Memorial Day Weekend

We spent Memorial Day Weekend with my family.  The weather was a little iffy, so we spent some time at a nearby indoor waterpark. 

 The bad news is, upon returning again that evening, we got kicked out due to lightning (indoor/outdoor pools connect)...the good news is they let us come back the next day!  Two days of swimming for the price of one!

 This is Owen's birthday present...the coon-skin cap.

 We took a walk down to the lake to see if we could catch any critters.

 The kids tried and tried...

 ...but I think they only caught some weeds.

 Sophie, Aubrey, Owen, Jozie

 Sophie, Jozie, Owen, Aubrey + Adeline!  The newest addition to the family!!

Hello again

I've been told by more than one family member to get my act together, so I'm trying to catch up with the parts of our life I haven't been posting about.  Summer is busier than the school year, it seems!  How is that possible, you ask?  We went to Indiana the second school got out...literally.  We've been to Greg's family's for the 4th in addition to multiple other busy days.  Looking ahead...cousin camp, Germany and camping (fingers crossed!). 

This is from May.

Sophie's gymnastics program to finish off the year.

Warming up...

 Lining up...

 Her events...

 We were far away, so the flash didn't really help.  Sorry.

 The dismount...

 Floor routine...

 Receiving her medal...

There it is!  Notice the missing tooth...

 Some of her biggest fans...

Kitchen Renovations

We are hoping, sometime in the next decade, to move to a new house.  This house has been good to us.  It's our first one, you know.  But we're feeling the crunch of four people in a two-bedroom house.  To prepare for the inevitable, we (meaning, mostly Greg) have gradually been doing projects to prepare for re-selling.  The most recent project was the kitchen.  This was a project I could finally help with.  I'm the painter in this family.  Greg does everything else (doors, floors, demo, installation...). 

 (I'm posting these for Janelle's benefit!)

Light fixture and drop ceiling, before

 Appliances (I can't believe I had that much junk on my fridge!), and weirdly covered wall

 More drop ceiling and really old light fixture

 Greg had already removed the baseboards at this point, so that doesn't really add to the specialness of the floor.  How did I live with that floor so long?  I know.  I was content.  And happy to have shelter.  And too frugal to spend money on a perfectly functional floor when there were other "needs" to attend to.  It sure has been a treat to have a new floor, though.  I kind of want to lie on it and do floor angels.

 It always gets worse before it gets better.  This was after taking down the drop ceiling.  There was a strip of awesomely-bad wallpaper above it that needed an intervention.  The rest of the splotchy stuff looked like spray paint.  I didn't understand it.

 Again, worse before better.  Under two layers of weird wallpapers, Greg discovered this copper tile backsplash along the whole wall.  He popped about 2 off...then decided we'd just cover it instead.

 

 New appliances.  Our realtor recommended stainless, so we obeyed.  It would not have been my first choice, but we're really happy with them.  There's quite a story to tell about the appliances.  I did a lot of research and got us a really good deal.  And got initiated on Craigslist with our old stove.  There's the painted bead board backsplash.  So much better!

 New light fixture.  So much prettier and brighter than the last one.  And the ceiling!  White and smooth!

 And there's the floor.  Greg laid the floor.  I heart the floor.

 And here we are...done! Light gray walls, new curtain, new chairs (the old ones would have scratched up the new floor).

Next project....the basement (I think).  I hope painting isn't required.

Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window...cloudy and dreary, and I think it's windy and cold.

I am thinking...about how I am going to provide food for my family when my kitchen contains neither a fridge or a stove right now.  Or a floor.

I am thankful for...a husband who tries his best to be a do-it-yourselfer.   It makes him crabby, but it saves us a lot of money!

From the kitchen...anything we can microwave.  Or perhaps cereal night.  The kids love that.  Greg does too.

I am wearing...my purple pajamas and cherries robe.  I got up with the chickens this morning because I couldn't sleep.

I am creating...a plan for breakfast this morning.  Perhaps a picnic on the living room floor.  Last night we dined in the kids' bedroom.

