A Day in the Life

I have gotten back into the organization mode, BIG TIME!! More on that to come, but I also have been religiously keeping track of our schedules and daily routines. Rosie now has a calender in her room keeping her abreast of things/events coming up and days she needs to take a shower. So as I was looking at Ali Edwards Blog http://www.aliedwards.com/ this past week and came across her Day in the Life series. It chronicles her daily routine and observations about the day, special gratitudes and her favorite moments. I was inspired and printed one of the printables right then and there. Yesterday I decided to put the 'Day in the Life' into action. Since I wasn't running in the morning and was sitting around before the kids woke up (a rare moment) I took pencil to paper and started to write what had happened that morning... not much since it was only 6 o'clock. :-) Throughout the day I took the paper out and jotted down a few notes and here is what a Day in the Life of this mommy looks like.




4:00 am -- still sleeping, Thank Goodness! I know my sister sometimes starts her day at 4 but I like a little bit more sleep.


5:07 am -- alarm goes off to go running, but Nate informs me he is getting up for a 6 am meeting and has to go into work. So I crawl back into bed and get a few more zzzz's.


6:11 am -- Alarm goes off! Time to start the day & get dressed and ready. If I don't get ready now before the kids wake up then I am most certainly going to be dropping them off at school in pjs. There isn't enough time to get everyone ready and me if I wait til the kids are all up and running around the house. I know this from experience. I let the dogs out, put 3 laundry baskets of clean clothes on the bed so I am forced to fold them and put them away before we go to bed that night. I check e-mail and facebook (morning, noon, and night rituals) before I hear the first sounds of my kids.


6:36 am -- Start the morning routine. I go into the little girl's room and see that Lil Miss is talking up a storm and Gigi is in her bed playing in with her flashlight. (the flashlight is kept under her pillow to help her get to the bathroom at night without getting too scared, it is also probley why Lil Miss woke up) While changing Lil Miss's diaper and getting her dressed, bubba sneaks up behind me and scares me to death! He is already changed and ready to go. He asks me to button his sleeves, because his new thing recently is wearing a button down shirt to school just like his daddy! Last week he came in wearing a shirt and a tie, no joke. I made him take off the tie to go to school, mean mommy. Bubba is my morning person. He is usually dressed before I even have to ask and has a smile on his face ready for breakfast. By the time we have Lil Miss dressed and have an appropriate outfit for Gigi picked out (after her dissing mommy's 3 other outfit choices) we walk over to Rosie's door to wake her. To my surprise she is up. Not completely awake but up out of the bed. I choose an outfit out for her.... she is much easier to please because all I have to do is pick something out with sequins/or shiny and we are good to go.


7:07 am -- Lil Miss, Bubba and I are in the kitchen putting breakfast on the table. Bubba gets fruity cheerios, Lil miss gets an orange and a piece of bagel with cream cheese, and I start a cup of coffee. Rosie comes down to the kitchen shortly after the breakfast is on. She looks a little dishevelled but at least she is dressed.



7:15 am -- Gigi is still not down stairs eating breakfast, so I go up to search for her. She is sitting in her room sitting in her underwear playing with her doll Addy. She tells me she doesn't want to go to the dr. and get shots today, bribing her with nothing but fun today if she gets dressed and goes me with to the dr. I get her downstairs to eat.

7:20 am -- Bubba is cleaning out the dishwasher, Lil Miss is parked in front of the tv watching Sesame Street, and Rosie is ready to get her hair done.



7:52 am -- Girls hair is done, they have begged me to wear makeup so each of them has a hefty amount of lip gloss on their lips and all the kids are dressed.




7:59 am -- start the process of putting shoes on and going out the door. This may seem like it should only take a minute or two but we also have to solve the mystery of wear is Rosie's glasses. It has snowed through the night and snow is on the ground, so I have to disappoint Bubba by telling him he has to take off his chuck taylors and put on his snow boots. Without much fuss he has quickly switched and his boots and snow pants are in his bag to go to school.



8:11 am -- we are walking out the door. The kids have their backpacks, snow pants and snow boots, and hats and gloves. Mommy has packed the diaper bag, but forgot the grocery list and checks to be deposited on the counter.



8:21 am -- after prayer in the car on the way to school and good bye kisses the oldest two kids are out of the van and into school.



