Christmas 2011

We had a busy Christmas weekend this year. We had no shortage of gatherings, and definitely no shortage of gifts. Our first stop was at mom's on Christmas eve. The kids had a blast, especially with Glen, but the highlight of the evening was the Magical Mystery Table (all you Beatles fans sing along, Roll up, roll up for the mystery table...). At some point during the night, my mom's table got set for dinner. She thought Granny had come over and done it, but no. She asked me, but it wasn't me, either. She has NO clue who in the world came in and set her table. Whoever it was, came in, found the leaves for the table and put them in, got out two table cloths, which mom NEVER uses two, and set the table with the correct number of places. She's asked everyone she knows, and no one will claim the mystery table. I still think it was the Lunesta, but considering she never uses two table cloths and never puts the unused placemats on top of the fridge (which she can hardly reach anyway), it may not have been. We like to think it was Ma-ma since she always used two tablecloths and always put unused place mats on top of the fridge.
Three Angry Birds crazed kids playing with the real life version.
The kids were up bright and early Christmas morning at 6:00. We had to have a discussion the night before on acceptable times to wake up. Last year they were up and ready at 4:45... Santa brought an ipod touch and a PSP this year and that made their day. And I didn't even get a picture of them with their prized possessions, nor did I get a picture of the two of them together. I really slacked in the picture taking area this holiday!

WE went to Kent and Karen's for lunch and presents. The kids had a good time with their cousins.
Then it was on to Me-maw's for dinner. Love Aunt Sherri's hat! Here they are all looking for the pickle in the tree.
The day after we went to Christopher's mom and dad's. We always have to get a family picture and we have to be in the same spot each year. This was as good as it got. I'm loving Christopher's annual "face,", the mystery hand growing from Preston's chin and Jess looking off into space.
Now that Christmas is over, the kids have been busy in Legoland (aka, our basement). There are well over 5,000 pieces needing put together. At this rate, it may be next Christmas before they're all put together!
Overall, our Christmas was really nice. Busy, but nice.

Merry Christmas to all...

And to all a good night.

I wish each and every one of you a merry Christmas. I am so thankful for so many things, and such great family, who always lightens my mood, no matter how bad I'm feeling. Thank you!

So tonight, I ask you to remember the real meaning of Christmas and the miracle that it was. Take time to thank God for all of your blessings and to reflect. God had certainly blessed our family, and I am so thankful tonight that my Granny's brain scan revealed nothing wrong. Although she did find out that she has atrial fibrilation (heart condition), she's been placed on medication for it and will be seeing a cardiologist soon. Knowing that she's not facing cancer is such a relief. God is GOOD!

Twas the week before Christmas

And all through the house...

Now, if I were clever, I'd come up with some sweet rhyme to go along with my all-time favorite story, but I'm much to worn out for that. But it is the week before Christmas and it's busy, but fun. The kids are excited and counting down the days. Tomorrow is Preston's class party that I got wrangled into helping with. I feel like I volunteer so much there that they might as well put me on the payroll! WE've got two gatherings under our belts so far, so it's really nice to have some of them done.

The shopping is 100% done. The kids' gifts are wrapped and hopefully safely hidden. I just have to wrap Pa's annual Christmas toilet paper and we're ready to go.

I've been baking up a storm the past few days and making candy. Some of it had to have another batch made this morning because (cough, cough) it had been eaten already. I have to have 5 tins of goodies made by morning for teachers. I will be SO glad when all of it is out of the house. I can't tell you the amount of crap I've consumed in the past 3 days. I'll need a crash diet come Dec. 26th.

The kids get out for break Thursday afternoon and they'll be home through Jan. 3. Thank goodness for new toys! Friday the kids and I are ringing the Salvation Army bell and we're praying for "warm" weather. Looks like dry and upper 40's, so really, it could be a lot worse! It should be fun!

And just because I needed something else thrown in to do, the kids clogged the toilet this morning and didn't tell me. Then when I flushed it and left the room, the flipper got stuck and the toilet ran and overflowed all over the bathroom. I'm seriously thanking God that it didn't make it to the rug... But it did seep down and leak into the laundry room downstairs. Seriously...

As random as can be

• Well, today we said goodbye to Kate's glasses. They were beyond repair. Since our insurance will cover a new pair next month, they let us have a loaner pair until then. Considering her prescription changed significantly enough between last January and March to need new glasses, I think this was a wise move. Who wants to pay full-price for new frames a month before they're practically free?
• Really, who wants to put "in debt" on their license plates? Do we really all need to know that you're fiscally irresponsible? Try selling your car and getting a bike. This town's small enough to get everywhere on bike. No gas, get in shape, and money to pay off some debt. It's a win-win situation!
  
• Christmas shopping is DONE. Making gifts is NOT. Our second Christmas is Saturday and one gift is not ready. I need to sew, sew, sew.
• Tomorrow is Granny's CT scan. Please pray for her health.
• I baked my first batch of Christmas goodies today. I have to have them all done by Tuesday to give to Kate's Girl Scout leaders. Shall be a busy weekend.
• Why is it that the older your kids get, the smaller the gifts become and the more they cost? Seriously, a few years ago, I could have bought a LOT of stuff for the money we plopped down on an ipod Touch that's roughly the size of a flat potato.
• Preston is begging to send off for more Sea Monkeys. We don't have good luck with them.
• Nonnie will not stay out of the Christmas tree stand. He gets way in the back where we can't reach him and splashes all the water out onto the presents. Who says cats don't like water?
  

Basketball- 1: Kate- 0

Kate had a little run-in with a basketball at school today. Apparently, a boy missed the hoop and hit Kate in the face as she and her friends were walking by. It broke her glasses, which in turn cut her cheek in two places. The poor girl, her face was SO swollen when she got home from school.

But did she bother to go to the office to tell them? No. Instead, she then went to lunch and tried to wear her glasses, which were missing one arm. She then went on to class where the teacher saw her face and broken glasses and sent someone down to the office to get a kit to fix the glasses. He was able to temporarily fix them, but they've since broken again, so we'll be making a trip to the eye dr. tomorrow to see what they can do. Thank goodness for a warranty! But not so good that she can't see out of her spare glasses since they are her old prescription. Boo.

