Pumpkin Bars with Caramel Frosting
5 weeks ago
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Bees
This appeared in our backyard a couple of days ago. I don't like. It sort of freaks me out and I'm really not sure what to do about it. First gophers, now bees. Maybe having a little more land isn't all it's cracked up to be. Then again if I get my chickens that I want it will all be worth it!
Kitchen progress
We're making progress! We've been at kind of a stand still since the granite was put in waiting for the tile for the back splash. First not enough was ordered, then when they did get it in they had ordered a few of the wrong pieces so it had to be reordered. Yesterday afternoon they came to finally put it in. He'll be back this afternoon to grout around it. I'm so excited! I love how it looks. After he's done the plumber will be back to hook up the sink faucet and the rest of the appliances. In a couple of days I could have a fully functioning kitchen. No more washing dishes in the bathtub!
Monday, March 21, 2011
A four year old princess
Mads on her fourth birthday and just home from church. She insisted on wearing her new sparkly shoes that Grandpa Dell and Grandma Vicki got her!
I'm really trying to avoid the whole "birthday party with friends" for as long as I can and just keep it to simple family birthdays. Just like last year Mads wanted a Princess party and with the craziness around here I didn't have enough time to do that, but Grandma Linda came through and sent her "Princess Party in a box", so she got her princess party after all.
Excited to open all her pink presents.
Blowing out the candles.
One of the gifts she got was this little table and chairs. She and Connor are excited that they are the only ones that can eat at it because it's for ages 3-8!
I'm really trying to avoid the whole "birthday party with friends" for as long as I can and just keep it to simple family birthdays. Just like last year Mads wanted a Princess party and with the craziness around here I didn't have enough time to do that, but Grandma Linda came through and sent her "Princess Party in a box", so she got her princess party after all.
Excited to open all her pink presents.
Blowing out the candles.
One of the gifts she got was this little table and chairs. She and Connor are excited that they are the only ones that can eat at it because it's for ages 3-8!
She's 14
That's right, my oldest is 14. Hard for me to believe. She had kind of a crazy birthday because things are a little crazy around here right now. A couple of her good friends kidnapped her before school and took her out to breakfast. I knew it was happening and the thought had crossed my mind that I should prep her on what to order for breakfast at a restaurant. We are frequent "eat outters" but not for breakfast. But, I didn't want to ruin the surprise by talking to her about it. I should have. Her leftovers were dropped off to me by the mom that took them and I now have a container of red velvet pancakes in my refrigerator. I guess she figured that if that was her favorite kind of cake that it would be great for breakfast too!
I then picked her and a friend up after school and took them to taco shop and dropped them off. Apparently when you are 14 you can now be dropped off to eat somewhere all by your self. And I had no worries that she would know what to order at the Taco shop. In fact the person at the counter could have probably correcter her if she had gotten it wrong since we frequent that establishment so often! We then had dinner (in the living room since that is where our kitchen table is right now!) opened gifts and had cake, Red Velvet, Nothing Bundt Cakes, provided by Grandma Linda and Grandpa Tom. Since I don't have an oven right now it was perfect! We then all played a few rounds of GLEE karaoke, the new Wii game she got and then it was off to bed. Not too exciting, but I think she had a great b-day!
I then picked her and a friend up after school and took them to taco shop and dropped them off. Apparently when you are 14 you can now be dropped off to eat somewhere all by your self. And I had no worries that she would know what to order at the Taco shop. In fact the person at the counter could have probably correcter her if she had gotten it wrong since we frequent that establishment so often! We then had dinner (in the living room since that is where our kitchen table is right now!) opened gifts and had cake, Red Velvet, Nothing Bundt Cakes, provided by Grandma Linda and Grandpa Tom. Since I don't have an oven right now it was perfect! We then all played a few rounds of GLEE karaoke, the new Wii game she got and then it was off to bed. Not too exciting, but I think she had a great b-day!Preschool Birthday
On Thursday Mads got to celebrate her birthday at school. Here she is getting her special Happy Birthday sticker.
Counting out how old she is.
Happy Birthday Madison!
Counting out how old she is.
Happy Birthday Madison!
Saturday, March 19, 2011
My kids think it's summer
The weather has been beautiful here the last couple of weeks. Not warm enough to go swimming, but that hasn't stopped my kiddos. They are very excited to have a pool in their own backyard that they don't care if the water is freezing. By the looks of that white boy jumping in, he needs to be out in the sun more!
Mads runs on a different thermostat than the rest of us. She is always hot. The girl NEVER and I mean never has pants on or shoes and socks because they are too hot. If I make her put them on for school or to go somewhere she takes them off immediately when we get back in the car. So the cold water just doesn't seem to phase her. I think Amanda's legs were numb by the time they were done playing in the pool though!
Mads runs on a different thermostat than the rest of us. She is always hot. The girl NEVER and I mean never has pants on or shoes and socks because they are too hot. If I make her put them on for school or to go somewhere she takes them off immediately when we get back in the car. So the cold water just doesn't seem to phase her. I think Amanda's legs were numb by the time they were done playing in the pool though!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
More remodel
Chris has gone and now we just waiting for the rest of the kitchen to be done. We are waiting on the granite to be fabricated and installed then the back splash to be tiled and lastly the rest of the appliances to be installed. Can't wait to have our kitchen back, new and improved. We are just putting some finishing touches in. Shaun got the mirrors hung in the bathrooms. Circular ones in the big bathroom...
...and a cute rectangular one in the small bathroom. Since Shaun and I hung them, we hung them to where we could see in them. Unfortunately that makes them too high for the two youngest kids to see in them. Can't decide if we should lower them, or just hope our kids grow fast!
