Wonderful Weekend

Saturday morning I dropped Jacob off with my parents so he could spend the day with them... it was weird because they don't spend a lot of time with him. But he loved it and they all had a great time. While he was gone we decided to go look at Lack's for something new to help build Michael's credit. We looked at everything under the sun and finally decided on a new refrigerator. I was so excited! (I will post pictures soon.) We had a nice lunch with Tyler... we forgot how easy it was to just have one child. After we picked up the fridge we picked up Jacob and went home. He had a blast with his grandparents and can't wait to do it all over again.

Michael told me he found a field service truck for cheap that he really wants so we have decided to just refinance the house and buy him the truck instead of moving into a new house. I am behind him 110% and with this it means kinda starting his own business but we will see how it all goes. Eventually, if we do move I would like to move somewhere other than where we are now. Maybe someplace prettier...

Sunday we had to get up extra early becuase it was our week to bring donuts for Sunday School. I was excited to go this week becuase as most of you know I have been batteling my own personal demons hearing the lesson was just what I needed. After SS we stayed for service which was good because we hadn't been in a loooong time! It was a good sermon and I am glas that we stayed. We will be going from now on! I saw several people I hadn't seen in a long time and that was good. Then for dinner we had over Lance and Courtney and we grilled up some steaks. We all had a good time and will be doing it again soon i'm sure. And I have re-opened my boys blog... but I have a lot of catching up to do on that one and will mainly post here.

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!!!

The Big Splash

Here is my water baby who loves to splash!

A Brother's Love

All tuckered out...

How on earth do they ever find these positions comfortable?!?

Rainy Weather and Garage Sale Finds

Here are my boys...ready for a morning of garage saling. As you can see Jacob already had on his headphones so he could watch Madagascar 2.

Here is what the weather was like this morning. The temp was 33* with a windchill of 23*.

I found this bowl set at an estate sale for a whopping $5. I thought it would be great for a summer fruit salad or the bowls could be used for summer sorbet...

I found this old wooden birdcage at the same estate sale for $5. I thought it would look great in my garden with some flowers in it.

I found this fireplace tool set (the poker is hidden in the back) , log holder and matches at a garage sale...all for $5! I was so excited because I wanted a black set but didn't want to pay an arm and a leg. It is really nice...just needs to be cleaned up.

Are they handsome or what!?!

When the weather outside is frightful...

And the fire is so delightful...

This is what the weather was like earlier when I went and picked up my husbands check. The temp. was 31* with a windchill of 23*. They are calling for freezing rain and cold temps tomorrow as well. Even though I love the spring... I am really enjoying this cold wintry weather! And we need the rain so bad because it has been so dry around here.

He loves him some Life cereal

Here is Tyler eating his late night snack of life cereal...I love his hair!!!

Brrr! It's Cold Outside and We're Hungry!

We made plans yesterday to go to lunch with Courtney and Laney...we just didn't know it was going to be 30* and raining outside. But we kept our plans and I picked Courtney and Laney at their house. Laney had a new carseat that is forward facing so we were all excited because she could be just like one of the 'big kids'. By the time we got car seats in and everything we were both soaking wet and freezing cold. The kids were happy to see each other and talked and screamed at each other. Jacob wanted chicken and fries from Chili's so that is where we went. The kids were really well behaved and made a huge mess...but we all had a good time. By the time we got done with lunch the rain had started again and we still had to go to Albertson's for milk (it was 10 for $10). By the time we leave it's raining even harder so we hurry up and get the kids in the car and head home to warm up next to a toasty fire.

Laney in her new pink jacket and Tyler hiding behind his sippy cup.

Tyler and his big brother Jacob.

Laney looking all purdy in her furry pink jacket!

Tyler trying to pet Laney's jacket. He thought it was great that it was fuzzy.

Making progress....

Last night my husband decided to tear down the dog house for me. He knew there was going to be a cold front moving in and it would be too cold to do it any other time this week. It is getting there slowly. I am just ready for everything to be done so I can enjoy it.

