Remember my cry for help on what to do with this table and chairs? Let me remind you:

It’s not a great overall shot of the chairs, but I’m sure everyone here has seen these before. They’re county looking, not really my style.  And while I would love to splurge on some new chairs that are my style, with the new house and the many (many) purchases we’ve had to make to be able to live in our house (like, shower rods, blinds, the every day things add up to be a lot!) it’s just not possible right now.  So I was determined to make this bargain steal for $50 work for me to tolerate it.

After some thinking about what was do-able at my skill level, what would cost too much and wasn’t worth spending on (I contemplated adding cushions but the cost of fabric and batting wasn’t worth it once I added up the costs), this is what I’ve created:

I had my father in law cut off the pointy tops and simply painted (and painted…and painted…) for the last 2 days while enjoying our spring-like weather. Yes, it’s still country looking, but it’s more classy as well. Crisp and clean.  I love it! The table is being painted white as well, still working on it.  Also haven’t even started on 2 of the chairs. But, at least it’s progress…

It’s amazing what a coat of paint can do.

Photo by chris prefontaine/istockphoto

As I’ve mentioned before, I love tea. I grew up drinking hot tea thanks to my Mom, usually some nice sleepy time tea and honey.  However, my love of tea was taken to new heights when I discovered the Chai Tea lattes at coffee shops a few years ago. It’s officially my favorite tea ever.  But, spending $3.00 on a cup of tea is ridiculous to do often so I usually just drink chai tea at home.  But, ya know, it’s just not as good. Something was missing.

Until, I realized. DUH! It’s milk.  I experimented today with only a little bit of boiling water and the rest of my mug with warm milk to defuse my tea (I used double spice chai for more flavor). When it was heated, I added vanilla creamer and lots of Xylitol to sweeten in. It was heavenly and I, of course, was thrilled with myself.  It tasted just like what I could buy at the local shop, but better, because it saves me money and I don’t have to go out to get it anymore.

Sure, it may have been an obvious thing. Lattes…milk…duh…but I was excited and had to share in case I have chai tea latte lovers as readers, too.

I know, I know. Christmas was 3 weeks ago, and I’m just now getting to posting pictures?  Life is busy.

The high lights:

-Savannah got way too many toys. I guess that happens with a Dad who’s a kid at heart himself and many sets of grandparents.

-She got pretty much all things princesses. The only thing she asked for this year (she went right up and told Santa herself) was a Snow White dress.  We used this desire as a bribe to reward her for sleeping through the night (it worked!) and so Christmas she finally got it. It’s funny how much she loves princesses and yet she’s never watched any of the videos, fine by me.

-Mark’s big gift from me was Panther’s football Tickets. He’s a huge sports fan and didn’t think we could afford tickets right now. His face was priceless! (Once again, I love me some mommy board finds!)

-I got mainly house stuff for Christmas and loved every minute of it. Between gifts and giftcards, we’re almost all set to go now!

-We had our Kaylee Christmas visit, staying the night again.  Savannah and Kaylee had a blast playing  together, I love watching them and the friendship they have formed.  Kaylee is really possessive over Savannah being her “baby sister” and doesn’t like to share play time with her brother, poor Blake gets left out. Mark and I had fun hanging out with their parents as always.

-I gave Kaylee a photobook for Christmas that shares a little bit about her birthfamily. Most of it is my family of course since that’s what I have more access to, but I contacted Kaylee’s birthgrandma for some information about her Birthdad growing up I could include. I added a page or two or random facts like birthdays, where we went to school, our hobbies, eye color, etc. and also shared our dating story and some pictures.  Kaylee liked it, but was totally confused that her birthdad is not Mark.  Hm…don’t know how to explain that one to a 5 year old!

