okay... it's almost april

the past few years march hasn't been all that friendly to the lisle (my real-birth) family- a few years ago my cousin's husband died from a heart attack- then last year jarron had his horrible accident...

march has troubling weather, a lull in the sports season, and usually i am at wits end with the kids indoors and i start craving summer time food- which means that i start hating cooking winter foods!

i made a few march resolutions- i love trying to better myself, take stock of current events, and figure out how to better our lives as a whole in the family. i do feel as though i am the CEO/CFO of this house. i KNOW without me running full tilt-- this family doesn't work! and during march (starting in february) i start feeling the pressures of the winter blues-- and i also get glimpses of spring/summer and i feel that i can do better for my family- than i do in the feb/march months.

so, with march almost behind me, and my sister's birthday uneventful (that is the date of jarron's accident) i feel that with april will come blue skies and butterflies!

welp, here are my april resolutions

- get those 17 pounds off by june (last month it was 20)
- get outdoors with the kids as often as i can
- get my mental health in check-- winter blues do a number on me
- get my house in order (we've been doing several "projects" around the house that need the loose ends tied up)
- plan some events in advance- i am a notorious putter offer-- i wait till birthdays are here, babies are here, holidays are here... without a lot of prep work- then i stress out and end up dissapointed in myself for not being more in the moment)
- remember that i have to take time for just chris and i-- this is the hardest because we are usually with our friends/neighbors/kids and there isn't enough time for us to remember why we fell in love with each other in the first place. i take him for granted and i need to do more for him to remind him that i am head over heels in love with him-- even 10 1/2 years later


hope that everyone had a wonderful march and onto april!

happy birthday to my sweetest sister!

my sweet little sister is turning 24 today! and i couldn't do a post without mentioning her!

kelsey and i are 5 years apart- we shared a room together growing up- and a bathroom-
we have lived together, we have partied together, been in each others weddings, and thrown a few parties together. we have cried together, leaned on each other, been so damn pissed at each other... uh- i couldn't imagine my life without her in it. i have mothered her, been really mean to her, yelled and cussed at her-- but i adore her!

my husband and kids think that kelsey hung the stars and moon- she is an amazing aunt to my kids, best friend to my husband and all around amazing woman. she is the bravest person that i know-

my sister is my saving grace- i know there isn't a month (hint hint) that goes by that i don't have some major meltdown that she doesn't pull me out of-

she is my inspiration to be better to my family, kids, and husband

she is caring and compassionate

she is hilarious-

she is unselfish and important.

if there is anyone else in the WORLD that i could be like -- it's her.

i talk to her everysingleday! and my day isn't complete without a good morning text.

happy birthday kelsey! i love you!

let me catch you up...

we love hanging out with our kids. i know it's corny- but seriously- they are hilarious! fisher and ella are almost close enough in age that i could consider them to be twins. fisher keeps me hopping with his constant "dangerous" energy- and well ella is a bit of a daddy's girl that "discusses everything at length"- both of which- i adore!

we have a "cult" of neighbors (as our outsider friends refer to them) that we see almost daily- really you could probably blend us all into one house and it would work- our kids all compliment each others personalities and they are really great friends. we couldn't live the lives that we live without each other- i am so grateful to have an amazing support group of girlfriends and neighbors that i love and adore. so, with that written- we have a new addition to our "cult" --- paige was born last wednesday night and she has made it back home already.

we are so ready for warmer weather so we can get her out of the house and "play" or pass her around. it's been a little while since we've had a baby in the circle.

but, first, the pictures to start are from our "friday night dance party" we go down in the basement and throw all of the pillows off the couch-- and let the kids jump and dance till they start getting whiny (and sometimes a little hurt) but not too bad ;)








molly, fisher, and ella tore it up! ella's dance moves are really coming along-- chris puts on some (old) music-- usually with questionable lyrics-- that will have to change soon- but they had a ball! and i think that we (as parents) forget how much fun it is to just let loose and have a good time. we are so worried about letting them play with the "right" toys or the "most educational" or get them to bed "right on schedule" and don't give them a day off from being kids.

so- we gave our kids the night off- and look how much fun they had! i really have about 50 of the same pictures-- all of them smiling, laughing, and really enjoying being a kid!









and now to miss. paige- she is seriously the tiniest baby i have ever held! she is 6lbs 3 oz-

ella is so thrilled to have a "girl baby" born! she has been a big helper to jenn and shawn (at least i hope) by wanting to hold her, rock her, and one day maybe "babysit" her :)

i took the kids to visit them in the hospital- here are a few of my favorite pictures. welcome miss paige!

