On Turning Thirty Four

 I turned 34 on Tuesday, August 31st....I wasn't particularly looking forward to turning 34 this year, but I am glad I did. Why you ask??? Because, for my present I wanted was to drive down to Charleston (SC) to spend the day. I wanted to eat, shop, and eat some more! Mmmmm! I love Low Country food! I also asked from my children that they would allow me to take them to the beach so that I could take pictures of them, and that they would be nice and cooperate. They thought that was the dumbest birthday present ever (their exact words). But not to me!!!!

 So on Sunday we played hookie from church and took off for my Special Day. See if I was not turning 34 this day would have never happened! So this is the a reason I am glad that I turned 34. Even though technically I was still 33 when we went to Charleston. So I guess this was me living it up while I was still 33! ;0)  Here are some pictures of my Special Day....... The First one of Sara Ava and I , Lilee took. Didn't she do a good job, especially for a 4 yr. old! That's why we look like giants ;0) The second picture Karlton took. We walked by our FAVORITE Hotel, The Meeting Street Inn and he pushed me in and said, " I want to get a picture of you in the court yard so it was looks like we did get to stay here." Seriouly he did push me in ;0).  We REALLY want to go back just the 2 of us and stay there like old times!

Then we went shopping! We hit the Market first. My kids love the Market as much as we do! I will post more pictures of that soon....Then we hit King St. where all the really good shopping is! We split up. The girls and I, and the boys w/ Karlton. It makes for a much happier shopping experience this way....Trust me!

After Shopping we walked the Streets down to the Battery to see the water. One of Karlton's and my favorite things to do in Charleston is just to walk and look at all the Historic Homes and their Secret Gardens! But like I said before I will share more pictures later! On our walk it was starting to turn into a nightmare because of tired kids (mainly one of the bigger boys, who only had food and the beach one his brain!). Then  we went to eat at one of our FAVORITE Restaurants, 82 Queens....

See why I love this place so much! It is so cute and when it starts to get darker it is lit up by little lights all over the garden. They also have really good food!

Here is my Favorite! Their She Crab Soup and Fried Green Tomatoes... That is almost worth the 3 hour drive, right there!!!!

After Dinner we headed to Folly Beach for the Big Photo Shoot............( Jordan took this picture of me.) Then after the kids played a little it was time to hit the road and travel 3 hours back home. It was a full day and we were all tired , but it was worth it! The kids are still talking about it wishing we could have stayed longer! Me Too!!!

Then on my actual B/D (Tuesday) everyone was in school or at work. So Lilee and I headed to our favorite grocery store Harris Teeter, because I had been procrastinating all week. I also wanted a Chia Tea Latte and a Blue Berry Scone.That was incentive enough for me to go grocery shopping especially when Starbucks is right in side! So I get to grocery shop and enjoy my Starbucks at the same time!

After I picked all the kiddies up from school. I headed out to run early in the 95 degree weather! Big mistake........ I almost didn't finish and it made me sick! But I wanted to get it over with since we had a full evening. The boys had their first Cross Country Race of the Season and afterwards we went to eat at Apple Bee's. Did you know that kids eat for .99 cents on Tuesdays with a paying adult? I think it is 2 kids per adult. Lilee and I shared my meal so our bill was pretty cheap. Then we came home to cake. Did I tell you I picked up my own cake??? Karlton said since I was Harris Teeter I could go a head and pick out my cake. Nice huh! Oh well, at least I got what I wanted. I didn't really mind because he had to take off work early to make it to the boys race. (more about that later too.)

So that is how I turned Thirty Four!

Oh BTW.....The Cake is really yummy! I did good ;0)

Fall Hats

I have a few of my Fall Hats ready...... So stop by and check them out here http://cutiepatutu.blogspot.com/

Wordless Wednesday

I Have A Give Away For You!

EVERYONE LOVES SOMETHING FOR FREE RIGHT!? Well I know I sure do!


Alise the PR Manager over at Digeus Inc. contacted me and too see if I would blog about Digeus System Optimizer and offer a giveaway to my readers. Of course I said yes, how could I not!

This system:
~ Eliminates system crashes, freezes, and slowdowns.
~ Automatically identifies and repairs common window problems.
~ Easy to download, install, and use.
~ Free support and service.

To read more about the benefits click on http://digeus.com/products/systemoptimizer/system-optimizer.html


On to the Giveaway................

If you create a review like I just did on your Blog, Face book, or Twitter, then contact Alise @ mailto:alise.johnson@digeus.com  
with your link, she will give you a full version of the System Optimizer for Free. Can't beat that for that can you!?! That is easy enough...... SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!?!?!

If you have any questions or problems please feel free to contact me karlton5@juno.com

Favorite Friday Fotos - August Flowers

Here are a few of the flowers that are growing in my garden right now.

Now Excepting Sponsored Advertisements!

I have had several people and companies contact me asking me if I would be interested in Advertising for them, on my blog. I have always turned them down, I wasn't ready to get into all that. But...lately I have been thinking about giving it a go.

