Gettin' er done . . .

In December we will have owned our home for five years. Friends of ours sold us the home for $28,000 and it's been a wonderful investment. Within the next few years we'd like to be finished with our home and sell it! It's hard to work on a remodeling project when you have three small children but with a lot of patience, perseverance, and an 'I don't care if I live in filth but I'll be a b*tch attitude' it is possible to make it through. lol It has been stressful for both Bryan and me but it has also been worth it! Of course the next house we buy, we'd like to not have to do much work to it! lol I've learned a lot about my husband though, he is multi-talented! He is an architect, mathematician, builder, craftsman, plumber, electrician, drywaller, carpet layer, painter, and of course a very *HOT* construction worker! He's done a wonderful job and deserves so much credit for the things he has done to this house. I have helped him a bit, but I usually just do the painting and the decorating. He gives me the great pallet to work with. We only have two rooms, one wash room, a hallway, and the kitchen to finish. All of them have been started on but not finished. Hopefully, the hallway and kids room will be done by Christmas and the office, kitchen, and bathroom will be done by next summer! The next few posts are dedicated to my husband, he's done an excellent job!

Before & After ( our bedroom) . . .

Before: The above picture is what this room looked like when we moved in. After we had moved in we painted it and had a jungle theme for the boys, complete with bunk bed, toddler bed and crib. At the time our office was a play room so the bedroom only housed their clothes and they slept in it. However, within the second year of owning the home our roof leaked, unfortunately it leaked bad enough that the ceiling was starting to bow and it finally caved in. We moved the kids into our room and for an entire year worked very slowly on gutting the room. We (I) decided to take the smaller room as our room and bunk the kids in the larger room ( our old room) so then we could have room to move their toys upstairs and I could make the toy room an office. So the work began. Bryan removed all the sheet rock and replaced the walls with drywall. He also used attic space and vaulted the ceiling, widened the closet door, put a closet organizer in, laid carpet, plus he rewired the entire upstairs. After the dry wall was finished he applied a stucco treament to the walls and ceiling. He cut & I stained and sanded all of the wood in the room. He also built me a table for the long wall in the room. I still don't have window treatments yet and we still need to put in the base trim, except for that the room is done! It's our retreat. We even have mood lighting in the room. He did a great job!




I hung bamboo for our closet door. We have a king size bed in the room and there isn't much room left. I didn't want to waste more space by having a double door or even a bi-fold door. So I opted to have bamboo, I use a shoelace to tie it back when I'm putting away laundry other than that it looks great down plus when the fan is on the bamboo moves just enough to add some soothing noise. Like a wood chime. With that and the water/rock fountain running it so peaceful. I really enjoy our room!

Before & After ( the downstairs washroom) . . .

Before: the pic above is the only picture I have of the downstairs washroom. It is a very tiny space. Bryan did replace the sink and he took out some cabinet doors for a display area it made the space feel a little bigger!

Before & After (the laundry room) . . .

Before: the above pic is the laundry room when we bought the house.

After: the pic below is how the laundry room looks now. Usually
we don't keep the punching bag in the room! lol

Before: the above pic is angled slightly different than the pic below. It is the same space!

After: we removed some cabinets to store dirty laundry, I'd like to either hang a white curtain in the space or get a laundry separator that looks good!(silver & khaki) We also need to hang a blind on the window yet and Bryan is fixing the door to the cabinet. For some reason I didn't get a picture of the floor. Bryan laid a new floor( a cobble stone look) and it brightens up the room a lot!

Before & After ( the living room) . . .

Above: This is our little living room. When we bought
the house we pulled out the carpet and discovered
a wood floor. Bryan stripped and varnished it!

After: above is the finished project with Wil on

on the love seat! lol

Before: below is the same wall as the above picture.

After: the above pic is the living room finished with

Asher and our Bassett Hound, Buddy!

Before: the below is a pic of how the living room looked

when we bought the house.