8:24 am -- At Hy-Vee to grocery shop when I discover that I forgot the grocery list. Me and the girls only pick up a few items since Gigi wants her own little grocery cart we fill that with what mommy could remember. She begs to do self check out and I do. She scans all the items we had in her little cart (her favorite part) she bags it all (3 bags full) and puts them back in her cart. She is Miss Independent and doesn't let mommy help at all. I was going to hop right over tot he bank but since I forgot my deposits I head straight to the Dr.'s office.



9:02 am -- early of course we walk into the Dr. office for our 9:20 appt. To my surprise we don't have to wait longer than 5 mintues before we are taking back for Gigi's 5 year appt. The nurse gives Gigi the wonderful news that her vaccinations are all up to date for kindergarten and gives her a clean bill of health and fills out all the forms for kindergarten. Whoohoo.

{feeding the horse out of the bucket}

{Lil Miss driving the combine}

10:00 am -- Girls and I head to the Family Museum to play. I thought Lil Miss knew her name pretty well until she was running around the place in the opposite direction from which I was calling her. LOL The girls played hard for an hour and a half.

11:40 am -- pitstop at Wendy's to pick up lunch and bring it home. We were going to go somewhere to eat out but Lil Miss was fading fast, so we took lunch to go.

12:14 pm -- Lil Miss goes down for a nap. As soon as our lunch is all cleaned up, Gigi and I head up stairs to fold laundry. Gigi gets out her workbooks and works on her directional words like in between, near and far. I sped through the folding of the clothes as fast as I could because I was losing Gigi attention. She doesn't take naps on days that she doesn't pee the bed at night so we were successful in that the night before, YEAH! She kept pleading to me to stop cleaning and do something fun. For some reason I didn't really argue so I put Daddy and I's clothes away in their spots and we headed to the basement. My sister had gotten me three buttons for the wall as a house warming gift, this was way back in october but I had done nothing with them so I decided today was the day of paint. So I pulled out the kids painting smock and set up an art area in the family room and we got to work. Besides painting 2 of the 3 buttons I also painted one of the 3 wooden boxes I bought for the Office. Thanks to pinterest I found a really cool idea to attach some wooden crates to the wall as shelves. I needed something fun in that room, since it is my funky room with aqua walls and fun vibrant colors as accent. I fell in love with the deep purple I painted on the crate. I almost wanted to paint all 3 that color... but no... one will be a rich purple, one lime green, and one orange. Yes, I am sure my mom and Pam are gagging right about now, but I am nothing but colorful!!! LOL While we were painting we watched Dumbo which happens to be Gigi's most favoritest movie right now. Her words not mine.

2:40 pm -- my alarm goes off on my phone (it is set for every weekday at this time) Time to get ready to pick up the kids from school. I had the paint and mess cleaned up at this time. We headed upstairs so mommy could change into her workout clothes and put some shoes on. Like clockwork, Lil Miss started making noise in her room and we walked into the room with her throwing everything out of her crib.

3:01 pm -- we are headed out the door once again with coats, shoes, and hats on to go wait outside the kids school till the bell rings at 3:20 releasing them. I park in the same place everyday and my children are always one of the last kids out of the school. I go through the mail while the kids watch a Barbie movie in the van. Gigi fell asleep right away as soon as we left the house so all is quiet. I was pleasantly surprised when I got to chat with my sister Beth during this time too. One of the few times during the day when I have time to talk.

3:28 pm -- I finally see my kids s-l-o-w-l-y walk to the car. Bubba is always filled with words on how his day went and Rosie tries to get a word in as we drive the short drive home. We get home put a snack out for the kiddos and quickly all go the restroom before we are back out the door.

4:15 pm -- we check in at the YMCA. Tuesday is Taco Tuesday. Ask the kids what Tuesday is and they will say the same thing. Since the first of the year I have made it a point to always make it to the Tuesday night Zumba class at the Y. I can't always make it to the Thursday night class because of Kids For Christ... but my Tuesday night is non negotiable. I drop the two little ones of at child watch, the two older ones at Y Pals and then head upstairs to run on the elliptical until class starts.

