YAY Homeownership!

One night last week, I finished a load of wash and noticed water slowly seeping out from under the washing machine.

Uh-oh.  

Once we dug up the corner of the flooring, we found that there were a grand total of SEVEN layers of flooring, and underneath all that was gorgeous wood.  So we decided to spend a LOT of hours and a LOT of calories pulling up the entire kitchen floor.  

But in the middle of this, we had a major rainstorm and suddenly our ceiling was dripping water.  

Uh-oh.

So now we get to pay for that instead of dealing with sanding and sealing and staining the floor.  Bummer.  The laminate will go back on, and we will do it later.  Boo.

We're tired and sore and just done.  Praying for added patience (and a surprise raise....haha).  The floors turned out so pretty!  I can't wait to get back to them someday.  Charlie's tired, too.  He gets it.

Laundry Love

I have a new love.

Doing LAUNDRY!!

I have never really minded laundry, but I'm slightly obsessed with it now.  It's all thanks to two new laundry products I've been using.

1. Nate's mom made me a bucket of homemade laundry detergent for Christmas.  I love it!  You only have to use 1-2 TB per load.  Commercial brands add so many fillers, which is why you have to use those huge scoops they have.  This has a very light, fresh smell.  I just love it.  (And she even decorated it all cute!)

2. I bought some Downy Unstopables to use when I wash my sheets to add some scent.  I had tried the scentsy washer whiffs, but I wasn't liking the scent, and I felt like I had to use a ton to get any results.  Well, I LOOOOVE this Downy product.  Just sprinkle some into your load, and it makes everything smell awesome.  I don't use it on the girls' stuff because they have sensitive skin, but I've been using these on all of our other laundry lately.  It's my favorite thing in the world....I can't rave enough about how much I love these!  I plan on buying a shelf-ful when they go on sale next!  The pink and blue scents are my favorites...not so much the purple.  You know, my birthday is coming up, so I'll just ask Nate to buy me more of these for my present!  I'd be thrilled!  I'm easy to please.  :)

Makeover

I don't have a crafty or artistic bone in my body, but luckily I have wonderful friends who DO!  Remember this little red table that has sat in various places around my house for a few years?  It got a little makeover!  I absolutely LOVE it, and it looks great next to our bed now!  Someday I'll get new bedding...and a rug and maybe paint.

A huge thank you to Lisa Winnett (check out a few more photos of this project here)!!  She's going to do a few other furniture makeovers for us over the summer, and I am so excited!

Projects Continued

I'm excited.  Why?  Because I finally don't hate every room in my apartment!!  Well, hate is a strong word, but I definitely was just living in this place as a means to an end.  I was tolerating each room, knowing that it was just temporary.

Well, tolerating no more!  Enjoying!  Liking!  Maybe even Loving!!  Each room is still a work in progress, but we're getting there.  It takes time to be patient, wait for furniture deals and make decor decisions.  Especially when I'm really bad at interior design!  And when have no cash to spare!!  No, this'll never be our dream home, but until we get there, we will continue to feel blessed and grateful for this little home we have created.

My main goal for my apartment makeover is: ZERO CLUTTER.  I've had it with the clutter!!  We've made piles of stuff to take to DI that go from floor to ceiling, and I couldn't be happier to get it all out of here!  I want some open space...walls that aren't lined completely with furniture.  We're rockin' it so far...!

The Office/Reading Nook Update:  This morning, my handsome man worked his cute hiney off before he had to go to work (and work his cute hiney off some more).  We bought a new bookshelf over the weekend (for a whopping $15!!  I'm telling you...I love love love a bargain!).  We moved the ugly filing cabinet into a closet and now we have ourselves a lovely little reading area to greet you as you walk in our front door.  I already know I'll be spending hours right there nursing my little baby, and I'll have a beautiful view of the late summer/fall colors out my window.  (and did you notice my two munchkins at the computer??)

Coming soon...the new and improved living room & playroom.  Just give us a few more weeks...

***

Ever wonder what it looks like if you put 2 stinkers in Time-Out at the same time?  Wonder no more:

Kind of heartbreaking....kind of not.  Will they ever learn??

Sunday Sweets, Slam Dunks & Sweet Deals

Teach me how to Cammer...

He loves to dunk.  Nate is also teaching him how to block shots. 