Before & After (the entry way) . . .

Before: above is an enclosed stairwell, right when
you walk into our house you see it.

After: Bryan knocked out the wall and built a pretty
railing, it was our first big project in our home.

Below: this was one of my presents last year for

Christmas, I wanted a fireplace for our stockings,

so Bryan built me one!

Before: the above is our entry way and the front door.

After: this year Bryan put in a new front door. It

was much larger than the old one, so he had to take

part of the wall out! Lots of dry wall dust!

make ya laugh....

Deer Crossing

Recently a new neighbor, a blond haired woman, called the local township administrative office to request the removal of the Deer Crossing sign on our road. The reason: too many deer were being hit by cars and she didn't want them to cross there anymore.

Flavor of Downtown . . .

I'M BACK!!! I feel much better . . . thank you for all of your concerns! I'm still a little congested but I can live with it. I still feel that I need more sleep than usual, but I'm not complaining! The day before this sickness took hold of me I had a such a wonderful day!

Last Wednesday me and a friend decided to surprise another friend with some downtown flavor. Our friend had never rode a city bus and hasn't experienced much of downtown and the wonderful things it has to offer. So we took Bus #6 (which is by my house, since I live downtown) and rode it out to Glenbrook and back to the bus depot. We left the bus depot and walked to Toscani's to eat. It's a quaint little Italian restaurant located on Wayne Street. It's been there for about a year now and has delicious food. We all split a pizza, but not any ordinary pizza! I'm not sure what the crust was but it was very thin and light, tomatoes basted the crust and it was covered with cheese and basil. The cheese is some import from New York. It was so good, I never thought pizza could taste that great with less toppings, nor did I think it could feel light and not heavy. The man who runs it is now retired from his former job and has wanted to own a restaurant for some 30 years. Friends of his said yeah when pigs fly, thus explains why there are statues of of pigs with wings throughout the establishment. His children and his mother also work there! It has some character! We then decided to walk around downtown explore some of the shops, other restaurants and buildings of Fort Wayne. One of my favorites was going into the Lincoln Tower it was beautiful! If you call and make an appointment you can go to the observation tower and check out Fort Wayne's skyline. We also walked through the new grandwayne center which was really needed and totally helps out Fort Wayne. Our friend also had some facts of Fort Wayne from the 60's & 70's, what buildings were where and about the night life. It was very interesting. We visited some more buildings and then decided to call it a day. We took the bus back to my neighborhood and my *newly cultured* friend was excited to *pull the string* on the bus to let the driver know we wanted to stop. After all this excitement we met up with my husband to go swimming and then made an Italian dinner together! It was a long but memorable day!

chicken noodle soup & peanut butter toast...

Within the next few days I'll share with you all a much more pleasant blog ~ my *wonderful* day that happened Wednesday, but for now I must rest. Thursday -yesterday- I came down with something. I'm congested, dizzy, and very achy. I didn't get out of bed until this morning. Poor Saige had to deal with his brother's all day yesterday and he did a MARVELOUS job! Feeding them and watching them. When Bryan got home from work he made me my supper ~ the first meal of the day for me ~ Chicken Noodle soup, peanut butter toast, and a glass of milk. Whenever I don't feel good the only thing I want to eat is chiken noodle soup and peanut butter toast. I took some more medicine and crashed out again. I've been up for two hours now and I must admit I'm ready to lay down again. Bryan is so sweet ~ he leaves for work at 5:30 am ~ he knew the kids would want breakfast and knowing that they would not be up when he left for work and knowing that I may not be up to par, he made scrambled eggs and put them in the microwave for the kids - he gave Saige instructions on how long to *zap* the eggs and told him to make toast for him and his brothers. I hope this *crap* leaves me soon, I hate being sick especially in the summer!

Summer days . . .

I realize that for most people the last few days have been hot and uncomfortable! For some reason the heat hasn't really bothered me this year. Our house only has two window air conditioners, but they've done pretty well this year! Not to mention going to my mother in laws to go swimming is an added bonus.