Right now we have 2 grills until Hubby takes the older one to his work so they can grill up there. And we still have a hole to fill with concrete so we can move the other grill over there. And the bush that you see will be dug up next week (there are 3 more in there). And I think that getting rid of the dog house makes the patio look so much bigger!

I'm in Twitter!

Ok, I won't lie...I did not know what Twitter was so I had to go check it out! I ended up signing up and am not even real sure what to do!?! Hope you guys come and find me... here is my new twitter address: http://twitter.com/beautifulchaos4

Talk to you soon!

My Wonderful Weekend

I have been MIA for a couple of days because I have been uber busy. I spent most of the weekend working in the backyard and it felt great. The weather was nice and I actually got a lot done....but I still have so much to do. I feel like it's never going to get done! But I know it will and I will be so happy when it does! ANd we have decided to have a yard sale in 2 weeks to help me get the money for my yard furniture...yay! I can't wait!

Here are a few pictures from my weekend...

Here is my little Budda sitting in the backyard while I work.

If you look closely you can see dirt on his mouth...that's right! He was eating it!!!

Here are my strawberry plants that I got in Saturday. I can't wait to see the stawberries that they produce!

These are some of the flowers I got. I am not sure what they are but there is one tulip.

These are the other flowers that I got. I love them!

I am not sure what this flower is but they said it will bloom lots of flowers. And the pot I put it in was only .50 cents at a garage sale!

Here is a pic of all my flowers and my back porch. I still have work to do on it but it is going to be amazing when it's done!

Here is the fence where the trumpet vine was....it's gone for good!

Here are some herbs that I am going to plant in my garden. I have basil, cilantro, jalepeno peppers and bell peppers. I am going to get tomato plants this week.

Chicken Fried Rice and Egg Rolls

I am going to begin with my homemade chicken fried rice and egg rolls. I have never made either of them before so I was excited that these came out so yummy!

Egg Rolls:

1 lb. ground pork

1 head of cabbage

shredded carrots (about half a bag)

1 green onion (minced)

1 stalk celery (chopped)

garlic powder

pepper

soy sauce

package of egg roll wrappers

1 egg (beaten, to seal edges)

Cook your ground pork and drain on a paper towel. Next cut your cabbage in half and cut the hard center out. I then sliced the cabbage real thin and then cut it in half so the peices were not very long. After everything is cooked and chopped I mix in a bowl with the pepper, garlic powder and soy sauce. Adjust the taste to your liking. I then followed the directions on the back of the egg roll wrappers...lol I added aboout 2 tbs of filling to the egg roll wrappers, folded them and fried them in some vegetable oil. They really cam out very yummy!

Chicken Fried Rice:

2 boneless skinless chicken breast cut into pieces

3 cups cooked white rice

1 package frozen peas and carrots

1 onion (chopped)

2 cloves of garlic (minced)

2 eggs (scrambled)

soy sauce

seasame oil

I cut my chicken into pieces and cooked it up in the skillet with some sesame oil. After the chicken was cooked thru I took it out and let on some paper towels. I then added some more oil and added the onion and garlic and cooked for about 30 seconds. I then add my cooked white rice and peas and carrots. I mix everything together and add soy sauce to taste (I also added a littl sweet and sour sauce). After everything looks good I make a spot in the center of the pan and scramble the eggs. After those are scrambled I mix it all together and add the chicken.

Serve and enjoy!

Kitchen/Dining Room Inspiration

Update: I am going to look at cupboards tomorrow and start pricing them. Michael told me that if that is too expensive then I can paint them and get new hardware for them...maybe even just get new cupboard doors! Yay!

I currently have a red kitchen/dining area and I am now wanting a neutral area that bright and I can decorate with many different colors. I also have these awful wood cabnits that are all beat up and really need to be refinished....but we don't have the money for that at the moment so I was thinking about taking the doors off, sanding them down and painting them white myself. I know it would take some work but I would really like to give it a try. The hard part is going to be convincing my husband. I am also wanting to tear down the backsplash and replace it with something that doesn't look like it popped out of the 70's (it's yellow!!!).

