Aren't we supposed to be in the car?

I asked the kids if they wanted to go on an adventure today.  Of course the kids were excited and said "YES!"  I packed a lunch in their backpacks and we headed out the door after telling Anthony that his knee socks were not appropriate for his new crocks today.  My kid is so fashion forward.  lol  They were very perplexed by the fact that we walked past the car when they obviously were wearing their zoo backpacks.  They both looked at each other and laughed asking "Where are we going?"  I told them just stay with mommy and we crossed Green Valley Rd and headed to that big hill that we look at from our front porch.

As we were walking they grabbed each other's hands and I darn near shed a tear.  I love them so much and the fact that they love each other and are still sweet enough and don't care enough about what other people think of the fact that they love each other too and want to hold hands in public.  Warmed a momma's heart right up.  Even more so than the record breaking weather we had today.

Once we topped the hill and the kids realized that we were at their favorite park they ran straight to this patch of flowers for a photo opp.

Addison picked me a flower.

Anthony, not to be outdone by his sister decided I needed something bigger and better and he brought me a "flower ball" as he called it.

He was so excited to see the creek at the bottom of the hill and to be our tour guide.

Addison checking it out herself.

 More shots from a momma with a camera.

Enough already mom!

 Addison shoes sounded so cool on the wood, just ask her.  lol

 While Victoria was at her appointment we headed over to dollar tree and found these gems. We got in some play time before the storms hit.

Awesome day today! Not only did we have a great adventure Victoria and I had a WONDERFUL night tonight as well.  I even got thanked for helping her with her homework.  I will sleep well when I lay my head on my pillow tonight.  Thanks God. :)

Surprise!!!!

I am posting!!  This is going to be some old stuff for those of you that follow me on FB but I am going to let you know what I have been up to the past few months. 

Looking back I can't believe how much I have NOT posted.  Pintrest has been a big part of the last few months of that.  I spend most of my free time cruising around looking for projects to start or mostly projects to TALK about starting.  If you have not signed up for a Pintrest account DON'T!  I am telling you before you know it a month will go by and you will have only pinned a thousand things as you let your own house go.  lol

I will touch on this as it has consumed much of my time and I value being transparent.  My motto is if you don't share it then others won't see God working as much in your life.  Back in October, I believe, Victoria was diagnosed with a mood disorder (otherwise unspecified)  After talking with her counselor and pediatrician we began looking for some more specialized help. She began seeing a psychiatrist as she was having visual and audible hallucinations.  As I stated "mood disorder" was the diagnosis but we all know what mood disorder hallucinations come with.  The doc said that she believes it is trauma related and that she has probably had these things going on for longer than we have heard about.  The hallucinations vary from spiders bugs crawling on her walls in her room but the most disturbing one is a "blue man" as she calls him that is basically a floating blue head that threatens her and gives her commands.  At first we thought that it might be fears of having a room in the basement but when she stated that she has seen this blue man at her grandma's and at school it seemed to not be childhood fears.  It was pretty uneasy around here for quite some time but things have leveled out as we have found something that has appeared to have gotten rid of all of these listed above.  That has calmed down other than the aggression but we are working on that and it is getting better.  My blog has always been a therapy of sorts for me but those were some dark times that caused me to withdraw into myself and my faith and I wasn't as open about it.  Sorry for the absence.  She is doing well and hasn't had any visions or voices that I have been made aware of.  She is trying really hard to make better choices in life and we are constantly working on our relationship.

On a more uplifting note to my absence I have been working on the house.  The kitchen was a huge project that is almost complete.  First let's remind ourselves of what the kitchen looked like when Vicki lived here shall we??

UGH CHICKENS!  I don't know if you can zoom in on that fan either.  There was about 2 inches of dust and grease on that booger and it was a project in itself to clean.  Now onto what it looks like to date...

The wallpaper that was floor to ceiling is removed and after finding that the border was 3 separate layers with paint over layer one and under layer two and three I gave up.  I hated to admitting defeat but the effort was tearing up the wall and removing the texture along with the paper so we opted to just cover it with a thin piece of wood and painted it the same color of the wall.  Worked like a charm.

I just need to get my shelf hung back up over the big window and get it filled with fun things to accessorize with my flying pig.  (There is a story behind that.  It isn't blog worthy though.)  I am not completely sold on the style of the curtain above the sink. First I made one panel and tied it up with two ribbons.  Didn't fit the retro style that I so loved from the print.  I then made two panels and it was way too heavy for the window.  I moved one over to the door in the mudroom/pantry and added a casing in the bottom of the panel and just looped it up with a spring rod.  Not my favorite but I don't have much material left over and don't know if I am going to make a window treatment for the huge window just yet.  So I will stick with it until I decide on that. 

