Spring Break

The girls have been on spring break all week and it has been wonderful! We seriously have not accomplished much and had quite a few lazy days. The only time we left the house was to go to the library and grocery store. I did not want to travel far (at all) this week and so we didn't. It just felt good to have no schedule, besides a few chores, and no obligations. So this is what two little sisters and one baby brother decide to do one morning. Pile all the blankets and pillows on the floor and JUMP!!

The kiddos had so much fun! And then afterwards since we had to clean up the mess, why not change the sheets and make the bed. It turns out that the kids had fun and mom gets a clean bedroom. Yaaah!!!! 

Somewhere in this spring break I actually had time to sew. I finally finished the curtains for the sliding glass doors in the dining room/kitchen. I have had these curtains lying around for years. I love the color and wanted them to work so I used some clearance tablecloths to fix them up a bit. The curtain started out looking like this..

and all I did was add about 2 feet to the bottom hem to get this..

I love the little surprise at the bottom! Very happy with the way it turned out. It is a lot of fun coming up with all the finishing touches on this little kitchen of ours. I am so thankful!

I hope this Easter is special to everyone as we remember the sacrifice and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Matthew 28:5-6



Signs of Spring

So glad spring is here! We get to go outdoors (without 5 layers of clothing on), watch flowers bloom, and get the beloved Power Wheels out of storage. :) 

Spring is not here until I can hear these trucks racing around the house. Our kids love these trucks. In fact, we have had to replace the motor on a truck twice!  They get used daily and the batteries get charged every night. Every time we head outside Asher wants in one of the trucks. If the girls are not home he will get in the small truck and drive himself! He has mastered the foot on the pedal, but not the hands on the steering wheel. So I walk beside the truck and steer for him.

Another sign of spring is our magnolia tree. It is so beautiful! All the pink and purple colors and the smell of flowers everywhere, absolutely wonderful.

As soon as the flowers started to open, I got my camera out and took some pictures to share.



It actually bloomed two weeks early this year. These pics were taken last week when it felt like summer outside. Sadly, these flowers don't last long and are now mostly laying on the ground waiting to be raked up. So here are a few more pics of this beautiful tree, just because I won't see it again until next year.





I can't help but think of the Lord when I look at his creation. Just as this tree opens up its flowers in the sun and praises the Lord, so do I. "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name." Psalm 103:1  A beautiful verse and song. :) 



Backsplash on Clearance = Mine!

Yeah, I love clearance stuff. Especially when you can find something that you have been searching for months for. Dustin and I were on a date and we decided to head over to Menards because well, there was nothing else to do. We were just going to look at what they had and we both liked it right when we saw it. It is a natural color and I think it will go with everything else.

We are also going to try this.

It is a tile adhesive that sticks to the wall, eliminating the mess with mortar. You just peel, stick, grout, and enjoy! (I copied that from the box.)  :) We are not finished with this project yet. We only had time to apply the adhesive to the walls. I will give an update when we are finished and let you know how it turned out.

I am so excited to inform everyone that Dustin is officially done with school!!!!!!  He made it!!! We made it!!!! And we are still alive to talk about it!!  Monday was his last school day and he has a review class next Monday.  Then, the big test is on Saturday. It is the last five years of school combined into one test.  Please keep him in your prayers. He has worked so hard and sacrificed alot of time for his training.

Lord bless you and have a great day!

  

Sewing Project and Stuffed Animal Repair

So..... I have been on the look out for kitchen curtains for the longest time. I just can't find a set that I am in love with. They are either way too expensive or they just don't look right. I don't know why I am being so picky, I just want everything to look right. So, I was in Target a few days ago and I headed straight to the clearance sections (because I love that little red clearance sticker!!).  I just so happened to find the most beautiful tablecloth. It was love at first sight!





Target only had these 3 matching tablecloths left.  I found 2 long tablecloths that will fit our sliding glass doors, and 1 round tablecloth that I will trim and sew to fit the kitchen window. Our kitchen and dining room are connected and I need both sets of curtains to match. These will work perfectly. I hope to complete this sewing project this weekend and take some pics to show you.

Lately, we have been having problems with our dog Mello. Not big problems, just weird problems. He has some obsession with taking a stuffed animal and biting off the nose and eyes on it. I don't really understand why. I thought dogs were supposed to tear a stuffed animal to shreds. Not Mello. He prefers only eyes and ears. Case in point;

The poor, defenseless, stuffed dogs didn't have a chance.  Allison came up with the idea of giving them a new nose. We searched my button box and found some cute ones to add to the dogs. But we didn't stop there. Allison wanted to give them fur accessories. And this is what we came up with.

I think they look much happier and cheerful. Allison was so happy! Then she started to look for other injured animals and found a wounded horse. No problem! (Update: small dog in the middle has already lost his yellow nose, and it is nowhere to be found.) 

At the rate Mello is chewing up noses and eyes, every stuffed animal is going to have something hot glued to them! But it was a lot of fun and Allison definitely enjoyed it!







