This is being a grown up...with kids and a house

John and I have been so motivated to get things going as far as the transition we will soon make from military life, to civilian. We went to Wachovia to talk to a lender yesterday and learned a lot of encouraging and valuable information regarding refinancing our current home into a conventional loan, getting it rented out, and getting a new VA loan for a home in Idaho. We left there in high spirits and looked over our budget to try and get all our debt cleared by the end of the year when I move to CA.

We know it will be difficult but we already don't eat out anymore and I barely go shopping when he's gone. The most I do daily is use gas to take the babies to the park or church. But as with every adult who feels they are making some headway in their finances, there will always be those unexpected setbacks, especially when you have children. Things that cannot be ignored, delayed or minimized. Our computer set us back last month, and now we just found out today, after living here 3 years, WE HAVE TERMITES! The moist weather has brought them out, although the Terminix guy says they had to have been breeding in the ground for years. There is no damage that we can see and it doesn't seem to be totally out of control, but we had to get an annual plan with them. They are coming tomorrow to seal the house. That's a $1,000 setback. The good news is, you can call them 24/7, and speak to an American who speaks plain English, and everything from here on out, including extra treatments AND repairs to our home, is covered 100%. The home inspecter was really nice and honest and I feel confident this problem will be fixed. We will have a termite guarantee when we sell it, which is a big selling point...but we are planning on keeping this as our second home, to rent out or stay in when we want to visit Williamsburg.

Medical bills for the babies and computers, and termites are expensive, and cars to fit those babies too. But this is American family life. I keep trying to tell John we have so much to be grateful for that he doesn't seem to comprehend as he has had such an easy life. There is so much to look forward to and we are much better off than a lot of people currently. We will get by and work hard to get ahead again.

So we went to relax after a rude awakening of termites..with wings...and we went to the park. It was kind of cold but Lucas has so much fun we always feel it's worth it for a little bit. Olivia slept so much today, I am hoping it's just a growth spurt and not that her schedule is off and she will be up tonight!
Here are a few pics from today:





And this one was to show everyone what kind of 'graffiti' we have here in Williamsburg, VA..true gangstas!


It says "Smile things will get better"

In The Doghouse

John was home for the weekend--he leaves on thursday for a week or so. While he was gone, I have been dealing with so much crap. Literally. Not only changing diapers, but our stupid wiener dogs have been pooping in the house (despite my leaving them out most of the day.) I was on the computer the other day and I thought I smelled Olivia's poopy diaper til I looked down and saw my shoes smearing a pile of dog poop into my computer chair mat!!! I threw the shoes and mat out. Bought a new mat for $20. We can't have our computer chair directly on the tile because it might crack.

AND THEY RUINED THE NEW ONE TOO! I know it was stupid Tyrone...Anyway, we bought yet another one yesterday and I told John that while he is gone I am leaving them out for good! They aren't humans--they will have to live outside from now on. So John decided to be manly and buy wood from Lowes/Home Depot and build a doghouse for them! I was happy that he took on a little project. I did the measurements and supervized while he sawed and hammered. We got the big pieces cut into generally, what we needed, but they needed some trimming here and there so John did it at home.He didn't have a power saw either---he used a hand saw.

We didn't do the angled roof or anything, but it will serve a purpose of shielding the dogs from sun, wind, rain etc. Here are some pictures of his work:

Lowes was where we bought most of the wood...but the employee who cut it into smaller pieces for us kept whining about his job and his pay..very unprofessional and annoying. So we bought the rest at Home Depot.

Lucas was a good boy--that wood cutter guy took FOREVER

He was happy before he heard the loud saw turn on!

notice anything?

"Dang! That's louder than the vacuum!"

Home Depot was better. And Lucas liked driving.

This base took the most time

Lucas helping Daddy

Deciding not to do a complicated roof lol


We put a little rug in there for them...i wonder what tyrone will do with that

That's it--let's hope the dogs are smart enough to go in it when it's raining

Then Daddy watched the babies while I went to the gym to redeem myself for pigging out while he was home. When I asked if I could go, John says (about Olivia) "Is she gonna be okay?" lol. Yeah, I still trust him. (And she slept...)

Good job daddy.

Easter Egg Hunt

Today our Homoner's Association had an Easter Egg Hunt at the park in our subdivision. It wasn't very organized, but I think it was fun for Lucas to learn how to get eggs. I really let him get them and he put them in the bag after I showed him how. Lucas was the youngest one there. He didn't get a "prize" egg but he didn't care (i kinda did lol). It was pretty cold today so we didn't stay long. John won't be here for the real Easter so it was nice to get some easter pics with him here. And I feel a little better about paying $16.50 a month to the HOA.




He doesn't quite understand it and gets easily distracted by all the kids running around:

More Scrapbooking

During one or the other's nap times I have been doing more scrapbook pages for the trip we took last fall. My neighbor Callie came over and wanted to do one, so I invited her to bring some photos over and we will do a page. I happened to have a nice unfinished wood frame so I gave it to her to decorate. Here was the page we did briefly (both babies were whiney and STINKY!!)


And my mom gave me this 4 leaf clover to put on my scrapbook page for St. Patrick's Day--the gardener at the tennis center found it! I am keeping it in a ziplock bag til I do that page.



And then my little big girl Olivia. She likes that play mat thing and started to grab a hold of some of the toys. She likes being able to move it herself. Mom had the pleasure of soothing her when she had an inconsolable episode today when I was at the gym...I am going to ask the doctor to check her tummy out at her next apt.

Today's Favorite Quotes- by Yours Truly

"I need my vanity to overcome my immense hunger!"-Me



To Lucas:
"I want you to have so much fun at the park, that you CRY when we leave dangit!"-Me

I Agree With Al Sharpton?

"The American people overwhelmingly voted for socialism when they elected President Obama."
-Al Sharpton

Another good video compilation from the same guy:
"rules...we make em up as we go along."


And through that user, I just found this video of one of my favorite red eye guests, Andrew Breitbart (big hollywood--broke the ACORN story)at CPAC:

I love this guy:

Kidsburg

Went back to the park later today. I love seeing Lucas' eyes light up at seeing other kids playing. He is getting more into playing on all the slides, swings and climbing tires. I love this park!