Christmas 2013

A few tidbits about our special Christmas:

Dale, the kids and I were all here together

Everyone pitched in to get ready for dinner :)

There is glitter all over the floor, couches, chairs and even the car from new princess dresses because they are only little once

I love my sons boisterous laugh that always reminds me of my dad

The little ways that each one of them showed me they thought of me:

     Dale was very helpful with all that had to be done and even though he had precious little time this year, because of work, he really hit the mark on my Christmas. 

     

     Andy got me the Nicholas Sparks movie Safe Haven.  I love it and it has a special meaning for me, even though I bawl my eyes out every time I watch it.  Christmas is not about gifts, but knowing he put the thought into getting me something I would love is what feels good.

     Samantha offered me her seat when there was no room for me at the table.  I did not ask her to and I hadn't even made it to the table yet.  She just noticed that there was no space for me and said, "Here Momma, you can have my seat."  She willingly ate Christmas Eve dinner on the floor alone so that I could sit down.  I was very touched.

   Ella's is a little different.  She has always been a "momma's girl," but here lately she has really kicked it up a notch and I am feeling very loved. 

Ryan, Blake and Taylor were able to be here a few days and it was so nice to spend some time with them.

Danae came over for lunch on Christmas day, even though most of the young people went somewhere else.  It was a joy to have her here!!  We played games and had a blast.

 "I have so much to thank Him for!!" That song just keeps playing over and over in my head.  Feeling truly blessed.

Yesterday was the 2 year anniversary of the adoption of our beautiful girls.  I am so thankful that God saw fit to allow us to have them in our lives.

Yesterday was a very good day for our family in other ways too.  We will always celebrate these milestones.  Feeling truly blessed!!!!

Dread

Some days just feel life changing.  Sigh.  One foot in front of the other.  God is knows all about it.

I've been having a sense of dread for several days now, and today it all reared its ugly head. Thankful to be able to pray.  Now if I could just leave it.  Stand still and let God move.  That's what I'm going to try to do.

Organizing girls' outfits

I just did some shopping and decided try to take pictures of outfits so my girls can pick what to wear. I gathered some pieces we already had to complete some of the outfits.  They were VERY cooperative and are excited to start using the system I created. In fact, even now as I am trying to post, Samantha is begging to go to iphoto and pick out her outfit for the day. Here are some of their new looks:


First we have the bronze boot with the turquoise knee socks with the outfit, or we can choose the black shimmer flats with black lace trim leggings below.





Pictures can't do justice to this adorable outfit.  These jean leggings have brown stitching which totally matches the leopard print, and the  shimmery lace flats are super cute or could be switched for the bronze boots.


I love this little skirt!  Again, pictures can't do justice to it.


We recently picked up these red boots and skirt at different 2nd hand stores.  A true score, and now I can pair them with these adorable striped tights and turquoise ruffle shirt.



These navy polka dot flats make me very happy.



This turned out to be one of my very favorite of all of the outfits.



We had a leopard attack during the middle of our "fashion shoot"!


This trench coat was another gem we found a few months back that looks darling with the new outfit.


Again, the red boots totally make the outfit.  I'm not as confident about the turquoise print socks here, she is so I'm sure she can pull it off!




Miss Ella is always full of confidence, but I will may have her wear cream tights with this instead.


I love these little tights, although they are 2 sizes to big.  Thank goodness there's a little extra room in these boots.  And here again we have a jean skirt we got a while back that she loves.


My beautiful girls.


Here is miss Ella in her sisters old tights and shirt, and boots from a friend.  All hand me downs, except her new $4.00 skirt. Love it and I will have her wear her jean jacket with this.  Super cute!


Here she is with her navy Mary Jane's.

I have tagged each piece in iphoto. So, if one of the girls wants to wear red boots, we just go into iphoto and look up red boots and it shows every outfit we have to wear them with.

As I was working on this today, a few things I had ordered online came in the mail and I was able to get started with this on my own outfits too.  This was time consuming today, but it will save me loads of time later.  It can easily take me 30 minutes on Sunday morning to figure out what we are wearing. Yes, I should plan it ahead and I manage to do that occasionally, but for the most part unless I think about it 3-4 days in advance, it just gets too busy around here on the weekend.

Another great application for this plan is packing for a trip.  It takes me FOREVER!  I'm always trying things on and making a mess.  I also have my girls try things on so I can see just what I want to take for them.  I'm a little obsessed, I admit it.  But now, we will have all of the outfits pictured and just have to round them up.

This has been a time consuming process and I've only just begun.  I have pulled almost all of the girls' clothes out to be thorough and have a complete photo gallery of their wardrobe.  I am very excited!  It will be like looking through a catalog, but then just walking into the next room to pick up your stuff.

