Our Dining... I mean... Office!!

We have been doing a little remodel in our house. Nothing that costs much, in case anyone was wondering. Here is what it looked like before: Now, to be clear... I loved this room. I loved the curtains and the table and the decor. I felt like it was well put together. However, we used this room a grand total of 2 times in one year. Not practical and a waste of space!! So after some coercion on my part, Hank agreed to let me make a change.

The first hurdle to overcome was that we didn't want to loose any seating, for the rare times we do need both tables. So we accomplished this by taking our dining room table into the eat in kitchen... (notice the new curtains, courtesy of my fabulous sister!)
...and using the smaller round table in the corner of the dining room for a homework area...

I love the switch! The more formal table dresses up that eat in area! And I love that we have more seating without having to pull out a leaf!

The next thing was the lighting fixture was current and nice, but hung too low. And since this room in on the front of the house, gets warmer than most... so I asked for a fan (shout out to all you handy husbands out there! Couldn't live without mine!) And I'm sitting here blogging and enjoying the breeze from it right now. :)

We were also blessed with some heavy duty shelves. A guy from our small group had a bunch of these to unload from his work. We got a few and painted them. And we purchased a wall mount desk from IKEA, sanded it and painted it white to match and mounted it between the shelves.

Now, I'm showing you guys all of this pre-decorating because I am going to have to do some yard saling and bargain hunting to get the look that I want in here. So don't judge too harshly just yet. I have ideas for a reading chair, and I want a nice round rug in here. And I plan to make these shelves functional and stylish! You will just have to wait and see! The only thing I've done so far is to take some old picture frames and frame some scrapbook paper!

But, lack of decorating aside... this is already so much more functional for our family! We can put music on in here, the boys can get online, I can work on my coupons without spreading them all over the house! It's coming together nicely, if I do say so myself!

I would love some suggestions from my creative friends! Let me know what you would do!

Leftover Will Power

I did again today! No sweets, limited carbs, and no coke. And I did between 3-4 miles on the treadmill. I gotta admit though... I missed the 6 am wake up call. Slept right through that sucker! Oh, well! There's always tomorrow, right?

Now, if I can just make it through tomorrow! I think if I take this day by day, I just might make it.

But right now, my attitude has taken a major nose dive and I am not fun to be around! Be warned!

Today I stayed away from coke, bread, and sweets. Sounds like not such a big deal... but it kinda was. I did have a slushy at Sonic.

Tomorrow, I'm starting at 6 am. Gotta get used to early work outs since I'm starting back to work. And, let's face it, 6 am may not be early enough.

I'm not sure if my mind is stronger than my body yet, but we'll see how it goes!

Today's Adventure and Tomorrow's Goal

Today, Hankie took the day off and we set out to have a family fun day! Since we have season passes to Six Flags this year (courtesy of our yard sale), we knew this would be one way to have an outing without spending major money!


Sophie was not feeling it though, so as I was packing sandwiches and getting little boys thoroughly sun screened, I called our neighbor Bonnie to see if she could hang out at her house, which thankfully, she could! Thanks again Bonnie Jean!

We had a blast. It was hot, but not as hot as it has been. And Six Flags was crowded, but not as crowded as it has been... and we hit the water park, Skull Island twice to cool off.

Funny things to remember from this day... Bryant chauffeured me in the car ride you see below... and apparently 'forgot' where the break was and bumped Tres and Hank two times. So against the rules, by the way!
And at Skull Island, I saw a lady pushing 60 frolicking in the water. And, yes, that is the only word that would describe what she was doing... she would walk under the water, throw her hands up, jump up and down while twitching her hips around. Run out of the water laughing... all in a tight, white two piece that should have been retired at least a quarter century ago! Gotta love that passion for life, though... or attention. Tough to tell! ;)


Now to the not-so-fun part. This picture is a big reality check for me. I am not happy with myself. I am not happy with the choices I've been making. So I am going to change it. The end.

Father's Day 2011

This year, Hank's birthday and Father's Day present was to get the PS3 shipped off and fixed, but I wanted to make it a Father's Day to remember. My sister Tonnie said that her volleyball team had made them a bag with cards, pictures, verses, and little things that reminded them of her and that she had so thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought that sounded like the perfect way to help my kid's celebrate their Daddy.

