Tests are Dumb!

So today I had to take two Praxis exams, which are the state teaching exams. I had to be there by 7:30, which is bad in itself. At least for me. :) A morning person, I am not. Anyway, I had plans on going to bed at a decent time last night so I wouldn't be tired. Well, AJ had other plans for me. I got in bed at 10:00 on the dot. That is EARLY for me. I was actually going to sleep, then AJ came up and said, "I've been thinking...." I knew at that point that it was going to be a long conversation and I should stop it, but I didn't. LOL. Well, I let him talk til 11:00. What a nice wife I am, huh?! Well, of course after that I was wide awake and my brain was running like crazy. Ugh. I finally went to sleep about 12:30. Then, I guess I was nervous, but I woke up several times all night, finally waking up at 5:45 and staying awake. UGH!!! That is NOT good for this 9 hour of sleep girl!

So on to the test. I get there with 20 minutes to spare. Then the testing people were late so we didn't get in the room until almost 8:00. Then they had to get everyone checked in, hand out tests, etc. It is funny seeing all the people trying to be teachers. Let me just say there are a TON wanting to teach middle school! Anyway, the testing didn't start until 8:30, an hour after it was supposed to. This first test was Elementary Education: Content Knowledge, which meant I had to know everything a K-6th grader has to learn. Yeah, I was a little freaked out. First of all, I am only going to be certified to teach up to 3rd grade, so I have no idea what a 6th grader should know. Also, Sam's homework sometimes freaks me out, plus, that is A LOT of stuff. How in the world do you study for all that. The test was made up of 4 parts, Language, Math, Science, Social Studies. I was confident in Language and Science, but the other 2 I was worried about. Math because I am TERRIBLE at math, especially fractions, and Social Studies was worrisome because I might have to know dates, certain people, amendments, etc.

Anyway, before the test started we looked at the clock and it was going WACKY! Apparently, all of the clocks in the school were. They were just spinning and spinning. It was crazy. Bad sign???

The Language part was a breeze. I had no trouble. Then on to Math. Um, yeah, that was trouble. It was bad. I had to circle a lot of the questions to come back to later. Thankfully, I had lots of time left at the end, so I came back and was able to figure out a lot of the problems. It just takes me a lot of time to really think about it and then I can finally do it. I think I did ok. Whew! Then it went on to Social Studies. Um, yeah, FAIL. I don't know if I really even knew one of the questions! It was so random, I don't know how in the world you would study for it. Let me just say, if you have to take that, brush up on the 60's! Obviously I know nothing about that era. I am pretty sure all through school, we always only ever got to World War II before the end of the year. Hopefully my scores on the rest of the test, make up for Social Studies. Thankfully, I usually could narrow down the answers to two so I have a 50/50 chance of getting it right. Maybe? Finally was science. That wasn't bad, I think I did pretty good.

Since we started so late, my hour break in between my two tests, turned in to 5 minutes. I had enough time to go to the bathroom, and that was it. :( We came back in and got everyone situated. This time, I took Education of Young Children. That one was easy peasy. Make sure you brush up on the different philosophers like Piaget, Erikson, etc. This test had 60 multiple choice, but then it had 6 essay questions. I'm not talking about a one or two paragraph essay either. These were like 2 pages long. Man, my hand was dying by the end, actually, it is still tired! Even the essay questions weren't that bad though, but this test is where the craziness started. First, the clocks were still messed up and it was very important that we kept time well because the whole test was only 2 hours long so we had to leave plenty of time for the essays. Thankfully, I have a watch on at all times. Well, halfway through, we heard a loud siren right outside the doors and then a minute later started hearing someone talking loudly through a megaphone or something. We couldn't tell what they were saying, but something was going on! I have no idea what though. Then I got done with essay 4 and started moving on to essay 5, only to realize that I had written almost the whole essay (1 whole page) on the wrong test page!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!! What in the world was I supposed to do?! I only had 30 minutes left so I just went on to the last 2 questions. I finished up just as the lady called that there was 10 minutes left!! YIKES!!!! I QUICKLY rewrote that whole page on the correct page. I write pretty small so that was A LOT of writing. I managed to get it all down and started erasing the page I had messed up on. I was erasing frantically when my pencil flew out of my hand and flew across the room. Oops! I just left it and grabbed my other pencil and kept going. LOL! I was just finishing erasing the last sentence when she called time!!!! WHEW!!! It wasn't erased well at all, but oh well! That was nerve-wracking to say the least! Sort of funny now though. Another issue was that while all this was going on, I hadn't eaten since 6:30 in the morning. Well, I have blood sugar issues and can't even go 4 hours without eating, normally, or I get really sick. Well, it was almost 2 O'clock and I was dealing with the freak out session. So I was sooo weak, shaky, had a terrible, terrible headache and I got so hot, I think I was about to pass out. I was supposed to go eat during my hour break so I didn't plan for not having time! Anyway, when I waslked out of there, I wasn't sure I was going to make it to my car. I was so sick. :( Thankfully, there was a Wendy's right across the street so I got food immediately. It took my like 2 hours, food, a root beer, and 2 cookies to finally get my sugar levels back in check. I still have a terrible headache even now though.

