Mini vacation!

Did you know we have been married for almost 9 years? In the 9 years we have done a lot of really great things, but the one thing we have never done is go away, over night, sans kiddos! Can you believe that? So I decided that it was time to go on a little trial overnight without the kiddos. Most of you who know me know how hard it is to leave my kids. So this was something that was really hard to do. Luckily I have some of the greatest friends, whom I trust with my kids, & who were more than willing to take them in for a night. Seriously, these people are some of our best friends that we love like they were family. The kids were so very excited to go to The Foster's house, & we were kind of excited to get away. So I booked us a little vaca in St. Augustine. I had it all planned out & could not wait for a romantic night with my hubby.

First we went to this yummy restaurant on the bay front in downtown St. Augustine... Acapulco
great food, & a beautiful view of The Fort & Manatzas Bay.

Our dinner view

Then we headed out for a spooky encounter on Ghost & Gravestones trolley tour. It was filled with spooky ghost stories, old haunted places, weird hair pulling experiences, a crazy story telling ghost at the jail, & a very strange capture on my cell phone camera. 

My hott date & myself

Our tour guide for the evening

Death Row at the Old Jail

The Gallows

After we had our fill of ghost stories, & unbelievers BE DOOMED, we headed to our hotel on the beach.  We even had a nice late night stroll on the beach. 

So the next day we went to get the boys and they did not want to leave! They were swimming & having a blast at The Foster's. Luckily we were able to talk them into jumping on the hotel beds & hitting the beach :) 

So that is what we did. They body boarded, build castles, & had a blast. For dinner we hit this really great grille across from the hotel. I personally cannot wait to go back to the grille. We got back just in time to do some evening pool swimming! The next morning I woke up bright & early to watch the sunrise. The guys did not want to get up so I went by myself. Can I just say that it was beautiful. Listening to the waves, watching the colors in the sky change. Absolutely breathtaking.

Of course our adventures were not over yet! We headed to this place.........

We walked through the museum & then headed across the walk to the St Augustine Lighthouse. We climbed these to the top....

219 steps

I was really proud of the kids, they climbed up with us! That is really good for two kiddos 8 & under. 

View from the top

Once we were done exploring the Lighthouse we headed to the Pirate Museum... arrgh! The kids loved it & so did the hubby. It was full of artifacts, a real jolly roger flag, a cannon you can fire, & much more. Outside there were these....

Hee hee hee

It was a great mini vacation!

Pool time!

 We are very lucky to have a community pool in our neighborhood! We utilize it every chance we get. Since the summer started we have been there almost daily. It is a great time had by all. We exercise, laugh, stay cool, become stronger swimmers & most of all get to spend some quality time together as a family. This summer has been a summer of firsts for the younger two! They have both learned to swim underwater. This is a big deal for us. See we are lucky that the oldest is a water bug, loves to swim, dive, & cannonball. The middle one was very scared of the water, he stayed in the shallow end, would not be caught without a noodle & would not dare to put his face under water. (Reminds me of myself when I was younger) So I worked with him on getting comfortable & tried to teach him some basic swimming skills. Then dad came home from deployment & by the second time we went to the pool with dad guess what the middle one was doing? SWIMMING UNDER WATER! Like a little fish. It was amazing. I sat there in amazement at my son, I had tears in my eyes as I watched him swimming under water & then cannonball into the deep end!! Now, let me tell you a little something about my kids, once one does it the other tends to follow. Sure enough that is what the youngest is starting to do. Today in fact he was swimming without floaties under water. Now he has been swimming all over & even going under water but he has always had his floaties on. He even did a few cannonballs into the pool sans floaties! The oldest is currently visiting family but we cannot wait for him to get home so his little brothers can show him what they have learned. Soon enough they will be diving & cannonballing together.

Personally I cannot wait :)

Catch up

Hello... is this thing on? Is there anyone still there? It's me & I am back!

So we last left off in March with another catch up of the happenings in the Land of South. March we were knee deep in Baseball. 3 kids on different teams equals a ton of fun. They all had great seasons. We have a future catcher in the youngest (Future Jason Varitek or Johnny Bench). He throws his helmet off & runs in front of home ready to get the runner out. The middle one hit an in the park home run. His bat swing is getting better, it's probably from the sunflower seeds. Hey it's what the pro's do! The oldest got the best coach ever! He was a huge supporter of the oldest & by the end of the season he had some stolen bases & a few hits! 

Middle one

Up to bat

Future Jason Varitek

As the season was winding down so was school. Which meant that all of the end of the year activities were just beginning. There were tons of field trips, awards, parties, & saying goodbye to the friends & teachers. We have some very smart kiddos in this family. The older two ended the year with A averages, tons of awards for reading, science, citizenship, math, & more. The younger one does not get letter grades but did end the year with outstanding in all subjects, went up 2 levels in reading, & got promoted to 1st grade. I do not know where the time has gone!! They had the best teachers that any parent could ask for. We hope to get lucky again in the next grade levels. It will be hard because these teachers really set the bar high. 

