New Look!

Well, since everything else around here is changing, I decided to change the look of my blog. Isn’t it cute? I have been messing around trying to figure out how to do it myself. I did figure some of it out, but it was taking way too long. So, I just had it done for me. I’m sure the boys are sorry I ditched the pink!

I’m still learning about the whole blog scene, so bear with me! Sometimes I think it doesn’t show the whole blog. If this happens you can refresh the page, and then it will usually show it all. I don’t know why it does this. I’m sure I probably say too much and put too many pictures!

House For Sale

We have only lived in our house for a year.  There are a lot of places we have only lived a year, or less!  But, I guess when you own a house it takes on a life of it’s own, in a way.  I wouldn’t say I have loved this house.  I have been excited to have my own house that I could do what I wanted to do with it (for better or worse!).  I’ve done a lot of colors and finishes that I would pick again and again if I could.  The layout has been nice, lots of room for everyone to spread out.  What I don’t like?  It is a quad-level house, so all that room to spread out equals stairs, stairs, and more stairs!  I don’t like the yard.  It has nice landscaping in the back, the front is so ugly!  Luckily I refrained from ripping everything out and then running out of time to do something about it!  Something looks better than nothing when there is a for sale sign in the yard!

Here are some before and after pictures for you to enjoy!  A lot of things didn’t get done the way we had planned to do them since so much of the work has been done since we found out we were moving.  We went cheaper and faster on several things, especially in the bathrooms.  But, they are better than they were!

I didn’t take a great picture of the original entryway.  Here is the picture of the old 70’s front door.  You could see the original orange paint peeking through the edges.  Eek! Here is the new and improved entryway!  Here is the view of the “formal living room” and “formal dining room” with little Callie checking things out.The school room/office and dining room.  We added these great bookcases and trimmed them out to look like built-ins (sort of:)).  Normally we have a big table set up for our school work.  We also have our computer table and sewing table in here.  A nice size room for all of our “stuff”.  We moved the blue chair and ottoman in here for staging purposes.  Don’t I sound official!  I loved having school in this room.  We had a lot of room to spread out and there is a big window overlooking the front.  Lovely kitchen.Bright white kitchen.  I love white kitchens.  The walls are the prettiest yellow and all the accessories are red.  I love it!  We didn’t ever get new countertops.  This room was only about a quarter done when we found out we were moving.  New counters would have taken too long.  The old counters are neutral and fine Living room.  I couldn’t find a better picture.  I’m sure was have some, but I don’t know where they ended up!Staged living room.  Normally we are not so fancy with the diagonal rug, but it does look better this way.  Not the most practical set-up for four kids to run through, but it works for now.  This room was a bear!  It had beams running along the ceiling and it has paneling.  We debated the whole year about whether to take it down.  The paneling was already painted so we ended up just leaving it painted since like everything else, we ran out of time!Oh my heavens.  This is the master bedroom.  Yes that is red carpet with black and purple curtains and border.

Master bedroom as it is now.  I didn’t get a very good picture of this room, but you get the idea.  This was the last room to get done, of course.  I couldn’t decide what I wanted to do, so when we decided to move, we just painted it neutral so anyone could just move on in to at least one room without color.Master bath, I guess you could say.  Master bathrooms in the 70’s weren’t what they are now.  This is small, but we aren’t really spa type people anyway!  Lovely used-to-be white floor!

Again since we ran of time, the red counter had to stay.  My friend suggested that we paint it blue and just play up the red, like an Americana bathroom.  Sounded good to me!  It does look so much better.  There is new floor too, just didn’t make it in the picture.Yes, this is orangish tiger print shag.  Circa 1975.This is Kellen’s room, the above carpet was in what is his room now.  Below is his room now.  We did paint, but the color didn’t change much.   I think it is a very handsome room. 

Garrett and Gannon’s room with the blue shag carpet.

