HELLO FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!

So glad you've come to visit us today!! Please leave a comment so we know you've been by!

Monday, May 31, 2010

Zoo Day!

Last week we went to the zoo with my parents and Paul and Holly. I'd wanted to go before the summer got too hot because last year it was about 100 degrees and we were melting. Well, it turned out to be pretty hot again this year, but so much more manageable. However, baby wearing was NOT preferred! I tried to wear Carter so the stroller wouldn't be so bulky and we could park it for a couple of the exhibits, and we still brought it because I thought Eli and Hannah would get tired of walking. Welll, turned out we pushed an empty stroller most of the time (with my purse and camera bag in it) and we never parked it. And Carter got too hot to be in the carrier anymore but he couldn't be out in the sun either so I was really wishing we could put him in the car seat in the stroller. Oh well...live and learn. We had a good time, the kids had a good time, and it was fun to go as a big family!






Carter was fussy and hungry right then










cat nap
uh oh...
okay, we're good




our family =)
last stop of the day. we waited 45 minutes to get on the train. but the kids did FANTASTIC waiting in line!!

fun day!

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Sunday, May 23, 2010

May Update

I know most of the time I post our happenings and current pictures of the kids, but it's been quite awhile since I really updated on what we're busy with in the day-to-day. Two words: house projects. A whole list that just keeps growing. Welcome to having an old house. *sigh*

The biggest project right now is of course the dining room. It is going so slowly. Because of all the rain we've been having we really haven't gotten anything done in 2-3 weeks! But two nights ago I was really feeling frustrated with it, so I sat down with Kevin's work schedule and made a time line of when "we" can do what. Just trying to make the most of his days off since that's really the only time he can work on it. Kevin has to stay up all night tonight since he works tomorrow night, so he's going to finish sanding the drywall mud, wipe it clean, and put on the final coat of mud. Then hopefully in his next days off we can get moving with all the rest of it. That should all go MUCH quicker. The next step will be painting! We're going to paint the walls before putting on the window trim, molding, base board, and flooring. Then we don't have to bother with taping everything off or worry about dripping on the floor. I'm pretty excited to paint, because not only will it make the room feel like a room, but it's something I can help with for once! So I'm getting pretty excited for the coming weeks!

Another project we're working on right now is replacing all the outside doors for our house. The INSANE WINDS we have here have broken three of our doors in the last year!! The wind catches the door and smashes it against the wall or whatever is near it, ripping it apart wherever it hit. So. We're pretty much getting all new doors. And each entry door is kind of an all-day project because it includes ripping out and replacing the entire door frame too. The front door we picked needs painted so we're painting it dark brown. Should look really pretty. We got the front side painted today, first coat, so it's in progress, and it's something I can work on while Kevin's at work! {Can't WAIT to have a new front door because currently the front door knob is broken and to get to the porch we have to go out the back door and all the way around. Annoying.} And I'm excited about the side door that enters the dining room. Because it's a nice room now instead of just a side entrance into a mud room, we picked a nice door that looks like this. And the storm door is just a full glass all the way to the bottom. We didn't really need a screen door there since the dining room has such huge windows anyway. I can't wait to see it!! It's going to be so pretty! And after we ordered it I realized it matches exactly with our French doors to our office. Oh this is so fun to see things coming together!

And in the very near future we need to get our electrical redone {so it can handle the window unit air conditioners we will be running very soon!!}. We're hiring out for that project. And we're also hiring out for the downstairs bathroom remodel {since it's in our main living space. taking out the closet behind it so we can add a sink in the downstairs bathroom. cuz ya know, most bathrooms these days have a sink in it! LOL} A couple weeks ago I noticed floor crumbling down into my laundry area from the bathroom above. We taped it off and haven't been using it since. Well, last night I had Kevin evaluate what was really going on with it, to see if we REALLY have to re-do the whole thing right NOW {as in, before Eli's birthday in July so we can have family-who-can't-get-up-stairs over} or if it can wait til later in the year or even next year. Looks like there's a leak somewhere causing the basement plaster to crumble apart and just the flooring surrounding the toilet is rotting. {Lovely huh} So we can just replace that part and we should be okay to wait with the rest of the project for now. Something like that anyway.

