Ok, well, the inlaws are officially gone and back in Ohio. I am worn out and so are the kids and hubby. Heck, we went to McDonalds today and even the young ones who can't usually sit down long enough to eat found themselves playing for 10 minutes and then there they were, EATING!! Lucas, my 3 year old self proclaimed vegefruititarian at his chicken nuggets. Not just the one itsy bitsy bite of each he usually eats but all 4 of them. I was shocked. Grandparents said goodbye, mother in law cried, father in law trying not too, and the kids still sat there and OMG, they behaved! Even when the 2 separate idiots went thru the emergency exit 2 separate times and set off the alarm each time!! I was completely amazed!
Anyway, just wanted to mention that we survived! I will log on tomorrow and update on the rest of our visit and the trip to the zoo, the museum, and Leonardo Da Vinci's opening day of the Machines in Motion display. It was all really cool!
But, alas, I am tuckered out and ready for bed. I need a vacation now. Hmmm, maybe I will win one. hehe
Till later, have a great nite and, remember, Live, Laugh, and Love!
Amy
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
RUN!! The In Laws are coming!! And plumbing issues!
OMG!! My inlaws are flying in to town today from Ohio and I am sooooo not ready. There was so much I wanted to get done before they arrived. With the job loss and everything, it all got put on the back burner due to lack of funding. We are still making the most of it with the limited supplies we already had.
In the last 2 days, we've been working on the bathroom. We've had a sewage leak spilling in to our backyard and we found the culprit. With the toilet leaking at the bottom, we decided to change out the wax ring. We took it all apart and did everything all the websites and ron hazelton's video told us to do. Well, we got it off to find, well, a disgusting nasty mess. The pipe that leads into the toilet had evidently leaned to one side so instead of all the crap(ewwwwwww) going down the pipe it was going right under my house!! OMG!!! Well, fixed the pipe, put a wax ring on top of it between the flange and the pipe itself, laid the flange, another wax ring(this one is thicker and reinforced), and placed the toilet back in position. So far, NO LEAKS!! YAY!!!!!!!! Getting one of our friends who does this type of thing to crawl under the house and sprinkle disinfectant. Told him to bring a hazmat suit with him. Also sprinkling it all over the yard. It should, IN THEORY, be all dried up in a couple days. If not, means there is another leak. ACK!
I already fixed the issue on the side of the house. The air vent for the plumbing was full of all sorts of nasty crap. I got out there and unplugged all that(took 3 hours) and let the water flush it out. Suddenly it all went away. It scared me silly. I was looking everywhere for where that water that was in that tube went. Ya know what? There's not supposed to be water in your air vent. LOL. I fixed it!! OMG!! We've been dealing with not being able to afford to get all our plumbing issues fixed and its been irritating me so I've been getting nosy, figuring out the problem, and fixing it myself! HAH!!!!
Now, the main project so far has been to paint the bathroom and lay tiles rather than linoleum. Whoever places linoleum should be shot!! That adhesive does NOT come off. Particularly off of particle board. We are laying the tile today before going to town to see the inlaws. They are NOT allowed in this house till the bathroom is done, at least.
My husbands running joke since I went gung ho on this bathroom is that he went to bed early and woke up to a PINK bathroom! Anyone who knows my husband would not believe he is living in a house with pink. Of course, they also never expected wife and a houseful of babies either. He's more the preppy gothic type so you can see how that would be a shocker to some. Either way, that teaches him to go to bed early and leave me with all the kids alone. HAHAHA. The walls are a lighter pink, the trim is a darker pink and we are going to paint the cabinet a more reddish pink. It really does look good in there and definitely better than that awful supposed to be white color that it started out being.
This is all a temporary fix until I find a new job and get back to the plans of gutting the bathroom completely and starting over with it. Its not set up the way we want it at all, but it is functional if not perfect. My husband and I both agree that its been an experience. One that we learned one really valuable lesson from and that is that when we go to redo the bathroom or the wax ring needs to be changed out again or whatever, we will be hiring someone to do it! If we can save $1.00 a day, then in 150 days we will have enough in the plumbing jar to pay someone else to change out the was ring on the toilet. I know that seems like alot, but what's been seen can not be unseen and I wish I had not seen(or smelled) what I saw yesterday! haha
Ok, well, thats the update for today so far. Wish me luck with the inlaws. My father in law is awesome, my mother in law, well, hubby used to get in trouble if he got soap bubbles on the driveway because those spots were lighter than the dirtier spots. I really REALLY do not want her in my house! I have 7 children, 3 of them 3 or younger. My house is NOT spotless!
Next project: Laying tile in dining room
Till next time, be frugal, be a winner and be safe!
Amy
In the last 2 days, we've been working on the bathroom. We've had a sewage leak spilling in to our backyard and we found the culprit. With the toilet leaking at the bottom, we decided to change out the wax ring. We took it all apart and did everything all the websites and ron hazelton's video told us to do. Well, we got it off to find, well, a disgusting nasty mess. The pipe that leads into the toilet had evidently leaned to one side so instead of all the crap(ewwwwwww) going down the pipe it was going right under my house!! OMG!!! Well, fixed the pipe, put a wax ring on top of it between the flange and the pipe itself, laid the flange, another wax ring(this one is thicker and reinforced), and placed the toilet back in position. So far, NO LEAKS!! YAY!!!!!!!! Getting one of our friends who does this type of thing to crawl under the house and sprinkle disinfectant. Told him to bring a hazmat suit with him. Also sprinkling it all over the yard. It should, IN THEORY, be all dried up in a couple days. If not, means there is another leak. ACK!
