Quote of the Week

"We put our book-bags up and then we sit in our chairs... and yes, I said Book-Bag!"

West

Meet Dixie

I would like to introduce Dixie!  She is a little calico kitty that came to us while we were living at The Crayon Box.  While living in that little tiny trailer I would start to feel really closed in and decided we needed to go for walks every few evenings.  One one of these little walks around the neighborhood this little ball of fluff with a really big attitude followed us all the way home.  The Rooster with his really big heart couldn't stand the crying anymore so went in and got her a little bowl of something to eat.  This little thing had officially adopted us.  We waited for awhile to see if she was going to stick around and after about 2 weeks we decided we needed to give her a name.  We thought Dixie was a rather fitting name since she came to us soon after we moved to Dixie. 

Getting Awards

You have to love that smile don't you!!  She was so proud!  I have to admit that Mama Hen is pretty dang proud as well!

Halloween

There's enough pictures here I will just let them speak for themselves!  I hope you all had as much fun for your Halloween as we did...

 Happy Halloween!

The Rooster's PT Test

A PT Test is one of those things that you have to do if you are in the Army.  It's just the way it is, The Rooster knew this going in and has never really had any problem with it.  He does PT every morning and so for the most part is ready for the PT Test when it comes around.  But for some reason the last PT Test he took was not up to his usual standards, and to top it off his company decided for some reason the standard score for the rest of the military was not as great as it could be so they decided they would up what the soldier had to get to "pass" the PT Test.  So this meant the poor Rooster did not pass his last PT Test, this of course also meant poor Mama Hen because I was washing PTs about every other day since he only has three full sets.  This also meant he was doing remedial PT in the afternoons three times a week as well.
This all changed yesterday!
This is his previous score

This was his score yesterday!

Notice his run time!  He cut almost three minutes off that run!  He told me this was the best time he has gotten on a run!
This mama hen could not be prouder of her rooster!

Ruby's Very Fist Pigtails

Finally! Ruby's hair is long enough for Pigtails!!!

Windex and it's many Wonders

One of the things about moving into a house that has previously been moved in to is the cleaning that needs to be done before the house really starts to feel like "your" home.  It can be things like wiping the shelves in the cupboards off before putting your dishes in them (heaven only knows what was on that shelf before) or cleaning the toilets before you let your daughter who has had to go potty for 20 minutes while we were waiting to sign all the paperwork go potty on it.  There are obvious things that I have to have done before we even start pulling things out of boxes and start putting things away.  And then there are things that can wait just a little longer before they need to be done.  In my case this would be the floors.  I of course have to keep them swept up so I am not walking on dirt (I tend to walk around without any shoes on in the house and I can not stand walking on dirt) but other than that I don't mop until I know all the boxes are in and all of the in and out involved with moving is over and I can then mop knowing that I won't be fighting against all of that. 
This house was no different.  I have been keeping the kitchen floor swept and loose dirt free for some time now.  I noticed when I first swept that the broom kind of drug on the floor and didn't move quite as smoothly as it needs to to really pick up the dirt on the floor.  After about the second or third time I just nixed the whole broom idea and started vacuuming it with the rest of the house.  Luckily we have a great vacuum and it does hard floors just as well as carpets and since I was vacuuming every night anyway I just continued around the circle and vacuumed on into the kitchen as well.  This of course meant that I could not do my middle of the afternoon sweeping in front of the sink/stove area (since after all, let's face it, that is where I do most of the work in that room) or I would have to get the vacuum out twice in a day and some things just are not worth it, and since the movers somehow managed to not move my kitchen rug that I so loved and really really want back, I have suffered through for the past few weeks (has it really been a little over a month since I moved into this house?). 
Then last week I decided it was time!  Every time I walk into this house that dang kitchen floor just irritates me, and then to top it off I walked into one of my neighbor's house who happens to have the same kitchen floor as me (military housing you know) and her floor fairly sparkled as I stood in her doorway and looked across it.  I came to the realization something had to be done. 
Now, if any of you have ever moved in to a house where the previous tenant had used mop and glow on the floor and nothing you do seems to make the floor look clean you will know what I am talking about here.  Whoever lived here before me apparently wanted shiny floors, unfortunately they went about it the wrong way.  For future reference do NOT use mop and glow on a floor to make it shiny, all it does it attract all the dirt in the house and then it pulls it in and won't let it go, much like glue that is still kind of tacky. 
I set out to scrubbing the floors like I normally do (with some ammonia water and a scrub brush and a rag and my hands and knees), about half way across the floor I noticed the floor looked just as dirty as where I had not cleaned yet.  I decided a bolder approach was needed.  This is where I poured straight ammonia on the floor and then wiped it up... still nothing.  Then I went over to the neighbor who had the sparkling floor and asked what she used, she was nice enough to had over the bottle so I could try that... nothing, didn't do a thing.  At this point my knees and my back and my arms ached so I opted to get a cup of coffee and sit down at the computer to do a little research. 
As it happens, getting mop and glow off of the floor is a pretty common problem, and there are people out there who are willing to give you the information and yes it is guaranteed to work just pay ...  ya right, I am not about the pay someone good money for a book that I will have to wait for in the mail and then will have to read to only find out they tell you to use ammonia, ha!  I had already tried that technique.  Ok, so I didn't order the book I am just guessing as to what they had to say.  Instead I put this computer to work and found a blog where she had actually used mop and glow herself (poor fool) and now she needed to strip it off of her hard wood floors.  Her advice?  Use a mixture of ammonia and water, I kid you not! 
So here is what I actually did, after a bit more research I found a blog that actually recommended something else, and this something else you ask?  Windex!!!  That's right ladies and gentlemen, Windex!!!  She mixed her's with water to dilute it but I don't have hard wood floors, I have linoleum and so I went for the gusto!  I bought to bottles of the original formula Windex and went to work.  I sprayed about half of my kitchen floor and put a nice thick coat on it.  Then I walked to the bus stop to get the kids.  When I got back I used one of the scrub brushes you clean a shop floor with (at this point my arms were pretty tired and I just didn't want to get down on my hands and knees anymore) and scrubbed that floor.  Lo-and-behold!!!  My floor was clean and shiny again! 
I even have proof!

