miss diy

so i've had it in my head for several years to re-upholster our dining room chairs. yesterday i watched an online video on howdini.com, this morning i went to hobby lobby and purchased designer fabric on sale for $10/yd. and by 1 p.m., voila...the look of new chairs without the cost!

947 S 53RD ST, BIRMINGHAM, AL | Listing Information

Introducing where we'll call home for the next couple of years.

947 S 53RD ST, BIRMINGHAM, AL Listing Information

So, I just have a short list of things that I have to get done before the move in June...
Pack up a five bedroom house into a 3 bedroom house...LOL!
Go to Florida for Ben's baptism on Mother's day
Have the fun relief of the Snyder's visit to Easley
Neighborhood yard sale on May 15
Drive back down to Florida for our cruise
and move around June 15th
the twitch is getting worse...hahaha. no, really!

maaaaa

The Spring weather has been so amazing up here.  Sunny and highs in the 60s with virtually no humidity!  It's criminal to stay indoors.  After lunch we decided to make the 29 mile drive up to Flat Rock, North Carolina to the home of Carl Sandburg, author and poet.  His home is a National park that includes a small barn with a goat dairy farm.  The boys loved the animals.  Evan kept asking each goat what their name was so, all he got was a maaaa in reply. 

Naked Fitness - Toned Shoulders - Better.tv - Better

These are great exercises that are easy to do, and will give you beautiful arms.

Naked Fitness - Toned Shoulders - Better.tv - Better

strawberries 'n all

i had to get on here before i forgot to blog about things that evan did today that were milestones for him and us! first, i sent him to school in just his underwear. that's right, no pull ups or pods today. when i picked him up his teachers said he's been going to the potty all day long, with no messes! i am a proud mama, especially since he's still one of the smallest in the class age and size wise. he's been going to the potty for about two months, and he's been doing great. he gradually increases his holding. he even wakes up at night to go potty, and then goes back to bed...this is without waking us up! hooray, the boys has learned the value of mami and papi's sleep.
those of you that have been with evan when he is trying to eat know it's not an easy ordeal. he has never wanted to eat strawberries because of how the seeds feel in his mouth, but i cut them up into teeny tiny pieces and voila...he ate them tonight at dinner and even asked for more. i actually have to go and cut them up for him.

watch out melanie, cause look who's the working girl now

a year ago i was the mother of a four month old, and a two year old who was on a search for income making work from home. i heard about pearson (you know the textbook/testing people) looking for people to do online grading from home, so i applied. good things come to those who wait, or have no choice! they finally hired me for a job starting next month, and now that i am in the system i will get first bids on all measurement jobs. i am ecstatic, and the news came on a day that i was wondering how the world can we get by for the next two years without me working. thank you my Lord, and my Savior.

big ben

well here he is...benjamin paul ticola. our newest and cutest baby nephew, and our soon to be godson! we were so honored that both wendy and mark trusted us with such a special honor. we are hoping the date will be before we make the move birmingham. matt was able to fly in on saturday evening after his day of work so that he could meet benjamin. you know matt, he already loves him so much. he really enjoyed playing with all the boys together. i enjoyed holding sweet benjamin, and wrapping him up like a tamal in the miracle blanket. it's still got the baby wrapping touch! i was afraid i'd be rusty, and chances are i will most likely be losing my skills all together. as always, wendy is handling motherhood with patience and grace. she also manages to keep a beautiful home, and cook wonderfully yummy meals. it was such a super fast trip. we stayed most of the time at home with the kiddos in chiefland...yehaw! we hope to see some of our much loved amigos during our next trip for ben's baptism.

a whale of a good time

on thursday of last week after a long drive down to florida the previous day, pipo and i took evan to experience seaworld for the first time, and boy did he love seeing all the marine animals. the expressions on his face were priceless, and i am so happy that we were able to experience it. we weren't really prepared for the chilly weather in florida last week. now that we live up here, we expect florida weather to be an oven...we were wrong. pipo bought evan a shamu sweatshirt which has quickly become evan's favorite clothing item. he want's to wear it all the time. joel had a restful day with his mima. i hope she was able to rest too. even though he's always on the go, he's a pretty laid back boy. he loves his naps, and so do we. joel also took off walking last week and it's been nonstop. my next blog will be about our days in florida meeting our new nephew benjamin.

a 3 and a 1 equals one young chickadee

as always my birthday turned out to be a weekend celebration. oh, how i remember ten years ago i was celebrating a huge milestone with lots of legal alcohol consumption. in fact, that's when i learned i will always refuse anything which contains tequila! matt took me out the night of my birthday to indulge in sushi and to see the play "A Street Car Named Desire", which was playing at the greenville little theater downtown. thank you to mima for being a willing and wonderful babysitter. the next day (sunday) we took the boys to celebrate mami's birthday at ihop with a yummy breakfast. we then made the treck to gaffney to the outlet mall, and to visit cowpens, a national historic battle site from the revolutionary war.
a huge thank you to all my family and friends to how made the huge effort to remember my birthday...i know it's not an easy task.

it's a go!

It's been just over a month since I launched my website, and I just got my first diaper cake order...Yay! Sure, it was from someone that I know, but it still counts. I am super excited about it.
So, now I have three haircuts under my frugal mami belt. I cut Evan's hair for the second time today, and the result was much better. He did so great staying still thanks again to candy. Plus, I told him he needed a haircut to see Mickey Mouse tomorrow, no not at Disney. Matt and I are taking him to a Playhouse Disney LIVE! show at the Bi-Lo center.