Date Night

Last Friday, I had a HOT date.........

Unfortunately, my date showed up in a gundgy, v-neck cut-off T-shirt and was stuck on the toilet for most of the evening.

I, on the other hand, dressed to impress....sporting my old maternity tank and my early 90's cheerleading shorts. I think the mask was a nice way of saying......."Don't try anything funny tonight buddy....these lips are off limits!" Yep, we just chilled out for most of the night in the garage.........sanding, filling LOTS of little holes and listening to some old-school 80's hits. It was quite an evening! Why do I have all of these books out? Because my engineer hubby thought they would be the perfect thing to use to keep our cabinets from sticking to the sheets while they were being painted. I knew I kept Willy's classics around for a reason! Looking at the titles totally cracked us up because most of my old books are either totally classic literature or religious, while Jeremy's consist of Stephen King novels and The Gremlins.

Oz promised that my books would stay clean and safe. This one, however, I may purposely destroy! I got it in the airport on my honeymoon (I thought there would be no time for reading {as I would be otherwise engaged ;) }so I was empty handed and craving a good read for the beach!) I'm all about A Prayer for Owen Meany...thank you Ms. Reid......but this one.......sorry Mr. Irving.... it was just awful, disturbing and terrible....really! You may have seen the movie A Door in the Floor.......equally bad!

Anyway, we are still working on our Dave Ramsey style remodel . Here is our new kitchen floor! YES!!!

Our laundry room tile is finished. Here is a pic when it was still in progress. Yipee!

I foresee several more date nights like this one in my future. Thank goodness for grandparents! Stay tuned!

Good-bye My Love

Yesterday, I was in tears. Today, I am still a little in shock. I am very, very sad to have to say good-bye to my first love.

People when I fall, I fall hard.........and when I was 5, I fell hard for the King of Pop when I received this:

This album is the reason I can do.....I mean I could do splits. I would sit in position through an entire song......till eventually I made it to the floor.

I'm pretty sure this is the first person......I mean poster that I ever kissed.......I really thought I was going to marry him!

In kindergarten, I witnessed his Thriller Tour live from the VERY top row of Neyland Staduim.

I remember waiting with bated breath to watch The Wiz on tv.

So today, we paid homage to my first love.

My favorite shirt circa 1983 Good-bye Michael........you'll always have a little piece of my heart!

A Few Lessons Learned

A few lessons I learned from my Dad:

Duck tape will fix anything…..even car doors and holes in couches
It is much better to give than receive
Give to God, give to your church and honor your commitments
Have integrity……even when no one is watching and no one will ever know
Give your children the GIFT of higher education
John Prine =good......Loud rap music=bad
Always have at least 3 very sharp pencils ready when doing math homework….maybe 7 if it is higher than algebra II
Cook your adult children dinner at least once a week
If your daughter has twins, be willing to show up at dawn every morning for the first few months so she can get some rest
Plan for the future and make wise investments
Help your son-in-law build fences, sow grass, fix garage doors and leaking sinks
Bob Dylan may not sing that well, but he is one heck of a writer!
Look for the best in your children even when they show you their worst
If your pre-teen is obsessed with a boy band, be willing to stand in line for most of the night to make sure she gets tickets to their concert.
Be a loyal fan…….even if your favorite Nascar driver and the VOLS continue to lose.
Sing your children lullabies……..they will always remember them.
Math is precise!
Indulge little boys who are obsessed with tractor rides
Don’t stop taking care of your children just because they are all grown-up
Be passionate in your beliefs
Always, always vote………unless you’re planning to vote for a democrat.
Tell your children stories about their great-grandparents
Be sentimental and cherish things that might seem like junk to people who don’t know their true value
You can’t wear pink LA Gear triple lace tennis shoes for basketball
Give your heart to God and your life for your family
When your daughter asks for something reply, “As you wish.”

" A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength."

Proverbs 24:5

I'm sure there will be more lessons to come.....but remember Dad.....I am 30 don't you think I know :)

Our Playroom

I love to read Kelly's Korner. For the past several weeks, she has been hosting "Show Us Where You Live" on Fridays. This time, rooms of the week include playrooms. And since we have one, I decided to participate.

Unfortunately when our house was built, I don't think bonus rooms had been invented :). However, we are blessed to have lots of bedrooms. So, we were able to convert a spare one into a fun place to house quite a few of our twins' toys. It is actually quite convenient for mommy since it is directly across the hall from our study.......so sometimes I get to blog while they play.

Since I have boy/girl twins, I kinda had to stick with a primary palate.Here is where I attempt to maintain some sort of organization in the midst chaos :) These nifty little buckets I found at Hobby Lobby were my color inspiration for the room. I use them in a desperate attempt to give a home to my children's many random dollar store "prizes" and Happy Meal collections.

However, someone always seems to find another use for my organizational tools!

Because our greatest desire for our children is for them to have an intimate, love relationship with Christ, we added a vinyl scripture verse.

Deuteronomy 11:18-20 says, "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates."

I think this includes playrooms too:)I also found these cute pictures with Bible verses at a Christian bookstore. One had apparently been priced wrong at 1/2 off. When I asked if the other 3 were on sale as well, the nice manager decided to just give them all to me 1/2 off!All of the picture frames in the room are old ones that I found at my parents' house. I just spray painted them red. I'm telling you folks...shop at your parents' house! You never know what you'll find from the 70's that you can creatively restore!Here is where the prince and princess keep their tea party attire. I found this unused tool holder in the garage.....left by the previous owner. It made the perfect rack for all of their play clothes. I am determined to spray it red as well.......now if I can just get the hubby to unbolt it from the wall! This cradle and rocking chair were mine when I was little. I stripped off the ugly 70's prints and gave them a new look.

