KE's New Do

After much pleading with me and her daddy, KE finally got her haircut "like her bestest". I was a bit worried because her hair is very thin but I think it suits her! She woke up this morning saying " I woke up with short hair!" Just a giggling

Shout Out!

I finally got my first Rustic Creations frame!!! I think it looks great and can't wait to have it hung in my kitchen!!! And remember the painting? It's Wondrous Cross from Easely Amused.

one more

okay guys one more! If I had a million dollars.....

http://www.thisyounghouse.com/

Be Inspired

Go Here.....

And here.. I'm so excited I can't stand it

Father's Day

As I sit down to type, I think I have gained at least 5 pounds. Since we are doing the budget thing, I had the idea to cook for T for father's day. I told the kids I would wake them up very early this morning so we could get everything ready. Thankfully I prepared most of the meal last night and stuck it in the fridge. We got up at 6 a.m. and prayed T would not wake up until we carried breakfast to him. Everything went well! The menu was as follows:
Garlic Cheese Grits
Breakfast casserole
Sausage and Cream Cheese Squares
Homemade hash brown potatoes
french toast
fresh OJ... ( well, fresh from the grove... Florida's Natural grove that is)

If anyone would like a recipe let me know and I will post it!

After church ( which I skipped to clean house and get lunch ready) we had mimi and papaw over for Homemade spaghetti and meatballs. Oh My Goodness. I think we all agree in this house that supper will be VERY light.

I don't have pictures of breakfast in bed because my camera was dead!! So sad! It was the cutest thing... I let the kids all carry something while I carried the tray into the bedroom. He was so surprised and loved it. It's the least I could do to show him how much he means to us. He is by far the best daddy and would do anything for our children. I'm so thankful that my kids have the father I never did. He is a part of their lives and always will be. The afternoon will be spent napping while T and his father ( papaw) go fishing!

Color Reveal

Just a peak of my former dining room... will sooner or later be a family den-type area. I can't decide if it's too bright but it will have to work. It took the painters 4 days to complete and they did a wonderful job. We may have access to a sofa but it will need a slipcover. Any hints on where I can get a great slipcover that doesn't cost an arm and a leg?

Below is the foyer wallpaper we inherited with the house. It's gorgeous and while it would not be my first choice, it's gorgeous. See the blue I pulled for the walls?

It's Lake Country by Valspar

Potty Time!

THIS

PLUS THIS
PLUS THIS


=THIS!!!!

KE and W were not potty trained until they were both 3..... so I have been assuming all along that N (he will be 3 in December) will follow his siblings. For about 2 weeks or longer now, he has been taking his diaper off and just walking around bottomless and fancy free. The past couple of days in his crib he makes a mess of his diaper and takes them off because I 'm sure he doesn't want to sit in that. There have been many a sheet and blanket washing going on and I'm in the road so much that I can't take them time to train him.

Yesterday was the last straw. I had just put him down and I hear W say , "Mama N has poo poo and it's on the floor!!!!!" My first thoughts were of course UGH... SO again, I change him, strip his bed, make his bed back up and put him to sleep.. STOP THE INSANITY! This afternoon I decided to break down and start the process. So far so good! He is enjoying his new seat from "Mallmart" and every time the timer beeps, he runs and cuts it off and we sing the potty song!

My Last Hoorah

Well, not really. We are having our living room and dining area painted (something we started before Dave) and you all know how I love makeovers. The dining area is currently the kids playroom and it needs help. We want to convert it into a living space as well... couch, chair, tv. Now that we are on a budget, I will have to be patient with furnishing it but I so look forward to the color change! Oh and we will store the chandelier and replace it with a ceiling fan/light. Our dining room table is for sale. (shown without the leaf) It's an antique but I could not even tell you what kind. It has 6 chairs that go with it...I bought it I think mostly b/c I wanted a dining room table at the time... It's not me. It's only Tuesday of not spending any money and I can see that this will be extremely hard for me. I may rearrange my house 100 times before it's all over.



Here are a couple of before pics... I welcome any and all suggestions on making this a more practical living space/playroom... The train table will be sold as well.. I plan to get some kind of upright storage unit to put the toys in.... any suggestions on that?