This afternoon we went swimming and the water was *heaven*, absolutely wonderful. We swam for about 2-3 hours and I loved every minute of it. It was so relaxing. . . well most of the time. I guess when you have three little boys with you it isn't that relaxing. We had fun though. Asher is a little fish, he swam under water today and held his breath for about 10 seconds each time. He took off both arm floaties too. He would stand on the ladder and jump in several feet away from the ladder and then he would swim to it ~ with no help. It's awesome because he is our first out of three who isn't afraid of the water and at four years old he can swim above and under water without any floatation device ~ but that also makes it quite frightening! We keep a close eye on him. Today he had a car and he would drop it so it would sink to the bottom of the pool ~ Saige does this and then with the goggles tries to find it~ Asher would drop it by the ladder and believe it or not he would hold his breath and climb down the ladder to the bottom of the pool and not come up until he had the car. I would watch with much anticipation, counting the seconds each time. Knowing that he has never gone past 10 . . . but those of you who know me also know that I'll let my kids try *almost* anything. After all they are boys! I don't like to *mother* them too much or let them know that I worry for them. Part of the trade I guess! I just enjoy watching them have their adventures and a few bruises, cuts, & broken bones won't kill them, it just gives them bragging rights as they get older! lol


As you can see, I've been exploring other templates for my blog and I really like this one. Mainly because I'm a *movie* addict and I love to relax on our couch and eat popcorn while being entertained by thousands of talented actors! Comedy and Romance are my top favorites ~ then come epics, action/adventure, drama, fantasy, thriller and sci-fi. Absolutely NO horror! Anyway hope everyone can adjust to the new template!

make ya laugh....

Speeding Ticket

A driver is pulled over by a policeman.

The police man approaches the driver door.

"Is there a problem Officer?", the driver asked.

The policeman says, "Sir, you were speeding. Can I see your licence please?"

The driver responds, "I'd give it to you but I don't have one."

"You don't have one?"

The man responds, "I lost it four times for drinking and driving."

The policeman is shocked.

"I see. Can I see your vehicle registration papers please?"

"I'm sorry, I can't do that."

The policeman says, "Why not?"

"I stole this car."

The officer says, "Stole it?"

The man says, "Yes, and I killed the owner."

At this point the officer is getting irate.

"You what!?"

"She's in the trunk if you want to see."

The Officer looks at the man and slowly backs away to his car and calls for back up. Within minutes, five police cars show up, surrounding the car. A senior officer slowly approaches the car, clasping his half drawn gun.

The senior officer says "Sir, could you step out of your vehicle please!"

The man steps out of his vehicle.

"Is there a problem sir?"

"One of my officers told me that you have stolen this car and murdered the owner."

"Murdered the owner?"

The officer responds, "Yes, could you please open the trunk of your car please?"

The man opens the trunk, revealing nothing but an empty trunk.

The officer says, "Is this your car sir?"

The man says "Yes," and hands over the registration papers.

The officer, understandably, is quite stunned.

"One of my officers claims that you do not have a driving licence."

The man digs in his pocket revealing a wallet and hands it to the officer. The officer opens the wallet and examines the licence. He looks quite puzzled.

"Thank you sir, one of my officers told me you didn't have a licence, stole this car, and murdered the owner."

The man replies, "I bet you the liar told you I was speeding, too!"

I am WOMAN hear me ROAR . . .

I am WOMAN hear me ROAR . . . or maybe GROAN! Today me and Bethany ~ our friends 16 year old daughter who stays here with us every other weekend when her mom is working and has become our own ~ moved a love seat upstairs in the boys room!

We had a chair in their room and the loveseat was in our computer room but it would function much better the other way around. Not to mention the loveseat is hunter green and would match all of Saige's Green bay stuff!

