Swimming, Friends, and a Smoke Alarm

Swimming and friends go together.  But, the smoke alarm part has nothing to do with the other two.  I’ll get back to that one!

Yesterday, we enjoyed a swimming date with Kristin, Payton, Marla, Parker, and Grace.  We started early so we weren’t out when it was super hot! 

The girls were so good about posing.  Hayden, on the other hand, not so much!

He was a little more interested in playing…

And chasing the resident ducks…

 

After swimming, we picked up Chick-Fil-A and headed to Kristin’s house for lunch. 

Hayden had a little date with Grace.

Kristin turned on some music and Hayden was having fun dancing in the chair. 

Thanks for having us over to swim and play!

Today, Lexie and Hatley came over so we could do some Thirty-One business.  Hayden thinks Hatley is pretty special!  I think she is too!  ;-)  Is that bow not so stinkin’ cute?  Love!

Now, to the fire alarm…

I woke up about 4:45 this morning to the screeching fire alarm yelling “Fire, Fire” along with its loud siren.  I thought I was dreaming.  It took me a second to realize what was going on.  First thing I did was look at Hayden in the monitor then run in there to him.  As soon as I opened his door, the alarm stopped.  He actually didn’t wake up from the alarm.  He woke up when I opened his door.  Then, he laid back down.  I looked around and didn’t see, smell, or hear anything.  I have no idea why it was going off.  (I don’t think it is batteries, because I think they are wired in.  Right Paul?)  Needless to say, my heart was pounding out of my chest for quite some time and I didn’t let Hayden sleep in his bed for the rest of “night”.   Fire is something I hope and pray that we never have to experience again.   Makes me kind of anxious to think about it again…

Hope you all have a great weekend!  Can’t wait to enjoy my family! 

Our Concrete-The 2nd Go Around.

 

The verse we decided to inscribe into our concrete is 2 Corinthians 5:1. 

“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”

I know this verse has many different meanings.  But, we felt this verse spoke to us when we found it.  Basically, we applied it to our situation and know that if our home is destroyed, we are blessed to have God on our side.  We know that this is only our temporary home. 

Our real and eternal home is in Heaven.

House Update 8-15-10

Over the past two weeks, we have gotten a new roof!   Not too much going on right now.  Still waiting on the bank.  To say we are anxious would be an understatement!

Oh yes, and we got these beautiful new roof vents.  Aren’t they nice and LARGE?  We did not have roof vents before and it seems that was a big mistake. 

We spent Friday afternoon looking at more countertop options, tile and carpet options, etc.  Hoping these next round of bids will be a little more encouraging! 

I just have to say, the bid process is so time consuming and is such a pain!  Dealing with the insurance company on our inventory replacement is such a pain too!  Did you know that even though you have replacement cost insurance, they depreciate everything you own and only after you replace those items, submit your receipts along with a ton of other paperwork, will they give you all your money for those items?  I thank God that I am not working!  I am not even close to being finished with submitting our inventory sheets. God obviously knows what is in our future and knows that me staying home is/was the best thing for us!  We have been through so much in the past year and a half.  I can’t imagine having a full time job away from the home, having a new baby, being a mom and wife, having a sick Momma, building a new home (TWICE), and dealing with the insurance company.  Praise the Lord that we listened to what God was telling us was best! 

Maybe next time, I will have some EXCITING news to share!  :-)

All my teacher/education buddies…I am thinking about you!!  I hope you have a great first day back tomorrow.  Enjoy each other this week, get motivated, and learn a lot too!  Stay positive, smile, build relationships, and make a difference!  I hope you have a super year!

Refurbishing scorched dishes!

I had been dreading this project of trying to clean up my Granny and Grandmother’s dishes that were in the attic at the time of the fire.  Not sure why I was dreading it.  Standing at the sink for hours?  Scared of the outcome?  Nasty, smelly job?  But, I decided I needed to get it done so I started Saturday and finished last night.  I had three sets to do.  The restoration company had already done some of it and had had pretty good luck with it.  But, they stopped when they couldn’t get them clean and we didn’t want to pay them to scrub our dishes. 

