All better

I guess something was malfunctioning with the internet connection, but all is fine now =).

It was a busy weekend of catch up as always. We were all so thankful to be well again.
After a "strawberry limeade" incident on Saturday the Route 44 size, both of our vehicles got the carpet steam cleaned. Mine has fabric seats so the seats got a treatment as well. This is the first time we have ever used the hand attachment for our cleaner and it worked great. There are two tanks the solution/clean water tank and the dirty tank. Both vehicles came out with coffee or dark colored soda looking water after being cleaned. It freshened everythng up quite nicely. Yes, this was the first time to have the carpetsin our vehicles shampooed since we have owned them.

The remainder of our flowers got planted between raindrops on Sunday. I'm glad to have that over with. Now on to the fun of watering.

We got up early on Saturday to catch some subdivision sales in a nearby city/town whatever. Nice subdivision and nice sales. I spent $28.25 I believe. Here's the stuff:
new pair of brown Mary Janes for Aliyah $3.00, Gymboree-- dress, shorts, short/top outfit, jacket, 2 pair of jeans, & skirt $15.00, 7 Webkinz $4.00, 4 shutters $4.00, new berry colored Tupperware cups set of 4 $1.50, new Tupperware grape container .25.
All in all, great finds. I knew I went to the right sale when I saw a Gymboree employee running the sale =).

The list was getting crossed off, but it has filled back up again as the yearly house purge has begun for our garage sale. Yikes! I hate the process, but I love the result.

Since the weekend was quite rainy, we just did our favorite thing...enjoyed being with each other as a family. It was kind of nice not to have a project going on.

We are in the process of getting estimates to remove a good-for-nothing (except sticks and garbage) elm tree in our backyard. The first tree service that came said that they couldn't do it (who knows why)--they were the ones that family had recommended. The second one came this evening and quoted $2495 which we thought to be a bit steep. There are 4 more coming (hopefully) and we are crossing our fingers for some better estimates. We would like the beast to be gone--mainly because we feel like it poses a threat to our home and property particularly in storms. The one guy that came says that it is splitting. It wouldn't surprise me if it is, but I'm not sure if it is or not...

This week is the gender reveal sono. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.

S&S

I would update, but the computer is having issues. Who knows what or why. We are well again, thank
Goodness. This week is the big gender reveal-hopefully.
Have a great week everyone!

25 & Spent

I'm here for my weekly check-in...

Not much "fun" to talk about, but I'm sure you are wondering what the title means.

Well, it's not prety.

25:

the number of times the four of us have "bowed before the porcelain god" over the weekend and on Monday.

Tied for 3rd place: Josh & Keirah with 3 each
Aliyah: 8 times on Saturday
and then a lovely repeat of 2 times on Monday
Me: 9 times on Monday (nothing would stay down)


Needless to say, my weekend consisted of cleaning, laundry and all of the extra that goes along with being sick.

Spent:

Me.

For Josh and I, this is the worst flu we have ever experienced. It comes on quickly with very little warning. After about the 6th or 7th time for me, I was worried about becoming dehydrated. Dehydrated and pregnant =NO GOOD! I started drinking some water, but that didn't stay down. By that point, I was so thirsty that I determined that even if it did make me keep throwing up, I would try to get some water down. Finally after a couple more visits to the bathroom, it stayed down. My whole body hurt especially my lower back and legs. Poor Josh...he was working on cleaning and doing laundry when Aliyah began again. He said that if Keirah started throwing up again he was going to run down the streets naked and scream. Fortunately, that didn't happen.

In short, nothing really has been accomplished on our growing to-do list as we were too sick and busy keeping laundry caught up to do anything else...not to mention totally exhausted.

today, I have a headache and dizziness. I'm not sure what that is from, but ergghhh.

In more fun news, the littlest one is doing a lot of wiggling these days. We are 8 days away from the big G-Day. We have been to some nice garage sales and found a few things like brand new bottles (I wouldn't buy used), onesies, and a few outfits. Anyway, I'm off to continue sick-recovery and maybe get a thing or two done in between--we'll see.

Fences, Flowers, & Fun

Sorry for my absence. I pretty much only visit my computer once a week--it can't take much more =). We've been plenty busy around here. There simply are not enough hours to get it all done.

It was a wonderful birthday with such thoughtful words and more from family and friends. Thank you all. I am being negligent and not posting pictures, but I have them on my phone.
There are beautiful flowers in my living room and a hummingbird feeder hanging by my porch so I can see it from the kitchen. There are sweet pinwheels in my indoor plants and oh so much more.

On the weekend, our new fence came in. It was delivered on Friday (late afternoon). It is a scalloped white fence. After a few hiccups (those always happen), Josh began working. Hiccups like not being able to rent the post hole digger (gas powered) because they were out and it is way too big to fit into a car. We remedied that by purchasing a manual post hole digger at Lowe's--more muscle work-out for Josh. Another hiccup...the design computer failed to do the right thing and the posts for the fence did not come with hardware for mounting the panels (yes the hardware is vital). Since these are special order, there weren't any at the store, however a nearby store had some.

