Halloween Pumpkins

View of all 5 pumpkins - sorry for the crappy lighting

Owen's Bat, Kaitlin's Skeleton, and Abby's Cat - Owen poked all the holes himself for me to carve, Kaitlin did her own this year! Whew! :)

Emma's Werewolf and Joey's Ghost - Emma poked all of her holes herself - Great job!!

Renovation Ideas

Things I'm thinking about doing: (more for my memory benefit than anything..I promise tomm to post about the kids! :)

  Dining Room - not this exact one, but something similar


Kitchen: Removing all of the upper cabinets and using open shelving. Trying to figure out what to do with the microwave if we do this...Removing one set of the lower doors (the cabinet by the doorway/dishwasher) and using large baskets. We have things like the salad spinner/colander/crockpot in there which could easily go in the big baskets...
     

We would keep the white cabinets, bead board under the shelves from the countertop up, white shelves on the green walls. The brick chimney would still be exposed in the corner, but the shelves would butt up to it solving the dilemma of matching the molding around it. :)

I'm toying with the idea of replacing the fan in there with two pendants lights or a bar light over the island, but with no windows that open (the biggest flaw of my kitchen..boo!), I'm thinking I need the fan in there.

The dining room is going to get a sisal rug - I liked one that Ballards had, but I'm looking for a MUCH lower price point ;-)  Going to add in a sideboard with no hutch on top and add detail to the walls like this - painting the lower 3/4 white and leaving the top the navy blue currently in the room:

In the bathroom, I want to replace the gigantic pedestal sink with a smaller one, add a medicine chest and find a throw rug that coordinates with the shower curtain...which seems to be the hardest feat of all!

In the laundry/mudroom, I want to paint the floor (concrete), and build cubbies with a bench on top that will run the length of the wall where the jacket hooks are. Above the windows will be cabinets for all the storage needs - lightbulbs, tools, batteries, etc that are currently on top of the washer and dryer. At the end of the w/d will be a chest freezer. Over the washer I want to build a countertop that I can use to fold/iron on if needed. It would be nice to get a tankless hot water heater for the corner instead of the huge one, but that is NOT happening anytime soon. Darn groceries and electricity. :) I want to change the door on the back of the house to the one with the window..I know it's not the safest one, BUT it will be inside the fence and we have another door with lock in the mudroom leading to the house. And it will really open it up in there - plus I'll be able to see if someone is at the back door (b/c you can't tell with our doorbell) AND the kids in the yard.

Boys room - move bunkbeds to other wall, build cubbies for corner toy storage, hang snowboard, finish painting toybox, replace fan, refinish wood floors and get throw rugs, paint lamp, put skateboard wheels on dresser as handles.

Girls Room: HA. Here's the real work. We have to have a plumber come in and tell us if it's possible to relocate the bathroom upstairs. If so, we'll put it where their walk-in closet is, using some of the current play area space and leaving enough for a small desk in the nook there. Take the current bathroom OUT of Kaitlin's room - making her room more private, larger and giving the other 2 access to the bathroom. Plus it will make it bigger and enable us to put a tub in there instead of the shower only. Take the back entrance stairs outside off and make that a balcony (with fireladder of course) off of her room instead. More secure and she'll use that more. Buy the desk she wants. Find a wicker rocker with closed back (the older victorian style) and spray paint it to match her room, make some cushions for it. Paint her dresser. Add artwork to stairwell. Figure out a/c replacement or change ducts around to promote better heating/cooling.

Master Bedroom: Paint. Finish floors. Paint furniture. Find headboard. Organize closet

Yard: enclose front/side into fence that exists in backyard currently. Build swings. Build firepit in the back by garage. Plant two shade trees in front yard. Build small deck off of mudroom. Plant flowers/plants by garage to help with drainage. Replace mailbox.

Not as busy with the landscaping - mostly 2 large shade trees and smaller plants



So I've been a little slack..again!

Busy, busy - the summer was a day to day experiment in trying to stay sane around here! The kids were all out of school for the summer since we decided to take the boys out of preschool early (May instead of August) so they had to get used to being around each other and entertaining themselves again! :) On top of that, we had several projects going on around the house, the Medical Board for Fred, and various doctor appointments for me and the kids. Here's a brief rundown on everyone:

Kaitlin: Started 8th grade this year, still homeschooling and NOT liking the crazy hard vocabulary words Mom gave her this week. Or the spelling words, Economics, etc, etc, etc. But by today (Friday), she had a routine down (somewhat) and I think next week will be much easier on here. In a few weeks, we'll hopefully add the Rosetta Stone French - budgeting it in this week. :) She started taking hip-hop at a local studio in Augusta and loves it. It's a compromise for us - I don't want her cheering anymore because her ankles and wrists were really starting to bother her, and she missed the competition/teamwork so this is a good halfway compromise for us. She's also joined the church middle school choir, ACTEENS (it's a youth group for girls), and Amp'd (the middle school youth group that meets on Wednesdays for activities/games/music/etc.

