Fighting Bordem: Scavenger Hunt Walk

During the day, I make the kiddies I nanny go outside both in the morning and after nap time. Usually for at least an 1-2 hours each time. & oh how they complain! 

The big boys get BORED super fast. Nothing hold their attention for long... I swear kids have no imagination anymore.

So, they expect me to keep them busy, along with pay attention/keep the little ones safe. Which wouldn't be a problem if I could clone myself! 

It was so nice yesterday that I decided that we should all take a walk. The boys weren't so happy with that idea.. "BORING!" So to spice the walk up I made up a scavenger hunt for them.

I handed over a ziplock bag, pen, and scavenger hunt checklist. I made sure to write the rule of the game on checklist.
              -Stay on the side of the roads.
              -Stay where I can see you.
              -Don't go in any ones yards
              -If you spot an item on the list that wont fit in the bag, Mandy has to initial it. 
              -First one to spot it - gets it.

 

 
Each item was worth points depending on how common it was.
The scavenger included some of the following:
                 - A wild flower
                 - A penny
                 - A garage sale sign
                 - A balloon
                 - A large leaf
                 - A yellow vehicle
                 - A acorn
                 - A bug
                 - A pebble
                 - A flat rock
                 - A house for sale
                 - A pinecone
                 - A stroller
                 - Some one on a bike ride
                 - A weed
                 - Tall blade of grass
                  ***Bonus: Litter (1 point each)
                  ***Bonus: Something odd (5 points)
 

Reading their lists to see what else they needed

 

The little ones were "helping"

 

The big guys LOVED it!  It kept them preoccupied for the entire walk.

Counting up points.

Nine days till school starts, not that I am counting or anything!


-Mandy :))

Bryson's Brithday

We have SO much happening within the next month that Bryson's birthday has kinda been put on the back burner -- poor guy.

I went ALL out for B first birthday. Guest list was over 100 and I went crazy with decorations, food, and take-home goodies. His 1st birthday was SUPER memorable but it was time consuming and SUPER expensive

Well little one we cant afford that this year - I don't think he will be to heart broken..

The sad thing is I wasn't going to have anything for him besides maybe a cake at my parents. But I received a wake up call when I noticed one of my old coworkers having a birthday bash for her 2 year old. So, needless to say I felt like a horrible momma.

Well with that little push - Bryson's first birthday party is starting come together.
Park has been rented. Theme has been picked. Guest list is constructed. & menu is planned.

Lets see if I can pull this off without my right hand women, Kristen...

Man September is going to be SUPER busy.  I'm already tired just thinking about it.

-Mandy :))

Fighting Boredom -- Marshmallow Structures

This morning the big guys were getting pretty antsy.... 

I decided they needed a structured activity to keep their minds/hands busy and away from the video games. 

Marshmallow Structures:

    -Mini marshmallows

    -toothpicks 

    -fruit loops 

I couldn't find any toothpicks, but I did come a cross some skewers -eh, those will work! So I gave each guy 5 skewers. I put the marshmallows in the middle of the table. I also cut some skewers in half, just in case they needed them.

The wee ones sat around the table watching the guys create different things, while enjoying a handful of marshmallows :)  

The activity kept their attention of the older ones for a half hour or so... Hey I was happy that they were doing something other than complaining/video games/fighting. They were using their imagination - HUGE BONUS POINTS!

                                       

                                                   

                                                   

-Mandy :)) 

Sunday Funday?!?!

Today we got to go into our house and prepare it for the appraisal. 

Which you don't usually have to do but our  real-estate agent advised us to put doors on the three rooms in the basement (last owners took them) and wash down the walls in the bathroom (mold formed behind a cabinet due to no fan, stupid) -- so their will be no repairs needed to be negotiated into the price. Much rather do it ourselves. 

Well, I am still in love with the house - thank goodness!! The decorating ideas flooded my head while I was walking around my soon to be house. I really wish I has an endless amount of money, so I can completely decorate every room before we move in. KEEP DREAMING MANDY! 

As Nick and I walked around the house and closely inspected our BIG PURCHASE, we saw the half-ass the previous owners did. One thing Nick can't stand is someone being sloppy and pure lazy, when taking on a project. 

Here are some examples or the pure laziness:

          - When they FINALLY installed a fan/vent in the bathroom and added the new                              switch to the wall -- they cut a new light switch cover out of a bigger on and screwed              it in.  -- THESE THINGS COST LIKE $1 AT  MENARDS!! 

