Not A Whole Lot....

has been happening around here. We are trying to get into a routine, as it's like we've been on vacation for the past four months. Next week, classes start, and one of Lee's is an 8am class. So that will definitely kick us into gear!

Amy was helping me make something the other day (I can't remember what it was now) and I was trying to teach her how to crack an egg. She cracked it alright, it just missed the bowl.

Amy completed one of her workbooks the other day. We rotate through 4 of them, but this one is done now. She was really excited. She did a great job and I really like the format of this particular company's books. I can't remember who they are, but it is Christian based. If any blog readers really want to know, I'll look it up.

There are times that Amy stuns us. Mostly because she doesn't sleep or eat! (well not a whole lot of either) But the other night, she was supposed to be sleeping and came out of her room to say she didn't get a snack. She went to the fridge as asked if she could have some spaghetti. I offered her a cookie instead (which is what I would have picked) but she wanted spaghetti, "with salsa (sauce) and shaky cheese (parmesian). Strange child. But she ate it and went right to sleep! Lee and I ate her cookies. :) We probably should take lessons from her.

I'm sure you remember this disaster area......

More specifically.... this portion of it.

Yes, that's the end of our bed. Well, against the wall, but when you are sitting in our bed- that is what you gaze at. Lovely, isn't it? Nice and relaxing? Brings a nice, calm feeling, right? Yeah... uh, no. My plan was to get an old armoire and refinish it and keep all the crafting and whatever else stuff in there. But since the paychecks don't start rolling in for awhile, and "armoire" isn't really in our starting budget, it was going to take awhile. Lee said, "Sarah, why don't you just put all of that in the garage? There is plenty of room. And you don't use it enough to warrant the use of the space in our room." I hated to admit it, but he was right. So today's project was transporting it.

So it went from that... to this....

(the serger, sewing machine and the table that goes with them stay inside!) 

Nice change, huh?

And that garage is now the holder of the 'stuff.' The landlord left the shelving unit, so I just made use of it. I doubt he's going to ask for it back anytime soon.

So now our room is all happy and clean. We still have to add the dresser from mom's, as well as a few chairs that will occupy the cleared out space, build a headboard, and I'm toying with painting it a light gray type color ( I hate the yellow). But all of that will come later on. For now, clean is the way to be!

While I was clearing out stuff, I found a package of glow in the dark stars. So Lee and Amy got to work hanging those. She's pretty excited for dark time!

Yesterday was a "baking" day- I made 2 large and one small loaves of bread, 2 pans of dinner rolls and 2 large and 1 small loaves of cinnamon roll bread. It smelled delicious in here!! I was disappointed though, I tried a new bread recipe (I haven't been loving the one I've been using) and it fell. I followed the directions, but I guess it was warmer here or something because I let it rise too long and it gave out on me. It's still good, it's just not very pretty. Oh well. I froze most everything for use over the next little while. It's just nice to bake everything all at once.

Today I also put together our 2 remaining table chairs. They've been at Mom's since we bought the table. We've never been able to open it to it's full 'seating 8' capacity before. But now there is plenty of room. (I probably should have put away the folded laundry before I took this, oh well, I'm lazy. Hey- at least it's folded! Laundry really isn't my thing).

That's about it for the Wade update. Our life isn't too exciting, but that's how we like it.

More With Amy's Room

So aside from adding a few more pictures, a book rack and a new bedspread (ran into some problems with that)... Amy's room is just about complete. I'm really excited about it. It looks so happy! She loves it too. I spent and hour cleaning it with her this morning (it was a wreck) and afterwards we hung a few more things (she likes to hand me the nails) and then she kept exclaiming how wonderful it was. She even shut the door to keep Will out.

(there isn't very good 'natural' light in her room, so the lighting in the pictures looks a little weird. 

AND my camera isn't really great. I'll have a nice one some day, some day...... )

This is from the door... The window is to the right, just outside the frame.

From the window on the other side...

More specifics.... I had to put Happy Baby in a place of honor! haha. For the shelf, I just spray painted one I already had. I'm going to added framed pictures under the shelf.