going racin'

We are very fortunate (yes, i know i wrote fortunate) to live near the bristol motor speedway. it's one of the main attractions going around here! Chris has been going to the races for about 28 years now- hasn't missed a race since he moved here. (it's kinda his claim to fame) i used to go and camp with him, some friends, and my brother- and i started opting out when i got pregnant with ella- and i haven't been back.

however- since fisher is SUCH a boy- chris has been dying to take him to the track- for something.and last friday when the race was in town- we took the kids to qualifying- it was really a great day with the weather being so beautiful and because it is just qualifying- there weren't tons of people there. we parked with the campers (our friends from roanoke)and walked to the track. here is our awesome visit in pictures!

enjoying the weather (and some sweet videos)

we are currently having typical tennessee march weather- rain and cold, sun and heat- there is no such thing as the 60's-- we are hot or cold- windy or not- that is it- so, in spite of that- we are staying outside- we are dressing for the weather- day by day :) my sweet children have had wayyyy to much indoor time! here's to spring! we live in a cul-de-sac- which i just LOVE! and we are so thankful for our little bitty sweet circle of friends and their kids that we could easily take in as our own- molly girl has appeared on my blog since it's debut- and here she is puddle jumping with my babies! the pictures are from the birthday party when the weather was just superb! we actually had TWO days of sun and warmth- today we are having nasty rainy COLD weather!
ella's video- i wish that i had more video of my kids- tonnnnnnnnssssss of pictures- but not many videos! well, here's to a march resolution!
i know that ella's is 2 seconds- and again- i know-- i will take more video!

carla's birhday party

happy 6th birthday to my sweet neice Carla Ann- we haven't lived this close to family EVER! we are so thrilled that they have moved back to the area and seem to be here to stay forever!:) we have missed out on 5 birthday's with this cutie and we are not planning on missing more!

we live about 3 hours from our families and it is always hard for birthday's to make it to the parties! the kids were thrilled to be with their cousins and the weather couldn't have been better! chris was at the race that afternoon- so we were without him for the evening--

it was great to be with family on such a special occasion! happy birthday sweet girl!!!

















i am trying to upload some video-- we will see! testing one two three!

The menu this week

Monday- grilled chicken and broc salad
Tuesday- meatloaf and mashed potatoes
Wednesday- spaghetti and salad
Thursday- breakfast
Friday- homemade pizzas
Saturday- surf and turf- crab legs and steaks

Now- to the grocery store I go!

just so you know...

i will...
- be losing 20 pounds before june 1 (2.5 months- totally do-able)
- be running in the mornings (as soon as the morning temp is 45 or higher)
- be making dinner everynight of the week except 1
- keeping up with my laundry- one load at a time (or, er... day)
- picking 1 room in the house daily to clean really really well
- seeing some babies (2 to be exact- that don't belong to me)
- be outside
- redecorating my house- one room at a time

i will not...
- be worried about my weight
- pleasing everyone
- yelling at my children
- picking myself apart
- be on my blackberry on the weekends
- be on my blackberry in my car
- hit the snooze button


thanks-- just so you know :)

Wanna play!?

So, who could turn this football player down?!?

the redos... continued...

so, it started with a little bit of trim that i wanted put up in our bathroom-- just to see what we could do...

while at lowes- (picking up the trim) i needed a can of spray paint for a bench that sits on our front porch- that is where i found the Rustoleum product for the countertops-- while the lovely associate was tinting my countertop coating he invited ella back to watch him put the color in... she turns her head as soon as the paint tint went in-- he then decided to "mess up" a can so that she could watch again. so, i suggested that he tint in "under the sea" since that was the paint color that ella had decided to paint her room.

so, we left with trim, countertop coating, and paint for ella's room. 3 projects for the price of 1/2 of one! whoohoo!

so, we painted the countertops on sunday- and the only big drawback is that they have to sit for 3 days with nothing touching them. so, while those were in the process of drying- i decided to prime ella's walls and clean the carpets while they were at school. low and behold her carpet was N-A-S-T-Y! OH MY! i couldn't handle it! i won't even go into how gross it really was--




so.... my neighbor had just bought some flooring from lumber liquidators (really cheap) and i got online and looked up what we could do. ella and fisher's rooms are really small, so i found some, picked up the kids from preschool and took off to asheville, north carolina to pick up some flooring for the kids rooms. i have to brag and tell ya' i didn't spend half of what i thought i would have on CARPET! i bought some really beautiful dark cherry laminate flooring- it already had the padding attached! so, all we needed to do was rip up the carpet and get the prep work started!





we painted ella's room last night (with the kids assistance) and it looks soooo pretty so far! i cannot wait to see it when the floor goes down tomorrow!!! and i will post pics as soon as the room is complete!