5:30 pm -- Covered in sweat and full of energy, I pick up the kids and sign them out and we head to the van. We pull through the Taco Bell Drive thru... Rosie knows our order by heart and take our warm tacos home to eat.

5:50 pm -- daddy is at home working on the trim in the bathroom and the kids all head for the table with their tacos and start eating. Before they bite into their first taco, we all say grace and recite the Our Father which we are learning this week instead of a bible verse.

6:30 pm -- Bubba heads up to the shower, and Mommy and Rosie sit down to do math homework. Rosie was missing on Thursday because of a fever so she didn't understand what they were doing with counts so we spent some time learning a new skill. We finished the homework and she headed upstairs to get in the shower and Bubba came down to do his homework. I like kindergarten work because we are only working on counting by 2's, 5's, and 10's. Mommy can do that!!

7:15 pm -- Rosie finally makes it out of the shower with steam coming out of the bathroom and water ALL over and the it's the two little girls turn for a bath. I throw Lil Miss and Gigi in the tub and start scrubbing. Lil Miss is starting to love bath time so we throw in some toys and get to turn into prunes.

7:50pm -- Everyone is cleaned and ready for bed. We start the bedtime ritual of reading bed time stories and prayers. Gigi is the first (youngest to oldest) and picks a snow white princess story. Daddy pitches in and reads to Bubba and hopefully made him read some but I wasn't there to witness. And then it is Rosie's turn. She is supposed to read a book to me from school every night and then I read a chapter out of one of her books. We don't make our 8 o'clock bedtime but by 8:20 everyone is in bed.

8:22 pm -- Lil Miss's screaming gets to Daddy and I and Daddy goes in to save her. We started on Sunday to put things on her thumb to stop the thumb sucking and since then the night time hasn't been so easy. She doesn't have the comfort of sucking her thumb putting her to sleep. Daddy took her downstairs and Mommy went back to putting more clothes away and folding two more loads of laundry so we could actually go to sleep without a pile of clothes under us. Time to read a little in my devotional and right a little in my journal. Read tommorrow's Love Dare which is ask your spouse to tell you three things that cause him or her to be uncomfortable or irritated with you. I must do so without attacking him or justifying my actions. (so nate I am asking you to name three things -- and only three things. I guess if I do it this way without physically asking you can think I have ulterior motives, right?) :-)

9:15 pm -- get a text just as I was going to jump in the shower.... Can you come get our baby girl she fell asleep. So I head downstairs with a diaper to change girl and put her into the crib. Of course she wakes up as I am changing her diaper and when I go to lie her down she scream s bloody murder.

10:20 pm -- After Daddy put her to sleep again we successfully get her into the crib. Two hours later I get to take a shower.

10:46 pm -- I am in bed.... put to sleep while listening to Nate's book on tape. I couldn't even tell you what it is about because I was out!

AND that's my day. I am very nervous how next year is going to pan out with three kids having to do homework after school. I don't know where I am going to come up with more time. When I write it all down it seems like a lot but if you look at the house it doesn't look I did anything. I mean the dishwasher got cleaned out and I cleaned the dishes after breakfast, but there was still dishes in the sink when I went to bed. How does the work when we ate out for both lunch and dinner? i didn't have time to sweep or clean off my desk both things i wanted to get done. I did get my workout in though and that was important so all in all it wasn't a bad day. And I have to say the kid's were in outstanding moods and so was mommy. Daddy even made it a point to comment on my good mood. As an observation, I would have to say that my mood is directly linked my children's moods/attitudes. Kids Happy = Mommy Happy

Things I overheard was Lil miss saying -- "there he is" clear as a bell. Recently she has been able to respond to where is her belly button by pointing to her belly button. Last night while Daddy was in the room I asked Lil Miss where her daddy was and then in a sing song voice I replied to myself "There he is!" and perfectly she repeated "there he is". Nate and I both looked at each other and said did she really say that! Also Bubba confided in me that "he didn't do anything wrong" but he was playing with a little girl at school and out of the blue she went and kissed him on the cheek. The teacher told them that we don't kiss anyone but our mother, father, or family. He told us that he wouldn't let her do that to him again. We are going to have to watch out for those feisty kindergarten girls!! LOL