I still can't believe she didn't tell the office and at least let me know. Heck, she could have sent me a text! So she came home saying her head felt like it did after she'd had the laughing gas at the dentist. I thought she possibly had a concussion, so I called Christopher, who left work, telling me to call his mom (a nurse). Dee stopped by and deemed her "just fine" and told her to keep ice on it. She didn't have any symptoms of a concussion and otherwise felt fine, so we didn't call the dr. Hopefully, though, we don't have any accidents tomorrow if she wears her old glasses!

The ears have it

And right now, one thing Preston's ears don't have, is an infection or fluid! YEEEAAAAH!

Overall, his post-op visit was uneventful- except for Dr. S. seeing us at the receptionist's counter and threw a huge wad of paper at Preston, but hit the receptionist instead! So then he had to go get it and throw it at Preston again! He is SUCH a big goof!

His tubes are right where they're supposed to be and his left eardrum looks like it should (albeit scarred). He said he really, really, really, really hopes this will be his last set, but then went on to say that he has a handful of adults that he has with recurrent infections/tubes (me, raising my hand). With my family's history, he doesn't stand much of a chance. His hope is that this set will last through winter, which they better! Most likely, they'll be out by summer, just in time for our trip to the mountains in June... That would not be a good thing. Last time we went, it was 8 days after he got his 2nd set put in, so he did just fine. I on the other hand, spent the entire week in major pain and pressure, and couldn't hear anything. MISERY. He's scheduled to go back the week after we return, but I think I'll reschedule it for the week before we go, so that if they're out, we can possibly get a Rx to take along as precaution, or at least let Dr. S. know so we can call in and get one if necessary.

Preston and I had a nice little afternoon date together and had a really good time. We had lunch at Cracker Barrel before his appointment and he liked that, even if he didn't get to go play checkers. WE ran a few errands around Effingham before we left, too, finishing up on people's gifts. Now, if I could just get the kids finished up!

Random dump

So much is going on right now that trying to put it all into a blog post with paragraphs would most likely take all day. So here's a big brain dump to keep you all updated.

• It's Santa's Kottage time at Preston's school and I've been helping out. Basically, it's a bunch of junk set up into a store and the kids go buy stuff for their loved ones. It's a neat concept, really and the kids enjoy it. Sometimes, though, you wonder who they're picking stuff out for when they buy their dad a tub of slime...
• I'm in the middle of sewing dolls for our adopted family and am already so burned out. The sewing machine's been on the dining room table for a week and still, not even one doll is finished.
• I still need to figure out a gift for one person on our list, and a few extras for the kids, and I'm DONE!
• Tonight is Kate's winter band concert. There's nothing like waiting until the last minute to think about what she's going to wear (seriously, I forgot). Luckily, she has her black pants and white shirt, but I forgot about shoes and Wal-Mart has none in her size unless she goes for Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz or something a 5 year old would wear. Nice...
• Tomorrow is Preston's post-op ENT appointment. I expect it will be a smooth and quick appointment. He's done really well so far with this set even though it's only been 6 weeks (really? It seems so much longer). Dr. S. said that he'd hang his hat on this being his last set. I've heard that several times already...
• Please pray for Granny. She's having a brain scan tonight and I'm really worried. She's been waking up dizzy and nauseated lately and that's not a good sign. Please pray for a good, clear scan. Right now, I'm doing well trusting God will keep her OK, but I know once she has the scan and we're waiting for results, it will be a lot more nerve-wracking. And her scan isn't until 7:00 tonight. Who in the world actually stays that late at night to do scans and make patients mull over it all day long until then?
• Saturday we're going to Popeye's with Jess and Reid to celebrate Reid's birthday. I can't wait! Their French dressing is TDF! And no, it's not Popeye's Fried Chicken, although I do get the fried chicken when we go!
  

Busy weekend

Friday night we went with Mom and Granny to Woburn to see the lights. This was always a fun tradition until the owners moved to Hawaii and sold their displays to a place in Greenville. Although we still like going there, it's just not as fun as being able to get out and walk around. These people moved back and started their displays again, and I think they are even better than before!


Saturday was the "big" Christmas parade downtown. I say "big" as in it only lasted about 5 minutes. But we had to go to see Kate march. It was our very first time to go to the Christmas parade, EVER. We've never had a reason to stand in the cold to watch it! Glen and Cooper came to watch, and it was Glen's very first parade ever. He loved it!
See Kate? She's next to Molly in the grey stocking cap!
Today I went up to mom's to help Granny wrap the shoes for the coats and shoes ministry. It's something near and dear to my heart and always something I look forward to each year. They work SO hard to provide kids with coats and shoes each year.

It also started snowing and snowed all day at a pretty good clip! Now, had it not been 60 degrees yesterday morning, the snow would've stuck. But it did stick to the trees and looked so pretty! We're supposed to get some more overnight and that will probably stick since it's barely been above freezing all day. They're warning of black ice for tomorrow's commute, which is always scary. Three years ago this week, Christopher had his big wreck on the interstate when someone slid on black ice and he followed suit.
After dinner, the kids and I went back up to mom's to finish wrapping shoes. They LOVE doing this each year. They make a game of it and play "mail man" and take all of the wrapped packages to their designated piles. After a full day of wrapping, we wrapped 360 pairs of shoes and got them ALL done in ONE day! It's never happened before, and I know Granny and Pa are so relieved to have that done. We finished up the coats this morning before we set into the shoes, so that is some major progress!

An Erin Condren Giveaway!

I don't think I've taken the time yet to blog about my lil old Erin Condren Life Planner that I got back last month. I seriously love this thing. It's been a life saver, although I still forget to write down when to return library books...

Anyway, Jess over at MyBeatlesBabies is hosting an Erin Condren giveaway, and I couldn't help but share this with you, because I'm just that nice! Head over to her site and sign up and you could win a $25 Erin Condren gift certificate! Enter here!

Holiday card

Retro Stripe Frame Christmas Card

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Flashback

I heard this on the radio the other morning and it took be back to high school. I loved Weezer back in the day and even saw them with No Doubt. Good show!

Now you can have Buddy Holly stuck in your head all week, too! You're welcome!

Thanksgiving

Our holiday weekend was a blur of activity. We hardly sat still long enough to do anything. We started Wednesday night- the kids always decorate their tree downstairs so that we're not trying to do two trees plus all of the decorating on Friday. They love having their own tree with their own ornaments.

