We have snow!!!!

I love the snow.......until it keeps the kids out of school.

What do you think?

Decisions, decisions, decisions.....It seems that life as an adult is a huge string of decisions that have the potential to not only impact your life but the lives of others around you. My hubby and I are at one of those critical points where we must make an important decision. So we are getting ready to purchase another house and I am at a place where I just don't know which direction to go. As you can image, as a family of 8, we have always put size at the top of our list when it comes to "must-haves" in a home. And with the previous homes that we purchased, we chose the house that we fell in love with. The first house was great, we just out-grew the cute 3 bedroom starter home after baby 4 arrived. The second house was nothing short of a night-mare. I've always tried to find the biggest house that we could afford, with as many up-grades that we could afford, even if it meant living in the middle of no where. But now I just don't know. I'm beginning to wonder do I want to live in the middle of nowhere? To be honest I always hated living next to nothing and the schools aren't that great either. So here's the problem.....Do we choose a great 3400 sq. ft. home with granite, hardwoods, fresh paint, and new carpet, 15 min. from everything with no traffic, and mediocre schools, average area and property value. Or do we go with the slightly older 3000 sq. ft. home with counters that I kinda dislike, in need of new carpet, existing hardwoods ok, but bathrooms need updating, structure and layout are great but really needs paint, backyard is beautiful, neighborhood and area of town are great, great schools, and close to everything, and did I mention even with the market crashing, houses in this area still sell pretty well? What's more important to you? How do you choose? HELP!!!! comment please Do you prefer to have a larger home with more upgrades in an area you just kinda like or do you prefer the home that needs a little work in an area of town that you love?

“You are the embodiment of the information you choose to accept and act upon. To change your circumstances you need to change your thinking and subsequent actions.”

ecaptus Adlin Sinclair quotes

Wonderful Weekend

Remember the feeling of dating when it seemed that all of your man's actions were a result of feeling like his every thought was of making you smile? Remember feeling like he forgot your imperfections because he couldn't bare to live without your unique perfections? Have you ever felt like he payed attention to every little detail wondering how many surprises he could fill in a day and overwhelm you just to see you smile? That's what I've felt like all weekend. This weekend was one of my wonderful but few child-free weekends. Usually I take it upon myself to selfishly plan every detail of these weekends. I usually plan some sort of weekend getaway b/c I don't want to look at all the toys and clothing that need to be put away, the weekends usually turn out pretty nice but always fall just a little short of perfection. This time I left all the details up to my husband, and of course I told him in plenty of time, a week or so.....I've come to learn over the years that he really doesn't have that mind-reading thingy down so well, I've tried the whole subtle hint thing and that doesn't always go as planned either. Its so much easier to just be....CLEAR....rather than romantic and confusing when letting him know what I expect.

Well, he created a perfect weekend. Friday he planned a quiet romantic dinner at a wonderful local restaurant. Who knew I missed talking, and laughing...or giggling rather, while gazing into my hubby's eyes in a dimly lit room. Sat. a wonderful cleaning service came in and magically made all the dirt and clutter in my home disappear. It was followed up with a shopping trip for shoes....my favorite, a pedicure, dinner, and a movie, and DUTCH APPLE CARAMEL CHEESECAKE. All my favorite things. He has been listening all these years! Did I forget to mention that he gave me the pedi. Yes, my wonderful hubby dug out that expensive vibrating foot soak that I swore I would use all the time when I purchased it and prepared a bubbly warm foot soak, then massaged my feet, moisturized them, and he even painted my toes.......and toenails....hehehe. I hardly lifted a finger to do anything other than hide my grin all weekend. Ahhhhhhh, he's so wonderful.

Choice or destiny?

Life is choice driven, not destiny driven......I choose to take hold of my life and future. I choose to succeed. I choose to be happy. I choose to soar. I choose to overcome. I choose to love. I determine what I shall have. When I decide to leave things to destiny, I am no longer an active participant in the direction of my future. I shuck all responsibility for my mistakes and failures but I also release the power to create my successes. No matter what happened yesterday or what happens today, I choose to be happy. I can't always choose what situations will arise or what things I may endure, but I can always choose how I will react to them. I choose to remain sane and enjoy everyday of life that I am blessed with. I choose to go after all of my dreams until they become a reality. In a world and life of so many choices, I will not use destiny as a reason to sit by waiting for things to happen or come to me, I think I will do just as the good book says.........I will fill my mind with thoughts of the future I choose. I will speak life. I choose Life!

Unexpected Events

Today I fully intended to blog this awesome thank you message to everyone who stopped by to make my SITS Day so wonderful. I wanted to let you know how awesome comment love is. I planned to tell you how I could hardly sleep for the past couple of nights because I have been up reading and responding to all the comments. I am in Comment Heaven, but thanks to one little person in my house, I must write about something else.

Writing and sharing with you guys is my way of venting my frustrations and right about now I am about to explode! For months now I have been smelling this horrible urine smell in my downstairs bathroom. I scrub it just about everyday trying to rid it of the fresh smell of urine. It smells like a little boys restroom at a nasty daycare center. It has been horrible because it is the only restroom downstairs for guest to use and the upstairs is off limits to guest, so I always find myself explaining to guest that I'm not completely nasty. I do clean that bathroom nearly everyday and I just can't seem to get rid of the smell for longer than about 1 hr. I mean I scrub on my hands and knees and polish that toilet and I lysol the wood and wipe the walls down and 1 hr later the smell is back. Today I found the problem. I walked into the bathroom to find one of my precious little boys urinating in the heating vent!!! I thought I would pass out. Out of 14 years of mommying, I've never had this happen. I lifted the vent to find a horrible urine odor floating up into the restroom on the wings of that expensive gas heat. If I lived in a cartoon I would have seen the odors waving at me. How did I miss this? Who told him this was a good idea? And when I asked him why, he replied that he liked the way it sounded. What?!?!?! Breathe, breathe......now how am I supposed to clean that?

Welcome....I'm the featured blogger!

I'm so excited I don't know what to do! Whenever I have guest over I always find myself running around like a mad woman trying to pick up everything and stuff it in closets or behind couches or my favorite hiding place, in the washroom.....but not today because I am among friends. Friends who no doubt have laundry to be washed, floors to be vacuumed, and many other things that they should be doing instead of blog-hopping. If you are a true SITS lady you have spent time reading, laughing, and crying as you happily hop from blog to blog...addicted to peaking into the lives of other people at your own leisure. Me too!!! So Welcome! Kick your shoes off and spend some time getting to know The Artis 6. In case you don't know I am a mostly wonderful wife to 1 almost perfect hubby (I still can't get him to fold clothes, but he does wash and mop), and 6....yes 1,2,3,4,5,6 mostly wonderful little ones. On the first date my hubby and I had, he informed me that he wanted 5 boys. Well he got 3 boys and 3 girls, and I'm done. As you can imagine there is so much drama in a house with 8 people living under the same roof. There is more than enough material to make you laugh or cry. Feel free to re-visit some of The Artis 6's most entertaining moments.........let's see there was the time Sarah (age 3) encouraged me to go on a diet, "Its Official!", and after that I began riding my bike...briefly, and the time the twins got into my make up "Color that lasts and lasts", Sarah asking about Papa's Underwear, Little Ike's First Kiss, Sound Probation, oh, and this is what happens to toothbrushes in our house, and of my few serious blogs...."Thoughtful Nuggets" and my sweet Andrew's Cholesteatoma Story.

Thanks so much for stopping by.