Gratitudes -- I just want to be thankful for a wonderful day. not everyday goes this smoothly and if I was keeping track of my daily tasks from today you would have heard a different story. (today not going as smoothly as yesterday!) I am glad I wrote this all down so that I can see that if I keep a positive attitude and my kids see that we are all much happier. I was also much more prepared the day I wrote this than today. Today I was still in my workout clothes when the kids woke up (15 minutes early) so I already felt overwhelmed. If I could keep and not fret over not being on a set schedule it would be a much more pleasant start to the day. Yesterday the kids were walking into the school at 8:21.... today 8:26 -- I hope they don't come home saying they got a tardy. And then I sit back think so what! So they get a tardy, if I wouldn't get so worked up about being on time, I wouldn't have this dread in the morning that "oh no we are going to be late!!" I am also immensely thankful for the time I get to spend with my two little ones. I know they will grow up so fast and these little things that we get to do during the week are pretty special. That time at the family museum seeing the girls play together and run around laughing were my favorite of the day! I didn't worry about what time it was or what we have to get done today.. I was actually being in the moment. AND that is pretty wonderful!

I do need to mention that I could have been doing more. I watched 3 tv shows throughout the day on the DVR (parenthood, biggest loser and the good wife) -- not every minute is accounted for during my time line :-) The time spent painting the buttons and crates with Gigi was actually a lot of fun and daddy would have been so upset with me having paint in the family room .... but we were careful!!! ;-)

Let the celebration begin

{we made Gigi use the birthday bib on her birthday!}

It was a birthday celebration all weekend in the Schulte household. It started Friday and the girl was spoiled up into today. Tomorrow will be such a let down. :-( We are currently feasting on leftover birthday cake to fill up on this FAT TUESDAY. This mommy has been on a diet for a while so I am really trying not to indulge on this day. Feeding Lil Miss leftover cake and taking a nibble here and there is ok for me. I know Lent is about giving up and "sacrificing" something that is really important during this time. A small price to pay when Jesus gave his life for us, so I have given up soda for Lent. (my best friend Mountain Dew will be so lonely) I feel it is really more about "doing" things instead of "giving" up. That is why besides giving up soda for the next 40 days, I am also "doing" more to change my life. For the past 2 1/2 months I have been running in the morning training for the Cap City 1/2 marathon. I know, you can't seriously see this girl running 13.1 miles. Well, it's not pretty and not fast but this past weekend I ran 5 miles!!!! My longest yet, and that combined with the walking I did I totalled 7.36 miles on Sunday! I am very proud of myself. So Lent I will continue to improve my running and NOT give up. I also started over the weekend doing more reading in the bible. 3 weeks ago we started learning bible verses as a family. Over a weeks time we talk about the bible verse, read the story in the bible in coordinates with, and then memorize the verse. This has motivated me to really strengthen my relationship with the Lord and spend the time every night reading a little in the bible. Over the weekend I picked up a devotional journal too and have started to reflect on MY life. I spend so much time analysing each child and trying to solve their problems... that I forget that I need to work on my attitude and reaction to situations as well. Trying to regulate myself over this Lenten season is a goal AND if I am working on my relationship with God and my relationship with myself, I might as well throw in my relationship with Nate as well. I started The Love Dare on Friday with Nate. If you aren't familiar it is was made hugely popular by the movie "Fireproof." I spent a little time on Friday afternoon at the book store and came across the Love Dare once again on the bookshelf right in front of me. I came straight home, found the copy I had bought a long time ago after just finishing the movie (I think I made it to day 2 last time) and started it right away. I am on Day 4 of the Love Dare and up until now I don't know if Nate even noticed I was doing anything different. He will now after reading this -- if he reads the blog? So more than just giving up soda -- I am trying to work on myself and my attitude. Those of you who know me closely know that the past month or so I have hit some lows. I would say I have definately walked a fine line on being depressed. I can't blame it on winter weather because the weather has been more like spring. In my world it just seems that everything came falling in at one time. So now I am digging myself out of my funk and coming back to the real world showing the people around me that I am not the person I was the last couple of months. Instead of sitting in front of the computer at night searching pinterest, looking at facebook, or reading inspirational mommy blogs who I admire.... I am finding "me" time to reflect. This may sound like such an easy task, but I have struggled to put all the tasks that need to be done out of my head and just sit in bed and read or pray. Harder than it looks...

