Wednesday, April 22, 2009

My Little Livada

I went to check on Liv the other night and she was laying in her bed just like this, I had to take some pics to show Mark, it was to cute. She is all stretched out with her little hands behind her head like she is just hanging out. I took a pic close up because it looks like she is fake sleeping but she isn't, There is just nothing more precious than a sleeping child, also when there asleep that means the house is quiet another precious sound to my ears. Anyway she is a mess.
















Here is the New Bedding

Well here is the new bedding, I just love it so much, It is so soft.. Now all I have to do is paint my room and that is going to be tuff, but Auntie Kay has told me everything to do.
















Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The McGill sleep number bed

Ok as most of you know me and Mark hated our bed, this is the breakdown of the bed we have the pic is below. This bed cost about 4000.00, however got a great deal about three years ago and got the bed for 400.00 dollars brand new from a friend. In getting this deal we had no warranty nor could we try the bed out. The bed is great if you like to sleep on a very very very soft memory foam or tempur pedic bed with a pillow top. Anyway I have had my eye on a Sleep number bed by select comfort for over two years. However Mark did not want to spend 3000.00 dollars for a new bed and he did not like the fact that literally the sleep number bed is just a mattress enclosure with some foam on the sides and two airbeds in the middle then all zipped up together to make a mattress. If you have ever been to the mall you know these sleep number beds look cheap and are only nine inches tall or top of the line 12 inches tall, but they are comfortable and they help you adjust the bed so if you want it soft you can let air out or put air in for a harder bed. Me and Mark love big huge mattress. For about a year I wake up in the morning ( off and on) around three AM. with my back hurting to the point I have had a MRI, been to like three doctors and even an Ortho Dr. Anyway I have some Arthritis in my lower back ( wear and tear) from having or carrying three babies. Marks back is really jacked up and hurts most of the time. Anyway about a months ago we put our bed on the floor trying to make it a little harder, it worked well until yesterday when I had to take a thirty min shower to help my back not hurt. Anyway we both woke up and we had just had it, so off to buy a mattress. We went to all the places and even if we didn't get a sleep number bed we still were going to have to pay about 2500.00 for a new mattress and on top of that we didn't know if we would like it. And yes they will give you a refund or in store credit but you still have to pay the delivery and sending the bed back which totals about 300.00 dollars. This is the money you will not get back. So I had told Mark if we didn't do something I was going to cut the top off our mattress and buy two blow up beds and make my own sleep number bed. Well we both laughed and were like " No we will just go get a bed". Then after we priced all the beds we were back to square one. Mark and the little kids layed down for a nap and I decided to go to bed bath and beyond to look at the toppers, Sleep number has a very low quality bed for about 2000.00 and pretty much the other ones only cost more for all the different foam toppers they build into them. so I was going to price toppers to put on the low end model of a sleep number bed to make it nicer and taller. At bed and bath I found some Aero beds on sale and I thought maybe we really can make our own bed. I was frustrated at how cheap the sleep number beds looked and how thin they are. So I ran back home praying that God would let Mark at least try this out. Below is a detailed pick of my bed and all the foam layers.


Well when I got home I showed this pick to Mark and told him, that I figured once we cut into the bed, basically taken the pillow top off, leaving only one side connected all the foam should be in separate pieces. If I was right then we should be able to leave the outlined foam in the mattress and just take the inner piece out, still leaving a nice foam eadge in the bed. I told him for three hundred dollars I could buy two twin aero bed with remotes that are designed to blow up and down with you laying on the bed. Then I threw in my sales pitch, I said I have tried to sell the bed on craigslist and have not had any bites, we only paid four hundred dollars. I said I know technically its worth 4 grand new, but really I said our mattress is only worth what someone will pay and I think I could probably sell it for under 500.00. Then I told him that while it may seem that we would be tearing up a good mattress really its all foam we can just put it all back and still have the same mattress. Then the kicker I said honey for three hundred dollars we save like 2500.00 since we don't have to buy a new bed. His looked up and said Ok lets do it. Whahooooo!!!! I grabbed the sizzers and he grabbed is fillet knife.


