just go with the flow , in deeper water...

 So my last post announced our new expected addition.... and HE'S HERE ..

after a pregnancy that was SO different than my last 3 ,and about 2-3 weeks of early/slow labor ,a 4th cesarean that resulted in anemia and a spinal headache we were blessed with the littlest brother in our house , who was ironically also our biggest baby . Weighing in at 9lbs 9oz and 21 3/4 inches long , David Owen joined us on February 7th at 8:51am . He is just about perfect and everyone is adjusting very nicely .

Here are Big Sister and Biggest Brother , waiting my mom was great enough to bring them up to the hospital early in the morning so that they could meet their new littlest brother , this is them waiting.

  And here he is ,the littlest brother.

 Biggest brother loving him , he was SO excited to have been there and to be one of the first to hold him and see him . He's so in love with him .

  While another brother wasn't on the top of her list, she's in love with him , and probably the BEST big sister anywhere around.

  My mom, this makes her 9th grand child. Who was ironically 9lbs 9oz.

 Sweet baby Owen , one day old.

 Since his birth he's done lots - had his first bath at 3 weeks old in his Tummy Tub  he absolutely loved it

He has spent an afternoon outside enjoying some of the random 77 degree weather days we've had

so while I don't know what I am really doing with 4 kids , Softball for Big sister , and Baseball for the big brothers , in two different leagues, all starting in the next 2 weeks. While the Daddy of the house is still a workaholic and we are trying to buy a house and learn to live debt free.... we're having fun and just going with the flow even though it seems the water is getting deeper.

Just go with the flow..

So , Im here to start off again by apologizing for not posting as often as I had intended .. But no one is reading anyway. At least not regularly or following . 

But since my last post a lot has come into play. Big brother has started Kindy and is loving it ! , Big sister is rocking the 4th grade ,and is loving being involved with student council. And newest news is that Little brother will now be a big brother too ... so I guess Big brother gets bumped to Bigger brother .

   We are expecting baby #4 , by mid February . It's another BOY! we are thrilled , Big sister was hoping ,and a lot for a little sister , but no such luck.. She's come around to the idea a lot more here lately . 

So soon to be 4 kids, are we crazy? No. Are we financially wealthy? No, we could always use more money. Are we taking things as they come and cherishing every day with our beautiful kids? Yes, and we wouldn't have it any other way. 

This has been a great motivator to get on the ball with our plans to purchase a home. We are both sure we want to stay in the same school zone that we are in now. We love this little school and this side of town. We have been loosely following Dave Ramsey's plans for Financial Peace. It has brought us a long way in a short amount of time , But between now and the end of the year we are really cracking down and plan to pay of the 2 small debts we have only leaving my van to be paid off. In hopes that it will boost our score a few more points since they will be early pay offs and help us by lowering our debt/income ratio .. not to mention just saving us that much more money on a month to month basis.. 

So, hopefully I will have some fantastic news to post , good news Im hoping. As we purchase our first home.

seize the day

Myself and the kids took a week long trip to Michigan to visit my father.In mid June. It was the first time I had driven so far alone with the kids. I'll admit I was nervous but all went well . Extremely well .  The day we got there , we rested a little. The kids ran a muck with my dad and loving on his beagle , Jack. The next day was Big brother's birthday. The big 5 . So , I decided last minute to get up early and take the older two to Cedar Point.  This was his first time here. It was Big Sister's 3rd time , but first time she was tall enough to ride the "big" rides.. She was thrilled as well . 

here is my big guy on his big day :) this was taken about half way through the day , I was worried he would get too tired and our day would come to an end sooner than we had all hoped. But he held up great , there was just so much going on , i dont think he had time to get tired.

He really believed he was driving this truck although it was on a track lol

He was even nice enough to give his Big sister a ride

Then she wanted to drive the pink one herself

This one is special to me , I have pictures of my brother and I on these ride with our Grandmother about 15-17 years ago <3

and they even had bumper cars in his size.. he was in Heaven

He loved the snoopy areas , where the rides were his size. It really made him feel like a big kid since he had to be a passenger on other rides or sit out while we waited for his sister to ride .  It was a fantastic and very tiring day , especially after driving 11 hours to Michigan from Tennessee , then another 3 hour drive to Sandusky , and back to Michigan after 10 hours at the park.. It was a great day.

stay the course

I know when I started this blog, I had every intention of blogging daily and about all these fantastic things... well , honestly... the days when things that happen , that some might consider fantastic and worth blogging/reading about.. I dont have the time to blog about them. So , it doesn't happen , sorry.

