The Weight of the World....

I feel like the weight of the world is on my shoulders...and I'm crumpling. I've been an emotional wreck over the weekend...and my wonderful husband spent all Sunday night helping me work through the emotions...and I was feeling great. Then, right before I came to work, the world came crashing down, and I feel such an enormous pressure on me. I was trusted, in confidence, with a secret. A life changing, adult secret. I am a mentor type person to the person who entrusted me with this secret, and I feel a huge responsibility to give appropriate counsel without ostracizing, hurting, or betraying this person. Each moment I think of this my heart gets heavier, and heavier, and I feel the burden of my position. The sad thing is, I've played this senario in my head many times...what will I say, what will I do? And I still pray my counsel is appropriate.

Keep me in your prayers, everyone. I need all the guidance I can get.

Tag catch up....

So, I had to bribe myself to do my chores and "grown up work" (such as paying bills)...catching up on all the cool tags that have been floating around....here is the Makeup bag tag...

Ok, so I don't have a makeup bag...I have a packed full train case. I am a Bare Escentuals devotee...although there are a few items from other makeup lines in there.... I have so many brushes, I can't fit them in the train case with the makeup....
I need both this brush roll...AND............
A few extra in a cup in my cabinet.
So, my staples....all are Bare Escentuals unless otherwise specified
1. Bare Minerals foundation in Fair
2. Tinted Mineral Veil
3. Liner shadow in Nurture
4. Glimmer in "Kudos" (this has been my favorite this summer..it's a golden, beachy color that actually looks good on my fair skin).
5. Sephora Lash Plumper in Black

And...my favorite new product this summer....

This Sephora highlighting bronzer in "rose"...most regualar bronzers are wayyyy to orange on my fair skin...plus, my skin has indecisive undertones(sometimes they look cool, sometimes they look warm...it's really strange). I love this bronzer...it gives me a summery, sun kissed look. I debated for over a month before I decided to try it...and it was worth every penny.

Also notice none of my lip glosses are in my makeup bag....they're scattered on my nightstand, in my purse, and in my swim bag....I accidentally let my lips get sunburned in June, and since then, I've had to make sure whatever I'm using on my lips has sunscreen in it...

We're DONE!!!! (well, almost)

So, we're mostly done, after working our butts off yesterday to finish. Although the main part of the family room/Kitchen went fast, the precision required for the kitchen part...because we wanted to do it right, not just make it look good...took a lot of time. But everything except the transitions(from room to room), the top of the stairs (because of course, I had to special order the stair caps), and the far side of our stairs and around the banister is done. Floor wise. Then we just have to work on getting trim back up. I'm hoping to find a stain that matches our floors to do the trim with...we're testing a couple in the next few days. Of course, it wouldn't be a new floor at our house without being thrown up on...so....

Ok, so I didn't take a picture of the throw up. GROSS!!! However, it's an unfortunate tradition in our family...someone has to get sick and throw up on new carpet, etc...within the first week, but usually within the first 48 hours. And, it was Talia's turn I suppose since she's never had the opportunity. She must have caught some stomach bug, which is why I'm posting this from home instead of work. I've spent the majority of the day holding her, being thrown up on, and cleaning it up....the nice thing about this floor though...paper towel to wipe it up, and a quick swipe with the washcloth, and it's clean....very very nice.

So, you can notice from my slideshow that the laundry room did not get done...we've decided to go with a different angle for that room (if you can call it that, it's barely big enough for the washer, dryer, and entrance to the house). Since it is the closest thing we have to a mudroom, we want something a little different. In a few weeks, or a month or two...when I have $ again and Cole's not cursing me for the remodeling project. By the end, when we were tired, and we lost 3 or 4 planks to chips in the edges...not to mention the tiny scratch that happened when we put the dishwasher back...He was so frustrated that it wasn't perfect...and after 10 hours, exhausted. I'm still so proud of him...he did an excellent job.

And Talia is finally holding down a little food (goldfish crackers) and fluids (flat Sprite)..so I'm hoping things will be more back to normal tomorrow.

More demolition....

So, as you can see from my prominent slide show, we are now done with the front room and hallway, except for the transitions (which will be last) and the trim work, which will probably take a couple more weekends. I still have to go and decide on what kind of trim I want...I'm not a huge fan of trim. Sure, it looks nice, but I absolutely HATE cleaning baseboards. I realize that I have to have something there, but I'm looking for something minimal but within the spirit of the decor of my house. As well as something that will be easy to clean.

