Cloth diapers ROCK!

I know most of you know that we cloth diaper. But I just wanted to say why:
We love it because they actually work! Disposables didn't work for us at all with Luke.
We love it because we're saving our environment all of those diapers in the landfill.
We love it because we're not putting over 30 chemicals on ours children's behinds.
We love it because we have one sized ones that fit both Evie and Luke.
I love it because they're so cute and fun to shop for (notice I didn't put a we at the beginning of that sentence).

I'm sure they're more reasons, but that's all I can think of at the moment. If you're thinking about making the switch and need some info leave me a comment with your email address. Oh, and check out this site for a free giveaway
http://www.spiltmilkmoms.com/2009/03/23/wanna-be-bamboozled/

just a picture

My resale store find

Today I went to our local resale store called Encore. I love going here because not only do I always find something, but I'm also supporting our local Christian school. They opened this store not too long ago, and it's great! It's clean, there are nice people and it doesn't smell. If you've been to many resale stores you know what I mean. Well, today Luke, Evie and I went there to see if we could find anything for the new house. I love to "recycle" things. Anyway, I looked throughout the whole store and found a couple sweaters (not for the house) and then went to the toy section that is set up so that the kids can actually play in it. I always let Luke play there for a couple minutes if he does a good job in the store. He started looking at the toys, and I casually browsed the toy shelves. I looked up and saw this HUGE bag full of GeoTrax trains and tracks. I pulled it down and got giddy with excitement. Not only was it jam packed full, but the toys were also in great condition. I looked at the price. Only $15. Hmmm... should I get Luke yet another toy??? Heck yeah! This looked awesome, and I knew they were worth more than that. I brought it home and showed JD, and he was excited with my find. After Luke went to bed we set it up to see what we had. Everything is there and works! YAY! We looked it up online and discovered that we have well over $150 worth of GeoTrax. Wahoo! I think we'll save this gift for a special occasion for Luke, but that doesn't mean we can't play with it after he goes to bed, right???

Stolen

I stole this picture from my sister's blog. It's just TOO cute! I love Luke's crazy hair and the fact that he's sitting by my parents dog who really isn't a fan of him. Great capture, A!

Pictures from MD

My mom and Evie. Look how peaceful this is!


Luke and my sister reading a book. Check out his finger!






My brother and Evie. Now you would think out of all of these pictures I could find one that was a good one. NOPE!




Now these aren't from MD, but I wanted to share them. We just got out the Jumperoo for Evie to try. She loves it! Though she still can't reach the floor because she's a shrimp, she thinks the colors and lights are amazing!


*Oh, and just to let you know they're are more pics of our house coming soon! There is slow progress being made, thank goodness!

Daisy hat- Check.

One craft down and SEVERAL more to go!

Evie sporting her new hat.


JD and Evie looking cute/handsome.

Mommy's little helper

Now when you look at this picture you have to look past the mess to see the true story. I was cooking dinner in the kitchen when Luke walked in and said, "Hi!". "Hi, Luke" I say. I proceed to get things ready for dinner. I hear clanging and see that he has gotten out 2 pots. No big deal. He does this every day. I hear more clanging and look down to see that he's putting oranges in his pots. "Are you making dinner, Luke?" I say. "Yeah." I continue to do my thing when I of course hear more clanging. He has gotten out half of one of the pantry shelves and some of one of the drawers. I just have to smile. He so desperately wants to be big and do everything that we do. It's so precious! I ask him if he needs a spoon to stir and he starts doing stir motions with his arm and says "yeah, stir." I get him a spoon and quickly go to grab the camera. I'm not missing this moment to keep forever. Though there was a big mess on the floor and I did have lots to do to get dinner on the table, it's times like these where I have to see the bigger picture and know that I'll never get these type of moments back. One day he'll be grown, and I'll have no more messes on the floor to clean. I know that I'll miss those messes. It's so fun to have curious, independent little boy in our home and family. I have to remind myself to cherish these moments because they will not last forever.

After I took the first picture he started saying "cheese" so I of course had to take another one.

Working, working, working...

It's been a weekend of demolishing, unscrewing, karate chopping, and a little bit of cleaning. We're exhausted! It's already looking better though, and we are feeling more and more like it's ours. Now I'm just so excited to get it done so that we can live there. There's still tons to do though. We haven't even started painting yet. It's just hard to do everything with two kids running around (Luke) or screaming (Evie). It is fun to watch Luke try to help though!

Thanks everyone for leaving comments! It's so nice to read them and hear ideas for decorating. Oh, and yes, I wasn't kidding about the colors. I just keeping wondering who the people were that lived there. What kind of people actually paint their house those colors? All I know are there names. Hmm... Maybe my wonderful story teller sister could come up with a story about who they are.

Well, the kids are in bed, the house is quiet and dessert is calling my name. Have a great week everyone and don't forget to spring those clocks forward!


Just a funny picture JD took the other day.

It's ours!

As most of you know as of Monday morning at 10am we are now the proud owners of a "new" house! YAY! We couldn't be more excited and of course a little scared too. There are so many things we want to do to make it our home, but it will take a few years to be able to conquer this list. As of right now we're doing a couple fixes and of course painting the whole inside of the house. You'll see why in a minute. Thank you to all of you who have prayed for us during this LONG journey of trying to buy it. It still amazes us how God watched over us and had us wait to buy it. What an amazing, all knowing God we have!!! Thank you also to those who gave us wisdom along the way and listened to our excitement and sadness as we awaited God's timing! We really do appreciate you (and hopefully you know who you are). Ok, enough babbling! Here are the before pictures of our house. Remember it was a foreclosure so it really needs a good scrubbing. Oh, and whoever owned it before must have been color blind! Hehe!

Front of the house:

Can you tell it's winter? It will be a great surprise to see what's actually planted in the yard.

Back of the house:


View from the backyard beyond the pool:


Kitchen:


Bedrooms:

Master:


Evie's:


Luke's:


Glitter room (or guest room. The wall paper has glitter in it. Blah!):


Living room:


Pool (this is what happens when it's left uncovered for who knows how long. JD is really looking forward to cleaning it out once it melts. :{ )


Pole Barn aka JD's studio and the kids play area in the winter:

The basketball hoop was blown over during a serious wind storm so JD put it there right before I took the picture. We're going to put it up in the "barn" so that Luke can play.

Hope you enjoyed the tour! And I hope it wasn't that overwhelming! I can't wait to post the "after" pictures. If you have any decorating ideas please post them in the comment section. I would love some fresh ideas!