Kitchen Pictures

Ok, at long last I have a couple of pictures of our kitchen. Unfortunately, I was in too much of a hurry to CLEAN the kitchen before taking them, but at least they show what a difference a little red paint can make!

Here's a before shot of the backsplash, which has bothered me since we moved in. I could handle the textured white walls just about anywhere else but here because there was no way to even wipe behind the kitchen sink. Needless to say, almost 3 years after we moved into the house, this area NEEDED some wiping.
So we sanded the walls and put on two coats of this beautiful red paint. Doesn't it look MUCH better?



We also painted the red color on the lower half of the wall in the dining area of the kitchen. Stay tuned!

Dog Toys

I'm only two weeks late with this one....

So my mom and I assembled the Easter baskets for the boys the night before and Owen and Sammy's looked pretty good. They were chock-full of stuff we knew they would love: Star Wars videos, Spiderman umbrellas, Yo-Yo balls, new kites, etc, in addition to some candy, of course. But William's looked a little sparse. Now, true, he's only 16 months old so what could he possibly want for Easter? I had a board book for him, new socks, a hairbrush, and a bendable rubber bunny toy, but what else could we give him? He's not at the point where we want to give him too much candy, so we filled his plastic eggs with animal crackers instead. Chris, though, in his infinite wisdom stopped at a 24 hour grocery store and found this little lamb...

in the DOG TOY AISLE! It's the cutest thing EVER! I think it was only $4 and it has a great squeaker in it that sounds like a crying lamb! William LOVES it! He just needs to push on it and it cries and he laughs EVERY TIME! Chris also pointed out that because it's a dog toy, it will be more durable than most kids' toys and with all boys at home, "durable" is a word that definitely grabs me! Anyway, he loves his little lambie and we think dog toys for kids might be the wave of the future!

Rain Rain Go AWAY!

Is the rain EVER going to stop??? It's been POURING for so many days now, I've completely lost track. On Saturday morning, I had hoped to be able to take the kids outside for a few hours before I had to go to work, but as it turns out we were able to go out at 8am for a total of FIFTEEN MINUTES before it started to rain. I didn't want to seem too upset about it, so I cheerfully told them "April showers bring...." and Owen chimed in with "MUD!" Yes, Owen, that's about right!

Bye Mom!

Well, I dropped my mom off at the train station this morning so by sometime late this afternoon, she'll be back in Detroit. I only took a couple of pictures while she was out here (which I just now realized!) but that's because she mostly worked the whole time she was here. We did get the projects done that I wanted to and now I will just sit and wait until she sends me back the curtains and pillow covers she's going to make at home with the fabric we bought. I'm so very excited to see the finished product! Hopefully it will be in about a month or so.

Although it's nice to have company, it will also be nice to have our quiet little home back. We've gotten used to just having our little family and being on our own out here in Wisconsin. We live a pretty peaceful existence with very little drama and not a lot of outside influences. We feel really fortunate to have the life we do.

On her last day here, my mom took us out to Chili's for lunch. I am a little embarrassed to say it's my favorite restaurant, but that's mostly because we don't have a lot to choose from out here. Anyway, I had the Chicken Quesadilla Explosion salad - INCREDIBLE!!! I am STILL dreaming about it! When she put that huge salad in front of me, my first thought was that I'd never be able to eat it all, but oh my gosh, I tore right through it! If you haven't tried it, trust me - it's AWESOME!

My mom watched "The Painted Veil" last night and said it's the best movie she's ever seen. I couldn't stay up that late, but now have to watch it so she and I can compare notes. I hope to get around to that tomorrow night. Tonight I am going to bake chocolate chip cookies to thank Chris for being so good to my mom while she was here. :)

Busy weekend coming up!

We've got almost everything done on the kitchen project. We'll put on the last coat of red paint tonight (hoping it will be the last one we need anyway!) and then cover and mount the new cornice boards. I can't wait to take the pictures! I have to work on Saturday and that leaves just Sunday with my mom. I'm hoping we get everything done by then so we can just relax and enjoy our last day together. I also have to borrow the ladder from our neighbor so I can get the tape down from the ceiling in the living room so that we can truly enjoy our work in there without staring at all the ugly tape.

My sweet William is sick. Poor little guy! Raging fever and lots of congestion in his lungs. When he gets sick, he's so pathetic! We have some medicine for him and hope he will get better soon.

I've got the movie "The Painted Veil" to watch tonight once we get our work done. I'll have to let everyone know how we liked it. So far during my mom's visit we have watched "Changeling" (good movie, but had no idea it was a HORROR FLICK!) and "Charlie Wilson's War" which we ALL (even Chris!) really liked! This is more movies than I've seen in 6 months! Woo hoo!

R&R???

I thought my mom coming would be relaxing, but so far it hasn't been AT ALL! She keeps me going all day and night - where on earth does she get the energy??? On Sunday night we painted the two walls in the living room and I'm very happy with the results. We were up until midnight doing it and I am so sick of being on an extension ladder, but it was worth it. I will post pictures as soon as we get everything done, but it might be a while since she has to take the material home to MI to make the pillows for the couch. Anyway, it's all coming along quite nicely.

I haven't taken too many pictures of the kids with my mom but promise to very soon and post those, as well. William just ADORES her, I think mostly because she feeds him non-stop. That's all it takes to be his buddy forever! He is the most adorable little guy EXCEPT when he's hungry. Then you'd better WATCH OUT!