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO proud to be married to my husband. I always am, but especially this week. He has done such a GREAT job on this project. The front room was relatively easy, but cutting the pieces to fit around all the doorjambs in our hallway (6...3 bedrooms, a bathroom and 2 closets) was a really, really big pain in the butt. It took as long to do that as the whole rest of the front room. Cole did a great job, and I am really proud of him. He also has great attention to the little details...he wants it to look as perfect as possible.

Today he started ripping apart the cheap laminate that was down in the kitchen, and the carpet in the family room. Check out the linoleum that was under the laminate...it's interesting to see the history of a house. Tomorrow he'll finish laying the subfloor in the family room area...then he'll patch, prime, and paint. Saturday and Sunday we're planning to lay down the Pergo....and do as much of the finish work that we have time for. The rest we'll do little by little until it's all done.

The kids were funny when they saw the new, temporary set up in the front room. We've never had a TV in there, so they were excited about the newness of it all. And every time Talia sees a significant change (such as the blue walls, or the furniture in that room) she just says Oh-OH...again and again. The cats think we've gone crazy, and Indy especially doesn't quite know what to think about all these changes.

Speaking of changes, I managed to really impress my husband yesterday. I put in over half of that floor while he cut the pieces that needed to be cut, and I also helped him haul furniture all around the house. Apparently, I've been upgraded from Great Wife to Great wife with remodeling skills. Of course, I still haven't really gotten to impress him with my painting skills, but eventually he'll have to let me paint something.

So, in the next couple of weeks, we're going to be painting our cabinets (so that they look better with our new, pretty mahogany colored floors). I'm probably going to paint them a really, really dark espresso, so brown it's almost black, color. But, I'm really nervous about it, so any opinions about that color, or any other possible color options, I would be most grateful. Just leave me a comment. We've already decided that we would rather paint than stain.

I'm sure I'll have more to post about soon...and I really can't wait until I have time to do the makeup bag tag.... I am such a makeup-aholic. :)

Happy Birthday to Alec!!!....and remodeling fun....

So, my 2nd baby turned 6 yesterday. 6 years ago, he wasn't even due for another 3 1/2 weeks, I had a long and scary labor, where he didn't tolerate ANYTHING, and they were getting me ready for an emergency C-section when he finally turned his head enough to be born. It doesn't seem like it's been 6 years.
He was so cute. We had 2 parties...the first was on Sunday night, and we combined with my niece and my brother, (Gracie's B-Day is on the 11th, and my brother's is on the 12th), and had cake and ice cream, and presents. Alec was so funny...he kept...screeching is the best way I can describe the happy sound he made. Screeching "thank you" after every present. Then, on Monday, his actual birthday, we had a little party with Cole's side of the family. Alec loved his presents, and we really had a good day.

In the midst of all that however....

Our remodeling has started. Cole ripped out the carpet, the tack strips, ripped off all the moulding, and layed down a subfloor in our front room and hall (so far). I was so impressed with how easy he made it look...he measured and cut the subfloor like he'd done it a million times. Kyle has been helping haul in the plywood, marking where we need marks, etc...he really does a good job.
Indy thinks he's a dog, I swear...here he is either eating the tack strip, or trying to drag it off in his mouth...and this morning he went down the air intake vent, so he spent the day locked in the basement(which made him crazy, apparently).
I thought I uploaded a pic of Cole's Dad's truck, piled high with our boxes of Pergo...but apparently not. I almost had a mini panic attack when I realized the scope of the project we're undertaking...That pile of boxes there is less than half of what we bought...The front room and hall were all primed and ready when Cole dropped me off at work...and I'm informed that the color I picked is currently on the walls...I can't wait to get home and see, and take some pics.

That leads us to one of my unpleasant surprises today...Cole's car had safety and emmissions due in June. The "Check Engine" light has been on, but we've known that the stupid gas cap sensor is broken. We weren't sure if it would pass Safety or Emmissions. So, we were finally able to get it in today. Apparently, it's going to cost us $900.00 to get it fixed. We've now put more money into this car than we originally paid for it, mostly to replace stupid sensors, although we did spend $3000 on a new transmission 5 years back. However, since we don't want another car payment, it will have to get us through 1 1/2 more years, until my car is paid off. Then we can try to get something for Cole that won't eat a hole in our bank account.....

