it's cold!

Holy cow it's cold here! I understand it's January in Wisconsin but still...25 below zero wind chills aren't fun anytime.

The plus side to all this cold, crummy weather has been getting a ton done on our basement. We have carpet coming tomorrow and then just some wiring and finishing touches and it will (hopefully) be done. I painted Jack's room and the family room and lets just say I'm done painting for the year. I've stained 25+ baseboards and have 2 doors and a lot of boards for the ledge around the outside walls yet to do. I think I dis-like staining more than painting. It just smells so bad and I can't really crack a window.  I'm excited to get it to where we want it to be which is more usable space.

Not much else has been going on, just the basement re-do.  Boys are doing well in school and Chad still hates his job. Ben is such a sweetie. I really enjoy our days just him and me when both boys are in school.

I got the boys' chore charts done a while ago. They didn't turn out exactly how I wanted (more of a scrapbook feel) but good enough for who it's for. I found a pack of sports theme paper and Jack chose golf balls and Alex a hockey puck. I wrote the days of the week ad 'Things I need to do this week' then put it in a frame. On the glass we will write the chores for that week and the boys can put a check in the corresponding box when completed.  I plan on rewarding their work with some sort of an allowance, just not sure how much yet.

I also found an excellent way to keep all those photo cards we get at Christmas. I am sorry to say I have in the past thrown them away (gasp! I know) because where in the world am I going to keep those? Well, thanks to Pinterest AKA the reason I'm up 'till 1 AM, I found an idea to put them in a book. I just used things I had laying around and make this:

Genius, right?  Now I can store these books with my Christmas stuff and pull them out every year to see how everyone has changed. I really really wish I would have thought of this sooner. I have always wanted to keep the cards but never had a good way to. Now I can look back in ten years and see how big Grace was and then say, "Oh my gosh I'm old!"  =)

I think my next endeavour is a upholstered storage ottoman. Gosh I love Pinterest!

life for us right now

What you see here was a 55" led TV until our "rambunctious" son Alex hit it (accidentally) with a toy. Owned for less than a year, now garbage.  There was punishment haded out and remorse shown. We will not be getting a new TV since it took us over a year to save for this one and we are currently finishing the basement. 

Things with the boys haven't been good around here for a while and it was time for a change for them as well as me.  We had a talk and went over some new house rules.  I am changing the way I behave/react and am hoping that in turn will change some of the boys behaviors too.  So far it has been going very well. The boys have found other things to do since they have no TV in the living room (they can still watch in our bedroom or kitchen).  I have been spending a lot less time on the computer and more time with them.  They have been acting a lot better towards each other which has been so nice.  I'm working on chore charts for the older two to learn some responsibility and maybe earn a little money. I'm also working on a bored jar. Whenever one of them says "I'm bored", they take a slip of paper from the jar and has to complete the task it says. I have some ideas written down, but if anyone has more ideas please let me know!

On to lesser depressing topics!

One idea I found on pinterest was to put all the childrens cups, plates, bowls ect. down low so they can be more self sufficiant. This was the only cabinet I could sacrifice. These "drawers" are old and not supported the best so you can't put too much on them anyway or they won't pull out which makes them great for this kid stuff. It's mostly plastic so it weighs next to nothing and the drawers slide in and out nicely.

I had some random boxes and cans on there that I really never used so I moved them to the pantry and now all the kid supplies down here. It's kind of a duh! why didn't I do that years ago moment, but glad I did it now. The sippys and cups and bowls are in small containers so they don't tip over when the drawer is pulled in and out.  The two small white crates in the back left are super handy. I had more but I can't find them. Extra lids, straws, throw away bowls and other misculanious stuff are in there. This project promted me to re-arange a few other cabinets and am very happy with the results!

Another find that I must share is the reusable dryer sheet. Just soak a small towel (I used a wash cloth) in liquid fabric softener. Let dry and throw it in with your laundry in the dryer. They say it should last about 40 loads. I just started using it so I can't say how long it will last, but I'm loving it so far. Everthing comes out smelling so good and static free! Gotta love it!!

Switching gears again...today was a pretty good day. We were able to buy some stuff over the phone at Menards to cash in on their 11% rebate on everything in the store for the basement. Saved some money and didn't have to wase a day driving there to get it since we are going up there on Wednesday. Made lunch while the boys all built linkin log cabins together. Made a double batch of the best chocolate chip cookies. I had some filling left over from some treats I took to our nieces birthday party yesterday, so we made cookie sandwiches. Not exactly like Mrs. Fields, but close enough!

Chad was done with chores and replaced the service door on our garage while the boys and I went on a walk/bike ride. Jack and I walked, Ben was in the stroller and Alex rode his bike. Jack and I picked up trash like we always do. It's something I started when we moved out here. It keeps them from getting bored on our walks and it keeps our road looking nice. Win-win! Except it's pretty obvious that someone who drinks Keystone Light does a lot of road drinking out our ridge. Not pleased about that since I believe it is one of our neighbors.

Ben fell asleep on the walk so when we got back home me and the older boys played frisbie in the back yard while Ben slept in the stroller in the garage. He was keeping Chad company with his door instillation. I went inside after a bit but the boys stayed outside playing in the sandbox, riding bikes and scooters. It almost sounds more like an afternoon in July rather than in January. I'll take it as long as we don't get snow in July =)

a jack update

Jack has followed in his brothers footsteps and too had his tonsils and adenoids out. We prepared for the worst with him. Alex was sooo easy and him and Jack are two totally different kids so we were bracing ourselves. He did awesome. They took him back to the OR without any Versed to make him loopy (like Alex was). The anesthesiologist was super awesome and fun, telling Jack he was going to fly his fighter plane and asked him where he was going to take them because of the mask they use to put you to sleep. He went back totally calm and it went so smooth.

After a short while he was done and a little while after that they told us to go to secondary recovery where we heard screams. Luckily, it was not our kid! He was sitting quietly on his little bed looking a little sleepy, but for the most part looking great. We were only in there for less than an hour and he was discharged.




These are the only pics I have and he wouldn't sit still long enough for me to take a good one. He is just being silly, not freaking out at all. Oh, and he lost one of his top front teeth before surgery so there is a giant hole in his mouth. Kinda wondered why it is such a huge gap but now his permant tooth is coming in and we see why. IT'S HUGE!!! Oh braces, how we see you in our future.

He was feeling so well, we stopped at Menards so Chad could run in quick and grab a few things for our basement project. To buy this stuff in our town we would almost pay double. We stopped in Shopko to get him a little something for being such a great patient but couldn't find anything and deduced that we will have to stop at the impliment dealer on our way home. He ended up finding a really neat tractor colloring book, little toy, and a cool hat that says JD on the front. I know it stands for John Deere but it also stands for Jackson David. Couldn't pass it up. My Grandpa Obed was the first one to call him JD.

He did fall asleep for a short while on the ride home. That was the only rest he had until he went to bed that night. He was and still is such a trooper. You'd never know he had surgery. He has been out of school all week but we're thinking of sending him back on Thursday or Friday. I think he's looking forward to that.

Jack was so tired tonight he fell asleep in bed with Chad around 7. Chad was taking a nap before work and we were all in bed telling daddy goodnight. He was the last one left in there and fell asleep. I had to carry him into his bed and lets just say that's the last time I'll be able to do that again. He is a big boy!