An Update FINALLY...*SPT I guess*

EDITED: This week's SPT was

while the kiddos are hunting eggs, take a moment to hunt for something *eggs*tra special about your weekend.

so since this post was about our Easter I will make it my SPT also!


I know I've been a slacker! Life has been so crazy we don't know if we are coming or going these days. I finally told the Instructional Specialist at school that I could no longer do Extended Day at school. She wasn't too happy about it but it wasn't really worth it to me to do it. Anyways, on Friday Caroline asked to go to the park, so I took her & Jed for a few minutes. Here's a few pictures of them. My camera battery died while we were there & then there was a little girl who wet her pants and she was sliding all over everything. I got kinda grossed out so I made the kids leave! I guess if you think about it there's no telling what kind of NASTY is on the park playground! EWWWWWW!!!!

Jed apparently doesn't remember his broken arm from the summer b/c he was trying to do all kinds of tricks on the playground!





Saturday afternoon we went to our friend the Huntsman's house for their annual Easter weekend cookout. They had an egg hunt for the kids & then a treasure dig for the kids too. And good food for the adults.:) We had a lot of fun!





Saturday was Tyson's 34th Birthday. I asked if I could bring a cake to the cookout and they didn't mind so I did.




Happy Birthday Honey!

Sunday we went to church then we went to Broaddus to visit with Tyson's family. It was fun. Tyson's aunt Deby is always coming up with some crazy idea. This time she had some of these giant gift sacks left over from Christmas. She said we are going to have a family sack race. It didn't work out well though because we couldn't get all of the family to hop at the same time. Oh well it ended up in some laughs!



Here's the kids with their Easter buckets. Jed told me this year he didn't like his~I guess it was too babyish. So I went to Hobby Lobby and bought this red bucket for $3 and then came home and cut his name out on my Cricut machine with the white vinyl. I was so impressed with the way it turned out! The one he was carrying is the one Caroline has in her picture~she decided that would be her bucket & she had one kind of like the one Heather has in her picture.




Yesterday was back to the grindstone & it was super busy. When the end of the day finally came around I told someone~I had no clue how I got there from the beginning of the day. Today was a little better. Only 9 1/2 more weeks of school & I think someone today said 47 more days until SUMMER!!! Oh and the kitchen it's still not finished! It may be summer before it gets done!

Because I know you've been waiting....RIGHT?

We made it through this last week of school & boy was it rough! I am glad we are off today & I am thankful for the Catholics who gave us this holiday:)

Jed & Caroline had their first soccer practice last night & they both really enjoyed it. I didn't take a picture b/c I left my camera at home. I will try to remember to take a picture next week when we go. I think both of their coaches are going to be great with them.

Heather went to spend the night with a friend last night & tyson is at work. I got up this morning and went to work in my room at school. Now, Jed & Caroline & I are just hanging out at home.

Happy Friday!

The RED wall...

is finished & I love it. here's the pictures




I'm almost finished with the cabinet doors & Tyson is going to start putting them back up tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, I'll have pics of that soon.

Progress....

I can see the end of the tunnel here's a few pictures of the kitchen...




The problem is...I like to take too many breaks! HAHAHA Tyson took off yesterday & today so I really haven't gotten much done. He did get the bead board hung in the dining room & I've gotten it primered. I'm almost finished with the cabinets~all 25 of them!!!!

Round 2

I've been working all morning on the kitchen. My goal is to finish it by tonight but I don't know if that will happen. I had to take a lunch break & blog! haha

here's what I did this morning.




I painted most of the doors that I took off yesterday. There's one I can't get the hinge off of so I have to wait for Tyson to help me with that one. I removed all the doors from the bottom cabinets on the other side and laid them out. I am getting ready to wipe those cabinets down and get the bottom half painted then I'll get the doors from that side painted as well then I'll start on the top part on that side. I know I should do it the other way around but I'm not in the mood to climb on the counter right now! haha

Oh in other exciting news~I am thinking about going back to school to get my Master's (unless one of my new friends talks me out of it!):)

How would you know?~SPT

This week's challenage was

if i came to visit you next week, how would i know which doorbell to ring? do you have a formal entrance? should i come to the front door? or do you prefer your guests to come around back? (would you be surprised if i came in through the garage?!?)


If you came to visit next week, which door would you use? Probably the front door since the garage door is usually closed. But if the garage door was opened I would love for you to come through the garage~not really b/c it's clean or anything but to me it means you feel comfortable enough to make yourself at home.