Anyway, it was a wacky, wild day. Hopefully I passed those tests, cuz let me tell you, they are EXPENSIVE. The makers of those tests sure make a lot of money, especially when I am required to take 6 of them.

I don't find out for 4 weeks. Yuck. I have 2 more to take in April and then I will be done with them! WOOHOO!

I really don't have much other news. Pretty much our lives are just school and home. Nothing new and exciting. Except for Avery losing his first tooth a couple weeks ago. He was SOOO excited for that! Oh, and I just got my hair cut and it is super cute and I love it. Can't think of anything else right now. I just had to get this craziness written down so I can remember all the stuff I went through to get this darn degree! LOL!

Winter Stuff

So Sam got his cast off and got these instead.


Yep, the time finally came. I was hoping my terrible eyesight would bypass the kids, but apparently not. I got glasses when i was in 5th grade too. He looks pretty darn cute in them, wouldn't you say? :) He was dreading getting them, but then when he realized how hard it was to see, he changed his mind. He actually kept begging us to go get them. i was the one dragging my feet. I HATED glasses and got contacts the minute I could. Then of course, had eye surgery as soon as I could after that. :) Anyway, we went to just browse one night while we were out. The first 20 pairs looked horrible! I was soooo worried and had decided his eyes weren't that bad and he would be fine without them. Yes, I was pushing my issues onto him.What can I say, glasses and I didn't get along. :) Anyway, he kept trying and FINALLY we found some that looked pretty good. We decided to wait and go look at a few other places before choosing. That weekend we went and looked some more and found some perfect for him. He just needed a certain style. What was funny was that Avery tried on all the glasses too and he looked good in every single pair!! He is now dying for glasses too. LOL! Avery obviously has the perfect face shape! Anyway, Sam looks great and decided he is going to wear them all the time, even though he technically doesn't have to. He is legal to "drive" without glasses. Hopefully that lasts and he doesn't get as blind as I was!

This winter has been CRAZY! I have never seen so much snow here! We haven't had a full week of school since before Christmas Break! We actually have been loving it, but today I realized I want them back in school and want things to be back to normal! Hopefully, this crazy weather will be done. Tennessee is not prepared for snow so if even an inch falls people are wrecking, the whole city shuts down, and it is a mess. Last year it snowed twice, i think, and Sam didn't get to play because he had a cast on and was sick. This year he was cast-free! Lindsay's kids came over and they played, and built a fort and snowman. Taylor just liked rolling around in the snow! Every picture I have of him, he is laying or rolling in the snow. He was like a puppy dog! LOL!







I have had a crazy school load. I had to get all of my semester's classes done in one month. I wasn't sure I could do it, but I did it in 3 weeks! Craziness! Now I can student teach in the fall like I had planned. I went so quick with all this school stuff, that they weren't expecting me to be ready in time. I surprised them so that is why I had to fit in those classes like that. At least I got it done. I still have a lot to do before the fall, but it will be my typical workload, so I should be fine. Whew! Can't wait til it is over. I haven't read a book in almost 2 years and you know that is VERY weird for me!!

Guess that is about it. I just don't have time to do the extra stuff like blogging, so that is why my posts have slowed down. School and kids and school take all my time, so I have no extra.