For this, I just reused frames I already had. Actually, these were her original bow holders. I had several frames that had bows clipped onto them. You can see the lines behind the letters. I already had the letters too, I spray painted those as well. I just hot glued them to the frames. 

Under these letters will go the book rack that I plan on making. I'll probably place a few other framed pictures as well. And add yet a few more around her bed. I've got to raid mom's stash of empty frames the next time I go down there.

So that's it in a nutshell. It's nice to have ONE room looking decent/finished. Well, I guess Will's room is fine, I'm not doing anything with that right now. I really need to get started on our room, but one thing at a time, right?! At least that's what Lee keeps telling me. He actually wrote it on our dry erase board, especially for me, in big letters last night......

Hmmm...... :)

Fun Name Project and Outdoor Fun

We notice the name "WADE" all the time.... back's of cars, trucks, on equipment, street signs, etc. (I'm still mad that I didn't get a picture of the town sign "Wadesboro" that we passed on the way to the reunion.) So I decided it would be fun to keep a running picture list of all the times we see it. If you see it anywhere, and happen to have your camera with you, email it to us!

I also plan on creating a photo wall in our house with all these pictures!!

The first one:

It was a drain in a bathroom. Yes, I'm that person who took a picture in a bathroom. My camera just happened to be in my purse, I got lucky!

The weather here today and yesterday is BEAUTIFUL!! PERFECT!! It's sunny, clear and breezy, definitely in the 80's. First thing this morning, I went outside (I had to have a blanket on!) and read my scriptures and sat in the quiet. Then I went around the house and opened all the windows. I love "airing" a house out! It's almost noon and just as nice!

I took the kids outside to play and they were so cute. Will wanted to sit on Amy's bike, but I was afraid he'd fall over, which is ok in the house, but not on the concrete. So I got out the wagon instead. Amy pulled him all over. She even got inventive and hooked the wagon handle into her bike handle bars and "rode" him around. I love how imaginative kids are!

(Will is very into Balls. He's usually holding one)

While they were playing, I got to clean out the garage a little. There isn't much, but I cleaned off the workbench the landlord left. I have all sorts of "building" projects floating inside my head, so I had to make a place for me to start. :)

We went on a walk around the neighborhood and then came inside (this was all before breakfast). I fed the kids, put Will down for a nap and Amy colored while I made a grocery list and clipped my coupons. After she was done coloring, I asked her to pick up the markers. She ran away from me and I assume, hid. Well, it was quiet for a really long time and I wondered what she was doing. She wasn't in her room, so I started looking around.... she was asleep on the couch!! I think she was hiding under the blanket, and fell asleep!

All of this fresh air is keeping the kids asleep! They've both been down for over 2 hours!! I think this is going to become a daily routine!! I've gotten a TON done! Which is why I have time to post this! I love fresh air!! Come on Fall!!

Fun in the big GA

The kids and I just got back from a short trip to Kennesaw. We wanted to see Jackson and Maddox before they start school on Monday, and of course be there for Dad's birthday!!!!

 Lee stayed behind to have a little "vacation" of his own before school started.

 (Mine was a "trip" because I had the kids. 

There's a very big difference in vacation (no kids) and trip (kids). 

The little cousins had a blast playing together. We went to the pool one day and Jackson impressed everyone with his underwater swimming. Will also liked the pool- but preferred being held as opposed to sitting in his float (which is what I would have preferred). 

Mom and I spent our time watching HGTV and Oprah: Behind the Scenes. 

Gosh- it was nice watching cable! (we don't have it).

 We also watched two lame movies ("Long Road Home" and "Hereafter"). 

"The Long Road Home" was just cheesy, but "Hereafter" was loooooooong, slllllloooowww 

and basically a waste of time- just take my word for it. 

But making fun of them was a lot of fun! 

Thursday night, Mom and Dad volunteer at the temple, so Amy and I made Dad an ice cream cake. We couldn't wait for Friday night to eat it! On Friday, for dinner, Mom made a delicious dish that consisted of angel hair pasta, tomatoes, green pepper, shrimp and who knows what else. If she volunteers to make this for you- take her up on it. It's great! 

