New light fixture

This is a lot of rambling... things I want to remember about this new adventure in our lives! So if you just want to skip the reading and look at the picture that's perfectly fine. :)

We got a new light fixture for my bathroom yesterday. And just like the wallpaper project, Steven ran into some problems. [Sure signs of how torturous -yet rewarding- this home makeover's going to be.] He took the old one down and the hole was off-centered! So he had to remove a tile from the wall, [the bathroom has tiled baseboards] and cut it in half, so he could then move the vanity over so the light would be centered. So weird that it wasn't!

Then came the difficult part. The box that's inside the wall, that you mount the fixtrue on, is obviously old- its circle shaped and the newer ones are square. So it took him awhile to get it all figured out, he finally did and the screws were too long because of the mounting unit being different. So he had to cut them. What should've been a simple project ended up being over an hour long ordeal. Sheesh!

I want to either get a framed mirror or somehow frame this one. The edges on this one are slanted, so I don't know if I can frame it. We can't move the fixture up but the mirror needs to be lowered so the light's not reflecting directly off of it. I'm also switching everything to bronze and Steven and his Dad are going to texture the wall so all the patches will be covered. So much to be done!

My head's been spinning! We've been at Lowe's sooo much lately. We bought a new garbage disposal yesterday- its so strange how I get so happy over things like that! We've been having problems with the one we have right now for so dang long! But I can't use it yet, pointless for Steven to install it now since we're going to be replacing the sink anyway. And we found the place that carries the backdoor I've been wanting! Just need to take the measurments in so they can order it. Yaaay!

We already discovered a problem with the flooring. Steven's dad extended the kitchen years ago, where the original kitchen ends, the floor goes up like 3/4 an inch- its not perfectly even. With tile its not an issue but with the flooring we want it is because it snaps into place. We knew we'd have to level the kitchen out, but what we didn't think about was where the kitchen and living room meet- now the that entry way is going to slope up and be uneven just like it is in the kitchen. So we're going to have to have some sort of step down/slope down- which sucks.  New carpet's an option- we both love carpet, it gives it such a homey feel but its soo gross at the same time. It stinks its not going to be perfectly, evenly flat. This is turning out to be way harder than I thought! So many decisions to make. Its fun and stressful at the same time. But I'm so happy to be in this position. :)

"New house" project #1- laundry room.

Sunday we went over to Steven's parents' house to get all the details about buying this house.

After his Dad is finished working on a few jobs around here [we told him about them awhile ago, but you know- out of sight, out of mind!] they're going to the title office to draw up the papers and soon we'll be paying a morgage instead of rent! Exciting. :) It looks like we'll be doing a 15 year loan and our payments [plus taxes] won't be much more than we're already paying- awesome! There was a leak inside my bathroom wall so part of the shower wall is knocked down and to look into the wall, he had to remove a kitchen cabinet and cut a hole to see where the leak was. So its kind of a mess over here right now.

I finally wrote out a To Do list and its HUGE. I wasn't sleeping well with everything going threw my mind and I instantly felt better when it was written down. I'm still having trouble falling asleep because I'm soo anxious and excited to get started.

Anyway! Since I can't go crazy and get into the big projects yet, I decided to redo the laundry room. I started around 4 and didn't get done til around 10 last night- sheesh! And it seemed like such a simple project. It was really squished in there because the washer and dryer were in my way, so moving around took a lot of time. I would've started earlier but our good friends Ryan and Brittany [and baby Tristan!] were in town saying byes before Ryan heads off to bootcamp- love them.

To start out, I had to remove the wallpaper border- PAIN IN THE ASS. I read blogs: score the paper [puts a bunch of little holes in it so the remover seeps in], spray the remover, scrape off. Sounded easy! The scoring tool ended up being totally useless. The remover wasn't soaking through the top laywer of wallpaper so I had to peel it off then spray it on the adhesive part. AND the scarper we bought was way too sharp and diggining into the wall so I ended up scraping it off with a credit card. As I was doing it, I had Steven google DIY remover: warm water and vinegar. UGH! So basically we wasted our money on everything we needed to remove it. Oh well, lesson learned.

Finally it was off! The worst part of painting for me is the taping. And I had a lot of stuff to tape off. I was a little bummed out at first because it was way brighter than I wanted. But when I was done, I loved it! Its still not totally done but here's it so far:

[I painted more than what's showing here.]

I plan on doing "before and after" pictures of everything we redo. Today I bought a new rug and pretty switch plates. To the left of the "laundry room" is Steven's bathroom. Its all one big room. He really likes the color and wants the whole bathroom done in it... I told him I'd consider it if he helps.

Wednesday

The kids are still with Grandpa so I figured I'd update about our morning real quick.

