House Projects

Our home was mostly move in ready--but we wanted to add some of our own touches. Check out what we've done so far!
PAINT! The family room & kitchen are all one room and neither Ben or I were fans of the green color...so we went from green to "Old Time Bakery" which is a little yellow. Eventually I'm going to add some bold color to the kitchen but this is a great base, You can see the color more in this picture:
But the coolest part of this particular wall is that we primed it with MAGNETIC paint! The kids are loving having room to spread out their magnets and I love being able to hang pictures up on the wall without having to use pins or tape.

The biggest problem to fix though was having a pantry built. The home did not have a pantry in the kitchen (it was a closet across from the coat closet?!) and we found that very problematic. So, we had one built and it was delivered and put in today:
BEFORE: AFTER:
I think that's going to be 'it' for awhile. Now to rest, live and enjoy being 'homeowners'! (And figure out what our next projects will be!) Don't worry, it hasn't been all peachy--we had a roof leak the day we were given the keys and the dishwasher does not currently work but we're having fun and enjoying the adventures! Oh and as we've walked more around the yard, we've found more produce growing, so now we are up to: 3 lemon trees, 2 persimmon trees, 1 grape vine, 1 pear tree, 1 almond tree, an aloe plant, and a couple of flowering trees bearing fruit that we aren't quite sure what they are...all this in only 1/4 acre!! SO FUN!

Big Bear Lake 2011

For Spring Break this year, my family (minus Conor :( ) trekked to Big Bear Lake for a family vacation...Tara was in town from England and since we had last been together is 2008 (?!?!) we decided it was time. Our parents rented a cabin big enough for all of us (11 adults, 12 kids 9mos -9years) and we spent Monday-Thursday together. It was amazing how well it went! The kids played wonderfully--looked out for each other and just thought life was good. The adults had a blast too! The best part was that our husbands didn't have to work so they actually got to hang out and play. One night, the sisters went out to dinner with the folks & our fabulous husbands fed and put the kids to bed. Another night, we all put the kids to bed and ate dinner late into the night. And the other nights, we just chatted, went in the spa and relaxed. It was a great vacation minus the flu bug that took out almost all of the adults--kudos to my husband who escaped the wrath of that nasty sickness. The kids enjoyed playing outdoors, reading books, making crafts and going on a couple hikes. It was such a fun vacation and my kids cannot wait to see their cousins again-which is always good because I LOVE seeing my sisters & brothers!

Cul-de-sac Living

Our new home is at the end of a LONG cul-de-sac of 15 homes. No sooner did we show up did neighbors start pouring out of their homes to welcome us. They informed us that before we arrived, there were 22 kids (under 12) living on our court. WOW. Our kids fit right in with all kids their age. It's awesome! As soon as we get home from any where, my kids want OUTSIDE--which I have a love hate relationship with because I want to get unpacked but I LOVE having my kids outside. As soon as Ben drove up this evening, I told the kids they could go outside while I made dinner...that was definitely a good idea. :) Xander has already picked up his new bike without training wheels and can ride comfortably on it...we only practiced a few times but now (other than starting & stopping) he is getting pretty good. We tried to explain brakes to him and he informed us that he could just crash. :/ We'll have to work on that. The girls love being outside too...We're getting Xander's old bike ready for Eliza and she is ready to pass her trike on to Violet who is eagerly awaiting!

Look at them go! They were so funny...the first few days they kept asking, "Can we go in the street?" YES! YES! YES! You can! And I loved the sound of hearing Xander yelling while he was riding...Yipee! Yahoo! Watch me, I'm doing it!!! Look at me!! Such a good day!

It is official!

We are in...surrounded by boxes but we are in! We are loving every minute of it and enjoying dreaming of all the possibilities! Our lemon trees are going crazy and we've identified an almond tree...more trees are blossoming so we'll see what other fruit we have soon! Oh, this is LOVE!

Fairy Tale Town

Xander's class field trip was to Fairy Tale Town...5 or so acres of playground all centered around fairy tales & nursery rhymes. We were lucky and brought Grandma Webster and our Adams cousins! And even though the day started with some rain, it turned out to be a beautiful, cool day for fun to be had!

The Wizard of Oz...
Cinderella...
3 Blind Mice...
The Owls' House

The Tortoise & the HareJack & The Beanstalk...
10 Little Indians...
And so much more! We had so much fun and look forward to future trips!

The Verdict is in!

Sorry to my blog friends...we've been super busy moving houses this month so I neglected to give you the news!

We DID have our ultrasound last week and we do KNOW what we are having!

I'll give you a hint...when Xander read the ultrasound he cried.

Yes, that's right. We will be adding more SUGAR & SPICE to our family! Another baby girl is headed to our family in August. I figured it would be since out of 7 pregnant ladies due in August, I already knew that FOUR were having boys!!! And the FIFTH one just announced she was having a boy too. CRAZY...I'm all alone...my sister Tara finds out next week and we are all excited! We'll blog more soon...OH, and the name we most like right now is ABIGAIL! We just have to find a middle name to go with the rest of our kids (Jacob, Joy & Jeanne...i.e a J name)