Self-induced Insomnia

It is never a good idea to watch a movie like Zodiac right before you go to bed.

But it does help to take an AdvilPM so at least you won't be creeped out by all the house noises for too long!

Back next week after vacation!

I know you are anxiously awaiting all my pictures!

At least I am not inviting you over to sit in front of the the big sheet as we go through hundreds of slide shows.

Have a good weekend!

Stacey

I am over at Blissfully Domestic today.

(thank goodness! i had nothing prepared for around here!)

Stacey

So True!

My friend Shannon passed this along to me via email and I loved it so much, I decided to share the joy.

Or the pain.

Depending upon the capabilities of your beloved!

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Summer Classes for Men
THE ADULT LEARNING CENTER
REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED by Friday, August 17th 2008

NOTE: DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL OF THEIR CONTENTS, CLASS SIZES WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM

Class 1
How To Fill Up The Ice Cube Trays--Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.
Meets 4 weeks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 2
The Toilet Paper Roll--Does It Change Itself? Round Table Discussion.
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00 for 2 hours.

Class 3
Is It Possible To Urinate Using The Technique Of Lifting The Seat and Avoiding The Floor, Walls and Nearby Bathtub?--Group Practice.
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 4
Fundamental Differences Between The Laundry Hamper and The Floor--Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.
Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.

Class 5
Dinner Dishes--Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Kitchen Sink? Examples on Video.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM

Class 6
Loss Of Identity--Losing The Remote To Your Significant Other. Help Line Support and Support Groups.
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM

Class 7
Learning How To Find Things--Starting With Looking In The Right Places And Not Turning The House Upside Down While Screaming.
Open Forum Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours.

Class 8
Health Watch--Bringing Her Flowers Is Not Harmful To Your Health Graphics and Audio Tapes.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9
Real Men Ask For Directions When Lost--Real Life Testimonials.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined

Class 10
Is It Genetically Impossible To Sit Quietly While She Parallel Parks? Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.

Class 11
Learning to Live--Basic Differences Between Mother and Wife. Online Classes and role-playing
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined

Class 12
How to be the Ideal Shopping Companion Relaxation Exercises, Meditation and Breathing Techniques.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 13
How to Fight Cerebral Atrophy--Remembering Birthdays, Anniversaries and Other Important Dates and Calling When You're Going To Be Late.
Cerebral Shock Therapy Sessions and Full Lobotomies Offered.
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 14
The Stove/Oven--What It Is and How It Is Used. Live Demonstration.
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM, location to be determined.

Upon completion of any of the above courses, diplomas will be issued to the survivors.

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While these pictures don't exactly match the above mentioned classes, they are still proof that some things will never change.

How To Telepathically Get Trash In the Trash bag So You Don't Have To Physically Make The Effort When It Is Right Under Your Nose.


Or Two Steps Away


How To Use Less Than The Entire Kitchen Cabinet of Glasses In A 24-Hour Period.
(please refer to the 2 glasses above and the 1 below; the 2 little glasses belong to the kids.)


Please tell me I am not alone in my suffering?!

;) Stacey

This must be what Heaven sounds like!

In my mommy world, it would sound like this

___________________________________________


Did you hear that wonderful sound?

Just a little something I like to call peace & quiet.

Kids are at VBS everything morning this week, which means I have 3 days of 3 hours alone!

In reality, my free time will be accompanied by the sounds of the washing machine, the dryer, and my hands and feet scurrying around trying to get things done without my little "helpers".

Off to pour another cup of coffee and crank some get-busy music!

Stacey

Summer Vacation

2 Six Flags tickets at online prices

(to compliment our 2 free tickets!)

-check!

4 Hawaiian Falls tickets

(cheapest water park tickets in the area!)

-check!

1 Hotel reservation (secret location and dates of stay until post-vacation!)

(including AAA discount, breakfast, pool, and walking distance to Six Flags!)

-check!

Fun family vacation or parental torture

-to be determined!

Stacey

Blue

In an effort to not be the totally boring Mom this summer, I told the kids we would go out and pick berries on Monday.

My dtr's first question and #1 concern was about whether or not the berries were poisonous.

My first indication that it is quite possible she has seen one too many princess movies!

Other than that, they were both excited.

We got extremely lucky because it was overcast on Monday and even the humidity did not show up until after we were done picking.

We headed out to The Greer Farm and discovered large berry fields, a huge lake, and a great piece of property that offers much more than just berry picking! I was excited to learn that we could even eat the berries off the bushes because they are organic people!

In the fields, they provide picnic tables, fresh cold water, wagons, picking buckets, and bags to load up with berries. I was so proud of the kids because they were real troopers and did a great job helping me. We covered 2 rows of blueberry bushes and 2 rows of blackberry bushes. They actually managed their own buckets of blueberries and then assisted me while I picked blackberries from the thorny bushes. Some of the blueberry bushes were so full in places that I simply set by bucket under a branch and gently racked lush blueberries off into the bucket!

