My nest is best… (or good enough for me!)

Today we got super busy repurposing our hutch and buffet. I have wanted to get rid of it lately because I’m not in love with it anymore but I just can’t part with it. We bought this piece of furniture when we were very young and it was one of the first things we bought together and I’m nostalgic! I’ve wanted to paint it, sell it, throw it out the window- but there it sat day after day begging me to do SOMETHING!

We did it and I love it. I love repurposing old furniture, old frames, old windows, doors- ANYTHING!

I’m posting the before and after and also the dining room wall. The wall is NOT orange but it looks like in this picture. I’ll try more pictures tomorrow and see if I can get a true color picture.

Mr. B. worked so hard today, he painted while I sanded. I could have never done this without him he carries, paints, unhinges, de-glasses and puts it all back together for me- Thanks Mr. B you’re one in a million!

**OKay seriously I just realized that the "BEFORE" word on my picture didn't show up right... aarrgghh! I'm not going back to fix it because I know you know it says "BEFORE"**

just me

Here's a little pic of me when I was 4 or 5. I was a Daddy's girl!

A Monday miracle

A miracle happened to me tonight. I know it may sound crazy to some of you but this is what happened.

My oldest son, Kid1 wanted to go out with some friends tonight and I usually say yes to Kid1 because he has never done anything to make me not trust him (that I know of anyway). He and his friends hang out doing 16 year old boy things, building cars out of power wheels and racing them I know it seems stupid- but I really don’t mind it’s not a bad thing.

So tonight he wanted to meet his friends at 8:30 and he would be home by ten but I was feeling very uneasy about the whole thing. I just had one of those bad mother feelings. I hated to say no because it was a silly thing to say no to and we were almost where he was going to meet his friends. I asked God in my head to please give us a way out of this. I asked him to please just cancel the whole thing. I wasn’t really sure what to ask for but I just asked for what I knew. Two seconds after my prayer Kid1’s friend called and said they decided not to go out tonight and that he was so sorry.

Kid1 felt so bad because we had driven ten minutes from home and all I could do was smile HUGE, give a little laugh out loud and tell him it was no problem. I kept smiling and he asked me why I was smiling and I told him about my prayer. He smiled because he believes in miracles too!

God DOES answer prayers- he does, even simple ones. Just try it, just ask him!

Thank you God for this miracle and all the others you have granted me!

**this is Kid1 holding Kid4 4 years ago**

Okay so my friend Christy nominated me for this blog award. Thank you Christy I have never been nominated for anything in my entire life. I had to do some research about how to write a proper award acceptance speech, this being my VERY first award and all!

Without further adieu:

Here are the rules-


Say one nice thing about the man in your life.
I have said before in previous posts how I adore Mr. B. But I am happy to reiterate.
Mr. B. You are too good to me. You are the hardest working man I have ever met, I sometimes sit here and ask myself how in the world I am lucky enough to have met a boy who grew into such a magnificent man? You are impressive daily and I am honored that you are mine.


Second- list at least 6 ways you measure success in your life.
1. Having a happy marriage
2. Having faithful, loyal and happy kids
3. Having real and admirable friends
4. Being happy and feeling settled within myself.
5. Being happy with what I have.
6. Having my family be proud of who I am
7. Making sure that the people around me know how I feel about them.


Third- assign 5 other blogs this award.
This one is a little harder than I care to admit because I’m what I like to call a 'page linker'- which means I go to Christy’s blog and then head to Mary Catherine’s blog and then promptly head to the Cowan’s blog, and also McCall's blog. These girls don’t know I read their blogs but I do every single day! So to assign to 5 other people is a bit of a challenge. Here are the 5 personal blogs I read most.


1. Stephanie’s blog (my friend from high school)
2. K.K.s creation (she has the most inspiring things on her blog and she is such a pure hearted person)
3. Razor Family farms (Lacey is such a fun girl with a ton of great ideas!)
4. The Miller family (I have been begging her to update her blog, maybe this will motivate her)
5. Cuddles on the couch (I read her blog a couple of times a week to see the new baby and to read her homeschooling ideas, she has a really sweet heart)

If you were tagged congrats on your award- good luck with your speech and I can’t wait to see who YOU tag!

the lack of sleep is really getting to me...