We've been working hard this past week rearranging and organizing.  We moved our bedroom to where the playroom was, so now it's complete with crayon scribbles on the cinder block walls and spiderman drawings on the closet doors....romantic, yes?  Nate and I went on a 'date' to Target to find lamps, and we snagged these lamps for a whopping $4.24/each.  I know they're sort of tacky, but I'm still giddy over it.  Next on the to-get list is nicer bedding (obviously) and maybe paint.  But that said, I've decided to stop making excuses for or feeling embarrassed about our plastic, mis-matched furniture and lack of cute decor.  This is my house...like it or not!  It's our home, and there is more love here than in any decked-out, fancy, huge or expensive home I can think of.

Cameron's so pretty... 

Creating Our Haven

Since deciding to stay here at University Student Housing, I have felt the Lord bless me with a desire to have patience, smile, be humble, be grateful, and really focus on turning this apartment into our haven.  I don't want to just 'endure' our time here.  I want to LOVE this apartment and these cinder-block walls and create the most inviting atmosphere that I can so that the Spirit of Christ can dwell here.  This is MY home.  This is where my family feels the safest, the happiest, the calmest, the most love....and it is up to me to create the haven that Nate and my children deserve to come home to every day.

Over the years, I have created dozens and dozens of routines, schedules, lists, etc to help me stay on top of my homemaking tasks.  Sad to say, I rarely stick to them.  I'm not a great housewife by nature.  But I'm committed this time!!  I'm going to type it up on my blog so that I feel more obligated to stick with it.  Feel free to bug me about it...in fact, I've always thought that having some sort of cleaning buddy or a homemaker club would be fun....keep each other going!

So tie on your cutest apron!

Part 1 of Creating Our Haven, here is the schedule I've have made:
(Disclaimer: I don't expect Nate to feel obligated to take a big part in keeping our home clean....BUT he, being the wonderful man that he is, always steps it up when I'm pregnant and plays Mr. Wifey until I'm feeling up to it again....especially the chores that are particularly difficult with a pregnant belly...like hauling laundry to the dryer, cleaning the floors, and scrubbing the bathtub.  Love my man!)

Weekly Cleaning Schedule
Daily: Make beds, Dishes & Kitchen surfaces, Sweep kitchen floor, Vacuum living room, Toys picked up, Trash emptied
Monday: Grocery shopping, Kitchen appliances, Kitchen floor
Tuesday: Hall, Entry, Desk area (shredding, filing, etc)
Wednesday: Bathroom
Thursday: Laundry, Bedrooms, Change sheets

Friday: Playroom, Living room, Kitchen floor

Saturday: Bathroom
Monthly: Windows, Vacuum under furniture, Clean inside of kitchen cupboards and refrigerator, Disinfect toys, Clean inside of both cars

Other

*No Facebook/computer until breakfast is cleaned up, everyone is showered/dressed/combed, daily cleaning task is done, and personal scripture reading is done.

*No television/movies for the children in the evenings until toys are picked up, bath & jammies, family scripture reading done, and dinner is cleaned up.

*Children clear their own plates after each meal and empty the dishwasher (they LOVE this).

*Spend at least one hour outside every day (this will easily turn into 5-6 hours in the summer).

*Menu plan on Sundays.

*Crockpot meals or planned leftovers 3 days a week.
*Splurge on a fresh bouquet of flowers each week for the kitchen table (made possible by doing the above-mentioned leftovers!)
*Make Nate's lunch by 8:30 on the mornings he works at 9 am.
*Bake bread weekly.
*Begin planning/budgeting for food storage.

Don't Hate, Appreciate

On Facebook on my birthday when I complained about being 30 and Nate being just 27, Nate gave me some wise words of advice:  "Don't hate, Appreciate!"

I know he was just trying to be funny, but it's actually a really great thought to keep in mind.  So as we've let our recent big decision sink into our minds, it's been a little sad too.  We had paint colors picked out and had plans to let the kids pick out a new kitty at the shelter and had plans to spend all summer in the backyard and had already talked to some people about Cameron's Kindergarten teacher, etc.  So it's been hard to sort of reverse that thinking back to living here.  We LOVE living here, but there were so many things that we were ready for a change from....our broken oven, not having a dryer, the mold currently growing under our window (thank heavens the maintenance crew is coming this morning to fix that....), climbing all the stairs, not having covered parking, the nasty smells coming from the Asians cooking dinner below us, the gossip, no storage space, etc etc. 