Date Night

Last night was date night and like so many times, we headed out without a plan. We had tried to google an Indian restaurant in the area, but no such luck. So we drove around aimlessly, trying to decide what to do, letting our 2 hours and 45 minutes start to tick away. We finally spotted a cantonese restaurant much like the one we used to go to when we were dating.

When we opened the door to go in, we both experienced a flood of memories with the fabulous and familiar aromas from 20 years ago. Even the decor inside took us back in time. It was fun to step back for a moment and remember when it was just about Dale and I. Our conversation was light and cheerful. We ordered some of our usuals from days past; subgum chicken chow mein and fried shrimp, but skipping the sweet and sour pork since we now try to avoid too much fried food and pork. It did not disappoint! We now have a new favorite restaurant, so next month when it's date night and we don't know where to go, we'll know where to go.

Then to top it all off, my honey let me go shopping for clothes, KID FREE, afterward. Did I mention KID FREE?!! I was actually able to find a few things too. Love him!!

So then we headed to the grocery store for dessert and picked up a bavarian filled eclair. Oh my, that was sooo tasty. It's a good thing we avoided some calories and fat grams at dinner, so we could pick them up for dessert.

Then, it was time to go get the kiddos and just like every month at this time, they were on a sugar high but also tired, since it was over an hour past their bedtime. After we finally wrangled them to the car and started the 40 minute drive home, they start whining about being hungry. We had already made it past McDonalds, their ritual spot to grab a small cheeseburger after date night. So, when we spotted a 7-11 we pulled in to get them a hot dog. Dale was tired so he stayed in the car, I wish I could pull that one. Sometime. Ever. He did let me go shopping kid free on date night though, so I let it slide.

When we got inside, my beautiful girls turned into maniacs, begging for donuts and chips. They must have forgotten that they had just confessed to eating cupcakes and junk 5 minutes earlier. Not that a hot dog isn't junk food, but it's the best choice in the situation. Anyways, back to the hoodlums. They had different agendas and loudly expressed them to me, when suddenly Ella's eyes widened, she grabbed herself and yelled, "Potttttyyyyyy!!!!" Off to the bathroom we all went. Once that was all done, I was a determined woman on a mission. Hot dogs. It was 9:30 at night in a 7-11 so this should have been a quick process, but we got behind some people who must have just won the lottery and decided to spend it all on more lottery tickets. Sigh.

"Mommy, I really want a donut!" Sigh. Finally, we got our turn and bought 2 hot dogs. We had spent about 15 minutes buying 2 hot dogs.

Did I mention how thankful I am that I got to go shopping KID FREE.

We ran out to the car and I started to explain why we took so long because I was sure Dale was irritated. He said, "Oh wow, I fell asleep. It seemed like just a minute." Oh wow is right. lol

I love my family, my kids, my hubby and this wonderful night out was a real treat.

I had a great idea this morning. "I will make the girls some Halloween bows before they wake up. They will be so excited!" This simple innocent thought seemed harmless and full of potential. Well something that should have taken me about 20 minutes turned into 2 hours. Everything that could go wrong, did. From not being able to find the glue gun (so much for getting all organized here lately), to having my sewing machine turn into a fabric eating machine! Whew! Scary stuff!! But, on the positive side, I have 2 adorable halloween bows for my little sweethearts :)

Sometimes there is no remedy for a heartache. You just have to pray your way through it. I have been REALLY missing Trina and my dad the last few days. Today at church one of the messages was about how we will all face death at some point. We will not escape our crossing. It got me to thinking about what it might be like in my last few moments. I pictured seeing my dad and Trina coming towards me and even holding my hand to help me make that final crossing. How beautiful. It was such a comfort to me. I do not know what my end will be, but I do know that God will be with me and He will hold my hand and be my comfort and stay in that time.

This evening as I got on Facebook, one of the first posts was one Trina made a few years ago. At first, I was caught off guard, but then comforted to feel a connection with my dear friend. I know my heartache is somewhat selfish because they have gained their crowns and no longer have the pain that we begged God to take from them. I am very thankful for that, but from time to time I must give a sigh, and even shed a tear for my loss. Then pick back up and carry on to make my own heavenly goal.

Take a peek at what we've been up to...

There are several things I have thought about posting lately, so I decided to cram them all into one BIG post! Dont't say I didn't warn you...

1. Pinterest. Love it! I have heard complaints lately even on the radio about how pinterest is just a bunch of people collecting pictures of things they will never make or try. I totally disagree! I haven't tried everything I've found, but I have found some good stuff like:

new hair doos for my girls

O.K., I know these didn't turn out perfectly, but with practice I think they will be adorable.

