Extreme Home Makeover...the Cheap Edition...

Ok - so I hate the word "cheap" too. I don't know why. Maybe because it has such a negative connotation...or because it makes me feel "cheap," which for some reason I equate to "white trash" (or in our part of the country - "redneck"). Whatever the case may be, our home needs a complete upgrade, and we can't really afford it. So while "cheap" may be a swear word in my house...I need to make our home renovations just that..."cheap"! So I have been asking some of my more creative friends and searching the web for good, inexpensive (much nicer word!) ways to take what I have and make it new. I will be recording our progress here and on my other blog "The Simple Things" over the next few months...ok, who am I kidding...year(s). Neither of is are extremely crafty, but I am determined to do this ourselves. We may need marital counseling by the time we are through (kidding...kinda), but I am hoping this will be an enjoyable project that we can work on together and look back with satisfaction at all we learned and accomplished as a team. Wish us luck! (cuz we're definitely gonna need it! :)

Blessed

Needless to say, I never imagined our pictures would turn out as great as they did! Somehow Byron was able to capture sweet expressions somewhere in the sea of sour ones. For this alone, I commend him. However, he went above and beyond even that. Now to figure out what sizes to order and where to put them...because it is obvious I will not just be able to pick a few. My walls are about to be covered in these priceless jems. Here is just a small sample...

Family Pictures

Please excuse the new "autumn" background and colors. They are only temporary. I simply needed to update the picture, and this was the best updated one I had of the boys. However, today we woke up at the crack of dawn (and I do mean that literally) to get our family pictures made. Mind you, the last Golden Family pictures that were taken occcured when Cade was a baby...over 6 years ago. So this was a BIG deal! Because North Carolina is so freaking HOT and we wanted outdoor pictures, we had to do this at 7am on a Saturday. Yippee. Hayes was in bed by 7pm and the other two by 9pm last night, but they all woke up bright and cheery so it was well worth it. Of course mama was up at 5am so that she was ready in time to get everyone ELSE ready...but we won't dwell on that fact. :) We took off at 7am-ish, coffee in tow. Two and a half hours later - and a milkshake bribe, we have what we hope will be a nice collection of family pictures to decorate our walls and send out at Christmas. No telling if this actually HAPPENED...given the coaxing and threatening we had to endure with the youngest of the bunch, but we remain optimistic. We used a former student of ours, Byron Aynes, an up and coming photographer. Awesome kid, and talented. I first saw his pictures on his Facebook page and instantly loved his style. We wanted "unique" and he was unique. I am excited to see where he ends up - kid is crazy smart and gifted. Five locations in two and a half hours - can't wait to see them! But when all is said and done...pictures are just pictures. Yes, I stressed. I fretted. I agonized over outfits, hair, and bedtimes...but at the end of the day, these are pictures of my husband, my children, my life. The things I hold dear are in these pictures. So they will be Amazing. Breathtaking. Mine.

Xander: A Good Influence On His Mama

So it's been awhile since I even looked at this blog...obviously, right?! So long that it took me an hour just to rememer enough information to get a password reset sent to my current email address (which was NOT the email address I had several years ago...clearly). And what, may you ask, promted this sudden interest in my ever so forgotten and neglected blog?!? That's right...my 10 year old son. Leave it to Xander to help his poor mother find her way back. Not that I have a great deal of faith in my ability to maintain this blog a second time around, but maybe the fact that he and I are currently sitting side by side blogging away on our respective sites...quality time sharing something we both love and enjoying doing...will encourage me to post more frequently than before. We will see...

Christmas 2008

This year for Christmas, we celebrated Christmas at home. Now that the boys are getting older, it is important to Shane and me that we create some Christmas memories here; therefore, we planned to leave the day after for my parents' house up north. Christmas Eve, we went to the candle-light service at church then drove around looking at Christmas lights (all in 70 degree weather...hmmm...). After our annual "light criticizing" tradition (started by the Loudenslager side of the family), we returned home for our Christmas Eve dinner. The boys were excited because I allowed them to have the "fancy" glasses and sparkling grape juice...oh, what little it takes to make them feel so special! Once the dishes were cleared, we sat down to open the traditional "one present" which, of course, is always a pair of brand new pajamas to wear that night. We finally set out the milk and cookies for Santa, oh, and the "presents" Xander insisted we must give Santa this year. He was concerned that Santa gave all of the children of the world so many gifts, yet no one ever gave him any gifts other than cookies and milk. I wrapped some packages that contained a "scarf, hat, and gloves" to be set out beside the treats and cards from the boys. Oh, the lies we tell...I'm sure I will answer for every one of them someday. But the joy on my children's face as they plan and speculate...I wouldn't trade for anything. Finally, we convinced them that it was time for bed by saying that Santa certainly would not arrive until they were sound asleep; and that was when our work began...
Hayes didn't really know what was going on, but he seemed to enjoy the excitement.

