I'm back

For those who may not have known...I was without internet for about a week...thus the reason I haven't been on here. Found out I had a bad modem...but now, as you can plainly see I am up and operational again...YIPEEE!!

Christmas was great...got some awesome presents...kids were spoiled as usual and all has been good. Still have one more Christmas to celebrate with hubby's family this weekend, but overall I say it was a good Christmas. My dad gave us all an awesome gift...hoping to find a frame for it so I can hang it somewhere...in my craft area I suppose if I can find it...my room is still buried under Christmas paper. My little sis gave me a cool gift as well....

Don't you love when people truly listen to even the little things you want?? My little sis (bless her heart [hugs sis!!]) knew that I loved the old Marathon candy bar from the 70's...it was my fav. Whenever my mom would send me to Lawson's down the street she would give me a little extra to buy myself a candy bar...I almost always got a Marathon bar. Well Marathon bars of course no longer made, but this is supposed to be very similar...thus my sis gave me the "Curly Wurly"...not only that, she got it for me from her last Disney trip this past October (I admire your restraint little sis for not partaking of this yummy thing)...I have yet to try it...I am still i awe that she got me this...I know it's just a candy bar, but it's little things like this that means bunches to me...I'm not sure to eat it or frame it ;-) Love ya Sis!

Well I'll post more later...I've got TONS to get caught up on at the moment and better get busy.

Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

Here's another...and another...

OK...I feel like I need to play catch up here...I am sharing two songs today since I have missed a couple days...first one I wasn't able to find a viceo for but I still wanted to share....it's of course by my favorite Christian artist...Jeremy Camp and it's his version of "O Come All Ye Faithful" which is one of my favorite Christmas carols anyway so if you are looking for some good Christmas music...look for him:

Here is another song I have loved over the last couple years...by another one of my favorite Christian artists...the group Avalon, their song called "Light a Candle"...the video isn't that great, but the song is awesome.

Hope you are having a good week!

On to our next song...

OK I'll try this again...blogger is acting a bit flaky today and I was almost done with this post and then it just closed on me...oh well...on to the next song anyway...

Today's song is brought to you by my hubby....this is one of his favorites...so Enjoy!




Oh, and there is a new challenge on the Faith Sisters site so go check it out and play along with us! Oh and I have some cool news about the layout I did for that challenge...just can't share quite yet, but soon...just stay tuned....and now to our regularly scheduled music...

Have a Wonderful Christmas time!

Fleas On Your Dog...

So I'm going to keep this short and sweet tonight, but I promised a favorite song...the first favorite Christmas song I wanted to share is a favorite with me and my boys. The song:

Feliz Navidad

Or more apptly called among me and my boys..."Fleas On Your Dog"...we love to sing and dance to this one...it's totally priceless and crazy and ssssooo much fun. You'd have to be there and just goes so well with my sense of humor. So here you go everyone...sing with me...fleas on your dog...bum bum bum bum bum bum...fleas on your dog...

Hoping you are having an awesome week!

Christmas Randomness...

So needless to say I've started to get into the Christmas spirit now...slow start but I think I'm getting there...maybe that means the Christmas spirit will last longer this year...always a thought...

Anyways...finally got our tree decorated...hubby and boys decorated it Sunday night...mine is still undecorated...I usually decorate my tree with my birdhouses I painted, but I just haven't felt like it yet, nor do I think I could get to the blasted things anyway....admist all this eBay I'm doing right now...God does bless in mysterious ways...Brennan the last few weeks had been praying that "Mommy would get more money", cute and silly prayer of an inoccent 8 year old, yet God has listened because there a couple ladies that hubby cleans cars for that have asked me to sell their antiques and collectibles for them. Has kept me quite busy I must say, but it has paid for a large chunk of the boys Christmas so Praise God for that!

On other things...I'm desperately trying to memorize lines for our Christmas play in a couple weeks...luckily I don't have as many lines as most, but honestly my brain is fried right now and the brain cells aren't remembering so much. The fun of the season!