BUT instead of dwelling on that list, I'm going to make a list of things that I "appreciate instead of hate" about staying here:

• We get to stay with our dear friends and meet so many new people
• No 30+ minute commute for Nate
• CHEAP rent + free utilities, Internet and cable
• Cameron can go to Kindergarten and ride the bus with all of his best friends
• Allison will get to go to Headstart preschool (SO happy about this!!!!!)
• We will have lots of support and help when Baby arrives
• Nate gets to keep playing basketball and football and video games with all of his buddies here
• We will save TONS of money on gas and wear & tear on the Civic with a 5-mile commute instead of a 25-mile commute
• Playdates outside our front door all summer long
• Nate & I get to stay in our current Church callings, which we both love right now
• We get to live by Kristi, Logan & Alex for another year!!!
• And obviously the best one is that it means Nate is pursuing his Masters Degree, which will benefit us for the rest of our lives

Life is good!  We are blessed.  We have no doubts that we are doing the Lord's will for us, even if it means a few more years of sacrifice in many ways.  It will all be worth it.  It will be fun!! 

So our dear Dave Ramsey posted this article today about moms and money.  A HUGE downside to us buying a house right now was the fact that if and when Nate had decided to go back to school, I probably would have had to go back to work.  I know that would have broken my heart.  I tell Nate all the time how incredibly grateful I am that I have been able to stay home and raise our babies.  This means so SO much to me.  And now that I caught even a glimpse of maybe having to leave them, I realized how much I have taken it for granted.  Here are some things the article said about moms and money, it was written by a mother and the author of "The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers", which I now want to read!  It's a little long, but very well-written, and I couldn't agree more with what she says....especially right now!!

"I have watched mothers fall apart when their finances crumble, and I have seen families disintegrate over a mother’s obsession with earning more so that the family can go on nicer vacations, buy a third car, or even provide an Ivy League education for the kids. But here’s my deep concern about money and moms: We have allowed money to have control of our relationship with it. It holds power over us. That’s why Dave Ramsey’s work is so critical. He shows us how to take back the power.

When we control our money, something extraordinary takes place. Money begins to settle into its proper place in our lives. Budgeting helps diffuse the power it holds over us, and we see that we really need a whole lot less than we thought. Real independence comes when we let go of our need for so much that it buys. And as far as allowing our incomes to give us a sense of value—we all know deep down that this isn’t true.

It’s time we mothers square away our relationship with the green stuff. It isn’t a living thing; it's just money. After we take charge over where it goes, let’s work to keep its power in our lives as limited as it should be. Sacrificing time with loved ones to earn more doesn’t make life sunny. And if we really want to live with a sense of freedom, we can open our hands and let a little fly away to those who need it more than we do. Earning more to buy nicer stuff for our kids doesn’t make us better moms—loving them better does. And as far as enjoying real security, there’s only one Being who can give us that, and He isn’t green."

Happy December!

I love this time of year!!  I just can't believe it's already here again!  Allie's 2nd Christmas already!  And it's our 4th Christmas here in the Village.  One month until I get my 2010 blog book printed, I can't wait!  2010 has been a great year, but I have no doubts that 2011 has some amazing things in store for the Wood family.  I'm so happy right now.  I feel zero stress or worry or fears about our future.  What a blessing to me, because I feel like I've spent toooo much energy worrying over the past year, especially the past few months.  Not anymore....complete peace, calm, happiness and faith in my mind and heart....that's what the Book of Mormon will do for you!

Cameron is so excited for Christmas.  We made a countdown chain, and tearing off a link is the first thing he does every morning.  I keep telling him that Christmas is the day that we celebrate when Jesus was born, and he keeps asking, "How old is Jesus?" 

We haven't really been up to much....  I forgot how tough it is to keep the kids entertained during the Winter!  Luckily Cameron has school through December 20th, and we play with friends a lot.  The kids have both taken a new liking to art....drawing, coloring and play-doh.  I hate that they can't get their energy burned off outside as much, so I make them run and dance and be Spiderman and act like different animals.  You should see Roo trying to jump and ribbit like a frog, it's hilarious!!  We finally got Cam his own Spiderman outfit, and I know he's going to wear it until it's hanging by a thread!  Nate takes Cameron sledding as often as he can.  I'm going to get a video posted soon of Cam flying down the hill....he loves it!  Roo loves it too, but she and I both get cold faster than the boys, so we usually bail out early and come in for hot chocolate! 

