LAZY!!

My goodness, I can't believe it has been almost a month since I updated my blog. Where has the time gone? I kept thinking I needed to update it, and then just didn't. Can you say Lazy??? So grab a drink, pull up a chair - we're gonna be awhile.

So anyway, a lot going on around here. Mitch and I have been busy on some home improvement projects. Our bathtub in the kids' bathroom broke, so that had to be replaced. We had already purchased new linoleum for the bathrooms, so was a good time to put that in, and since Mitch was already doing all that - seemed to be a good time to replace the sinks too!! After a couple of weeks of using just our bathroom, we finally got the kid's bathroom put back together. I went and bought new towels and rugs and decor stuff for the bathroom. The new floor looks great and I love the new furnishings.

Here are some old/new pictures.



This is the old sink on the left and the new one on the right. I love the rounded look to the new one - think it really brightens up the bathroom. I still want to have Mitch change out the faucet on it though. And you can see the new dragonfly accessories I bought too.




This is the flooring. I love the new stuff (it's on the right) - think it makes the bathroom look brighter and bigger.




Here is an overall look at it. The bathroom is dinky, but I think it looks great with all the new stuff. Now I need to remember to put the rug grabber stuff on the bottom of the rug - cause it is slick on the new floor!

We have also made some major family type changes lately. We had become very fragmented, all of us eating at different times, doing our own things. DH was in charge of cooking, cause he said it relaxed him - but he fed the kids whatever they wanted and would make 3 different meals to please everyone. That wasn't teaching the kids anything good - so I have taken back the kitchen. I am not the most favorite Mom right now :) Family dinner is at 6pm, we all eat the same thing, at the dinner table. The kids have to eat at least a little of one vegetable and one fruit (this is a struggle). I've also put a ban on computer and video games Mon-Fri. In addition (Mom is on a roll!!!) on Mondays, we have Family Home Evening. This is an idea that I have adapted from the LDS church. My sister is LDS and has long called me a "dry Mormon" whatever that means - LOL. So on Mondays, there is no TV at all. We all do an activity together. There is a person put in charge that day, and they choose the meal and the activity. It rotates, and when it is the parents turn to be in charge - we will go out to eat and maybe to a movie or something.

Braeden (15) wasn't too excited about this new regime, but Brett (7) and Emma Grace (5) were excited about playing games. I bought Operation and Candy Land and our first evening was 2 weeks ago. Emma Grace was in charge and we had Spaghetti and played games. After a shaky start - it was great!! Mitch and Braeden were determined to beat Operation and played for quite a while. Emma, Brett and I played Candyland until it was time for baths. We had our 2nd Family Night last night (we had to delay it because Brett has been sick) and Brett was in charge. We had Tacos for dinner and played Trivial Pursuit for kids - Nick Edition. Was a lot of fun and the kids have adapted very fast to the new routine.

Here are some pictures from the first Family Night




Mitch and Braeden battling it out over Operation.





Brett and Emma in an intense game of Candy Land.

I also got a lot of scrapping done during the Beat The Winter Blahs Challenge on
Scrap Addict I won't post them all here - there are quite a few. But I was happy to get them done and break into my awesome kits! Here are a couple of my faves:


A photo of my Mom and Pops, just a few days before she passed away in 2004. Love this Tainted Love Kit from Scrap Addict!!

Inspired by a layout by Gretchen M., photo is of Mitch at Jeff's Pirates Cove in Guam.

You can see the rest at my gallery at Scrap Addict, my userid is artsnscraps. You do have to be registered to view them - but all the talent at SA makes that definitely worthwhile.

So that sorta catches you all up - I'll try not to go so long without updating!