Dear Sleep,

I thought I'd drop you a little note to check on you. I haven't seen you yet tonight and just wondered where you were? At first I thought that maybe because we met up this afternoon you misunderstood and thought we weren't meeting up again until tomorrow. Now I'm a little worried because it IS tomorrow and I still haven't seen you yet. Please don't ever feel like I am seeing too much of you, I love you! I don't mind if we meet up in the afternoons every now and then and see each other at night too. I really enjoy spending time with you.

Anyway, I hope we can get together soon because I really have a lot I need to do TODAY and I was hoping I would feel rested.

Hope to see you VERY soon!

sleepy me

RanSome NotES!

update on baby Harper

Just a little FYI beautiful little baby Harper is one week old today and doing so well- for a really fantastic update check out Kelly's blog.

God DOES answer prayers and here's proof. Remember to pray for the things that haunt your heart and to thank him for the things around you too.

teens and dreams

Today I’m wondering what in the world I am going to do with THIS teenage girl? WHAT I beg you, WHAT?!

How in the world am I supposed to raise a teenage girl? How in the world did she grow up so fast? When did she stop giggling that little girl laugh? When did she stop wearing rubber boots with her little flowery dresses? When did she stop dressing her little dollies up and having tea parties with them? When did she trade her little purple strappy shoes for converse and high heels?

When did she start wanting an IPod instead of a my twinn doll for Holidays? When did the simplest littlest things stop thrilling her? When did she start wanting the interest of boys instead of her very own Daddy?

Oh my how time flies- oh dear how this breaks my heart! Oh please pray for me, I want her to turn out perfectly, knowing God, being kind to others, loving herself and trusting herself and it turns out that this whole transaction is harder than I originally thought it would be!

Seriously PRAY hard!

moving madness

Dear new house,

Do you love me? Could you possibly love me as much as I love you? I’m not trying to be materialistic but I must seem like that to you... loving you like I do.

Dear can opener,

WHEW! I thought I would never see your shiny silvery face again. You cannot know how I missed you yesterday evening while Mr. B. struggled with that can. I’m not saying anything against him but he just can’t do a can justice- not like you can you sly red fox!

Dear Ziploc bags,

why oh why are you eluding me? Why do you choose to hide your straight blue smile? Are you so transparent that you can’t think of anything but yourself as you hide somewhere in this boxy mess? I’m shocked at your behavior!

Dear dryer,

Please come back to me.

Dear ice cream scoop,

I like your strategy, hiding last night when I needed you most, and then laying out in the open today when I was full of lunch. You’re a fun girl little scoop and I like your sense of humor. By the way, thanks for looking out for my middle.

Is it possible that moving made me crazy?

nah......

THAT girl!

Kid4 is very sad because we can't keep our dogs- I don't even want to talk about it- we're heartbroken.

She is sad and we are trying to be very sensitive towards her and all the kids, but she is the one who understands less. This morning I told her that we could get something else, like maybe a hamster or something and she said that she would love a fish. I think to myself- this is a great idea! So this is how the conversation went-

Kid4- "How about a fish?"
Me- "WOW, what a wonderful idea" (im thinking gold fish. easy. done)
Kid4- with a big fish house"
Me- "yes a nice little cute fish tank would be nice" (im thinking clear. bowl. done.)
Kid4- "maybe purple?"
me "uhhhh... well okay, maybe purple, what KIND of fish would you think you might want?" (I'm thinking kids only know about regular gold fish right?)
Kid4- (she thinks a minute) "A BLACK SWORDFISH".... "or maybe purple"
me- errrrr.... uhhhh..... (Im speechless) "maybe?"