In the end, we gathered enough to make 12 cups of blackberries and 26 cups of blueberries! All for $27!! $2.75/pound of blueberries and $2.25/pound for blackberries! That is CHEAP! I may even go back for more soon as the picking will end in about 10 days.

After cleaning and storing all the berries, baking some pastry shells, and making some homemade whip cream, we enjoyed a real treat Monday night!





Stacey

I totally forgot

Eleven days ago, we celebrated freedom.

Likely, most of us celebrated food on that day too!

I plain forgot to post about the day, so I decided to do it today just for the sake of my electronic "scrapbook".

The day was half working around the house and half lounging around while stuffing our faces with food.

The kids got some fishing in and then they were pleased to see that the Firecracker Fairy did indeed know their new address.

Hugging the flag, aka Papa

My two little firecrackers!

Twinkie Toes!

Offering Jake a ride

Discovering their goodies-a movie for each (which the FF might have picked up for $2 each at Half-Price Books! Too bad the FF didn't remember that she already had Snow White!) and a yummy mommy-approved fruit snack.





Stacey

Here I Am...

back from a non-scheduled break!

After the picture posts early last week, I got a sudden case of burn-out. Jennifer's comment made me laugh when she indicated how long it must have taken me to do all that. Well, it did indeed take a long time thus rendering me blogless for the remaining week!

This past weekend, I got to do something I love to do!

I got to go organize and clean someone else's house, which included being bossy! Others might have another name for it, but the results were worth it!

My sister and bil have spent the last months/year working on their house, including major indoor renovation to create more living/sleeping space as they prepare for my new niece in September. He works out of town a lot which has made the process harder and longer. Most of the construction is now finished, which meant they could start putting their house back together!

We went for a long weekend under the guise of my nephew's birthday party, but I made sure to include extra time and extra able bodies so we could help them out.

I am sure everyone is exhausted this morning, but we can feel good knowing a lot was accomplished and their load was decreased. Furniture was moved, shelves were installed, laundry was done, surfaces were cleaned, and most important, the baby's room was set up. It is so sweet and I am kicking myself for not taking a picture!

And I sure the hometown crowd will pitch in some more to help finish the leftover jobs! Hint, Hint! My whip is long, so I am sure I could crack it from out of state!

To prove that I let the crew take a break for a few hours and have some fun, here are a few pics of the party!




(I am so proud that L actually jumped off the diving board!)



(The Boys!)




(My girl jumping one of many times!)


(My niece got in on the action too!)


(A discovered diving and loved it! I can't count how many times she did it!)



(btw, if you did not pay a little homage to Air Supply after getting sucked in by my title, then you will now because I said so!)

Stacey

Inside Outside Upside Down-The Tour, Part Deux

I have spent the last 6 weeks "tackling" everything that comes along with moving into a new place. There is still plenty to do, but here is a peek at what has occurred so far! You can go here to view yesterday's part one of the tour. It was the inside tour which was a much cooler version, especially here under the hot Texas sun!

Back:







Front:



Overall, the yards are in good shape with mature grass and trees. We will wait until the fall to plant some more and do a few landscape things. It won't take much.

My Room:





Eventually, this little room inside the garage will be my escape! It receives heat/air and has electricity! He painted the walls blue, the floor brown, and installed shelves. Actually the brackets were already set up, we just needed to add the shelves. This will be my sewing/scrapbooking/general hobby/gift center. I have a lot of work to do in there to get it organized and am trying to apply the "use what you got" philosophy for storage/organization as best I can. If I am lucky, I may have it ready to actually use by the beginning of the holiday season!

Upside Down!


We actually had room to park one car in the garage when we first moved in. However, as I unpacked more boxes and rearranged a bit, I managed to squeeze my car out of its spot. We are hoping to have it back in there in a couple of weeks!

That concludes today's tour. You may drop your mouse in the box as you exit.

Thanks for visiting and come again!

Stacey

Inside Outside Upside Down-The Tour, Part One

This weekend, we got a few more things done around the house, including cleaning! It was the perfect time to take pictures before my little destruction crew came through again.

There are a LOT of pictures! By the end of this, you will either be in the middle of a good snooze or completely giddy by getting your voyeur fix today!

The "before" pics were taken by my husband after he purchased the house.

Before I ever saw it!

Many were amazed at his fearlessness! It turned out OK in this case, but he certainly was playing with fire! We really didn't have much choice around here. The housing market was slim and overpriced. This was a steal compared to the many others he looked at over the last year.