We finally got TV back...as many of you know we have been without cable TV since August. Well we finally got Direct TV yesterday. Hubby is happy and scratching his head at the same time...let me go on...he gets home...asks me what I think of it...how does it work...I kind of give him the basics to what the guy told me..."So what do you think?" he asks...I told him...don't know...as soon as the guy left I turned it off. The story gets better...boys get home...tell them if they get their homework done there's a surprise for them...we reveal the surprise to the children (especially Austin) who hounded us about getting TV back...Austin proceeds to play on his computer, Colton proceeds to play on his Gameboy...Brennan is the only one somewhat interested in it and Hubby is left literally dazed and confused as to why he spent all the money...but hey he's at least happy he has TV back.

So on one of the blogs I frequent the lovely Stephanie asked to use a letter to describe your day today...today my letter is F. For Friends, Family, Fun, Frigid (lets face it...right now in Ohio its COLD!) Fabulous, and don't forget festive and food (that one's for you Dad). So what is your letter for today?!?!

I will be sharing over the next few days favorite Christmas songs...let me know what your favorites are!

Hope you are having a fabulous Feliz Navidad!

More of the white stuff...

Yes folks...another snow day...in a way I'm glad...nice to have the boys home and sleep in a little bit. So what have we done so far today....

Well the normal laundry, dishes, cooking (have to feed the kiddos after all...not sure why they get so hungry all the time he-he), scouting out Christmas gifts on the internet, more laundry....oh and I finally broke out the tree and Christmas music and some Christmas decorations...I'm slowly (very slowly mind you) getting into the Christmas spirit. Will decorate the tree once hubby does his magic fluffing and putting on lights (of course who knows how long that will tkae, but my job is done anyway).

So I leave you with this little ditty:


Colton: Mommy...can you open this game for me?

Mommy: Sure buddy.

Colton: Thanks mom...now I can be the cop and I can catch all those bad guys.

Where do they come up with this stuff anyway??

Have a super day!

SNOW DAY!!

Needless to say we woke up yesterday morning to this:




Which of course lead to school being canceled (YIPEE!!)


Which of course lead to the boys wanting to go out and play...who was I to say no ;-)





Even Daddy got in on it and played with the boys a bit (after shoveling the driveway of course)...ask Austin about the special delivery snow pizzas!! Too funny!! We all had tons of fun!

Today there was a two-hour delay for school (which always throughs me off for some reason) and I forgot that the school was having a special "70's dress up" day today to help raise money for a 6 year old girl in our school district who has an inoperable brain tumor and her daddy just lost his job. So I was scurrying around to try and find 70's like gear...this is what we ended up with:




Colton's 'smiley' t-shirt I made for him about 30 minutes before we left for school...good thing he has a crafty Mom...he was none too happy about his outfit (cause he wanted a costume like Austin) until I made him this shirt...thank goodness for quick thinking! Brennan wore star glasses with his too. They all looked adorable...I mean GROOVY! I'm just hoping Austin didn't get in trouble for wearing his Darth Vader costume, but hey Darth Vader was part of the 70's after all ;-)

Been working on my Faith Sister's site creating and uploading new layouts for upcoming challenges...check out this weeks challenge here.

Still haven't started Christmas shopping...YIKES! Hoping to get that done soon...hubby was way too tired to help me with that today. Maybe later.

Well got to go pick up my GROOVY boys....until next time!

Now it's OFFICIALLY December

It is NOW officially December...why...because Saturday night we saw this:





Snow has arrived in Ohio...we ended up spending the night in Sandusky after visiting hubby's great aunt because the roads were a bit slippery and we where in no hurry to go home anyway. It was kind of nice to get away for the weekend, even if I didn't sleep all that well.

While we were at Aunt Thelma's Colton found a new way to play cornhole:
Why just throw that beanbag when you can crawl underneath it and catch those happy beannies!

Overall it was a nice, yet tiring weekend.

Still have yet to start my Christmas shopping. Hoping to get started this week...hoping.

Well I've got a huge to-do list and only a short time to do it so I leave you with this photo....

Have a great week!

Can you help??

OK folks I need a little help...a little help in the Christmas spirit department...ain't got none, NADA, zilch...not sure if it's just the fatigue of working so much on the recent remodeling, lack of snow (not that I'm wishing for any yet), or what but I just have NOT been able to get into the Christmas mood yet. Been playing Christmas music on the radio, and that had helped a smidge, but I have NO desire to break out my Christmas decorations yet and with three kids that is just NOT COOL. So here is my plea to you....

