A look back

I started this blog just over a year ago.  My plan was to show the numerous projects we worked on in the house and the many pieces of furniture we repainted and sold.  That was my plan...but, along the way I have learned that juggling everything is not easy.  And I did not do as much as I planned.  Not even close.

I did not post as often as I planned.  And what I did post, leaned toward the kiddos and things we were doing as a family.  Not the original plan, but I now have pictures to show what we did do over an entire year - and that is worth it! 

Looking back, we did get a few things done...

In JANUARY:
Mom and Dad officially took ownership of their new house. 

I showed you pictures here and here.  The tile was removed and replaced with beautiful wood floors.

In FEBRUARY:
Mom and Dad moved into their house.

Chad and Dad made Lincoln logs.  I still need to post the many creations Caleb has built with these.  He still uses them every.single.day!

And my baby turned 5.

In MARCH:
I showed you how our house was ransacked by robbers.  Okay, I showed you how my kids treat their gameroom.  Since then, the gameroom has changed and we are almost finished with it.  Until we change it.  Again.

Olivia turned 7 and joined gymnastics.

The month of APRIL started off with a bang - or crash.  My car was totalled on the way to taking the kids to school.  Luckily, no one was hurt and Donnie joined our family.

This is from my seat belt scratching/burning my neck.  I am so glad the kids were not hurt.  They still talk about this morning and Caleb always says it was "the worst day of his life."

In MAY:
We bought furniture for the kids gameroom.



Ella graduated preschool:

and Caleb turned 9!

In JUNE:
We finished installing our built in Billy bookcases:

Logan joined our family:

Mom finished decorating their house.

We upgraded our kitchen light fixture.

In JULY:
We made a twine wrapped light fixture.





In AUGUST:
We got ready for school here, here and here.  And headed to Houston for a last getaway!  See even more pictures here.

In SEPTEMBER:
Aside from the entire family being sick and being knee-deep in crazy homework, I showed you some of our painted furniture that we sold.

In OCTOBER:
We finally found dining room chairs - and refinished them.

And began to update Caleb's room.  It is almost finished.  Why is it taking me SO long?

In NOVEMBER:

We adopted sweet Molly.

In DECEMBER:
I revealed the finished dining room!

I showed you a Be Thankful banner I made just in time for Thanksgiving:

I showed you how Mom decorated their house for Christmas here, here and here!

I donated my hair:

And we had a very Merry Christmas!

It was a busy year!  Up next?  My goals for this new year!

Meet Donnie

I was sad to see Sally go.  She was our 2007 Saturn Outlook.  Now, I have Donnie.  He is a 2012 Acadia Denali.  He is shiny and smells good. 

I love him :)

We picked him up last night.  Take a look.

Accident update

Yesterday, we got a phone call from our insurance agent and were told that they are now totalling my car!  Apparently, they started to take the car apart and found that the repairs exceeded the threshold amount and, therefore, my car would be considered a total loss.

So, we have a few days to find a new car.

Yikes!

I will let you know what we find!

Not a good morning

Last Tuesday, while taking the kids to school, some complete idiot pulled out into the street and hit my car.  The other driver had a stop sign.  I did not.  We were on the main road to school, along with all the other cars headed to school.  All I remember is hearing a loud crash, we were spun around and we jumped the curb and hit a light pole.  All side airbags from the front of the car to the back (on both sides) were deployed - which is an awful smell.

The fire deparment, police and ambulance all came and asked us lots of questions and made sure we were all okay.

The driver told the police he did not see my car because of the sun glaring in his eyes.  It was overcast that morning, no sun was shining.  The police officer made note in the police report that there was NO sun that morning.  He then told the police he saw my blinker.  My blinker was never on.  He later told his insurance agent that I was speeding.  Wait?  I thought he didn't see me...  What a complete @#$%&*#!!!!

To make matters worse, this guy did not get a ticket.  The police department only tickets if the driver has no license or insurance.  You speed, you get a ticket.  You hit a car with 3 kids inside, you do not get a ticket.  Makes NO sense to us.  The officer told us not to worry, this man would pay when it came to insurance and covering all repairs, etc. 

Thank goodness the kids were fine.  The girls were scared.  Caleb was so brave!  The car hit where Caleb sits and he was not hurt.  I have tough kids!  I have a burn/scratch on my collar bone from the seatbelt, but not a mark on the kids.

We finally found out that my car will be repaired, not totaled like we thought.  How do you feel safe in that car again?  Wish us luck that it is repaired perfectly!  I know it will never be the same.  That sucks.  This whole crappy accident sucks.  All because of some idiot driver.

Here are some pictures Chad took from his cell phone. 

When Olivia got out of the car, she looked at the bent light pole and said, "that is awesome!"

The idiot's car that hit me.  I don't know how to flip this, so just turn your head to the side :)

See the light pole leaning? 

Let's end on a funny note.

And, in case Donnie ever reads this blog.  It could happen.

The tow truck driver hopped out of my car and thanked me for his trip back to the 80s.  I looked at him confused.  He commented on how the New Kids on the Block were just singing to him:)  He said Joey McIntyre was just singing Please Don't Go Girl to him...  if you saw this guy, you would NEVER believe he knew who the New Kids were - or their names.