9 Nights Away

Tonight is the first night that the kids have spent in our house since last Thursday-9 nights away from home. Why you ask? Hubby has been working on hardwood floors for the bedrooms. He laid raw wood floors and stained them in the bedrooms. Then he urethaned the whole house. We had to stay off of the floors with no heavy furniture for 7 days. He finished them last Sunday...so that makes today 7 days off of them. 

Here's our girl's room with the raw floors: 

And our boy's room with raw floors:

Here's our girl's room completed:

Here's our boy's room completed:

And here's our room completed:

We're thankful for our families for letting us crash with them this week! The great thing about this project is that everything got dusted and cleaned! Everything went in garage for the week, and then everything had to come back in this weekend. It's like we're moving except it's back into the same house. I've gotten lots organized and tried to de-clutter too. The rough part about this project is that we're "wore slap out!"

Yesterday Hubby and I worked from morning to midnight. We skipped breakfast and lunch, and finally had to make time for dinner. Then we got up and started again this morning. There is still more to do, but it will have to wait for another day.
It's nice to have everyone home after 9 nights away. I'm sure we'll all sleep well in our own beds. Wishing you all a good night!

"May You All Live To Be 94"

Last Sunday, we celebrated my grandmother's 94th birthday. My cousins came to town from Virginia and Maryland to celebrate. All four of her granddaughters and her two great-grandchildren went to church with her.

After ushering at their church, my parents joined us for lunch.

GG with her great-grandchildren

The kids with my parents

After lunch, the kids went in the yard to find pecans.

They each found a few

Then they sat outside to crack their pecans

After lunch, GG said..."May you all live to be 94." Happy Birthday GG!

Tragedy Averted

Last month, Our Girl turned 7!! Wow...hard to believe, but true nonetheless. So, she's been asking for an American Girl doll. She hasn't really ever been that interested in dolls...so I wasn't sure about spending $100 on a doll for her. Well...her grandmother and aunt gave her birthday money to finally buy one.


Our Girl decided on the "My American Girl" doll with brown hair, blue eyes, and freckles to look like her. We even took her to the American Girl Bistro for lunch. She picked out two outfits from her Daddy and me. Then she spent her allowance to get the doll's ears pierced and to get the doll's hair "done."

Our Girl LOVES her girl! As soon as she gets up in the morning, she gets her doll up. When she goes to bed, the doll goes to bed. She takes her everywhere...to school, to go out to eat, everywhere. Well, last Sunday...Our Girl took her doll to church with my encouragement.

During the sermon, Our Girl came to me with HUGE crocodile tears streaming down her face & with a doll with blue ink all over her face. I'm still not exactly sure what happened. I looked online & found a site that said to rub the marks with cooking oil. As soon as we got home, I gave it a try...and...well...she's good as new! See for yourself:




Sooooo thankful that a tragedy was averted!

Road Trip

On Saturday, we took a road trip to support Coach Gritti and the Rhodes Lynx against the Birmingham Southern Panthers in Birmingham. We arrived in Birmingham just in time for lunch. What did we find to eat? Well...it was the dining hall at Birmingham Southern. Hubby loved it!! He thought he was back at UGA with the meal plan!

He was talking it up to the kids making this guy ready for college!
After lunch, it was time to head to the game. Here's our girl cheering on the team.
Our boy and Hubby were on the sidelines during the game getting an ear full of language from what I understand. Things like the "s word"..."stupid."

Our boy was excited because he got to run on the field to retrieve the tee!
Our girl was excited because she wore her new red sweater dress!
My whole family went to game. Here's a pic of the group:.
The kids with DoDo & EJ (my parents):
The kids with their E (my sister):
Our family:
A girl and her daddy:
Our boy said that there were two great things about the whole day: one was good and one was gross. The good was that he got his picture made with Coach Gritti, and the gross was that there was a dead rat on the track. Well...there you have it!

Treasures

Whenever I go thrifting, I can always count on a complaint from one of the kids. They just don't appreciate a good trip to Goodwill like I do! Today the girls went shopping for our Operation Christmas Child boxes for school at the dollar store, and guess what? There just happens to be a new Goodwill right next door! How can you pass it by? It's easy...you can't! Today I found 2 treasures:

Treasure #1

At school we perform our annual Kindergarten Christmas play. We are starting to practice for the big event next week. So...I found this bracelet for $1.87. How perfect is it? My students will love it!

Treasure #2

There is a restaurant in town that has great food, and it also has a fun gift shop area. In the store, they have an Eiffel Tower for $100. Well, treasure #2 from today is similar Eiffel Tower that we got for $4.74. How can you pass that up...$4.74?!?!?!

Treasures for Others:

Today we also bought our supplies for our Operation Christmas Child boxes. The kids liked packing their boxes, and they both wrote a note to include inside. Our boy's note says: "Dear Friend, I hope you like all of the things in the box." Our girl's note says: "You are on my heart." We did something new this year too...the kids decorated plastic shoe boxes with stickers.

Did you find any treasures this weekend?