The Follow Up

Its Done!! My fan is up and running and cooling us all off as we speak! For all of you that missed the excitement in our home, just read my last post and get filled in on how I almost DIDN'T electrocute my hubby.

What pizazz it adds. The first night it was up, I left my bedroom door open as I laid in bed so  I could gaze at it while I played games with my phone tried to fall asleep at night. Im in love.

I am so grateful that we were able to build our home but after over 3 years of living here, we still are adding things that most previously existing homes already would have! Like fans, storm doors, window treatments, bushes, trees, fences, and such. All those "little" odds and ends that, in the end, cost a fortune. Because of how costly it all is, we have taken our time and have purchased things when we can. But let me tell you, Its SO NICE to finally start crossing things off at a faster speed.
So, I would think twice before I decide to build again.. unless we had the money to get them added during construction... I think that would be the only way I sign on the dotted line and break ground. (and painters... you know how I need color y'all)

NOT that Im thinking of moving. No Sir-e. I'm quite content right where I am at. As a matter of fact, im still scarred by moving 2 times in 4 months... If I had to grow old and die in this home, I might be happy as a clam! Im praising God that the our southern spring is here. Flowers are all peaking thru the ground and buds are on the trees... The kids spend a lot of time outdoors and I am sprucing up our back porch. New tablecloth and my houseplants go out back for some fresh air. Our porch becomes another room for us to enjoy... and after a winter couped up in our house we need need need the extra space. Time for some MAJOR SPRING CLEANING to be happening in our home so we won't NEED to move to a bigger house.

Anywho... I really have no clue what our whole future holds but for now I will sit back and bless THIS nest!

My New Living Room Fan!

Hubs putting up the bedroom fan!

My New Footsies for my tootsies!

 Hubs also installed our bedroom ceiling fan (just darling) and our other fan in the little girls room. As a thank you to him, I bought myself these pretty sparkling shoes. He LOVES my feet (don't ask me why???) So I bought myself him a lil bit of eye candy. ;)

Pretty cute huh?

Time for me to go. I just discovered the Skee Ball app on my iphone and will be playing it all night... maybe.

Xoxo
GiGi

The Fan Episode

SInging With A Singer

Today Im linking up with THE CHATTY MOMMY for her Friday Follow...

Why don't you go say Hi?!

Well Ladies and ...ladies...

I DID it. I finally bought a sewing machine. It isn't the cool Hello Kitty one I showed you. This puppy was a complete impulse buy. Hubby pointed it out and told me it came with an instructional DVD. Before I knew it, I threw it in my cart. I also bought this cool skirt pattern to try out. I don't expect miracles. After all, I bought the machine and forgot I needed thread.

COME ON!!!

I know better than this right???

I should hope so.

Anyway. Its still in its box and I will open it soon. I want to rip it out but I really have no place to put it. Honestly.

I have a desk on order so once it comes I can set it up all purdy in my room.

Im still so excited though. I finally have one. Its a real nice one too AND it was on sale. The model looked very modern/retro (if that makes sense?)

I love it.

I would love to hear your imput. As a new sewer... what should I do? Where should I start and whats the easiest way to get "my feet wet??"

I appreciate any advice you can give me.

And here is a pic of my Miss P. See, I told you she twirls her hair when she is tired. This was right before she fell asleep on my bed.

She LOVES my bed. Always has. I have no clue why..

But whenever she is fussy, you will here me say...

"Go put her on my bed...."

And she is happy as a clam!

Right now its late...

Hubby is installing our new nifty ceiling fan...

Its... well, its going.

More on that tomorrow...

Xoxo

GiGI

Mish Mosh...

Happy Tuesday to you all. I apologize in advance for the boring post but there are just a couple of things I want to tell you about!

And please, please, please don't skip over this. I worked very hard on these added changes (even though to most it was probably oober simple)

I lost at least 1/16th of my hair from pulling it out and editing all my HTML's (NOT fun)

So humor me, will ya?