   



So long February

I just checked the last time I blogged and it was a LONG time ago. Apologies to my 3 faithful followers:) To keep a long story short, our computer monitor went out and it took us a while to find a deal on another one. When we finally purchased a new one and set it up, we started to have problems with the new screen being too 'new' for our very old computer??! Sorry if this is confusing, I really don't understand it either. If you are really concerned just contact Dustin and he will tell you what is really wrong with it. :)
Anyway, onto the littles! I know I have said it before but I love Costco! And now I am totally convinced the girls have felt the love too. They set up their own Costco for the dollhouse people!

They laid a blanket down and set up shop. This Costco sells arks (animals included!!), furniture, real horses, and just about anything else the girls could set up.

Life wouldn't be the same if the dollhouse people were not included in our daily activities. The girls always think of their well being. If we go to Costco, the dollhouse people go to Costco. If we go to church, the dollhouse people go to church. Plain and simple. I was just thinking the other day how sad it is going to be when Emma and Allison grow out of this stage. I think I might even miss these plastic people. Thank goodness that day is not today.  :)

My little man has turned quite into the animal man. It all started when Grandpa Bill gave a Noah's Ark toy (the same ark on sale at Costco!!) to the kids. Now he is totally obsessed with it.

He will set up all the animals and then try to make all the noises that animals make.

 Although the horse he is holding in the picture doesn't growl, I love Asher's little face when he pinches his nose and makes a loud roar!  We can work on correct animal noises later. That little face he makes, simply puts a smile on my face!

I plan on posting the huge kitchen before and after very soon. We still have not put up the backsplash, trim, and curtains. And quite honestly if we waited till that day, it may be summer time! Dustin and I can not agree on the backsplash. Who knew that a little ceramic tile could cause such a fuss! So the after picks of the kitchen will be without the backsplash and some other minor details.

Have a lovely day!

Progress In The Kitchen!

We are so close to completing our kitchen remodel! My dad spent the last week building a pantry for me. He is super talented when it comes to carpentry work and he even knows how to run electrical wiring. He installed our recessed lighting in the kitchen and also added 4 more outlets for me!  I now have a total of 6 outlets in my kitchen. Yes, I need that many outlets. Pretty much, wherever you are standing in the kitchen you will be able to plug something in. The reasoning behind my outlet madness is that my old kitchen only had 2 outlets. It drove me crazy! So I asked my dad to install 4 wall outlets along the L-shaped countertop, and then one on the side of the island and one on the side of the kitchen desk. I know no one else really cares but it makes me so happy! Thank you dad!  The pantry turned out great and we really need the storage. We recently became Costco members and we need somewhere to store all the food and paper products we have purchased. By the way, LOVE Costco! Anyway, here is a picture of the frame my dad built for the pantry.

This space was originally where the fridge was located.  When we moved the fridge we had this open area that we didn't know what to do with. We didn't want a small counter/cabinet there and I thought it would be too small for a pantry. We decided to stick with the pantry idea when we came upon a pantry door on Craigslist that matched our oak cabinets. It was only $45! A brand new pantry door at Lowe's or Menard's sells for $160 and up. The only problem we had was that the door was 4 inches too wide. So my dad came to the rescue and took 2 inches off both doors. I think he did a wonderful job! You can't even tell the doors were trimmed.

Now that the pantry is complete, the tile floor can go down. Dustin just started working on laying the tile tonight. :) :) We were able to get the tile on clearance for 50% off! It just makes me smile when I say that. Who doesn't love a deal?!! Here are photo's of the tile.

YAAAAAAYY!!!!!!!! Good bye floor from 1954! Hey, that rhymes.

I will leave you with a funny photo of our dog Mello. I was trying to do Allison's hair one day and he wouldn't leave me alone. Then he kept getting caught in Allison's hair and it was so funny. So here is a before shot of him, that is kinda silly.

And here he is with some curly locks!

Sorry Mello, but you asked for it.

Have a great weekend!! 



Saturday Spectacles

I love Saturdays! The kids are home and I get to tackle projects that I can't complete on weekdays. One of those projects was to clean out our tiny linen closet. So I removed everything from the closet and I found a small bag full of my old glasses. I didn't think anything of it but when the girls saw the glasses it was like finding buried treasure!



As you can see from the picture, Asher got a hold of the top pair. Does the outcome surprise anyone?
Anyway, the girls went nuts over them! I first had to pop the lenses out of the frame. After that, their imagination went wild! As soon as they put the glasses on, they suddenly transformed into people they know who have glasses. (Luckily, I was not one of the people they pretended to be. When the girls act like me it is so embarrassing to watch.)

Here they are at church with ALL their children. Allison had eight kids and Emma only had one. They also had to bring ALL their purses and diaper bags. These girls know how to pack a pew! They played like this for an hour and then they came back to reality. Of course, they had to keep the glasses on!

In other news, we are now working on the floor in our kitchen! I am so excited! Here is a picture of the backer board going down. You can see the original green 1950's floor. It is just screaming "Cover me up!" So that is what we intend to do!

My dad installed the backer board himself and when Dustin gets the chance, he will install the new tile floor. Dustin already measured out all the cuts he has to make to the tile. Asher HAD to help his daddy with the measurements!

Asher had to make sure there were no mistakes!

Asher can be very helpful sometimes. Just don't give him a pair of glasses ;)