Now That's Productive!

this weekend i:

went grocery shopping

cooked a whole chicken

made 3 soups worth of chicken broth

deep cleaned the house

had my husband hang picture frames in our living room 

made white chicken chili

had friends over to share our house and soup

taught owen how to play go fish and war

froze 5 individual servings of soup for lunches

froze 5 individual servings of cheesy chicken and rice casserole

watched a football game with my husband

had my boys sing happy birthday to my mommy 

curled my hair for church and put makeup on 

(um...yes I consider these accomplishments. sadly.)

made supper and dinner for my family

wrote a blog post :) 

froze enough potato casserole for a healthy size side dish to a meal

froze 2 individual servings of spaghetti for lunches

froze home made spaghetti sauce for a future meal

attempted home made rolls--failed but I'm proud of the effort

had my husband caulk both bathrooms more thoroughly

washed all of our large pots and a few other dishes that didn't fit in 

the dishwasher

cleaned the kitchen

straightened up the house

did some laundry done

started my 'virtuous woman' bible study about the proverbs 31 woman and felt pretty good about how i stacked up this weekend ;) 

Other than the moving chaos, this is the most productive and organized i've been in awhile. besides, everyone deserves a virtual pat on the back once in awhile.

:)  :)  :)  :)  :) 

hope you had a nice, productive weekend as well!

PS I tried this whole "lowercase letter only" post today on purpose. What did you think? I love how it looks on other blogs, but I don't think it works for me. It just drives me crazy not capitalizing names.

The Bathroom Reveal

If you will remember I mentioned that I was going to repaint and spruce up our bathroom while my husband was at his men's retreat. The project went SLOW, I did get it finished before he got home, but by the Grace of God I managed to have just enough paint to finish the touch ups and the energy to scrap all of that wall paper off.

Without further ado, here are the pictures.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

This is the wall I'll be looking at when I take a bath, so I really wanted something that would evoke peace and comfort when I looked at it and this Bible verse felt perfect. 

Wondering why that towel is wet in the second picture above? It's because this is Micah's favorite thing to do in the bathroom...

I hope you enjoyed the pictures. I'm not sure they actually do the space justice, it really feels so elegant when you are in it, blue tub and sink in all. Eventually we will probably paint them white, but for now this is perfectly acceptable.

More pictures and project reveals in the near future, because I borrowed a friends camera and got a TON of pictures. If you're my FB friend then you don't have to wait for the blog posts, go check out my two house albums now.

Love you all!!!!

Progress Report

I've decided to have a running blog post to update ya'll on my bathroom project this weekend to keep me accountable! I'll time stamp each new entry in this one post to keep it tidy and interesting. And to be true to life, I'll include the "My husband is out of town so of course the kids..." stories as well.

Nap time this afternoon:
I had hoped to get all of the wallpaper peeled, or at least the top layer peeled off, while Micah napped. I barely finished peeling the top layer off of two panels (the wallpaper was put on in about 18 in strips). Micah's nap was longer than I anticipated and I got less than on tenth of the way done with phase one.

After Dinner: 
The kids and I were in the basement. They were running around, I was organizing/unpacking/cleaning. I had been giving some sample Cascade Action Packs (those two in one packets for the dishwasher) as a "moving in" present and found them in the basement with our painting supplies so I threw the unopened package of samples on the stairs for my next trip up. Fast forward awhile and Micah comes to me crying out, and spitting in horror. I look over and even before I process what I see, I can smell the soap. He has a sparse Santa beard of dishwashing powder on his chin. I pick him up and race up the stairs to start flushing his mouth out with water.
As I have Micah flung over the sink I realize I need to call poison control, but I can't remember what those things are called and I don't have their number. "Owen, bring me the package that Micah opened to get that thing he just ate! NOW NOW NOW, Micah just ate poison I need the package with the words on it!"
After a minute of shuffling he comes up the stairs and says almost in tears "Um, mom, I'm sorry but I flushed it down the toilet!?!"
"What?! You flushed the package it came in down the toilet, why would you do that?"
"No, Mom. Wait. You need the green package? I have that!" and down the stairs he runs.
He get's back up, I hand Micah the glass of water and read the package looking for poison control's phone number and "in case of swallowing" directions.
I vaguely hear Owen continuing to talk about how he'd found the bit package on the floor "in the big room, where you were doing laundry" and decided to flush it down the toilet because it was open.
Micah drops the glass in the sink.
I reach down to take it from him so he doesn't cut himself, but nearly dropped Micah, so in catching him, I dropped the glass again, shattering it in the sink.
Poison control's number is not on the package, I finally find it online and called. I'm glad I did because Cascade can occassionally cause severe swelling of lips, tongue and throat. Micah is fine. Lady comments that she can hear Micah happy as a clam while I'm trying to prevent him from getting into stuff, she makes me laugh when she say's "he's a busy one isn't he?" and I thought if you only knew because yeah, he's busy but he's MY laid back one!  I make her laugh as I tell her the recap she said "wow you've had an eventful day."
"That was just the last five minutes!"
Praise the Lord that Micah didn't have an adverse reaction to the soap, praying tomorrow he doesn't have an upset belly.
He touches milk to his skin and turns bright red but he can eat soap without any physical symptoms. Go figure. The human body is an interesting and intricate thing, hmmm gives new meaning to "I will create man in my image" that God says in Genesis. hmmmm. A late pondering thought.

