Our New Family Game...

Our family has Family Game Nights...they aren't scheduled, we just kind of throw it out there at dinnertime. Every single time, they get excited to play games with us...At first we played a lot of Zingo, then we got Guess Who for Christmas and we were playing that all the time, and now it is Uno!

I used to play this game ALL the time with my grandparents and even my whole family at holidays (we were big time card players), but it came into our family because of childwatch at the YMCA...One day, I was working out and a really nice lady, Kerry, taught Tyler and Kelsi how to play while they were in their daycare. Tyler LOVED it...When we visited with Aunt Joan a couple weeks ago, we mentioned it, and she pulled out a brand new deck! We took it home and play it a few times a week!

Tyler loves it but gets VERY competetive and Kelsi likes it too but, like usual, she can be all over the place! They both actually get the game...they can match colors and numbers and LOVE their wild cards...Overall, it is a fun game for our family!

Dentist Visit...

I love these pictures...I love how big they look in the dental chair and how little they look at the same time. I am proud of them (and happy for me!) that they will walk right into the dentist and get in the chairs...they aren't scared and they really don't even need me! Tyler goes in one room and I start with Kelsi...I jump back and forth to check out how they are doing (and take a few pictures!).

This is only Kelsi's second time at the dentist and she got an A+! Her teeth are beautiful! This is Tyler's 4th time and he got a good report too! His teeth are getting the "picket fence" look, which apparently is great because it allows room for the adult teeth to grow in. Tyler has already had a cavity...just one though....They drilled it and filled it WITHOUT novicaine....and he was totally fine!! I was stressing because I thought it was going to make him scared of the dentist, but it all worked out amazingly!! I am proud of my big kids (and a little sad that they are getting so big)!

What I see almost every night...

Almost every night, I work on my computer in my office and Douglas sits on the couch with his laptop and fishing shows. He is watching fishing shows WHILE reading fishing forums. He literally sits in the dark by the light of the computer and the television...Many times I find him sitting up in that position, sound asleep! His little head popping up on that computer is just so cute!

Our facelift...

With the changes of our kitchen came a couple of outdoor changes...We swapped out the front door & front window and got rid of the side window. When we changed the front window, the new one was looking a bit small, so we also added shutters - something I had always wanted! The first picture gives an idea of our old front door, then the new one was put in, and the window and shutters!  



Kitchen Progress....

Over the course of the last month, I have tried to document our kitchen process... It started on Valentine's Day with a complete gut, and the final pictures are where we are today....March 12th, almost one month later!

First we gutted and got a new front door. Then the wall to the dining room was opened up and a reverse tray ceiling was built down over where the island will be.  We also changed out the old front window for a smaller one and got rid of the side window...this made room for more cabinetry. All of that was done by Shawn H and Brett. Douglas started working on the recessed lights and electical items, and then put in the insulation. We lived with plastic over the doorways to try and keep the dust in the other rooms to a minimu. during all of this. Rodney put up the blue board and then plastered the walls and ceiling and then Denny installed the hardwood floor, stained and did two coats of poly (close to three dayw where we needed to be out of the house!).

George installed the cabinet bases and Douglas finished up the lights...It was then that it began to look like a kitchen! The appliances arrived next and the day after that, Roger installed the granite. I am in awe at how much cabinet space we now have and how grand the kitchen feels compared to our old one. The cabinets are so tall, that I can only reach the first and POSSIBLY second shelf - so we have already bought a big step stool!

We already have the stools for the island (after our first set were too big for our island), but we have to sand down the feet of the stools and add the pads before we can use them.

Tony came to install the faucet and hook up the sink, BUT when he went to do it, we second guessed our choice because it was too small... He will be back this week to install all of that and our fingers are crossed that the cabinet doors will be ready by next weekend. George needs to come back to finish up the shelves, toe kicks, crown molding and door.  Once all of that it done, we have to paint the trim and walls!

It is getting there!!

Cute Story, Funny Saying...

When I picked up Kelsi from school today, she announced that she had told Andrew that he is her best friend... in return he kissed her!! She thought that was so cute, so she told him that she loved him. Tyler said to her, "You should have said, "Aw, shucks" when he kissed you. That is what they do in my book." I couldn't help but laugh at that...which of course led to the two of them repeatedly saying, "Aw, shucks" a zillion times in a row....I am telling you...they seriously crack me up!!

 (Pictures from a few days ago - on the way home from Auntie Joan's house)

Tyler's First "At Home" Haircut...

In February, Tyler had his first at home haircut. Douglas decided that it is something that he can do and save us that money. Tyler was all for it at first, but once he got in the "at home" chair, it took some getting used to!  As you can see in the pictures, Tyler started in the chair with a towel around him, but by the end there wasn't a towel anymore AND he was on the counter....all of that transition happened while also whining because he was eating hair, being itchy from the hair on his skin and worrying about me finding him a prize (like he gets when he goes to Snip-Its). Douglas had just bought this set of clippers and had to figure out which clippers to use when...it took a little extra time, but he was reassuring me that he knew what he was doing (the exact quote was, "I used to cut my friend's hair all the time" - which I have to point out was about 15-20 years ago...haha). I do have to say that on the first hair cut there was a couple botched spots, but by round two, Douglas had figured it out! Tyler is also getting used to it and is sitting for him much better now!

Tyler's Ongoing Love....

Tyler's love affair with dinosaurs has been going strong since he could first talk around 2 and a half. For his third birthday party, he chose the theme dinosaurs for his party at Gymboree. We geared all of the songs and activities to focus around dinosaurs (I clearly remember the Laurie Berkner song

 We are the dinosaurs, marching, marching) and we even bought a dinosaur shirt and matching socks (for him AND Kelsi!).

Fast forward from 2008 to the current day of February, 2010, and he still has an ongoing love affair with dinosaurs!  He plays with them daily (creating battles & imaginary scenes that incorporate anything around him!), watches movies about them, checks out library books on them, and of course has moments where he acts like them! His love has grown into a thirst of knowledge for them....he knows names of dinosaurs that I haven't even heard of and can tell you if they are a herbivore, carnivore or omnivore, amongst other facts. He will correct you when you read the name incorrectly and he constantly refers to himself as a dinosaur expert. He is dying to go to a dinosaur museum and see a real dinosaur skeleton...and we will...someday!