Illness

I think I have been stricken with the illness known as Vacation-Fever. Maybe it's the gloominess of the weather and the days that have been seeming to go on forever. But I can't help but start thinking of something to do and somewhere to go.

Our May Vegas trip plans are well under-way. And we are excited about that trip and have enjoyed planning it. However, we just got word that our Seattle trip in August has been postponed for another year until August 2011. So that got me thinking "Should we go somewhere else instead?" hmmmmmm

As much as we love the normal trips that we try to make every year to visit family, we have been talking and really think that it's time for us to take some trips with our little family. Which will mean that we don't get to see family as much and we will miss everyone, but we think it's time to get out and about and see new places and since we don't have the money to do both, we may have to sacrifice the family trips for at least a couple of years. Sorry Omaha family, but remember that you are ALWAYS welcome to come visit us here as well.

A couple of options that I am considering are the all favorite Disneyland/California vacation. Or a friend also suggested taking a Yellowstone trip with their family. I am up for suggestions as well if you have any, let me know.

Vacation-fever is a fun, but dangerously expensive illness. I am afraid it's going to get worse before it gets better. Does anyone know if there's a cure?

Swim Lessons

We finally got Caleb back into swimming lessons. He took a few before when I worked at Westminster and we were unable to keep schedules aligned to keep him going so we are starting over at our rec center. Since it's been so long, he had to start at the beginning level again (Starfish) and had his first lesson tonight. Mike said that he did pretty well at dunking himself under water and a listening to the teacher. However, he said that his backfloat was hopeless. Here's hoping we can stay focused and keep our schedules aligned during the next few months to get him through all the levels and let him become a little swimmer.

Reward

Caleb had his 3 week tonsil check up on Friday and the Dr. said that everything is looking great. So it was time for Mom to pay up on that Chuck E Cheese promise I made him for being so brave about the surgery. Mike didn't feel up for the trip so he stayed home with the babies and we made it a Mommy and Caleb date. We had a good time playing and eating pizza and picking out prizes at the end. Caleb doesn't like the singing animals so we stay away from that part when we go.


And this was the best part. We ran right into Chuck E as we were walking back to the table to get our coats and leave. Caleb was so excited to get a picture with him. It was a fun trip and a good reward for an awesome kid.

Let There Be Light

Painting the kitchen unleashed a huge home improvement bug in me. There were still a couple of things I wanted to do in that room so Mike and I took care of one of them this weekend. We got a new chandelier for the dining area. If you remember from my previous post here was the old one.


And after about 5 tries and an 1.5 hours later (I never said we were good at home repairs) we finally got a new one up. I love it and it's so much brighter in this area with it on.

A much needed replacement. Now only one more thing to go! Oh and we picked out colors for painting the family room and hallway sometime soon. Mike is thrilled (as you can imagine). I'll keep you all posted on all of our house updates.

Princess Pants

Mike and I were invited to a party last night for a friend of ours birthday. We got a babysitter (thanks Juli and Cliff) so that we could enjoy some adult time. I packed and bag and got all ready to go and off we went just to pull into the babysitters driveway (30 minutes away) and realize the diaper bag was sitting at home still right where I left it.....great! So Juli improvised and used her daughters pull ups when she needed to. So both of our boys came home in Princess Pants and after breakfast this morning when Zaric stripped himself I couldn't resist taking a picture. Too funny.

Trying Something New

My friend had started trying out some iron-on vinyl for some projects with her Cricut and I had been wanting to try it out but was a little bit afraid of it so I kept putting it off. That was until Mike decided he really wanted me to make him some "nerdy" shirts that he's been wanting so when I was out and about on Friday, I picked some of it up and tried my hand at it. It was much easier and more fun than I thought it would be, I was impressed and really liked using it.

For those of you that don't talk "nerd speak" I will explain what these mean:


Mike's is the maroon one. It reads DAD in binary (computer code). After he told me that's the one he wanted, it only made sense to make the boys each one that read SON in binary too. I will be getting them together for a pic in them sometime soon.

This is HTML programming the < > part is called a "tag" in code so this shirt says "Tag You're it"

And of course one appropriate for myself.

I have already bought the twins some shirts for Valentines Day but hadn't found one for Caleb yet so he helped me design one. If you can't read it, it says "key 2 Mom's heart" basically. I think it's cute. Mike rolled his eyes at it.

But not only did I work on shirts this weekend. I also went back to my original vinyl and put a saying on my freshly painted wall. I love the way it turned out. 2 more things to replace in this room and it really will be an all new kitchen.

I didn't think it was possible, but I think I fell in love even more with my Cricut already this weekend. Can't wait until the next time I get it out and find a project or 2 to do.

Dino's Dino's

Of course our entire weekend wasn't solely devoted to painting the kitchen. We also snuck away Friday night to do a mini family night. We started off by a dinner at IHOP then headed to one of Caleb's favorite places- The Thanksgiving Point dino museum. We took the new camera along to play a little.

Of course the best part is always at the end when you get to dig in the sand.

Caleb took our old camera along so he could take some pictures of his own. He was flying through the museum snapping shots of just about everything. Here's a few of the favorites that he got on that camera.

Caleb loves this museum so much that he pretty much has it memorized. Which is nice but he also seemed a little bored by it this time. The entire museum only took us about an hour to go through and that included stopping to play at a couple of things. Looks like we need to find another activity to do indoors for the next family night.

A Purple Kitchen? Who knew?