Garrett and Gannon’s room with the blue walls.  One of the things that drew us to this house was this room that was plenty big enough for two kids to share with room to spare.  The door you see is to a walk-in attic that is huge.  I am going to miss that attic more than anything! Callie’s room.  I don’t remember the color of the carpet, but it is shag!

Callie’s room now.  Is this not a little piece of heaven?  I just LOVE this room.  Of course she doesn’t sleep or do anything in here really, so it is just for decoration!       Main bath.  There is not anything to even say about this atrocity. 

Main bath now!  Again, time would not let us change out the counter, it is an odd length that had to be ordered, so we had to go with the black.  But, I think it goes fine with the green.  If we were staying, we could put of black decorations and such and it would be really pretty.            Old laundry room.New laundry room.  I love this room too.  I have always wanted a room with a checkered floor.  Don’t ask me why, I just think it is really fun.  This is just the right size room.  Not big enough to junk up, but big enough to hang clothes, sort, whatever I need to do.  And it has a laundry chute from the upstairs bathroom.  Talk about handy!  So much easier for kids to get their laundry where it needs to be.Basement when we moved in.      Basement as we are moving out.  It looks different than it did a few weeks ago.  Our realtor commented that she had never seen so much sports memorabilia.  Neither have I Brenda, neither have I.  It is now boxed up in our attic.  Didn’t want any Iowa Hawkeye fans not want to buy our house because of the Oklahoma Sooner basement!

So, this loooong post is what we’ve been doing the past year.  Us and my parents and a lot of friends.  Thanks again to everyone who had a part in this!

In A Pickle

Long time no post! Again...

We have been in a pickle, a big, 5-gallon Sam's jar of pickles to be exact! Todd left on September 5 to start his new position with Sam's in Springfield. (Yeah!) We worked our hearts out before he left, our house was not finished. My mom came for a week and worked her heart out, still not done. So, September 6, the kids and I started out on our own to finishing remodeling our house. The quicker we got it done, the quicker we could list it and move on. Easier said than done. I tried to call professionals to come do the work for us, but they all said they couldn't get to it until this date or that date. It seemed like it was going to take too long to get the job done, so I figured we could get it done quicker. Do you see where this is going? First mistake. Should have just let the workers come and put my feet up somewhere. We were in over our heads. Now, let me say, we are pretty good at figuring stuff out, but when you are in a rush, there is just not time to figure out how to do things you have not ever done before. We just kept plugging along. Our realtor here is a friend from church and I think she could tell this was not going to work. So she and her husband showed up one day and started helping. Friends started keeping my kids when they could so I could work in peace. Friends showed up to paint, bring lunch, whatever they could do. Our realtor is from church, so she put the word out at church and we had people come over and use their talents to finish projects that ranged from putting up trim to cleaning my oven. The clock was still ticking but, we were making progress. We missed our daddy, but we were so busy we didn't have time to dwell on it, which was a good thing! On top of all this was planning the move to Springfield. When were we going? Where would we live? On and on. A stressful time to say the least!

But, we did it. We did it with a lot of help! I am not one who likes to ask for help. Can't stand it actually! I like to think I can do everything myself. Guess what, I can't :)! The last few weeks I have just accepted it. I went to bed every night overwhelmed with people's generosity with their time. Time is such a valuable commodity this day and age and people willingly gave it up for us. Our house looks nice. We have it listed. We have had a few showings and an open house. I just hope it will sell sometime! I know this is the winter season (we've already had snow in Iowa!), not the best time to sell a house. I think it will sell someday. It is a desirable neighborhood and a nice size house with lots of "new". That has to count for something, right?