My gut told me that he should start digging the post holes and then setting them. I knew that the trip and hassle of what we had to do to get them from another store would take TONS of time...

Sunday was supposed to be busier as we were going to lunch with some people from church. Well, they couldn't go ad then Josh got a call that the local store magically got the hardware that we needed on a truck that very day! IT saved a HUGE amount of time. I was so glad to go with my gut on that one.

Josh worked his tail off and completed our new gorgeous fence. We LOVE it!! The backyard feels like a new place. Now I have the bug to do some changes and maybe add some flowers since we love to spend time there. Oh yeah, did I mention that we have now approxiately removed 70 bushes from our yard. Only three remain--two lilacs and one quince. I got tired of constantly manicuring and trimming the bushes. No more...they are gone!

Flowers are in at the greenhouses!!! AAAAAHHHHH!! I purchased many over the weekend and planted while Josh dug fence post holes. It truly feels like summer. The April weather here ROCKS!!!!! It's like Florida spring and I am so GLAD!!!

I will post my pics to Facebook so if you are my friend there (which I'm sure almost all of you are) check there.

Happy SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here it is...

I have had a wonderful birthday! My family and friends have been so sweet and thoughtful.

We had a fun day yesterday in Oak Brook. PF Changs made an excellent lunch and they had my ultimate favorite dessert of S'mores (mini dessert). My tastebuds danced for hours.

Okay, have you figured it out yet? What's the birthday suprise??????????

Well, it is true that two of our dream houses ARE for sale. We saw my favorite one a few weeks ago and I couldn't believe it really. It is in a newer subdivision not far from where we live. We ride bikes there and drive through there often. Anyway, I have always said that I would love to live in this particular house. I came home and looked online and while my judgment of the house was based on the outward appearance...the inward FAILED to impress. IMO, a higher range home should have something to impress you on the inside--a pretty kitchen, tasteful colors, a pretty backyard etc... Well, this house had a plain and boring oak kitchen, an ugly countertop, and all WHITE walls (except for the bath). It was like they made the outside gorgeous and the inside--total blah and blah. Probably a lot like we as people (outward appearances). Josh said that maybe we are already living/making our dream house and I couldn't say that I disagreed.

So, on to another dream house. It's no secret that I also have a fetish with older homes that have interesting architecture and charm that eludes many newer homes. I love driving through neighborhoods with older homes and taking in all of the unique features. One thing is for sure...they aren't cookie cutter! I also will look at the websites such as Remax and such to see what is on the market. It is cool to see how people decorate and all of that good stuff. I was looking one evening and a house jumped off the page at me. It is a pretty LARGE brick home with a fence...the inside was pretty decent (not even over wallpapery). HATE wallpaper! A downside right away was the year it was built 1929. While homes built then are gorgeous, there are definite negatives to that era (knob turn wiring or WORSE), slanting or bouncy floors, steam heat (if it hasn't been converted), and on and on...basically something that can be a definite money trap. Furthermore upon driving past, it has NO BACKYARD =(. We love our backyard. The girls have to have somewhere to play!
Once again, I'm not dissatisfied with my house in any way and that dream house idea is probably right here under my feet. SO NOPE not a new house!

New car...well I have had my eyes on a particular type of car for a few years now. My brother will tell me when one is for sale yada yada. It just so happens that for 2010 they redesigned the car outside and in and made it look SO MUCH COOLER. I like them even more now, but we aren't purchasing new so it's wait until there are some used ones available. SO NOPE not a new car--yet. Oh yeah, my current car is 6 y/o and perfectly fine and most importantly paid OFF as are both of our cars so that's another thing. I love the paid of thing =).

Trip...our 10 year is coming very soon. It's so hard to believe. These years have been the best of my life. After all, I've spent them with my very best friend. For years, our dream has been a big Hawaiian trip or some tropical destination (since I'm a big fan of sun, water, and sand). So,












at this point, a trip isn't feasible for various reasons.




Well, what in the world is the birthday surprise????? I think it is a suprise and it's more a surprise to my blog friends because I'm surprising YOU! Why you?? To my knowledge, the blog is a pretty intimate and small circle of people mostly family and some friends. This surprise is not on Facebook and I don't know when/if I will put it there.

Have you guessed yet?????









Are you sure?????








Uno, dose, tres...












This surprise is most definitely better than any I mentioned above....










because...












It's a BABY!! Number 3 for us.








Are you surprised?? My parents found out on April Fools as Aliyah called them to tell. We have just wrapped up telling parents/grandparents this week. The big sisters are excited!
Yes, we tend to wait awhile to tell people. Aliyah just got the news 3 weeks ago and she didn't tell a soul except for Chaney the cat. In case you wondered, there is only 1 and due for September.

We will hopefully find out what we are having on April 29th.

Whew...lots of excitement for one post!

Watch for...

My birthday surprise post to be revealed on Wed. What could it be?? A new house-TWO of our dream houses are for sale? A new car?? A trip??
You will have to wait a few more days for this one! In the meantime, guesses anyone?????