Adult Time

With my kids being the age they are, I feel more free then I have felt in 3 years.  This year I have had many opportunities to have my own time away from home.  My husband is really the best, he knows that I function better having alone time once in a while.  He is always willing to let me be me, and he is the first to volunteer me to go places I am invited to go.  I do feel guilty, but he helps me not worry about it as much.  He is a great daddy, he loves his kids, and really enjoys being with them.

So every 6 months there is a scrapbook weekend that my mother-in-law and sister-in-laws attend.  I have been pretty good at going, and I tend to get some digital scrapbooking done.  This year for croptoberfest, I decided to do a craft instead.  I have had some wooden letters made, and I hadn't had time to fix them up all cute.  Anyway, they turned out cute and will match the theme of the kids rooms, if I ever get their rooms actually fixed up.  I didn't get a group picture this time around :( I guess I'm slacking.

Kade got his personal time this last week, he went hunting, and got a little buck.  I am told it was a perfect shot from 280 yards.  This little guy went down with one shot.  Kade was pretty excited, he called me right away! :)

Our New Blue Cars

I DON'T WANT TO COME ACROSS AS BRAGGING, OH LOOK HOW MANY CARS WE OWN!  THIS IS MAINLY FOR REMEMBERING, KEEPING THINGS STRAIGHT, AND IT IS PART OF OUR UNIQUE LIVES!  If you know Kade, you know he has a new project whenever possible, it is his thing.  I am just the girl that loves him, I want him to have his own things, because I have a lot of half-finished crafts he never complains about. :)

I have decided that I will look at our car dealings as a business.  We don't sell a bunch of cars, but we sell at least 3 a year.  For us it is a little money on the side, as a bonus it is a release for Kade. Being able to sell a car when money is tight has saved our BUTTS more then a few times. We look at them as savings accounts. So, I get extra money, and he gets grown up time...double plus. :)

This summer, I forgot to blog about us selling our 1997 Dodge Intrepid.  I was pretty sad to tell the truth, because it was a large car.  If we went on a trip we took that car because it got about 32 miles a gallon.  It was spacious enough to use with the kids, so if we needed to save some money we would drive that.  It was a really nice car, my favorite was the leather seats, only car we had with leather seats.  I was sad when Kade got an offer on it; he wasn't trying to sell it, it just happened.  But we made a good amount...so I wont complain. I say around, because I don't recall how much in parts we put into it, not enough that I noticed though.

So goodbye, Intrepid, I miss you :)

We have been driving our 1999 Ford Taurus around, we purchased it for 300 in November of 2012.  It needed brakes, and the power steering still doesn't work.  It is probably the most beat up of all the cars we have purchased (dented).  We haven't sold it because the power steering will be a hard fix...who knew?! I know we won't make a lot of money when it's all said and done, but it is Kade's work car and saves us some gas money.

OH YEAH, after Kade wrecked my VW bug he has been on the look for a replacement.  My dream car is a mint green VW beetle, I owned it, now it is gone.  But, he thinks all beetles are the same, they are not, but he is very sweet.  I'm a green lover, so I guess blue comes to a close second.  During 2nd crop of hay this year, Kade traded his dirt bike for this 1974 VW beetle.  Like, who's husband would ever do a thing like that, trade his toy?  But as you saw a few posts ago, he has acquired a new dirt bike....one that was a killer deal.  Anyway, it is cute, and may run someday.

But today we made our way down to Pokie and picked up this little 2003 Saturn Ion 2!  It looks rough on the inside.  It had a broken window so there is water damage, it needs a really really good cleaning...but I'm afraid the stains wont come out.  Anyway, it isn't running, we are waiting on a part.  But for $350, it seems to be a good deal!  I am super excited for this particular car.

Premiere Jewelry Party

In an effort to get my house fixed up and cleaned up, I decided I needed an event at my home.  A few months ago, my aunt had a jewelry party, it was high-end more expensive jewelry.  I decided the only way for me to afford what I wanted, I would need to have a party.

It was fun, and it was mostly family, thanks for your support everyone.  Anyway, I wanted my cabinet doors hung before the party.  I had been living in a kitchen without doors for a few months, it was okay but the kids and dust wouldn't keep off my stuff.  We had everything ready for the night before, come to find out the hinges were wrong...GO ME!  So the day of, my husband ran to town, got the right hinges, and hung them by himself.  It took hours and he was a trooper!  But they turned out very nice.

I used gel stain and used this blog. http://www.monicawantsit.com/2012/02/staining-oak-cabinets-espresso-color.html
Thanks to pinterest, I wouldn't have ever found out about gel stain.  My only complaint was that I thought they would be black when they were done.   They are a dark brown :( that is okay, but I would have preferred black, that's what I wanted.  But with pictures, and lighting, I should have known better.  They still look SOOOO much better, and took so much time and work.