My front door is kind of plain. I would like to add something to it but I don't really know what it would be. We mostly use the garage door now that it's fixed! YAY!!! There's a small path from the house to the driveway so we don't kill ourselves on all the junk that's in there. So there ya go~

I've really got to find some NEW friends...

you know the kind of friends who will tell me my ideas are dumb! I started painting on the kitchen today~now granted I didn't paint ALL day, just for a little while but dang~what have I gotten into. HAHA I started at the sink and did that part and the cabinets by the dishwasher. I also did the bottom cabinets too. It's looking pretty good. You can't tell by the picture but I'm painting it a cream color. It was white. I've got to scrub the doors in the morning and paint them, then I'm going to start on the other side of cabinets. I think it will look pretty good & I'll be able to say I did it myself BUT how is it that I always bite off more than I can chew! Maybe by Friday or Saturday I'll be finished. I'll update tomorrow with my progress.

My first project...

Here's my first vinyl project that I cut with my cricut. Gosh, i love that thing already. I have a big quote that I want to do in my kitchen but I have to paint it first & I want to get another font cartridge to do it in. This is above the entryway from the living room to the kitchen.
I don't think it's that crooked but I was standing on a chair trying to take the picture.

~FINALLY~

I have no idea what NORMAL is anymore~

Finally, we found an entertainment center the other day & we picked it up this afternoon~Here it is in our living room I love it!!!!



and I got this today too...



I can't wait to go buy some vinyl and make some new decorations for my house! I'm so excited to have something this cool!!!!

just 5 more school hours until Spring Break!!!

*SPT*

so the *SPT* this week is...

the spt challenge for next week is to photograph something that is extra special about you. it might be a physical feature, a talent, or an unknown secret. this spt is all about you!

of course I hate to talk about myself & sound like I'm bragging~really quite frankly, I don't think I have anything that's extra special b/c I think I'm just a pretty normal girl living a regular ol' life! SOOOOOO I'll let my family & friends do the talking....

What do you think is extra special about your dear ol' friend Autumn?
(I can't even post a picture to this post b/c I don't have any decent ones of me!)

~Mi Vida Loca~

so everyone knows I don't know how to say "NO" right? Well, I know it's been a while since I've posted Here's what we've been doing since our last post~well, it's really only been one thing but seriously? I keep saying next week will be better & it never is~

Take for example, this past weekend we went to Mesquite to participate in Destination Imagination If you have any way to participate in this program, I strongly suggest it for your kids. It is a lot of hard work and time, but it is so worth it in the end!

Heather's team got 3rd place in their division! They were so excited! They were a first year team & had a 50 pt deduction for an illegal procedure so we thought for sure they wouldn't get anything! They also WOW'ed the judges with their use of Spanish in their skit so they got a DaVinci Award for Creativity! We were so excited! They worked really hard and we were so proud of them! Their coach was super awesome with them too! She did a great job! Thanks Carol!




ok so i thought if we can get past County Fair (which by the way, both kids got blue ribbons for their projects) & then DI, we'll be ok! No Dice!

As I'm leaving school today, I get a phone call from a strange number~hum, it's Heather's softball coach's wife! They start practicing tomorrow. ACK!!! Which means I should be getting a call from the other 2's soccer coach!

Cub Scouts got switched to Monday nights which is good right now, but what if they want to practice soccer on Monday nights then what are we going to do? UGH!!!!

See where I should be saying NO! Although Cub Scouts is almost over~thank goodness!




While we were in Mesquite, my mom & step-dad drove down to meet us & bring us their treadmill. Tyson & I were thinking about buying one & I remembered they had one & I've never seen it used! So I called and asked for it~the only stipulation was we couldn't give it back. (it's a running joke in the family~no pun intended!!!!) I told my mom by the time we were ready to give it back gas would be $5 a gallon and it wouldn't be worth the drive! We'll just put it out by the curb. haha

So I decided that I needed to get on it! I've been so depressed since I haven't been able to run for one reason or the other! I told Tyson that today was the day we were starting back! Of course, I'm sick AGAIN!!! & it's cold & rainy outside~Thank goodness for a treadmill.




This is the combo that got me through my workout! For the record, I don't have the flu but I thought the meds might work better than what I was taking!