Here is my kitchen. We need to replace the vent hood above the stove (it's that nasty yellow color too) but we are wanting to modify the cupboard above the stove so we can put a microwave up there. And I would love to put the lighting under the cabinets. Eventually we will get new countertops...but there is nothing wrong with mine so no hurry on that. I think that it would brighten up the whole kitchen and make it look bigger. Sorry I couldnt get the whole thing in...I have a L shaped kitchen with a breakfast bar on the right side which makes it a U shape. The fridge is over on the left side that is going to have to be replaced with a side by side. Right now it is just too small for all my cooking needs. And I want to get new bar stools for the breakfast bar. Mine are from the 80's! And I would love too replace the cupboards above the countertops so that they are more functional...we will see.

And here is my dining area. Don't get me wrong...I love my red walls but I am thinking that something more neutral would be better. Plus I think that it would make it feel bigger. The dark walls make it seem so small sometimes and I feel like they are closing in around me. And I am wanting to get the round table (as you may remember from Ready for Spring: Part 2). I can't forget window treatments! I don't even know where to start!

Here are a few that I found as inspiration...(I got all the pics from Cottage Living)

The only thing I liked about this picture was the color on the walls.

In this photo I love the fact that they used a dresser as a china hutch. I have been looking for a dresser to refinish and put in my kitchen. I can find one at an estate or garage sale a lot cheaper than I can buying one.

And in my last photo I love how it is so bright! That is what I want in my dining area (just on a much smaller scale). I would love to have that much space. I have two big windows that lets a ton of light in and when you have tons of sunshine you just feel happier.

Got started on the backyard today!

Update: I got what I could cut down from my side of the fence and saw that my neighbors were home so I went to talk to then about cutting down the parts on their side. We don't know each other that well so I was afraid that she would say no. She was really nice and I spent 30 minutes over there talking to her son while I cut down all that I could from her side. Her husband came outside and told me that this weekend he would cut down the two that were on his side of the fence. Yay! Tomorrow I am going to cut the parts that have grown into my yard for him. I am so excited that they will be gone.

Here are a few pictures of my backyard today. I have started working on it becuase you can see how bad it looks. There is so much junk back there that I feel like the biggest pack rat. I can't wait to have a backyard that the kids can play in and a porch that I can relax on.

This is a picture looking at the porch. I have a new screen door sitting in my garage that I am going to try to put on myself before I ask my husband to do it. We have 2 grills...so one of them is going in the garage sale or to one of his friends. The dog house is going to be torn down and thrown away since we do not have any dogs anymore. The stove is going to go in the trash. It's been almost 6 months since I got a new one. There is some firewood on the side that you can't see that I will be moving further back. I am going to trim back the trumpet vines that are hanging over the fence from the neighbors yard. There is another small spot in the far left corner by the door that we are going to concrete in and put the grill over there. And where the grill and the dog house are is where I am going to put my patio furniture. And eventually I would like to screen the porch in...but that is for another time.

These are the bushes that blooms really pretty purple flowers when it rains or it is going to rain. They just need to be trimmed back since there is no way we are going to be able to pull them out anytime soon. Maybe we can find a clever way to get them out.

This is the trumpet vine that I have been working on today. Granted, it is really pretty in the summertime but I really want to plant a garden in this little area.

This is what I have done so far. I had to stop and wait on the neighbors to get home becuase I have to see if it is okay to cut down the part that is on their side on the fence. I do not want it to grow back and I am hoping that they won't have a problem with it. It was a ton of work becuase there were so many vines inertwined that it was hard to find where one began and the other ended. Then I have to water the roots so we can dig them up. After this I only have one more to cut down! Yay!