The end

Oh' THAT girl she never stops making me laugh!

moving mayhem

Sweet Mr B. has been working himself to death! He has been between both houses more times than I can count, moving stuff, feeding our kidlings, cleaning both places and making sure I get a nap!

We're totally IN our new house, which means we are totally OUT of our old house and that's a good thing! I'll post pictures when I can. I have been either too busy or too sick to take pictures yet and you DO NOT want to see this mess!

I can't wait to get organized and all settled into our new house and start making memories.

By the way please continue to pray for little Harper Brown Stamps. She is still in critical condition. Her sweet family is waiting for more news tomorrow.

update on Harper and moving, moving, moving

Thanks to everyones prayers Harper Stamps is doing remarkably well. If you want a wonderfully written update please visit Kelly's page.

The move is going as well as a move can go- a few things broken- mostly presswood so far and I haven't opened many boxes yet. I'm sick as a dog- SERIOUSLY sick. Ask anyone, when I have too much going on I always get really sick. Last year when we moved to Georgia I had pneumonia and the flu- thought I was gonna die!

We love the house and are trying to find all the little nooks and crannies to stuff our memories into and admire them as we live.

Please continue to pray for Harper Stamps and maybe even all our little boys and girls, everyone could use a little prayer mention now and again!

PRAY PRAY PRAY

Please pray for a blogging friend of mine tonight. She has been so excited to meet her new baby, she has decorated her room, had everything and I mean EVERYTHING monogrammed, and loved every minute of being pregnant. She had her little girl today, Harper Stamps and Harper is not doing well. She has been careflighted to Tulsa childrens hospital about 2 hours from the Stamps home. Kelly's husband will join Harper tonight and Hopefully Kelly will join her tomorrow.

I am sick tonight for Kelly and her whole family and can't imagine how crazy Kelly must be going to wait until tomorrow to be with her little baby girl.

Please pray for baby Harper and the whole Stamps family as they struggle through this hard time.

moving day

TODAY IS MOVING DAY!

Dear New House,

I'm going to come right out and say it- I love you! I love your beautiful brick walls and black shutters. I love how triangular and tall you are. I love that you are so welcoming and how you made us feel at home as soon as we laid eyes on you. I love your many rooms and the color of your walls, have I told you lately that your beautiful? You are!

Please accept my apologies in advance for bumping you so hard as we move our stuff inside you. Please forgive me for making holes in you as we hang our memories. Please trust me when I tell you that even though you will be a complete disaster for possibly a couple of weeks that I will make you beautiful, my children will make you laugh and you will enjoy our laughter and our tears.

P.S.

Sincerely,

The Nut family

Don't worry- I will sweep your porches!

kitten paws

I was lying in bed this morning with my littlest girl next to me and as she woke up I held her hands and rubbed her palms and fingers and realized that her hands are growing up. It made me sad because her hands are the littlest hands in my house and she is the last baby. If her hands are growing she must be growing too.

It wasn’t just how big her hands felt it was that they are losing their kitten paw quality. Do you know what I mean? You know when kittens are born they have those soft paws and until they get a little older. As your little kitten plays outside, and scratches around in the litter box those soft paws lose their kitten softness.

When babies are born they have the softest paws… errrr….. hands. Those little hands and feet feel like the softest silk. Baby hands bring me to my knees, and make my heart skip a beat. I rubbed those little hands and feet until my babies couldn’t stand it anymore.

This morning as I laid there with her next to me and she held my hand and I rubbed her little hands I realized that her little hands just aren’t the little kitten paws that they use to be. The digging in the sand, the crawling on the carpet away from chasing brothers, the climbing up the slide after friends has taken a toll on those little paws and they will never feel the same as they did for all those years before she decided to get bigger.

I love watching her grow- every single day is a treat and a surprise but I miss those little silky paws.

P.S. The move is going great. We should be in our new house by tomorrow- Woo Hoo!

obsessive organizing or smart planning?

Does it seem crazy to label the whole kitchen BEFORE I move in? I'm really trying to avoid the question, you know-

"MOM, where does this go, MOM where does that go?"