So, if you ever run across a floor that still needs that touch of something to help make it feel like home!  My suggestion is to spray a generous helping of Windex on it and scrub it around a bit and then wipe it up!  Oh, and if you ever feel like you need to add a little shine to your floor I would suggest not using mop and glow!
One more picture for the road?!  Happy to oblige!

In Anticipation

One of the things about moving is finding all those places that you had already searched out and found your favorite one of, things like a place to get coffee, or a really good thrift store, or which grocery store has the best prices or the best meat, and figuring out where to go for this and that.
One of the things I have been on the look-out for is a place to get fabric.  As much fun as it is to do the endless searching online it is even that much more fun to go and feel the fabric and look at it in it's natural light and see how it moves and imagine and plan out what you would do with this piece, or this bright green one over here, or look at how cute that pink one with the little dots all over it is, and ...
Well, I think my search might be over!  Two of the other ladies here on the circle and I headed on out to Jesup on Saturday in search of a fabric store I had heard about from a lady down at the farmer's market.  I am so glad we went!!  This is one of those fabric stores that has obviously been in business for quite some time.  They had tons of fabric and 90% of it was something I would like to take home with me!  They even had two pieces of linen which was exciting for me since I have been on the look-out for 100% linen for my bread-bags I sell on etsy.  I admit two pieces was not a huge selection but in a pinch I know where I can go.
I went in with a clear idea as to what I was buying the fabric for and I just needed to find the fabric that was in my head waiting to be a part of something I will eventually be putting rotary cutter to and then through my gorgeous sewing machine, shaping and molding it to something fun and exciting and new!
Well, I found that and then a few!

Well!? What do you think!?
Some will be used for a little baby blanket for a neighbor who is having a baby and some will be used to be put into a new doll blanket and I think some will just be going into my stash to be put aside until I find just the perfect thing to put it in!  I was so excited I washed it all last night and had it out trimming and ironing just so it will be ready when I am ready for it!
Needless to say I will be going back there in the future to be adding even more to my stash ... and maybe to get supplies for some future project just waiting to come to life!

