Dance it off

I've been doing great sticking with my new years resolution of working out more. For the last month, I've been able to work out 5X every week. To get myself motivated, I even signed up for Jazz it off, which is like Biggest Loser, except for Jazzercise. It runs from March through May, and the winner gets $200.00 which is a good motivation to have money to use for a new wardrobe. So far I've lost 7 lbs, since January, which isn't too bad. My goal of 30 lbs. by my b'day probably won't happen, but if I keep it up could be accomplished by this fall hopefully. I have a ton of energy and am much less stressed out, which is a good thing. And I've actually been able to fall asleep at night, which used to never happen right away. And eating less, walking more etc. it's been great!

2 of the sweetest kids

We were at my parents farm last Saturday to celebrate my dad's b'day. He had a friend from work and his 2 kids that camped in the back SW section of land overnight to collect firewood. His story was heartbreaking. He's in his early 30's and he has 5 kids. His wife was a meth addict and abandoned her children, and so now he's a single dad taking care of all of them and working a factory job. The 2 oldest, which were 7, and 6 came along. Their names are Billy Ray and Dixie Bell. They are such southern names, but the kids were the cutest things, so polite and friendly. The house they live in doesn't have a furnace to heat it, so their dad has to constantly cut firewood to burn in their stove to keep them warm. It was amazing seeing every day things through their eyes. They were so excited to have fresh fruit, and had never had string cheese before. Ice cream was a rare special treat, a long with special goodies. They were amazed by the book library my parents have and wondered if they must be rich. Dixie asked to play the baby grand piano, because she'd never seen one so fancy. I told her to go for it, but she was to afraid to touch it. They just craved attention. So we played board games together, and Grace and Dixie played dolls, and Braden and Billy played legos and tinkertoys. Watching the kids play together really warmed my heart.

It made me cry thinking of these sweet kids growing up without their mom who had abandoned them. It made me want to give them everything they needed and more. The little things my kids take forgranted that they would be thrilled to have. Extra clothes, toys, food. It brought me back to thinking about Seavie and I possibly doing foster care, or adopting a brother/sister sibling pair. To be able to share love and affection and a home for children who don't have those things.

We have talked about the topic, but need to discuss it further. The biggest hold up is our vehicles, which are paid for, but can only really seat 4 people. So then we'd have to get things paid off, and only then be able to buy a new (used) car. All of these things that would go quicker if I was able to go back to work. Which is only 1 1/2 yrs away!!! Can you tell I'm excited?

My heart aches for these sweet kids we met this weekend. The kids have been praying for them and their siblings. They both have a heart for helping others in need. I've talked to them about it, and they both have said they'd be excited to share their room with someone. We'll see what God has in store for our family!

9 Year Anniversary

Seavie and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary yesterday. It was a beautiful warm, sunny spring day, which was amazing. So much nicer than last year when it snowed, and snowed. This was the first time in 3 years, where we didn't have an actual whole weekend together kids free for our anniversary. I told Seavie as nice as it would be to get away, I'd rather use that money to get our bedroom done, because I have to deal with that on a daily basis. So we made reservations at J.Gilberts, and it was absolutely amazing!!! My sister has gone on and on about how good it is, so we had to try it. The atmosphere is so romantic, total ambiance, and just overall very well designed! Lots of stone work, and dark mahogany seating, low lighting.

(Compared to Red Lobster, which should be self explanatory. But if you haven't seen the interior of the OP location, the Interior Designer needs to be fired, and banned from ever designing. The food is good, but atmosphere totally lacking)

The funniest part of the night was that our waiter was a guy I knew from HS. He actually had a locker by me for 3/4 yrs, since it was alphabetical order. I found this hilarious, and quite rewarding to have someone who is a little arrogant and cocky, and really pay no attention to you in HS, have to serve you, and basically be at your command. It was fun :) He actually did a great job, and was very courteous. But non the less it was entertaining. (This exact thing has happened 2 other times in the 9 yrs Seavie and I have been married, by different guys with the same attitude I knew in HS, and at different restaurants-which makes me laugh every time)

The meal was amazing, and the steak was to die for! Yum. And since it was our anniversary, we received free champagne. It was just so nice to be able to get all dressed up and have a night out away from the kiddos. A big thank you to my sis who watched the kids for free and took them to Orange Leaf for dessert. They loved it.