I was looking at the bunnies on the fridge and thought we need to do a new craft! I went through my "Kids" board on Pinterest and saw sidewalk chalk paint- perfect! The one I pinned, she smashed the chalk with a hammer than added water, didn't want to do that because they always use their chalk. So I googled the recipe, its soo easy. I should've added more food coloring so it was brighter though.

They loved it!

 I painted Aiden's hand and Rian saw me, she wanted me to do hers and after three handprints, I told her to do it on her own. She spent so much time painting her hand and making prints- cute. It was especially cute when she painted her hand, then pushed down on the one that didn't have paint on it. :)

Their masterpiece... well our's. There's a little more to the right but I couldn't get it all in.
[I color-boosted it so it'd show up better.]

Aiden ended up in the pool so I put their suits on and we hung around outside and they had lunch.

His applesauce dripped down and he was eating it off of his chest- made me smile.

We still had time til naps so I decided to workout. I don't like doing it during naptime like a normal Mom, that's my breaktime! I don't want to spend it working out. So they laid down and watched Barney.

Made a new recipe from Pinterest tonight- oven-baked chimichangas. Mmmmm they were SO good.

[the recipe calls for 6 but I ended with 5 because my first one was huge.]

I topped mine with El Pato, tomatoes, olives, cilantro, sour cream and homemade guacamole. I'm so stuffed!

My blog's turning into nothing but weekend recaps! Oh well.

A couple of months ago we looked around for a bike for Rian. The only style they had in stores was waaaay too small for her, even though it said ages 3-5. We decided we'd get her the same kind as Aiden but we'd have to order it and it just never happened. Friday night my mom texted me that they had it in pink at Sam's Club! Aiden got his last Christmas and barely learned how to peddle, Rian learned how to shortly after he did.

She didn't get to ride it til yesterday.

Saturday was Rachel's Senior Prom- WHAT?! I just can't get over it. Things like this always make me so emotional, I'll probably cry at her graduation. Nuts she's this old! She got a scholarship for the local college here, I'm so proud of her.

She looked beautiful.

She went with one of her friends, Jose. When I was in school getting asked to prom wasn't an "event" like these days... like they did on Laguna Beach! They have Spanish together and everybody had to do a project then play it for the class, at the end of his video there was a picture of Rae, then the next shot he asked her to Prom- cuuuute! I went over to her best friend's house where all the girls were getting ready. It was so sweet to see all the couples first looks at each other, they were all so excited and nervous- to be young again!

After that Steven and I took the kids to a little diner we'd never been to- it was good! We had a movie date planned for the next day but decided to go that night instead, I finally got to see The Hunger Games! Loved it.

The next morning we went grocery shopping, soo nice to do kid-free.

I like this picture of Steven.<3

We didn't do much the rest of the day til we went to my parents' house for dinner, then came home and watched our Sunday Night movie like always.

Yesterday we got the kids a little pool, we get a new one every year because they get holes or break from the heat. This one should hold up, I think. We grilled and spent most of the day outside.

Catching air!

We're going to be in the triple digits by the weekend- I'm SO NOT READY for it to get that hot. Boo. And it'll be sad because all my pretty flowers are probably going to die. :(

Today we're going to have another "Fun in the Sun" day before it gets too hot to do anything outside. Maybe I'll have a margarita... yum! :)

Easter!

This weekend was sooo fun and busy. I'm sad its over.

We dyed eggs Thursday night. Rian kept saying they were for Daddy and Aiden would tell her they were for the 'Eastuh Bunny.'

They loved it, of course!

Friday we went over to Grandma's house to see Auntie Beck, Uncle Tim, Ryan and finally meet Jake! I love my nephews, they're so sweet.

Cuzzies<3

[I love this picture, I look at it alllll the time!]

Saturday morning we planned to go to a couple of Easter Egg hunts. We missed the first one and got to the second one early. It was awhile til the "hunt" but they had games and there was a playground nearby- also hot dogs and popcorn.

It wasn't even a hunt, they just laid the eggs in a circle and the kids grabbed them- it was over in like 20 seconds. Oh well the kids had fun!

Babies!

Kim was also in town, her and Brian came over for awhile. I miss her.

Then that night we went to the fair! A huge group of us: Mom, Dad, Rae, Steven's Mom and Dad, Rebecca, Tim, Steven, me and four babies! I took a bunch of pictures but not too many came out because of all the lights and fast rides- I want a new camera. Here are just a few:

Hi Momma!

We wanted them all in one car but Aiden wanted to be in this middle in his own.

 The kids were so happy on the rides, a few of them scared us Moms but they had a blast!

My souvenir! I love photobooth pictures.

We had a little scare while at the fair. :( Aiden busted his head on a slide. He went on it twice last year, all by himself! Such a little guy. I was so nervous last year but this year I didn't think anything of it. Here's him last year:

That huge slide is where he got hurt.