1:00 AM 
I have been stripping wallpaper since 8:30 with the exception of a one hour break, and I still have about a third of the bathroom to go. This wallpaper is CRAPPY!!!! It does not peel well. Um, well, actually, it does not peel, is more accurate. The goal was to wash the walls during nap time and prime after bedtime. We shall see, we shall see.

I have a BIG job for the boys in the morning. Throw away all the paper scraps. Micah will love it. Owen? Not so much.

Oh, boy. It's late. Good night bathroom update blog stalkers :)

When The Cats Away, The Mouse Will Play

My husband is leaving tonight after work to go on a men's retreat with the guy's from our church. He looks forward to this event all year long, he absolutely loves it. I think it's because he gets to go fishing and kayaking. I love that he gets to get away and have this spiritual escape with other guys and bond over water-drowning fights, male bonding in it's truest form.

However, that means I get to stay at home with two kids, by myself. Maybe I'm just a big brat but I hate it when my husband isn't around. I love our family element. I love the family bonding that happens on weekends, having a supportive husband and father to watch the kids while I take a relaxing shower, or siting and watch tv or surf the internet together, even if we aren't saying anything, after the kids have gone to bed. This week, in particular has been very stressful for me. For whatever reason I've been an emotional wreck. Nothing has been wrong, per say, but everything makes me cry.

So, last night when I realized I'd be having to take today off of work in order to stay home with a contagious child, I decided I'd do a little something theraputic while he is gone.

I decided to redo our bathroom. And he has no idea.

Redo your bathroom? With two kids, and no help? Are you completely insane?

Must be, but I'm stoked and can't wait to see it transform from a 70 year old's bathroom into a 30 year old's "in home spa" :) This bathroom redo has given me some fire, purpose and excitement for a weekend that otherwise felt drab and boring.

I'm not doing a complete remodel, just a paint job, which means removing some ugly wallpaper.

Here are a few blury pictures curtosey of my cell phone.

Close up of the wallpaper so you can get a true feeling of how hideous it is! :)

 So, I have a brilliant idea, I bought some paint, then when I want to get a script filled for my son I found some towels, a trash can, a rug, and a soap dispenser that match my marvelous plan. Soon the blue tub and sink will fit nicely into my transformed room!

Stay tuned for the finished product, in the meantime, wish me a "Happy Painting!"

Miscellany Monday: Moving

I haven't participated in the Miscellany Monday over at lowercase letters in several months, and I have a million thoughts swirling around in my head regarding our big (though local) move, so I figured today would be the perfect day to do participate in the link up.

I don't have a ton of pictures because I don't have a camera right now, so what I have is off of my cell phone and as you can see the quality is crappy, hence why there are only three. But I hope you'll enjoy them anyhow.

Also, it's weird taking pictures of empty rooms and piles of boxes.  Once everything finds it's place I'll borrow someone's camera and start snapping pictures. Lots and lots of pictures.

Here is a shot of the awesome welcome mat that my MIL Karen bought us :) I'm amazed at how something like a welcome mat can make a space feel more inviting, more welcoming, and more homely. I'm so grateful that she came to help us last week and for everything she and Brian's dad did for us while they were here. I'm glad that I was able to get to know her even better while we scrapped, painted, and shopped, and was blessed by the thought behind these (we got 3 welcome mats) gifts.

I didn't get a picture but the mat at the backdoor is for the kids, it's got fish on it and says "hello", I wanted the backyard to be more playful and figured people re-entering from the back have already been formally welcomed.

Yeah for pastor's who are super helpful and the son of a "Jack Dave of all trades," after church last night Tim (still in his church clothes) and his dad Dave came over and fixed the water hoses to our washing machine, so I can now do laundry again :) and yeah for a husband who did two loads for me last night!

Living out of boxes really is no fun. Simply hanging our clothes in the closet made our bedroom feel 90% better. It's begining to feel like the oasis and retreat I want it to be. Even our kids are learning now, that they don't play in mom and dad's room!

