Saturday, April 30, 2011

all the planning in the world can't account for my kid...


So, we went to Twisted Rooster for my birthday dinner the other night with my MIL and Andy's Grandma. If you haven't been to Twisted Rooster on the Beltline, you really ought to try it. I haven't had anything I didn't like. The service is great and the food is inventive and really good. Anyways, after dinner they gave me a few cards and gifts (new set of cookie sheets!! holla!), it was nice.
My MIL pulls out two chinese take-out containers and puts them on the table. (I'm thinking I really hope there are some dumplings in one of them or at least a half pint of pork lo mein no one wants.) Apparently it was office personel appreciation week and she and her fellow co-workers received various items throughout the course of the week.

My MIL thought the boys would like one of the items so she put it in the take-out box to bring to the boys. (We are gonna have to have a talk about appropriate vessels to bring--can't be teasing me with the possibility of a good MSG coma...makes a chubby girl cranky!)
She carefully inspected the toy for lead, moving parts, inappropriate body parts and all other forms of treachery before  deeming the toys okay for the boys...my boys.

Ahh, my sweet, cute, curious and apparently HUNGRY boys........



Sorry Mr Zebra.....or I should prolly say...
SORRY MR ZEBRA!!!
 (on account of your ears being bit off and all).
*sigh*

Thursday, April 28, 2011

A great gift idea!

Need a cute gift idea for a wedding, anniversary, birthday, end of year teacher gift, or just about any other occasion where a little uniqueness would be appreciated?? I am selling these blocks for $15 a set. I can ship them to ya too.  Order today...order 2 today...heck, order 6....your postman wants one too. 

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

I'm not rolling my eyes-it's chicken dust.....

See that shed to the right? It's a big, beautiful 10x12 well built shed that I was so super excited the neighbor left for us. It needs a good pressure wash and then she's ready for our yard stuff. Ya' know....the Cub Cadet I lovingly bought for my hubs, rakes, shovels, maybe a plastic tool or two for the kids.  Wanna see what the hubs is gonna put in her....
Yeah......I know. What do I have to say about it....eh, it's free. These are the "teenagers". He brought home some newborns tonight but I can't talk about it right now. I don't have the strength.....

Andy's friend Lance brought over this tractor type thingy and the two of them put their heads together to move the perfectly good shed from the perfectly good home it loved in the front yard to the new home in the back yard...to be pooped in. *sigh* So they got some chains and a bunch of round timbers and rolled it to the back yard.
Now, honey, don't you let a little thing like a chain- link fence stop you. Just rip it out of the ground and toss it aside. The dogs will stay put, they listen so well when given a whiff of freedom..or bacon.









So here is the new home. I wish I had taken a picture of what was above it. Wanna know? Take a guess.....my bedroom. The master bedroom of my "forever house (for now)". Every morning I get to roll over, stretch, open my eyes to the new day chickens and thank God for the blessings He bestows on me. "Hey ladies, keep it down out there, I'm counting my blessings." Awesome.
What is this? A spaceship?....nope. My parents bought a 2011 Prius. This was her maiden voyage. They drove in from North Carolina for a visit.
Hi Mom!! Up here!! Yeah, you're here! I set the paint brushes out and the paint is already in the trays...What? Sure, you can pee...hurry up though, I don't want the paint to get a skin on it. I know it was a 14 hour, 2 day trip but you said you wanted it to be a work filled trip.....smooches!

So, the 'rents brought their dog....
                                                            Abby, meet Mickey...
Whenever my mom visits she comes laden with bags of wonderful things for us. Outfits for the kids, razor blade cartridges for hubs and HBA stuff for my overflow shelf for me.(that is a whole nother blog post entirely...). She bought the cutest hat for Reese....

Melt my heart....she is so stinkin' cute....
That's Pop, my step-father/ painter extraordinaire! He worked so hard on the paint project....looks amazing. Just wait, I'll post pictures soon.

Not only do the "girls" get a nice new shed they also get a nice fence too....4x4 posts sunk in quick drying cement and then 2x8 (i think, what do i know though?!) cross pieces. A little chicken wire attached with Lag screws and voila! Welcome to paradise, ladies! Now, get to laying. My little men got right out there and worked along side the men folk. Drillin' and speed squarin' with the best of them....kinda. We all know how awesome it is to work with a two year old on a project that you have wanted to work on for awhile...now add another 2 year old just for fun....and this guy too....
Now, sit your fanny right back in your overstuffed recliner...oh wait, that's me....It's not ours. It will never be ours. This is Dutch, Lance's dog. We watched her for a couple days while Lance went off to wherever Lance goes. I'm sure it was a book  convention down in Florida that he attended.....She was a good dog. She was dog number 5 for a few days. Except I think it was a boy dog....whatever.


Hi, Pop. I know you just drove 14 hours with my mom in a shoebox car but would you mind picking up that shovel right there and level out some ground for the fence? Hey, thanks! Hey, don't mind the 20 dog legs running all around you....




Hi, sweet boys! Looking good.....
 

Have you ever seen anything so cute? Yeah, I know I am the one that has to clean the mud off of it but it's such a true boy picture.  Make all the mess you want boys, mama will clean it up.




So I saw this project on a craft blog. I can't remember which one but once I remember I will post it...
I took an old lampshade (according to my mom it was still good and looked expensive--no, mom. It was from Target like 12 years ago.) and removed the fabric part. I wrapped it in chicken wire--simmer, it was a clean, new roll. I punctured a bunch of eggs and blew the guts out. Super simple, super cute.

