~ Vacation...And We're Off ~

We got up about 6:30 and finish last minute things before we left. At 7:30, we were all packed, in the car and on the road!!! We then headed off to Buffalo, NY.  Yes, we are on our way to Florida!!!! We have been looking forward to this for months. The kids and I did a countdown calander starting with 14 days!!! It was our morning routine before breakfast to fly a new plane to the destination!!!! The Day finally came...we were really going.....

We were all boarded..Then, this white stuff began falling from the sky. This caused a 10 minute delay as they had to de-ice the plane...It was fun for the kids to watch the guy go around spraying it! At least they were entertained!

All set and ready...Let's fly!

Daddy and Emmy all set!

Andrew making sure that he is all set in case of an emergency!

A look from above...Isn't it nice to know that the sun is always shining somewhere!!!! Above all of the clouds...there is sun!!!!

These neat screens were on the backs of all their seats! So, you could watch TV...and there was also a channel that you could check to see where you were....Here we are right on the boarder of Georgia and Florida...I took this, then I took the picture below!!!

Georgia!!!

Coming into our final destination...The flight was only three hours!! Now this is the way to travel!!!

Our Humble Abode for 10 days!!! It was so nice. I loved it from first sight...Nice and clean. There was so much room. We had a one bedroom apartment. There were two double beds in the bedroom, a living room, and an eat-in Kitchen. The kitchen had everything that you would need...plates, utensils, pots, pans, fridge, COFFEE pot, toaster, dish soap. It was perfect!!

Out in the yard our first day...We walked to the most amazing sub shop. Laspadas...WONDERFUL subs!!! YUMMMMM...(makes me want one now)

Our first visit to the ocean. It was only a two minute walk from where we were staying!

Ahhhh the palm trees and sand.....my favorite scenery!!!

Andrew and I walked along the shore....I kept trying to get a picture of our footprints together!!! They kept getting washed away just as I would go to take the picture!!! Finally...one of each of our feet!!!

The Pier...it was just a little down the beach....

Andrew playing in the water!!! He was having a good ole' time!

Daddy and Emmy walking along! They took quite a walk...Guess that she needed to get some energy out after the flight and car ride!!!

Trust that you enjoyed this glimpse of our first day!!!! Check back for day 2!!!!



~ St. Patrick's Day Fun ~

I know. I know. I am very late for posting this, but I figure it is better late than never! Right?!?

I thought that we would have some fun on St. Patrick's Day!

The morning started with Cheerios and Green Milk!!

A Little food coloring goes a long way!

The kids thought that this was great!

A friend shared a sight with me: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2n5XkFh88A

This Mother does amazing hairstyles with her girls. Her husband video's her doing them. It is really neat!

Here is just one of the hairstyles that she did!!!

A Three leaf Clover.

My model was not so cooperative in getting her picture!

Can you see it?

My kiddos all dressed in their green! We went out and ran some errands! I also stopped and picked up a Shamrock Shake on the way home! They loved doing this. I think I will have to come up with some other "Days To Celebrate"!

~ Bathroom Makeover #1 ~

Have you ever sat down to look at a book or magazine that has an inexpensive makeover for a room? Well, I had a look at one such article the other day...I always like get ideas from articles on different things that I can do with my rooms...Well this "inexpensive" makeover was at the tune of over $1,000! ~CHOKE~  Alright that is not inexpensive to me! I will share with you what I consider to be pretty inexpensive!

The Bathroom Before

I didn't think to take a picture until I had already put the primer on the wall. As you can kind of see, there were flip flops painted around as a boarder.

The Shower door....I hated the shower door. It was almost impossible to really clean the shower. The only way to clean it was to jump in the shower and spray it down with cleaner! Standing in the cleaner, you could then attempt to scrub away...Only the door opened a little different, so there was always one spot I couldn't get no matter what acrobats I tried....It has to go!

The Wonderful Lighting above the sink...It use to have a medicine cabinet, but it was cheap and started to fall apart. So, I had a flip flop mirror up on this wall above the sink with a shelf!

Please excuse the gross picture here. This was a drop ceiling with a light. I had figured the light bulb had blown. So, in my redo, I decided to take down this drop ceiling. To discover...they had an outlet on the right hand side, with a cord going to a light fixture on the left hand side of the shower....Ugh...love how they were so professional when they did this project :0) Really though the ceiling is really cool up in there. It is a little vaulted. We have bought a fan/light combo to go in there, but that is on the to-do-list with Dad!