Wednesday was also the day we realized that the fuel pump was NOT what was causing my car to die after 2 incidents in one day. Sigh. Now we have to find a Ford dealership and see if their tester can find something wrong. I doubt that there will be any difference between Ford and GM, but we've got to figure out something...
Thanksgiving day was non-stop. We had lunch at Keith and Dee's with way too much food. I totally over stuffed myself, but isn't that what you're supposed to do? We went to Granny and Pa's for dinner and were late. Apparently the time had changed from 5:00 to 4:00 and no one told us, so they called at 4:30 when we still hadn't arrived. We missed seeing Greg and Sierra since they had to be at the Krueger's for dinner at 4:00, too, so that was disappointing. But we had a good visit and good food, and a lot to be thankful for.

We also turned on our outside lights that night! It had been a few years since we've hung lights. Christopher's RA had always kept him from doing it, but this year has been a little better. The kids loved it, which makes it all worth it. And check out those bushes... I did those all by myself!
Friday we made our visit to the tree farm which was less than pleasantly memorable. It was not good, which set the entire day into a downward spiral that just kept getting worse. We got our tree, we got it up, and after several hours, a trip to Wal-Mart because the lights from last year wouldn't work, everything was done and I did not take a picture that day.

Saturday was Thanksgiving/Christmas with Chritopher's mom's family. They usually don't make it down for Thanksgiving, but this year they did and decided we'd have Christmas the same day so they wouldn't have to make another trip. There were 14 kids. Enough said!

We always play a game called cut-throat at Christmas with them and this year everyone brought their own gift for the game. We stuck in the turkey hat I won last year and Grandma Lou got it! She thought it was so funny- and Aunt Debbie did, too!
Yesterday we went up to Granny and Pa's. Mom had made some sugar cookies for the kids to decorate and they had fun with their creations. They made a royal mess, but had a lot of fun.
And today, well, we have officially gotten our first snow!!!! Look closely, click it to enlarge if you need to, and you'll see a few fat snowflakes in front of the tree. It was really coming down for a while! But considering it was in the mid 60's Friday and Saturday, there won't be any sticking. But it has arrived, and I'm excited! Too bad the kids were already at school!

And I ask that you keep my grandpa in your prayers. His heart has been acting up lately and he isn't feeling well at all. Last night he barely talked and he's usually got a lot to say. He sees his cardiologist tomorrow and Granny is going along to make sure something is done. His heartbeat is so irregular, going from 70 bpm down to 30 bpm. He needs a pacemaker but his dr. just keeps putting him on meds to regulate it. Please pray that he is able to get something done and that he feels better. I hate seeing him like this, and I know he doesn't enjoy it either.

Meet Kate

No, not my Kate, but Kate the doll. She's my newest creation and you can check her out in my Etsy shop!. I think she needs a good home for Christmas, don't you?

Dear Santa

Kate is at that age. Really, I think she's way past that age, but she's a kid at heart no matter how old she gets. This year, though, she's been especially skeptical, which I fear will cause Preston to not believe. He still needs a bit more time of the magic of Santa. Because Kate is so skeptical, she did not want me seeing her letter to Santa. She quickly sealed it up and insisted that when we mail it, that we take it downtown and put it in the mailbox outside of the post office. She even took it to school with her so that I wouldn't peek during the day. Curious to see what all she had, and the trick she said she added that would prove Santa's existence, I made a substitute envelope and put it in the mailbox instead of hers. I can't tell you how stressful that whole ordeal was, wondering if I'd start a huge panic in the mail room with an envelope that only says, "Santa, North Pole" on the front. Then what if they take it to the police and they finger print it... I tend to over think things. Anyway, here it is in all its glory.

Dear Santa,
I have a few questions, requests and gift ideas for you. First of all, I would like Harry Potter Legos. I really hope you can safely deliver my toys. I am not sure if you are real. More than half of me believes in you and a part of me doesn't. I have started a program called S.C.E.P. or Santa Claus Existence Program. I would also like a cell phone and a new D.S. The old one got washed and now it doesn't work.

I have one last trick for you. I will be placing a Mr. Happy Hanky in the Christmas tree downstairs in the middle of the tree slightly hidden but just so mom, dad and Preston can't see it. I want the Mr. Happy Hanky to be gone and $10 in its place. I hope I can continue to believe in you with no doubt whatsoever in your existence. I can't wait to get my wishes. Also I would like some new paints for my easel. And a giant milk-free chocolate Santa.

Sincerely, Kaitlyn

Let's be random, shall we?

It's been a week... You all heard about our breakdown at the school and needing to be towed and the big ordeal that was. With no definitive cause other than a suspected fuel pump that was going to cost us $600, we really didn't know what to do. We called around to see if other garages could do it cheaper, and I'm sure they were seeing dollar signs as soon as I said fuel pump. I even asked them if it would be cheaper if we bought our own pump and brought it in, but was told they'd have to raise the labor rate because they wouldn't make any money that way. Niiiiiiiiice. So my ever-so-handy father-in-law decided he and Christopher could do it themselves. And do it, they did! My car now has a brand-new fuel pump/filter and is running like a champ. And the check engine light is off for the first time in years. YEARS, people! The best part, it only set us back about $120, so it's MUCH better than $600! So thankful!

Friday night was Olde Tyme Christmas downtown. It's always fun to walk around and go into stores we ordinarily wouldn't go into to browse around. It was cold, though, and we came home smelling like smoke from all of the fires they had set up in barrels to keep warm. It was nice to see them put the tree back in the road this year after it being gone for two years. We wanted to donate our big blue spruce out front but didn't get the city called. Hopefully next year we will because you can hardly see our house because of it, plus they do the cutting for free and it benefits the town. A win-win for all!

Christmas shopping has begun, and all from the comfort of our home. I do NOT plan on going out of town to shop for any reason this year. I am so not into crowds and with free shipping, why even bother going somewhere? We're getting close to being finished, which is nice. Our first Christmas is this Saturday, and I still need to buy another gift for it, so I do plan on going downtown for it this afternoon.

Preston has a nasty, soupy cough just in time for Thanksgiving. He's actually had it for about a week, now, but it just lingers. Thankfully his asthma hasn't been affected, he's not run any temps and it's not uncomfortable to cough, so we're just watching it right now. Praying that we make it through the holiday healthy! He has a history- 3 years ago he woke up with a 102 degree temp and a raging ear infection Thanksgiving morning, then turned around and did the same thing the next year! But with his new tubes, they shouldn't get infected, but with Preston, there's no guarantee.

I'm trying to prepare myself for going up to the attic and bringing down all of the Christmas decorations. I always have the kids' tree set up for them to decorate on Wednesday after school so that we're not trying to do two trees in one day. Been there, done that, not doing it again!