Anyway it is a rather large loveseat with lots of cushions attatched. It is also rather awkward. Bethany is tall but very tiny and I am short and not so tiny but it isnt' muscle that makes me not so tiny. I had to take the computer room door off of it's hinges and it still took us about 20 minutes and a gallon of sweat to get it out of the room. Our next feat was to get it up the stairwell and around the landing! I was on the bottom trying to lift and Bethany was at the top trying to manuever the loveseat. We were so comical! Once we got it on the landing Bethany realized that the handrail for the next set of steps needed to come off. So she proceded to take the screws out and was having trouble on the last one ~ I told her to pull really hard ~ she did and believe it or not broke the metal in half that the railing was in! She was so impressed with herself she kept flexing the rest of the afternoon! lol After 45 min. we finally conquered the loveseat! We were talking trash ~ exerting our masculine feminine side ~ and taking much needed big breaths. Bryan makes moving furniture look so easy. He probably could of moved it by himself with his pinky! Regardless, we are very proud of ourselves and pat ourselves on the back. Oh and FYI the 45 min. included our lunch break! So it probably only took us 25 min. Yeah . . . I know what you are all thinking . . . that . . . WE ROCK!!!!!!!

make ya laugh....

This was an e-mail sent to me buy my friend Jen! It's way too cute!

THE OBEDIENT WIFE:

There was a man who had worked all of his life, had saved all of his money, and was a real miser when it came to his money. Just before he died, he said to his wife, "When I die, I want you to take all my money and put it in the casket with me. I want to take my money to the afterlife with me."

And so he got his wife to promise him with all of her heart that when he died, she would put all of the money in the casket with him.
Well, he died.

He was stretched out in the casket, his wife was sitting there in black, and her friend was sitting next to her. When they finished the ceremony and just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said, "Wait just a minute!"
She had a box with her. She came over with the box and put it in the casket.

Then the undertakers locked the casket down, and they rolled it away.
So, her friend said, "Girl, I know you weren't fool enough to put all that money in there with your husband?"

The loyal wife replied," Listen, I'm a Christian, I can't go back on my word. I promised him that I was going to put that money in that casket with him."

"You mean to tell me you put that money in the casket with him!!!!?" exclaimed the friend.

"Sure did," said the wife. "I got it all together, put it into my account and wrote him a check. If he can cash it, he can spend it."

make ya laugh....

Mountain Tech Talk
This here is for my 'hick heaven' friend who loves being a redneck!
Enjoy Jen!
1. LOG ON: Makin a wood stove hotter.
2. LOG OFF: Don't add no more wood.
3. MONITOR: Keepin an eye on the wood stove.
4. DOWNLOAD: Gettin the farwood off the truk.
5. MEGA HERTZ: When yer not kerful gettin the farwood.
6. FLOPPY DISC: Whatcha git from tryin to carry too much farwood.
7. RAM: That thar thing whut splits the farwood.
8. HARD DRIVE: Gettin home in the winter time.
9. PROMPT: Whut the mail ain't in the winter time.
10. WINDOWS: Whut to shut wen it's cold outside.
11. SCREEN: Whut to shut wen it's blak fly season.
12. BYTE: Whut them dang flys do.
13. CHIP: Munchies fer the TV.
14. MICRO CHIP: Whut's in the bottom of the munchie bag.
15. MODEM: Whut cha did to the hay fields.
16. DOT MATRIX: Old Dan Matrix's wife.
17. LAP TOP: Whar the kitty sleeps.
18. KEYBOARD: Whar ya hang the dang keys.
19. SOFTWARE: Them dang plastic forks and knifs.
20. MOUSE: Whut eats the grain in the barn.
21. MAINFRAME: Holds up the barn roof.
22. PORT: Fancy Flatlander wine
23. ENTER: Northerner talk fer "C'mon in y'all"
24. RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY: Wen ya cain't 'member whut ya paid fer the rifle when yore wife asks.
25. MOUSE PAD: That hippie talk fer the rat hole.

our camping trip . . .