Just as we expected the foam pieces were all separated and in different colors, they had a little glue to keep them in place but they were still pretty easy to pull apart. Our goal was to remove the actual foam from the mattress (not the acutal fabric) and leave the layers of foam in the pillow top. I was excited I didn't have to pay 300.00 dollars for an expensive topper because my mattress has two of them one on each side. So as you see from the pic above that is the four inches of foam that outlines the mattress the lighter color thing my hand is on is the Aero bed we inserted. The pic below shows the bottom layer (purple) of the pillow top then the aero bed with the foam on the sides.


This next pic is the huge piece of foam we removed from the bed so we could put in the blow up beds. This piece is actually separate from the outlined edges so we really didn't have much cutting to do.



Here are my boys we made a tunnel with the inner foam, later I will cut it into two twin beds and put a zipper liner over it, I will store it under my bed.. I can't let it go to waste because its like NASA foam or something. LOL It will be good for company so your not sleeping on the floor and its really comfortable.




This pic below is what the topper looks under that is two layers including that purple foam. The little brown stripes you see are the Jerry rigged way we are keeping the bed together until we come up with a better idea, a mattress cover with zipper or sewing it, we don't know yet but something. We also had to make some cuts in the outlined foam for the mattress to be able to pump air in and out. It worked great.




I had gotten two 20% off coupons of the web and each Aero bed had a 25 dollar gift card to bed bath and beyond with the purchase of each Aero bed, so I saved 30.00 bucks on each and get a gift card. Which I will use to buy my sheets. Ended up being like 240.00 instead of 300.00. So I get home and we realize the Aero beds I bought our 14 inches which we could make work but a shorter one would be easier, since we were keeping the pillow tops on both sides of our mattress. I told Mark they had another bed that was only nine inches for 140.00 but only a 10.00 gift card with each bed, he said it would still be better so I called the store had the guy set them at the front so all Mark had to do was take them back and pick up the new ones. So Mark gets back home and was so excited. The other two bed that we thought were 139.00 were on sell for 50% off and we still got the 20% off plus we still get two gift cards for $10.00 each. So now we only spend 110.00 dollars with tax and that doesn't include the gift card. "Oh yeah Mom and April and Alicia will be getting emails from bed bath and beyond for 20% off coupons you can only get one per email so I needed more and signed yall up, you can just forward the coupon to me unless you want it." ( hope you don't mind). Anyway I told Mark I thought God was really working the first time with the deal I got and now I know he was really working with the deal Mark got.



This is a pic of the air beds we are using and below are the remotes we each have one for our own side of the bed. This bed comes with a three year warranty so if the bed gets a hole or the pumps go out they will replace it, but to be honest its still worth buying another one in a year or two if it doesn't hold up, it sure beats spending 3000.00 on the sleep number bed I wanted. Not to mention they don't even make a sleep number bed with the quality of foam I have on my topper but the highest end model they had is 5100.00 with out tax or delivery and I know delivery which they make you use is 250.00. You can't pick the beds up yourself select comfort makes sure of that.



Here is a picture below of everything put together and the mattress so you can see what it looks like with the sheet on it. The cord you see is for the Remote, we just lay those over the frame or if you want to hide them you can put them under a pillow once the bed is made. We were still able to fit our sheets on because we made a place in the mattress so the cords to the pump and remote come out from the bottom.



This pic just gives you a view of how big the bed is and we slept on it last night we are giving it a two week test period to see if it works and so far last night was great. Mark woke me this morning when he left at 3.00 AM. and asked how I felt, I was great and he said he felt awesome. So only time will tell but it really turned out so much better than I imagined. We were both not to sure and when we got it all together we layed on the bed and slapped high five. You will really be surprised at how sturdy it is and you can't feel each other getting in or out of the bed. There are no more sink holes or getting stuck in the bed. For anyone thinking of a foam mattress after you sleep for about four hours you body makes an impression and it takes about two hours for that impression to come back to the right form. Unlike the commercials where you see the Hand print come right back, when you lay on it for a long time it doesn't come back that fast, oh and they hold body heat in and make you hot.