I also have a cool link and another announcement at the end if you make it thru... ;)

At the bottom of each post I added a facebook like button. If you do enjoy reading that particular post PLEASE just click it. That way I can know what you enjoy reading the most and what {yawn} bores you...

I also added share buttons opposite of the facebook like button. It makes social networking that much easier....

I LOVE it. In one click you can twitter, fb, blog or email the post you like. Pretty nifty huh...

I think so.

My Sis-In-Law also finally made a public blog. WHOO HOO.

She has one that is private and I enjoy it but the new one is so super cute.

She is married to my hubby's "lil" brother.

I stress little 

because actually he is like 6 ft something...

TALL!

He also looks nothing like my hubs

Anywhoo...

They live in Utah and have 2 kids...

Her youngest baby girl is only 2 weeks older than Miss P.

Even though they are 2 weeks apart, a million miles apart and have 2 different Mamas and daddies, Im convinced their twins...

Really!!

Now they don't look alike. REMEMBER... their daddies look very different but their personalities are the same!!!

Its spooky... but cute.

currently they both have colds...

Pretty cool huh? Too bad they live 2,134,987 miles away.

;(

But im hoping they will visit sometime soon.

You know, come to the south... Its wonderful to visit in the spring-time...

this spring...

But absolutely no pressure ;)

I enjoy her new blog... It shows real life. 

And I get to see those cute little kiddies.

Check it out and say Hi!

( and convince them to come down south to visit GiGi will ya?)

Xoxo

GiGi

Thanks Sweet Uncle...

YIPPIE!!!!

Its that time of year again...

You know what I'm talkin about...

TaX TiMe!.!

Us large families like this time of year...

After 12 months of just making it and budgeting every single darn penny...

our Tax return is eagerly awaited to save/buy/stock up on things we cannot afford throughout the year.

Know what I'm sayin??

Every year we make a wish list...

**WISH**

As in things we really want and have been praying for.

Since we don't use credit cards...

Big purchases are always LONG awaited...

So, without further a-du...

Here is Hubs and I's wish list

(which thankfully match pretty nice which means..

JACKPOT!)

After almost 15 years of marriage we will finally (maybe)

own bedroom furniture

and the above set is the exact one we want.

(and the price is just utterly affordable!!!)

REALLY!

Ceiling fans for the Living Room and Our master bedroom

and in the big bonus room upstairs...

And I think these are the exact ones we might buy too...

(or close )

A new sewing machine...

Yes, I know its Hello Kitty and

YES I know im 30-ishhhhhh

So your point???

I have big plans for this puppy...

A nice screen/storm door for the front of our Little Red House

( no this is not my house)

Bunk beds and lots of mattresses for all the kids. 2 are ready for big girl/boy beds and hand-me down beds will be passed around with new mattresses on them =)

Every year everyone gets new shoes , sneakers, sandals and dress shoes. Thats 24... count... 2-4 pairs of shoes for the kids. NOW do you understand WHY we wait for tax season to do this???

We also are HUGE believers in hand me downs and second hand and we use them alot because you all know these won't last all year RIGHT?????

Have you lived in the South? Have you seen the clay???

'Nuff said.

I also go out and buy whatever the kids need as far as spring/summer clothes and bathing suits. Since warm weather is about 9 months out of the year, we stock up on that kind of stuff!!

My store of choice???

OLD NAVY

Why?

Because they have GREAT deals at even GREATER prices and they are ALWAYS giving coupons.

Once I get my hands on a 30% off your whole purchase... then we are off to buy them out!!!

And of course Big Mama gets lots of some stuff too. ')

(did you honestly think I don't go and get some new nice-ies?)

and a small bit will be put away for our vacation in a few months.

NO this is NOT me on the hammock. Any mom of 6 will tell you this picture does not exist for us. Ha!