Anyway, enjoy some more cute pics of Sam.

Third Times a Charm

So, yes, I am the worst mom ever (although secretly AJ is more of a worse Dad because he was POSITIVE it wasn't broken and I wasn't. LOL! SHHH!). Sam has another broken bone and this time we made him wait more than a week before taking him to the doctor. Ahhhhh! Really?! How does this happen to the same kid 3 times in one year???? Especially, a nice, quiet, non-rowdy boy! If anyone should be breaking bones, it is AVERY, not Sam! Geez Louise!

So, the Sunday before last Sam was outside and he stepped off the sidewalk right into a hole. He immediately fell down and said he couldn't walk. AJ had happened to just leave to drop something off to a person from church. Sam is too heavy for me, so I tried and tried to get him to walk, but he wouldn't even move his foot in a different position. So I called AJ and made him rush back. He carried him in to the house and we were able to get his shoe off. He told me then that it was broken, but once again, nothing looked wrong with his foot at all. We decided to wait and see what happened with it. He sprains his ankles all the time so we were hoping it was just that again. Later that night, he was actually able to walk and it hurt, but he could stand it.

The next day he got up to go to school and was able to walk and get around fairly well. He went to school. When he got home he said it hurt pretty bad, but he was still walking and he barely had a limp!

That kept happening until about Friday. Friday it got worse and his limp was bad and he was complaining a lot. He was still saying it was broken, we were still saying it wasn't. I mean, he was walking almost normal and it wasn't killing him! He wasn't even crying! LOL. We decided to give it the weekend and hoped that resting it would help. We were sure he had just sprained it. Well, Sunday it started snowing so the boys went outside to feel the snowflakes. Sam was out there for 2 minutes when he pretty much collapsed again and said it hurt terribly. We brought him back in again. Once again, later he was able to walk again with barely a limp. AJ was positive he was being overly dramatic. I had my doubts, cuz he has known every time with the last broken bones, but still, he was able to walk and he wasn't dying. How can you walk on a broken foot bone??!!

So Monday I made him go to school, but I called and made an appointment to see the ortho. He takes one look at the x-rays and says, "Yep, it's fractured!" I couldn't believe it. Then he proceeded to poke and prod and manuever that foot all around. Poor Sam. So once again he is in a cast, this time blue. That darn kid. :) I told the doctor they must think I beat him, but nope, I just throw him in holes. LOL! AJ told Sam he was grounded and wasn't allowed to ride his bike, walk down the stairs, or even go outside anymore. LOL.

Yeah, I am sure you think I am a terrible mom, but really, I am positive you would not have believed it was broken either!!! He could walk! He barely complained til the end, and there was no indication at all. No swelling, nothing!!

The doctor said there is nothing wrong with his bones, kids just do that. If they are going to break something, it just happens to be that growth plate every time. But really, how do you just BREAK A BONE stepping off the side of the sidewalk or walking down the stairs! WEIRD!

I have never had a broken bone (my toes don't count) and I haven't drank milk or had a ton of calcium my whole life. If anyone should be breaking bones, it is me!

This better be the last bone!! I told him that next time I get to pick his cast color and it will be pink! Maybe that will stop those fragile bones from fracturing!

Earlier in teh week when he said he thought it was broken, I said I didn't think so. He said it was the same as his ankle. I said, "Noooo, you cried and cried about it and wouldn't walk at all." He said, "Yeah, well I'm older now!" I died laughing! I said, "Sam, it happened THIS year, it wasn't that long ago!" He said, "Yeah, but I was still 9 then!" Hahahahaha! Funny!

Long Time No See

Whew! It's been a while!

Craziness around here! How do I ever think i am going to get it all done once I beoce a full-time teacher??!!

Sooo, yeah, I have been doing another maternity leave for a 1st grade teacher at school. It was only 6 weeks, but it seemed like forever. So long, in fact, that I couldn't remember what time I usually leave to go pick the kids up in the car rider line! It went great, but boy, was I busy. I felt like I had no time for anything. The kids were great though, I really like doing it, so I guess that's all that matters. I miss them already though and I only have been gone from them a week. I don't have time to work though! Working is hard. :)

Since I stopped doing that position I have worked every day but one though, so it's not like I am free as a bird. It is less busy though, because I don't have to do lesson plans, prepare for the next day, etc. Being a teacher is hard work, man!