Before Chris left he got the closet doors hung on our big closet in the family room. He had to lower the wall to make them fit. This picture was taken before he got the trim put around them and before Shaun got the hardware on. Now it's just up to me to putty, caulk and paint!
He also got the pantry doors on...
...and the shelves built. Yeah!
The last thing he did before he left was hang a couple of ceiling fans in the family room. I think they'll be nice on those warm summer days.
...and a cute rectangular one in the small bathroom. Since Shaun and I hung them, we hung them to where we could see in them. Unfortunately that makes them too high for the two youngest kids to see in them. Can't decide if we should lower them, or just hope our kids grow fast!
Before Chris left he got the closet doors hung on our big closet in the family room. He had to lower the wall to make them fit. This picture was taken before he got the trim put around them and before Shaun got the hardware on. Now it's just up to me to putty, caulk and paint!
He also got the pantry doors on...
...and the shelves built. Yeah!
The last thing he did before he left was hang a couple of ceiling fans in the family room. I think they'll be nice on those warm summer days.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Kitchen Remodel-Day 4
Every day Chris does something that becomes my new favorite thing he's done. Today it was the pendant lights over the island. I love how they look through the window. This picture does not do them justice.
He also got all the crown on the tops of the cabinets today and the hardware mostly on. We had a little issue with the appliance delivery but we did get the microwave so that he could get that hung before he left.
This is the hardware for the cabinet doors. They are called football knobs. Appropriate for this family!
Chris had to spend half a day putting plywood on top of the cabinets. Apparently we do granite differently here in California then they do in Utah. In Utah they use a thicker granite. Here they use a thinner granite and lay it on plywood to give the impression of a thicker granite.
I love those pendant lights!
It's all coming together!
We also threw in a partial bathroom remodel for Chris while he was here. This was the bathroom before. The previous owner was going to tile the vanity top, but never got around to it so we've had a plywood top since we moved in. We also ripped out the glass doors on the shower because I hate glass doors on showers. They are miserable to clean and really hard to bath small children around.
Chris ripped the old vanity out and we had the plumber here until 10:00 PM fixing the plumbing. It was a big enough area to make double sinks, so that's what we're doing.
Chris installed the new vanity with the double sinks today and I love it!
He also got all the crown on the tops of the cabinets today and the hardware mostly on. We had a little issue with the appliance delivery but we did get the microwave so that he could get that hung before he left.
This is the hardware for the cabinet doors. They are called football knobs. Appropriate for this family!
Chris had to spend half a day putting plywood on top of the cabinets. Apparently we do granite differently here in California then they do in Utah. In Utah they use a thicker granite. Here they use a thinner granite and lay it on plywood to give the impression of a thicker granite.
I love those pendant lights!
It's all coming together!
We also threw in a partial bathroom remodel for Chris while he was here. This was the bathroom before. The previous owner was going to tile the vanity top, but never got around to it so we've had a plywood top since we moved in. We also ripped out the glass doors on the shower because I hate glass doors on showers. They are miserable to clean and really hard to bath small children around.
Chris ripped the old vanity out and we had the plumber here until 10:00 PM fixing the plumbing. It was a big enough area to make double sinks, so that's what we're doing.
Chris installed the new vanity with the double sinks today and I love it!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Kitchen remodel Day 3
Today we got the kitchen flooring in. Yeah! It is the same flooring that is in my living room and hallway so I knew I liked it, but I LOVE it in the kitchen!
With Chris's help we got the funny little step fixed and looking good!
I forgot to include a picture of the pantry, but we got the wood flooring put in there also.
Chris spent a good part of the morning while the flooring guys were in the kitchen reframing a closet in our family room for us so that the doors would fit.
The kitchen cabinets are now all hung and the doors and drawers put into place! I love my white kitchen and can't wait to see the hardware on it...maybe tomorrow!
Shaun was able to get the day off and spent the morning out in the yard. But then this afternoon, while he had Chris's tools and expertise, he started putting all the casings around the windows. He got the dinning room done, both bathrooms, my bedroom and one window in Amanda's room and one in Connors. Who knew the guy was so handy?!
With Chris's help we got the funny little step fixed and looking good!I forgot to include a picture of the pantry, but we got the wood flooring put in there also.
Chris spent a good part of the morning while the flooring guys were in the kitchen reframing a closet in our family room for us so that the doors would fit.
The kitchen cabinets are now all hung and the doors and drawers put into place! I love my white kitchen and can't wait to see the hardware on it...maybe tomorrow!
Shaun was able to get the day off and spent the morning out in the yard. But then this afternoon, while he had Chris's tools and expertise, he started putting all the casings around the windows. He got the dinning room done, both bathrooms, my bedroom and one window in Amanda's room and one in Connors. Who knew the guy was so handy?!
Kitchen Remodel-Day 2
Day 2 of the remodel went well. We had uncle Logan here to help with the heavy lifting, and he actually had time for little tree trimming too. The first thing Chris had to do that wasn't in the original plan was shifting this doorway that leads into the family room about three inches. It's amazing to me how quickly someone who knows what he's doing can whip something out like that.
The first cabinets to go in.
The island!
To the left is the new spot for the refrigerator and to the left is the new BIG cabinet that I love!
This could possible be my favorite thing Chris has done so far. A little slide out spice rack. The guy making the cabinets didn't think it was going to fit in and work, but Chris knew how much I wanted one and he made it work!
The first cabinets to go in.
The island!
To the left is the new spot for the refrigerator and to the left is the new BIG cabinet that I love!
This could possible be my favorite thing Chris has done so far. A little slide out spice rack. The guy making the cabinets didn't think it was going to fit in and work, but Chris knew how much I wanted one and he made it work!
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