{daddy's chocolate chip pancakes} What makes like a little better is a yummy start to the day! On Sunday daddy made his wildly popular pancakes with a Gigi twist of chocolate chips. We enjoyed every bite!!

{someone loves pancakes}

{opening gifts}

Uncle Neil made Gigi wait all day to open her gift until he could "watch" her open it via skype. Even though the package came in the afternoon she waited only asking us 6-7 times if she could open it. As soon as she heard the skype signal coming through the computer she was excited!! She thought the box held clothes.... but to her astonishment it was an American Girl Doll. She is in heaven!!!

{So excited for her birthday gift -- an american girl doll from Uncle Neil}
Addy is now a part of the family. The doll goes everywhere with us.

{Skyping with Uncle Neil -- Lil Miss is a big fan of skype}

{there was some cuddle time this weekend -- this is my favorite!!}

For a treat we went to Monkey Joe's (a inside bounce house) on Sunday Afternoon to play. The little girls and I had been there before but the big kids had not. I told Daddy to bring his computer to do some work because there was a parent's lounge with comfortable chairs and couches and a big screen tv. I did not disappoint. I think I made all the kids happy -- even the biggest one, daddy!!

{monkey joe -- yes he is a purple monkey!}

The toddler area was perfect for Lil Miss. She couldn't be pulled away from the mini slide in the play area. Up and down, Up and Down, she went. It made this mommy tired.

{birthday girl -- all smiles!!!!}

{I can't believe this cake is all for me!}

When we got home from bouncing us silly we ate a dinner of turkey tenderloin and macaroni and cheese (guess who picked that?). The icing on the cake was birthday cake. The birthday girl picked Ice Cream Cake. Yummy!!!
{our boy hustling on the court}
Saturday we all made it to bubba's second to last basketball game. He does exceptionally well but needs to work on team work. Nate was constantly telling him to pass the ball but he said he was open and kept taking the shot. How can you argue? He also is watching to much OSU basketball that he is trying to use skills above his level. This week he tried dribbling under his legs once again, which he is pretty good at. BUT the funny one was when he tried to pass behind his back to another player. It went the wrong way. I think he still needs a little practice before the NBA. When you ask him what he wants to be when he grows up he will automatically say a basketball player but then adds that he also wants to do engineering. The first time he said this at the dinner table I may have made a comment such as "basketball playing engineers are pretty rare". I was rolling on the ground laughing.... Nate did not think this was funny. :-)
{Big girl staying busy during her brothers game}

{day off school scavenger hunt}

On monday the kids didn't have school because of President's Day so mommy had to be creative how to pass the time. Most of the day was unexciting. We ate breakfast, kids played DS and wii, a couple UNO games were battled out, and we watched High School Musical 3. The only creative activity we did was a scavenger hunt. The kids hunted high and low for 10 items put on a list. With Rosie being the leader reading off the list they knocked off the scavenger hunt items one by one. It was the 25 minutes needed to put supper on the stove.

{someone stole sisssy's glasses}
We had some silly times over the weekend ... like always!

{doing addy's hair}

{of course, the dolls had to eat breakfast with us}

I think turning 5 was pretty good for our little Gigi!!! She had a blast and I think the rest of us did too.

My Little girl is all grown up!!

Happy Birthday to our little Miss GIGI!! Our "baby" girl is 5!!! I cannot believe the little girl I held in my arms 2 1/2 years ago is now getting ready to go to Kindergarten this coming fall. YIKES!! This is when Gigi was a baby. I hold these few pictures of the kids priceless since they are before they came into our lives and their family was able to give us a few glimpses into their past. These snapshots are an amazing gift from their birth family.

{First day of preschool}

{The day we straightened Gigi's hair}

She has definitely grown up. I can't imagine life without this little ray of sunshine, she lights up our life. Happy Birthday to Gigi!!! The kids are so glad today is president's day that they get to stay home and celebrate with her and do "fun" stuff with their little sister. That "fun" stuff probley includes some wii, some ds games, a little snacking, a trip to the Family Museum and Ice Cream Cake when Daddy gets home tonight. So I better go start the day!!!

How do I love thee?