Emma: Started 1st grade!! She was a little worried her teacher was going to be "scary", but after the first day things seem to be going well. They've been there a little over a week and she's doing great. She likes to stall on doing her reading at night and it's driving me nuts, but I think with a little perseverance she'll get into a routine. She wants to take Karate this year, or horseback riding, or karate...you can see why I haven't signed her up  yet... :) In a weird coincidence, when Kaitlin was about 5 or 6, a little boy at a consignment sale stepped on her finger and cracked the growth plate at the top, resulting in a pinky finger that is a little bit crooked. Well, guess what Owen did to Emma about two weeks ago? Yep, stepped on her finger when they were watching tv and cracked the same spot - opposite hand. How is that even possible!?!?

Owen: Started Pre-K at Emma's elementary school. He still gives us a hard time at carpool in the morning..as in won't get out of the car until we pull forward, park the car, yank him out of the backseat where he's hiding, and hand him over to the teacher manning the front of the line, but he says he loves it at the end of the day...weird little kid. :) He is starting soccer on September 21st on the town league and is very excited about his soccer shoes with the weird things on the bottom. Not sure whether he realizes the amount of running he'll have to do in those shoes or how that will affect his enthusiasm for them, but we're excited to see!

Joey: Joey, Joey, Joey....he's going to be my challenging accident prone constantly at the doctor or the ER child......the other day he managed to get into the pantry closet (we usually remove the handle and keep it on the fridge so only the grown-ups can get in because we keep all the art stuff/cooking supplies in there..like the food processor...). He decided he wanted to test the sharpness of the blade on said appliance and you guessed it, sliced the top of his middle finger wide open. It was not pretty. Nor was the carpet where he did it or the white slipcover cushions I had stored in there also. A 2.5 hour trip to the ER and some dermabond glue later and we were home...only to return the next night when it split open again at 3:30 in the morning. We moved from glue to tape and we seem to be doing better. He's going to have a pretty decent scar but no permanent damage to his finger since he missed the bone and any major nerves...thank God! That's the good news, the bad news is that it hasn't slowed his curiosity or his ability to put himself in harms way at all......he's a constant accident waiting to happen! But then he smiles his little crooked smile with his goofy Einstein hair and I can't help but laugh at him. Boys!!

Abby: Miss Priss is definitely not going to like it when there is someone younger than her in the house. She has a monopoly on our bed, the dinner table, the toys, you name it, she thinks it's hers. She starts preschool two days a week after Labor Day and THAT should be a fun transition for all of us. She's a walking talking opinionated little person now and she doesn't hesitate to let everyone know it! She picked out her back to school sneakers the other day...pink glitter converse type sneakers. Yes, she is a princess...that will find a mud puddle in a heartbeat. <3 She's getting a big girl bed this month and is VERY excited about that...in theory. When we asked her what she wanted, she pointed to a King size and said "That one". Umm, nope! :)


Other news: We are hopefully (and not hopefully) nearing the end of the Medical Retirement process. The are waiting on one more consult and then they type up their summary and we send it off to San Houston in Texas and wait for their decision. We can appeal their answer, but we are really hoping that they come back with a good rating the first time so we can move on with our lives. 30% guarantees our health insurance BUT is a HUGE pay cut for us (we get base pay plus housing plus food allowance right now, the percentage is based on Base Pay alone..housing and food equal about $1500 a month so it's already a cut before the percentage is figured in) He has filed for Social Security because he has permanent nerve damage from the spine surgery and severe loss of range of motion in his neck (as in he can't look up or to the left...hence the car he almost backed into the other day) so police work is out (with his knee and shoulder too). He can't use a computer for long periods because of his neck either so it limits us quite a bit. I'm looking at going back to work BUT with the baby being due in January it might be awhile before that can happen...