-And to end my winter break with a shabang, I had my visit with Victoria!  We had our week jam packed with things to do and it was a blast (exhausting, but a blast)!  I saw historical things like the Liberty Bell in down town Philadelphia, we went snow tubing in the Poconos (so much fun, everyone should go!), went bowling for her birthday, got our nails done (first time since I got married, what a treat), painted pottery, ate the most amazing burger and french fries I have ever had at The Pop Shop (it was on the Food Network, it’s that good!), and finally got to meet her birth family.  It was so much :-)

-I, however, decided I can ever live in the north because the drivers and the road designs (ie. lanes just suddenly ending with no warning signs) stresses me out way too much.  We seriously almost crashed 20 times.  I love my easy going south.

And the big news:

We close on our house next week!

I am unbelievable excited and have been shopping like crazy to get the rest of the house things we needed. We also bought paint tonight while it was on sale at home depot.  I cannot wait to see what a difference the paint makes. We just need a washer and dryer, food, cleaning supplies, and blinds and we’ll have a home :-)

Holy Moly! Has it been 2.5 weeks already since I posted?  Going out of town through my life out of whack and I’m still trying to catch up with all the things I’ve missed (101 emails, anyone? or 100 blog posts to read? or 174 facebook updates?).

Today was the first day of classes and I can tell I’m going to have a challenging, work filled semester. Thankfully, it’s the last one, but bear with me as I post when I can between assignments and the 100’s of pages of readings on top of laundry, spending time with Savannah, planning her 3rd birthday party, and oh yeah…buying a house and moving all our stuff and making it look presentable. I’m stressed just thinking about all this and I have a feeling my blog posts will get pushed down to the bottom of the to-do list. 

Hopefully coming this week:

-Christmas pictures

-Kaylee visit!

-My mommy getaway trip recap

-House news

In short: a lot has happened in the last 2.5 weeks so be ready for update overload!

I don’ t know what it is about Christmas break, I get in this writing slump even though I have all the time in the world to actually write something. It happens every year!

What’s been happening?  Well, for starters I ended up with 4 A’s and 1 B as my final grades. I’m pretty happy with that, being my senior year (and I just like being good at things, okay?). I’m so excited to have just one more semester to go, I’m ready to get it started and be done for ever!

House wise– my brain doesn’t stop working thinking about paint colors and room layouts now.  We’re still waiting on getting the inspection done, but since the house is 3 years old I doubt (I pray) anything serious will be wrong so we can continue to move forward.  We feel so at peace with our decision, not just in the house, but location and even moving out earlier than planned. We are ready. So ready, that I already started packing. I thought I’d get a head start while I’m not in school and since I’ll be out of town visiting family and Victoria (!) for two weeks.

I’m sure I’ll be back, eventually, when the Christmas hub-bub is over. When the ridiculous amount of toys are opened and thrown everywhere, when we’re stuffed with good food and filled with joy.

God has been so good to us, I pray you have a blessed,  joyful, peaceful Christmas as well.

I may not be holding babies in my arms right now like I should be, but God has given us another blessing this week (what great timing He has!) that makes my heart leap with joy and possibilities.

(I wanted to put a big red bow on it but Flickr wouldn’t let me without paying, so a Santa hat will have to do)

Since we had Savannah at 19 and still in college, Mark’s parents have been amazing in letting us stay with them for the past 3 years as we finish school and get on our feet.  Now, finally, it’s time to move out. And while I’m so incredibly grateful we had this time and extra hands to help out, we’re so ready to have our own place! This is all happening a little sooner than planned (originally wanted to move after I graduate in May), but this house and the price were too perfect to pass up. We’re all so excited! Savannah is excited about getting a “princess room,” she’s already planning on having it be purple  (it was pink last week, what will it be by the time we actually paint?)

Now I need to start working on that kitchen table!  And…packing…that doesn’t sound like fun though…

I’ve mentioned before that now that we’re getting serious about moving out, I’ve been collecting furniture as well and finding inspiration online.  I’ve been finding amazing deals on my local Mommy Board and Craiglists that are just too good to pass up. However, sometimes I find things that are a great deal but will need some work to become our style.

Take for example, this kitchen table and chairs I just scored for $50!  The table is exactly what I’ve been looking for, well, shape wise, I plan to either stain (or paint) it an espresso brown to match our other furniture or paint it white. But the chairs?  I’m not loving the chairs at all. And while I could go out and by brand news chairs for $50 a pop (bringing me up to over $200, which I might as well buy a new table set for) I asked for some help over on Better After to generate ideas.  I’d rather take these chairs and make them into what I fits our taste.

