More Adventures

Today I worked on more garage sale labeling. How do we accumulate so much stuff in just 8 years. . . 8 years!!! Wow! I cannot believe that it will be 8 years this October that we've lived in this house. 8 years this August that we've been married!!! So much has taken place:

I graduated from Bellin College & passed my boards
I got a full time nursing job at Manor Care Nursing Home
Scott graduated with a Masters Degree & got a full time job at Howard Suamico Schools
Got Married
Became Home owners
I changed jobs to Interim Healthcare as a Supervisor/Case Manager
Became Dog owners
We had 3 miscarriages:(
I was a Home Interiors demonstrator
I changed jobs again to Prevea Clinic as a phone triage RN
Became proud parents of Spencer
OK, time to abbreviate:
The Pampered Chef, Parker, me at St vincent Hospital, rental unit owners, Scott 2nd Masters degree, Scott ITT Tech associate dean then Dean, Hawaii, bought 1.5 acres of land, me DePere Health Dept, me Medical Staffing Network, Disney World, Carter, me at Aurora Baycare Labor & Delivery, Sold Rental, Building plans (Wow, I've changed jobs quite a bit! Good thing I'm a nurse. I've never been fired or let go. . . I just needed to find my niche.)

HOLY Cow! And that's not even counting all of the events that have taken place in history: 9-11-01 was HUGE. . . still is. The war in Iraq. Tsunami, Katrina. . . . . it's so much in so little time.

I'm pretty proud of what we've accomplished in the past 8 years. A lot of it has been difficult. We really work on our big accomplishments. I think that makes us appreciate them so much more than if they were just handed to us. Isn't that the case with most things? I hope to instill those values into my children. I don't want them to struggle with things. . .but I want them to know that sometimes you just have to knuckle down & work to get the things you want in life.

Time to get the little one to bed.. . yet another thing that is not easy. . .but oh so rewarding:)

He's WALKING!

OK, so I haven't quite captured it in this photo. . .but he IS walking. Today he took 5 steps on his own. It's the cutest thing ever. Look at how cute he is! Today I heard, "Look! He's standing!" from Parker (the toothless, scarred eyelid & now scratched up nose boy). Then Carter proceded to take a few more steps on his own before plopping down in a fit of giggles & drool.

Did I mention he has 4 teeth already? And another on the way? Oh the joys of teething & biting.

Spencer & Parker are now into daredevil tricks on their two wheeled bikes. . .can't wait for that ER visit. Surprisingly, Parker managed to do a "face plant" while riding his scooter yesterday. He had a bloody nose & scrapes across it. Lovely. Here is Spencer demonstrating a trick.

Gotta run. . . .

Funny how the weekend goes

You'd think that I'd get MORE done on the weekend. . .NOT! We met with another builder yesterday AM. Glad we did. We're tweeking our house plans a bit. We're thinking no bonus room. Instead, we'll finish a room in the basement right away. I'm excited for this. It will be the biggest investment of our lives. LOTS of decisions. Good thing we're pretty simple people. I need to control my husband's desire for extravagant/fancy things once in a while. I don't like frilly dilly. I like classic/stand the test of time things that are good quality.

Anyway, when we got back from that, Spencer needed to go get a birthday gift for the party he was going to. He & I did that. Then Scott walked him to it while I fed the other 2 lunch. . . It was 100 degrees! Inside time for us! We got some much needed Parker time as Carter took a nap.

Then Scott was off to golf with my brothers & BIL. So we went to pick up Spence. . . holy hot out! We walked - mind you, it's only 2 blocks away (short blocks!). I was sweating before we reached the first corner.

We made it back home & hung out briefly outside. . . then indoors to the air conditioning. We did go back out later & played with some neighbors in our yard. Who am I kidding? I sat & watched as the kids played:) Too hot for physical acitivity:)

Then back in for baths - which was a fight with my 4 year old. Why is it so difficult to get through one hour without him trying to pick fights with his older brother? Oh the joys! We survived bath time. . .I got all 3 boys clean & in jammies without blood being drawn. Then we had a snack - ice cream - rather befitting given the weather. Then they actually settled down quite well for night night. Of course, by this time, I'm exhausted. I showered, snacked again & sat on the couch watching whatever was on until Scott arrived home around 10:15. He was not really in the talkative mood due to being exhausted himself. . .and a bit over extended on the alcohol consumption. So we went to sleep.

I always make a short story long. . . so, in summary, I didn't get to scrap!!! And my house is still trashed!

So this morning we attempted to clean up the kitchen. . .this is a sore spot with me. Scott's idea of cleaning up after breakfast is throwing the dishes in the sink & pushing the chairs in. I put a kabosh to that & insisted that before we run outside to entertain our children the kitchen actually gets cleaned! UGH! This is just not going to be easy.

I'll snap a shot of our house plans soon & post them. I need to go make sure Carter is being supervised properly as I think I just heard Scott go outside. He thinks our 4 year old can watch our 10 month old. . . Scott has 2 Masters Degrees. . ..but he is just not the brightest when it comes to common sense.

2 down - many to go!

I've decluttered the Living Room & Boys' Bedroom so far. Holy Cow! My boys have WAY too many toys. I've relocated many toys from those locations to the basement. . .which needs its own decluttering done. . .another day for that one. I've also removed things that will be sold or donated. I need to find a spot to hide this box or my work will be for naught. Toys that are removed from the others have this interesting trait of being much more interesting than anything else - thus being thrust back into the general collection.