Happy Easter to all! My mom will be with us another 6 days and I have to work 5 of them. Oh well - at least I get a couple hours with her at night.

Is it Mom time yet?

I am counting the minutes till I pick up my mom at the train station - just about 4 hours to go, so that's 240 minutes, no? She is promising to let me rest and put my feet up while she's here but I don't know how I feel about her doing all the work while I just watch. Regardless, it will be so nice to have her with us. Oprah says every woman needs a wife, and that's what my mom has become to me!

I got the paint last night and am pleased with my color choices - of course they're not on the walls yet! I have always had a problem picking paint and had asked Chris to do it, but he didn't so looks like we will both have to live with what I picked. I was having a crisis the last couple days re-thinking my choice of doing red walls in the living room. I decided it would be too much, so am instead doing the red in the kitchen/dining area but only 1/2 way up on the walls. That way, it won't be so overpowering. I had a red kitchen when we lived in MI and I loved it, so it will be a nice reminder of that cute little house where we started our life together.

Work is getting crazy. It seems they are just now realizing that the economy is in turmoil and that although it ALWAYS gets busy in May, it's not going to this year. So now they are all over us to sell, sell, sell and I've begun calling all sorts of people, hoping for a lead or two. Not a lot of fun, let me tell you! I hope everything starts to pick up soon. Otherwise, I am concerned there won't be a job for me when I come back from maternity leave in November! YIKES! :(

It never stops!

Well, after the weekend I've had, I sure could use some rest! In addition to all the activity, I got really sick on Saturday night. I just toughed it out on Sunday morning for church and breakfast with my friends, but then CRASHED Sunday afternoon. I was able to take a 1/2 day yesterday to go home and get some rest, but in hindsight I probably should have just gotten a hotel room. It's not easy to rest with both Owen and Sammy there (Owen is on spring break this week).

Chris took the older boys for haircuts yesterday while I stayed home with Sweet William. He quietly pulled the drawer front off our new end table - what a piece of crap! Chris and I solemnly vow to NEVER buy that stupid press board furniture again! UGH! We are definitely taking both pieces back to Target but have to suck up the fact that Chris spent about 4 hours putting them together. So mad!!!

So I guess I will have to start combing garage sales for decent furniture that is SOLID and just needs to be painted or refinished. We sure can't afford brand new solid wood furniture! Isn't it sad what this world has come to?

Busy Weekend

It's Friday but it sure doesn't feel like it, considering all that's going on with us this weekend....

First, I have friends coming up for dinner tomorrow night and the house is WRECKED! I was going to clean it last night, but what's the point when the kids would just be there to mess it up today anyway. So I figure I will get all the cleaning, meal prep and baths done tonight. (That seemed like a good plan last night while I was sitting on the couch, but maybe not so much when faced with the reality of having to do it ALL today!)
Tomorrow I have to work in the morning (BOO!) and I was unable to get a sitter (DOUBLE BOO!) so now I have to drag all 3 kids to work at 8am and pick up some breakfast for them on the way. I'm not entirely pleased with this arrangement, but one perk is that they won't be at home messing up the house I clean tonight. And they will have fun, too, as they never seem to get out of the house. So we'll race home at noon-ish and finish up dinner preparations.
I am so excited for my friend, Nikki, and her family to visit because her son is just 10 days younger than William and I'm hoping Jackson can show him some moves. William walks now, but not a lot. Maybe after spending time with Jackson he will realize it's the only way to get around. Funny he hasn't gotten that from watching me, Daddy, Owen and Sammy yet. Maybe he thinks Dope's the only one who'd got the right idea!
On Sunday, I serve in the church nursery at 9am and then will meet Nikki and her family for a late breakfast before they depart. No plans for Sunday night so I will put my feet up and relax before another long week - my mom arrives on Thursday.
Good news! I got word in the mail yesterday that I've been approved for the state health insurance so looks like I'll be making a dr appt soon and hopefully scheduling my ultrasound. Woo Hoo!
Have a great weekend, all!

That little SNEAK!

Chris caught William walking yesterday. He came out of the bathroom and watched William walk from the bed to the door, close the door and turn around. When he realized Chris was watching, he immediately dropped to his knees and laughed. I KNEW IT!!! What a little punk! He's probably been walking for the last 3 months but didn't want us to know, for fear he would give up his cushy position as "the baby." I have a feeling we are going to have a REAL problem when the new baby gets here! He is going to be INSANELY jealous! If it's a girl, I imagine things will be even worse.

We will find out the sex in another 5 weeks or so and I'm so excited. It just doesn't seem like I can truly get used to the idea of a baby coming if I don't at least know what to name him or her. We have decided not to reveal the name until the baby is born because I don't like it when other people give you their opinions (mostly negative) on a name you've chosen. When that's all you have of that baby, it's almost like they're insulting the actual baby rather than the name. So we will just keep our choice to ourselves until he/she comes out to claim the name.

In other news, I am still waiting to find out if I'm going to be covered under the state health insurance. It's a long process and I'm due now for another dr. appointment but I refuse to go until I find out if it will be covered. Ditto for the ultrasound - if I don't get this insurance, I will have to go with a homebirth again and that means no ultrasound. I will be so depressed! I prefer the homebirth, actually, but I am really hoping to find out the sex in advance. Well, I've submitted all the documentation now so we'll have to just wait and see.