But we have been saving on the side for our vaca so hopefully we won't have to use any from our return.

Prayerfully our plans will all work out and we will go.

Sometimes you just never know...

but its booked and deposit paid =)

So there you have it my friends. Our dear wish list.

I can't wait...

Whats on yours??

Saturday Monday Night Wings...

So today was our Saturday.

Really!

I didn't even know it was Monday till dinnertime. It was just that type of day.

But with family in town our whole repituoir was thrown for a loop.

But our Saturday nights are so important to us and so much F-U-N that this afternoon, I sent out a text!

Cousin Neal responded and

IT WAS ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!!!

( an expression we like to throw around on Saturday nights!!)

We kissed and hugged our family goodbye after a good grilled lunch. We all gathered on the front lawn and waved them off...

(some unnamed children might or might not have had pants on... )

Remember?? I said it was THAT kind of day...

Anywhoo...

Kids played their new Wii game courtesy of Gpa and Gma for Noahs birthday... and I ignored the mess of my house and dreamt about wings.

The wings we didn't have Saturday night

But will have TONIGHT!!

At precisely 7 pm the wings went in...

And we went about our evening, got the little ones ready for bed.

Hubby took care of some work issues...

I changed into my comfy jammies

and then prepared our sides...

Sour cream and ranch dressing...

Just the way we like it..

At 8 p.m our door opened and we heard the familiar hello of our company...

The night began.

I had to hug my "brotha from another motha" cause I truly missed him...

Its been too long since we catched up.

We tried to control the chaos of bedtime and eventually wrestled everyone up the stairs and nestled in their bed...

Once the downstairs was cleared...

We attacked.

and all thats left is this:

Our Saturday Monday night wing night is still going on.

SO much to catch up on...

So much to laugh about

And so much to enjoy.

Im lounging on the couch with my laptop as Neal and Hubby are sprawled over the floor/couches chatting it up on...

Boxer shorts at Kohls???

Seriously. Thats what Im hearing...

Oh well. Its wing night...

You never can know what happens on wing night...

Xoxo

GiGI

Shhhh Im NOT Addicted

I have a problem and Im not ashamed to admit it.

I have an addiction.

I stay up late because of it.

I drain my battery playing it...

I twitter my scores because im truly excited when I beat my own high score...

or is it low score???

I don't know.

All I know is that at night, I retreat to my bedroom early

and sit in the dark with my tv on...

and play, play, play!

Is that bad?

WELL... admitting you have a problem is the first step right???

Weekend *Recap*

Hey my friends!! I hope you all had just as wonderful a weekend as I did.
Down in my parts, the sun was shining and temps reached about 75.

I have had family visiting since Friday afternoon and we have had a BLAST!... As usual.

My kids love when Grandpa and Grandma visit. They know they will get 1 meal at their favorite fast food joint and one awesome meal at our favorite restaurant in the whole entire world...

LongHorns.

Do you know of it?

Well, I apologize if you don't.

Everyone orders rib-eyes....

Except me.

Im the smart one.

I order a full rack of ribs.

With Mashed potatoes and salad.

I only eat a quarter of it. I enjoy my salad and bread.

I take the rest home and put the kids to bed, change into my warm comfy pj's and lay on the couch.

I then heat up my delicious leftovers and enjoy the best bbq ribs I have ever had.

I plan it this way...

Every time they visit.

My Father in Law gets a kick out of it.

He laughs every time I happily ask for that to go box.

A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do!

Im no fool.

Cutting/sorting/distributing all the kids food and dealing with a Sweet P. doesn't make for a super enjoyable meal.

but on my couch...

Perfect!

Tomorrow , my in-laws have an appointment with a Realtor and they brought their checkbook.

They too fell in love with my southern town.

One can only hope they make the smarter move....

Right now my laptop is out and we are all sitting at the table drinking our coffee and eating our biscotti.

Its delicious....

And discussing the 2 snowstorms headed to NY as I type this.