Getting his awards

Going to 1st grade

Was completely shocked at all the awards

This school year was much more than seeing friends, learning new things, getting into the gifted program for the older two, being a safety patrol, being a reading buddy, or having fun. Well for the kids it was not much more than that but for Mom it was life changing. I had the opportunity to volunteer in the classrooms of two amazing teachers. In one I met two amazing women. One was the teacher & the other was the sign language interpreter. We had many a laugh & fun filled days! In the other I had the chance to teach the 5th graders. It started out with flash cards, & then went to preparing for FCAT. I was so excited to be in that class & to see their faces when they had the aha moment. It made me realize that I needed to do that, I needed to be in a classroom, helping these kids. So I decided to become a teacher. I really hope to start school next spring. We have started the process and I am really excited about it. I wish that I could stay with the students I had this year & follow them because they were amazing. 

The class that started it all!

So that is how the school year went.... now it's SUMMERTIME! So what do you do in the summer with three kiddos & a deployed hubby? The answer will follow in the next few posts...........

House of Grace: Zipcoverz Review and Giveaway

I love this blog! She has tons of great ideas, Shaklee looks like something I need to get my hands on, and she has an awesome giveaway! Check it out :)

House of Grace: Zipcoverz Review and Giveaway: " A couple of months ago a I won a Camera Strap from Zipcoverz. by Valerie who blogs at The Crafters File Box. This is what I..."

Hello.... is there anyone still there?

Sorry blog, I did not forget about you I promise.... I have no excuses as to why I have neglected you, but I am here now and I hope you will have me back? :)

Wow, where do I begin? We have had so much wonderful stuff happen the past month or so! So I will for-warn you that this blog will be all over the place so bare with me. First, we celebrated #2's birthday! He is a whopping 8 yrs old. As you all know his entrance to the world was a little unique and every birthday is a little extra special for all of us. We had a small family celebration with cake, Nerf guns galore, and of course an ER visit, cause honestly in this family what is a special occasion without someone getting sick. If you know us well then you are laughing right now cause it's SO TRUE!! #2 was a total sweetheart about having to spend most of his birthday in the er with his baby brother. He still had a great day complete with a yummy G. I. Joe chocolate/vanilla cake. We finished the evening off with #3 asleep in mom & dad's bed, and the rest of us had an epic Nerf battle! It was mom & dad vs. #1 & #2. I highly recommend having one, it boosts family time, exercising, and tons of laughs. I was sweating when it was all over and will cherish that day forever.

Our arsenal

After his birthday things were going well, #3 was feeling better and it was back to the daily grind. So I was at the grocery store when my friends husband called, he works with my hubby & his wife & I have become good friends. She was at the DR. for a prenatal check up with their little 2 yr old when the DR's decided to send her to Labor & Delivery! Her hubby was stuck at home and needed a ride asap! It was so exciting, I made a mad dash to the checkout and drove as fast as I legally could. He got to the hospital just in time. I grabbed the little one and we headed to Target. Of course we went shopping! Not even 20 mins after we left the hospital, I got the phone call that they were taking her into the OR for a C-Section. Thankfully mommy and new baby were just fine. Happy Birthday Baby!!

Proud Mommy & her perfect little girl

Just so you know life around here is never boring! It's spring time so that means it's Spring Baseball Season! All 3 are playing again this season and we started in Feb with the practices and the season started in early March. I forgot how much I missed being at the ball park with my family. The boys all have great coaches and wonderful teamates.  

Almost done I promise LOL! As you probably know the beginning of the year brings lots of birthdays to our household.... #3 celebrated his 6th birthday with his first big party at the local Jump Zone. He was really excited about having his birthday there, and was even more excited about the blow up chair he gets to sit in. He had a few friends come and bounce the day away. We are so lucky that we have great friends, #3 got tons of gifts and really had the best birthday party. He got more Nerf guns, so I see another epic Nerf battle in our future! So after the birthday party we headed home to open all the boxes and play with everything. Like I said what is a special occasion without someone getting sick..... this time it was me. I started to feel bad after the party but honestly did not think anything of it. It was not until late that night that I realized it was not getting better it was getting worse. So the hubby took me to the ER. It all happened kind of quickly but it was my appendix, so they admitted me and operated a few hours later. It's now almost 2 weeks later and I am feeling good. 

Our lives are always exciting and wonderful! It's never boring and you have to be ready for the unexpected but I would not have it any other way!!

Just a spoonful of paint.....

I think it's about time I show you just how much a little paint can transform a space. When we bought this house most of the rooms were painted an awful flat builders grade paint.... boring. So we grabbed a million different paint swatches and began the process of choosing the colors for each room. I have heard that it can be a painstaking process with the possibility of a few marital spats. Somehow we managed to avoid that! It was like the skies parted, the angels sung, and he just agreed with every paint choice I had.... no it was really an easy process for us. We both completely agreed on all the colors. So then began the painting process, that was when the difficulty came into play. I knew it was too easy, luckily we make a great team and can express when the other is being a pain in the butt! It reminds me of my favorite movie quote.....