Do you except Advertisements to your blog???? If so, how do you like it and how are you doing? Please e-mail me and let me know karlton5@juno.com Thanks :0)

I have been blogging now for a couple of years. I did not add my view counter until about a year after I started blogging. It seems like I have lots of viewers even thought they are quiet and do not always leave me comments.... You guys are out there right???? I only have 32 faithful followers but I know there are more of you!!!! If you do follow me or read my blog even if you do not leave me a comment (which I wish you would do, because I love to read your thoughts on my post!) you can be a Follower. It is painless and easy I promise!

OK now back to the Advertising..... I am aiming for those small mommy businesses that do not get a lot of attention like myself and Cutie Patutuz ( my small little tutu and flower hair bow business). Speaking of Cutie Patutuz.... I finally have a new post. Make sure you stop by http://cutiepatutu.blogspot.com/ and check it out!

Do you make something or sell items on Etsy???? I would love to advertise for you!!! I am also excepting larger companies that do well! I am not biased, but will be extremely cautious of what I advertise since this is a family blog! ;0)

Here is how it will work.... If you want to have an advertising spot on my blog it will cost you $10 a month. Trust me people this is a very low price! If you do not believe me check around.... Or if you are not making hardly any money yet or if you are just starting your business you can send me your products to try. My children would love to participate! So if you make items for children or mommies you can send them my way and we will try them out and then I will give you a post raving about your product..... I promise!!!

So how do you become a part of The Shrum Family Adventures????? You can e-mail me at karlton5@juno.com I have Pay pal to make it easier for you to make your first monthly payment. If you have products that you would like to send me or my girlie's or boys you can e-mail me and I will send you my address! I will also need your link to post to my blog, make sure you include that as well in your e-mail so that I can check out your business first.

Wish me Luck!!! Let the Advertising begin.............. :0)

More Pictures Of My New Sitting Room

OK.....since no one guessed how much my new Sitting Room cost me to redo, I will go a head with my post. The total room transformation from Breakfast Room to Sitting Room only cost me about $30. The $30 was for a bucket of paint and a few paint supplies. Other then the couch my MIL gave me. I had everything else already.

Here are some more pictures of the room and all the accessories. I hope this will inspire you to redo a room that you have always wanted to redo, and I have taught you that you do not need to spend a lot of money to transform your room.

2 major ways to transform your room that is super cheap is #1) Liven up your room with a new paint color. #2) Rearrange your furniture or change your rooms function up.

Now it is your turn to share with me what room you are going to change or have recently changed on a low cost budget! You can leave your your link in my comments.


Now on to the pictures......... Please let me know what you think. ;0)

A Room Redo

A few months ago this room used to be our (what I called) Breakfast Room, that we never used. It had a table and only 3 chairs because the room is small. This room is the original Dinning Room in the old (1950) part of the house. It never really worked for us...... My MIL gave me this couch and I could not pass it up, so I decided to make this room a Sitting Room/Library. Karlton really liked the idea of it being a Library, being able to come in and sit to read a book....But, as the decorating started (after I painted the newly fresh beige walls and the wall space in between the book shelves) the books kept being moved down a shelf until they reached the bottom shelf. Now they are covered up by pictures. The books were just not working for me because I wanted to show off all my beloved dished and pictures of my babies. After I finally finished my shelves I called Karlton in and asked how he liked the room and he said , " It's nice, but where are the books? I thought this was suppose to be a Library?" I told him that there were books in here they are just hidden. Lol......... But I did tell him he can still bring his book in to sit and read when ever he likes. ;0) I am not finished with the valances. I have them stuck up their with pins for now. I was just getting an idea of how the room would look all but together.



Now......... How much do you think I spent on this new functioned room???? If you follow me on Face Book you already know...... Go a head and give it a guess! I will let you know in a few days how much it cost me plus more pictures!

Wordless Wednesday

It's Finally Finished!!!

After 6 weekends of working on our bathroom we are for the most part finished. I still have some tweaks on the decorating end of things. Like hanging the plates in the back of my shelves, or maybe redoing that totally.( Not sure about the accessories yet.)I just went around my house collecting things I thought would work in there. I finished painting on Sat. and Karlton finished his part on Sun. I had planned on 3 weekends, maybe 4 but not 6. We did have to do more then we thought and we ended up making last minute changes. 3 days were spent working on 2 things, which killed our time... But it is nice to be done and have 2 bathrooms again.

This bathroom is the original bathroom that was in the house when we bought it. It was built in 1950, back when bathrooms were TINY and NO closet space at all!!!!!

Wanna see some pictures??? Here ya go.......... I am proud to say we did all by our little selves! ;0)

Remember the gold mirror????

After some white paint and sand paper to give it an aged look it is finished and did not cost a dime. We had the mirror , the paint, and sand paper already, just needed a new fresh look!




Of course I added my dishes! The boys do not like that they have dishes in their bathroom, but hey its free decorating!

They also do not like the Pink......But hey we do have 2 little girls in the house and I did want it to match the rest of my house...Not that I have lots of Pink, well I kind of do in pictures and roses in my couch. :0)

I just Love Toile! Can you tell????

So........ that is our new White, Pink( really it is a very soft red ), Green, English Cottage, French Country, Shabby Chic Bathroom!

What do you think?????