Life with the Shirley Family

Life with the Shirley Family

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Rain, rain...


I am going to use this moment to try and be thankful during the rain! As you can see, our back yard has had enough rain for a long time-but since this is how our yard has looked most of the time since December '09, I need to get used to it..well a little exaggeration, but it has been soggy and muddy almost all of the time since December since it has done this pond imitation 4, 5, maybe more times since then.

But to be thankful...
1. If it is raining here, then in the mountains, they are enjoying snow, right? And if I get to go skiing this year, it may be on real snow. (No plans for that, but I did buy a GREAT coat for skiing tonight on clearance at Belks! If I have the coat, then we must need to go, right?)
2. I do enjoy listening to the rain at night, although with the cold and the rain combined, the heater accompanies this sound (but that is not being thankful unless I say I am very thankful that my heater does work!).
3. We may get to have a pool in our backyard soon; or at least a pond, a very muddy pond. And we probably have a pool already under our house since the sump pump is broken and it is too cold and rainy to fix! (But that is not being thankful!)
4. There are lots of puddles for Camden to jump in (too bad his froggy boots are too small now!)
5. Hopefully the drought has ended in the upstate and GA and next time we go to Six Flags, maybe the fountains will be turned on again!
6. Since I volunteered to water the plants at church on Wednesdays, I have only had to do it one time because of all the rain!
7. I still only have one toilet in the house and one bathtub-oh, wrong subject, and really not being thankful!
8. We don't have a dog right now in our backyard tracking mud through the house-the boys do a good job of that, though!
9. At least there are still more BEAUTIFUL Charleston days than rainy days in this town!
10. It gives me a good excuse to be lazy and stay inside and let the boys watch too much TV and Wii!

I think 10 is enough for now! But I am sure as more rain comes, and it seems to keep coming, I will have more reasons to be thankful in the rain!

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Christmas Projects

I love to work on projects-in fact I have about 3-4 going on right now; just finished one tonight and have at least 4-5 in my mind to start! This Christmas I had a project list going that almost was completed (one I will just have to save for next year). I made several photo books; lots of place mats (with the finishing help of my mom!); and one quilt. The quilt was for my 5 year old nephew; supposed to be for his 5 yr old birthday, but since that happened the day before Nathan's and 3 weeks before Camden's, it had to wait until Christmas! Right now quilting is at the top of my list of fun projects-it is neat for me to see how lots of pieces of material can come together to make something so beautiful. And it is rewarding to see your nephew not stop holding onto a present you gave him!













Nathan also got into projects this Christmas and I think I have ruined him! I am always doing 2-3 things at a time and never sitting still. This is how I get my projects done, it drives Dave crazy! One day during December I asked Nathan if he wanted me to read Jotham to him. At the time he was working on a blanket he was making for his cousin. Instead of stopping, he asked me if I could read it to him while he worked!! Another time he asked if he could tie his blanket while watching TV! If he keeps this up, will he drive his wife crazy for doing too many things, or will she be grateful for a multitasking husband!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Our true worth

Today in Sunday School I was reminded of how much we are worth to God in a way I hadn't heard it expressed before. The teacher said that the value of anything is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. He did not verbally complete the thought, but the conclusion was that we are worth so much to God that Jesus paid the ultimate cost for us-He paid with His life.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

It's a dirty job...


Well, Nathan has never been one to be neat--he is always being told to "wipe your mouth" and he has stains on almost all of his clothes. And when playing baseball, he takes after Dave and has to be falling on the ground the whole game! He comes home dirtier than anyone else on his team. His Papa nicknamed him Dr. Dirt! (I will admit, though, that in high school when working at Chick-fil-A, my boss used to tell me that I was so covered with chicken batter that they could fry me! He does come by it naturally!?!) When he was in the first grade, I used to always think how dirty he was after school, but then thought, no, it is all boys, not just mine. I was wrong. I was speaking to some other moms one day and they did admit that their boys got dirty also, but Nathan did seem to get a little dirtier! They noticed so it must have been bad!







