Heater in October...

...really?!?! The weather in Texas this fall has been very unusual, to say the least. We've had so much rain that I've lost count of the # of days or the # of inches! I'm kind of wondering if we're close to hitting the record for rainfall?!?!

So, today's weather, of course, was rainy & chilly. I think the high was in the low to mid-50s, but also a little windy! However, my biggest surprise was that the thermostat in our home reads 70 degrees, usually, very comfortable to the Kemper Clan. Ironically though, I found myself cold & soon cuddling on the couch with Colin (I'll take that anytime though). Colin's arms & hands felt cold, and he admitted that he was cold and asked to cuddle under the blanket with me, never mind the fact that he had a short sleeve shirt on & refused to put a long sleeve one on!

For a moment, I thought about turning on our heater. But WAIT! It's only October! To me, this is way too early to turn on the heater! In fact, I'm pretty sure that we usually don't turn on the heater until close to Thanksgiving or into early December. Also, the house temperature was 70 degrees! During the winter, we set our thermostat at 68 degrees. So, the house isn't even cold enough for the heater to come on! Are you kidding me, Sarah? (Is what I told myself!) So, I quickly stopped wimping out, put on my fleece jacket, put a portable space heater by our kitchen table for dinner time, and REFUSED to turn on the house heater! I think that I'm the only crazy person here, and am pretty sure that Greg will turn on the heater as soon as he gets home in the morning!

One of my friends commented on Facebook that it's cheaper to heat the home versus the cooling costs and couldn't understand what the big deal is about turning on the heater. I do LOVE the milder temperatures in Texas while they last, and October is supposed to have milder temperatures! I love how the milder temps don't require the use of either a heater or air conditioning! However, I must admit (not surprising to many of you) that I'm a cheapskate, penny pincher, tight wad, etc, etc! I was raised to work hard for every penny and was taught almost 4 years ago to make every penny work hard for me! So, I like to make good use of every penny that God has blessed us with...and also, yes, I am cheap and would love to make good use of the milder temps to help me out with my cause! So, I still refuse to turn on the heater!

Well, sort of! I won't make my children suffer! So, yes, I turned on the heater upstairs where their rooms are...but I still have my fleece jacket on and will just add an extra blanket to my bed instead and pray that the milder temps and no rain conditions will quickly return to Texas!!!

Bubble Sack Races

I was doing a little more unpacking & unwrapping of some of our pictures today. I wrap all of our pictures in bubble wrap before packing them in boxes...haven't broken a frame or glass yet!

I had just taken 2 big pictures out of the bubble wrap, but left 3 of the 4 sides still taped together for the sake of convenience. The kids got a hold of the bubble wrap (as usual) and climbed into the bubble wrap as if they were potato sacks.Then, they proceed to hop around in them just like they would in a potato sack race! It was so funny & entertaining to see. It's been raining here ALL DAY, and so it's great to see them get creative & have some indoor fun!

Our American Girl Basketball Player

Back in June, Sheridan went to an Upward basketball camp, and we let her "practice" her dribbling in the foyer of our house. At the same time, she was reading the American Girl "Julie" series, and Julie plays basketball in the books. Well, Sheridan decided to pretend to be Julie, the basketball player. So, here are some fun photos of our American Girl.

Speaking of basketball camp, Sheridan decided that she wanted to give basketball a try. So, we decided that a 1 week camp would be a better environment to try out this sport versus a 3 month season.

She seemed to really enjoy it, but not enough that she actually wants to play it this season. Sheridan is very passive in nature, so she doesn't go after the ball and will wait for someone to give it to her (not exactly a great way to play the sport). She also seemed to take on more of a supportive role & go back to her cheer instincts!

I'm just glad that she enjoyed it & maybe will one day make this former basketball player very PROUD!!!

Family Room Camping

Back in May, Greg & Sheridan were about to go tent camping again, and we finally bought our own tent! However, Greg wanted to make sure that 1) all the pieces were there and 2) that he knew how to put it together! It was supposed to rain the weekend of the camp out, and he wanted to "waterproof" it too!

So, he decided to put the tent up, and our family room was the largest room in the house to put the tent up in.

Since the tent was up, we decided to let the kids sleep in it & "camp" in it! It was a great "treat" for them!

We wish that we had an idea of how to make "indoor" smores for a "true" camping experience. If you have ideas, then let me know!

Future Camera Man???

I'm cleaning out our digital camera, in an effort to post some "catch up" postings from the past 8 months. I've come across SEVERAL (at least 10) short little digital videos that Colin shot when he got a hold of our camera! These were taken back on May 22nd (you knew I am WAY behind!).

This one is particularly cute & funny!

Here's another one that makes me smile & laugh!!

And now that I've watched them all, I'm beginning to wonder if he thought he was taking "still" pictures instead of the videos. Kind of glad that he took the videos...just a little glimpse into his almost 5 year old mind!

All about You, Jesus...and all about getting DIZZY!!!

Sheridan was on the stage at chapel this past week, leading their praise time. This is a cute song, but WOW...makes me dizzy!!

The funny part about this song is that the kids usually LOVE songs that get them moving & dancing. Not sure if you can hear it eventually or not, but I think they too are getting dizzy & tired of going round & round & round!

"Homemade" Lamp Project

Everyone in our family needed new bedside lamps for our rooms. I found a lamp with a shade for Colin's room for $6.50 total. Then, found new lamps for both Greg & my bedsides for $10 each. So, the hunt was on for a cute lamp for Sheridan. I found one that I really liked for $35 +tax, but didn't want to pay that much for it. So, I decided to try to make something for her.

I'm notorious for getting a "homemade" project in my head but never following through. I was determined to not let this happen!

I found a plain white lamp shade and a plain off-white lamp stand for a total of $6. So, I thought that I could paint the stand & add some beaded ribbon to the shade, and in total, spend a lot less than $35 +tax.

What do you think?

This is my first attempt to do anything like this! And I'm pretty pumped that I started & finished the project in about 24 hours from getting the idea to completion!

Sheridan loves it, I like it, but I LOVE that this project cost me just over $16 with tax (the beaded ribbon & the paint cost the most!), and SAVED me well over $20! Woo Hoo!!!!

So, now I'm wondering...what's next?!?!

It's been a while...OK...a LONG WHILE

I know that it's been a while since we've posted ANYTHING on our blog...since February! However, I've actually missed it & there are many things that have happened in the past 8 months! Although, I'm pretty sure that all the "readers" of this blog are family that are on Facebook as well & probably don't need to read the blog to keep up with the Kempers!

So, I guess that I'm going to start posting again just so that I can keep track of events & look back on them later...probably for scrapbooking purposes!!!

For a quick recap, right after our last post, we started to prep the house to put it on the market. So we spent almost 2 months of purging, cleaning, reorganizing, & touching up/repairing stuff. The house went on the market in April, and we finally closed on the sale the beginning of August! We only had 2 weeks "notice" to get packed, find a new house, and move out. So, it was a complete ball of stress & I'm very, very relieved that it's over!

We're slowly getting settled in the new house & making wish lists & projects lists. We'll post pics as soon as we take them! For now, I'll post pics of our vacant "old" house!

And so, now that I've posted something, I guess that I'll follow through & post more...soon!