Flashback Friday

My Mum's Dad.

Year 4 Home Improvements

This year we decided was the year to finally replace the windows in our house. We've been living here for almost four years now. Oh the joys of being a homeowner! Everything is SO expensive. My mum says to do one big thing per year. We've done a few big things and a few little. The house was built in 1984 so it's a little bit of an older home. So far we've done the following:

1. Before we moved in we repainted all 3 of the upstairs bedrooms.
2. Before we moved in we re-carpeted all of the upstairs and all of the basement (main level is Pergo).
3. Year 1 - Replaced the furnace with a newer more efficient one. Installed central air. While the house is more consistent with the central air the upstairs is awful hot! It was pretty disappointing after all of the promises they made us. Having us buy a bigger unit due to the vaulted ceilings. Grrr!
4. Year 2 - Put in a back yard. This was a huge undertaking. My parents came and helped us, we dug a lot of stuff up, tilled (sp?) what was supposed to have been grass, hydro seeded. the first year it looked great. I am very disappointed to say that we have done just a terrible job of maintaining it. Our goal is to fix that this year, now that both boys are up and walking. Yard work is hard to do when you have a baby that isn't walking or when you are pregnant!
5. Year 3 - We redecorated our main level bathroom. Also installed a new ceiling fan that had a light in it. It was a huge improvement!
6. Year 4 - and here we are. Putting new windows in was a big decision for us. It's SO expensive. Originally when the economy was better we completely expected that this house would just be a step to our next one (maybe 5 years). Well we're at year 4 and I don't see us moving anytime soon. Never know what the future holds though. For now, we'll live in the moment and make it something we love. So we bit the bullet and decided to do the windows. TODAY is the day, well not the real day, but the windows are supposed to be delivered to our house!! Which means TOMORROW will be the real day! I can hardly wait! Which reminds me, I need to go outside and take before pictures!!

This however is only phase one in this years improvements. Once the windows are in it will basically put the master plan in motion. Next we will repaint ALL of the main color of our house. While the windows are huge from a financial investment perspective, painting is ENORMOUS from an labor perspective. It's very overwhelming to think about it. Once the painting is done we will then put real blinds on all the windows and a new ceiling fan! It's all so exciting, wish us luck!

Wordless Wednesday

Big Garage Cleanup

So this weekend we were scheduled for the big garage cleanup.  We were a little concerned because they were saying we might get rain and/or snow on Saturday but we had postponed once before for this reason and it had been just fine so we decided no matter what, rain or shine we were going to attempt to make some progress in the garage.  Before you jump ahead to the pictures I am going to preface what you are about to see with my poor excuse for an explanation.  When we moved into this house almost 4 years ago I had given birth to Jackson only days before we moved.  Which for me isn't pop a baby out and you're done.  I am cursed with the manditory C-Section with all my kids.  So while recovering from a surgery which they tell you not to drive a car or even vacuum for weeks after you get home I spent my entire maternity leave slowly unpacking all the boxes.  And I do mean slowly.  So needless to say the last part of the ordeal was trying to get our garage into some sort of order so that I could pull my car in.  Thus .. it was somewhat of a disaster.  So for almost 4 years we hadn't done anything but live with and add to the mess that it began as.  Knowing that we were in for a BIG day we had arranged for a babysitter for the kids for the entire day.  So I drove them up to my mum and then we headed straight to Costco for some organization solutions.  We purchased 3 shelving units (which I will say were a cinch to put together and they're very sturdy).  We moved our overflow refrigerator and deep freeze right next to the door which provides easier access for us.  So here are some before and after pictures.  You will see we really did make a huge improvement. There are still a couple of large items in there that I am going to attempt to sell, so hopefully we'll have some more space soon.

Jeramie working on the shelves.

Midway through, with everything OUT.

And this is where it all was, people kept slowing down driving by

thinking we were having a yard sale!

Left side, before.

Left side, after.

Right side, before.

Right side, after.

TADAAAA!!!

Our walking space beside the car has tripled!

We now officially have a liquor shelf!

 All in all it was SUCH good time spent.  Jeramie and I literally hurt afterwards.  We cleaned and organized for 8 hours straight, not a single food or drink break.  A $200 investment in shelving (totally worth it).  Now when we open the garage to do anything we aren't embarrassed for our neighbors to see our mess.  It may not look like we got rid of much but our truck bed is literally overflowing with a load to take to the dump.  YAY!

Flashback Friday

My parents I believe before they were even married.

