What's up with your back, Joy?

Hey y'all, I just wanted to give everyone an update on my back. So after my last Prolo appointment in July my doc gave the all clear to try out Spinal Decompression. We went yesterday for a consultation which ended by getting my first treatment.

I am hopeful that the Spinal Decompression treatments will get my back back in shape. The owner was so kind to explain the procedure and answer our questions. She has actually gone through the program herself and enjoys normal activities and sports now. I am praying that I will soon be able to say the same.

It is going to be some kind of crazy in my house over the next 8 weeks with multiple appointments each week added to our schedule. Michael has continuously reminded me though that in the end it will be all worth it if this is what it takes to heal my discs. So please, if we act a little crazy or stare off into space while in the middle of a conversation, give us a little bit of grace. :)

After two treatments my pain level is already down to a 3. I am actually noticing more range of motion without pain racing up and down my back. I only noticed one major muscle spasm last night... So YAY! My legs are really achy but we are hopeful that the nerves will begin to heal quickly and that the achy pain will subside soon.

Thank you all for your continued prayers on behalf of our family and especially my back.

Kitchen Makeover: It's FINISHED!!!

This summer one of my goals was to re-decorate our kitchen. The kitchen is easily one of my favorite rooms in my house but it was in sore need of an update. I was tired of the fruit and to be honest... fruit really wasn't "me".

I have no idea how much we spent... I bought a few things but we did a lot of re-purposing of items I already had in my garage. The thrifty me loved it! I am so happy with how it turned out.

The Before

 The After

 My dear friend, Becky made the bag holder that is hanging on the door! I love it!! I found the chalkboard art for 75% off.

 JARS! I love jars. I've been storing them in the garage for when I needed them and now they are helping my kitchen look cute. They are much easier to get to now when I need them.

We also added knobs to every single cabinet. Y'all, life is so much easier now. I heart knobs. (FYI: we went and bought more knobs this week for the bathroom cabinets. It was necessary for my sanity.)

 (Above) I made that sign which is why it looks homemade. haha :) New jar salt, pepper, and toothpick shakers... they make me happy.

(Below) I showed Michael a picture of the jar holders and he said "No problem" and whipped them up for me. All we had to buy was the hardware. I tinted the jars blue. :)

 The whole kitchen makeover actually all started with that light fixture. The old one started to shoot sparks so a new one was needed. I still love it!

The curtains were re-purposed. I cut the fruit off and added the burlap ruffles to the top. Such a fun and messy project.

 I made the soap dispensers. The only thing I had to purchase for that project was glue. Yay!

 I love, love, LOVE how my new paper towel and dish towel holders turned out!!! I showed my hubby a picture of one that was going for $50 online. Yikes! He told me he could easily make them for me for much less. He did a fabulous job! All we had to buy was the pipes.

 *Happy Sigh* First off... Michael and I re-did the bakers rack. It was a beige color beforehand with a drawer that didn't work. We painted that booger and I'm in love. Michael dismantled the shelf and drawer and made me a new shelf.

My crates and pallet shelf was purchased at one of my favorite stores here in my little town. I snagged the rolling pin hook at a little gift shop in Sarasota while on vacation. The picture was a free printable put into a frame that was sitting in the garage.

 *More Happiness* That mirror was a Salvation Army find a few years ago and I gave it a new paint job. The shelf was also sitting in my garage.

While out shopping I showed my AWESOME hubby some jar lanterns. They were $24 for a set of two. Michael came home and made them for free! Well... I spent a dollar for blue candles.

 Now this picture you are about to see is probably my number one favorite part of the remodel.

Are you ready?

My beautiful crate shelves...

 The K-cup holder was completely my husband's idea. I marked the circles and he drilled them. Teamwork! It just cost me the price of a new hole saw....

OH WAIT. No. He bought a variety pack of hole saws instead of one. Not sure I am going to let my hubby go to the man store without me again when he is spending my money. hahaha! Just kidding! I really don't begrudge my hubby some new tools when he spent so much time helping me. :) 

 Another Hubby idea was the spoons for hanging my cups and the lanterns. He spotted them out when we were shopping and he thought they were awesome. Then when we ran into the "what are we gonna do with my cups" problem he mentioned it. We had extra spoons and TADAAA!

I am so thrilled with how everything turned out. I walk into the kitchen literally sigh with happiness. I think the only thing that I still want to happen is a new wooden garbage can holder. (I can hear my hubby groaning already.)

Thanks for making it to the end of the post. You're a brave soul. ;)

~Joy

Enjoying Life

I figured I would share some pictures of the kids from this past week that have just made me smile. Hope you all have a great week. ~Joy

1. Josiah loves to read. It just blesses my heart to see him curled up with a book.

 2. Joanna doesn't want to be left out so anytime she sees Josiah with a book she goes and grabs one for herself to look at.

 3. Being silly at a staff luncheon.

 4. My kids (and me) love, love, LOVE the library. It truly is one of their favorite places to go and its free. We were trying to kill some time last week so the kids got to play on the tablets for a bit after they picked out their books. Joanna made friends with the little girl beside her.

 5. I am so thankful we were able to get a pool this summer. The kids have really enjoyed swimming. They are so fun to watch and listen while they splash. They come up with the most hilarious games and love to tell stories to each other.

 6. Me: "Josiah, go get a book to read until we are ready to leave." Josiah's response is to bring out a huge stack of books. I laughed. It doesn't take me THAT long to get ready. ha!

 7. Little Miss Sassy keeps me laughing and shaking my head. She is so full of personality.

 8. More silliness provided by the Godparents.

First Day of School!

Y'all, my baby boy is a second grader. I am just in amazement at how fast time is going. The days are long and the years are short. For real. 

Monday was our first day of school.

 Lady J is also doing school this year.

 The Principal :)

 We began our day with our traditional trip to the store for doughnuts and chocolate milk.

 Then off to our local park to have our breakfast and to have a little play time.

 After the park, we came home and got down to business.

We had a great first week of school. J and Jo both just fell right back into our school routine. It was actually a pretty wonderful start to our year. Both of the kids just seem so mature this year.

We are all looking forward to this school year and what we will learn together as a family.

Long Boat Key (Pt 2)

Monday of our vacation we spent the early morning jumping from the pool to the beach.

We had a lot of fun watching the crabs come out of their little holes and scurry across the sand.

 After everyone cleaned up we headed to Sami's place. Michael was super sweet to babysit all four kids for several hours while Sami and I headed to a new mall. Sami and I had lunch at Cheesecake Factory. We reminisced of the last time we ate there together right before I got married. Ah, good times! They sat us right in front of the display case... cruel.

Sami and I may have stayed out a little later than planned. Ha! 

We blamed our tardiness on the traffic. lol 

After having a little rest at our hotel, our little family headed to an Amish restaurant Yoder's for supper! I have wanted to go there for years and I was so happy to have the chance to go. 

On the way there is this huge statue! Pretty cool!

 We were NOT disappointed with the food! haha! It was love at first bite. They had homemade apple butter on the table... we may have eaten half the bottle.

 We, of course, had some pie! I tried the coconut cream. SO SO YUMMY!

 The kids split an apple pie.

 And Michael had the butterscotch.

 We missed watching the full sunset that night, but we managed to grab a few pictures.

 We asked Josiah to take our picture and he was bossing us around telling us to kiss and to use our hands to make "a love heart". It was pretty funny.

 

 Then a nice man stopped and offered to take a picture for us. :)

 After that I was exhausted so I found a chair while Michael took the kids for a walk down the beach. It was such a lovely way to end the day.