The camping trip was *a lot* of fun and also *a lot* of work. All in all though I'd say that it was a success! The kid's had fun, Bryan had fun, & I had fun!

Saige did not fish the entire weekend like I had assumed, he did get to fish for a couple of hours though and caught nothing! He did however pull a *jack*ss* routine. The road by our campsite was quite steep and Saige had been taking a scooter down the road, each time getting a little braver and a little faster. On one of his turns he somehow flipped the scooter, flew off and bounced off the ground twice. He immediately stood up and laughed . . . he laughed . . . I am still in awe that he laughed. We heard the neighboring campsite go 'ewwww & awwwww' when he hit the concrete and they too were in awe that he was laughing. He had major road rash on his elbow, shoulder, wrist, and knee. The elbow may even leave a scar. My brave little man, I was so stunned that he didn't cry that at first I thought he was covering up, but he was very adamant that he didn't hurt. *He didn't get that from me* As a matter of fact Saige was having a conversation with his daddy and they felt the need to share with me ~ Bryan told Saige that if he would of fallen like that off the scooter that he would of cried and Saige said, "Yeah and mom would of gone 'bleep, bleep, bleep'". How well my men know me! lol I did rub off on Saige a little though, later that night we went for a walk in the woods and Saige was running on the trail and tripped on a tree root and tumbled down a little hill on his injured side. After that he tripped at our campsite by the fire and landed once again on his injuries. That was the first time he looked as though he might cry. Poor guy! He's always been so athletic and never accident prone like me! We finally told him he should go to bed so he would quit hurting himself!

Wil enjoyed the camping trip. He loves smores and enjoyed the campfire. His favorite part of the trip was Saturday. Our friends rented a boat from the Marina at Clear Lake. Wil loved being in the boat. He smiled the entire time. He had a blast watching Bryan tube. His dad is rather impressive. lol One of our friends made the comment that she had never seen Wil smile that much! While part of our group was out skiing and tubing the other would stay at an island on the lake. My friend and I went for a walk around the island ( the shallow part) and pulled Wil in his 'little inflatable boat' around the island. He loved that too! I think he smiled the entire day! To be honest I think he enjoyed camping more than I thought he would. The next day we went to the 'Beach' and he had a blast being burried in the sand. Of course once we got home he ran straight to the TV yelling 'Can I watch TV mom, please, please!'

Asher did not turn into a native but he came very close to being eaten by the wildlife! We had several raccoons near our camp and Asher wanted so badly to pet them. He loved camping! Believe it or not he even went tubing! I wasn't on the boat that time ~ oh how I wish that I could've seen it! Bryan was driving the boat and our friends daughter (who is 16) took him on the tube with her! Bryan said that he loved it! Leave it to our little Ash not to be afraid! The rest of the time he swam in the water! He is such a little fish! Our last day we went to the 'Beach' and went swimming. Asher, as most children do, drinks a lot of the water and of course his little bladder gets full and needless to say, he dropped his drawers on the beach and started to drain his bladder. Fortunately for me, I was in the bathroom, draining my bladder the correct way, and so Bryan had to try to get him to stop in mid stream and take him to the restroom! I came out and everyone in our group was laughing and telling me about what my son did! He is such a riot!

The trip was great but of course one thing would have to go wrong! Our air mattress had a hole in it! Every night Bryan would blow it up so we could at least fall asleep in comfort, but within a few hours it would be completely deflated! If this was the worst thing that happened to us I think that I can say we had a great time, almost perfect.A lot of fun, with very good friends!

make ya laugh....

An Amish boy and his father were visiting a mall. They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver walls that could move apart and back together again. The boy asked his father, "What is this, Father?" The father responded, "Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life, I don't know what it is." While the boy and his father were watching wide-eyed an old lady in a wheel chair rolled up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls opened and the lady rolled between them into a small room. The walls closed and the boy and his father watched small circles of lights w/numbers above the walls light up. They continued to watch the circles light up in the reverse direction. The walls opened up again and a beautiful 24 year old woman stepped out. The father said to his son, "Go get your Mother."

going campin' . . .