I painted the mudroom a nice buttery yellow and need to get a step ladder and supervision to finish the area around the ceiling. 

My one night project was Addison's room. Mom took the kids for a night and I went into beast mode in Addison's room. I painted, disassembled her toddler bed, assembled her twin bed, got a mattress, painted/decorated a nightstand, made two wall hangings, and passed out all within about a 18 hour period. It turned out so nice though.  Again let's remember what it looked like before we moved in.

 And now check out the little girl room! I picked out a very very pale lavender color named Guardian Angel.  I felt it was appropriate since this was Papaw's room.  I still want to paint the closet door white and the trim but will save it for another day.

 These are God's promises that the kids go over in Large Group.  Addison got a real kick out of this.  I used the decals I found at Target that matched her bedding.  I found a tube with 3 huge sheet of them for $3.14!  I made two wall hangings and used the rest for the nightstand that is coming up.

The almighty piggy bank. Addison has been making a quarter a load of laundry that she helps me switch out. She is saving up for a bike this summer.  She really wants one that she can set her baby doll in the carrier seat.

Another one of the pics made for next to nothing.

This is my favorite thing in the room.  Not because of the birds around the edge but because it holds my little budding artist's self portrait.

The bedding as Anthony is reading to sissy.

James and I worked on the bathroom as well. Again the grandma decor....

 I am not a fan of this color and my hubby said "It is up and it is staying!"  If you look at the color you can only imagine what this bathroom is nicknamed in my head.  It is a little too appropriate for the "setting".  Ugh what to do with it.  Suggestions?  I though maybe pops of bright colors would help but I am not feeling that either.  Well crap!

Well as you can see we have been busy around here.  I will try to be more of a blogger in the days to come.  I miss keeping up with my friends blogs as well.  Thanks for the nudge.  ;0)

  

Missing Papaw

Today marks the one year anniversary of Papaw going to Heaven.  I can't believe it has been a year already. 

The twins and I went to the flower shop today and got some flowers for Mamaw and for Papaw as well.  We walked in the small flower shop and began to look around for the perfect surprise for Mamaw when she got home.   (I realized I still have a key to the trailer so I was able to set out gift on her coffee table.)  As we were walking around the ladies that worked in the back came out to talk to us and visit with the kids. 

Anthony and Addison each picked out a flower color.  Anthony of course chose blue, Addison pink and for Victoria I picked out a big bright yellow daisy.  While waiting Anthony heard Lady Ga Ga playing on the radio and he began to dance in the middle of the store.  The whole staff and another customer came over to enjoy the impromptu dance off between Anthony and Addison. 

The sweet lady in the back finished up our arrangement and Anthony began to explain to me that he NEEDED a root beef float.  We walked around to the cash register and the kids chose a card to include.  Anthony an I love you and Addison a Happy Birthday.  The began to write.  Addison scribbled and read out loud "Thank you for all of my family that God gave me. I love them in Jesus name Amen."  Anthony showed off his new skill of being able to write his name and ran out of room when he hit the H.  Lol!

The lady that arranged the flowers asked for Anthony to do his dance moves for the other staff again and then Anthony began to sing "Soul Sister" to them.  The customer that was standing by reached in her purse and said "You know what?  I think with that performance you have earned your root beer float." and handed him a $5 bill.  Anthony just stood there in disbelief.  You mean I can get money for this stuff?????  He thanked her and strutted out to the car bragging that he got a "pay check".

We walk into LJS for lunch and our float and my phone rings.   My sister called to let me know that my wood is getting cut for kitchen to cover the wallpaper boarder.  WOOHOO!  While on the phone Anthony apparently told the staff of LJS that he has a job. (speaking of his first paying gig)  They laugh thinking that he is asking for a job and by the time I get off of my phone from my 3 minute phone call the whole staff including kitchen staff is out front at the counter.  They have giving Anthony and Addison applications and a pencil each and they are filling out their application.  I have tears streaming down my face from laughing.  They were a riot. 

The root beer floats were amazing as always and we leave to take our flowers to Mamaw and Papaw.  When we pull into the cemetery to take the daisies to Papaw Addison announces that she has to poop and asks if she can just poop in the grass next to Papaw.  Hillbilly much?  I assure her that she  can hold it and we sing Rock-a-bye baby to Papaw, Addison's pick. 

It was a great day of remembering and missing. I was happy to have funny stories to tell as Mamaw called in tears to thank us for the flowers.

Elwood

There have been some peculiar things going on in our home here recently.  While Christmas shopping James and I ran into Santa at Target.  He gave us a box with this little guy inside.  We brought him home and read the instructions enclosed.  We immediately gave him a name as instructed.  His name is Elwood.  His favorite movie is Blues Brothers and he loves fried chicken and dry white toast.  :)  The kids didn't believe the magic at first especially Addison.  She was my super skeptic. 

