Well, it happend. Tara got asked to Sr. Ball by her dream date. Went to Sr. Ball with her dream date. Had an amazing day with her dream date......and then.....Won Prom Queen!! I didnt beleive her at first when she came home at 1am and told me but she said, "Mom, look at my crown!" Not that she couldnt win Sr. Ball Queen but I have always felt that because she was such a s

oftspoken, not worldly, hard working, straight A (nerd?), person that doesnt care what people think, that she would never win anything like that. But I am so glad that her friends regard her and think highly of her. I will miss her so very much and my heart aches to think of her leaving me. Who will raise Taner?

Amazing

Who would have thought Dec. 20th when we stepped into our house and heard water running and the house was full of water and the sheet rock was falling on our heads and the stairs were a waterfall and all the cupboards and the pans were full of water, that our house would look the way it does today! We are truly blessed. (We'll pay double the insurance premiums for a minimum of 3 years, but hey!) We are truly blessed and happy to get back into our house. We'll miss the calm and peacefull, no neighbors that actually talk to you, gated community that we are leaving but its back to the real world where Taner can bump his stereo and KAte can have friends to play with, and oh yeah me, carpool, BLECK! Anyway - Now we have a little more space if anyone needs a place to crash. I wish we could have invested in one of those wall beds, but we'll have to invest in an airmattress or something eventually. I am mostly gratefull for my husband, kids and contractors who have had to deal with the 20 personalities that decided to rear their ugly heads throough out this processs.......I am finding that my mother was right....money talks.

Love to all! Tiff

After!

Well - the day has come!

Before!

An Update

Now for a quick update. So much has happend. Ins. came up with a total of $83,000 and cut us a check for 60%, we get the other 40% after the sheetrock is done. The checks are written to Keven and I AND Wells Fargo Bank. We had to file all kinds of docs, contractor bids, and call every day and Wells Fargo will only give increments at a time of the money. So we cut the contractor loose in hopes that Some money would be there soon. It took almost 2 months to get it after calling everyday, getting a check written to the wrong person, and resubmitting for a new check, but we got the first $20,000. They give the next $20,000 when you are 50% done so by the time we got the first $20,000 we were already there. Called, got the 50% inspection, called every day and finally got the second amount of $$. Its like I'm on the opposite end of debt collecting! Anyway - we are doing great now, cabinets are in, paint is done, shelving is looking awesome, wait till you see my paint!!!! FREAKING AWESOME! Anyway - its sooooo nice to go to the house, see things done and not have been the one to do it, dont get me wrong we got plenty to do on our own but, hiring out is totally the way to go.

The kids? Wow its been interesting. I never see Tara.....she gets Taner up and to school every morning and gets home at 7pm after play practice, diving & swim team practice, and now she starts her first job at Dominos - tomorrow!

Taner is sliding by under the radar as usual. Loving the fact that we are tooo busy to discipline him for his bad grades and tardies, but hating the fact that we wont let him drive until he has his eagle. He has all the merit badges done and only has his project and his packet to do.....have mercy. I actually really really need him to drive because my Tara is leaving me and I dont want to run him everywhere but I cant budge on the eagle thing.

Talia is growing up. She needs a mommy at this point in her life to care about all those little projects and watch her at soccer practice and just give her the time of day but unless that is at 10pm everyday, it aint happening right now. I'm pretty good, but she just needs more that I have to give right now. I love her to peices because she is so independant and she completes all her assignments and does everything she is suppose to do (besides clean up after herself) I have certain windows of time where I can run kids around or be "mother of the year" for them and she moves very very slow and often gets me late so she gets hollered at for that and she told Keven she is scared to ask me for a ride..... isnt that sad? its a shame that all the good things I do as a mom dont over ride the bad..... So Im working on using my last ounce of patience and energy on my kids, and taking out my frustration on my fitness classes......

KAtely - oh my little Kately - well, she may have to repeat 1st grade, or not, we shall see. She is getting extra help at school because she may be dyslexic....she is great in math but cant read or spell. We battled the fact that now she has to ride the bus, did the sticker chart and reward for everytime she rode it, now if I try to pick her up at school she kicks and screams at school because she wants to ride the bus home. I have to do a reward chart for when she doesnt ride the bus, how twisted is that? She is so adorable and fun and I feel like she is slipping thru my fingers......But hey, she is on the sprint relay team for school so its off to the races for us next week!

Kev and I are actually getting along. Since he agreed that I was right about the paint and actually loves it, ha ha. But anyway - we estimate that we will be back in our house by the end of next month. I'm scared to death and excited at the same time. Now that I 've been living on so little, I kinda feel like I dont need anything in that trailer and I'm scared to death to unpack it. But when I go thru it I'm like, "Oh there that is!"

Anyway - All is great for us, we are tired and have sandpaper hands from actual manual labor but we are healthy and happy. If we get really lucky we will have an Eagle Court of Honor for Taner the Same weekend as Tara's graduation but we shall see.

Thanks for all your love and support - and thanks to Wendy for all the food, babysitting, and muscles she has lent us......

Happy Bday Dad!

Hello Everyone!

Wow when was my last post? Can you tell I've been very very busy. Here is a bunch of picts of some of the stuff we've been doing.....