I can say "read the label".

So I know it's organized and labled, the question IS-

am I obsessive?

mantle?

do you like this idea? I found it on cookie magazine and loved it. I love the way Stepahnie Nielson decorates- she is very talented. I am looking forward to seeing pictures of her new house in Utah as she recovers and builds a new life- and Im sure she will do so with dignity and grace.

I love the idea of silhouettes on the mantle- silhouettes are a perfectly wonderful way to decorate. I made them this year for our family members for Christmas. They came out so delightful- everyone loved them! I typically forget to make myself one when I make everyone else something so I only have one of Kid3, his was an experiment and I loved it!

Here is a picture of his silhouette- I made my families smaller like ornaments to hang on their trees, one of each kid.

Im still in moving madness mode I;m sure things will get back to normal eventually right?

RIGHT????

moving madness!

I went to bed early and now I’m up late… why does that happen?

I spend all the time I have to myself, you know the shower, the occasional time I can go to the bathroom alone, the few minutes I fall asleep- thinking about how to decorate this new house. I think I’m obsessed! The walls are much taller in this house. Am I going to hang everything too low? You know how you visit some people’s houses and they tend to have everything WAY too high? I am a low hanger- I like things at eye level. Tall walls could equal disaster for me! I lay in bed thinking about those tall walls and keep telling myself that I will be fine, the walls and I will come to an agreement about what to hang on them if anything at all in the tall spots.
Moving is such madness. I think I’m going mad!

Dear old house,
We have certainly enjoyed the warmth and shelter you have provided this last year but we must move onto a bigger floor plan. You’ll love your new family, they will probably be quieter, certainly less messy and probably have fewer kids.

Dear old neighbors,
I can’t say that I will miss the grouchiness or the keeping a constant eye on my teenage daughter because your son is so “cute”. I can’t say that I’ll miss your mood swings and daily changing of your rules- yes they can play at the basketball courts- no they can’t leave the yard- weird rules! I doubt I’ll miss that when you drive by and my little girl waves so sweetly at you that you totally ignore her and never wave back. You probably didn’t know that she almost never interacts with strangers and to wave at you is a big deal for her. When kids wave- WAVE BACK! I doubt I’ll miss your HUGE 80’s hair, the damage you must be doing to the ozone and your many strange habits… but I have been wrong before.

Dear security gate,
I won’t miss you. I know that you work relentlessly day in and day out never failing to open for me but I don’t really think your deterring anyone. Sorry that you have to work so hard for nothing.

Dear mailbox,
I have longed for you to be closer when we’re trotting through the rain to collect your insides; I don’t really see missing you.

Dear park across the street,
You provided hours of fun for my kids and for this I appreciate you! You would have to twist my arm to say that I will miss your sand in my carpets. I will miss your slide and the hours of entertainment you have provided my kids.

Dear neighborhood pool,
I will miss you but not nearly as much as my kids will. They loved your refreshing cool water in the heat of summer. You met their ever growing summer needs and for this I love you!

Dear other neighbor,
I have never met you or seen you but you are a dream neighbor and the quietest neighbor anyone could ever hope for. I hope you get a quiet neighbor to replace us- you deserve it!

Dear readers,
Aren’t you sweet for reading this boring post? Thank you! Hopefully I’ll have more great things to write in the new house. We are moving in Thursday and hope to have our computers up and running on Friday. Pray that I don’t go any more mad….

venting

Teenagers are very misunderstood. I know this may seem crazy but they are I know I’m right because I have two. Two misunderstood teens that I created all on my own (you know what I mean).

Teens so often get a bad rap; adults look at them and think they are up to now good, lying, cheating or stealing. I often feel bad for teens because I remember being one. I felt so very misunderstood.

There was one person who truly understood me as a teen and I loved her deeply. I spent as much time with her as possibly, I babysat her kids and soaked up her thoughts, words and goodness. I learned more from Hazel than anyone could ever hope to learn from one single person and she loved me, awkward teen and all. When she spoke to me, I knew that it was genuine, from her heart and true. She never spoke down to me, even if she scolded me, and trust me she did many times. She earned my respect by respecting me. I used her as an excuse to stay out of lots of trouble by saying I had to babysit. I can close my eyes now and see her so clearly.

