Twins turn 15

WOW---- where does the time go????? My itty bitty baby twins turned 15 today!!!! I'm an old woman!!!! Jordan came into this world weighing a mere 2lbs. 15oz.and was 16 1/4 in. long---he now stands at approx. 5'9". Janae weighed 4lbs. 2oz. and she is now 5'4"! What a lot of growing huh! I'll have to dig up some baby pictures to post. Wish me the best as we take on the big 1-5. It will probably include dr. ed.! How scarry is that??? Two at once? I think I'll die! I'll let you all know so you can stay off the road!ha!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JORDAN AND JANAE!!!! You'll always be my favorite twins!!!!

I'm on my way to bed after a very, exhausting evening. I went to Laf. to get birthday presents for my twins. I asked Rachel if she wanted to and she did. On the way home we were almost to our exit and I see this car coming down toward us on the wrong side of the road-----I pulled all the way off the road and stopped while the car sped past us at prob. 60 mph heading straight for the semi that was behind us, just as he got to the semi he swerved and missed it. We took off because cars were weaving and trying to get off the road. The last we could see in the rearview was that car heading straight for 2 lanes of oncoming traffic!!!!! Needless to say we were very shaken!!!! I called 911 and the guy kept saying are you sure there was an accident---I'm like well I'm sure there is by now! We passed ambulances on their way out there! Wow---I just wanted to give my kids a big hug when I got home! I don't know yet what happened but 65 was closed down for 2 hrs. That will definitely stay with me for quite sometime!

I'm losing it for sure!

Had to rat on myself so some of you could get a laugh at my expense. I walked up to my back door this evening and pressed my remote to my van to unlock the door!!hehehe!
I told you I am really losing it!
When I was 16 and worked at McDonalds I was so used to the drive thru headset (that that had the button on the belt that you had to press when you wanted to talk to the customer )that one time I was following Jenny in my car and I pressed my side so I could talk to her???(I was only 16 --as I said--not much hope huh?)

I need some help

COULD SOMEONE COME OVER HERE AND KICK ME IN THE SEAT END SO I'LL GET UP AND GET SOMETHING ACCOMPLISHED?????

For Carrie

Carrie , I was just going back a little on my posts and realized you commented on my camera subject! I didn't see it until now! Oh well, You are sooo good to do all that research. My research was asking my blog readers(hehe) Jeff ordered ours on Amazon.com. Please come and teach me how to use this thing---I'm quite sure you would be the type that had the patience to sit down with the directions and learn how to use it! I'll even cook dinner for you guys!!!!! Is it tempting at all???ha
Julie

Flowers

I think I'll be sick again next week--or at least when these flowers die. Jeff brought these home to me with a cute card on Monday when I was feeling bad(and looking bad I might add!) He must really love me huh?!

More Pics

You guys are going to tire from my picture taking I'm afraid. Jody came by today so I used Kendrick as another guinea pig.

pictures taken with my new camera!

I think I'm in love...

So, Jeff surprised me with an early birthday present. The Canon digital Rebel XTI that everyone raved about!!! It is sooooooo awesome and I don't know anything about it at all. I just played around a little tonight and I love, love, love it!!!!!
Here are a few shots I took without even knowing what was doing!

I've been run over

I think I've been hit by a Big Mac Truck! Appearently I have a sinus infection. I think I feel worse today than I did yesterday and that's not good. I haven't even had a cold all winter and I had to go get this.
I feel like I have a million things to do and I don't feel like it!!!!! GRRRR!
OH, well on to more positive things. I did get a few things done in Jordan's room. I will take some pictures soon. I kind of hate to before it is done but I guess I could show everyone the work in progress. I got him a rug and I think I will return it---hmmm doesn't sound like me huh? Sometimes I like to see stuff in the room before I know for sure if I will like it or not. So, I guess we are back to square one on that!
Thanks to everyone who gave me pointers on the camera post. Sounds like most of you think a Cannon Digital Rebel is the best. Did you hear that Jeff??? A Canon Digital Rebel they all said was the best.
Hope you all have a swell day and hope you all feel a whole lot better than me~

I'm Wondering...

Am I the only one who:
Feels like it's the end of the world if I just got downstairs and forgot something upstairs.
Always have a little pile of something lying on the steps that goes up or down.
Usually doesn't get the last load of towels out of the dryer before the next laundry day.
Feels like the work is just never done:)
Can't wait for spring this year.
Has alot of things to do and is sitting here wasting time
Or is blogging considered a waste of time?
can't seem to get on a regular exercising program(I once was and felt sooo much better)
Would love to go on a vacation to a tropical island tomorrow!!!!
Just wondering????

Note from Jalen

This is the note I got from Jalen last week when he had forgotten his literature book at school. How can you get a kid in trouble after a note like this?????

Reports by Jaida

This is about my scarf I got my scarf..

These are some of the reports Jaida has written this year. I interpreted them for you to read.

from my Grandma Iris for Christmas with a cubby box.

Hershey ran away 4 weeks ago. I miss him . He was my favorite cat I miss him very much. He was all balck but he had to white paws on his back legs.