So far I’ve heard great things like painting them a contrasting color, adding slip covers, sanding down the extra bumps on the backs for smoother lines, remove the seats and make them padded fabric cushions (if I can?). So, so many great ideas that my head is buzzing with the opportunities to create something! I’ll take pictures once I get a game plan together and finish the project. I can’t wait to see what it’ll turn out looking like!

What would you suggest?

(Also, head over to Better After to at least give her some love. A “Troll” has been attacking her amazing blog and we all remember how frustrating that is!)

I love the holidays.

Not only is it a time of year I get to hear from extended friend and family that I never see via Christmas cards, or be able to spend time over good food with family that is closer by, experience dazzling lights as we drive home, singing Amy Grant, and enjoying other old traditions, but it’s also the time of the year I know I will have a visit with Kaylee.  Since our busy schedules have narrowed our visits down to 2 times a year, her birthday and Christmas, which happen to be 6 months apart, it’s a pretty exciting time of year for my whole family because by 6 months we’re so ready for another visit. We all love visiting with their family.

One thing I love is that Kaylee’s family and mine have created our own traditions, adoption style.  Not only do I know that we’ll have a visit, but I know what we’ll do, what we’ll eat, and pretty much what weekend it will be. It’s been relatively the same for the past 5 years. Here’s our drill: We always eat at a certain Japanese restaurant. Always. What? Don’t you guys eat Japanese food for Christmas celebrations? I don’t know how it started, but we do and it’d be strange to change it up now!  Originally we all exchanged gifts, but last year we changed it up so that all the adults participate in the Dirty Santa game (more fun, less money!) and we get something small for each kid. And then, we sit in their living room, watch the kids run around, attempt to take pictures, and chat for hours.

The worst part, of course, is having to leave (or maybe trying to pick out a gift? That gets me every time!).   I always wish it could last longer because the time flies too fast and then it’ll be another 6 months before I see them again. But, I feel incredibly blessed to get the time I (we) do no matter the time length.  She’s a lucky girl to be surrounded by such love, and we’re lucky we have the opportunity to be there to share the love in person. And that, is a gift that cannot be bought.

(Our visit 2 years ago, 2007)

This post is written for Open Adoption Roundtable. Want to hear what others at the adoption table have to say about the holidays?  Find more posts here!

What? Two posts in one day here?  It’s amazing what a little thing like classes ending will do :-)  It’s so nice to have a little free time to breathe for exams.

Anyway, I wanted to post this great article on Huffington Post about adoption awareness. It’s written by a birthmother in an open adoption of 12 years and brings up much what I have discussed here on this blog and way beyond (like ethical practices). I’m glad some one is out there talking about it in the news!

Do You Have Any Children? A Difficult Question to Answer

I’m attending a funeral in the next few hours and as I figured out what the heck to wear, I realized that my dress pants desperately need hemming.  I’m short. Like, under 5 feet kind of short, and it’s hard to find pants to fit me.  I usually wear jeans, which Charlotte Rousse happens to make a “short” size that fits me perfectly, so pant length usually isn’t on my mind anymore that I’ve found them.  But, dress pants? I stay at home with my 2 year old or go to school, if/when I go to church it’s very casual and I can still wear jeans. I haven’t thought about dress pants in nearly 2 years!

While I have been known to wear these dress pants out in public in the last 5 years, super long and everything, I couldn’t make myself do it this time. Without a sewing machine (or the knowledge on how to use it…),I decided to bring out the no sew iron on adhesive to help get the job done…but it didn’t work.  Maybe it’s the fabric? Or I’m just iron on adhesive challenged? Either way, it did nothing for my pants. Having to leave in just a few hours, I pulled out…tape.  Heavy duty packing tape.

It gets the job done for the few hours I’ll wear it (I hope), and no one will know it!  Well, except me and now the entire internet…

Still, it’s too funny to me to not post about it.