Terra Linda Tones - Winter Concert

Tonight we went to Baylee's Winter Concert at school.  They sang about five songs that had something to do with snow.  It was cute.  A little strange, since they sounded kind of Christmas-y but none the less they sang great.  I think perhaps there was a friend of Baylee's that didn't show up because she wasn't exactly herself.  As soon as the performance was over Baylee was back to her old self and really happy that Grandma and Papa had come to watch.  We got to sit in the front row which meant we had great seats.  Baylee still loves participating in choir so we are looking forward to their Spring Concert in a few months.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jeramie and I really aren't that big into Valentine's Day. I always make sure to get a small little something for my kids, if for no other reason than when my boys get older they will know it's a special day that sometimes involves a small thoughtful little something! Gentlemen in training!! This year Jeramie brought me some flowers to work, daisies are my favorite!! We also spent a day together just the two of us (that's a rarity). We had a yummy breakfast at our favorite breakfast place, "Jim's Family Restaurant", then we went and saw "Valentine's Day". It was okay, if I were to recommend others I would say wait until DVD release. Then spur of the moment I decided, hmm maybe I'll go get the tattoo I've been wanting. This is the first time I've gone and been the only person to get one. Is it like drinking, when you start doing it alone then you know you have an addiction problem?? Just kidding, I think my new tattoo is really pretty and will add some color next to my existing one. Jeramie and I had a fun day together.

It's still got the stuff on it, so it's hard to really tell what it'll look like when healed yet.

Monster Jam 2010

So tonight we went to go see the monster trucks at Monster Jam. It's funny because I heard about it on the radio and as a mother of more boys than girls I thought it would be fun. Well one little tid bit I will share is that if you ever need to buy tickets for an event at the Delta Center it is well worth the time and effort to drive down there to get them. To buy them through Smith Tix would have cost me almost double!! So instead one day at lunch I drove up there to get them. Right in front of the east side of the building is some 15 minutes parking spaces (free) so you can run in get your tickets and not have to feed a meter. SOOO worth the effort. I was in and out in 5 minutes, having saved a LOT of money. Also, as another side note there is a Crown Burger one block North of the Delta Center (I know, I know Energy Solutions Center), anyway if you eat dinner there they will give you a parking pass for their parking lot and let you park there for free! Anyway, after I bought my tickets someone who will remain nameless (to protect the innocent) said to me, "I saw a commercial for that on TV and wondered to myself, who the heck goes to those things??!" Hmm .. what does that say about me? AND my excitement to go?? HAHA! Oh well, I thought it was really fun and I'm pretty sure that we'll go again. I did buy earplugs to take with us, and also brought the noise-cancelling earphones to put over the kids ears. The earplugs worked great for the adults and the earphones worked pretty well for the kids.

Jackson checking out the track with Jonathan.
Wyland REALLY enjoyed himself.

Baylee blocking the noise while listening to some Miley Cyrus.
Wyland being such a good boy (it didn't last).
Let the show begin!

Look how cute he looks!
The trucks were really cool!
They also has some Supercross bikes (where they do tricks)

This one is Medusa (she's driven by a girl). Wyland cheering them on.
Fun was had by all!
This was the last run, Gravedigger.

Can you tell he's not quite centered?
Oopsie!
We didn't wait around to see them flip it back over.

Flashback Friday

Our family when we still lived in England and before Evan came along.

Wordless Wednesday

Disney-Bound!

So we're planning to take the kids to California early this summer. We are planning to do the CityPass that you can get that includes 3-day DisneyHopper, Sea World, Universal Studios, and the Wild Animal Park or Zoo. As I start entering into my planning phase (as I like to plan such adventures) I wanted to ask if anyone had any suggestions / tips / etc? We want to do it as cost efficient as possible so that we can spend our money on fun things rather than boring food. So I just wanted to throw out the question and see if anyone had any feedback. Things that work, things that don't work, warnings .. you know .. that kind of stuff.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Little Boys Go Boom!

So last night I was upstairs getting my boys ready for bed. I walked back down and was talking to Jeramie on the couch. The boys were making their way down behind me, but they were playing in their room when I left. Next thing we hear is boom .. boom .. boom .. and two SCREAMING children. I should mention that one of my greatest fears is my kids falling down the stairs. This could have something to do with the fact that Baylee had the whole falling down a couple stairs incident where she blacked out, that FREAKED me out. Plus at the bottom of my stairs there is like this window bench. Which to me is a big opportunity for injury, I just see someone cracking their head open on it. Now that Baylee is older I still worry about her falling down the stairs all the time. I'm always telling her, "careful on the stairs .. don't go to fast .." etc. Reminds me of my Nanny (grandma) and her famous saying, "Careful 'round the corner!" Remember that, Mike? Anyway we make a mad dash for the bottom of the stairs and thankfully there was no blood anywhere. I thought I detected a bit of a fat lip on Jackson and a bump on Wyland's head. As the evening progressed Jackson's nose continued to get more and more red. Needless to say this morning he looked a mess!! Don't mistake it for bruises .. he actually has RUG burns on his nose!! He didn't want me to take his picture and he really doesn't want to talk about it much. He did however tell Grandma Robie this morning that he was trying to put Wyland on his lap to go downstairs and somehow this was the end result. *sigh*, boys will be boys though.

Flashback Friday

Evan always idolized Mike.

Wordless Wednesday