This is about Angel. Angel is my first build-a-bear. I love her but if I don't want to call her Angel I can call her Princess because she is a princess. The end

Recipe

This is for angie. She asked on Travis' blog about this recipe so I thought I would share it with anyone who was interested. Go to his blog for the recipe for the spaghetti noodles with garlic, olive oil etc. That is what I put with this and it was sooo delicious. The thing I really liked was the fact that I got to enjoy something other than greenbeans and corn and my kids could just eat the chicken off the top! They loved it.(unfortunately I can't get them to like baked zucchini)I bought fresh tomatoes at Wal-Mart in a plastic container(Campari brand)and they were soooo good. I don't like tomatoes this time of year so I was pleasantly surprised.

Help Wanted

I'm really wanting to buy a new digital camera. Since I can not stand to figure anything out on my own, I was wandering if I could get some feed back on all you readers out there. The one I have was around $125 I think and has been ok. I just would really like to get into some neat photography etc. and would love something really nice(birthday coming up Jeff in case you are reading my blog). Let me know if any of you have a nice one that you love---it will save me some time on research! Can you tell how lazy I am about these kinds of things? Oh, and when I do get one could one of you come over and show me how to operate it so I won't have to read the instructions---I hate doing that too~(rarely do) therefore I never really know what I'm doing! I have so many more important things to do!:)

Clarification

This is to clarify my last post. I guess I should point out the fact that I am self employed(cleaning business)so I don't pay taxes all year. Jeff has his own business so he pays through out the year but you never know how it will end up. Sooooo, to all of you who thought we were rich and rolling it in----sorry to disappoint! I will say it did cross my mind that if we have to pay it's because we did OK but... I still would rather not have to pay!!! I just figured up our medical bills out of pocket for last year----over $4000.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ouch!!!! So, believe me any extra was eaten up or in our case heard up(ear surgery)hehe!

Tuesday Ramblings

Just a quick post on Tuesday morning. I sat down and made a list for the week and my oh my I really don't think it is possible to accomplish but... we will see. I needed to do taxes like last month. Don't get me wrong I don't "do" them I just get out stuff together. It is soooo much a pain. With my cleaning business, our rental house next door, our 3 rentals being sold on contract, etc. you get the point!!! I HATE IT!!!! And, every year it's----oh I hope we don't owe!!(as I'm biting my fingernails). So, I have a goal to get that stuff to the tax people by Fri., I've been itching sooo bad to get in Jordan's new room(pictures to come later)and decorate! I am having a hard time finding stuff and with the way the walls are angled you can't really hang up alot of stuff so I need to get creative and figure out ways to make it cool. He has been enjoying it so much. All the other kids have been hanging out in there alot(much to his dismay). It is just a big cool place to hang out. Well, I'm off to gather all the thousands of records and information for the CPA! Doesn't it sound like soooo much fun?!?!?!?! While I sit here feeling like an ice cube~brrrrrrr~ it is only 8 degrees today~
Hope all of you who are in Florida are enjoying yoursselves!!!
Cheers!

Valentines Bouquet

Just thought this a very unique bouquet of flowers I got for Valentines Day. I love different looking stuff instead of the traditional roses etc. I thought Jeff did a great job at picking this out! The vase is really neat too.

Things I've Learned This Week Still Cont.

11. Do not walk out to your car with your head down while chatting on your cell phone----I did and about knocked myself out on a landscape timber that was hanging out of the back of Jeff's truck!!!! I was quite surprised! I have 2 nice raw spots on my forehead and I'm afraid they will be a bruise tomorrow!
P.S I might add that I yelled so loud that Jeff heard me inside the house and opened the window to see what was wrong! I also might add that I felt extremely stupid and looked around(after I realized I was still actually conscious)to see if anyone was watching.

Just sharing

Just thought I'd share a little on Jody. Every once in a while we have a directionally challenged cleaning day. Even though we have cleaned the same 5 houses for years.... she missed her turn 3 different times yesterday. Everytime I would look at her and she would have this very, very blank expression on her face---off in la la land somewhere as if to say---um where am I today????!!!! It made for a great laugh everytime!
P.S. I think her age is really showing on her!

Things I've Learned This Week Cont.

10. When you are frantically trying to clean up the wreck of a house before rushing out the door in the morning-----the toast will burn----not once----not twice---but three pieces down the drain!!!! the second piece was actually on fire(toaster oven) We all went to school smelling of burnt toast!! yummy!(I just couldn't believe that I could actually do that 3 times in a row!!! I have officially lost my mind!

The Mess Continues

How many of you remember me saying my upstairs was an obstacle course??? Well, here is the proof! Don't be alarmed---I cleaned up this mess on Monday and now there is another one in it's place. Mike came today to put up the trim in Jordan's room. So, I had the great privilege of painting baseboards for several hours. We are almost done! Yahoooooo!!!!!! I'll take some pictures of a cleaned up upstairs hopefully in a few days! I have to work tomorrow and go to church so I won't have time to do much. Until then----toodleloo!

