Flooring Progress

Hooray!

My bedroom is done!

RJ's is half done, and hopefully Heidi's will be started on Friday.

My wonderful friend Maranda (who has a picture tab) has graciously offered to work it off in painting services.... :)

She and I will be removing the hideous wall color on Friday night.

Then next week they will be adding the base boards and crown molding.

I am SO excited!

more pictures to follow.......

THANK YOU MARANDA!!!! (RICK THANKS YOU TOO!)

:)

-a

Orlando...Finally!

Rick had quite a morning......

He and Rodney took off for Orlando this morning only to return to the St Louis airport 30 min into the flight due to mechanical failure on the plane.

Lovely

They had to switch planes and finally made it.

Rick headed off for work, but Rodney was able to enjoy the room.

:)
-a

Misc Cuteness

30 Days.....32 pounds!

Tomorrow is offically 30 days, but I couldn't wait and weighed today instead......

4 more pounds gone, bringing my total to 32 pounds in 30 days!

Hooray!

Here is a before and after that I had.

The before was taken just after gorging myself at Epcot. (nice huh?)

The after was taken tonight.....32 pounds lighter.

my observations.......

1.) I need a makeover
2.) My double chin is smaller
3.) My nose isn't as fat
4.) I think I even had fatrolls under my eyes. Those seem smaller too.
5.) My forehead and cheeks both seem slightly less puffy.

6.) My eyebrows needed shaped up in the Epcot picture, too bad I still haven't done that.

7.) I scratched my neck really hard tonight and left a red mark.

I will take another picture in another 30 days.

Another update next Wednesday!

:)
-a

We are officially trash!

If you drive by our house, this is what you'll see!

Hopefully the dump is open this weekend!

They should finish the master bedroom tomorrow so pictures will follow.....

It looks fantastic so far!

:)

-a

2008 AWANA program

RJ and Heidi had their AWANA program last night.....they both got certificates and RJ got an award because he'll be moving up to Sparkies next year. Heidi will still be a Cubbie even though she swears she's going with RJ.

Not sure why Heidi has a sticker on her head, but she had it on there the whole time. And it was a Christmas sticker too. Festive.

They both recited their verse "Love each other as I have loved you". I will try to post a video too. They did a really great job!

:)

-a

Too Much Water! and Bye Bye Shag!

Well, my weekend SUCKED!

I shot a very nice wedding on Saturday and because it started a little earlier than my average wedding, I also got home a little earlier. I was excited and came home and sat in the recliner, took my shoes off and I hear Rick yell, "AMBER, I NEED YOUR HELP!"

I head back to the utility room and he's standing there in the doorway leading to the garage WET. A water line broke and flooded the garage. AGAIN! This happened 2 years ago and supposedly it was fixed. DAMN IT!

So, while this wouldn't have been a HUGE deal, (there really wasn't anything of value in the garage, just small things I still hadn't taken up the studio yet after the move.), but we really really shouldn't have been working on other things. Honestly, if I didn't need what was left in there in 6 months, I should have just thrown it all away.

We are going to be converting the garage into a game room/family room anyway, so it gave me a good excuse to get it completely cleaned out as well as getting the Chicago Bears carpet that I have been eyeing. Because of course the other carpet is ruined. :)

So we spent FOREVER moving wet stuff, drying things out, making trips to the studio, etc., when we should have been moving bedroom furniture.

The carpenters started installing the hardwood in the bedrooms this morning....

Last year we had 1/2 the house done, but couldn't afford to have it all done at once, so they are back to finish the house. The bedroom carpets are DISGUSTING. Shag from the 70's...nice. I am pretty pumped about it, but because we were still moving furniture and toys and crap out of the house last night at 1 a.m., I'm pretty exhausted.

Now I get to wait til the carpenters finish, and then deal with the plummer.

nice, these next two weeks should be fun.

Here are before pictures of the disgusting shag. Ignore the hideous color of my walls. I chose that when I was pregnant with RJ and in all honesty, never really liked it. It will be tan, by next weekend......