In other news, we are most likely making the move to NY after all of this. Our house in GA is for sale now (so if you know anyone that wants to move to Thomson, GA send them my way :) Fred has 13 years in the retirement system there so if he can find a civil service job with his veterans preference or a State Job he will be building on that in addition so we think that's the best thing to do. The kids are super excited about the snow and the things to do up there. We are going up for the weekend soon and planning on hitting the State Fair and seeing Niagara Falls while we are there. Owen is excited about that, while Kaitlin is counting down the days to the Mitchell Musso concert at the fair. Something for everyone! :)

Well, that's all the news.."talk" to you soon!

Wow - 2 months!

I cannot believe it's been two months since I posted! I knew it had been awhile, but not that long....sorry!

So, I do have good excuses why it's been so long though....
1. Owen had his tonsils out and it resulted in 2 weeks of whining and only eating ice cream. -10 lbs later he was feeling better and is now back to eating anything and everything all day long. The good news is his snoring is pretty much completely gone. The bad news is his voice is not as deep as it was before and when he whines, he REALLY whines. Hopefully it will be back to normal in a month or two as he gets used to using those muscles more.
2. Fred had his shoulder surgery and is now in PT 3x a week. That means me driving him back and forth to Augusta and sitting for an hour in the waiting room. 3  hours out of a day is a good chunk of time..and that means less blogging.
3. I'm helping to start a Farmers Market in Thomson. Seriously! It's really cool. We had our kick-off this weekend tied into the classic car show and had 4 vendors. We sold 56 quarts of strawberries, and our other vendors - Tink's grassfed beef and Johny Carter's flowers - each sold some. The fourth vendor, wooden wishing wells and birdhouses, didn't get any sales, BUT they were optimistic because they talked to a bunch of people. Our next one might include blueberries and some other produce and then in June we hope to explode. Feedback was excellent so that's a good sign! : )
4. We planted a garden - we did the square foot method - we have corn, green beans, cukes, peppers, lettuce, strawberries, tomatos, radishes, onions, carrots, watermelon and cantalope. It's all starting to grow and I'm so excited about it!
5. We've been working on projects outside and around the house - Fred did some brickwork along the pathway, I planted flowers and cleaned up some stuff, we moved a brick paver patio, dug up some plants that were in odd places and prepped for a swingset. Painting, ripping out some carpet, etc. also.
6. Ummm...I know there is more. We joined a church  here in town and we are all going to Sunday school classes also. That's another 3 hour chunk of time each week. : ) On Saturdays a group of girls get together for Breakfast Club. Right now we are reading a book and doing a book club - it's great to have some time away from the kiddos and just chill. It's such a wide range of women in the group and it's so nice to have all the different perspectives on things!
7. I'm prepping for teaching the PreK Summer Camp at the Y130! 2-4 year olds.  Hopefully we get some sign-ups..but if not, I'll have plenty of crafts to do with the kids at home this summer! : )
8. We went to two different Y dinners and the Board meeting. Plus a few focus groups on the afterschool program we are trying to get going! I got volunteer of the year for the Thomson branch - it was pretty cool. Got to go to a dinner with the hubby and friends and relax. The award is pretty nice, too...: )
9. Trying to stick to the budgetting - which is hard. Very hard when you have so many ideas and projects and thoughts......ugh.
10. Facebook. It's like crack. Seriously - I am addicted. When I'm working on Y stuff or menu planning for the house or writing this post, it's up in the corner. I <3 the Chat feature! It's so a mom's best friend...kids screaming? timer going? DOG BARKING LIKE RIGHT NOW?? Doesn't matter - the other person doesn't know and you can be witty and funny and banter and no one even realizes you paused to tell someone to be quiet, stop beating on their brother and picking their nose, or throwing something at the barking dog. It's great.

So that's that...the last two months in a nutshell. : ) Hope to talk to you much sooner next time! With pictues, I promise, grandma!

