Look at ME!

So most blog post this week award goes to me!

I have a new system in place for blogging so I hope to stay caught up now!

Thank you to all 300+ of you that visited during Kelly's "Will you be my friend?" SUYL. I am so excited to grow my list of MS bloggy friends!

I have had so much feedback on "Just need to write" through tweets, emails, and messages. Thank yall for the kind words and support. Life is getting a little less chaotic, but I have a super strong feeling that God is up to something BIG. Words can not describe what is going on in my heart right now, but my whole "outlook" on things is getting wider.

Sunday in church, our Pastor spoke about David and Bathsheba and sin and responsibility. 

 "The failure of responsibility is a welcome mat for the enemy."

This is going to be my motto for the month. I am battling a spiritual battle inside. For 2.5 years I have been surrounded 6 days a week by Godly people who supported me daily. Now, it is up to me to bring God into my life. Working from home adds alot of extra responsibility. Family is A LOT of responsibility. And managing it all is huge responsibility. The only way to do it all and do it all successfully is by leaning on Him to give me strength and help guide me.

On the Adoption front: If I go by my gut, a lot should be happening in the next few months. You know before you give birth you get that "nesting" feeling? Well, I defiantly have that right now. I need baby #3's room done, I have a desire to start doing a lot more and this is a new feeling for me. This whole process I have been kind of "going through it" without the emotions that normally go along with adoption. My reason behind it is this is God's thing. I know He is in control and I have done really well to just let the process go His way and tried not to let my emotions of I WANT MY BIGGER FAMILY NOW get in the way. But in the last 2 weeks, the nesting feeling has set in. And this was brought on by nothing. SO, we shall see!

Aubrie Kate is done with 3k preschool for the summer!

Last Day at 3k!

 She will be hanging out around the house with me/Todd/or a sitter until Madyson is out at the end of May. Then we will have a little Summer celebration kick off, then my mom will step in to help me during June&July (as well as some super fun "big girls" to help!) THEN in 60 days we leave for DISNEY!!!

I am so excited about our trip to Disney World! Our best buddies are going with us this year. You can follow along our planning process over at our Disney Blog!

On the Lifestyle change, I am now into month 2 of my big lifestyle change! For the newbies. I gave up eating all animal products for 2 weeks. My life changed! On week 3 I integrated milk, cheese, eggs, chicken and fish into the diet. But kept red meat out. Week 4 I thought I could eat a hamburger at a cookout and be okay. WRONG. never been in more pain in my life so I gave up all red met.

I have not felt better in my entire life. Including the years of playing soccer, cheerleading and dance.

I am down 14lbs total. and still have 6 to go! But, I am content with this size. I feel healthy. I look healthier and I can see my family making better eating choices. I have a TON of recipes to post! My girls are diggin Veggie Grits and Turkey Bacon on the weekends!





A weekend in Mobile

2 weekends ago we decided to drive down to Mobile (where Todd's grandma lives) to visit her and Todd's dad and stepmom (who were also there visiting). Lucky for us it was Mardi Gras Weekend! The girls had never been to a Mardi Gras parade before so we took the opportunity to expose them to "Beads"

 AUbrie Kate loved the idea of Mardi Gras...esp. when she learned she got to wear funky clothes and fun hair

 madyson waiting on the parade.

This was our neighbor's set up. they found that couch on the side of the road...notice the net for catching. They were too funny.

After the parade! They were loaded down the beads!!

When we returned home, my mom had purchased the girls some new clothes! They wore them that monday...its amazing what new clothes will do to a kid! Here are their sassy selves

 Both outfits were under $20. One from Gymboree Clearance, 1 from Dilliards!

Oh...The highlight of MY weekend?? I found 2 chairs in the garbage!!!

 and my sweet husband loaded them for me!! Gotta love being married to a willing garbage diver!

The Debut of Evelyn Lucille...

I have spent years looking through magazines pulling out pictures of what I want my house to look like one day. Recently I stopped doing that and started "Pinning". As I began pinning I really started to see my style evolve. We all want our home to be a reflection of who we are. And for years mine hasn't been. Its been what I have seen in magazines. When we started on the venture of kitchen remodel I knew I wanted a few things

1) White Cabinets and appliance-a blank slate
2) Pops of color
3) Vintage accessories
4) Clean surfaces.

The stuff that should be important like granite counter tops and real wood floors just weren't at the top of my list. When we resale in YEARS then we will make it what others want. Right now I wanted affordable and durable. At least until the kids are big enough!

I want people to e to be like...how did you do that...or what is that made of?

I want them to realize-you don't have to run to Target, Macy's, Crate & Barrel (although I have a rug on my kitchen floor from there :) to achieve beauty. That its okay to go against the normal...as long as it pleases you! So with all that said... I introduce you to...my kitchen.

I have named her-EVELYN LUCILLE -She is named after my great aunt Sarah and my great aunt lucille (who taught me how to cook the best biscuits ever!)  She is funky and she is functionable. She is WAY out of the norm but she is SO YUMMY.

She is the place where my girls and I will spend hours with our KitchenAid mixer, Mary making sweet memories. She is where they will learn the art of cooking and hopefully the love as well.

She is where we will create and grow and make chocolate milk and popcorn before movie night. She is ours and She is  different but She is so special to us.