I am going...to Ikea to get new kitchen chairs today so that we don't wreck our new (coming soon!) kitchen floor with the old ones.

I am reading...just finished "A Tale of Two Cities" by Dickens last night.  I often found it hard to follow, but by the end, I got really into it.  It didn't help me that I could only read 10 minutes at a time.  It often took me that long to figure out what was going on again. 

I am hoping...to have a functional kitchen (floor, stove, new refrigerator!, usable chairs) ready to go by next weekend.  We're hosting Easter here for the first time!  Yikes!

I am hearing...some morning-commute traffic muffled in the distance.  Sometimes I miss commuting.  These days, I rarely drive anywhere alone.  And I only get to listen to the radio for 5 minutes.  Or the Imagination Movers.
Around the house...Since the kitchen (and therefore, the breezeway, living room, hallway and kids' room as well) are completely a shambles, I am determined to have a sparkling clean bathroom.  And clean laundry.  Now that our water is turned back on.

One of my favorite things...coffee.  Really good coffee.  Really good coffee that I don't have to make myself.  For free.  Ahhhhh....

A few plans for the rest of the week...overnight company (my parents!), a meeting at church, attend a baby shower for my sister Cassie, work in the 5's Sunday School room, read scripture in the service, provide a main dish and salad for a potluck gathering for visiting friends (With no stove.  Can cereal be a main dish and fruit snacks a salad?).  And that's just the next 3 days.  Send help.
Here is picture thought I am sharing...Spring has arrived...at the conservatory!

 The kids enjoyed the Koi pond.

 Owen was uncooperative.

My Little Pony Birthday

Please bear with my pictures.  Our regular camera is broken, so I had to use our cheap, junky camera.  The one that makes me as mad as a visit to Walmart does.

Sophie had very specific requests regarding her birthday cake this year.  She wanted it to be rainbow, with chocolate chips and strawberries and ponies.  I tried to encourage a little more classy taste by steering her away from every single element in one cake.  So, we pretty much removed the strawberries and nothing else.  But we did have chocolate-covered strawberries for lunch! 

 Those sprinkles are rainbow-candy-coated chocolate chips.

 This was the first year the girls actually got excited about the cake that I slaved over.  Rainbows are always a hit with 6 year old girls.  I was told by one guest that next year I need to make it a chocolate swirl cake with chocolate sprinkles.  I told her that when her mom hires me to cater her birthday, she can order whatever kind of cake she wants!!  ha-ha!

 We started the party out with some face-painting while all the girls were arriving.  Some guests got REALLY into it.

 Even Owen did.

I was anticipating hearts and flowers.  This is what I got...

Noelle

Lily

Alexina

Lydia

Cora

 Ella

 Sophie

We played some games...Musical Chairs (with pony pictures), Pass the Pony (hot potato), and Pin the Tail on the Pony. I was the ringleader, so I only got one game picture after the fact. It was a total circus!

 Sophie chose hotdogs and Doritoes for her birthday lunch.

 There were lots of nice gifts from sweet friends.

 There were also "unicorn hats" with curly manes.

 Here they are!  (We took this picture before Ella arrived, and I forgot to get another one before she left!).  This is Sophie, Alexina, Noelle, Owen, Lily, Cora & Lydia. 

It was a very fun, wild &crazy, girly time!

Kid Quotes

I'm not even done posting Disney pictures yet, and Sophie's My Little Pony birthday party pictures will be forthcoming, but I wanted to get these out while it's fresh in my mind (and because I don't have time to load the pictures right now)...

I overheard these comments during the general conversation happening over Sophie's birthday party hotdog lunch:

Conversation A:
Girl #1:  Christmas is Jesus favorite holiday because it's His birthday.

Girl#2:  Yeah, and Easter.  Because that one's all about Him too.

Conversation B:
Girl #3:  Owen is so lucky.  He gets to sit by the funny guy.
(This comment was made in regard to Owen as he sat at the little table, seperate from all the girls because there wasn't room for him at the big table.  The "funny guy" was Greg.)