AND I'm also getting ready to do some interior painting. Because Hannah's room has been painted for quite some time now, Eli's been asking for his room to be painted too. So that's coming up soon, hopefully in the next month on a weekend that Eli goes to Grandma and Grandpa's. Not doing anything fancy with it. Just doing two walls blue and two walls a gold color. Not quite the fire truck thing he keeps asking for, but oh well. Also have the paint to complete the master bedroom transformation. And we need to fill cracks and repaint the upstairs bathroom with special bathroom paint because there's mildew issues on the walls in there.

Oh AND there's something up with the water softener causing it to constantly recycle out water instead of doing it every couple days. {or something like that} We think the water situation is what has been agrivating my eczema so badly lately. AND there's something up with one of the pipes out in the yard because in the last couple of weeks it's been blurbling up a constant flow of water. Kevin stuck a stick in it and that's plugging it up for the time being. AND we got a new fridge about a month ago that didn't quite fit in the fridge space. It was exactly the size of the spot and couldn't open all the way at all. So we ended up having to take out the cupboards that surround it. So in addition to having our dining table in the kitchen right now we also have cupboards placed in new spots for now. The kitchen remodel (cupboards, flooring, countertop) is low on the priority list so it's just going to have to wait for now. Once the table is out of there, it'll feel so much better! In addition to all of that, the AC units need installed, the grass needs mowed every week (3 hr project that I usually try to tackle on my own, with kids, since Kevin doesn't have time by the time he's off work), and the garden-that's-not-looking-too-hot-this-year needs tended. Oh and we have three kids under 4 that all require constant care and attention all the while doing all the above tasks.

Speaking of that our new mama cat and kittens still seem to be doing well. They're still hiding out in the top level of our shed. And our two other tom cats are still kicked out of the shed. They've been leaving for days at a time, but they always come back.

So. Overwhelmed would be the word I'd choose these days. Almost every day this week the dishes have sat waiting 'til the next day. And there's been 5 loads of clean laundry in the living room waiting to be put away. The basement has quite a bit of water in it from all the rain we've been having. And the house just feels like a mess.

But in the midst of ALL THIS, I'm determined not to lose FAMILY so we're still taking breaks for together time, like walks around the pond, Sonic treats on hot days, and family movie night. Because THAT'S what it's all about!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Success!

Mark this on the calendar, folks! I actually got Hannah to keep looking at me for some pictures! AND I got her to laugh--AMAZING!!

















Did you notice?? I cut her hair last week. About 1.5 inch off the back, framed her face, trimmed her bangs. She's got wavy hair, mostly just in the back though, so this shorter "do" looks a little better on her. Still long enough to put up though. Sweet girl!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Bike upgrade

It was a cold day, we kinda needed stocking hats, but at least it wasn't raining and it was the day before going to Grandma and Grandpa's so we really needed to give it a try. Time to get out The Gravel Blaster.
Yup, you guessed it. A new bike. (even this post title tells you that! haha) Hannah was finally figuring out the trike, and Eli was getting too big for it, so it was time to upgrade. I had kind of wanted to wait 'til Eli's birthday in July but it was just too far away still and they'd miss out on half the summer, so we went ahead and went for it.

While at Target last week we went to the bike aisle and I pointed out to Kevin which one I wanted to get, and then we just picked out helmets for the kids. Yes, both of them because if Eli's getting one then Hannah's gonna want one too. That's just how it is anymore. The helmets came with a bell too so we dinged our way all the way through the store and to checkout and then after we got out to the truck Kevin sneaked back in to the store to get the bike for Eli. Only Eli was getting a new bike so that's why he had to be sneaky about it or Little Miss would want one too. Kevin decked out the trike with new streamers and her new bell though so it would feel like "hers" then and still feel special.

So here they are!

As always Mr. Orange Cat has to be right there in the action. He may have gotten his tail run over once. =)
I think he likes it! I wanted to make sure we had time to teach Eli how to ride his new bike (work the brakes and all) before taking it to Grandma's and Grandpa's the next day. We don't have much sidewalk to ride on at our house, just the side of our house and the hill down to the garage, so we always make sure to bring the bikes along when we go to G&G's or Paul and Holly's since they live in town. They did awesome over the weekend and were both zooming up and down the sidewalks. It was really cute! Looks like we're ready to try out Eli's bike for a walk around the pond!