Help me find the Christmas spirit this year...is there some sort of tradition that just puts you in that Christmas mood...a website that you've been on that just screams Christmas or anything at all...I'll take anything...just help a tired Mom out OK ;-)

May watch "It's a Wonderful Life" tonight...that always helps with the Christmas spirit...after I watch The Little Princess with the boys (I know Princess and boys just don't mix...but it IS a good movie...you know the old Shirley Temple movie.)

Well here's to hoping the Christmas spirit finds me.

The Reveal...

OK folks...the moment you've been waiting for. Take it these photos were taken before I've put anything on my counters, but you'll get the picture....still not totally finished but much better than before.





I feel so happy and grateful to have this done at least to this point anyway. I was able to make Thanksgiving dinner in my new kitchen! I love my new oven and stovetop and microwave too. They are so cool and amazing. They actually tell you when your food is done. Technology, it's so amazing! And my new sink...I could swim in this thing it's so huge and deep! Love that bunches as well! So all we have to do now is paint the backsplash...we are going to put an edge of brick along the bottom of the backsplash to kind of tie the whole room together and then also put some brick in front of the sink as a splash guard. Then the cupboard doors...which in all honesty I'm not sure I want to go there...the guy who refinished them for us did an awesome job....the doors were beautiful....unfortunately they were the wrong color. Why he didn't test one of the doors to see what we had and to see if we matched is beyond me, but my cupboards are more of a brown and his doors are more cherry red. We used the same stain, but I guess the stain on the exterior of the cupboards took a little differently than the veneer on the cupboards. He's going to try to make them more brown, and I pray that they turn out. I don't expect them to match perfectly, but I told him I didn't want red. I don't like cherry, even though the stain we used was an antique brown cherry...the stain he showed us on our cupboards appeared more brown when he showed it to us...for some reason his came out more of a red. I was so sick and upset by it...but I figure it will eventually turn out, God is in control anyway...just one more setback that's all. Just pray with me that they do turn out more of a brown than a formal cherry red...I'm not into formal.

Anyways...hoping your Thanksgiving was great. My Thanksgiving was wonderful...cooking in my new kitchen, had my parents and hubby's mom and step-dad over to eat with us. We had a great time, had MORE than enough food and great conversation and spoiling the grandkids was had by all. I love having family around me...it just makes everything feel like its meant to be. It makes me content.

So did you do the Black Friday shopping thing??? I'm not into getting up before dawn for ANYTHING, not even to save a few bucks. I think I'm going to do what I've done for the past several years...shop on the internet....for me it's just the way to go. No lines, no hassles, don't have to deal with people or get frustrated cause you can't find the right thing and drive all over God's green earth to find it. I can sit in my jammies, surf the net, and just order and have it delivered to my door. And many places offer free shipping too....how can you beat that?!?!? I know with three boys I sure can't.

Well I have to go finish helping hubby clean a car, finish some laundry, get dinner, then start selling some eBay so I have some Christmas $$ to do that internet shopping with ;-)

Have a great week!

One Tired Chicka....

This remodeling is truly kicking me HARD! Had all intentions of posting some more pics of the kitchen progress, but honestly I'm just too tired...maybe I'll post some later this week, but for now I'll just "chat" about it.

Kitchen is coming along...may even have a kitchen (minus new flooring) by Turkey day...possibly. After spending the last several days fumigating myself with polyurathane (nasty stuff...P-U), I finally got my cupboards stripped, sanded, polyed (four coats I may add...I added an extra coat just cuz...) sanding in between each coat of poly...though it's not perfect, it's perfect enough for me and I'm very happy with it...much better than hubby's initial thought of painting them that's for sure. My cupboards have this beautiful rustic look that I was really hoping for. (I know...you want to see pictures now right...sorry....still too tired, so you'll just have to wait...or stop by). My countertop should be going in (HOPEFULLY) tomorrow so I may actually be able to (again HOPEFULLY) cook in my kitchen tomorrow...we shall see. It will be nice to not have to cook in the basement anymore. Then the fun will begin of trying to clean this mess up and actually put hings back where they belong...somewhat. I still won't have my drawers and doors until the weekend, but hey...I've gotten kinda used to no doors. Oh well.

Well again, I'm TIRED!! so this chicka is going to finally go to bed. Pictures next time..hopefully with pics of countertop on too!

And if I don't get on here before Turkey day....have a blessed Thanksgiving!

This face...

This face is a face that is SUPER excited....want to know why...I'm sure you can guess.....