I found an unpainted hat box at the local thrift store for 10 cents and already had some craft glue and index cards. I let the boys do most of the box, but Sophie did some of it. They put words all over it that reminded them of their Daddy.

And when he opened it up, here is what he saw. We found pictures of him that we loved and helped us remember fun times together.

I enjoyed making some drawings of my own to accessorize some of the index card memories.


This one, I love. I'm not even sure if he is aware of this one. When we first started dating, we were both working at ABC 33/40. A lady there kept Dove chocolates on her desk. Hank would eat one and if the saying on the inside of the wrapper was appropriate, would come and tape it to my computer screen and sign in 'H.' I found an old old old folder from my 33/40 days and in it were some of those wrappers. This is one. I gently removed the 'H' and added my 'J.'


And of course, I made him his favorite cookies!

I had to serve at church on Father's Day, so I got up early, made his cookies and set everything out on the kitchen table where he was sure to see it.
Between services, I saw he had updated his facebook and this was his status:

"My wife and kids always make Father's Day great, but this year I woke up by myself and sat and laughed and cried with the thought that went into my present, I LOVE MY LIFE because of my family. i couldn't ask for more, I AM HELPLESSLY BLESSED!!!!!!!!!!"

I feel the same way, baby.

My Two Hulks

My Sophie girl found this Hulk costume in Bryant's memory trunk.



Here is Bryant at Tres's 2-year-old birthday party in the same costume at 6 months old!

My head hurts today.

Didn't get to excercize this morning.

Found out more about my upcoming job and I'm excited!

My boy have been so good and sweet and helpful today.

Sophie had to have a massive splinter out of her heel last night, and today has proclaimed that her foot is broken.

Bar-b-que cups for dinner.

Swimming in a while... maybe that will help the headache.

The end.

Weekend News

Friday night, we went to our small group. We may have been a little late in joining a small group but we feel comfortable and happy with the one we are taking part in. Friday night's potluck theme was breakfast. So we ate until we cried 'uncle!' and then continued our Bible study and discussion on Ephesians. We especially focused on the role of the husband and the wife... and the difference between obedience and submission. Lots of good thoughts that have kept Hank and I talking since then.

Saturday, we ran a few errands, got a few things done around our house and hung out with our kids! We've been watching Expedition Impossible with the kids. That evening, we all got ready and went to Johnny's Pizza with a certificate we had purchased on restaurant.com for $2... tip and all we paid $15 for a sit down meal for 5! Then we went to church. We are in the midst of a series at church called Sabotage (check out The Church's Website). Last week, the focus was on pride. This week, the focus was on offense. I think I would be lying if I said I haven't taken offense to things I shouldn't and that I haven't held on to things I shouldn't. One of the key thoughts was this: MANY OF OUR DREAMS ARE SACRIFICED AT THE EXPENSE OF THE OFFENSE THAT WE ARE UNWILLING TO RELINQUISH. I don't want to give up any of my dreams because of some offense I won't even remember next year.

Anyway, the boys brought a friend home to spend the night after church, so we decided to take an evening swim at our neighborhood pool. [Sidenote: not a lot of folks at the pool this year, and the HOA lady said that is because not even half of the houses in our neighborhood paid their dues... and I've noticed a growing number of foreclosure homes here too... so sad!]. Then it was back to the house for second dinner (if you have kids, you know what I'm talking about!), PS3, Pokemon, Beyblade, and Wii!

Sunday morning, I made pancakes and sausage for all the late risers. And at 5 we headed to a wedding. It was an outdoor ceremony and so so sweet. Before the wedding, Sophie kept asking, "Where are the prince and princess, Mommy?" And then during the ceremony, she kept asking "Is this the kissing part?" So cute. Then it was back home to get ourselves ready for the week!

This has been the first weekend in a long while, we weren't out of town or having company. It was nice. And since school is right around the corner... I'm trying to savor every moment of these long summer days.

Hankie

Well, Hank turned 40 on July 2! I have to tell on myself a little. I thought he was turning 40 last year, so he keeps teasing me that he is turning 41... I have never claimed to have the best memory! Especially after having three of his babies. Umm hmmm...

We didn't do much in the way of traditional birthday celebration. Hankie could eat breakfast for every meal of every day, so he requested breakfast as his birthday meal. And since we were meeting my parents to get our kids on his birthday, we decided to meet at Shoney's and get Hankie's favorite breakfast bar.

