getting a few things accomplished!

This weekend we managed to get ALOT of things crossed off the To-Do List! We woke up Saturday morning and headed out to the PB and WS Outlets to get Aunt Brittany a housewarming gift. She just moved into her own apartment and we're so thrilled for her! I wasn't sure what I wanted to get her... but quickly found something perfect for her! We found a bottle of WS Bloody Mary Mix! She LOVES Bloody Marys! I paired that with a fern for her front porch, and it was perfect!

We also found the cutest pancake molds for the kiddos!! I can't wait to try them out! Unfortunately we didn't get a chance this morning b/c we had church. We might have to have breakfast for dinner one night this week! :) We also picked up a few things for the kiddos at PB. After the outlets we went over to Outdoors and got LK her very first pair of Chacos! They're so cute on her and she feels like such a big girl with a pair of "Daddy's shoes"!! We also got to go to Swankys for lunch.. YUM!!! We LOVE Swankys!! I think they kids ate more than half their body weight in tacos and queso!

After a few hours of shopping, we headed home to start on our chores. (i am in major spring cleaning mode!!!)

One of the things we are starting to get taken care of is cleaning the grout in the kitchen. For some reason, the builders never sealed our kitchen grout when they finished building. And, the family that lived here before us never did either.. SO, when we moved in, it was nearly black! (and absolutely disgusting!!) We have literally tried everything under the sun to clean it and nothing has worked! Our next step was going to be to have them professionally cleaned, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to spend the $300 to have it done. Luckily, my mom discovered the world's best cleaner! She swore up and down that it would work on my floors, so I tried it! And guess what... IT WORKED! I am still in shock. To top it off.. it's only $2!! SO much better than $300!

Take a look... before.. (GROSS!)

and after!

See how white it is?! I am having to do small sections at a time, b/c you have to let it sit and then scrub a little, but it's already looking so much better! I can't wait till it's all clean so that we can seal them, FINALLY!

You can definitely tell a difference in the sections that are cleaned and the sections that are not!

And THIS is the magic cleaner!! Who would have thought?! I would never have, in a million years!

We also had to replace some of our downstairs window screens. Huck decided to paw through some of them!

To my surprise, it was actually pretty easy! We ended up doing almost all the downstairs windows. Hopefully, Huck will leave these new ones alone!!

Saturday night, we went over to Chris' parents house for a cookout. Of course, it was delicous and we had such a good time!! The kids always love going to Noni and Papa's! Usually, b/c it involves the sand box, bubbles and LOTS of candy! ha! Nana and Papaw were even there too, so it was twice the fun!

see what I mean about the candy?!

Sunday morning we had to get up early because Chris and I started our New Members Class at church! We are so excited!! It's a 4 week class, so we'll be pretty busy for the next month! (oh - and cross #10 off my list!!) After church we went to the grocery for the weekly items and then back home for more house stuff. We worked on the windowsills, which are starting to look SO much better! We still have a few more rounds of wood filler, drying time and then sanding.. but it's already a major difference! I also sanded down and repainted our adirondak chair on the front porch. And re-spray painted our fire pit in the back yard. Spring is in full bloom!

Next weekend we are taking the kids down to Oxford for the Ole Miss Grove Bowl (spring scrimmage). They are SO excited to go to a football game!! This will be perfect preperation for football season in the fall! :) We are also hosting a family cookout on Sunday because my grandmother's sister is visiting from New York. Good thing we got alot of the house stuff accomplished this weekend!! Next up on the list for the house is to re-do the front flower beds.. they just need more soil and new mulch.. nothing too big, and to touch up some of the paint in the entranceway and hallways. I had originally wanted to paint new colors, but we're not too sure how much longer we're going to stay in this house, so we're just more along the lines of "fixing up" these days! We've stopped changing things up and making them new and impoved! lol ;) But after two years of little fingers up and down the staircase, it is definitely time for a new coat of paint!

Tomorrow starts bright and early with school and then our bible study tomorrow night! This week, I am also going back to yoga and zumba (I chickened out last week!!). My back is FINALLY feeling a little better! Although, just when my back was on the mend, I hurt my toe! Go figure!! I am definitely ready to get back in the swing of things! The next few weeks and weekends will be jammed pack with things to do, but it will definitely be fun and we're looking forward to it!

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!