          - They did a nice back splash in the kitchen. But in ONE section they didn't line the tiles                up. And they picked a stupid stop to end the back  splash. 

           -Every corner cover was screwed on with drywall screws NOT nails. 

           -Wanes molding in the living room was pieced together and not straight. 

Just so much stupid shit that if done correctly would have looked GREAT! I just don't get how people can just not care -- it's YOUR house. Put some effort into it! 

----RANT OVER!------

Anyways, the guys worked on putting the doors in (I picked up 5 solid doors off of craigslist. 2 fit perfect. One will have to be adjusted.) I really under estimated the time needed for hanging doors. I worked on the mold... forgot masks, got bleach in my eyes, and almost past out -- but it was worth it. I also started cleaning windows and ripping off the HIDEOUS duck boarder in the main bath. We actually got pretty far considering we had no tools! Yay us!

The appraisal is tomorrow and we have our figures and toes crossed all goes well!

-Well test came back - well is up to code and water is SAFE!

-Shopped around for Home owners insurance (feeling old!) 

-Began to gather all the paper work needed for the loan... 

This house buying stuff is keeping me BUSY :)

-Mandy :))

Kitchen Remodel Ideas....

The kitchen in our new house is seriously driving me C-R-A-Z-Y and we haven't even closed yet - grrrr. 

This WAS the kitchen before the previous owners gutted it before their departure.

**Sorry so blurry -- they are from google images.. 

And this is it now......

A WHOLE lot of EMPTY

I am seriously contemplating 5 different design ideas for this one area. Of course Pinterest isn't help one bit....

1. Take out current pantry (next to stove) and relocate fridge there and make an island.. or something.

2. Fill the fridge wall with a cute county hutch:

                                       

3. Fill the fridge wall in with a computer cabinet made into a pantry:

4. Make a center island out of a dresser:

5. Build a pantry around the fridge:

Decision Decision! Sunday we are going to the house for a little bit. Nick and I are really going to put our heads together and figure out how to liven up our kitchen. That way the plans our constructed and I can stop driving myself mad with new ideas and searching craigslist to find a cheap hutch/dresser/TV cabinet to redo. 

What would I have done if Pinterest wasn't invented. Probably came up with only one plan --- but wouldn't be so creative!

Thank-You Gift...

On my last post I was complaining about how stubborn Nick is.... but I didn't explain how generous he is either. 

Nick is approved for the loan -- so technically it is his house. But lets be honest, the house is more for B and I. Nick would be happy living in a $100,000 truck -smh. I have been putting all the effort into finding a house: schedule the showings, spending HOURS of my life on Zillow, going to showings first to eliminate houses, and constantly communicating with our real-estate agent and mortgage guy. So, when I fall in love with a house (happened 3 times) he usually just agrees with signs the papers (good man <3). So, when Nick put up a fight for this house I was shocked. How could he not LOVE this house?!?! Needless to say we were butting heads a lot over this decision and neither of us were backing down. 

But Nick did. He agreed to sign off on my house :))  His biggest issue with this property was there wasn't a man cave (garage). He is going to be ECSTATIC once he gets to build his dream garage -- making every decision along the way!

Because he did such a selfless act for me, I decided to get him a gift for being (soon-to-be) homeowner. 


I thought of Nick as soon as I saw this wall art by a local crafter, Kenosha Crafts. 
& he LOVED it :)


Just a little thank-you gift to keep my man happy

-Mandy :))

House Update #2

Well lets see... The foreclosure I fell in love with has been stubborn. First off it is unfortunately listed on Hubzu.com (a horrible bidding website). I have heard nothing but horror stories by buyers from this site. Plus the selling bank we are dealing with seems horrible. They declined every offer we put out there... And then Nick was being just as stubborn declined every counter. Oh and thanks to that LOVELY website  someone else decided to out bid us by $3000. GRRRRRR!!!

So, this house seemed hopeless. I am overly frustrated at this time with this house & Nick!! So, We threw out our best and final offer to the bank to win this house $90K (5K over asking price) and started looking at other properties but guess what?!?! The bank accepted!!! Which totally took me by surprise since there was a higher bid submitted after ours.

By September 12, 2013 this will be our home :))

We close on Bryson's birthday -- hoping that is good sign!

I'm so excited. I have already been making plans in my head: colors, furniture arrangement, decorations, construction ;)

We have only until the 15th to get all of out inspections completed, eeks! Making phone calls to set up appointments Monday Morning! 

I'm overly excited! I can't wait! Pinterest App will be working overtime!! 

-Mandy :))