The house is about 30 years old, but was completely redone on the inside by the previous owners. It is only a few hundred square feet smaller than our other house, but the 30-year structural differences are significant. I tried to purge prior to moving and more so after we got here, but some days it still feels crowded. Thank goodness I sold some furniture before we moved.

(He took the pics with my KodakEasyShare. I took pics with my NikonD60. Again, I am amazed at the difference!!)

Welcome to the tour today! Grab your mouse and please follow me!

Living Room:


(The BIG black box was a house warming gift from his parents. My husband was pretty disappointed with their efforts! HA! My poor TV armoire is now lonely in the garage!)



(I found some curtains 1/2 price this weekend and can't wait for them to arrive!)



(We only had to purchase an area rug for this room. My husband finally got his new fake leather recliner for Father's Day. I made him "suffer" without one for a few years since throwing out his atrocity from college!)



(This little alcove is between the living room and kitchen. I am putting up a mirror and little black curtain rods from our old bedroom. The rods have clips which I will use to hang the kids' art work/school work. I am also thinking of doing a small magnet/chalkboard space using paint. No outlets, so lighting is the only issue.)




(Those pictures you see are some of my favorites of the kids. The four series are of each of the kids as newborns-face, belly, hands, feet. The 10x10 is of her 6 year old face. I am going to do the same with his 4 year old pics once I get them done. I did the newborn pics myself and the faces are courtesy of Target!)

Dining Room:


(For the last almost 2 months, I have had PILES of STUFF on the table and floor surrounding the buffet! I just shifted stuff around for us to eat! You can see I have a very small pile left in the back corner under the buffet. Such a relief!)


Office:



(The doors go out to the backyard patio. I didn't have the energy to clean the office before taking this pic. The bookshelves are housing both our books AND our framed pictures until we can get them on the walls! The built-in will hold my Willow Tree figurines and our filing cabinet is tucked away under the red tablecloth.)

Kitchen:






(The kitchen has all new cabinets, countertops, flooring, appliances. There is a lot more cabinet/drawer space than my last kitchen. I like this long countertop. I can fold or iron while watching tv or the kids play.)



Laundry/Pantry:


This room has two tall cabinets for my pantry items. And as you can see, I still rely on my trusty "shoe" holders! I finally have a place to store dirty laundry and hang clean stuff.)



(Overhead laundry cabinets-PTL! Don't you love how I am not afraid to "air" my dirty laundry for y'all!)


(HOW DOES ONE person collect THIRTEEN FLOWER VASES! It was not from 13 boys, I can assure you!)

Kitchen Drawers:

(My coffee bar!)


(The kids' self-service cabinet which includes the many activity books I have collected over the years.)


(I have 4 kitchen drawers allocated for all the kids' crafty/activity supplies. They have easy access and I can watch over their creativity! It rocks!)

Our Room:
The house has a tiny bedroom with adjoining bathroom downstairs. It has a small bedroom and hallway bathroom upstairs. Also upstairs is the HUGE "master" bedroom with a HUGE closet and vanity area. Before we moved in, my husband mentioned to my daughter that she would have the big upstairs bedroom. That meant the tiny downstairs suite for us! It all worked out, but she wasn't too happy about storing all our extra clothes and linens in her closet!

We used all the bedding and decor that I had made for our previous guest room to do our new master bedroom.



(We still need to hang the window valance!)







Up looking Down:
Eventually, a lot of my pictures will go along these stair walls. For now, they are stacked up in the office!


Sister's room:





(We actually designated her room as the playroom also. That means we keep a good bit of shared items in this area and she has to let her brother play in the room most of the time. I know we will have to deal with it differently at some point, but at their age, it works out ok for now. A word about the television. I am NOT really an advocate for tv in kids' rooms. We did not hook up the cable and they can only watch their movies upstairs.)





(She loves this vanity area! I set up her kitchen and dress-up bins under the counter top and she has a sink on the other side.)



(THE closet houses all her clothes (all seasons!), his AND our off-season clothes, some of her toys, AND all our extra linens!)

Brother's Room:





(He got a bed for his birthday! I found it on sale with free shipping and it matched his dresser perfectly! We are waiting to put the trundle in until we actually need it. Plus we don't have an extra mattress yet. We figure it will come in handy around the holidays! I love the storage under the bed w/o the trundle!)





(Lest you worry, I am not depriving my son of clothes! I keep some in his drawers. Plus, the kid loves to change clothes and I could not stand to find tons of clothes and empty hangers on the floor all the time. Minimal clothes means minimal mess! Well, not really, but I can dream! He has two big empty wall spaces in his closet. I eventually want to create an art/activity center on the walls so he won't have to be in sister's room all the time for activities.)

Thanks for joining me today! I hope you enjoyed the tour!

Come back tomorrow for a MUCH shorter continuation!

Stacey