Things I've Learned This Week

1. When a recipe says---cool completely before icing---it pretty much means cool completely before icing.(think chocolate creme cake)
2. When you drop a heavy stainless steel dutch oven on your big toe---it bruises immediately and hurts the rest of the evening
3. When you paint trim boards and one flips off the saw horses--it will land paint side down on the floor.
4. When you only have two more boards to paint---you will have to go get more paint--in the cold snow I might add.
5. When you work out of town only on Wed.----it will snow and rain and sleet on Tues. night invariably.
6. If you don't make your kids clean up there room---they won't!
7. You may think you have the laundry done----but---someone hasn't picked up the clothes in their bedroom--presto--you now have a fresh new dirty load waiting to be done.
8. If your 10 yr. old waits until 8P.M. to start his literature homework he will not have remembered to bring his book home from school.
9. You will invariably forget at least 5 things at the grocery store---make another special trip and still forget 1 thing(I know I really need a better list)

Vanilla coke time!!!!

Well, they got Jordan's floor finished Sat. night. If I wasn't so happy that it was finished I'd probabably be crying! My upstairs is like an obstacle course! They moved stuff to the hall etc. They also did all the cutting of boards in the room soooo there is sawdust in huge piles and dust everywhere! I can not wait to get everything cleaned up once and for all!!!!!!!!!! All that is left is the trim. Yippeeee!!! Doing projects little by little can get so overwhelming with all the cleaning and recleaning etc.
The weather is sooo not good! It is dreary and a whopping 9 degrees! But....on the very very good side of everything MILKY WAY is opening today!!!!! For those of you that don't live around here----they have the most wonderful delicious vanilla cokes!!!! Their food is great too. The very sad thing is Milky Way is only about 2 blocks down from me!! That's not good. Oh well, I'm looking forward to a big ole vanilla coke today to chase away the blues!!!!!
I'll be sure to post some pictures of the finished project as soon as I get myself moving and get everything cleaned up and moved in!
Have a Wonderful Monday!

New chest of drawers

"new" chest of drawers for Jordan's room---it was formally an old filing cabinet. I love all the Pottery Barn locker looking stuff.(that stuff is sooo outragous) Unfortunately I have Pottery Barn taste and Big Lots budget!ha! So---this was me trying to be creative. I used Jeff's hand sander and lightly sanded it then Jeff and I painted several coats of silver spray paint!! My house smells great!

Laying the flooring

Jeff and Jordan. Jordan had 3 friends over tonight to help him lay the flooring. Jeff got them started and they finished the bottom half of the room. They did a great job. I wanted a pic of them but one of them piped up and said ---hey does she have a blog?---that was the end of that!

Jordan working hard

The new floor. It's called Autumn Walnut. It is very different but I think I like it. It was a great deal and I figured it would grow on me.

Jordan's Room

We are finally on the tail end of this huge project! It all started because I got a new washer and dryer 1 1/2 yrs. ago. I had been wanting to redo the laundry room and there was a new space behind my laundry room (from when Jeff put a new roof on the back of our house) that wasn't being used. So, we gutted the laundry room and moved a wall so there would be a hallway to the new room. Here are some pics of how the ceiling turned out. It is really cool. Jordan is sooo excited. I really wanted to put laminate down because I know from experience how hard carpet is!! I hit the jackpot at Menards Sat. We got flooring on sale so it was cheaper than carpet anyway. Mike is picking it up today. All that is left is the flooring, the trim, and the outlet covers. We can't wait! You can't tell in the picture but this room is 400 sq. ft! Jalen and Jordan have been in a room that is about 1/3 of that size.

Rainy Days and Mondays!

What a blah dreary day! I've managed to get a little laundry started(another story all in itself)and straighten up a little. Don't seem to have much get up and go today! I decided I needed to make a quick run to Lafayette to get the metal for Jordan's ceiling. Jeff thought maybe they would have it here in town and said he was kind of afraid for me to only be getting metal that far away(for fear I would lose it on I65)Thank the Lord he thought that! I got it loaded(12 ft.in length)and the guy said I think if you don't go 80 you'll be fine--he was wrong. I lost it in the lumber yard. He put it back in and put 2 landscape timbers on it to weigh it down and off I went. I got about 2 blocks from home and lost it in the middle of the intersection(I was only going about 5 the whole way home). Two guys came over and put it back on the truck and I made it the rest of the way!
Now, back to the laundry---I opened the dryer to get out the clean towels and rugs that had been resting for a few days(ha)and noticed a smell similar to a dead rat! I very carefully started pulling out stuff and came across a very weird looking thing that resembled a shriveled up rat without fur. I was afraid to touch it! Then I rememeberd why I was washing the rugs in the first place. I had laid chicken breast out to thaw and somehow a few pieces got knocked on the rug in the kitchen so I threw them away(I thought)and put the rugs in the laundry. One piece of chicken must have been rolled up the the rug!!! EWWWWW GROSS!! I don't recommend cooking chicken in the dryer!!!

Eating Knick-Knacks

I was gone for a while and when I got home I asked Jalen if he was hungry because he hadn't eaten the chicken I fried him. His reply:"no, I did fine mom I just had some Knick-Knacks" I cracked up---he didn't even know what he had said. I am assuming he meant snacks although I didn't look around to see if I was missing any precious moments figurines!hehe