Before And After Shots....

Trev suggested to me last night that I should post before and after shots to showcase the changes we've made. Can you believe we've only been here for a few days more than one month? I guess to me, it seems like this has always been our home.... Except for the neighborhood. I'm really having a hard time not knowing my neighbors. Our last neighborhood was so friendly, so easy to love. If ever I needed someone to watch my kids on short notice or to borrow a cup of sugar, I only had to run next door. I spoke to one of the girls from back on 7th last night and she reminded me that it takes time to get to know new neighbors and that fall and winter are awful times of the year for meeting the people living around you. I guess I'll have to make an effort once the weather is warm again and people are out and about in the yards and whatnot.

Anyway... blah blah blah.... You can always count on me to go on and on about things that don't really interest anyone! LOL....

A before and after slideshow!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

October

I've been a huge slacker, I know.... Here's a quick post to catch you up.
The last week and a half was pretty insane, starting with Thanksgiving weekend. My sister Christi and her family were here for the long weekend, although they spent most of it with Mike's bro and his family. James and Sharon were kind enough to include us in their family dinner and after dinner, Mike and Chris came over to see the new place. They spent a few hours with us on Sunday afternoon and then came over again on Monday morning to spend the day and night at our place. Mike and Trev worked their butts off putting up drywall in the morning while Christi and I watched the kids and made dinner. We headed to the pool in the afternoon and then just chilled and played games that evening. I've never had a sibling stay at my place before and I loved it!
After they left on Tuesday, I spent the day preparing for Mom & Dad's visit. They came Wednesday in time for supper and were here until Saturday morning. Mom and Dad were in town because their friend, Rudolfo, from Cuba was here, so they spent a good deal of time with him. Mom & Dad don't really know how to just relax, and I gotta say, I'm glad! Just kidding, but we got a lot done! My whole kitchen has been painted, walls and trim! They're such hard workers! I was honored to have Rudolfo (and of course Mom & Dad) for dinner on Friday night. I feel like I know Rudolfo pretty well through what I've heard from Dad, but it was really neat to visit with him. What a great guy!
Saturday afternoon, Trev's mom and his sisters and nephews came for a visit. We had such a great time together. The kids played so well and I really enjoyed getting out to do some shopping with Laura and Nicole. We got to take Gavin swimming for the first time and he loved it! Val bought me a house-warming gift, a 7 ft. tall apple tree! I'm so excited to see it in the spring, blossoms and all. I've never had so many people in my house at once, but it went really well... Lots of room for people to sleep and the backyard worked great for getting the kids to run off their energy!
So, perhaps you can see why I haven't been blogging.... Who has time when you're cleaning frantically in between company!
A couple of other things going on in my life....
I had an MRI last week to see what's happening in my back. I went to the neurologist on Tuesday of this week to get the results. Since I fell during my pregnancy with Sam, I've been having so much pain in my back and now I know why. The cartilage in the L5 disc has been torn and so the disc keeps slipping through the hole that shouldn't be there. It's putting some pressure on the nerves, which is causing the numbness and dead toes. Unfortunately, I don't qualify for surgery at this time, although that may come later. The doc put me on some nerve blockers and has booked me in for a cortisone shot (not until Dec 9! That's the earliest available appointment!) I kind of got the feeling that there's not much they can do outside of surgery and since cartilage has so little blood flow, healing is unlikely. The doctor told me that what I'm feeling is the same as when someone tears cartilage in their knee... very painful! In some ways, I was surprised to hear that it wasn't something simple to fix... Physio won't help since building muscle mass won't repair the tear and hold the disc in place. I was happy to learn, though, that it's not just all in my head. I think that was my biggest concern; that it was nothing and I was being a baby. Anyway, I'm going to my family doc next week to ask him some questions about promoting healing and what kind of activity I should engage in or avoid.
The other thing going on in my life is that I'm donating my hair tomorrow! My mom mentioned to me a while ago that I should think about donating my hair for a wig for cancer patients and although she was suggesting it only if I was going to cut my hair anyway, I've decided to do it for her. She's a cancer survivor and I'm so proud of her for winning her fight! I called a salon yesterday to ask about the requirements and learned that I do, in fact, have enough hair to donate and since it's not been dyed or permed or treated in anyway, it's perfect for this purpose! I'm really excited about it. I plan to grow it long again, but it'll be a fun change for now!
Anyway, now you're caught up.... Here's a slideshow detailing the last couple of weeks!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A Long Time Coming....