It's hard to believe that next year will be our 10 year anniversary. We're already trying to plan out different ideas of where we want to go or do. It works out really well that our anniversary is so close to spring break (and it was over spring break when we got married), that taking a trip for a week works out great, because the kids are off school and can stay with the grandparents. So in the mean time just trying to save up money for what will really be our Honeymoon. Our first one was only 2-3 days in Eureka Springs, and then we went straight back to school. It was not the ideal situation, but worked for the time. I know for our 15 yr, we want to go on a carribean cruise, and then for our 20 yr, we really want to go to Scotland/Ireland. That's the bonus of having kids at 21, and 22 like we did, because we'll be empty nesters by the time we're 43.

Master Bedroom in progress

We have FINALLY started working on our Master Bedroom remodel, and I couldn't be more thrilled. We decided to make good use of some of our tax return $ and just get it done. Sorry I don't have any before pics, but most of you have seen it in real life.

So far the closet has been completely redone. We walled off in front of the chimney, and built the wall out about 2 1/2 feet, so we could each have our own side of the closet. It's much roomier this way. It's painted a chocolately brown (who says closets have to be blah white), with white trim. The finishing touch is a full length mirror, which is soon to come. After that we re-painted the ceiling, which is now bright crisp white. We had painted it with kilz when we bought the house 8 yrs ago, but 40 yrs of smoke is a lot to cover, so it was painted again.

Next up is to install the 1880's antique fireplace mantel on the newly expanded wall space between the bedroom and closet doors. Seavie is going to build a bump out all the way across, and above the mantel to make it look like a chimney. Which will then be most likely faux painted to look like brick. I love the stone and brick veneer but at $65-75 per 9 sq.ft in a box, is not worth it to me right now to put all the money into that detail right now. But maybe in the next few years. Then we'll tile the inside around the edges, and put pressed tin squares inside the opening to give it some more character. Also will be painting the air return vent bronze.

After that it will be layered crown molding, door and window trim, and base trim. My favorite part after that will be painting over this awful lavender color that I picked out 8 yrs ago. It's driving me nuts!

Furniture will be re-arranged and all switched up. I'm all about symmetry and things lining up and so it's going to be just perfect. My shabby chic chandelier with my funky white lamps, blue and chocolate brown damask comforter, stained glass, chocolately walls with blue curtains. In my mind it looks amazing. My goal is to hopefully get most of the room done by the end of March, but at least by the very first part of April, and then on to re-painting the living room and building a fireplace in there! I will try and post re-do pics along the way.

Brass Chandelier re-do

I have been completely obsessed with finding a crystal chandelier for our master bedroom remodel, but not loving the crazy expensive prices of them. Seavie absolutely hates crystal chandeliers, he told me it reminds him of his grandmother's houses. And I keep telling him they're totally in style now, and nothing at all compared to the stuffy light fixtures of past eras. So I was on craigslist a few weeks ago, and found this brass beauty for $10!

For those of you who know me, I despise brass light fixtures (Mainly from growing up in a new house in the 80's that was filled with builder grade shiny brass). So I'm being sarcastic when I call it a beauty. It does have good lines, and a lot of potential. And it has brand new linen colored mini shades, which alone are $5 brand new, so it has $40 in mini shades. The best thing is that it's a Schonbek chandelier, which is the manufacturer of some of the most expensive crystal chandeliers you've ever seen...So it was a steal at $10 !

I have been searching the web for inspiration, and found 2 blogs that gave me the most inspiration. Centsational girl, and style for style blog. Both of which turned brass chandeliers into beautiful, shabby chic chandeliers. To get to the end result will result in painting with bonding primer, then painting it in Heirloom White spray paint, then antiquing the little detail pieces (which are kind of hidden in this pic) with a touch of bronze. And after it's all dry and pretty, adding 8 crystal strands- one off of each arm to attach to the ring at the bottom of the light, and ta da- a beautiful crystal chandelier for under $ 30 (hopefully)! Pics to come of the re-do in the near future.

