Saturday, May 17, 2014

Project I John 4:11- April

I was not very good about taking pictures of last months project so I pulled a picture off of Pinterest of what we did. :) And apparently I blog about it behind schedule. haha
 For April we did something special for our Mail Lady. Probably wasn't the best idea to put chocolate in the mailbox this time of year (haha) but we did it anyway. :) I don't even know what all the kids did but there was a pack of papers wrapped around the M&Ms.

Last Saturday I went to the mailbox to get the mail and found a sweet thank you note and two coloring books for the kids from our Mail Lady, Julie. I was so surprised and I couldn't wait for the kids to get home to see them.
Then on top of that I have been getting some boxes this week and one day I met Julie at the door. We actually had a conversation besides "hi" or "thank you". It is amazing how something so simple can begin a relationship with a person.

Me oh my. Trying to teach your children a thing or two and you learn a thing or two. :)

Friday, May 16, 2014

Goodbye, Kindergarten!

Today Josiah finished his last day of Kindergarten. CRAZY!!!! It doesn't seem so long ago that we had our first day.

We had a small celebration lunch followed by ice cream cones to mark this milestone. Michael presented Josiah with his diploma, Josiah made up a graduation song which kinda almost sounded like real song lyrics, and we took a few pictures.

We are so pleased that Josiah had such a great year and that we all survived and learned from the rough days and thoroughly enjoyed the great days. I am so blessed to be able to share such sweet memories with my Jman!

I am definitely looking forward to starting First Grade with Josiah in a couple months. Until then, we are hopefully going to have some SUMMER FUN!!!!!









Monday, May 12, 2014

A Dream is Fulfilled!

Three years ago we were house hunting and God supplied our home to us at a great price we could actually afford. We closed in July and moved in on the fourth with the help of some pretty fabulous people. (Not everyone will give up a holiday to help someone move, yet we had a great crew of people!)

We made a list of things that needed fixing, replaced, painted etc. On that list was a long term goal of getting a fence installed. Today that dream came true!!!! We are huge fans of Dave Ramsey so to see an invoice with PAID IN FULL WITH CASH is so completely wonderful!!!!

When I started having issues with my back I thought for sure we'd have to use the fence fund to help pay for my MRI, Dr visits, and the therapy shots. But God kept us from having to touch that money!

We have an enormous back yard so it wasn't cheap getting it fenced in so we will obviously be eating beans and rice for a while! haha ;) I am just so so grateful that we were still able to get the fence and come in just under budget too!

So here are some pictures of my dream becoming reality!

Front Side A
 Back Side A
 Front Side B
 Back Side B (And my Lemon Tree is still alive!)
 Side Yard A
 Side Yard B
I am so happy and so thankful!

And another wonderful thing is that I am physically able to be up more. I walked the yard twice while drooling over my new fence. Praise God for progress! :)

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Happy Mommy's Day

Happy Mother's Day
to some special ladies in our life.
Thanks for nine months of discomfort, hours of horrid pain, and a lifetime of love and prayers.

and babysitting
and clothes shopping
and hollering at sporting events
and sacrificing for special occasions
and making biscuits and chocolate gravy/ chocolate chip cookies
and ....

Michael and I (and of course your grandkids) appreciate you both so much! 
We Love You!

Modge Podge + Glitter? GENIUS!

I am in the midst of redecorating Joanna's room. She got big girl furniture and her ghastly pink room totally clashes with it. (The pink has clashed with everything since day one, honestly. Although it is better than what the room was originally.) Hubby has given his permission to repaint it sometime this summer so I have decided to go with a light purple princess type theme.
I am slowly doing some DIY decorating projects and the latest was turning the switch/outlet plates into something fun and girly.
I took all these pictures with my phone so please excuse the quality. :)
 All you do is mix the modge podge with glitter of your choice. I used purple and white. Now obviously the white doesn't show up but I used it so I could throw in a different shimmer of blue and green here and there.

You are supposed to use a paint brush to apply evenly but I had to settle for my fingers so its bumpy a bit textured. Ha! Let it dry and then do touch ups where necessary. When I was happy with the results I used a spray sealant.
 Once again the pictures are blurry and you can't really tell how cute they are. I am looking forward to new paint in the future and then I will turn my attention to the master bedroom. We haven't done a thing with it in the almost three years we've lived here. I am way past ready to have a room that I actually like.
:)
Bye for now.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Current Happenings

We had some special visitors come by the house Sunday night before church. Michael's two sisters and their families are in town for vacation for the next few days. Josiah has been very excited that they were coming.

 My sweet Lady J likes to sneak into my room from time to time for some snuggles. We had fun yesterday taking pictures. Her giggles were so sweet.


 Michael caught a picture of Jo doing one of her chores... putting away socks. I remember when Josiah used to be little and do this same job. My how time is flying.
As far as my back is concerned I am finally feeling like I am recovering from the shots that I had last week. Yesterday I walked to my mailbox and back and today I've been able to sit up a little bit. Yay for small improvements. :)

The shots do seem to be helping overall. I am not in extreme or constant pain all day and night anymore. I am also regaining some movement and starting to get very antsy to get out of the house when I am not in pain.

So many of you have asked how long will it take for my back to heal. The best answer I can give is an estimate. The doctor says that hopefully between the 4 and 6 month mark that I will feel better and can start to resume life. He also says that total healing will not happen for a least a year.

I have been banned from lifting anything remotely heavy, bending, twisting, driving, or any heavy exercise for quite a while. I have to mentally retrain myself to walk properly. I've gotten into the bad habit of shuffling since it was easier on my back.

I am hoping to be able to go to the beach next week with all the family before they leave. I can lay down on the trip there and lay down on the beach so I am praying and being very careful not to do anything stupid that would prevent me from going. I am so ready to get out of the house. My hubby is ready for me to too! He says the longer I'm stuck in the house the longer my Pinterest inspired honey-do list gets. :)

Well, that is all for now. Its time for a little rest. ;)