With all the chaos in my house (although Cole's doing a very good job trying to keep the mess to a minimum), and all the family drama going on, I feel emotionally spent and very irritated. Mindy, I feel bad about your contest, but I just can't commit to it with all the stuff going on right now. I know I'm going to feel really, really bad when I actually see pics of the prize.....

Has it really been a week?

I keep wondering where the time has gone...it's been a week since I posted. Crazy times..it feels like it was just yesterday. So, for an update...my daughter is terrified of her Glow Worm and the music from the Ice Cream truck. And today, when I really needed a nap before work, when the Ice cream truck made 5 or 6 passes through our neighborhood, music blaring at ungodly levels, I contemplated what I could do to blow up the truck. Especially with my baby screaming and clawing at me. I tried laying down in her bed with her, and finally brought her to bed with me. She laid really still, but I knew she was awake...so neither of us got a good nap. And check out Cole's blog for the story about her glow worm fear.....

Yesterday, our presidency was having a "play date"...but I knew I had to get my chores done first. It was my only day to get my monthly grocery shopping done, and I had to go to both Target and Costco. So, I woke up early (6:30...ouch...I am so not a morning person)....got showered and ready, and as soon as Talia woke I changed her diaper, scooped her into the car, and off we went. It went really well...she ate breakfast in the grocery cart, and it occupied her for a good portion of our time....I just wish she would learn not to wander off when I put her down...When I was finally done with all my errands, I stopped at Christie's to see if they were still playing...and they had just started!!!! So, I watched crafty people make really cool stuff, and took home a cute headband and butterfly bow's for Talia...I'll have to post some pics later.

The afternoon was swimming at my mom's, and then I talked Cole into making Indian Chicken for dinner (yummy!!!)...but I was exhausted by the end of the day....

So, watch for deconstruction and reconstruction photos...we're tearing apart our main floor this week to put down new hardwood floors.....and paint....

Firsts and Fun....

Talia had her first real haircut on the 2nd...I say real haircut because I've trimmed her bangs 4 or 5 times, but the rest of her hair was untouched. It was uneven in the back, and was starting to look a bit straggly...so I took her to Janelle, my wonderful, amazing stylist. She was so excited to be cutting Talia's hair.... Talia did really good. It helps that she loves to look at herself in the mirror...she just watched herself the whole time.
The finished product in the back...I'm really happy with the result, and I saved the clippings for the scrapbooks!
I couldn't resist taking this pic...we went to the library Thursday morning, and Talia fell asleep on the way home...I put her in bed, and she just curled up to her blanket....

And later that night, the 3rd, we went to Cole's uncles for a family tradition...sleeping out in his uncle's driveway. Cole, his brothers, cousins, and all our kids all sleep out on air mattresses and cots. I actually haven't slept out for a few years now, but had no excuse not to so....

Me and Cole....
We light fireworks in the road. Talia liked the colors, but the noises made her really nervous...she was chewing on her fingers and shaking a bit...but no tears.
The kids all run around playing some kind of game...we usually give them lightsticks of some kind and let them have at it....
Of course, I hardly slept. It was really hot at first, and then a wind came up...it was just a bit much. If the wind had been a little less, more like a breeze, it probably would have been perfect. We were up around 6:40 thanks to a scout group that was coming around putting up flags.

My boys....
Cole and Talia....the one nice thing was, although I didn't sleep, Talia slept between Cole and I....I got to cuddle next to her, and hold her while she slept, which is something I don't get very often, so that was good....

More waking up.....

Talia in her cute 4th shirt and the bow Mindy made for her...I got lots of compliments!!!!!
Swimming at my mom's....almost everyone but me is in that picture....somewhere....
Talia and me....It was a long day for all of us, but we mostly had fun.

So, that was our 4th....I still think I'll sleep out again next year, unless I'm working...but I'll definitely bring my sleep mask to block the light!!!!

Time for a Change...

Time for a change...Thanks to my SIL, Brenda, I found this cute background to upload...She has one from The Cutest Blog on the Block , and I liked it so much I had to go get one for myself. I've wanted to do it for awhile, but I ususally don't have much time to blog at home, and now Pyzam is blocked at work....

So, what do you all think?

I will be posting more later, I have Talia's first haircut, and 4th of July fun pics to post....