Finally got his room done! In fact he is warm and snuggly in his new room even as I type. Bless his heart! He was so super excited and actually grateful...gave me the biggest hug ever...worth a month's worth of painting and aggravation after all. It really turned out super cute...other than curtains (that should hopefully be here next week) and a couple tin signs I'm hoping to win on eBay, his room is pretty much finito!! HALLELUJAH!

Here are a few more pics of the room:

Now if I could only get the kitchen done...stain is NOT working well and may be a total nightmare before it's all done. For some reason the wood on the top of my cupboards must not be the same wood as the bottom or something because it's taking the stain totally different. The top looks great, the bottom however is way too dark. Going to try and sand it tomorrow to see if I can lighten it up. Hopefully!

New challenge will be up on Faith Sister's tomorrow...check it out...it's about Home Sweet Home.

Well another busy day tomorrow and I need to try and get a good night's sleep! So until next time...

So much to share...

So much to share...oh my...where to begin...
Had the most awesome worship service in church today...the congregation from Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church came to share in our service this morning. So amazing!! The fact that we could come together under one God and worship despite our differing denominations (they are Baptist, we are Wesleyan) and the fact that we are different races (they are African American), didn't matter...we all worshipped together, worshipping one God, no boundaries, no theological agendas...just worshipped! So amazing...I wish you all could have been there...Gave me a glimpse of what heaven is going to be like...cause I doubt there are going to be denominations in heaven...just Christ followers praising the same God. I guess this was such an uncommon thing that our local paper is doing a story on it...find it here...and ABC News was there filming us...not sure why and why it would have been such a big deal (we've had Shiloh Church worship with us before)...I got to meet Dan Harris and he interviewed me and another lady form our church...I doubt that I'll be on TV folks (which is plenty OK with me)...I guess after the 3 hours of filming they did the segment is only going to be 2-3 minutes long. I didn't realize how much work went into making one little blurby segment...wild! Anyway I'll let you know (or maybe someone else can let me know since we still have no cable) when it's on. It was just an amazing and wonderful day.

Hubby is sick...has what I had. I'm praying that either God heals him fast or that God gives him enough wisdom to call off work...he's never called off work in the 15 years he's worked there despite a couple time I KNOW that he should have.

Kitchen remodel is coming along...slowly. I do have new electricty run in my kitchen so now I hopefully won't keep blowing out the fuse box...I have new drywall up on my back splash...the guy is coming tomorrow hopefully to finish that. I'm praying (HARD) that my counter top gets put in next week...having no counter is getting annoying. I have stripped the bottom of the cupboards, tops yet to be stripped, but doors will probably not be done until after Christmas...oh well. As far as Austin's room goes...that is a project that just won't die! It's taken a LOT longer than I thought and not sure how much I'm going to be able to get done this week. I'm a bit upset because the paint I got for the trim is not the right paint...though it was labeled a Satin paint, it actually is a flat paint....hubby didn't realize this until I was almost done painting the trim...so sometime during my busy schedule this week I have to hike back up to Lowe's and exchange the paint for the right kind....very, very unhappy about having to go over that trim one more time....not looking forward to it at all. Austin's carpet is ready to go in...whenever I get that trim done :-/

Went looking for new bedroom furniture for us because we are going to give Austin's set to the girls instead of trying to repaint it and give Austin our dresser. We were so excited to find this Mission style set by Broyhill, but were so disappointed when we actually saw it because it just wasn't in my opinion quality made...very chincy and I wasn't paying that kind of money for chincy...I don't buy furniture very often...in fact the set we have now is the set we got when we got married 18 years ago....I wanted something that would last, so since we were in Amish country we went looking around and found this Amish store that had this really nice Mission style set...I get it in the stain color I want, in the style I want...I even get the nice mission style fixtures on it I love so much....it was a bit of money...Merry Christmas to us I guess. This house remodeling is costing us a bunch of $$$...freaking me out. Anyways...

Well I have to get busy cleaning my house...I'm having a Party Lite party tomorrow night in my torn up house so I need to make some sense out of it so I'm not totally embarrased. Hope you had an amazing weekend! Have a great week!

From our house to yours...

Wishing everyone a very Happy Halloween!!