I think the new snow fall will make their decision easier...

Until then, we will continue to laugh around my table and enjoy the warmth that the south brings.

Why I Should NOT be blogging Right Now!!!

I can think of 1000 reasons why I should be blogging right now.

Number 1... I finished week 5 of REVELATIONS and let me just say. OH MY WORD!!!

It got even better.

Another reason is that I simply have let too much time go by since I have chatted with you and said hello...

But in less than 24 hours I will be having family come down and visit us in our Little Red House...

And right now our Little Red House is a DISASTROUS MESS!

Am I exaggerating??

See for yourself...

Words can't explain this kitchen. What happened? In my desperate defense. I did go food shopping and y'all know what that does to my day...

I think it started when a certain no named child of mine spilled baby rice cereal all over my counters..

Right there, I knew it was one of those days...

Sadly the mess spread to my Master bedroom and bathroom. The walls have seemed to close in as the mess spreads all around. Also please don't tell hubby I left the light to our water room on once again. He HATES when I do that and for some reason I CAN'T STOP.

Whats a water room?? You mean you don't have one?? Just kidding. It was all new to me before I moved to the south. These rooms just don't exist in the north...

But now I know that I must never ever NOT have one. Its essential.. like air!

Its a separate room where our toilet is. That way Hubs can be in our bathroom getting ready, dressing and showering and I can use the toilet without having to wait till he is done. Pretty nifty huh??!! I think so. Although Im getting a bit spoiled and am starting to think our master bath and walk in closet is too small. Perhaps I need to visit the house I used to live in...

NOT!

But on a brighter note... I got to go food shopping ALONE! (thats not the bright note) But during my carefree stroll down aisle 4 I noticed this!!!!!

Just thee most DIVINE Italian delicacy I can think of (thats NOT sweet). I have looked all over and could not find this in the south...

I was ready to go to Italy just to import some good ol Italians in the South...

But I have Michelle... so thats a start ;)

JUST KIDDING Michelle...

But I can kid like that because I grew up in a very Sicilian family...

Even though I don't look it.

Anywho...

This stuff rocks my world and I will be stuffing my face eating it all night long...

See you soon my friends...

I have soooo much more to share.

Xoxo

GiGi

Happy day from GiGi

Do you SEE that face im making in the still shot?? Sheesh....

My Revelation

This was all supposed to be done in Vlog form. It really was.... But time has gotten away from me once again and here I sit. A Friday night... 11:22 pm writing this blog in the dark.

This past Wednesday was session #4 in my Beth Moore series Revelation!!! It was a session that rocked my soul and changed forever the way I will think of God and His throne.

Im not quite sure if I mentioned Beth's challenge to us in the very beginning of this study and quite frankly im too tired to go look so I will repeat...

She challenged us to pray that God would give us our OWN Revelation each week.

She also challenged us to "Let Go." Put down our baggage that we just insist on carrying around with us day in and day out... every day of our life.

Sound easy right??

For me, not so much.

How do you just let go? How do you release all the garbage baggage you carry around from this world?

I know God can handle it. I know He is worthy... I just can't unwrap my bony fingers from around it.

So, I challenged myself these next 7 weeks.... To learn to hand it over to Him. The one who can take care of it all!!!

I also have been praying for Revelations within my own life.

And as always, our God is faithful!

Each week he never ceases to amaze me with small things to let me know how great He is.

How often we put the creator of the universe in a box and never give Him the chance to use His full potential in our life.

I think I might add that to my kitchen wall.

"Get God Out Of The Box"

I want Him to blow me away with His power and His might.

I want Him to throw my burdens into that sea of glass that sits before His throne.

I want to remember that every prayer I have prayed. Every tear I have cried and every outcry I have spoken, lay befoe the throne. Right in front of Him... waiting to be answered....

Not because He cn't get to them. But because He is waiting for the exact, perfect, holy time...