She died many years ago and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t miss her for a thousand reasons. She was my role model, my rock, and my safe place as a teen. Losing her was certainly like losing a piece of me.

In hard mothering times I miss her even more. I wonder what she would tell me now as I struggle through times with my teens. I wonder how she would tell me to handle the mean neighbors who have said bad and un-true things about my children. I wonder what she would tell me about them having cell phones- good idea or bad. I wonder what she would say about them starting to drive, date and move into adulthood? I wish she were here to guide me.

My teenagers, Kid1 and Kid2 are truly good kids. Kid1 is a skater kid so I think he gets harshly judged because of it and I hate it. He loves to skateboard, right now it’s his passion in life to learn new tricks and ride fast, he is truly talented. Isn’t that what we all strive for in life; a passion, something we love and look forward to each day? I’m thrilled that his passion is skateboarding. He could be drinking, cursing and doing drugs, but he isn’t. My Kid is spending his time skateboarding outside our house with his baby sister cheering him on. This kid is the first kid to help anyone, anytime. He is a good hearted boy with a love of a skateboard. Bad thing? I don’t think it is!

Kid2 is such a sweet girl. She has really struggled to fit in here. She had such a safety net of friends and adults who supported her and truly loved her for who she was in Texas. Moving really hit her hard and I hate that my neighbors have said mean things to her. When she was in 4th grade she started a Morning Prayer group, when someone in school is the underdog she always helps them out, she looks into others hearts and can see good in anyone. She reads endless books to her baby sister, baths her, sets up entire sleepovers for her and is so sweet to Kid4 who truly is an annoying little sister.

I never cease to be proud of my kids. I am amazed daily at them, at their niceness, their genuineness, their realness and their hearts. I am so thankful to God for these children who are nowhere near perfect but who keep me on the edge of my seat every day waiting for the next great saga. My teenagers are indeed teens. But isn’t a teenagers job to be a teen? Aren’t they suppose to be a little awkward, figure out things the hard way, get their hearts broken, and make you a little crazy? If they skipped this whole process would they still be the same when they were adults?

I like my teens, I just do. I wouldn’t trade them for anything and my neighbor is truly missing out on nice kids who are willing to help, support and be lifelong friends with whoever they meet without judgment.

HEY NEIGHBOR!

I hope you get the Osborne’s as your new neighbors!

moving to a new house

I’m moving to a new house and I’m trying to reach daily goals. We are moving in 6 days- next Thursday and I am wavering back and forth about if I am either going to have so much packed that we won’t comfortably make it through the weekend and the beginning of next week, or will I not have enough packed so I will be frantically throwing things in boxes at the last minute? Does that even make sense?

Moving with kids is a delicate balance! I mean when it comes right down to the brass tacks (I always wanted to say that-hee hee) of things there is very little that we REALLY need to survive… BUT… also I like everyone to be comfortable at all times. If you know me well you know that I DO NOT travel unprepared, here are a few examples-

· When the kids were little and we lived in Colorado Springs, I had a stash of those boxed “heater” meals and a survival kit for each kid in case we ever got stranded in the snow. I never got stranded and Bat Girl made me throw them away- she’s a sucker for an expiration date.
· When Kid2 was on a girl’s soccer team, a little girl fell and broke her arm and in my trunk was an emergency kit and a roll of tin foil. We were able to use the tin foil roll as a stabilizer for her arm.
· Once a friend of mine’s keyboard went out while I was over and I had one in my trunk- if you love your computer- you know this IS an emergency!
· I use to have a roll of waxed paper in my trunk at all times for bad slides at the park- if you slide using waxed paper you can go really fast and the kids loved it!
· In my purse there is a manicure kit, a sewing kit, wipes, 2 kinds of anti-bac, Lysol, alcohol wipes, a small emergency kit…. Need I go on?