Anyway, our lives have basically been consumed with that, schoolwork, and our normal busy stuff. Nothing new really. We didn't have time for anything new!

I have finally started on the teaching courses for school. Yippee! Still on track for student teaching next September. i hope it stays that way. I have to take an exam next week, finish up some tasks, take 3 Praxis exams, and start teacher observations all this month though, so that will keep me on my toes.

I can't believe my birthday is in 2 weeks. Didn't I just turn 30????

Avery's still as wacky as ever! Maybe even more so. He is still his funny, wacky self, but he is still freaked out when I leave him. He still cries every single time I leave. Weirdness. I don't know what started this all, but I have come to the conclusion that he is just going to have to get over it on his own. We have tried everything. I guess it's like being afraid of the dark, he just has to "grow" out of it on his own. He has said some funny things lately though. Like, he though that before the 1960's there was no color in the world. He kept seeing old pictures and movies in black and white, so he thought color didn't exist back then. LOL! That was quite funny. He said something else too this week that made me die laughing, but ughhh, I can't remember what it is right now. He is LOVING our new neighbor boy. He plays with him every day, and wants to play with him way more than I let him. :) I am SOOO happy we have boy neighbors!

Sam is still sweet Sam. For the most part. 5th grade attitude has crept in also. ;) He is also loving the new neighbor boy that is closer to his age. They are constantly outside riding bikes and playing some sort of hide and seek game. I am glad they have friends right here. A couple weeks ago, Sam and our neighbor were doing homework together. Sam ended up helping him with his homework and even read his reading story to him. It was cute. He is constantly worried about other's feelings. He decided this week that he wanted to quit swim team. He hasn't been liking it for quite a while, so he finally made the decision that he was going to stop for now. He was so worried that the coach would be sad though, so that is one reason he has held on for all this time. Sweet boy. Besides that, he is on his way to his typical fall/winter bout with pneumonia. Lovely. Maybe he will beat it on his won this time. We'll see.

AJ is working like usual. He has also become friends with our new neighbors so they have been having fun playing football on Saturday mornings. This Saturday they are going to work on the floor that still isn't finished in our old house. Yea! It is on the market now and we had a showing the first week. I hope it doesn't take too long to get rid of that house!

I also love our new neighbors. Have I mentioned that??? :) They are perfect for us. except for the having dogs part, but I guess we can let them get by with that. :) I hope they stick around for a while. AJ might run them off though. We all know how annoying his little "jokes' can be. Hahaha! :)

I can't believe Christmas is almost here. As soon as my birthday hits, it means everything else comes like lightning. This year was a whirlwind. The boys have been writing their Christmas lists. Sam's has like 6 things on it. Avery's is the front and back of a whole page. LOL. He probably doesn't even know what half the things on his list are.

Anyway, here are some pics from Halloween. The boys had a good time, although Sam stopped halfway through. he's on his way to being too old, I guess. Ahhh!

Newness

Well, this school year seems to be bringing with it a lot of new things for our boys!

First, this is what Avery learned to do the other night.


No training wheels!

He is SOOO proud of himself. He asks the minute he wakes up if he can go ride. Um, no, school is in 5 minutes. LOL! Then as soon as he gets home, he hangs his backpack up and is right back outside riding away! It is 95 degrees out there, but that doesn't stop him one bit! He rode last night until after it was dark outside. Crazy kid.


Go Avery!


So excited!


By bye training wheels!

He is dying to lose his first tooth. He keeps telling me all these tooth are loose, even though none of them really are. :) He is reading like a champ! His teacher told me that she is sad because that is her favorite part of teaching 1st grade, teaching the kids to read, and Avery already knows. He amazes us with the words he can read.

Sam is growing up! He told me today that a girl in his class told him that another girl likes him! He was all shy and embarrassed, but he secretly liked it. :) I told him I had my first boyfriends in 5th grade. ;) Then he admitted later that he had 2 girls he liked too. That is a secret though, so don't say a word! He would kill me!