Kellen commented a few weeks back that "this is why it is good to believe in God and go to church because your church friends help you". He is so right. Our church here has truly treated us like a family while we've been away from family. I have tried to figure out for years how to teach my kids to serve. I wondered if we should go feed the homeless, if we should go to nursing homes, on and on. While all those things are wonderful and are still things I hope we can do, there is nothing like the example we were shown the last six weeks. When you are on the receiving end of service, you know how it feels. You know how it feels to feel like there is no way this is going to work out and then people come to your rescue. I always say we have had many lessons and blessings everywhere we have lived. This has been the biggest one here. Everything we have gone through here has been worth it for my kids to learn the lessons they have learned these last six weeks. The lessons were not anything I can teach out of a book, not anything they can learn without going through it. I hope that I have also taught them how to graciously accept help and thank God for all he has done for us. I can truly say that at least for the boys, all I will ever have to say is remember how we felt in Iowa, when we had help beyond measure? They will always remember and be ready to serve. I know I will.

"Why Do You Even Try?"

What happened to this week? It has gone by way to fast! It was not our "spring break" as it was for most people. We had a break last week when Grandma and Grandpa were here. One of the many reasons I love homeschooling...we get to make our own schedule! Anyway, it was still a quick week. We did get a lot accomplished though, so that is a good thing. I am determined to get things situated so I can have a day to sew. I have tons of fabric ready to make "stuff" for Callie, but it's hard for me to stop and sew when there are so many other things on the to do list.

We had company last night. Our youth minister from church is a huge basketball fan so he and his wife came over to watch March Madness. His wife is going to school and cuts hair, so she cut the boys hair while she was here. Can't beat that! We had a good time. It was nice to enjoy the basement. Of course Todd won't let anyone eat down there so they watched the games on the tiny TV upstairs until they had finished eating.

I have learned not to try to go overboard when having company. It stresses me out, then we don't ever have company! So, we were just doing pizza and salad. Kellen wanted to make the dessert, some kind of gooey brownie you put with ice cream. That was fine, I helped him since it involved boiling water and we've had several burns recently:( So, we got it made, I went upstairs. After about twenty minutes, I thought I could smell something burning, of course the dessert had spilled over and was burning all over the place. This is why I don't bake. I really don't like to bake. I think I don't have the patience for it. Had I stayed around the kitchen, I would have known that it was burning sooner and wouldn't have a huge mess to clean up! But I had things to do! Luckily, Todd works for Sam's and I caught him before he left so he brought home some dessert. When he walked in, he looked around the kitchen, opened the oven and said "why do you even try?" (the title of this post:)) Now, this may sound like he's not being very nice, but I know it's true. And, he was laughing. It is a fact in our house, I always burn something. We have not had a holiday without the lingering smell of burned food. Once when we were moving and looking in the paper for houses, I mentioned there was a log cabin. Todd immediately said, "no way, you would have that burned down in a week!" I could do a whole blog on things I have burned, going way back! Luckily, Todd and Kellen like burned meat because there is usually some to be had. I don't think I am a bad cook, I just really am impatient. And, in my defense, just about the time I get an oven or stove figured out, we move. Anyone that has moved a lot knows that all ovens/stoves are different. It takes a lot of trial and error to figure them out. Our oven here is ancient, like everything else we haven't ripped out. No self-cleaning feature! We happened to go range shopping last weekend, so maybe there is hope in sight. No, I am not burning food to try to get a new range. Even Todd can realize this range is on it's last leg!

Anyway, our guests were very gracious, they said they thought our house smelled good. Please! They didn't seem to mind the frigid temps since we had all the windows open. What nice friends we have!

Callie's first spaghetti dinner. She started out with her "toddler" food but thought what we had looked better! She loved it!

Callie is my big helper in the kitchen. She is always wanting to help with something. Yesterday when I was washing the salad stuff for our company, she decided she wanted to help. She went into the dining room, got a chair, pushed it into the kitchen. There is a step from our dining room to our kitchen, she knows she can't step down without holding on. So, she pushed the chair off the step, then stepped down, then pushed the chair the rest of the way. It was so funny. Then she proceeded to get set up at the sink to help. She is so smart! I had to find something for her to do after all that work so I let her put the greens in a baggie. She was so proud of herself! I am probably using up all of her usefulness too soon, about the time she can really help she'll be tired of it! Then she just messed with the water and dishes and stuff. She was done when she started trying to suck the water out the dishrags! Yuk!