I always have jumper cables (almost always- there was that bad truck stop incident that I didn’t have them… only J would remember that one, an emergency kit, a roll of tin foil – only that once, and whatever someone might need.

ANYWAY- this is not a post about travelling, we are moving to the next town over only 20 minutes away and I do not need too much but still I struggle to pack the plates- will I leave out enough? The glasses- might we need ONE more drink? What about the beds? Should all the beds go last? If they go last will we be sleeping in a house with nothing but beds? That means no curtains, no clothes to get dressed in, no bathroom items- no glasses, like I said what if we get thirsty? I’m a total planner and I cannot for the life of me figure out the best way to plan this whole thing out. It’s not like we’re moving far but if you wake up in the middle of the night needing something, 20 minutes seems a little far to go get a glass!

I’m a major planner but I’m not good at it. I write list after list but sometimes the lists are too detailed or not enough detail, sometimes I write “make a list” on my list… is that weird?
We are excited about our move, it’s a much bigger house, more space, great yard- just the perfect house, and we love it! The kids have walked through it planning and thinking of all the new memories each will make in the new house. I keep laying in bed decorating it in my head- there are WAY more walls in this house. OH THE STRESS!

So moving just 15 minutes away is leaving me feeling just a little unprepared for meals, bathtimes, homeschool and daily life in general!

Just look at this cute house! Isn’t it totally us? Well we have to give the real credit to Bat Girl- she found this fantastic house over the Christmas and we all fell in love with it!

Sweetest thing

This is Kid3 and Kid4 having the sweetest talk. I love it!

It's a little grainy because it's from my cell phone.

These are the special conversations that life are all about!

more gross

I know it seems as though my blog has gone terribly gross all of a sudden and I can’t really deny it- I have had quite a few gross stories posted lately and here’s another-

Have you heard of the foot detox? It’s quite a strange thing that Bat girl and I have been interested in doing for at least a year now and we got our opportunity while she was here and we decided to do it. With weak stomachs and hairy legs we reluctantly put our feet into crystal clean water and were assured a detoxifying experience.

I’m not sure if it worked or not but the pictures speak for themselves! We were more and more grossed out as the time went by and the water got darker. Poor Kid4 sat with disgust and was holding her nose for a good share of the 30 minutes.

Did I feel like a new girl? Maybe a little… I was grouchy and thirsty… does that count?

Is it a scam? Who can know in this day and age.

a puzzling new year

What is your new year tradition? Do you party like it's..... well you know? Do you spend it with friends or family? Do you spend it alone in the quiet?

Our family has always done a puzzle and spent it together and as we have grown older I insist that my kids are home- off the streets, and doing a puzzle at home with us. I know it sounds lame but it's a nice to start the new year doing what you hope to do a lot of the rest of the year and to me that means spending the new year doing something calm and all together.

I waited till the last minute to pick a puzzle this year and so Bat Girl and I ran out last minute to get our puzzle and there was really not a lot to choose from. There was the Obama puzzle- I don't like doing puzzles of people. There was the puzzle of arctic animals- they were almost all white and I felt like it would be too hard. The only other one to chose was a puzzle of a painting left over from Black Heritage month. It seemed like it was good for the kids, and something that we would enjoy. It looked like a good one and not super hard so we grabbed it.

Here's the thing- the picture on the front of the box was not exactally the same as the actual puzzle. The picture says it all I'm sure and my kids were dying of embarassment and laughter as it sat on my table for 3 days while we finished it! This puzzle was hard and inappropraite. Im hoping that my new year won't be hard and inappropriate! We'll see!

Happy new year friends, I hope your turns out to be exactally what you dream of!

New Year

Friends, family, food and fun.

We have had the absolute best time with our best friends who are really just an extension of ourselves... We feel whole again being all together.

We've eaten great, played good and bad games, put together one HECK of a puzzle, watched movies and laughed ourselves sick.

what more could anyone ask for in a new year?