Hugs,
Katie

Seven on Sunday - because I won't be here on Tuesday

1.  Yesterday was Joey's birthday party. I have a few soapbox words and that's it: RSVP!!! It's not hard. Pick up the phone and say, yes, I'm coming or no, I'm not coming. There is no quiz or special password attached to doing this. And if you say you are coming, actually go - or at least call and say, hey, something came up and we won't be there so don't bother to handmake my kid anything, ok?  Ok. Other than that it was great! Joey had fun, his friends had fun and that's what matters. Even if Mama was slightly ticked. :)
2. Tuesday is Rotator Cuff day. Fun times we've had lately with surgeries and doctors. I know it's part of getting older, but jeez!
3. Anyone know how to assemble a swingset in 5 hours. No...didn't think so. Thank goodness for strong teenage boys at the Y looking for some extra summer money. : )
4. Owen got into pre-k at Emma's school! Woohoo!!! They had 100 slots, 17 were spoken for with handicapped children and teachers children, so they had 83 names to draw. 86 were turned in by the deadline and more after that. We were convinced we were going to be number 101, but we weren't. We were however number 94. I never in my life thought a pre-k lottery would be so stressful. I honestly almost had to leave the room. It was bad. And I have to do it TWO more times. So Emma and Owen will be going to Maxwell together next year and Abby and Joey will go to preschool together next year.
5. Fred finished the shelf for the kitchen and I stripped the dresser for the island - now I have to put the beadboard on and paint it and the shelf and put the kitchen back together. Hopefully today. Ha.
6. We got the paperwork to sue the person that "fixed" our car. Not entirely sure how to fill it out but I will be researching that online tonight. Seems like $600 is a lot to walk away from and not have the car fixed so I guess we have to do it.
7. It's starting to warm up a little bit and it makes me anxious for spring and landscaping and flowers. Yeah!

Hugs
KT
PS- Happy Birthday to Caedmon and Aiden and Joey! All our February boys! : )

Tuesday Ten Time

1. Happy Birthday to my littlest man, Joey! : ) He turned the big 3 with a big snowstorm! Never thought that would happen..in February..in Georgia! We had about 6 inches or so in the yard. Nice surprise, huh? Of course, that meant rescheduling the birthday party that was planned for Saturday.
2. Fred is scheduled for shoulder surgery on the 23rd. Hopefully this will help his arm and we will be on the road to a full recovery in 3-6 months. Yes, that means he is still in the National Guard full-time until completely cleared by the doctor.......yes, that is another 3-6 months and then time to complete the retirement board. So sometime next decade he should be retired. : )
3. Poor little Owen has to have his tonsils and adenoids removed on March 15th. Yuck. I plan on  buying stock in ice cream for him. He, on the other hand, has no idea what that means and is excited about "not having to go to school." How do you explain it to a 4 year old?
4. We registered Owen for the pre-k program at Maxwell today. They only have 85 slots and a billion applications so they do a lottery on Thursday at 2. Fingers crossed! Free pre-k would be a great gift from up above!
5. I am still working on the Farmer's Market in town - our kick-off date is April 24th. We met (Corie and I) today to outline some plans and we plan on building our committee this week and kicking it into high gear next week. Can't wait!
6. I will be working, yes, working, not volunteering at the Y this summer doing the preschool/teen summer camps. We have a TON of stuff planned and it's going to be so cool!
7. My art class has grown from 4 kids to 8. Ms. Tyler the ballet teacher is complaining that her kids want to do art....she made butterflies from their footprints last week after they danced. : )
8. We have BIG plans that hopefully will come true in a few months. There are a lot of variables and maybes in there so I've just got my fingers crossed that somehow it will all come together. I'm really excited about it all!
9. Kaitlin is taking dance and tumble now at the Y - she is busy, busy there. Love having this resource so close to us!
10. My house is a mess and Fred is working to finish a shelving unit for the kitchen so we can get somewhat back to normal before his surgery! Time to hit the laundry again!

Hugs
KT

Five on Friday

Since I missed Tuesday -
1. Fred had his follow-up with the spine surgeon and everything is healing nicely. Still has some stiffness and range of motion limitation, but that's to be expected with a two level fusion. He is going to have shoulder surgery on the 23rd b/c they believe he has a 50% tear of the rotator cuff and hopefully the surgery will fix what's wrong with his arm. Fingers crossed that it is the last of it!
2. Joey's birthday party is next week and I have so much to do - going to try to get some today while it's raining 30 feet of rain.
3. NC is auditing our tax refund for the "number of dependants claimed". I think it's crazy that I claimed the same amount last year and we live in a different state now and they are auditing me. Since we don't have certified copies of three of the kids birth certificates, I have to order them. Which means I have to give the state of NC money to get my money back. Seems a little crazy, but I guess that's how they are going to balance the budget this year. From what I've read online seems like a lot of these little "audits" and delays are popping up this year - more than most years.
4. You can't buy a good car anywhere anymore can you? The last of the two dependable brands are even crap - Toyota will either drive you aimlessly into a wall or another car at high speeds or won't let you stop and Honda driver windows are catching on fire. Nice.
5. Did you know that your state might have your child's DNA with their NAME attached to it? And they could randomly use it for testing that would be attached to their name and insurance record forever? Seems kind of creepy, huh?  http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/02/04/baby.dna.government/index.html?hpt=Sbin