Month one: New Years Resolutions

I'm actually really excited to say, that I've stuck with my resolutions pretty well so far this year. January was a good month :) I've been able to work out 3x a week with 10lb. weights for the last 5 weeks, and seem to be a few lbs. lighter already, and feeling more enthusiastic about it. My goal for 4-5x a week has been ruined so far due to these blasted snow days we keep having, but that's another story... I'm hoping next week to start the 5x a week. Hopefully in the next few months I'll be up to 12lb. weights for the 20 min. strength training part of jazzercise :) It has been really good for me to get back into it after the last 3 yrs of being a member. For me it's an amazing stress reliever, and a good way to blow off steam, and have fun. The times when I have to miss, makes me not so happy :( I also love dancing, it's probably why I was so darn skinny in college after all my clubbing days with my friends.

And for my food budget goal, we did pretty good for our first month. Groceries came in right under $300. Eating out was cut way back, and Seavie's snacks as well, but still have room to cut it down this month. Comparably speaking, it seems we saved a few hundred dollars on food. Which is a great thing, because then priorities get reset, saving $, paying more off on debt and bills, being able to give more.

On the $ issue, got our taxes done the other day :) but not thrilled with the new tax laws that cut back the credit on children! that cost us about $1000 right there. So my big goal of using our tax refund to pay off our house debt is going to take a little longer. So the debt snowball is beginning..

And with my thinking the other day of all the $ we'll save this year by cutting back, and saving again, is that we'll have enough $ for our 10 yr wedding anniversary trip next spring 2012!!! So my 2 big goals, of losing weight and saving $ will be perfect timing for our getaway next year :) I'll give you a hint, it involves warm sunny beaches, and one of my favorite sporting events...

How young is too young for facebook

Okay, so I just was on fb, and checking a friend of mine's page. Just happened to see that her daughter (who is one of Grace's close friends) has her own facebook page. And she is ONLY 8 yrs old! I'm sorry, but this is craziness to me, for a child that young to be trusted with that kind of technology. She's also had her own cell phone since she was 5 or 6 yrs old. Her mom is only 25, so maybe she thinks it's all fun and games for her daughter to have these things. This isn't an isolated incident. Seavie also has a young cousin, who is 11 yrs old, and she has her own fb page, and puts all types of things on there she shouldn't. You would think her father (who has been divorced 3x) and is fb friends with her, would know better, and have the heart to want to protect his very young and innocent daughter from the world of fb. Pure craziness!!!! And lets not forget the time last year when I was at the library in the kids area, sitting next to a bunch of pre-adolescent young boys, maybe 10-11? looking at girls facebook pages and my space pages online and talking about who was hotter and who had bigger you know whats. It took all my will not to interrupt them and give them a stern mom lecture. As well as ask them where the heck their parents were, leaving them alone on the computer to look at that.

I have just started reading "Bringing up Girls" by Dr.Dobson. I'm just a few chapters in, and I'm sure this issue is addressed in the book. But more than anything, as a mom of a daughter, it is my role, and Seavie's role to protect that childhood innocence of Grace as long as possible. I know that it's a new technological age that we live in, and it's becoming to be the norm, but I'm just not okay with it. E-mail acct. maybe in a few yrs, and fb isn't supposed to be open to kids under 14 or 15, even though they can figure out ways around it. When I was in HS, maybe 15 or so, and when the internet was a relatively new world to me, I discovered the crazy world of chat rooms. I don't know that my parents really knew that I did that. But I remember being a stupid young teenage girl, pretending to be older and prettier than in real life. Talking with older boys, one of whom wanted to do phone s*x, and the other, dirty old man, talking about a "thrill on blueberry hill" like the oldies song. Luckily I had enough common sense to not do those things, and end the chat rooms after that point, because it scared the heck out of me. I might have even confessed to my mom, I don't remember. The point being, that young kids and technology need to have set boundaries and limits in place to protect them. It is our role as parents to protect our children from the outside worldly influences.