Still alive...still painting...almost done with Austin's room...hopefully by the weekend (cause I just want to be done with it!) Kitchen is still gutted...new electric for kitchen goes in Friday. Hopefully new countertop next week (really hoping). Still sick though feeling much better other than an irritating cough that won't go away. Boys went trick or treating tonight...Austin was a Jedi (of course), Brennan ended up being a cross between a vampire and a pirate...we called it a Vampirate....and Colton has for months said he was going to be the black spiderman...tonight he changed his mind and for the third year in a row...he went as the regular Spiderman...guess when you've got a good thing going you stick with it...he's wearing Brennan's old Spiderman outfit now...luckily there is always Austin's Spiderman outfit when outgrows Brennan's...who knows how long this Spiderman thing will last ;-) Will post pictures of the boys once I get them downloaded...right now I'm going to go take some cough medicine, hack up a lung and hit the hay. Happy Fall everyone!

Not feeling well...

Not feeling well...just tired and sniffling and got the cough too...so it begins I guess ;-(

Anyway wanted to share this video to keep you occupied....very very powerful...please check it out:

It's cold and it's raining...

So far not a very productive day....it's cold...it's raining...I'm tired. Just not interested in doing a whole lot...not good when I have a week where my plate seems full. Need to finish Austin's room this week. Got the border taped off to paint last night, but though I love painting...I'm tired of painting right now ;-) Maybe later. His carpet comes in sometime next week...so I really need to get done. Still need to paint the border area...apply the border and paint the trim. YIKES!

Hubby spent part of the afternoon tearing out my kitchen...stove is gone...cooktop is gone...need to find a place for all my stuff in my cupboards....I'm starting to feel a bit overwhelmed...I don't mind a little mess in my house, but a huge mess is a totally different story...though I know it will be wonderful once it is done, it's the process of getting there that bugs me. I just wish we could have waited until after the holidays, but beggars can't be choosers.

Well I need to go fix some dinner and have to go to church tonight. My prayers go out to those in CA that are battling those fires...wish I could send my rain your way!

I've been tagged!

I was tagged by Karma...co creator extraordinaire of FaithSisters.com...So I guess I better get to it...For those I tag, this is what you need to do...

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself: some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post and list their names (linking to them).
4. Let them know they've been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

My 7 facts:
1. I am a huge music fan...I love just about everything...except twangy country.
2. I used to help my dad in his electronics business when I was little...it was fun!
3. I'm not scared to use power tools. I'm a pretty good handy woman.
4. I would love to take a photography class.
5. I was already 2 weeks pregnant with my son when I went ot the doctor to find out why I couldn't get pregnant.
6. I worked in the produce dept. of our local grocery store for 14 years before becoming a SAHM.
7. I went to college and have an AA in Accounting, though I love to go back to school and study art and graphic design.

Now I tag:

Jada's Gigi
Stephanie Ackerman
Amber Nichole
My Sis Jackie
'Chelle
L/E
Esther

Bye Bye Nursery...

It's official...the days of baby are no longer at the McClain household...this is how I spent 10 hours of my day today:






The walls are painted...need one more coat I think, then I'll take "after" pictures, except I forgot to paint the closet!!! So that may have to wait until tomorrow...I'm just too tired and sore now. It looks nice, but seems odd to me...it's been baby blue for 10 years. No more Precious Moments angels border. Austin is really liking it though..which I guess is what matters. I think it's going to be so cozy! Maybe one day mommy and daddy will finally get their room done ;-) One thing at a time. Hoping to have Austin's room done by next week that way he can get out of the living room and back into his own room.


Had to share this photo for my dad...look what I fixed for dinner the other night....Chicken Paprikash....YUM!! This stuff is like the ultimate comfort food...and I was having a not so good day when I made this, but afterwards, Ifelt much better ;-) I wish I could have saved some dad, but it was just too good...maybe the next time you're home I'll make a special batch ;-) Also dad...check out what I just got from Amazon. Maybe I'll make something new for the holidays!


Well I'm tired and sore and hubby bless his heart drew me a bath with my last (and favorite) Basin bath bomb in it...what a sweetie!


Later all~

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets Trailer

Check this out!!! I don't usually get super excited about a movie coming out, let alone a sequel. Can't wait until this comes out. Super excited!

