Let there be light!

Mom came and helped us with the wiring today. We put up 7 can lights, 10 outlets, a light switch, and we ran wire to the breaker box which was on the opposite corner of the basement! It's amazing how much brighter it is in that room, but going from one light to 7 will do that. Plus...it was really nice to get to visit with Mom.

Found some cuteness!

I was looking through my phone pictures and found these gems of cuteness:

The soffit

Here is the progress on our basement this weekend:

It is a room now. All we have left to do framing wise is finish the soffits. So we're close to making our goal of being ready to wire by spring break.

Ryan bought the girls new bikes this weekend. Kaylee likes to do laps around the block...we have a nice little circle path through the neighborhood where the girls will not have to cross any streets at all. Kaylee can stay on the sidewalk the whole way. She and I have done three laps today! Alexis got a big bike. It's really cool though because it has the stunt pegs on the front and back tires. She's still learning to ride. She made it for 5 seconds without Ryan even touching her this afternoon. She could have gone longer, but she got scared and asked him to grab her again. She fell and scraped her elbow and knee yesterday...and thank goodness she was wearing her helmet because the front of it was scraped up too. I'm so happy the nice weather seems to be sticking around! I'm so done with winter!

Sprung!

Happy first day of Spring! I thought this day would never come, but here it is! And I've been having the sinus headaches to prove it.

The 2nd grade musical last night was awesome! It was a really neat program about standardized testing...pretty comical. I was just amazed at the great job the kids did...it truly was like a production. The kids had dance moves and used microphones. When I say dance moves, I'm not talking about hand motions....for real dance moves! It was really neat. I think all the kids had lots of fun. I know Alexis did. And for all you family members that couldn't make it, we bought a copy of the DVD that we can pass around. Trust me...you want to see it!

It's been a pretty busy day for me so far. I'm finishing up laundry. I finally got around to killing the mold in the basement (I really think it was already dead, but better safe than sorry) and I've been cleaning here and there trying to rid the house of any left over germs. I'm hoping I can actually get to filling nail pops later this afternoon...we'll see.

On that note, I've taken enough of a break.

It's a beautiful day

We are having a pretty good week. Though, at the beginning of the week it seemed like it was not going to be very good. The dryer was overheating, Kaylee missed school on Tuesday because of downed power lines, Alexis was sick, and a few other unlucky things. But, I fixed the dryer, Alexis is better, and the weather is just beautiful!

At church last night, our final song for the evening was "Jesus Loves Me". Not only was Kaylee able to read the song title in the bulletin, but she stood up to sing and started laughing and giggling so much about singing the song that she made herself cry! Talk about being filled with the Spirit! I'm so proud of those girls for being so good at our Wednesday evening services. They just sit and draw...sometimes Kaylee whispers too loud, but for a time that is usually their "wild n' crazy" time at home, they are really, REALLY good!

Alexis's musical is tonight. She's really excited for us to see it. She was a little bit nervous about forgetting her lines this morning, but I told her that she would be great and that she shouldn't worry because everyone is there to just have fun and enjoy the show. Nobody would be mad at her if she forgot anything.

Well, that's really everything that is going on with us...I'm just glad I'm able to do laundry today....I never thought I'd be happy about that, ha!

Yet more basement...

Hurray for doorways! It really doesn't look like we got much accomplished, but we actually did. We moved the dryer vent, finished one of the walls we had started last weekend, framed for our french doors, and started working on the soffit that will also support our remaining wall. We got most of the work done yesterday...then Alexis woke up with the stomach flu in the middle of the night last night. So we were only able to work a little bit today before I got too tired and woozy to do anymore. Ryan's still down working a little...not sure what he's working on...but I'm sure he's being productive. Alexis is asleep...I'm pretty sure she's running a fever now, though I didn't take her temp...she felt really hot to me, so I gave her some tylenol. Unfortunately, if there's one illness I am an expert on, it's the stomach flu. Hopefully no one else will catch it...but I'm pretty sure we will...it's just what we do...share!

A Friday Fill-in

I thought I would try it out. This one is from last week I believe...


1. Letting someone cut in line at the grocery store yesterday was my last random act of kindness.

2. Another place is no place for me. There's nothing like being home with the ones you love!

3. I consider myself truly blessed in matters of the heart.

4. Coffee, tea or pumpkin pie...truly I think I could live on coffee and pumpkin pie.

5. A fork in the road creates separate paths.

6. Our incredibly loving and intelligent children remind me that there is great hope for the future.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to Alexis having a break from school and Ryan having a break from work, tomorrow my plans include putting up more plastic and studs and Sunday, I want to go to church and work on the basement even more!

Little Mommy

So as I type, the girls are playing with our next door neighbor-boys. This is really the first time I've let them play over there without me watching. Ryan has been hinting that it's time to let the girls play outside by themselves...it makes me nervous. Growing up in the country, we never really had to worry about somebody just driving by and snatching us. Roger and I would spend all day playing out in the woods without even being able to see our house anymore. So, I really think the fact that living around actual people....not separated by farm fields and forests...is what is causing my worries. I'm really glad that the kids next door are good kids and the girls like to play with them. But...it's taking all of my will power not to go out and check on them every 5 minutes! (or even just peek out a window at them) But you know what the funniest thing is...little mommy Murphy is sitting at the back door just crying! You can't see the neighbors back yard from our back door, but she knows the girls are out there somewhere...and she's really worried about them! She's such a little mommy doggy...she has to go and check on the girls almost every night when we go up to bed. And she was really distressed when we came home without the girls on Sunday. It's just so sweet.