This is also why, when we remodel our bedroom/living room, that our old walk-in-closet, will be turned into an open office area, with NO door. That will be right off of the kitchen and living room, so it won't be in a secluded spot. It's in a place where when our kids are old enough and use the computer more frequently can't go off and hide and feel like they are outside of the boundaries set for them. It's also why they will never have their own tv or phone in their room as well. Seavie and I had these rules growing up at our own homes, and want to enforce the same rules for our kids. Even though we might have been upset about it in middle school and HS, it was something to be thankful about later. To have a parent that looks out for you and protects you. That we as Christian parents would be able to fight against the worldly influences that are out there trying to get our children's attention.

Answers in Genesis.....Dinosaurs!

I had the opportunity to take the kids this morning to part of the Answers in Genesis conference that was held at a local church, and was led by Ken Hamm. He works with the group that built the Creation Museum in N.Kentucky http://creationmuseum.org/ and is working on the Ark Encounter http://arkencounter.com/ Both of which places sounds amazing spots for future family vacations!

Anyways, this morning he was speaking to K-5th graders (homeschool, christian, and public school kids) about the truth about Dinosaurs and the Bible. I was so thrilled to hear him speak, because it wasn't really until last fall when I studied Genesis with cbs, that it all completely made sense to me. (It also didn't help that I grew up reading National Geographic, which can be totally confusing to a young child without the creation view).

From a biblical perspective, he said that the earth is only around 6000 yrs old. And that the flood happened about 4500 yrs ago (so when the earth was only 1500 yrs old, Noah built the ark). How it was presented was that there were 7 "ages" of the dinosaurs. 1. Formed (when they were created). 2. Fearless (when they lived with other animals and humans without violence or death) 3. Fallen (after sin and death- and when animals and humans went from being herbivores- to carnivores). 4. Flood (large dinosaurs wiped out,fossils spread all over the earth baby dinosaurs (lizards) in the ark) 5. Faded- when they died (became extinct) 6. Found (when people found out they were real, and not pretend animals) 7. Fiction (evolutionist telling people dinosaurs are millions of yrs old vs. the reality of a few thousand)

He has it all in detail in a book called "Dinosaurs for kids" by Ken Hamm. Which you can find on half.com or amazon.com. Which they were all sold out of at the conference, but I plan on getting a copy for my kids. Braden loves dinosaurs but I just hate all the books that talk about them being millions of yrs old and all the different dinosaur periods, etc. The term dinosaur wasn't even coined until 1841. He said that the avg. size of "dinosaurs" were the size of sheep and chickens. He also used lots of scriptures references from Job 40 (behemoth) , and Isaiah (leviathan). Talking about dragons of the land and of the sea, and how pretty much every culture has a dragon story or a flood story. How they are all correlated. It was all great information for Grace to hear.

As a parent of kids in public school, to make sure that my kids know the truth 100% from the bible, and not get sucked into the evolution view when they are older in science class. More than anything to know that the Bible is true, and the words and stories can be trusted. Last year while studying Genesis, and Exodus, I was doing research online. You know you always hear stories of what supposedly happened to Noah's ark, and where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. I came across the most wonderful picture and video evidence from Ron Wyatt (which I guess there is a little controversy over, since he was a freelance archaeologist) But to me, the evidence all looks real, and I think that God will reveal what he wants to reveal, irregardless of their background. That God uses those people to get the truth out to others who might doubt the truth. I highly, highly recommend to go to http://www.squidoo.com/noahsarkfound It has all the documentation of his findings and pictures, evidence etc. and for the Mt.Sinai/red sea crossing go to: http://www.biblediscoveries.com/content/view/48/56/ Also you can search youtube for the actual video footage of his trip to the red sea crossing site, where he actually found marker stones on each side, and a underwater land bridge; as well as the charred mountain top, and boundary stones, calf altar. I think that the information presented makes a very good case for the truth. I have always had a love of archaeology and actually have the archaeological bible as well, but I am such a visual learner, that this type of documentation completely makes it all come alive. I also plan on sitting down with the kids and explaining the pictures and videos to them, so they can see stories almost come to life from the Bible. Anyways, I really hope you'll take the time sometime to check out the links and videos above. God is amazing!