"People have moved in now, move out already!" "{{Smack}} Go tell your friends" and "This isn't your home, this is my home" are all things we shout (feeling a little Happy Gilmore-eque as we do, ugh yes I have seen Happy Gilmore, not my style anymore but loved that movie when I was in college) as we attack the carpenter ants that wont get a hint. We have sprayed 3 or 4 times, and they. just. wont. leave.

Though they are slowly reducing in number, but that happens naturally when you physically kill 20 or 30 a day.

Killing ants feels a lot more humane when you stomp on them with your feet. When I hit it with my hand or watch it writhe in pain from poison I just sprayed on it I can hear these little ant voices saying "no, not me, save me please, little baby Suzy needs me" and I kill it anyway, but it hurts a little when I do.

Even Owen has been heard saying "Get out of here, tell your friends!" right before or after a giant whack. The kids enjoy the ant killing game. It's exciting to beat ants.

Micah does not yell at the ants. He does not yell at me when he sees an ant. He picks up dead ants between his fingers and says excitedly "Eant" which really sounds more like "eat" than "ant" and for a few days I thought that's what he was going to do but after I said "don't eat it, throw it in the trash" he now picks them up saying "eant, trash, eant, trash" over and over. So stinking funny.

Here is a crappy blurry picture of my darling three men eating popcorn out of the beautiful popcorn bowls I picked up at Goodwill just before we moved in. We were supposed to do this our first night at the house, but we didn't and it didn't happen the second night either, but finally on the third night I made it happen and he (they) were happy. Notice: we are not eating in the living room, or the basement.

New rule. We only eat in the kitchen. The boys are catching on quickly. Once they are in bed, we can "break" the rule. It is holding up well. I'm so so glad.

New rule. We no longer watch tv in the morning. This is harder, each day that goes by Owen is fighting it a little harder, I'm hoping by the end of week two he'll be over it, but today was rough. My reason is because of a video we watched at woman's study on Wednesday about giving God our first minutes and first dollars. I give God lot's of minutes and lots of dollars (and I"m pretty good about the firsts with my dollars) but I struggle with getting up early and putting Him first. We read to the boys every night before bed, but I think Owen has already figured out that the rule is "we read the bible before bed when we feel like it" it's not that something like a bath or being lazy would push it out, but if we went to church that night or were out too late, or moving to a new house, then our routine would get skipped. I don't want them growing up with weak and poor bible habits, they need to be formed young.

Another reason we don't watch tv in the mornings, the one that keeps getting stronger now that I've started this and I'm seeing his behavior, is that Owen is getting way too attached to the TV. When our new service got hooked up Owen was able to work the remote (thanks to daycare I think) and quoted, a commercial to me. It wasn't just a whine "I want that" which I hate so much, but he actually was selling the product to me. "Mom, you should get that, it's only 19.99 and it lasts for 10 hours, plus you can use it for work not just for school or take it on picnics" he said about a lunch box. I know he knew the info because I was listening to the commercial as he was talking and this particular commercial hadn't mentioned work or picnics.  If I say "no, you can't watch tv" in the morning or whenever he throws a full fit, when he was asked to leave tv for dinner he started crying about how he was going to miss the movie that was on. His heart is way to into his heart is way too into TV for 4 years old. If I don't nick this in the bud now, it is only going to get worse.

Oh, and a bonus to this nifty new rule? Owen is sleeping later. Why? Well, my guess is that he no longer knows what shows are on TV and he isn't "worried about missing my cartoons." Sleep is good. :) 

New rule: Ok it's not really a rule but an attitude, one of contentment and peace. It's hard to feel peace when your life is packed in boxes but I'm so blessed and excited to have our new home that I don't want this joy and pride to fade with little "homeowner problems" that come up, or to feel discouraged or have my blessing weighed down by the burdens of life. I want to cling to the blessing that this home is to us, cling to the unending list of things the Lord did to bring us into this home specifically, and praise His name for this home ALL the days that we are in it. I often think our blessings get forgotten and what we once praised the Lord for we later start gripping about and I have already begun making a conscious effort not to let that happen with this blessing. I'm excited about this new adventure and I know this is the Lord's house for us, I want to make sure that 8 months from now I haven't forgotten what I know now.

A picture of the kitchen finally starting to come together. Seeing these vases and this set up really made me feel like I was in my home, even though everything else was still in shambles.

Hoping we can put up picture frames soon. Tonight maybe.

Thanks for hanging with me, even though I've been sporadic lately.

A big big house, with lots and lots of room!

We are officially homeowners. 