I am painfully aware of how long it's been since I took the time to blog and I have a few quiet(ish) moments now so I'll do a quick post.
As you all know, we've moved into our new home and have been here for about a week and a half now. Trev and I were saying just last night that we feel like this has always been our home. I thought it might be difficult in some ways to leave our old place since it's the only home my kids have ever known, but there isn't really time for nostalgic feelings nowadays... We're already working hard on making this house fit our personalities and there have been huge changes in the days we've been here. Everything about being in this house is exciting to me; cleaning the bathroom, sweeping, cooking, peeling wallpaper... all of it is thrilling because it's mine. I'm afraid that my pride may be inching it's way towards sinful. It feels so good to own a home and to know that everything I do to improve this house will, in the long run, improve the value of our home.
So we've chosen paint colors, although I'm a little nervous about it. The color we're going to be using through all of the common areas is called "Volcanic Ash" and it's a bluish grey color. I'm worried that it might make the house look too dark, but, as everyone reminds me, we can repaint it if we don't like it. We're starting in the kitchen in the next few days. We're going to sand the cabinets, prime everything(walls, cabinets, trim) and then paint. The cabinets and trim will be updated a great deal just by painting them white, so I'm excited about that. The kitchen floor turned out to be in pretty bad shape under the carpet, so we're going to go ahead and order laminate.
The living room floor looks great as is, but we plan to sand it, stain it, and re-varnish it sometime this winter. Our old landlord owns a sander for hardwood and has offered to rent it to us for very cheap, so we'll be saving more money than we thought! I'm so glad we left our last place on good terms. Cliff has also asked Trevor to continue taking care of his properties whenever he and Lucille go out of town!
The kids are really enjoying the new house. Every time we drive up, Samuel gets excited and shouts, "Momma! The new house!" I'm sure this will eventually wear off, but they love it. Eli asked me yesterday if we can "stay in this house for as long as the dinosaurs have been dead?" So funny.
O.K... On to other stuff...
Trev's been working hard and in fact had his longest day this season just last week. I'm not sure why things seem to be picking up now, but we're sure grateful for the increase in hours. We're trying to decide if I should start looking for winter work now, just in case things get bad hour-wise at Lafarge again. He's still having a lot of pain in his neck and lower back. The cortisone shot he had only lasted for a couple of weeks and unfortunately, the doctor doesn't do injections within 3 months of each other. Trev has an MRI booked for Christmas Eve to find out whether the tumors are growing, but if his increased pain-level is any indication, we're expecting to hear that they have grown. Trevor has to be the toughest man I've ever known. Although he is in constant pain, he keeps going & keeps working. I worry about him a lot, but am reminding myself that Jesus can calm any storm with just a word... God has this storm under control too.
The kids are doing pretty well. The last month or so has been very rough on them and they've been acting out quite a bit. They've been physically fighting each other and Trev & I are trying to get this under control. At what point to we step in to stop the fights? We feel like they need to learn to resolve conflict, but they're starting to bruise each other. I've put my foot down in the last couple of days and have decided to be more consistent with discipline. My 'rents used to make Mark & I sit on the couch and hold hands when we fought and I'm gonna give that a try with Eli & Sam. Eli is very vocal about how he's feeling (just like his Momma) and so I'm struggling with how to teach him to be respectful even in his anger. Sam is just like Trevor, not showing his emotions until they literally explode out of him. That's not to say that Trev explodes, but he doesn't really express himself vocally about how he's doing. Sam's a tantrum-thrower... Hitting, screaming, kicking... Very physical. I'm struggling with ignoring the behavior because I'm convinced that he's attempting to get my attention with negative behavior. Today, while I was on the phone with my sister, Sam got very angry with me because I wouldn't let him fill a pitcher with water and dump it on the floor. He was screaming and hitting and pinching, so I quickly got off the phone, took his hand and led him to his room. I have him a quick swat on the bottom and sat him on his bed. I told him that when he was ready to be kind and to obey, he was welcome to come out. He screamed for a couple minutes and then calmly called me. He said he was sorry and asked if he could go play.... SUCCESS!!! Consistency is the key... Gotta remind myself of that daily.
Anyway.... You're caught up.... I have to make lunch now... I'll try to post more regularly from now on, but you understand.... I had a good excuse ;)