Anyway, on to some pictures...

Since they aren't exhausted at night anymore, I still make them go to bed early, but they can stay up and read books.  The other night, I found Cam in bed with Roo helping her say all of her letters.  And by the way, she insists on wearing Cam's Cars shirts to bed!  She'll bring it to me and say "Wear it, wear it" over and over.

One of Cam's creations.  I'm so proud of what a smart boy he is!  And I love how he forgot the V, so he had to put it in randomly.  He also loves to draw Spiderman, I'll have to scan one of those drawings in soon, because they're pretty classic.

Daddy took today off work, so he played with the kids all day!  I love these smiles!!

Playing games.

And more games...

Roo in a little bucket!  Her hair is so out of control.

Tonight we set up our Christmas decorations and tree.  The kids had fun helping, although Roo likes to throw the ball ornaments, so for the 4th Christmas in a row, only the top half of the tree will be decorated all season!

The nativity lasted about 30 seconds before it became a toy...

A calm, quiet December evening at the humble, cinder-block Wood home.  I'm gonna go snuggle that hottie on the sofa now....

Snazzy

I love my afternoons with Roo.  We have fun.  She's great to run errands with...she doesn't run off like her big bro always did.  And she chatters nonstop since she can finally get a word in while her bro is away!!  It's cute...when 4:00 rolls around, we are usually outside playing.  I tell her it's time to go get Cameron, and she'll drop what she's doing and run down the hill towards his school building.  They usually hold hands all the way home.  Then he rides his bike, and we play until 5 when I corral them inside for dinner.  It's a great afternoon.

So my sister asked for an update on how Nate is liking his student teaching program.  Well, so far, he has mostly been doing observations.  Check out his take on it HERE.  These first few weeks, he is going to all of the different middle & high schools that he can end up student teaching in.  He is meeting the teachers and students, getting a feel for each one.  Then he'll get to submit his top 3 favorite, and his teacher will choose out of those where he'll officially be for the next 2 semesters.  So far he's been the most impressed with West High, which will allow him to student teach US History and Psychology, I believe.  He wants to teach Geography the most, but the teacher he shadows and learns from is more important to him than what the subject is.  So he'll get the official assignment in a few weeks, and then he'll be in that same classroom all the time from now until April.  I love how dressed up he looks each day.  So snazzy.  So sharp.  It's been nice too because he's had less homework in the evenings lately, so we've been able to hang out a lot more than usual....but sadly this will change when he has lesson plans to create every evening!  So I'm enjoying these few weeks while they last. 

***
I'm patiently waiting for the sneak peek of the children's photo shoot to show up Marci's blog.  Allie wore the cutest dress ever made!  So until then, here is a picture of my dishwasher.  Why am I posting a picture of my dishwasher?  Because I CAN!!!  That's why.

      

A Work in Progress

Some days I get so frustrated that I don't have the money/talent to decorate and furnish my home how I want.  And I'd really love for something in our house to be from a furniture store and not from craigslist!!  I've been good the past 5 years about not complaining, but it's just starting to get old, seeing our mis-matched furniture....especially our plastic drawer 'nightstands' (yep!) and our plywood bookshelves and dresser.  Sometimes Nate and I just look around our apartment, then look at each other and laugh.  We love our simple life.  We know that having each other and our beautiful, healthy children means MUCH more than worldly posessions.  We know it's worth waiting until we can pay cash for these things....but wow, sometimes the waiting can wear you down!!  Got any good "newlywed years" furniture or decorating stories?  I could use 'em....help remind me that I'm not alone and that it gets better!!  "Sacrifice brings forth the blessings from heaven."  Maybe that should be our family motto instead!!

Our home is constantly a work in progress.  We are allowed to paint here, but you have to paint it back before you move out or pay a hefty fee....and neither of those sound worth it to us!  Anyway, I've been wanting to create a picture wall in our bedroom...without making too many holes (yet another rule here).  So I came up with this little display using some of my most favorite pictures ever.  It's pretty ghetto-looking still....I'd ultimately love to have a master bedroom painted light blue and use chocolate brown mini-clothespins to clip these on.  That would look much better.  But this will have to do for now!  Oh well!!  I love staring at these pictures at night...they mean the world to me.

**Updated picture with smaller clothes pins...hoping to paint them soon!**

Nate is taking his LAST final right now....and then he's got his Bachelor Degree!!  I'm so proud of him, it's been a loooong road to get here!  Two semesters of the Teaching Program left, and then we're DONE!!! 