"Well that's what we do, we fight... You tell me when I am being an arrogant son of a bitch and I tell you when you are a pain in the ass. Which you are, 99% of the time. I'm not afraid to hurt your feelings. You have like a 2 second rebound rate, then you're back doing the next pain-in-the-ass thing. " Hee Hee! It's so true!

~Office~

 So first was the paint color for his office/man cave. That was a color that I picked out for him as a little surprise.....                                                         

  Before

 

After

Did you know that Glidden has official NFL paint colors? Well I picked up Cincinnati Bengal Orange as we are HUGE Bengal fans. Let me say that you need sunglasses the room is very bright but with all of his manly items in there now, it looks good. 

~Dining Room~

For this room I had this vision of dark navy walls on the upper half, chair rail, and the lower half would be white with boxes (I think they are called picture boxes?). Then we worried that navy blue would be too dark and neither one of us had a clue on how to do the picture boxes. I was not following all the great blogs that I follow now and did not have the information on how to do it. Thankfully I have many different ways to do it and may attempt it in the future! The paint was a swatch from Walmart that we had matched at Home Depot. It was called Dusty Indigo and it's Behr paint.

Before

After

~Kitchen~

Then came the room I was most excited about, my new kitchen! See we have never had such a nice kitchen as we have mostly lived in the ghetto navy housing, or apartments both of which were built circa 1940. Of course I fell in love with this kitchen that had newer cabinets, nice tile floors, and NO linoleum! The color we choose for the kitchen is Behr Cherry Cobbler (yum right). Let me just say we learned a lot painting that kitchen...... like use paint with primer for the darker colors, and don't leave the tape on too long! 

Before

After

P.S. I am so in love with my new appliances! 

~Living Room~

The living room/video game area/family hangout/party central is a big room and was going to need a neutral color that would make it pop in a good way. So that meant no bright yellow or purple, I know I was disappointed too! Doesn't bright yellow just go with all the other Bold colors in the house? Any who.... we picked Toffee Crunch by Behr (are you seeing a Behr trend? Yup I am in love with Behr) and at first we wondered if it was too dark but we soon feel in love. I absolutely love the color in this room and really would paint everything this color but then it would probably be too much. So we just painting the living room, and followed into the eat in area. I think it goes well with the Cherry Cobbler and the names of the paint are super yummy. 

Before(aren't my models cute)

After

~Master Bedroom~

This room took the longest because by the time we finished painting all of the above and the not pictured entryway/hallway we were burned out on painting. Mind you our arms looked amazing and very toned! So just this past week we finally got around to our room. The color we picked was called Comforting by Behr. It made a huge difference. The room was one of only 3 in this house that were actually painted. It was a nice color but way to dark for what we wanted in our room. I mean between the dark furniture and the dark curtains we felt like it was sort of a black hole that you never wanted to be in. So we lightened the room up a lot and did it for very little money. I was able to keep the furniture, the lamps, and curtains so that was awesome. 

Before (looks darker in person)

 After

So there you have it. Some awesome ways that paint can transform a room. Also take note that most of our paint colors are food names Cherry Cobbler, Toffee Crunch, Baked Scone(hallway/entry way) and Toasted Wheat (master bathroom). What can I say we LOVE food! Thanks for checking out my paint choices and make sure to follow me :) My life as a wild animal trainer is never boring and I have tons of ideas for this new year. 

I am linking this to The Nester she has a wonderful website!

Bathroom remodel..... with a side of blood

So when I last left off we were talking about the bathroom remodel..... I was going to force my husband against his will try to get my husband on board with a cheap remodel. He was really excited about it and loved the idea! So we started with the vanity.......

Remember this

We sanded it down and started painting it black. Immediately I could see the vision in my head coming to life!! 

 Then we moved onto the walls. Our walls were an off white builders grade flat paint that was boring. So we picked a Behr paint called Toasted Wheat. I love this color! It's warm and fun. Do any of you have textured walls? We have them EVERYWHERE and they are super fun to paint...... Oh well, the color really makes the bathroom look so pretty!

I apologize for the cell phone picture. My camera was hidden in the remodel mess.

So we got most of the painting done and it was time to move the gigantic mirror. I thought about just getting a frame for the mirror but it was a real eye sore and the mirror frame was really expensive. Too expensive for my taste. What can I say, I am cheap! Let me just say I wish I would have bought the mirror frame. So as my husband and I started to move the mirror, it was coming off the last little clip and CRASH! 

Those things are not tempered, you MUST wear gloves, and you know what... just pay a professional to remove it cause then you can avoid this....

Notice the pictures above show a jagged edge and a huge piece over the faucet?? Yeah that came down on the hubby's finger and took most of the skin off of his fingers. Nothing like seeing bone to make your Saturday afternoon more interesting. Thankfully he still has his fingers and they actually work! Neither one of us was wearing gloves (dumb mistake).  We both learned a lesson and will never do that again!

But all the hardwork, sweat, and blood was worth it cause the bathroom looks amazing! We still have some finishing touches but the hubby has to heal a little more before we do the lighting. Picture a black chandelier over the tub and these puppies over the mirrors!

They look more brown here but they are darker in person.

Here is the vanity and new mirrors. More pictures to come when we get the lighting finished!!