Update pictures to come tomorow.....

:)

-a

Fish and Ticks

The kids went fishing on Friday and came home surprised me with 23 fish, and they threw some back too because Heidi started feeling sorry for them.

It was Heidi's first time fishing and she loved it. They both can't wait to go again. Heidi wants a pole of her own (RJ has one), but she wants it in a girl color. Pink maybe.

Then, after checking the kids for ticks, RJ had two. I am totally grossed out by ticks, so my friend Amanda had the honors of removing them for me......

(shudder)

:)

-a

Spring Portraits

I was in Effingham yesterday morning and stopped at Over the Moon.

The had the cutest outfits for Heidi so I was inspired to take Spring portraits when I returned back home. We did inside and outside portraits , but the outside ones left a bit to be desired. RJ apparently has incredibly sensitive eyes and could not stop squinting.

However, I was thrilled with their inside ones. Now, to find a place to put them at the house. If you've seen our walls, you know, there is no room left.

RJ 5.5 years

Heidi 3.5 years

:)

-a

Weekly Weigh-In

5 more pounds gone forever!

Bringing my total to 28 pounds!

A gallon of milk weighs 8.5 pounds, so to put it in perspective, I've lost a little more than 3 gallons of milk.

Another Update to come next Wednesday!

:)
-a

Peterson Park Fun!

Tonight when we picked the kids up from AWANA, we headed to the park to play until dark. The weather was just so nice!

The kids are FINALLY old enough that I'm not scared to death to let them play on the equipment. (I was always scared RJ would try to jump out of the openings thinking he could fly or something!)

Rodney had a really good time too. He even braved the tall curly slide.

:)

-a

Dandelion Pickers

Heidi and RJ have been obsessed with picking all of the Spring flowers. (my poor tulips....)

I walked out of the studio on Saturday and saw hundreds of yellow dandelions. I headed home to get the kids. They had so much fun picking them all.

I know I have a recipe for dandelion wine somewhere, I'll have to dig that up, while the kids still like picking flowers.

:)

-a

Farewell Party

One of Rick's friends from high school (Brandon McKinney) is heading off to Afghanistan soon and his family had a party for him over the weekend.

We had a really good time and got to see lots of friends. The Dorn's were there, so RJ and Heidi got to play with Gavin and Maddox.

Not only did I get to see DeAnn, but I also got to spend time with Amanda and Courtney (Brandon's sisters). I hadn't seen Courtney in a couple years, so I had a really good time.

Thanks Hayes household for throwing a great party!!!!

:)

-a

Merry Christmas! or Happy April 17th!

I bought the kids Chicago Bears sleeping bags over a year ago.

I got them on sale after Christmas of '06 and intended on gifting them for Christmas '07. They are really adorable too, with built in "Staley" the Bear mascot heads that you can use as a pillow or take off.

Every kid needs a sleeping bag. I remember I had 2. My Little Pony and Strawberry Shortcake. My sister had ALF and Rainbow bright. We used to zip them together and make giant sacks that we could both fit in.

Well, I forgot about the kid's sleeping bags at Christmas time and found them again last night in my closet.

MERRY CHIRSTMAS! or Happy April 17th!

The kids love them and now want to know if we can go camping. I'm not a camper. I'm more of an RV gal. I did agree to let them sleep in their bed with them though.

:)

-a

Coolest Coffee Table EVER!

For those of you that don't know, we have Chicago Bears furniture, and it is the COOLEST furniture ever.

2 Giant "Big Daddy" recliners and a sofa. I love our furniture!

Last year they came out with a new helmet shaped coffee table. I was gonna buy it but couldn't justify the cost at the time. Well, I got on a kick, and decided I really needed now, and I'll be damned if they hadn't retired it and you couldn't get it anymore.

Well, that is one thing that I don't take well to: being told that I CAN'T do something.

2 days of research later, I had the name of the manufacturer and then 45 minutes on hold later, I got one of the last 4 available in the United States.

Hooray! Introducing my new coffee table. The coolest coffee table ever!

:)

-a