Hallelujah!

It's finished!

We survived the last few weeks of life around here,

it was a lot of hard work

and I'm one that doesn't mind a little work

 but there were a few days that I was wondering if we would even make it

but thankfully we did.

If we weren't at work or running the kids to a practice or a game

then you could find Heath and I at the house

painting two bedrooms

ripping out the carpet and padding

in four bedrooms, two living rooms, and the hallway and stairs

pulling out all the staples

vacuuming all the rooms with the shop vac

scuffing, cleaning, taping off and painting all baseboards that touched carpet

and

moving furniture
we worked non stop every single day until it was done.
It was such a sweet surprise when our favorite neighbors showed up the day before the carpet was getting installed to help move the last of the furniture and clean up the kitchen, Amanda offered to clean bathrooms but there was no way that I was going to let her do that (I wanted to keep her as a friend after all.)
And then my wonderful mom came over to help us put the house back together and ordered dinner for us,
it was a great way to celebrate the ending of our big project.

So now that our new carpet is in 

life has slowed back down

and we can get back to some normal days around here.

So the other thing that has changed around here is that I now have a job.

I'm working (actually getting paid this time) at the kids' school

as a para helping out the Kindergarten, First and Second grade kids 

that might need a little extra help.

It's only 20 hours a week but it's a perfect job for me right now

having the same schedule as the kids and being right there with them 

I couldn't ask for anything more.

I wasn't really looking for a job right now but it all just kind of happened really fast

which is probably a good thing because if I had too much time to think about it

I probably would of freaked myself out.

It's so strange saying that I have a job right now

after being a stay at home mom for over eleven years

lucky me I only have six more weeks of work and then I'm off for the summer

and from there we will see what happens for next year with my job.

Looking forward to a very normal, hopefully boring week around here.

lucky 7

It's hard to believe that my little boy turned seven yesterday.

Ryan kept telling me that he wanted to have a friends party even though I had no energy or desire to plan one (does that make me a bad mom?).  My mind has been full and overwhelmed with all of our house projects, life stuff and me going back to work (more about that later) so I was hoping to skip a party this year, but he wouldn't have it.

He originally talked about having a Star Wars Angry Bird party and Amanda (my party planner) and I came up with some great ideas and it would of been the coolest party ever but I couldn't get myself to go any further with the planning.  So with that said, an email was sent out to his best buddies (which happen to be the kids of my best buddies) and the after school party at Bounce was planned. The kids had a great time, I got to visit with all of my friends, see some family I haven't seen in awhile, there was no stress or cleanup, it was awesome-the perfect kind of party! 

 Ryan's birthday morning started early with presents.  He was so excited to get his very own  Chargers jersey.  Heath was a little less thrilled, he can't understand why none of his boys like any of the teams he loves, but it's true he doesn't have any Tennessee Titans or Mississippi Bull Dogs fans around here.  I think it's pretty funny because the boys who love the Steelers and Chargers, like these teams only because of their mascots or because of how their logos look which is another reason it drives Heath crazy, he should just be happy that they love football.

Ryan's favorite gift that he got from us and Mawmaw Teresia was his very own ipod touch.  Now he can be just like his brothers and everyone should be happy that there will be no having to share, how sad is that.

 Ryan was so willing to let me take a few shots of him before school, he was all into giving me some action shots.  He's loving his new hair cut too, he is always calling it his faux hawk which I think makes him look so much older.  Like all mothers always say, I really can't believe my baby is seven today, where does the time go!  We sure do love this kid, it's a job  joy to be his mother and get to love on him everyday!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

in a nutshell...

Over the past couple of weeks we have:

Celebrated a little girl turning one

I just had to buy Kimber some squeaker sneakers like Ryan wore when he was learning to walk,

hearing the little squeaks each time he took a step was just too cute.

Cheered Ryan on as he earned his Tiger Yellow belt, he soon will be moving up to the big kids class.

Luke was my only kid to make it to school all week long, Cody missed three days & Ryan two. 

Thankfully we are all back to healthy.

I enjoyed a kick boxing class with lots of the family, always wanted to try one and now I can say that I did.  It was fun, I liked it.

We have watched a couple of Luke's flag football games in not the greatest of weather.

The coach put nicknames on the back of the jerseys for the kids.

Luke's just says McMullen, he wanted either Falon or Terrance (names from a wolf book he likes) but I wouldn't let him because we have never called him those names but he was hoping that we would start, sorry dude not happening.

Over spring break we watched a few movies, The Life of Pi, Parental Guidance (again) and The Croods.

We also picked out new carpet for the house so that meant a whole new list of projects to be done.

Things like painting a couple of rooms, painting all of the baseboards, and ripping out all of the old carpet.

I'm already tired but only ten more days of work and it will all be done.

Easter at my parents with the family.

Pictures after church, which always makes everyone so happy.

(I uploaded them too small so they don't look so good)

but I promise you that we were all looking fabulous.

The egg dying, Easter egg hunt, angel food cake, golden eggs, ceramic painted bunnies

all things you see year after year

We also celebrated this big guys birthday.

It was a little early but the family was all together so it worked out best.

Ryan didn't care he was loving every second of it,

plus he still has a friends party and his actual birthday coming up, so it's a win win win for him.

 He loved all of his presents but we all had a little fun with this one.

The weather was absolutely beautiful, it was so nice being outside.

Easter day was wonderful, 

it was that night when Cody, my mom and sister all happened to get the flu

the rest of us were thankful that it didn't spread anymore.

 Life is not slowing down at all 

if anything it's about to get a lot more crazy around here.

stay tuned