Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving this year was pretty uneventful- to say the least.

We usually host a big crowd of family and friends- and this year- it just so happened that everyone had somewhere else to be.

So just the 3 of us for Thanksgiving.

We were lazy.

We didn't even plan.

Not. one. single. plan.

Well- I take that back. We did decide on a menu and went to the store and got all of our food to cook.

But that was about it.

We woke up Thursday morning- had breakfast. Sat on the couch. Played in our PJs. Relaxed.

It was actually pretty nice.

Then when we got ready- we put on actual clothes and started cooking up our feast. Even though it was just the 3 of us- we still cooked like everyone was coming over.

Turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, green chili cheesy potatoes, collard green, rolls, cheesy green bean bake, gravy and cranberry sauce, pumpkin roll and chocolate banana bread pudding. We don't mess around.

YUM.

I even forgot to take pictures of everything. But here is our turkey cooking.

That's the Big Easy- it's a oil- less turkey fryer. Cooks infrared- or some sci-fi stuff like that. Weird right? but ohhhh sooo good!

And K helped us make dessert- by cleaning the mixing bowls

and then we put on our comfy clothes- snuggled up on the couch- watched Megamind- and did nothing. It was great.

We will be all nice and rested to have everyone back in the house next year!

Halloween 2012

we started with our Halloween tradition- carving some pumpkins.

K would have nothing to do with the pumpkin guts- every time we pulled out a handful he would say

'mommy that's YUCKY'

working hard

Ta!Da! all done. Mine's the best- right? 

K- had his annual Costume Parade at school. You can tell he's just thrilled.

he makes a pretty cute Popeye!

               That evening we got all ready to go out trick-or-treating.

We have a zombie. And a....a.... hmmm... well not real sure what she is. A hobo nerd with suspenders? She also had some vampire fangs too.

This is pretty much all we saw of K all night long. He got the hang of the whole ringing the doorbell. Um, sorry any one that had a stuck doorbell. (or toddler finger push- you know- just to check and make sure it rang the 1st five or six times.)

he had the sweetest 'Trick or Treat' voice

he would just take one piece of candy- then say the sweetest 'thank you'

and then he was off!

  his bag was so heavy he was dragging it behind him.

you can see holes in his bag here. Eventually a little candy trail followed him home. With those big muscles- that bag must have been really heavy.

yay! candy!

What a night. We had fun- managed to get the kids all dressed up and they manager to score some major candy! We will prob have candy around here forever! maybe I should go eat some.....

happy halloween ya'll!

The back porch

I really can't believe that I haven't posted this yet. It's prob because it feels like we have been working on this stinking porch forEVER- shhh don't tell me husband I said that....

But really- it's been a long time.

April 28, 2012- here is where we started. 

The Goal: back porch sitting area without cleaning out the bank account. AKA- do it yourself back porch. (or better known as- the husbands job)

Good progress the 1st weekend-. I mean- I can actually see things coming together- right?

Looking good!

May 2 2012- all the boards are down- now to pick out a stain color for the wood.

July 18th- so you can see here- the wood is stained. And yes- we have started K on yard duty at a young age. He loves it! so we aren't going to steer him away. And our poor poor pitiful grass- I mean seriously- have you ever seen grass so sad?

Aug 10

WOW-  the grill has been moved over- and we are moving forward with the roof and the pergola

Sept 24th- lookie here! 1/2 of the covered porch is done- and the pergola is finished!

and there's little K doing yard work again- I tell ya- he loves it! 

just in case you are worried- the mower isn't on- he just loves pushing it around the yard.

Sept 30th- we boxed in the cedar posts- and can you see our grass? It came back!! You know what they say 'if you build it- the (grass) will come' right- or something like that.

trimmed the posts- you can see we have been working in between rain storms. We also stained all the posts, pergola, everything so it would look the same.

Oct 3rd- finishing touches. And then there was light! Adds the perfect ambiance (ahhhmmmm- biance) to the back yard. Now to enjoy.

so about eh 7 months give or take- that's a long long project. thanks husband- it's awesome! and getting to be that perfect patio weather- fall in TX- just the right temperature outside to sit and enjoy.

We still have some work to do- but from what he tells me 'it's the easy part'

Next- shingles on the roof. And pavers to cover some of the grass that didn't come back- the a fire pit out on the pavers. But heck- it's going to be a while before it's cold enough here for a fire pit right?? we got time.

Friday night

So when we decided to just 'try' for a month or so

and 'see' what happens

you know- let the universe decide.

I mean- sure we are talking about another potenial baby here- but we kept going back and forth and yes and no- so let's just throw caution to the wind and see what happens.

well...

it. happened.

a positive!! I have to be honest- I was in shock- for at least 24 hours. for sure- maybe 48. And then all the silly irrational fears started to pop in my head

I'm too old

4 kids is too many

My youngest son will be mad at me

How will we ever vacation again

Who will babysit

Really? 9 months, again?

Yes- 9 months again. And then- our sweet bundle of joy will be here. And i know all those irrational fears will melt away. And we will forget. And K will love being a big brother and our family of 6 will be perfect.

Will we have our ups and downs along the way? sure. We always do.

how lucky and I?

to have a wonderful loving husband. 3 gorgeous kids. a house over my head. a supportive career. an excited family.

And to have the chance to do it all over again. What would I do different from the 1st time?

That's how I started my 1st journey- by asking other moms-

If you could do it all over again- what would you do different?

Workout- was almost always the answer. Eat right. Sleep more.

What will I do?
- work out for sure- but that's not really different- I will just make a point to continue doing what I have been- I love my gym time.

-I want my husband to be more involved during delivery. We never really had a 'plan' I mean- since everything can go anyway- I was more just going with the flow- and had a fantastic delivery. But this time- I would like us to have more of a plan.

- I won't sweat the small stuff. No crazy decorating a nursery- in fact- the two youngest will be sharing a room for a couple of years. (or until our oldest moves out) So we will do a shared room for them.

Granny's Cabinet Re-do or Up-do

whatever- I guess I didn't really 're-do' this china cabinet- but it for sure got an all new improved look!

Check it out!

Here it is before. This came from my Ganny's house- all the way from Georgia. It's funny- because it still smelled like her.

The news paper is covering the glass.

We picked a bright teal blue color- I LOVE it.

the inside we painted a copper color- I don't think I took any pictures of us doing that in the process- it came out really great.

we didn't sand it or anything- which allowed the wood to come through the paint.

now what kind of hardware to put on it??

after looking and looking- we decided on these- ordered them from HomeDepot- on line.

Ta- Da! All done.