How Great Is Our God?!

No Snow No Go... NO NO NO!

Yesterday, the big news in my neck of the woods was the possibility of more snow. I mean, it really wasn't a possibility. They said we were getting some. Up to an inch!!

I know, I know...

Don't laugh.

But when you live in the south. One little itty-bitty inch is a big deal.

We're talkin school closings and ALL y'all!

So this morning I spent extra time snuggling with my main squeeze...

My Sweet P.

I kissed hubs goodbye and one by one my other chicklets woke up and crawled into bed.

I could sense the feeling of a *snow day*...

Even for us homeschoolers.

A warm breakfast.

Some reading ...

And the fireplace on.

I finally dragged myself out from my warm down covers to start my coffee brew.

I opened the doors and curtains to let in the beautiful gleam of the freshly fallen snow...

Only to find :

THIS!

Not a sprinkle .

Not a flake.

But the sun was surly shining...

50 degrees...

Welcome to the South!

What I Love...

I decided to Join What I LOVE Wednesdays for the very first time... Now please bare with me. I know you must be so sick of hearing about this iphone... but Im still so in love. It hasn't left my side since it arrived almost 48 hours ago.

The photo editing apps are amazing... all from my PHONE!!! Im unstoppable

Im sure the love affair will die off... im sure... right?

In the meantime please stay with me... lol...

Tomorrow Im doing a Beth Moore REVELATION review. Week #4 will be done and I have so much to share! Can't wait

Xoxo

GiGi

GiGi Strikes Again...

Need I Say More?

Of course!

Did you honestly think that was it?

Ha ha.

This pic was soo not posed.

I was on my laptop, hiding in my room trying to check my Facebook emails and they found me...

GiGi's Saturday Night

Foodie Friday

Soooooo????? How did you like my very first Vlog? It wasn't what I originally planned. My real first Vlog was PERFECT!!! But of course I had trouble uploading and eventually had to trash it. 5 attempts later and the result is what you saw posted. But not too bad for my first try right? I plan on posting another one in a few days... Much shorter but fun none the less...

Do your kids love food shopping day as much as mine???

In my house, payday means one thing.

Mom's going out with dads money and we are coming home with a TON of stuff. Don't get too excited. 97% of it is food but someone (or two or three) is bound to come home with something extra...

And Momma needs a new pair of shoes. Know what I'm sayin?? Gotta keep my sanity somehow right? Yesterday it was in the form of a cute gray skirt and a silver necklace that jangles.

Anyway, here are some pictures of all the delicious lovelies that we bought....

Now remember... this will last maybe...Maybe two weeks (with some small exceptions)

Look how cute my Miss Muffet is??!!

Pasta was BOGO so I go and I Bo..

These made into a casserole (hashbrown casserole) are magically delicious! (also note the 3 3lb bag of rice off to the side)

My colossal size bag of onions and garlic from Costco, Tuna because Hannah is addicted and only 3 lbs of butter this time. I have no explanation for that, I usually buy a minimum of 4. What was I thinking???

The squeals of delight over this baby being thrown in our cart could be heard all throughout Costco...

Pudding is a HOT COMMODITY in our Little Red house.

All in all, shopping was a success. I shamefully admit, I went well over budget but my larder is full.

I spent the remaining day sorting and organizing all the goods. Its a huge process. Today I finished at Wal-mart and am ready for the 2 weeks ahead.

What a great way to realize how blessed we are!

GiGi's Welcome

ALMOST!

Ok... As soon as I put my littles to bed I will be Vlogging.... again. My first vlog uploaded all wrong and I have to do a re-do so stay tuned....

You won't be disappointed... I PROMISE!

Xoxo

UGGG

I Finally did it!! I finally made a Vlog and it came out perfect-o... but now when it uploads , my voice is normal but the video is super speed.??????

I hate technology... stay tuned. Hopefully by this time tomorrow It will be up and running...