What is Happening?

What in the world is happening?  The world is full of rude, selfish, insensitive, dishonest folks.  Is there a hole they could crawl back into?  Did their mamas not spank them as children?  Were they encouraged to lie & steal in their childhood and youth?  Did anybody care about them? Tell them what they were doing was wrong?  Demand that they grow up and act like decent, law abiding citizens? 

In more cases than not, the answer to the above would be no ~ parents were off doing their own thing, kids had to fend for themselves, had the attitude that it was ok to do as long as they didn't "get caught". 

Argh!

I've not decided why?  I certainly don't have perfect children ~ and they don't have a perfect mom.  But they were all brought up to know right from wrong, how to treat others, and behave.  Do they all do that, all the time, no.  Do I do that all the time...unfortunately no again.  But we don't make a habit of doing wrong either ~ its not our lifestyle.

There are some folks that have dealings with some of my children that seem have this lifestyle!  Since my kids are adults, that lessens the influence we have over them and their choices (but doesn't cancel it out...we are still the parents).  What I would like to do is bash some heads together ~ prove the dishonesty ~ right the wrongs ~ erase the mistakes, but I can't.  I am thankful to know whats going on, know the circumstances, and the details.

So I just sit here...as a mom I can pray, I can talk & counsel, I can encourage, I can suggest some solutions, I can keep praying, I can use these moments as teaching moments with my 2 still at home, I can love on the ones being attacked.

But what I really want to do ~ well, use your imagination!

Awesome News~

 

Our

 

Next

 

Grandchild

 

is

 

a

 

Boy!

 

Katie, Bryant, and Robert found out yesterday!

 

And the little guys name will be

 

Thomas Jonathan Jackson Cutler ~~~~~

 

appropriate that he will be joining his big brother

 

Robert Edward Lee Cutler!

 

Robert E Lee & Stonewall Jackson back together again!

 



Longing for.......

 

Longing for....

 

lots of scenes like this.....

 

Gorgeous Picture from Pinterest!  I love brilliant leaves dressed with fall colors!



Our Success ~ So Far

Its been a while since I reported on our weight loss journey ~ everything is going great!  Greg is at 43 pounds and I just hit 30 this morning!  Yippee ~~~~ confetti, streamers, balloons, & coke zero!!!!!!!

News Flash Update ~ there is a dress I wanted to wear for Allens wedding...its been hanging in my closet for several years and I just didn't want to get rid of it even though it didn't fit ~ but now it does!  I am doing a happy dance!

Its been interesting to use Pinterest to find no/low carb ideas for dinners.  I will go ahead and confess ~ we do eat at least one meal a day.  We just weren't happy with no food, but there are tons of ideas out there and some have been downright tasty!

We all love pasta at this house and that's a huge no-no.  I found an alternative recipe to use and we tried it Monday night.  This recipe called for using broccoli slaw instead of noodles.  Their instructions were to spray a skillet with non stick cooking spray, add the slaw, and 1/4 cup water and sauté until the water was evaporated ~ then top with your spaghetti sauce and serve.  I used 1/2 cup water because a 1/4 just didn't look like much.  Greg liked it ~ it was ok to me.  But part of the ok was from the broccoli still having a crunch to it.  Next time, I am going to boil it.  Honestly, the broccoli didn't seem to change the taste of the sauce too much.  So that was a success!

We've got some other ideas for things to try that I will report on later!

Hope everyone has an awesome weekend!

Its just 22 days till our next family wedding! 

Low/No Carb Funny

 

Happy Anniversary

 

Happy 8th Anniversary to my best friend, protector, provider, confidante, dream fulfiller, handyman, travel coordinator, chef, griller, painter, woodworker, father of our children, generous, loving, all round great guy ~ husband Greg.

 

In our 8 years of marriage we have ~

 

flipped a house,

 

put in a pool,

 

traveled lots,

 

had our daughter marry & move out of state,

 

had our son marry,

 

graduated 6 of our 7 children from highschool,

 

become grandparents,

 

travel to Honduras, New York, & Oklahoma on Mission Trips,

 

become members of a church we love & can serve at,

 

become owners of many pets,

 

have completely changed our lifestyle, traditions, etc. (ongoing process),

 

have increased our Faith & love of the Lord.

 

I love You Greg!

Thanks for our lives together!

 

 

 



Kitchen Redo

 

A couple of weeks ago I posted that we had been to Ikea and I was ready to gut my kitchen ~ technically I still am, but the reality is, that will be a while.  So we are changing up some things at a much more affordable price.

 

First, is the kitchen cabinets.  I would love new cabinets.  These are old ~ nothing wrong with that except for the former owners "faux" finishing techniques.  They took custom built beautifully stained cabinets, put a new finish on them that was a purple mess.  When Greg bought the house (a few months before we got married), he and his dad painted over the mess with crisp white paint.  Which looked great for a while ~ but white cabinets in a house hold full of teens and budding cooks, doesn't stay crisp and white for long.  We have repainted, touched up, & gotten fed up with them always looking dingy.  I was inspired at Ikea ~ I had NEVER thought of painting my cabinets gray...but they had a lovely kitchen with gray cabinets.  Right now, paint cost a whole lot less than cabinets....so here is a before and after of one of our sets of cabinets ~~~~~

 

 

I really like the color and the way the knobs look on the gray!  We've done the desk, cabinets above and over the fridge.  There is still a wide border of white including decorative molding and we are leaving it alone.  That will be a great spot to hang some of my smaller cross stitch pictures and decorative signs. 

 

Greg is also going to find me some inserts for 2 of the deep corner cabinets.  I can't reach into the back of the cabinets and there is no telling what is back there.  When we do eventually redo the cabinets, I want some of the cabinets with the turntables in them.  But the inserts/pullout drawers are an affordable alternative.

 

And we have bought some gorgeous tile to do a backsplash and stacked brick tiles for behind the oven.  The painting has to get done first and then the tile work.  We bought everything last weekend to accomplish these projects!  Now the time will have to be whittled out of the schedules, so we can accomplish the goals.  By doing it in sections, and completing 1 section at a time, its easier on the nerves.

 

We are also going through all the cabinets and getting rid of stuff we no longer need/want.  I already have a box going for the church garage sale next year and we started a "hope chest box" of sorts for Will for the future.  I also discovered that over the years, my glasses have been dropped or "walked out the door" and I don't have a complete set of drinking glasses.  I have 2 incompete sets that look completely different.  So, a new complete set of matching glasses is going on the list of wants.  Or 2 smaller sets that match. 

 

I am also un~homeschooling my kitchen, which was our classroom.  I no longer need reams of notebook paper, multi boxes of colored pencils, crayons, or markers readily available.  Some of these goodies Amy is taking to church to use for her Sunday School childrens class.  And the rest is getting stored for visiting children to use. 

 

I will post more pictures as we make more progress!