Cope

I am hanging on by a thread- or er a drink :) here lately its been vodka, soda, ice and a few limes- bring on spring!!

Painted countertops

Into the home spring refreshing- we "painted" the countertops!

They look so much better than the green!! Only cost 20 bucks, we will see how they hold up- rustoleum countertop coating.

our weekend visitors

all of the neices and nephews-
laura, elaina, carla, ella, fisher, and andrew









this is emmie and i dancing on the counters to "soul sister" by train --

this weekend we had some extra special visitors- our neices laura and elaina came to stay with us! thanks girls for all of your help and we loved having you here with us!!!!

i make damn good chocolate chip cookies....

eating cookie dough







my cookie making buddies



i am a cookie making fool- chocolate chip cookies to be exact. i know the recipe by heart, and i know that mine are the BEST!

i used to only use a handmixer- until my wonderful husband got me the big ol' stand mixer for christmas! now, it's much easier to let the kids help me make them- ella is my official egg cracker and fisher unwraps the butter- the rest is easy as pie!

now, my cookies aren't anything fancy- it's the recipe from the back of the nestle toll house bag-

so, enjoy!

HAPPY MARCH

It is finally March. We have survived the dreaded February! I woke to snow filled lawns this morning... but it's all good-- it is MARCH! Now, March brings several exciting things- daylight savings, my nieces birthday, my sister's birthday, spring, and of course one month closer to SUMMERTIME!

To update from previous posts- I am still following up on some jobs- I do think that I am ready to go back to work- but I don't want to teach again.

My mom fell last night while walking the dogs- my sister in law took her to the er because she thought that she'd broke her wrists. (she didn't) But, there has been an appointment made for her at the Center for Healthy Aging-- we are hopeful that this will answer some questions that we have, some concerns, some treatment options for her.

I still have some reservations about how I am feeling about all of these things- but I can say that God is good and there have been some amazing prayers answered for both Chris and I. I appreciate all the support that we have been given as of lately- Chris and I are so blessed with the families and friends that surround us.

On a lighter note- we did watch the USA lose to rival Canada-- I didn't mind much, nor did I really watch the game- I did however attend the festivities! I am so glad that the Olympics are over- I think it is cool and fun and go USA but stop messing with my regularly scheduled programs!

There are a few things that I am hoping for during the month of March-
1- warm weather
2- some energy to enter my body so that I can keep up with this house
3- well children (fisher is on breathing treatments and an antibiotic at the present time- due to a chesty cough and some congestion-- ella is also participating the the breathing treatments-- but if they feel better- I'm all for it!)
4- less snow- more school
5- some scheduling/organizing/routine

I plan on also-
1- reading books
2- cooking most/every dinner
3- couponing
4- re-decorating some parts of the house
5- and planning on warm weather to get outside and get some good ol' vitamin D!

Happy March again to everyone! Cannot wait for April!

Clean room time

Chris was an AMAZING husband this past weekend-- he willingly took our sweet little angels to his parents on Saturday morning so that I could clean, attend a baby shower, and have a stress free bunko night with some very special ladies. All, without worrying about kids, naptimes, dinners, bath time, bed time, etc. I couldn't have needed a day break more!

So, while he was gone- I cleaned some of the house-- not all (laundry is still a work in progress) but I took a picture to send to Chris to prove that I was being produtive (and not sleeping my day away) and as I looked at this picture I realized how sweet and cute my little Fisher's room is! I love his room. It took us a while to realize what we wanted to do with his room, and even after 2+ years- I haven't changed much about it- and I am a serial re-arranger!

I just wanted to share a bit of our little house of love and remember how calm his room always looks. If ever I need a little piece of serenity- I always go to Fisher's room and take a seat and breathe.

Diaper cake 101

A dear friend of mine is expecting her third baby. THREE BABIES! Her first two are the most precious little girl (twins) that I have ever seen! Her suprise shower thrown by her sister in law was this past weekend-- and I am not an excellent gift giver- and coming up with creative gifts is not my specialty...

My neighbor suggested that we make a diaper cake- now, I have never made one, nor seen one, nor received one- but this I couldn't turn down- over a couple of drinks jess and I created this masterpiece! it's not the best quality photo- but you can see what fun we had!

My girlfriend received three of these things at her shower (which cracked me up to no end) but ours was the best :)

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