He also has some big news. 5th grade had a contest to see who could design and draw the new logo for their field trip t-shirts. Each class got to vote on their favorite. Sam won from his class! He's a finalist. They haven't voted on the overall winning design yet, but he is very hopeful. Ugh, I am so mad because I didn't get a picture of it before he turned it in. I meant to, but then as Sam was going to bed, he dropped his water cup and it splashed all over his drawing. We were so worried about it that I completely forgot to take a picture. Thankfully, the water didn't mess it up at all. What a good little artist I have. :)

They also are excited because we have new neighbors. New neighbors WITH kids. New neighbors with BOYS! They have 2 boys, ages 5 and 7. They are super nice and fit right in the cul de sac. We felt bad for them because they moved here from Las Vegas and their furniture didn't get here until a week later! They had nothing all that time. YUCK! We are glad they are here though. Yea for good neighbors.

I guess that is about it. The kids have adjusted well to the new school year and everything is going great. Ta ta for now! :)

Big

5th Grade




1st Grade




Ahhhhh! How can this be?! They are so big! :(

Summer's End

Summer has come to a close. How sad. How fast! These last few weeks have been a blur. I barely remember what went on.

We tried to make the last couple of weeks great. Linds and fam plus our fam decided to take another trip to Holiday World a couple weeks ago. We each took our kids best friends. It was a great time.

Linds went up the day before we did. Our friend Julie and her kids came up that night and stayed the night with us. The next morning we got up early and got started on our way. The GPS took us a new way and it ended up being a roller coaster ride before we even got there! The road was REALLY hilly and the hills were steep so everytime we got to the top it was like the bottom dropped out and we were falling down the road. We all kept screaming the whole road there. Funny, but at the same time scary. Did I mention I hate roller coasters?! The kids loved it though. We spent most of that first day in the water park, then we let the kids ride on what they most wanted to ride. Julie's oldest, who is Sam's best friend, went on the Voyage 2 or 3 times. That is the TALLEST roller coaster and just looking at it scares me! Yikes! Crazy kid!

When we left the park we went in search of a place to eat. You would think there would be tons of food options around an amusement park, but no. We drove forever and finally found a Taco Bell. Whew! We got to our hotel, after some navigation mess ups at around 11 that night. Craziness.

The next day we got up and did it all again. Then we drove home straight from the park. The kids had a great time and were so excited to get to spend their vacation with their friends.

Vacation ended and all of a sudden school invaded our lives! We spent all of this past week at school helping get classrooms set up. Fun, fun. Ha! The kids went on Wednesday to meet their teachers. They are happy with them and I know they will have a great year.

Sam gets to switch classes with another teacher so he will have 3 subjects with one teacher and 2 with another. I can't believe Middle School is almost here! How did he get so big! 5th grade! WOW!

Avery has Mrs. Tarpley, our favoritest teacher. :) He was worried because she always tries to hug him (we all know about Avery and his hug and kiss phobia), but after spending time there this week, he feels better about it. He is going to have a fantastic year.

Let's see, what else?

Ohhh, so the rest of July has been spent working on a house. No, not our house. Our OLD house! It's a long story, but basically the guy who "bought" it from us went bankrupt and we ended up taking it back. He had a renter living there. We were nice and started a new lease for her, rather than kick her out, since it wasn't her fault. Mistake! She paid rent on time ONE month out of the whole year. In fact, right now, she owes us 2 months rent. Yes, we did end up making her leave. Well, the house was in shambles. So we have been working hard on getting it fixed up and ready to sell. I was so sad when I walked in there the first time. I really loved that cute, little starter home, and to see it so messed up was terrible. It is looking great again though, so I am much happier. You wouldn't think painting an 1100 sq ft house would be hard, but man, it is taking forever and is a ton of work! Of course I can't stay there long with 2 kids, but it seems like I have been working on paint for months (really only 2 weeks) and it still isn't done. We think we already have a buyer so I hope that works out. We have some money to make back, that's for sure!

Well, I guess that is about it. Just wanted to give a little update on us.

Bye Bye Summer! School starts Monday!

Swim!