Tomorrow night we leave to go camping and we will not return until Monday. We are going up to Pokagan with some friends. This will be the first camping trip as a family that we will have taken. Once last year we camped for a night in the woods at my parents. Wil and I left in the middle of the night and we went to my parents to finish sleeping! LOL

I'm not sure how this will go. I have camped plenty - before I had children. I really want this weekend to go great! So I'm trying not to have any expectations! Saige will want to fish the entire weekend - he is a true fisherman - he can fish for 10 hours without catching anything and still have tons of fun! Wil hates the outdoors - maybe that is an unfair assessment. . . Wil . . . doesn't like the . . . no . . . he hates the outdoors. I can't blame him though, it's not like he can go hiking, bicycling, swimming, and fishing. He prefers his computer, TV, and playstation which are not good camping companions. Asher will probably disappear on us constantly and will become one with nature. He will end the trip with a loin cloth, mud covering his little frame, and branches surrounding his head like a crown or all of the little woodland creatures will join forces and attack him. I have no expectations . . . none whatsoever . . . we shall enjoy ourselves.

We are going with some good friends and that should be a lot of fun. Bryan has been wanting to camp as a family for years and of course I have dreaded it. Hopefully the kids are grown enough that it will not be so difficult and this is the first year that I think Wil will do well. He's walking very well with his crutches and he isn't terrified of water anymore, he still doesn't like it but he will try to swim. This is the first year that he hasn't gotten sick when in the sun on a hot day. I think that the outdoors may suit him better this year than ever before. He is quite aware that there will be no TV and he is still excited about camping. All of the kids are excited - Saige won't quit talking about it. I hope that this trip will be the start of great family adventures. I look forward to sharing our trip with all of you when we return. Be prepared to laugh . . . something always happens to my family that causes those who listen to laugh. I like to think that they are laughing with us but usually they are laughing at us.

Happy 4th of July . . .

Happy 4th of July ! ! !

July 4, 1776 marked a day in history that will forever change men's lives! How grateful I am to be born in America and call myself an American!

Hoping that everyone has a wonderful holiday! Praying for those who are fighting for our country, so that we are able to have a wonderful holiday! Wishing that more countries in the world could have our freedom! How blessed we are and how proud we are to be Americans!


Interesting information:
July 4, 1826: Fifty years to the day after the approval of the Declaration of Independence, which they both had a hand in drafting, former presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Adams die on the same day.

make ya laugh....

Some "Senior" personal ads seen in Florida newspapers:
Who says seniors don't have a sense of humor?

FOXY LADY: Sexy, fashion-conscious blue-haired beauty, 80's, slim, 5'4" (used to be 5'6"), searching for sharp-looking, sharp-dressing companion. Matching white shoes and belt a plus.

LONG-TERM COMMITMENT: Recent widow who has just buried fourth husband, and am looking for someone to round out a six-unit plot. Dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath not a problem.

SERENITY NOW: I am into solitude, long walks, sunrises, the ocean, yoga and medita tion. If you are the silent type, let's get together, take our hearing aids out and enjoy quiet times.

WINNING SMILE: Active grandmother with original teeth seeking a dedicated flosser to share rare steaks, corn on the cob and caramel candy .

BEATLES OR STONES? I still like to rock, still like to cruise in my Camaro on Saturday nights and still like to play the guitar. If you were a groovy chick, or are now a groovy hen, let's get together and listen to my eight-track tapes.

MEMORIES: I can usually remember Monday through Thursday. If you can remember Friday, Saturday and Sunday, let's put our two heads together

MINT CONDITION: Male, 1932, high mileage, good condition, some hair, many new parts including hip, knee, cornea, valves. Isn't in running condition, but walks well.