Bird feeder


Maybe this is a no brainer, but my little girlies had a blast decorating (markers washed off in the rain oops) and making this bird feeder. They check it several times a day and we have enjoyed watching birds and chipmunks eat the food.

Hair bows and accessories

The colors didn't turn out so well in this photo. The ribbon isn't near as shiny as it looks but I will probably go for no shine next time. I also made some hair pins for myself a while back that were inspired by a picture on pinterest but hot glue doesn't hold well when gluing to a bobby pin.

Fun birthday cake ideas


Obviously I am a novice cake maker, but my girls loved searching on pinterest for days for their perfect birthday cake. It was very exciting!

I could go on and on about the many recipes I've tried, and yes there are still lots of pins I have left to try but I am very excited about those and have found pinterest to be a HUGE motivator for me.

2. We have all been working very hard on our yard and garden.

Most of our neighbors have IMMACULATE yards so I'm sure they will be pleased with our efforts, even if it is only for a week or so out of the last 4 1/2 years. LOL


We totally revamped our garden this year. Whew was that a lot of work! I'm sure it will be worth it and maybe it will even be cost effective (in 10 years or so :))


We got our seeds planted Saturday and last night we had radishes coming up. I took this picture this morning and they are really going for it! Radishes are a must to boost moral in any garden. 3 1/2 days and they were sprouting!!


I found my lettuce sprouting this morning too! I am a happy girl :)

We have several tomato and pepper plants. We also have okra, beans, peas, cucs, zucs, spinach, carrots, and...


Rhubarb, basil and lastly asparagus, which is in its first year so it won't produce till next year.

3. Samantha is in Kindergarten this year and so we have spent a lot of time with her doing lessons. Ella on the other hand just misses the deadline by having her birthday 9 days too late,so she won't start kindergarten until fall 2014. She loves to do "school" probably because she has had no pressure to perform. I got a new phonics program for her and Samantha do do in the fall at different levels, of coarse. The program is still in the box, though we have looked at it a bit. Yesterday, I got it out to look over and see if there was something that Ella would have fun with now. She totally loved HER new little reading book and proceeded to read 57 pages with very little help. Yes, I said FIFTY-SEVEN!!!!!!!! She is slow but again, she has mostly learned through watching her sister so I was stunned when she picked up the book and started reading. Today she didn't do quite as well but close. This video is about 10 minutes so don't feel pressured to finish, but in these 10 minutes, she read only 13 pages. That tells you how dedicated she was to read 57 pages at one time! Then she picked up the book again last night to read to her daddy. Yesterday she told me,"I am going to read to daddy and he will be so proud of me!"(Sorry, having trouble loading the video)

4. My hubby had a great idea several months back and I am loving it. We searched and searched for something big enough to cover an ugly eye sore on the wall on our landing. It is about 3 1/2 feet tall by 2 1/2 feet wide. We have our breaker box and internet router and modem mess here, but now it is cleverly hidden. He's so smart, I think I'll keep him!



5. We have started another remodel. We started off stacking the washer and dryer and we are getting a smaller freezer to fit in the cubby under the stairs (by where the white step ladder is), all to make the best use of the space. These pictures are not pretty but it will be when we get the laundry room framed in, flooring , down, sheetrock, ect..


Well that about covers it for my recent thoughts. Hopefully I didn't lose you anywhere up there.

I had a mini photo shoot with Samantha the other day. Just as we were heading out the door, I accidentally bonked her in the head with the camera, but I turned it into a photo opportunity and told her not to wipe her tears. We got a few good pics here :)

AWESOME!!

I was working on my to-do list today, but I was dreading the window behind my stove and the top of my refrigerator. The greasy, dusty film that collects there is not easy to remove, by any means. As I was cleaning, I caught a glance of a cleaner I bought at the dollar store a few months ago. It didn't work for the purpose I bought it for so I simply put it under the kitchen sink and forgot about it. Now, I am not one of those people who buys a lot of different cleaning products, I like a small handful that have multiple uses; Oxi clean, comet, soft scrub with bleach, and glass cleaner pretty much covers it, I don't jump on every band wagon around with new stuff. But, back to the current cleaning dilemma. The dollar store cleaner is called AWESOME!! but like I said, I initially thought it fell far short of its name. I sprayed it on my window and began to get ready to scrub.....Ummm the film simply wiped off. Now for the top of the fridge. Wow. Ceiling fans were not on the list today, but this was just going so well. They were a little tougher than the rest. I did have to scrub a little, but I know what I normally have to go through to get those things clean! I'm not sure if I will find another use for Awesome!! but for now as a grease cutter, it is AWESOME!!

The Terrible 4's?