I tackled my Granny’s dishes first.  The before…

The after…

This set definitely cleaned up the best and the easiest.  I put Dawn, Baking Soda, and White Vinegar in the sink and let the dishes soak for a while then scrubbed them with a SOS pad and a non-scratch Scotch pad.  A lot of this set has a crackly pattern in it now like this…

 

But, I think it just gives it character!  :-) 

But, a lot of them look like this…

I am so happy!!  Aunt Barbara or Aunt Mary Helen…do you know anything about these dishes?  Where they came from?  There is no information or brand name on them.

Then, I worked on my grandmother’s dishes.  I really had two different sets that looked very similar.  Part of it goes with a set that Mom has.

The before…See that lid on the right?

Check it out now…

These were a little harder to get clean!

But, here is how they turned out…

Here’s my advice for this post.  If you are storing dishes somewhere and want to do what you can to protect them in case of a fire, wrap them in bubble wrap in a cardboard box.  Some of my granny’s dishes were wrapped in bubble wrap.  Yes, some of the bubble wrap was totally gone!  And, although it was a pain to get the bubble wrap off, it really helped save those dishes.  I think the ones with newspaper around them just fueled the fire! 

Another tidbit…If you are like me, I put most of my things in totes that I store.  I did and probably still will.  But, with that being said…the things that were in cardboard in the attic were much better off.  The plastic totes melted to whatever was in there and those items were not salvageable at all. 

Ok, enough on that!  Next post…yummy enchilada recipe! 

Weekend Wrap-Up

Whew!  We had a busy weekend!  How about you?  Time has come to start all over on getting information, prices, bids, etc. on everything for our house.  I guess our weekends for the next couple of months will be consumed by this project! 

Friday, Jeff, Hayden, and I took at trip to Tyler to go to a supply company to get prices for our tubs and toliets.  :-)  Then, we went to Furniture Row to look at living room furniture.  We did not find anything there that interested us.   The exciting news is that we were able to order our dining room table and chairs, our bedroom furniture, and some furniture for Hayden’s room at Canton last week.  We are so excited to see how they turn out!  Lunch at Mercardo’s  (Like Posado’s)!  SOOOO YUMMY!  Then, to Counterscapes.  We spent quite  a while there looking at all the options for our countertops, vanities, and for our shower.  We made a few selections so we can get bids and see what will fit into our budget.  We are hoping to get quartz for our countertops.  L-O-V-E it! The best part about Counterscapes is they had a ton of toys for Hayden to play with!  Awesome huh?   Then, a trip to Gander Mountain was in store!  Looked at safes for a while. Found one we really liked (FIREPROOF of course!) but we are still thinking on it!  Jeff looked at guns, but no luck.  Last stop in Tyler-Kohls!  We actually both found new tennis shoes and socks.  YIPEE!   I got some Reebok SimplyTones. I am anxious to see if it makes a difference toning my backside.  Ha!  Then, we had a birthday get together/cook-out at Jeff’s parents’ house to celebrate the 6 of us that have July/August birthdays.  We had one tired boy after a long day out and about! 

I think Hayden likes his Daddy’s new shoes! 

 

Saturday morning I got up and went to Good Samaritan (our local thrift store)!  It is only open on Saturday mornings.  Ya’ll…you can get some GOOD stuff there for so CHEAP!  I am hesitant to tell you what I got because you might want to go and get all the good stuff before I do!  ;-)  Check out what I got…

A Little People Farmhouse for 50 CENTS!!  He already has most of the animals that go with it that I had already gotten at GS.  I have been eyeing these at Target for $40.  50 cents is so much better that 40 dollars!!!!!!!!!  I also got him a set of awesome blocks for 50 cents.

This side table for $1.50.  This will go great in our living room…after I do a little magic!

This ladder shelf for $10.

And finally, the best thing…this dresser for $10!  It is in such great shape!  It will look great in our extra room…after I do a little more magic! 