So Sam finally had his first Swim Meet this past Saturday. Every meet that we have been able to go to has been canceled. He was so excited. We started on our way there, only to hit a downpour of rain, thunder, and lightning. UGH!!! There was a HUGE possibility we would get there and the meet woudl be canceled again. Since we were on our way, we continued on. I looked at the weather on my phone and 3 different weather sites said it was partly cloudy, with no rain! Um, what?!

We get there and there are a million of us packed in to this tiny hallway. It was a huge meet, with several different teams competing, so there were A LOT of us. They said, at that point it looked like they would cancel, but they would give it a few more minutes and then decide.

Thankfully, it cleared some, and we were able to start the meet. It was an hour late, but at least they got to swim!

With all that craziness, Sam got super nervous! He said it was worse than being in teh school play! LOL!

It was very disorganized, which made it worse. I totally wanted to get out there and get things in order! LOL!

His first race was a relay with 3 other boys from his team. Sam was the last to go in. One of the boys, stopped in the middle of his race and messed with his goggles, so their team was in last place. Sam jumped in and passed the girl in front of them, pulling them out of last. Woohoo! It was really different for him because they had to start on a starting block, which he had never done before and he had to jump OVER the boy coming in from his team, which freaked him out some, but he did great.

Too bad he just had his birthday because that moved him p in to the next age bracket. He had to compete with much bigger and older boys, but he still did great.

His next race he placed 2nd. He was in first almost the whole race and then the boy from our team that won every race pulled ahead at the last second and got 1st.

His other races went well. It was hard to tell who won most of the time, they were all right there at the finish together, so I am not sure his placement on the other races yet.

He did have a few problems, which I thought would devastate him. He is a perfectionist, just like his mommy, so he lets things get to him that he does wrong and beats himself up about it. On one of his races, he was only supposed to swim down the lane and stop at the end. Well, he forgot with all the craziness, and turned around and started back across the pool. He realized halfway down. Oops. He was super embarrassed, but it was totally fine.

One race, he did come in last, but he was right up there with the whole rest of the pack, so it wasn't like he was way behind. That upset him, but thankfully he didn't let it ruin his whole night. He actually loved the meet and can't wait to do it again! He has another meet in 2 weeks. Hopefully, it won't get canceled!

Great job, Sam!!!

Dreams Come True

So yeah, it's summer. Give me a break on the posting. Summer is for laying back and letting things go, right? Oops, it has definitely been a while since my last post. I should keep up better.

July already! Wow! Summer is half over. Sigh...

June flew by. I don't even know what we did. Craziness.

A lifelong dream came true for me this weekend! I got this.



I have wanted a piano for as long as I can remember. Not that I can play, but I have always wanted to. I took lessons for a few short months before I got pregnant with Avery and my life became one of throwing up, not moving from the couch, and all things baby. I didn't learn very much, but that's ok. I now have my piano. Yippee! I am so excited. So are the kids. I brought out my piano learning book, and really just fell right back into it. I can still play some of the things, even if they are only Mary Had a Little Lamb, Jingle Bells, and When the Saints Go Marching In. Oh, there is something from Mozart too, I believe. :) So obviously, I can still learn it. I hope to teach my self. We will see how far that goes. Avery is very excited, although he says he is not taking lessons, he will just play it by himself. Sam wants to take lessons, but only from my friend, Jen, who doesn't live close and is expensive. We'll see. I don't care. I have my piano!

Guess what else July brings? Fireworks! Oh, you knew that, didn't you. I really wasn't too excited and didn't feel like doing them or taking pictures. Bad Mom.


The boys ahhhing at the first few fireworks


Avery sparklering


Sam sparklering


This is what Avery liked to do with his sparkler


Ahhh, Sam's arm is on fire! No, not really. Cool effect.

Oh, and the most important thing to happen this July.... Sam's 10th Birthday! How in the world did that happen?! 10 years old!


We pretty much celebrated this whole weekend. he didn't want a party again this year, so we made sure to make this birthday special. We started on Friday by going to Nashville Shores. It is a Water Park here in Nashville. It wasn't nearly as much fun as we wanted it to be. It was really crowded and people didn't care about anyone around them. I don't know how many times Sam got hurt. Nice. Holiday World is definitely better. Oh well, tons of money down the drain. We also went ahead and took him to Target to pick out some of his presents. This kid is expensive. All electronics and he is only 10! Greeaaattt.