This is after we moved all the big toys out to get ready for the painters to come. I can't wait for the deer to be gone! T says they are coming back.. hhmmmmm

Summa time

We got the kids a slip n slide as a happy coming home from the weekend... Thought I would share some pics!

and and N told me today that "It makes me so happy" Awe

Total Money Makeover

I know I know, I have said this a thousand times. We need to get out of debt and do the Dave thing. Well, I think after months of not really knowing where all of our money goes, we have had enough. T and I listened to The Dave Ramsey show on our way to New Orleans and it was such an inpsiration to hear folks call in and announce they were debt free. I mean, these people are getting out of $50,000 worth of debt in 2 years. We have a fraction of that debt so I know we can do this. I will confess that I am the big spender between the two of us and T wants me happy, therefore if I ask, he gives. I am learning to Not ask so he is not tempted to say yes. So after hours of putting EVERYTHING on paper and finding out exactly what we owe and where, we are on board. We have calculated to the month when we will be debt free.. and this will include not only CC debt but our minivan! We are doing the envelope system and all. I think the biggest key in all of this is to sit down with your spouse and write everything down on paper at the beginning of each month and this way you know where every dollar is going. When you see what you are spending and what needs to be done, it's actually exciting! So, with that said, we are giving ourselves the remaining of this month to get any loose ends tied up and Month 1 for us starts July 1. I look forward to having financial freedom and don't think I won't call Dave and scream!!!!!

Nawlins'

Hi there! T and I just returned from a wonderful weekend together in New Orleans for a Weekend to Remember conference. It's a 3 day event where you and your spouse learn about God's design for marriage. We highly recommend it to you guys out there. T and I count our blessings constantly for having such a good marriage. There are so many around us that don't and sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve this life! *Now don't get me wrong, we can get on each other's nerves at times.

We met up with another couple but were mostly just with each other. This is the first time we have ever had an entire weekend (Fri-Sun) from the 3 kiddos. One couple that spoke to us has 12 children... alllll theirs! I can't even wrap my mind around it. Precious!

Soooo, this was my first time to the Big Easy as an adult... I went with a friend and her mother when I was 12..... I took a survey on Facebook to see where the best place to eat would be and of course I got several suggestions. ( the conference recommends you and your spouse have a date night the Saturday night.) One of which was Nola. This is Emeril's restaurant. First of all let me point out, while I love nice things and I'm not a total cheap-o, this place was overpriced for the quality of food. We were sadly disappointed and would have much rather spent our cash at Doe's. But it's ok... we can always say we went there. Our first dinner was at Mother's. I'm not a seafood eater so I could not appreciate T's shrimp po-boy. I had red beans and rice. It was fine. Our first morning we had breakfast at the French Quarter at Cafe Du Monde.... mmmmmm is all I can say about that. Then for lunch we came across this pizzeria ( yes, pizza) Rotolo's and can I just say how fabulous it was?! We has cheese sticks with a mixture of cheeses including Feta.. one of my favs. Then we got the chicken alfredo pizza. Oh my goodness.

Then this morning we had breakfast at Pierre Maspero's and it was wonderful. I branched out and had a mimosa with and omelet and hash browns. Very good and I would definitely go back.

We all know that New Orleans is famous for Mardi Gras and the amount of partying that goes on there. You can understand when I say I almost got sick at the stench of party-goers that lingers, along with the heat..it can make you not want to roam the streets of the French Quarter. I have a HUGE smeller!! We stayed at the Hilton on Riverside and it was absolutely wonderful. Very clean and very nice. The best part about it is, it's right at the Riverwalk Marketplace and next door to the Aquarium. We should take the kids back soon.

I must add that I could not help but think of how people suffered and even died, esp. babies after hurricane Katrina. I mean, it was HOT and muggy there and as I had the luxury of buying a cold bottle of water and returning to my cool hotel room... those that were trapped in New Orleans had none of that. Can you imagine?

Here are pics to share from the weekend:

Dance Recital

Dance recital was a hit and I didn't get very many pictures. Backstage is chaotic and I wish I had gotten a picture of the entire room so you could see. I will have to do that next year!

Afterwards we traditionally go to Sherman's for dinner.

Random catch up

Hi everyone. I have been a slacker for good reason... we just got done with a weeks worth of VBS and it was wonderful! I taught art this year and the kids really enjoyed themselves... We are in dance recital mode so I will be posting those pics after tonight!

With the inspiration of Bakerella, I have been making cake pops per people's requests. Here is a batch I did for a girl's niece's dance recital gift!

KE and Ava on their way to another dance recital.

Leah was home this week and this is the ONLY picture we took. Not a great one, but I wanted to post it. She and her hubby are in WV with his medical residency and I can't wait for them to move closer to home!

The boys sporting cute tees made by my friend Katherine.

W at his very first swimming lesson. He is doing so good. He loves it and makes sure i am watching him and waves at me every time he is getting out of the pool. He is a ham.