Murphy turns 10 tomorrow!

More Basement...

The weekends are certainly going by way too fast!

Mexican Cantina!

Here are pictures of the kitchen freshly painted (but not all cleaned up):

And here are some pictures of my "Little Helper":

Alexis and I both said something about it looking like a mexican restaurant. It really does, but I like it. It makes me hungry for pumpkin pie, that's for sure! It took me only 12 hours to get it done yesterday...and I had done the taping the day before. I really have no desire to ever paint a kitchen (that already has cabinets up) again. The girls both helped a little last night, And Ryan did the corner I was too short to reach and then some trimming above the sliding glass door. Unfortunately this morning, I've already found a couple of places that need a touch up, but that usually happens...you can see so much better in natural light as opposed to "imitation" light. Ha!

Anyway, I like it!

My favorite things

...procrastinating once again...oh well. I just thought I would list a few of my favorite things that I use around the house....maybe that will get me motivated to do something :-)
1. Spray -n- Wash Max with Resolve power: This stuff gets stains out even after washing and drying several times. It's really great stuff!
2. Tide Total Care: It prolongs the beauty of your clothes...reduces piling, fading, etc. And it smells nice!
3. The Works toilet bowl cleaner: for YEARS I had been trying to get the hard water deposits out of the toilet bowl...I even scrubbed it with steel wool, scotch brite pads...you name it! This super cheap toilet bowl cleaner removed all the stains in one application! (it's just over a dollar a bottle at Target)
4. Clorox/Lysol wipes: I started using these when it seemed we got struck with the stomach flu once a month. They kill the germs and are super convenient. I use them everywhere...bathroom, kitchen, family room, on remotes, phones, you name it!
5. (Perhaps my best find) Electrasol with Finish dishwashing tablets: Over the years in this house...the build up of hard water on the dishes has been horrific! I had this beer glass I got from the Rathskellar that had gotten so cloudy it almost looked like opaque glass. One wash with that tablet and it is completely crystal clear again. And my chrome pots had crusty white build up on the outside...nice and chrome again! It's amazing stuff! No more water spots on my silverware either.
6. (This is a consumable item) Seattle's Best-Henry's Blend: this coffee is better than the starbucks you actually get at starbucks! It doesn't have that burnt flavor that you sometimes get when you make starbucks at home...it's yummy stuff. I've been getting it for $5.99/lb at Target...though last time I was there, there was only one bag left. I don't know what we'll do if they stop carrying it.

Anyway, that's my list of favorites! Now I guess I'll go clean the kitchen....

It's been one of those weeks...

It's been hard to find motivation this week. I've only exercised once...I really haven't kept up on cleaning...I find myself just sitting most of the time. I guess it started Monday when I woke up with a really bad sinus headache...then my stomach has been hurting almost every afternoon. But it's not like I haven't done anything. Monday I pretty much did absolutely nothing, but yesterday I took Kaylee to school. Today I paid some bills, went to the post office, and to Menards to get some paint. Then Kaylee and I hit Wal-Mart (man I dislike that place!) for some small items, like the bleach to kill the mold and some soup making items that I realized I needed. But that's as productive as I've been all week. I have plans to paint the kitchen on Friday. That means I'll need to clean and tape tomorrow. I'll have to do laundry sometime too...maybe that can wait until Monday. Anyway...I'm looking forward to church this evening. I really enjoy out Lenten services.
It probably doesn't help that my allergies are acting up this week. My throat is beginning to get itchy along with my eyes. Maybe that's a good sign though...spring's coming...I can only hope! I'm definitely ready for warm weather...well, I guess I never really was 'ready' for cold weather!

Progress

...just thought I would post some pictures of the work we did this weekend. It really doesn't look like much, but we felt like we accomplished a lot. Most of these are pretty much before pictures, but we do have most of the bottom and top plates cut in the first 5 pics. Then the last two are the wall section we got done yesterday.

















We realized when we had the top plate and three or four studs put up that we had forgotten to put the vapor barrier up...woopsie! But, as you can see, we were able to get it behind the studs. We also discovered some mold on the floor joists and sub floor along the wall we were working on. Chances are it has been there since the house was built because I remember a lot of standing water in the basement and on the upper floors as well. This is the first time we've ever had a spot light shining in the basement. I checked all the other areas of the basement and this is the only place with any mold. It should be pretty easy to clean up, so hopefully that will take care of it.
Also, I was expecting the vapor barrier to be clear, but it's black. I don't think that will make any difference though. As long as it keeps the moisture out we'll be good. Our basement is really pretty dry as far as basements go. We tested an area of the basement wall for moisture and after 4 or 5 days, no moisture had formed on our test plastic. So now we're taking the week off and we'll hopefully have some time this coming weekend to get some more walls up.
I think I've picked out a paint color for our kitchen. I'm not sure when I'll actually go get the paint and supplies or even when I'll get a chance to paint, but I'm glad to have a color picked out.