Archives for December 2013

I hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas this year! The kids woke up right around 12:30 a.m. and started asking if they could open presents. This happened several times, and finally the 2 youngest gave up and crawled into bed with my husband and I. Needless to say, I slept horrible until I got up out of bed at 6. We sleep in a King-size bed, but as you can see, the kids like to spread out.

I went to the living room to watch A Christmas Story…one of my favorite Christmas movies! I love that TBS plays it for 24 hours straight. I managed to actually watch it this year. On Christmas Eve, my husband told the kids to not expect to open presents before 8 a.m. I thought the kids would never make it, but I had a hard time waking Lucas up, and he asked me to carry him to the living room. Silly goose. As a mom, it gives me so much joy to see the kids’ faces on Christmas morning. The most-loved gifts were the nabi 2, Skylanders SWAP Force, Cabela’s African Adventures, and money towards an iPod.

Of course, we remember the ultimate gift…God sending his son Jesus to the world as a baby to die so that one day we can live in Heaven. Giving gifts to others symbolizes God’s giving, although we could never give a gift that special.
I pray that your family has had a wonderful Christmas!

 

 

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A few years ago, we had 2 parakeets, Doug and Carrie. I guess they were with us a couple of years or so before they died (we were not their first owner). I was pretty sad about their passing, because even though they were very mean, they sang beautifully. Jeremy did not like them because they were very rough. He tried many times to hand tame them, but they would just peel the skin off your hand if you held them.

I remember my husband specifically mentioning that he’d like to have a cockatiel, so I stored that in my memory banks for later use. Well, recently I decided that we needed another bird in the house (our cats are outdoor cats, so we are good there), and decided to start looking for a new feathered friend for my husband for Christmas! I mentioned this to several friends of mine, and one of them happens to be a fellow animal-lover. She sent me a link to an online ad site that is similar to Craigslist. The listing was for 4 hand-raised/fed baby cockatiels. What luck! I immediately called the breeder and spoke to her about the birds that she had. She had been hand-feeding them bird formula (I had never heard of this) since they were born, so they were very accustomed to being held, which was important to me. They were about 10 weeks old or so at the time. She did tell me that the bird would probably sell quickly, but that she had several more young birds that would be ready in a couple of months. So, I plotted and I planned. I did show my husband the pictures that the breeder texted to me, and asked him what he thought. Out of the ones left, he chose the pied pearl. He had a major case of bedhead. It was precious!

On Tuesday, December 17th, we welcomed George into our home. The kids and I call him Georgie. Jeremy gave him his name. I think it fits him perfectly. He loves to sit on your shoulder and groom your hair (and nibble your ears) and to walk around the living room. The kids are in love with him for sure.

Isn’t he adorable?! He is right around 11 weeks old right now. I was told that cockatiel eggs are about as big as the first joint on your pinky finger. They grow so quickly!

As you may remember from this post, we are in the middle of a remodel. We are still in the middle of that remodel. Things are moving somewhat slower than I anticipated. I have done all that I am physically able to do at the moment; the rest of the work that needs to happen for the next bit is my husband’s forte (floor repair, wall repair). Oddly enough, one of the things I disliked most about the house is the fireplace. It takes up a nice corner chunk of the living room. Think of what we could do with all of that space! Well, the wall behind the fireplace is also the wall behind the kids’ bathroom…the floor there was rotting from either pipes leaking, or the roof leaking, we aren’t sure which. So, a couple of Saturdays ago my husband and brother-in-law actually took out the fireplace. I’m so excited about that. We compromised and decided to put a wood stove in eventually, which I’m also excited about, because in the event the power goes out for a lengthy period in the wintertime, I can still cook out meals. Woo! Rejoice with me that the fireplace is gone! Just look at all the glorious space I have there now!

The corner there where you can see insulation? That is where the fireplace was.  It really is a good thing that we removed the fireplace, because if that’ve fallen through after we moved in, it would’ve been a major hassle, and been very drafty. The fireplace itself was also a hazard, because water leaked from the chimney to the inside where the grates are, and the ceramic (or whatever it was) was all bowed up and crumbly. We’d have probably burned the house down. How scary!

As of now, we are leaving that hole in the ceiling there since we will put a wood stove in later. How convenient is that?! I have decided that this is my favorite wood stove. I think my husband agrees with me, but we will have to wait and see.

 

I still have only gotten the kitchen, master bedroom, and master bathroom painted so far. Until we pull the carpets out of the boys’ room, I can’t do anything in there. We did finally pull the living room carpet as you can see above, but since we need to put up more Sheetrock and do more putty work, there’s no sense painting right now.  The remodel is slow-going since my husband tends to work long hours, and doesn’t feel like doing much else when he finally gets home. No one wants me putting up Sheetrock, either. In case you didn’t know, I tend to break things easily. Yikes!

 Y’all, I don’t know about you, but if I don’t write stuff down somewhere, I will forget it. It’s pretty much a guarantee. I blame it on Mommy Brain. I used to be somewhat smart; that went out the door 13 years ago, though. When I first heard about and saw the Well Planned Day planners, I was in love! They have lots of planners available for students, and a couple for parents, including the Family Homeschool Planner and an On the Go planner that fits right into your purse! The Family Homeschool Planner is a great way to plan your homeschool year, and is a full year planner running from July 2013-June 2014.

  Today, I’m very happy to say that I am giving away 1 copy of the Family Homeschool Planner! I realize it’s nearly halfway through the school year for most of us, but it’s never too late to start your planning. This planner will help you stay very organized, and even has 4  report cards that you can fill in for your children. Simply enter below using the Rafflecopter. Good luck!

Disclaimer: This giveaway is in NO WAY sponsored by HEDUA. Please allow 2 weeks for delivery after the winner’s name is chosen and contacted.

a Rafflecopter giveaway