We are in full lovebug swing around here. This past week mommy has been in the valentines spirit. We have had fun valentines inspired snacks, lots of heart shaped crafts and delicious meals that are a certain someone's favorite to spoil the loved ones in my life. {these three are a few of the loves in my life}

Rosie and Bubba couldn't stop talking about their valentine's party all week. They had their valentines all signed and packaged for the big day. For Rosie, we had to make a box to collect the valentines. Can you believe that the box is an old EGGO waffle box that we had finished off that morning? Mommy is terrible at keeping old boxes. I don't keep them they go right out the door into the recycling. So recycling an EGGO box, I thought, was pretty thoughtful. The perfect size!! We wrapped it with wrapping paper and Rosie had fun adding her special touches. The kids came home with their backpacks full of sugar on Friday. There was a swan dive into the candy and they only came up to take a breath occasionally. I don't know if any one heard mommy tell them to save room for supper. To make us even more sick with sugar overload, the girl scout cookies arrived Friday after supper. Good thing is that over half of our cookies are sold. YEAH!! The bad part is that we still have to sell the other half. If interested please let us know we would love to have this temptation out of the house. Daddy has decided it is his own personal supply of sugar!!! Help us so that we don't all add 10 pounds to our figures in the next couple of weeks.

{popcorn and a movie.... not pictured were Nate's starburst}
Nate and I actually got out on Saturday night. We used a new babysitter, the best friend of our normal babysitter. Oh, and when I say normal babysitter, I mean the only babysitter the kids have had since moving here who has been to the house 4/5 times. With a new babysitter we are already nervous. If you have any spent any time alone with our brood you would know that they can be exhausting and overwhelming. We decided to forgo dinner so we wouldn't be gone that long and just go to a movie. I suggested "Red Tails" since it was a movie we both wanted to see and I didn't want to here Nate complaining while I dragged him to a chick flick. (I did really want to see the "The Vow" too!) The movie was about the Tuskegee Air Men in World War II. They were an all African American pilot group and struggled to be significant in a world that still saw their race as inferior. Before going to the movie we had both did our research... I am anything but an informed viewer. The movie wasn't getting rave reviews but the premise and content of the movie was intriguing for both of us. It was a good movie but I left it feeling tense. Of course it is a war movie so people are going to die throughout the film. So I sat there tense in my seat not trying to fall in love with any of the characters in case of their death. I would recommend the movie to anyone who likes war flicks. The credits rolled and mommy had only looked at her phone a 1/2 dozen times to make sure the babysitter hasn't called with a problem. All in all a very good night.

{a blurry picture... but this poor baby was so tired she wanted to take a nap in the laundry basket}

This past week the kids participated in a fundraiser at Chick Fil A for the Kids for Christ program at their school. Rosie and Bubba helped wash tables, get refills, and sweep the messes off the floor. They both got to work with their friends and it was a pleasure to see them trying to be so helpful. Makes this momma proud. The only thing that would have made it better is smiles on their faces and cooperation when mommy and daddy were trying to leave to go home. They didn't want to leave, but we still had homework and baths to fit in before going to bed.

{bubba and a friend from school}

{Our hard workers}

Last week we put together some special valentines for a few of our loved ones (a package should arrive soon!). But mommy found this valentines mad lib via pinterest after the packages had gone out. Each child took turns filling in the blanks for a specialized valentine. Here are a few of the funny stories that came about.....

The mad libs were found over at http://www.overthebigmoon.com/ I hope you enjoy!!!

Doggy baths, Valentines, and More

Our weekend is over and it is already Tuesday. I am glad I took a few pictures this weekend to remember it all since it went by in a blur. Mostly a dusty sawdust covered blur... but a blur nonetheless.

On friday night the dogs desperately needed a bath so into the shower they went. I had two big helpers (bubba in the shower and Gigi on drying duty) to make the process go smoothly. they came out smelling like roses!!! Yeah, now we don't mind snuggling on the couch. :-) {wet dog smell going bye-bye}