Girls and their dolls

My parents called me early one weekend morning before Christmas, and told me they were going to the mall to get Grace and American Girl doll. I was a little dazed at first, one because they woke me up, but two, it just took me by suprise. Grace loves the books, and that's all she has known of the American Girl world. So she got her doll for Christmas and was so excited, because it has glasses just like her, and brown hair. So on New Years Day, we went to eat lunch at 5 guys at the mall, and I told Grace we could go into the American Girl store after lunch, to "look only". She thought it was fun to see all the different dolls and outfits, and see all the book characters in doll form. She never once asked for anything in the store :) She was totally content too look and be on her way. Which is totally fine with me.

It was an experience in itself being there and seeing the store packed with families and coming out with bags and bags of stuff. But that could be any store at the mall really. I have this crazy thing that I used to absolutely love the mall and shop there all the time in HS and college. But since then it just hasn't appealed to me. I just don't do well in crowds of masses of people. It freaks me out. So people watching is my fun thing that I love to do around large groups of people. We must have been the only people walking out of the store without anything. Seavie refused to come into the store, and just stayed in the car with Braden because it was overwhelming to him too.

I talked to someone the other day who bought her 6 yr old daughter 6 dolls @$100 a piece, plus outfits and accessories. She just said that she had asked for them, so she just got them for her. I have no problem with the dolls and the store. I think it's cute and fun. I do think there is a lesson to be learned for parents so that their kids don't grow up having a sense of entitlement. Meaning just because they want something right this very moment, doesn't means that mommy or daddy will buy it for them. This goes for toys, clothes, phones, etc. Not to say that you can't buy your kids nice things, because every parent wants that for their children. But especially at that age, to make them realize what it means to buy that item. To be able to earn an allowance, to save up money to buy a special item etc. Just my food for thought for the day...

A trip down memory lane

My sister and I were invited to a cookie exchange at our old house we grew up in, the week before Christmas. I am friends with the new owners who have lived there almost 7 years now. I had been back to the house a few times prior to that, which had been fun to re-live those memories of growing up in that house from the time I was 7 1/2- almost 23. She had some sad news that day, that her husband (who had been out of work for almost 3 yrs now) was offered a job in TX, and they will be moving this spring. So we'll be able to go back and visit the house probably one more time before they move and say goodbye. Since I'm sure the new owner's would probably think I was crazy to want to see my old house. I know it's a privilege that most people don't get. But I'm just glad I've had the opportunity to do that.

To a lighter note, all the neighborhood moms came to the party. They all looked exactly as I remembered them, just a little older. There did seem to be a common theme that they were all trying to dress and act much younger than they actually are. Maybe that's what happens when you reach your 50's, I don't know. But my sis and I found it to be absolutely hilarious. With 2 neighbors specifically, had turned into "cougars". Talking about pole dancing clubs, and drinking etc. dressed like they're out for a night on the town. You could have a whole tv show on the "Desperate Housewives of Johnson County" just in our old cul-de-sac.

The other funny, or sad part of that story depending on how you see it, is what happened to their kids:

One mom, had 3 boys, and they all played sports. Well she intentionally held back all 3 of them a year, one of them 2 years in school, so they'd have an advantage in playing competitive sports. 2 of them went on to play football at TCU, and the 3rd one was 24 and about to graduate, and didn't make the team. You could tell she was visibly disapointed in the 3rd son.

Another mom, the cougar mom, gave her daughter drinks of her beer when she was a toddler. And now her daughter is a wild 21 yr old, and mom and daughter go out drinking together.

A couple I used to babysit from my old church had 4 kids. The 2 oldest boys fought like cats and dogs over who got to play nintendo. So much so that whenever I watched them, they were banned from playing it because it irritated me so badly. I sent them outside to play. Their mom said they still are obsessed with gaming to the point where they've shut out other aspects of their lives. The couple is now divorced and their kids are all a mess.

I vividly remember being 10-11 years old when I first started babysitting and saw all these different things going on in the neighborhood that have always stuck with me, things that you never forget, that would affect my views of how I did/did not want to parent. It made me sad for one, what had happened to those families. But more than anything the huge impact we have on our children's lives by the decisions we make for them when they are growing up. Decisions that play into their character and personality for the rest of their lives. I know that no family has the perfect life, and their is always a degree of some dysfunction, but to give the kids a good head start early on.