The boys were SO EXCITED to receive a note of appreciation from Santa...he MUST have LOVED his gifts! :)

Cade was able to fully understand what was going on this year, so it was fun to watch him get into the festivities!

Shane surprised us all by buying a "family gift." He wrapped the ingredients for S'Mores for us to open, then ushered us onto the back deck to find our very own firepit! We have been wanting one for some time (especially the resident pyromaniacs), so this was VERY exciting to us all! Come to find out, Shane had put it together after I had gone to bed the night before! Needless to say, he got very little sleep that night! Since the day was unseasonably warm, we spent the rest of the day outdoors with the fire. The whole day was relaxed and pleasant, just spending time together as a family. This is what memories are made of...

The day after Christmas, we journeyed up to Temperance, Michigan to visit my family. Because my brother's girlfriend (who lives here in Greenville, NC) was going with us and had to work on that day, we waited until she got off work at 5pm and then left to drive through the night. Just for the record, I am NOT a fan of driving through the night due to safety reasons; however, it IS easier as far as the kids are concerned, and we DID end up making record time (which was a BIG deal to my competetive husband!). As you will see from the following pictures, it was a wonderful visit packed with fun-filled activities that the boys have continued to talk about since.
Cade took a special liking to my grandmother and could be found at various times throughout the day in her room just chatting away about anything and everything he could think of to talk about. In the above picture, he had bundled his stuffed "friends" in one of her chairs and had asked that she babysit them while he was away for the afternoon. Yes, he was completely serious...

Grandma and Papa got the boys a Wii for Christmas, so you can imagine how excited they were...and what we've been doing since Christmas.

Chucky Cheese

In a desperate attempt to burn some pent-up energy, we took the boys to Chucky Cheese one afternoon for lunch and games. Because of the holidays, it had to be the most crowded I've ever seen any Chucky Cheese...ever; therefore, the noise was a deafening roar, and we were questioning our decision. Fortunately, we made it out in one piece and the boys were sufficiently exhausted. Mission accomplished...

Ice Skating

Strapping on our rental skates and saying a prayer, we were banking on the fact that we remembered how to stay upright on the ice. After 10 years, I wasn't quite sure I would; however, I was relieved to find that my legs remembered the routine and my ankles weren't as wobbly as I had expected them to be. Not that I was ready for the Olympics or anything, but at least it wasn't probable that I would eat ice chips on my first venture back in the rink. Xander and Cade were making their debut, struggling to hold onto their "walkers" as they inched along the wall. Determined to do it on his own and declining any offers of assistance, Xander worked tirelessly and was actually able to go solo by the end of the hour. Cade, on the other hand, was more than happy to prop his skates on the bottom rung of his walker and allow anyone willing and able to push him around the rink. Once again, a perfect picture of our boys' individual personalities!

New Year's Eve

In true Britton Family fashion, New Year's Eve went from being a small, quiet (as quiet as MY children allow anything to be) family gathering to being a full-fledged mini-Britton family reunion! (and by comparison, I really do mean "mini") By mid-afternoon, in addition to our crew, we had Uncle Mark, Aunt Margaret, and Julianne from Canada; Uncle Rob, Aunt Arleita, and Michael from the Cleveland area; and Evangeline and Dempsey on the way up from Cincinatti! Playing games and catching up, the day flew by; and before we knew it, we were bringing in the New Year!

Evangeline and Dempsey

Michael and Uncle Rob

Becca and Steve

Uncle Mark, Julianne, and Dempsey

Cade and Aunt Margaret

Xander and Aunt Arleita

Jump-n-Bounce

One afternoon, my mom and I took the boys to a place that has inflatibles so they could jump out some of the energy they had stored up! The boys thoroughly enjoyed it, and it accomplished our goal!

Snow Fun in Michigan

Well, we didn't get as much snow as we thought we might while up north, but that didn't stop the boys from getting out and having some fun! Papa and Shane took them out sledding and had a blast in spite of a few bumps and bruises along the way!

"Class of '93" Mini-Reunion

After the Alumni Game at SLCS, Steve Worley invited several of us "Class of '93"-ers back to his house so that we could catch up on life while our children ran around like lunatics. Fortunately, we were all used to the noise; therefore, it didn't bother anyone at all. It was amazing that so many years had passed, yet we were all able to pick up right where we left off. I wish the years wouldn't get away from us like they do, but life has a way of making it difficult to keep in touch as much as we would love to do so. However, I can't help but thank God for the wonderful friends He gave me so many years ago and for allowing us to be able to maintain that friendship near or far, whether we talk every day or once a year! I am truly blessed!

Burke and Christen Davis

Steve and Joy Francis

Steve and Leah Worley