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!