The Basement

It seems the basement has taken up most of our summer. As we near the arrival of another baby we've been feverishly working on the basement to get it done in time. And, knock on wood, it looks like we might get there. We are so excited to have it done and so are the boys. Here are some pictures of our progress.....

I painted the boys' new room while they were away for a weekend. I thought it would only take me a day and a half...I was wrong!

It took me 3 days. And I swear on my life I will never paint a room blue again. Between the red and the blue I did 6 coats plus one wall is khaki so that makes 7 coats. At least it turned out nice but it was enough to drive me crazy!

The boys had a blast with the pink foam insulation. They piled it high and smashed it to pieces.

Declan enjoyed hanging out the fireplace hole one last time before it got closed up.

Taking a break with daddy.

Daddy's Little Helpers.

View into my new closet. Which is about 18 times larger then the one I have now.....and I'm not even exaggerating.


And then there was sheetrock!

Doorway to my new bedroom (from inside the bedr00m)

Doorway into the closet.

A whole lotta catchup

Spring! It's here! I love spring. It smells good. It looks good. It feels good. It is the BEST season. Today we didn't get in the car to go anywhere, we didn't need to go to the store or Target or run any other kind of errand. We got in the bike and went to the park. Then we came home and had lunch on the deck with daddy. I love spring because it makes me appreciate being a stay at home mom even more. Days like today are simply the best! As you can see the boys were thrilled to be outside. So much stuff to climb on, so many places to run around and so much energy to use up!

I even tried to snap a picture of the boys by the river. They, along with most children I assume, have difficulty taking a decent picture. It either turns out serious and weird....

or goofy! Good thing they're so cute.

Tomorrow I will be 18 weeks. I feel MUCH better. Thank Goodness!! But man has this been the longest 18 weeks of my life. I've felt a few small kicks here and there and we have our ultrasounds scheduled for later this month (no we won't find out the sex). I must be showing enough or my neighbor is very brave. She came out on the porch today and yelled across the street wondering if I was pregnant. Good thing I was otherwise that would have been a major open mouth insert foot moment.

And some random photos I have to share.

Despite cutting off all his hair Declan still has the ability to sport some crazy hair.

Go Twins!


I was left alone this weekend for the WHOLE weekend. Yes you read that right...no kids, no husband, no poopy diapers (but we have had 6 between both boys since their return, I've changed and wiped all of them.), no early morning wakings, no tantrums, no whining, no PB&J making, no lego playing...you get the drift. It was GLORIOUS! My biggest project for the weekend was painting the bathroom. I don't really want to talk about it, let's just say I am NEVER painting a bathroom again. I love how it is turning out but it was one big pain in the butt and took me ALL DAY on Saturday.

And here's a sneak peek of our new blue bathroom. I'm still trying to put it back together and put everything back where it belongs so until that is done this will have to do. I'll hopefully be back later this week with some before and after photos of our new blue bathroom.

Ramblings

Carson was requested a "samwich" everday for lunch for at least the past 2 weeks. And he's gotten it every time he asks. For a moment I feel guilty but then I realize just how easy it is to make PB&J and I succumb to the pressure of coming up with something else. Today I wanted to stop and grab something for lunch but he insisted on having a "samwich."

At school the kids take turns bringing snacks. Thursday is Carson's turn. And for some reason I have snack anxiety. You see snack time seems to be the thrill of the day for all 3 year olds. Every parent has the same conversation with their child as they walk out the school door, "What did you do in school today?" and you can hear every child answer the same thing, "We had ____ for snack today." It's quite comical actually and makes me want to provide the best snack ever so I can hear the comments from all the little people when school is over! Oh the pressure!

So I've kept track of what's been served. I mean we don't want to have any repeats. No ma'am, not in this house where we eat PB&J for lunch everyday. I've also asked Carson a few times what he would like to bring. His answers have varied, Samwiches, apples, crackers, cake, little cookies. It seems his answers go along with whatever it was they had for snack that day. Today it was a little cookies so he insisted I make little cookies for him. I said how about big cookies? And he gleefully agreed. So I guess I'll be making a batch of chocolate chip cookies for him.

Now, what to bring for show-n-tell??

We started swim lessons last night. Declan is in his last session of parent-tot. And he's the biggest and oldest kid in his class. He's probably a little past being in that class but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't be able to stand up because he is so short. So last night he sang along with all the songs, screamed hello to his daddy in the balcony and insisted on squirting me with his frog toy the whole time. The other babies (and they were babies, most under a year) sucked their thumbs and giggled. It was pretty comical to see the difference in them. Carson loved his lessons too. No fear in going to his teacher and he hopped right in!

This weekend it was time to bust out our door to the garage. It was only a 30 inch wide door so if you were carrying anything it required entering sideways. Plus it was very poorly insualted. So my father-in-law and Trevor decided to install a 36 inch door. By LATE Sunday afternoon my entry way looked like this.

Luckily (for my husband's sake!) the door was installed on Sunday. However, there is still black tape over the deadbolt and a 12 inch whole at the top that needs sheetrock or insulation or both. I have no idea, that is NOT my department. At any rate, the door is awesome and I can't wait to get it all done, get the rest of those weird mirrors off my entryway wall and paint!

A Change in the Yard

Guess what we did this weekend? And the answer is not putting rocks around the tree (at least not the one I'm looking for)....nice try. Keep guessing.

Any idea what this is? We have a nine foot bush full of them. They don't really have a scent either.

Checking for worms in the puddles.

He's so proud that he went into the house by himself and got dressed after he got his shorts all wet. You really can't tell from this picture but those are Declan's sweatpants. Goof!

Have you figured out what we did this weekend yet? Here's another view.


Any guesses????


Here's the before picture.

Yes, we really did take it down and I love it.

Fish, Tools and Cabinets

Early this week we visited the Outdoor Campus with our friends. We took a class on Antelope and checked out the big fish tanks they had there. Even the little guys had fun.

Declan decided he liked the tool belt.

And measuring for that matter.


Why, what's this you ask?

Well its drawers of course. AND it's drawers in my kitchen.

Hallelujah!!!

The dragging technique that we wanted wasn't working the way we wanted it to so we went with a different look and just painted a thin stripe around the edge. It looks pretty good. Now if I could get the doors done. Oh and I suppose handles on my drawers would do me some good too.