Amazing

Had a chance to talk to these sweet ladies tonight...They are the owners of the Faith Sisters site. Also got to talk with a few others that make up the Faith Sisters creative team...they just sound so amazing and I am so super excited to be working along side of them. So many ideas they have...not sure I can share so I won't, but their site is wonderful...if you are a scrapper (and even if you are not) please, go check the site out! This website is such an answer to prayer for me...I've been looking for such a place as this and God is so good! I feel like God is opening doors for me right now...I'm so amazed and can't wait to see what He has in store.

Onto other things....I just got the CD for this group today...now I don't usually like country music, but this group is what I would consider pop country so I give it the OK ;-) If you like Rascall Flatts...you'll love these guys...they are like Rascall Flatts with Jesus ;-) Very good and right now on their website they are selling their CDs 2 for $ 15.00....great deal for some good music!

As far as the homefront...well I'm starting to remodel Austin's room...tried taking the border off on his room...not fun or pretty...it's pretty much stuck fast since it was more or less double glued on there, so I think we are just going to paint over it and put the new border over the old...at least that is what we are thinking at this moment. Austin is VERY excited and very persistent in wanting his new room so hoping to get that done in the next few weeks. Counter top should be in soon. We are going tomorrow to talk to a guy about refinishing our cupboard doors. I will (unfortunately) have to strip the outer part of the cupboards myself...can we all say YUK!!! Not looking forward to that...why can't I just blink and it all be finished {grin}.

Oh, did I tell you I ended up getting second place for my scrapbooks at the fair??? I was so excited and surprised....God is good!

Well I'm kinda getting a headache and I haven't been to bed before midnight for days so I think I may just try and go to bed at a somewhat decent time tonight.

Hope you are having a good week!

Week of Fair = Mr. Morning Challenge

Check out this site. Mr. Morning Challenge has left the Edwards household and came to stay at mine this morning....Let's just say that I'm so glad for the fair to be over...though I like the fair and enjoy the sites and some of the food (which this year for some reason I couldn't handle so well)...let's just say that a week of fair = a case of the grumpies...not so much me, but for the boys! Wowzers...they didn't want to get up and moving this morning...I got grumpy attitude from the middle one and the youngest just drug his feet and grumped. Of course we stayed out a little later than we should of watching the Rough Truck contest...Brennan especially and I get such a kick out of it. I was wanting to watch my old boss race...which he when I left was in third place and 1st in the long jump, but we really were out a bit late, so I took the grumpies in stride and just went with it.

Today was catch up day...Needed to go grocery shopping, get fingerprinted so I can volunteer at th boys school, sort or straighten up the house. I have some things I could probably work on for the Faith Sisters site. I just finished this layout and uplaoded it to the Faith Sisters site of my BFF Michelle...totally makes me laugh.

I may be going here tomorrow with my neighbor friends...I've always wanted to go...hopefully will get a chance if I can get my house in some sort of order so my father in law won't think I brought the pig pen from the fair to my house :-) !!!



Right now the boys are watching Davey & Goliath....remember that show (for those who remember the 60's and 70's). Found it on Netflix and ordered them for the boys to watch...I always loved watching Davey & Goliath as a kid on Sunday mornings. Such fun!

Well I think for now I'm going to try to get some stuff done and enjoy some Davey and Goliath with the boys.

Later~

So excited!!!

Just got the news today....I'm so excited....check out this site to find out my good news!

Here lies someone who is...

Totally whipped...drained...with her head still spinning on her shoulders. I feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz after the tornado...what just happened and where did September go?!!? And my house does look like a tornado hit it...amazing how your house can look like a tornado hit it after neglecting it for three weeks!

Yikes...as many of you know September usually is a busy month for me getting ready for the fair and all, but I literally feel like I've been run over by a Mac...Hubby was off on vacation for two weeks...he kept me very busy cleaning cars and starting to remodel our house...YIPPEE!! If we make it through this remodeling thing unscathed I will be so thrilled!! Right now we are currently in the process of remodeling our kitchen, finally replacing the carpet in our dining room (I have refused to do it until the boys quit throwing food on the floor...of course Brennan spilled a whole glass of lemonade yesterday...maybe I should reconsider {g}...) We are also beginning the process of redecorating Austin's room since we have no babies anymore the Precious Moments baby theme in his room has to go (per Austin). I already have paint, we've already picked out carpet and the border is on it's way. That will be an easy fix. The kitchen scares me...we are stripping the cupboards, putting on new hardware, new floor, new counter, new cooktop and oven, pretty much everything but painting the walls and lighting which have been done for a while. I'm just glad to have something in the works. Oh and we are also eventually replacing our back door and putting in a new glass door window in our dining room..I'll have to explain that one later.
So you may be asking..."What about that house you was looking at???" Well...don't get me wrong, I still love the house. After we found out that the gas budget (Yes budget) was over $ 200 a month we kind of stepped back a bit. It needs new windows, it isn't insulated and really needs a paintjob. Still like the house though...I still say God has to make that one happen. And of course now that I'm fixing up my house I may not want to leave it anyway ;-)

