My new chairs!!

I did it!

I have not had a matching table and chairs in years. First a couple of chairs broke, then we were given a couple of chairs. We kept the folding chairs in the dining room to fill in as needed. Then,last weekend I found 2 mismatched chairs at a garage sale for ............

ONE DOLLAR

All they needed was a little love :) I had planned to post a poll asking everyones opinion because I honestly couldn't make up my mind what I should try to make them all look good around my table! Finally, this morning when I had no more time to be fussy about it I just decided that black was easiest so I did it :)

I even took before and after pictures for this post

BEFORE


AFTER



Spraypaint in my hands.......nothing is safe....muahaaahaahaa

I miss my boys :(

Today is the 6th day since I have NOT had a sweet hug from one of my little guys.


I have 4 days to go!

It helps to remember the sweet little things.

Last week during dinner we were doing our "minus's and plus's". Davis said his minus was his BOOK REPORT (he was really nervous and had to do an oral presentation for the first time). He took a big breath-hitching sigh right after telling us this and I could tell he was just recalling the terror he felt right before he had to talk in front of his whole class.
When we went back around to hear the plus's he said it was his BOOK REPORT. I looked at him quizically and he said "Mom...it feels really good to do a good job". yes, yes I cried a little with pride for my big 3rd grader.

I wasn't able to be at home when their Dad picked them up for their spring break vacation but Jeff was. He was giving each of the boys a "hug from Mom" and Michael came back for another round and said he wanted 2 hugs to pass on to Mom.
I PROMISE you that the first thing I did when I got home from work was to take every bit of those hugs from Jeff's arms.

Travis is turning 14 soon and is paying to have unlimited texts on his cell phone because he is a texting maniac!
I have decided that I will never complain again because this week I have had the most thoughtful conversations with him in the middle of the day about things he misses, stuff happening with his friends, advice seeking about a crush and even wanting me to intervene in an argument with his brother. It is definitely getting me through till Sunday night.

Thanks for letting me reminisce a little, I'm really doing OK even though i did go by baseball practice (something i usually get weary of) and watched all the little 9 & 10 year olds playing just to feel a little better yesterday.

What has been keeping me so busy?

SPRING CLEANING!!!!!!!!!

My family groans when I bring out "the list"

The words "I have a plan" send them running to hide

I have to start keeping my to-do list hidden for protection

What do all these things mean? It's time for Spring cleaning!!!!


We have been very, very busy the last month but I have been limiting it to weekends and have divided the house into very specific projects. So far we have accomplished all 3 boys rooms, our master bedroom & the living room.

I'm not just cleaning either. We are cleaning, we moved everything out of each of their seperate 3 bedrooms (one at a time, i'm not completely crazy)including furniture and beds and cleaned the carpet and windows. BUT, as we put things back in we took the time to rethink their rooms. Anything that was broken was fixed, we hung on walls those things that needed hanging, hung dragons from ceilings.

Davis finally decided at 9 that he was ready to pass on Thomas the train and his table to his cousins Drew & Ben. That was a BIG decision but it made his very cramped room a little bit bigger.

We created a reading corner for Michael
along with the dragons for imagination.
But the biggest change was in Travis's room. He likes change a LOT and decided that he wanted his walls painted.
This was fine and even gave us a little bit to look forward to once he agreed that he would do the bulk of the work AND be the repainter when the time came. However, he came down with the flu & bronchitis the day we started and so.....you guessed it........I was in his room covered in paint along with his best friend Zach until midnight trying to finish it. I was praising God for Zach when he was the one at the ceiling and the floorboard leaving me the middle section. You know your child has found a great friend when he refuses to be given a ride home while his best friend is sacked out and he says "I can't wait for Travis to see how cool this is!" (I promise I fed him well, even snacks and thanked him often)

I am rethinking each of my rooms with the idea from Nester when I read her posts about the rooms in your house! You have to go to her site and click on this button. We have faithfully followed each post and I have brought in fabric in my living room
and now have 3 working lamps and many candles.
We really focused on our bed in the bedroom and eliminating clutter.
I also painted 3 canvases to go above the bed that I think turned out great. I wish I had a better picture! (please ignore the ugly headboard that i hate hate hate)

I have more to do in the bathrooms and the kitchen/dining but I am stumped with my dining chairs so we may have a poll coming soon.

Check back for more insanity!

phew....it's been a while

Writing a post when it's been a long time has been hard! It is almost like it has to be something major and so just an everyday post isn't good enough but since I havent had anything really big I've just not put anything up!

Does it sound weird to say I have missed my blogging friends?

I finally just decided that a month is long enough and to just say something. I can't not just go on without saying something on here about a hard loss. I'm sure NO one will notice unless I point it out but I had to erase the part over on the said of my "about me" that said........a father in law that will never be an ex. I didn't think it was right to just erase that from my side bar and go on like I was erasing him.

We lost Grandpa Jack in February and it was much harder than I had expected it to be even though I thought I was prepared. In a way it happened very suddenly, but that was just the accident. Once we knew he wasn't going to wake up, the days that we had to tell him goodbye and to watch my children grieve were life changing. My boys were his only grandchildren and they were quite simply his entire world. They will always have that legacy of love and I will always be his daughter. I don't want to be sad anymore or make anyone else sad I just didn't want to not acknowledge his passing. We miss you Jack and are so glad you are up there with Kathy and showing off your pictures to a new audience!

I thought I was going to continue this, but I am going to end it and start a new one. It just seems right.

The Titus Project

I am so excited about this!!! I have decided however that I need help from anyone who is willing to share with me some ideas :)

Our church is sponsoring this for our youth girls (the boys will be having a subsequent Timothy project). I have been asked to sponsor a table. This means that I will have 4 girls at my table that I will serve. The idea is to be a mentor/friend/example and I am really glad to a part of things.

First we will be giving them a night where we will honor them. We will uplift them and serve them. We will prepare a banquet for them with gifts and food. The food is covered, but the table decoration and gifts (small ones) are to come from me and my imagination......THIS IS WHERE I NEED YOU GUYS AND YOUR IDEAS!!

Second we will be providing a night where we will pamper the girls with hair, make up, nails and any other kind of girly thing you can think of.

Third we will be giving each young lady a Titus Project book. This is a book of wisdom from us to them. This is a compilation of submitted stories and advice from ladies in our church. We would like it to be fuller than it currently is so if you had anything that God places on your heart I would love to submit and use it.

Lastly, pray that this will be a great night and that with HIS guidance will be just what these girls need and will be life changing and impacting.

And lets not forget about the boys (which will be my oldest 2 included) and their Timothy project.