Every day, Cameron says, "Mom, let's live in Tennessee and get a dog.  Two dogs and a cat.  And I want to play basketball in my yard."

Well, August is going to be an exciting month.  I get my man (kids get daddy) for two whole weeks, our TN trip is coming up, I start babysitting again, and we close out August with a bang....JOHN MAYER concert on the 31st!!!  I am so excited.  SO excited!!!

Official Roomies

The kids have been doing an awesome job of sharing a room.  Definitely not going back!  Roo likes to wake up at 6:00 (or earlier) and sometimes they get mad at each other.  But sometimes they wake up laughing hysterically, which is adorable.  So they survived the 'trial week' and to make it official, I got Cam's name for the wall.  I ordered it from my mission friend's vinyl website HERE at Giggly Gumdrops.  Check it out, she has lots of cute stuff!

***

Roo texting Daddy.  Maybe. Either way, she's pretty and has an awesome Farmer's tan.

So we are wondering if Roo has eczema.  But we aren't sure.  Ever since she was really young, she scratches when she's tired or upset.  She does it in her sleep too.  It seems like she does it without realizing...sub-conciously.  Like a comfort thing.  Cameron did the same thing...he used to scratch the back of his thighs when he was tired.  He'd have scratch marks too.  But he stopped after awhile.  She doesn't seem to be growing out of it.  Their doctors said it's probably nuerological....like an ocd thing for babies.  I hope she grows out of it soon and that we don't end up having to treat her for something else, like eczema.  Poor thing.  Any ideas?  I've been using Cetaphil on her, but it doesn't seem to help either.

Here, you can see it on her upper chest. (atleast she's happy, right??)

Her upper back is the worst.

Red & Pink

Red ~ Spicing up the blah wall

Pink ~ Painted Roo for the first time, my heart melted a teeny bit

And this melted my heart allll the way...this happens just about never!

(ps...giveaway winner will be announced tomorrow morning via random.org.  Hurry and enter!)

Growing Up

This little sweetie pie is growing up

too fast...

(haha, I love her piggies when they're still wet!)

and it's breaking my heart!! 

Some days I still want another baby...but then that baby would grow up too fast and I'd want another...it's a vicious cycle!

***

This morning Roo wanted to eat her cereal ALL BY HERSELF.  She did a pretty good job!  One spoon...then the other  I remember when Cam first wanted to feed himself...it was with yogurt.  Such a messy phase, but so so sweet!

***

My friend, Tamie: "Hey Cameron, what's your little sister's name?"

Cam: "Rooster."

Tamie: "What?  I don't think so..."

Cam: "Yes it is.  Her name's Rooster. And Allie."

***

This morning I woke up and finally confronted the beast:Cameron's Bedroom! His toys are such a disaster, and it was driving me insane. Like to the point where I wouldn't even go in there. I would clean up the mess day after day after day, so I went on strike. For too long! So today I went through with a garbage bag and threw away all of the obnoxious toys...Happy Meal plastic toys, crayons and markers, mis-matched socks, etc etc.  It felt good!  We also put his mattress up on the frame...hopefully he won't fall off!  His mattresses were just sitting on the floor before, so now we can store stuff under his bed.  I moved his bookshelf to the foot of his bed, so now at night he can read before he falls asleep.  He already does...but there is usually a trail of books leading from his bookshelf to his bed!  I'm not a super-organized person, but I'm glad I finally got that project done!  On to the next...bring on the Spring Cleaning.
***

Nate has been getting up at 6:30 every day and working out. It's his new "Nater Revolution"...hilarious!  He's on a quest to lose some weight, get BUFF, and just have a more active lifestyle. I'm excited about it, he says he already feels better.  He runs the same loop as me, and he can already run it faster!  We're hoping to run some 5K's this summer...except he'll probably leave me in the dust.  Wait for me!!

No Joke

My hilarious kids are my life.

No joke about that!!

Enjoy.

Doing Daddy's famous bucktooth face....

We just taught Allison the Korean word for 'smile'.  This is what she does when you say, "Mee-Soh!!"...and then she claps her hands cuz she knows she rocks.

Love the gut, Roo...

***

Finally, I have to thank Nate's sister, Mallory, for the adorable paintings she did for our kitchen.  They match the decor perfectly, and they are so fun to look at.

I LOVE them!!