I need to go through all of the snow clothes and see what fits and what doesn't. This is the week of our usual first snow fall. I'm not expecting anything this week since it's supposed to be 65 by Thursday, but snow will be here before we know it. I know they both need boots and gloves, but who knows what else!

I'm excited that my cousin Greg and his fiancee, Sierra are coming home for Thanksgiving! Greg was here last year but I have yet to meet Sierra. My family loves her, so I can't wait to meet her. They are getting married in Savannah, GA this coming May and I soooooo want to go. But Christopher's cousin is getting married in Gatlinburg, TN in June, so we don't know what we're going to do.

This morning at breakfast, Kate reached over to pick up an oven mitt and knocked her entire bowl of cereal on the floor. Rice milk is sticky as it is, but fill it with Pops and it's like a melted Snickers bar all over the dining room. Thank goodness for oak! I don't even want to think about that if we still had the carpet in there! So that led to the need to get on my hands and knees and mop the entire dining room/living room with vinegar/water. Maybe it really needed it to begin with, but it really needed it after that! I had to mop over that area 3 times to get all of the sticky off. Yuck. But the floors look really nice now, just in time to decorate for Christmas!

And the verdict is...

"We can't find anything wrong with your car." (thankfully they didn't charge us)

Same thing as last time. Apparently, right after we left the dealership Monday, they started the car right up and drove it into the shop. They tried and tried all day yesterday (using almost 1/4 tank of MY gas) to get it to act up and nothing. NOTHING. It shows up no codes. They said that if they had to guess, that they'd guess the fuel pump, but that it was just a guess, and one to the tune of $500- $600. Certainly not a guess that I want to take on a 14 year old car. But whatever this is, it's nearing it's final lap, and will be completely finished in the near future. So I don't know what to think at this point, and I'm not very happy about it. I certainly don't feel comfortable driving it out of town anymore, and unfortunately with living in a small town, it's often necessary to do that. Soooooooooooo...

I got my hair done yesterday, so no one has to worry about losing their eyesight from my glaring greys. I went two shades lighter in hopes that it might not be such a contrast between the two, but it's still pretty dark, but not nearly as dark as it was! I do love this new color better, though! I thought it would be rough, and I'd mulled over it for weeks since my other color was pretty much identical to my natural color. I had a really rough time mentally with changing something that was part of me. Now I'm thinking about going even lighter next time!

Lat night was a ROUGH homework night. It happened to fall on a girl scout night so she wasn't able to start on it until 6:30. It was after 10 when she finished. I can't say that there weren't a few tears shed (by both parties) out of sheer frustration because none of the answers were in the book or her notes, which we finally resorted to the internet to find. She's also developed a bad attitude about math, which is keeping her from really paying attention and learning the new material, so she had less than half of her math done because she claimed she didn't know how to do the problems. If you haven't reached the point of jr. high math homework yet, be thankful. It's rough. And of course, it has to be done the "new" way. It doesn't matter that we can get the same answer doing it the way I was taught, which is much easier. It has to be done the way the teacher teaches it, or it's wrong.

Today's shaping up to be an equally frustrating day. We'd been trying to get our neighbor's lawn guy to come take care of our leaves with his Cyclone but he's unable to get to us because he's swamped, so that means that Christopher is outside trying to tackle the mammoth job of clearing our fenced in backyard full of *20* broadleaf trees that have dropped all of their leaves and they have no where to go. How's that for a run-on sentence?

Towed

What a day... This morning when I went to take the kids to school, my car would not start. I tried 3 times before calling Granny to come give us a ride. We only had 10 minutes to spare so I wasted no time. I tried once more when I hung up and sure enough, it started right up. It tried to die on me once we got to town at the 4-way stop, but we made it through and back home with no issues. I even went to town again and made several stops and it did just fine.

Well... When we parked to pick up Kate and went to start it, it would not start. I tried and tried. Kate was so embarassed because a boy in her class was standing right next to our car and she did not want him seeing our car not start because he'd say something about it in class the next day. We waited until he got picked up and tried again with no success. I decided to call Pa and have him come see if it was the battery. It was not the battery because the car would turn over, but it would not run, it just died right then. He tried and tried with no luck. I called Christopher and we decided we'd have to have it towed to the shop. Pa drove to the shop quickly to tell them we were on our way in case they closed at 4:00 while we waited for the tow truck. The kids just loved this! They got the car on the truck and to the shop.

The car did this earlier this summer and they found nothing wrong. They said they thought it might be the fuel pump going bad but they can't test that until it's absolutely dead, which it wasn't then. Now it looks like this may be the end of the fuel pump. I'm praying this is not the fuel pump, but something cheap and easy to fix. That car is a month shy of turning 14 and by the end of the month will roll over to 117,000 miles. I don't want to put a lot of money into something that old. But at the same time, it's paid off and we're trying to hold off on buying a new car until the other is paid off, which is not for 2 more years. We don't want 2 car payments. We'll just have to wait and see what they find out tomorrow.

Becasuse it's my favorite

It' just not Christmas without my favorite commercial!

Cold, Wind and Busy

That pretty much sums up our weekend. With Veterans Day Friday, the kids were out of school, so it was a long weekend for us. We had big plans of a photo shoot Friday afternoon but it was just too cold. It never made it over 50 degrees and the wind was fierce. So the shoot was moved to Saturday which promised a lovely 65 degree day. But you know how that goes, especially mid-November when we're usually getting snow. The wind was even stronger and the temp. only 57 degrees, but we pushed forward and went ahead with the shoot. It. was. COLD. Thankfully, all parties cooperated and we did manage to get a few good ones for a special cause...
Preston's just too stinking photogenic even when he's not trying! He was set on looking for snail shells between the ties and even though our hands were numb, he wouldn't leave until his pocket was full.

Any ideas why these 4 cousins are raising their hands?

After the shoot and dinner, we joined mom for a trip to see Puss in Boots. Cute movie, but left a lot to be desired. They hyped it up so much that it just didn't live up to its claims. But we had fun though, and that's all that matters!

Today. Well, today was absolutely wonderful weather-wise! Other than very strong winds, the temp reached 72 this afternoon and it was nice to send the kids out to run off some energy. This late in the game, there won't be too many more nice days and they'll be bored out of their minds indoors, so this was refreshing!