Back in Business!

What a crazy week we've had! Haven't had much time to blog as our computer stuff went haywire. Could have been because I turned off our electricity that goes to the modem, router, whatever kind of stuff. We had to check emails in the basement bathroom, where the modem is. Not the most comfortable place to be! But, we are back in business, for now!

Mom and dad were here for a week. We had a lot of excitement but the most exciting was that Kellen was baptized on his twelfth birthday, March 8! Todd baptized him. I am going to go a separate blog about that as it deserves its own glory!

Todd turned 40 on March 8, he and Kellen have the same birthday. We worked like dogs to remodel the basement for a surprise gift for him. I think he was surprised, at least for most of it. How do you hide paint and new carpet smells? Or the fact that we were all so tired we were sitting around like vegetables by the time he got home from work every day! He did a good job pretending if he knew we were up to something! It is crimson and cream of course (Oklahoma University colors for our non-OU fans=)). We have all been enjoying it!

We enjoyed our time with mom and dad. Not sure how much fun they had, working like crazy on someone elses house! Dad worked on a million different things. He put in a new front door for us which makes my day every time I look it. The old door was, of course, very seventies! Mother painted, painted, and painted. She always says she likes to paint! She also took tons of pictures. I will post some when I have a chance to go through them.

So, back to the same ol', same ol' now. The boys have science class today, Bible study tomorrow, laundry, laundry, and more laundry... But, there is something to be said for same ol', same ol. Some surprises are not always good surprises.

"Before".
Grandma and Garrett apply the first rolls of crimson.

Kellen working on the cream.
We had to call in the troops to help move the pool table. Thank goodness for good friends! Grandpa, Michael White, Josh Barnes, Reid Adams, Blake Adams. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Garrett vacuuming, Callie supervising. Gannon just running around in circles! Nothing more fun than a big empty room!

Todd checking things out. Didn't get the OU light put up or other little touches, but it is obviously better than it was!

We are organizing!

Well, sort of organizing. We had a warm day for February in Iowa, in the fifties yesterday. Todd was home, no doctor/dentist/hair you name it appointments, so we worked in our garage. One of the pitfalls of moving every year is that you tend to pack up things you are in a hurry to pack up and never getting around to unpacking them, because by the time you get to them, you are packing again. Since we moved in our house the end of October, we didn't get much done in the garage before the cold and snow hit. We could park one car in the garage, but the other half was all kinds of random stuff. Todd thinks we need to have everything where it is going to go before we start any more projects, and he is probably right. I tend to be a little bit of a scatter-brain, well maybe a big scatter-brain. I jump into stuff when the mood strikes, making more of a mess as I go along! So, with Grandma and Grandpa coming next week to help with projects, it was time to get stuff where it needed to be. We are blessed in this house to have a basement and an attic, we've never had both in one house before. We are determined to not have them become black holes of junk. Todd has big plans for the basement, most of which involve the colors crimson and cream. (Oklahoma University colors, for our northern friends=)) I have big plans for a garage sale the first Saturday of May. One whole corner of the attic is dedicated to garage sale stuff. It is growing by leaps and bounds, and I am ecstatic. It has been hard to get rid of things when we move so much because you think you may need that in the next house. Never mind that you probably won't be able to find it, or that the cost to just get a new one is not enough to justify keeping it. I read in one of my many organizing books that the space you have is the space you have. Don't try to cram stuff in it or keep stuff for later that you just don't have the room to keep. Now that we have finally bought a house, I guess it is easier to get rid of all this stuff.

