching now 3 days a week for one hour. Lily will continue to patch for 4 hours a day for at least another 6 months. After their appointments we headed to Cracker Barrel and IKEA. I hope to post pictures tomorrow of the purchases.

So if you are keeping count then we are home as a family on Tuesday nights. No wonder I don't have time to blog much.

Wordless Wednesday Beach

This last picture says it all!

A Different sort of Vacation

Today has been totally different from any other days I can remember on a vacation. Usually, we sort of get into a routine or at least have a plan for how each day will go. This time we didn't, on both Thursday and Friday we spent all day (6 plus hours) on the beach. The canopy makes is so easy to do snack, lunch and nap outside there is no need for coming back to the hotel. The kids on both these days have asked to go to the pool. We attempted the pool on Thursday night but the temperature was cool and the water was down right cold. I ended up staying up late last night because of my teenage daughters, so I want a nice easy day. Matt and I decided that this morning we would stay around the hotel room and then spend the day by the pool. Much to our surprise the pools remained chilly all day. This morning we ended up in one of the hot tubs and then came up around 11 for lunch. All the kids went down for naps really easy so we joined them. We headed back to the pool for another round but ended up sitting on the edge. We came up earlier to get dressed to go out for our really nice dinner today. It was nice not to have to rush and to spend time on hair and makeup for a change. We ended up taking pictures on the beach before and after the dinner so I hope we were able to get some decent ones for use in calenders and Christmas cards. Dinner was awesome!! We ended up watch a "Fire and Hula" show at the hotel tonight! The kids loved it. Matt is a very awesome husband today by going to Krispy Kreme to end the night! One interesting thing we have noted is that we are being charged 11%tax on food. This is extremly high in our eye but what can we do! Final note I am having issues publishing my post from yesterday so if it appears out of sequence you know why.

All My Children UPDATE

Amanda- With some (okay lots) of encouragement from us has decided to take the summer off from college. She passed her CNA test in April and is currently working as a home care provider and is suppose to start as needed at a Nursing Home 3rd shift next week. This should give her a chance to save up some money to make college much easier in the Fall. She is also continuing with her fire fighting classes. I am very proud of her for making it up in the mornings and to work on time on a regular basis.

Haley- Haley is finishing up her Sophmore year at high school. She currently is on the A-B honor roll with 2 Honors classes (chemistry and Civics). She decided that she wants to be in color guard next year so is working on that over the summer as well. Haley will spend the majority of her summer as a Junior Volunteer at the Hospital. She was one of 30 people chosen out of the 95 that applied. Way to go Haley.

Lily- Has officially completed home school for the year. She is currently reading simple books, working both addition and subtraction problems, telling time to the 15 minute and knows alot about money. We will continue to work on a more informal basis over the summer. On Monday, she will be tested to determine if she will enter school in First Grade or Kindergarten in the fall. Lily has also started cheering on a competition squad. She is a flyer. Lily enjoys stretch and is doing an awesome cartwheel and working on a back walk over!

Kendall- Kendall is growing by leaps and bounds. She is beginning to recognize colors, loves to sing and dance. She is wearing big girl panties all the time except nap and night. We are still having one or two accidents a week. I am so proud of the way she has learned to express what she wants and will pick things even if everyone else wants something different.

Zach- Is walking, beginning to put two word sentences together and is one of the most strong willed children in this house! He is a climber and a screamer. We are sure he is gaining weight and will no longer be going to Brenner's for weight check every 3 months. We are not certain about his allergies but are justing being careful at this point and will see in the future what is best for him.

Haley's Sweet Sixteen Party-Family Pictures

All of the in town family was able to come to Haley party!!

Normal Saturday

I am so excited after a normal busy week in which I worked 3 days, took Zach to Brenner's Children Hospital for follow up on Monday, and attended a rather long long continuing education class on Thursday, Saturday was free!

We made some changes on Thursday trying to improve the sleep patterns around here. We have now cleaned all the toys except Barbies out of Lily's room and moved Kendall bed in. Zach has the nursery all to him self. It worked beautifully Thursday night with everyone sleeping all night long. Last night (Friday) was not quite as good. Lily work up and needed to use the restroom and of course Kendall did too. Zach cried a couple of times before we went to bed and then again around 3 am. Tonight, Zach has been screaming for about 15 minutes. What does this have to do with Saturday... we are all really tired!

Deserez, Amanda's best friend, has been over since Thursday. She has been really sick the past couple of days and just wanted to be around people. Today is also her birthday, so while Amanda went to work , we took her and the little kids to Applebee's to celebrate.

So what else does a normal Saturday look like around here? Productive!! We have been able to go through the playroom and re-organize/ trash/ prepare to yard sale most of the toys, cleaned all the floors, cleaned up both the living room and kitchen. Figured out our available menus for the next couple of weeks and have some time just to relax! I am so excited!! Time to wii and watch tv!

Christmas Morning

Halloween... Lily style

Lily and Kendall both LOVE to dress up! The can spend hours at a time changing and playing dress up. Thanks to a wonderful couple at church, we have probably close to 15 outfits not counting various shoes and accessories.

