Happy Birthday Grandpa

Happy Birthday to my wonderful Father-in-law!  Living by you and Nana has been the biggest blessing in our lives.  We are so grateful you followed us up to Washington.

 Madeline would hug you a 1000 times a day if she got her wish!  You're such a great grandpa!

So fun to always celebrate happy days with you!  Happy Birthday!

Mimi!

We sure were happy to have Mimi come for a visit!

 She gave each of the kids the same card, "you're my favorite!"

 She helped the little boys bury me while I had a nap on the floor

 And she buried them too

 And of course, we had donuts and pie and dutch bakery while she was here!

 Sunday we enjoyed The Interfaith Coalition Choir Festival.  Our Stake choir sang and it was a lovely afternoon.

 My kids were surprised at how many churches use drums and electric guitars in their music.  It was a neat experience for all of us.

 And Oliver was just thrilled when Mimi brought the cardboard houses upstairs.  Mama never lets that happen.  lol!  What fun!

I had such a good time just being with my mom.  Having the company and support.  And watching the joy in my kids while she's here.  They sure love her.  What a blessing it is to have her come visit.

Hooray for Carpet and Finished Rooms

My room was very ready for Madeline's room to be ready:

 And after hours of organizing and rearranging, Madeline's room is finished and better than ever!  She is thrilled with the new arrangement, and so am I.  I'm proud of her for letting go of a lot of things and being open to new ideas.  Her room seems twice as big now.  And so does mine.  haha!

 Meanwhile, Oliver keeps impressing me with his tricks.

 And Ethan is finally 100 pounds!  He is so proud of himself.  Even if he did have to drink a few glasses of water to get there.  ;)

Overall, the house is done.  We still have missing baseboards in several places throughout the house, but that will be a work in progress for some time to come.  But the repair work on our house is complete, and that feels nice.  It's amazing how awesome it is to have carpet in the hall upstairs.  After a month of just floor boards, it's almost weird to have it so nice.  We are enjoying it so much!

Vancouver

Our friends won two free night stays in Vancouver and gave one of them to us.  So, this past weekend, we ran away from the chaos of carpet install and messy houses and kids and fled the country to have a much needed 24 hour get-away.  

 We enjoyed walking around the city to find sushi

 And ended back at the restaurant in the hotel for some massive and incredibly delicious desserts.  We shared both and gave our best effort, but couldn't finish them.

 We spent the morning shopping at the designer outlets in Vancouver.  It was so much fun.  Todd was such a good sport just following me around from one shop to the next while I oohed and ahed at everything.

 And he even smiled as I bought a little thing of beauty.  I love Kate Spade!

It really was so nice to get away for a minute.  We needed a break from our messy lives and pretend for a minute that Todd's truck isn't broken AGAIN, or that we aren't all getting attacked by colds, or that every room in my house has stuff from others rooms in it while we get new carpet.  I think leaving for one day made it easier to think about tackling all of that again.  And at least for the home repairs, we are on the home stretch now.  So that's good too.

Valentine's Day

This wasn't exactly the surprise I wanted to wake up to, but the kids were THRILLED!

 They liked my pancakes too.  I felt like such a good mom since I NEVER make a hot breakfast.  So this was pretty epic.

 While I made our tradition of a fancy family valentine's dinner, the kiddos built snowmen.

 They turned out so cute!

 You can see them frolicking through the window while I set the table for our dinner.  They had so much fun in the snow that the little boys didn't even fight the pink plates I set for them.  lol!

 Happy Valentine's 2018

 Yes, I cut the pepperonis into hearts...I really like Valentine's Day.  Because I love pink and hearts and chocolate and flowers and mostly because I love people and especially my people.  And I love thinking about how I love my people.  It's just a really good day for me.

 Molten Baby Lava Cakes

I also like thinking about God's love and end up feeling pretty full in every way by the end of the day.  I have a lot to feel grateful for, even in the middle of chaos.

Stuff

My room is starting to look like a 10 year old girl's room.  Or a storage unit.  We've been busy trying to empty Madeline's room out in preparation for new carpet.  It has been ordered.  Just waiting for it to come in.  In the meantime, I've been amazed at the quantity of stuff my daughter has crammed in her room...I'm thinking we'll need to revamp before I let her put it all back in!

Where have professional painters been all my life?!  They painted 6 ceilings, and three rooms in an afternoon.  That would have taken me weeks.  And now that the painting is done, the plastic wall has been removed and my children can once again practice the piano!

 Madeline made a secret batgirl hideout

 I had a nice date with Ethan (even though I look a bit tired...)

 "Look at this trick, mom!"

Drywall Done

Drywall Complete! 

 Now I just have to clean the layer of dust off everything...

Painters coming soon!

Happy Birthday Todd

Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband.  He's so faithful and loving and hardworking.  Best father and best friend!

 Cooper is notorious for blowing everyone's candles out first.  Not Dad's though!

February Focus

It kind of seems like we are getting tested on our family theme this year.  I hope we can pass the test.

House

I managed to squish the pantry contents over on the counter so we have some workable space.

 And I put half of it in the laundry room.  Now we can use the kitchen.

 The sheetrock is now finished.  They left quite a mess but I'm glad it's done.  They were fast and that sure is nice.

 I'm a little sad they weren't more careful with my wallpaper.  It's going to be awhile before things are normal again.

 Todd and I managed to fit our entire basement into my sewing room.

The piano is safely tucked away for now...

 And if no one steps on a tac strip during the next few weeks, I'll call it a win!

I'm glad Cooper is starting to feel better and no one else is sick today.