Back in school & more kitchen pics

1st day of Kindergarten!

Woot woot!

So adorable and so proud!

The Bus was very late. So I didn't get any good shots of her getting on the bus.

But I got some the other day, but I thought I would keep them in sequence.

So Charlotte's in the pm class which means pick-up is 11:45.

Here is Nora getting off the bus on her 1st day!

Woot! Woot!

Her bus stop for pick up is at 8:20am, down the block at the corner with some 2nd graders.

I actually took some pictures in the am, but I thought the ones of her getting off the bus came out a little better.

She's wearing her new boots. She loves them because she picked them out with her Dad at Target and they remind her of Wizards of Waverly, and still rocking the occasional Hannah Montana tee.
Oh yes....that black vest is glittered!
And you can never have enough denim leggings!
Four pair at last count!

Big News!
The kitchen floor is in!

Oh it's beautiful!
I'm in love and we're going to put these hardwoods throughout the house!

I left you with a glimpse of what my new windows looked like, so here they are in full.

Love the circle window. I've never had one before and I've always admired them.

It's just cool.

The other windows have a crank and I can open them all for a major wind or just one for a gentle breeze!

You can see my counter tops here.
Ugh.
That was difficult.
A story for another day.
I'll also take a better photo of them when they are not dusty!

A brand new stainless steel bottom freezer refrigerator sits in the near corner.
Yes, I have polished it up since this photo was taken! :)
We're actually painting the cabinet doors today.
Getting exciting around here!

More kitchen repair

We're replacing one wall of windows in the kitchen.

Replacing drywall and adding a whole new ceiling.

Holy crap.

Let me get my camera was my reaction to this hole on the side of my house.

That's our veggie garden next to the house!

Our garden is quite big. We ate the corn. It was delicious and the tomatoes are never ending.

Unfortunately the veggies piled up while we were without a kitchen, but lucky for everyone else because we were constantly giving it away.

Oh yeah, back to the kitchen. Within a day that giant hole turned into this.

I can say with pride I helped quite a bit.

Well... with all the lifting, cleaning, and swearing!

But Craig's been the real beast!

I can scrapbook again?!

A little break from my home improvement stories to tell you about my little Nora.

Yesterday my little kindergartner Charlotte and my first grader Nora got off the school bus and Nora stormed up the driveway yelling at Charlotte,
"You lied to me! You said you would sit with me on the bus!"

Charlotte, age 5, already a pro at avoiding conflict calmly tells Nora,
"I didn't see you."

Between me & you, I think she saw her!

Charlotte has just been busy sitting with her newest pal from her kindergarten class, Lila. She likes sitting with her new friend, she knows she can see her sister at home and play with her then.

Nora doesn't have a friend from her class on the bus. It shouldn't be a big deal, but Nora is very shy and unless someone makes a move to sit with her, she'll sit by herself. I also think she's been looking forward to sitting with Charlotte on the bus.

So yesterday, Nora blew up at her sister and underneath her bluster I could tell she was very sad that she sat alone. She cried, we hugged and talked about maybe sitting with someone else who sat by themselves. Maybe that person just wants to sit with someone too. She felt better after our little talk and we read some books together (Charlotte banned from the room by Nora's decree!)

So I sit here hoping that today will be better. I told Charlotte to sit with whomever she wants and her sister will do the same. If you want to sit together, if you don't want to sit together, that fine too.

So it's only our first full week in the bus and I'm really hoping all goes well today. My heart hurts so much when my girls' hurt.

Be back later with an update and maybe finish my kitchen story. :)

ETA : Charlotte sat with Nora on bus Friday, but she kicked and pinched Nora. Nora wanted to report her sister to bus driver. But thankfully she reported Charlotte's behavior to us. Charlotte....Argh.

I used to blog once

I used to blog once upon a time.

Then I bought an awesome house with great "bones" in a fantastic idyllic neighborhood.

We (Craig & I) were going to turn this old ranch into our dream house. Years of subscribing to magazines like Cottage Living, House Beautiful, Martha Stewart's Living, This Old House, and every other magazine I can't think of right now.... we were ready to abandon our brand spankin' new McMansions and create the perfect home!

What a colossal pain in the a**!!!

We've done this before 10 years ago with our first house. It was dirty and disgusting, but we were young and tore that house up inside and out and made it a beautiful and unique home.

Fast forward 10 years, we're at it again. We're older, busier, and now with two kids and a dog, this has been harder than even I could have imagined.

It's terribly draining physically, mentally, and financially.

I worry about the NAILS sticking up and out everywhere!

"Wear your shoes" "Don't go in there!" "Don't touch that!"
were (are) daily admonishes!

