Busy Weekend

We had a busy weekend in ARMSTRONG Land. First, we took all three dogs to the vet. It's a little hairy to maneuver that many at once, but definitely worth it to get it all done and over with as opposed to driving back and forth for separate appointments. Besides, we got a discount for bringing them all in at once, and who doesn't love that????

Yes, we always take pictures of our little ones at their first few visits to the vet. It's fun to look back and see how much they have grown!

On another note, our vet warned us about the Eskie breed being a little snippy when they get "spooked" and to watch them around children. My sister told me the same thing, but what I had read is that they are good family dogs.......maybe for families without children? Anyway, one of the vet techs in the office said she believes a lot of their behavior is how you raise them, which I agree is a PART of their demeanor. But, anyhow, these next few weeks we will be watching her very closely! Do you guys know anything about these dogs?

The bulk of our weekend was spent trying to create a little curb appeal to help our house sell (sooner than later). We didn't do too bad of a job for a couple of amateurs and trying to spend the least amount of $$$ we could to try and make it look a little better. Shane and I have come a long way since our first house, as far as landscaping goes. I can even keep all this stuff alive. Amazing!

BEFORE

AFTER

It's still a little early in the season, so I haven't planted any pots yet. I'll post more pictures when everything starts blooming. I think it will change the whole look of the house!

Shaner even whipped up a little of his magic steaks this weekend. Unless you have had one, you just can't understand! He really should open his own restaurant. I was in absolute heaven.

Prayers to my nephew, Josh, who broke both bones in his left arm over the weekend falling off some bleachers. What a way to kick off spring break, eh?!

Have a great week everyone!

Little Mommy

Brinn has been on a huge "Mommy" kick lately.....we have been taking her babies, car seats, diaper bag, and strollers EVERYWHERE! She bathes her babies, tucks them in at night and gives them a kiss, and we even have one that is potty training right now. She loves going to one of the grocery stores in town that has kid-size grocery carts. She was such the little shopper, and so attentive to her baby the entire time. Oh, to live in the world of make believe! It's so cute.

She's also been saying the darnedest things.....she was being SO slow getting her car seat buckled and so after numerous attempts at encouraging her to get it done, I said, "You are being so slow today." She said, "Well Mom, that's just the way God made me!" Hard to argue with that one, eh?

Here's some other comments she made this morning:

"Daddy's boat looks really nice today."

"Your hair is still gray." (I colored my hair last night - guess she is just telling it like it is! Gotta love her.)

(As she's pulling out her play cell phone.) "I think this is Delt. Her likes to call me all the time."

Gymnast Turned Puppy

This morning at gymnastics all the girls in Brinn's class got ribbons for mastering their cartwheels on the mat. This is Brinn's first ribbon for gymnastics. We are so proud, and not at all embarrassed of the shameless promotion of our beautiful girl!

When we returned home, however, I found that our little gymnast had turned into a puppy. Her and Diva were quite content playing in Diva's crate together. I couldn't help but snap a few pictures.

We also got some fun news yesterday. I'm one of five girls in my family and right now two of my sisters are pregnant - Kristin and Samantha. Kristin and her husband, Joe, had their 20 week sonogram yesterday. Everything looks great and they found out they are having a BOY! We are so excited for them and can't wait for little Kyle Josef's arrival!

All Staged And Ready To Go

Those who know of my.... eh umm....decorating "skills"....probably won't be surprised that our realtor had stagers come decorate our house to get it ready to sell. I try very hard but there's just something I lack when it comes to mixing aesthetics with functionality. Functionality usually wins! These two women did more in 3 hours than I have done in 6 months. They moved furniture between rooms, dug through closets to find decorations, and found pictures in the storage room I hadn't hung yet. It's a little less functional, but they did a wonderful job....all with stuff we already had!


OK, so they didn't do anything to the outside, but I think the last picture I posted of the outside was of a house with no porch. We DO have a front porch now!

Here's the front entrance. Check out my sofa table that I refinished. (It used to be the ever popular Honey Brown color.) The decorators thought I got it from Pottery Barn. One point for Robin!! Whoo-hoo!!!

This is the formal living room....what used to be Brinn's playroom. Looks much better, but a lot less fun!

Here's the great room. I had pretty much all the furniture shoved into this room before they spread it out. Had we stayed here, we were going to build a T.V. niche above the fireplace.

This is the formal dining room. Since we are not formal people we were using this as our office area.

Kitchen. Not much to change here!

Eating area.

This is the basement living room. We don't use it much - just to watch movies here and there.

Please help us pray that it sells quickly. Brinn has been through so much chaos and change in the last year and a half. We would like to give her some normalcy in her life!

P.S. For all you HGTV lovers out there: Shane said I should name this post "House Hunters" and say that Suzanne Wong stopped by. He even suggested I download the "House Hunters" music to it. And who says he wouldn't make an excellent blogger!?!?

My name is DIVA

Thanks for the votes....I'm sure I will live up to my name in the years to come!