Yet I found her waving at the box when she thought she was "alone" in the room. She became a true blue believer when she woke up the next morning and found Elwood's box on the ground busted open and this... 

 

Apparently Elwood likes his name and was kind enough to make me some coffee before I woke up.  Anthony found it funny that he stole his Superman mug to drink some coffee himself.  Addison's eyes were the size of dinner plates. 

Anthony woke up the next morning with airplanes all over his room.  They were stuck in his Christmas tree, in his dresser, blinds and then he looked up and found..

 Our prankster Elwood hanging from his light fixture.  Anthony turned purple laughing at this one.  The following night Elwood decided to be a bit mischievous and mysterious.  He taped popcorn up on my shelf in the living room with a note that said pop me at 9:30pm.  We did and just sat down to see what would happen.  We ended up turning on the TV waiting for the "surprise" and what do you know?  Elf on the Shelf was on TV.  He is so sneaky.  Shame Anthony crashed early that night.

   Then it happened I knew it would eventually.  Elwood was on the fireplace snuggled up with a washrag for a pillow and blanket when I went to bed that night. He made the mistake of "borrowing" Addison's little stuffed doggie to snuggle with.  When I woke up Elwood was half drugged out of his bed and the doggie was gently pulled halfway out of his arms.  I asked Addison if she touched him and after a few attempts to change the subject she confessed that she wanted her doggie back and Elwood shouldn't have taken him.  Elwood disappeared that day mysteriously as we were cleaning house.  He had to stay at the elf hospital for a day or two to get his magic back.  But he returned in his prankster way. 

Crazy elf came back with band aids all over him and turned my coffee filter wreath into a chair.  Nice glue stick picket sign.  :)  The kids had thought that they had seen it all until they woke up to find Elwood taking a pillow stuffing bath under the Christmas tree. 

Night of fasting and prayer

Today the kids and I participated in a church wide fasting day.  I have never fasted and I couldn't decide to go with the traditional food fasting or of my second love.  My computer, TV and phone.  I decided to just do it all.  I spent the day with the kids baking for my sister's Thanksgiving feast and my buddy Felecia came over for a haircut.  Poor thing was in a panic not being able to reach me via FB.  Not to worry girl I gotcha!

In the middle of the day before nap time I asked the kids to each go into their room and spend some time with God.  I spent my time going over scripture on anxiety and just spending some time quiet listening to what God has to say on the subject.  My biggest hindrance.  In the process Anthony whips open the curtains over his door and says "HEY MOM GUESS WHAT? ME AND GOD ARE FISHING!"  Way to be fisher of men little buddy.  Addison said that her and God played and they had a good time.  Victoria said that she spoke with God about her fears and enjoyed sitting her room praying. 

Church had a service tonight to break the fast as we all shared communion together.  Anthony sat down in the sanctuary and was checking the place out.  The kids were so excited as the first song we sang was "I will follow you" one of the kids favorites.  Anthony is scanning the room as George our pastor comes out so speak and Anthony spots the sound booth in the back of the room.  He turns to me grabs a hold of my sleeve and whispers in my ear.  "Mommy that is where the judges sit!  That guy is going to wiiiin!  He is going to go to Hollywoooood!"  Guess that fasting from TV was a good pick for the kids as my son think that our church is X Factor.  During the time of communion Addison decided that she is wanting a snack as well.  She starts crying for a piece of bread.  She sees everyone in front of her getting a piece and dipping it in a wine glass.  Anthony, my take charge boy, leans over to her and says "You don't want that.  That dip is spicy." 

What an incredible day with God and my little ones.  I have needed the quiet in the house and the time to get my head wrapped around some things going on.  I feel better and know that I am in good hands no matter what the conditions.

Embarassment at Target

The kids and I had to go to the pediatrician for Victoria's med check appointment.  On the way out of the school parking lot from dropping V off Anthony said "Go fast mom!"  I told him that I couldn't because a cop would pull me over and I would get a ticket.  He just looked out the window disappointed and said "Hmm when I tell Grandpa to go fast he just does it."  Thanks for making me look like a party pooper dad.  lol

We took a quick lap (quicker than I had originally wanted) through Target today.  My son loves Thomas the train.  While walking through Target he spotted Percy.  His poor speech problem proved to be quite entertaining in the toy department as he is saying VERY loudly "I love p*ssy!"  We didn't stay in Target much longer.  I could feel the blood rushing to my face as I made a b-line for the check out.

When the weather calls for it.

After our shower today Anthony comes running in the bathroom with only underwear on and asks "Mom is it gonna be worm cold today?"  I tell him that it is supposed to be pretty warm.  He takes off running out of the bathroom singing "YEA! I GET TO WEAR A TINY SLEEVE SHIRT TODAY!"