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I did it. I framed the kids. Again.

Here's the second frame that I bought last week, spray painted satin black and reassembled. In order to solve my "dilemma" over having black frames, a black monogram, and a navy barn star I bought a double mat for this frame. It's white AND navy blue. The navy stripe is small, and probably not very noticeable, but I feel that it ties everything together nicely. I got the mat at Michael's... and by the way, bookmark this blog; they post the latest Joanns/Michael's/Hobby Lobby/ACMoore type printable coupons and it's so much easier than trying to search for them every time you need one!



I can't wait to have this room repainted and get all of my goodies hung up on the walls! If all goes as planned, I should get to order the drapes in about two weeks!

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We have been slacking on our church attendance. It seemed like every weekend was jam packed full of plans, or someone(s) in the family was sick. We made going to church for Easter a priority. The pastor again preached a lot during offering time, about how blessings pour out when you tithe. Today, we received such a blessing. We were surprised to get a packet in the mail from our mortgage company stating that we were qualified for an immense reduction in our payment, nearly halving our payment for the next two years (our interest rate being knocked down all the way to 2%!!), then increasing a bit for another two years (with interest of 4%), then ending up at a payment for the remainder of the term that is still less than our current payment, and at a lower interest rate than what we are now paying (6%)! This was truly the answer to so many of our prayers lately. We'll be mailing off all of the paperwork for it tomorrow, and it just feels like a big weight has been lifted off of our shoulders. It's a savings of 152K over the life of the loan.

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I procrastinated a bit on writing my essay (rough draft due on Friday). I was trying to work on it, but Niko was being his usual gregarious self and I just couldn't concentrate. I ended up finishing Eclipse from the Twilight series. I haven't read the 4th book yet, but I must admit that I am more of a Jacob fan than an Edward fan. And as for the movie? I must be getting old because I thought the cutest guy in the movie was Charlie (Bella's Dad).
This week's essay topic that I chose from the three prompts that we were given is on free-will versus fate in Oedipus and Antigone.

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I know I am running late with my posts this week, but I hope to get back on track soon. Tuesday was filled with dry cleaning errands, a mystery shop, and a trip to Walmart for pet food and mini blinds. Hubby and I stayed up until past midnight finishing our accounting homework for the week.



I can now adjust for inventory shrinkage. Exciting.

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Niko is now officially registered for Kindergarten! My sweet tiny baby boy is sure growing up fast.

Most of today was spent studying for an accounting midterm. We took the midterm on campus tonight, and ugh. Double ugh. I am just praying that I pass the test. I did not expect to have to prepare financial statements from scratch, by hand. The journal entries weren't so bad, but when it came to the Income Statement, Retained Earnings and Balance Sheet, I kind of blanked out. I could not picture them in my mind at all. I tried to do as much of it as I could remember, but I couldn't remember which assets and liabilities to list on some of the documents, and the numbers that I ended up with did not balance out. I'm hoping my grade on the multiple-choice part will be enough to save me.

For snack after school today we had sugar cookies and homemade lemonade. I love good, fresh lemonade made with lemons grown at home. I detest all of that fake junk, the Minute Maid and Country Time and all of that... I like Hot Dog on a Stick, and homemade.


I finally got my cherry tomatoes planted, and my burpless cucumbers too. I tried making a trellis for the cucumbers to grow up, but I think I will retie it tomorrow. I dug two fence stakes into the dirt, and used sisal twine to make lines across, but as I pulled the top tighter, all of the twine at the bottom loosened up. I am thinking that if I start tying it at the top towards the bottom instead, then the whole thing should stay taut and not start drooping.

My agenda for tomorrow:
-go to post office and mail Gloria's hat
-read Oedipus Rex and Antigone in preparation for Friday's lecture
-pray that I got a decent grade on last week's essay on symbolism in Kate Chopin's "Story of an Hour"
-mop kitchen floor
-pick up all of the laundry that has been breeding on our bedroom floor
-pay the water bill
-retie the cucumber trellis

85/365

I feel like I am drowning in work this week. Hubby and I were up until 2am last night finishing homework for our Accounting class, then up at 6am to get the kids off to school and him off to work. I have an English paper due in the morning. I've managed to squeak out 3 pages but it has to be at least 4 pages, so it will be another late night tonight after the kids go to bed. I have tried all week to finish it, and it's just so hard with little ones about. I will get a paragraph thought out in my head, start to write a sentence, and halfway through the sentence my train of thought has been hijacked and is running off to Cairo.