I am so in love with the feet on it.  :-)

 

Then, Saturday afternoon we took a trip to Rockwall.  First stop, North Texas Appliance.  We went in there to look mainly at refrigerators and dual fuel ranges.  We spent longer in there than we expected, but we ended up buying our new washer and dryer.  We got an AWESOME deal!    Want to do a little more research before we decided on the fridge and range.  Then, to a flooring store to look at options for our shower.  Dinner at Johnny Carinos.  Bass Pro was next!  Jeff had his eye on a gun they had on sale.  So, he was a happy new gun owner when we left.  Hayden was in heaven looking at all the wildlife and fish in there!  We even got to see a few of our friends in there too!  Great to see you Bo, Rhonda, and Dee!  Last stop…Culvers for some yummy custard!

Not sure he is real excited about another shopping trip!  But isn’t that hat cute?

Honestly, Hayden really did GREAT Friday and Saturday.  He went with the flow, the in and out, and was very patient! 

Today, all I wanted was to STAY HOME and do nothing!  Well, we pretty much did stay home except for a quick grocery store run and it was so nice! I think we all needed some time at home and I am praying for forgiveness for skipping church!  The do nothing part…well that didn’t so much happen!  Hayden decided to wake up a little 5 this morning.   He took an early morning nap and we all took one this afternoon.  I spent most of my free time today doing laundry and cleaning scorched dishes.  Remember these?

I am pleased with how they turned out.  I am saving the details for another post.  This one is already long!  :-)

Then, tonight I actually cooked dinner.  I made one of Jeff’s favorites!  Enchiladas.  They are so easy and so yummy!  I will share the recipe in another post too. 

 

Can you tell I am getting tired?   5 AM was a long time ago!  I have formed a really bad habit of staying up until midnight or after pretty much every night.  

Hope you had a great weekend.  We accomplished a lot this weekend and I feel really good about it!

PS…we miss you Nanny, Granddaddy, and Auntie Robin!  Hope you are having a great trip! 

House Update 8-1-10 Demo Week 1

This week’s demo seemed to be a success!  After tearing down the walls, insulation (what a mess), and the ceiling joists, things looks a lot different!  It seems as though we are going to be able to save some of our framing in Hayden’s room, our room, the bathroom, and the closets. 

Jeff and his brother Mark worked yesterday trying to get the concrete as clean as possible in the garage area.  It is really interesting to see where the “hot” spots were.  It looks so much better!

Tomorrow they are beginning to take the roof off, replace some of the steel and put the new roof on.  I feel so sorry for these boys!  Not only are they going to be working on the roof in 105 degree weather, but on a metal roof, and welding.  UHHG!  Poor things! 

Then, the waiting game begins for our new loan to be complete.  What a mess!  We thought (and were originally told) we would be able to just pay for everything to be rebuilt with the money given to us from the insurance company.  Turns out that “policy changed” a few days after our house burned and we aren’t able to do that so we had to pay off our loan and are now going through the whole home loan process again.  Fun, fun!  I think I am most frustrated about paying closing costs all over again.  (Sorry Aunt Barbara and Cousin Pam)  I do love the new girl we are working with on our loan.  She is fabulous, compassionate, on the ball, and so great to work with!  (Thanks Aunt Barbara!!!!)  Should be about 3 weeks before we can do much more rebuilding.  Boo!  We are ready to get it going!  The good news is that we are going to be able to almost double our living space!  We are adding a bedroom, 3 closets, a master bath, and a utility room.  We are very excited about all the changes we are making!  But, don’t get me wrong…I would much rather not have had to go through this!  We are going to make the best of it, be thankful for it (God’s plan), and move on!   

House Update 7-27-10 DEMO BEGINS!

I never thought I would be writing this post AND be excited about it, but demo began today! We are so glad that 1 1/2 months after the fire, something is finally happening!  I say “something”, but A LOT of work has already been done!!  But, today the “rebuilding” process actually began!  Three guys were there working today, and I MEAN WORKED!!  They got so much done!  They took all the sides off and took all the decking out of the attic. 

Exactly 1 year ago…Construction still going on!

Today…

Front of the house.  Garage was on the right.

 

South side and back of the house…

 

North side of the house…

Our driveway decor scrap metal area…

Check this out…

This is what was left after our kitchen cabinets were pulled out.  A cross!  Just reassurance that God’s hands are involved in this process!  He has a plan, is watching over us, and is going to take care of us! 

If you want to see more before/after pictures, you can go here. 

So, here we go again!  Great ready for another summer/fall full of house updates!  :-)