So the next step will be the bedding I ordered which I got for a great deal, Thank you Auntie Kay. I had some birthday money and this is were I wanted it to go. I will put pics out of my bedding when it all gets here. I can't wait for my family to see this and lay on it. Hey Jared and Jen since you guys have the same mattress we can fix it for you.. LOL It took about two hours of Labor and 110.00 dollars. Wow I had been praying for God to do something we could afford. In Jan the sleep number beds were on sale for 50% off and I prayed and prayed God would somehow bring us the money we needed like 2000.00 but God never did then they went back to regular price. So with all this savings we got I am really thinking this is the way the Lord wanted us to go. I am just amazed at how good it turned out. Of course Max gets on the bed and pumps all the air out then pumps it back up then back and forth finally I said ok boy that is enough. Good thing I have the warranty. Oh the bed is not fragile either (hint hint) you can still wrestle on it or let the kids play and bounce. A twin can hold to grown people. LOL well I wanted to share Yall all have a good day.








Monday, February 16, 2009

I just had to do this, thought it was funny!!

Ok so this is about Marktell. I have answered these questions, oh I promise sometime this week to get a new post out.

1.He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? Um probably stargate but only if I am sitting there with him, if not then usually some hunting show or mechanic show

2.You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
He always orders a Cesar, if they don't have that then he will get ranch

3.What's one food he doesn't like? This is hard because he likes most foods, so here's the best I can do. He doesn't like really greasy foods. He would always prefer healthy but he married me so that is not something I am good at making but hey we never really fry anything anymore.

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? He will always order Tea or Water. Then he sips on my coke. LOL I am not kidding.

5.Where did he go to high school? Catholic high

6.What size shoe does he wear? size 11

7.If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Coke cans, he just started before that I would say he collects trash in the car..LOL

8.What kind of sandwich does he like? He likes deli sandwiches, subway is his favorite fast food he will make some kind of weird sandwich but he gets peppers on it and its always spicy and gadwalls turkey sandwich he likes but he says they use to much butter on the bread, told ya, he has issues with greasy food.

9.What would this person eat every day if he could? He would eat Zone bars.

10.What is his favorite cereal? Lucky Charms

11.What would he never wear? He will never wear a shirt with quarter inch sleeves

12.What is his favorite sports team? The HOGS as far as I know.

13.Who did he vote for? McCain I believe.

14.Who is his best friend? That's easy its ME!!

15.What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? There are to many to list, but If I had to pick one he would love it if I would quit telling him how to do things.

16.What is his favorite color? This I am not sure about

17.You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?
Well I actually buy it because he fav is a cookie cake from the mall, of course he doesn't want a ton of icing so I tell them to go easy.

18.Did he play sports in high school? Yes, well he did till he met me then he quit and would tell his parents that he was going to practice but he would come see me. He supposedly played football for like a year I think. LOL

19.What could he spend hours doing? Well I can't say but its not hard to figure out. LOL He would look at used trucks for sale on the web, he loves that.

20.What is one unique talent he has? Well I really can't talk about this he would die.. If I put that kind of info on the web.. LOL

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Alrighty Rhonda- 6th pic 6th folder

Ok this may be all I get on the blog this week but that is because Rhonda means so much to me.. However I think Alicia and April might kill me.
This is the six pic in the six folder saved on my computer. This picture is of Aprils Thirteenth birthday. We had a swim party, hotel night at Holiday in. I was there for a bit I think Max was like six months old. Look how young THEY look...LOL Yeah I am not stupid!!!! and Of course I must add that Alicia still looks them same she never ages.. She had a ton of friends there and mom and Alicia stayed in the hotel with them I believe. So that is the story..




Friday, January 23, 2009

Happy Birthday To Blake !!

Well I am going to try to post once a week to update everyone. We are doing good this week- We closed today on the house on easy street but the sellers won't close until Monday. Mark is just going crazy because he wants to get over there so bad and get started on everything. Me on the other hand I am OK with the wait. I have some funny videos of the kids.
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This pic is of Blake on his birthday which was Monday but not to worry we are celebrating it this Sunday at Chucky Cheese.. Don't Forget.. This pic is him and Max getting ready to go outside Max is exhausted because he got up at four that morning to go with Daddy Grand and Uncle Booty Duck hunting. He has so much fun. It was freezing outside so I just put there coveralls on them and let them out the door.



Olivia has learned how to stand up in her bed, while most would think this is a great achievement I would have to strongly disagree. See the problem is she can stand up but she can't get back down. So basically you lay her down within two mins she is standing and not much longer till she is crying- this goes on over and over again. I will be glad when she learns to get down.