We spent the afternoon up at mom's with the kids playing. They got to see Glen so that made their day! Little Cooper has really started talking in the three weeks since we last saw them. He is such a sweet little guy! After dinner we got to work going through last year's leftover coats and shoes for the Coats and Shoes ministry to see what we had so when they get the lists next week they'll know what they need to buy. It's always such a humbling experience to see those coats and shoes- the hundreds of them- that go out to children in our small community and surrounding towns. It's something near and dear to our hearts and it's always a joy and fun experience helping with it. The kids helped tonight and are READY to start wrapping shoes as soon as the lists roll in and shoes are purchased.

Let the new week begin!

Because it's never too early to start planning for the future

via

So maybe I still have 5 months until April, and maybe I'm a little bit too excited about this theme and the fact that I was able to easily convince Kate of its potential. But we have decided that for Kate's big *13th* birthday, it will be a photo booth theme. People, this is going to be so cool! I can't wait to see what kind of fun we come up with for this one!

Entangled

I've been reading Amy Bennet's blog, Permission to Peruse for a while now, and she's written and E-book called Entangled. I've read the introduction on her blog and it was really great, so I have faith that the rest of the book will be equally as enjoyable!

Entangled is about her journey through an emotional affair in her marriage and her way out. She hopes that this book will help women that are in similar situations, but also to deter women from entering into emotional affairs. If you'd like to get this E-book for free, click the link and get it now! Today is its big release!
http://www.entangledbook.com

This week's goings on

It's been another busy week in our household, but busy in a good way as opposed to last week! No one is sick, no chipped teeth, although I did just get back from the dentist with Kate.

So Kate had her cleaning today. No cavities! She did get new sealants and more x-rays, but everything looks great! Our next appointment is her orthodontic work-up- extensive panoramic x-rays, impressions, etc. and then it's on with the braces!

Preston had his second grade musical Tuesday. He had been SO worried about this for weeks since he had to be in a dance in front of 300+ people. Well, he got out there and looked like he'd been doing it forever! It was a square dance and he was out there swinging Riely and Molly like nobody's business! He had the biggest grin on his face the whole time, so I know he had fun! I can't lie, I was grinning ear to ear the whole time, too! SOOOOOOO proud of him for getting out there and doing his best and having fun!

Girl Scout cookies came in yesterday and I have a table full of boxes of cookies in the dining room. She only sold 61 boxes this time, 210 short of her record, but I'm not complaining. That's less that I have to schlep around town delivering!

We're also supposed to be in the middle of fundraising for school- Preston is selling cookie dough for his school and Kate's selling pizzas for the band's trip to Chicago. I will tell you though, that we have not sold one single item. Not one. Why? Because since September, they've sold Girl Scout cookies, soup supper tickets and candy bars. We've hit family up so many times already that I feel guilty asking them to buy more crap. It's ridiculous! And they'll have another one at least before school is out. Not to mention Kate's scout troop is selling cookies again in January, which we won't be participating in. I understand the need for fundraising for field trips, etc., but come on! I'd much rather give them a check that they can keep 100% of, instead of paying the same amount for some product that they get 10% of. And paying $15 for a tub of cookie dough that only makes 4 dozen when I can buy the ingredients to make just as much for $5 is insane. Not to mention that my kids can't eat any of that dough anyway because of allergy warnings.

I can't wait for tomorrow to just sleep in and relax. We're attempting another grandkid picture tomorrow, so we'll see if it goes better than last year! We took nearly 300 pictures and seriously only came out with *ONE*.

I've also been cleaning out my pictures on the computer in an effort to free up some space and have deleted over 2,000. All of them were pretty much from shoots that weren't edited, like the 300 of the grandkids that had to be scrapped.

Memory lane

Two weeks ago, the kids and I joined Granny to take pictures of the house that she was born in. It had been almost 20 years since I had seen it from a distance, and I'd never been on the grounds. It was a great experience.
Getting there was an adventure. Granny tried tracking down the owner to get permission to go on his land, and that led her to the bar he owns downtown. She was given his cell number and finally got a hold of him. Once there, we had to climb a 5 foot high gate, crawl under an electric fence, and had to avoid many cow patties. The grounds are now the middle of a cow pasture and they roamed freely all around. But it was all worth it to see this...
Sadly, the previous owners let it go to shambles. It was like they just got up one day and left, never coming back. Everything was still inside. This house could have easily been taken care of and would still be in great shape for it's age. That was the only hard thing. But seeing the house where Granny was born was nothing short of amazing. I could imagine Ma-ma and Pa-pa Party Pooper living there, the family history that it lent.

History. I'll never get tired of it.

Backing it up a bit

Sorry folks, no pics again. I know, I'm slipping. And I just realized today that I missed a very special picture of the day and am kicking myself in the seat.

At last count, our week had not gone so well. Thankfully, things have been going much better and we were able to enjoy a nice weekend. And a lazy one at that. Saturday turned out to be a do-nothing day. We had big plans to go hang ribbons around town for Veterans Day with the girl scouts, but when we showed up, NO ONE was there. Not one single soul. I don't know what was up with that. And it's too bad, too, because it was such a nice day! So we went home and spent the rest of the day pretty much doing nothing. It was nice.

Today, I was disappointed to have not benefitted from the extra hour of sleep. Not only did I wake up several times unable to fall back asleep, but the stinking alarm clock went off TWICE at 3:30 because we failed to set back any clocks last night. For some reason, the alarm clock has a mind of its own because it goes off every day of the week regardless of whether it's set to or not. Then Preston was up at 6:40. Sheesh!

We went to Granny and Pa's tonight and had a small party for Pa's birthday tomorrow. It was so much fun! We had THE BEST meal I've eaten in ages- it was all my favorite, and Granny is the best cook ever. We had roast beef with gravy, potatoes, carrots, slaw, fried apples and Granny's homemade noodles. Then she made a German chocolate cake... Heaven. I've got three slices upstairs calling my name! Preston had been talking about card houses lately. Seth and I used to build huge ones when we were little, so after dinner I got out all of the cards and started building. Preston kept begging for me to build it bigger, but it was late and we needed to get home, so I promised him next week that I'd start as soon as we got there and make it as big as the living room. Then he got to knock it down and that made his day!

Thankfully, no one has managed to catch Kate's nasty cold and that is a miracle in itself! Let's pray that this week goes MUCH better than last!