Lily is have a blast this year because she was given 3 chance to dress up and "go out in public." Wednesday night, the kids club had a Princess and Pirate party. Lily chose to go as "Sleeping Beauty." Tonight the initial plan was to go with our friends to a Halloween carnival and then to several "Trunk or treats" but both Zach and Kendall were sick. We decide with the cooler weather it would be best to keep them at home tonight so that we could possible enjoy the church event. But our friends took Haley and Lily with them. Lily was a Barbie cheerleader tonight and return with a bucket of candy.

I have personally never been a fan of Halloween and until the past couple of years just avoid the whole thing. But Matt enjoys making costumes as well as apply just the right make up so he likes to have several people to work on. Lily and Kendall both like nothing better so Halloween is now a fun time just because we get to all dress up. This year our church is have a "family" costume contest and we are going as The Wizard of OZ. Amanda is Dorthy, Kendall is Toto, Zach is the Tin Man, Haley is the Scarecrow, Lily is the "cotton candy" good witch Glenda, Matt is the "wizard behind the curtain' and I am the yellow brick road. I hope to get a couple of awesome pictures to post.

Happy Birthday to my Firstborn

Happy 19th birthday to Amanda..the first born...the sissy. Yesterday, Sunday we went to Olive Garden with some friends to celebrate Amanda's birthday. It was actually a fun time for all of us to be together and talk and laugh. I always get nervous when we attempt to go out to eat because it can turn very ugly if the little are not exactly right. Last night, Kendall managed to dump a bowl of salad on the floor but that was the majority of the mess.

Lily decided this morning to ask Amanda if she wanted a "store cake" or a "Lily cake" of course Amanda decided on the Lily cake. So Matt and Lily made the cake while I was at work. I got home in time to frost the cake and then Lily decorated the cake. It was awesome.


This has been a long hard year on Amanda and I am praying that brighter days are ahead as she grows into the Woman I have been praying for all these years! Happy Birthday AMANDA and remember we all LOVE YOU!

Random Beach Thoughts

Waiting on 3 small children to fall asleep twice a day at around 1.5 hours each time eats up an ENTIRE day at the beach over the week of vacation.

Said children are so tired by 5:30pm it is torture to keep them awake till 6:30 when the above torture begins..yes we have tried putting them straight to bed and that did not work either.

We have been able to "enjoy" the sunrise all 4 days of our vacation due to the above mention children and their sleeping habits.

Lily enjoyed her first ever game of bowling today with a "winning" score of 137 including 3 separate strikes. She did use both gutter guards and a ball ramp.

Amanda is the worsest bowler in the house only because I "took one for the team" and did not bowl. Haley came in second behind Lily with 3 strikes as well and Matt was third with only 1 strike and several gutter balls.

Zach and Kendall both enjoyed the aquarium this morning much more than I had hoped.

Kendall was afraid to touch anything (shoe crabs, string rays and the costume Shark).

Lily impressed us all and asked to go and visit with the costume Shark, she earned a tattoo for this request.

It is possible to entertain 4 children at the beach without any toys for almost 2 hours. In fact we have enjoyed this time for the past 2 days.

And to finish out the 10 random beach thoughts….I can say without a doubt the Krispy Kreme donuts are far better than Dunkin Dounuts!

Lily's Beach Adventure

Monday morning was really the first time that we had planned to spend time at the ocean. We did go out on Sunday evening after we arrived but only for about an hour. So Monday, I was very pleased with how smoothly things were going. I had packed a lunch for everyone, we remembered Zach’s pacifier and the plan was to spend ¾ of the day sitting on the beach. I asked Amanda and Haley to watch the little girls while Matt and I set up Zach’s little tent. They all headed to the ocean with out a second thought. About 3 minutes later Amanda and Kendall came back to get the sand toys. I didn’t give it a second thought because I assumed Lily was with Haley. After walking half way back to the beach, Amanda turned and asked where Lily was. I was still thinking with Haley until we spotted Haley in the water. Amanda and I both start looking for Lily as did Haley when I got her out. Amanda actually went to the lifeguard. Lily was no where to be found. I had walk between the 3 closest lifeguard stands without locating her. The lifeguard sent out a page down the beach including what suit she was wearing. Amanda was extremely panicked at this point. As I was walking down the beach looking for her I could barely scan ahead of me because of people asking if they could help look. The lifeguard told me that “in the case of small children they usually follow the current.” I disagreed but just kept walking. The lifeguard then sent a little cart so we could drive and look for her. As I got in the cart, the call came in that she had been found. Where? 4 lifeguard stands in the opposite direction from the current. So what happened?

According to Lily she was following Amanda but “she would not hold my hand.” I pieced together that Lily poor eyesight combined with the fact we had just gotten to the beach and she had not gotten familiar with it or with what everyone was wearing, Lily started following someone else down the beach by mistake. The whole ordeal lasted no longer than 10 minutes but was enough to scare us and for us to not let anyone out of sight again! The rest of the day was almost perfect, we spent 4 hours on the beach!