Who Was I Kidding...Oh Myself

Yes, I was kidding myself. You see I look at lots and lots of home decor blogs, pinterest, before and afters, DIY craft blogs, etc. and I theoretically think it would be fun to do that, but really I don't have time. So I'm scratching the "house made pretty" blog idea from my to do list, so I can actually accomplish some of my more pressing to do items. I guess that's one way to accomplish something, right?

In the last four weeks we have been SUPER busy. We were very busy before that too (well at least Matt was). Obviously we celebrated Christmas. It was great. The kids loved it. We stayed in Vegas and celebrated with Matt's family. I have a picture or a hundred somewhere that I will hopefully post a little bit later.

The day after Christmas we started the big move...oh my was that an undertaking. With Christmas shopping, the kids being out of school and having a really helpful two year old I wasn't as packed or prepared as I should have been. Plus I think I might be a somewhat organized hoarder. We started the move on Monday and we got the last things out of our house on Wednesday. Matt did lots of little fix up projects on the old house on Thursday and it was painted on Friday. The really great people who are renting from us moved in on Saturday. It was a whirlwind to say the least.

The new house is great. There were still quite a few things to finish up in it in the first few weeks that we lived here (the first week we had one working sink in the whole house and it was in the master bathroom). As of today all of the sinks in the house are now working. We have blinds up, (almost everywhere). The house functions. Not everything is unpacked (1/2 of the three car garage is still in boxes) and we need to purchase quite a bit of new furniture. But we are getting comfortable here.

My favorite part is the kitchen. Everything has a place, it's so great and I am so happy with how it is turning out. There are some paint touch ups that need to happen and new barstools to be bought, I haven't decided on the backsplash, but overall it is more than I hoped it would be. Here are a few before and afters....

So Excited

We are getting a new house!

It will be big enough to not feel cramped, but not too big. The backyard is large (and full of dirt and weeds right now).

It's going to be awesome...it's not so awesome right now. But it is getting better every day.

Matt is working his tail off making it everything I want it to be.

I've been picking paint colors (10 sampled so far, haven't decided yet), kitchen cabinets, bathroom vanities, floors, doors, trims etc. It's been really fun. Well, not the paint, that has been annoying. I can't seem to get it right. I want a bluish grey greenish color for the entire house. I have picked the trim color...it matches our cabinets, that was easy.

I'm planning on starting a separate blog about it (housemadepretty.blogspot.com)...but haven't done that yet because....

I am addicted to Pinterest....LOVE it. I've gotten tons of ideas on things to do to our house (which means more projects for Matt :0) I love having an incredible carpenter husband.

This month is going to be BUSY!

True Love

she is positive she is his favorite

Halloween Parade

Batterman had their annual Halloween parade again this year. Parker's costume was a hit with parents, teachers and kids. Papa came and walked the parade with the kids and then helped in Parker's class at his party.

Going to the parade at the elementary school every year reminds me of the parades we had at Howard Wood. I remember how great I thought they were, marching around to the Monster Mash. The principal yelling over the microphone, the disorganized rambunctious kids, the parents taking pictures, the crackly music playing, it's still the same. I think the costumes were better when I was a kid, there weren't a lot of duplicates. There was one class yesterday that had at least 5 Grim Reapers. And there were some moms who were dressed as slutty bees, nurses, witches, etc. And walked around in the parade...what? Although that does add to the entertainment level. ;)

Halloween 2011

Every year I try to come up with something for the kids to be that kind of coordinates, and every year they shoot me down. It happened again this year. Will was a dinosaur, Maggie was an angel, Parker was a LEGO man, and Kate was a bee. The one good thing about this....EVERYONE was pleased with their own costume. So losing the coordination battle was worth it. Matt and Parker worked on making his costume for weeks. And I made Maggie and Kate's costumes. Will was the only child we bought a pre-made costume for. I just couldn't get enough creative juices flowing for one more.

We had friends and family over for dinner and went trick-or-treating as a big clan. It was lots of fun.

Kate...the actress

First Day of School 2011

7th Grade

Kate has a part in her fall school play, The Knights of the Rad Table. The performances will be at Faiss Middle School on Thursday, December 1 at 6:30 pm and Friday, December 2 at 6:30 pm.

Catch Up....Again

It seems like I am always playing catch up with this blog. So much has happened since my last post. Just normal stuff, but lots of it.

Our 13 year anniversary - we went to dinner at the Chart House and to the Country Music impersonator show. I can't remember the actual name. It was pretty good, but a little uncomfortable. I always think it's weird to watch someone pretend to be someone else. Especially when that someone else is still living.

River Trips - The first week there we spent with Honey and Papa, Bridget, Paige, Claire, Chelsea, Andrew & Juliet. Kate became a very proficient slalom skier. Matt & Ruben both bare footed and Parker skied on two. He tried and tried to slalom, but couldn't quite get it. William was thoroughly entertained by his cousins. The second week we went Noelle, Anna and Miller came.

Parker's 9th Birthday - He spent the day with his Dad. First on a helicopter ride over the Hoover Damn and Lake Mead. Then a movie with Dad & Talon. After the movie we had family over to the house for dinner and dessert. He was very happy with his day.

Heber Vacation - we spent almost three weeks in Heber this year. The first week Melinda and Carole came to spend with us. The last two weeks Honey and Papa came and we spent lost of time with Noelle, Bridget, Beth, Marci & Emily and their kids. Matt came up for the last few days and to drive home with us. Love, love, love Heber!

Will's 2nd Birthday - two years already! He is a very funny kid and his eyebrows keep us entertained. He is saying a lot of words. He is a total boy. He loves anything that has wheels. Right now his favorites are trash trucks and choo choo trains. He scrunches his little lips up into and pucker and says choo choo. It's adorable. And when he hears the trash truck outside our house he gets really excited and we have to take him out to look at it. The garbage men must think we are crazy out there waving at them.

River Trip - We went to the Parker strip with Matt's family for our third and final river trip of the summer. We had a good time. The kids and Dad's jumped from the cliffs. Kate was the only kid who jumped from the highest one. She regretted it though, she had huge bruises down the back of her thighs from landing a little wonky. William LOVED the boat, but didn't like being in the water until our last day there. Maggie is more of a lay around and play in the sand & water type of kid. She really doesn't have any desire to do anything behind the boat other than tube. Parker and Kate do it all. They love to knee board, jimmy jam, tube, ski etc. Anything that can be done behind the boat they are willing to try.

Our summer has been happy and busy. I'm both dreading and impatiently anticipating the start of school. This was our first "real" summer and it's been great.