{empanada dough}
For Friday night dinner I rolled out some empanadas. This brought back memories for Nate and I since the last time we had an empanada was in Colombia we went on a mission trip for Opportunity International. Mine weren't as good as the ones munched on the streets of Bogota but they were still good. Gigi loved the "innards" to the empanadas and Lil Miss loved the crust.
{roasted Brussel sprouts and butternut squash for vegetable lasagna} On Saturday morning while the boys were at the basketball game, mommy quickly whipped up a vegetable lasagna. It was a HUGE disappointment to Daddy who knew I was making lasagna but when he got home it wasn't the traditional kind. it did not receive any stars on a scale of 1-5 since mommy was the only one who liked it. You win some you lose some, right? {my little helper} I do have the stuff to make traditional lasagna and will pop that out this week so daddy will forgive me for fooling with his favorite meal. :-)
{we bring you this commercial break for a sing off!}

{I know who my heart belongs too!!!}

So we worked hard and long but the floor is done!! Hallelujah, Hallelujah!! {Hallelujah Chorus is running through my head right now as a theme song for this post!} There were many splinters, sore backs and knees, a few cuss words, and lots of sweat but it is done and it sure is preeeettttyyyy. It wasn't til 3:45 on Sunday afternoon til the last piece was in place. I think Nate milked out this project long enough. HAHA I was guilted into helping all weekend to complete it (many other chores around the house went undone) and on Sunday it finally happened.

{one more row....hurry up Nate, I want my house back}

There is still some more things to do like put the trim back up but I have already claimed the rooms back. I was sweeping the floor and curtains and nooks in the ceiling as Nate was putting in the few last rows. Getting antsy I couldn't wait for the construction to be done. I immediately started to haul all his tools and "stuff that does not go in my house" out to a pile in the garage. I got vetoed in carting the air compressor out the door because apparently he needs that for the trim so for now the air compressor is an accessory in my otherwise starting to become back to normal house. I wiped down the icky walls covered in sawdust and dirt and little by little I saw my paint color back. We finished up with all our work just in time for the Super Bowl. Okay that isn't entirely true, we DVR'd the Super Bowl just so Nate could go get Ice Cream for Whitey's for Supper and then we started to watch the game.... or the commercials which was the only thing I was watching. I had big plans to make a nice meat and cheese tray and some spinach pin wheels and some dessert for the Super Bowl..... but that wasn't happening when I was exhausting myself on the floor all day.

{the dust... I wasn't kidding}
{the dust is gone!!!!}

Oh and don't tell ... but we also had popcorn and Doritos at half time -- or when you watch with DVR... sped up football game so the kids can watch halftime and go to bed. :-)

{we made ourselves nice and comfy and we were all in our pjs}

Mommy tired to relax in front of the tv and forget the mess that was still upstairs and in the garage... I was somewhat successful. The next morning though I was up and cleaning and getting rid of more dust bunnies.
{the foyer.... and a model who wanted to be in every picture}
{still a mess in the living room.... but mommy only has so many hours in a day!!!}
{our dining room!!!!!}

{What you can't see is the layer of sawdust on everything in my garage}
This is what happens to a space during a project. Can't wait til this is all cleaned up too!!! We had to take a break from cleaning and putting in the floor this past weekend to make valentines for a play date for Lil Miss and Gigi on Monday.

{thanks pinterest for helping us come up with cute ideas for v-day cards}
{making Lil Miss's valentines}

{baby friendly valentines... teddy grahams}

{Lil Miss all dressed up to go out}

The playdate was at Barnes and Noble and the Quad City Moms Blog hosted this little get together. It is always a good time. There was reading time, the passing out of the valentines, and free ice cream. Need we say more? You can visit their blog at www.quadcitymomsblog.com I am actually the lucky recipient of their mommy makeover next month!!! I can't wait. Any suggestions on how to change up my hair?

{the three of us at the playdate-- great picture huh?}

Don't judge Lil Miss's bambam type pony tail. She was blessed with thick hair like her mommy and it is too thick to keep down and too straight to lay down in a pony tail. I ha the cute clip to snap in to pull the ponytail to lay down.... but Lil Miss kept yanking it out. So this is how she looks most days. It works and is practical... just like her mommy's do.

{gigi was enraptured in the story}

{yesterday wore our little baby out!}

{first family dinner since floor is done!}

The most wonderful news of all that I can post about is that we finally have the big dinner table back in the dining room and last night we were able to all sit down at the table and enjoy a family meal. It might just have been left overs, but it was family time. We went around the table telling what each one did today and I think we really missed this time in the last month. Here's to many more family dinners!!