So anyway sorry for that long story...I have been so busy with Kevin's honey-do list that I had to litterally CRAM to get my fair projects done...poor planning on my part, but I did get them done, but now I'm exhausted. But I did win 3 second places and 1 third place on my photos and one first place and one third place on my afghans. I made a bad judgement on a couple of my afghans and apparently put them in the wrong categories...will have to try again next year on those and put them in different categories. Still not sure about my scrapbooks, but I'm OK with that...I made enough on my premiums to pay for my fair ticket and that is all that matters to me. Praise Jesus! I got to sit through the judging this year which is something I've never been able to do before because I always had the boys...it was interesting...and boy was that judge tough and picky...of course she has to be. It was interesting to watch.

Well I have to watch the girls tomorrow (they don't have school) and I think I'm actually going to retire early for a change this week ;-)

Hope all has been well with you all....it's nice to be back...in body anyway ;-)

I'm Still Here...

Just a very quick note to say that I am still here.....just EXTREMELY busy (hubby is on vacation....need I say more). We are currently working on MANY projects, plus I'm trying to get things ready for the fair next week...in short it has been chaos here.

So needless to say I will return once things slow down a bit. Until then God bless!

18 Years

Eighteen years...with this man...

Happy Anniversary Honey!

Hi...my name is Tammy...nice to meet you...

I know...I know...I really need to update more often, but with the holiday weekend and still TRYING to get into some sort of routine with the boys in school (ha...not sure if that is ever going to happen, but so far that is really OK...I've kind of enjoyed the unpredicatbility). So wow...so much to share...I don't want to write a book, so in case that I do...I apologize...just so much to share.

Colton is doing a little better in school...Miss Cores said he did good today. Phew...maybe we are on our way ;-)

Had a FANTABULOUS weekend camping with my little sister, her fiance and her little boy Treyce. We were trying to get a camping site at Lake Park but of course they were booked, then my awesome hubby remembered that the church he attended as a kid had a shelter and people used to camp up there...so here we were Labor Day weekend, we with a borrowed camper (hubby will NOT tent camp...a camper is as roughin' it as he will get) and my sis with a tent at Brown's Farm on top of a hill in good ole' Coshocton County ALONE...it was AWESOME!! Great weather, great fun, awesome bonfire, kids had a blast....overall a pretty perfect weekend. God was truly smiling on us! My Sis was truly the marshmallow roasting queen...she made them just the perfect way, just right amount of toasty-ness...unlike my boys who pretty much charred theirs (too funny). We will DEFINITELY be doing this again soon...we're even talking about getting our own camper of some sort...what a blast! Here are a few pics from the weekend:






We are also currently PRAYING about moving. We have found a house that hubby and I both like...it's actually about a block away from my parents...we really like it, and they keep dropping the price on it. Kids however are NOT for it. They have always been in THIS house and they in no uncertain circumstances (per Austin anyway) want to move. This is something God will definitely have to make happen because it would definitely depend if we could sell our house...and being that our area is pretty economically depressed at the moment, it could be hard to sell it. Anyway it's in God's hands and I'm not getting my hopes up, but waiting for Him to move...or shall I say move us. You can see a pic of the house here.

Here is a pic of a scrapbooking layout I did for the latest Dares challenge...I had to make a page using non-scrapping supplies...fun! Hubby gave me the idea to use Postal supplies...I thought it was appropriate ;-)

Have another scrapbook album I made, but I'm just too tired to upload the pics here so maybe later this week...maybe ;-)

Started to finally Spring clean my house...I know...I'm a little late...I think of it as being really really early for next year. ;-)

Hubby and I had our first breakfast out together in YEARS without kids...so weird still not having children underfoot during the day...it is kind of nice though.

Hope you are having an awesome week...blessings to you!