We have been meaning to paint our kitchen for at least a few years now and kept putting it off for as long as possible, then we stared at colors for what seemed like an eternity and could never agree on anything ( no surprise there). So on Friday when Mike gave me a big sigh about looking at colors with me I told him that I was going to just do what I wanted then and the color that was most appealing to me from the swatches hanging on the walls from the last 3 weeks or so was a shade of purple. A purple kitchen? I know it didn't seem right to me either but I decided to get brave and go for it so off we went for paint and supplies.
Mike and I worked late into the night on Friday night and all morning Saturday morning. Caleb helped a little too.


We only had once major "incident" with the twins which required an immediate bath (after a photo of course).

We took a break in the middle of the day to rest and to go to a friends bday party. But after we got back it was right back to work. We didn't have to work as late last night but still late enough to finish up and let it dry over night. And when we got up this morning. The grand unveiling!!!!!!

I absolutely love it. I don't think I could be any happier with the results if I tried. We picked out a gray for the trim and the doors and ended up even doing one wall in it. I just keep staring and saying "purple, who knew". Here are Mike's words about it ,"Well it looks like Barbie's playhouse, But I kinda like it anyway." Hey, after all the arguing we did on colors, I'll take a "kinda like it" from him any day. Just wait, I think that "kinda like" will turn to "love it" soon enough.

Gotta finish moving back in my decorations this morning and some more cleanup. So back to work for us, but I couldn't wait one more minute to share the results with everyone. :)

It's Here!

Mike and I decided to pool the Christmas money we got this year together and buy ourselves a nice new camera. Ours is getting a little outdated and we have been wanting a new one for some time. We decided on a Nikon D 5000. We ordered it the day after Christmas and the 10 days or so since then have felt like an eternity to get here. But it arrived yesterday right before I left for work. We have snapped a couple of shots around the house. Everyone is being subjected to playing model for Mom. We watched a video that came with the camera last night. It's very informative but leaves us a bit overwhelmed at all of the potential this camera has. I can't wait to keep learning about it and trying out different stuff with it. So get ready for loads of pictures to keep popping up here on the blog as I will be anxious to share as well and will love to get your feedback and ideas/opinions on them.

Here are a couple that I snapped last night and this morning. I need some good photo editing software but I can see potential in them. Not bad for not having a clue what I am doing though. We are taking it along on our activities planned for this weekend to try it out some more. Wish us luck!

2010 Home-Style

Part of me wishes I could say that we have been partying it up for the New Year, but that's not the case. Our New Year has started off at a slow and steady pace, the majority of it spent at home and looking back on it today I wouldn't have it any other way.
So I thought I would start the blog for this year off with some quick updates on what we have all been up to this last week or so.

Zaric and Zaden: They are still loving the cars Santa brought them. They spend the majority of each day in them. Getting in and Out, making Vroom Vroom noises and just sitting around in them. They have both been trying to say a few new words here and there. They have also been enjoying their little train set and their little Mickey Mouse kitchen and Elmo microwave they got from Mom and Dad. Those seem to be the favorites so far. They haven't seemed to mind that we have spent the majority of our time right here at home and have played away the days, made a lot of messes, enjoyed naps on Daddy and ate like champs (must be hitting a growth spurt).

Caleb: He is healing great! There is such a difference when kids are able to tell you what hurts and when. He has been so grown up about everything. He comes and tells us when it hurts and we get him his pain medicine. He understands what he can eat and what he can't right now. He is having a good time taking advantage of the situation though as he grins like he's up to something every time he gets in the freezer for another Popsicle. He has spent most of his time playing with his new airplanes and his DS as well as enjoying a lot of cartoon time and playing some Wii with Dad. He still isn't sleeping completely through the night but has seemed a little more well-rested to me. He loves being home surrounded by his toys these days and usually whines when we do make him go out of the house. For the most part, you wouldn't even know that he had his tonsils out, he's still as wild as ever. The biggest difference is that his voice still sounds like a munchkin right now. It makes us giggle but he doesn't seem to mind it at all.

Mike: Mike has spent a lot of time just being a good Daddy. He worked a couple of days last week and the rest of the time he has spent here helping me out, playing with the kids and enjoying our time off together. He's spending a lot of time on his own DS and enjoyed having a couple friends over on New Years Eve for some Wii time for the guys. I have a couple quick projects lined up for him today but nothing major so we can enjoy our last day of vacation before real life takes over again here, relaxing at home like the rest of it. He did take me us out of the house and to a few stores yesterday to avoid a little bit of stir crazy that I was starting to have.

Me: I have really enjoyed just being home for the most part. The house keeps driving me crazy with the toys everywhere but I keep having to remind myself that it means the boys are playing well and enjoying their new things and that makes it bearable. When our friends came over on New Years Eve I got out the Cricut for some craft time with the girls while the guys played Wii. It stayed out for 2 more days, but I am happy to report that I got ahead on a couple of projects and did a couple of other unplanned projects as well and I love them all. I finally put it away yesterday but with a feeling of accomplishment and that felt good. Neither one of us has really set any resolutions this year but I know that we are always looking for ways to improve ourselves both individually and as a family so I am not too worried about that.

And that's basically it for the week off we have had. Nothing too exciting but I think still pretty perfect. Today will be spent watching football, doing laundry and I already put a nice roast in the Crock Pot for dinner. I think it will be a fitting end to our time off to have a nice meal together tonight. What have you been up to this year?