Holy moly, what a day

You never know what your day is going to turn out like when your morning starts off like this:

• By 7:30, I managed to clog the drain by trying to shove a lemon-sized piece of ham down the garbage disposal. Then when I tried to take the pipes apart, Christopher had tightened them so tight after the last time I clogged the drain that I only managed to unhook the "U" part. I then spent the next 20 minutes using a thing to pull out hair clogs to pull out the ham while under the sink.
• As soon as I unclog the kitchen sink, I go upstairs to find the one of the kids had clogged the toilet.
  
• I go to the grocery store and as soon as I step out of the car, realize that I have on one slip on flowered sneaker with a big bow and a ballet flat. Not to mention the fact that I also had on argyle socks. I tried to make it a quick trip, but kept running into people I knew.
• I tried to make one single cupcake along with the cake I was baking for the fish fry in a foil liner that said no pan was needed. Well, the thing decided to collapse in the oven, spilling batter. Lovely.

But after all of that, the rest of the day was actually a lot better. I talked to the dentist's office and they confirmed that *I* was right yesterday about the whole extraction ordeal.

I got out of cooking tonight thanks to tickets to the Methodist Men's fish fry to raise money for their coats and shoes ministry. This is such a special ministry to my family since Pa started it over 20 years ago. It's been amazing to see what they do for the community and the kids are already chomping at the bit to start wrapping shoes again!

Bad day

I'm a usually happy person. I try to see the good in things. I try to make the best decisions. I try to be a pleasant person to be around. I try to be the best I can be. I try to live a Godly life. But there are days that drag me down so low that I can only wallow in my emotions. Today is one of those days.

It all revolves around Kate's chipped tooth and it needing to be pulled. It was a baby tooth, that was not going to come out on its own. The permanent tooth had grown out all the way on the side of it, only taking out 2 of the 3 roots, leaving the other firmly attached and not going anywhere. The tooth was chipped down into the center and was very painful. It had to come out. Right next to it was another baby tooth in the same predicament, so he decided to spare her another round of stress and just pull it too. Makes sense to me. Also saves us another copay on an office visit.

Well, apparently, I shouldn't have let the dentist pull her teeth, especially one that wasn't chipped, even though it would eventually have to be pulled. And I also shouldn't have let them use laughing gas which insurance doesn't pay for. And I should have told them to wait because the braces package *may* (and I don't think it does) cover extractions, and then we would've only had to pay for the braces package and not both. And instead of him discussing this whole situation with me *BEFORE* I took her to the dentist (even though he was home all day to do this or even take her himself), he did not, and just assumed I would know this and tell them not to pull her very painful tooth.

So I have been made to feel pretty bad tonight for making a decision to help Kate, which had to be done. It couldn't wait until the first of the year when they want to start her braces. It really couldn't wait until next week when she has her scheduled cleaning. And it's not like we don't have the money to pay for it. That's not an issue at all. It's that this whole "common sense" situation was NOT common sense at all, and I was simply thinking in terms of Kate's best interest. You know, I've scheduled 4 surgeries for my kids without so much as one bit of input from him, and never had an issue or a question as to why. Yet when I have the dentist pull a broken tooth, it's a big ordeal.

Poor Kate

Usually, it's Preston that can't catch a break. Well, now it's his sister.

I posted the other day about her coming down with a nasty cold and fever that just wiped her clean out. She hasn't been that sick in a long time. Then we found out Monday that her ear was infected. Well, today she went back to school, although she really didn't want to. I mean, REALLY didn't want to. She hadn't eaten mush more than 3 hoagie rolls in as many days, but her fever was long gone, she'd already missed one day of school and I knew she'd already have enough homework. I tanked her up with a syrupy pancake and juice, motrin, and sent her off.

Well, it turned out not to be a good day. Two math lessons and a reading lesson all due tomorrow. But to make the day even worse, she chipped her tooth on a flour tortilla of all things! She brought home the chip in a plastic container. I called Christopher and since it was on a loose baby tooth and she already has a cleaning next week, he said they probably wouldn't do anything. But when he got home and looked at it, he could see the inside of her tooth! So I'll be on the phone with the dentist first thing tomorrow to see what they want to do.

I feel so bad for Kate! She's taking it all in stride, though, but with still feeling off, all of the homework due tomorrow, and then the whole tooth ordeal, she did have a little break-down this evening. I'm praying things start to look up!

Trick or treat!

Tonight was trick or treat night and Preston was all ready to go. Any chance to get candy ranks high on his list! Of course, he chose to go as Darth Vader this year. He wasn't fond of the mask, so it only lasted for one house. The lenses were really hard to see out of.
And then there's Kate, who all by herself, came up with the idea of being a British snake keeper. All she requested was a snake and a mustache! We added the white shirt and Christopher's old cape for a little more authenticity.
But it turns out that she was not British tonight because her throat is still hurting her very badly, and against my better judgement, she went along trick or treating. It really did her in and she didn't feel well by the time we got home. I took her to the dr. today and while she doesn't have strep (thankfully), of all things, she has an ear infection! Seriously??? We get one kid's ears fixed and 3 days later the other one has an infection. Preston really wants her to have to get tubes, but she didn't inherit the Henry curse, so she rarely gets ear infections. But the dr. thinks that was the source of her temp. and the rest is just a regular old cold. Hopefully tomorrow she'll be feeling MUCH better after a full day of antibiotics today!

Friday afternoon after Preston's surgery, we decided to carve pumpkins since he needed calm activities. First, the kids took *forever* to decide on what they wanted to carve. Then, Christopher wanted to help. There's a very good reason I'm the resident pumpking carver around here. Poor Yoda lost his staff and looked like a big hole in the pumpkin. Harry, Ron and Hermione leave a lot to the imagination. It was Preston's own old school design that actually turned out. Since Yoda didn't work, he got to carve another.
Harry Potter, Ron and Hermione
Yoda and Preston's original drawing. Grandma Lou painted the small ones.

Notice anything?

There's been a few changes going on over here which I'm sure you've noticed. I am SO unbelievably pleased with my new layout by Green Tangerine Designs! Allison did SUCH a gret job and the turnaround was so fast! I'm sure that it would have been much faster had I not been preoccupied Friday with Preston's surgery! If you're looking for a new layout, check out Allison's site. You won't be disappointed, trust me!