 I had just redone the caulk in this shower not too long ago, but it was horrible. From day one it would peel as I washed the shower down....Note...Always get the right tool for your project. I went to the store to pick up a putty knife because we didn't have one. I found a knife, but it was about 6 bucks. I decided that the razor blades would work just as well at only a dollar something for a bunch. (I thought my hubby would be so proud of me going with the cheaper option.) I spent a whole morning trying to remove the caulk. Hardly got anything done but sore fingers. (Talked with the Hubby...He said he would have paid for the putty knife..ugh...I thought I had done so well!!!! I tried!) Off to another trip to the store for a putty knife. After only about an hour everything cleaned up very well...We were in business to continue!

THE FUN PART BEGINS!

 I had been to Lowe's. I found this blue paint and a darker gray in their mis-tint paint for 5 dollars each. I decided that I would mix the two to get a little different tone!
Paint $10
(I already had leftover primer from another project!)

I decided to spare you the pain of every step...so we will jump to the end!!!

I bought a shower curtain for $10
A can of black paint for $6

Rummaging for some supplies in the basement, I came across these cute hooks. I have no idea where they came from, but could see them working in the bathroom. They were a cream color. I primed them and spray painted them black!

Here is the shower curtain. Being that this is a smaller shower unit, I was able to cut off part of the curtain to make one for our little Storage area by the sink. Noticed no rusty drop ceiling! NO Shower door....FREEDOM! I love it!

I painted the light fixture and the vanity black! The mirror I had from when I was a little girl! Now I am just waiting for the right bargain so that I can get myself a shelf for above the sink!!!

All in all, I think it turned out pretty well!

So, my suggestion when doing an inexpensive makeover..Search your house! You never know what treasure you may have stashed somewhere. Always consider painting something. You can get a  new look for a lot cheaper just by a fresh coat of paint!

There you have my makeover for about $30!!!

Hope that you all enjoyed!!!

Have you done any makeovers in your house? 

Thinking of doing any? 

Please Share!!!

~ My Little Boy is 4! ~

Our precious little boy the day he was born!!!

Andrew's First Birthday!



Elmo!!! It looks like he was on fire...Birthday 2!

Andrew blowing out his candles for his 3rd Birthday!

Licking the chocolate batter from the beater

Sharing with Emily!!!

Tow Mater Cake

Another view!

Again!

I had the whole cake almost done. Andrew says, "Mommy, where is the hook?!"

Opening gifts!

We celebrated Andrew's birthday at a hockey game!!! It was a lot of fun. We were very glad that we could spend it with Family!!! Thanks for the great time guys!

Andrew and Mommy at the game!!! He is so big!

4 Already?!?

Andrew and Emily watching the game!

Andrew wanted a picture with Blade! I prayed that God would help us to find him. We walked around the corner and who was there?!? Yes, it was Blade....God answers prayer. I asked Andrew if he was happy that he got a picture with Blade..."Yes, Mommy, but his teeth were kind of scary!!!"

(Click on the picture to see this one up close!!! Then you will understand the look on his face!)

Andrew and Mater!!!

Andrew has been such a blessing to us. He has such a soft heart. We are so thankful that God saw fit to give him to us as our son. Our prayer is that he will continue to please the Father's heart each and every day.

We love you ANDREW!!!!



~ Winter Wonder ~

Oh The Weather Has Been Frightful!

It seams like everytime I decided to go outside, with the kids, the weather would decide to be so cold a person should not be out there unless it was necessary. Sometimes the kids were sick, or the snow would melt. We also had a lot of freezing rain as of late.

Saturday afternoon, I decided to go out to play in the snow with Andrew. (Emily was sick..booo) Anyway, we headed out to the backyard. Originally, I was going to make a snow man or a snow sculpture of some sort. Last year I made a snow man and Tow Mater. As we began to work with the snow, I realized it wasn't going to work for a snowman. Fluffy snow had fallen on top of our good packing snow. I then had the inspiration to go and try my hand at digging a tunnel in the front snow pile.

Shovel in hand- off we go!

Might I remind you that we had a lot of freezing rain. first couple digs weren't too bad, then the ice. Half of the height of the tunnel was ice. Chip and scoop....

I did the tunnel at a bit of an angle. This snow pile was at the end of our driveway. So, I didn't want to be entering or exiting into the street! This is from our sidewalk!

There is my little cutie looking through the other end!

This is the pile/tunnel looking from the sidewalk.

Andrew emerging at the end of the driveway!

Why not "paint" the tunnel? We took a spray bottle with water and added food coloring!

Nifty Artwork!!!

Here he comes!

The Artist hard at work!

Andrew standing at one end! While Mommy is getting out at the end of the driveway!

Here we are having some fun!!!

I'm glad that we had a chance to enjoy the snow! The next day it began to melt. Now there is hardly any of our tunnel left, but it was fun while it lasted!