It looks something like this...
"If we continue to look at the window in Louise’s room as a window of opportunity, then everything outside of her window is Grandma asked me if I wanted a cookie before my lunch or after my lunch, and guess what I said?"

I still have no clue how I planned to finish that sentence.



Mama's going to need some caffeine tonight.

In other news, I've been posting for about 3 weeks on Craigslist, trying to find some free wood to use for building my garden beds. I got sticker shock from the price tags at the hardware store and calculating it would cost over $50 per raised bed! No responses. Except for one person selling seeds and plants, and an elder lady offering me free seeds if I would build a raised bed for HER.

So, today, down the street... renters are moving out. And what is piled up on the curb? Fencing material and boards. I've got 3 of the ready made fence sections, and a whole mess of 2x4's and one 2x6. I love when He works things out like that for us! Just as I was starting to lose hope and think I would not get my garden this year, He provided for me! Hopefully the weather will stay nice this weekend and I will get my garden started!

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Like father, like son (take two). Nathan wanted his hair cut to match my hubby, and then he bought himself a pair of aviators at the mall.

Now I just need a picture of all three of my guys together, with their matching haircuts and sunglasses.

I finished my English assignment today. I had to write an autobiographical essay, basically introducing myself to the class. It was kind of fun to write, and I'm interested to see how many marks of red pen will be all over my paper when I get it back.

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I took my van in for it's scheduled maintenance today. Sitting in the dealership was a bit aggravating this time. Their "free Wifi and Internet Access" was down, so I couldn't get online. Their movie theater was out of order, so there were no videos for Niko to watch. All of the video games in the children's play area were busted, and they didn't have any other toys available. We sat for an hour and forty-five minutes... he colored, complained, ate Cheetos, whined, flirted with the girl working in the cafe, went potty, ate candy, and groused about how bored he was. I crocheted.



When we got back in the van when they were done, my tire pressure warning light was on. I made them take it back in to adjust the pressure or turn off the sensor or do whatever they needed to do to get the light back off. Unfortunately, for some reason they didn't clip the hubcaps back on right, and when the hubby got home tonight he realized one of my hubcaps was missing! I have to take my van back in tomorrow for them to replace it.

After the whole deal with the dealership, Niko and I dropped by the college bookstore to pick up more of the necessary textbooks for this semester. Hubby and I ended up needing individual copies of the accounting textbook instead of being able to share one because each of the textbooks comes with a unique online access code that is required for our online class... and they don't sell the access codes seperately. I also picked up the novel that I have to have for my English class. The Stranger. I only need one more book for this semester now, the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. I'm hoping to find a used copy for cheaper than the $17.50 the college bookstore wants.

One of Sabrina's friends walked home with the girls today, and the kids all played together while her mom and I talked. The little ones are all looking forward to playdates and sleepovers. Since the mom has an almost 9 month old baby, I got to pass on the shopping cart cover that a special friend made for Niko when he was a wee one (you know who you are!). It had been hanging in the hallway for about the last two years since he outgrew the chewing and slobbering on the cart handles phase, so I am glad to see it go to a home where it will be well used and loved.

All in all, it was a good day... albeit slightly marred by another headache. I think I am due for another chiropractic adjustment. I am considering looking into the free chiropractic care offered through the college. My only reservation about it is that the adjustments are done by student chiropractors, although they are under supervision. WWYD?

Just checking in...

As with all projects around here, the dresser and all of the girls' room stuff is still sitting on the back burner. There's only three weeks left in this semester though, so I should be getting back to that stuff soon!

After last week's bout with the stomach flu, I was very glad to get out of the house on Saturday for my Service Learning class' last work day. We spent several hours removing sticky eupatorium from Monrovia Canyon (along with fig trees), and we also found some fun little friends. Say hello to Mr. Newt:
This little guy got named Sebastian before being released.
Our group of 30 students was then evacuated from the canyon by the Fire Department. They were closing down recreational areas so that they could make sure to focus of their resources on fighting all of the wildfires that popped up around Southern CA this weekend. We got a lot done though! More pictures here.

I am working on a project though... Here's a sneak peek: