What a week!

The house is quiet right now, and has been for a couple of days. The boys are spending the week with my parents on the beach. They are having fun swimming every day at the pool or at the beach. There is a little snow cone place near my parents house and I am SURE that they have been going there as well!

I'm totally excited! The Whole Foods Market opened up a store closer to us and I can't wait to check it out. This market is actually a bit bigger then the one about an hour and a half away from me. I used to schedule a day to go to the market and visit some old college stomping grounds along the way. This market actually features a butcher, fresh veggies and produce, a cool bakery, and a nice little eating area. We went to one in Greenville South Carolina and it was out of this world! The local paper even had a coupon so that makes it even better! I heard they have the SIGG water bottles, so that would be great if they did, especially with the coupon. Now if they would only build a Trader Joe's!

When we head out later to go the market, I am excited about also stopping by Justice for Girls and Yankee Candle. I have some great coupons for both and they are also having some great sales! Yeah!

This morning I spent about two hours with our local power company having an energy audit done at the house. I was alarmed when our power bill arrived 3 weeks ago and immediately called to see what we could be doing different or what we could do to help our bill go down. So I had started doing little things.............washing in cold water, no heat dry on the dishwasher, running full loads of laundry, turning off lights (or unplugging so my little princess wouldn't feel the need to light up EVERYONE'S world!). I was happy with the results of the audit. We did find a little leak in one of the ducts and they offer a rebate to have that fixed. So that was cool. Then they did a check on our usage from our last bill..............we were down 15 kw! So that means by what I was doing in those 3 weeks, I was actually making a huge difference! Woo Hoo! Now tonight after we hit all the stores, I want to stop at the store to get the CFL light bulbs.

The little Princess turns 5 on Sunday! Can you believe it? It seems like just yesterday that I was preparing to have her. With my pregnancy with her I only gained 11 pounds. I wasn't really able to eat much or drink anything but water because I had gestational diabetes. I had to check my sugar intake 5 times a day and once a week I could splurge and have a crystal light! I still laugh that I used to see a 7-11 miles ahead because they offered Crystal Light slurpees, which was perfect for the Florida summer heat! We had her birthday party with her friends a couple of weeks ago because of school. So on Sunday we'll be hanging out and possibly go out to dinner........her choice. I wonder where she will choose?? Hmmm. Our tradition is that when it is your birthday you can choose what you want for dinner..........we can eat in or out, your choice, restaurant of your choice too! The boys love it! I just finished putting her gift in a bag and was delighted that the blue baby hippo webkinz that I ordered arrived today! Yoo Hoo

Well, off to get the Princess ready to head to the stores!

Fool's Gold

Today was somewhat a relaxing day. It started off rainy and windy and I spent most of the day cleaning the house and doing laundry. Usually on Friday nights we'll order a pizza and watch a movie, well last night (Friday) the kids wanted to watch Camp Rock on Disney and I watched the Daytime Emmy Awards. I don't have the time to watch the shows, but I do like reading about what goes on within each of these fictional towns. My hubby laughs about the shows but I always considered it a release from what is going on in our lives to live thru the character's experiences. Somewhat like a movie, if you will.

Well, tonight we sat down and watched Fool's Gold. I saw some previews and watched an interview with Oprah a few months back. Plus I adore my boy Matthew! LOL The movie was quite good. Lots of action and a romance to boot! The boys were laughing because they didn't think this was 'my type of movie'. ROFL

One of the neat things was the previews of upcoming movies. I am anxious to see the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants part 2 and Mama Mia! They both look fantastic!

Tornado? Computer problems? Oh my!

Have you seen this sign above? I haven't but now I know it! It means 'lookout for tornadoes'. Tuesday was a whopper of a day. I had just spent a couple of hours going thru Quickbooks and finishing all the paperwork for the month. I had reconciled all the accounts. I had to leave to pick up the kids from a playdate. All was well until I noticed the sky ahead of me was dark and scary. As I approached it got darker and darker. I turned onto the street and as I talked with the Mom and Dad their neighbor walked out and said we were in a tornado warning and they mentioned the area of this home. I had to access quickly if it was smarter for me to stay or go. I decided to stay. I detest driving anyway so for me to drive thru wicked weather would have been the worst. As we waited and watched we did hear the faint sounds of a train..........they do NOT live near any tracks. So we determined their was a tornado around us somewhere. It was quite scary! I drove home afterwards and when I arrived my hubby was sitting at my computer staring at it. My older son told me that it wasn't starting and my hubby was trying to get it rolling. He also told me that our RV was not working either! It was pulling out heat and was acting 'odd'. Oh my gosh!

Long story short, my computer is fried. A computer geek (self titled too!-LOL) has it so he can try to save the harddrive memory with all of my documents and pictures. Then we are fortunate that our computer is still under warranty so they are sending a box for repairs. I can't even imagine having to redo all of this stuff, so I am praying that all the info can be found AND saved!

Then today to make matters worse, there was another storm. Guess what? Yep, our TV got hit. So we decided that this was too strange that all of this was happening at once. Why you ask? We have lightning protection and surge protection galore? So we called out the power company and they are accessing to see if we are grounded correctly. Our electrician is coming out tomorrow to check as well.

I am SO ready for this week to be over and hopefully start with a better week soon! Our plans for Father's Day is scrapped because of the expense of all this damage.

On a good note I did something crafty! I had an estimate for someone to redo our upholstery on the kitchen chairs. They quoted us nearly $500 for the kitchen chairs alone. I couldn't stomach that much for just some fabric on chairs. So my friend Valerie and I decided to try it ourselves! We had so much fun doing the chairs. I had my first taste of power tools too..........a staple gun fueled by an air compressor! Wow, the power. I forgot to take a before shot but here is the after. The chairs were a cream color before that showed every stain that our three kiddos can muster. LOL I love this new burgundy red color! What do you think?

I hope you are having a far better week!

End of School

Another year has passed~ It seems like yesterday that school began and now it's June and the kids have their last day tomorrow. Today was my daughter's preschool graduation.........uh, Celebration. They sang songs and said a poem and then as their names were called they crossed the stage. I had to laugh at first because I was SURE that my daughter would not really participate because she said the stage was 'scary'. But she did participate and we could hear her as we sat in the audience. The kids had to say aloud what their favorite thing about preschool was and she said the Easter Egg Hunt! That must have been some egg hunt because most of the kids mentioned it, or holding the baby chicks! The teacher had some eggs in the classroom with the heating lamp, etc. The kids got to watch as the eggs hatched and tried to guess what kind of animal was being born. The answers ranged from alligator to chick to pig! ROFL



I had to prepare the teacher gifts for my 4th grader and the preschooler. I chose to get one of the mini everyday display boards from Creative Memories and decorate them for the teachers. I chose to do something basic with the boards by using an 8x8 decorated paper and a photo of my child with their teacher (or assistant). The teachers loved them and I was so happy. I try so hard to make sure it is something extra special because I know how it can be in the classroom. After teaching for nearly 17 years, I can honestly remember each and every gift that I had ever received.

I am looking forward to relaxing a little, less running around, and sleeping in! LOL However I won't be sleeping in till next week My daughter has her dance recital on Saturday.

My Favorite Room

Kelly's Korner asked about our favorite rooms and I couldn't resist showing my Master Bedroom pictures again! If you recall in February I did the 'reveal' of our master and was..........am so tickled about it. I still love it and feel so relaxed each time I walk thru the door of my room.

Here's the view of our bed. I love the chocolate and robin's egg blue color combo!

Our TV is housed in this armoire. If you notice the sign up on top, a fellow blogger/friend, Jessica made that for us. Isn't it divine!


This is my hubby's dresser and curio. I like to keep my special Longaberger baskets in the curio for display. On the dresser is a decorated "G" that Jessica also made. So cute!

I'm working on my daughter's room this week and hope to post pictures soon. I bought a cute rug and comforter set at Sam's last night.

My Friday Favorites

I was sitting here thinking I had nothing to post but then I was looking at some items that I recently bought or was given and thought I'd share what my favorites are with you!


My friend Mandy introduced me to Bobbi Brown make-up and I have to say that I do LOVE the corrector and concealer. Used with brushes these are the absolute best! I tend to get dark circles under my eyes and have searched up and down, high and low, around the world (ok, not that but you get the point, LOL) for the best product to use that actually worked. These work! They are a little pricey though. I'm going to venture to the outlets this weekend and see if they have these items.


Corrector above........

(concealer with powder above)

I'm dreaming of water these days..........longing to head to the beach, go to a lake house to visit, etc. So this scent brings the vision a little home for me. It's from Yankee Candle and is called Ocean Water. I also have found that I am not really a fan of burning candles lately. Instead I am getting tart warmers and burning the tarts or votives (without the wicks) for a wider scent thru the house. Love it!

For cleaning I have always been a fan of Shaklee (see previous post on the Get Clean hand soap), and Melalucca (see previous post on Koala Pals for kids), but recently I came across this item at Walgreens and it was on sale for $3.99, so I bought it to try. I love it. It's not sticky like the Mela product Sol-U-Mel, which I like. It's really worth a try.

Finally, a fun item that makes dusting fun is this microfiber mitt from Williams Sonoma. It is available in four different color combinations and is $7. A little pricey but is washable so I think it is worth it in the long run.



Well, off to take my daughter to pre-school! Enjoy the holiday weekend!!!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! What a whirlwind weekend that we have had.........with the flurry of activity and the heat of summer, er, I mean spring. LOL First off we had dance recital pictures to take on Saturday. Then we spent the day doing laundry, cleaning the house, and getting some work done at the warehouse.

On Friday, my daughter's preschool class held a Mother's Day Brunch for all the Mom's. It was darling! The kids were all dressed up in their Sunday best and so excited for us to be in the room. They sang two songs for us and then served us these cute little cakes and lemonade. Apparently there was a little 'spy' work being done about a month ago when the preschool teacher sent home letters for the Dad's to read and respond to........I can't believe I didn't see anything going on. LOL The local grocery store came in with premade cakes that were already basically decorated and then allowed the kids to put the special touches on the cakes with sprinkles and icing. It was yummy! My friend took some more pictures so when I get them I'll post some of those pictures too.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's out there!