Although she did not come without blood, sweat, and tears (literally all three) here's the story:

We were rocking on demo day and then we pulled up the yellow floors and found the mess of Glue that was all over the floor. My "team" consist of my mom, myself, my cousin, and Todd.

My mom is a true girly-girl...Never has done 1 bit of home improvement. My cousin use to help her dad do stuff...but she is a beginner. I volunteered with Habitat in college and learned about cabinets and painting but never floors. And Todd's experience comes from what he has learned on HGTV and DIY with me. So needless to say, we are all beginners. We went to our local home improvement store and talked to the sales rep there. He directed us to a product we would need to get the floor up. He also showed us the tools we would need. We purchased them all and went to work.

4 days later....we were still scraping up floors.

It was a Wednesday night, my hands were covered in bloody blisters, I could barely move my fingers. My left elbow was aching, I was covered in sweat from scraping and my sweet 3 year old walked in and said, "momma, can you make me spaghetti?" I lost it. I started bawling. BAWLING. Like doing the ugly cry.

"no baby mommy can't make you spaghetti because we don't have a kitchen." It was like telling her we had no food. It was painful and I was exhausted. I cried the ugly cry for about 10 more minutes. Todd wasn't home from work yet and I just needed him.

Once I got my composure, I took a break to run up to sonic to get the girls, yet another, wacky pack. I was ready to start again. Another hour into scraping when I started discussing with my mom about the blades on the razors we were using. "They are just so dull". About that time my "never done a home improvement job" mother had an "ah-ha" moment. "I wonder...."she said...The next thing that came out of her mouth was *$*%*$ (You can use your imagination on what went there) "Sarah, the blades are turned around backwards!"

Yes my friends, apparently when you buy handscrapers you're suppose to loosen the screws on the handle, take the blade out, and turn it around, then tighten the screws. No lie, we were done with the rest of the floor in 30 minutes.

Then came the grosses part...we found Harvey the mouse...inside the wall....

Once we got the floors cleaned up and the mouse out of the house, we were on a roll. The next step was sanding the walls, priming, painting...installing cabinets, countertops, sinks, floors then lastly the appliances!

Whew....are you as tired as I am? I am so pleased with the outcome. There are still some things to do like install the vent hood, the electrical covers....touch the trim and the ceiling paint...but all in all...here ya go!

Lets look back at what Evelyn Lucille was like BEFORE....she was dark....

 junky...didn't function....(yes there were a lot of cabinets but they weren't functioning cabinets)

 (AND NO WE ARE NOT HOARDERS...THESE WERE TAKEN AS MY PARENTS WERE CLEANING OUT TO MOVE THEIR STUFF OUT...=)

...AND THIS was when we had started demoing....i forgot to take a picture of the window :/

So after 4 weeks and 3,215.57 we now have....

the window side. New paint, new double trim on windows, fridge moved. new cabinets, new counter tops, island built out of old pallet wood and madyson's crib :) stools that were my gmas i painted and recovered....

 the stove side. We went to stove/oven combo...(vent hood coming, cant find one i like) glass tile backsplash (pain in the butt) i need a new garbage can! (do you know how expensive those are?)

another pic of the kitchen....
So where is all of our stuff? Stay tuned to tomorrow! I will reveal the pantry and the rest of the kitchen!

planning a master bedroom

for 2 years I have dreamed of 3 things.

1) Child #3
2) new kitchen w/pantry
3) Master bedroom

The kitchen part was easy. I know what it is going to look like. Simple-fun-funky. Its my kitchen and its going to be my kitchen for a long time. I want it to fit my style and my personality-not Martha Stewart's or any other persons. Its going to be different and unconventional because its unique to me. There will be yellow and blue and green and white and shiny and eco-friendly and energy star-and vintage.

but the master bedroom-is not mine. Its ours. and Ours has a totally different opinion.

Todd loves-Modern Sleek. Clean lines-dark woods-bold prints....
I love-Re-purpose Chic. Previous life-natural colors-new usage.


So our task at hand is designing the perfect master bedroom that fits BOTH of us. It needs to be comfortable and relaxing and our place to escape the funky kitchen-loving living area-BOLD playroom-and boring laundry room!

Here are some google searches that we have found! You can guess who belongs to what!

So....What does your master bedroom look like???

The End of May

Here is May-In 1 post!

Madyson had "Olympic Day at school" we had fun watching her "compete" in the activities!

My mom and I had a girls night and did a painting class!

 we went to my "brother" (he is not really but besides the blood thing...he is) house and cooked smores with his family.

we  went to Hunter's 5th birthday! It was a construction party!

we got 2 new family members! Meet Roger and Bandit. They have been living at todd's office for a few weeks and their momma left them. Well-they decided to live in a hole and got stuck-2 hours later (and alot of dirt) we had gotten them out! Now they live with us-and the girls adore them!

 Madyson had her last Preschool Field Trip!

 We were selected as Sno-Biz Facebook Fan of the week! Here we are in the driveway finishing our free Sno-Cones!

 Madyson had her end of the school year preschool graduation night!

 followed by her last day of preschool!!!! =(

 My grandmother turned 85!

 And we went to the Coast for Memorial day with my brother, sis-in-law and nieces!

 We ate dinner at the shed!

And during the month of June-its been VBS!!!!!!!!! More on that later! I am glad to be back! I have missed blogging!!!