Saturday we went swimming and he got his most favorite present of all. An Ipod! He LOVES it! I put a ton of songs on there, it has a video camera, he got new headphones, and an alarm clock docking station. Fun, fun!

Sunday was a typical day, besides the fireworks.

Yesterday, AJ was still off. They got haircuts. What fun! ;)Linds and fam came over for Brownies (Sam's version of birthday cake).

Today is his actual birthday, but AJ had to go back to work, and we have our normal stuff to do, so this weekend was his special time. Although I will get him his favorite tonight for dinner, Mexican! Yum, my favorite too. :)

Happy, Happy Birthday, Sam! I hope it is an awesome year!


Don't mind Avery's nakedness. He would be totally naked if he could. Weirdo.



And of course, Avery couldn't let Sam have all the picture taking fun.

Project

What do you get when you put this


with this



You get THIS!


and this


Yep, we built this this weekend.

I have been wanting to build something from Ana's blog at Knock-Off Wood for a while, but didn't feel like I had the time. I am DYING to build customized computer desks, etc. In fact, I have a whole room cleared out to make into our office, but it is sitting there empty. Well, last week Sam's bed fell apart. I mean, literally, fell apart. I looked on craigslist, looked at the stores, but did NOT want to pay so much for a bed that was probably going to fall apart in 5 years again. Soo, I decided to take the plunge. I looked all over Ana's site trying to decide what to do. Finally, I chose a couple, and then asked Sam what he thought. He actually saw a drawing for a daybed. Nooo, not your typical, girly daybed. He called it a couch bed and was DYING for it. He also wanted a trundle underneath so he could have a "bunk" bed like Avery's. Well, I didn't love the daybed, so I wasn't convinced. I printed off all the plans and shopping supplies for the bed I liked and decided he would like it too. :)

The next day, I decided to go get the wood. We went to Home Depot. Wood was so expensive. It was more than double what people were saying it cost to buy on Knock-off wood. Then we went to Lowe's. It was cheaper, but still so much. We just went on vacation and I didn't have that much extra money lying around. Plus, I wanted wood as cheap as people were saying! So we gave up and came home. The next morning, I searched Craigslist again. Still nothing good. AJ started looking at the Furniture stores and said to just go buy what I wanted. Then he happened across this bed.
Rooms to Go Daybed

I really liked it, except for the headboard, it was a "couch" bed and had a trundle. The only problem. $700 just for the bed. Um, no. So then I thought, "Hey, I think I could use Ana's plans and modify them to build this bed. So that is just what I did. I figured out the new measurements myself. What, you ask! Shauna figure out MATH. No way! But, yes, I did. Dad, you would be proud of me. Then I told AJ to call some lumber yards and see how much wood cost there. Woah! What a difference! The prices were 3 times smaller than Lowe's. Now that's more like it! The problem: they didn't cut it for you and they closed in 30 minutes. Oh well, nothing like spur of the moment! I sent him running! LOL! He went and got all the wood we needed for $100!! That's right, I made this bed for $130 total which included lumber, screws, nails, paint, and poly-urethane. $130 for a more than $700 bed! Plus we made it all by ourselves, know it is quality work, and made it with extra support so it lasts forever! Go us!

We went and borrowed a miter saw and table saw from some friends and got to work. It took 2 days, with lots of interruptions and stopping times, but we did it! It looks great and we are ALL happy. Yes, AJ helped this time. I didn't know how to use most of the stuff, but next time I should be able to do it by myself. Yes, there will be a next time! Go me! I loved it! I hated sanding though. Yuck and it took forever! Ugh, sanding. I made Sam take over a few times. He did a good job, and now he can say he helped build his own bed and he isn't even 10 years old. :)

Here is our building process in steps.

I showed you the first pictures above of the wood and sanding. Then the next pictures are of the building process, then painting. Isn't it cute! I love it! It was all so pretty, I almost didn't want to paint it, but Sam wanted a black bed. Did I mention I hate black furniture? I decided to go with it though since it would be in his room. I do like it though. It looks good. I sort of liked it better before I put the poly-urethane on because now it is shiny, but at least it is protected and in a kid's room, it needs protection. We are so proud of ourselves. Go us!