I REALLY should have my head examined! I am sure after this post someone will offer to pay for it! I'm sure this combination can't be a good one & i'll regret this tomorrow, but I needed to do it! So I got out on the treadmill & started back running again! I had to go back to week 2 but it felt good. About 1/2 through I thought "ok I'll just go 1/2 a mile today. After all, I am sick." But I got to that point and thought ok I can make it a little further. So I did. Everytime I wanted to quit~for some dumb reason, beyond me~I kept going! See I told someone will be offering to have my head examined! If you know me very well at all, you know I'm the least likely to WANT to exercise!


Here's what I looked like when I finished! See my red nose? that's from spending the past 3 days blowing it! ugh~I had to wear my glasses b/c I was in no mood to deal with my contacts today~& my hair is pulled back b/c I can't stand to have it down!

So see if you aren't offering to pay to have my head examined after I posted that picture something is wrong with YOU!!!!

I did FINALLY say No to something~My mom took off next week for Spring Break & tried to sucker me into bringing the kids to see her~HA~good try madre! I told her I was sending them to her & even canceling their dentist appointments! I am going to be redoing my kitchen I've talked about for so long! Tyson even said he might take a couple of days off to help~we'll see!

Just a few more days, Hopefully by Wednesday I'll have these in my sweet little hands.







and some new curtains for my living room! I'll have to post those when I get them!

Have a great week! TOODLES!!!!

*SEVEN*

Today is my little boy's 7th birthday!

We took this picture this morning before school!

It's also my step-dad's birthday! (I won't say how old he is!~haha I think he's 29~from what I understand his family is always that age~isn't that what aunt rosie always says?)


Here's his birthday cake I took to school for his class


This is jed after eating his cake! He kept playing like he was going to put his face in the cake & finally his teacher said "go ahead and do it you know you want to" so I put his plate in his face! All of his friends thought I was the cool mom!

Here's Tyson playing with Jed's birthday present can you guess what it is? And see who's not getting to play?

FINALLY!!!



Happy Birthday Jed Red Bed Head!:)

I thought this is worth the read & I think we can all relate...

Enjoy!

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store.


Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction . But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime, because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself.

I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM!

I'm so clueless....

i am so intimated by today's technology!

I told you about the new running shoes I recently got. Well when I bought them there was a pamphlet in the box about the new nike + ipod and I thought oh cool! well then I couldn't figure out what I needed to do so I just figured it was in the box by mistake & my shoes didn't use that!

Until I was talking to my friend sunshine about something else & she told me she had the same shoes & i said but mine don't do the nike ipod thing! she said lift up the sole in the left shoe.

I was sooooooo excited! Mine does use it! Of course now I have to spend about $200 to be able to use it! HA!!!!

I'm still thinking about it, but~i'm so excited!

Thanks Sunshine~!

4H

I was talking to my mom and she was asking if I had done something & I told her I hadn't had time. When she asked what I had been doing I told her we had been working on 4H projects. We go this evening to turn them in. Here's what Heather made




I am very proud of Heather she sewed almost all of this quilt by herself.

and Jed isn't old enough to enter officially but he can just enter a project to show. this is what he made with his daddy.

*SPT* (this week)

The SPT challenage this week is

what do you turn to when you need a quick "pick me up?"

Mine is so lame, but it really does make me happy!

I always turn to a




I would like to say running but since I haven't had the chance to do that much these past 2 weeks I don't think it counts! I'm hoping with my fingers crossed that we get to go tomorrow afternoon.

we did buy new running shoes for Valentines Day! We're such dorks. Here's my new shoes.
Running Shoes

I love them! These were the very last shoes I tried on & the girl talked me into them. I seriously tried on a 100 pairs! I love these!!! And even though I haven't gotten to run much lately, I still feel like a runner when I wear them! haha

*SPT* (from like 3 weeks ago!)

ok so i'm soooooo behind~life has been kicking my booty the last couple of weeks & I need to learn how to say

NO!!!!!!

ok enough of that.

here's the SPT from Feb 1

I always think about these things but never seem to get them posted.

the other day, i was in my _____________, and i noticed this _______________. my only thought was, "why do i still have this hanging around my house?!?"

I'm almost embarrassed to post what I thought of.