The whole house felt inside out. The kitchen was a wreck, 2 bathrooms in a state of wreckage, and our two main rooms were also construction zones. The dust and dirt was incredible. I felt like I traded my nice life in for this stressed out mess and I felt like I was suffocating!

A home should be your refuge, your safe place, but I felt ours was anything but! Just the opposite, it was place I just had to get out of everyday!

So I would wake up and take the girls somewhere everyday. The mall, museum, a movie, walks down by the lake, playgrounds, get us all haircuts and many a time, we just went to Grandma's house.

But things have gotten better lately.

Long holiday weekends that give Craig extra time to work on the house.

Craig has been amazing with all the work he's been putting into the house.

I don't think I'll ever say it enough, but he's a real champion when

he has the time to get this stuff done. Nobody works harder than him, balancing his real job, remodeling a house, and still fitting in time to spend with his little girls.

It's been amazing to watch him.

Now with school in session, I'm not running around trying to think up things to keep our girls entertained daily. Yay for school!!!

And that's not all.

There's a kitchen that is definitely making a comeback in a major way!!!

These photos are only part of this story. More photos in tomorrow's post of a kitchen at it's darkest hour (eek!) and (dare I say it, dream it!) it's future glory!

Patience grasshopper.

what we're obsessed with.....

1. Always new scrapping supplies. I can't help being in any store and looking round for something I can use in a mini album or layout. I bought some cool travel stamps at Anthropologie the other day. I was looking for a skirt, I bought stamps. :P

2. Swimming swimming and more swimming! We can't get enough pool time. And maybe one day I was obsessed with buying the girls some swimsuits at TJ Maxx. Can't beat buying a Nike suit that was originally $70 for $10. Love running into deals like that!

3. We are 100% obsessed with the TLC show Toddlers and Tiaras. It's my fault. I was flicking the channels around one rainy afternoon at my mom's house and ran into a marathon. I abhor and adore this show. As the mother to two little girls, it's kinda fascinating but a real trainwreck! Now I know what's a formal dress and what constitutes full glitz. It completes me! It's definitely been my summer guilty pleasure!

4. Finishing my sister's album of her trip to Las Vegas. If you ask me it is the most awesome album I've ever done and it's already gone from my house.

5. Arranging my crafting supplies. I want to get some photos of my scrap room for prosperity but I start organizing and immediately somehow get inspired to make a project and abandon all motivation to organize my room. Soon it will get done!

Hi Summer

Well Summer is in full swing around here.

See my little girl blowing me her last kiss as a kindergartner?

Next year it's a full day of school when you're in the first grade!

This little one still loves playing dress up and wearing her endless supply of eye shadow

she got for her birthday. Our preschool days here are over. Next year Charlotte will be in the afternoon session of Kindy like her sister was this year.

This guy is slowly destroying the house around us still. I thought I would take a picture of him painting though. I don't want to show you the bowels of our house. That's right.
We're down to the base flooring around here and walls without drywall. :(

Our garden is absolutely thriving!

It's so green and beautiful!

The deers think so too.

If you look at the tomato plants on the right, you can see they are missing their tops.

Down to the bare stalks.

We set up a barricade last week and it seems to be working.

Soccer is still going strong and swimming lessons start this coming Tuesday.

Plus with other stuff we've got going on, we've been very busy this summer.

I've been scrapbooking everyday and I feel like I'm getting kinda caught up.

Some days I get 3 layouts done and the next day a two pager.

My basket I keep my finished layouts in is almost full and I need a niece

to come over and put them into albums for me again. Hint...hint!

Taking photos of them doesn't get done in the summer. I finish them, hang them in my scraproom until the next one takes it's place. I've been a scrapping samurai these days!

So until next time....

We wish you and your family a happy and safe 4th of July!

Happy Birthday Charlotte!

Eek! My little Charlotte Jane is five years old today!!
I can't imagine my life without her!

She's only five, but already one of the funniest people I've ever met! She is the best little girl. I laugh every single day because of something funny she says or does. She does it intentionally to make me laugh too! She is kind, friendly, and such a joy in our lives!

Boy, she is smart too! Always eager to learn and ready to spell and rattle off her ABC's or birthday or whatever!

And don't you wrong her sister Nora!

Never did a sister have a fiercer defender! If on the playground or tot lot, someone takes a swing or toy away from Nora...watch out because Charlotte sees all and won't let you get away with it!

She's still my baby though.

She still lets me hug and squeeze her and sometimes talks in that baby talk that only I understand much to the dismay of her father!! :)

Boy, I love this baby so much and everyday I give thanks to God she is in my life!

Happy Birthday Charlotte Jane!