It was his turn to go down so I was walking up to the pad where they land, as I was walking there was a loud BANG and everybody gasped. He came out sideways and screaming. I picked him up and my hand got wet- blood. A lady told me when I picked him up his eyes rolled to the back of his head [omg, omg, omg.] Steven was still up in it with Rian, no idea what was going on and I just wanted him to hurry up and get down. We rushed him to the First Aid station, we knew one of the guys and that made it a little more comforting. They said he just had a small cut and abrasion but to still look for signs of concussion. Scary!

The next morning. He has a pretty decent-sized goose eggs. Poor baby, he's a tough guy! He wanted to go on it again right after I picked him up.

Easter Bunny came for a visit!

After naps we went over to Steven's parents' house for Easter dinner. And Tim had a huuuuuge Easter Egg hunt set up for them, it was fun!

We watched Hop last night and had a camp out in the living room.

Happy Easter!

I'm sad they had to go back home today. It was such a fun weekend. I wish they lived here and our babies could play together all the time, they love their cousins. :(

Pizza pizza.

We're a family of pizza lovers! Its easy to ignore how bad it is for me because its yum yum yum. But since we don't want to gain a hundred pounds, we make it at home a lot instead. We pretty much did the typical pizza style with marinara sauce til last year on Steven's birthday- I made my first bbq chicken pizza. Since then I've made chicken alfredo pizza and buffalo chicken blue cheese pizza.

Last night Steven had a meeting and I was planning to make the kids a typical pepperoni pizza. I was looking in the fridge and a lightbulb went off- teriyaki chicken pizza! Hmmm.

It came out SOOO delicious!

I topped it with teriyaki chicken and sauce [of course] broccoli, red and green onions, sesame seeds and a tiny bit of mozzerlla. Since it wasn't something I planned for, it didn't have too many toppings. Mushrooms and bell pepper would've made it extra yummy. The kids gobbled it right up. They'll eat anything in pizza form! Can't wait to try more and more different pizzas.

April already!

Not a whole lot going on around here. As usual, the kids are keeping me busy and driving me crazy every second of the day. Saturday night I soo badly needed a break, so I locked myself in the bedroom. Everything was fine til Steven came in to ask me something and when he shut the door, the kids lost it. So Rian laid in bed with me til I put her down and then it was Aiden's turn. He fell asleep with the BIGGEST smile on his face, it was so sweet.

Spending lots of time outside!

A couple of weeks ago Steven brought up asking his parents if we could buy this house. I was iffy at first but then agreed. The pros outweight the cons. His Dad said he'd sell it to us, we just haven't really sat down and talked to them about everything yet. Of course there are things I wish were different about this house, I wish the living room was bigger and more open to the kitchen and I wish our room had a bathroom. And more storage space. But there would be things I'd want to change about any house we'd buy. Every one we looked at in the price range we wanted had such teeny, tiny rooms. The three rooms in our house right now are all about the same size. So we'd be getting a bigger room but the kids would be getting smaller ones- we only sleep in it so I'm not too concerned about having a bigger room... though one day I might get brave and decide to take some walls down ha! I love the giant kitchen this house has- one of my favorite things about it. Most of the yards would take so much work, ours is already in progress. It'd be soo expensive to have to seed a new yard and blah blah. Plus Steven grew up here. Its the house we brought our babies home to. I love that they're growing up in the same house as their Daddy, so many memories are here. Just because we buy it doesn't mean we have to live in it forever. Maybe Aiden or Rian will raise their family here too. :)

Steven met with the loan officer yesterday and he gave us a check list of stuff to bring in to get the loan. So slowly slowly things will happen.! There are SO many updates I want to do- I can't waaaait! New counter tops [butcher block!] I want to paint the cabinets... I'm thinking white. And I want the cabinet doors to have glass so you can see in without the doors having to be off. I think I might totally take one down though and put shelving in, we'll see. I really want a farmhouse/apron front sink. We want to extend the island countertop so it can also be a breakfast bar. And definitely new flooring and light fixtures. The kitchen tile is horrible! The carpet in the bedrooms is fine but the living room carpet is so messed up. I want some sort of wood look. Steven's dad is doing their flooring right now and I really like the one they picked. Its not real wood but its not laminate. Ahhh I can't wait til its ours and I can get busy. It'll probably still be awhile though.

Painted the chairs pink last week. At first I didn't like how light they turned out but now I love them.

I went to Goodwill yesterday to see if they had any chairs [we need more! We can't have anybody over to eat because we don't have enough sitting space] but they didn't. I was feeling bummed because I was going to be leaving empty handed, that never happens! I always circle around a few times- there's so much, you miss stuff the first time. Well I'm SOO happy I did because I hit the jackpot! I've always been in love with my Mom's old Pyrex stuff but its so expensive online.

I got all three of these for $14!

I'm so excited for this week: County Fair, Easter, friends and family and I finally get to meet baby Jake! Can't wait to see the kids together again.

I love where Aiden put his eyeballs. :) I put Rian's on, she was trying to put them on the ears!