My Grandma, mom and aunt had a garage sale every fall for as long as I can remember. They only quit a few years ago, I guess they finally got rid of all of their junk! It was so fun. I loved going over to Grandma's the night before and setting up. I loved going after school on Friday to see what was gone and eat a Daylight Donut leftover from breakfast. I loved that if we made enough we would get to order pizza or get takeout food for dinner. (Yes, I am old enough to remember the days when this was an exception instead of the rule!) This was no ordinary garage sale either. Grandma knows how to do it. This was like the Von Maur (fancy, for our Southern friends) of garage sales. She had departments. I am surprised my mom did not craft some sort of signs, a map of the store, etc. to make it easier for the customers. I think about the people that came every year, they knew where to look for clothes, housewares, etc. She had hangers, sacks, you name it, she was prepared. She had the perfect desk for the money, and muffin tins to make change in that just fit in the drawers. She always let me help do the money, even though I'm sure I tried her patience. I was real into money and calculators when I was young. I am so fast on the ten-key that a few years ago I even had someone ask me if I would like a job doing ten-key something at their office, I don't even know what it was now, but they were impressed. Anyway, it's nice to have a talent! I don't know if our garage sale will be that fancy. I don't have any metal poles and chain to construct a hanging rack for clothes (like Grandma always did), but I do have the layout already done in my head. Todd, of course, thinks this is crazy. His favorite saying when we clean and organize is "Throw it away!" I can't do it. I think at the very least we should take stuff to Goodwill, which we do quite often. But, I don't see why we wouldn't want to make a little extra money with all this junk and maybe help people in the process. Plus, it's fun. The boys love it. And, we could use the money to redo our bathrooms, asap. They are forever stuck in the seventies and I can't take it anymore!

It is supposed to rain today. I love rainy days, always have, especially with a little thunder mixed in. I really love them now, it reminds me of home. Oklahoma gets it's share of thunderstorms to put it mildly. Hopefully it won't turn into snow or ice.

Please pray for Todd's Grandma, Edith. She fell Monday and broke her hip, broke a rib, and punctured her lung. She had surgery yesterday and is doing well, all things considered. She has a long road with rehab and such, and I don't think she is going to be too happy about it:). Pray as well for Todd's parents, Roy and Charlene, as they rearrange their lives to take care of her. She lives them already but there are of course will be a lot of doctor visits, therapy, etc. that comes with this kind of thing.

Nanny Edith and Callie in March 2008.

Grandma Lanier, me, Callie, and Grandma, four generations! (March 2008)

One 1975 bathroom, yes red counter, and what used to be a white floor, I think.

Another 1975 bathroom, black tile and this lovely gold and black floor. And, you can't see it, but someone got crafty and painted the grout in the shower black. Don't know what they painted it with but everytime I clean, more black runs down. This is a lot of fun!

Reinforcements are coming!

We are slowly but surely getting work done on our house. We were really gung ho in the beginning, then we realized how looooooong everything takes. Times that by four kids and two parents that really don't know what they are doing, and it really takes a looooooong time! My biggest problem is that I can't make decisions. I have lists, books, magazines, websites, visions in my head, all competing to win in our house. Then there is the budget. Even if I could go in pick anything I wanted, I don't think I could. I was raised to be frugal, it's in my genes. Even Grandma Lanier, who, lets say, could be a little less frugal and be able to pay her bills, is still frugal. I'm glad it's in my genes, I think it is called being responsible and being a good steward with your money, as God intended. But, it does add another dimension to the decision making. And, unlike Grandma, we really can't be less frugal!:)



Let's take toilets for example. This is what we shopped for yesterday. Did you know there are million choices of toilets? It is really stressing me out! Todd and I were discussing our to-do list last night and I am wondering why anyone would get a toilet with a one-star flush rating when you could get a five-star flush-rating. Yes, they have flush ratings. Do you think the same people test them that test the cars for crash ratings? (Just kidding.) I also read that elongated toilets are better for boys, round toilets are better for potty-training girls. Who knew? Do you think in the past there were big discussions about whether to did the hole elongated or round? Then mother put her vote in, she likes round. She does go to the bathroom a lot when she is here, so should her vote count? The next problem is that at Lowes, for example, all the toilets are mounted above your head. I would think it would be nice to sit on them, if it's not comfortable, cross it off the list. They do have a few on the floor, for six hundred dollars! I'm not paying six hundred dollars for a toilet. And then the toilet also has to look right. Another area I'm not good at. But, I'm not hiring a decorator to help me pick out a toilet. I know what I like, but sometimes it doesn't come together like I think it is going to. I really don't want to have to do this twice, because the icing on the cake is shopping for toilets with four kids. Especially when three of those kids are boys. Enough said.



