Home Decorating Part 1

Honestly, I don't know how many posts this will take, but hopefully by the end of next year I can get this house looking great! Ever since the girls and I have moved in, I haven't done much in the way of decorating even though Mr S told me many times he didn't really care what I did to the house. I need the ghosts out though, it's been long enough and I can't live with the stupid ex's bad decorating.

So, for Christmas I asked for paint for our bedroom and bathroom. The day after Christmas, Mr S, the girls and I begun the makeover.

Our Bathroom:

Before - Yucky yellow and stencils - gross

More stencils.

Update #1 - Cali Vacation

The last time I was in California, LMS was 2 1/2 months old! Crazy that we went back almost exactly 8 years later. I can't believe it's been 8 years since I've seen my extended family and it was the first time I meet my aunt and cousin. It's been 4 years since I've seen my grandma, and that was the occasion we went out for this time - her 80th b-day! Longevity must run on my moms side, because another major highlight of our trip was going to see my great grandma. Unfourtunately because the boys mom "just couldn't go so long with out them", Mr S and the boys stayed in IA. He was also annoyed that we took such a long trip, but since this was my first trip since our honeymoon and the fact that I probably wouldn't be out to CA for another 8 years (I hope not), I decided to make the most of it. The girls and I had a great trip and it was good to have the mommy/daughter time.

Day 1: Travel - Traveling so far always sucks just because it seems like 1 whole day of your trip is traveling. It wasn't too bad though and we made it to San Francisco about lunch time (for us - it was still breakfast out there). Once we found my sister and got the rental car, we headed to Woodland where my grandmother lives. For the most part, we just hung out and visited, took the girls to the pool, took a walk, etc.

Day 2: Great Grandma and the Mountains - In the morning we went to visit my great grandma. She is (was) such an interesting lady. She played the organ and the accordian for the girls, we looked at pictures and chatted. We were suppossed to go to lunch, but my grandma said she must have forgotten because she fed us ice cream and cookies at about 10:30 in the morning. :)

There are SO many pictures of me and my sister in the exact same spot.

5 generations of beautiful women

The hat LMS "aquired" at my great grandma's house

Reason #1 for why not having two jobs is a good thing

Yes, I'm still working like crazy,but this weekend I actually sat back and realized how nice it is to only have to work one job. Friday I didn't have to race out because I had to get to my crappy second job - yes I got stuck at work until 5, but at least I got to come home after that and relax.
Saturday was when I really got to realize it. In the morning we had JrMrS's soccer game. The weather was so beautiful (and I got my first sunburn of the year-I spend all of the summer with one from all of the kids activities).

(I love the new soccer uniforms)

In the evening Mr s and I decided to implement "family night". LMS had a really cool overnight birthday party to go to, but the rest of us participated in our first official "family night". We took the kids golfing at the country club and had a lot of fun just hitting balls. And yes we were the nuts golfing in thue middle of the tornado watch (Middleton is only about 30 minutes from us). Thank God for the weather channel app.

Yep - that's MY daughter - She's so beautiful

After finishing golfing we had dinner at the club house and then came home to relax. The kids and I had fun "playing" with my new work iPad and trying to get through additional levels of angry birds. Ugh stupid angry birds....
Sunday I worked most of the day, but looking back I still felt like I got a decent amount of relaxing time. Totally looking forward to more weekends like this, well maybe with a little MORE relaxation time.

Top 10 of 2010

This year has had a lot of ups and downs - a lot more "downs" than we really were expecting unfortunately. We're hoping for a MUCH better 2011.

For a positive note - these are my top 10 of 2010 (in no particular order):
 #1 - I became an aunt (again).

I've been an aunt for over a year now, but little Tristan was extra special because it means my kids have "grandchild" competition on my side now. He's such a cutie pie.

#2 - Our first Valentines Celebration as a couple was really sweet. Pretty toned down (and we had to spend the actual day at a wrestling tournament), but it was really nice.

#3 - Coaching LMS's soccer team was very special for me. I loved that time with her and I was able to push her more than maybe another parent would have. It was so exiting to see her excel.

#4 - My new job at my main work. I LOVE my work (overall). Everyday is a new challenge and every project is so different - it's fun to look forward to what's next - even if it is hard work.

#5 - Speaking of work, I'm very proud of my accomplishments this year. I've won 4 awards for my hard work - it's nice that other people can see how much I pour myself into it (and the extra little bonuses are nice too).

#6 - My Wyoming trip. It was HARD work and a VERY LONG week, but I had a BLAST doing it - I REALLY hope we win the contract again next year. It was also super nice because for the most part it was the only trip I took this year - we've really been vacation deprived this year :(

#7 - New Rooms for the girls. I was really excited that we were able to do this for them. They really needed their own space and the added benefit of shopping and decorating was a bonus :)

#8 - Mr. S's cousin's wedding. It really was a blast. I loved helping plan her shower and help at the wedding - even if I found out the hard way that wine slushies are NOT good for you.

This is why you don't do a cake smash grooms!! I get more action than you do on your wedding night.

#9 - Celebrating our first Anniversary - again, another tamed down celebration, but very nice. I'm sure we'll have PLENTY of time for more exciting celebrations for our anniversary.

#10 - I had a hard time chosing highlights - I had several really special relaxation days/times with my husband and kids - so my #10 will be a combination of those special times. I'm hoping that even in our "flurried" life, we find more time next year for more of these.

What are your top ten?

Can't we all just get along?

If these animals can...so should we...

This is my favorite ad right now :)

Best Sight in the world

A couple of weeks ago I showed you the saddest sight in the world - this is the BEST sight in the world...

They're back home!!

I've gotten the most/best-est hugs ever today. SO worth the 2 weeks apart!!

Have you ever gone kid-less?

Wow - what a week...

It's been an interesting/super-busy/rough week. 
It started off last Friday with me taking off work (well, sort of) and staying home with the kids - yeah - it was all about running them ALL OVER the place.  First, I had to run to the rental house in town for Mr. S's deadbeat renter's money (which was not there when I got there), then to the town our kids go to school in for JrMrS's baseball practice, then grocery shopping with the three little ones for the weekend, then home, then back for JrMrS, ran some errands in town, took all five of them to the library, dropped of JrMsS at swimming practice, brought other four home to make lunch, ran back to town the kids go to school in and picked up JrMsS - it wasn't even 1 o'clock yet!!

Isn't she so cute?!

Fill in the Blank Friday

Life of a busy wife hasn't been doing Fill in the Blank Friday for a couple of weeks - so I went to her source "the little things we do" and pulled her questions...
1. The strangest thing I've ever eaten was I’m not sure – I’ve never really ate anything weird, except for maybe my Subway turkey-I mean jalepeno-sandwiches.


2. My best friend is the greatest. He's funny and sweet and pretty darn cute. Oh yeah...and by the way Mr. S...it's you :) .

3. If I could live in a different era it would be the 1950's because I really like the idea of cooking in heels and pearls, plus I feel like things were probably simpler then...not perfect, but simpler .

No Words

It's been a long day/week.  I have no words today.  I do look forward to getting home to these smiling faces at the end of every long day...

Do you know what tomorrow is?

…um if you don’t you’ve been living under a rock…
(remember, the President had to preempt his State of the Union address because of this event?)

It’s the season premiere of the final season of Lost….