What toddler playroom would be complete without a potty training center! Today, however, my daughter opened up the closet door and took a tinkle in one of my hubby's old shoes.......you can't make stuff like this up.......true story! We love playing kitchen and grocery store!I think that about does it! Stop by and check out all of the other rooms at Kelly's Korner! Happy playing.......I mean blogging!

Demolition

Here is our "progress" so far. My hubby ripped up the floor all by himself.......it was A LOT of work!! He is the Master of Destruction! We are excited because the floor guys come tomorrow to put down hardwood in the kitchen.......yeah!

The one perk of this whole mess is that dinner has been mostly take-out!

I discovered this lovely linoleum surprise hidden under the first layer of old floor! You gotta love fake brick! Actually, I like it better than the tile we pulled up!This is the laundry room at the beginning of the demo. Jeremy pulled up all the linoleum and plywood last night.....only to discover another layer of aqua underneath! Stay tuned! More mess to come!

Popsicles, Prayer and a Party!

Hello, my name is Mama Oz and I bribe my kids. Currently, my bribe of choice is the classic summer treat....the sugary flavored ice on a stick....sure to stain your shirt......popsicle!

Most bribes go something like this: "Poop in the potty and I'll give you a popsicle."

"Eat your lunch and don't climb on the table or pour out the salt.......I have something in the freezer for you!"

"Let mommy go to the bathroom all by herself.....you want a popsicle don't you?"

"Don't eat mommy's sandwich, it is the same as yours.........I have popsicles!"

Goodnight Jesus.....by Brady David 6/13/09

Goodnight Jesus.....thank you for mommy, daddy, Karson and me and Pooh. Thank you for Thomas the Train and Indians. Thank you for that hawk who went to the hospital cause he hit a tree....cause he was mean. (???) Thank you for making my boo-boo on my foot all better. Thank you for my bed and all my animals in it. Thank you for Thomas the Train again. Thank you for grass, mowers and pools. Love you Jesus.....A-MEN!

Our bunco group gave a little shower for Allison who is adopting a little baby boy form Ethiopia! Hopefully, they will be going to pick him up very soon! She and her hubby are also in the process of adopting a little girl from China. It has been a LONG wait.....so they decided to bring home a brother for her while they are waiting. I know God has wonderful things in store for this family! We decided to make Allison's shower into a "Little Black Dress Party!" It was super fun! Next month, we may get a little crazy and do an 80's theme! I'm just hoping I can have an excuse to pull out my NKOTB paraphernalia!

Finally!

We are in the middle of a BIG.......FAT.......MESS! First, I wanna make it clear that I feel extraordinarily blessed! I have a wonderful home in the perfect location......just 4 streets over from my parents in the heart of the neighborhood I grew up in. God is good.......and He answered our prayers by giving us this house. However, I absolutely, positively DESPISE my kitchen!

When we first moved in, we knew we wanted to do some major updating. But, we were always too busy going on road trips, napping, hanging out with friends, going to movies, working out.......you know.....all that super-busy pre-kid stuff.......haha! So now, in the middle of potty-training two terrible twozies.......we decided that now is the time! Actually, the truth is........I threatened to run away if I had to attempt to clean this floor one more time!! This is ugly late 1980's yellow/beige tile. It is completely porous......meaning that when you mop.... all of the dirt just finds a little pore to live in. It shows EVERY crumb.......every toe print......every hair.......and has been my arch enemy for 6 years! So, fearing that he would have to pay for a foreign mail-order bride to take over my duties, my hubby agreed to a little kitchen makeover! Actually, he probably should have thought a little more about finding a new bride.......with the whole language barrier, he might have never had to hear "Honey, let's just talk" ever again!
Here is the rest of our 1960's kitchen. Don't ya love the off-white and brown appliance combo! Actually, I am still hoping brown appliances will make a come-back since double stainless ovens are not in the budget!

We want to be good stewards of our money and because I am staying at home, we have had to make some sacrifices........such as not gutting this whole room. However, I have been inspired by many bloggers who have done simple, cheap updating projects.

So last weekend, we shipped the kiddos off to Grammy & G-Daddy's and Nana & Papa's so we could really get started!

Brady and Karson have been going around the house holding up my paint samples and pretending to contemplate color schemes.......pretty amusing!

Stay-tuned for updates..........it will be a while before I can show any after pics. The hubby is ripping up the floor as we speak!

Storytime

We have been attending "story time" at our local library......or what I like to refer to as "embarrass the pants off your mama time." Okay, mine really haven't completely humiliated me........notice I said completely. But, I have witnessed others whose pride has been completed debacled during this 20 minute toddler time. Most often, it is just kids trying to climb on stage and confiscate the props, pull down the flannel board story or attack a puppet or two. But, there have been other instances of total toddler meltdowns that would drive any sane stay-at-home-mama to line up at the unemployment office to apply for a much needed break! So, every Thursday I just hold my breath, send them to their carpet squares and pray that this isn't the last time I can show my face at the "Time for Two's."

Here they are in the beginning of the reading. Brady made it about two more minutes before trying to take over the show on the stage.He is eying the flannel board........about to make his move.......

But his mama is no fool......she swooped in from behind and flew him back to her chair.

(Notice that there are no other little boys in the above pics.....their mamas are no fools either and have them death gripped in their laps.)

Karson, on the other hand, is always totally engrossed in all of the action.....especially the dancing!

Can you guess what popular transportation toddler tune these girlies are singing?

If you've got a toddler come join us at the library for story time........just remember to bring a few bribes and make a few threats......or this trip to story time might be your last.....or at least you'll wish it was!