:) :) :)

And I can truly say it was worth the wait.  

:) :) :) 

There was a time, where I couldn't understand why we were waiting.

:) :) :) 

Now, I know the Lord had a plan, a perfect plan and the perfect house.

:) :) :)

He was preparing us for the responsibility and the sellers to reduce the selling price. 

:) :) :)

This house meets our every need, and goes beyond even our wants.

:) :) :)

And now that we have the bedrooms complete and the kitchen nearly finished it's beginning to feel like our own.

:) :) :)

Pictures will come I PROMISE, I cannot wait to share the Lords beautiful gift to us with all of you. I'm so incredibly blessed by this home, the security I feel there, the excitement of starting fresh and the opportunity to use this home for the Lord, to fellowship with friends, to be prepared to welcome guests on the fly. 

I'm excited for the push this house is giving me to be a better home maker. 

Case a point? I spent 25+ minutes to mop my beautiful kitchen floor. 25+ minutes.

:))))

God Bless and Good Night!

I'm sorry that I've been unfaithful to the blogging world lately. I haven't been reading or writing blogs faithfully because there just hasn't been the space to fit it into my head.

We officially close on the house tomorrow and will be de-wallpapering/painting/moving and generally going completely insane all weekend long!!!!!! I am so excited and ready to be over this hump and onto the next thing, decorating and enjoying our new space.

Owen has been extremely emotional lately. Micah rang our doorbell while Owen was inside and he comes out to us sob crying "Micah is ringing the bell and it's hurting my eaaaaars." Um well, ok then, but why are you crying about it? I guess at daycare he's been emotional as well, and threw a full on tantrum about taking a nap one day, lip quivering arms pounding, voice whining, full on crying tantrum. Um well, ok then, but why are you crying about it?

So my best guess, is the obvious one, that he's confused and emotionally worried about our move. I forget that while our current home was never permanent in my mind (though it increasingly felt like it would be as we've now been renting there almost 5 years), it is all the boys have ever known. For that I'm beginning to get a little emotional about leaving. I'm so very excited to finally be providing them with a place of their own, decorating a room special for them, and having a yard where they can play and be kids (our landlady was really good about letting us use hers and keep a sandbox out there but it still felt odd being on her property.) But I forget that Owen doesn't understand the formality of it, he just feels like he's living in the middle of mass chaos, he can't find his toys and can't walk to the tv, doesn't know what to expect at the new house or when it is all happening, no wonder he's grumpy.

He also made a comment one day about how he was going to miss his friends and our church, so we drove him by the new house last night so that he could fully understand it's not far away. We aren't "going" anywhere. He'll still be at daycare and we will still attend our beloved Cornerstone. I think it helped that we went there right after church and then right home, that way he could get a realistic kid-sized idea on where we would be.

27 hours from now and the house will officially be ours. I am so excited about all of the painting and decorating. I think I know what I want to do in the kitchen, but I think a good blog poll is in order to make sure I get everyone's opinions. I'll get mock ups made of the kitchen and see what everyone thinks.

Oh and one last thought. Packing and moving + lost keys = mass chaos.

Luckily, I am blessed with a little boy who has seen mom and dad in these situations before and knows that praying is an excellent solution. So, while I hadn't gotten quite to that point yet, he said "mom let's pray about it" and so he did, and then the very next place I looked, there they were. What a loving Lord I have for A) answering even my tiniest prayers so quickly and fully, and B) blessing me with children who are already understanding the importance of prayer, and C) for my children being able to see prayers answered.

Sale Pending! =)

Remember that announcement I hinted at in this Fabulous Post? Well, it could be another 10 days before I know what I wanted to know before telling you what I will then know, and well I can't wait that long because I might literally explode.


I'm not sleeping well because I keep going back and forth between being overwhelmingly excited full of planning or scheming and exceedingly stressed about everything that has to be done in the next few weeks, but can't be started yet! Ah.

Weekend Love: with a little 'hate' mixed in for good measure

1. Weekend Love
We had a fun, pretty fast paced, but fun, weekend. Friday we picked up groceries, not that it actually helped us eat meals at home! We have to get out of this fast food phase we are in. When the house warms up we just don't feel like cooking (ha! Either the food or ourselves ;) ) in our hot house. Saturday morning Brian got up at 4ish to go fishing with a friend so he could be done in time for Owen's FIRST T-Ball game. Watching all of the kids play is a lot of fun. Some of the parents were joking about how our $35 will be the best money we spend on entertainment all year.

Embracing Change at the Thomas's

Ok, so let's just address the 'Elephant in the room' right now since I'm sure there has been some interest peeked, and one or two conspiracy theories are already circling through the CBC Grapevine.