Gel stain, at least this brand is awesome.  A little goes a long ways and it is so easy to use.  It is a full-coverage stain, did i mention I LOVE IT.  Now, general finish needs to come out with an actual black stain and I would be happy :)


Before













After

















One of these days when my house is clean again, I will take more pictures.  I just don't want to post my disaster of a house at the moment.  You may notice the holes by the oven, I still have no drawers in my kitchen.  Maybe I should call the carpenter and see where we are at :)  The drawers that were there, were plastic with a wood face, they were TERRIBLE, so we took them out.

What is going on now.

Now it is back to real life

This week the 2 girls are back at my house to be babysat.  I am starting to read Dracula for class, which I never had the opportunity to read and I am hoping I like it. Although, I have only read the preface, I am already spooked.  As for Philosophy, my positive view is that I have less then 11 weeks left. :)  Err, the annoyance of that class is impossible to describe, but apparently I need to just do it.

This weekend I am shooting another wedding, and I hope my last for a while.  They stress me out :)  Then I am throwing a jewelry party on the 24th, and I am excited to do something new.  Although, I have a lot of cleaning before then, which is just the opportunity I need to get my butt in gear.

I have some pictures I want to share that are a bit random.  But they are recent so maybe not so random.

Addyson's curtains in her room are pink, it makes the whole room glow pink.

We picked up some kittens, we don't want mice invading our house this winter.  They are very kid friendly and the kids are both a bit mean.

You like the coat and skirt, without shoes?  Daddy dressed her, good thing it wasn't cold enough to need a coat.  

She is holding two, her favorite is to pick them up by just a leg or just their tail.  I feel so bad, I'm hoping they survive long enough to mice.

Kade working on his newest project.  Kinda getting cold for dirt bikes, I think he forgets where we live. :)

Drake at Target.  After we took of the fedora, and put it away, he kept yelling "MY HAT, MY HAT!" HAHA

Up close :)

The dog is afraid to come in the house, which is okay with me.  But she is also afraid to leave once she is in.  It is like the threshold of the house is hard or scary to step over.  We had a terrible wind storm, like shaking the whole house and blowing trampolines away.  Anyway, during the wind storm, Kade felt bad keeping her in her kennel, he was afraid something might blow and fall on it.  He was letting her roam those days, and once while the neighbors dogs were out,  I brought her in for a few minutes.  For a lab she is rather calm.  Drake kept riding her, all I had was my phone so quality was poor.  But he had the biggest smile on his face.  I just love how happy he is around animals.  

In case I haven't introduced the pup yet, this is Kora.  She is a full blown black lab, which is my personal favorite type of dogs for kiddos. We have had her for about 3 months I think.  Which would make her about 5 months old.  But I don't quite remember so don't blame me if the facts are wrong :)

She does great with the kids, but she is a little hyper at times.  When she gets excited the kids don't love her as much. 

These cats and dog are our only pets right now.  If I haven't explained where the other ones have gone, they either died of parvo, been kidnapped, or ran away.  It is no secret that dogs don't last around here.  But I'm hoping for good luck with at least Kora, who knows about the 4 cats. 

DoTerra Weekend 2013

Last week Shyla and I went to Utah for a DoTerra conference.  Where I got my homework done between all of this, I still don't know.  But, I had such a great time in Utah.  I learned a lot, here are some tidbits I brought home with me. There are a few, so sorry :)

Happiness is my choice and everyone needs to figure out how to make that happen for themselves.  Most people think happiness is a result, after they have money, or toys, or kids, but it isn't a result its a choice.

Remember you may not be able to change your circumstance, but at least have a plan.  Which, I tend to lack a plan, so something to work toward.

Be DONE being angry.

I learned the power of your mind and how much positive thinking can change.  Although, I really have to fight to have positive thoughts, I am trying very hard to work on that aspect of my life.

I learned a lot about my diet habits and that they can contribute to my moods.  I learned that simple sugars actually act as an immune suppressor.

I learned that most of us create our own challenges, the choice is ours, the responsibility is ours, what will you choose to do?  This really hits home, sometimes a bad mood controls my whole day and it creates a challenge.  I need to JUST take care of myself better.

There was so much positivity it was impossible not to feel great about yourself and about what you could do with your life.  We are all so capable of great things, most of us just don't know our potential.

inspiration-expression=depression

I'm really going to try to work on making close friends...it is something I always have struggled with.

There comes a point in your life when you realize you can't change people and you don't have the right to.  You have the choice though, to either keep those people in your life or not.  Try to chose to keep people that uplift you.  Because you marinate in what you are around.

We had so much fun, we shopped, listened to inspiring talks, and smelled amazing.  We listened to a few concerts that were uplifting and awesome.  We defiantly had some bonding time and a great weekend.  I couldn't be happier for how it turned out. :)  Other then pictures, I always wish I had more pictures. HAHA

Our room

Some of the swag, I got some great oils too. 

Yeah, we are that cool! :)

Now it's back to my day to day real life.  I'm ready for some normal :)