March 2016 - Week 4

 Just a normal week for us last week.  We worked on some house stuff, like putting new sand in the sandbox and didn't have a ton going on.  We are really enjoying this phase of life where we still have our Saturdays mostly to ourselves and aren't spending the whole day running the kids to sporting events, etc.  We know it is going to change once all the kids are in school.

On Saturday night, Kyle and a I went on our monthly date night.  He had bought me a Groupon deal for Christmas to a local 'Escape Room' experience.  We were put together with 8 other people (2 groups of four, plus us 2).  We were then told a story and put into a good sized room with exactly 60 minutes to figure out a bunch of puzzles and try to get out of the room.  I love mysteries and puzzles and we had a great time. 


The girls all had a dentist appointment last Monday and there was not one tear shed. They did great.  Also, no cavities.

Here's a video of Madison reading.  Each week she is saying more and more sounds and the big girls have really been working on her animal sounds.  This book has dogs and a duck as you might be able to tell.

On Thursday night, Kyle was elected to the school board at Katelyn's school.  He will serve a 3 year term.

San Diego Zoo & March 2016 - Week 3

Our big excitement for this month was a short trip down to San Diego to take a trip to the zoo.  This was our Christmas present from my mom & step-dad.  It was a lot of fun.  The kids really enjoyed it as it was their first visit to that zoo.  We drove down on Sunday afternoon and stayed the night down there so we could be at the zoo on time the next morning.

This is all for 1 night.  We do not travel lightly. . . .

When we first arrived at the zoo, we took a 45 minutes bus tour around most of the park.

Cousins!

Madison the navigator

Kyle and I took a picture by this statue when we were dating.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find it to upload it.  But someday, we will be able to compare the photos.  Probably 11 years apart.

I have been working on a couple small projects for the girls bathroom.  I made plaques with their initials to hang above their new towel hooks.  We had a towel bar before, but it was hard for them to get their towels on and off.  I also made another hair bow hanger.  Our hair bow collection with 3 girls gets a little crazy.  We have now lined up someone to redo our bathtubs and shower surrounds in about 3 weeks.  So you will be seeing more on that in coming weeks.

The one on the far left is the new one.  It matches the headband holder I made last year, although you can't really see that as it is so full.

Here are a couple more random pictures:

Katelyn wrote a story about fairies.  She is really enjoying writing stories, letters, and journaling lately.

 

Here is a video of Madison chatting & playing that I forgot to post last week.  It is a little long, but she dances towards the end of it.

Cute Quotes & Quick Stories:
- "Maybe one day, Mommy, you will see me on TV as President.  But I still also want to be a teacher and a scientist."  - Katelyn
- Madison managed to climb into the full bath tub by herself - with shorts and shoes still on.

March 2016 - Week 2

Not a ton of pictures this past week.  My energy level has been a little low as I have only had 1 Dr. Pepper in the last 2 weeks.  I finished off a package of it and decided not to buy more to see if I could drink a little less soda.  So far it has been working better than any other time I have tried.  However, my patience and energy are not quite what they were before.  I miss my caffeine. . . .  I think there is a direct correlation between no caffeine and fewer pictures.

Madison has been very adventurous lately and continues to be a climber.

We went for a nice evening bike ride last weekend.

It is very hard to not get a blurry picture like this.  Katelyn was on the tandem bike behind my bike.

A nice time was had by all.

 Madison has figured out how to climb up and turn on the bathroom faucet.  If we forget to close the door, it is a pretty safe bet that she will find her way in there and play in the sink.  She is too young to realize we are in a drought.

My little cutie on a trip to Sam's Club.

We went to Ikea this past week and found some toys to play with.

Love this girl and this expression of hers that she does all the time :-).

I guess there were more pictures than I realized.  But still.  I miss my Dr. Pepper.

Stair Railing & Life - March 2016 Week 1

Kyle and I have been hard at work on some more minor projects for the house the last few weeks.  One thing that we tackled was the stair railing.  It was oak colored and reflected the style when the house was built (1990).  It got dirty way to easy and just needed to be updated, so after some pinterest research, we purchased some gel stain and I got to work.  It wasn't too hard of a project, but the stain was supposed to dry overnight and we had to do 3 coats and then 4 days before the top coat could go (which needed 2 coats).  Therefore, the plastic stayed up for over a week. I was beyond ready for it to come down.

This is the original look.  This is what our entry normally looks like because Tornado Madison can't leave our storage bins alone.

All taped and ready to sand & stain.

This is what it looks like on the bottom of the railing, so a lot of taping went into this job.

After the first coat of stain

First Coat

This is what your hands look like when your cheapo gloves break inside the sock you are using to stain.

The final result!  We really like it with our living room furniture & decor.  Of course the day I take the final picture it is raining outside, so the lighting is pretty poor here.

Next project coming up . . . maybe the downstairs & upstairs bathtubs?  We shall see. . .


Grandma called one morning to say that her electricity was out and she needed to bake a cake for something.  So she came over and of course the girls had to help.

Someone got ahold of my phone and took a bunch of pictures (like 16) inside the Vans store while I was trying on shoes.  Here is one that Brooklyn snapped of Madison.  (Yes, this was the best one available, most of them were of wall displays.)

One of my goals for this year is to get better at braiding the girls hair.  It has never been something I have done much of.  I have been trying to get some practice in.  Brooklyn likes having 'Anna Braids' (from the movie Frozen).

We gave the girls chalk paint for Christmas, but we hadn't used it yet because I wanted nice weather, a day when nothing else was planned, all the girls to be in a good mood, etc.  They have thoroughly enjoyed using it.  Although it can get a little tricky when little sister is around.

Madison walked around with the brown paint and her water for most of the morning.

Katelyn's flowers.