Blake has learned how to climb into Olivia's bed and steal her bottle, I try to get him to show me how he is doing it but this is as close as I can get.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Look at What my Mama got me.

This is so cute, Mom got this for me the other day. It reminds of when I hear Mama, Mama, Mama over and over. I might go nuts when Olivia can say it. I am not sure how my mother did it with all of us saying Mama all the time. I can remember her saying Nobody say Mama for ten mins. I have caught myself saying the same thing, its funny how we turn into are Parents. LOL


Here are my new Babies!



I just started keeping these sweet girls this week. Oh I did ask their Mama's.

Below is Hannah Nicole she is five weeks old.

This is Ms. Kennedi she is three months old.
This pic is all the diapers that I changed yesterday. Between Blake, Olivia, Kennedi and Hannah. LOL ! Thank of how John and Kate must have felt.Kennedi was the only one that only pooped once. The others all pooped two or three times. I just thought yall would get a kick out of that.








Friday, January 16, 2009

Ok I just had to Post this real quick

I just had to show you what happens when I sit down by myself to try a create a blog.....


They above picture is the destruction of a room that was clean not long ago and the little brown balls on the floor, well just look at the pic below.

Yes, that is right Cocoa puffs. The next pic is none other than the one who did this. I had Blake in his room playing then I heard this noise but waited a sec to finish my blog then I went to see, and realized he didn't just spill cereal he dumped it all over his floor and then he even put it in the dump truck in the first pick as if he was hauling it somewhere.

Now as to how he got the Box of Cereal, well that will be the question for Max.. because he is the little hoarder of food. I have found pop tarts and bread under the boys bed before. You would think we don't feed him. He gets up in the middle of the night to eat food. We have caught him sitting in the kitchen floor at two in the morning eating chips right next to the pantry door. Anyway just thought I would share what happened when I got up from the computer once I finished my blog. Oh Blake has that hat on because he wants to go outside with Jack and Max, but its to cold for him.







Well that seemed to work well.

Ok wow this blog thing seems kinda neat. Now I will never get the house cleaned. Well what do I type..We shall just start with what I am thinking. --I guess I should tell people I have a blog. Oh what if nobody leaves comments or looks at the blog. Whoops I didn't think about that. Ok I am going to tell you what all is going on with us. Monday we have alot of changes going on, Mark started school four online course's. I am watching two new babies a three mth old and a five week old to make some money. We are working with My parents on flipping a house something we have all wanted to do but now its for real we are going to try to close today. I am excited so excited yet a little scared, I really think it will work out great. As most of you know we have been trying to find ways to make some money. So that all starts Monday.. I am excited about keeping the babies I want two more kids and so we will see How well I handle it. Mark will crap when he read that..LOL.. Max is out of school until Tuesday so right now he is has his tool box out he got for Christmas and he told me he is fixing the chair in the kitchen. Then he said well I'm trying to. He is five. Olivia was crackin me up a min ago since I was on the computer I put her down in the office and she found the little door stopper. You know the thing that makes noise if you flip it. Well she figured out how to do that and would start laughing every time. I am going to try to post the video if I can figure out how. I didn't get her laughing but she makes a funny noise each time its cute. Blake is asleep Oh wait I just heard the words. MAMMA... so he is awake. Which means I will soon have to get off here. You should see our room right now its a huge mess. With it getting so cold last night we put the boys in our room to sleep. For those who don't know we turned the garage into there room. So on the really cold nights we keep them with us, oh we do have heat out there but we just have a fear they will get to cold. Anyway so there is a pack and Play and a cot in the floor in my room, Covers are everywhere. Mark is asleep right now so darn I can't clean it up until later. I felt bad for Olivia because she was all left out, Luckily she will never no. Well hope all of yall are proud of me for making this Blog..and I will talk to ya later.












Ok I have to post this real quick its a video below of Max crakin Olivia up. I know he is yelling VERY loud but she just loved it.



Alrighty Lets see how all this works

Well I think I am typing on my blog for everyone to see. I hope so there is nothing worse than typing all this out and it not going anywhere. So I will post this and we shall see what happens.