Works for me Wednesday

Organizing personal data has always been tough for me.  I used to keep it in a lock box, then I would have to hunt for the key to open it.  All of the papers were thrown in together and I would have to hunt through everything.
I devised this little accordion folder found at Target on clearance a few years ago, into a safe place to stash all of our important papers. 
There is a slot for each one of us and our dog.  Items that are included are:  passports, birth certificates, ss card, shot records etc.  I keep it in my closet, so no one else messes with it.
It works for me.

I am linking up to Works for me Wednesday here

Before and After- kinda

Before:  Not truly, because I didnt think to take a picture of the ugly single sink counter before we burned it.

After:

The grout and sealing is done.  We changes the color from periwinkle blue to a Robins egg blue, looked almost green compared to the blue.  We changed out the drawers for tilt outs, since the sink takes up too much space.

The change increased the value of the house and hopefully will help teeth brushing battles.

Well, there was still screaming and gnashing of teeth last night, but baby steps....

The Money Pit

Funny old movie.  "Meg, Meg, bo beg, bonanafana bo beg."  Classic Tom Hanks.

We have had our little version, quite a few times with the house we currently live in.

2 weeks ago:  Faucet in kids bath(single sink) starts to leak. Granted it was the original from 1974.  I guess it was due!
I had the bright idea to put in a new sink top at the same time.  The old one was, think to yourself 1974 yellow formica. U.g.l.y.
Joe decides while we are at it, lets make it a double sink.  4 kids in one bathroom, good idea.

His friend Darrel comes down and helps him install it.  Looks great and it works.  Which is a plus in our house.  Only problem is, they chip the back splash and decide to just cut it off.
No big deal, I will just tile it all around.  Good practice for El Salvador.  I get decorative tile and we are set to go.

In the meantime, I bid on a new high efficiency toilet at the kids Winter Carnival  silent auction at school.  They were mortified when I am wheeling out a toilet in front of their friends.  Other people get Colts tickets, nah, we get a toilet( only $46.)!
Joe put it in the next day.

Fast forward to today, I am trying to grout the decorative tile-UGH!  Pretty yes, a pain, yes.

Now all we have left, is to rehang the mirrow because now it won't fit with the tile, and to install the drawer thingees, and re paint, and put a new shower curtain on and......

Just proves a simple little leaky faucet can lead to a 2 week renovation.  Pictures to come.

If you need encouragement today....

Listen here  crazy love or here http://www.crazylovebook.com/videos_stop.html.
Watch the other videos too!

Joe is reading he book and I am listening to it on my way to class.  I have to stop it a lot to just digest it. 

Good read (or listen)!

Menus

Monday
Crock pot meatballs
tater tots
applesauce
green beans

Tuesday
Broccoli Cheese soup(panera style recipe)
bread
popcorn chicken(for those who NEED meat)

Wednesday
Chicken Bacon ranch calzones(new made up recipe)
salad
leftover soup

Thursday
French dip sandwiches
(crock pot beef)
homemade french bread
salad

friday
pizza or leftovers

saturday
soup or chili

sunday
group

I haven't stayed on my $500. budget.  Costco really wrecks it when I spend $150 just there.  Other than that, I am over $23 and have 1 week left.  We will be eating from the pantry a lot!
 My biggest pitfalls are organic milk and hormone free meat.  It costs more, but tastes better and is better for you.

DIY- uses for the old christmas pictures

I love Do It Yourself projects.  In fact we have 3 huge ones in process right now.  I have even more in my head, just waiting to find the time to do them.  After updating our calendar last night with the kids sports schedules, I think the next time I have time to do something is 2015!

I started doing a Christmas picture board a few years ago.  I love getting Christmas pictures in the mail, they are always pretty and keep us up to date on friends and family.  The kids love looking at it, and it makes a great conversation piece. Mine is hanging in the kitchen.

This is last years, it looks a lttle sparse compared to this years, bt we  love it.

Basketball

This was our weekend in Fort Wayne.  The Speice Center is very nice with a lot of cool memorabilia you can look at for hours.
 
Aaons team came in second aftera hard fought triple overtime! Such a nice group of sweet boys.  I am looking forward to watching them for years to come.  They just need to get much taller and stronger!

I think the families had just as much fun as they did.  I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.  We played cards(euchre, and spit on your neighbor), chatted and sat around the pool.

As a bonus, Grandma Lori, Aunt Tammy and the boys got to come and see Aaron play. Darrel, Jared and Luke came too. We went out to eat with everyone, and even got to see baby Wyatt for the first time.

I was complaining of a stiff back on Monday from sitting on bleachers all weekend.  Joe gave me the encouragement I needed: only 10 more years of it! Andrew's turn is just around the corner.

On to Baseball, track and soccer!