Charlotte's room is emptied out, and is now a work in progress. I stripped the wallpaper border and got right to work! I had plenty of help!
Please note, that my camera has a shadow, so all my pictures have this blob in them! It takes on different characteristics every so often, but is always there :(
I picked 2 colors, and started in. The top part of the wall is called Cottage Linen. I love it. It didn't take long to realize, this would take at least 3 coats!
It was a long night getting the first 2 coats on. Yesterday morning, I started bright and early, and finished up the whole thing around 6 last evening. Once I was done, I decided the ceiling needed a coat of paint too, so I am doing that this morning.....I already have the major part of the ceiling done, and just have to do the edges with a brush. The bottom color is called Smoky Slate. It is a green-blue-grey color, depending on the light. I LOVE it's crisp clean look.
Next, that nasty carpet gets pulled out and a new remnant put in. Hopefully, that will happen on Sunday morning, and I can get my room put together by evening.
Charlotte is all moved in to her Teen Palace. These pics have a terrible glare from the lighting down there, but it can not be helped...you get the idea.
This is her "living area".
She has been begging for that picture above the bench forever! Now she is able to enjoy it! She has no television hooked up, but her DVD player is connected. All the kids have enjoyed watching movies down there over the last few days. I pray she keeps it nice.
Her "bedroom" is set up in the back of the room behind the couch.
On that wall to the left, outside the pic, is her vanity and the shelves that hold all her books. She is a HUGE lover of books! I think she will be happy with this set up!
That is all for now. I will be back next week when it's all done! Right now, I am going to juice my breakfast, and get back to work!
It will be good to take tomorrow off and just relax!!!
They were here 4 nights and left on New Years Day. It was a wonderful time with those babies, and I treasure every minute. When they left, it was so quiet, I almost couldn't stand it! All that was left was this....
I left it there for most of the day....just wasn't ready to let them go.
In the meantime, I am thankful that God gave me the wisdom, even in a way I never expected, to make the right choices for my family. It hurts my pride to say, had I just listened to my husband in the first place...but you know I have to figure it out on my own sometimes. I am blessed to have a husband who gets that about me.
I can't share photos of the kids and not mention the girls....they continue to love each other and play and cause all kinds of their own drama...but it is fun drama! I sure love these girlies!
(the small one wears the big one out!)
So it is the new year, and even thought the first few days of mine were rough going, it does not mean my 2012 is without promise! I spent the week between Christmas and New Year like I do every year.... I wrote my vision for the coming year. Back in the early 90's, my Pastor, (Pastor Mike, from my church in McHenry) did a New Years teaching on writing the vision...see Habakkuk 2. Ever since, I have been writing my vision for the coming year. He taught me how to use specific categories....since then, I have designed these around my own life, and have come up with the following.....many of these are the ones he gave us to use in an outline (Gosh, he is a gifted teacher! I sure miss him!)
I put the categories as a heading and then make more detailed goals underneath...just 1-3 goals per heading, though a couple of categories got more this year. For example, under Homemaking Goals, I have listed, Organize each room, Use binder schedule daily, Use my monthly cleaning schedule.....
Also, along with using the binder schedule, I am using a daily PODA....
Now, what happens when you get off track for any reason? I had a horrible cold yesterday...I am much better today thanks to Zicam...but I did NOTHING yesterday, which was scheduled to be a big cleaning day! Well I did make my bed and had to run the errands on the list, but other than that I laid around or hand quilted the day and evening away! This morning I read 
Now go write your vision!!!! Make it plain on tablets, so that you can see it and run with it. Here is to a productive 2012!!!
She is certain I put the tree there for her enjoyment! Finally I just left her in there this afternoon, and eventually she came out! Remember how I could not figure out WHO took those pics of the kitties? Well, um, it was me. I was reminded by one of the kids. Thank goodness I did not accuse someone of fibbing! I really thought one of them had...I am not naming names! 
My mother in love is having open heart surgery tomorrow to replace a valve. She is such a sweet lady and a huge blessing to our family. Please say a prayer for a fast and full recovery and for the actual surgery (in the morning). 