So, back to my title, reinforcements are coming! Mom and Dad, AKA Grandma and Grandpa have tickets to come the first week of March. Yeah! They said to make a list of things we need help with. I think they will realize it is never good to volunteer for something that broad. The things we need help with are too many to even list, and are not limited to home remodeling, which is what I think they were referring to! I really feel bad for them to come visit and they feel like they have to help. I really try to treat our family like guests when they come visit. But, with parents, it's hard. There is that comfortableness (is that a word?) that comes with knowing you are taken care of around them, even when they are in your home. It's easy to let your guard down. Hopefully the weather will be nice and we can do some fun stuff too. Although redoing houses is fun to them, I don't think I got that gene! I like to shop for all the stuff, just not do anything with it!



They boys have been talking about baptism some lately. I have to laugh because their inner thoughts have really come out in their conversations, those deep thoughts that define them as people. Garrett, 8, asked me how old you have to be to be baptized. I told him it wasn't decided by your age. Before I could go into my speech about it all, he said "oh, is it by height?" Bless his heart, he is so used to being to small for things, like rides and such. He probably never thought he would be tall enough to get into Heaven! I'm sure he was imagining one of signs with a cartoon character and a ruler telling you if your were allowed into the baptistery. Kellen, of course, is worried about what to wear! He asked me if he were to be baptized if he would have to take two outfits to church. I guarantee he has outfits already picked out! He is always all about what he is going to wear. Luckily, he is pretty good at matching and things, for a guy. But, I did tell him that what you wear is not what the focus should be on. I think we have some more studying to do!



Wish someone could give her some proper training!

The following are us trying to get a picture for Valentine's Day cards.

I think she wanted you to see her shoes in the picture! They are cute though!

I had a frame that said hugs and kisses, that is why they are trying to kiss Callie, they do love her, but it's not usually a big kissing fest!

(love Gannon's face!)

What we ended up with, gave up on the kissing. Aren't they precious!

Random pics:)

Callie enjoying "reading night". She got her own book and got in her chair all by herself! Never mind that it is a book about trucks. It was warm enough for her to wear a mini-skirt! Wish I would have taken a pic of her standing up, so cute!:)

Callie in another mama creation. Sorry Callie! (It has little hearts on it for Valentine's day, just hard to see!)

I can only imagine what kind of wisdom he is passing on!

Some have inquired about our lastest house projects. So, here it is! We have a microwave/vent that we have had since November. We thought you could just take out the old vent and put up the microwave. Guess what, you can't! We got the UGLY vent down, than had no electricity. So we called our handy dandy home repair service, AKA Grandpa and at least got the electricty to work, hence the plug hanging from the ceiling. We called our electrician and he said we needed a cabinet, I wasn't here to talk to him, so I'm really not sure what that means. So, we'll figure it sooner or later. We did go to the home show this last weekend to get ideas for our kitchen and bath. No ideas but Direct TV is coming back today to get us set up again. Who knew they would have a big booth calling Todd's name!

Hope all is well. We are enjoying warm temperatures for Feb. It was so nice to get out and walk yesterday, the first time in our new neighborhood. We are so lucky to have lots of boys around, I can't get used to the door bell ringing and having kids wanting to play. We've never had that! Poor Kellen! He's been stuck with me all these years! They are going to have to learn how to watch their watches though, they have a tendency to not come home when they are supposed to.

I got an email today from my homeschool yahoo group talking about a study to encourage kids to play. I just have to say I think that is sad. Why would you have to encourage kids to play? (As I said, I will have to give my two cents occasionally!) I am working really hard to teach my kids to work, but playing we have no problem doing!