As for our house we've had a few changes. We are expecting baby #4 in Mid-February. We are all pretty excited about it. School is about to start for the old two. They are pretty excited , 4th grade and Kindy watch out here they come !  Also littlest brother is going to start 2 day a week preschool in September , not that I need a break from him but I'm sure he's gonna be bored out of his mind with his siblings being gone everyday , all day. And it will also give me a few hours a week to handle my doctors appointments , grocery shopping and even just some time to relax. 

So that's the last 2 months pretty much in a nutshell..   I will come back to post about big brother's birthday , it was a blast. We took him to Sandusky Ohio and spent the day in Cedar Point . It was his first time and although he couldn't ride everything he wanted too , he still had a blast.

just make it if you can't buy it

So , our middle son is about to be 5... with his little brother's birthday only 2 weeks after. We have been lucky for the last 2 years to be able to have a joint party , saving time and money.. Well , No such luck this year . He has requested his own birthday party this year .. That is fine. He went back and forth between the ideas of another Mario Brothers party or another popular game.. Angry Birds.. well , since we did Mario Brothers last year. Angry birds won.. As you may know , there aren't Angry Birds birthday decor for sale... SO... out comes the craftiness again ..starting with invitations : 

these started with precut cards ( just solid color cards ) from JoAnn's they came with coordinating envelopes the rest was made by me using cardstock , and foam sheeting ..and you get these , 15 were made and each one was different , those that do not have "you are invited" on the inside had it on the outside.

this is the envelopes that they came in , each childs name was put in there , hand stamped

Make it yourself

So , I know Im not here too often and all my followers ( HA ) are just going nuts with out me Im sure. School is almost out for the year and this will be the last summer before Gage starts school, So we have some pretty big summer plans this year , including my sisters wedding in July. 

But back to my title of this post.. I may have picked up yet another hobby.. it definatly was something fun to do .. since of all the things Ive done in the past , things Ive made etc.. I have never made functional furniture. Ive stacked some closetmaid shelves to make a larger shelf but never anything from raw lumber... Until Monday that is . I decided kinda last minute that I was going to make the leap into building the shelves Ive wanted for years, but was too cheap to buy the closet maid version and too scared to make them myself.

So without further ado.. here is my finished product and some progressive pictures of them as well :

The shelves are 2 shelves that are 63inches long and 30 inches high to span the length of the wall all the way except the last 22 inches . The last 22inches was filled in by the desk I build same height but instead of only the width of one board , it's made with two on the top. Stained in a dark walnut to match out coffee and end tables. I am loving it . I worried that it would make out akwardly long living room seem crowded but it actually made it look MUCH larger... go figure lol..  I cant wait to start another project . Im thinking a sofa table to go behind the love seat ( love seat has it's back to the "office' part of the living room ) or night stands for our room.. who know's I want to make them all .. just a matter of picking which one first.

Have a hobby

So , it's Spring Break... and well the weather is not agreeing . So while A has been having sleep overs . The boys have been pretty much home bound. Its been nearly freezing at night and raining most the day..

With all the time indoors a couple of good things have come from it , my house is about 87% clean , laundry is caught up . and I picked up ANOTHER hobby.. After the boys fell in love the their Mario and Luigi figures from Pocketful of Clovers . They were constantly asking for more . So i thought with my ridiculous amount of paints on hand , I could pick up some wooden peg people and give it a try .. I am very pleased with our own little "pegple" and the boys LOVE them :)

here are a the first ones I made in the last two days , my very first was the black hair zombie and well.. we all just love him.

first one was the zombie <3 and our little ninja's

then we have Dash , Hulk , a pirate ,and Wolverine

Backs

Backs

soon to be Leonardo ( ninja turtle ) and a red headed zombie

and their backs

I imagine at this pace I'll have  my own little army before I get bored with this hobby .. but who knows there is a chance the last two will never be completed .