If it's not one kid, it's the other

Last night we got together with Christopher's family for halloween. We always go to Grandma Shirley's house, eat dinner, dress up and get their treats. It's so much easier this way than trying to coordinate when everyone will be home and when they'll be out with their own kids. Well, Kate had been complaining about her throat hurting yesterday afternoon. I looked, and it looked fine to me. Just to be careful, I told her not to be getting too close to Abbie and Issie in case she was getting sick. During dinner, all she ate was a roll, and she didn't want any cake, so I knew something was up. We get home, and after being out in the cold just walking to the car, she had some major chills and a 100.5 degree temp. She NEVER runs a temp. That is, unless she has strep...

So today, she is pretty much the same. Sore throat, major headache and upset tummy when she eats. The only things she's eaten all day were some dry Cheerios, a roll, and a pancake. That's it. Motrin is keeping the temp in check, but I missed her last dose by half an hour and it shot right back up. And with no tonsils, it's pretty hard to tell if she has strep, so we'll be heading to the dr. tomorrow to see what's wrong. Sigh. And it looks like she won't be joining us for trick or treating, either. Technically, she's older than the town's age limit anyway.

Speaking of doctors, out of the blue, Dr. S. called tonight to check in on Preston. He used to always do that the day of surgery, but he said he'd been worrying about him. He said that when he's done a lot to their ears, sometimes they get really sensitive and they have a lot more pain than usual. Thankfully, he's had NONE! Other than a little clicking in his ears, the only pain he's complained of is where he bit through his lip. Dr. S. asked about trick or treating and said that Preston had to give him 22% of his haul! Gotta love him! Friday, he asked Kate what she was dressing up as (which I won't share just yet) and he said he really wished he could see it, so Kate is all excited about getting her picture taken to show him when we go back for Preston's follow-up. Seriously, though, it really made my day to hear from him, and to know that out of all of his patients, he cares enough to worry about Preston and call on a Sunday night to check in. That's a rare trait, and we are so lucky to have the best ENT around!

Surgery... check

When I called yesterday to get our report time and they told me 7:30, and to be in admitting at 7:15, I nearly fell over. That meant we had to be up and on the road by 6:30. Last time we didn't have to be there until 9:00, so I had prepared myself for a later surgery. They usually go youngest to oldest, anyway.

So we were up and ready, and because there was no school today (poor kid didn't even get lucky enough to miss school), Kate had to go with us. We had a lot of "remember this from when you were here last" with both kids, which helped to pass the time because it was not lickety split like last time (he was in surgery within 15 minutes of arriving). We spent over an hour in pre-op trying to keep him occupied and his mind off of surgery- poor kid was so worried even for his 3rd time. Finally, at 8:45, they took him back.
I'm pleased to say that surgery couldn't have went better! The tube was completely out already and the eardrum healed, so there was no need to repair it, which made surgery much shorter and recovery MUCH easier! The new tubes are in, albeit the small ones, but Dr. S. explained to us afterward that he felt it a better trade-off because the smaller ones fall out on their own, even if they fall our much sooner. His eardrums are a lot like mine and are getting more scarred with each infection and surgery, and he doesn't want to risk a tube getting stuck and having to be removed, or a rupture from trying to squeeze in a larger tube. He said he really thinks this will be his last set. I've heard that no less than 20 times, and here we are again. His left ear was still full of fluid, too, so at least we caught this before it had time to get infected.
We got to go back right as they were wheeling him back to his post-op room, which happened to be the same one he had last time. As they were wheeling him in, the nurse said that he had a little scratch on his lip and were getting him a popsicle for it. When he was going under, he mauled his lip and it looks like he bit clear through it. It is still so swollen and there are 5 bite marks. Poor kid. He only stayed in post-op half an hour, so with the half hour in recovery trying to get him woken up, we left an hour later. He even got to bring his old tube home as a souvenir!
Please don't click to enlarge that picture! Trust me! And Preston must have been the Cardinals' good luck charm. I packed his Cards hoodie to wear home from the hospital and they just won it. Never thought they'd do it, but they did!

So far, recovery has been a breeze, no ear pain at all. He really hates those drops, though. Overall, I went into this surgery with much more peace than the last time. There wasn't one time I felt nervous, though I did tear up kissing him good-bye as they took him back. Dr. S. is such a fabulous dr. and there's no one I'd trust more with Preston's ears.

Well, she doesn't have foot cancer

Kate saw the dermatologist this afternoon and you'll all be glad to know that she does not have foot cancer and will be keeping her feet! She was so worried! Oh, Kate...

What she does have is juvenile plantar dermatosis. Basically, glorified eczema. Yes, eczema. We're very familiar with that! If you click the link, you can get some more info and some lovely pictures of someone's feet that look exactly like Kate's. You're welcome! They actually sent us home with a print-out of that site and when Christopher saw it, he said, "They took pictures of her feet?"

So now she has a prescription for a cream that with insurance, costs $600! Thank goodness they gave us a coupon that will get it for us for free! She has to use that cream twice a day for 3 weeks and then as needed afterward. This won't cure it, but it will help it to get better. Then she has to use a Rx antiperspirant type stuff to keep her feet from sweating as the sweat is really aggravating her toes. We also have to wrap her feet in Saran Wrap after we use the meds to keep them on. Shall see how that goes- she still wears socks that are WAY too small, and wears them inside out so that they are very snug and she won't feel the seam. Her feet are that sensitive!

And the best part? When we picked up Preston, the first thing he asked her was if she had to get her feet cut off!

Tomorrow we find out Preston's report time for surgery on Friday. Doesn't seem like it should be this soon. I'm ready, though, and he is, too. Please keep him in your prayers that everything goes well and that the repair job is easily fixed.

For the love of acorns

I've always loved acorns my entire life. They're just so cute, and there's something to be said about a tree "nut" that comes with its own fashion accessory- my favorite part is the hat! My kids love acorns, too. Just ask Pa about the huge pan of acorns that they stored in his garage last year!

But I'll tell you what acorns are NOT good for, and that's eating. I'll take you back to when I was maybe 6 or 7. We'd went along with Granny and Pa to a fish fry at Royce and Lucy's lake lot. I found myself a seat under a large oak tree that had dropped a few acorns. I don't know where the idea came from- if I was dared or just curious- but I decided that I would try the meat inside the shell. If the squirrels eat them, they can't be that bad, right? Well, they ARE bad! Very, VERY bad! I ran to find Granny, begging frantically for a drink. Well, the only thing that they had to drink was buttermilk. And if there's anything worse than eating an acorn, it's chasing it down with buttermilk. I learned a good lesson that day. Acorns are for squirrels, which I am not!