(Mom, send me the recipe). Then it was cake time! 

Amy approved

And then present time! 

Amy gave Grandpa some wood, because she knows he likes to build stuff. 

We gave Dad some work shorts and an MTSU shirt.

 (We were slightly jealous, as we haven't even bought them for ourselves yet!) 

Mom gave Dad a step stool type thing. (I have no idea what it's called, but the kids liked it!) 

The next morning, Adam, Lauren and their gang came over for a post-birthday breakfast of Panera bagels (a favorite!!!), Farmers Market (delicious!) coffee cake, fruit and scrambled eggs. The biggest laugh was when Dad started talking about Adam's new tool box/bag and how he wanted one. Mom countered with the fact that he has 10 toolboxes and another wasn't needed. He likened it to shoes or handbags for a woman (had to agree with him there). But still, he couldn't convince Mom that a new one was necessary. About 30 minutes later, Adam and Lauren come strolling in with guess what?? The toolbox/bag!! I just died laughing. Mom laughed and rolled her eyes, and Dad said, "YES!!!" Adam said he knew Dad liked it, so he thought it'd be a great gift- he had no idea we'd just been talking about it! 

 We all laughed at the irony of it all! 

The kids continued their playing. 

They were actually really quiet, playing with toys and watching cartoons in the tv room.

 I like how they curl under the cushions as if to use them for blankets. 

The lego houses they created. The silver thing is Dad's new step stool. 

Will took a liking to Uncle Adam. He wanted to sit with him at all times. 

He only tolerated Aunt Lauren holding him for a minute. But who can resist that smile??

Then it was homeward bound for us. It's SOOO nice to only be 3 hours away.

 It was the nicest drive! And the scenery is so beautiful too! 

The driver has to be careful not to look too much or you'll end up off a cliff! 

Mom gave us this desk for Amy's room. I'm going to re-finish it.....eventually. 

But Amy didn't waste any time trying it out. 

It's perfect! Thanks everyone for a perfect little trip!! The getaway was nice!!

Reading and an Office

Lee read the kids their book last night. They were so cute all cuddled together. He even read all the pages of this Curious George book- mommy tends to skip a few because it's really long!

You know how everyone has their "thing." Some people lose silverware, others break glasses or constantly lose their wallets... our "thing" seems to be bathroom hardware. In every place we've lived, in every bathroom we've inhabited- all of the hardware somehow comes off. We've only been here a month and already we've screwed back on the sink handles numerous times and we just gave up on the toilet paper holder.

What the heck?!? We don't think we use more force than anyone else and certainly don't do anything different. But we must do something! It's so frustrating! But funny as well. Don't let us near your bathrooms for any extended period of time!!

This afternoon we took a trip to Lee's new office. His department just moved buildings and he got the go-ahead today that all of his furniture was in place. He already went last week and mopped the floor- it was nice it was so clean! The building at one time was a dorm, but has been offices for awhile. But he said it looked like the floor had never been cleaned.

It's long and thin, but I think it's the perfect size. His furniture fits nicely and nothing seems too crowded.

He also has a nice view out of his window. The stadium is to the left and the parking lot shown is where he actually gets to park (sometimes faculty parking is far away). In fact, if you look closely, that's Lee to the left, in the red shirt, in the van. One of his co-workers was helping him move some boxes in.

The kids enjoyed spinning on his chair and playing with his phone. After all of their playing around- we were really glad he cleaned the floor!

We still have some work to do. We are going to hang his diplomas and a few pictures. As well as add some (manly) curtains and a rug. So he has yet to personalize it. We even rearranged the furniture a little and added books to the bookcase. So consider the above to be a "before" picture. He found a corkboard in the hallway and since everything leftover was up for grabs- he got it. He was quite excited, until we noticed that someone has carved a curse word into the cork! So I've got to cover that somehow! But hey- free is free! haha.

That's about it for now. Will is a little sick, just a teething cold, but he's fussy and cries all the time. It's been pretty hard, especially since he didn't sleep much last night. But that's ok, this too shall pass, right?! Teething is the worst!!