The first is this stupid Dora clock~Caroline got it for Christmas & loved it. We put batteries in it and it ticks soooooo loud Heather couldn't sleep so we took the battery out & it's been sitting on my bedroom floor ever since. After I snapped the picture, it went into the trash! Seriously, it wasn't hard to do that I don't know what took me so long!




the other day, i was in my bathroom, and i noticed this bottle of water sitting on the counter. my only thought was, "why do i still have this hanging around my house?!?"

seriously, a half empty bottle of water & I have no clue who it belonged too. It sat on the counter for wayyyyyy too long (i'm embarrassed to even say!) After the pic, it went into the trash too.

So there you have it the crap that lays around the house for wayyyy to long! Oh, wait I have one more~this one is kinda funny.




Anyone who knows us, knows Tyson has to have some kind of project to mess with (isn't that with most men?) So several years ago he bought this crap-o-la mustang. He kept telling me that it would be worth a lot of money when he finished it. Welp, it never got finished and he got tired of it, so all these years i've wondered why is this still hanging around?

Now it's on ebay & we are so surprised at what the bid is! haha

Yes, I'm still alive...

This last week has been the week from you know where! We're still around & I'll have some updates, but of course today is just as busy as the rest of the week. Heather & Jed are working on 4H projects & Caroline is watching cartoons. Heather has practice for DI at 2 and there's a whole list of other things we need to do before 5 tonight!

Sorry~I'll post more later!

Book Club Meeting

Our new book club had their first meeting on Thursday. We read this book



It was a great book! It's not a book I probably would have picked up and said "ooooh this looks like a good read" BUT since I wanted to be part of the club I needed to read it & I was NOT disappointed! I get to host the april meeting & I think I'm going to pick the next book in this series, b/c I can't wait to see what happens to the main character.

For March we are reading this book



Can't wait to get started on this one too!

Good Mail (sort of)

I haven't felt too hot this week~just a crummy sinus infection & sore throat. I never got really sick but enough to remind me that I needed to slow down. Wednesday night my friend Rachella needed to come over to borrow some rope for her daughter's project~since she lives on the same side of town as Little Caesar's I asked her would she mind bringing a cheese pizza for me. I was so surprised when she showed up with a sonic drink too! It made me feel so much better!

Thanks Rachella for taking care of me!

On Your Mark, Get Set, GO!!!!

I cannot believe I totally forgot to blog about this, but the last few weeks have been crazy so it's really no surprise. haha

Jed has been lovin' his Cub Scout pack (is that what you call it?) To get them ready for Pinewood Derby and in the car mode, they had a car race. They had to make a car out of a box & it was so fun! Tyson really got into making his car & we made his helmet out of a milk jug. Each lap around their pit crew (aka parents) had something they had to do for the driver. It was a lot of fun.




Jed showing off his car


at the starting line


the pit crew changing the "tires"


the pit crew gassing up the car


at finish line

It was a really fun night! I was thinking if every week at Cub Scouts was like this one, I might have a better attitude about it!

A final post for tonight...

My friend, Kristi (I hope she doesn't mind that I called her that), sent some "good mail" my way & I was so excited to open my mailbox!




I loved the ribbon! I can't wait to create something with it!

My mailbox has been getting spoiled lately! My family & friends need to be on the lookout for their very own good mail!

Thanks!

Another Running Update...

We went running yesterday (Friday), I wasn't feeling too hot I had a sore throat coming on but I knew if I didn't go I would regret it. It's great to have Tyson running with me. We've started running at the middle school & the kids like to take their bikes there and ride around the track. I made all of the running intervals again so I was excited!

Today a friend from church came over & commented that I looked like I had either lost weight or am toning up so that made my day too! It doesn't take much for me to get excited! haha

Tyson & I have picked out a race to run~it will be April 12~we are starting out with a 5K! I'm excited & can't wait to register!

~Super Stallion~

At the end of each 9 weeks we have to pick 2 students to be our Super Stallions~which is basically a great student/citizen. So at the beginning of this last week I received this in my email

Hey, your children, Heather and Jed are super stallions this nine weeks, GREAT!!! Guess what that means?

That totally made my day! I was so excited

This is the rest of the email:


You get to go with me to CiCi’s and McDonalds to help out and have lunch. We will get someone to cover your class for the time you are gone. This Friday we will go to CiCi’s and Monday we will go to McDonalds.

So I got to go with Heather & her friends to CiCi's pizza on Friday & Monday I will get to go to McDonald's with Jed & his friends!




I am so blessed to have great kids! (I know even if I complain about them sometimes!) Moving to our new school has been such a great blessing to our family!