In the past, it seemed like seem like when my kids turned 4 it was somewhat magical. I remember even being some-what of a know it all with less experienced parents about their young toddlers saying, "Just wait till they turn 4, they will get along better with other kids, they will be more independent, and their attitudes will change from night to day.

I am now dealing with my 3rd and last (Lord willing!) 4 year old, Ms Ella. Her mission in life is to prove me wrong and she is doing a great job of that on the 4 year old view I previously held. She even brings God into it by telling me that it doesn't make God happy at me when I take away her mermaid. She thinks it's completely ridiculous that we are upset about her graffiti on her NEW wooden headboard and frame or the hair style she gave herself with the scissors. I mean she just wants to express herself for goodness sakes!

I have had to totally change my tactics with this child. If I start off with my natural instinct of, "Gabriella Anne..." She bristles instantly and becomes defensive. The battle has begun. The scary part is that she doesn't throw fits, instead after she has thought over the words I say when she gets in trouble, she calmly tells me what she wants to say in a very calculated manner. Yesterday she had to clean her room by herself because she had been playing instead of helping Samantha clean. While she was alone in the room "cleaning" she found a crayon and went to work on the bed. I told her that daddy worked hard for the money to buy her bed and since she was trying to destroy it, then one of her things would be destroyed/taken. For 20 minutes or so she kept coming to the door with new insights and ideas. One of the things she came to the door and calmly said later was that since I took her mermaid that she was going to destroy my stuff. She sat in there thinking this through. This wasn't said in a rage of ranting and crying just simply and matter of factly stated. I told her that if she destroyed something else that she would lose something else of hers, but I have to admit, I'm a little nervous!

She is definitely giving me a run for my money, but at other times she is such an angel and I feel so blessed to have her. I just pray that God can help me reach her and understand her.

Plumb Tuckered Out

We had out of town company in last night. It was a blast! Billy and Barbara were heading through on their way back from Kansas. Our girls got very close to their family last year because they spent a lot of time with them, while I was at Trina's, during her illness.

I didn't tell the girls they were coming, I just said that we were having surprise company. They made several guesses like Andy, their friend Abby who they see at least twice a week, and Sister Sharon who we saw at costco yesterday.

They had no idea and were completely surprised and excited to see Billy and Barbara's family when they arrived. The kids all had a ball and the house was abuzz until well after 11pm last night, over 3 hours past the girls' bedtime. Then, at 7:30 we were all up and at it again this morning. After a nice leisurely breakfast, company hit the long road to get further on their journey.

Today has been a trying day of meltdowns and grumpiness because of lack of sleep for my kiddos. To say I was longingly awaiting their bedtime would be a considerable understatement.

I decided early in the evening that they were definitely going to bed early, so at 7:30 tonight I headed downstairs with them to tuck them in. When I went to check on them shortly after and make sure they were not playing, I wasn't completely surprised to find them both sawing logs even though it was still daylight out. It's exhausting to play with your long lost bff's!

FINAL!!

After a year of remodeling, we finally got our final inspection for our new bathroom!!!! So I decided to share some before and after photos with you. A lot of photos.

This is what our old bathroom looked like.



And the new! We moved where the door was so now the bathroom is our master bath instead of the main bathroom. In the first picture you can see the door color in the mirror. I love it! It makes me happy :). The second picture shows a cool mirror like the ones they have in hotels. Since it swings out, it makes doing the back of my hair in the vanity mirror much easier. The magnifying mirror on the backside of the swing mirror is perfect for plucking eyebrows or putting on mascara. And the last photo shows the whole bathroom. We didn't get to replace the tub and shower yet. That will come at a much later date unfortunately. We did tear out the old dark gray grout and put in the lighter color that is in the rest of the room. We also put in new shower doors which helps to give it a more updated look.




This is our diningroom. This first old photo shows our game cabinet, wasted space around it, and the landing down to the basement. In the second you can see the old view from the kitchen into the diningroom. Also the arch into the living room which we moved and widened in the remodel.



Here is the landing and the new diningroom wall where you can see we made better use of the space with a full bathroom and we still have some closet space. The shower is where part of the old game cabinet was. We chose to use the same colors in both bathrooms because they are so small that we could share tile, paint, ect which saved some on the costs.


Here are some old pictures of the living room.



We put a coat closet in next to the front door. I still need to stain the trim but it is so nice to have a coat closet and it's so full of stuff that I'm not sure how we lived without it! You can see in the last photo here compared to the last old living room photo (2 photos up) the change we made to the arch. The arch had to be moved to give enough depth to the new bathroom, but it was a lot of work!

We still need carpet in our bedroom which we hope to have done in the next month or so. I am so happy that this remodel is almost there. It will be just in time to start on the basement this summer...