House Pictures!

Seth's Room

I tried to put these in order, but whatever. Here's all of our new updates and paint jobs:) Enjoy!
I tried to get kid-less pics, but I realized I don't have one of the family room without kids. Ah, well.

Nat and Sam's Room

Levi's Room

Our Room

School Room

Our bathroom

Kid's Bathroom

Main Floor Bathroom

Family Room

Kitchen

Dining Room

Front Room

One of those moms:)

Sam was MUCH better this time. And I did tell him about the shots...well, the other kids did, because they all were asking, "Do I have to get shots?" so that led him to ask and I answered honestly...and then totally bribed him:) "Yes, you'll get a shot...but then a sticker and you can come home and pick something out of the candy bucket!!!" He was ok at "sticker". I love 3 year olds:) He screamed pretty good (but at least not until after the first shot, unlike the last time) and as soon as we walked out of the room, the nurse gave him a sucker and he immediately turned off. Nice.

After we got to the office, I was patting myself on the back for not being late AND having happy kids at the moment (we had had a couple of meltdowns right before we left). As I looked around, I noticed that Natalie's hair was still in Sunday's pigtails...well, mostly. Her clothes didn't match. Levi's shirt was too small and on backwards. This is his favorite way to wear them, but I try not to let him out of the house that way. And then I thought, "What is Sam wearing? I didn't get him dressed this morning!" Luckily, Natalie had and he was in Sunday pants and a nice long sleeve shirt. Go Natalie! Seth had remnants of breakfast + lunch on his shirt. Sigh. But, we were early!

Before I had children, I thought I would never be that parent that takes their kids out looking disheveled, with dirty faces and mismatched clothes. Ha! Now I realize that the important part is that the kids have clothes and can pick what they want, that they have food to eat 3 meals a day, and that they have siblings that care about them and are helpful. Don't get me wrong...I would really like to have a nice looking brood, but sometimes it's just important that they all get to the doctor's office with me! And somedays, that's ALL I can do. Somedays, I sit and imagine what it might be like to have children that can independently get dressed, get breakfast, and get buckled. What in the world will I do with my life at that point? I really just can't imagine it!

Trying to Revamp School

Well, Geo and I have come up with a bit of a new method for school. I will post pics and tell more about it when we get it finished. I plan on using the site Time4Learning.com. We have used it before and Levi really enjoys it. Now that the weather is getting nicer, I hope to be spending more school time outside, too. Yay for spring and sunshine! I am excited and feel very happy and motivated today.

Now, we'll see if that changes after the 3 year check up that Sam has to have today. He is HORRIBLE at the doctor. I am gearing up for that. Here's a question: Do you prep your kids for getting shots? Sam requires 2 people to hold him down while one gives the shot and screams bloody murder the entire time. I haven't told him that this appt will require shots. The last one did not (ear infection) so he seems to be a little more at ease at the thought of going to the doctor. I don't want to ruin that. We'll see if this method works. Hope you all have a great day!

PS No showings since the ones 3 weeks ago. Sad:(

Caffeine

Last week was very interesting for me. I didn't eat or sleep as much as usual, and I assumed it was because I was excited about the house and getting everything done and the house on the market. Well, last week, I also started taking a weight loss supplement. Only at the end of the week did I realize that it was full of caffeine! It was all herbal, so I hadn't even thought twice about it. I realized that I was taking approximately 2 cups worth of coffee amount of caffeine every day. And going from no caffeine to that, it really...well, it really boosted my productivity and weight loss:)

Now, when I realized this, I stopped taking it because taking an addictive substance is against my personal religious convictions. And after stopping it, then I had to deal with the "withdrawl" symptoms. Pounding headaches, SO tired all the time, and weight gain. Boo. Kind of funny though...I just wish I could find that energy again:)

3 Showings!

We had 3 showings for Saturday and 2 of them left feedback....bad feedback:( They said the house looks rough. And I agree! But for the square footage and the location, we can comfortably ask what we are asking. The problem is that all the other houses around here with our sq footage and 4 bedrooms are priced $20,000 higher and are quite a bit nicer than ours. So, if you are looking at a place like ours around here and then come to ours, yeah, it's going to look like a dump.

I wish that people could look at before and after pictures. THEN, they would want to buy my house! We have done a lot, but it was fixing problems that should have already been taken care of, so now it just looks like a normal house instead of one with an ancient air conditioner built into the wall, or a door busted off it's hinges, etc...

Many of my friends have come to help me and I am taking all their advice to heart and doing some serious shopping and making our house look more finished. Hopefully, we will get it all done and it will be a people pleaser!