I already fixed the issue on the side of the house. The air vent for the plumbing was full of all sorts of nasty crap. I got out there and unplugged all that(took 3 hours) and let the water flush it out. Suddenly it all went away. It scared me silly. I was looking everywhere for where that water that was in that tube went. Ya know what? There's not supposed to be water in your air vent. LOL. I fixed it!! OMG!! We've been dealing with not being able to afford to get all our plumbing issues fixed and its been irritating me so I've been getting nosy, figuring out the problem, and fixing it myself! HAH!!!!
Now, the main project so far has been to paint the bathroom and lay tiles rather than linoleum. Whoever places linoleum should be shot!! That adhesive does NOT come off. Particularly off of particle board. We are laying the tile today before going to town to see the inlaws. They are NOT allowed in this house till the bathroom is done, at least.
My husbands running joke since I went gung ho on this bathroom is that he went to bed early and woke up to a PINK bathroom! Anyone who knows my husband would not believe he is living in a house with pink. Of course, they also never expected wife and a houseful of babies either. He's more the preppy gothic type so you can see how that would be a shocker to some. Either way, that teaches him to go to bed early and leave me with all the kids alone. HAHAHA. The walls are a lighter pink, the trim is a darker pink and we are going to paint the cabinet a more reddish pink. It really does look good in there and definitely better than that awful supposed to be white color that it started out being.
This is all a temporary fix until I find a new job and get back to the plans of gutting the bathroom completely and starting over with it. Its not set up the way we want it at all, but it is functional if not perfect. My husband and I both agree that its been an experience. One that we learned one really valuable lesson from and that is that when we go to redo the bathroom or the wax ring needs to be changed out again or whatever, we will be hiring someone to do it! If we can save $1.00 a day, then in 150 days we will have enough in the plumbing jar to pay someone else to change out the was ring on the toilet. I know that seems like alot, but what's been seen can not be unseen and I wish I had not seen(or smelled) what I saw yesterday! haha
Ok, well, thats the update for today so far. Wish me luck with the inlaws. My father in law is awesome, my mother in law, well, hubby used to get in trouble if he got soap bubbles on the driveway because those spots were lighter than the dirtier spots. I really REALLY do not want her in my house! I have 7 children, 3 of them 3 or younger. My house is NOT spotless!
Next project: Laying tile in dining room
Till next time, be frugal, be a winner and be safe!
Amy
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Laundry Rant
Is there a reason that no one can seem to do their own laundry? I swear, with 7 kids and my husband, that I have a lifetime of laundry to do...again! Didn't I just wash these clothes a few days ago? And where are all the socks? I've got an entire basket full of socks with absolutely NO MATCH! I know my dryer is not that hungry! I've had it with the laundry. They need to create biodegradable one time use clothing. You should be able to buy them in bulk. Maybe have them break down and be used for mulch for your flower beds or something cuz this is getting ridiculous! I am also, evidently, going to have to figure out how to sew on buttons. Is there some kind of button fairy going around pulling strings? I've come across no less than a dozen pieces of clothing that are missing buttons. They weren't missing them last weekend! Whats up with that? Any ideas?
An Introduction
Well, I guess all good blogs should start with an introduction. My name is Amy and I am wife to Alan and mother to Elisabeth, Kristen, Shelby, Logan, Lucas, Meghan, and Andrea. And yes, I do have SEVEN children. They are all mine by birth and yes, each of them has their own birth story, their own personality, and their own ambitions. When they say no 2 children are exactly the same, I completely agree!
I recently lost my job I've had for the last 4 years. Isn't the economy grand? So, here I sit trying to figure out ways to survive. My husband has always been the caregiver while I worked. With this many children, no one can afford childcare. Now, with my applying for work, hubby is also applying for work. We will see what we can come up with but as we live in a small town away from most good places to work, this could be quite the challenge. I've already placed over 200 resumes and/or applications so maybe, just maybe someone will bite. I have already been told I am over qualified 3 times now. How can anyone be overqualified to pay their bills and support their family? That's soooo stupid!
Ok, well, in all my thinking of how to survive, my thoughts have gone back to my couponing and refunding days and entering my sweepstakes I used to love to enter. I also love good deals and anything that can support my family on a very absolute minimal budget.
I have developed this blog as a avenue not only for self therapy, but also to hopefully help others to save while supporting their families! What will you find here? Well, for a start, you will find news of sweepstakes and other blogs. You will also find good deal alerts, product reviews, coupon and refund news, job search information, any updates from me whether they be a general rant or rave, news on my family and the people i know online and off, car news, personal stuff, things i found or have listed on ebay, you name it, you will find it here.
You will see that this blog is called AmysWinningWays. It will be a basic source for my ways at winning at the game of life!
I recently lost my job I've had for the last 4 years. Isn't the economy grand? So, here I sit trying to figure out ways to survive. My husband has always been the caregiver while I worked. With this many children, no one can afford childcare. Now, with my applying for work, hubby is also applying for work. We will see what we can come up with but as we live in a small town away from most good places to work, this could be quite the challenge. I've already placed over 200 resumes and/or applications so maybe, just maybe someone will bite. I have already been told I am over qualified 3 times now. How can anyone be overqualified to pay their bills and support their family? That's soooo stupid!
Ok, well, in all my thinking of how to survive, my thoughts have gone back to my couponing and refunding days and entering my sweepstakes I used to love to enter. I also love good deals and anything that can support my family on a very absolute minimal budget.
I have developed this blog as a avenue not only for self therapy, but also to hopefully help others to save while supporting their families! What will you find here? Well, for a start, you will find news of sweepstakes and other blogs. You will also find good deal alerts, product reviews, coupon and refund news, job search information, any updates from me whether they be a general rant or rave, news on my family and the people i know online and off, car news, personal stuff, things i found or have listed on ebay, you name it, you will find it here.
You will see that this blog is called AmysWinningWays. It will be a basic source for my ways at winning at the game of life!
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