Salad and Sunshine

There is nothing better on a warm day than a nice cold refreshing salad and a glass of sweet tea. Today for lunch I sat down and enjoyed lunch with boys. I couldn't help but notice how nice it is outside so I am going to go work on the backyard for a little bit. Right now it is 84* outside! I know I live in Texas and it is supposed to be hot, but so early?!? The first day of spring isn't until the 20th but I think it has come early this year. The trees are blooming and the flowers are looking so pretty. I don't want to get too excited about the nice weather though because every year we have atleast on really hard freeze right before or right after the start of spring. Plus I have to make room for that new patio furniture!

Blog Makeover

I have been working on my blog and making over a few things... I hope that you all will like the changes i've made and the ones that are comming!

Ready for Spring: Part 2

Update: I added a pic of the patio furniture that I am thinking about getting. I found it at Wal Mart last night.

Now that I have a few minutes since the kids are down for a nap I can finish my thoughts from earlier.

With the weather around here warming up quickly and it reaching almost 90* on most day it has me thinking of spring. I love the spring becuase the flowers bloom and we usually get rain which is a welcome site in these parts. It also means that it is time for my bi-annual cleaning mission. Every spring (and fall) I go through all the closets and cupboards and clean out the stuff we havn't used or don't need to make way for all the things that I will end up buying and to hold a yardsale to make a few extra bucks.

This year my #1 main goal is to make my backyard beautiful! We have always had dogs and our backyard has always looked like poop. So since we don't have any dogs anymore I have decided that this is the year to have a beautiful yard (front and back). We laid sod last year so now all I have to do is get it to grow back and the grass situation will be good. We have a few trumpet vines that I am going to cut down so I can plant a garden where they are. I think this we are going to plant blackberry and raspberry bushes. I absolutly love fresh berries! We also have this monstosity of a dog house that I can't wait to get rid of...then I will have a patio again (it's small, but better than nothing) that I can put a sitting area so we can enjoy being outside too.. I would like to get the boys a sandbox this year. I know they would love to have a place to play that is not indoors. There is so much I could just go on and on...so I will just post pictures as I go!



This year my other main goal it to finish my kitchen. Since we painted the walls red I am wanting to do a whole country type theme. I love idea of having fresh flowers and fresh baked pies and lemonade all around. I've always wanted to live in the country, but for now this is the closest i'm going to get. I want to trade in my square kitchen table in for a round one. We always have friends over and it would be nice for us all to be able to sit at the same table and eat. A round table just makes everything flow better. I found an idea in Better Homes and Gardens and fell in love with it. I also want to hang up some shelves to put little nick-nacks on, I would like to get pretty window treatments bacuse I don't have any at the moment and lastly I really want to get a microwave that goes above the stove...but that will take some work. I will post pictures of this project in the making as well...

Well I am going to get off of here now so I can get started cleaning my house today before my dear hubby gets home from work.

Ready for Spring: Part 1

Last night my hubby came home from working all day and he wanted to go look at chainsaws?!? That's a man for you! Well I lucked out because they also had all of their lawn and garden stuff out and it sent me into a brainstorming whimsey.

Just a little background: We bought our house just after we got married 4 years ago and with 1 boy born shortly after that and the 90 hour work weeks and then another baby we really havn't had time or money to much of anything with it. So we have started on the little things.

The weather is warming up nicely here so my friend and I are starting the whole 'spring cleaning' thing. I have to get fertalizer and grass seed to spread throughout the front and backyard to help fill in the dead spots and make it green and luch again. And since we dont have a dog anymore I am getting rid of the dog house that takes up half the porch. Then the bushed need to be trimmed and the trumpet vines need to be cut down so I can plant my garden.

We love to grill so I am going to fix up my porch so we can sit out there and then get a sandbox for the kids. But those are my visions as of now...Oh ya, I can't forget we are going to finish painting the living room!

After the store we went to eat and ended the night at our friends house having a heated re-match of monopoly. The guys ended up winning....again! And i'm not sure how because we had so much money...lol But I have to say there is nothing like a few beers and a game of monopoly with friends!