Quote of the Week

"Ya, those are for tap-dancing, and rock-dancing, and splat-dancing."
West

Moving Day

Finally, I finally have a home again; a home where I can unpack all of my things and settle in ... at least for the next three years.  It has been a long haul but my life is finally finally getting back to somewhat of a routine, it's a good thing too!
We spent six whole weeks at Happy Acres (AKA the Crayon Box) and we finally got our own home, but more on that later!
For today I would like to show you what I started with at the beginning of last week...

 This truck pulled up in front of our house with five pallets full of stuff! FIVE!!!  I couldn't believe we had that much stuff.  But sure enough all five pallets were full, and not only that but about an hour after this truck got here another truck pulled up behind it.  I had to ask if that was our stuff too or if they just happened to be in the area and they had come to help.  There was more stuff in that truck too!  It happened to only be my couches and my cupboard but still...

 I told them to just put all the boxes in this area thinking 35 boxes, eh, they would fit!  HA!  That was a laugh, they FILLED this area and then a little spilled over into a little hallway off the living room.

The first thing I unpacked of course was my kitchen, or rather I started on my kitchen and every time I thought I was done there would be another box or I would realize I was missing something else.  I came to realize there were as many boxes for the kitchen as there were boxes of tools from the shed.  Amazing I tell you!  But this little cupboard with all of my dishes was the first thing I actually got done with and I could stand back and say "aha! I am accomplishing something!"  Now for the rest of the house.
It is slowly coming together, I got my cupboard filled with my material and craft things today.  That was a pretty big accomplishment, the kids have as much crafting stuff as I do and that's saying something!  I find myself gravitating back toward Lowe's on a pretty regular basis, first for this, and then for this, and today it was for a shelf for my bathroom since I have absolutely no vanity space to put anything like my jar with a hair brush in it on.  I also needed the items to put the kids art projects up on their wall from school, I have a pile and they of course want to keep them and admire them for awhile.
So it is happening, I am getting my house put together and we will eventually settle in and make it feel like a home.  I will have to say this house is one of those that felt like home even before we had any of our stuff in it, maybe because it has been so long since I have had a home, or maybe it is just one of those that is special and can just make you feel at home.
So tomorrow the goal is shelves and art on the walls!  Here's to lots of pounding and screwing and leveling and rearranging and, oh ya!  I am going to coffee with one of my neighbors!

The Crayon Box

Since coming to Georgia The Rooster and the kids and I have had to do a bit of improvising in the housing department.  We are waiting for on-post housing which we were told would be a 3 to 6 month wait.  This of course is a dilemma since living in a motel room is very expensive on a long-term basis and I don't know many land-lords that are willing to do a month to month rental from the beginning.  Most all of them require at least some sort of deposit plus a contract of some sort, usually a minimum of 3 months.  We also ran across the problem of the cost of renting here is sky-high and there really would not be a way we could really afford a house we could all fit in and also be able to do the important things like exploring this new and exciting state of Georgia.  So we both decided our best option was to just wait for a house on post to open up for us. 
This of course opened up the question of where to stay for the next 3 to 6 months.  We found this place that seemed to be the cheapest and offered fully furnished trailers that would rent to us on a short-term basis (weekly or monthly whichever we happened to need).  It is called Happy Acres and if nothing else it will make you smile as you pull into the entry and drive to your very own lovely temporary trailer.  We thought we would share a few of our favorites!

The Rooster and I have affectionately dubbed it "The Crayon Box"

One of the Best things about Georgia

That's right, Ladies and Gentlemen!  These peaches are everything we have been told they are way out West!  They are juicy, they are firm, and most of all they are the perfect amount of sweet!  I have eaten peaches basically my whole life growing up.  My mother would get a whole box of peaches from the FBLA or the FCCLA (I can never remember which one sell them there) and we would eat on those things for weeks.  They were so good!
But these, oh, these peaches are divine!  These are possibly the best thing we have found about Georgia, the Georgia Peaches!  And they came from a local farmer!  Can life get any better for a little girl (and her Mama, oh and her Daddy too) who loves fruit above all else? 
I think not! 

This one's for you, Renae!

That's right, these are fresh blueberries we bought at the Farmer's Market!  They are small and sweet just like we like them.  I think Ruby had half of them eaten before we even got back to the motel!  So here's to missing Renae, the one who loves Blueberries as much as Ruby does!