It has been crazy-busy here this week. Charlotte got braces on her upper teeth this morning. She gets the lower ones on January 4th. She also got her hair cut a couple of weeks ago....just below the shoulders....and layers added. Her straight hair is now FULL of curls! It was the strangest thing! I need to get a pic for you all...the back is all ringlets of curls! I thought the girl had used a curling iron, but no...it is all natural. She NEVER had curls before. Weird.
I have been writing on my food/weight loss blog (in fact I wrote this entire blog post, pictures included, over there before I realized I was on the wrong blog!). If you want to read it, you can click on the fruit tree on my sidebar and it will take you there. Lots of changes in my diet and I am down 24 pounds since August 2nd when I joined WW. Anyway, I thought it best to separate these subjects....of course this blog is a hodge podge of everything in my life. 
I plan to make a quilt for Emerson's birthday in September. TJ has his Sailboat quilt here and Em needs a special quilt for at Grandma's house too!
She also made me 2 Infinity Scarves! I am HOOKED!!!!
I either have to learn to make these, or commission her to make more for me. My mother wants some too! They are such a classy accessory. I wear lots of solid colored long sleeved tops, so they are perfect for making something plain look more stylish! Thank you Debi!!!
Sassafras turned 2 today! She didn't seem to notice or care much, except for the extra goodies that came her way this afternoon. Treats usually wait til bedtime, but she got a noon treat today! Of course, Cammy had to have some too, and she deserved it. She got her kitty shots this morning and did so good.
I am so thrilled to see them. We just finished a game of Yahtzee...Emerson was on my team...and Zachary beat us all!
I am still recovering today. It was hectic, but it would not be Thanksgiving if my feet did not throb when I crawled into bed that night!
Remember the black spot in the pics in the last post? It moved.....
Now it is in the RIGHT hand corner. ???? It has to be something on there, but I tried to clean it. Oh well...we'll see where it moves to next. While loading my pics I came across these.....
I didn't take them, and each kid says they didn't take them.
I can't imagine Sweetheart taking them....someone is forgetting...Hmmmm
Cammy gained a full pound, going from 1.2 pounds to 2.2 pounds in 4 weeks! She has grown so fast! Well that is all the news here. I am going to spend the evening hand quilting (and snuggling with Grandbabies) while watching SpongeBob!
This trio of pumpkins holding pumpkin scented tea lights graces the kitchen table. It is much {pretty}-er in person, and I love the look on the table runner. Pumpkins make me 
As much as I like the look of pumpkins, I love the taste of them even more! Weight Watchers has had an impact on that. I am 17.6 pounds down and do not want to mess that up with pumpkin pie! I did find this, which made me very 
...and it gives my coffee a "dessert" taste for 1 WW point! Also, there is a wonderful pumpkin dessert that is only 1 WW point per 2x2 inch square....1 box of angel food cake mix (the one step, just add water kind), 1 15 oz can of pumpkin, 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice, and 1 cup of water. Mix and bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. I top it with cool whip....my kids love it! It makes me VERY {happy}!
Because of PTSD, this time of year is difficult for Charlie-girl. Use your imagination, but it is less than fun around here. My mother and I decided to go see the movie "The Help". We had both read the book and looked forward to seeing it. She (my mom) told me it was rated PG, so I thought I would take Charlotte along....I would not allow her to read the book, but we were assured the bad part was not in the movie....by the way, it is rated PG-13 for some language. Anyway, I told Charlotte to be ready to go by 3 pm on Tuesday. I did not tell her where we were going. Little did I know, a neighbor girl had told her "If your mom ever tells you she is taking you somewhere fun, and won't tell you where, she is taking you to BOOTCAMP." Are you cracking up?? Poor Charlotte thought I was taking her to bootcamp!!! Nope....just a girls day out to the movie theater!
She cried so hard when we got to the parking lot, it freaked me out a little bit. We had to wait a minute before going in to meet Grandma! I don't care who you are...THAT IS {FUNNY}!
He is also starting to "see" someone. I do not know how serious it is, and I don't need to know. I am still the only one not "over" the divorce. It feels like a death still. I know life must go on, and that is {real}
Now I am just as {happy} to see it go and get back to our lovely fall temps!
She would bat at the pen every once in a while and kept her eye on it's every move!
I would LOVE to have one, and am praying about it. The kids vote YES!, of course...Sweetheart will say no, and so will Sassy! Chances are, it won't happen....but there is always hope. Remember 