But the worse was today! It rained yesterday so the field at school was muddy, but their PE teacher thought it was dry enough. So out they went and down Nathan went on the ground. His teacher admitted that by the time she realized that it was not such a good idea to go on the field, it was too late! She also said that the FIRST time Nathan fell was an accident, but he seemed to enjoy it after that! Other kids did get dirty, but he was the ONLY one this muddy! It had to be my boy! It's a dirty job, and Nathan will do it! At least it all came out in the wash.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Let the hunt begin!


I feel so safe in my home right now because I know that Nathan and his friend Ben have taken care of all the wild animals lurking in our backyard! So far they have managed to get rid of an alligator, a duck, and a tiger. We may need to get a bigger freezer for all this wild game! Nathan (who has an obsession with stuffed animals, webkinz in particular) has decided to put them to good use and use them as hunting practice with his nerf gun. They put them out and stalk around the yard looking for them, then they get their gun aimed and ready and pow! Fresh meat! I can thank Dave for this new game. Yesterday Nathan had me hiding his animals in the house so that he could really "hunt" for them!



But, seriously, it is fun to see Nathan and his friends play outside in the great weather we had today, and to not be staring at the Wii screen. And they are using their imagination-Nathan even got to pretend to be the hunting dog! The joys of boys :)

The tiger is in his sights!

Nathan as the hunting dog-if you can't get one, then be one!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Trading spaces without any trading!

I feel like Dave and I are on Trading Spaces this weekend! He buys one new piece of furniture and suddenly our life focuses on rearranging our upstairs. Of course he would say that if I would let him keep the gun case in the living room, then we wouldn't be in the mess we are in (literally!). Well, that won't be happening! And if he ever does get a deer, any part of the deer can only hang in the shed out back!

So we have moved our huge desk ensemble from one side of the room to the other. Moved the heavy armoire to the other side and hauled the gun case upstairs. Our backs are a little, I mean a lot, sore. But the mess is in the fact that everything is being cleaned out in the process in order to fit it all upstairs in some organized manner. I am excited that even though all my scrapbook stuff is out of the armoire and right now sitting on a folding table in the middle of the room, I am being given (sort of) the desk for my cropping, sewing, etc! I am setting it up like my own office! Dave gets his fish stuff on one side, and I am going to put up some of my own decorations on the desk-at least when I can find it!




I am now in the middle of painting my bookcase that I have had all my life. I think it has been painted at least 5 times now, 3 since we were married. First I painted it green to match our "colors" (and graffitied the back); then it became white to match Nathan's nursery; now it is going to be black to match the trim on the desk and it will sit on top of the desk like a hutch. (I am beginning to question my sanity, however, for picking black when I now know it will take several coats to not be streaky and my hand may permanently be stuck in a brush holding position!) But I do think it will turn out nice, even though it will take a little bit longer than the 2 days that trading spaces gets :)

Thursday, January 7, 2010

1/4 of the way there!!

After an exciting evening of finding out what color bras my friends wear, I am now settling down to write about serious things--Disneyworld! My fund growth was a little slow over Christmas (couponing takes more time than my busy project list over Christmas allows; although I saved more money this year than in the past because I started eating what was in the freezer and only buying groceries needed for Christmas food stuff), but I am on the couponing track again and plan to save tons of money!! Today was $70something at Harris Teeter! Yeah! And Nathan gave it a boost in the arm by donating a big portion of his Christmas money to the cause. He and Camden get money from CA relatives at Christmas and I let them spend some and the rest put into their savings. This time, the savings is for DW! And since Nathan decided to do this, I figured Camden would want to follow suit. So as of today, the total we have is $544.85. I don't think we will need $2000 if we plan it right with the meal deals, etc, but just in case, I want to save $2000. I started in Sept so I am a little behind if I need $500 every 3 months, but still feel good about the amount.

So that is my update. Hopefully I will be able to tell you soon that we are at $1000. It feels GOOD to be saving money.