Remember the eggs we filled with candy a couple weeks ago? Well, we had the easter egg hunt at church. It was a huge success. It started at 10:00. We pulled in at 10:00 and by the time we got the kids out and handed them their baskets they were able to each pick up 5 or 6 of the 600 eggs we hid earlier in the day. Wow....maybe next year the little kids can get a 10 minute head start over the older kids but all in all it was a great experience.
"what the heck? these aren't filled with Snickers!! these are generic jelly beans!! what a jip!"





what? what is going on here? it looks like my hubs with that hot mess of a sweatshirt that he won't let me burn but what is he doing? It looks like he is feeding my kid but I thought his arms were broken!! All this time! Who'd a thunk all it took was the MIL visiting to get his arms fixed!


Pop holding a very tired Reese. So sweet....
The kids have to wear these ears for a picture every
Easter until they are 18. Yep, I'm serious. Like it. Deal with it...don't wanna? Don't make me show you your stretch marks on my stomach. Oh, see, that wasn't so bad! Everyone is happier (and less blind) when you just do what mama says, children.


We got this dress as a generous donation from a dear friend in a tote of wonderful clothes. It was perfect for her first real dress up!


 The boys got pinwheels in their baskets from one of the grandmas...they spent the next hour showering us with "cute, Easter spit" as they tried and perfected getting it to spin.Well done, boys.
                    My sweet girl, mama loves you. Yes, you have to wear them many, many  more times.



We had a wonderful first Easter with the third kid and new house. Hope yours was great too.
Anyone need eggs?......I know a guy.......

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Yet another addition.....

                                                               Meet Abbie Albright.....aka Cute Craigslist demon.

Oh peeps, I wish I had better news but alas, I shoulda said no.
My hubs was looking at Craigslist, who we should all boycott, and this little girl suckered him in with her big, come rescue me from my current owner who can't keep me, eyes.  Ughhhh.....my hubs sees puppy eyes and I see puppy pee.  




She is definitely a puppy, hence the binky and burp cloth. I made that burp cloth, I love making burp cloths. Want one? Have a kid. There's a pretty good chance you'll get one.



I was a little wary of bringing extra Frito paw stank in my house so she needed to plead her case. I drive a hard bargin....whatcha' got little girl?


Oh, you brush your own teeth? Great. Hey, newbie, that's my toothbrush. Well, it was. I saw where you just had your face and let me tell ya', mamma ain't using that anymore. P.S. great first impression....wanna chew anything else that isn't yours....I have some shoes I like or how about a Miche shell? Just let me know what you'd prefer.




I know, it's been a rough week. All the eating, peeing on my rug and hanging with your other Frito paw stink friends that occupy my house. You just relax....on my couch....that I just got steam cleaned. Welcome.



This is what you have to look forward to in a couple years...Dear Craigslist, I hope you crash. That is all. Sincerely, the chick scrubbing puppy pee out of her carpet.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Crazy coupon lady lives!

                             How much do ya think I spent on this?
$30?
$44?

How about $8!!!

Yep!
I hit Walgreens today armed with my binder of coupons and saved a whopping $51.00.
This was a good haul. The body wash was originally $4.99 and I paid $.79! This makes me happy. Not having a stinky hubby makes me very happy.
Everytime I pull my binder out the boys say "mamma cutting coupons".  Yeah, I know this has a potential to make my kids a little on the dorky side.

"Hey, Sarah wanna go on a date with me? I gotta coupon for a free meal at Applebees. We have to eat between 4 and 6 on Tuesday night and can only order burgers but hey at least it's cheap. I mean, you're not cheap. I would pay full price for you....i mean.....oh nilly."

 But hey, at least they'll never run out of bodywash and won't have to borrow any money from me....right?? Right??
I like using coupons, I like the challenge of finding a great deal. I like being that crazy coupon lady that has a divided binder filled with baseball card holders that are stuffed with coupons. Today I went in my Mr Rogers cardigan and no socks. I wonder if it's the coupons or the pity discount that saved me so much. 
Either way, it's fun for me!

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Andy made me a beautiful shoe organizer/bench for the old house. It is huge. We had the perfect place for it in the breezeway. There wasn't such a perfect place for it here but if I left it behind, the possibility of getting him to make me anything else decreases. "Honey, will you make me a planter for the deck?" "I would, Sweet Cheeks, but I don't want it left behind when we move again in 28 years." "Okay, I see your point...." See what I mean?? I had to find a place for it in the new place.
The master closet is just the place! It's perfect, tucked under my side of the clothes and able to hold ample footwear. One teeny, tiny problem...it was 2 inches too long. What to do? "Hey kid, bring your Ma a saw we'll fix it." Well "Pa" heard me and figured he would step in to offer his assistance. One of the youngin's was sleeping in our bed so he didn't want to fire up the circular saw, he pulls out the old hand saw! Straight up, Paul Bunyan type saw. I think Cole had a better idea....
Either way, it fits! Time to fill it with some shoes.
I encourage the boys to get in the kitchen with me and cook. I love the thought of them whipping something up while I sit and watch while we talk about their day. Today is not that day. Today is throw a potato around and try to catch it in a pot. Fun times.




The boys apparently didn't like where I put the pots and pans so they did a little rearranging.


Logan showing me the wonderful job he did of shredding some potato with my grater.  Thanks, monkey.
Hash browns anyone?


This is what I made for dinner while the boys were rearranging my pans. Spaghetti and meatballs. The boys ate so many meatballs....My husband doesn't eat meatballs. It's just one of the 7,241 things my husband doesn't eat.


It has been a little tiring getting the house set up......Daddy and Logan catching up on some zzzzz's.