But acorns are the best fall decoration and today I'm sharing a wreath tutorial! Fun and cute, and if you have kids, this is the perfect project for them!
What you need:
* Styrofoam wreath form
* Brown spray paint
* Glue gun
* A LOT of acorns- send the kids outside to collect a good gallon bucket full of acorns. Make sure that they don't have holes or cracks. Wash them and set them out to dry.
And if you have a cat, it might be a good idea to keep it away from the acorns. Apparently, cats like them, too!
Take each acorn and apply a good sized dollop of hot glue on the bottom side and stick it to the wreath. Take the next acorn and stagger it so that it fills in the gap. Continue doing so until the front and sides are covered with acorns. Once finished, add a cute ribbon and hang.
Voila! Now you have a cute, fall wreath that only costs as much as the wreath form and paint! Gotta love cheap seasonal decorations!

Here we go again

Preston had his ENT appointment this morning and he's headed back to the OR. Is it sad that we've been through this enough that we know the ins and outs of same day surgery like our own home? This will be our fourth time...

I was a little nervous about the appt. I was prepared to insist upon new tubes, but this took no insisting at all. It was that obvious. Aside from the fact that he's had 3 infections in as many months, his left ear is just bad. He looked in the right one and said, "This ear looks perfect. Well... not perfect. It looks like an ear that's had 2 sets of tubes, but otherwise, it looks perfect." Then he looked in the other and had me look. It's full of fluid again already and the tube is just plastered in there. He said he couldn't tell if there was a hole behind the tube or not because the tube is completely blocked and up against the eardrum. So here's the run down, and please enjoy my lovely drawing of his eardrum status.

When Dr. S. gets in there and removes the tube, he'll be able to tell if there is a hole in the eardrum. See the hole in my drawing? If there is a hole, he will have to take fat from behind Preston's ear to fill in the space to allow the eardrum to heal. He will then put a new tube in on the other side of the eardrum. See the new tube? Great! But here's the bad part. He can't put in the big tube that stays in longer if there is a hole. If he does, it will cause a very big hole (see above?) and that will involve a major repair of the eardrum, major scarring, and likely hearing loss. The bad thing about the smaller tubes is that they fall out in about 6 months. Been there, done that and ended right back in the OR for another set. Being that this set has been in for over 2 years and he's still going right back to infections, does not lend me much hope that in 6 months, he'll be better. Sigh...

So he's scheduled to have this all done Friday. I'm used to waiting at least two weeks, so this took me a little off guard, but the sooner the better before the one ends up infected again. Overall, though, the appt. went well. We did have to sit and wait a good half hour for our surgery date. Dr. S. was on call and someone had been brought in to the hospital with a chop saw injury to the face and needed major reconstructive surgery. So Dr. S. was pretty frazzled and rushed trying to get his patients taken care of so he could leave and take care of this guy. That meant the nurses were rushed and it took forever.

Any prayers for Friday would be much appreciated! We feel pretty confident in Dr. S. and all he's done for us, and this is a pretty minor procedure, but you never know what's going to happen. I'm feeling much more relaxed this time around compared to last time when I had those horrible nightmares. And being that they just sedate them instead of general anesthesia and intubation, hopefully he won't end up with bronchitis 3 days out like last time. That we can do without!

A little bit of this and that

I really don't have anything substantial to write about, but a lot of little random stuff on my mind.

• My Taste of Home magazine said to plan on 1 1/2 lbs of turkey per person. Really? In that case, we'd need a 50 lb. bird on some serious steroids to feed our family! Me, I don't even eat the turkey. I save my calories for all the other stuff!
• Car insurance rates are ridiculous. Oh, how I hate to write that check...
• I found a carrot in the bag I bought that looks like a pair of pants. I took a picture of it but I'm too lazy to upload just one picture, so you'll just have to believe me. One grew in our garden like that and no one would eat it. We didn't eat that one, either.
• It was nice to see the sun again today after two days of COLD rain and 40 mph winds.
• The Cards won game 1 last night and the kids are excited. I'm not big into following teams, but it is exciting for the home boys to be back in the World Series. I still remember watching them win in 06.
• I'd love to take the kids to a WS game, but standing room only is $200. Them standing for hours in the cold... not gonna happen for $200!
• Christmas is creeping up too quickly.
• I've been busy working on Ashley's birthday cake for tomorrow night and I'm hoping it turns out just like I picture it. Should be cute!
• Kate has a dermatologist appointment next week for her "bad feet." She's afraid she has foot cancer and they'll cut them off!
• Preston has his ENT appointment in the morning. I'm nervous. I have a feeling he'll be headed to the OR again, either for the embedded tube to be removed, but hopefully for a new set. Praying for new tubes.
  
• Christopher sees his dr. tomorrow for his semi-annual screening to make sure his cancer isn't back.
• I need to sew something. I don't know what, but I need to sew something.
• Kate has a parade next weekend an hour and a half away from here and the bus won't be back until 11:30 *PM*. Still scratching my head on that one.
  

A little spiffing up

Our laundry room was in need of a little TLC. When we bought this house 4 years ago, we had less than 4 weeks to get it ready before we had to close on our old house, and in that 4 week span, we had to rip wallpaper from almost every wall, completely gut the kitchen and main bath, paint, and strip and refinish the hardwood floors. So while we poured every single minute into renovations that had to be done, the laundry room went untouched. About 2 years ago, I painted the laundry room white- it was already white to begin with. About this time we decided to get some linoleum tiles to cover the lovely pink linoleum that was on the floor. Mrs. T. loved her pink! I really wanted ceramic tile, but because of all of the "stuff" (water heater, furnace, reservoir tank, etc.) that couldn't be moved, linoleum was easier.

But I recently decided that something else had to be done down there. I had been begging to paint the living room grey, but Christopher wouldn't budge on it since it's a serious undertaking. The dining room, living room, front hall, stairwell, and upstairs all share at least one wall at some point, so that means that I'd practically have to paint the entire first and second floors, and bring in scaffolding. Should've thought of that 4 years ago... So if something was going to be painted grey, it was going to be the laundry room. So here you go, our very white laundry room...
And our grey laundry room.
First off, I LOVE it! You can't really tell it's grey from the pictures, but it looks so pretty, and I love the contrast between the wall and white cabinets. It was exactly what it needed! Now, the color is a little bluish and not what I really wanted, but it works and I couldn't be happier! That is, unless I can paint the living room...