The Sugden Kids: September 2011

It's pretty sad when you've been too busy to blog and then when you finally get around to it, you can't even remember what has kept you so busy that you have to look back over pictures to see! Another sad tidbit is when you look back at the last 2 months pictures and think to yourself..."wow, so that's what my entry way, kitchen counter and family room look like when they're clean and clear of clutter?! Our house has been crazy lately... so much so, that if your birthday, wedding, babies birth or any other major event that requires at the very least a card from me, say between the months of July until the present moment, .... please accept my humble apologies. I have located my address book just today as a matter of fact, and therefore will be playing catch up in that department as well!

I have been tearing our house apart room by room and re-doing it! This has been a lot of work, rewarding when it's complete, and necessary to keep the house functional as we change and grow as a family... but it has been trying. Hard to live with all the clutter everywhere that is yet to find a new home. Also, difficult to keep up with the every day things while also trying to make headway at home!

So August began with Austin's 6th Birthday! Can't even believe we have a 6 year old now! Man does time fly! He is all about Super Mario Bros. right now (Nintendo/Wii Video games) and so his cake and his gifts were all along the theme there! We also enjoyed the day at Chuck E Cheese with friends!

Less than a week later he was off to his first day of Kindergarten... and Jack, his first day of preschool. They are going to the same elementary school and luckily, at the same time for 2 and half hours every afternoon. Jack is in Early Intervention for his speech delay do to his tongue tie... which has really been a blessing, as it is free through the state of Illinois. So he is doing speech therapy now while he attends preschool. Here are some pictures from their first day of school:

September 11th, 2011 was not only the 10 year anniversary of the worst tragedy our country has ever faced... but it also happened to be Madison's 2nd Birthday! Don't get me wrong, I will never forget what happened or where I was and what I was doing on that horrible day, just like the rest of the country... but I do hope that with the completion of the memorial... and the confirmed death of Bin Laden that there will be the healing and closure that we've been so desperately needing as a whole, for the past 10 years. I'm hoping, that one day, my daughter's birthday will be a happy day again! One in which we can remember the lives that were lost, but not in a way that it keeps us from truly living in the moment of our own!
Happy 2nd Birthday Sweetheart!

September 23rd, Jeff turned 37...he had to work so we brought the party to him!

On the same day of Dad's Birthday Austin lost his 2 front teeth! They were really loose, so while taking a bath...when Jack hit Austin in the mouth with a bath toy... it knocked his front tooth right out! The kids were freaking out at all the blood, until we cleaned it and realized he lost his first tooth! This was SO exciting! He even said, "Thanks Jack, now I get money from the tooth fairy!" So while at school this same day, he pulled out the other one himself! What a shock that was when I picked him up from school to find the other one gone as well! Here he is, with Daddy (a.k.a. the Birthday Boy).
All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth sure applies this year!

So the boys room was a little too small to fit their two twin beds, so we got them bunkbeds on Craigslist that are beautiful, like new, less than a year old, and half the price! In addition I found a pair of dressers for $20 each on Craigslist. They were old, and dated, and smelled like cat pee.... but they were cheap and had good bones! Solid wood, dove tail drawers. The tracks for the drawers were broken off on 5 of the drawers and I was unsure if I could fix them but figured I was only out $40 if I couldn't. So, in case you're wondering how to get cat pee off and/or out of things it's 10oz. of peroxide, 1 tbsp. of dish soap and 1tbsp of baking soda! Voila! Stink gone! Then I sanded them all down, took off the old dated hardware, painted a flat brown base, then stained it with mahogoney and onyx wood stain to give it a grainy appearance... applied a coat of poly to protect, new hardware, fixed the drawers... and Ta Da!!!! Welcome to the new millenium dressers!
They look great in the boys room, and now we finally have a functioning room with space for all their clothes! I love Craigslist! I also found an antique, solid maple Ethan Allen desk fom the 50's... I found it on ebay going for $560 plus $140 shipping... guess how much I paid?! $55! (I heart Craigslist) I sanded it, painted it turquoise for fun, and kept the original hardware! I also salvaged a solid maple end table for my printer that was set to be burned... it needed some small repairs, some puttying, sanding, and I painted it black to match the antique desk chair I also found on craiglist and there you go! Office rehab to go with the new wood floors I put in, and finally got rid of the nasty old carpet! A lot done, but still a lot more to do.... hoping to get it all done before we have our visits from my Mom and Mark and Tricia, and hopefully Matt, Katherine and Keagan too... for Halloween!

The boys love their new bunkbeds!!