I would have gone all out with a party, if I thought he would have enjoyed it. I tried to throw a party for him when he turned 35 and he uncomfortably enjoyed it. He just doesn't like to be the center of attention.

So we just stuck to a family celebration. We got the kids and ate Shoney's and then came home. Hankie headed out to serve at church and I stayed at home unpacking the kids. I had planned to go to the Saturday 6pm service (love this! Gives you both days of your weekend!), but as the day was getting long, Tres kept telling me his ear was hurting. I knew he had been battling swimmer's ear, so when he was crying from the pain, I loaded everyone up and headed to an Urgent Care.

We didn't make it to church at all... in fact, I got back home way after Hank did. And didn't get to make him a birthday dinner or anything. He was very good natured about it... he snuggled Tres and made sure he was doing better, and took Bryant for a swim at our neighborhood pool. So after getting everyone home and settled, I got down to the business of making sure my husband knew he was loved and appreciated!

I had asked Hank before his birthday what kind of cake he wanted, and he actually turned down that idea in favor of homemade oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with double chocolate chips... so I made him his cookies! And we stayed up late watching a movie, playing games, and enjoying them hot out of the oven.

Sunday was more of the same with Tres's ear. He was still pretty uncomfortable, so Hank again went to serve at church, and I made up some lunch (one of Hank's favorites... Chicken Spaghetti... while I watched/listened to church live online. So so so so thankful for modern conveniences at times like these. I did NOT want to miss church. So when he got home, we all sat down and ate.

That night, we loaded up pillows, blankets, snacks, and drinks and headed to our first drive in experience here in the ATL... and it was fabulous!! It was a double feature of Cars 2 and Mr. Poppers Penguines. And while it started at 9ish, since the kids had taken a nap we were up for it!! Here is where I should plug it... it had stadium parking, centrally located bathrooms and snack bar, AND it would have been easy to bring a headphone radio set and watched another movie, like Transformers 3, Super 8, Bridesmaids, etc. by just switching to another station! Definitely something we will be doing again! $17 for our whole family to see both movies!

Hank is a wonderful husband and I am honored to be his wife... I was a little disappointed that I couldn't make it bigger and better for him this year, but he was happy and content to be able to have his family home and spend quality time.

New Post

So I haven't been very good at this this summer... I know that. Let's move on! :) Here are some highlights of life at the Boemers:

The boys finished up their school year with lots of honors and awards! Tres even made it into PC (Program Challenge) at school. Still very thoroughly impressed with their school! Public school with a very private school feel!

I start work at CHCS (Chapel Hill Christian School) in a few weeks. I will be teaching music for 1.5 days and PE for 1.5 days and doing some teacher aid stuff besides. The hours are my kids hours and that was priority #1 for us.

Sophia, who turns 4 in August (not possible), will be attending Pre-K at CHCS. Uniforms and all! To say she is excited would be a tremendous understatement!

Hankie turns 40 tomorrow! We've gotten his PS3 fixed and bought him a couple of games which he is already happily playing... so don't worry that this will spoil the surprise!

We've been on the road a lot this summer. The first week, we took some good friends to Birmingham and stayed at my Mom's for a week. We hit the $1 movie, the pool, shopping, hung out with friends, and just had a blast in general!

Then the second week in June, the boys got to go spend some special time with Hank's parents at Disney for Star Wars Weekend... Star Wars has hung around a lllooonnnggg time at our house! ;)

Then the third week in June, both boys participated in my sister's brainchild, Rock Solid Volleyball Camp. Think VBS meets volleyball camp. They LOVED it! And it was a great way for them to be active, spend time with family, and have fun!

Now all 3 of my kids are at my Mom's house. We get them in the morning and can't wait. I don't mind a little Mommy break, but this house is quiet and lonely without them.

Also,at the beginning of the summer, my neighbor and I were able to sit down and talk and work through a lot of things. Such a huge answer to prayers. I am thankful beyond words for reconciliation. And I feel that I am a better friend because of what I learned through that season.

I'm still a couponer, and because it is important to be, I don't see that changing any time soon.

So there it is in a nutshell. Hope you enjoy my new post..... (cough, cough... nicole)