As parents we should really take advantage of this during the holidays & birthdays. Do you think it would work to just repackage what we already have? I'm so glad we decided to do the 3 gift rule for Christmas. Each child gets 3 gifts from Santa/us for Christmas. That way they still have things to open Christmas morning & we're not overwhelmed with WAY too much stuff. OK, maybe we still are because nobody else follows these rules. In fact, they get WAY more from Scott's parents than they do here. We need to implement rules for them this year. I'm sure they'll love that! They're not all to fond of us setting limits for them when it comes to grandparenting. But I guess I understand that. . .we just need to train them on quality vs quantity. . . enough said there.

OK, back to work. I've got my groove going & I don't want to lose it!

CAPTURING MY CLUTTER

And so it begins. I have started to attack the clutter that encases my house. OK, it more like encases, entraps, devours, etc. . .my house. You get the point. I have clutter! So far this morning I have gone through the living room. I'm just now working on putting the "put away" box stuff away. The only problem I run into (OK, not the only problem. Who am I kidding?) is that the places I need to put this stuff away are cluttered as well. THAT is a big problem.

So, anyway, I've conquered the living room. Well, almost. I have a box of give away/sell items. I have a laundry basket of put away items that is half put away already - yay! I have a throw away bag & a recycle bag. I also decided that the give away stuff had to be divided a little so I have a Pampered Chef to give away bag as well. . .you know, all of the paperwork stuff that you think you will use someday. I also subdivided the put away stuff into a general basket & then the Leggos & the Bionicles got their own receptacles to ease the later task of going through that!

See, this gets complicated even at this early stage!

OK, I've got to quit procrastinating now. . . maybe I'll get the chance to take a shot of my clutter progress. . .nah, that would be even more reason to procrastinate!

I'll update later!

My Fleet Farm Finds

I found all of these scrappy items at Fleet Farm of all places! Can you believe that???
And it was all clearanced out. . .the most expensive
item was $1.50. . .and I think that was something
metal. . .I forget. Anyway, most of these items
were 70 & 90 cents! I love bargain shopping!

I have to get scrapping!

We're going to build!!! We plan to break ground in November of this year! I have to get my house in order for selling. That means I have to really get going on my 12 step program for being a packrat! Garage sale here I come!

9-11 pics

I just watched pics from 9-11-01 set to Enya's Only Time. Amazing! I am still so full of emotion about that day. As most everyone who has memory from that day - I know exactly where I was standing as the 2nd plane hit the World Trade Center. I watched in shock & horror as I realized that the first impact was not an accident after all. I shook with fear as I thought of how fragile our lives are & how vulnerable we are to acts of terror. My heart sank as I realized the lives that were lost & the children who would never again see the face of a parent. . .and I shivered with anxiety because my own young son was sleeping soundly in the next room. What kind of future would lay ahead? And I didn't know it at the time, but a 2nd son would be coming within just one year of that day.
Here is the link to what I viewed:
http://www.olivetreeviews.org/topics/movies/attack.html
I encourage you to check it out. Be ready. You will feel many emotions.

Peace!

Hi there

Wow, me again! Back so soon! Let's see, . . . . I went to Fleet Farm yesterday to pick up dog food. . .and I ventured down the scrappy aisle. . . whoa! Clearance!!!!!!!! I made a haul at great prices. . . now I need to decide whether to keep it for me - ruining my string of no personal buying - or to give it away. Hmmm. . . I'll have to ponder on that one:)

Anyway - worked today. Got done early. We have an adult Easter Egg hunt tonight at our friends' house. It's always fun & quite interesting.

I need to go shower now. Carter is sleeping in my arms - very fun to type one handed! Here's a pic of Parker on the evening of his 4th birthday party. What a sweetie!

Back in the GAME

Holy Moses! It's been WAY too long. I will try to keep updating. . .try:)

New things:
I'm doing well with my full time job as a labor & delivery nurse. LOVE IT!
Spencer is in soccer & he is really good at it. Scores goals every game. 5 year olds are so cute.
Parker, the one with his 2 front teeth missing, now has a little scar on his right eye lid from a burn. . . campfire, stick, 4 year old, ambulance. . . need I say more? He's OK.
Carter has 4 teeth! He's still happy as ever, wants to walk. . .is so silly as he giggles at everything.
We meet with a builder tomorrow to see the sketches he came up with for our new home! I'm super duper excited!!! We plan to build starting next spring. Lots to do to get this house ready to sell.
I'm going to let my Pampered Chef business go completely as soon as 2 months pass that I have no orders. I just want my chance to get the newest products at 50% off & then I'm going to let it go. Tough decision. . .but necessary.
We sold our rental property finally! This is such a good thing let me tell you.
WE bought bicycles for Scott & I. Now I have no excuse not to get back into shape. I'm still breastfeeding. . .so I have about 10 pounds still on compared to my prepregnancy weight. I'm so OK with that. I just need to get back into shape exercise wise. And I might be able to get my wellness blog going again. . .but let's not push it too much:)

I'm starting myself on a 12 step program. . . I'm admitting I have a problem with being a pack rat. That's the first step. . . I'm on my way.

I'm off to scrapbook. The two older boys & Scott are gone to the fireworks & Carter is sleeping. Time for me to put in some tunes & scrap. I'm almost done with our wedding candids. . .hey, it's only been 8 years!