The blues

I'm feeling so down lately.  I feel like things are spinning out of control.  Nothing major huge has happened its just little things that seem to be piling up and bringing me down.  Issues with money,, its getting very tight, doctor bills are coming in from when I had to have a CT scan a couple months back, bank accounts are lower than they have been in a long long time.  I'm now not able to be so picky about the food I am purchasing due to the fact that I just can not afford to buy what I have been right now.  That makes me feel bad,, it ws easier before when I didnt know all the things that I do now.  Our days are pretty crazy now that its summer and all the kids are home from school,, it can get pretty loud and sometimes I feel like I'm leading a three ring circus most days. LOL,, I love em all though.   I also have been feeling like one of my kids is trying to grow up way to fast,, I decided that I have to lay the law down now and had a discussion with her tonight,, now I'm sure she hates me.  I sometimes wish phones and computers were never invented,, life as far as kids go would be so much easier I think.. We didnt have problems until the cell phone was bought for her and facebook came into play. She doesnt understand why I don't want her to do certain things, she thinks its just me being mean.  I dont' want her to fall down the wrong path, and I'm the one that is supposed to help show her the right way right?  I'm scared if I sit back and dont do anything now what will become later of things.    Being a parent is so hard., I thought it was supposed to get eaiser as they got older. :(  
I'm just so sad,, this all probally sounds like a jumbled mess but I had to just get it out there. 

I'm really hoping for a good week, and hoping that everything works out and that my kids dont hate me for trying to be a good parent.  ugh...

Bathroom pics

So after much hard work we're finally finished in the bathroom.  I'm very happy with the results, the only thing that bothers me about it is even though Ben patched the old holes we apparently needed to work at it a little harder because after painting you can still see ever spot,and every time I look at it it bugs me,, but not enough to start over now so that is how it will be until we repaint again which hopefully wont be until were ready to move out. :)  Here you can see the sink with the updated faucet.   I picked out the dark brass,, It looks a lot fancier than the standered silver hot cold one that was on before. I love it.
 We also replaced all the towel holders, toilet paper holders and shower curtain rod with matching brass and theres a new curtain and some matching towels. :)

 Ben replaced the worn out floor for me. I'm really happy with it

 There are a few spots on the floor that look dirty,,but its not, thats how its supposed to look.LOL  guess thats a good thing, it will help hide any actual dirt spots that might show up. :) 

Actually I doubt there will be any dirty spots,  I'm so happy with it it gives me a lot of incentive to keep it nice and shiny!  Now I'm so excited to redo the kitchen but that will have to wait a little while so we can save up some more cash.   After we finally got done I decided to make the hubby happy and we went to the lake to fish for a little bit.  It was really fun,, we didn't catch much but it was nice to sit and relax.   Then we came home and bbq'ed and ate outside.  Emma loves to be outside.  AS soon as she wakes up she wants to go outside and play,, she doesn't understand that mommy has inside work to do to.  Poor thing,,, now that the big kids are out of school though they can help watch her out there in the fenced in yard when I cant be out there.   I love summer and all that comes with it!

Tennesse trip

Well were back from Tennessee.   We had a amazing time there!  It truly is beautiful, the mountains, the rolling hills, very peaceful too.  Our cabin we rented was great!  Plenty of room for us,, it had 3 bathrooms, 2 king sized beds, a jacuzzi tub, a hot tub, 4 decks outside!
We kept pretty busy while we were there, here we are at the welcome center in the smokey mountains.

 Then we went to hike up the hill to Laural Falls,,, on the way up we saw a bear!!!  It was so cool, it was hard to get a good picture of it but here you can see it walking away from us(much better than too us I think, LOL). 

 And here is the beautiful waterfall.

 We let the kids take there shoes off and wade in it a little bit.

 Then we went to Ripley's Believe it or not Museum,, here is me and the kids in a really big chair.  They had some really weird things there and Emma was a little scared a few times but overall I think everyone enjoyed it.

 Then back to our cabin,, we turned the heat down a little and let Emma "swim" in the hot tub,, she loved it.

 Jess and I. :)

 The game room was really cool there,, everyone enjoyed it.  Gary asked to go in there first every time we got back to the cabin. 

 Sunday we made the steep hike up to Clingmans dome,, it is over 6500 feet tall, the highest mountain in the Smokies.  We drove most of the way up then its a three quarter mile hike up to the top dome,,,let me tell you what,,,,I am outta shape!  It was tough and I was huffing and puffing the whole way because it is so steep.  It was well worth it though,, when your at the top you can see either 3 or 4 different states,, your also higher than some of the clouds,, it was really cool!

 This was at Ripley's aquarium,, that was really fun for the kids.

It was such a great trip, and none of us were ready to go home!  It's so nice to get out and away from normal everyday life.  I am so thankful that we are able to do things like this!  If you want it bad enough I believe you can make it happen.  We defiantly don't have a lot of money but we made it work for us.  We have another thing to look forward to now,,, in a week and a half Bennies mom will be coming out to spend the week with us from California!!  Its been a year since we've seen her and we cant wait!!